Hello Nan!

My Nan, out there on the West Coast of England has just got her very own email address and has learned how to read the blog. Not bad for someone in their mid-eighties just introduced to the wonders of technology. This post is dedicated to her and my Farver who she reads the posts to every day. Hi Nan! We miss you!

Nan called today as she was worried about her son (Lisa's Dad) who arrived here in Nassau with a nasty case of Bronchitis that was quickly slipping in to Pneumonia as it tends to do with him. Not to worry. On Saturday Lisa emailed a Doctor (the office was closed) referred to her by a friend and after a quick phone conversation with Dad - antibiotics were on their way to a local pharmacy. He saved the day!

So Nan - Dad is feeling much better today and got in a good fish. Doesn't he look relaxed?



Mum was amused that Emily agreed to be Mark's slave for the day today when negotiating a 2nd Klondike bar yesterday. She took pictures of them disposing of a dead body. At least she thought it looked like a dead body - it is actually the endless stream of Sea Grape leaves that reproduce like gerbils in our front garden.

Emmy's Home!

Emily arrive home yesterday and brought Nanny and Granddad (Lisa's Mum and Dad) with her. After British breakfast this morning at the Cricket Club and a tour around Fort Charlotte we have spent the day relaxing on the patio. We managed to open our first coconut from our tree! Now Dad is teaching us how to fish (using the rods that it cost him $150 to get on as over-sized luggage...eek!). More tomorrow.





Colonel is happy that Emily is home too!!!

The road to South Africa starts here.

It is 2 years and 4 months until the opening game of the next World Cup in South Africa and one of the first qualifying games was played in Nassau yesterday. The contest was the Bahamas Vs British Virgin Islands for the privilege of meeting Jamaica in the next round. Anyone who knows football/soccer knows this is an occasion not to be taken lightly and so we decided to go along for the historic event.

Our preparations included applying some sun lotion, getting there early to beat the crowds and ensuring we had some vitals to munch on to keep the excitement at bay. As we drove to the game through typical Nassau traffic we came across our favorite peanut seller at a set of traffic lights. These guys stand by the lights and wander up and down the cars selling bags of peanuts for a dollar. We were first to the lights so knew we had plenty of time for the purchase and called over our man. “Do you have change for a $20?” Lisa asked. “Sure man” – at this he threw our bag of nuts in the window and proceeded to pull out an array of “singles”. He seemed to have as many pockets as our change: yep, 19! Every few seconds he would throw another greenback in the window while the lights changed.



I don’t know if it was really worth the $1 to him with no other sales at this stop but he seemed to be happy enough. As we careened off ahead of other irate drivers we could still hear “our man”, “You guys from England? I was brought up in Brixton”. From Brixton to Nassau selling peanuts – that must be quite a story.

Anyway on to the match. It was quite a formal affair with teams being led out by local dignitaries, a VIP box and national anthems (the BVI anthem is God Save the Queen). Although the crowd was not like Hampden Park – there was around 1000 there – they were enthusiastic and noisy (a Junkanoo band even showed up). The game was torrid with the Bahamas playing with a strong wind in their favor in the first half. Although they had most of the pressure they could not get the opening strike. So no goals meant the teams retired for their half time cup of tea knowing that the wind would be telling in the second period. Surprisingly the Bahamas took the lead at the start of the second half and actually looked comfortable. But BVI upped their game and got an equaliser with 20 minutes to go. BVI had a giant captain and for the rest of the game he would swing his leg to cannon the ball towards goal from all distances and angles. Fortunately for the home side there was no more scoring and we need to wait for the return leg to decide the outcome. You see, these contests are settled home and away only in this case both legs will be played in Nassau as the BVI pitch (I guess they only have one) is being dug up at present. So everyone retired to local hostelries to discuss the game and await final counter of Sunday.



This game marked the beauty of football. Here in a far flung corner was the first embrionic steps to World Cup glory. The fans, players and officials were all ready to enjoy the "beautiful game" ....and they did, although I don't think the Bahamas will play in a World Cup final.......but you never know.

Speed

Our car speedometer is in Kilometers.
We never know how fast we are going!

