Puerto Rico Rainforest Hiking

We woke up on day two of our PR trip and realized we were the only ones at our hotel. When asking for directions to the hotel the previous night someone had told us the hotel was closed. It turns out our hotel was for sale and apparently not really open since the pool was closed, there was no maid service and we never saw the front desk girl again or anyone else for that matter. But it worked fine for us as a place to crash and not having anyone else around was kind of nice actually.

We started the day with a trip to El Yunque Rainforest. It was just a short trip from our hotel and a pretty winding road with some of the biggest plants and leaves I’ve ever seen. I felt like we were driving into a scene from Jurassic Park. It started raining soon after we arrived but that didn’t bother me much…it is a rainforest after all. We hiked to a cloud forest near the top of the mountain. From there we had a beautiful view of the beach when the clouds cleared out, which they were doing every few minutes just to sweep right back in. Next we hiked up a little farther and ended up near some really big cell or radio towers. This part wasn’t very picturesque and I was a little worried about getting too much radiation if we stayed long so we passed through rather quickly. The hike up wasn’t quite long enough for us so we hiked all the way down the mountain to a waterfall. When I planned the trip I was picturing a deserted pretty waterfall with warm water to frolic in. Instead it was cold, raining and crowded so that was kind of a disappointment.

After hiking we decided to head to the beach. I thought it was so cool being able to go from hiking a rainforest to the beach in just a few minutes. We walked along the beach and bought food from almost every vendor since I wanted to try as much local food as I could. The beach walk was right out of a vacation magazine with perfect weather, the sun setting and once we left the Jet Ski zone we had the whole beach to ourselves.

While returning from our long walk on the beach a jet skier fell off his ski. We could hear his jet pump out of the water revving. I didn’t think anything of it until he started blowing his whistle. I’ve had a whistle on my vest for jet skiing for over 20 years now and only blow it as a joke to the tune of happy birthday or other silly songs. This guy was blowing frantically. Not being from Puerto Rico I didn’t know if this was some kind of tradition or cultural thing but I didn’t want to take a chance. So we flagged down a security guard who then called the police. Not 5 minutes later the police show up on the beach with their lights flashing. Not that flashing lights is much of an indication since they always seem to leave them on but all of a sudden I was wondering if the jet skiers would appreciate our ‘help’. Not wanting to find out we decided to quickly leave the beach.

Cat “Rico Suave” Cathy

Marry Him ???

I recently started reading a book called Marry Him. I like to read a lot and keep my opinions open but OMG what a piece of trash this book was! The author states right away that she had a baby on her own since she wanted one and then was surprised that it wasn’t the best way to do it….Duh! And yet this chick feels she should be giving others advice. The other funny thing is the book is dedicated “to my husband whoever he may end up being” or something like that. So she is writing a book encouraging women to compromise and marry and yet she is still single???? Give me a break!

The book basically says poor men are being treated badly by us too picky women even though we have flaws too. They talk about height and baldness and other minor details which I admit some women are too picky about. But many women (and men) I know break up due to things like dishonesty, addiction and not emotionally available which I would hardly consider to be minor picky things.

The author quoted a woman as saying she is glad she ‘snagged’ her husband when she did. Now that they are both 40 he wouldn’t want her if he were still looking since there are available 35 year olds who he could have kids with. It basically says if you don’t get married by 40 no man will want you since he will want a younger woman. As a 40-something woman I was offended by this. And while there is some truth in this, there are still plenty of men who will date around their age and even older. And getting married just because you are afraid to be alone is not a good idea anyway.

To all people (men and women) looking for a life partner I wish you the best of luck! Keep on reading relationship books (just not this one) and keep growing and learning and enjoying each day!

Cat “wish I couldn’t read” Cathy

The Lost Angels and Demons Divinci Code Symbol

I just finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. It read very similar to his Angels and Demons and Divinci Code books. Religious fanatic…blah blah…self sacrifice…blah blah…ancient codes that have levels to solve...blah! In case you can’t tell I wasn’t really that into this book. Some of the ‘twists’ at the end were predictable and not as mysterious as the author was probably hoping for.

Some of my lack of interest was probably just the timing. I wasn’t in the mood for the ancient codes since I was fresh of the Twilight series and love and romance were more on my mind. I have to admit that even though it seemed predictable and I could care less about the whole mystery solving, there were some interesting parts. The information on positive thought and group thought intrigued me. So much so that I followed up with some Google searches to learn more on the subject. I definitely think positive thought is important to good health and happiness but it seems like it can do even more.

I discussed this book with my mom a bit but she didn’t seem to care at all for the subjects that interested me. She got more from the religion part of the book. So I guess this book can offer something different to everyone including religion, history, secret societies, positive thought, architecture, art, etc. Too bad there isn’t enough about love and romance though.

