A brief blurb about 2011

Shortly 2011 will be here and I've been thinking of things I want to accomplish in the coming 12 months. Not resolutions, because I don't subscribe to coming up with a list solely based on a new year rolling around. These are projects for myself, my growth that I'm already working on for the most part, just tweaking and expanding a bit. Here is what I'm going to focus on:

• Being more consistent with my knitting, finishing more projects (at least 11) and trying my hand at a few more techniques (two-at-a-time socks, entrelac, my first sweater).
• Learning how to crochet using the four classes I have left at my local yarn store.
• Losing weight. A common enough goal which I've already started (14lbs. since November). I'm thinking of at least 30 - 40 more pounds slowly would be very good for my health.
• Along with the weight loss goal, increasing my physical fitness. I walked my first half-marathon in October and my plan is to finish two in 2011 along with a few 5K runs and fun walks with Alexis. So consistent exercise is going to be a must.
• Playing casual games for relaxation...and finishing some of the backlog of games I have for my DSi.
• I want to read more in and I'm planning on participating in about four book challenges to keep me movitivated.

Those are my goals mainly relating to hobbies, there are others, keeping a cleaner house, etc. If I focus on the above I'll be plenty busy in 2011!

I DID IT --- How? (Part 2 of The Detroit Free Press Marathon)

I get up early Sunday morning to meet Michelle so we can leave at 6:00am. Surprisingly, I’m not all that nervous now. I dress, put on the yellow lanyard bracelet Alexis made for me (I told her I would kiss it when I got tired and I did.) head to the Ren Cen to wait for her in the hotel lobby of the Marriott. We happily give each other big hugs and it’s like old times again.

As we make our way to our place amongst the thousands of others waiting to start the race I pepper Michelle with questions about all of the little things that would help a novice like me. Such things as, the best time and how to efficiently use the gross port-a-johns, how to keep out of the serious runners’ way, marathon etiquette, the normal signs of fatigue and symptoms that signal it’s time for me to stop. She’s a wealth of information that aids in keeping me calm.

The co-worker, the one who wasn’t sure I’d actually show up , found me and soon after we’re off as Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” was playing on the loud speakers. It was a chilly morning as Michelle and I began at a nice, slow pace (it was my co-worker’s first marathon as well, but she’s a little burst of energy and was gone in a flash). I was actually feeling really good as we approached the Ambassador Bridge to head over to Canada. I was also proud that right there, at the 3-mile mark, I’d finished my first 5K!

Mind you, we’re not trying to break any speed records. Michelle, just off that full marathon and not 100% healed up from the experience, has an even better reason to keep it slow. So we’re hovering at pretty much the back of everyone. Michelle has her fancy GPS watch calculated to show our pace and that our 17 to 18-minute miles will be good enough for a decent 4-hour finish. However, our calculation differed a bit from our pacer’s. A pacer is there to indicate the time you’re currently running/walking. There are several throughout the race with signs to show who they are and to keep at that steady pace throughout so you’ll know how many minutes you’re taking for each mile.

There’s a problem though due to the way the organizers changed the race start. This year they start everyone in “waves” to keep down congestion at any one point on the course. The fastest persons are in the first wave and somehow they didn’t calculate that the slower persons in the last wave actually started a half-hour later. What does this mean for us bringing up the rear? Well, the bridge and tunnel were closed to traffic only until 9:30am, and while the first and faster wave of runners/walkers were probably already back to Detroit well before that time, we’re now behind. We have to get up that bridge and through the tunnel or else be forced on the Last Chance Bus I spoke about in the previous entry. This matter of minutes is really a huge difference as we start our ascent. The slower people have to move quickly while going up a steady incline!!!!

