ok this is a dear diary. Getting ready for my trip. Tomorrow I fly to Calif, San Francisco, and then the hour drive north to my little village, Petaluma. Ha ha not a village, a town, about 60 thousand people, just the right size for us. I think Puerto Penasco is actually a little bigger although when googled, it states about the same population.

My only "anx't" anxiety isactually getting to the airport in Phoenix. I'm not driving cause I don't want to pay for long term parking, and well Everardo can't really cross the border at this point. I have a great friend who loves driving, and she drove me up there to pick up and drop off my daughters when they came to visit in Jan, but she left for Arizona on Monday for a month. So I'm sure when this place was much busier, a few years back, the shuttles were more user friendly. Probly even during the holiday weeks, but for me, this has been a tiny nightmare. I say tiny, cause after this past year, kinda gotta qualify my nightmares- I mean we have electricty, internet, atms, paved roads, and if I get up to the airport late, well there's always another flight in an hour or two...unlike in Acapulco.....where I'd for sure have to go to Mexico City......ok anyway- we went to the shuttle place, and they moved. Ok only across the road, to a tiny office with a desk...and a phone. Paper taped in the window with phone numbers and shuttle departure times. We called last week and the guy said he be there the next morning, but when we went to meet him, he didn't show. We returned a couple of days in the afternoon when we thought there were departures, but they changed the time. But to be honest the one thing we did not do, was return at 7am which is when the first shuttle goes up there.

It goes from here to the border, in a tiny town called Sonoyta (so-no-eeeta), then up to Phoenix, However it does not go to the airport. So last week we drove up to Sonoyta which is only an hour north and talked to them up there. They seemed so uninterested in our questions, answering well it leaves about 8 or 8:30...for me this is not great cause my flight is at 1:15pm, and it's 3 hours from the border to the airport. So ok, 3 hours would be 11:30...oh and the shuttle does not go to the airport- did I say that already? So you have to catch a taxi from their stop to the airport. Kinda sucks cause I haven't traveled thru there before and I don't have alot of time to make a mistake- ya know? When I first heard 7am, I thought ok good, 1pm should be no problem. ha ha. So then Everardo talks to a guy who says, oh for $20 US, we can take you all the way to the airport but you gotta tell us the day before. Yesterday we went back to the office here in Puerto Penasco, wait -we called first, and he said he'd be there in 10 min, so we went over, and he said, oh we don;t go to the airport, oh and we get there...about 1pm I guess. I had a freaking heart attack! More conversation in Spanish which escapes me...and he moves it to noon...I think.

We leave and try (again) to call the guy who had told Everardo about getting me to the airport by 11:30am. New surprise. The reason the call went to voicemail every time, well might have been cause we were calling someone is Minnesota! Well though maybe if they had answered we would have figured it out sooner ha ha. The area code 651 in MEXICO is Sonoyta! Because their other phone numbers besides here, were all Phoenix....well you get the picture. So late yesterday he talked to the guy and he said- come to Sonoyta, not on the shuttle- find him. He'll leave at 8am, of he figures out the shuttleisn;t coming from here cause no travelers- well he'll leave earlier...and he will take me to the airport. Ok now I am no longer nervous about actually getting to the airport. Wow that explanation took long enough-suffice it to say...welcome to Mexico. I was worried cause people tend to answer what you want to hear, or what they think you want to hear. For me- clearly I should have scheduled a later flight, and there is one at 4:30, so if I miss it....ok knock wood and keep fingers crossed I make the flight.

