Well it's NOT abalone season

We took our road trip to San Quintin the other day and it was a beautiful ride. I did not, however get my abalone. It's not in season. They do have abalone "farms" down there, the guy in the restaurant told us it was about 40 minutes further down the road...but if they have farms to grown them, they why does there need to be a "season"? Maybe it has to do with the temperature of the water? Ok another google session for me. We drove down and it felt like northern California ha ha- lots of road construction! So it took a little longer to get down there than we thought it would. At first the terrain is really green, rolling hills and lots of vegetation. There are acres and acres of produce- starwberries, looked like watermelons and other squash. And then miles and miles of vineyards. They were dead vines, dormant....after the harvest and before they start again. I thought all the grapes were grown in the Guadalupe Valley which is north and east of us, but like I said, there were rows and rows and rows of vines. After about an hour, maybe a little more it started to become desert-y. The dirt started to get redder, and the vegetation was brushy...When we got closer to San Quintin the fields became tomotoes. I read that more tomatoes are grown in this area than anywhere in the world!

San Quintin is kind of long, with everything along both sides of the highway. It was a nice outing and I didn't find anything there extra special, the ride was the goal. Now we did not follow the highway to the south end where it met the ocean, we took a right and went out to the "old port", a nice woman at the gas station told us it was nice spot, so we went for it. The bay is called - crap! I forget what the name of it is! But it's narrow and winds around as it comes inland. And pretty interesting, right by the dock we were standing on, the water eddies around, whirlpools and it's going pretty fast- on both directions. And the pelicans! They are huge...all waiting around for some fisherman to throw out old bait or parts of the fish he has no use for. They were in comeptition with some pretty hefty (read chubby) seagulls as well. I got some great pictures of them all. So there was a guy, a fisherman, well I think that's what he was- but he took the discarded fish pieces, and cut them up even more, and kept parts of it to make fish soup. So he was throwing away pieces and the fight was on.

On the way out this dirt turnoff we spied 2 kids walking and trying to wave down a ride- they must have been only 10 or 12 years old. We picked them up and they were on their way to go crabbing. But they had us stop at a little bodega and they didn't want is to wait. They were getting bait and said they'd get a ride the rest of the way. After we ate and went back to walk along the water again, we saw them and they waved. Their "fishing poles" were plastic soda bottles with sand and rocks in them, and fishing line wrapped around them. Don't know if they caught anything, but in the car- one kid very talkative and one very quiet- we were told all about it so I have no doubt they reeled 'em in.

The restaurant was very nice, and they said over holidays they get very busy and the rest of the time they have people drop in, and as we ate we saw quite a few groups of people arrive and walk along the docks, some coming in to eat. There were also some vendors with trinkets set up, so there must be some steady-if light- tourist traffic. Now for the food- well I'm sure it's probably good, and the presentation was very nice. But I ordered crab stuffed shrimp. First they brought us a very nice clam chowder, it almost tasted like mashed potatoes, corn and clams...hmm well it tasted really good. My plate came and looked so pretty. Some rice, some nice veggies, and my shrimps in some kind of a thick sauce...really good. But my shrimps- well they were wrapped and cooked in bacon. Bacon! Might have been something to mention on the menu or when you ordered it- I mean I asked if it was picoso (spicy)...and they had a meat & seafood menu that I did NOT order from....so I was disappointed. Everardo had shrimp in some kind of sauce, and he only got 6 shrimp...not big prawns or anything, small shrimp...which he gave some of to me because I couldn't eat Bacon-y shrimp (and no crab in sight). The thing is- it was not cheap..about $20 US a plate- that's expensive. As we drove by several street stands all with signs about the seafood they offered, Everardo kept pointing them out...and YES YES we could have had the same thing- probably much better for about $3US each. I had insisted we find a nice restaurant because I wanted to be sure we got abalone- yeah joke's on me. But as I said, the drive down and back was nice. The walk around the waterfront of the old port was fun, watching the pelicans and the people. So it ended up being an almost all day thing; it was after 4pm when we got home so poor doggys got a very short walk. Anyway it looks like abalone season opens in April so we will be making another trip.