Good thing there is no road where you can go more than 35mph!

For more Wordless Wednesday fun visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Nothing wrong with Harry's plumbing...

Harry has 27 siblings. That's our plumber.

As with most tradesmen, he came to us through a recommendation - that's the reliable way in the Bahamas. He and his company have been with us since the dark days when we only had the ocean for washing and ablutions. But until today we had only met his son, Andrew, who had done several marvelous jobs for us. Andrew is one of five (4 boys and 1 girl) who have all been trained by their father ("they start to learn on their 10th birthday"). Today Harry was here to help us out with a persistent toilet problem (no more detail necessary here) and got talkin'.

He was born on Eleuthra (one of the outlying islands), the 27th child of a brood of 28. His mother was a large, strapping lady while his father was a small, hard working man and they began having children when she was 13. She was effectively pregnant from adolescence through middle age. Other than the stunning natural beauty of Eleuthra there is obviously not much to do there. The family was hard working but struggled with such a large family. They lived in the sparsest of dwellings – 6 boys to room no bigger than a pantry. The oldest son managed to get to Nassau and pick up a trade. He returned to pass on the vital skills and thus the others began to strive. Now several of the family have a variety of building skills to their name and many live on New Providence Island. Harry has one of the most successful plumbing businesses on the island built on hard work and great customer service. But Harry has not forgotten the upbringing by his hardy parents or how tough and yet beautiful life was on Eleuthra.

I guess there’s a moral tale in here somewhere about hard graft and good fortune - but suffice to say that our plumber is a nice guy and has an interesting story. By the way, Harry wouldn’t take payment for the job he did today – “just buy me lunch”. Deal!

The Kids

Emily is having a great time at her Grandparent's house. She was with all the kids for the annual Nanny Easter Egg Hunt.



Victoria (Cousin Sally's daughter), Maggie (Sister Michelle's daughter) and Emily in their matching Easter dresses.



The girls plus Joseph (on Victoria's lap), lovely Jack (Sister Michelle's) and baby Tommy (Sister Michelle's).

When your children are around you every day you know they are growing - but you don't always think of them as growing up. The Easter picture email from Granddad included this photo and since she has been gone for a week we saw this picture with fresh eyes. Let me tell you... Emily looks so grown up.

Happy 60th Birthday Mum!

Lisa here... This is Mum. Today is her 60th birthday. Happy Birthday Mum!

I'm not there today because she is far away, so to celebrate from afar here are some of my favorite Mum memories...

Getting our chalk and drawing roads and a town on the bedroom carpet for all of us because we were bored - washing it all off before Dad came home.

Running out of the house with a knife to pry Michelle off of the chain link fence that she got hooked on to by her ear ("Mum's gonna cut her ear off!")

Making Damson jam with an upside down ironing board in the kitchen.

Carrying me across the "Jungle" to the hospital when I dislocated my arm.

Signing us out of school for a "dentist's appointment" and going on the bus to Bristol to see Jaws.

Deciding we were going to go on a picnic and walking to Wales.

Lunches she used to make for my school trips - hard boiled eggs and salad cream.

Waking us all up in the middle of the night to watch the thunder storms through the picture window when we first moved to America.

Doing my paper route for my at 5:00am in the morning when I wasn't well.

Crying because I didn't like the "baby" dress she bought for me to go to a dance in 8th grade.

Comforting me in 9th grade when I went to band camp and all my friends decided they weren't going to speak to me anymore.

Shaving my armpits with 5 minutes to go before my date picked me up for the 9th grade prom because I forgot but she noticed.

Driving to my college to bring me groceries.

Sending me care packages pratically every week when I went on a US theatre tour(she was THE most popular Mum then).

Driving an hour to come to my house every day for two weeks after Emily was born.

And so much more... Happy Birthday Mum - love you!

The Weekend!

We've been working hard this week.

Mark has been repairing the cracked sea wall and painting everywhere. He also managed to finish Emily's little bathroom with the same laminate flooring in her bedroom and it looks great!



