Another rainstorm! I thought the rainy season went thru Sept only! It has rained 4 nites out of the last 5. Every time it starts after 9pm, usually after 10pm, when we are winding down, maybe on our laptops but probly just watching tv. BUt as soon as it gets windy and/or starts to rain, the tv goes off. So no phone and no tv. But the internet is working! Oh and I tried skype calls to a cell phone is the US today and it worked pretty good. I talked to me daughter and most of the call was pretty good and we talked for about 40 minutes. A couple of what? what? BUt good overall.

Not really sure how it works; I paid $3.27 for 3 months of 60 minutes a month. But really? A dollar something for 60 minutes? I read thru the info Skype has and it just felt like I was missing something. I mean I know that regular skype is free and I've been using it for years, but this is my first experience with calling from my laptop to a cell phone (Mexico to the US). If it's really this cheap then yipee I'm glad the phone is gone. ha ha I'm glad the phone is gone anyway. Well and if it's this cheap, then 60 minutes is not enough; we talked for 40 minutes today....

I found a much better discussion forum for Peurto Penasco today, lots of topics. I really just skimmed over a few, but seems like there might be some good info. Everardo may have found someone we like to watch the house for the month we plan to go up there for a visit. The guy may even know someone interested in buying this house. We are not in a hurry to sell, but it's nice to know we have options.

We went to Marquelia today and got my IPhone...yipee! I put the chip from the little purple phone and it worked- so nice to have my phone back. Of course it doesn't work here in Playa Ventura, but we go to Marquelia and Copala so much that I can make calls if I need to then. When we got back in the truck from Telcel, the truck wouldn't start. Crap! So Everardo tried to puch it to jump start it. Luckily we were next to a side street that went down a little so he aimed for that. But it still didn't start, the 2 guys jumped behind truck and yelled to try it again, they pushed but it still didn't work. I started thinking, wow it just keeps coming eh? So they pushed us to the side of the road, we thanked them and they left. Poppi went down the street where there was a mechanic around the corner- I sat in the truck, then a big truck came at me, and guess what? He couldn;t fit between me and the taxi parked across the street. I just `looked and raised my hands and shrugged my shoulders- I didn't even have the key...ha ha so what...it wouldn't have started. Luckily Poppi showed back up and was ab;e to push bacwards a few feet so the guy could get by. But then the guy said something to Poppi and then backed up and pushed us up the street and around the corner! People here are so nice!

Well it turned out to be just a loose battery cable and Everardo figured it out before even going into the mechanic....so it all worked out after all.

Came home for a nice nap in the hammock and then out to sit on the boulder and watch the waves, then later the sky; it was strips of pink and blue and gray and when the sun went down it was beautiful, ok as usual ha ha. The moon was on the other side of the sky and almost full, and I thought about last year when my Mom died; it was a full moon and for months when the full moon came around I thought of her and cried. Today I talked to her and it was nice.

I didn't go in the ocean today and I also passed on 2 walks with Everado and Sam cause I didn't want to get sweaty and have my rash get worse. Actually it's almost gone, but last nite it was icky; I was sticking myself with a needle...yuck yuck...I'm not planning on going thru this again! I'm not going back in the ocean until it's all the way gone, but I will go in the pool if I have the opportunity. Going to bed sucks cause it's hotter in there than out here in the living room and even with the fan, I usually keep my legs covered cause of mosquitoes so there's just no winning that one. This morning I had no more blisters, but the rash was redder than when I went to bed. Ok enough about my gross rash.

Sunday is the fiesta for Saint somebody where we have to wear green skirts. Chela is excited for the fiesta cause she got this skirt with very wide sides so she can hold it out and twirl. Tomorrow is something to do with it, but it's in Copala, and Rosa said Heidi is doing something in it- singing I think. Not sure if we're going to that or just the Sunday party. Gonna be alot of dancing, hmmm I better take it easy tomorrow, no sweating, and maybe the rash will be completely gone so I can dance dnace dance.....