Our Last Chance Pacer Jim, needs to make sure his people make it through the tunnel and into Detroit by 9:30am and he’s doing his job, I tell you. “Ladies, we need to pick up the pace or you’ll have to board the bus!”, he keeps yelling. I know I’m not as prepared as I should be, but I don’t want to get on the bus just yet. We try a little jogging to put some distance between Freddy…I mean Last Chance Pacer Jim and us. The incline is still inclining, in fact in my mind it never stops inclining, it just keeps right on up to the heavens! Did I mention how fearful I am of bridges? Hate driving them and never imagined I’d be walking one over such a large body of water, but as we’re being chased by Pacer Jim and that darn bus I couldn’t care less. I’m jogging and walking and inclining and this is the only time I thought to myself, “Self, you aren’t gonna make it!” I’m out of breath and my legs burn from the exertion. I do a mental check though to see if I feel in a danger zone as far as my health…nope, just darn tired!

After what seems to be an eternity the incline turns into a gentle decline and we make it off the bridge (But I keep asking Michelle to see how far LCPJ is from us. I was too scared to turn back for my own look, lol.) Thankfully, we put some more distance between us and him and start to relax a bit but now I feel like an ocean is in my bladder and I have to go..badly. Oh, I really have to, but I don’t because he’s still behind us. I hold it as we decline into the tunnel, where I swear I keep hearing the motor of The Bus tailing us (it was another vehicle altogether, but it sounded ominous), and incline (!!!!) back into Detroit, home free and able to use it (not as disgusting as one would think when you have to go….badly) and resume our slow pace. Come to find out, Last Chance Pacer Jim happened to be pretty nice. He came up to us and chatted a bit, gaving us his well wishes he then vanished from the road in a puff of smoke. Lol, he actually just trotted off ahead of us to finish the race having completed his job (since we were last, obviously we weren’t really concerned with our minute/per mile time).

Once we slowed down we were able to enjoy the course more. The weather was a perfect autumn day with no humidity, warm and not too hot. We walked along the Detroit River’s shore on the Canadian side, through some quaint little neighborhoods in the heart of the city I’d never seen in my four decades of living here, parts of Corktown where people were sitting on their lawns cheering us on. As much as Detroit has it’s well-documented blight, you forget that there’s still beauty here. Beauty found even in some of the vacant buildings like our famous and empty, Michigan Central Depot.

Michelle and I caught up about our lives, comfortable just like we were walking through the halls of our high school back in the day and we just laughed the whole time. Sometimes there would be a band playing on the corner, or a group of volunteers with water and Gatorade (which I partook of at each stop) or just random people with signs cheering you on. “Good job!”, “You’re almost there!”, “Keep going!”, were words of encouragement we heard often. We got a treat when Michelle’s husband and three adorable children met us at mile eight. The other racers were just as supportive, smiling and chatting with us. It was amazing to see that marathoners come in so many sizes and ages. You have the seriously fit runners to the walkers that are a bit rounder, like myself, old, young and in-between. It was very encouraging to see.

And we all kept on walking.

We walked and one hour turned into two. The Detroit Marathon isn’t a fun walk, so even once you’ve made it back to Detroit you’re expected to finish within a reasonable time or else you could still be required to get off the course. But at mile 9 I told Michelle, “It would take the police to get me off this course after I’ve walked this far and if they decided to come for me they’d have to catch me through the side streets!!!”

Nine miles turned into ten…I’d walked ten miles straight!!! There were other smaller inclines that I cursed and I kept walking. I was surprised that with my exercised-induced asthma I wasn’t really winded,, it was my legs and thighs that were so fatigued they felt like lead. Surprisingly the shoes, with the $25 insoles the shoe guy talked me into, were amazingly comfortable and my feet were pretty OK. At one point I told Michelle, “Once we get to mile 11, I’ll be joyful and get a push of adrenaline”. The sign for mile 11 came and I wasn’t really as happy as I’d thought I’d be and adrenaline, not so much. At mile 12 we weren’t the very last in the race, but darn close. Even that far in, my body was screaming for me to stop with my mind yelling, “Shut up!!! We only have one mile!!!” They started reopening a few of the streets, we saw runners going back to their hotels or stopping at the coney island. I didn’t care I was ONE mile away from walking a half marathon!!!!

