wore my bathrobe around all day
lounged around in the pools, read two books and 4 magazines, listened to a lot of NPR on my iPod, got a pedicure, a facial and a body scrub. 
We delighted in the beauty of the earth.
spontaneously hiked with Gabe carried thrown over Adan's shoulders
Drove with all the girls in one car and boys in the other.
discovered that both Adan and Mario think posing for ridiculous photos is the most fun ever.
My family is moving my technology to the current century with my very first one of these: 
Susana made lunch, Mario gave me a professional - in his office and taking a patient's time slot - massage, and then these great ladies had a surprise party for me.
An excellent day.
Here are the before pictures, but it's not a real before because I forgot the camera in the morning so this is after 5 hours of removing and cleaning.
Biggest problem in this kitchen is lack of light, accentuated by dark cabinetry and dark ambered colored glass blocks.
The darkness was accented by pale pink accents on the walls and this old piece of furniture from Deo's medical office painted the same pink.
Here you can get glimpses of what the kitchen was like before my 5 hours of object removal. I was limited to all superficial changes - i.e. tearing out the glass blocks and replacing them along with the floor was out, and we wanted to refinish the cupboards but Deo veteod that as well. So, 5 days, 50 trips to paint stores, accessory stores, etc. and numerous budget revisions later, Susana returned to:
all freshly painted walls and furniture. Lots of removed items (mainly plastic picture frames) NOT returned, and curtains covering the window and the amber glass blocks. I wanted to paint the back splash with special tile paint, but I tried it on some hidden tiles and it didn't look great, so I had to leave it.
Susana also has a large collection of decorative plates that used to be on the wall in what is Mario's consulting room but we removed. So we re-hung them up the staircase. I also made her a photo collage, painted her clock green and cleaned up the bookcase, getting baskets for kids' art materials and Deo's institute class preparation materials. I told Deo where I put all his stuff and he said "It's okay, I'll arrange it later" and Mario rebuked "dad, it IS arranged!" We'll see if it lasts. There are still a few details to finish, and we're lobbying Deo to buy her new kitchen chairs for her birthday next month, but overall it's a huge improvement.
And now I'm exhausted. Good thing it's my birthday tomorrow so I can refuse to cook, clean, or anything else!
To make it complete, my mom sent:
Want an eyeball??? You're invited to our party!
THANKS MOM AND ASHLEY!!!!
Here I'm sharing important cultural items like candy corn and People Magazine with Gabe. I don't think he's appreciating them fully.
In addition, Lindsay contributed a stack of US and Glamor magazines so I can learn important things like not only is the economy going to pot in the US, but fashion as well. ARE YOU KIDDING ME Katie Holmes, etc. with those baggy pegged jeans????
Lindsay also sent me the cutest jacket EVER, which will be featured in a later post. Oh how I love my deliveries!!
While we were hanging out, Mario found a pair of binoculars someone had left. We waited around for a while to see if the owner would show up, and then left a note saying if you lost something we found it, so call and we'll return it, but no one ever called. So Mario took them home and later that night I found him in the kitchen window...
The lights were off, the light you see is from my flash. What's that they say about marrying someone like your father???? (my dad keeps binoculars in his car, supposedly for bird sighting while fishing...)
