Like living in a campground sometimes

Well if you did not read the prior post- don't waste your time with it. Boring! The actual letter to my sister part- well she replied saying it gave her a headache to try & read, and I thought I was being so funny with all the crap I had to go thru for a phone...I think I flopped. Forgive me.

Ok moving on. Sometimes it feel like I live in a campground. I guess part of that is living in a mobile home, a small one, which I have never done before. The kitchen is tiny...the bathroom shower stall is like this plastic box ha ha, the kitchen door opens onto a driveway that contains this horrid van that has an ad on it talking about mobile windshield repair. It belongs to the guy who lives in the upstairs studio next to us...He lives above his van- well when he's there. He left for a month about 6 or 7 months ago, and has been coming back in 2 weeks since about the middle of June. His plan is to sell that van, which I have never seen run.... It is not an enclosed garage, our house is one side, the other side is a wall that's probly about 12 feet tall...not sure how tall it is, but up the 4 steps to our kitchen door, I can see over that wall. So I look out the little kitchen door window or simply open that door & look out at the ocean. When it's hot in the kitchen, especially right after my shower following my workouts, when I am making my protein shake, I open that door because there is always a cool breeze right there. I think it's the cement walls that makes it cool. The porch on the other side of the house, the sliding glass door that we use all day, where the dogs beds are, is right outside the living room, and when I get into my hammock out there, even though it's hot outside, I usually get a chill- it's just cooler anywhere that is always shady. The cool thing is- that I don't even see that crusty van anymore when I open that door- I just see the waves, the birds, any boats on the water...the sand...I see right past that old van to my paradise.

This is month 12 for us here in Baja. Month 9 in this spot...the first 3 months were in the big pink house, and not my favorite. I do remember we had some bad weather, not too much, but I know there were some cold & rainy days....but hardly any since this place....so I have hardly worn long pants or a jacket....sometimes I walk out to my beach chair in my slippers, or even my jammies, so I think that's why it feels like a campground sometimes. Not having neighbors right in front of our sliding glass door (it does not face the street), I'm not worried about what I'm wearing when I venture outside...ha ha ok the truth is I NEVER care what I'm wearing when I go outside ha ha.

But we are losing neighbors not gaining any. As I said, Bob, the guy from upstairs is coming back in 2 weeks some day. All summer there were workers fixing up the house next door, that's across from his studio- so -ok outside our sliding glass door is a gravel driveway that is for 4 houses....us and Bob and 2 places across from us. The one directly across is abandoned and apparently will never have anyone living in it. So we park the truck in their little garage, and our open trailer and our friend Tim's boat trailer are parked in the yard space right there. Then next to that house...on the beach side and across from Bob is the house that got worked on, repaired, fixed up all summer, so we had people coming and going all summer right there. We got to know the crew, a woman in charge, and 2 or 3 guys working for her...but they're gone and the place sits empty. I heard they want some crazy amount for rent...like $1800 a month...and you can find places for SO much less than that, still beach front, so who knows what will happen there. I think I wrote before about all the ejido issues around this land in this camp...and that 15 years ago, for the second time! People got evicted from here, and so walked away from their homes, and many of them sabotaged their places to make them un-inhabitable, and the house to us is one of them. Ok so now we just lost a neighbor on the other side. We had a small Alzheimer facility next to us, only about 6 or 8 clients, but as of today they are gone as well.

So it's kind of a weird scary story, maybe scary because I don't really know what the truth is....I'll just tell a little of it here. So the guy who was running it, and his father owns it, and I think another facility somewhere, anyway it seems he got into drugs and trouble. We actually knew who he was because he lived in the other camp we started at where the big pink house is. He was a little bizarre for us; you can kinda tell a druggie...and the chaos that surrounds them. We did not know his job was running this place and were surprised to see him here. Then he moved into an empty house across the regular camp road from us (not our gravel driveway). That wasn't great but we didn't interface with with him or his family except for a nod or hello when we ran into each other. So he moved away first and that was good. But the circumstances were not good. His house was "graffiti-ed " you know spray painted with threats and things...to the effect he owed money....i guess to drug dealers. I am NOT talking about drug cartel stuff! I am talking about your local drug dealers, right- so we were not worried at all, they were not interested in anyone besides the guy who owed them money. His house back at the old camp burned down...but many people think he did it himself to elicit sympathy...maybe to get out of paying back rent....so when this stuff happened to his house here, at first I was a little worried....but then the same idea came up- did he do it himself?? Some said he did, to get money from his father. I heard that if he was in trouble with the local gang...that they have much more direct ways of dealing with their problems. Ok so the guy took his family and moved away. We heard he went to the states. I think his father is Mexican, but I'm pretty sure they are from the states. Basically he's a druggie scumbag with all that includes. Ok so all that happened in about May or June, and it was a nice quiet summer with him gone. So- fast forward to last Friday nite. At 2am we were waked up by a huge fire next door!! The dogs heard something and started barking, then Everardo and the other neighbor who is still here, across the road from the Alzheimer place both ran outside...Everardo call the police & fire dept, and Kim the neighbor ran into the place to get people out. I ran around the back of the place from our side while Everardo grabbed the hose to spray water on our roof.

When I got there almost all the people were on the patio and we helped the care workers get the people down to the beach...a couple of wheel chairs so it wasn't that easy. It turned out that it wasn't the building, but a cab-over camper that had been torched. The noise must have been it bursting into flames- it was so quick it had to be gasoline or something like that. It did spread to the garage, which is not attached to the house, and the garage door burned and then apparently the garage was full of wood...Also the back of a big boat caught fire, too. The fire was on the far side of the property from us, but there's always a breeze and I was afraid of embers. The facility is cement, like most of the houses out here, and never caught fire. Actually the roof of the house across the road that the guy had moved away from was also smoking...but again- the building is cement. So it was meant as some kind of warning I guess...and altho there were propane tanks...they happened to be empty that day....which makes one wonder again- did the druggie do this to get money from his father? Or was it really these low level drug dealers. Lots of cops, lots of cops came along with lots of fire trucks. I was very impressed and happy to see how quickly the fire dept came! I think it helped that it was 2am, and so no traffic. (People here will move for fire trucks and ambulances, but hardly every for the cops ha ha) It seems that the cops think it was the guy. BUT: The landowner here said enough is enough and he made them close the facility.

Now that house that got worked on all summer came in handy. We got all the people settled in there. The firemen were very caring with them. A lady got sick, shock I assume, and the emergency guys, had just left, and they turned around and came right back to treat her. We got back to bed about 4:30am...so it was a lazy weekend ha ha. The other nice thing is there has been a guard here every nite since. I think he's a cop, but is getting hired by the landowners. This is supposedly a "gated" community...ha ha our gate is a rope, that you have be let in thru- but you can come up from the beach anytime. People drive on the beach all the time; not supposed to but people do it, especially with ATVs during the summer months...the tourist trade is so slow, nobody's gonna stop anyone from doing anything around here. Also, there's no walls or anything- you might not be able to drive in from the road but you can certainly walk in, which is what must have happened both times- or from the beach...but we didn't see any lights or hear any vehicles the other nite down there, so who knows. I guess there was always supposed to be a security guard in the camp, but recently it's been an old man who sleeps in the gate house....they'll find something else for him to do....

Just a few minutes ago Poppi came back from walking the dogs and said he was talking to the security guard who told him he's getting hired full time...and that's just fine with me. We just have the one neighbor close to us now, and he's across the road and down a ways...then the houses are all empty for a couple of blocks, then a few with people in them. It makes it nice and quiet at out end...but also a little isolated. Of course we have Sam & Hazel...when we are not home, they are in the yard so we aren't worried. Yes they come with us alot, but during the day usually. We just don't have a big nite life besides AA meetings or an occasional dinner out. But eating out is more often a late lunch type of deal, we are home at nite...kinda developed that habit when we were down south and it wasn't that safe to be our of our town at nite. So don't get me wrong- I always feel safe here. Even with that happening- it was never about us. I am pissed at that scumbag loser- who does that? To an Alzheimer's place??? Jackass. But I was never afraid and am still not.

I love my beach home. I love love love the sunsets....every nite it's beautiful. The estuary is always beautiful, ha ha though lately the mosquitos over there in the evening make me skip the nite dog walks...but it's starting to cool off at nite so I think they will start to go away. The quiet, the gentle sounds of the waves, the beauty...yeah I guess I'm on vacation all the time!