I'm so excited- to see my house and what they've done with it. To see my doggy park friends. To go to as many meetings as I can. Here the English speaking AA meeting are very small, and the Spanish speaking women's meeting is also small. I am soooo ready for a meeting with 50 or 60 people in it. I'm so excited to see some friends. To breathe in the redwoods, to walk in downtown Petaluma, to eat sushi....oooh to eat sushi. I'll probly go alone, eat slowly..and alot...to savor it, to remember it. MMMM. Ok so I'm all packed except for this laptop, the phone charger and phone, and these reading glasses. I'm taking Everardo's phone, so I can't take pictures and I have no camera. Gonna try to borrow one with a chip so I can easily download, or buy a cheap one if I have to. He's keeping my IPhone cause it has the magic jack application so he can call the states for free. I can call him for free on that same number. If I bring the IPhone I'll have to buy a chip, and we never bought Magic jack for the computer which would have given his phone access. His is not a smart phone so the free app doesn;t work for him. But why pay $80 a year when we can just share my phone. I'm taking my Spanish workbook, but I unpacked the dictionary and 501 verbs book cause together they weigh more than 5 lbs and I think my suitcase is close to the limit....after all it's 2 weeks, and I'm not sure how the weather will be....and ok- I don't want to do laundry besides anything small enough to rinse out in the sink ha ha, and I needed to bring a couple of paperbacks...couple a little gifts... Ok now I gotta jump in the shower, shave my legs and wash my hair. Oh I learned today from my students learning English that the word for hair on my head is different than the word for haor anywhere else on my body...crazy eh?
Ok I'll try to write from California, describe how it feels to be back, can you go home again??? Can't step in the same place in the river twice...right? Vamos a ver! Viva

I remember why I love it here! Yesterday was a perfect day. Hot outside but not unbearable. We went to the beach in the early afternoon and played in the water and looked for shells for a few hours.

There are different beaches here, all accessible, and all kind of different. Sandy Beach is like the famous beach; it's very long and a nice beach, but for me not perfect of you have a dog. It's the beach with what I call the volcanic shelf. Not sure if it's actually a shelf since I've never walked way out into the surf at this beach. At one end it is below hotels and an RV park, and there's always vendors selling their wares, souviners and/or cool drinks in pineapples or simply cups but with lots of ice and slushy fruity beverages. But that volcanic rock is a problem for Sam, it has holes and dips, and when he is focused soley on his ball- which is his life (ha ha), he isn't looking where he's running, and of course he can't see when running thru shallow water. I don't think I've been to the beach here without him, so...

We walked on Sanday Beach alot when we first got here; we knew where it was and it was cold, so I wasn't thinking about going in the water. There's a place to park that is at the far end away from the hotels, and there's the old guy who watches the car, who we give 5 or 6 pesos to when we leave. Then, insearch of something better for Sam, I found another place and the area is called The Mirador. A nice beach when the tide is in, way in, so the "holey" volcanic rocks are further out. You can drive out very close to the beach, and not too many people. But again, when I returned I found the volcanic plate, and I saw Sam actually slip once and go down on his shoulder. I was really surprised he wasn't limping after that. So, the search continued.

Enter the beach at Las Conchas. Wow! Beautiful beach, no volcanic rock, and so many shells. A nice beach at both low and high tide. Another really long stretch of beach. Las Conchas is a gated community- however I found out that just means they write down you license number, and wave you thru. There are lots of places between these huge, and for the most part empty houses, to get down to the beach, and Sam and I like this place. During the vacation weeks of Spring Break and then Semana Santa the water was full of banana boats and jet skis, and although fewer now, they're still there. Of course vendors as well, and a good place for Sam to play and me to read. OK, the truth is I barely read cause Sam wants to play continually, and begs you to participate.

The newest beach discovery is the beach at Playa Encanto. This is about a 20-25 minute drive, but enjoyable, and wow the beach is amazing. Really the same I guess as Las Conchas, but much quieter, no jet skis, no banana boats, or the flying minibikes...the shells I been collecting out there are so beautiful. Everywhere here it's very shallow for quite some time before it gets deep. I've actually not been over my head yet, and I've walked out pretty far from shore. In fact further than I've ever been from shore and not in a boat ha ha. Far enough for me to be a tiny bit nervous, although I'm told there's no sharks here because it's a gulf...but after thinking about that- but why not? There's dolphins, whales and seals, so why no sharks?? I definitely need a air mattress at the very least, maybe a plastic kayak like my friend Anda (who has invited me but always cancels....).