Lisa has been busy trying to meet the deadline for the new Emily Rose website. We are moving to a new host that has a ton of fabulous features and a slightly modified design. The amount of work required was quite unexpected and definitely underestimated. Basically Lisa is re-building a website that took her 14 months to build. Thanks to the fantastic assistance of her new virtual assistant, Aftab in Pakistan, there is a chance...we repeat...a chance that we will make the self-imposed deadline. Thank goodness for Deb and her amazing handling of the customers and the books - or the new business partners would really be over their heads.

We were glad of the weekend and took a drive last night to celebrate. We ended up having a drink at the bar of the new Marley Resort and Spa. This is Bob Marley's house on Cable Beach that the family (who have lived there since his passing) have been working on converting to a resort for the past few years. It officially opens on March 27th but they are unofficially open now. We were there pretty early in the evening and Bob Marley's daughter/grand-daughter (we weren't sure which) graciously allowed us to go and see some of the rooms and suites, all of which are named after Marley songs or family members. What a gorgeous resort it is. We didn't take photos in the rooms as that seemed rude and we only managed one outdoor photo before it got dark, so unfortunately you will have to take our word for it. At $1,800 a night we doubt that anyone we know will ever stay here. Some how the high prices and exclusively don't really resonate with the whole "common man" image of the Bob Marley legacy. The property is Cable Beach waterfront with an amazing beach. There is lush landscaping and rich dark wood everywhere - every bed is a custom hand-carved giant made specifically for that room. It has swimming pools and hot tubs all connected by these fountains that flow right through the cobblestone paths you walk along and cascade in to another pool or stream. They told us that it will eventually become a private social club but until they work out the details will keep it open to the public. We plan on trying to check out the restaurant before riff-raff like us are no longer allowed. Here's a dark shot of the restaurant area.



This morning we went for a lovely walk to the grocery store for eggs and on the way saw this huge bird. Any idea what he is?



The rest of today is reserved for football matches, cleaning and planting. We may even get to power-washing the patio if we are feeling particularly ambitious.

Spring Break?

The Bahamas is well-known for being a Spring Break haven for college-kids and other under-age drinkers (the drinking age is 18 here but I don't think they pay any attention). When we came here for Mark's original contract 2 years ago we were briefly housed in the Wyndham Hotel on Cable Beach and I gotta tell ya we could smell Spring Break in those rooms - stale beer, cigarette smoke and other undesirable perfumes. We could also see and feel Spring Break on the carpets... we won't go into too much detail. We tried to eat once at a place called "Senor Frogs". It is conveniently located right next to the Hilton (where we were staying) and overlooks the harbour. We got up and left when we realized Lisa's plastic menu was stuck to the table. The Booze Cruise was apparently the pick up spot for our wealthly Bahamian estate agent (when he was a youth of course) who used to pull up in his boat and carry off hand-picked inebriated college girls. We think most of the episodes of "Girls Gone Wild" are filmed here too.

We were resigned to this reign of temporary insanity and were preparing ourselves for the onslaught.

They're not here.

Everyone is looking for them - some with relief (like us) and some in dismay (like the small hotels and cheap dive bars).

Apparently the Bahamas has priced Spring Breakers out of their market. We thought that the tourist ministry must be hustling to address this. Surely this is a disaster? But apparently they have done this on purpose! The remarks in the paper were something like "we are catering and courting a high end, luxury traveler".

Here's Mark hanging out at one of our favorite breakfast joints - News Cafe.



The News Cafe is cheap (in the scheme of things). It has lovely outside seating, lot's of newspapers (including Mark's favorite, the pink Gazetta de Sport), a personality of it's own. It is about to be closed. All this courting of luxury travelers is causing some changes around here. Atlantis basically owns all of Paradise Island and is closing down all these little independent places to build a luxury marina complex. Cable Beach is changing too. Emily lost her favorite Johnny Canoes to the Baha Mar project (which now is in serious trouble since Harrah's dropped out).

So - we are torn. Do we take two weeks of Spring Breakers in exchange for some small independent, unique stores, restaurants and bars? Or do we give in to the gentrification and watch the rise in our real estate value instead. Hmmmm - tough question.

An Award!