So- speaking of vacation...we are planning a road trip to Guerrero, but the news has us hesitating. These students who were kidnapped, some of them murdered....this is all happening in Guerrero. Not in our town, not near it, probly between 2-4 hours away...I was hoping it was 4 or more hours...but Everardo is saying there's trouble in Acapulco as well. It seems alot of cops are getting arrested as well and the vigilante group is back. I think I may have written about this "whack a mole" effect before- that as criminal activity gets managed in one area, it pops up in another. Yeah Guerrero has been having problems for a long time, but this is getting very big. We should be fine- we travel the cuota roads and never at nite...but we would have to come thru Chilpanzingo (sic) which is very close to the place Iguala where these newest terrible things have happened. So we don't have to go that way, but will have to figure out a different route. I remember going that way when we went to Morelia Micoacan to see his family...which we also plan to do. So I am leaving the decision up to Everardo on how he feels about us going. Up to now, we have been confident about traveling thru southern Mexico, exercised caution (like using the cuota-toll roads, driving only during the day). But emotions are high. When we first drove down with all out stuff, we got pulled over all over the place...and altho' it will just be him & I in the truck...on the way back we'll have a bunch of boxes most likely in the back. (My books yippee) and maybe a couple of other things. But we need to be smart. He's been talking to a couple of people in the last couple of days, however, and we think by the end of the month we should be good to go. The swarming feds, state cops and other agencies will hopefully have some kind of resolutions by then and also hopefully emotions will not be running so high. The people Poppi talked to said there are no problems there, we just have to get there from here.

So we will most likely still go...as long as things don't deteriorate from where they are now. I'm sure we will never know what really happened down there, I keep reading different stories about it all, and yes for sure corruption, but I think things we don't know or want to know. I'll keep ya posted as it get closer. I really want to go- but I also don't want to be stupid. We've been planning to go back for over a year, so if we have to put it off a couple of months again, to be safe, well then so be it. Ha ha I already cleared shelves for my books. We have been planning things around "when we get back" ha ha. Like we need a longer couch then this loveseat that you can't lay down on. I want a project to refinish the dining room table because it's so scratched up from 3 moves...and it was really pretty pre-scratches. Or maybe re-finish it and then store it and buy a smaller one at the segundas. It's long like a picnic table, and so kinda too big for this place...and we don't need a long table- only we eat here ha ha. Oh we've had Tim a couple of times but that's it. I want to change a few things around but in my head it's all "after our trip". Our vacation from our vacation.

It should be nice weather in the south by November, I don't know what it will be like here...maybe getting cold. But I suspect that cold is not all that cold ha ha. Hmmm but maybe the super thin walls of a mobile home may not keep us all that warm.....hey every day is an adventure when you live on the beach in Mexico. As always, we'll see what comes next. Hope this wasn't as boring as my phone problems ha ha. Viva!

New phone anyone? Don't do it....for your sanity!!

I sent an email to my sister in New York to tell her the end of my saga with the "new to me" used IPhone 5 I bought off craigslist when I was visitng her, and it ended up being a really long silly story- so silly I decided to make it- with a couple of edits my blog for today- cause anyone who has a smart phone, or upgraded to a new one...or is over 25 years old and struggling with a new smart phone will understand! Ok here goes...

Ok little preface: So I bought the phone and then tried to get it unlocked so I could by  Telcel chip in Mexico and use it like a go phone, which is what I have been doing the past 2.5 years with my Iphone 3GS. So you know, in some ways the U.S. is exactly the same as Mexico ha ha. I think we went to at least 4 different places and of course I got 4 different answers on how to get the phone unlocked. The only one who thought they could do it was unsure if he's have the phone back by the end of my stay so I did not leave it with him. When I had been in Calif trying to buy a phone and do the same thing I was also told they had to "keep" the phone while it happened. This is not true, as it turns out. I spent quite a bit of time in the afternoon/evenings with AT&T on the phone with customer service trying to get them to unlock, especially since I found out they're shipping the new phones unlocked anyway. The biggest reason (excuse) they gave me was I had to wait 6 months as a new customer. I thought about that, then called back asking for a supervisor (after 2 calls with the exact same script being read to me, with a crappy connection to, I believe based on accents-India) and finally got a supervisor. I told her I was not a new customer.. I had been with AT&T for years! Before cell phones! When you made an overseas call and chose your carrier I always picked AT&T! I could give them previous phone numbers! They could look me up, I had different last name because i changed husbands more than I changed phone carriers! (I thought that was pretty funny & creative) and maybe she did too, because after much time of being on hold they decided to wave the 6 months. Now the 6 month thing I objected to because I was leaving for Mexico in 10 day and would be there the entire 6 months and if I had to keep the phone active I would be paying for a phone I could not use! Oh but you can- for something like .25cents a minute plus roaming plus blah blah blah.....Ok so she comes back and says.. well if you can fax me the original receipt we will unlock it. Oh! I said ok so finally you are agreeing that it CAN be done- it is just not your policy...now we are getting somewhere since previously they kept insisting it was impossible which was making me nuts!

However....I gently reminded her that the entire reason for my call was that it was a used phone I purchased from a college kid who upgraded to a new phone. I did not have the receipt. Oh she was so sad that she could not help me. I told her- well this is why people go to these websites and pay to have them unlocked outside of AT&T...I would have been happy to pay you. She gave me quite a stern lecture about using those websites, it was illegal and everyone is going to be in big trouble. To make certain she didn't put me on some blacklist (ha ha there really was a list, but I believe it's for stolen phones and I was not on it- at one place they actually checked that for me), I thanked her and said I'd try to get the receipt. Well I'd looked at a couple of online sites, but was nervous about it so wrote them down and went to yet another phone store to ask. This guy was great, and he is the one who said you shouldn't leave it with me because it might not get done before you leave...and he also at the 2 or 3 websites I had narrowed down to, and said he had used the UK site 3 times and it worked......ok so I bring the phone to Mexico...I can text for free to the states ha ha but make no phone calls even tho I paid $25 for a month. Went to the UK site, but when I chose it, the price went up and so did the hairs on the back of my neck. So I backed out and chose a different site for $30. A week went by, then 10 days, and oooops didn't work but they did refund my money. Ok back to the UK site, who now made the same offer for half the original price! hmmm ok. A week went by and I got the sorry AT&T barred us.....(sad face)..but we can bypass it for $. But it was only another $25 USD so I eneded up paying about $60 all together which is still WAY better than paying AT&T for 6 months to not use the phone but keep the number active to prove I am an AT&T customer and then they would be happy to do it.............how do you make the "wrong answer" buzzer sound?? Saturday I got an email that the phone was unlocked, to put the non AT&T sim card in and turn on the phone.

H aha we went to a Telcel store we like in Ensenada and this lady sold us a chip (after some consternation trying to get my fancy new Otterbox case off). The chip didn't fit!! My stomach turned, but I reminded myself that I had resigned myself to go the AT&T route if this had failed...so not to worry...but this was a new twist. But gotta love the Mexican people- they make everything work (you should see my laptop..a hinge broke and the screen got messed up, I have a new screen and these 2 shiny bolts in the top case ha ha looks like the little bolts in Frankenstiens neck....all for a few pesos!!

 

 This women whipped out her nail file and whittle down that tiny chip (yeah the sim card for the Iphone 5 is much smaller than for the Iphone 3 which is what I was upgrading from). She whittled away, checked it, nope, whittle a little more, assured me in Spanish she does this "todo al tiempo" (all the time)..and ...IT WORKED!!! That was Saturday morning. Now ready for the email I sent my sister this afternoon? (It's Monday)

 Hi,

Thought I'd share! My Iphone is unlocked & it was the UK site. about $60 but I'd rather give to them than to AT&T!! Well this is why I like to keep the same phone as long as possible ha ha. As it turned out- THAT was the easy part ha ha!! A combination of things kept me frustrated I tell ya!! Everardo had said he was not interested in my old phone but we'd keep it because even without putting any $ on it he could use the magic jack so stay in touch with his side of the family for free and not need me to be here with my phone in order for him to do that. ahh ok good.

But then he started fooling with it at exactly the same time I started trying to update mine once it was unlocked. Sounds ok- except- we needed both our Itunes passwords, our email passwords, our interent code for the house...etc...and in some ways he's just like Barry! Babe- what's my password for this? Babe what's my password for this? Babe what's my password for this? At the same time I'm trying to do mine. And of course chubby fingers hitting tiny touch screens we always make mistakes...then itunes made him change his password like they did me when I was at your house...use caps, no consecutive letters at least one number...oh is that a zero or a one? PLS KILL ME NOW!!

This was Saturday evening. Friday nite we were up between about 2am and 4:30 because the house next door was on fire!! It turned out to be the garage, intentionally set...but the building is a tiny alzheimers facility- only 6 or 8 clients, but all about 1000 years old. We helped evacuate them, then a bunch of fire trucks, cops...people all over the place. Shoulda slept all day Saturday but we got up early as planned to check out a new vege/fruit stalls in a big segunda place far end of Ensenada...got there and no parking for blocks on end....changed our minds because we were crabby & tired...so went to Telcel & then came home, showered and went the "annual rib cook off" as promised....hot sun....not sure why we didn't go to bed at 6pm ha ha. The rib cook off was fun- you bought tickets for 15 pesos and the got a rib and a side order...so you could try several booths with different kinds of ribs.  So got home and- decided to mess with the phones. I was so tired.....but soooo determined...yep me the dog with a bone...but mr dog with a bone was sitting next to me with his own bone- but kept asking me questions! Did I say pls kill me now??

