Countdown and the best apple I ever ate!

Well the countdown starts tomorrow. We leave one week from tomorrow. We are half (half assed) packed. For me, one pair of levis, some shorts, a couple of tops and my zumba clothes are left (oh and underwear). Everardo has socks, white tshirts and 2 pairs of jeans. Today we took Sam & Brownie to the beach, probably my last swim in the Sea of Cortez, at least for a good while. Sam swam and played im the water until he was exhausted, he's limping- well he was limping, now he's crashed out with Brownie snoring right next to him. Brownie was outside but we heard this quiet little whimper, polite almost, so we let him in.

He's part lab all right. He ran right into the water..then stopped, almost surprised and ran back out. But Everardo and Sam were in, so he ran back in and started swimming out to them. The funniest thing was he tried to get on Sam's back! So they played and we laughed. The water is cooling off so it was kinda refreshing. Poppi actually said it was too cold. Oh man the Pacific is gonna be much colder than this! The neughbor says she's gonna take good care of Brownie and they want him. She cleans out his kennel, which he was sleeping in the other day when her kid squirted Sam's bed with the hose so we had to lean it against the fence. He usually sleeps with Sam. It's going to be hard; hard on Brownie and hard on us, to leave this puppy here. We feed him, we play with him, we take him for rides. He sleeps on our porch and runs to us when he sees us coming. She's not home alot, and when they are home they're inside. Course when that kid is outside, he tortures both dogs. Throws rocks at them, squirts them with the hose, yells non stop. The thing is- he's 5- she shouldn't send him outside to play and then not watch him- at all.

The yard is fenced so he's safe, but ha ha are the dogs safe? Is the fence safe from him throwing things against it? Anyway we told her she could have the screen door. Everardo said he'll put it up for her and then she can see the kid, and Brownie won't be so isolated. We're also trying to get him housebroken but I have little patience for that since he's not our dog. I'm wondering if Poppi is gonna ask her for him....it's ok with me if he does, even though he's gonna be at least as big as Sam and man- he already shits SO much! Yeah I'm gonna change his name to Rocky if we take him. I was gonna google some dogs to try to see what his mix is..he kinda has wrinkles at the edge, or sides of his face.

I got out this long summer dress Friday nite for this thing we were going to and when I turned around Brownie had grabbed the corner and ran off with it. It was hard to be mad at him..byt he is a chewer. he will be a pain in the ass for months....but I've been watching Everardo and I can see he loves that puppy, and it was so hard to lose Lucky....

Yeah this weekend there was an AA conference here. It was kinda weird cause it's totally put on by this group in Arizona and they don't contact the English speaking group here to be involved or contribute/volunteer.... For many of them it was like a club med. I chatted with this lady last nite, and my friend said yeah Terry is my sponsor but she's moving to Ensenada. The woman asked why and I replied that I was sick of the desert...and she looked surprised and asked...is this the desert? When I stopped laughing I asked her if she had been outside of the hotel grounds...she said no, they had the beach, swimming pools, jacuzzi, restaurants, a little store, she didn't need to leave. I said well if you go into the town here, or on any road...you'll see it's all sand, and cactus. She must have come down at night! Because the 3 hours thru Arizona are all desert, then and hour down thru Mexico all desert. Ha ha very observant! There was only about 215 people I think they said for the whole 3 days, and most of the meetings were pretty small, but all 3 nites they had a great speaker- no wait, 2 nites and this morning for the final meeting. And it was really nice to go to meetings with new/different people! My friend and I were so happy to hear new people sharing. Everardo came also, and he and  went to a couple of evening meetings on the beach and they were really nice as well. And of course I had to create drama right off the bat- luckily Everardo wasn't there yet. At the registration where we make a donation I tried to pay with pesos, and the woman was unnerved....shocked...she stuttered...well well well I don't know if I can take pesos, and she asked someone else who said..oh...nobody ever asked that before....I said "THIS IS MEXICO"...you know...pesos..? (yes I can be just a little sarcastic ha ha) Well she got mad at me so I got mad too. I started to leave, then saw someone I knew who gave me change in dollars. Another guy I had met the day before made a phone call to which was answered...of course...and I went back and paid with dollars. I told her very politely- so that you know, you do accept pesos....She said- did I tell you I'm just a volunteer? In my head I relpied well you didn't tell me you were stupid either, but I knew! But only in my head. I just smiled and said thank you and walked away. Ha ha but I was pissed. Later I knew I should go back and apologize, but I was still pissed at that rude bitch, so I never did. Instead, a woman who I'd met previously cause she comes down here every few months asked us if we knew of a place to eat that she could walk to; she was uncomfortable driving alone at nite. We invited her to dinner. She was staying somewhere else (cheaper) so I drove her over there so she could change her clothes and grab a sweater (yep it's actually almost cold enough for a jacket at nite now), then we met up with Everardo here at the house so we could leave a car here, and we took her to our favorite taco place.

I saw her the next day and she told us she took another lady to lunch to pay it forward. I love it when it works, ya know??

So anyway the conference helped the weekend pass quickly since the time has been dragging ever since we chose a place in Ensenada...we're just in a holding pattern.

I got to talk to my older daughter today and she was very excited cause she went to a wedding showcase expo. It was sponsored by the wedding planner company that serves the place she wants to get married so she had a chance to see all the vendors they use. It gave her a chance to see different styles and types of packages, and try to figure out a realistic budget. As it turned out now she may have more decisions to make than before she went ha ha. She may change her mind about the venue; it may just be too expensive..I mean ridiculously expensive...and she saw a couple of other places she's now going to consider. The really great thing was they talked to the woman who would have been her wedding planner if she stays with the castle (it's a winery but is a castle). This lady was very blunt, to the point, and gave her some insight. She also did a 45 minute seminar about wedding planning. She heard questions and answers she hadn't thought of, and ways to address things she had thought of but only had uncomfortable solutions- like when people rsvp with all their kids after the invite asked for no kids...Like writing the invitations to be a specific number and that the rsvp need only be signed. And with a 6 month lead time, who can't get a babysitter. And she doesn't know if she's going to have kids or not- that was just an example, and she is thinking about it, cause that's food and chairs and linens she doesn't have to pay for if there's no kids....She also now thinking about buffet vs sit down dinner, so like I said now she has lots to figure out. Luckily her cousin is helping her every step of the way. They're just a year apart and have been in each other's lives forever. My younger daughter is her maid of honor, but so far has not been involved at all...maybe she should think of making her sister a bridesmaid and her cousin the maid of honor. I sent a msg thanking Sarah for helping her with everything, and she told me she was taking her to some "swanky" place in San Francisco to try on wedding dresses. How fun, right?? So the wedding date is still not set, maybe July 2014 and maybe July 2015, She has alot to figure out- I wish I was there. But we talk on the phone all the time, and Sarah is there for her. Maybe Halla will get her head out of her....(you know) and get involved. I'm sure she thinks -well it's a long way off, but the fact is, when you want a formal wedding, you have to start planning a long way off. It's all very exciting!!

