Home Again

[David_CA]

After 5 fun-filled days with the group at AMG '08, we left Mexico City yesterday (Monday) morning to fly home.  It's always hard to say good-bye to everybody.  For me, it was even harder this year.  I know most of this year's attendees from previous AMG's.  The more time I spend with these people, the closer I feel to them.  I know it'll 'only' be a year 'til I see them again, but it's sure going to feel a lot longer than that! 

Everything went smoothly for the most part.  The language barrier was a small issue (for many of us).  There seems to be a math barrier of some sort in Mexico City... particularly in our hotel.  None of the employees seemed to be able to make change when paying for drinks or food!  Fortunately, this year's event seemed to be as drama-free as possible.

All in all, we had a great time.  I know others will chime in with their opinions, activities, and pics.  For now, I'll just post two pics.

David

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Robert]

AMIGOS ~~~~  !!!

I'm just starting to regain my bearings.  I got home after midnight Sunday and did some serious R&R yesterday.  These gatherings are not easy.  Nonstop talking, walking, touring, eating, drinking. But it's so nice to make new friends and see the old.  I have the odd habit of sorta, kinda, veering off on my own but I need never worry because I know I'll always find my way back to maddening crowd.  We visited the pyramids and most of us made it to the Sun and the Moon.  There was the mariachis on Calle Juarez, the fabulous slide show and dinner and drinks at the top of the hotel, with a fantastic fireworks show to top it off, and our own AMG memorial Friday morning. Jan's words brought tears to my eyes and Gary's visions of souls rising, arms akimbo, like little water babies, lifted my spirits.

I feel so fortunate that I can go to the Gatherings and share a little of myself and learn so much from others.  It's an occasion of joy and love and fellowship that just can't be ignored.

Thanks so much....robert

[Miss Philicia]

O HAI

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Basquo]

Me and Handsome made it home too!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[minismom]

Peanut and I are home and still trying to recover.  We hit the ground running yesterday with laundry and baseball games (Mini made 2pts!)  Today we're back more into our routine with more laundry and grocery shopping.  I'm still trying to compose a post and will show pictures as soon as Hubby moves them from his private files to a public file.  Mini is full of stories about all of you and is asking how long a year is - she misses her guys.

Mum

[David_CA]

O HAI

Oh, worry not.  I'll out gay you there. [snip]  Anyone can be an actress.

And she did.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Miss Philicia]

And she did.

Yeah, but I still got plowed by a local which included an adventurous stay over in another Mexico City neighborhood

I don't need manhunt for fun, so I'm not destroying the world.

[bear60]

Hi guys.....its great that you are all home and safe. 
Now, please start a thread specifically for pictures and memories of Mexico City.
Those of us who couldn't be there will have a hard time finding all the posts if they get scattered around in various threads.


Gracias
Joel

[Miss Philicia]

K... one more pic:

[attachment deleted by admin]

[David_CA]

Hi guys.....its great that you are all home and safe. 
Now, please start a thread specifically for pictures and memories of Mexico City.
Those of us who couldn't be there will have a hard time finding all the posts if they get scattered around in various threads.


Gracias
Joel

Joel,
Most likely, pics will be on a separate website due to privacy and ownership issues (what's posted on POZ® belongs to POZ®).  This is how we did it last year after the S.F. AMG. Several members are still there, so give us some time to get it all set up.  These few are just for fun.

David

[anniebc]

Hi
Glad to hear all you guys made it home ok.

Just said goodbye to Jody and Curtis.

Rocky, Cliff and I are all packed and leaving in an hour, its now 10.15am.

Will catch up wityh you all soon.

miss you all

Hugs
Jan

[mjmel]

Arrived at airport at 11:30 pm last night and checked into a nearby hotel for the night. Arrived at home at 11 am. 

Kinda tired from long flight but have some very good memories to cherish.

Also a frustrating incident after my arrival at CVG.  I was totally tuckered out when we finally landed at Cincinnati airport late last night. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember which long term parking lot I had chosen to park the truck since I had left the lot ticket on the dash of the truck!   There are four scattered about the CVG airport. Thankfully, the driver (Bless his heart!) of one of the parking companies drove me around till I found the correct one. 

Good to hear most have made it home safely. Now, I wait to hear from the balance of the group.