Somehow I connected to the "ICloud" even though I swear I repeatedly said "NO"...and it downloaded over 1250 photos from my laptop to the phone!! Can you say no memory left?? I messed with that damn phone for more than 2 hours and Everardo's as well because he wiped put my old phone and reloaded as a new phone...while I had (mistakenly I think) did a restore from earlier date on mine. Go to bed!! Last nite I wiped my phone out and reloaded as new....after some other things and 8000 google articles. I am now an Apple specialist who could work any customer service line if I can be sure to have a lousy connection and keep repeating the same scripted answers regardless of he question asked! Somehow after carefully writing out all the phone numbers i didn't want to lose...and it wasn't that many ha ha, (well 68 I think) I was able to "import" them and I don't know how that happened since I restored the phone to factory settings! Yipee.

Then I discovered that the phone didn't ring...only vibrated....Googled that...known issue- oh that's why it was so cheap! However....I tried everything (I thought) and the simple answer ended up being...underneath that fancy case...ringer was off!! Ha ha but now I know how to put my phone on do not disturb or only ring when Karen & Barry or anyone else I choose calls! The last thing was my music, that was showing, but grayed out and didn't play but had little pictures of clouds next to them with a down arrow. When I tapped that it said it would cost me $ to download the music...my music??? After I got the living room window replaced from throwing the phone thru it- which didn't break because of the fancy case.....ok that was a joke- I only did that in my head....I left that for today. After my workout and protein drink....I looked at the phone, then googled....then went to itunes and looked at every icon and message. I found a button I hadn't checked...clicked it and asked to "sync" my library (which had been my mortal enemy the other nite with the photos)....and WA LA! All the music started to copy to the phone...not sure why it showed it was there...but wasn't.

So Saturday to Monday it took for my peabrain to become a technical engineer....and...I can make a local phone call or listen to music!! -Oh but a local phone call in Mexico is a story for another day which includes having to dial a 13 digit number if you are dialing from a landline to a cell phone..and a different 13 digit number if you are calling landline to cell phone long distance! Terry little house on the prairie is back in business! And this is why I resist upgrading or getting a new phone....I don't want to learn one more new thing in phone technology!!! My first phone had to be dialed! The over 20 years working in manufacturing of telephone systems so I went down the whole freakin road of

dial phone on the wall, to portable (huge) phone, to cell phone that only worked within a network, fiber optics, to surface mount technology, to fiber to the curb, fiber to the home, to touch screen..to camera phone to the little computers our phones are today...it's so funny, although thinner, the Iphone 5 is actually smaller than the 3GS, so after years and years of smaller faster better...my generation is now needing the drugstore reader glasses to see the small screens so the phones have hit the smallest and now are starting to get bigger again!! ha ha ha ha ha I want offffff the train. I only need a smart phone because for now...magic jack is free on a smart phone and I want to talk to my daughters in the United States every couple of days if I can, and I can...Beyond that... ha ha I hardly use my phone as a phone- I check my email in the morning. I recently bought a camera for the first time in years, so I need the phone even less! Ok ok I do really like the touch screen however....

Oh and by the way...hubby's phone is working as well, so he wants a new case, not pink like I had- and he only asked me twice today for passwords! wheew...oh I mean viva!

What will happen next?

This morning Poppi told me he has having dreams we crossed the border back into the U.S. He said- get ready- things might change all of a sudden! I replied that he probably dreamed about it because we were just talking about it lately; from my recent trip to upstate New York to my daughter's upcoming wedding (at least a year away), to his uncle's new boots. His uncle, who is for all intents and purposes is his father, is pretty old, and not in great health, and Everardo worries about him. His tio calls Poppi "his son" when he refers to him even though Poppi refers to his uncle as "tio" or "jefe"...Anyway due to a long hard life of being hard on his body, Tio developed diabetes and now has lost both legs below the knee- the second one just in the past few months. He has been complaining of pain in his feet, which I understand is normal....sad though, right? And his feet being cold....so when Everardo was in Tijuana dropping me off at the border, he went to see a guy who makes shoes. He had this guy make this pair of "booties" I guess, almost more of a pair of leather socks. They are really soft inside, lined with the softest lamb's wool...like fur, and then they lace up to be tighter or looser. We mailed them the other day (yeah I know- funny how they were able to mail something out SO much better than receiving something in ha ha). They have been received and Tio really likes them very much and is wearing them constantly- they are keeping his feet warm. This is so sweet! I know my husband feels guilty for moving down to Mexico so far away from his uncle, but when we decided to move he was in much better health and it felt like if we didn't go- there would always be a reason not to. And we were agreed that we didn't want to look back with regret and say...oh I wish I woulda.....

So....I thought this is why he is dreaming about going back to the U.S. But he told me, you know what, when I start dreaming about something....things happen. Ha ha! But honestly we have things to accomplish before thinking of going back to the states. Selling our house in Guerrero is a biggie. Maybe the number one thing. The market hasn't been that good in that area due to lots of problems, and Playa Ventura is a tiny, sleepy, fishing village. I mean you would have to know about it for some reason to think of it. They are slowly, little by little trying to promote it...it does have beautiful beaches, warm ocean water year round, it's the tropics. And it is a very popular vacation spot during the Mexican holidays, especially Christmas and Semana Santa (Easter week), for Mexicans from Mexico City looking for a beach vacation. The whole town basically makes it's nut over those 2 holidays. The rest of the year they scrape by. But when we were leaving almost 2 years ago the road was being paved, and I know they were working on getting municipal water. Right now everyone has pilas and the water gets trucked in.

I've seen some photos on facebook and some of the people are building "bungalows" like our friends were, on their properties to entice vacationers, and putting in swimming pools. I know that sounds funny- to put in a pool next to an ocean as warm as a bathtub- but honestly- it's the most refreshing and relaxing thing after an afternoon at the beach. The ocean is wonderful, amazing, fun, exciting...and strong...the waves crash in. If you are trying to surf or even just body surf or swim, you are exhausted after not too long. It's not the bay like where we are here in Baja. It's the Pacific ocean crashing against the shore. Where it hits a rocky shore...where the big boulders are like behind our house....it's so....majestic, so forceful, so amazing and exciting to watch. But even where it's the softest warmest sand, the water is strong, and you get tired. You get sandy, you get sunburned, you get...hungry ha ha!! So you come back in, have a cool drink in the shade, take an outside shower under a shady palm, and then jump into the cool refreshing pool. Float around....Swim underwater with no tug, no push, no pull. Yes a pool is a great idea.

So the area becomes more enticing all the time, more people come. Yipee for us. And we have had a long term renter for at least 6 months I think, and they have voiced intentions to stay for the next year...but we want to sell. I know I have talked before here about how we paid way to much for the place- which is entirely on me...naive and arrogant ha ha...ouch. Yeah it was before I met and fell in love with Poppi. Ok so I messed up but time to let it go. In fact I think I have. It happened- it's done. Ok, so what can we do about it. We can sell it for less. Forget about how much we paid and/or how much we put into it. How much can we get for it today? Well- not sure. But that's part of our upcoming trip. Seeing if we can hook up with someone who can advertise it actively. And not someone who lives there now. We only trust one family there know, the guy who caretakes the house for us now. He has done a great job. Letting us know what the place has needed, taking care of the small stuff. Took care of getting the curb/sidewalk for our driveway that the construction workers totally screwed up (surprise surprise) and then my hubby- who almost never loses his temper, did...and took a sledge hammer to it. Ha ha writing that made me smile and laugh a little out loud...yeah enough time has gone by for it to be kinda funny...But man it was not funny when it was happening. Ok so Jay has done well by us, and we've been paying him well, too. I mean not way more than the job is worth, and basically the going wage down there, but Everardo has thrown in a few things along the way, made Jay some good deals with things. Not sure if I wrote about this- but during a storm down there our microwave went poof during a power surge (which were constantly), so we didn't have one for the next year and a half until a couple of months ago when Anna & Carlos brought us one from Calif. Anyway we never got rid of it, it just sat in the kitchen and I used it to store things in, helped keep stuff like bread or fruit/veges fresh outside the fridge. Once we decided to go we packed and left pretty quick with an intention to come back in 3 months for stuff we left behind or needed to get rid of...but we never did. Jay let us know recently that he borrowed it to use it, but he broke it and would replace it! Poor guy. We told him he did not break it- see what a good guy. So he has done a good job and let us know when there has been the random inquiry about the price....but he is not a real estate guy. And really- is selling it in his best interest? Yes we've told him if we get a buyer thru him we will ceratinly give him a cut..but...

So that's something for us to look into while we are there, and really we should be seeing what we can find online from up here before we go. I think I know what I would research but it's going to be in Spanish which will make it extremely slow going for me.....and Everardo is so much more the "in the moment" guy and will deal with it when we get there. Hmmm I guess that works for us.. I'm the planner, he's the doer....

We have some plans dancing around our heads regarding our life once the house is sold- but it is the one thing that would stop us from moving back to the states right now. Yeah we could go back down...but really, we just want to finish it. It's a beautiful amazing place, but I'm ready to try new things...and it's a really long trip from the states...it's a 4 day, 12 hour every day min to drive there just from here. To fly?? No direct flights to Acapulco from San Francisco or anywhere near there...and so it's expensive. So all in all, better to finish it.

