I am constantly amazed at how time seems to fly by. I bet at least a few of you imagine us living here, just lounging around at the beach all day and doing not much at all. And that is a perfectly acceptable thing to think except that it couldn’t be further from the truth. [Recall that we just completed three months managing seven rental palapas and casitas in Yelapa, Mexico. Also note that I wrote this post back in February, during our last month at El Jardin, and got wrapped up in photos…then busy, busy…and now it is mid-March and I am just now posting it. Oh well.] So I thought I’d give you a little idea of our ‘normal’ day here:
- 7:00 AM — Mia wakes up and sing-songs in her bed or joins us in ours under the premise of ‘waiting for the sun to wake up’
- 7:30 AM — One of us heads down to start coffee & tea for our guests, put away dishes, refill water, etc. Meanwhile the other gets Mia ready for the day and starts on breakfast for her.
- 8:00 AM — Aaron checks our house (electronic) calendars and messages to see which guests are arriving/departing and when, and begins scheduling the various things to be done: gardening/handy-man type work, house cleaning, laundry and basic house keeping. There are 2 guys who work here 4 days a week, a house keeper who works hourly as needed, and an assistant who lives here and helps with laundry, sweeping, etc.). I hang out with Mia during/after breakfast. We’ll make calls to have water delivered, coordinate with the owner and others as needed to schedule everything.
- 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM — I head up to my office and work remotely (conference calls, report writing/ reviews/revisions, coordinate with colleagues and clients on various projects, etc.). Aaron juggles all the things that go with this place (“our hot water isn’t working”, “we need money to buy XYZ at the hardware store”, schedule boat trips for guests, relocate a 6-foot boa, balance the books, etc.) while caring for and playing with Mia.
- 12:30 — Mia and I (sometimes Aaron, depending on guests/houses/staff/etc.) head to the beach right outside our front door. We had been here for several weeks before realizing that the day can easily slip by without beach/ocean playtime UNLESS you make it a priority. Thus ‘sea time’ is now on our daily calendar: swim, play in the waves, climb the rocks, run through the little (clean) river as it shifts through the sand into the sea, kayak, watch the crabs, snorkel, etc.
- 2:00 — Head back to the house for snack, bath, and nap time.
- 2:30 to 5:00 — Mia naps while Mama and Papa work and/or play as necessary.
- 5:00 to 8:00 — Dinner and family time
- 8:00 — Mia goes to bed.
- Sometime after 8 PM Mama and Papa go to bed.
- Repeat.
This was our “usual” routine and everyone thrives on routine (especially youngsters). Of course, we might scratch all of that for a day trip to a nearby town or whale watching. We may go into the big city for a shopping trip. We sometimes get nothing done because of various incidents and/or visitors. We sometimes go to the big beach for “tourist day” and because some lounging in the sun is required. We often drop everything to watch a whale or dolphin or manta ray show. Here are a few random snap shots of our days…(still woefully behind on getting photos up to date but making progress):
It is always an adventure in paradise and it is lovely that we get to spend much of our time together. How do you make time for things that are important to you?
One Moore In The Oven 