Home Sweet Home

Well, we've been back for a week and have settled in quite well.  The house is in good shape.  Our minimal belongings are still here and the house is still standing.  Plus, no more termites.  We're stoked this problem got resolved while we were away.  Our driver, Roberth Ow (ex-mayor of the Corn Islands with a pretty Caribbean accent), picked us up from the airport after a rather eventful trip.  Delta delayed our flight out of Honolulu for almost two hours, which caused us to miss our second flight to Atlanta.  We managed to get on another flight that was able to put us there in time for our connection to Managua but, this portion of the journey required a medical emergency for some poor woman that ended with paramedics boarding the aircraft before everyone was able to deplane.  Unfortunately, all the delays made it impossible for me to take Puna out to go to the bathroom and she did twenty-one hours without a pee-break.  Poor puppy.  Customs was fairly smooth-sailing - the hot water heater made it through without too much sweet-talking by Ian and surprisingly, all five bags made it on the same flight as said owners.  Before heading out of town, we stopped at my favorite grocery store and stocked up on some key items that are not available in Rivas.  (most importantly, oyster sauce and fish sauce, for Asian culinary delights)  We arrived to La Vista just after sun-down and were pleased to find our refrigerator had been lit and our bed made.  Our good friend Gustavo had made sure our house had been cleaned and tended to for our arrival.  Plus, he left us all sorts of fun baby-stuff that his son had outgrown over the past year including, a Johnny-Jump Up.

So, the next order of business is our car.  Without going into too much detail, Lady Gray is not going to cut it anymore.  She got fixed for our arrival, and is back in the shop this weekend.  We've begun the search for a "family car" which is safer and more reliable than the Trooper.  Our plan is to head back to Managua in the next couple of weeks to go tour the hospital, visit with a doctor, and buy a new ride.

Otherwise, all good in the hood!  The surf has been small and clean - perfect size for me, but I've pretty much retired until baby is born.  I surfed a few weeks back and it was starting to get uncomfortable with this growing belly.  I may try and take out Jack's soft, foam long-board one day but other than that, I've decided to be a longing spectator.  It's definitely killing me a little bit.  Ian is stoked to get back in the water every day even though I know he's itching for more size but, that may not come again until April.  More on home-improvements and the new Rivas Maxi-Pali in the next update.  

Here are a couple of photos stolen from the La Vista Facebook.  They won't enlarge but, what's an update without something visual?  Here's a Google Earth shot.

The boys working on the road in the neighborhood.

Surf!

    ...our jam-packed beach...