When I write on this site and it doesn't save correctly so I copy it and repaste it, it always jumbles it all up. I try to fix it. I don't usually go back and read what I write but today I did. I came back cause I stopped writing to eat dinner. We always eat outside at the big cement picnic table. The wind is keeping it from being too hot. After dinner Everardo asked if I wanted to go for a short walk with him and Sam so I said yes. He said- let the dishes wait! So I left chicken bones on the plate in the kitchen and we walked out towards Casa Peidras. However- as we passed Gencho's, he waved and gave a shout, so Everardo and Sam walked on and I went down to look at the pool with the kids (Ronaldo & Monsie 8 & 7) playing in the pool. I had on shorts and a tank top. I watched them for a couple of minutes and jumped right in! The water was so refreshing and the kids were fun. Pretty soon Heidi jumped in, too (16). It's a nice view out over the sea. We had somersault competition and swimming under water....this was right after dinner and I almost tossed my cookies ha ha.

After close to an hour I got out, thinking that Poppi and Sam had walked back by and I missed them, but he showed up right as I came up to the road. Nice. He showed me what the construction guys said they plan to do for us, we hope so. I hope the chlorine dries up the rash, I took a shower and put new cream on it. Well I saved some room so time for an ice cream bar. Then of course I'll probly look at Puerto Penasco websites for awhile...pathetic. Maybe I'll try to read about the state of Sonora... 

Well a jackass almost hit a jackass! We were driving home from Ometepec and a taxi we had passed going over the topes (speed bumps pronounced toe-pays) and he decided to pass us back lus the car ahead of us...driving soooo fast and a baby donkey runs out in the road! I have no idea how he didn't crash, and the people I saw on the side of the road looked shocked, too. We did smell brakes for awhile though. You have to be careful here. A huge pig crossed earlier and I was thinking of all the why did the chicken cross the road jokes...to meet the pig, of course!

We went to Ometepec to talk to Telmex cause all our phone call got us....zero! Thephone has worked about half the time we lived here but we have paid for it all of the time we lived here...
We want the phone so I can talk to my daughters. But it never works; in 5 months it's probly been out half the time. So we have skype and facebook chat. We can also use a cell phone as long as we drive to the next town. ha ha again, since we have to drive to the next town for food, money and gas, we go pretty often. (however today the atm machine was broken in Marquelia- but there's a bank in Ometepec so we went there- but that's an hour drive, if we weren't already going for the phone thing- what a hassle). But we decided since we are going to be leaving in a month or two, we will just make do. In an emergency we can run next door to Rosa and Gencho. I think they have the same plan we had being able to call the US for free so I might ask to use their phone once or twice...

Had to go to the doctor today too. A shot, cream, and pills- less than $20. I got a rash that we thought was from the heat, but on my arm and behind my knee there were little blisters, and Rosa said better go see the doctor...we were kinda already thinking that...so anyway apparently it's an infection that people get this time of year...from the ocean. Mostly kids get it they said, because they have more sensitive skin, but some adults get it too. It's something about the changing season, the rivers running into the sea, bacteria....yuck right? But they said it was no big deal and gave me another shot in the butt. Also some pills, qty 12 to be taken every 8 hours. I think they are the same as the ones I took when I got food poisoning when we first got here. A cream to use 3 times a day. They said if there are any blisters, to pop them, then wipe with alcohol, then put on the cream. The only place I have any blisters is behind one knee. They are tiny blisters, and hopefully now they are drying out; I'm laying on my stomach to write this. Oh there's also one tiny blister on the back of my leg up high on my thigh...so that's why I'm on my stomach.

Funny though, it's been a pretty good day. Everardo talked to the head engineer on our road project and the guy said when they finish they are going to pave our driveway. Yippe!! That will save us some money and hard work. Of course this IS Mexico, so we'll see if it happens but for now sounds like it will. I went over this morning while that was being discussed, to see Rosa and Gencho's finished pool- very very nice. Has a little waterfall going into, a little bridge across it dividing shallow and deep ends, and overlooks the sea. It's so nice. They invited me to swim and I hope to do so in the next couple of days. Chlorine is probly good to dry up my rash, and I asked the doctor about spreading it to anyone else, even in a pool and he said no way.

Ometepec is south of us about an hour's drive and it's a pretty city and a nice drive. I took some photos in the city and on the way home. It's like spring starting. The rains seem (hope) to be done and there are lots of flowers along the sides of the roads. We chatted about how we liked the city and about how things will be different once we move north. Of course we will still have challenges, not sure what they will be, but hopefully not basic stuff like phone and lights ha ha.