Rosie in the UK gave this to us. We love her comments and we love her blog (Emily loves her comments too as she always visits Emily's Blog)

Thanks Rosie! It is very hot here today (85F) and the wind has died down. We are sending a little Bahama's sunshine over to Nottinghamshire!

Lovely Lucianos

Last night Mark and Lisa went their separate ways (which is a very unusual occurence as you know). Mark had been invited to have a drink with an old colleague from Batelco and some of his friends so Lisa went and had a girl's night with her neighbour, Cindy.

A miracle occurred! Lisa had an amazingly good meal. Expensive... but good!

Lisa and Cindy went to Lucianos which is housed in a gorgeous old Bahamian house right on the bay overlooking Atlantis. No camera (duh!) so no pictures, but if you check out their website you can see how lovely it is. Lisa had Grouper al Piccata and it was tender and moist with just the right amount of a yummy lemon caper sauce. The sauce was gone right before the last bite - which is exactly the way it should be. No tiny piece of fish floating in greasy sauce left-overs on this plate (take note Blue Lagoon). Cindy had Veal Marsala which looked amazing and would have been tasted were it not for the very thick sauce (gluten alert!).

It was a really great meal so Lucianos is definitely on the list. Best of all Lisa actually seems to have made a friend! It took Emily 1 day - Lisa... 3 months. Oh well.

Benefits of Year Round Sunshine

There are many benefits to the sun shining hot and bright all year round. It makes you feel better, you can have an all year tan, you could use renewable energy (don't think we haven't started saving our pennies for solar panels) and it makes your garden grow.

In January of last year Mark and Lisa were in Saigon (Vietnam) for a Holiday and taking a boat tour of the Mekong Delta (wish we had pictures but our camera got stolen while we were there :-(). The guide kept pointing out the abundance of Lemon Grass plants. Lisa was very jealous. We cook a lot of Vietnamese and Thai food in this house and we can't tell you how much money Whole Foods has in their pockets from our Lemon Grass budget. It is an expensive herb - does it count as an herb? Anyway, Lisa remembers thinking about how much money we could save if only the Northern Virginia weather would cooperate.

Fast forward to the Bahamas and (surprise, surprise) Lemon Grass isn't expensive... it doesn't exist!!! Fresh herbs are almost impossible to find here unless you are willing to drive to the far side of the island and visit "Snooty Rich Farm" (not their real name) where they charge you $5.50 for a cup of drip coffee and $5 for a bag of wilted parsley the size of a quarter. Epiphany time... we have the same climate as Vietnam. Lisa promptly jumped on the internet and read up on planting lemon grass. According to sources you can just take an ordinary stalk of Lemon Grass put it in a glass of water and within a week or two it will grow roots. Mark scoffed. Lisa crossed her fingers and paid a visit to "Whole Paycheck" when back in VA for the WATCH Awards.

Ta-da!!! It worked! Feeling inspired Lisa also brought home seeds for all of the other herbs we miss.

They have only been planted for a week but the Lemon Grass is still growing. You can see it in the big pot in the photo - it will supposedly become a full plant. The second picture is baby cilantro (yay!) which was the other herb we were desparate for. We would tell you what is in all the other pots but only Emily remembers and she's not here.

Any tips on the do's and don'ts of herb growing are greatly appreciated.

She Made It!

Emily's Dad sped back to Reston from the airport to see if they could make it back to Emily's old school before they broke up for Spring Break... they made it (with 10 minutes to spare). I think they were happy to see her.

Aren't You the Maps Department?

Tammi out in the frozen Canadian prairie (brrrrr....) tagged us with this memoir meme so we thought we would incorporate in to our post. The question is, "What would your 6 word memoir be?" Ours is:




Ever since we arrived in Nassau we have been struggling with finding our way around. The only map you can get your hands on is a tourist map, which stops once you get off a major road, and the only directions you can get from Bahamians include vague landmarks and lots of hand gestures. We guess it's because the Island is so small everyone knows where everything is anyway so no one really knows or cares about the names of the streets. Mark cares, Mark cares a great deal. In the US, even if we had detailed mapquest directions, Mark had to have a map in hand.

