They delivered the elliptical before noon!! Actually close to 11:30am, when we were just finishing a nice breakfast. Everardo ate liver and onions and eggs, I skipped the liver, and put some cheddar & jack cheese in one of the fresh hot tortillas ad scooped egg into it. I had gone to an AA meeting at 9:30 so that's why we were eating late. It was down on the malecon, upstairs from this place called the Candy Cake; they have an open patio where you can sit and see the ocean. It is beautiful but it was freezing!! Luckily I had my jacket and a hat! I went to it last week and it was not cold at all, so it's hit and miss in December I guess. They have a couple of locations for this store, and they have all kinds of cakes, and coffee. You can buy a whole cake to take home and they also have some single pieces. There's one over on this side of town where we got the little oreo cake I had for my birthday. Ha ha that seems like forever ago. We haven't even been here a month but it feels like we've been here a long time.

I'm so happy that we are going to be able to get the bathroom issue resolved- cause we both want to live here. It's been cold i the morning and at nite, and altho' warm, shirt sleeves warm during the day; I think only 1 or 2 days have been hot since we've been in this house- so the smell has not been an issue since Everardo fixed it...and he has an idea about the final fix. But we are going call someone for an estimate, and then decide whether he can do it, and which way he wants to fix it. But he is confident he can take care of it, and I have learned to trust that confidence. Our house is starting to feel homey. I'm glad I put up Christmas decorations and that we got  a tree. I am however, ready to take them down ha ha, and will probly start tomorrow. It takes awhile to put the manager scene away. But like I said, I'm glad I put it up. It had me thinking about the kids when we would put it up, and them pointing out their favorite pieces. Ad when I was a kid, my mom would put it up herself; we had an upright piano, very tall, and she set it up on top. We would stand on the piano bench and look at it. They started that set in 1945 right after they got married. The pieces are clay, painted with so much detail. They collected pieces over the years...which one of my kids does it get passed down to? How the hell did I get it passed to me??? Well maybe they can share it...hopefully not a decision to be made for a long long time! It has all these different figures; farm animals, a guy with a bear, the thief with the knife on his side, the guy with the sheep, the 3 kings, a guy with a bundle of sticks, women in shawls, kids, chickens, sheep, horses, anyway it's very cool.

After I put it all away we can really settle in since we have decided we want to stay here. We are not even going to go take that second look at the place Nikko showed us. We really like the location, and the layout of the house itself. And now we have an "exercise room".....I put my Abbey Road blanket on one wall, it's the album cover with the Beatles walking across the street, Paul with no shoes because it was during the time when they were saying 'Paul's dead', and my purple shawl over the window...hmmm I like to listen to 70's rock and roll while I'm exercising soo maybe I should shoot for a 70's theme in that room...the one thing we will have to think about is if we want to paint on our own dime. Maybe just this living room and the kitchen..well and the hallway that connects the two. I think I could live with that... but do we spend the money?? I think that question can wait for now.

Ok so the story of the elliptical today- it got delivered, but like I said, we just finished eating so I did not jump on to start me routine. Poppi went to a meeting, and I talked on Skye with Drewy and Rex for about an hour. Very cool cause I got to see their new house! It is so beautiful. I love her taste, too. Simple elegant lines, nice. Not cluttered or gaudy. And Danica's room is really cute actually she shares it with the baby of the roommate, but I think baby sleeps with mama right now. BUt it has a kid bed and a crib, and butterflies on the walls. They did a walking tour with skype so I got to see the whole house, ha ha except Cory's room (roommate) cause it's not done. They moved in there when we were moving in here. It's a big house with a huge backyard, they did great choosing this place, oh and it's 4 bedrooms so the one they are designating as a den, that's my room when I go up to visit! I comented it looked like a mix of 2 of the houses we lived in while Drewy was growing up and she shouted to Rex, because she has said the same thing. I'm so happy they are happy. That's all we want for our children, for them to be healthy and happy. So then I walked her around our little house and yard so now we know where each of us is when we talk. Actually the skype worked great on her IPhone, and hopefully it was free for her- it was free for me from my laptop. (hmmm have to google that).  So- after that we took Sam to the beach.

