Monday October 31, 2011

Howdy all y Feliz Dia de los Muertos!!

A very sunny…and chilly day here in Vancouver…all due to the viento…wind.

Bexico pounded out a workout at home and then came downtown with me. The plan? Go for a walk while I am working out, and then we are headed to Stanley Park for a walk and some fotos.

And here come the fotos!!



The Bexico series.




And the maple leaf series...no not the hockey team.




Some views of downtown Vancouver.





Lions Gate Bridge



Views of Ambleside Park in West Vancouver…including some para-surfers.



We didn’t venture too far off the beaten path.


The Hollow Tree in Stanley Park.




And some old school fotos of the same tree.



Some choppy seas.



The last foto is of the Burrard Street Bridge.

So we were finished being tourists and headed home. Spent the afternoon chill-laxing and catching up on the news of the World.

Great story about a Vancouver Global sportscaster winning a $2.5 million dollar home…the draw was held at his station and the newscaster and his boss, the top sportscaster, could not believe it was their co-worker. They called him on air and he too could not believe it. Fun story.

Any who…515pm and I am headed out the door to watch some MNF and have some eats with mi amigo Coco.

Finish this up later.

Hasta.

10pm…back from a certain restaurant owned by a past colleague. Service was pretty good…food took forever, was over done and too expensive.

But…I had a great visit with my amigo Coco. Nice to catch up and stay in touch. Hard to do from other countries, so good to do when in the same town.

Mañana? Hello to our week 39 visit with the midwife group. And then some Joe’s for brunch!! And don't forget to wish Nicole a Feliz Cumpleaños!!

Have a great Tuesday.

Marco y Bexico

Sunday October 30, 2011


So no dead bodies in the back of our truck today….but we did go for a nice walk down the block and to make sure Bexico was set for the next year plus…we grabbed 2 boxes of orange pekoe tea.

Best part? Buy one get one free.

Nice to have some family contact today. They might have been in kahoots, but only a few minutes after getting off the phone with mi hermana mayor (oldest sister), we received an email from mi otra hermana.

Nice to know everyone is excited about niño and were just checking in to see how we are doing.

On that note, sending out a gracias to Bexico’s sister who sent us a package for niño, a nice sweater to keep him/her warm. And along with all the goods from my sister (hello Canuck’s jersey), we might just need a larger truck to get all these items back home.

Tranquilo  Sunday…phew are they tiring!!

Football and then I was shocked to see that we could not get the Nascar race on the TV here in the condo. Good thing I could stream it online…and what a great race.

A walk, a siesta and some good burgers for dinner. Sunday is done.

Mañana…looking forward to going out with my Boathouse amigo.

What are we missing in Huatulco?


This dance looks interesting. I pulled the picture from the local online newspaper.

Have a great Monday….someday soon I will be a padre!!!

Saturday October 29, 2011



Ok…read this story.


Bubba’s rules for Mexico.

#1…do not go ANYWHERE with a new “amigo” if they drive a better vehicle then you, live in a swank casa or like to eat out at fancy restaurants

And today’s addition to the rules?

#2…do not hit a pedestrian and then throw them in the back of your truck and drive around town!!!

That guy has ruined it for all of us!! Ja ja ja

Tranquilo Saturday here in North Vancouver….great burgers though!!

El gimnasio, Bexico did a walk around downtown and then we chilled this afternoon…possibly our last quiet Saturday afternoon for a few years?

She is finishing up some revisions on her final contract and then it is time to take a niño break.

Mañana? Hello to biscuits and sausages para el desayuno….then onto some NFL and the Nascar race. Tough Sunday!!

As for last year, it looks like we were learning about Dia de los Muertos.


Have a great Sunday.

Marco y Bexico

Friday October 28, 2011


Congrats to the St Louis Cardinals, World Series Champions!! It was a great series and after last night’s heroics, they deserved to win.

Congrats to Le Streb…home town is St Louis!!

And from good news for Cardinal fans, to bad news for one Chinese man. This link is not for young peeps and maybe some of us older peeps.


So much for the spa in Huatulco!! 

Hey…Feliz Cumpleaños to our amigo Lalo!!

