Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and holiday season and is having a great start to a brand new 2022! This last year was definitely better that the previous and I know 2022 is going to be even better! Right now, Christmas is just around the corner and it’s a lovely 72° and sunny outside – what could be better? Well, I guess I could be down on the beach sipping wine and beachcombing, but we can’t have it all now, can we? (ssshhh, I’m pretty sure we can when we live in Rocky Point – we are so lucky!)

I’m trying to get my work done so that I CAN take my (bitchy…oh, she has the right to be after time riding in my truck!) 9.5 yr. old Great Dane out to the beach and enjoy our fantastic weather this time of the year…have a few sips of wine…and enjoy miles of our awesomely unoccupied pristine beaches looking for shells – really, really, my dream day! (Yes, I am pinching myself!) Oh, speaking of beaches…I’m entertaining the idea of maybe doing a May El Golfo Run (during the week) – like back in the Tom and Sandy days – so if you’re interested, email Alicia at the office at rockypointtimes@yahoo.com and I’ll let you know when I set some dates. I think we need to get that going again…a great excuse to take off work! Speaking of work, we all know that Alicia and Mario do the heavy lifting around the Rocky Point Times office, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. They are the ones that answer the phones, answer your questions and emails, and respond to your posts on Facebook as well as keep the office open, handle our customers, clients and contributing writers, as well as collect and distribute donations to organizations and individuals all over town, deliver the papers and Alicia does an awesome job on the book room – just to name a few things that they do on a daily basis. I know all of you appreciate them very much, and I do as well because I hear it all the time – they have been a part of our RPTimes family for a long, long time and will hopefully continue to do so, because none of you want to be stuck with me – trust me!

Continuing on with the “TY’s” I would like to thank my Uncle Patrick Kilcullen – my mother’s brother – most of you know, or knew of, my mom, Sandra O’Hare. Well, her brother, my uncle, comes down a few times a year (always at Thanksgiving) and works around the ranch and the office with Mario and Alicia. This year I ran him (and Mario) ragged with my list of “Honey-Do’s”; installing motion lights, replacing door guards, locks and batteries, fixing curtain rods, laying garage foam, checking appliances, taking apart ceiling fans, checking gas and electric lines, laying walkways…the list goes on and on and on. (I’m actually surprised he still even comes down LOL!) Mario and Uncle Pat spent an entire day cutting and stuffing chicken wire all around my two large patios to keep the birds from hanging out, canoodling, and nesting. I actually don’t mind the birds – it’s their poop I mind. So far, their efforts have paid off handsomely and there is not a drop of poop on either one of my patios – the birds still hang out in my trees, but they ain’t poopin’ on my patios. (Yes, I have probably 1,000 bird spikes and they nest on top of them…sneaky buggers.)

While the men were securing my patios, Julio and David from Cholla Bay Powder Coating came out and hauled off my two huge iron tables and 10 heavy iron chairs to be powder coated. They were rusted beyond belief, and I’ve been wanting to rehab them for some time. So many good things to say about these guys. Not only do they offer pick-up and delivery, but they were early on arrival! What? Yep! Living here for so many years, you just get used to waiting minutes or hours, or days, for people to show up – it’s really no biggie (most of the time), it’s part of the lifestyle, something you get used to, but I actually had to run and get dressed when they showed up early…eeeekkk! Not only did they show up early, but they managed to lift these two heavy iron tables over my fence…while I’m sitting there thinkin’…ain’t no way these two are gonna be able to do this. They did. Piece of cake. They even made sure the two glass tops to the tables were padded and secured in a safe place on my patio and helped me pick out a new color for my busted and rusted tables and chairs. I went with a black base with a copper fleck in it and can’t wait to see what they look like when they get finished. I took before photos so will show you before and after’s when I get them back and hopefully tell you about the whole process. Next, I’ll have to have my wrought iron doors and windows done to match…how exciting! Oh, shout out to Tina and Kyle who own Cholla Bay Powder Coating Company – I met them on the first cruise out of Peñasco, aboard the Astoria, and instantly fell in love with them – great peeps! And, as a side note, if a bird craps on my new tables or chairs…I’m getting a slingshot!

A couple happy notes, before I end on a sad note. Vickie and JR of JRs BBQ and The Black Dog – both of which we ALL have loved and missed, have opened something new…The Brass Pig! It is located over in the Mirador area behind Playa Inn. I haven’t been yet though I see lots of people have, and they all have huge smiles on their faces. Can’t wait to get over and have some grub. Along with a few new businesses that will be opening up in 2022, which we will tell you about, the Sonoran Resorts are announcing their newest resort, the Sonoran Star, so we hope to bring you lots of information about his new project. Looking forward to an excellent 2022!

Hate to end on a sad note, but some of you may not know that we’ve lost another Rocky Point icon in Jonni Francis who passed in November. I’ve known Jonni since I moved here in 1995 and have spent many, many great times with her throughout the years. We had some super fun times and shenanigans back in the day and have enjoyed a friendship throughout the years. Her and my mom were good friends as well and I’ve always considered her one of the first “pioneering” women of the Peñasco real estate scene – or at least American women in real estate back in the day. She was a tough cookie and will be missed and remembered by many. May you rest in peace with Lisa, Jonni.

If you make any resolution this year, please make one to spend time with those that you care about.

Have a Super Fantastic Start to 2022!