The beach was sunny but the breeze was cold. We saw a dead stingray and I guess I didn't now what they looked like or had a picture in my mind of a really big one, you know the kind with the wide fins like wings? This was a tiny thing. And I've been reading that here they are pretty common when the water's warm- which is when I'd want to go in- so you need to walk with a kind of shuffle, shuffling so they know you are coming and you don't step on them- cause the sting is very very painful. Great right? Everardo says I should wear water shoes in the water here, so that would be ok, altho walking by shuffling works well. Anyway I took a picture of it and Sam sniffed it real good. There were quite a few people on the beach, not alot, but groups. And people trying to sell them stuff, necklaces, sunglasses, these really cute little planes made from aluminum cans. Poppi was very interested in those; the guy let me take a picture and he asked him a bunch of questions cause he's gonna try making them- they are probly good sellers. There was a guy in the water with a jet ski enticing people to come out, but I didn't see anyone do it. Also a banana boat went by but gave up right away. Horses on the beach, and I saw people paying for that the whole time we were out there, maybe an hour and a half...Alot of people come down for the holiday between Christmas and New Year's; I hardly saw anyone out there last week, so it's after Christmas. I was also reading that the border has been really busy this week with travelers coming down- ha ha we saw people in Sam's club buying instant soups and sandwich makings!

We drove around looking for this gym Everardo heard about yesterday, but it's only open Mon-Fri, not sure what's going on with him not making a decision. I know one part is he doesn't want to pay 350 pesos a month, about $28, because it was cheaper when he was here before- but that was 6-8years ago and things change. Not sure if that's the only thing, but he'll work it out so I am content to drive around and look cause I'm getting more familiar with the streets, where things are, how to get home, etc. He really is looking for good weights; otherwise he is a jogger and rides his bike so doesn't need alot of aerobic machines, just weights. Anyway driving around is good so when it fills up around here I'll know all the side streets. After that came home for a little computer time and a little reading- no don't have the hammock up yet, but soon. Sitting outside in the sun reading is nice when there's no breeze, otherwise the couch is pretty comfy, like today when I read and then drifted off into a small nap. Yeah- naps goooood.

So- about 6:30 pm finally got my water and my music, tshirt and shorts and headed for my elliptical. Took my phone and set it to 30 min, even though for my first workout I was planning only 15-20 min...then 3 minutes into it- one pedal and leg fell of the machine! I guess it was noisy cause Everardo came out as I was heading in to see him. Well that's what we get for in-store assembly, right? So he messed with it, took off the other side, looked at the manual, put it back together and realized the bad side was missing  washers- guess we need them. While he was doing that I started thinking about the whole 70's thing. The room is so cold and ugly- it's that weird afterthought 3rd bedroom that can be accessed off the front porch or thru a long weird hallway behind the dining room. But- it looks better already and the ideas are a comin' to me. Like I said, it feels different, good, now that we have decided this is where we want to be. Hopefully for as long as we live in Puerto Penasco. Which at this moment we think is about a year and a half to two years. Then back to Petaluma. However our minds are subject to change at any minute ha ha.

So tomorrow we'll g to a hardware store (Fetterria) and get the 2 washers, no point in going back to Sam's cause I'm sure they only have the hardware associated with each piece of equipment. In the box was a sheet showing each piece of hardware and the qty, so we know exactly what they're supposed to look like. There's actually another piece of exercise equipment in that room, this thing you sit on and pull back with your arms and your legs are out in front of you. I think it's mainly for arms but we saw a commercial on tv that showed it being for legs and stomach...blah blah blah, maybe after I get into a routine I'll give it a shot...cause my tummy has grown into quite a gut with all this lovely hot chocolate...truth is I'm hopin' the elliptical helps with it. I had this bench for doing sit ups I liked cause it had this U shaped bar you pushed...anyway it got stolen from the Playa Venutra house when we had just been there a couple of weeks. It was in the yard and Sam was sleeping in the house, after that he slept outside except for when it rained. The patio was covered but poor baby is afraid of the lightening and thunder...me too.

So it's December 29th, maybe one more month of cold weather, maybe less than a month since we hear by end of Jan it starts to warm up....short cold season, cause we hit Puerto Penasco Dec 3rd and we were wearing shorts and tshirts for about a week before it started to cool off. But still during the day is a light sweater or sweatshirt only, and with any movement you warm up and simply tie it around your waist. Ok time to snuggle in, watch a little tv....have a snack....

OK, a giant bowl of ice cream followed by hot chocolate make for a tummy ache in the middle of the nite! Today I am pretty tired; slept crappy due to stomach ache. But it was a nice day anyway. My new sponsee came over for a chat and some step work, then 2 other ladies came over about an hour and a half after Pam. One now lives up in Tuscon (or Phoenix) and the other is becoming a friend here. She took us out to lunch at a little place I hadn't been and I had chicken enchiladas and they were yummy...and filling! Anyway the reason Anda came was I had asked her to take me to Sam's club cause she has a membership, and I heard there was a gold's Gym brand elliptical there. I have been online, and to the second hand stores and all the street flea markets and haven't found one I liked. Actually I like the one I left in Playa Ventura...

