A Debacle in Diplomatic Relations

I talked to these guys this morning, and it didn't go very well. Even more upsetting? There was no dancing and nary a hint of singing. Honestly, I kind of hoped there would be.


Naomi decided that she needed to go somewhere sunny in celebration of her 30th birthday; since I am always in favor of celebraciones de cumpleaños en el sol...the planning for Puerto Rico began rather quickly.

One of the places where we decided to stay is a small Mom & Pop guesthouse in a quiet town on the southern most part of the island. I had the dubious honor of giving them a call this morning as there was no online reservation page. I've got to admit, the phone call could have gone better.

I try not to be the ugly American who expects the world to speak to me in my mother tongue. I geared myself up for what could possibly be a rough conversation and gave ol' Puerto Rico a ring. Heck, I minored in Spanish for heaven's sake. How poorly could it go? Funny thing, I'm still not convinced that what I heard on the other end of the line was Spanish...or anything like unto it.

There was a litany of noise and some sounds that were vaguely recognizable. Then from me there was stammering, panic, and then I just hung up. No words. No apologies. I choked. I froze. I just hung up. After my diplomatic belly flop, I went to a friend who is a Spanish speaker, and had her call and make reservations for me.

Later that day it occurred to me that it would probably be a good idea to have confirmation in writing about our reservation. Thus, my humiliation en Español continued. I drafted up a few of my best guesses as to how I should ask about a confirmation and sent them to the Spanish teacher at my school. I explained my predicament and asked her which sounded the least stupid. She made me feel much better. Apparently, Puerto Rican Spanish is pretty hard to understand. Turns out they speak unbelievably quickly, drop various consonants from their words and pronounce their R's like L's. They are the fast talking Asians of the Spanish speaking world.

This could prove an interesting trip for me and my gringo Spanish.

¡Aye Carumba!

Deeper Shade of Sole

These are the shoes that I have on right now.
I didn't bother to put socks on for a couple of reasons. The main reason was simply because I was running late and couldn't find a matching pair. (I am not proud) As luck would have it, today was much colder than I expected it to be. So of course, I spent a good portion of the morning complaining about my cold, sock-less feet.

To add insult to the injury of my poor, pasty white, little soles, my coworker/friend looked down at my feet and said, "Are you kidding me right now? You aren't wearing white socks?"

Winter, are you listening? I'm so over you.

Hey Sailor!

It's interesting growing up. I am down in San Diego today talking with my grandparents about their youth, their marriage, joining the church and nearly burning down the neighborhood. My dad is recording some stories and I am in the other room looking through pictures.

This is one of my personal favorites. My grandpa is on the left. He and his buddy are heading to get breakfast at the YMCA in Honolulu.

Probably says something about the type of granddaughter that I am, but all I want to know is who is that guy on the right? And does he have any grandsons? Seriously.

Anchors Away, indeed.

Merry Christmas!

It's 1:30 am. Do you know where your daughters are?

Usually, if asked that question, my dad could pretty certainly answer, "She's in bed....same place she's been since about when the street lights came on." I doesn't matter if we are seperated by location, time zones, or a couple of miles. The answer is going to be the same. That's just how I roll. But tonight? Tonight is different.

While you may be out partying and reveling in the fact that tomorrow is destined to be another snow day, I...I stand alone. Alone in the street, dressed in nothing but my underwear and robe. Looking for the piece of crap dog who I let out to pee on the front porch because, "Hey- there is less snow there. That ought to be easy enough for him." Only to watch him flip me the doggie bird and run off into the night.

So dad, incase you get the call, "It's 1:30 am. Do you know where your daughter is?"


You can answer, yes. She is running around her neighborhood, in her underwear, robe, and no shoes, trying to catch a little black dog that desperately needs to be returned to his home....at the pound.

Can we conversate?

Dear World,
The word is CONVERSE. Conversate is not a word. I can't be held responsible for any damages or harm that may result from blatant misuse of the aforementioned word.
That is all,
Jillian

Where did you go November?

Well- I started out here (it's a horrible picture, but it's the only one I have)



Then I went here,





and did this,





With these people,





There were more surfing pictures, but in the interest of keeping just a smidgen of dignity...I will keep those for a more intimate audience. Know that there was blood involved. It was very Blue Crush.

Finally, we wrapped it up in the Pacific NoWest for the baptism of this one
Apparently, I need to squeeze her as hard as possible. She deserved it.

And yes- it has all been very fun, but I am exhausted.