Mike

[Ric Wilke]

Thom and I made it home on Tuesday afternoon with plenty of time to pick up Miss Sophie Tucker from the kennel/doggy day care.  She was quite wet and I asked Vicki (who is also her breader) if she had just had a bath.  Not a bath, she spend the whole week we were gone swimming in the "pool" with two big bull dogs.  A pool, that's what I said.

We enjoyed AMG more than we could ever imagined.  The group was "muy simpatico" and the love was everywhere.

Viva AMG.

R&T

[Lou-ah-vull]

I made it home Tuesday evening and have been using today to do three loads of laundry as well as go through a week's worth of personal mail.  Thursday is "back to work" but I am rested and relaxed after a wonderful week with my AMG friends.  I must admit I was concerned about how we would manage in a foreign city, but our trip to Mexico City was one of the best trips I have ever taken.

I know we will be able to share pictures soon.  Looking forward to reliving the good memories. 

Gary

[pozniceguy]

Made it home  safely and efficiently at 5:00 pm on Monday..spent last two days catching up with email, laundry, phones etc.....now can read forums and relax a little ..great time with super people in a strange land....

loved it and you all

Nick
Le stelle la notte sono grandie luminose, nel cuore profondo del Texas

[minismom]

Make way for the stage Mama.  Here's some fun pics of Mini and her guys



[attachment deleted by admin]

[minismom]

Ok, that one didn't have Mini in it...let's try again.  This is one of the guards at the Presidential Palace in Zocolo.  She was forever picking up strange men.



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Curtis]

I got home an hour ago.  Hotel to living room was just shy of 13 hours, of which a whopping 3-1/2 hours was actual air time. 

Tons to chat and ask and and share and visit about with pretty much every one of you!  I've thought about you guys all day long.     

Curtis

[RAB]

Hi Everyone

Arrived home a little over 6 hours ago (12:30 a.m. PDT).  Exhausted, full of fond memories, and feeling a wee bit sad for missing my old and new friends.

I'll sort through my pics, and load them to the AMG gallery when it is set up.   

RAB

[Jody]

I arrived home late last evening after a slight delay taking off, Delta Air did a great job and everything about the trip was wonderful, the service all around was fine overall and left me very pleased...Mexico City was magical and enchanting indeed.

Many of us got to go to the pyramids- the Zona Arqueologica de Teotihuacan and we climbed to the top, a wondeful achievement and felt the history and the view from the top was magnificent and in the next few days for some at a time to the anthropology museum, the art museum and the lovely boat ride at the Floating Gardens.

It was once again very nice to see old friends and make new ones, it was very nice to meet Mark who lives in Mexico City and his partner Tony.  Mark is an expert on Mexican history and was a great tour guide at the museum for some of us.

A great job done by Dennis as usual in putting this together and by Jan for our annual ceremony and a very touching speech by Gary which gave me a real sense of spirituality regarding issues I tended to let go of in recent years due to dissatisfaction with organized religions.

The food was great, the enchiladas and the thin sliced beef and the chicken and fish and even a hamburgesa I had for lunch one day!!!  One restaurant was gracious enough to even stay open late for us one evening...The ambiance was always great, thanks to lovely surroundings and the great folks of course!!!
Trips to the Zona Rosa and Zocala were terrific and I learned so much about Mexican history, art, music and the people...Viva Independencia!!! A great time!!!

It's good to be home but with great memories of a fantastic AMG'08!!!

Love always, Jody

[aztecan]

Hey all,

I made it home about noon today (Thursday). I stayed over in Albuquerque last night. I was pooped out.

As everyone said, Mexico city was wonderful and I managed to escape the tourist trots - until yesterday. I think it was the banana desert the night before.

It doesn't matter. I am back and doing pretty well today.

I already miss you all and will post photos when I can get them downloaded I took nearly 1,200 of them. Is that too many to put on the web site?

Glad everyone got home safe and sound. I miss you all already.

HUGS,

Mark

Whose tail bone is still sore 

[Miss Philicia]

1200???  omg

I only took ~375 and have narrowed them down to 192

[YaKaMein]

Everybody get some rest and then start the slideshow. Looking forward to the laughs. -YaKa

[anniebc]

Hi

Just to let you know I got home ok without any dramas, all flights went smoothly, I'm exhausted and have had a really bad day with my baby boy Jody..but I won't spoil this wonderful thread with the gory details, I will post something in "off Topic" because many of you were asking after him at the AMG.