From a purely selfish point of view, I want to stay here at least until next summer when Drewy gets married. And if for some reason they delay it past summer, to keep staying here. I like it here. I love love love it here. The beach outside my door. I am 6 months into a 12 month health commitment plan for myself and I really want to finish it here. Yeah I could finish somewhere else- but if I don't have to- I want to stay. I am also totally excited about the afternoon meditation group and the book we just started and that may also end up as a year commitment. I am changing here. In good ways. Physically, mentally and spiritually. I want to see where this takes me. I want to become "more" of me and have it be me before I move again. Does that make sense? I mean sticking to exercise and good eating habits was sooo much easier on my trip to NY than my trip to Calif. It's become my normal here. And it felt normal in NY, but how much of that was because it's basically my sister's normal as well? In Calif I have so many habits...that yes of course I can change, or stay changed....but I'd like to be...I don't know- better at it? Sometimes I do get wrapped around the axle in my little pea brain and wonder if I'm only "all serene & stuff" here because I don't know too many people....there's no 31 Flavors ice cream store on every corner...the gym is too expensive...I'd have to get a job-maybe even a full time job ha ha ha haha YUCK! I really don't want to go back to work.

So, we'll see. I do know to trust my gut. That he and I make a damn good team. That we're getting pretty good at recognizing opportunities. So maybe we will be back in the states before....before our plans I guess. I can definitely say I would want to live close to...the beach, the woods....somewhere good for our dogs- especially Hazel who only knows open space. My big Sam...well as long as he is close, he's pretty happy. He knows about green grass, how to roll in it- Hazel's never seen it. Yeah thinking about it- it's sooo expensive in the states....car reg & insurance, going to the doctor...any kind of medicine including over the counter....utilities, rent, food....arrgghh. I love you Mexico!

Right now I am only going to focus on today. And starting to plan our trip south in a month, for a month....visiting new parts of Mexico and revisiting others.....vamos a ver, right? Viva

So I am back in Mexico....

Yesterday I wrote all about my trip to upstate NY and feel like I'm ready to talk about Mexico again...oh but wait- one more small thing about my trip. The airport in Chicago where I had to change planes on the way home...and change terminals even though I stayed with the same airline....they have the thinnest and I mean THINNEST toilet paper of anywhere I think I've been in the entire world! I don't understand how they can produce it and get it on the rolls without it tearing and falling off. It makes tissue paper look like a block of concrete. And one thing I've learned in Mexico is always carry a roll of toilet paper in my purse. But that's because there might not be any, or it might handed out by the square (remember the Seinfeld episode about "sparing a square"?) Not because it's so thin it doesn't actually exist! Ok enough.

It's nice to be home. I came back to a heat wave, and then whatever parasite/virus is going around ha ha but now I've been home almost 2 weeks, the heat wave and my discomfort have passed, and it just feels good. I exercised every day this week and am feeling very good about myself on that score. the tides have shifted a bit- I'm sure that's how it works, I just never thought about it before. But now around 9am the tide is so high that there's almost no space for me to dance, and yesterday I sort of hopped along the shore and actually finished up here by the house. Today I went to the gym first, and not until 10am, so I hit the beach around 11am, and there was about 4 feet wide of the harder sand that the tide only hit a few times. It's hard to dance on soft sand, so I dance right next to the water, where the sand is damp, harder than farther up the beach, and so easier to dance on. I am about to complete 6 months of this and I don't exactly remember what it was like back on April 1. Back then I really walked alot more, sort of a walk dance....it seems like I had more space than today but I'm not sure. I didn't want to write about my exercise program here, but decided that I hit month 7 next Wednesday and I want to talk about it a little.

The truth is I am kinda proud of myself for making a commitment and sticking to it the past 6 months. I made a year commitment to myself, so this is just the halfway mark, but lately it seems like I have had several excuses not to stick with it, but I did anyway, and that feels good. Back at the  beginning of August I smashed my toe and the side of my foot, but I exercised thru it- sort of modified. I have gone to Calif, been sick, but somehow stuck with it. Went on my NY trip and exercised thru that & really did good with food there as well. Now the damn beach has changed ha ha...I think wow- the old me would have taken advantage of all those events by giving myself permission not to workout....and then complained and hated myself for not changing mind spirit or body ha ha. I'm gonna look up the tides and see how long this is going to last, and maybe I'll just go out later in the morning. I mean I can do it up here by the house, but that's no fun for the dogs, and I really like being right next to the water. I am keeping a journal about my progress and how I feel about it. The truth is my goal is 5 lbs a month for a year, so that means 60 lbs. This month I don't think I'll get the entire 5 lbs. On Oct 1 I should be 30 lbs down, but today I am only at 26, and I'm ok with it. After 6 months 5 lbs a month is hard. But like I said, I'm pretty happy. And today was the first time anyone said anything to me about it. This guy I always sit next to at the Fri nite 6pm meeting said to me just as the meeting was starting- hey you look like you've lost some weight...AHA! I was sooo happy! I told him he was the first person to say anything to me! I mean my husband has, but I've had to fish for it, you know...like how do I look, or how does this look? as I've tried on stuff that hasn't fit in forever. ha ha and I doooo fish for it! The thing is, I've lost this weight before, so I probly look the same. It's this second 30lbs that I will probly have to fight hard for...but as long as I stay willing, right? Yep, this is why I didn't want to write about this stuff. I need to stop right here at being proud of myself for making a sticking to a commitment....and inspiring myself to stick with it. So I'll finish this subject with my goals. The one I hope to keep as the most important is my health- I have 2 months left of the Arimidex woot woot! Then yesterday I heard something about a new medical "protocol" for breast cancer where you take tamoxifen for 10 years! Not 5...10. Well that's another story for later. Ok my second goal is look amazing and by that I mean AMAZING for my daughter's wedding next summer. My third goal is to be amazing for myself and my hubby. Hubby already tells me I'm beautiful, but he is also wonderful support for my exercise program and he already eats the way I'm trying to. Oooops there I go again saying "trying to". It's been 6 months- I'm doin' it! The cool thing is I am not craving sweets....I'm actually craving things like golden delicious apples! I always like the green sour ones before, but I tried the golden delicious...now it's my sweets. I need to change my lifestyle and I'm doing it. I am going to be 58 in Dec...better late than never to be as healthy as possible. (Oh and the guy who noticed I have lost weight and mentioned it- is married to a man).

Oh new subject- our new juicer finally arrived today after about 6 weeks! I swear I ordered it in July! It was a huge hassle, first with the company, which was in the US...Brevelle, who cancelled the order because I had a different ship to than bill to, but after doing the entire transaction online, they called, didn't email, and then cancelled it. ha So I called a week later after I figured that out and got it reordered- really screwed up company who can't edit their 'ship to' when they send something out. Then it sat for about 3-4 weeks at the mailbox place of a friend who gets mail down here. You know what? It's a mistake to ask friends to help out with stuff like this. He had said sure- send it to my mailbox...and we would pay if there was an extra charge. It sat and sat there. He went up to the states and was supposed to pick it up while I was in NY (it had already been there more than a week)...then came back and said- oh yeah- I forgot. Forgot? So now we were at the mercy of the landowners here- ok let me explain. For something like $9 a month plus the cost of a mailbox at a mailbox place they use- we can have mail service. But in the 2.5 years we've lived in Mexico we've never received anything by mail. There's always been someone coming down, and so when he offered, we gratefully said yes please. I mean we just don't need to get much and could always wait. Last year I bought a hard drive for my laptop, but we were in Penasco and a friend who went back and forth quite often to Tuscon was happy to let me use her address....and then next time she took a trip- it showed up. So for this juicer, we decided to get one after going to a stand in Ensenada and having a carrot/beet/celery juice. I researched the heck out of it; we even looked at some used juicers here, and decided to spend the money on a good one, brand new. I was lazy, and didn't know as many people who went back and forth- even a couple of months ago, and went with someone that made it seem easy. Yeah well "I forgot" cost me about $50 extra, a charge for bringing it across and for it being a big box....and almost another $20 on top of that because of another greedy little shit.....So I am still not going to start paying $9 a month, but I do know I will have a debit card coming and something else that escapes my brain this second...but I can wait until it's a couple of things. Then a couple who are in my afternoon meditation group go back and forth twice a month...they actually have a house in Calif and a house here- they work every other week in the states! Anyway she's really nice and offered to me anytime. Another woman I recently met thru the same meditation group has a husband who also works in the states and she actually helped me to get the book we're using for meditation. So it will be ok- but this really put me thru my paces. I was sooooo frustrated and pissed off. If I heard- well this is Mexico- one more time I was gonna scream! It can't be this hard! The other thing is I was intimidated by the border here, I think I said that yesterday. But the truth is I can get one day insurance and drive thru at Tecate.  Ha ha holy crap did I just write all that about getting the juicer?? Yep. Well the people who were supposed to pick it up (when our friend didn't- the regular pick up people) just didn't. One day it was- oh it's such a big box. Really? Another day it was well it didn't have the guy's name first..what? Then, oh well there's no paperwork so the border won't know what to charge...every day a new excuse. oh it will be here Monday...tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow...... I wanted to scream every day and I was stuck- powerless because I couldn't pick it up since I had no account at the place, and couldn't get it sent back..aarrgghhh........BUT this afternoon we got it! It's so pretty. Ha ha yeah didn't use it yet, we're gonna tomorrow, though.