This has been a great learning experience and isn't going to change quite yet. A couple or a few months, but I'm still trying to see the lessons. That maybe choosing a very small town without services or shopping wasn't the best idea. Or no English speakers. My husband can't be my source for everything. It's not good for him or for me. I am a strong independent person and having to ask someone else for everything- translate this, what did they say? How much was that? What do these instructions say? isn't good for me. I am responsible for my own happiness. I found myself saying, sitting out on my boulder next to the sea: I am a part of this universe if I say I am, and I am responsible for my own happiness.
This was after getting up and he wasn't here, I wanted to go for a walk but had no key to lock the door cause it's on the car keys, and I thought the plan was he was going to get wood with a neighbor at 9am and it was only 7:30, what is going on? Sounds like nothing right? What the hell was wrong with me? Sounds petty. Yep. But when I struggle to understand what's being said and I go away thinking I know what the agenda is, and I was already unhappy because getting the wood postponed the trip to Ometepc which was important to me cause I'm missing my girls....well I woke up itchy and tired from itching all nite with the above mentioned rash, and I felt out of control. So...after a little while sitting out on the rock with my cup of coffee, not locking the door- it didn't really need it since I was close, and let's face it, nobody is going to break into my house here,

 I chatted with Rosa and Heidi this morning and later with Chela, but I am alone too much. For some people this if fine, but I need the interaction. Maybe before I came I didn't realize it to this extent, but more likely I had expectations that I'd have ways to communicate like telephone that would fill the void while I became fluent in nothing flat ha ha.Also this is definitely too small a town. Everybody knows everything about everybody all the time. We are in agreement we want to go somewhere and start out with no connections to anyone. We came connected to a family that makes up about half the town, and the gossip about us started immediately ha ha. I also realize I need AA in person on a regular basis. Even in Spanish if we could get to regular meetings it would help alot. AA is a huge part of my social self. No matter the background or status, or ethnicity, or past, I have a connection to another person by the very nature of AA. Online is ok, it's more tha ok I guess because it's been there for me every day, but I need to look in people's eyes, reach out and touch, feel the emotions in the air, and get the hugs at the end.

Maybe also, I am old ha ha. I don't want a hard life. It is simple here, but hard. I know for sure I never want to live on the beach again unless I am disgustingly rich and can pay someone to clean every single bit of space, windows, silverware, counters, every single day. Wash my jewelery with lemon cause the silver stuff is now black and the gold chain I wear every day is grimy. Near the beach- yes- at least 5 blocks I think ha ha. And I'm hoping that up in Puerto Penasco I will love the hot days and cool nites. I don't sleep to well here in the heat. If we were staying we would buy an AC for sure, but I'm actually not nuts about ac. And I don't like the fan blowing in my face, even just a regular standing fan. No I'm not that old, but I am learning what I can live with and what I want to or don't want to live with.

Today is a beautiful day; the breeze is nice. I didn't go in the ocean since I'm trying to dry our my rash, even though the doctor said I could go swimming. Haha they robly gave me the shot just to make me feel better....except for my butt, it didn't feel better but I didn't give it a vote ha ha.

The lobster was fabulous. Actually I walked down to Chela's with them and Eriika cooked them for us. Everardo was busy figuring out our sewer problem...and he did! While Eriika was preparing the lobster, I went swimming in the ocean with Sam in front of their place and it was so refreshing. After a while Everardo showed up and we ate. Then walked home, I took a quick shower and we went down to the center of town and bought some ice cream bars. Came home and ate them. PERFECT end to the day! Working everything except phone, lobster dinner with ice cream dessert and able to use the bathrooms ha ha! Life is wonderful again.

I'm starting to look at our new plans in a much more positive way. Instead of thinking we're leaving because of this and this and this bad thing, we are starting a new adventure and looking forward to some things like being closer to my kids, and a social life ha ha. We will figure it out as we go. If we choose Puerto Penasco, it's in the state of Sonora and I've never been there. It's also in a desert, one of the driest deserts in the world. The desert can be very beautiful, with hot days and cool nites.

