The pizza oven is almost done! Too bad I never did figure out how to post photos here. Everardo, Gume and another guy worked all day yesterday and thought today would be a half day, but most of the day again. There's a small bit left and Everardo says he can do it. I thought the outer coating was going to be done by him and me, but it wasn't like patting mud, and they did it. I took alot of pictures both days and I'm posting them on Facebook.

I think we're going to have a bbq in it in the next couple of days; probably goat and maybe some chickens. Not sure if I've had goat before, but I'm certainly willing to try it. In Marqulia there's a place called Tacos de Chivo right across from the Telcel place and I know Poppi has eaten there a few times. The first time I was there but it was early in the morning and I didn't want any kind of tacos for breakfast unless they were eggs & cheese so I passed.

My foot is much better. I woke up about 4am and pulled the brace on to stretch that muscle and been wearing shoes- ok flipflops but they have a heel. Yesterday Sam and I walked up to town and around some places I hadn't been I I was fine.I delivered to Lupita a cd player, an English book with a cd in it and a Spanish English dictionary. I think her dad was helper number 3 today cause Poppi said he told him that she's very happy to have the stuff, but not sure how to use it. He told him to tell her to come and see me, which is what I told her when I gave it to her. She's 9yrs old, but one of those "wise beyond her years" kind of kid, and if she doesn't come in the next few days I'll walk back over there.

Unfortunately my little panic attacks have come back. Used to come back about once a year, but I had them early in the year, maybe Jan or Feb, then right after we got here, and again now. Sucks. They pass quickly, I can feel them coming on. Sometimes, maybe all the time when they are around I get this metal taste in my mouth. It stays all the time, not just when it's happening. I have it now. Yuck. A fear kinda rolls thru me, I almost said sweeps but it's much slower than that. During the nite is the scariest cause in the dark I'm not sure Everardo is Everardo sleeping next to me, but he has told me to grab his arm- grab him, when it starts. I swear it doesn;t last a minute. Years ago they would last 2 or 3 minutes. We had this wonderful family friend, Gray Bear, when I was trying to get sober the first time I met him and he had like 20 years sobriety. That was 1989. Then in the I didn't get sober until 2001, but he stayed friends with us all that time. I had met my now ex husband in 1991, and although he wasn't an alcoholic, he also became close with Gray Bear who helped us thru some tough times back then. Anyway I think it was about 1997 when I started getting the panic attacks and when he was up visiting us from Anaheim he taught me this mediation technique to calm myself down. And when I practiced it the attacks didn't come. In the early 2000's they came back- yeah I wasn't meditating, but I learned another thing that helped. I stopped resisting them; when they came on I just said- ok come on, I am not afraid, just come on, and they would fade quickly, maybe less than a minute. Back then I would think I could smell something familiar and I was supposed to remember something, but I couldn't define either. Now I just feel it coming and try to say..ok. Toda it happened in the hammock and Sam was next to me. I said his name and when he looked at me he looked scary- just for a split second. But it left quick. This is the first time I ever talked about it outside close family and ha ha for sure never this public. Not really even in meetings. hmmm maybe this will help...we'll see.

The weather has stayed kinda gray, blue sky then gray and hot hot hot. And the water is so high that I am hesitant to take Sam to the beach as much. I thought September was supposed to be the end of the rainy season- maybe it goes out with a bang ha ha.

Sam loves that little arroyo though so if I take him down there he looks for sticks and runs thru the water and I can sit on a rock and watch the water...talk about therapy, the ocean is amazing. Well he's outside barking and it may be the bread lady so I guess I'll go check it out.

