Memorial Weekend Destination: Honduras

This is my first time using this so I didn't take the time to thoughtfully pick the pictures. These are some random snapshots of our first day in Tegus, travel to La Ceiba, Carnival and maybe one or two of the El Presidente de Honduras (whom we happened upon at carnival). There are too many great stories to share - one day I will. My partner in crime is my colleague/friend Embo.

What lies beneath

Let me deconstruct the layers for you from outside to inside;

1 Towel

2 pairs of shoes

1 piece of Nordstrom tissue paper

1 Killer Albino moth

My thought process once I glanced down at my bathroom floor and realized something was wrong.......

What is that by my foot? (leans down)

I still can't tell, better crouch down

AAAAAAHHHHHH it's a *#$&%^@ moth!!!!

An albino moth that blends into my white tile floor!

What do I do now? Everyone is asleep so I can't scream!

Quick, must cover moth NOW - toilet paper is not going to cut it

Solution: tissue paper from Nordstrom in my closet. It is substantial, grey colored and big

Slowly place folded tissue paper on moth and do a little dance on my toes because of my proximity to said killer albino moth.

WHAT IF ITS STILL ALIVE?

I know it is still alive under the tissue, its only a matter of time before it either finds its way out from underneath the tissue or gnaws through it

I know, shoes. I'll put two pairs of shoes on top of tissue paper to weight it down and hopefully crush the killer

WHAT IF ITS STILL ALIVE?

Ok, get another shoe and pound the other shoes into the ground and hope that it is crushed

WHAT IF ITS STILL ALIVE?

My bathroom is in my room.......its basically in my room...

I have to shut the door and put a towel under it to stop the moth from flying directly to my neck in the middle of the night

I can't shut the door in case it gets out during the night and get angry and attacks me when i open the door in the morning.

I have to leave the door open.

WHAT IF ITS STILL ALIVE?

Genius, I'll put a towel over the pile to seal the edges and add weight. Even if its still alive it can't get out.

Brush teeth in bedroom and try to avoid bathroom

Leave it there the next morning and call host brother on the way home from work and ask him to check on it and get rid of it

The feeling of knowing I'm ridiculous and accepting it: priceless

Team builders

At the end of my last post I might have mentioned a few disgruntled employees that reside with me on the 9th floor of my expensive office building in Tysons Corner. Well the boat from the "we're all in the same boat" phrase suddenly feels much lighter now that two crew members jumped ship. I couldn't save them. They saw the plank and they walked off it because it was the only way. I should have been worried about what was awaiting them in the murky depths of the sea below but all I felt was pangs of jealousy and I'm afraid of fish.

What finally pushed them over the edge? It could be many things but among them I think it might have been the excessive team builders, the lack of accordion file folders and Antwon the scary man at snack time that only lets you take one snack. One york peppermint patty hardly qualifies as a whole snack if you ask me. You need at least two to catch a decent sensation. But I kid, I think the straw that broke the camels back here is when our program director gathered us all into a conference room full of lounge chairs and bean bags to "regroup" and to "remember why we are really here" and then the regional program managers got teary eyed when describing little "Johnny scholar" from last year who gave the book his counselor read to him everynight before bed back to her as a gift the night before the program ended as he went home with mom and dad early. Hello? Am I the only one listening? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here!

a)Dear regional program manager, you had nothing to do with that interaction while you were sitting in your office and I was staying up at night with the homesick kids

b)The book Johnny scholar gifted my colleague (I was there) was our book! He can't give us something that was never his!

c)and P.S., the kid went home the night before the conference ended. He couldn't hack it and I hardly think you should be using that as a motivator. NOT a success story

But the cherry on top of this trifle filled with sauteed beef and onions, peas, jam and whipped cream is that our director actually printed out a piece of paper for each of us that has a picture of the "scrappy do" character from Scooby Doo on it to cheer us up when things start to get scrappy.

Thanks Director Lady, thanks

I Quit.....again

I have been lucky enough in my life to have been blessed with many talents that others only dream about; skipping up stairs, imitating peoples walks, remembering most of the lyrics to any song I've ever heard, attracting needy men, regurgitating entire paragraphs verbatim of information from newspaper/magazine articles and passing them off as stuff I just know and last but not least my biggest feat.....quitting. As you might guess I don't have a lot of follow through. But with age comes wisdom and the availability to check your bank account online anytime and seeing the next to nothing that you have to ration for the next 2 weeks. Thats when I decided I had to do something.
I can't recall where I was or what I was doing when it finally hit me: you have to stop quitting everything you start. Quit quitting man. First it was T-ball followed by the cello, softball, piano, every job I had until 2006 that I wasn't fired from, my first year of college....and then the next three years of school. I could go on but I generally try to avoid throwing myself into depression voluntarily. And you know what? Letting go of my addiction to quitting has been rough. I get that all too familiar knot in my stomach that leads to thoughts of being anywhere else besides my current reality. This is dangerous ground to walk when you are recovering from addiction. But there is a silver lining to this all familiar tale of struggle with will-power. I can't recall the last thing I quit. I don't know the last time I just threw up my hands, blew the hair out of my face and peaced-out. I'm not a quitter anymore. I was validated in my new found attitude change when my eldest sister congratulated me for being at a job for a year and a half stating that it must be some kind of a record. Things have been good. Until now.
I'm in DC working a job that has me picturing where I could be if I wasn't working there everyday. Sometimes I'm in Tibet meditating with monks, or I'm screeching in the Amazon as I watch the piranas devour themselves and the meat I am throwing at them like ducks. But mostly I'm at eldest sisters pool with a skanky corset-buster getting tan. I miss my family, my friends and sitting on the porch with a cheap two-stick popsicle. I've thought about quitting, I've dreamed about quitting, but I'm NOT quitting. I can do this. Does it matter that all my colleagues on the 9th floor are disgruntled and about to commit mutiny? No....and yes. I have not the strength to walk out on my own, but I do have the will power to be a sheep and follow a fearless leader. We just have to find one. Just like the dutiful citizens of Blaine I am waiting to make it to California in a couple of weeks. I just hope that on the way I will not think I smell the scent of salt from the sea and get stuck in Blaine making stools - some for selling, some for keeping.