So- Sandy Beach is about 5-7 min away, Mirador maybe 10, Las Conchas 15min, and Playa Encanto 20-25min.There's also the beach at La Cholla- 10-15 min, and we haven't explored it yet. In fact I bet there are a few more beaches we haven't discovered yet...

Anyway after a beautiful beach day we came home and took showers, then headed back out to this greattaco place right down the street. Yum. Took a small drive on the way back and saw a horse parade! Ha! Hundreds of horses heading down Benito Juarez, the main street thru town, we found out later they were horses from around the area, Rio Colorado, San Luis, other places. Some of the horses were so beautiful! Some of them were prancing. All different sizes, colors,  and kinds of horses. We followed them and then Everardo got creative and whipped up some side streets to get ahead of them. They walked all the way to the malecon, and then winding thru and away. We stayed at the malecon and walked thru the huge patio area where the small 4-8 person music groups were playing for people and saw a dancing horse. It was very cool. Then of course all the people, families, vendors, chatter, food, music; and Everardo bought me a baseball cap that says Puerto Penasco on it. We watched people dancing, and some kids climbing down to the water where a seal had been spotted. I took pictures of everything, except the seal, who was very elusive. We walked a few blocks and circled back up towards out car, having to pass our favorite ice cream store, and so stopped in for cones. That place must rake in the dough, I've never seen it empty! We were in shorts and tshirts the whole time, and the bearest hint of wind cooled us just enough to stay comfortable.

Yes, a perfect day, and yes, I remember why I love it here! Viva

It's Thursday. This would be a dear diary post cause not much is going on. Every day this week has been incredibly windy, and the direction of the wind blows dirt into the house thru the windows and the doors. Sucks for selling stuff on the beach to tourists, since they don't spend too much time outside when it's soooo windy. I studied alot with my Spanish, and had some fun with my English students; they're getting pretty good with the song. They are pretty funny.

My students have a good time trying to learn English. They really want to learn words; they ask way more for words than for sentences...so I ask them for sentences to go with the words....Today they wanted parts of the body. I usually start the class with one or two things-maybe one from the previous class and something related to it, then something new always comes up. I swear I enjoy it more than they do. But Tuesday I felt great cause one woman said she needs my class cause she needs to learn English for her job. They all really want to learn and so sometimes we work on something painfully as they struggle to get the pronuciation down. But we all laugh alot, too. And they all help me with my Spanish- so I think that bonds us even more, cause I'm learning as well. They laughed today when I said they all speak so fast, even my Spanish teacher...that sometimes I just look at her in amazement cause I have NO idea what she just said ha ha.

I am very excited about my trip next week. I leave a week from today. I can hardly wait to see my daughters! And I am also dying to drive up to Armstrong Woods, which is a redwood reserve, a state park I think- but a beautiful redwood grove- the way it smells, the way the air is, quiet, traquill; I like to rub my hands on the bark of one of the trees and just breathe it in. I love the redwoods so much. I have a picnic/potluck one day with my "dog park friends". The group I always saw when I took Sam to the dog park, and their dogs are all about the same age as Sam. I was sad to hear that none of them take their dogs to that park anymore, that they all go different places and barely stay in touch with each other, but one woman, Holly called them all and everyone wants to come for a picnic. It's only about 6 or 8 of us, but we used to stand around in the grass at that park and just chat (ok bullshit) about whatever was going on in our lives at the time. We could complain or praise our spouses or other family members, bitch about our bosses and our crappy or wonderful jobs, comment about our town's politics, or just life in general. When I was working I'd just see them on weekends, and sometimes in the evenings after work. I was lucky- the park was right across the street from my house.
I hope to have lunch with a couple of engineers I worked with at one company and we used to travel together to Thailand all the time. They are both still there and the business has moved from Thailand to China. I did get to go to China once; right after that trip I resigned; I wanted to stop traveling, and I was able to get my dog Sam. I moved to a different company with no travel...ha ha got boring but like I said, I got Sam. When my daughter is not working I hope to hang around with her, and my younger daughter as well- but she's got school and work.