Tranquilo Friday? Yup.

Won’t bore you with the gym story…but did I ever mention I love hot dogs? Another $1.65 lunch at Costco on our way to Metrotown.

The score at MT? Back up battery charger for the Mac. Slightly apprehensive about this charger as the online reviews have not been very good…but I cannot afford to be stuck without one once back in Huatulco.

More deals? How about a surfing onesie from Old Navy…for 51 cents!! And then we hit up Gymboree and even thought their prices are muy caro, we found some $30 items that were each on sale and we grabbed them both for a total of $11….savings of $49!!

We are realizing that we will not see “sales” in Huatulco…it is always summer there. But shopping for niños summer items during the Fall in Vancouver, will save us tons. A surf shirt and shorts and a rash (and sun) guard for $11? Score.

And Bexico also scored on some great swimwear deals…getting ready for Mojon!!

Me? I was excited about the 10 bolsa de aspiradora…vacuum cleaner bags!! Ja ja ja

Bexico work update? Her plate is essentially clear and we will wait until niño is here and we understand the scope of this thing called parenting before she takes on new work.

No big weekend plans. Might look into the satellite for Huatulco…need to figure out where we will pack it into the camioneta!! Today we took the truck to a self serve car wash and sprayed out the bed, adios to the last of the Mojon arena (sand) and the grime I picked up on the way norte. It is clean and ready to be packed full of strollers, swings and satellite dishes!!

What were we up to last year? Looks like we still did not have the internet in our condo, and we were spending some quality time at Mojon.


Buen fin de semana!!

Marco y Bexico

Thursday October 27, 2011


Now this was a crazy game 6 of the WS!!

Hey St Louis…what a great comeback to tie it at the bottom of the 9th. And then you did it again in the bottom of the 10th? And at 940pm, bottom of the 11th…a home run to win game 6 and force a game 7? Wow!!

As for us, yes it was a tranquilo day.

I went to el gimnasio, Bexico did her workout and then walked to the Stupid Store to meet me, we shopped, came home and then she went out tonight to meet her amiga.

Not too complicated eh?

Padre’s Mac is in the shop, so instead of an iChat, plugged in the “Jack” and had an old school phone call with mis padres.

Bexico grabbed the SeaBus to downtown and then a quick train to her old work, where she said hola to some old mates and scored some free appies from her amiga!! Score!!

Mañana, don’t forget to wish Lalo a Happy Birthday!!

Have a great Friday mis amigos.

Wednesday October 26, 2011


No…no we did not have niño yet. Just took the night off from blogging.

10am and I am watching a work crew change a power pole on the street corner. It looks like someone took the corner too tight and cracked the pole. Interesting procedures to take the live wires off the wrecked pole and wire up the new pole.

As for last nights dinner…wow was my belly full from one of Romer’s burgers. I had the Man’s Man Burger…delicious.


Here is the link to Romer’s. They have two restaurants now…check’em out.


Great catching up with JR. And as mi amigo in TO said and I too now agree with, when I die and come back, I want Romer’s life!! The hombre has worked hard…and is still working hard…and has the results to show for it. Congrats JR.

So…I didn’t feel too bad when he picked up the tab!! Ja ja ja But what is up with me spilling beers? Another one ayer. Doph.

Joke of the day? I received a call from an amigo and that is RARE (from this hombre). I call him back and tell him I am in the hospital. He says congrats thinking it is for niño and I say naaaah. Heart attack because I was so surprised that he actually called. Ja ja ja

Anyway, he was working near Romer’s and I popped in to say hola on the way home. We are all set up for some eats and suds next week. Nice guy…will be good to hang out.

And who is hanging out tonight? Bexico is going to slowly make her way to see an amiga. Social butterfly? Lol

Hey…what is this a foto of? (compliments of the Vancouver Sun)


How about the first snowfall on the North Shore mountains!! Keep it coming as our hope remains to be on Mt Baker for Dec 2 and Whistler for Dec 5 and 6.


Last year Mt Baker received 857 inches of nieve and during the record breaking year of  1998-1999 it was 1140 inches…95 feet/29 meters!!


Whistler says they will be open on November 24!!

