DAY 25: Food with Family; Santa for Saga

Yesterday (DAY 26) I met my dad for lunch at Detroit Coney Grill - we are originally from Detroit, and this restaurant is essentially half-way between our homes. If you are in the area, their Sun Devil Burger was entirely worth the heartburn!

On my way home, I picked up some groceries as Zach was due for dinner. I have a few entrees I want to knock out once more while I have a wide variety of ingredients available. I truly enjoy cooking and grocery shopping doesn't bother me; I know I am entering a whole new world in San Pedro!

One of my, "final meals" is one I only started cooking about a year ago - Shrimp Ramen from scratch. I do have two ramen bowls, but I let the men take those. I believe this was my 5th attempt at soft-boiled eggs, and by far, the closest to the ideal "jammy" consistency I'm aiming for. (They have been grossly undercooked to date. I like my eggs runny, but the previous attempts were too much even for me.)

Today, (DAY 25) I started tackling the packing of our Kitchen. I would like to cook as long as I can, so I focused on lesser-used items. We're only taking what we can't get easily or at a good quality in Belize, and a few small appliances that are lightly used. It took me hours to pack up 3 bins! I was hyper-focused on packing them as tightly and fully as humanly possible. I also sorted as I went, putting the few remaining Kitchen items left to pack in drawers separate from the items we'll give to the boys. Nathan and I had been homeowners before we met, so when we cohabitated, we had two of most things.

I also worked through my Saga Humane Society donations. We've always brought some goodies when we come down, however, I abhor checking bags...until we bought the villa. Then I changed my tune! 2023, we were able to pack mule down more for Saga and Paws Up Belize with checked bags. I've been collecting things like pet carriers, leashes, compostable poop bags, toys, e-collars and more from Nellis Auction - they auction Amazon returns so they are technically "used", and I have receipts for many items that I won for $1 each. If you want to make your dollar go further and live in Phoenix, Houston, Las Vegas, or Philadelphia, check them out! NellisAuction.com

The 2nd photo above shows where I had to get crafty - I have accumulated this collection over a series of auctions, so unfortunately, they are scattered across about a year's worth of receipts. I combined them into larger groups, took a photo for our freight forwarder, and put a copy inside of each pet carrier. Now, I pray that Customs will honor the price I paid as the actual value of the items. 

My neon pink Bingo daub arrived today, too! That is DEFINITELY the way to go for your shipping labels. You'll see them soon in a video!