 My older daughter and I are trying to figure out a tattoo we could both get- or something related to each other's. I am going to add a little color to a heart with birds and a peace sign; it's basically purple and the blue of the ink, and I was thinking maybe a little hint of yellow and red behind it as if there was a sunset. And also, I have a vine with tiny leaves that goes up my arm, and the secret is that it actually spells my husband's name, but no one can see it unless I was to tell them about it. But on the back of my shoulder I have a heart with my daughter's names, and I was thinking about extending the vine over there and have it say Elly, my mom. She died on Sept 10, 2011, but I still miss her so much. I read on facebook today a post by my daughter, and she had been chatting with an old woman in the dentist office and the woman reminded her somehow of he Grandma, and she said later she cried cause she misses her grandma. I commented, "me too baby". So anyway, we'll see. This daughter has some tattoos, and her fiance has alot, on his arms and chest. Both my daughters and me have a tiny pink breast cancer ribbon tattoo, the tattoo artist did all three for free, it was after I was finished with treatment. My younger daughter doesn't have any other tattoos, which is probly good since she's only 19. Kinda funny, I just reread this to try and spell check since spell check for some reason is not working in any of my programs (yeah that's another errand when I'm in Calif- to take my laptop to my computer guy and have him give it a once over...change my office programs back to English, maybe reinstall my spell checker)- anyway I noticed it sounds like my tattoos are hearts and vines. Yes 2 hearts, but mostly I have peace signs and dragonflies on my forearms. One one arm is peace; I have it written in Arabic, Thai, English and Spanish...wanting Japonese ad Chinese, and a couple of peace signs; one with an earth, one more 60's like ha ha. The other arm is for the dragonflies- which I love. I have this thing that tells about them; that they have been on this earth for 30 million years, showing us strength and endurance.... beauty, strength...I like that. The dragonfly has 2 different names in Mexican Spanish: Chambuleke, and Libelula. Again....viva!

So this morning I was in a meeting and said I was grateful for the lessons put in front of me since moving to Mexico. Maybe the biggest is patience. You have to accept it or go crazy. Anyway after the meeting I went to the bank to deposit some American dollars so I could withdraw pesos. The stores here give a much lower exchange rate than the bank, so we always deposit dollars. This was never an issue before Everardo started selling things to the tourists on the beach ha ha. We only deal in pesos. But now we have dollars. Anyway- I learned a new lesson. NEVER go to the bank on Monday morning! I lasted 20 minutes in line, patiently waiting, watching a little kid playing off on the side, watching more people come into the bank behind me....and then I looked at my watch. Arrgghh It was 40 minutes before my turn. Patience gone! Anger present and accounted for!

Mexico is a cash business. Monday morning means all the businesses that thrived over the weekend, I am assuming resturants and little shops by the beaches...they all bring the wads of cash they made over the weekend, to the bank first thing Monday morning. I fumed because they do not have a special line or 2 lines for merchant deposits; at least half the people-at least half had bulging bags, you know, the leather zippered bags for money, and so as each went to the window, they were there up to 10 minutes! Did I say aarrrgghhh!!!

And my day gets better...we went to the airport shuttle place to see what time I need to catch it next week for my trip to Calif, and of course it was closed. Everardo called the cell number on the door and the guy will be in tomorrow so we'll go back. But we decided to take a drive up to Sonoyta, the town where the border is and talk to the shuttle office there. It's about an hour north of here; a pretty drive if you like the desert, and I do. We get there and in that office they are very obviously doing some other, on the side business, and not to interested in our questions. Yeah they leave "around" 8 or 8:30...yeah it's "about" 2.5 or maybe 3 hours up to Phoenix....oh and we don't go to the airport, but you can take a taxi from out location- it's close. And believe me, those responses were not in a row, informative, anything more than over the shoulder can't you see I'm busy answers. They are basically the only game in town, so we're stuck unless we want to spend entirely too much money. Did I say aarrgghh?

