Sunday, January 16, 2011

My detox foot pads and my upcoming wedding

I try to wear my detox foot pads every weekend for 2 nights. I wear 6 on each foot. I shower in the evenings usually after my workout, so I don't take the time in the morning before work to peel my foot pads off and scrub my feet, so the weekends work best for me.

I started an amazing promotion for the 60-pack foot pads (which for the time being, if you buy the 60-pack, you get 20 free). Regular price is $75, but the sale price is just $60. That is a total of 80 foot pads for $60 -- an absolutely fantastic deal.

Especially since I am one of the few foot pad companies that has absolutely NO FILLERS in my foot pads. They are super strong and will pull the toxins out like mad! :) And, I always offer FREE priority mail shipping to the U.S. and military bases. I am very thankful for all our military personnel and their families, and try to throw in an extra pack or two as a thank you gesture, when they do order.

But my point is that while I try to wear them myself on the weekends, I usually forget. I did wear them on Friday night but forgot last night. No wonder I didn't sleep as well.

I have a few things that I need to do before my wedding. One is to wear my detox foot pads more consistently, and another is to exfoliate my face / microderm abrasion etc. And, I want to lighten up my teeth. Oh, and of course, lose 15 more pounds so I can fit into my dress. I don't think that should be a problem, and I might not need to lose 15 lbs. I might just have to tone up my body and that will work. Muscle weighs more than fat, after all! Everything fits except in the chest area. I am surprised the waist fits, as I have a 30" waist and they said the measurements were for a 28 1/2" waist. But I do have flab, like in my upper love handle area, so I want to lose that and everything will be great!

And, I think I want to keep my tan. Having a golden tan next to a white dress is beautiful!

Lots to do, but this is fun. No stress allowed!

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Monday, January 3, 2011

We are leaving Panama today

Today is our 12th day in Panama, and currently I am at the Tocumen airport at my gate. Steve is at the airport bookstore trying to find a good read.

Our basic synopsis is this:

Boca Chica -- WE LOVED IT!! Wish we spent more than 3 days there
Boquete -- We could have done without this, or done it in one afternoon or morning, waste of time, too much rain
Bocas del Toro -- Of course this is a great place because Steve proposed to me here and it will always have fond memories. But we could have done without the pouring down rain, and better service.
Panama City -- we stayed here one night in a luxurious hotel. I slept AMAZING. They had great customer service at the Radisson Decapolis, except that we didn't understand why they charged us $11 for dim sum although we didn't have it... Steve didn't tell me until we were on our way to the airport, but he didn't even bother to challenge it. When we went to the hot tub, there was a family (we are guessing they are local to Panama or another Central American country), but they were SUPER rude. Their little girl (maybe around 3 years old) was using the hot tub as a swimming pool, splashing EVERYONE, and the older grandma was playing touchy feely with mine and Steve's legs. Overall very rude and inconsiderate. if they want to swim, use the pool.

I didn't take any pictures in Panama City because a fellow traveler told us that he tried, and his cab driver told him not to, otherwise they might get carjacked. Besides, there wasn't much to take pictures of. A dirty city is a dirty city, right? I know that I won't ever be able to know how to get from one place to another. It doesn't make sense to me. hah. I would get lost totally.

The customer service is very bad here in Panama. The restaurants (most of them) took their time, didn't have everything on the menu, and didn't care if they brought you out a hot meal that wasn't hot anymore. They don't refill your drinks, and when you need to leave and there are people waiting to sit down at a table, they still don't bring your bill...

It is very different here than it is in the U.S. I am more appreciative of even COMCAST (I know, I know, I can't even believe i wrote that!!) and I will be sure to tell any future waitresses I have back home that they are providing me exceptional service.

Will we come back to Panama? I think so. We want to tour Pedasi, Chitre, Las Tablos, Santiago, etc. (the Azuero peninsula) And we will probably rent a car vs rely on public transportation. And I don't want to fly Air Panama or Aeroperlas ever again. If you want to experience chaos and a cluster @#$^, then you definitely should try them out. We got out of the tiny airport (I did take a picture of that but will upload it later) 2 hours behind schedule, but all along they kept telling us that the filght was on time. We had a 2pm flight... at 2:30 they told us it was still on schedule!! HAHAHAHAH!!! That cracks me up.

Anyway, time for me to get going. We are flying to Dallas and then will have a 3-hour layover before we catch a filght to MSP. Aegis, Max, Bimp, I will see you soon!! Miss you!!!!

And I am so utterly in love with Steve. Even after almost 10 years, he is the man of my dreams.

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Sunday, January 2, 2011

Bocas Town on Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro

Dec 30th we checked into the Bahia del Sol bed and breakfast in Bocas Town. It is a great place. We love the house. It has 4 guest rooms. We got to know some of the other people staying here, too. We love the architecture, the layout, the dock (the whole building is above water). They have a cat and dog that live here, Sophia and Cubby. Jack and Lee, the owners, are very pleasant. Jack is quite a character. And he cooks breakfast for everyone.

