…picking right up from my last blog – yes, we were packed into the metro like SARDINES – on the way back from the Mexican/U.S. game, and then on the way back, as we were the only small group of small gringos, (lol), chants such as “PARTY AT THE GRINGOS!” and “Gringos!  Gringos!” echoed all around us making the ride home…interesting, but it was a hysterical aspect of coming back from a  spectacular night of futball.  The comment was made that Mexico is always the best group to celebrate despite losing a game, and yes, it seems fans out rank Americans when it comes to celebrating despite a loss, they are still so proud and supportive of their teams, we saw this as we walked out of the stadium and witnessed small groups celebrating all around us.

After we switched trains, I reached into my backpack and realized, oh yes! – someone was smart and had finangled my wallet out of my pack…the realization that my credit cards. driver’s license, store cards like Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, etc , even my Efectivo card were in there! – so yes, on our way to the World Trade Center for an Internations’ event, my mood was slightly dampened…but I was resolved to see the night through…:)

We arrived at the World Trade Center restaurant/Sky Bar, what am amazing view – AMAZING!  The only disappointment was to get right against the windows, you needed to have a reservation/table, we were in the upstairs lounge/bar and we were separated from the windows by about 7 feet, but still, the view was spectacular!  I was lucky enough to meet many nice people thanks to Deb Lawrence, but still had the feeling items were overpriced, and this on a 50% level was looking at each other’s position, status (turnoff) yet among those social climbers (as you will have anywhere) there was some pretty amazing people that I was lucky to meet.  In the back of my mind, I was wondering who was using my cards, who was accessing my info, but I tried my best to push that away until…tomorrow?  🙂

Alas, we left and arrived safely back at home, Deb and Julien helped with a cab that took us all back, I still had 100 pesos left that fell out of the wallet before it had been lifted from my bag…:)

Let me tell you when I came home, I was like what?  The pipes in the bathroom were leaking and when I tried to turn the faucet on, then off to tighten the handles broke, and the water would not stop…:)  Awesome night, right?  I was able to go to my truck, get a pair of vicegrips, and crank that faucet tightly shut, so that a constant drip was all that was occurring, and I placed a Polar water bottle container under the faucet to catch the dripping water – but in the process, I was thinking, what the ^(#&@( –  why this night?  Why so incredibly on thing after the other?!  🙂  lol…however, I decided in the wee hours of this next day, August 16th, I was not going in until the water problem was fixed, also fixing the issue of my cancellation of credit cards, bank cards, etc.

HC – let me tell you, ASF HC was AWESOME – I mean AWESOME – they helped me cancel all my cards and Efectivo card and all was done by mid morning, thank you Elisa and HC – this helped my crazy fix everything day almost 100%!  On top of that, my awesome landlord was able to get someone to come over that day and the leaks, all seals needing sealed, etc, was fixed by 3:00 PM, everything fixed, showing me that things brighten if you maintain the course…

Looking back, this worked out so much better than it ultimately could have, and the result was an absolute, great final outcome with not one person accessing my financial info despite all cards disappearing – what more could you ask for ?  With Rodrigo at Bancomer, and HC saving the day in a matter of hours, things were so unbelievably fixed, it was worth taking all complaints and thoughts of “Ugh, Noooooo!” back thanks to the help of those mentioned above.

Stepping back from my Mexico at hand events – I keep thinking how miraculous things have been for me thanks to several people…ONE – The Fields’ – Mr Fields making a tune up on my Mercury Mountaineer that was amazing, the SUV ran like a different vehicle completely, I ran  it hard, with ranking just under 1000 miles the first day making it from Delaware to Mississippi, and between Katie, Tim, and Mrs Fields all having major events, life changes, and just working through so many things, and still having time to make room for me as their second son literally, there are so many unseen things/aspects that I am thankful for – I can’t begin to say as I first get that urge to complain!  (I often do not think of these things at first when I am angry upset, etc..).

Kudos to the Fields’ who work so hard for others, yet always put themselves second, which is why I attribute their personal successes and their ability to make anything work – their attitude makes the difference in everything they do and approach.   My Mom, Melinda Duryea, as well as Charlotte Vaughn, Nancy McGee, all facilitated so many smooth transitions for me coming back to DE, then as well, Mrs Cox Cannon who also helped facilitate so many issues for me involving storage, removal of items from my house, and on and on, I cannot believe how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many supportive individuals!

It HAS been awhile since I have written in my blog, and over the last few weeks, I just have had the need to separate myself from the nickpicking, gossipping, devotion to going out and get drunk that many live for, complaining, on and on that so many people tend to fall into the trap of, and just want to take in the quiet, the calm, the good there is around us instead of being so sucked in by the negative and the things that you can look on and just complain about.

Having the luck to have found still currently my new found Afghan puppy, I have learned alot of lessons from her.  Take your time, don;t worry about the swirl of the world around you, if you’re not happy, content, and peaceful, then no one around you will be.  I have decided to separate myself from all that junk that has brought me down in the past, the superficialness of people, their complaints, their negativity, their anger, and just find a middle ground where I feel content, peaceful, and motivated to achieve so much.  It’s so funny, and this remains to be true, there is so much more maturity in the students that surround me, than the adults.  This is the one thing that remains the same – Mexico and Delaware, I have been, and still am, lucky enough to be surrounded by students that make me smile so much, while so many adults around me spend so much time on conversation and issues that are negative  – I am constantly renewed by those students here in Mexico that yes, have their down days, but they are so much easier to bring up from a plateau of complaining and being down than the adults – with some exceptions.  I know I say this all the time about “my students”, but they never were “my students”, I just liked to consider them that – but they are so full of life and motivated when they have someone that believes in them, more than any other group I met.  My former yearbooks staffs, PAVE members, XC team, track members, Key Club members, and now Repentino Staff exhibit what it means to ride the high surf of life, and reap what it has to offer while so many others spend so much time on other fruitless thoughts, actions etc, we have a constant state of renewal and recharging from each other, hence they are my mentors, source of inspiration, etc.  I am blessed more than any amount of money, job location, or position could give me, even in my worst hour, I am a better person for the people better than me that look and feel all that life has to offer, both good and bad – sweet and sour! 🙂

Since the fateful wallet missing evening, I have visited a few new restaurants worth mentioning in the next few days, as well as got back on course with a schedule filled with park visits with my new pet, as well as learning life is better with so many things I often full my day with that do not matter – by the way….

GREAT PICK – the book,  The Art of Racing in the Rain – it made me think of all these things I mentioned above and made me realize, and allowed me to take a fresh breath inside out and realize – Life is precious, good and too short to carry the attitude of the things that can bring you down.

I sit here now at the first annual Google Summit, amazed at how and where technology, education, and life is headed…so many philosophical aspects that deserve time to reflect on – life is revolving and we decide where we are in the process…I am thankful for the people around me that help me evolve while we revolve, lol.  Stay tuned for updates to restaurants this weekend!  🙂