Ok I'm back home in Mexico! Actually I've been home since Tuesday afternoon; Everardo picked me up on Monday nite at the airport in Acapulco and we stayed at the Holiday Inn so we could shop Tues morning, and then come home. Airports are always "fun", I say in quotes cause everybody has an adventure when going thru airports, connecting flights changing terminals, etc. I had been told by the Immigration Office in Acapulco to only use my residency card while in Mexico and use my passport in the US. Ha ha wrong. I needed my passport to get out of DF to Houston. Then coming back I got in the wrong line off the plane; I got in the Mexicans line and should have gotten in the foreigners line- I showed the lady my residency card and she pointed at the other line, which had grown by about 200 people while I talked to her ha ha. Then I had the small pice of the form- the depart piece instead of the larger piece for arrival- ha ha when I got it in DF on the way out; the lady said - DON'T LOSE this or you won't get back into Mexico. So instead of putting it with my tickets and passport, I put it in my wallet for safekeeping. And...promptlt forgot sbout it. I told the woman at the counter- no this is the piece she told me not to lose! And she said- fill this out! Over there! But at least she let me back to her counter after I filled it out and not the back of the line!

The Tuesday we went to Home Depot and Costco. If I didn't say it before- Costco in Mexico is a HUGE RIPOFF!! So expensive and the packaging is smaller. We will NEVER go there again. We went for dog food, peanut butter and steaks- I know for sure we can get the first 2 at Wallmart and they may have meat- but it was so expensive. No wonder it's almost empty. Man I thought this after the first time but decided to try it one more time. Nope! Big rip off!!

But now we're home. Yesterday a huge storm hit, winds like a hurricane and rain that was so hard it hurt when it hit your face, but only lasted maybe an hour and a half. We went down to the beach and it was exhilarating- the wind and the waves were so loud and the water crashing onto the beach- and it was bathtub warm! So we went in and paddle around in those little pools in front of the rocks, but the water started coming over pretty hard and I backed up and backed up.

So the phone and internet was down until today, but the tv stayed on. I decided to pick a novela and try to stick with it until I can understand it. I don;t know what they're talking about and I'm not asking Poppi, but I'm gonna try to stick with it. I thought about it this wknd in Houston, and I need to watch more tv in Spanish, even just to get used to the rolling sounds of the language. I also bought a CD to listen to with level 2 & 3 Spanish so we'll see how that goes.

I walked down the road last nite before dark and bought a juice from Ono and chatted with her and her daugter a bit, and said I want to try to chat with them every day for practice and they said of course. ha ha I missed today- I hurt my foot, it's called something like Planta Flaceitis, and I had it before.It's a pain in the heel, my left heel; it something about the muscle that comes down your leg and meets something in the heel, a nerve maybe? Anyway like I said I had it a few years ago, and there's nothing to be done except treat the symptoms. There is a surgery but the doctor told me then Ijust have a new set of problems, so I passed on that. I wore a "boot" for awhile that cushions your foot and also stretches out that muscle. I also had a brace I bought online and luckily I still have it.  The thing is I was told no more going barefoot and I need to wear a shoe with a heel. I have inserts for my tennis shoes and any other covered shoes, but for flip flops, well I just have to wear the ones with a heel. I put the brace on for a couple of hours this morning and then pretty much stayed off my foot all day- yes folks I laid in the hammock and read most of the afternoon- it was niiiiicceeee....

Yeah I haven't been wearing shoes as much as I should, and never on the beach. The thing is I think it's ok on the beach, but around the house and yard and street I need to wear at least the flip flops.  Then I had the great idea to go upstairs and open the suitcase with all the shoes I have never worn here, and get my Danskos. They're especially for this problem, and very comfy. I of course, being totally vain tried to think of how they'd look with my shorts- but ha ha the jokes on me. Almost 4 months of no shoes in the heat- ha ha ha ha I couldn't get those shoes on my fat feet! I think I need a size or maybe 2 sizes bigger!

I went to a women's AA meeting tonite- very cool. I still barely understand anything that's said , but it was nice to be with just women. I went to a couple of meetings in Houston and they were awesome, but now I'm back in my town and I it felt good. Apparently when ever there's more than just a couple of women, they break off and hold a meeting in the back room.

Everardo tried to fix the water so I can figure out how to rinse the clothes I wash. Washing is fine, but at this point I take the clothes into the shower to rinse them. He bought a couple of new faucets and was struggling with the very rusted faucets trying to get them off. I think he was halfway sucessful, so by next week when I want to do laundry again it should be good. He also bought bricks and today cement was delivered, and tomorrow he and Gume and I think another guy, Romero are going to build a pizza oven in the back. It can't go right next to the kitchen, that's where the gas is, but down the stairs is good. They're gonna do all the bricks, and then the rest is cement and mud; and Poppi says he and I can do that part together.