Did a little house hunting in Ensenada- yeah I will never learn! But maybe I finally get it; the houses for rent there have no stoves, no refrigerators, no hot water heaters, no house heaters. Unless of course if you are willing to pay $750-1000 a month rent. We called the nite before on one place, and planned to call on 3 others once we got there. One, the number had been disconnected, one didn't allow dogs, one had no yard, and we went to see one. It was in Colonia 89, past a huge cemetery (which is fine with me I kinda like cemeteries) and a jail, a police station...and winded up a hill, then started to get steeper, then turned from paved road to dirt. We finally turned...and then continued to steeply climb! Finally we got there, and I think the air was actually thinner! The guy was rapidly saying how the house had everything!! The listing said parking for 3 cars, and Everardo gently reminded me if we had 3 Volkswagens that would be true. Luckily for me I had almost zero expectations after the other places we'd seen in the city before we arrived and after. Well we went in and it was pretty trashed, but nothing some paint couldn't have fixed...well some of it anyway...then I asked about the fridge...oh, no. And the stove? no...Hot water heater?? No...he was even saying something about furniture, but there wasn't any. One bedroom did not have enough room for more than a twin bed, but the other one did...we didn't bother to look in the backyard, we just thanked him and said we'd give him a call. Once we got down into air we could actually breathe we started laughing. And I was done...ok ok no more looking for a place to live in the city.

Today the best thing that happened was we got the seat belt fixed on the passenger side of the car. Yippee!! Because when we go somewhere together, Everardo always drives and that seat belt works. People tend to drive like insane nuts here, so I want my seat belt. It's not always that they drive too fast, sometimes it when they want to be in your lane, so they come. And after the light turns red, a few cars will still go, but other times the people waiting for the light to turn green are inching their way into the intersection...so ait's a mixed bag and you never know what's going to happen next. And I guess I'm just so used to wearing a seat belt. Here I cringe when I see mothers holding babies and/or little kids on their laps in the front seat. Or the kid is in the seat alone, but standing up...aarrgghh scares the hell out of me. So getting my seat belt fixed was a very big deal to me.
The worst thing about today was that we finally went over to La Jolla to see about a house for rent. Everybody tells us that's the best place to live. That there's always some houses there for rent. Why do people say things when they don't know what the hell they're talking about? It happened in Penasco as well. Everybody talked about how there were so many houses to rent...not true not true. I looked for all those places for months. So here the same thing. My concern had been which place would we like, and to get the best place for the dogs. WHOOPS They very nicely told us they were not in the business to rent houses. They rent/lease land and then you build a house. The houses that were for rent- if there were any, were by owners or real estates agents like Irka Davis, who we are renting from now. In fact she had shown us 2 places in there. One was pretty good but it's $450 and we could rent that little trailer for $250. Wow was I surprised and depressed! I got in the car and couldn't help it- I cried. Yeah I know- what a baby. But all of a sudden the week I was sick (last week) and struggling with the stairs, the devil woman whom I hadn't seen almost since we got here and paid her ransom to go to the beach- she approached me a couple a days ago and hugged me (yuck-) and said she had a cookie package for me (like I would eat her poison cookies), the ghost town feeling here...not feeling comfortable going downstairs at nite cause there's no curtains...aarrgghh we're stuck in this house, all hit me at once and I cried. I feel much better now. I sent an email to Irka asking about some other places on her website, found a couple of other rental websites and sent some emails requesting info, and then saw a place for rent right down the road, at this woman's place...Pam's Hacienda. The houses are all painted carzy colors, right down my alley. Actually I'm not sure how many houses besides hers, the rest might be mobile homes, which is also fine with me. So I called her, and she only has a mobile home and it's $400. More than we want to pay, but we're going to look at it tomorrow afternoon, and hey, maybe she'd go for $350.

Then a little while ago Irka replied and said, you have a lease, talk to me. Yes I know we have a lease, and I realize we'll lose the security deposit, so what about the places I mentioned? She did not reply again. Tomorrow we'll also go out to Loma del Mar (I think) and see if anyone is around that can tell us rents there. It's a small camp, I think all mobile homes, and they all have a great view of the bay and Ensenada, but not a way to get to the beach. Which would be ok, too. And of course there's still the trailer for $250. We talked about that as well, it's half of what we're paying, it's about 10 feet from the beach, there's people around, friendly people, and has security. It's small, but do we need big? No. I am no longer upset. We have options. And one of my absolute worst character defects is feeling trapped and then making bad decisions. So now more.