The smartest thing for us to do is find a place to rent and spend some time there, so if we are unhappily surprised with anything we can choose another spot and try something else. But oooooh! being able to sleep at nite....I seriously look forward to that! My daughter Drew was commenting last nite on skype about us staying up so late since in Cal we were going to bed at 10 or maybe 11, and here it's 1am....I actually like early morning but ha ha here the earliest I get up is 8:30. Tonite is a tiny tiny bit cooler  I think, but at this point I expect it to rain again...oh well no matter.

Well just wanted to write about the wonderful end to a day that didn't start out that great....

Woke up to no phone, no internet, no tv, no lights...and an overflowing septic tank.....well it's not really a tank- more of a hole dug in the ground. Apparently the guy who built our addition connected all three pipes together; sink shower toilet and they all go to the same place. The kitchen sink, the other bathroom sinks and showers do not go into that hole, rather they simply drain off. Each day it's another new surprise...aarrgghh. It's possible if it were not still raining all the way into late Oct the stuff would be drying up and we would be fine. After all we are just 2 people and are not using the upstairs facilities, but then there is this all going the same place issue.

Not sure what we are going to do about it. Dig another hole? Find a way to re-assign the pipes? My idea is drag the guy over here who put it together and make him change it- but that's oribaly not happening. Altho Everardo may be able to talk to the guy and figure out a fix.

So yes it rained again last nite. I know I always say no big deal cause it stays warm, but half our living space is outside and in the morning the patio has standing water, and some amount of mud is on it. I say "some amount" because since the road is partially paved and Everardo has been working on our part of the driveway and road, alot less mud drains in. It usually dries by afternoon, and hopefull we have remembered to put Sam's bed up on the picnic bench to keep it dry. He's ok sleeping out there when it rains, but the lightening and thunder scare him and so when it rains- he sleeps inside.

We got electricty and so tv and internet back about 1pm this afternoon. Everardo and Romeo worked on the lines in the street. The PGE company- called CFE here, said its not their problem because it's the sea air rotting the aluminum connection at the poles?? So if you want electricity. you pay, you fix. Gotta love this place eh?

The ocean was amazing yesterday but a little rougher today. I walked down to Chela's this morning to chat and have coffee. I decided it was time to tell her about wanting to move to Puerto Penasco (or somewhere where they have services), especially since I told Carolina yesterday at the beach and don;t really know her all that well. Don't know if she'll tell anyone or not. You would think what I'm doing os not big news, but this is a pretty small place, so...Anyway I told her and she was sad and so was I. But I think she totally understands. Actually she wanted to stay in the States but her husband wanted to come back here so she's back.

When Romeo and Everardo finished fixing the electric wires, they went fishing for lobster. Oh I hope I hope he gets one! yummmm. I'm here cause I thought maybe Telmex would come- yeah ha ha ha ha- but if we're not here you can be sure they would show up. Altho' they didn't come last week when we were in Morelia.

The truth is living here is hard. When I am at Chela's, or sitting out on the boulders behind our house, looking at the waves, or walking on the beach, I love this place. But...I need to be able to talk to my daughters whenever we want. I miss them so much. Typing messages with them is not doing it. Skype helps but is usually pretty static-y, bad picture, delayed voice, etc. I need the phone, and not only the cell phone cause it doesn't work here, and my kids have school and/or work during the day so I have to go to Copala or Marquelia at nite...and for my older daughter she's not home until 8pm my time. I keep going over it and over it. Because each negative thing is pretty much a small thing. But with so many small things, it has become big. The services are so bad, tel, electricity, internet, and then no store, atm, gas,. Yesterday we went to Copala to the post office to pick up or telephone bill, then stand in line for half hour to pay it- about $90 USD cause we have call free to the US, and and and...the phone doesn;t even work ha ha. Customer service does not exist in Mexico. And people look at you with concern if you get mad and yell at the banker or the telephone people or at sky tv.