Ok so that was 2 out of 3...Now tonite we're planning to go to the movies. This will be the third nite in a row we tried to go to this movie. To be fair the first nite we didn't know what was playing or any of the times, we just went down there. The movie we wanted to see didn't start for an hour and a half so we decided to come back the next nite (last nite). We asked the guy if it was playing at the same time and he checked then said yes. So last nite we went down there, at the last minute cause they don't let you go sit in the theater and wait. -I like to get a hot dog, popcorn, and...ice cream (bon bons) and eat while we wait and watch people coming in. Not here. You have to wait until about 5 minutes before the movie is going to start, then they let you walk down the hallway to the screening rooms. So we got there and the guy (the same guy) says, oh that movie started an hour ago, at 7:30pm- you should look up the times on the internet. A little while ago I did just that, and it shows playing at 8:25 every day. Crap I hope it didn't start 15 min ago!
So tonite, we will try it again. This will be number 3 in two ways. Trying to see the movie for the third time, and third thing today with a potential to not turn out so hot- ha ha

I just notcied the tv; the movie Maid in Manhatten is on...I think that's the name- with Jennifer Lopez? Ha ha the title showing on the channel, and in the online tv guide menu, is Sueno de Armor- Dream of Love. This is what always happens. The movie 100 First Dates is called something like New Love, the Tom Hanks movie when he's stranded on the island (ha ha I forget the title) is called something like bad vacation. All last week they showed ads for the movie Gone Baby Gone, the Clint Eastwood movie with Hilary Swank where she's a boxer. I never saw it so was looking forward to it Friday nite at 8pm. Ha ha laughs on me! The commercials were the right movie, but when it started, it was a movie about a baby that was kidnapped.

Gotta love Mexico right? So you never know what's on tv. The regular programs are correctly listed, but the movies, only sometimes. We only get a few channels in English and most are movie channels. Well there is a channel that plays only The Bachelor espisodes (why?) and 3 news station; CNN Int'l, BBC, Bloomberg Money...and oh yeah Fox News. Sometimes I turn on Fox News just to see what the stories are, then I turn to one of the other stories or look online to get the real story. We could pay more and get more staions in English, but so far so good- we're ok, we watch tv mostly in the evenings, and that's usually over our laptops or when Everardo is making jewelry and I am reading or studying for Spanish class...
I'll watch tv in Spanish for short spurts, I keep looking for a novela to watch but none hold my interest so far, but new ones start all the time, not like in the US. Also as my Spanish improves I find I all of a sudden say HEY I understood that!

So I'm making a list of what I want from the US- it's not too long. Long sleeved tshrts for Poppi, extra wide egg noodles, and some little jars of pesto sauce. It's funny what you can't find here....oh and I'm gonna eat sushi! Chinese food (yes they have Chinese food here but none we've liked too much)....hmmm can't think of anything else....

You cannot operate here without change. In fact sometimes I don't go to the store cause I don't have any with me. You know, in Calif, much of the time I go to the store without any money on me- that's what atm/debit cards are for. And I have a Santander debit card here. Very convienent. And you can get money back with your groceries...but usually they just hand you bills, and someone is waiting behind you, and up to know I'm too intimadated to say- wait can I have some of this in change? It's funny everything here is hurry up, wait, hurry upwait. And sometimes I feel like everybody knows the dance but me.I just got back from the grocery store. It's called Ley. There's 2 of them here, and so of course we call them the old Ley and the new Ley. We live closer to the new Ley, but I like to shop in the old one more. However, the old one's parking lot is always pretty full, and cramped even when it's not full, so when I don't have too much change I'll go to the new one.