We added up how much we spent in cuotas (tolls) and gas coming up from Playa Ventura to Puerto Penasco and decided that Everardo's trip down there will either be by bus or plane, and I'm not sure when I'm going back, so we may trade the elliptical for pay to the guy who's watching the house for us- he really liked it when he saw it. The elliptical and the books I left were the only things I really want; and if he takes the bus he can bring books- if he flys he can ship them. So I'll give it up. But because of my foot problem, the elliptical works best for me. I can also ride my bike, but I know myself and I only want to ride my bike for pleasure.

So Anda said sure and came by a little after noon. She had a friend with her, Donna who is visiting for a week and used to live here. Sam's Club is basically Costco, and is wned by Wallmart. I didn't know this cause I never thought about Sam's Club before; we have a Costco card but don't like Costco in Mexico- their stuff is way more expensive here- and poor-er quality which I also think is bad...what do we send the "seconds" down here?..so anyway I don't shop in Mexico Costco. Well there isn't one here anyway, and I may come to think the same about Sam's Club. We walked around and the prices didn't look that great- except the chicken seemed like a good price, and they had cheddar cheese...only one type, one size- but ...ok. We ended up buying a membership card- it was $32 for both of us for a year. And we eat ALOT of chicken ha ha.

So we bought the elliptical and they are going to assemble it and deliver it tomorrow for free. Yipee, I am so so so so ready to get into an exercise routine. I think I'm happier about this than a car.

Oh and Everardo has- oops had these snow pants, like for skiing; they are almost like overalls. Anyway we for sure didn't need them in Playa Ventura ha ha and don't really need them here- it's not that cold...so he too them down to the docks this morning and traded them for 12 pounds of fresh shrimp!! What a deal eh? He's eating some beautiful cerviche right now, and later I will be eating them sauteed in garlic and butter...yeah pretty nice deal. And some fisherman is happy for the pants when they go out all nite on the boat.
You know there some construction guys working down the road, building what looks like an OXXO. (711). It's going up fast, and after how slowly I saw things getting built in Guerrero I commented on it. Poppi says oh they hire crews from somewhere else wh come in a do one project, then they move them to another place (town or state) to do the next project. So the workers are not even from here. I had said before- hey maybe you can get on with that construction crew since he has a construction background. But he said no- these guys are one crew who get paid really well and travel around Mexico working. The thought behind it is; if they hire locals, there's not alot of work and so they work slow to drag it out. They'd have to hire new crews every lace they go, weed out poor performers, etc. This way they know their crew, they pay them really well, and they just move them around. They pay thir room and board wherever they go Now I do not understand who "they" are; do companies contract or bid for jobs? Is it gov't run? (like the gas stations...no choices only Pemex)..so I don't know, I kinda get info about things in bits and pieces from people and then different pieces start to fit together ha ha...this includes info from Everardo! He doesn't always know either, but hears things, and we go from there.
He has mostly lived in the US for the past 30 plus years, with short stints here, I don't think as long as a year at any one time. He has lived up and down the Pacific coast, actually rode the freight trains and stayed different places and then moved on. But he was in Gilroy just south of San Francisco for about 16 years from a teenager until late 20's or early 30's, then became the vagabond. Trains, hitch hiking, walking, Calif, Oregon & Washington. When we met he had lived in my town previously, and had returned, been there about a year before we met. He laughs and says he knew me before I knew him; he first saw me when I was bald...going thru chemo...and he said, but you always had this posse of women around you. We became friends a few months later. Then some time after that when we both out of relationships; we went out for a coffee, and then....

So he came and met us at Sam's Club to take a look at the elliptical before we spent almost $400 on it. We have been laughing at ourselves; we keep making a budget and then blowing right thru it. But to retrieve the elliptical in Playa Ventura would be way more than $400, and we will sell that one (hopefully) to our caretaker...so we bought it....with the cheese of course ha ha. It would be nice for that house to sell down there, and when it starts getting busy down here in 3 months Poppi may find some work at the beach...but for now we are just playing it by ear...so tomorrow I start workin' off the ice cream and hot chocolate eh??

It's cold outside and we're drinking hot choclate. This is special occasion chocolate, hmm maybe I shared this the other day- but Poppi remembers his grandmother making him hot choclate with this chocolate, and he does it just so. It's sooo chocolatey! But it tastes like love cause of the way he makes it and talks about it as he does it. I love this man, he is so tender in these little ways that never fail to touch my heart.