Miss all you guys, but will catch up soon when I get my head around everything and hopefully will be able to post some photo's soon when we get a AMG gallery going...needless to say AMG was amazing.

Love and hugs
Jan

[minismom]

Welcome home, sweetie!

Mum

[adeh]

I'm glad to see that you all got home safe and sound. I just want to say that it was wonderful to meet you all and that I had a great time hanging around with all of you.  It's a beautiful sunny day here in Mexico City.....I hope it's a beautiful sunny day wherever you all are.....besos, Mark.

[MOONLIGHT1114]

I wanted to say that its really nice to read this thread and see all of your smiling faces together!   

[Curtis]

I took 650 pictures and squelched them down to the 100 or so good ones today.  A lot of Creighton and Santiago, Jan, churches, pyramids, the colorful boats at Xochimilco, skyline. 

Curtis   
(You guys sure do PM a lot.)

[Miss Philicia]

hmmm... I think I officially picked up bronchitis on the plane ride home and now I'm rather ill

[aztecan]

hmmm... I think I officially picked up bronchitis on the plane ride home and now I'm rather ill

Sorry to hear your a bit under the weather. Are you taking anything for it? How bad is it?
If I were closer, I would bring you some chicken soup.

I developed a case of the hershey's on the day I flew back to the states. Nothing like waiting on line to go through customs in Dallas with clenched butt cheeks and fear of losing it in front of the whole world.

By the way, I love the photo of the two of us, even if it does make me look like a beached whale.  After seeing myself in the photos, I am going to try what I discussed with you. The worst it could do is not work.

HUGS,

Mark

(Who hopes you feel better very soon.)

[minismom]

Philly, honey, are you sure you didn't catch it in the afore mentioned "other Mexican neighborhood"?  I do hope you feel better.

Mark, don't get me started about Dallas airport.  Mim and i had to ride 2 buses and an Amtrack to get from where we were to where we were supposed to be.  Only to find out when we finally reached what we thought was the right gate, that the gate had changed and was now 8 gates further down and no where near anything to eat.  So, once I got Miss Moo settled and confirmed we were indeed at the right gate, I ran back down, grabbed something for us to eat, ran back to the gate, sat down, and then it was time to board.  I was hot, sweaty, hungry (it was after 2pm and we'd yet to eat), and in a very FOWL mood.

Then, we get on the plane and find out that our seats were 4 rows apart.  I asked 1 lady if she minded sitting in my seat, closer to the front, so that Mim and i could sit together.  She got all gripey because my seat was a window seat.  So, I thanked her, and sat Mim down.  I didn't even make it to my seat before the lady agreed to trade.  When I sat down, Mim shrugged her shoulders and said, "All I did was tell her my name and about Mexico."  

Our plane landed 30 minutes early.  After riding yet another airport subway, I was properly mobbed by all my babies and 1 greatful Hubby.  We weren't in the car 10 minutes before I was back in my mommy role, breaking up arguments and threatening to pull the car over.  It was good to be home.

Mum

[Curtis]

My trip home wasn't exactly an ordeal so much as a day that just wouldn't end.  The plane left Mexico City about 90 minutes later than scheduled, which very nearly afforded me another short visit with Jan a few gates over.  But they started boarding and I didn't want to risk it.  Total wait was about 4 hours.

Because of the delay I was concerned about missing connections in Dallas.  The airline people pecked on their computers and told me not to worry about it.  Go through customs and get on this other flight instead.  But we got to Dallas in enough time for me to catch the original flight.  Unfortunately my luggage followed its revised orders and got on the second one though.  Learning that meant standing in a long line at the airport in Austin, where I was encouraged to wait but chose not to.  The next day I went back to retrieve my laundry and tacky souvenirs. 

Glad to be home, but I'm.......bummed.  Yesterday at the grocery I saw someone who looked a bit like Jan.  I guess after a week of always keeping my eyes peeled for the other 20 of you I'm still doing it out of habit.  Last night I had a dream that Philly, Rocky, and Creighton were in. 