We turn the corner we see the finish line!!!!! Are you kidding me? Did I really finish what I’d set out to do hours ago? Then the mile 13 sign. Hey! Aren’t we done yet? I’d forgotten about the .1 mile left to cross, to accomplish this feat of pure determination.

At 4:29:48 I DID IT!!!! My total time was 4:04:57. I crossed the finish line with my hands in the air and it is surreal. A very heavy and beautifully decorated medal put around my neck with cheers and fanfare all around me. I don’t cry when I’m happy, I smile and I had a smile to rival sunshine at that moment. Then I heard someone scream my name from the crowd. It was the co-worker who inspired me to consider undertaking the marathon in the first place, Lovica. She’s a short little spitfire prone to language that would make a sailor blush but when she cheerily commented on how proud she was of me, it warmed my heart. Renee hugged me with tears in her eyes, just as happy as I to finish her first.

We moved along toward the celebration event where you could eat, get goody bags, massages, etc. I took a goody bag, ravished the banana, string cheese and other contents in it and we moved to find Michelle’s family since she had to check out of the hotel pronto.

Eventually we find our way back, half walking, taking the People Mover the other half. Giving each other sweaty good-byes we promised to not allow another decade to pass before we see each other again (the next marathon perhaps?).

I head to my car to go home and something beyond tired, exhausted or fatigue is the word. The bad thing is I realize in my morning excitement I couldn’t remember which parking structure I’m in!!! I know that there are at least two at the Ren Cen, where I’d parked to be close to Michelle, but which and what floor? I wander and wander some more, too exhausted to be mad or sad, for about fifteen additional minutes when somehow some repressed memory guided my directionally challenged body to the right spot.

After I got home to my empty house I ate the huge fast food meal I’d purchased on the way back, took a warm bath in Epsom salts and lounged around. Now the adrenaline was apparent. I couldn’t go to sleep! I didn’t even take my nap and I love naps. My family came home with kisses and congratulations and I watched television, knit a bit, ate some more but didn’t go to sleep.

What an experience, one that I will always cherish. And now I have the marathon bug! I plan on entering into several smaller 5K races and a couple of half marathons (still walking though) in 2011. I’ve learned how important a positive and determined mental frame of mind (and some prayer) is in an endurance race, that’s what got me a good portion of the way. I also learned about my body. I can’t believe my body, this body needing some work and weight loss, carried me 13.1 miles in a few hours. That I have health and physical potential I never knew I had. That’s not bragging, but due to a previous bad experience with a gym employee I was convinced, until a few years ago, that I wasn’t even healthy enough to join a gym or exercise at all, much less that I could ever finishing a half marathon even walking!!! So with this one under my belt, I will not ever attempt another race without decent preparation….I did it this time, but I’m not going to push it. Along with this training I’m going to make changes to my overall health and diet which should give me the weight loss I need and am looking for as well.

I’ll be posting pictures and linking video later.

I DID IT --- Why? (Part 1 of the Detroit Free Press Marathon)

I want to start with a disclaimer. On 10/17/10 I finished the Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon (walking, people!!!!!) without proper training. If you want to start any exercise program you should consult your physician first (I did and was given the OK to train) and if you want to participate in a half-marathon you need to prepare adequately. If you continue reading you’ll see that I made sure that at NO TIME was I in any physical danger.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way here’s my tale…..

Back in May I posted of my plan to walk the Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon. Yes 13.1 miles, more than I’d ever walked at one time in my entire life. I did lots of research, printed out the perfect training plans, found this great running store to buy custom fitted shoes, etc. and so on. Then I took that information, put it neatly in a folder and let it sit for a few months while the only practicing I did was my regular routine of procrastination.