 This is the deal: you have to tip the guy who bags your groceries...you have to tip the guy who puts them in your car, and you have to tip the guy who helps you back out. Why do you need to have someone put them in your car you may ask? Or have someone help you back out? HA HA! You must. Some of those people don't get any salary except tips and that includes the grocery packer. So this new Ley always has a pretty eimpty lot and I got to park right in front, so I was hoping to just take care of my own groceries...ha ha ...I dropped the cart down off the sidewalk ledge to my car, and then took just the gallon of milk and out it in the backseat thru the window (where Sam was patiently waiting), then I turned around and there was already a guy there pulling the rest of my groceries out of the cart. There was no room for me to get to the front of the cart so I just gave up ha ha. The problem was since I figured I'd do that part myself I gave almost all the change I had to the guy inside. Ooops- so then I feel bad- and this is why I don't go to the store without change in my purse. The problem is you tip everywhere you go. Someone always wants to clean you windows, is at the stoplight juggling, or just plain hungry...we even tip the garbage guys..well they pick up the garbage for free, and when you are nice to them, they are good to you..like coming back to pick up palm tree leaves (ok fronds) you cut or other plant cliipings, even tho' you're supposed to bag them up or even take them somewhere different. But I can never keep enough change with me. Oh and not to mention putting it in the basket at the AA meetings.

So I just decided as I'm writing this, I'm gonna put a little change purse in my purse, not even share it Everardo (who is always saying hey give me ten pesos for whatever we're doing...). But keep it full with coins for when I need them. Duh you say? Yeah I know, but it's a hard one to get into the habit.

Yesterday a tiny bird came in the house and scooted under the couch. We moved furniture and then he scooted under a bookcase and Everardo was able to scoop him up...wow he screamed like a girl- the bird not Everardo..then he calmed down and we let him go outside. Then this morning we were sitting on the couch and out the window I see these 3 birds sitting on the clothes line, the same kind as yesterday but a little biggger, like the adults and yesterday was a kid. It looked like one was talking and the other 2 were listening and I told Poppi it's the momma proudly telling her friends that her baby wasn't scared to go into the house. Then 2 of them jumped to the windshield of the truck...where the windshield starts so there's a little lip, I think they were gettin' all ghetto and saying how they could drive the truck...and the 3rd bird jumped right on them! So then they started trying to hang onto the window of the house...it was really weird....we could barely hear them cause the window was closed, but I was thinking I probly couldn't understand bird Spanish anyway...actually I can't understand Calif birds either, in Englisg or Spanish. But it was funny....hmmmm maybe you had to be there...

Ok well time to get ready for the buffet style potluck out at the community center. Man I hope at least some of the dishes are not spicy.....

Ok this post is very dear diary.....
I had some trouble getting this "new post" window to open. But here I am. Went out to Playa Encanta for the second time today, and it was much nicer since there was not a wind storm! We went one day last week and the wind was blowing so hard that the sand hurt when it hit my arm and my face! Millions of tiny stings! So Playa Encanta is a little south of Puerto Penasco, but I think it's still part of PP, I mean it's just a bunch of houses on a really nice strip of beach- no stores, gas stations, or even the tiny aborrotes (really tiny hole in the wall store), that are everywhere. It's probly part of the homeowners rules out there. It's kinda like a gated community, without the gates....altho' there is a security booth...

All the houses are huge, probly minimum 10,000 sq feet. They are almost all at least 2 story homes; which is weird for the rows right on the beach, cause then the house behind them ma not have an ocean view...which is kinda the point of being there, right? Most of the houses have an outside set of stairs, many of them are winding, or at least waving curves. Lost of them have these huge domes on top- not sure why...like a bunch of rich drunks saw the same movie of the middle east and then built houses- I did say "rich" drunks, right? ha ha But it is kinda interesting...

Anyway the beach is really nice there, much like Las Conchas (which is actually much closer), and the shells! The beach is covered in shells, some so shiny, mostly small ones, some with a purple-ish hue, some with a butterscotch shade...anyway they are totally cool- ok one more- it's one og those spiral shells and has a giraffe pattern all over- that one is for me. I'm thinking of buying some pretty bowls that they sell to the tourists; small ones, painted in a cheerful Mexican style, you know, greens, reds, yellows, maybe flowers or fruits...and then put some shells in them. This is for a couple of girlfriends of mine that I will see in a couple of weeks.

