63. English - sort of

We took the super delux overnight ADO Uno bus from Veracruz to Matamores on the 19th. We were boarded and had our passports inspected twice by immigration and the Federales. We watched a horrible Dolph Lundgren movie, Direct Action, in English with Spanish subtitles. Then an episode of the single greatest television series in the history of television series, Meerkat Manor. It was in Spanish and a little hard to follow, but Shakespeare was alive and Flower was still in charge. (I know what you're thinking, but the Meerkat's made Entertainment Magazine's 10 Shows You Should Be Watching list last summer. You should be watching. At a minimum, it should be on our DVR for those Sunday afternoon lounge fests.) Crossing the boarder was a little hairy. The Mr had trouble answering the US Border Agent's questions correctly, which was actually kind of funny to watch until it looked like we might be in a little trouble for trying to bring Cipro across. While the Mr was looking for the bathroom to dump it, the Agent asked me if he was sleep deprived...um, yeah, 17 hour bus ride. Anyway, it all basically worked out and we were able to walk across the bridge, enter the US and meet Capt Jim and the SM. Brownsville, Texas is a good place to gradually adjust to being back in the states. It's a lot like Mexico. Mexas. Or Texico. Lots of Spanish going on. It's hot and sticky and generally not a pretty place. We crashed after breakfast.

After all this time traveling, I was in serious need of some grooming. I overpaid for a not so great mani / pedi on Friday. After months without polish, my toes look funny with pale pink on them. And on Saturday, the SM and I got up early, left Port Isabel at 8:30 to get to a 10am hair appointment in McAllen. Yes, I was nervous. I have curly hair and have had countless bad haircuts from stylists who don't know how to cut curly hair. Plus, I needed color and just had a bad feeling as we walked into the super 1980s salon (as in wall of mirrors) off the garage of her home. Normally, I would have turned around and left without a single word (especially after getting a look at the duct tape on the hairdryer), but shaggy brassy mop isn't exactly a great look. And it all worked out basically fine. The cut is pretty good - or at least I think it will be after the 5 day curl recovery period. The color is dark. I guess I wasn't specific enough when I asked for chocolate. It's definitely dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate. Honest mistake. Could happen to anyone.

Saturday, we went fishing in the bay. With live shrimp. I know - me fishing! Who am I? I caught a 2 foot lady fish, which is a fighter, but not good eating, so we put it back. The Mr caught 2 crabs. They were covered in eggs, so we put those back too.

And I'm back in the knitting groove. You can get a lot done on a bus while you're trying to not watch Dolph.

We fly to Oregon on Wednesday. I can not wait to see the puppy!