Right in the beginning I told a high school best buddy my plan. She’d already run about 8 or 9 full marathons and was going to attempt her 10th, the Chicago Marathon on 10-10-10 (which she accomplished…look at that date!). We hadn’t seen each other in over a decade and she’d always wanted to participate in the only marathon that crosses international borders. Plus she thought it would be a fun way to see each other and catch up, so she decided to join me in walking.

By now everyone is excited, my co-workers, my high school chum is filling out her passport application (needed since we’re crossing to Canada). Fun times lay ahead.

So the summer rolls around, school lets out, life happens, am I exercising? Randomly, I put in thirty minutes at the gym, a walk during lunch, or one after work with the little one and even that tapers off closer to race day. Soon I’m a month away and getting nervous. All of the plans I’d checked advised to allow a minimum of twelve weeks to properly get ready and now I have four. I have a doctor’s appointment at this time where I’m sure when I mention that I’d be trying to prepare for such an event in such a short period of time he would save me, tell me I wasn’t healthy enough to train in a few weeks. Nope! I get his full support to give it a go. I have no doctor’s note to present to all of these people I’d hyped myself to - that I’d be ready with bells on for this race.

Now it’s crunch time and I actually start getting sick…migraines one weekend, a cold another, lazyboneitis the other and I’m getting seriously worried. As the weeks before the race turn into days I express my doubts to my co-workers and my friend. It goes something like this:

“I’ve been getting headaches lately.”
“I was sick this weekend.”
“I don’t know…..”
“I feel exhausted.”
“My training sucks/is almost nonexistent.”

Michelle, the expert, assured me that I’d be fine since, although she’s a marathon running vet, when she walks, she walks very slowly. My co-workers just aren’t hearing my nonsense at all, they are confident that I have the physical ability to participate and finish.

Now I’m lamenting in being weaksauce, chastising myself severely. Instead of trying to get some cardio, walking, doing any kind of last-minute preparation, I spend the final week curled up in a fetal position whining about all of the wasted days I let pass by, trying to figure if I should fall down the steps or have someone hit me across the back with a two-by-four so I can have a legitimate way out. (Not seriously, but I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t cross my mind.) The Friday before the event I’m in full blown anxiety attack. Was I really going to be lame and be a no show? It was only because of me that my friend signed up and even got a passport!!! She’d be bringing her husband and kids driving 5 hours from Chicago, staying in a hotel just for this event!!!

The last thing one of my co-workers, Renee, said to me before she left work on Friday was, “You’d better show up!”

At that very moment I made a choice. This quote came to mind: “A loser is someone who’s so afraid of not winning that they don’t even try.” The fact is I’d neglected my training program and I couldn’t change the past, but I was reasonably sure that I could complete at least 3 or 4 miles of this race (which I’d done at the gym before). I’d attempt more miles and if my body gave me any symptoms that it was overly taxed: lightheadedness, wheezing, pains around the chest area of any kind, I would bow out and take the “Bus of Shame” back to the start, actually called the Last Chance Bus. Not that it’s shameful to get on the bus, which takes participants to the end of the marathon if they can’t finish from either not feeling well, or not keeping up, but I knew I’d be getting on it because me being trifling and my ridiculous procrastination.

So I get my head together determined that, if I wasn’t physically strong enough, I’d at least have a bit of mental toughness. Saturday I spent the day loading up on the carbs needed to keep up my energy throughout the race. I went down to Cobo Hall, picked up my race packet and then went on to buy race gear. You’re not supposed to try out new things before a race. Everything, from pants, to what you’ll snack on while you walk, is supposed to be tested prior so there won’t be any surprises and you can make adjustments if necessary. Obviously I hadn’t done this. Everything I purchased was brand spanking new, the shirt, hat, pouch, pants were bought that day. Even the most important piece….the shoes, the day before a 13.1 mile walk I’d be walking in new shoes, shoes not broken in…who does this? Me.

I took my rest that night, excited and nervous about what was to come on Sunday and very happy to be seeing my old friend, Michelle. There was no turning back now!