[Robert]

yeah, I've been home a week now and still feel out of sorts.  Maybe it's the 100+' temperatures.  I doubt it.  I just miss all of you. 

robt

[minismom]

I'm still outta sorts, too.  I find myself still very tired and in need of afternoon naps.  My clock just won't reset itself.  Today at church, Mini and I got to relive our favorite moments since everyone wanted to know how our trip went.  Some have also sent me pictures which just brings a smile to my face as I remember and listen to Mini introduce each of you to the rest of the family.  I miss you guys - I really do.

Mum

[RAB]

Curtis   
(You guys sure do PM a lot.)

I haven't received one darn pm since getting home!   

Is it my breath?   

RAB

Who had the most awesome time!   

[minismom]

Poor Rab   I've gotten several PM's, but most have been pictures of my daughter.  Maybe you should go have yourself a kid..LOL

Mum (who can hear DF "Rab, jshew got some 'splainin' to do")

Did I tell you guys that Rab got up really early in the morning to kiss me good-bye?  

[Robert]

rocky...

not to worry.  you and i can start a lonely hearts club.

roberto

(who also can't discount the dogs days of summer for this feeling of 'blah')

[anniebc]

I haven't received one darn pm since getting home!   

Is it my breath?   

RAB

Who had the most awesome time!   

OK you can stop crying now I sent you a PM.

Mom..I don't know about RAB but after that early morning wake up call I had to go back to bed for a nap..

Hugs to you all
Jan

[RAB]

RAB

not to worry.  you and i can start a lonely hearts club.

roberto

(who also can't discount the dogs days of summer for this feeling of 'blah')

It's a deal!   

Poor RAB   I've gotten several PM's, but most have been pictures of my daughter.  Maybe you should go have yourself a kid..LOL

Mum (who can hear DF "RAB, jshew got some 'splainin' to do")

Did I tell you guys that RAB got up really early in the morning to kiss me good-bye?  

I wouldn't have missed the chance for anything Mum.  As far as DF goes, he's been so busy with work I'm not ever sure he's aware I'm back!   

RAB

(Prefers to be called RAB in the forums.   )


Edit to ask:  David NC, are you going to do the Kodak Gallery thing again this year?

[David_CA]

Edit to ask:  David NC, are you going to do the Kodak Gallery thing again this year?

We're working on something similar that may be a bit more intuitive.  Your (and others) patience will be rewarded... hopefully!

David

[Miss Philicia]

I've set up a gallery on my own web space that allows for individuals to upload photos from your PC's via web browser.  David_NC is going to test it out on his end tonight.

I'm aware that there a few individuals who prefer that the gallery not be public, so I've placed a username/password on it which will then be distributed on a person-by-person basis.  If anyone has objections to this please let us know so we can avoid any drama.

I will most likely want to limit each AMG attendee to a limit of 50 photos uploaded, so this will basically be an exchange of candid shots of other members, not endless shots of pyramids, cathedrals, etc.

[minismom]

Thanks Philly and David!  Philly, how are you feeling?

Mum

[Miss Philicia]

Oh, I'm chugging along.  I started taking MucinexDM that first day and it prevented it from getting as bad as the last time I had this.

[Jody]

Feel better David !!!

Jody

[Basquo]

I will most likely want to limit each AMG attendee to a limit of 50 photos uploaded, so this will basically be an exchange of candid shots of other members, not endless shots of pyramids, cathedrals, etc.

One thing I like about sharing photos is that even though I've got some great shots of pyramids, cathedrals, etc., sometimes others have more spectacular shots of the same thing.  Can we include those shots as long as we stay within the designated limit? The backdrop is also a big part of these visits with my friends, for me, anyway.

[Miss Philicia]

One thing I like about sharing photos is that even though I've got some great shots of pyramids, cathedrals, etc., sometimes others have more spectacular shots of the same thing.  Can we include those shots as long as we stay within the designated limit? The backdrop is also a big part of these visits with my friends, for me, anyway.

Sure.

I have all of my photos in a separate gallery than what the rest of you will use for sharing photos.  I'll also include the link to my gallery when I put up the instructions (hopefully in the morning) for the "sharing gallery."  That way the rest of you can look at them and decide what you find lacking in terms of non-candid photos.  But I don't care what anyone actually uploads -- the 50 limit was more because of storage space multiplied by 20 attendees.

[Miss Philicia]

The photo exchange gallery thread can be located here:

http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=22773.0