I'm going home to my Mexico tomorrow! Yipee. Houston is very busy. I didn't really see any sites; special places in Houston- the only thing I would like to see is in downtown Houston apparently there is a city under the streets, air conditioned and full of stores. But my goal here was to pick up my new credit cards, and shop for a few things we agreed we needed. And I got almost everything we wanted; I didn't get the battery charger, but we think we can get it in Acapulco Tuesday before we head back to Playa Ventura. But the stuff we needed had my suitcase overflowing even tho' I came up here with it almost empty ha ha. Packages of tshirts for Poppi, his new boots, the underwater light, little spear heads for his underwater spear gun, protein powder, some more kid dictionaries, a level 3 Spanish cd set & cd player for me, I also got some needed personal items..anyway my suitcase was gonna be over 50 lbs, so I bought a carry on size case- but I'm going to check it. I think because I'm a United member the second bag is free on int'l flights; anyway that's what it seems like the website said- but I wonder is they make is vague just so they can decided on the fly...I have to change terminals in Mexico City and I don't want to drag too much stuff, just my laptop and purse.

 My layover there is pretty short, less than 2 hours and if I have to go thru immigration it can get close...not exactly sure which line I'll go thru since now I'm a resident. I had been told only show Mexican resident card in Mexico and US passport in the US, but in Mexico City they said I needed to show my passport to fly, so like I said, not sure which line- I'll figure it out- But I am flying on Monday, not Sunday cause in Feb I went with Cathy and arrived in DF on Sunday morning and there must have been 1000 people in line in front of us and we had an hour before our connection. Cathy speaking Spanish got us into the line the crew went thru or we would have not make our connection. So at least I know that trick if I need it but I heard Sunday is the busiest day- anyway I'll figure it out.

I went to a couple of AA meetings in English and they were awesome! I'm really happy I went. ha ha It will be awhile before I go to another one, but I have the website for chat and meetings, friends from the program back in Petaluma, and free phone calls to the US from our home phone. So I'm good; just another reason to get fluent as quick as I can ha ha.

It was wonderful to spend time with family. I get to know my brother more every time and see him, and Sandi- I feel so close to her. We talked about our kids, jobs, life in general- nice to just sit and talk. They were so great to drive me around for all my shopping and stuff. Last nite she made macaroni and cheese for her son's birthday dinner and I cracked up cause that was always my birthday dinner growing up. He's an adult; home on his first leave from the navy. I worried at first I was intruding- but it was all good. I hope they take a vacation and visit us soon.

It was funny to hear then talking about their jobs; they are both college professors, and she is the head of the English Dept and so is also an administrator. Ha ha I found out business is business, what she was bitching about was just like me in my jobs, and what I hear my daughter Drewy bitch about hers!

So I'm already to go, maybe I'm more assimilated in Mexico than I thought cause I really REALLY miss it. I miss my hubby, my doggy, and the sound of the ocean. The sunset that knocks me out every single day. The simplicity of Mexico. This place is nice, but so so so busy. So much traffic, everybody in such a hurry. I want to go back to where I don't need to know what day it is or what time it is. I miss my hammock. It's pretty warm here; I forgot to bring a jacket and I borrowed a long sleeved flannel shirt from Sandi- for inside! They have the ac on all the time and it's cold. The stores are cold, it's cold in the car. So I take the shirt off when I'm actually outside, or in my bedroom cause I closed the vent to keep the ac out ha ha.

There's alot of Spanish speakers here in Houston and I found myself listening to them, yep, I want to go home. Tomorrow will be a long day; I get into Acapulco at 8pm, and Poppi will be there to pick me up. We'll stay overnite in a hotel and then shop at Costco in the morning before we drive home. It's just not a great idea to make that drive at nite if we don't have to. Probaly would be fine, but we need the Costco run anyway, so a nite in a nice hotel, just him and me, a nice breakfast, a little shopping and then home sweet home.