Well I am excited cause the landlady just sent me an email from Phoenix, and she said to go ahead and get a estimate for fixing the bathroom!! Yipee!! We kinda thought she was gonna try to brush it off, but she answered me tonite and I sent her an email about it only last nite, well it was a reply to an email from her. She still has not sent back the contract or made any comment about my changes and/or additions. Not sure what's up with that but I am happy not to have to sign it. But the real good news here, is that if we can fix the bathroom, then we want to live here! We like the location, the little yard for Sam, the layout of the house- for the most part anyway- ha ha that weird hallway along the back of the house to the third bedroom..but I digress. I don't care about that part, and can be storage if we want or need it. Sam and I took a walk today; I brought my walking stick in case any dogs tried to attack him, but no dogs came that close. We only walked for 20 minutes, stayed on our road, it crosses a couple ofpaved roads beofre it ends by a paved road that has the flea market stalls.

Those stalls are packed on the weekends, but some are open during the week. We only walked past, then hit the end and walked back. Sam chased the ball a little bit, but mostly wanted to smell everything. I want to do it alot, so people get used to seeing me, seeing us. I'll probly start walking the other direction as well; I think it goes much further- my only concern is aggressive dogs. However ha ha, in Playa Ventura- no dog was aggressive towards Sam as soon as they got close. And hopefully it will be the same here, but I know people have pitbulls...so me, Sam, and my walking stick will carefully check out our neighborhood. That walking stick was my Dad's. He gave it to me before he died. He died young, at age 59, from an aggressive fast cancer.  (hmmm all of a sudden aggressive is my favorite word?) We were all in shock, it was 1980, I was only 24. BUt cancer research has come a long way since 1980. I hope for me, that having breast cancer in 2009 was my cancer experience. my only cancer experience. (insert little prayer here ha ha) (ok not ha ha)
Anyway this walking stick is very special to me. It's gone on all my camping trips and been near the front door of every house I've lived in. So now I need it again; to walk with me and Sam.

So again I say yipee! I want this to be our place for the next couple of years...or at least year and a half if we decide 2 years is enough o Mexico. We do want to be near my daughters.... of course if we're gonna stay we're going to have to decide if we want to paint on our own nickel. She won't pay for paint, maybe I can get her to pay half....but it sure would help this place..even just a couple of rooms; this living room and the kitchen I would be happy. Ha ha how quickly I jump into the future.
Well- that would be me! viva Mexico!!

Went to extremes today. Did not buy a car. Did not buy an elliptical. But we went to check out this place called CEDO- which stands for something about conservation of both the desert and Gulf of California. They have lectures in Spanish & English on Tuesdays and Saturdays, about the tide pools, the ocean, the desert, etc. They have tours and activities, and I think I'll start with the lectures and see what happens. They had a tour scheduled for tomorrow (Friday), to take a boat to an island and do some snorkeling- actually that's why we decided to check the place out today. But it's cancelled due to the guide is sick, & not too many people signed up- ya think? The water is cold! Anyway, it costs $100 per person- so we would have passed regardless. Hopefully by the time the weather gets better we will know how or where or with who to go snorkeling. But the lectures are free, and I'm sure some of the other tours, like thru the tide pools, or the walk thu the volcanic area in the desert here.
The place was very cool; they had a skeleton of a fin whale out front.

Anyway- this place is at the beginning of a neighborhood called Las Conchas. It's a ways out of town. This is where the "other half" lives. The 1% - ya know? House after house...ok McMansion after McMansion ....huge houses on the beach or tall enough to see over the house on the beach. I saw thru a window a winding staircase in one- made me think of my daughter Drew; who always wanted to live in a house with "twisty" stairs. And at one point we did! She loved that house. That house was almost 4000 sq feet- and these houses were bigger! (yeah- to have a 4000 sq foot house n Calif- the PG&E is $500 per month and that was in 2000) So these houses! And there were SO many of them. Some had tiles on the  outside, some had statues (yeah you can money and ZERO class or taste), but some were really nice. We drove all thru the area, and it was big, it went on forever. Not too many of them had cars out front or looked like there was anybody there. And there were no stores. So you would have to drive back into town to go shopping. Not even an OXXO or a Circle K. (Mexico 711)...None of those little stores that are on every corner.

On the way back we turned and went thru another area, a little closer to town. It was the poor area. I don't know if was part of San Rafael or not, that's the area where the people live who came up here to work from other parts of Mexico and Central America, and when the economy tanked, they were left out in the cold. Literally. That's the place I am planning to go out to with Anda & Rich - my new friends who work out there- anyway not sure if that's where we were or not. Anyway to go from ridiculous rich to the humbling poor....the houses in some cases were barely houses;made maybe of cardboard. Made the houses I saw made from railroad cars look pretty good. Some were cement blocks; seems like there's alot of cement blocks around. One kinda funny thing was, there were these tiny shacks, part cement block and part cardboard...with Sky satellites on the roof! And people had water, too, at least some cause I saw laundry hanging. Not sure how they get it, from the truck- but nobody had the tanks on the roof...the roofs wouldn't hold, in some cases not wide enough...and I heard in San Rafael no water no electricity. The fact is- it was hard. But you know what? WE saw kids playing in the street. We saw people walking and talking, hanging up laundry, sitting around bullshitting in a group. So as always, people find their way. Always hits me hard. And reminds me of how grateful I need to be. The small crap I complain about. I am for sure going with Anda and Rich as soon as they get back from Arizona. I kow I am not interested in building churches- that bugs the shit out of me- Mexico doesn't need Americans coming down to build churches!! They need houses, medical care for their kids, education, they need help- but not saving- ya know?