So lots going on. I'm not sure when we'll turn off the phone/internet, or the tv, probaly not until the end of the week, but I wanted to write a little so just in case I don't until after the big move....It's been an interesting year, this is not a bad place, I'm just sick of the desert. Ok SICK of the desert, sick of sand and dirt in the house ALL the time. Yes we have a falling apart house on a dusty road, and our yard is just dirt, so I'm sure that's part of it. But a really big part is that there's nothing near here. Not like Playa Ventura where we had nothing in our town- which was hard- but down there and hour drive got us to a city, and bigger stores, and a 2 hour drive in the other direction got us to Acapulco. Here, it's 4 hours to Phoenix and Everardo can't cross the border so that's out. And 3 hours to anywhere as big or bigger than here. So the claustrophobia has set in again...We both like to go for a drive, to another town, to eat or shop or explore. Can't do that here. Yes we have explored alot of beaches, and take drives, but I need more.

So Ensenada is different; it's a big city and we'll be 10-15 minutes south. There's other towns; Manerdero is maybe 10 minutes or less east of us, Rosarito is less than an hour north, and I think Tijuana is less than another hour after that. So I think we can have some fun exploring. We look for the best food stands, for beaches, for shoe stores (work out shoes- running for him, walking or zumba for me). Sam LOVES to go for a drive so we throw him in the back of the truck. This summer it was too hot for him to go that way unless it was at nite, so every nite he gives us the."hey when are we going?" look- so we just grab him after our workouts...

At this point I have no regrets about the move. Everardo keeps telling me that nowhere is perfect, there's always things I'm not gonna like. YEAH I KNOW!! But Mexico has been a trip and I'm trying places and people and food and homes that I've never tried before for any period of time. I mean I've traveled, kind of alot...for pleasure I've been to Mexico, Jordan, Egypt, Africa (Mozambique & South Africa), Paris..maybe that's it, and for work: Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore, Mexico, Thailand, Russia, hmmm maybe that's all again..but it's almost a year and a half in Mexico, so it's different. It is a very poor country, or maybe it's not but they sure have LOTS and LOTS of poor people. I see how creative people are. I see hope and sometimes I see hopelessness. I see how spoiled we really are in the US, even with things as simple as the fruits and veggies we buy in the store. You know, how they always look perfect, shiny apples, and perfect green beans...here the stores are filled with food that doesn't look perfect, but usually tastes at least just as good. Of course Sam's Club, the stores from the US, and that cater to Americans, have the perfect shiny apples...but they cost more. Oh man- when we were in Ensenada last time I bought an apple of a truck- it was green and huge and sooooo juicy..possibly the BEST APPLE I EVER ATE!!! And that truck is there twice a week..yipee. Those apple are probly grown in the field behind the truck. Yummm.

Ok, I'm hungry so gotta go- I know we have some apples....ooh and some M&M's I brought home in a coffee cup from the AA convention ha ha.

Mexico fun fact:
Creoles are descendants of the Spanish people who first arrived in Mexico. Now they are the name of Mexico's small population: Caucasian Europeans, Americans, and Canadians.

Kitchens and casinos

Ok kitchen first. The new place we're moving to has the kitchen on the first floor and the living room & master bedroom on the second floor. Hmmm maybe we should get a coffeemaker and have it upstairs- I remember a million years ago setting the timer on the coffeemaker so I had some before work. There's actually a small wet bar upstairs so we could keep water and coffee there (maybe nite time snacks...). On the other other hand, maybe a kitchen a little further from me at nite is not such a bad thing ha ha.

The Playa Ventura house had the kitchen in another building across the patio so that's even further. Now my dream kitchen (ok this is a joke....kinda) was this house I rented for 6 months before I bought our little house in Petaluma. It had 3 bedrooms, but the house was long and skinny; two of the bedrooms were right off the living room with a bathroom between them and connecting doors. The master bedroom which had it's own full bathroom, was off the kitchen. I mean, from my bed I could see the fridge! I liked that very much!! Ha ha. So a downstairs kitchen will be new.

I wish I could remember exactly what the damn house looks like downstairs! I remember that wide hallway and the laundry room. I remember the room across the hall that had some exercise equipment in it- it was a bedroom, and I think (not sure) the next bedroom was connected to that one- but also had another entrance? Crap I don't know! And there's a bathroom somewhere....I'm hoping I remember the size of the area the round kitchen table was in, cause I was thinking about taking the table out and putting in a love seat, and one of the tvs...so that while we're cooking (ok while Everardo is cooking) I can be curled up on the couch reading or we can both be watching a show...or he can be on his laptop while something is boiling or baking or whatever ha ha.

I do remember the front door from the outside though, and my pots will look wonderful set out on each side. And I also remember the yard is at least as big as this one, and not all this dry dusty dirt, and will be good for Sam. And who knows if Brownie is coming as well! We're feeding him and he and Sam play all day. I haven't seen Sam play like this since he was a puppy- now he's taking puppy toys and teasing Brownie with them. If he does come, sooner than later he'll be at least as big as Sam. I think, I hope they want to keep him, but I'm worried about him. The kid (Omar 5yrs) never plays with him. They don't let him in the house, and they don't get that a puppy needs to eat at least 3 times a day. I gave her some puppy food yesterday we had left over from Lucky and half  the birthday cake left over from Everardo's birthday on Sunday. I offered her our screen door as well; I mean maybe she always has the door closed because of mosquitoes or flies...maybe that's why the kid hardly plays outside? I don't know....but we figure once we leave he's gonna start scratching at their door. I told Omar when Sam leaves that Brownie will be lonely and need him to play with him. Then yesterday afternoon he did actually come outside for a while.

We're just going to play it by ear. If she doesn't want him, we'll take him. I think she does want him- to bark, for protection; I mean she said we could leave Sam (ha ha yeah right). She likes how Sam barks and even growls at her boyfriend when he comes thru the gate! I just worry he'll be ignored, be lonely. And I haven't seen them pick up any dog poop, not once. Everardo really likes him, and the funny thing is- Sam does too. Sam ignored Lucky completely, but maybe that's because Sam knew Lucky was sick. But all in all I'm not sure it's a good idea to take Brownie with us, which is why I'm just trying to wait and see. I am worried for him, but for us- moving into a furnished rental house with a chewy puppy. He's chewing shoes, and whatever he can find outside....and he's not house broken either. We're working on it- putting his nose in it, a butt spank and out he goes! But he's outside alot so we haven't done much. But he's NOT our dog! And it's not my job! hmmm yeah we'll see. The problem is he's so darn cute- watching him play outside, fighting weeds and attacking pieces of wood, scared of the birds who drink from his water bowl, but now stands far away and barks at them...pretty funny.

Sunday was Everardo's birthday and I surprised him when he got back from the beach with a tres leches cake, balloons, a long sign and a silly hat he wouldn't wear. Actually he probably wasn't too surprised cause I wouldn't ignore his birthday. Last year was a little tougher in Playa Ventura...besides a cake there wasn't anywhere near by to get balloons or streamers- and no way would I have driven the 2 hours up tp Acapulco- it's just not safe driving there. Not because of cartels or anything- because people drive like maniacs. But we had a really nice dinner my friend Chela made for us. Everardo had a huge fresh caught fish grilled with all kinds of spices.