Today I'm writing from Houston, Texas. I'm here for the weekend staying with my brother and sister-in-law. Thye have air conditioning! They have sharp cheddar cheese, and they have on demand so I'm watching Major Crimes as I write this. I've never seen this before but my favorite show the Closer has no episodes on On Demand, but this show is apprently the spin off, minus Kyra Sedgewick but it seems pretty good, they have kinda changed the feeling and I like it.

The flights were fine, but oh so cold. Silly me walked out of the house with no jacket and almost nothing in my suitcase- certainly not a jacket. It was cold in the airports and freezing on the plane.
I had to fly to Mexico City first, then to Houston. One funny thing, I stood "in line" behind a bunch of people to get to security, however, ha ha they were not in line, merely talking or maybe waiting for someone....
But I did get to have a Starbucks coffee in the airport in DF, just a tall carmel machiatto, so that was nice. I guess I took care of my cravings without even leaving Mexico ha ha.

I am going to buy a light sweatshirt ot sweater before I fly back. And actually, that ac I was so happy about here is kinda cold ha ha, I guess I'm not used to anything cooler than about 100 degrees. I'm very excited to be going to an AA meeting in about an hour, in English...yipee!! All stuff I bought online is here and it is not going to fill up my empty suitcase either ha ha. But I still have shopping to do. How comforting to see a lizard out on the back porch, just like home ha ha.

The truth is I already miss my husband, I already miss Mexico. I didn't hear the ocean when I woke up and I didn't see the beautiful sky at sunset last nite. I'm happy to so my brother and my sister in law. We had a great talk last nite. I love Sandi, she's more like my sister than an inlaw. Their place is nice, simple lines and comfortable, I feel at home here. Her son is here on his first leave since joining the navy (I think it's the navy), and I hope I'm not intruding on their time with him, but they told me last nite they're so glad I'm here.
Well let's see what a day in Houston brings...

Wonderful day today! I walked down the beach with Sam watching him run in and out of the water. Got to Chela's and they were making dried coconuts into napkin holders. It's what they use in their restaurant now, but these are going to special for a wedding of their friends in November which will be held at their place. Gume sawed them so they had flat square bottoms, and the top stays rounded with a wedge cut in it to put in the napkins. I helped for about 10 minutes, ha ha, scraping the sides to make them smooth. They will be used as a party favor; the guests can take them home after the reception. After that part was finished, Gume, Tigre (Tony 3yr), Everardo & I went down to the edge of the water to collect tiny shells and smooth tiny rocks in all the colors for them to glue (I think glue) to the coconuts. It was fun collecting the shells and rocks; they are really every color. I wish I knew somebody who makes jewelry cause there are so many gorgeous shells. I have collected a few for myself, and also found a couple with perfect tiny holes thru them for necklaces or earrings.

After that we took a break and went into the surf in front of the rocks- my favorite pool and floated around and shrieked when the waves came sloshing over the rocks...ok Tony & I shreiked, Gume & Poppi laughed. It was so nice. Then....Gume says, lets go kick back in the pool...ok it was in Spanish and I know he asked something about the alberca and I immediately said SI! So we walked back down the beach, showered off the sand in the outdoor shower next to the pool, and jumped in.

OMG it was sooooo refreshing! A little cooler than the ocean it felt so fresh and clean. So we swam and chatted. Later everybody but me and a kid named Oscar got out and he & I tried to play water volleyball, no net. We were terrible! The most we ever did was 3 or 4 hits back and forth. At some point I realized Oscar was keeping score- how I have no idea since most hits were 1 or 2 only. BUt the good news was I was winning ha ha. He would only call out scores every so often and I could not put any logic to it, but at least he wasn't way ahead of me...when we quit, after about an hour, I think it was me 18 and him 15....for awhile there I had 15 to his 9, but somehow her caught up.

Came home and it was almost 5pm; I think I left around noon, and Everardo caught up with us at Chela's, so no wonder I'm wiped out after 5 hours in the sun! Showered and enjoyed the hammock, then a nice dinner of little pork chops- not really chops, but not sure what to call them- there's a small bone with the marrow in the hole which is yummy to suck out, and rice.