So it was interesting, and sad, and humbling, and...hopeful. I kow in this place I can find a way a way to be of service....oh- and I got a sponsee! Very exciting to have a woman ask me to help her work thru the 12 steps of AA. I am enjoying the meetings. I asked a guy who lives here yesterday if the English speaking meetings get bigger during the season (April-Oct). He said yep! Actually we had more people during this week and probly next cause people vacation down here over the holiday. I liked it, and it was good to hear that people find their way to us when they're down here. Working with someone is always good, enhances my program, when I go back over the steps with someone new, I always get something out of it. So again-  yipee.

Maybe we'll look for a car tomorrow. For today- I am good. Grateful for a home, a wonderful husband, and a cute doggy.


 

So it was raining on Christmas in Petaluma, Calif, where we're from and my kids are, and it was pouring in Playa Ventura on Christmas Eve, where we just moved from. We talked to my bff Chela on Christmas morning and she told us there was lightning and thunder and that the sea was very angry. I would have been sooooo pissed off if we had been there ha ha. She said exactly that- that her amiga woud have been muy muy enojada!!I mean it just rained and rained down there. Everyone kept saying how December was the nicest month- not too hot to sleep, the water so calm, and shallow way out, that you could walk so far out to the waves. Once we decided to move up here, at first we wanted to stay until Jan 1, to experience "the season", all the people, the weather, the ocean. WRONG! We have also been chatting with others down there and they're saying not too many people either, so bad weather, angry sea, not too many tourists, so so so glad to be missing it.    

Of course this is not good news for the area. As I know I've written in earlier posts; Playa Ventura basically makes their nut for the year during these 2 weeks and a week at Easter (Semana Santa). The rest of the year they struggle, this is a very poor community in one of the poorest states in Mexico. At Christmas time the tourists pour in, coming in huge buses, filling up all the little hotels and bungalows and camping on the beach. They stay and eat and drink for 2 weeks, and the people of Playa Ventura work hard to earn the dinero they make during this time. The rest of the year people come once in a while, or just for the weekend....So to hear not too many people are coming this year is sad...maybe they're all arriving today- the day after Christmas and staying until after New Years. I hope so,

After lazing around the house all the yesterday, we ventured out today. I went to a morning AA meeting in English...later we went to look at the car we saw over the weekend- for me, but it was not to be. It was just to beat up for the price. In USD we offered $800, and he wouldn't go below $1200. The windshield wipers didn't work, it was kinda shaky when we drove it, the oil was like mud, and it still needed to be imported....so we passed. These guys buy cars at auctions in the US and bring them across the border to sell. He tried to tell us he paid $1000 for it, but you know he probly paid $500. The title was Indiana altho' he said he picked it up in Mexicali...anyway we passed.

Then we drove by the dock but nobody was selling their catch, and we tried to drop by and see Everardo's friend Nico, who has a sliver store on the Malecon (boardwalk)- we want to see that first house one more time on the inside. And Everardo really wants to talk to the owner hmself; he thinks maybe he can get the rent down to $200USD from $250... and talk to the guy about repairs, etc. I can't really remember what the house looked like inside cause as soon as we walked in I screamed no- inside my head of course. It was dirty, and the fridge was open and yucky inside. I remember a big living room and that's almost it. I was so disappointed that it wasn't one of the three houses on the next street that we waited in front of ha ha. The fence was so close to the front of the house and it looked shabby from outside. Now that I've been here awhile, it doesn't seem that bad ha ha. I appreciate those gated wrought iron fences, and this place had a huge side yard and back yard....it keeps getting down to, will she or won't she pay to fix the bathroom pipes, and will the fix include eliminate the smell on a hot day? (not just now)...

Anyway I guess people came down here for the Christmas holiday cause the malecon was had lots of people walking along the shops and the resturants had people in them. If Nico was there he was busy with customers, so we walked past and then walked along the extension where there are benches and a statue of a guy with a giant shrimp...sort of an open area- all cement-and some kids were riding their razor scooters and lots of people were taking pictures of each other with the ocean behind them. The water was pretty and the big pelicans were fishing, no dolphins but pretty to watch anyway. So we didn't get to talk to Nico...so we went over to the shopping center nearby that constrcution stalled on some time ago, but there's a movie theater there, and it's open. We took an escalator up and checked it out. They have movies that are sub titled and movies that are dubbed. None that we want to see particularly, so we bought some popcorn and took off. We went back to the department store, Coppel and looked at the elliptical I was considering, but it's just to cheapy and too short. I just don't stretch my legs out striaght when it turns, so I let it go. Man! No car and no elliptical...batting zero.