Back to our Wednesday.

First up was the lawyer. Now there is a great gig. Get clients to fill out the on line questionnaire, have the office assistant transfer the info onto the legal forms, get the clients to confirm the info is correct, and then charge them $300…and another $10 for photocopying!!

At least we are all set up. In case something does happen, we have left you know who all the fotos of the truck full of the fresh fruits. Ja ja ja

And then off to el gimnasio. Guess who joined me. Yup…the only 38 week pregnant woman in the whole place was Bexico!!

Off to Capilano Mall in North Van. The only mall we are aware of that is closed at 550pm on a Tuesday (we were there before our movie the night before).

Good score on some niño items at Sears…who knew. And we will head back once we find out if it is a niño o niña. Good thing we are headed back…need to stock up on vacuum cleaner bags!! Things we think of at the last moment.

Shopping poops us out…for different reasons. So we headed home and chill-laxed until I headed out. What? No WS game. What? Canucks lost again? Must be October!!

Tranquilo Wednesday is turning into tranquilo Thursday.

Have a great Thursday.

Marco y Bexico

Tuesday October 25, 2011


Ok…so the story is that we were going to buy some diapers…277 Pampers for $39 when we are first told by one mother…don’t buy too many because niño will out grow them.

Then we are looking for the Pampers box (277 of size 1) and cannot find them. We are staring at the other 50 types of diapers when we are approached by another “member” of the secret fraternity called “helpful mothers”.

This lady SWEARS by Huggies…but not the regular Huggies, the Snug and Dry, but the Little Snugglers for the newborns because they then can grow into Little Movers when niño is bigger.

Hey, this lady has 3 kids and swears by them….so she must be right? Ja ja ja

Well…we already have a small box of Pampers, and will try them first and if we like’em, we will stick with them and if we don’t…hello Huggies.

Who knows what we will be buying once we are back in Huatulco. Stay tuned for more diaper saga.

940pm and we are sitting in the condo, admiring the $4 ($48 peso) strand of pumpkin lights we have strung up. We are ready for Dia de los Muertos 2012!! And as niño gets older, we are going to work on the trick or treating in Huatulco.

They already have some t&t, but not much. Even if we need to buy the candy for the stores to hand out, our niño is going to experience Halloween!!

Our pelicula tonight? Ides of March with George Clooney. Hmmm…not bad, not great…4.5/7 on the Bexico/Marco scale.

Joe’s for desayunos? Hello!! Blueberry pancakes and salchichas!! Bexico went healthy and had the chicken sandwich.

And I guess we need to update y’all about the mid wife visit. We met m-w #3 and we like Lisa the best. She was very confident in the answers to our questions and was genuinely interested in not just niño, but our whole story, including Mexico.

Niño is a-ok and after last week’s visit, our m-f checked in with an OB to confirm size of niño was ok, and all good there. A rehash…kid is big, but not too big, meaning we just plug along and don’t think about inducing.

So, we wait. We are in no rush to have the pregnancy over…Bexico feels great and we are enjoying all the belly dancing niño does. But…niño’s appearance into our world starts the new chapter and the domino effect of our new life. So…we are excited to wait, and are waiting to be excited!!

Bexico workload? Nothing new, but she has had several emails with a previous client (two previous projects) about more work in the near future.

Protecting the relationship, Bexico let her know she will be out of commission for a few weeks once niño arrives, and this client likes Bexico’s work and work ethic so much, that she said it will not be a problem!!

And on another note about clients…she has received payment on a contract that was last worked on 5 or 6 weeks ago while we were still in Mexico. Duh…the client just never got back to her and so she does not send the final project until payment is received.

Crazy world.

Cray world? Hope the Eurozone gets their heads out of their butts and put some solutions towards their $$ problems…as they have become my problems too!!

But the peso vs Cdn dollar is on a tear. It was back up to 13.5 pesos/dollar and that means great cost of living once we get back home.

Mañana…the will.

No other plans until 5pm when I will be hooking up with Jim Romer…owner of Romer’s Burger Bar. Good eats!!

Here’s what we were up to a year ago…funny to read about the first few months and trying to get settled.


Have a great miercoles.