Yep it's good to be home. We decided to make our trip down south in about a month- at the end of October so it should be done raining down there. Looks like we have someone different to stay at the house with the doggys....a guy we know who works on the property here- not "our" property but this whole place- this "camp". He's gonna bring his family and is hoping to have vacation from work even though he works here....He already loves Hazel...and who doesn't love Sam? So we may even be gone a month....I mean 4 days down to our house in Guerrero if we drive 12 hours a day...and I don't want to drive that much every single day. I mean yeah some of it is boring, but I want to have lunch in little towns, or maybe sight see a little since we won't have the dogs. But I'm glad it's not for a month so that I can be back on my routine for a month. Yeah as always I am all about me...so selfish I know- but this one worked out without me, because of the long rainy season it makes sense. And Everardo decided it...ha ha I was ready to go right after I got back from NY- but he convinced me that waiting is a good idea. And it is a good idea. And so is getting back on track- which I feel like I am after this week. No matter what I find a way to exercise. This week I did the weights 10 lbs less and less reps. Next week I'm gonna add back the weights and wait another week to increase the reps. I am so lucky to be able to look out at the waves while I workout in that gym. It's upstairs so I have such a nice view. I don't know how the weather will be going forward here, it's cooler at nite, but I'm still wearing shorts and tank tops every day. I almost wouldn't mind wearing long pants and shoes & socks ha ha. I did that in NY and it was kinda nice. If course on our trip it will be hot in Guerrero, and Oaxaca if we go there...and it seems like Michoacan was cool in the evenings. I think its at about 6000 feet so probly does cool off at nite. Actually I think it will be close to the same time of year as we went last time.

We have a couple of friends who may visit us before we go- meaning sometime in the next 2 or 3 weeks I guess....Everardo's cousins Anna and Carlos are the only ones we've had here, I keep hopin' for my daughters to come soon. I have ideas to change things here in the house when we get back since we're picking up my books and a nice piece of furniture we left down there. Oh Oh! While I was gone in New York Everardo fixed the floor in the extra bedroom and came up with a piece of carpet to put in there and that room looks pretty good- we took out one of the twin beds- don't need it, and it looks nice. Ha ha I dragged home a floor lamp shaped like a cactus and want to paint the lampshade a sort of brick red and it's in there as well. He also fixed the floor on my side of the bed so I don't have to walk so carefully...and he made a new side fence outside where I thought it looked like cardboard tacked together! He actually cut out the planks from a left over square of wood he had for the floors! Now he started digging up the whole side yard to make a winter garden so winter veges here you come! He can make anything grow, and we've been making this mulchy stuff with banana peels and eggs shells and horse shit, so I bet things will grow great. So anyway, in our small living room I have all these little chotzky things, silly tiny plastic penguins, little wood painted pigs...kinda crap really- in lieu of my books and a few things I never brought from the states (that by the way I wish I would have simply entrusted to Drewy or a storage place and not given away- like my 600 year old Chinese statues I gave my sister who doesn't even speak to me ha ha- but who like ancient Chinese artifacts). Maybe I finally noticed because everything gets dusty/sandy here in one day, so to have all this little stuff on shelves, like a crazy old cat lady...is insane. So I plan to box most of it up. I mean it all- almost all has meaning to me. My little Russian figures I bought under the street in Moscow...but I also have a couple of hand made/painted nesting dolls from Russia that are actually for my daughters, and a couple of other Russian things...some wooden carved vases from Thailand, and the pigs are from various places in Mexico- but do I need them all- in the living room?? I think not. So it's almost all going into a bin...not a trash bin...the kind we use for packing. I want books and a few larger items that will be easy to dust quickly. My wrought iron chubby ballerinas from Thailand stay along with my brass jazz musicians...but they are large and won't fall over when I dust them ha ha. After that, mainly framed photographs. We are also going to get a couch we can both lay on at the same time! So maybe it's better that my darling daughters haven't come yet. Or Elena (Poppi's daughter).....

So I'm doing my workout, and also need to spend the next month working on Duolingo for Spanish- feels like I'm always saying I need to work on my Spanish....I do, and I notice that I am understanding alot more....but always always need to work on it. I have a couple of new women friends, Americans, that I have met thru the meditation group- which I am loving by the way. I'm trying to meditate at least for a few minutes every day- should be easy, looking out at the ocean, and yet...I still struggle with it. Well, at least I always have something to work on. So- stuff to do and stuff to look forward to. And oh yeah- kicking around when we'll head back to the U.S again... I mean kicking it around again. For sure at least a year away....5 seems like the right number, but I think the lives of our daughters may end up being the driving force for that....intrigued? Stay tuned....viva

My trip to upstate NY

It's been so long since I've written that I hardly know where to begin. In fact it's why the past couple of days I come to this page, sign and go somewhere else...to mindlessly look at facebook or play solitaire ha ha. I went on my trip to upstate NY and came home, then immediately caught whatever half the people I see have contracted. (expats only- the Mexicans all seem fine) Not too many details but diarreha so that no matter what I ate, out it came- well at least I wasn't throwing up, right? After one day of no exercise coming back from my trip I was back at it- and exhuasted by it. Got weaker for 3 days until I finally agreed to go to the doctor- so cheap that why the hell not?? Well as my sister says.....I can go to the doctor and be better in a week, or not go and be better in 7 days....ha ha right??

But yesterday I woke up feeling great- no weakness, so I think I'm back. Luckily I exercised almost every day in NY- not weights but my cardio zumba routine- out in my sister's front yard...not as weird as it sounds since not too many cars go by- mostly trucks with big trees on them and every one of them flying past, so I wasn't all that noticeable. Ok gotta grab my little notebook I carry everywhere to tell you about upstate New York- which by the way was amazing! Oh and pls know: Anywhere that is not New York City, is upstate New York! It was soooo green and lush- everywhere! Everywhere was rolling hills, greenery, different shades of green in the trees, the bushes, the flowers, the gardens- oh the gardens people had! I just saw no dirt, no sand- yeah completely the oppisite of here ha ha!! Oh yeah and no ocean, but lots of meandering streams, a river or two, lakes...so lots of water and lots of boats, so that seemed familiar.

Ok so about my trip. Ha ha first ya get across the border, so it was my first time walking across at Tijuana, and I did not like it one bit. Well I shouldn't be so dismal about it, because as it turned out I crossed pretty quickly, and if I could always do that, then I am ok with it. And quite possible it does work that way. We didn't get to Tijuana until about 10am, and of course, as we always do...we went the wrong way more than once before going the right way to get close to the border. I don't like the chaos there, not sure why...maybe I'm nervous that maybe there are more bad people there ready to fleece the naive tourist? But I am always there with my Mexican husband, I've never seen anything bad there..so why do I worry? Hmmm gonna have to let that one go....When you finally get near the border it's a zoo! It's like 6 lanes across of cars all waiting and line goes on forever. People everywhere, and so noisy. We parked in the same lot that Everardo did when he picked me up last time and he knew right where to go, so we started walking. I didn't see where the end of the line was and was sure we'd be in it all day! I was already ready to pay Tim the $70 for gas to get a ride thru Tecate, which I did the first time when it took us 6 minutes to cross. The problem there is, there are no services on the other side, so if Everardo was simply dropping me off I'd have no way to get to San Ysidro/San Diego and it's about a 20 minute drive or more. Ok so we are walking and a guy says he I can drive you across- but he want $65 or $75! Yeah no thanks. Then another guy says hey $5 and I get you to the front of the line. I would have kept walking but Everardo talked to him and we said ok. They brought me this white van stuffed full with people and I kissed Poppi goodbye and jumped in. Crazy but I thought -shit! Will I ever see him again? Am I headed for the middle of the desert? Ridiculous thought since we were at the Tijuana border....how would we just turn and drive away? Well next to me in the van were some Asian people who I asked if they spoke English or Spanish and they answered "little bit" and I figured out they also paid $5...but I didn't feel any better. After what was probly only 7 or 8 minutes but I thought forever, they packed a couple of more people - Mexicans this time and took off....and they brought us to the front of the line!! He told us where to stand and wait to be motioned in. We stood there maybe about another 10-15 minutes and then were waved thru. So before 11:30 am I had crossed. Like I said, if those guys are always there...then no problem.