Now I'm packed, which is a joke because my big suitcase has about 3 shorts, 3 shirts, a skirt, and my bathroom stuff.  I think they want to show me some sites so that will be fun. What am I dying for? Kinda nothing..let's see I guess a Starbucks coffee, carmel macchiato with lots of whip cream- ha ha they might have Starbucks at the Mexico City airport.

Everything else I guess I can get here, unless my brother makes bbq hamburgers- that would be good, even though we plan to get a bbq soon and they have ground beef at Costco Acapulco (I assume anyway)...I don;t know, maybe sushi but only if they like it, and really I'm not craving it. I am craving some sharp cheddar cheese, another thing they have at Costco but we didn't have an ice chest with us and the cheeses I bought were a mess when we got home.

But when Everardo picks me up at the airport Monday, we're going to hit Costco and Home Depot, so again, not really missing anything.

So I sat again this evening out on the rocks to watch the sun go down and every time it flows over me (I almost said waves but ouch the pun); the feeling flow over me of why I love it here so much. The ocean is so amazing here, the waves are so dramatic, and the sky when the sun goes down- I need to ggogle it (ha ha I am the google queen), but we must be closer to the sun here, the colors of the evening sky, the way the clouds sit on the sky, sit on each other and you can see how they are not touching, the boulders and their shapes that we sit on and watch the waves. The crabs that run across the rocks, the little creatures inside their shell who pick it up and run- watching Sam looking puzzled and trying to figure them out ha ha. You just feel a part of, you feel like part of the earth, like you fit, and it fills you with serenity. I can hardly wait for my daughters to come here and sit on the rocks and feel the earth around them.
ha ha I can hardly wait to get back from Texas and I don't leave for Texas until tomorrow morning! Chela and Gume & Tigre are going with us to the airport cause they need to shop in Acapulco, and I think Gume & Poppi both want to buy swim fins, so I better go pack...
Viva Mexico

Well I guess I'll catch up slowly since I couldn't get this site to let me on until now and it's getting close to midnite. Before when I couldn't log on I tried writing in word, and then copy and paste, but I looked back at a couple of posts and they seem mixed up. Ha ha trying to fix them made it worse.

So we went to Ometepec this afternoon and went grocery shopping at Super Che. Kinda like the big Lucky store, groceries, a small amount of other things like shorts and sweatshirts, plastic bowls and pitchers, a bakery. I never see ground beef anywhere so I bought some frozen hamburgers- we didn't eat them tonite, but we'll try them soon. We bought a couple big slices of pizza, warm, sitting where they had some cooked chicken, to eat in the truck on the way home. Hmmmm very interesting and I believe made by someone who has seen pizza but never eaten it before. I mean it tasted good, and filled our stomachs; I wasn't hungry anymore, but it tasted nothing like pizza. The crust was more like, well bisquick, like a biscuit. There was no cheese on it, but there was ham & pineapple. No loives or anything like that. Oh and the sauce, I think it was spaghetti sauce. So it was a ham & pineapple spaghetti biscuit...a spaghiscuit...It probably would have been better as a ham & pineapple biscuit, hold the sauce. It was definitely different, so that was good ha ha.

When I was looking for the sauce I wanted for pasta- something cheesy or garlic, a man walked up to me and asked me in Spanish if I spoke English. I said I did and he introduced himself, Noe or Noah I think, and said he taught at a local technical school and he taught English. He said his students had no opportunity to practice speaking English so he tried to invite people to his class. Then Everardo walked up and I introduced him, and said he spoke English as well. Anyway we traded phone numbers with him, I would like to contribute, to help out, so we may go back up there to one of his classes. We'll see if he calls us. I thought he seemed sincere but Everardo was not sure, so we'll see if he calls us back. For me, the guy really reminded me of my old Spanish tutor, Pedro, so I hope he's on the up & up. If so, maybe I can ask him for pointers on trying to teach English. Never know- those pesky kids may come back and want to learn some English after all.....

It was the first time we remembered to bring the ice chest shopping so I got some cheese, and yipee, ice cream, and some pork but no chicken. It's really expensive around here, which seems odd since there's so many chickens ha ha. Eggs aren't cheap either, which is why we plan to have some chickens, but I don't want to grow them to eat, just eggs. In a few weeks Poppi will probably build a chicken house and it will be my first experience with them.