So I am starting to work on my new years commitments...to myself. To dig a little deeper, to embrace acceptance. Not letting myself trapped, not making bad decision on top of other bad decisions, and hurting the people that I love in the process. Hey awareness is a pretty good start eh? Anyway, hopefully by Monday my cough will be all but gone, and then I'll go find that community center and see if there's something I can do..ok enough for now, Everardo is sleeping next to me on the couch, Hazel is snuggling up with him (hey that's my job), so time to wrap this up.

Mexico fun fact:
Stone tools have been found in Mexico that suggest the existence of humans there around 23000 years ago.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2014-wow...don't wanna think about how old that makes me ha ha! Well not really cause my birthday is in December so I have all year. We had a quiet New Years Eve; briefly considered going down to the Bufadora where a restaurant was serving filet mingnon for about $10US and staying open for fun until midnite or late, but Sam does not like loud fireworks and was upset with the few going off around 7pm, and we just couldn't leave him. And at midnite, there were A LOT of booms and bangs going off. Mostly fireworks that were just noisy with just a few shooting up lights. We could see some of those lights off in the distance in Maneadero and Ensenada, and like I said, Sam was very unhappy. And honestly, I still have a nagging cough that altho' isn't too bad when I'm sitting still, but being out in the cold nite air, and dancing, laughing, whooping it up for New Years Eve, well I'd probably be paying for it today, even though I don't even drink.

Today was a quiet one for us as well. Jammies most of the day, only getting dressed to take Sam & Hazel for a walk on the beach. There were alot of people out there digging holes to make little hot tubs and the steam was coming up all over. I tried to take some pictures, but the steam didn' come out in the shots, so it just looks like people digging in the sand ha ha.

There was a big freighter in the port across the bay in Ensenada with nothing on it. I saw it yesterday too, so maybe the port was on holiday- which would be nice for the workers, rigth? Then right before we left for the beach this afternoon I saw another freighter coming into the bay all loaded up, so I remembered to take the telescope with me. I love using it to look at the boats and the ships. There's usually a few out at the far end of the bay, on our side, where the big tuna rings are, and then sometimes there's the big cruise ships. In fact the other day there were 2 cruise ships, different cruise ship companies, both in port. We were in Ensenada and so parked down by the docks and walked along the malecon to look at them. You can't get up right next to them; there's a gate and a road that extends out to them. They mesmerize me- they are like apartment houses they are so big. The bigger one had a name "Sapphire Pricness", and I googled it when we got home. They are just massive with swimming pools and niteclubs and you can certainly spend a hell of a lot of money, but really I think you can not go crazy, and it can be reasonable. I always look at them thru the telescope when I see them from here (which is about twice a week I think), and if we're in Ensenada I want to look at them, but I'd never actually take a cruise ha ha! It looks really cool- but where the ocean is concerned- I am a big chicken. And to be out in the middle of the ocean and not be able to see any land....thinking of it gives me a kind of claustrophobia...like when I was a kid and we were driving in the desert and you could see nothing but desert I would get that same suffocating feeling. I used to say I'd do a cruise if I could see the land, like along the Mexican coast, or up the channel (wrong word, I know) in Alaska where you see the glaciers, but after the day the ocean beat the shit out of me in Playa Ventura, I really really understand the force of the ocean, how strong the waves are- how they swatted me like a fly. I was holding onto the rock and I was slapped off it like I was a flower petal floating in the air. And the water then threw me back against the rocks, very luckily for me I had moved to the side with the first swat and so I hit rocks on the sand, only about ankle high. It all happened really fast and yet I knew I was going to die there. The first swat pushed me along the rock and then dragged me out. I only wasn't dragged further because another wave came and thre me back up the beach. I barely remember any details of that part, but after the second one, I was digging my fingers into the sand like a cartoon character and was pulled right back in anyway. The third time, miraculously, I was thrown onto only sand, and although I couldn't see I just started crawling as fast as I could. The next wave just pushed me up the beach but didn't drag me out. I know how lucky I am. I also have huge respect for the ocean. I understand that if I fall off a boat, even if I can see the land, the water is choppy, surging, I'd never make it to shore. So cruises are out. For the first time I realized how lucky I was, (and how fucking stupid) back in the early 90's when I jumped off that yacht in the Sea of Snakes off the coast of China. I knew the water in Hong Kong harbor was dirty, but a slew of drinks later I was drunk enough to be "daring" (again-read stupid) to jump off the boat. This boat was 110 feet long and had speedboats on it to take little rides, the boat was owned by the company we were doing business with. I don't really remember alot about the boat, the pads they put down for us to sit on, the crew wearing starched white uniforms with gold braid and no shoes, and food, so much food, as well as continuous drinks whenever your glass emptied. However I do remember the second I hit that cold water! Again I was like a cartoon because I swear I ran across the top of the water back to the boat! So, again, no cruises for me.