So Sunday we went on a sunset cruise with our friends Deb and Rick. It was Deb's idea actually; I asked what she thought I could do, and she made the suggestion. She has (or maybe had), a business with another woman in Tuscon where they bring groups down to Puerto Penasco and she told me she has a favorite boat...so we went and there were 3 other couples. It was fun; Everardo had a really nice time. I on the other hand, was scared- the boat was too small! It was a sailboat with pontoons on the sides, so I guess it couldn't really tip over. But I was scared anyway. I made myself walk out on the netting at the front of the boat and grab the pole at the front. I yelled I was like the girl on Titanic but it felt like the Titanic ha ha. By the end of the trip I started to feel queasy...and stayed sick thru yesterday. But I didn't tell anyone I felt sick. Of course Everardo knew once we got home....But he liked his birthday and got lots of good wishes on facebook, from his daughter Elena, and my girls and lots of his friends.

Oh so the gift he wanted was a trip to the casino! Arrgghh the casino. But for him it's not arrgghh- only for me. He goes and plays just a few pesos or dollars, and leaves. And the fact is he's usually pretty lucky. The day I took Drew & Halla to the airport in Phoenix, he waited for me at the border in Sonoyta, and won almost $300 off of about one dollar. Saturday (he went the day before his birthday cause he wanted to work the beach on Sunday) he won about $40 USD from about 10 pesos (less than $1 USD), and yesterday with 100 pesos (about $8USD) he won more than $100 USD. So he never spends more than about 100 pesos, and he usually breaks even or comes out ahead. He just likes to sit and play-he only plays machines. Now me- I gamble like I used to drink. I am not to be trusted. I play always thinking just one more and I know I'll win big. We used to have a 2 hour and/or $40USD deal; we'd go up to the casino about an hour and a half from our place in northern Calif- it's in the country and there's always a nice place to have lunch and it's a nice drive- we like to go for drives.

I did it a couple of times, but then one day, after losing my $40 in about 5 minutes...went to the bathroom but there's an atm machine right next to it and without even thinking, I took out $100 and went back to the machine, and lost it in about 5 minutes again!! See one day I won about $1200 and so I kept thinking I could do it again. Everardo plays the nickel machines, and I start out there, but always switch to the dollar machines. I can't help myself. So I cannot be trusted. After that  I just stopped going in. It's a nice drive so I still wanted to go, so sometimes I'd get dropped off in the little town before the road up to the casino and get a pedicure and a manicure. Or go sit in Starbucks and read a book and have a coffee, or even bring my laptop. Wander around the little town in the shops or sit in the park.  A couple of times I simply had him park on the roof of the parking garage and read and snack in the car on a sunny day....see he liked to go about once a month and he really enjoyed it. He shouldn't be punished because I can't handle it...so we went, I just found other things to do.

I went with him to the casino in Ensenada, but lost all my money right away and it wasn't even fun cause I couldn't figure out what the machines were doing, I mean there was no just get 3 across or down, they were complicated and I got frustrated pretty quick. Plus it so smokey in there and no non smoking area. Ah well in Spanish or English I got addictions ha ha.

So lastly, my daughter has her final today in her medical assisting course...it's hard to type with my fingers crossed ha ha. But they draw numbers and get partners because it's clinical as well as written. She sent me a msg and her number is 18 so she might not even take her exam until tomorrow. But she will ace it. She has been the top student thru the entire course. I'm so proud of her! Then she has externship hours, and then hopefully will be offered a position soon. Because she's not currently working (laid off), she will be available for any shift so she'll be able to complete the required hours more quickly. Like I said, I'm so proud of her. She got laid off, let that sink in, looked around to consider her options, and got right back in the game. She is so determined- she can do anything she puts her mind to. Like the fairy princess wedding she's planning. Her being laid off and her finace' changing jobs was a jolt, but they took it in stride and adjusted their plans, probably with a bit of a delay, but she is determined (ok stubborn like me) and she is figuring it out. She knows where she wants to have her wedding and reception, she knows the kind of ceremony she wants, and she will have it! It will be expensive, but she's figured out her budget and what they need to do, and they're doing it. Did I say I was proud of her??? So I'm just waiting for her call to see how it went, and to hear the excitement in her voice of being proud of herself, of accomplishing what she set out to do, and the anticipation of whatever comes next. Both my daughters are determined, Halla is also working towards something, and I loved hearing her talk the other day about the fact that it was hard, but she knew she had to do it to get where she wants to go. That's huge...things have come easily for her, more so than for Drew, and so sticking with something is a big step for Halla. Like I said, hearing her talk about it, I think I understood the ramifications even more than she did. My babies are growing up.

Ok time to check on the doggys- it's too quiet outside ha ha!

Mexico fun fact:
About 60% of the modern Mexican population is mestizo (Indian-Spanish), 30% is Indian or predominately Indian, 9% is Caucasian, and 1% is other

Volcanoes and puppies

Well we went out to the Pinacate reserve last Sunday. Very cool- very very cool. I heard and then read that years ago this area was used by the United States for the astronauts to train before going to the moon...all the craters I guess. At first I thought as we started the trek out there....hmmmm what's up with this? I have been totally complaining lately about my new found HATE of the desert, and now we're gonna drive a 2.5 to 3 hour loop thru the desert! Wow maybe I'm not coming back- maybe he's finally sick of my complaining and I'm gonna disappear....I mean you could bury somebody out there and nobody's ever gonna find them, probably never even look. The first 10 or 15 minutes were just desert, and here the desert is not too awe inspiring, at least not after 11 months of it. There's no really cool cactus like closer to the border and right over the border in Arizona where they have that pipe organ cactus. Or the tall poles that then have these thick branches (are they called branches on cactus), anyway they always look like arms waving at you.

I used to have this stamp of a cactus, the tall one and his arm was waving like "buh bye now". I had a green ink stamp pad and I used it whenever a sales order was complete and shipped. Then I could easily tell if an order was complete or we shipped the system but there was something back ordered. I worked in manufacturing my entire career and over 25 years of it was telecommunications. From building product in our own factory to outsourcing locally when surface mount technology hit- the equipment was soooo expensive- so we built it off site, then put it all together for test and ship, to building it offshore in Hong Kong, then Thailand then China. I remember when we first started using email...ouch makes me old eh? Ok I'm 56....

Anyway the cactus here always makes me think of that stamp...don't know what happened to it. On the way to Ensenada the desert changes, to red dirt, to more shrubbery, to very rocky...if you're watching out the car window you see the landscape changing. It changed like that in the Pinicate reserve. Well once I saw the crater! I was so happy I went! It was very cool. Very deep. And the signs they had in English and Spanish were written in such an interesting way- ..."imagine you were standing here and felt a rumbling under your feet..." and it told you what happened as the volcano erupted. And I learned alot. I never knew some volcanoes create craters and some create mountains. It was beautiful and it was awesome. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is down this way. It was about a 2 hour drive around the loop; we saw a roadrunner and a few lizards, but we also saw beautiful foliage, amazing rock formations, and I really looked at the desert like I haven't done in a while.