And I need to talk to people. Ha ha yesterday poor Carolina litened to me for about an hour! She speaks English and I grabbed on. Of course it was good for her too, cause she doesn't want to offend any family members about not wanting to live here- and almost everybody who lives here is part of one of two families haha. They are two warring families who get along when they are face to face and spit fire when they don't. Everardo hears from both sides all the time ha ha. But you know what? I wish I did too. He gets to talk with people all the time. Nobody here gets my jokes- and I make sarcastic jokes about everything, all the time. It's my way. I think everything in life is funny. It's very hard to be quiet, to let my husband do all the talking all the time...aarrgghh. I am getting so I can take part much more in conversations, but not the slang, the innuendo, the jokes...Add to that not being able to sleep at nite (don't want to invest in AC yet), Everardo not being able to work, and AA....I need AA in person. Yes online is good- but I need to look in peoples eyes, I need hugs, I need coffee afterwards, I need the fellowship.

So we will check out this new place, and a couple of others on the way. If we like one, we will try to rent there for awhile and see how we like it. We will probably sell this house. We can always camp or rent one of the bungalows at Chela's when we want to visit. I still want to live near the beach, but not as close as we are now. Everything gets rotted. The connection from the printer to the laptop, the insides of my elliptical, the keyholes. WD40 must be sprayed all the time in the keyholes ha ha. We have to hide our laptops under a blanket when we're not using them. Outside is where we eat at the big tile & cement picnic table and it gets this greasy film on it every day. The knives are getting rusty. So maybe 3 or 4 blocks from the beach will be better. It's been nice to walk out the back gate onto the beach, but beginning not to be worth it. 

We absolutely want to stay in Mexico. One thing about Puerto Penasco is it's closer to the States and maybe my kids will come more often, and I will be able to afford to go see them more often as well. I'm really hoping to like this place since what I see online and from people I have been in touch with it has everything we want. There are other places up there like San Carlos, and some smaller towns, but I am wary of those because of the same issues we have here....

It's still in Jan, so a couple of months away. But we'll see. We have a few things we still need to do for this house to get it ready to sell, but I think Nov would be enough for that. Then December is when all the people come, and we want to be here for that.....

Oh and now back to why we love it here- Everardo just came home with 2 lobsters!! I took a couple of photos, and now I want to take pictures while he gets them ready for us to eat!

It rained again last nite! Man is the rainy season ever gonna be over? I shouldn't complain since it's almost always at nite, and might even be cooling off the nite air...nah I don't think so. And- holy crap! It leaked a few drips in our room again last nite!! The guy who did the work and said he was gonna come over, of course never did. Like I always say- in Mexico if it's not in your hand- you don't have it. But it rained hard for quite awhile but there wasn't too much water coming in, just a few drips...kinda weird. But today the ocean was amazing! We went in down by Chela's cause the low tide was so low, there was no little pools to sit and paddle around in front of the rocks. So the season is changing ever so slowly..

Our trip to Morelia was really nice, It took 12 hours on toll roads to get there and about 600 pesos. But the way back was only about 9 hours (would have been shorter except for construction in Acapulco), and less than 500 pesos in tolls. The first day we just got our hotel on the hill and kicked back. But the next morning we went to see Everardo's very old and ailing aunt, then later found his brother totally by accident. Pablo is a traffic cop and we saw him in an intersection! The two brothers were a touching site as they hugged and were so excited to see each other after 6 years. Pablo is a very sweet man, very sentimental and I liked him very much. The traffic is crazy there, seems like everywhere in Mexico. Kind of an organized chaos I guess but way too nerve wracking for me!

His sister lives in a small town about half hour or 45 minutes away from Morelia. We stopped in a tiny village before hers and picked up food from the open market, the juciest beef, tortillas and all the fixin's, and when we got there we all dug in. Her 2 daughters and son were there, they are 20,21,22 I think. The oldest is a mom with 2 girls 3 & 5, who were shy with me that day but all over their uncle haha. I won them over the next day on our little road trip.

On the third day Pablo came and picked us up, we all went (Sam too) in his van, out to breakfast then out to pick up sister and the 2 little ones. We went to the town Everardo was born in and raised until he was 7 and his mom died; then he and his brothers and sister moved to Morelia to live with Grandma and other aunts and uncles. The name of the town is Tendeparacua. We saw their house, nobody lives there now and it's falling apart, but people still live in the town and they saw a guy they knew way back when. His mother passed away in 1968, so this was a guy from a long time ago. We went out to the cemetery and saw his mom's grave. There is a headstone with some broken tiles and when we go to Puerto Penasco, we're going to go thru Morelia because he wants to repair the headstone. Her name was Eloisa. My Mom's name was Eleanor. Two E's...