Well over the weekend we had to pay some guys to turn our gate around. It's a big wood gate with metal around it and then like cross bars. It goes almost all the way across the driveway, and then the other side of it is a narrow walking gate. Well the big side opened out, and with the road construction it was becoming impossible to open it al the way...well Poppi did, but he'd be out there shoveling rocks and or dirt- not to mention he had to put the truck in 4 wheel drive to get us up the short driveway from the gate to the road. Friday and Saturday they had a big tractor and so much earth...so we give, we changed it. Of course the metal hinges were old and the guys had to drill and pound and switch sides with the gate pieces.

Then the window guy showed up while they were doing that and we've been waiting awhile for him! He fixed the broken upstairs window and also one of the kitchen windows so that was good. But we learned don't pay anybody up front, or if you must, pay as little as possible. We gave this guy almost all of it ahead of time, but some of it was for needed materials. And the construction guys on the road have been really nice with us, so hopefully whatever our driveway is going to look like, be like, will be good for all of us. I'm hoping for it to come in slanted instead of straight down.

A neighbor gave us a good idea tonite- asking them to fill in the ditch betwen the road and our fence, which is a good idea cause then it could be used for visitor parking. Especially good if we ever build those bungalows, or even rent out the upstairs. Gume thinks 800 pesos a nite for a family during the season, we have 3 beds up there and a bathroom & shower...Everardo is for all of it- bungalows and renting the upstairs, but for me- at least this year I'd like to see how the season goes, maybe enjoy our little town overflowing with people. We've decided to play everything by ear, and he said if I really didn't want to do something, we wouldn't do it. Can't beat that I say. I'll probably be all for it next year, but I've never seen Playa Ventura filled up with people, with vacationers.

We also told Chela and Gume we'd pitch in and help them too when the tourists hit. ha ha I can't cook but I could probably deliver food and bus tables!
ok enough for now...

I'm SO excited!! I got my blog back!! Last Friday I stupidly- yes so stupidly open an email I shouldn't have and my computer crashed in such a big way! Lost everything. Unfortunately for me I never wrote down the password I chose for this site, and never used it after the first time I created it, so I couldn't get back in. I had one problem after another trying to get it reset....and I was so so so so frustrated.
To reset your password with Google, you have to give them your credit card #, even tho' they don't charge you anything. This is only if you cannot chose the option to have a text msg sent to your cell phone- which I couldn't cause I cancelled that number when I left the US....well unbeknownst to me, my cash card had a hold on it after I had tried to buy something online without enough money in that acct. AND I had called the credit care company to put a hold on any online purchases for it after my computer crashed.....so I couldn't finish the process. So I sent Google CS an email describing my problem there and asking for a phone # I could call to answer their security questions. This was on Sat.....by Tue I found a phone number for their customer service and sat on hold for a very long time while reading posted comments about how bad the service was...

Anyway I thought my cash card didn't work cause the little 3 numbers on the back were smuged & I couldn't read them so  called the bank. When I got transferred several times and then talked to a woman who could help me, she made me guess the 3 #'s and I was right- this is when I found out the card had a hold on it. Ha ha so she lifted the hold. So I went back and tried to google password reset process again, this was yesterday...and today they gave me a new password.

So- lessons: don't bother sending google customer support and email. Don't bother trying to call their CS dept. Follow their process- they are google- huge and don't really have to give a shit what you think.
So- gratitude: Thank goodness we have a telephone pkg that lets us call the US for free! (calling credit card companies, banks, and google equates to many many many minutes on the phone, on hold, re-giving all your info to the second third and fourth nice people you speak to. etc etc etc.)



So we're off to Ometepec- an hour away for some grocery shopping- I want some sauce so I can make one one special dish, pasta with shrimp and vegetables ha ha. So I will come back later to write about the past few days; about kids on a burro, having to turn our gates around due to the construction, a goat stuck on the side of a hill, and other mundane but silly things. ha ha I really missed my online diary...ooops I mean my blog!!