Knitting: I'm Bummed

So basically, no matter what I do to prevent pain, knitting is aggravating something. I haven't been overdoing it by any means. I keep the sessions down to 15-30 periods, stretching before, good ergonomics, even making sure I don't knit everyday, but all this to no avail. The tightness in my fingers and soreness in my wrist is always the outcome.

I'm still not giving up though. I have an orthopedic appointment on May 17th and I'm looking for answers. I've done the internet research on ruling out carpal tunnel syndrome based on the location of the pain. It might be tendonitis, tenosynovitis or some other ailment which I'll let the doctor diagnose.

Whatever the diagnosis I'm ready to closely follow any treatment plan suggested because this is making me sad. I want to knit and I miss it terribly. I've been doing alot of gaming on my Nintendo DS, which is it's own bit of fun, but nothing can replace some yarn flowing through my fingers.

I CAN Do It!

I CAN do it!

Henry Ford ~ “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”

Getting philosophical on ya!

October 17, 2010, I will join thousands of participants in the Detroit Free Press Marathon. Yup, a marathon.

Now let me clarify as I’m no uber-athlete. I’m doing the half-marathon and I’ll be walking. A few of my co-workers have participated for the past five years in a row. The other day, Lovica came in the kitchen with this cool looking medal, being nosey I asked her about it and she explained she’d received it from walking the Martian Invasion Half-Marathon (green ribbon with a martian in the middle, neat!). Ok, being the sci-fi geek that I am, I thought the name of the event was awesome by itself so I began to question and compliment her, praising her for such a feat and she encouraged me to join them. She said that with some training a half-marathon is a challenging and completely doable goal.

When it comes to physical activity, I’ve come a long way. Some years back a bad experience at a gym convinced me that working out was impossible for me. Then one day my job held a health fair where I explained my issue with the trainer who was signing up members at the same local gym. He apologized for what happened previously but stressed that regular activity is not beyond anyone to handle. I joined that day and quite frankly, I love that gym and have been a member ever since. A trainer customized a workout plan for my fitness level which I gradually increased. I was in the gym all the time at one point and having a blast, taking classes, working with weights all of that.

Since then I’ve fallen off the wagon, but I’m still a member of that gym and haven’t forgotten how good it feels to sit in the sauna after a long walk on the treadmill, or a vigorous step class. I learned that I can push my body to fitness.

So after talking with my co-worker I started mulling over the prospect of me doing something I’d never dreamt of undertaking. Even with an increased fitness level, a half-marathon, really? As I’m in the habit of doing with everything, I immediately started researching. Obviously, 13.1 miles is not as hard as 26, but it’s still no joke and I didn’t want to spend money on registering for something I had no chance of completing.

Turns out there are plenty of training programs for walking the half-marathon. Programs aimed at the beginner such as myself. They run from about 12 to 15 weeks in length, start and increase moderately and stress consistency. Since I have about five months before the race, I know I can do this!!!!

Now I’ll need to invest in a suitable sweat wicking outfit (to keep moisture at bay) and some decent walking shoes (usually the same as runners wear) and get them from store for runners so I can be fitted properly. Then I just have to get my physician’s bill of health and follow the program! It will be a challenge because consistency is very difficult for me, but with my co-workers cheering me on, walking during lunch, etc. I should be ready by fall. I’m looking forward to the health benefits, weight loss, finishing with a medal and the sense of accomplishment I’m sure to feel.

Hmmm, I’m not so jazzed about the portion of the race that crosses the bridge, but with the crowd of people with me I should be OK. Oh, and this isn’t a “fun” walk. You have to finish within the allotted four hours because they have to open up traffic eventually. If you’re lagging too far behind, a bus picks you up and takes you to the finish line. I do not want that to happen!

I’m excited and will update periodically.