Oh, when we were at breakfast with Pablo, and they let Sam come in by the way, they served Atole, this hot drink that almost tastes like oatmeal, and they served it with a plate of this stuff that looked like brown sugar (called Piloncio). They put the stuff in their mouths and then sipped the atole. 

On the last day we went sight seeing by ourselves for about 3 hours- we didn't even bring Sam ha ha. We ate breakfast in one little cafe and then later sat in a sidewalk cafe sipping cappuccinos and watching people walk by. Kinda my favorite part. Then Everardo got a shoe shine from a guy with the shoeshine box. Poppi told me how when he was 9 years old he was a shoeshine boy in the plaza around the cathedral (which is where we were). At 9 yrs old! He said it was only 1 peso then, and the cops would chase him off. We came into town by cab since we didn't have Sam since parking is almost impossible...
We found his brother and had a good hug, then went back to get the truck so we could go over for him to say good bye to his aunt. On the way back we found his other 2 cousins (brothers) who have had a taco truck for more than 40 years! They only have to work a couple of hours a day; they sell out in under 2 hours- every day! Both brothers have purchased houses, have families with kids, all paid for by working this taco truck, on the same corner, except about 7 years ago they had to move across the street. They probly make 5000 pesos a nite- or more!
Morelia is big city, and like the mafia in the US years ago, there is a family that all the businesses pay - all the businesses, big or small, and the city prospers. This is all I'll say about this.

So the next morning we drove home and it took all day. But nice to be home. Yesterday we didn't do much, well I didn't do much. Everardo went with Gume to get oysters, Poppi mostly just tried to get used to going down deep cause it hurts your ears, you have to get used to it. Me and Sam went swimming, yes I went in by the rocks- the pool was there yesterday and was proud of myself for working on my fear of being smashed into the rocks ha ha. Then I went and sat in this big rock where the waves splash over and make little puddle with tiny fishes in them. I left cause Sam kept trying to walk up the rock and was slipping all over. The I sat on the beach directly behind our house, and just let the surf come up and hit my legs. It was nice. I saw this little crab, the kind that carries his shell around with him on his back, I stayed still and he got brave and walked right by my toes ha ha. Then it was hammock time and a new book, which of course led to a nap.

We are in agreement that we are done with hand washing the laundry. Washing and hanging os not really a problem. It's rinsing! Impossible! I basically take the clothes into the big shower next to the kitchen to rinse. And Poppi does his own white tshirts, but it just isn't worth it. We found a place in Marquelia that does it for 10 pesos a kilo- yipee-sold! I almost took the clothes to the arroyo to rinse, that's what a lot of people do while there's water in it....So today we dropped off laundry and the next great thing was the guy was finally (after 2 months!!) at the Telcel place to get my IPhone unlocked!! Another yipee, it should be ready in a couple days. Of course we have no cell service here in Playa Ventura, but since we always have to go to Copala or Marquelia they do work there. I've been using the phone for a clock and a camera haha.

The phone is still not working, we called Telmex again...and paid the bill today- crap- but if we don't pay there's no chance of it working, if we do pay they should fix it. They have fixed it a few times...
So when it rained last nite we had no phone and the tv went out, but we had internet and lights...yeah Puerto Penasco looks better all the time ha ha.

Went for that swim today and saw this young woman, Carolina who is from Ft BragCalif; her husband is related to Gume, and they're building a house here. She was here for a few weeks back in June, now here for 2 weeks, leaving Saturday. But she speaks English! So I talked her head off ha ha. They decided they do not want to live here, only visit for vacation. Well my internal dam broke and I told her I was ready to go too! We talked about all the things that are so hard here....no grocery store, bank, gas, coffee shop, activities...and she's in her 20's with 2 kids. Ha ha we both talked and laughed alot. And when you talk about stuff, well it's like here when I write stuff, it gets more clear in my head.

Well more about my clear head tomorrow.