So- back to the freighters. I watched them from the beach, and the empty one never moved, but the full one did a big "L" shape to get to a port a ways away for the empty one. There have been continuous commercials on tv for the movie with Tom Hanks on the freighter; Captain Phillips and we watched on the free movie site the other nite. It's called Watch32 and you can watch movies for free, so Everardo hooks his laptop up to the tv and we watch them. I love Tom Hanks movies and of course afterward I had to google to see how close to a true story it was. The producer said it was close, but there are lawsuits going on about the story from the crew, who said the captain received warnings about the pirates and should have take a course further out to sea, and the captain says he didn't think they'd be any safer further out. Anyway it was a pretty good movie. And like I said, I like to look at the freighters, think about what they're picking up and/or dropping off, where they're going next.

A family stopped to chat with us as we watched Sam chase the ball and Hazel chase Sam. I of course was looking at all things far with the telescope and was surprised to hear the man's voice right behind me. He was asking Sam's name and then he started to tell us that they had a lab some time ago. There was also a wife and 2 kids, teenagers at least, a boy and a girl. The conversation got too fast for me as always so I lost track of what everyone was talking about, but near the end the boy said something in English so I said- hey you speak English (ha ha yes painfully obvious) and he said he was learning. He had no accent in his English which surprised me, anyway the wife and he said I spoke good Spanish and so I told them, in Spanish that I speak better than I understand and they laughed. I said when I speak, people assume I'm fluent and the start speaking really fast (& they laughed), or they speak low, or use words I don't understand (since everything gas at least 2 or more words to describe it). Then Everardo asked for my cell phone number and I knew they were talking about where we lived, and I thought they were on vacation, so I assumed they were looking for a place to rent by the beach...ha ha wrong. They live in Maneadero and we gave him our phone number because he might know of a place for us to rent. So see, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing  ha ha, I get everything all mixed up....oh and they also may know of a place I can teach English, so it was good to meet then. My hubby makes friends with everyone he meets, he's me, just in Spanish ha ha.

So tomorrow I think we're going to go on a little road trip, down to San Quintin which is about 2 hours south I think. This area grows more tomatoes than anywhere else in the world. They also have abalone! Well I'm not sure how old the article I read was, but oh man would I love some abalone. However first I need to know how they prepare it. I thought everyone did it the same, dipped and then quick fried...oh man my nouth is watering. But once I had it in Bangkok, and it was one thick "steak" and you cut it with a knife and fork....and I was SO disappointment, but the person who brought me was so happy to treat me to something I was so excited about, so I said it was wonderful...it was good...but usually abalone is AMAZING and that's the experience I want. Well I will be sure to make a full report here. Viva.

Mexico fun fact:
There are 31 states in Mexico as well as the capital city (Mexico City).

Never reverse in an intersection

Yesterday we went for a drive to the far side of Ensenada to see if we could find the "other" segundas. The usual segundas we go to are along Reforma, at this end of Ensenada (south end). They are in little sotrefront buildings, like mini warehouses that have bog doors that you pull down. But the other place is more like tents, booths, and they are in a street that has no car traffic. We found them, but really only wanted to see where they were so we could come back at a later time, when I could walk for more than 10 minutes without getting too tired. We drove all over Ensenada yesterday and for a little while I thought how cool it would be to live right there, but then remembered, and then noticed that there just are not too many places with parking inside the yard and/or a fenced yard for Sam & Hazel.