Well it was a nice day out and about- oh wait- I skipped the burro longo! We stopped at a hole in the wall on one of the unpaved streets to have a burro longo, we split it in fact. They are a huge burrito, they cost 40 pesos...ut a half is more than enough for one. There are so manny different kinds of tacos and burritos! But it sure is fun trying them all! Lot of people here from alot of different parts of Mexico, and everybody has their type of food...yep sounds good to me!

Merry Christmas everyone! Woke up and talked to my daughter Drew who just arrived at her Dad's with Rex & Danica in tow so I let them go to celebrate since poor Drewy has to work today. I'll call my other daughter a little later after they have their Christmas...We had a nice breakfast, beans and cheese and eggs and tortillas, and a banana for me and tomato and onions for Poppi....it's sunny outside and there are intermittent firecrackers going off again. So Sam wants to stay inside instead of laying in a sunny spot...and Everardo is taking a nap too.

Yesterday I got to hold a 6 day old baby when we dropped by Anna's the first time. We walked in and we saw him, so tiny...born on the 18th, somebody handed him to me and I kept him until we left. Not that long, maybe a half hour, and he was starting to get squirmy like food time....so I gave him back ha ha. He was so calm; I think maybe because the house is so busy, so many kids and adults there all the time. Doors slamming, yelling..and this tiny baby didn't blink an eye. He just looked at me, yawned sometimes, but mostly just looked at me calmly. You know, I think because he was just born, I mean 6 days could be counted in hours practically, I think he understood English and Spanish. I told him he was a Christmas miracle and how next year he'd be running around with all these kids. I talked to him about the tree and his grandma (Anna) and I know he understood me.I gues when you have so many kids, it just gets normal to have yet another one around. And man- there are alot of kids around that house- I don't understand where they all sleep ha ha. Everywhere I've been in Mexico there are alot of kids....hmmm so many comment come to mind, but it Christmas....

I chatted last nite & this morning with a few friends and family on FB, sent some emails to friends I have been shitty at keeping up with. I was reading about Christmas in Mexico, and basically read what Ihave seen and heard here, that people wither open presents on Christmas Eve at midnite or wait until Jan 4th, but everybody has a fiesta Christmas Eve! It does seem quiet outside except for the occasional firecracker, and it was noisy until about 1am. We fell asleep on the couch until about 2am, partly to keep Sam company since he sleeps on the small carpet we have in front of the couch, and if the fireworks had continued he would have slept next to the bed on the cold tile. Right now, of course, he sleeps next to his sleeping poppa...

I think we're going down to the dock to buy some fresh fish and shrimp for our dinner. I am surprised that they go out fishing on Christmas, but Everardo says they do....hmmm we'll see. Tomorrow the plan is to see about that little car for me...yipee...but I am so selfish- I want my new elliptical too! We didn't really do presents this year, I barely decorated- at the last minute I got into it, and our gifts are kinda a gym membership for him and the elliptical for me....so...I want it!! Next year we will be more ready for it and hopefully have a little something to open. You know, we kinda have everything we need, each other, Sam, our bikes, laptops haha..I don't know, I mean these days a book is a good gift for me. I was talking to Drew on the phone this morning and she was saying it was so hard to figure out a present for Rex cause they don't need anything...ha ha I said yeah I know! It's kind of like if you find a little something, maybe by accident, something that I would think- ooh I think my sweetheart would like that. Anyway this year it would have been hard..I mean not natural altho' I was thinking about it...and if I had seen something....OK anyway I love walking on the dock, and right now plan to kick back and read the book I just started yesterday...oh- the nutty landlord gave me a book, too. It's called Women in the Bible...hmmmm well for not at least it's a good paper weight ha ha. Actually I might even read it, couldn't hurt to have a little knowledge....well we'll see how it's written...so now it's off to my nice murder mystery.

