Whether you live here or are just visiting, how many times have you said that about a restaurant on your bucket list?  Well, have I got good news for you!  Jeff Jhangiani and I have started this group Foodporn Group of SXM

The idea is simple, twice each month we’ll pick a dining venue on one side of the island.  One casual, one more upscale.  The side of the island will vary month to month.  Our group will go together to experience all the place has to offer.  This is your chance to try those places you’ve been meaning to get to while fellowshipping with great friends.  Just click on the link above to join us.  We’ll have special theme parties throughout the year, wine tastings, this is not to be missed!  Our inaugural venue is Sublime, in Simpson Bay on January 8th.  Details are on the Facebook page.  Join us for all the #foodporn you can stand 😁

I looked at the calendar, apparently it’s Dec 16. One thing I’ve noticed that is way different living here is it not feeling like Christmas. It’s been 84° most every day. I see Christmas decorations all over the place, some are gorgeous! (Note to self, drive around and get pics). But I think it’s the heat. Despite spending the first 10 years of my life in Hawaii, the other 44 have been where it gets cold (Dothan, AL 30s) to hell has frozen over, I’m going to die it’s so cold (Coudersport, PA -10s) around Christmas so my mind is having a hard time adjusting to the warmth now. I know, lots of people who hate the cold would give an arm for this “problem”. Thing is, I don’t mind the cold. I’m not a cold hater and I kinda miss it. So, with that, I’m working on getting used to a warm Christmas. Perhaps driving around and getting Christmas light pics will help.

Kakao, to the right of Bikini and La Playa, is going to be gorgeous!  Soft opening for drinks only on Sunday, December 16.  Full menu available Monday, December 17.  Side note, if you’re on island NYE, stop by and wish my husband Andy a happy birthday!  We’ll be here!

La Playa, to the right of Bikini facing it from the water, is well behind the power curve for building and I’ll be shocked if it’s ready for the 2018-2019 season.

Kontiki coming along very well.  This facility is going to be phenomenal.  If you’re standing at the water facing Bikini, it’s to the left.  The manager wouldn’t give me a specific date but stated they are opening “very soon”.  Based on what I saw, I’m guessing before January.

We’ve has UTS for a couple of weeks now and yes, it is FAR better than Scarlet (now Coral).  Speeds are vastly improved but again, not US speeds, lol.  We’re happy with anything over 2 mbps which is what we had with Coral 😵. We still have not heard from Telem 🙄. Just as an FYI, we polled several locals about UTS’s service for recommendations.  It was about a 50/50 split for and against.  So far, we’re in the “for” column.

Topping the gratitude list today? A dinner hosted by All About a Smile last evening where I was able to meet several incredible people who are truly angels on earth. These women are running the orphanages and shelter for domestic abuse victims on the island. Those who know me know I do not believe in coincidence. Rather, the the Universe has a plan and as long as I listen I will be directed along the path. If you’ve followed the story about our move to St. Maarten you know how many stars had to line up, literally in 2 months for this enormous life changing event to happen. Just as my a-ha moment happened when we were led to Charlotte, after last night the picture is becoming more clear about why those stars lined up like they did. We are supposed to be here. This is most certainly not a coincidence. Pieces of the puzzle are being put into place and the picture is getting more complete every day. To the phenomenal volunteers of All About a Smile, I am honored to walk with you and perhaps make my own small impact on the island. My heart is full ❤️.

The water’s out again.  Second time in as many weeks.  We were warned about this and GEBE’s dysfunction where power is concerned.  We’re adapting to island life so we always keep our Pür water filter full and several bottles of water available to drink in the refrigerator.  We’ve been here full time since 10/24 and (knock wood) have not had any power outages.  The water outage only started last week so I guess I am grateful that it took that long.  The difficult part is that it hits without warning.  Thankfully we weren’t in the middle of a shower or laundry but a tentant in my building reported on our WhatsApp group that she was in the middle of a shower 🤪. I know that we are getting more and more comfortable living here when I don’t have a hissy fit about this.  It’s all part of the process and I am 100% certain that the lesson from the Universe is, never, ever take anything for granted.  Including clean running water.  And so it goes.

First Telem; we applied for Telem internet service on 10/01/18.  We have literally not heard one thing back from them since.  I’ve called several times to check on our status and each time I’m told, “I see you in the system, but we cannot give you a date that you’ll hear from the tech.”  You might recall, shortly after we applied the tech was onsite at our building doing the survey for another unit (who had waited over 3 weeks).  Our manager asked them to take a look at ours since they were here.  Nope, not on the list, not happening 🙄. Andy finally got fed up and applied for UTS on 11/5.  They’ll be here today to install it 👍🏻 As for Telem, another resident who moved in and applied after us has apparently been contacted by them to do her survey.  Our apartment manager messaged me and advised I should “give her our info” since this tenant “was in contact with Telem”.  Not just no, but hell no.  They’ve already made it clear they won’t do our survey while they’re here.  We have to be “on the list”.  So far, 58 days and we’ve heard nothing from them.  We now have a running contest in the house to guess when/if we ever will hear from them.  I’m in for February 2019, 4 months after we applied.  I’ll keep you updated 🙄😜😖

We have now also been here officially uninterrupted for over a month so our latest GEBE bill is a full 30 days of coverage.  In a routine day we run the a/c in the living room for a total of about 3 hours off and on.  We run the a/c in the bedroom every night because I can’t sleep when I’m hot.  We do at least 1 load of laundry (wash/dry) a week, sometimes 2.  Twice in this month we’ve come home from being out all day and realized we forgot to turn the a/c off, so it ran all day.  Oscillating fans (2) run very nearly 24 hours a day most days of the week.  We cook in the oven (electric) approximately 1-2 times per week.  The stove is gas so no affect on GEBE.  Our water heater is on demand electric.  So with all of that, we were ridiculously happy with our first full bill, $112 for electricity and $11 for water.  We were terrified it was going to be $300+ as we’ve heard the horror stories.  Our realtor told us that electricity was really cheap in our location, which we thought was just a talking point for renting the place.  Now we realize she was dead serious.  We could not be happier!!

About what medical care was going to look like on the island.  I just had significant back surgery and needed follow up PT.  It helps that I am a retired nurse.  Going into my search I knew what I needed and what to expect from PT.  There is a PT facility literally a block from our apartment so I decided to start there.  My Physical Therapist’s name is Peter and wow, is he amazing!  He’s Dutch, been a PT for over 20 years, and truly knows his business.  On my first visit he went over a thorough medical history and discussed piece by piece, exactly what his goals were and what he was going to do to accomplish them.  Today was my actual first visit where the PT modalities were put into practice and I can tell this is going to be highly effective in my recovery.  I’m going to post the card for the facility he’s practicing in now, but he is opening his own practice in April 2019.  I’ll post that update as I get it.  If you find that you need PT while here on the island, take comfort in knowing that there is quality PT care available.