So we headed for home; but as we came back past the segundas at the south end we noticed some neighborhoods on the other side (ocean side). Now they were near the ocean or have ocean views, and they looked like maybe a more struggling neighborhood, but the houses all had big yeards. Enough for cars and dogs...of course nothing was for rent, and altho' Everardo said maybe it wasn't the best area, we saw some places with nice yards and fixed up houses. It was something to consider anyway. So as we headed back towards the main road, we suddenly decided we wanted to go right instead of straight, and Everardo braked and put the truck into reverse..we weren't going fast, we stopped at the stop sign and started thru it, and then braked. When he put it in reverse we backed into the car that followed right behind us. Like I said we were going slow and the only thing that happened was our trailer hitch hit the front bumper, and I think a reflector, not the headlight, maybe a parking lamp. Anyway there was a woman driving and a man in the passenger seat. She immediately called the police...not sure why, the man and Everardo were chatting and 500 pesos probably would have fixed it....We probably could have argued with her since she came into the intersection before we were thru it, but Poppi felt he was wrong and would just fix it. I stayed in the car thru this entire situation, didn't think I had anything to add, and sometimes when people see Americans it does not help.

The first cop truck came screaming down the road, lights and siren and 2 cops jumped out. Lots of conversation and during this, another cop truck flew up with it's lights going. (2 more cops) More talking and then the first truck left. The second decided we had to pay the lady 1500 pesos (about $120US) and that Everardo would get a ticket for reversing in an intersection- he said it would cost us about 5000 pesos. Crap. Then he said another cop would come and write up the ticket. So a single cop flies up, waving his arns at some car in his way..side note: it's funny how people disrespect the police, fire engines, ambulances; nobody moves over when they come- well some people do (like us), but if there's 20 cars in their path, maybe 2 cars will move over. So I mean funny strange not funny ha ha. Sam thing in Sonora, nobody moved over when the cops were flying by lights & sirens going...OK- so this cop tells the lady that Everardo is a very honest man because since it looked like a fender bender that she would be in the wrong since she was behind us. I think she took a step back but reined it in a little- she had tried to say Everardo "speeded up" and hit her, which was just not true...and he already said he would pay, so what the hell lady? Then he motions Everardo back to his truck to give him his ticket. While they are talking Everardo asks him, ok what do I need to do for this to be done? Small chat and Poppi gives him $20US and no ticket. He ssid the cop got kinda nervous and said ok wuick just put it on my clipboard. So, no 5000 peso fine and no ticket. Yipee.

Now we have to pay the lady, so the man jumps in the back of our truck and we drive to an ATM and we give him the money. Everardo says he should have offered her 1000 pesos or we can take it to a body shop with the cop, but decided not to get into a pissing match. It was totally our fault, I wanted him to turn the other way, and he didn't look in his mirror. One thing though- I kinda like the quick justice. The cop talks to everyone and comes to a mutual agreement for fault and for payment. Done-over. And then for the ticket- well we already admitted fault, so why get the ticket- we paid the cop who used his time and he and we walked away happy. Pretty interesting, and at least for now- works for me.

But I think I will be happy to live out here. I will find places to volunteer and you never know, the woman who I worked for, for 5 minutes could even call me back. Everardo now is going to try looking for a job at one of the many many car junk yards around here-well in Ensenada and I am going to find us a new place to live. I think we are just going to let our deposit go. Yes ouch ouch especially for a couple with no income down here. But the stairs the stairs the stairs are killing me, and the dogs; Sam struggles on the stairs after running at the beach all day. Hazel has to run downstairs to get out to pee....ok you get the picture I hate the stairs...and then how cold it is up here....and the neighborhood- which includes the no curtains anywhere downstairs- yeah Everardo says if you hate the stairs so much let's just live downstairs, we can manage that. And maybe I'd say yes if there were any curtains down there, in any room....I called the phone number of the house for sale over in La Jolla near my friend from AA, but the woman I need won't be in until tomorrow. We're going to see if the people have any interest in renting. And I'm going to ask if there's any other places in there. We are pretty much in agreement that the house out on the mountain is just a little too remote so we're gonna let that one go. It was going to be $450 anyway so we were going to have to try and negotiate a little there.