Getting Yourself Killed on Vacation Isn't Cool - Vacation Part 2

Ah, me and Ericka. For as long as we've been friends we've traveled together. Over a decade of fun times and adventures (Toronto + rickshaw = a whole other blog entry). Hilarious adventures that only seem to happen to us. Our Cancun vacation was no exception during our excursion to Xel-ha

Xel-ha is a beautiful water park about 2 hours from Cancun. As water parks tend to have, there were many water-related activities to choose from, swimming with dolphins, snorkeling, rope bridges suspended over a lagoon. Ok, I don’t know how to swim, but there was food and a trail and drinky drinks to keep me happy and occupied. Did I say I can’t swim? Yup. So why did I let Eri talk me into a floating tour of the river on Xel-ha via inner tube? I don’t know. She sounded kind of convincing when she explained that we would "just be floating", along water that "wasn't deep at all". We’d have a life vests. One didn’t have to know how to swim to enjoy it. I say “kind of convincing” because I wasn’t totally buying it, but what the heck it's vacation.

So we took the train to the starting point of the tour. It was suggested that we rent fins so you could direct yourself and move forward through the river more easily, but we didn’t bring our money with us and I was told, by someone with the name starting with an “E”, that we wouldn’t really need them. So, per standard practice, we shipped all of our belongings, our shoes and cover ups to be picked up after we got to the end of the tour. Remember….I said shoes.

The minute I get into the inner tube I’m nervous, but I didn’t near panic attack until some minutes later. We started in this narrow area of the river with mangrove trees. I couldn’t direct myself well and kept bumping into the trees. I felt like I would tip over at any moment and find myself in Davy Jones’ Locker (and the cutie from The Monkees would not be there!). I could see the bottom of the river, but it didn't seem too shallow, but deep. Still, I wasn’t panicking….yet. THEN the narrow passage broke out into a larger area of the river. Now I’m bumping into the people snorkeling and I’m freaking because beyond this larger portion is an even larger area of the river that looked like huge ocean, a calm ocean, but very ocean-like nonetheless. My first thought is to get the heck out of there somehow. The tour was a total of an hour and I was about to have a heart attack at a measly 15 minutes in. I started crying out to anyone who would listen, begging them to snorkel me to the dock that I’d just eyeballed. Some nice gentleman obliged (probably to keep me from smacking him in the head with my inner tube at some point as I drifted wildly about.) Boy was I grateful and told him he was my hero. Oh and he was my hero because I have no doubt that I would have DIED during some part of that tour.

Now what was my best friend doing during this? Was she feeling my pain? No, she was laughing hysterically at me!!! Probably because I was giving her the gas face of a lifetime. Seriously, she was concerned and totally apologetic because with any of our adventures, they can be idiotic as well as side-splittingly funny!

I get to the dock and I’m completely relieved, but now I have to walk the trail to the end point of the tour. Guess what? Shoes. My shoes were removed at the starting point to be delivered to the end of the tour, remember?! So I start walking the trail and thank heavens it’s paved, but crap the trail is paved! Concrete paved. I’m walking and walking, walking some more and walking. My feet hurt. There are animals on this trail which I could hear in the bushes. Various iguana would be lounging smack dab in the middle of the trail I as I trudged along. Being a city girl I should have freaked but my feet hurt like the dickens and I was frustrated. I’m walking up to the iguanas daring them to do anything, I didn’t care. (The critters seemed to sense this vibe because they would very calmly saunter out of my way.) You should have seen the looks from the other people traveling on this trail. A barefoot black woman with steam coming from her head stomping angrily down this path, what?

So I make it back to the designated area, collect my shoes and head directly to the bar and order some cold and fruity drink with extra alcohol to sip while I sat in a sun chair catching rays while waiting for Ericka. Another drink, another 15 minutes. I can see the people coming through the river and I start to look for the cocoa-colored girl in the aqua-colored swimsuit, who should be easy to spot. I see other people that we started the tour with, but no Ericka. Now I’m panicking again, surely my bestest friend has tipped over somewhere along the way unnoticed and has DIED. What am I going to tell her mother? Why is my buzz being killed so harshly?