Ok so I got on the trolley and was off. I found out I could jump off and on as long as it was the same direction, so I did that and went to AT&T for a sim chip for my phone and the bank for some cash. I only had my suitcase and a small backpack since my laptop was getting it's screen fixed & my sister had one I could borrow while I was there. Ha ha google kept out of this account from her laptop and then proudly sent me an email to tell me! But I guess that's a good thing right? Ok so I do my business and ride the trolley to where I can catch the bus for the airport. It is so easy to get from the border to the airport! And cheap...like $2.25 for each. I decided to have lunch since it was so early- my flight wasn't until 9pm! I got to the airport before 3pm; I had decided to just go there and read my new book and people watch since I didn't know anyone in San Diego..but ran into trouble. They wouldn't take my suitcase until 4 hours before my flight- so I had to sit outside security for about 2 hours...doesn't sound that bad- but out there...it's freezing!! The ac is on full blast, the floors are linoleum, and the chairs are plastic and metal. I was miserable. I did get a jacket out and changed into the pajama type pants I had planned to fly in since it was a red eye (overnite) flight. But I was cold. Ok so I read and got in at 5pm and headed right for a coffee place to get warmed up. I bought 2 bananas and the lady said they were $1 each! Ouch...then she looked around and said- nobody's gonna buy them tonite so take 2 for $1...thank you! Then I found $1 on the ground. So things were lookin' up. I packed a peanut butter sandwich, an apple and some almonds for my dinner so I didn't eat airport food...or be tempted to blow my new eating style with fast food right at the start of my trip and so a couple hours later, warm and cozy, I had that. Besides the trip was long long long, I didn't sleep all that great- man they have managed to make the space on the planes even smaller- but the next morning after only one plane change, in NY, I landed in Albany and my sister and her hubby were waiting for me!! We were all so happy to see each other! Let the adventure begin! Oh yeah I did get to see an idiot, who was late for his flight, open the door to head for his place after the people had all gotten on the plan and the airline folks had already left. That was waiting for my connection. A big alarm went off...he jumped in the air.....we all laughed...but I tell ya- NO SECURITY PEOPLE CAME!! Hmmmm. Finally someone came and turned off the alarm but the guy had already stomped off. Ha ha .
Ok- so my first day was very hot and that was good. Shorts and tees all day. Karen and I, and Emmy the dog walked all over her property and it is so beautiful. It must be like 10 acres...I don't actually know but there were hills and little open areas, a big area above the house on the hill they call the soccer field, little areas where there were benches or picnic tables, little paths, a little stone walkway that Karen made by digging up stones that had been there forever. A couple of really old out buildings that the wood had vines or algae (what is it called?) on it...like an old photograph or an old movie. So much character! She had a garden, with big plans for how she would change it for next year- something was eating her veges, but her green bean plant had bravely fought off the bugs and that day had pushed out one lone bean, but a couple of days later I think there were 3!

There were pretty flowers everywhere, some had been coming back yearly and some she had added. The white farmhouse sits close to the road- it seemed like all the houses were like that- ok wait- many houses, not all because the next door neighbor- their friends, the house was set back. But there's was right off the road, but has this beautiful expanse of green grass all around it, then groves of trees and/or bushes...lots of places for deer, squirrels, chipmunks and bunny rabbits to hide and play. Oh and I think-even a bear...there might have been bear poop evident one morning when Karen was out walking Emmy. Emmy is this cutie pie little dog- their first dog, and in my opinion....just what they needed! I think her breed is mixed, but at least part Pappion...ok I never heard of a Pappion, but they must be cute. She can only weigh about 7 or 8 lbs, black and white, long hair and these tall furry ears! Karen laughed about a facebook post I had put up with this dog who see his shadow and says "Holy cow I'm Batman!" Yeah she has batman ears! She is so sweet and she runs like the wind. We bonded right away and I told her all about her cousins Sam & Hazel. Now Hazel doesn't seem that small to me any more....her body is about the same size as Emmy, but her legs are long so she's much taller. Hazel looks like a german shepard who was in the movie Honey I Shrunk The Kids..an exact replica only tiny ha ha. So anyway back to Emmy. They have this huge property, but the house is close to the road...and Emmy goes nuts when a big truck or a motorcycle goes by. Uh oh.

They figured out the perfect solution! They put this really long line from the house up the hill on the ground, then attached by a pulley another line that is not attached to the ground, but the first line so it goes out to the sides. That way Emmy can run up and down the hill, and side to side. She has a huge area, and in some places she can get into the front of the bushes, but not entangled. There's also a third line and her leash, so Emmy has the run of the property! Well a big huge square anyway. And she takes her job of protecting her property and her people very seriously (ha ha) From in the house she monitors she windows for trucks or animals. There was these woodchucks that were across the street and oh how she struggled and shivered and barked at the windows for us to let her out to get them! (remember this: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood??- He'd chuck all the wood that a wood chuck could, if a wood chuck could chuck wood) But I've never seen a woodchuck before! I guess they are not a Calif animal? They kinda looked like a big fat beaver from my vantage point. There's also beavers, raccons...oh and geese! Across the street was a big pond and really early in the morning these geese would fly in, making all this noise. I think they were already flying south for the winter. So Emmy has lots to occupy her time, along with going everywhere with us.

My bedroom (and the master) was upstairs and my window looked out across the road to that pond. I woke up every morning at first light (then went back to sleep) but watched the gray light slowly start to get brighter, some mornings with misty fog swirling...and I could only partially see the pond thru the trees...it was mystical, magical. It was a beautiful moment each morning for me. I watched for a few minutes each morning, complimented and thanked the universe...for it's beauty, for letting participate, for my sister and brother in law, for my little Emmy, for my life, for life. Then I snuggled back down in my comfy covers and floated back off. The house was so...quaint. I mean it looked exactly like I thought it would as I came to each room. I mean I really liked how they had it decorated, furniture bought from county auction and barn sales, funky artwork. My sister is an artist and I love her taste. I had a big soft bed, a slanted roof (& yes I did hit my head but only once ha ha). All the rooms had so much light! And my bedroom had a window that was at floor level...really funky...all the rooms looked out to beautiful green rolling hills and trees as far as you could see. Of course it was summer- in another week or so the colors will begin to change- in fact I think it's starting but not yet in full swing- and then the snow will come and stays a long long time ha ha. They will leave and head down to Florida for the winter- snowbirds I guess they are called, right? But their neighbors will stay, so their house will be safe. They bought the property from a neighbor couple who have become their good friends. I met them and was instantly at ease with them- the nicest couple.

The kitchen was our main room for congregating although we got together at nite in the little "office" to watch movies- there's a comfy couch in there, too, but I also sat in the living room to read and they had a fireplace which we enjoyed one nite.

So we went to these little towns that are all over the place. We went to an auction that is every Tuesday nite (there's also one on Thurs nites at another location) and I bid with a paddle on some stuff!! First time I ever did that- with the auctioneer calling out from up on a stage! I only bid on things I knew I'd be out bid on ha ha! Karen said the prior year she got some great deals on some of their furniture, and you never know what they will have. Farm tools, old bicycles, toys, old costume jewelry, all kinds of furniture...it was really fun; and they sell hot dogs and other food, drinks, it was a family run business and they were all there from the old guy who was running the auction down to a granddaughter running items out to the lucky buyers who's bid was the highest.

We went to a street fair and a car show, oh and the dump every Saturday...and ha ha it's pretty busy with all the neighboring houses/farms bring their garbage...no pickup. Sunday we went to another friend's potluck, which was also a jam session, they were awesome!! Also awesome was the garden the guy's girlfriend created where she mixes flowers and vegetables. She gave us a tour and Karen asked lots of questions about what was with what and getting ideas for her own garden creation. We ate and danced and laughed. The next day we went back over to help bring chairs and things back up to the house- yeah the party was outside in a beautiful setting- green of course ha ha- and got to see the guy's workshop. My sister's close friends are very cool. (I want to say awesome but awsome seems to be my only adjective in this post ha ha). His name is Jeff and he makes "stretchers". Not for people going in an ambulance....but the wood frame that an art canvas is "stretched" across that a painter will then paint on. He had an amazing story of how he fell into the business....a friend he was working for when he first got out of college and was bumming around, asked what he was doing with his life....then suggested he take a look behind a painting when her was in a gallery...the guy did something where Jeff delivered things to art galleries for him (see I forget what it was), but anyway Jeff did it. He saw these beautiful works of art, these expensive pieces of art, created on these shabbily put together pieces of wood. His friend asked if he could do better- Jeff said- Hell yes! And so it began. He designed his first stretchers, and with his friend whispering in a couple of ears to give his buddy Jeff a chance...became wildly successful! Such a cools story eh? He told me he basically had no competition for like 25 or 30 years! He has some now, but he is never short of work orders. He's been a friend of my sister and hubby for more than 30 years...and I'm glad they have such a good friend. He's a super nice guy. He plays guitar, seems to like boats, since he had a yard full of these long canoes, a "cottage" that is a house boat...and if he is close with my sister- then he must have met them boating somewhere since they have lived on one boat or another for the last 40 years or so.....yeah this is their first house. In Florida they live on a little houseboat so they are not total landlubbers ha ha! It's funny, they finally moved back to the United States and I move out!

We have a funny cycle. In 1988 I think it was, we both moved to southern Calif and didn't know each other was coming. It was a nice year. My daughter Drewy was 3/4 and she got to spend alot of time with them that year. They were in Long Beach and me and Drewy were in Anaheim. Yep right next to Disneyland- I would see the top of the Materhorn every morning on my way to work! They always lived on a boat, a sailboat, a barge, now a houseboat...I traveled for work to other countries but they were almost always in Europe & I was going to places in Asia.