Imagine Mark's delirious excitement when he saw a very detailed street map (surveyors map) on the wall in a store. He asked where he could get one and was told the Department of Lands and Surveys (or... the map department). Well guess what we happened to accidentally drive past today?

We walked in to the building and right there on the wall in front of us was the giant street map, including every nook and cranny of Nassau. Brilliant! The conversation went something like this:

Mark: "Hi - Do you sell maps?"

Maps Guy: "Yes we do Sir"

Mark: "I would like to buy a street map like that" (points to the map on the wall)

Maps Guy: "Oh we don't have that map. You have to go to Parliamentary for that map."

Mark: "OK - Can you tell me that is?"

Maps Guy: "Farrington Street - you know where that is?"

Mark: "No actually but could you just point it out to me on that map?"

Maps Guy: (shakes his head, picks up a book called "Nassau Street Maps" which he begins slapping against his hand) "You know over the hill?"

Mark: "Yes"

Maps Guy: "You know McDonalds?"

Mark: "No"

Maps Guy: "You know Public Works Dept."

Mark: "No but you could show me on that map?"

Customer at Counter: "You know the graveyard - with all the tombstones?"

Mark: "No"

Maps Guy: (slightly irritated) "What do you know?"

Lisa: (she can't help getting involved) "Isn't that a street map book you have in your hands? Can we buy that?"

Maps Guy: "No - we don't sell that" (calls over his colleague) "These people are trying to get to Parliamentary"

Lisa: "Can you show us in that book?" (Maps guy ignores her and continues looking at colleague)

Colleague: "You know College of Bahamas?"

Lisa: "Yeah - I've seen that!" (Mark shoots her a look)

Mark: "Aren't you the map department?"

There was silence for a few minutes.

The phone rings and the Maps Guy puts down his street map book and turns around to answer it. Mark quickly picks up the book - looks up Farrington Street and we quickly exit.

Emmy is off the Island

The Bahamas is missing Emily today. We dropped her off at the airport for "unaccompanied minor" trip back to the States for her Spring Break. Lisa was a little nervous as they wouldn't let her go past the ticket counter. In the US you go all the way through to the gate and watch the plane take-off. Emily of course was thrilled - she gets very miffed with the "minor" status and insists she can do it all on her own. Anyway - we have spoken to her and she arrived safe and sound and was driving at break neck speed toward her old school to see if she could get there before it closed. She will be back in two weeks accompanied by the Dowler Grand-parents. It will be quiet here without her.

Our "New" House

We would like the opportunity to complain - if only for one post. We know we live in a dream home on the water, so we promise to get it all out and not do it again.

This is the most expensive house we have ever purchased (obviously). It is also in the worst shape of any house we have ever purchased. Every time we finish a job another one surfaces. So far we have had to:

• Get an exterminator (absolutely first on the list)
• Replace our stolen washing machine.
• Tile our bedroom floor (it was parquet flooring and had huge holes)
• Paint our bedroom (semi-cosmetic)
• Replace the pool pump and timer
• Replace the leaking kitchen faucets
• Fix the leaking garbage disposal
• Fix our well pump
• Fix about 3 pipe leaks
• Have tons of electrics done (replacing rusted out lamps, getting new flood lights, fixing fans, replacing wiring, new light sockets, new light fixtures, etc...)
• Re-plaster a leaking bedroom
• Re-paint above bedroom
• Re-tile above bedroom (parquet flooring again)
• De-rust and paint gas container
• Re-concrete the sea wall
• Replace some of the wood beams (yes we just discovered termites which is a problem in a house full of Abaco pine)
• Replace dishwasher - what kind of crazy money waster buys a $4,000 Bosch dishwasher that you can't get parts for here and no one knows how to fix. It really hurt when we threw that away.

We still have to:

• Fix our oven (waiting for the parts from the US)
• Fix the guest air-conditioning (luckily we lived on the ocean and haven't had to turn it on yet but apparently we will when it's August - or so we are told)
• Get that exterminator back for the termites

Now all these are only the things we wanted to get done for our own comfort and lifestyle - which, with the exception of the pool, isn't that fancy. Our goal is to turn this house in to an "Executive Rental" so that we can rent it out in retirement and travel on the income. OK so we have some time before we'll be ready to retire, but is that enough time to turn this house around? The kitchen needs to be replaced, the master bathroom expanded, the landscaping updated, the.....