Finally we meet up, I did a little more stomping, we ate, drank, and then went to some hammocks where all was good with life. It’s vacation! Are you really going to be truly mad on vacation? Not me!

The hammocks were lovely. You could hear the birds chirping in the trees and I fell asleep peacefully. There’s a picture of me doing this but I look like a Butterball turkey wrapped in its plastic wrapping and no one will see that photographic proof....ever. Just believe that I look like I’m taking the nap of my life.

So that was The Xel-ha Adventure and I survived to tell the tale!

Vacation was a Blast!

(Had to crop this bad boy, my arm was looking ginormous!)


Hey! I’m back from vacation!

Ok, it was two months ago, but I had a blast in Cancun and I feel I must devote a little blog space to the fun times.

Cancun is my ultimate vacation spot. I’ve always gone with my BTF (best traveling friend) Ericka, who I’ve been on countless of vacations with because we travel well together. We go right before the spring breakers come and tear up the town and the deals are great, all-inclusive, pay one price and everything is included. Air, hotel, food and drinks on the resort (drinky drinks too). Basically we sleep, sun trying to get as dark chocolate as possible, eat and drink, repeat the next day. Add an excursion or two and that’s it. It’s ridiculously relaxing and if you’ve never jumped calm waves in the ocean, slept to the sound of them crashing against the shore while bathing under a warm tropical sun and breathing in the salt air, then you haven’t lived!!!!!

So this time we stayed at the Oasis Viva Beach and Cancun being such a tourist area the hotels are usually very nice, this resort being no exception. We had a great ocean view, the room was clean and pretty, the food was great, the service was awesome, the drinks plentiful, all that.


A few notable events:

The weather was, for the first time since I started going to Cancun, kind of rainy. Rain and Cancun doesn’t cross ones mind since it’s sunny there like 364 days a year. So the days it rained me and Ericka would sit looking stupefied because we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We just stayed in the room, watched movies and ate during those days, which is exponentially better than being at work for sure.

We also went to the flea market to shop and got lost on a bus on the way there (a scary yet minor inconvenience). The market itself was crazy chaotic! Music blaring and colorful merchandise everywhere! As soon as you entered everyone wanted you to check out their wares, see that they had the best prices and were willing to deal. We quickly found out you’d be a fool to pay what anyone asked at first! If a price was too high, they’d go down…which we found out as we tried to leave several shops. Our intent was to browse several stores and go back to our favorites, but that was an almost impossible undertaking. The store owners basically didn’t want you to leave without buying something, anything. Say you like an authentic Mexican purse, the first price quoted would be seriously high, like $35 for a cloth bag. You didn’t even have to counter as the price would drop to $30. As you’re walking away the bag gets cheaper $25…you still haven’t decided if you really want the purse because you just glanced at it in passing in the first place. So if you include the tactic of a counteroffer, well, well, now you’re bartering until you’ve bought something within your budget.

And every trick in the book was used by the sellers. You’re everyone’s sister from another mother, you’re being outright flirted with, and I even had one who tried to dupe me with some exchange rate trickery. In the end there were good deals to be had, although you know you still paid more than you probably should have, but it’s vacation and you need to bring back souvenirs, right?

We took two excursions. One was the Pirate Cruise where you get a dinner and pirate show, complete with dueling ships and cannons. There was this great game that Eri was picked to play where she competed with two other contestants to see how many pairs of shoes they could collect from the passengers. The one with the most pairs was the winner. Then you went and tried to find you shoes in this pile of 80 pairs of shoes and really, it is fun. Ericka won, yay! I didn’t get seasick because I was hopped up on Dramamine, but someone neglected to take some and should have. ;) There was lots of drinking, dancing with strangers and gorgeous faux pirates, huzzah!

So my Cancun vacation was a pure blast and if everything goes as planned there will be yet another in 2011.