So we'll leave the desert; I'm not sorry about that, but I am reminded about the beauty of everything, tropics, desert, all of it. It was a nice trip and I'm glad we took it.

We are almost packed; only things and clothes we need are still out. Our neighbor got a new puppy. He's part lab and part something else big, I think he may be even bigger than Sam. He's chocolate brown and really cute. I'm not sure she ever had a dog before, or maybe is of the common mindset here that they don't matter much or need much. I took him to the center for his first shots, stuff for parasites and a de- tick bath, and they picked over 100 ticks off of him. I named him Brownie just for the paperwork they started for him, marking off his shots and dates for when he needs to return. It's all free out there, including getting neutered, I hope she does that. But they don't pay any attention to him; they leave him outside all day and they stay inside all day, even the kid. So he plays with Sam and comes in our house. She doesn't know apparently that he needs to eat at least 3 times a day at this age so we feed him in the middle of the day, actually we feed him in the morning too since they don't get up very early. Sam is really having fun with him, they way we had hoped it would be with Lucky...

Poor Brownie is gonna be sad when we leave. We are joking about stealing him....or just asking her if she really wants him....I think she does, for protection, at least for him to bark  like Sam does, but he needs love! He's huge, about 3 months and 14 pounds already ha ha. He chews everything, has stolen a bunch of shoes out of our house to chew- he needs some toys. The kid (5yrs old) Omar, named him Rango so that's what we were calling him; in fact in my head I was figuring out what I wanted to change it to if he went with us to Ensenada...I was thinking Roscoe...but then Rocky since this city, Puerto Penasco, is also called Rocky Point. But then this morning, the neighbor, the kid, and her boyfriend were all calling him Brownie.....so I guess that's his name. Ah well, we can't take him....and that's ok. We're going to a new place and having a puppy to house train, etc, won't be fun...and oh yeah did I mention that he threw up in the car on the way to the center and then again on the way back? Could you imagine a 6 hour trip? Which will probably be closer to 8 hours since Everardo will be driving the truck pulling the trailer and me and Sam will follow with the car.

This was one long long week, and now all of a sudden it's Friday nite. So now 2 weeks to go. I gave a memory stick to my zumba instructor Erica, and she's going to copy all her songs so I can make myself a playlist- yipee. I actually asked her if she'd write down the titles of the songs as they played during our workout, so I'd just ask for the ones I really liked, then I'd find them on Itunes. But she suggested the memory stick, and she said she copied 111 songs! Wow! I like the beat, it's good for exercising. And a couple of songs- when I hear them I know what to do. That's just a couple but one is a song that's just a leg workout and there's another just for arms, so I like that. I've actually heard some of them on the radio, but even if I looked in Itunes; I don't what the genre is...are they rock? contemporary? I don't know how they're rated in Spanish. Her birthday was Wednesday and everybody sang to her after class. I gave her a little pair of silver earrings that Everardo gave me and I had a nice little box...little gifts are important for people you respect here. Tonite after class we had a little potluck to celebrate her birthday and anyone in October. It was snack type foods; this kind of soup that was like cream, and then people put tortilla chips in it and ate them. There was another creamy like soup that was green, but I didn't try it; I felt lucky that the one I chose was only a little picoso (spicy)...and with the chips and hits off my water bottle it was ok. Ha ha I saw these small cups of what I thought was juice, maybe apple of pineapple and I took one and brought it up to my lips to the laughter of others- it was jello! Luckily I brought a flannel shirt with me because it's actually starting to get cold after dark. Well only after zumba when I'm wet from sweat do I get cold. I don't wear the shirt before or during, but was glad I brought it along tonite. I saw the old lady, the one who used to give me a bad time at zumba, stash food in a bag and casually walk over to her car. Oh well, I gave them a ride home once, or close to their home, and so her hoarding a bit of food is ok. Anyway she snatched about 3 of the little things I brought- and boy they went quick with lots of comments about being rico (rich)....even though they were actually low calorie. But they were little muffin shaped things made with yogurt, and were yellow cake and chocolate, sort of swirled. So I did good ha ha! One lady asked me (in Spanish of course) if I had them in my house. I laughed and told her no! When I have something like that in mi casa, I eat them all, probably in 2 days or less, so we all had a good laugh about that.

So I'm home and the windows are actually closed cause it's pretty cool outside, and with the cool air came the mosquitoes. They weren't here all summer in the heat, and that's a blessing, But they're here now. Poppi is getting bit and man what a crabby boy! I shared my bug lotion with him- I put some more on after my shower, and gave him some, but maybe it's not working as well for him. He's pretty grumpy right now, he's playing solitare on the computer, so I'm just doing my own thing. Eating peanuts and jack cheese...oh I hope SO much that they have sharp cheddar in Ensenada! I'm also doing a little research on tv applications for over there; do we stay with Sky TV? Varivision which I was offered, or Dish.

The guy at the Laptop place told me today that his girlfriend here in Penasco pays 149 pesos a month for Dish, basic package. Even if you double it to get a bizillion channels it's still less than the 510 pesos we pay now. I picked up a one page catelog/menu of packages for Dish and the woman told me it's the same in Ensenada....we want both English and Spanish channels and have zero need for any local U.S news. BBC news is the best- even much better than CNN Int'l. But I do want shows in English like we have now..altho different channels than we have now would still be ok, cause they play the same movies for...about a year! If I see Maid in Manhatten one more time I might have to kill myself. And Hangover- funny movie but in the last 3 months it's been on about 15 times....English and Spanish. Oh and Rocky Balboa....kill me!

Ok well a repeat of Criminal Minds is on...they started back at the beginning, like season one, so I don't actually remember all of it...have an awesome night all.

Mexico fun fact:
Hernan Cortés had a native mistress and able translator Marina (La Malinche). She gave birth to his first son, who is considered the first mestizo (Indian-Spanish).

Why why why??

I don't have a lot to say, except that, why why why did I not take a single picture of the place we're going to rent? For me this will be (ok already is) a HUGE exercise in patience cause I'm dying to send an email to the realtor & ask for pics. But were going to be there in 3 weeks, so really I just need to let it go..we'll be there soon enough. Of course this will be the longest 3 weeks ever! We are half packed, probably more than half. All my clothes except for shorts and tshirts and flipflops are packed- oh except my zumba clothes, I want to keep going until the end.

Irka is the name of the lady we are renting thru. She told me there's a free aerobics class in the area, and then I know about the zumba class that's 20 pesos a class. I also know there's the free zumba class in Ensenada but that will take some time to find and decided if it's feasible....what time is it at? I heard mornings, but do they have an evening class? Is it at multiple parks? But hey if these are my biggest problems, then yipee.