The moral of the story is that even the seemingly ideal life takes attention and hard work. The state of Mark's hands make that clear. Without true grit you won't achieve anything in this world. A conclusion everyone must come to at some point and a lesson we are trying to help Emily learn now as she copes with her new school.

Oh well - back to the cement mixer.

Emmy's Sleepover

For more Wordless Wednesday fun visit 5 Minutes for Mom

How well Emily is adapting. The only time one would allow a photo to be taken of trying to pick one's nose with one's toes - is with true friends.

Ow - That Darn Cat!

Before we begin this post I would just like to point out a few important facts about our Tabby cat named "Ow".

• He is 13 years old.


• He has no claws.


• He has no front teeth.

When we lived in Virginia he loved to bring us gifts... into the house...did I mention he has no teeth? They were always alive. He has presented to us (with a very loud and proud "meow") the following:

• Voles


• Chipmunks


• Baby Rabbits


• Mice


• Butterflies


• Moths


• Birds (once "Daddy Cardinal" - we were devastated)

and... drumroll please...

• A bat... in the middle of the night... in to the bed... a big one.

Now all that was bad but thankfully we have a nature-loving daughter who would simply capture the confused animal in a kitchen towel and release it.

This - I don't know if we can take. How can an old, toothless, clawless cat catch lizards? They are very, very fast. Well, it turns out that he can - and even worse - it turns out he likes to eat them - after he gums them to death. Of course the meal would not nearly as enjoyable if he did not let them run around the house for a while looking for an escape. Worst of all - he doesn't like the tails so he bites them off and leaves them twitching on the carpet.

Here is his latest catch. We think he was showing off to Colonel who couldn't catch a lizard if Ow walked up and inserted in to his mouth.

Braveheart

Emily dropped a plastic bag in the sea. One of her chores is to pick up the big leaves around the house. She was emptying them over the patio when the wind (who has been partying pretty hard with the sea for the last couple of days - we wish they would get some sleep!) snatched that plastic bag right out of her hand. Little Miss "Being a Polluter is Akin to Armed Robbery" stripped off her t-shirt and jumped in. Did I mention that the sea was angry? While Lisa kept a restraining arm on Mark (who had also been in the sea earlier that day when the wind stole his bucket), Emily swam out about 15 yards, with no fear whatsoever, to collect the plastic bag. I guess those swimming lessons are paying off. Did we mention it was also getting dark?

It is so hard to let your kids discover their strength!

The Sad Tale of Lisa's Underwear

On Friday we received a stack of "Welcome to Your New Home" cards - most of which had been mailed before we left the US.

This brought to mind a story about Lisa's underwear... bear with us please. Right before we left the US, Deb (Lisa's trusty business Partner) offered to take Lisa shopping at the Ralph Lauren store with a major coupon she got from a friend. Those of you who know Lisa, know she is not a Ralph Lauren kind of gal, so she politely declined. On the other hand Lisa is a "sale" kind of gal - so when Deb returned with stacks of unbelievably priced, good quality clothing, Lisa made her turn around and take her back. It was at that sale that Deb discovered the bikini that ruled the universe. The bikini that would represent "la dolce vita" of life in the Bahamas - and Lisa bought it. Then she left it - in a drawer in the guest room of Deb's lovely home with a stack of old underwear.

Knowing that Lisa couldn't really live without that adorable Ralph Lauren bikini, Deb efficiently packed it up, along with her old underwear and some mail, and sent it priority to the Bahamas. "Don't worry", said Deb, "it says you will get it in 6-10 days." (cue Bahamaian laughter)

When someone from outside of the Bahamas asks for our mailing address now - we laugh. We are so jaded. The Bahamas doesn't have a mail home delivery system. The only way to get mail is to purchase a PO Box at one of the mail stores around the island. We did that before we arrived and spent the first two weeks opening that little mail slot only to see a gaping, empty hole mocking our hopeful expressions. Even the ladies at the counter were laughing at the fact we came in every day.