Anyway, my trip was...wait for it...awesome. We went to nearby Cooperstown where the Baseball Hall of Fame is- I took a photo as we drove by...none of us care about baseball ha ha. But I had a fabulous (see different word) cheeseburger in a little diner, and a horrible Rueben sandwich in another. (I was told I had to have a Rueben in NY..ugh wasn't missing anything). We went to an orchard and picked apples and berries, went to an apple cider farm...they weren't making cider that day but they had a nice layout, lots of "fall" knickknacks for sale...we bought some wonderful sharp cheddar cheese from them. We went to a farmer's market on a rainy day out in the country- ok everything was out in the country ha ha- and bought more fresh cheese and some great bread, that day we went home and got some hot chocolate on the way so had a feast in the cozy kitchen when we got home. Wednesday nite we had a Mexican dinner party and invited the 3 couple who they are close friends with, sadly one couple couldn't make because their dog was really sick...but we had alot of fun with the other 2 couples. We went to a couple of different museums and art exhibits and "visited" the sculture they bought but agreed to leave until the exhibit/show was over. I fell in love with a piece myself and am still kicking myself for not buying it on impulse! I took a picture of it, and still can see it exactly where it should be sitting in my house! (my husband never reads my blog so it's ok if I say this ha ha). I hesitated and did not spend the money because it was enough $ that I should have discussed it with him first- so I did. But he does not look at art the way I do. I tried to show him examples of the few nice things I do have, and what they mean to me, but he didn't understand. That's what I mean about I kinda wish I had just gone for it. I mean he wouldn't have stayed mad forever....(I think ha ha). My sister had said...in a year will the money won't seem like much, but if you are looking at something you love....she was right. They had chosen a sculpture that was/is really cool, and it was fun to see how much she loved it. The sculptures were all created out of old things- alot of old farming equipment, tools, that sort of thing. You could see faces in them all. After that day I started seeing faces everywhere. At the apple cider place they had old farm tools hanging along the inside of the big barn we were in and I started taking pictures of them all because I could see faces in them all!
So I had a wonderful, awesome, fantastic time. We did alot, and yet, not. We also spent time watching movies or curled up reading. I exercised almost every morning, and Karen bought tickets to a zumba class we tried out. It wasn't the best...girl had no Latin bones in her skinny bod ha ha! But we had fun anyway. We all did good with eating- they are healthy eaters already so except for the ice cream we bought for the dinner party, there was no sneaky bad foods calling to me from the cupboards. I didn't put on any weight, stayed the same and I'm soooo happy about that. The time with them flew by. I was so sad to leave. Everardo heard it in my voice and asked if I wanted to stay longer. I did of course, but isn't that the right time to leave? And after the first few days it started to get cold and rainy anyway... and man when it got cold- it got cold....for me of course after living in sunny hot Mexico for the last 2.5 years.

I went to see them because I missed them. I had started to worry about my brother in law after talking/emailing with my sister, and then found out I had enough frequent flyer miles for a free ticket- so I went. Barry is my brother in law, but I've known him longer than anyone in my life except my brother and my 2 sisters. Maybe 40 years, maybe more. He's older than my sister, but has had some fucked up medical problems over the years, including open heart surgery, cancer, ect. His poor body is tired out, and now he's having some crazy issues where it seems like his brain can't get the message out sometimes to other body parts that it was just talkin' to. Sad and scary. But it's still him. They are still them. It's so touching how much they care for each other and how much my sister loves him. It's hard though, to become the one who kinda has to caretake the other, and I'm sure hard to be the one who can't do everything you did just not that long ago. That's another reason I love those friends and neighbors. The couple next door has a similar (but diff of course) problem, where the husband had brain cancer 7 years ago and the doctor said go home and get your affairs in order...but he beat it! But it took his toll, and little by little he has started to deteriorate. So the two women can commiserate and when they can laugh they can see their 2 gimps. And I suspect when they need to cry they have each others shoulders, hugs and unconditional support and love. I got to spend some one on one time with my sister and we talked and talked. About our mom, our family, ourselves...her family and mine, which of course when all is said and done, is the same family. Am I blessed or what? Love you sissy.

Wow! So this was such a long post that I think I am done...oh except to say on the way home I did come across the perfect zip up sweatshirt for only $20 in the airport (yep $20!) that says Upstate New York on it....and when I tried to catch that trolley back to the border, I missed it and had to wait almost an hour because they don't run as often on Sunday...but I missed it because the ticket machine would not give me a ticket- but it did spit a whole bunch of quarters at me...they just kept coming out of the machine! I found in the pile one of those new gold dollars that are just slightly bigger than a quarter and I bet it got stuck in the machine...so I made out with a couple of extra bucks on that deal. I walked back across the border and into the arms of my darling husband...and THAT is the end of my trip to upstate New York story! Viva y buenas noches!

getting ready to go to the states

It's Monday & I leave for The Big Apple on Thursday. Hmmm is it still considered the big apple if  you're not going to the city, but just the state, out in the country- to a tiny community? Yesterday someone told me if it's not "the city", it's "upstate". I told them I think I'm going more to the middle of the state and they said- you're going upstate-ha ha. ok. I'm so so so looking forward to this visit. My sister and I have so much closer over the past few years whether or not we actually see each other. Closer with my brother as well. Funny I have left from Mexico to visit my brother in Texas and now my sister in NY...Mexico encourages me to travel? And when I get back..yipee the road trip.

So my sister bought me the IPhone 5 I found on craigslist in her town- oh boy a "5". Ha ha right now I have a 3g, so it should be quite an improvement. I mean, my phone is fine- I don't need it for much besides magic jack so we can call the states for free and not need it connected to our computers or the wall. But I goggled the difference between the 3 and the 5....it's alot, size and shape, but the internet is quicker, the camera better, the speakers, I guess everything. I mean I rarely look up anything on the  internet or even go on FB because it's so slow, but when I was with my kids they were using the gps, and other internet functions and getting immediate results while I was still waiting, so I guess I'll have it if I need it.

I know I say this all the time, but Mexico has changed me. There is so much I don't need, can go without. I never use the dryer, I don't wear shoes. I don't text. I don't have 3000 channels on the tv. In fact we pay about 325 pesos a month for tv- that's about $26....I was listening to these people talk about their tv packages,,and they pay $100, $150 a month! They get "everything" (this means they get all the channels from the states). We get about 6 channels in English, and a couple that are a guess. The movies will say a different title in the on screen guide- now I just think it's funny- so you either have to watch a minute or read the blurb to see what movie it is. And I am starting to watch things in Spanish- however I notice if I watch a show I know- like Special Victims Law & Order, I can understand more and they speak slower because they are dubbing English which is spoken slower. But- at least right now (because I seem to change my mind alot-) that there are so many longer words in Spanish no wonder they have to say them faster ha ha. It has taken me some time to be open to long words- I mean so many syllables...that some words seem to go on & on. Words I had so much trouble with when I got here, or sounds I wasn't used to making.
There is basically no frozen food here. Popsicles, pizza, sometimes veges, and if you go to Costco in Ensenada you have some choices as long as you are willing to buy it in the big big big size. But I like the bakeries in all the stores- the food is out and you use a pan and tongs to pick your own, the amount you want, the ones you want. They they bag them up for you. Needing change for everything- coins I mean. For the guy who pumps your gas (no self serv), the people who bag your groceries or take your empty cart after your groceries are loaded into the car. And those guys- that's the only thing they get paid. Knowing that people are existing on so little. People work so hard here. Kids take care of their little brothers and sisters- grandparents take care of kids because parents work. Not crazy about all this part. I want my kids to have a childhood, and my young adult children to enjoy themselves, to find themselves- I am happy my daughters didn't (and for the 21 yr old- don't) want to have a baby until late 20's or early 30's. If I wished for one thing for Mexico it would be birth control. I see parents every day who look like teenagers. Married at 16 or 18, or even 20...kids right away. I mean I do love how the Mexican people are so family oriented, that families stay together, kids, parents, grandparents...but everyone grows up to quick, and they work too hard for too long. 

You never drink water from the tap, or even use it for cooking- it's just for washing dishes or your hands. There is no mail, no mailbox. You pay your bills at the grocery store. The phone system- ha ha. You have to dial numbers in front of the number when dialing from a landline to a cell and different to a long distance cell. You do not pay gov't fees, like dr lic, school, immigration at their offices, you pay it at the bank. And even weirder- you must first get the money from you bank, then give it back to them in cash to pay whoever it is.

The stores may or may not have the same items as last week. You will always wait in line. For a while. Back to the tv- it used to drive me crazy when they showed the same commercial 2 or 3 times back to back, on every break. Now I don't even notice. I know something may take all day. I know we make plans and they may or may not happen. So I guess I would say maybe patience and acceptance are the 2 biggies I am learning here. Ha ha the cars! My car is getting rusty from the salty air, and the driver door-wait- both front doors have to be opened from the outside! Cars that would never be approved to drive in Calif- never pass smog, some with no lic plates, lights not working, pieces missing. Many homes are the same way- they would never be lived in-yet people find a way.