One thing that's weird is Irka says people she rents to pay her $15 a month to pay their bills; that mail is virtually non existent and so getting your bills is difficult, etc. Well we've been living in Mexico about a year and a half, so we already know this. Here in Puerto Penasco, the electric, phone & water bills are hand dropped off in your mailbox, then you go down to their offices to pay...well phone you can pay at the grocery store. The cable tv bill shows up on your tv screen and then you go pay it. In Playa Ventura we never received any bills; we went to the next town to pick them up, and then moved to the next window to pay- except for electric, which some guy in town picked up and we went to his house to get them, then paid in the next town. So we got this. Hmm feels like I already wrote this so sorry if it's a repeat, but maybe I said it in an email to my sister....
Anyway we're gonna talk to her about this; we can pay our own bills. I know we don't put them in our name, she was clear about that, but the water and electric here are not in our name either. I think most of her clients are Americans or Canadians...not Mexicans, and so the non-user friendly way of doing things is hard. But we're used to it. And although Everardo may start working, I probably will not so it's not like I don't have time ha ha.

There's another weird thing too, and she didn't tell us until after we knew we wanted the place. I guess the land in front of the beach in the neighborhood our house is in, is owned by this one woman. And she CHARGES $40 a month for beach access!! Yeah that's NOT gonna happen. I figured she was an old woman who watched this stuff all get built up around her, but Irka said she's in her 40's married...I didn't ask if she was Mexican or American...but no matter; we will figure something out. If we have to drive 5 minutes in one direction or the other to get to the beach then so be it. Hopefully we'll be able to work something out with her. I haven't even seen the area, meaning how you get to the beach or anything cause we drove in and drove out. I do know that as the crow flies, the walk would be maybe 5 minutes to the beach. I know that I can see the beach from our upstairs living room windows. And this is only a feeling but it seems like not too many people live in our neighborhood year round, it has the vacation house feeling to it, and it was very quiet. We had actually driven in there before we went with Irka, and had driven in there last time we were there a month ago and never saw anybody else there either time. Maybe this woman is sick of people showing up for a few weeks and tramping thru her yard down to the beach, then leaving. Maybe people are rude to her...I don't know- I hope it's not that she's just a greedy bitch cause that will suck.

It's kinda like this. You drive south from Ensenada about 15 minutes, the road is to the Bufadora which is a huge tourist attraction. It's a 2 lane road but it might be a highway. I may have mentioned it's under construction at the front end, but it seems like they're making good progress so hopefully it will be done end of October as scheduled. Anyway as you come into Punta Banda which is a tiny town, there's some little stores and restaurants, and neighborhoods on both sides of the street. Our neighborhood (and I'm sure it has a name but I don't know what it is yet), is a right hand turn off the main road. This road is pretty long, goes along the beach back towards Ensenada and every so often there's a left turn into a group of houses. Our turn is the first one. We had gone in there on our own cause we saw a for rent sign, but we never found the place. We didn't really drive all around it; we hit a couple of dead ends and so just found our way back out. So really I guess I'm not sure how far the walk is to the beach. It's kinda like a mobile home park, you know with little lanes and the roads are gravel not paved...(but not sandy dusty dirt like here-ugh). Our house is at the end of one of those lanes, so we are also a dead end..I think, hmmm now I'm wondering if the road actually turned left at our house...I just can't remember. Too bad- I was tired by then, trying to fight off the frustration of all the crappy places and the nice but just not quite right places we'd seen, and not expecting much from this place either. Ha ha and then we liked it. I wish we would have gone back and looked around the neighborhood the next day before we left but it was in the complete opposite direction....

Anyway we will work something out with this woman, or we won't. I hope we will. Maybe we'll get to know her, maybe she'll love Sam (everybody does)...anyway we'll see.

Hmm for not having much to say I guess I wrote alot. I think in a few minutes we're off to the Pinacate. Not the resort- the National Park area. It's a volcano and we've never been out there. Since we're leaving we thought we'd go check it out. Yesterday and Friday Everardo took his wares to the beach since the tourists are coming back now the the heat wave broke, but today we're gonna have a touristy day for ourselves...and San too. Well gotta get ready....oh yeah shorts and a tshirt ha ha...of and hat for the sun...same as EVERY day here.

Mexico fun fact:
When Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortés arrived in 1519, the Aztecs believed he was their returning god, Quetzalcoatl, and offered him the drink of the gods: hot chocolate.

3 squirrels, a horse playing with a goat...and a donkey painted like a zebra

Last time I wrote I was talking about packing, that we'd go back over to Ensenada soon....well here's what happened. Later that nite (last Friday) I was looking at a website with places to rent and saw one that just came up, in our price range, with a nice kitchen and it said it was "cocina intregal" which means it has a stove, fridge, and hot water heater. So many places for rent have no stove or fridge and lots don't have the hot water heater either. So I show the photo to Everardo who says it looks pretty good and hey give me the phone...so he calls and talks to the lady. It has a nice patio in front of the house and a privacy fence around it. We end up saying we'll come take a look on Monday! (yeah 3 days ago Monday Sept 30). Wow! He says well you've packed so much stuff already, why wait another couple of weeks; lets just go. And unless it's awful- lets agree to take this place, then we can look for something better. Okey dokey right?

Well I found 4 other places to look at plus another one I saw posted on the Punda Banda newsletter site, which I receive in email almost every day. Punta Banda is about 15 minutes south of downtown Ensenada, near the beach, and kind of an expat enclave, altho the small businesses there seem to be Mexican owned. Actually PB was where the very first place we looked, at the house that was on the guys property- not just his property but his driveway, with his front door feet from ours, and his son & daughter-in-law as well. After seeing his place I had decided I wanted to live in the city itself, be able to walk to everywhere, etc. Ok so I had 4 other places and 1 place even further than Punta Banda, closer to the Bufadora (blowhole), but it was a nice house for $450, nice wrap around porch, land, and near the beach.

Of course I get all excited cause that's what I do. We didn't get the actual address until late Sunday and then Everardo looked it up on google earth. (For some reason I cannot reload google earth on my laptop damn damn) He didn't tell me that minute but he realized it was an "infovit" house and had a sinking feeling...The infovit (spelling) houses are these small houses that the gov't builds and when you have worked for a year or so, they arrange for you to get one, and they take the payments out of your paycheck. This is a very poor country and for many people, this is the only way they can ever get into a house. They are the size of a small apartment. There's another type, even smaller (1 story) that you'll see rows and rows of on a hillside; we looked at one of those when we first came to Puerto Penasco- it was soooo small, a tiny kitchen, room for only a loveseat size couch and 2 bedrooms behind it- and maybe a double bed would fit but you wouldn't be able to walk around it. Anyway the woman had said on the phone that her husband had added on to the house- extended it back to the wall/fence. This type is 2 story with the bedrooms upstairs. The kitchen looked almost as nice as the photo...but the room adjacent was pretty small. Then you went up narrow stairs, and this is where it gets weird. The kitchen had a very high ceiling- it went to the roof so no bedroom was over it. They had put avery very tall window on the outside wall so it did fill the kitchen with light. But when you looked up you saw a little balcony on the bedroom side...