After about two weeks of waiting for her bikini Lisa approached one of the counter girls. The girl glanced around at a huge pile of boxes (about 3 stacks high and 5 stacks deep) behind the counter nudged a couple aside with her foot (we think that was just for show) and said, "nope, don't see it."

"But I'm not sure you understand," Lisa patiently explains, "it was sent Priority Mail."

"Uh huh", says the counter girl nodding her head.

"So it is supposed to arrive in 6-10 days."

"Yeah, that's right", says the counter girl.

"But it's been two weeks and you said it's not here."

Understanding dawns on the counter girl's face. "Oh - 6-10 days to the Bahamas sure", says the counter girl. "But I have no idea when you will get it!"

So about 6-7 weeks later Lisa gets a little note in her PO Box that the package has arrived. Whoo hoo! She goes to see the counter girl who tells her it's not there.

"But didn't you guys put this note in my box telling me it's here?"

"Yep, but I can't find it."

"But it's here?"

"Must be."

OK. Feeling defeated and a not a little frustrated, Lisa returns to the car.

A few days later when we have a chance to go to the mail box again - we find a different counter girl who explains that this note is from the Post Office downtown who are holding my package for payment of customs duty. For old underwear?

We make the drive to the pre-historic post office in downtown Nassau where we are shuffled from queue to queue, getting stamps and signatures all for no apparent reason, until we finally receive the box. With a huge grin of relief on her face Lisa picks up the box and turns from the counter to go home.

"Excuse me Maam?" says the gigantic lady behind the desk, "please open the package and display the contents."

So... we have only been here two months and already on this island there are approximately 25 people who have seen Lisa's underwear.

Uncase the colours, unfurl the flag.....

After two months in Nassau, Mark has finally managed to raise the flag! No longer will New Providence be simply another Bahama island, it'll have a wee piece of Scotland in it.

Mark decided that it was fitting to fly the "Lion Rampant" over Grandad's rock as Grandad has such a loving affinity for auld Caledonia.

Let's Get This Party Started...

So we are having a go at this ultimate blog party thang - even though 5 Minutes for Mom (our host) is so backed up that we can't get on!

Here is a little story of our journey so far....

In 2004 Mark got a consulting gig in sunny Bahamas for about 4 months. It was a dream job as Lisa was working for a major telecom at the time from her virtual home office and, thanks to the magic of Vonage, was able to join Mark and work from the Hilton... not bad! It was especially great since she was missing Emily who was off for the summer with her Dad. The Bahamas can be a nice distraction.

Fast forward to 2007. Lisa has received the coveted "package" and has left the corporate world to start her own company (come and visit Emily Rose!) and Mark has left his most recent corporate job to work on a start-up with the same folks who brought us the "Bahamas Gig". They also dangle the carrot of a consulting job in the Bahamas that will start in late 2007 (still not happening!) We decide... why not... let's do something major and exciting.

2007 becomes a crazy year. We get fantastic Partners to join us in the Emily Rose journey. We visit the Bahamas and buy a house! We get Emily enrolled in a fabulous school. We get the cats their Rabies shots. We try to sell our house in VA and fail - we get a tenant. We move all of our stuff over here and start a new life.

We started this blog to keep our families and friends up to date on our adventures, and what a rocky road it has been. From arriving and discovering that we had no electricity or water - just lots of massive cockroaches, to figuring out the Bahamian style of gettings things done, to helping (or not having to help) Emily adjust, to feeling a little nostalgic.

Our journey continues in 2008 as we continue tackling this adventure - and enjoying life at Water's Edge.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Hey we wouldn't mind winning some blog party prizes either (although they can't be mailed here - we'll have to do a mail post one day). Here is what we would like the most...

1. The blog design offered by TBO Designs.
2. The blog design from Shauna.
3. The Chocolate from Chocolistas (it's not for me it's for Emily :-))

If I don't win any of those I would like to win anything that a 10 year-old would like or a working Mommy (that would be for my Partner, Deb).