It's Christmas Eve, about 11:30 so almost Christmas. There are fireworks going off like crazy, and it may be all nite, we'll see. In Mexico some have the tradtion of a party on Christmas Eve- maybe all nite, then a quiet day on Christmas, and presents are not until Jan 4- when the 3 kings came to give Jesus presents. That's how Everardo grew up. Our friend here, Anna, is having a family party tonite, to which we were invited, with fireworks and music and food (pozoli, tamales, menudo, cakes and cupcakes) much laughter and fun, then at midnite the kids open their presents. Then the party goes on, maybe all nite, then sleep and lay around tomorow for Christmas day. A friend I used to work with does this with his family in Calif. Well our friend Anna, who is probly same age as me, has alot of family! I counted about 15 younger kids who were her grandchildren, and then there were at least 5 or 6 adults or at least older teens who were also her grandchildren. So 4 or 5 kids, all those grandchildren, girlfriends & boyfriends; it was a pretty big group. They had a huge tent outside behnd the house with a big cookstove and a fire on the ground. It was fun to watch them all greet each other and take tons of silly pictures. In fact one photo that was all women I was called into, so I ran to the end of the line of women and smiled for the camera- I think we had to yell "whiskey!"

We left about 10:30; it was nice for her to invite us, but it was a family thing and we didn't want her to worry about us, me not speaking to much Spanish, and anyway she shouldn't be entertaining guests- it was her family. So we took off, we would have before the presents anyway, and also I saw a few cases of beer and a few bottles of other stuff coming in so they were wure to be getting rowdy-er soon ha ha.

Earlier in the evening, at 6pm, we went to an English speaking meeting that was very small but glad we went. I had actually given directions to it, to some vacationers so thought we should show up- ha ha but they didn't altho' I believe we'll see them Wednesday. Then we dropped in on the Spanish speaking meeting for a guy who was getting a cake for his year. During that meeting I stayed outside before going in to call both my daughters; I caught them at their dad's house where they had finished a nice Christmas Eve dinner so it was good to talk to each of them, which I plan to do again tomorrow. I had arranged with our renters, who are our close friends, to pick up our gifts for both girls and I told them today they could go see Boyce & Kay tomorrow afternoon to get them. I won't give any other details here cause at least one of my daughters reads this blog so I don't want to spoil the surprise...and B&K know what I mean...Drewy, my oldest, sent me a fb msg and told me she avoids my street cause it makes her sad, and boy that got caught in my throat. She wants to send her boyfriend to pick up her present cause she misses me so much she doesn't want to walk up to my door and have someone else give her the gift.......ok deep breath.......yeah I miss her so much, too.

Well we are listening to Christmas music on tv while I write this, but it will be Christmas in 10 minutes and I want to be sitting close to my honey...so I will close this with: Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good nite. :)

Yesterday we got a Christmas tree. It's a fake one, short, maybe 3 or 4 feet. We put it on one of the blue bins, so it's a tiny bit taller than me. We decorated it last nite, and today I fixed up our stockings- well mine; his was ok...mine just was never the same after Sam chewed it when he was a puppy. But this afternoon I repaired it, put new stuff on it. They both look so cut, no they look great. So of course I took a picture and put it on FB ha ha. But  anyway now it feels like Christmas in here.

At the posada the other nite they gave us Pozoli. I forgot to say that. I guess it's the party food, cause Everardo got us invited to a posada with another group, and they served pozoli, too. It's nice and hot, with meat (beef), and some kind of bean I think; and you get a dish with limes, lettuce, chiles, or peppers, so you can add stuff to it. I remember at something in Playa Ventura, pozoli is what everyone was serving. It's funny, the last few days I've been craving churros, and apprently they only make/sell them at nite. It's kinda like a lot of the taco trucks and hot dog stands; they only open at nite- sucks cause I want them in the daytime- and with a cup of coffee. Hot dog stands- isn't that weird? There are alot of hot dog stands here and they all do very well! We've only tried one and didn't like too much, but we'll try another. I actually heard someone talking about a sushi place, so there's another one here somewhere...that will be my new mission, to find it....And keep your fingers crossed that it's good. I mean the fish is so fresh, pls pls let the place be run by someone who knows something about sushi. We did find a Chinese food place and it's run, or at least the cook, is Chinese. It was pretty good and very close to our house.

So things stay interesting. This place is a 24/7 flea market- you can find anything if you're patient. NOt sure if I already mentioned that a guy offered Everardo a house at a flea market ha ha. Well we may have found me a car. We're gonna talk to the guy tomorrow, if he's not gone to Mexicali to pick up another car. These guys buy cars in the states cheap and sell them here. This little fiat is a 94 and the title is Indiana- and it says for export only. There's a place here that will do the importation to make it a Mexican car, so we are going to check out all the paperwork and make sure it's "do-able" and maybe we'll get this little car. It's a stick which I like, and small but does have a backseat so Sam can be my company. He loves going for a ride! Actually he loves going anywhere we go, he just wants to be with us...We also spent the wknd looking for a gym and may have settled on one. This is for Poppi only- the places that have classes, well none of them are going on right now, and I want to do Zumba and the fact is I like my elliptical and singing at the top of my lungs; and that's best at home ha ha. So after looking at some used stuff- and only one was actually what I wanted, and talking on a local forum about one I really liked but it's a 4 hour each way trip to Green Valley Arizona for $95...might as well spend $120 and get the new one we looked at. Yes, kinda cheapy, but it's probly staying here when we move back to the states, or even to another town in Mexico. It doesn't have to do much, so hopefully cheap will not be an issue ha ha.