Cat “The Butler did it” Cathy

Sign on the Dotted Line

I just renewed my lease at my lovely upscale high rise downtown apartment. Who am I kidding…the place is a dump, but I still like the location and price so I renewed anyway. I had a whole bunch of new legal forms to sign that I found humorous and thought I’d share:

Radon warning – This is naturally occurring. Just open the windows to help.

Bed bugs – So that old expression was true…they do bite?

Lead paint – Thanks to this one I’ve stopped licking the walls. I sure do miss that.

Asbestos – More fun gone since I no longer pulverize my building and inhale.

Satellite dish – ‘All satellite dishes must be inside your apartment’. I wonder how that will affect reception.

Hot water – The form actually said ‘always test hot water and don’t take it for granted. It could burn you.’ You mean hot water may be hot? In defense of this one we do have some ridiculously hot water from a boiler. I think I could use it at tea time straight from the tap.

The one thing I didn’t see was a warning about gas from our gas stoves. I often come home and smell gas and wonder if it’s safe and how many brain cells I’m killing. Maybe I should recommend they add a gas disclaimer for next year’s signing.

The lawyers must have been bored and decided we needed all these new forms. I can’t wait to see what new and exiting (and funny) forms I get to fill out next year!

Cat “X” Cathy

Bat Ma’am

I discovered something the other day that most women figure out at a much younger age….I love buying new clothes! I used to try and be a minimalist and simplify my life since I already have so many hobbies and so little time. It was simple to get up in the morning chose from the same small selection of clothes and get on with my day. But the other day I purchased four new items and I started looking at my simplify idea a little differently. Although it is time consuming, costs money and I’m never sure if I will really like and wear my purchases, I still enjoy it. I was very happy to have the new clothes and had so much fun wearing them. I’ve decided not to worry if occasionally I buy something and then I don’t end up liking it much. I can just give it away and it is not going to break me. So I finally discovered that I like clothes and fashion and dressing up!

The first new item I tried was new yoga shorts. They were really cute but ended up being just a wee bit too short for all the stretching in yoga. I was showing perhaps a little more ‘Namaste’ than I would like. So they will now be my over bikini shorts.

Next I used my new long sleeve t shirt with a bat man emblem on it for biking. I was being called bat man, bat girl and bat woman but I decided I should be called bat ma’am since I’m now over 40. And thanks to the strategically placed emblem I finally had a way to get people to look as my chest!

The other two items are dressy tops that I’ve gotten compliments on each time I’ve worn them. I think maybe my friends are just happy to finally see me wearing something new but either way it is nice to be noticed and get compliments.

Cat “Where’s Robin?” Cathy

Movie Phone

In a follow up to my mental health hotline voice message I came up with one for movie phone:

Thank you for calling Movie Phone.

To see the latest blockbusters with Johnny Depp please press ‘Star’.

For action flicks please press ‘Pound, pound, pound, pound…’ .

For rated triple X movies press 69. (Please note pressing pound, pound, pound, pound will also work) .

For suspense press ………………………..2……………no wait ……….don’t press 2 whatever you do……..Press 3……no…no 2 was correct.

For a comedy press 42 42 for ha ha.

For a romantic comedy press 5 and bring along two members of the opposite sex. One that you like and one that likes you.

For a western pres 6 then saddle up your horse and head over but watch out for Indians and outlaws.

For a 3-D flick press 7 but only while you are moving the phone keypad closer to you.

For a documentary press 0 which is an integer and neither positive nor negative.

For silent films don’t press anything.

With my limited free time I’m surprised I spent it on this but it was fun. Plus I used it when my boyfriend called and he laughed so it can’t be all bad.

Cat “Can I Get a Student Discount?” Cathy

Mental Health Hotline

I heard a song that included an intro for a mental health hotline. I liked it so much I used it a few times when leaving voice messages for friends and even added a few of my own. Here it is for your reading pleasure:

Welcome to the mental health hotline.

If you have OCD please press 1 repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent please have someone press 2 for you.

If you have multiple personality disorder please press 3,4,5 and 6.

If you are delusional please press 7 and you will be transferred to the mother ship.

If you are paranoid you don’t need to push any buttons. We already know who you are and what you want. Someone is already on the way to get you.

If you are schizophrenic listen to the voices in your head and press what ever number they tell you to.

If you have dyslexia please press 69696969.

For short term memory loss press 0 after the beep. Remember, that is 0 but after the beep. Wait for the beep and push 0 for short term memory loss.

If you have problems with procrastination please press 8………………..we’re waiting…………..we’re still waiting for you to press 8.

Anyway, I thought it was really funny and I wanted to share.

Cat “Jumping from number to number for A-D-D” Cathy