What that meant was the master bedroom had no window, so they put clear glass french doors on the side so you overlooked the kitchen, including a small balcony. Kind weird, but almost ok. So I look out the big tall kitchen window and say, oh so there is a yard in back cause I see a cement patio with a clothesline...oh I say- good. Oooops! That's the neighbors yard! So when I wake up in the morning and get out of bed...there's the neighbor hanging her laundry...or watching me?? OK well one down and 5 to go.

We felt better this trip though- we knew the streets a little better and we were looking at houses in a different price range, and thought they'd be better. ok ha ha maybe not so much. That weird house still might have been ok for a start but the neighborhood was just to sketchy.... I wouldn't have felt safe. And she wanted a 6 month commitment. We walked away but were still optimistic. We googled the next address and were on the wrong street and saw a place for rent...it was also tiny and around $400 USD. We started calling them chicken coops. So we talked to another guy who had a couple of places for 6000 pesos ($500USD) that were in private neighborhoods, gated with the security guards to get in. Oh man now the first one we saw- ugh smokers and they hadn't even cleaned it; the carpets were stained and they obviously had a cat that peed all over the place. This guy was telling us- oh we clean them up if you want them...hmmmm maybe they should try cleaning them up prior to showing them. Again thank you but no. One of the places was already rented and the other 2  we found them and saw they were also chicken coops. We were just not going to find anything in the city with a yard and a good inside. Not without alot of work.

So, new plan. Monday nite I called the lady I had called the first time who had the houses at the beach near Punta Banda. There had been a place coming up but she didn't have the keys yet so I asked about that one. Well it was unavailable but 3 others in our price range were open so we made an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. And we had an appt to see the last of the original Tue in the morning...so we decided to check into a motel and kick back. OK enter squirrel number 1.

Now the donkey painted like a zebra was actually seen the first trip- so a couple of weeks ago. I did a double take cause I saw a guy riding a zebra down the street. Yeah a horse in striped pajamas. But looking closer it was a donkey- how weird is that? Was it about the independence day? I don't know, but he was just crossing the street. The squirrel I saw Monday was running along a tree branch when we were sitting at a stop sign- and I thought it was the same place. I saw the second one running in the yard of the house we chose (ooops telling the story too soon), and the third one was at the Bufadora. Somehow this ties to my mom, ok my weird logic. I brought her blue wind breaker with me on this trip, not sure why, just ran abd grabbed it at the last minute when we were leaving to go to Ensenada Monday morning. I've never worn it before but I've had it in my closet since she died...and our mom jokes are about penguins and dolphins, not squirrels...Anyway Sunday nite I dreamed of her. She was alive and laughing, we were at some kind of function, and I woke up feeling very refreshed instead of completely stressed about making the trip again to look for a house. I guess that's why I grabbed her jacket.

Anyway there's a silly family story about when she got bit by a squirrel at Oregon Caves when we were little kids. There were signs all over the place saying not to feed them, but I guess she gave one a peanut in the shell and it bit her finger. These rangers were yelling back and forth to each other about this crazy lady who go bit by the squirrel and she was so embarrased. She didn't get to go in the caves, and it was a story that we kept alive all these years- I mean I think this happened about 50 years ago. So- I had my mommy in my heart and on my mind, and I saw the squirrel....anyway I decided to take it as a good omen- that good things were coming. Poppi was very optimistic as well, we decided not to get nuts like last time, even though the first places were a bust. I feel her around me, alot lately for some reason. I don't know that I believe in heaven or hell, but I do believe in energy, and energy never dies, it simply takes on other shapes, or spaces...see I'm not even sure what except that I know energy doesn't die. I am also a very spiritual person, I know we are all connected, I don't know in what way, or how, but we are. I believe positive energy makes positive energy, and the same for negative, so I try to stay in the positive. Anyway.....I just think Mom was with us this trip. Poppi calls her Mellen and he was talking to her to...ha ha .

So the Tues morning house was yet another chicken coop- the kitchen didn't have room for a stove and fridge, and didn't have either, we'd have to buy them- I didn't even ask about the water heater. It was another 2 story and had no yard at all. Ok no. So we went out to eat breakfast...ok Everardo wanted cerviche and I need breakfast food for breakfast so I walked down the street to a McDonalds. Yeah they have Mickey D's in Ensenada...I don't even go to it in the US except when I really want french fries cause they have the best fries...but I digress...I got a Mcbreakfast muffin and walked back along the street in front of the docks to meet Everardo who was slurping up his fishy breakfast, and then we headed out to Punta Banda. We were early but wanted to find the place. We drove thru some neighborhoods and went into a couple of realty offices and saw a couple of places, but nothing to our liking- they were bigger but one was really expensive and not worth it and one was really big- way too big for us so we didn't even ask the price.

Oh this is when I saw the horse and the goat. I have to use the word frolic! The horse was frolicking around this goat and the goat was running at the horse- and the totally cool thing was- they were the same colors!! White and black, both of them! I was laughing out loud (yes lol but for real) It was just so cute. We drove past that area a couple of more times yesterday and I saw that there's several horses and a few goats so I guess they're friends??

So we meet this woman and she takes us to the 3 places we had chatted about the nite before on the phone. One had an amazing view, no yard, no storage and a weird guy living above the garage. Well it wasn't even a garage, just this loft on stilts....but on our property. One had a lady moving out and it was cute, walking distance to the beach, but the master bedroom was up the steepest narrow set of stairs I ever saw...I would have hated it....and it was a nice room up there, proably gets really hot...Then the third house had no ocean view, kind of a long walk to the beach, across the main road...and the most hideous thick green carpet...it had a yard, but a little house at the back with some missionary guy living in it with whom we'd share utilities. Everardo liked that one the best and I hated the carpet and was not nuts about the bathroom, but we kept saying we just need something for 6 months (all her places were 6 month commit) and then we could look around. So we get back in the lady's van to drive back to our car, telling her we need to discuss it and get back to her. I was going to give in to the green carpet place, when the lady says oh she has another little one we can see but she doesn't think it has a yard. She also told us about a place with "amazing fantastic" ocean views but it was $650 before utilities....and we passed. The view was not the thing, they yard for Sam was THE THING. So we're on the way to the little place when she says, oh there's a place in here, I forgot about it, it's not really ready, and well it's $500- is that too much? We say let's take a look.

This is on the beach side of the road, and so walking Sam down to the beach is an easy thing, but not so close that everything is grimy with salt like when we were down in Playa Ventura. We drive up and it has a huge yard, it has a huger garage for storage...and it has...wait for it....a guest house!!! A GUEST HOUSE. A tiny house with a kitchenette, bathroom and 2 twin beds. (ha ha the size of a couple of places we'd seen recently). So the main house (ha ha the main house- sounds so...mansion like...but it's not) Anyway it has a nice tile floor, a kitchen 2 bedrooms, bathroom and a laundry room with a dryer (needs a washer) downstairs, and a huge living room and a really big master suite upstairs- with a view of the estuary on one side and the ocean on the other. On the other side of the living room is a pool table, it's kind of  a seperate room because the stairs come up and there's a small wet bar. The bedroom has a big bed- Calif king I think, a walk in closet....yes! yes! YES!YES! We said yes we want this one. So it needs to be cleaned, and we said how about Nov 1? She said great.