Marco y Bexico

Monday October 24, 2011

Howdy all!!

A quiet Monday night. The World Series on one channel and MNF on the other.

Bad timing for St Louis to be in the WS. If this was a different year, I would jump on a plane and join mi hermano in St Louis and catch a game together. Next time…and maybe I bring niño!!

Talking about niño…what do you all know about “cradle cap”? Yikes…we knew nothing about it…and I wish it had stayed that way. I guess 50% of newborns (and older) have this condition.

And what did Bexico realize we did not yet buy for niño? We picked up another outfit for niño to wear outside of the condo. We needed something with long sleeves and legs…that we probably will never use in Huatulco!!

Our other big purchase? Gates. Yup…we bought two gates so when the time comes, we won’t have someone pushing on the screen door and we can keep the bedroom door open…needed for the air flow when it is 45 (plus) grados!!

Due date is now 14 days and counting!! Stay tuned.

Our day? Exciting if you call a trip to the grocery store exciting. Started with a good work out, hit the store and then had a relaxing afternoon.

I did buy the new Coldplay album…spent $10 of niño’s inheritance…doph. Ja ja ja

Bexico spent the day doing what she does…work, workout and then she walked to the store to meet me. Midwife says walking is good to try and get labour going.

Work? Nothing new. One character design project and one animation for the fitness client. Perfect as it leaves her time for her own projects and will ensure she is not ½ way through a project when a little hand pokes out.

Great baseball game!! Currently 4-2 for Texas.

Last year? We were getting excited about getting the internet hooked up. Read on.


Mañana? Headed downtown early. I will hit the gym and Bexico will hit Starbucks for a Chai tea and then we will be off to the mid wives.

Expecting to hear all is well and then we are headed to the lobby of the building because we discovered our favorite breakfast restaurant, Joe's, has a location there. Score!!

Then off to load up on some diapers…how exciting is that?

And for more excitement? How about a movie? We have not been to one since we arrived back in Canada and once niño pops out, we are not sure when the next opportunity will be.

Wait a second. It’s not like ANYONE keeps quiet in the theatre back home…niño will fit right in.

And we will end the day Mexican style…Bubba’s burritos!!

Have a great Tuesday.

Marco y Bexico

Sunday October 23, 2011


Hola all. How was your Sunday? Ours? Tranquilo!!

Best part of our day (together) was the walk to Harbourview Park, here in North Vancouver.

Best part of my day (solo)? How about free dinner and bevies? Courtesy of SL….hello Mexican geography!! I am not going to rub it in…he was the ONLY one who was interested in Gato Negro!!

Fotos from our walk. And let me tell you…super friendly peeps here in N Van. Must have been a dozen peeps who said hola and wanted to wish us well with the niño.

Here are some North Shore Mountains.



The second foto is of Grouse Mountain. In a few weeks we will see the first snow fall up there...and then the snowboarders and their tabla de nieve (snowboards)!!

We walked through a small forest to get to the park and stopped to wash some clothes.


Just kidding…but someone does obviously live there. It reminds me of one of the big differences between Huatulco and Vancouver.

Yes, in Huatulco there are many people that we in Vancouver would consider poor. Heck, Daniel my Fonatur amigo makes $8 Cdn a day.

But…as I drive to mi el gimnasio, I pass Oppenheimer Park and several times a week I see hundreds of people in line ups waiting for free food. This is something we do not experience…people in line ups looking for food.

I don’t have the solution, I am just making an observation.

Misc fotos from the walk.


Huge tires…must have been 10 feet tall.





The view of Vancouver from the end of the walk.



The rest of our day? Eating. Yikes. I need to hit the gym mañana!! Ja ja ja

Some good eats for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Can you say hello to the free box of mini chocolate bars we received from Stupid Store for spending a certain level of $$??

Nascar race was ok…the 2x2 racing can be a yawner. NFL? I sure wouldn’t want to be the one to pay go see the Browns beat the Seahawks 6-3 (boring), or to see Miami lose again…or to see Indy get their butts kicked 62-7. Yikes.

I did head out to New West to meet up with my amigo SL. Great to catch up and watch some baseball. And who knew I could get a free night out of it by confirming some geography...of the country I live in!!

