A Simple Life Well-Lived

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"The greatest wealth is to live content with little". ~

Hola hombres y mujeres! (Men & women!).

So I've come to terms with the fact that I won't be getting adopted by Oprah and I'm probably not going to be Brad & Angelina's next nanny, so I will just have to go back to living my simple life. And for a few times a year I can revel in my tropical vacation, (like now) living it up in the lap of luxury and while I pretend I'm one of those rich cats.

I do have a lottery ticket back home to still check, so hey maybe I'll hear the ringing of bells & win the big $50 million Lotto draw and bring you all on vacation with us. (I'll even buy the margaritas). Or I may just go outside and get struck by lightning (on a sunny day) or fall on a bar of soap in the shower and that's it, lights out. Cause these things are much more likely to happen than winning the lottery. One can still 'dream' (it's your dream make it as big as you want) but the reality is there are many more things likely (and very unusual) to happen to you before you win the big one. Take for example (and rather tongue in cheek folks...):

*Getting hit by an asteroid or comet. (Just when you're gazing out at the sea & wham the gig is up).

*Winning an Oscar (especially if you've never acted).

*Becoming President of the United States (good luck with that one Donald Trump).

*Having conjoined twins (very difficult if you're a man to start with). (Insert a wink right about here).

*Being crushed or killed by a vending machine (that's cause you kick the crap out of them when they don't work).

*Dying from being left-handed & using a right-handed product incorrectly. (Geez Al is left-handed & I've had him handling right-handed thingies for me for years? OOPS!)

*Hitting a polar bear while driving in Hawaii. (Now that would be one for the books)...

*Dying of hypothermia in Mexico. (Maybe heat exposure but the other not so likely...)

So now that I've nicely dashed all of your hopes of winning the "big one", we will just all have to continue trekking along in our simple lives and be content with them.

On that note, I'll share the story of the Mexican Fisherman, and what truly matters in life...

A vacationing American businessman standing on the pier of a quaint coastal fishing village in Mexico watched as a small boat with just one young Mexican fisherman pulled into the dock. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. Enjoying the warmth of the early afternoon sun, the American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

"How long did it take you to catch them?" the American casually asked. "Oh, a few hours," the Mexican fisherman replied.

"Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" the American businessman then asked. The Mexican warmly replied, "With this I have more than enough to meet my family's needs."

The businessman then became serious, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" Responding with a smile, the Mexican fisherman answered, "I sleep late, play with my children, watch ball games, and take siestas with my wife Maria. Sometimes in the evenings I take a stroll into the village to see my amigos, I sip wine, play the guitar, sing a few songs..."

The American businessman impatiently interrupted, "Look, I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you to be more profitable. You can start by fishing several hours longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra money, you can buy a bigger boat. With the additional income that larger boat will bring, before long you can buy a second boat, then a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of fishing boats".

Proud of his own sharp thinking, he excitedly elaborated a grand scheme which could bring even bigger profits, "Then, instead of selling your catch to a middleman you'll be able to sell your fish directly to the processor, or even open your own cannery. Eventually, you could control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this tiny coastal village and move to Mexico City, or possibly even Los Angeles or New York City, where you could even further expand your enterprise."

Having never thought of such things, the Mexican fisherman asked, "But how long will all this take?"

After a rapid mental calculation, the Harvard MBA pronounced, "Probably about 15-20 years, maybe less if you work really hard."

"And then what, señor?" asked the fisherman.

"Why, that's the best part!" answered the businessman with a laugh. "When the time is right, you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions? Really? What would I do with it all?" asked the young fisherman in disbelief.

The businessman boasted, "Then you could happily retire with all the money you've made. You could move to a quaint coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, play with your grandchildren, watch ball games, and take siestas with your wife. You could stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play the guitar and sing with your amigos all you want."

The young fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "But isn't that what I'm doing right now?"

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Signing off from another beautiful morning by the ocean. To sum it up, we're "living la vida loca" (the good life). Although I am missing each and everyone one of you. Well I'm missing MOST of you. OK, I am missing about 2 or 3 of you. (heh heh!)

Enjoying long walks, exploring more & more of the area, lapping up the surf, sand and sun. Enjoying amazing meals, pub crawls of Playa trying to find THE best margarita. So far we're finding out the things we really don't like in our margs ie some bars add Fresca to the margs? Sacrilegious I say. We're meeting lots of new friends, getting to know owners of restaurants & bars, like Steve from New York (who regaled us with stories!)

We're having fun finding new wonderful inexpensive places to eat like a wonderful Greek restaurant that had a stuffed chicken with ham, feta and spinach that would be a grown man cry. Al is a grown man but he did not cry (just so you know!) Enjoying trying many little take-out food places. A new one, makes parrilla which is your choice of meat cooked over a charcoal grill, then you add your toppings of roasted veggies, homemade sauces & salsas & guacamole made to your liking. The smell is divine & has your taste buds doing the mambo. Came across a posh Thai restaurant that has a salmon wrapped in banana leaves with ginger, garlic & soy sauce that had me doing a jig on the sidewalk!) Also collecting lots of pics & info for my work blogs for Playa Beach Getaways. (And relishing the free drinks on the house which are often offered!) Who needs Oprah to adopt me. (Well she can right after this vacation is over!)

Enjoy watching the kids in the pool/ocean, listening to tropical music, swinging on the rooftop hammock, watching the cruise ships go by, and scuba diving (Al that is).

Frankly we're just takin' it one day at a time! We gals are off for a pedicure this morning - looking to go on a fun road trip tomorrow.

Salud & wishing you blue skies wherever you are.

Sal & the "Rolling Stones"

PS lots of pics attached so take those fingers & stroll way down the page onto 2 pages (food pics to come...yum!)

*FYI: in all my blogs, you can hit "next entry" or "previous entry" to read all my blogs

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