So we will be in Ensenada by November 1. A new adventure. Sam is gonna love it. It's a quiet neighborhood and I think he could have the run of it even though the yard is fenced so we can keep him in. The beach is a couple of blocks. Yeah, I think it's gonna be good.

Mexico fun fact:
The Aztecs played ritual ball game known as tlachtli in which the losers were often sacrificed to the gods.

Packing

I'm packing. Packing to move to Ensenada. Did we find a new home? Nope. Do we have any leads? Nope. But I'm packing anyway. I have alot of knicky knacks, so I'm packing them up. Also have alot of photos in frames, small frames and medium funny shaped frames that have been om the shelves. Oh and the 3 shelf thing that Everardo built when we moved in here is already taken apart for transport as is my Elliptical- although it didn't all quite fit in the box it came in, one large pole shaped piece is gonna have to ride on top.I think we're 2 weeks (at least) away from our next trip. At this point it will just be us in the car- taking the car to make sure it can make it; we considered a pet friendly motel so we could take Sam, but it looks like he'll stay here again. Probly better to just say we have a dog- most people are too concerned about that- but when they see Sam they think he's sooo big. He's not really that big, he's a lab but has pretty short legs...ok a little bigger than medium...

Everardo told me "start packin' baby", so I did. We sorta had a little rough patch a few days ago regarding our intentions to get him a visa for the U.S. The fact is we gather info and then don't do anything. We had decided that once we hit 2 years married we would start the process. We lived together a year before we were married so we just got to 2 years this summer. I had the phone number of a lawyer in northern Cal, but it is always a msg machine and the guy has never returned our calls, and we've tried calling at different times of day. Then I got the number of the lady who recommended this lawyer to me when I was in Cal in April, and she only speaks Spanish, and after months, we call and it's the wrong number. I have the right number for her now, but Everardo had a really good idea about lawyers so now that's on hold. He had gone to see a lawyer here who was going to apply for a tourist visa, but then a lawyer I had emailed to for a consultation said apply for tourist and then perm was not a great idea. Well in the Mexican way, this lawyer has never gotten around to completing the documentation, and now we don't want him to- Oh and this was not the "really good idea".

The really good idea was to get a lawyer, in the states, but close to the border of Calif since we're moving to Ensenada- one in San Ysidro or San Diego. That way I can easily go and see him if need be. I found LOTS of immigration lawyers in that area (imagine that ha ha) and so tried to pick someone just on how I felt as I looked over their ads, names, and gimmicks...."we work for YOU!!"...Stuff like that. Anyway I picked one and sent an email but haven't heard yet. So I'll give it a few more days and then send a follow up, maybe a phone call. If that doesn't illicit any response...I'll go back to my magic 8ball and choose another name. Just being married is not enough; we have some other issues...so my guess is it will be expensive. But I just want to hear it's possible, I want my sweetheart to be able to visit his family, his daughter. But we know it could be an uphill battle, and we'll just see how it goes. But yeah my thing is- if you don't start, you for sure won't finish..So stay tuned for news on that.

Sam knows something is up- did I say he's the smartest dog in the world? Oh and the sweetest. He's all clingy and stayin' close. He's gonna hate when we leave again and he stays home; especially with so much of our stuff packed (or will be by then), and since that nite last week when he was way down the road, I'm kinda worried, but the neighbor knows and I think she'll be really careful, and Monica will house/dog sit and I trust her. In fact the neighbor would be very happy if we gave her Sam! WHAT??? Yeah apparently she said it would be good if we left him here when we go...oh and her 5 yr old boy, who was deathly afraid of him when they moved in, is not bringing him inside their house ha ha!! But he's also 5 and tortures Sam by driving him crazy. Anyway doesn't matter- Sam is our family- he goes where we go- of course! And our intention is a nice yard for him, maybe even grass!!

A short trip, and hopefully a cheaper motel than last time, and only Mon-Fri...could be sooner than later- he's been happily surprised by how fast- how much I've packed in 2 days...when we had that "rough patch" we were saying things like FINE- we won't move until we have this resolved one way or another...seems like moving is more important...and went down hill from there. So for the rest of that day I was wondering what we were going to finally decide..what we would agree on. Were we going to stay here? If I had to do that to prove what he needed was the most important thing, then so be it. I said we'll stay. I'm probly not explaining it right, or well, and well details of an argument that had it's ups and downs over a few hours; some talking, a little uncertainty-fear, much muttering, changing of minds and positions, well we worked it out. Our fights have become...well..less, I mean we disagree, but rarely scream and yell...and never walk away. We might retire to our respective corner, or make a meal or something, but we stick together, and we work it out. That is a process that gets developed over time, and I'm happy to say we're good to each other. Much later that evening I thought he was working on the car..yes folks he's a mechanic too...anyway he was outside and I heard some noises...then he called to me and I saw he was dismantling the elliptical! And that's when he said "Start packin' baby"...

So the next day I started and then more today. I am going to do a big push for the next 3 days (Fri, Sat, Sun) and then see where we are. Hey pretty soon I'll be posting from my third destination in Mexico. South, north and now west....Yeah and with my luck this will be a record breaking cold and rainy winter there ha ha!! It certainly rained forever in Playa Ventura, and when we got here were told it was much colder and rainy than usual....so...
Anyway I pushed too hard at zumba and pulled something in my back....it's something I've had before, down the side, kinda behind that plate coming down from the shoulder- so any way I sit hurts, and breathing deep is not an option. But like I said, I've had it before so I know I need to stretch and basically wait. The thing is tomorrow nite is when all the groups get together at the malecon for the final charity event and we have headbands and sashes...tonite I couldn't finish the class, but partly cause I want to be sure and participate tomorrow nite. I just didn't swing my right arm. I can't pick up my water bottle from the ground with my right arm without wincing...so after tomorrow nite I'll take it easy all weekend and see how I feel on Monday. So I can pack, but not carry. I was gonna take a pain pill tonite, but since for 5 days I'm taking something else, well I'll just take an aspirin...

Yeah I had this heat rash since July...because of where it is and the fact that I know someone else who had it, I figured it was just from the heat. But this week has really cooled down, and last week, while still hot, the humidity was starting to lift, but my rash and itchy-ness didn't let up. So yesterday I finally caved (after Poppi telling me for a couple of weeks to go) and we went to the doctor- my buddy at the pharmacy. He took one look and said....ok he said something really fast in Spanish but I got "allergy"...and he said I was allergic to something, could have been the sun, a plant..the bugs that were biting now....anyway he gave me 2 pills to take for 5 days and some cream...the tiny red dots are still there, but not as itchy...well and it's only been 24 hours. Oh- and every time they give me medicine I google them...and they for allergic reactions that cause itchy rash...and it is normal for them to be prescribed together (one is prednazone-spelling and the other I forget and am too lazy to get up and look- it started with an L) But I don't want too many things in my system at once...and since I already take the arimidex- one more year only!! So not pain meds for me. Pretty funny for a woman who used to drink like a fish and back in my 20's would take whatever was being handed out at a party...but 30 years since that and 12 since I've had a drink....well now I worry about what I ingest...