Oh! The most important thing we bought is a space heater yesterday! This cement house is sooo cold at nite, and cool during the day. Don't need a jacket outside, but need a sweater inside ha ha. It's a gas heater; you put a little propane tank on the back of it and wow- what a difference. Just taking the chill off made so much difference. I keep reading how the only cold months are Dec and Jan, how it's true! Not like the rainy season in Playa Ventura...oh it's only July & Aug...ah ok and June....oh and Sept...and oh part of Oct....I mean at least it was warm even when it rained but we were so sick of it! It was really only a problem the first month when it rained in our bedroom, and under the window sills....Well it rained here one day pretty hard and nothing leaked...so...anyway the heater is nice. We used it last nite in the living room and then on low in the bedroom/bathroom and even today it was just not as cold in here...so warm and Christmasy, yep I feel like hot chocolate again!!

So the house, this house, we are still not completely sure we want to stay here; we still have a problem with the bathroom/shower, not in our bedroom, the one in the hallway. Somehow the trap is wrong or not there so when you flush the toilet the pipe goes thru the shower- it needs to be different- Everardo understands it and can fix it, but doesn't want to do it for free- why should he? The sewer smell comes up thru the shower. So he fixed it somewhat but it needs the correct fix. We went and talked to the guy who used to live here and gave him a telephone bill that came to him, and asked him about the bathroom. He said the smell gets bad when it gets hot. That she knows about it (she-the landlord). She agreed we needed to change the top of the drain; it was actually broken in the middle, but she never copped to any other problem. She does not want to pay for anything. So Everardo's going to talk to her and tell her that he'll fix it, but for a month's rent.

That's the problem with this place- that she does not want to spend a penny. Today was hot in the middle of the day and there was no smell in the house, but I smelled it outside. Just in one spot, but I'm sure I smelled it. So it has to be fixed. The house wasn't painted or fixed in any way. And that's a weird thing too, she emailed me a contract that had some issues, well it was obviously copied from another contract so had bad dates, dollars, etc. I emailed back and told her, and she said she was having trouble with her laptop so would I fix it. I said sure, and made the changes. I also added a list at the end of the condition of the house because some of the wording expressed talked about the condition of the house and the furishings and I couldn't sign it that way. Actually the first lease I was asked to sign was the first day- but I read it and it was an agreement between a real estate agent and a landlord, I pointed that out and didn't want to sign it. I suggested I sign something for 24 hours, the rent & the security deposit so she and I would both be comfortable cause we moved in that day. Then she never brought me another one until 2 weeks later, the morning she left. I walked over there to get the key she was gonna leave with me for her place, and she had a contract for me to sign....it was in Spanish, so I declined to sign. I told her I thought we were developing a nice relationship, but this was business, and I would be a fool to sign something I couldn't read. So she said ok, she would email me one. So that's where that's at. The thing is, I thought I was really clear about wanting month to month but the contract (s) have been for 6 months. We decided at first, well ok cause we hope to be here longer than that- of course that was before we knew about the bathroom problem- so I'm glad it's taken so long to get this contract thing together. And so far, well not signed. I changed it and sent it to her, she said she'd send it back after she opened it. That was about 5 days ago. I think maybe she thinks I changed it and we signed it....but we didn't. Wanted her to review it first.

The first house we saw when we got here suddenly doesn't seem that bad (hmmm). I want to see it again. It had a huge yard and that's a plus for Sam. He's ok here, and I like this place, alot, but the whole bathroom thing....I don't even mind about there being no heat- hey we got hot water and that's a HUGE plus ha ha. Altho I think most people here have hot water. Anyway it was so messy, so dirty I hadn't wanted to even look at it, so I'm not sure what I think of it. If cleaning is all it needs....and of course Everardo wants to negotiate the rent which I think was $250 USD, and I'm up for that! So- we'll see. I think we will at least stay here thru Jan, it won't get too hot, and maybe, just maybe she will foot the bill to fix the bathroom and then we can stay. But of course there's always the issue of people staying in her house- altho I bet that will only be vacationers from Arizona, cause anyone who looks before they come will not rent it for her outrageous price...$3000 pesos. One of the bathrooms doesn't even work and there's no oven (been there done that), just a hot plate - well it looks kinda like a camping stove....anyway we'll see. Weekenders really is no problem for us. So see- interesting eh? ok time for ice cream..