Oh I forgot to mention the road that fell into the ocean! Yes, part of the cuota (toll) road between Ensenada and Tijuana collapsed and fell into the sea. But another article I read said a cement truck fell into the sea, after the driver scrambled out to safety...but the road merely sunk down about 30 feet. The piece of road that collapsed was 300 feet long and both lanes, north and south. This was last Thursday or Friday, so the 26th or 27th. The local newsletter comments suggest it will be a year before it's fixed, and only a bridge will fix it. An official statement by the gov't today said maybe a week, but that has been laughed at heartily. There is a detour which is the free road and that road is in pretty good shape. We drove it right after we got here and it seemed fine. We shall see what happens, maybe take a drive up to see it, but after the holidays are over because there's alot of traffic right now.

We also heard that the vendors are back in business out at the Bufadora, so today after the grocery store we swung by, partly to get the yummy bread and partly to give both me and the dogs a fresh air ride ha ha. The coastline here is just amazing. So beautiful. And the vendors were back in business and there were lots of holiday vacationers out there, mostly Mexicans as far as I could see. But it was late in the afternoon and there were still quite a few people out there. Everardo chatted with one of the vendors and it sounds like there's still some issues for them with the land owners, and the gov't is also getting involved...ha ha so that can't be good. But I'm glad to see them back in business for now.

So I feel like I'm pretty caught up here. Still thinking about some New Years commitments, trying to better define them for myself. I know I'm happy, and looking forward to whatever comes next...I do hope I get to see my daughters soon...oh and what is up with no candy canes in Mexico? Never did find any for our tree. I mean I guess it's a US thing, but there's so much stuff here from the states I was just surprised. I did find however, little caramel filled chocolate santas, and some with marshmellow and caramel, so that kinda made up for it. I put away the manger scene this afternoon, and am thinking about when I should pass it to Drewy for her family to enjoy- I mean if Danica starts watching it now, she'll have the same memories as Drewy and Halla, and me and my brother and sisters. If we lived closer I'd keep it and it would be a grandma thing for my grandchildren to see at out house, I mean I hope Halla has children, I believe it's in her plan. No matter her lifestyle I think children fit in...anyway not sure what I want to do about it...hmmm writing about it makes me think we should pass it to her. If/When we leave Mexico it will be to live near Drewy and her family, wherever that is....and as long as that's Calif or at least the west coast I will be happy. If they move somewhere like Popcorn Indiana....I'll have to struggle a little ha ha.

Ok tomorrow is the last day of 2013. I only sat on the phone for half an hour today trying to finish my afoordable health care application and Kaiser still hasn't received it from Covered Calif. So an hour last Tuesday, and a half hour today...maybe I'll finish it tomorrow? Ok that's it for now.

Mexico fun fact:
Mexico is the 11th most populated country in the world with around 117 million people (as of July 2012)

Sick all Christmas week!

I just checked and my last post here was a week ago today. Right as I was slipping into the torturous  hell of a horrid chest cold and all around sick head pounding stomach nauseating painful experience. And I am NOT exaggerating! Sunday nite not long after I posted here, I went to bed, a little shaky and feeling a little crappy. The fever hit during the nite and I tossed and turned, awake and asleep, alternating freezing and burning up. Then in the morning as I knelt  in front to the porcelain bowl I thought about how I used to feel waking up with those horrible hangovers...just thought it for a minute and then went back to puking. I could barely make it downstairs in the morning, and luckily it was close to 7am, so I simply feed the dogs and left them outside, almost all day. I couldn't eat and could barely hold down water, but in the afternoon finally ventured back downstairs to see the doggys and made myself eat some toast. Boy oh boy did I feel sorry for myself. All alone and sicker than a dog.

Everardo had called Sunday late afternoon and said he was leaving, then Monday morning when he called he knew immediately that I was sick, and proceeded to break all speed records getting back here and made around noon on Tuesday. I knew he was driving at nite and driving too fast, but he insisted that it was safe on the cuotas, and honestly, I was so happy when he got home! Just to take care of Sam & Hazel if nothing else, because remember she needs to go out about midnite so that she can make it the rest of the nite without peeing in the house, or getting me up to go outside. Probably another month before her little bladder is big enough and she is fully trained...because she still has accidents in the house and I swear she gave no signal....