Well it's midnite so time to sign off....

Mexico fun fact:
Shells and stones on the Aztecs' ritual blades symbolized the faces of the gods for which the sacrificial hearts were intended. They would sacrifice between 10,000 to 50,000 victims per year. Under the rule of Montezuma II, 12,000 victims were sacrificed in one day.

Too funny not to share right away!

So this may be a short post unless other thoughts occur to me, but....soooo funny!!!!!!

I think I posted yesterday about a guy on the web forum about Baja and Ensenada in particular who sent me a msg and said he's be happy to have coffee with us and talk about Ensenada. I though that was very nice, told Everardo about it, and answered the guy with thanx and told him I'd let him know when we were coming. ok. Well there's actually 2 web forums I've been reading, one is called "talk baja" and the other is called something like "baja nomad". Talk Baja is the one were I registered so I can post comments and/or questions and so is where I chatted with this dude. The other site, I hadn't registered yet so could only read what people are posting. I had tried once or twice previously and again last nite to register but it kept saying they had the maximum requests for the day so pls try in 24 hours. So a little while ago I was reading on both sites and remembered- oh yeah I should try and register in the morning- but if it gives me that msg again I'll try to contact the administrator cause maybe something's wrong.

So I tried it and got registered. I use the same user name on all three- oh crap- all four sites I'm now on, one is the Mexico Expat forum I've been following since we moved to Mexico, altho' not as much once we left Playa Ventura....I just go on about one a week to see if any new posts are interesting (and many times they are), then I'm on Rockypoint talk, which is just for Puerto Penasco, and it's kind of really boring because it's really just about activities here...for Americans..and not too much about Mexico...so dropping that one will come as soon as we leave...and then these 2 new ones as I read about all of Baja and Ensenanda in particular. Well I go to Talk Baja and read a post from a new guy just moving to Baja from the states. His user name was something about Mexico...lots of times people give themselves cute little names like Mexico traveler or Loco something maybe tortuga grande (big turtle) - know what I mean? Anyway I read thru all this discussion since I'd never read underneath this particular heading, and a guy says, welcome- and you're #2 cause this other guy goes by the name and he uses it on the baja nomad site as well.....Wait- then I re read the post- oh hey it's the guy we're going to have coffee with. So I go back over to the other site to look for posts by him to see what he chats about. Oh- and once you're registered you can view people's profiles. Filling out the profile is optional, you can add something, nothing, a little bit or a lot.

So I spot this guy's name- and man!! How could that be??? Of all the people on these sites, how did I end up making contact with this guy? I had seen his little byline under his user name before and thought- now there's a person I NEVER want to meet...and I usually ignore his posts! Well on the first site I had looked at his profile after he invited us to coffee and saw he was a retired cop from the states and he lived in a nice area we had seen when we went over there the first time- I think maybe he lives in both places, the states and Baja. We thought ok good, we'll see what this guy has to say. HA HA HA HA HA HA
By accident I find out he's on the other site under this other name...most people don't even have a little thing written under their name, but some do, usually little affirmations, you know, positive stuff...this guy has written under his name, so it shows at the bottom of every post he writes"

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence upon those who would do us harm........George Orwell
Do not wish ill for your enemy, plan for it
I support GOD, Israel, those serving in the United States military, the Boy Scouts of America, Chic-fil-A and the Second Amendment"

So the one is a quote, ok but a little over the top...the second...wow buddy.....but the third one???? Ok I SO SO SO don't want to know you!!!

Loves Israel and guns, hates gays??? WEllllll let's see...I HATE guns, I HATE war...I support all lifestyles and my children are Palestinian...along with their dad and all of his family. So I'm thinkin' that coffee is out!
Again HA HA HAHA HA HA HA Only I could chosen that person out of all the people on the forum. Or maybe I could introduce my gay Palestinian daughter to him? You know makes ya wonder how he feels about Mexicans, right? I mean the community he lives in- it's called something Country Club, and it looks like an exclusive neighborhood, gated of course and a little outside of town. I don't think I mentioned to him that my hubby is Mexican...that would have been interesting...I bet before he was a cop he was....in the military...or maybe he couldn't get into the marines or whatever branch he was shooting for and so became a cop. Shheesh he must been once hell of a bad ass cop right? And I bet it was the marines because of his arrogance in making his little motto for himself so...I guess the right word is strong but I'm really thinking "assholy"

Anyway I just found this SO FUNNY, and I told Sam, but he just looked at me with bright eyes of anticipation wondering if I was crazy and did that mean he's get a special treat! Everardo is down at the beach so I decided to write about it. It's windy again today, and not cooler, but not hotter. I think I'll take Sam to the park after this; he can roll in the grass, and I have a new book. Tomorrow however I need to start packing. I have alot of little knicky knacks, and I don't want any more of them to get broken. Some stuff got broken on the way down to Playa Ventura, and some on the way up here...my mermaids; I still have 2 but they both have broken places, an arm of a fin...they are small and the hang from a ribbon-maybe 5 inches tall, but they are chubby mermaids wearing fancy jewels and I love them. I had to throw away the other 2, and really I need to give in and dump these 2 as well. Getting up here 2 paintings & a photo in an odd sized frame had their glass broken - so since I have time I want to pack more carefully- which of course means I need some newspaper for wrapping....who reads the paper any more?? Actually they sell the papers at the intersections; I've just never bought one- ha ha what I need it where they throw them away, right?

Oh and I almost forgot. The guy broought the trailer back last nite around 9pm, and he and Everardo and another guy stood outside and talked for about half and hour- and it turns out the guy has a cousin that owns a house in Ensenada. Ha ha I've learned very quickly not to get excited! They guy lives in central Calif, and comes only for vacation, and the house is big & nice and has 3 or 4 bedrooms. Don't know if the house is rented or not but this guy is going to find out right away. This guy is the brother of Nikko- a very close friend of Everardo for many many years. Ok sounds good, right? But in Mexico, you must take in the info much differently- for example....a big house might mean big, medium, small, cardboard, and nice might mean very nice, just ok, a pit, broken down, no bathroom (and of course no stove, hot water heater or fridge)- or maybe all those things in a nice area. 3 or 4 bedrooms might be just that, or may be rooms that only a single bed and nothing else will fit. This is yet another HUGE lesson in expectations...plan for the worst, hope for the best. Oh and he'll find out right away? Maybe he'll call today, tomorrow, next week, next month or not at all cause he forgot about it as soon as he left....see I'm learning!

Ok park time for me and doggy.

Mexico fun fact:
During an Aztec human sacrifice, five priests, sometimes with their faces painted with different colors, held the sacrificial victims’ arms and legs. The heart, referred to as “precious eagle cactus fruit,” was cut from the live victim and burned on a fire in the temple.