Life is getting busy

So it has been awhile since I have sat down and really wrote about our lives in Bermuda. Since Ryan's exam is over, we have been doing more and signing up for some new classes and leagues. First of all, we went out for an excellent dinner for my birthday and the end of hopefully never taking any more actuarial exams (the results for Ryan's exam will come out early July). We wanted a nice dinner and ended up at The Waterlot Inn. The restaurant has one of the most extensive wine menus I have ever seem and all I wanted was a glass of white wine. I ended up with a half bottle for $40 since they didn't offer wine by the glass. We ended up with a great dinner and I would recommend it to anyone that wants a good steak.

For both of our birthday's we have decided to take sailing lessons. The beginner classes start on June 2nd and last for four weeks. We will be on a J/24 with just the two of us and our instructor. If we enjoy it we may take more lessons in the future. A quote from my mother, "If you sail, please do not get lost in the Bermuda Triangle." What a perfect time for a lesson on the Bermuda Triangle. No one in Bermuda talks about the Bermuda Triangle. What I do know is that the triangle is made up of the points of Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Miami. An article by Brian Schmidt quotes, "A fact that is unexplained about the Bermuda Triangle is that electro-magnetic compasses that normally point to the magnetic north pole, point to the true north pole when used inside the area of the Bermuda Triangle. This phenomena happens in only one place other than the Bermuda Triangle – the Devil’s Sea off the east coast of Asia. Another fact about the Bermuda Triangle that is undeniable is that the area has claimed over 1,000 lives in the past 100 years. Some of these are a result of “human error” in navigating the area. However there are always suspicious or unexplained disappearances happening in the Bermuda Triangle." I may not be a true believer in the paranormal or supernatural, but I do know we won't be taking our sail boat far enough away where I can't see land!

Ryan and I are also playing in a volleyball league starting in June. A group of co-workers and Irish friends started this team. I say Irish friends as the team name is the Irish Mafia. I am also playing in another league on Thursday nights through the church we have attended. June will be a busy month for us as our families are starting to visit as well. We can't wait to have them come so we have an excuse to do all of the touristy things such as snorkeling excursions, boat cruises, parasailing, etc...

Bermuda is getting busy as tourist season is in full force. The attached picture is from a hill we took on our bikes. You can see all the way out to Dockyard where the cruise ships port.

I am really getting acclimated to Bermuda and this different style of living life. Patience is key as things just happen when they get around to doing them. This has been difficult for my job search, but after a couple of positive interviews this month, I do feel that I may end up with a job at some point in our Bermuda journey.

Until next time...

The true Bermuda shorts...

I have failed to mention anything about Bermuda shorts. This is such an important topic. While I love Bermuda shorts for women (they cover-up just enough thigh), Bermuda shorts for men in Bermuda mean such a different thing. Business men actually wear Bermuda shorts to work with tall socks up to their knees, a blazer, tie, and loafers. Usually they are so perfectly color matched with the same color socks as the jacket or the shorts. I actually saw a guy in matching red socks to his red Bermuda shorts yesterday. While it is not the norm to wear this garb, I would say about 20% of the business men here have pulled this outfit off sometime during their career. Of course, I have no solid research to back up this theory, but I do take note as I walk around downtown. I have often thought that if Ryan ever chose to wear this outfit I would deport him off the island, but then I remember that he is the one with the work permit, without him I would be deported!

Until next time...

My first cockroach...

Luckily for me, the first live cockroach sighting was outside on our patio. I thought he was dead, but it turns out that a little sniff from a dog brings a cockroach back to life. Through this process Limerick also got bit or snapped at. We are not sure, but either way she was freaked out. It is not as if I haven't seen a cockroach before, but usually in Pennsylvania or Minnesota they a.) don't get this big or b.) are not anywhere near my house!

I just wanted to share a new picture of our little friend. Enjoy!

Our spoiled dog

I decided to dedicate this blog to Limerick. While it doesn't involve Bermuda, I thought people must know what has progressed with our dog.

Limerick has become completely spoiled and I think it may be because I am home with her all day. While I didn't think little scraps of food (she licks out my yogurt container every morning) or daily long walks would make much of a difference, something has changed.

Limerick has refused to drink out of her dog bowl. She whines at the door to go out and then begs to drink water out of my plastic watering can. For the past two weeks she hasn't touched her water bowl in the house! When I go out to water my plants, she gets extremely excited. Limerick has also decided to become a finicky eater and sometimes doesn't touch her food all day. When this happens, she usually goes out to eat some grass and then throws it all up. Ryan's new plan has been to put shredded cheddar cheese in her food dish so she of course will eat every last bit of her food. So now we have to feed her cheese in her dog bowl and water out of a watering can!

Now this last story is the best. Please picture it as I write. Last night Ryan decided to cut Limerick's nails. It turned into a mini-pedicure. Limerick's nails were breaking off and had rough edges so Ryan used my nail file to smooth out every last nail! Next we will be using lotions and nail polish...what have we turned into!

Anyways, our dog is happy and we are glad for a great companion. I have thought that maybe Ceasar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer" might need to come in and get us back on track.

Until next time...

Giant Toads, Ants & Lizards

Bermuda is getting significantly warmer this week. I can tell summer is on its way! Since the weather is changing, we feel the creatures may be getting more active. Last night Ryan saw his first giant Bermuda toad (also know as the cane toad). He had to go back outside after bringing the dog in to see it again with a flashlight. They get huge and were brought to the island to eat cockroaches. Luckily for me, I haven't seen a live cockroach yet! We sprayed the perimeter of our house today for ants, spiders, and cockroaches. Hopefully that will keep the little pests out. Actually I shouldn't say little, the cockroaches get HUGE here!

The tree frogs are also out and noisy and we hear them "whistle" all night long. It is actually a pleasant noise and we don't mind at all. We are also starting to see more lizards also called anoles. They change colors and have been brown and green when we have seen them.

I have attached a funny picture of our bedroom over the weekend. We have ordered curtains, but they are back ordered, so Ryan made a make-shift sun shade for us over the weekend. The umbrella works nicely to keep the morning sun out of our eyes. We were getting sick of waking up every morning by 7am when the sun beat down right on our faces. Hopefully in the future we will only use the umbrella for some shade at the beach.

We went out for lunch yesterday at Mickey's at Elbow Beach Resort. It is right on the beach. It was so nice to sit outside and eat lunch. We felt like tourists! The food was decent but of course expensive. We spent $40 on a burger, a tuna sandwich, and two glasses of tap water! Of course food in general is expensive here. After charting our grocery and restaurant expenses, I found out that we spent $1,000 on food in the month of April! That is crazy for two people!

I loved my cardio boot camp classes this week. The class is an hour 3 days a week and we workout at the Arboretum. The Arboretum is a beautiful area for picnics, walking your dog, or just hanging out. I love that we can workout outside almost everyday. It hasn't rained hard here in days which is good for scooter riding, but I can tell the grass is getting very dry!

Ryan takes his actuary exam on May 12th! After that is over, hopefully we will get out more and sight see around the island. More to come soon!

Until next time...