Once Poppi got home I could collapse...and I did. I stayed in bed the rest of Tuesday, and most of Christmas...only went out for a little fresh air in the car on Friday, Saturday, and today. But the very worst was while I was alone. Monday I had a headache that I thought would split my head in two, but I tried something new and just gave in to it, telling myself it would go away at some point. Ha ha I was so tired from my naps instead of any length of sleep; I coughed constantly all week and although I feel much better, still weak, but the cough remains. This cold KICKED my ass! I got really weak, and even today I got tired walking at the open air market after about 10 minutes.

Christmas had highlights though. We skyped with Drew and Rex, and saw them and the kids open their presents. We had sent gifts for them and Danica, but I didn't know Christian would be there as well- he's 11 and my daughter is so smart- one of the games we sent to Danica she remarked for him. It was so nice watching them and being a part of it....almost like being there- yipee for skype. Right after though it was back to bed for me! We had a small quiet Christmas, jammies all day, and the only thing I could eat was scrambled eggs.

I thought of lots of things I wanted to write about while I was sick, but thinking much hurt my head (ok ha ha), I didn't go on my computer, and I couldn't read either..I mean I just started a book, but not only did my head start to ache when I tried to read, but I couldn't focus or concentrate hardly at all. Oh wait- I did sit on hold for 45 minutes on Tuesday morning to finalize my new healthcare, but the nice lady who answered, who was as sick as me, laughed when I told her I finished with Covered Calif on Thursday and said call back in 10 days! I said but I sat on hold 45 min, and she said well the day before (Mon) people waited and hour and a half. Oh yippee I have to do that tomorrow. It really is my fault though, I should have taken care of this back in Oct...

So I missed Christmas in Mexico this year. I was supposed to go to a potluck on Sunday and I missed it. I was supposed to go to a house for Christmas carols and hopefully Christmas cookies on Monday and I missed that. We were supposed to go to a little holiday party potluck today in Ensenada with the AA group there, but I just didn't feel up to it. Oh, and I was invited to another AA friend's place for Christmas dinner here in Punta Banda, since I thought Everardo wouldn't make it back by then, but I was so sick that when I called to thank them and they extended the invitation to us both, I just couldn't do it. I've been in a daze for a week! I am finally starting to feel better, this is my first attempt at writing anything; I promised my brother and sisters and email, since I did actually call them on Christmas, but only to say I was too sick to talk...so I'll try to catch up with them during this coming week.

The weather is nutty- really cold while I was alone and warmer after Poppi got back. Then alternating cold and warmer almost day to day. Oh one thing though, I may have a lead on a place to see if I can volunteer. I got a vitamin B shot at a new pharmacy....actually we both got them, and it's kind of a combo of different B's (like b4, b12, etc) and a couple of other viatmins, and anyway the woman who gave us the shots was chatting and since we were in Maneadero, I tried to ask her, and then Everardo helped. So she said there's a community center nearby and told us how to get there, so once I'm feeling 100 % again I'm going over there.

I had lots of time to think this past week and I want to make some commitments to myself for New Years. I know that resolutions are made to be broken ha ha, but I like to start things at the beginning- like exercise programs or my Spanish, anything...a diet, I like to start them on Mondays or the first day of a month. So I was trying to think about what's important to me, and they are...being in service, getting much much better in Spanish, living in the moment, forgiveness, acceptance...not in any particular order..being in service I think I mean volunteering at the dog rescue and teaching English for free. Living in the moment is about being happy right here right now and not worrying about what other people are doing...acceptance is partly about my younger daughter, loving her unconditionally meaning whether she has a relationship with me right now or not. That when she wants me, I will be here. And for me to stop making up little scenarios in my head where I get to be right. Neither of us is right, or wrong, were simply humans finding our way. Forgiveness is alot about me, and in some ways relates to my daughters. I have to let go of thinking I failed them. That my older daughter who I adore...was I the best mom? I made so many mistakes, and maybe some of the struggles she went thru when she was younger was because of something I didn't teach her? And the money the damn money...yes yes yes we fucked up by not setting aside money for them, for college of for a house down payment. But it is done. It is what it is. I have to forgive myself and move forward in ways that are ok with ME. And stop second guessing myself. But I have gotten some awareness, just in the last few weeks, and so maybe growth will come, eh?

Ok now I am exhausted. So the story of today, or little fender bender and the cop...well you just have to wait.
Buenas noches