The ONE thing that I don't like, and it is probably a reason I wouldn't stay here again, is that secondhand smoke seeps into the rooms when someone smokes outdoors. The windows are just screens with shutters, they don't shut completely. And since I can't control people smoking, I would probably not stay here again, to protect myself from my reaction to secondhand smoke. I don't want to get sick on my vacation!

Otherwise, it is a perfect place. If you don't get sick from second hand smoke, then this might just be the place for you. It is a $1 taxi ride into town. Or you can walk. It is nestled in Saigon Bay, amongst the locals. I love it. I have heard that if you stay in town on the main street (there are only a few streets here in Bocas Town), you won't get much sleep because the discos play until the wee hours of the morning and are LOUD. We are about 15 min walk (or 5 min cab ride) away, so it is great.

We had one day of no rain (yesterday, Jan 1st). Right now it is pouring down rain. It is just pounding!! We got some sun yesterday, and we got engaged, so it was a perfect day! We ate at Buena Vista Bar and Grill in Bocas Town and the sun was setting. Once it was dark, they had a boat parade and fireworks -- it was great.  The boats were all lit up. The service was pretty decent and the food was delicious.

One thing that is kinda cool is that Bahia del Sol, along with many other places here on th island, collect the rain water, and that is what is used for the wash, for showering, toilets, faucet. We drink bottled water but have used the tap water for brushing our teeth and washing our faces and showering. So far we haven't gotten sick. Many locals do this, too. It is nice. I would like to do this back home. (we are on a well system so I don't mean for our water supply, but mainly for gardening, etc).

The vehicles (mostly taxis) here have specific reasons for honking their horns, which they do quite often:

1) to tell people in the streets to get out of the way
2) to tell other vehicles they are going to pass them
3) to acknowledge people ("hello")
4) to let folks know they are waiting for them
5) to let folks know they are angry at them (this one we didn't see too much of)

It is hilarious. Each time we see a taxi honk their horn, we know which category from above that it falls into. Very easy to decipher.

The policia stop folks randomly... and the hospital looks very germy. And there is trash everywhere!!!

When we were walking back to Bahia del Sol, we saw a cemetery, and a lady on a scooter was leaving with two dogs. The dogs just jumped up on her scooter, and held their position as she rode away. I took a picture of it (see below all the pics of these things I am mentioning).

Today we are taking a short flight back to Panama City, and will spend the afternoon and night there, and then we will fly back tomorrow morning to the states.

Kinda sad it is over, but missing my home, my Aegis and my Max, and my Bimpy cat.

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Marriage proposal in Panama

I am the happiest girl alive!!! Steve and I went to town this morning, to purchase some souvenirs, and to eat lunch. We also checked out where the airport was. We WALKED to the airport. Kinda cool. Then, we were so blessed with a gorgeous sunny day without a cloud in sight. How could it have been raining non-stop for the past week straight? Well, a good start to the new year!

We went to a local beach, and we laid out, and then Steve talked me into going into the water. I am usually not one for going into the water at the beach, at least past my knees. But we went in... farther and farther out!!!

I got sidetracked at first because a local man was wading out into the ocean sorta close by us, and he was carrying a puppy. I thought for an instant that he might drown the puppy. I am unsure of the way folks do things here, so I went over to him (I battled the ocean to get to him) and he let me hold the puppy. The poor little guy was scared and shivering. So, I gave the puppy back, and was going to watch him with an eagle eye, ready to rescue the puppy if necessary (even though I don't swim well).

Then I went back to Steve and was talking animatedly about the pup, and then he turned around to face me with the souvenir ring and asked "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" O my!!!! My heart stopped, I wasn't expecting this, and thankfully my sunglasses hid the tears welling up in my eyes. My knees felt weak, and I said "are you serious?" and he said yes, and I then said "me? You want to marry ME?" And he again said yes, and I believe I said yes or "of course I will" at that point, but he started getting impatient and said "well, ANSWER ME" hehe.. I told him yes yes yes yes yes.

He then explained how this was the start of a new year and wanted to propose to me in the water, because the water travels all over the place, and so wherever we go, whether it is Belize, or Costa Rica, or wherever, it has the same water, and it can be "Our place". If that isn't the most romantic thing ever, then I don't know what is.

So, we then decided (me really) that I don't want a big wedding at all. Maybe just a couple people witnessing our wedding, and then maybe do it early spring. Maybe April 1st. hehe.

I get to pick out a ring when I get home. I am already looking online to check them out. Woohoo!

So, this was a perfect New Years Day. The sun came out, for the first time in a week. Blue skies, sunshine, marriage proposal!! YAY!!! What a fantastic trip so far!

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