But there's other stuff. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to be on a path where I am working on myself- mind, body, spirit. Exercise, eating right, mediation, AA....I'm finding a way to make all these different things seem to go hand in hand. I am journaling about my exercise-food-weight, and starting to do the same with meditation. This blog has been my day to day online sort of diary where I get to think it thru by writing it down and sometimes I just wait to see what I write ha ha. Right now I am feeling "Let it go" in a huge way. It's a concept we embrace in AA- do your best and then let go- it's about not worrying, it's about having some faith in the universe, about understanding that you do what you can, but so many things are out of our control, and anxt'ing over them does nothing. In fact I believe that negative feelings/thoughts can actually create negative energy around something and maybe affect the outcome in a negative or at least different way. In meditation, which to me is also about spirituality (like AA), doing my part and then getting out of the way for the rest. The process is the goal. Make plans but don't be married to the results. Detaching. And with my health program I am trying to measure my results, see what works and what doesn't and modify process and goals as I go- no judgements. So I am starting to see where it all relates to each other.

So yeah, Mexico has changed me- for the better. I appreciate what's around me. I have slowed down so much.Wow I just wrote about a page on something else I'm trying to take care of and then accidentally deleted it- well maybe it's not the right time to share it. Ha! Expectations is another huge thing I am learning to let go of here. Expecting things to go "right". In Mexico think of how something should logically go, then get ready for the opposite ha ha.
But it's ok. Watching the fog and clouds yesterday slipping over the mountain at the mouth of the bay and then back over the hills all wispy. Our bay is a horseshoe with us at the bottom, Ensenada on the north side and these hills on the right. Fog comes in and sneaks around the peak at the end, the sun sets right there as well. The water is different colors at different times of day. There's some crazy birds in the big tree across the road going the other way (toward the estuary) and lately they are very nosiy at nite. They are some kind of egret I think. I've been trying to figure out what they are by google (of course) but am not sure. But they start talking about 9pm and are sometimes still making their funny noises after 11pm when I go to bed, and my window is on that side. In the gym this morning I was looking out at the water as I did the bowflex for my arms, and thought about how the door to the place is so rusty- it looks terrible- but usually I don't even notice it as I gaze thru the doorway out to the bay. We are a contradiction of beauty and old broken down ugly...people are so poor here, but so rich in spirit, in nature. Maybe that's how it works eh?
I love Mexico! I love the people, the country, the love, the simplicity, the culture, the history. Yes i know there's lots of bad stuff, corruption- how do you tell the cartel bad stuff from the gov't bad stuff? Giving cops $ to let you go. Knowing in most cases I wouldn't call the cops for something wrong. When they are racing down the road lights and sirens- ha ha the cars don't move out of their way! They shake their heads..."fuckin cops"....but if an ambulance comes shrieking thru- the cars do their best to move over. Cracks me up. People are just trying to live their lives. Hanging onto hope. Smiling all the time. Yeah- I love Mexico!
Well maybe my next post will be from a farm house in NY...viva!

Trying to catch up

This will be a short post. My laptop is in the repair shop and I'm using my husband's laptop. I couldn't find my blog to write in and got frustrated. I have it bookmarked on my laptop and so never have to sign in or find my way to my posts- in fact I haven't found it yet and hope when I publish this one, that the page will then revert to my posts that includes along the side a table of contents with my stats and a link to my dashboard....

Ok enough admin crappola eh!

It has been beautiful here. And the pelicans and dolphins are back. Ahh sigh, that's the serenity I'm talkin about. The dolphins come in ones and twos, not every day, but often. The pelicans however, I guess follow the fish? Since at least June they have been scarce, maybe one or two once in a great while. But in the past 2 weeks they have returned with a flourish. A couple of days ago I county around 40 of them sitting at the edge of the water just before the sun went down. I ran in and got my camera, and when I came out there were even more! A pelican convention! I must have taken over 100 pictures...which is my new way as a budding photgrapher...and then after I download them onto my laptop I usually choose about 10 to post on facebook, maybe 15 or more to keep, and delete the rest. But oh yeah- same nite is when my laptop broke.

Yeah broke. I was having a small issue with the screen but I could live with it- but the guy at the repair place told me to watch the hinge....and the other day I did not watch the hinge, closed it too quick and eeeww the noise it made. Took it back to the guy...and well...his fixing it and putting in a new screen so I have to wait. The problem with that and my great picture is- Everardo's laptop which does not have that kind of problem, has one detecting the sim card with the photos on it, so it's really hard to download new pics...aarrgghh!

Anyway I have some awesome pelican photos in my camera. Then yesterday morning I was working out up in the gym down our road, and I saw about 5 dolphins swimming in the bay. A couple chasing each other and one blowing up water like a whale! That one was jumping up out of the water, too. It's just such a ...such a joy to watch them, always makes me feel happy. Then about 60 pelicans all came in together and landed along the shore! The convention continues! Maybe they partied the nite before...and all slept in and were just showing up for the day's activities... but what a morning! I worked out, and got to see dolphins and pelicans! If I had gone home and put the covers over my head it still would have been a perfect day! But it did actually get better!

My workout ends up taking almost 3 hours on the days I go to the gym...that's counting walking over there and back (ok 3 min each way) adding in the sit ups I do on my "ab lounger", then switching to my beat up 25 peso sunglasses and heading down to the beach (about 100 yards away). The actual gym time is between 45 and 50 min. My dance routine is timed for 25 minutes twice. I need to know when I hit halfway. It's only 50 min because when I first started doing it, I walked way down the beach as I danced, but these days it's basically no walking-all dancing and I stay pretty close to home. Well unless there is red tide, which has come and gone all summer and I usually walk to one end of it or the others-whichever way is shorter....(I just don't want Sam & Hazel swimming in it any more than they have to- and they always "have to" swim during my exercise time- meaning I have to hose them off when I get home). Calling it a "routine" is sorta stretching it- yes I exercise routinely for at least 50 min....ok here's what I do: The music is a mixture of zumba and rock & roll, and it plays in different order every day ha ha. I can also manually make it skip songs, and I feel different on different days....like today I felt like a rocker and did mostly rock and roll. Other days I feel more zumba like...you get it....but usually it's a mix. I have steps worked out for 5 or 6 songs, and kinda steps for a couple more, and the rest is dancing the way I feel ha ha!!
Ok then shower and make my protein shake, wash the blender and sit down to drink it. I guess shower and shake is about half an hour, sometimes a little more. Anyway maybe closer to 2.5 hours....but if I start getting dressed for my work out at 9am, it seems like I am sitting down with my protein shake at almost noon. That M-W-F. Tues & Thurs is less than 2 hours with only about an hour of actual dancing. Yeah I know I said it's 50 min, but I usually keep going for at least another song or two....

So after my workout and subsequent collapse to drink my shake, I had about an hour and a half before I left for my afternoon meditation group which is 2 hours. I really liked it. We are discussing this book- Essential Spirituality and it has exercises to do to go along with the concepts it offers. We just started this book, but I really like it so far and worked on the exercises before the class, and then we kinda talk about how we felt about it and could be as detailed or not detailed as we wanted, because some of it can be pretty personal as you take a look inside yourself. So that was nice as well.
Then home for a little down time, then dinner and a nice walk on the beach as it started to get dark with Poppi and both dogs- who were so happy to run and be silly. There was still pelicans swooping and diving and at least one dolphin. Nice day. And my nice days seem to be running together. I cannot believe it's the end of August! Where is the time going?

At the end of next week I'm going to see my sister and I'm so excited about that! They have a farmhouse out in the country in New York- how cool is that? Her first house, and they have a little dog named Emmy who I haven't met yet. My brother in law is not doing great...kinda rickety..a little sickly...and I just want to spend a little time with them. They have a riding lawn mower and I get to drive it! Cool! I think they have a pond and sort of a floating dock- or maybe it's more like a pontoon- I'll let you know...and I have no idea whether it will be warm enough for that. She just emailed me and said she found a zumba class near her place, so she and I can do that together- so totally cool! And maybe I can learn some new steps for my beach dancing. Oh yeah, I guess I'll have to break out my old workout clothes since here I wear a really old pair of baggy shorts and a couple of old tshirts- one of which does say New York on it!

I'm also hoping to find a used IPhone out there...yeah on the hunt for that again, same as when I went to see my daughters in May, but I got bored/frustrated with it there- but now my phone is kinda getting worse and I need need need my magic jack to talk to my girls, so this time I think I'll try to stick with it; in fact I wrote to someone selling one on Craigslist and my sister is gonna go take a look at it (hopefully), so..we'll see. I talk to my Drewy several times a week and Halla almost as much so it's worth it to me to do the work to get one.

When I get back- we go on our Mexico adventure, down to our house in Guerrero and to Michocan to see Poppi's sister & brother. I'm excited to get my books! My antique desk and my peacock blanket that I bought when I came down here with my friend and we had to stay all nite in the Mexico City airport huddled together. I didn't know 2 years would go by before we went back there....I'm excited to see it, feel it, the water, my rock, our house. Oh and our renters are going on vacation so want to pay the rent 6 months in advance so that's nice- we know we'll have someone in there for at least another 6 months- Ha! I wish they wanted to buy it! I'm not even sure they will be there when we get there, and I'm sorry to go in when they aren't home...but I guess we will.  Maybe they will wait to leave until after we come.....
But who knows what comes next-life is good right now so......for now....VIVA!!