criplomats

John and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this week! It’s so hard to believe that we’ve been married so long – it really seems like yesterday that we got hitched! It’s been a wonderful 20 years and we’re looking forward to many more!

We really enjoyed James and MaryBeth’s visit last weekend! On Sunday we walked to Dainzu, our favorite Oaxacan breakfast place, where we had a lovely breakfast outside. Then we drove to the Guachimontones (the round pyramids), followed by a lovely lunch at Hacienda del Carmen. We really appreciate them taking the time to come see us “in our natural habitat,” as James says.

Guachimontones

Tuesday night John and I went to a happy hour across the street where we saw an old friend from Pakistan – he was here for a conference. We really enjoyed catching up with an old familiar face!

John and I are starting to look at bidding options for our next post and have spent some amount of time talking about it this week. It’s stressful but exciting at the same time!

Sad news this week – Aunt Bonnie passed away. She was Mom’s little sister who lived in the house behind her. I have such fond memories of going to see her in Manhattan Beach, California, as a child. She always seemed so glamorous to me. She will be missed.

Aunt Bonnie and Mom at Garvin Gardens, Christmas 2012

I skipped a week of blogging – we were traveling last weekend and I was sick, to boot, so it just fell by the wayside. We made a quick trip up to northwest Arkansas to surprise my father-in-law Pete on his 80th birthday – fun!

We flew into the northwest Arkansas airport (thank you, Walmart!) and John’s brother Philip picked us up at the airport. We had a great time visiting with him, Michele, and the twins (already 16!) and enjoyed a delicious smoked rib dinner.

The next morning we drove over to Mountain Home, surprised Pete, and spent the night over there. The next day, they drove us back to Fayetteville to catch our flight back to Guadalajara.

This past Thursday evening, my cousin James from San Antonio and his wife MaryBeth flew in to town. We spent Friday in Tlaquepaque and Tonala, and went to Tequila yesterday to tour the Herradura distillery. We have another day of fun ahead of us today!

WIth James, Tlaquepaque

Luckily Monday was a holiday here, so we were able to extend our vacation a little bit before setting an alarm clock. I didn’t realize that the four-hour time difference would give me such jet lag, but it did, so it’s been a struggle to sleep well this week. Add to that the fact that I had to start carrying the duty phone this week, so even when I have been lucky enough to get to sleep, invariably an AmCit calls in the middle of the night with some sort of problem (usually one that could have waited until day light, but hey, it’s what I get paid to do!).

Thursday night we hosted a good book club meeting. We read “Thieves of State” (the author’s thesis is that government corruption leads to terrorism or contributes to it) – we had a good turnout, plus had a friend Skype in for the discussion as well.

John went to a game night Friday night (I opted out) and had a good time. Looks like we’re getting some new folks in who like to game, so that’s good.

Saturday morning I went on a Hash House run/walk (sans the beer drinking). Guadalajara is blessed with their version of Central Park – lots of gardens and walking trails. It’s one of those places I’ve been meaning to go to, so this was a great introduction to it, and I’ll go back. Afterward several of us went to a great taco place for breakfast, then I drove over to the zocolo in Zapopan to wander around a bit.

So, it was a great vacation, but it’s back to the real world now!