Nostalgia

If you have been reading you know that Lisa went back to wintery Northern VA last weekend to attend the WATCH awards ceremony. While she was there she stayed with Grant and Miranda and the boys, visited the old house, the tenant and the next-door neighbour, did some shopping and had lunch at the Silver Diner. She also went by Emily's old school to speak to the kids in Drama Club about "Seussical the Musical" and visited Emily's old classroom, where she was treated like a rock-star. She is feeling very nostalgic.

Emily is also getting ready for her Spring Break trip back to VA and has started looking forward to all the things she misses. She loves school here - but has had a lot to say in the past few days about her old school and old friends. She is feeling very nostalgic.

It started Lisa thinking about nostalgia. The dictionary defines nostalgia as, "a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past." What do you think "bittersweet" means in the context of that definition? Does it mean bitter because you don't have it anymore but sweet because the memory is there? Does it mean a sweet memory but you are bitter because you are longing for it? Or does it mean bitter memories but a sweet longing, because it is safe to long for things you know you won't go back for? Or are we thinking too much?

The things that are missed about "home" (yes - "there" is still home, "here" is still becoming) are often the things we most wanted to get away from. Like casual abundance. As soon as Lisa landed at the airport everything that she had been wanting to buy for the last few weeks but couldn't (either because we couldn't find it or it was too expensive) was just steps away. And she hadn't even left the airport yet. Like cleanliness. We used to joke about our neighbourhood resembling a movie set from the "Stepford Wives". It looked lovely last weekend. Like Emily's old school (the amount of homework and the misbehaving students). Although Emily's new school is much better for her and she really loves it, Lisa did get a bit emotional when she walked in to Emily's old classroom. They really miss her and it is so obvious.

Anyway - nostalgia is a natural part of such a big move. Lisa remembers feeling nostalgic for her life in England after moving to the States - but it so glad to have stayed in the US. Mark feels nostalgic for Scotland all the time - especially when Dundee is winning - but would never move back. We have made a long-considered and well thought out move, and it is definitely for the best. Maybe we can dissect the dictionary definition a little and just focus on enjoying the "sweet longing".

WATCH Award Ceremony

Kind of Wordless Wednesday. Check out 5 Minutes for Mom for more.

Lisa is back on the island after a quick trip back for the WATCH Awards. No award for Lisa or Emily but so fun to be there amongst the 400 DC theatre people and be nominated!

Christy and Lisa

Christy, Dana, Akila and Lisa (Hot Box Gals)

Lisa and Grant (Lisa's arm candy as the Gals called him)

Dana, Lisa, Karen and Molly

The nominated performances (Emily in rehearsal as Baby Kangaroo)

Lisa as Adelaide

Close...but no cigar

Well, the news came through late last night on the wire - there will be no WATCH awards adorning the Cabrelli mantlepiece this year. Obviously the judges didn't see enough performances or were simply bribed: sour grapes...never. Oh well as that classic US saying goes - "you're all winners". Evidently except on this occasion!

On a positive note, a great time was had by one and all. The occasion was glitzy and made everyone feel special for the night. It was fabulous to meet up with all the "old crew" again and regale the delights of "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" one more time. Community theater is such a bonding activity; everyone gets stuck in together with "blood, sweat and tears" and the memories will last forever. And, of course, there was Lisa's escort, Grant in his kilt!! Pictures later.

Now the challenge is to establish community theater in Nassau - wanna help?

She's Off!!

Lipstick on the table, PC on powersave, lunch still in the fridge but she's missing......Lisa has left the island. The rest of the Cabrelli clan missed her before she got on the plane. She's on her way to the US capital to collect the WATCH awards - if there's any justice. Yes, its that time already. Lisa has her little black dress, her escort in tartan (Grant, of course) and empty suitcase for the awards (and Sam's club!). The results of the nominations are announced on Sunday night so stay tuned.

Meantime, as with any hierarchy, when the "top dog" is out the second in command is in charge - so Emily is calling the shots. Mark thinks he's in charge but everyone from Colonel and Ow upwards knows differently. Who knows what shenanigans they will get up to over the next 48 hours.