So, squeeze in a little baseball (Texas 4-0 over St Louis) and that was really my day. Hey…gotta get the sports in while I can!!

I was looking at the blog from a year ago…all I did was watch football and go for a walk!! Ja ja ja

I will provide the link to 2010’s blog if there are some good fotos or interesting ah-ha’s about Mexico/Huatulco.

Mañana…nothing special. Tuesday is back to the mid wives…2 weeks and counting we think.

Have a great week.

Marco y Bexico

Saturday October 22, 2011


Howdy all!!

Had a good day…a quiet Saturday here in North Vancouver.

Biggest amount of my day was spent working on the car seat for niño!! It is a tight fit in the back seat and I obviously want to make sure the seat is installed correctly.

So I reviewed the instructions for a 4th time and managed to attach the tether and I think the seat is rock solid. Rumor has it you can take it to ICBC and get them to check it out…probably do that….might need to make sure I am all up and up on the insurance first. Ja ja ja

What other big events? How about the D-A from Australia cancelling the contract with Bexico? We are not sure why…but after 8 drawings he is going to try another approach…what ever that means.

But she still has the fitness animations and one character design. And now that she has some free time, it is time to focus on learning all the ins and outs of her new software and work on some personal projects as well.

We did manage to get her out of the house today as well…nice not to be cooped up!!! We might have some sun tomorrow and we found a nice trail so we might go for another walk and bring out the camera!!

Our Sunday? Hello Nascar, NFL, the walk and then off to have some suds with Senor Lower.

Proxima semana? Mid wife and the lawyer…time to deal with the wills!! And don’t forget to wish Lalo a Feliz Cumpleaños next Friday.

Time to reflect on where we were a year ago, and what we were doing.


Have a great Sunday!!

Marco y Bexico

Friday October 21, 2011


Hola mis amigos.

Feliz Cumpleaños Senor Secord!!

The weekend has come again…buen fin de semana!!

A special hola to mis amigos in Huatulco who are keeping updated via the blog.

A few notes about yesterday….

In Mexico I expect the drivers to not follow the rules of the road. You don’t have to take a test to get a license and many peeps probably do not even have a license. You just get used to it and it doesn’t stress you out.

Last night I was headed downtown to meet mi hermano for pizza, and I could not believe how bad the drivers were. And these are the ones who supposedly did take a test to get their license? Crazy.

As for Vancouver and region…even in one year it has seen a lot of change. The North Van area around Lonsdale is all condo’d up and as I headed into town last night, I called up the old Bella pizza haunt on Homer…and it is gone!!

But, I was redirected to their new location and when Olen and I met there, we had not only great pie, but great service too. Who knew? The owner was quite excited to hear that I had driven 5700km for a Bella pizza!! Ja ja ja

On to Friday. Overall…a tranquilo day…but the rain returned with a vengeance!!

El gimnasio, a pit stop at Stupid Store to grab some misc items and then a relaxing afternoon at the condo.

While I was gone…Bexico was hard at work with her projects, squeezed in a work out and even sold our last piece of furniture!! With some diligence, we managed to sell it all and this last piece went to a cheap skate. A $100 side table on sale for $25 and she wanted it for $20? Sold…just get it out of our condo!!

Here is one of the latest projects Bexico has completed.


It was a character design based on a foto of the client which he wanted it for his website.

On going projects? She has completed 7 or 8 of the 50 drawing project and will pound out a bunch more this weekend. These pictures are for a drivers education manual…for Australia!! Other side of the road, steering wheel on the other side etc.

She is also about 3-4 hours away from completing another drawing which has 4 characters and a background.

The non-ending project? Short animations for a fitness guy. He wants 3-4 a month which is good work, but again we have a client that is not the best communicator…needs to work on the listening skills!! Bexico does the drawings…not the music side to these animations and even though she tells clients this, they often come back and ask her either where is the music, or can she add music. Doph.

Weekend plans? Bexico is working and I will be watching the race at 11am on domingo and then will hook up with Senor Lower for some pm suds and football.

Have a great weekend all.

Bubba y Bexico