Well Everardo has been working hard, but there are not alot of tourists here, so it's not a gold mine, but not too bad- we have enough money to eat, buy gas, pay bills, and hey- that's all we need. Ok we did take $300 from the US this month, but it was money somebody paid me back, so it didn't hit out checking account. This is huge for us, since we had been bleeding money since we came to Mexico. He has been out walking the beaches all day, and then at nite watches all these videos about making jewelery, and has made some cute earrings. But I think he's working too hard. I understand though, that he's trying to make it work; he's disappointed that there is not more money to be made, just not alot of people coming down here- the Mexicans are coming to vacation, but they don't buy too many souviners, mostly food and alcohol. But we are ok for now and may even be able to take a little vacation at the end of the summer down to Playa Ventura to check on the house. That's when it's the hottest here, and we've heard there's hardly any tourists here during that time. We still hope of course for someone to take an interest and want to buy that house, but until then we need to make an appearance every so often. We had planned for Everardo to go in March, but then decided we couldn't afford for him to go there and me to the states, that we needed to find a way to start making some money...so I'm still going cause I must (dr app), and the trip south has to wait. But that's ok, and now we're thinkinh when we make a trip like that, to do some sight seeing- since when we came up here we were driving straight thru and made it in 3 days! ha ha.

Tomorrow nite we are going to a charity food event- it has a name in Spanish and I forget what it is....but it's out at the community center and people who live out there in those neighborhoods make food and bring it- then you buy tickets and choose food to eat. Although I have no great interest in raising money for some church, I have come to love the people I see out there every day, and am happy to be involved in an event where there will be food, laughter and community. I have come to think very highly of the director out there, Karen, and what she does out there, how she feels about things. She never thinks it's enough, and she never turns anyone away. They feed, teach, help, bring hope to an area that is in such great need. I am so grateful to have found them and to be able to be a part of it. I love my students- but of course I doubt myself and wonder if I am really helping anyone- but I know I get so much out of it-more than them I'm sure. Interesting we paths we find oursleves on.

I'm going to Calif at the end of April. I'm kinda getting excited about it, but at the same time sad cause hubby is not coming with me. I am going to meet his daughter for the first time (and her mom), and take them, along with Drew and Rex, down to Gilroy to visit with Poppi's family and to intriduce Elena (daughter) to her family on her father's side. Actually going to do that 2 days after I arrive...I also have 3 doctor appts...2 regarding having had breast cancer in the past...2009...but besides all that fun fun fun, I am going to spend time with my daughters and going to AA meetings back in my old group, and seeing friends...most of who are in the program ha ha...ok except for my old dog park friends...
I'm also excited to see my house. Yeah it's rented, but to friends who are taking wonderful care of it; I've seen photos of the backyard and it looks great. The inside looks really good too, even though now all the walls are white and I love lots of colors- it was shades of green and purple, with 2 walls only in the whole house yellow. I loved it. But like I said, the pictures look great. I also want to go see what I put in the attic before we left- I mean I think it's mostly clothes, and I may want to bring some of them down here, since in this place it's not sweltering hot every single day and every single night....I'm also going to meet my ex husband's new wife- weird eh? I have talked to her on skype so I've seen her, just not in person....my daughters like her, and my ex seems happy so that's all good. Hmmm kind of a family vacation eh? My ex husband's new wife, my husband's ex...and his daughter, I get to congratulate my daugher on her engagement....wow.

So I am very carefully trying not to think about my doctor appts. This time of year I swear there are more movies and news stories on cancer, more facebooks campaings about cancer....or....I guess maybe I'm just more sensitive when it's time for my checkups. I still have to take the medicine for another year and a half...I actually chatted on FB with a woman I worked with years ago, but for many years, and she had breast cancer. So did several women in our company, and at the time there were statistics published about the high incidence of breast cancer in Marin County. But anyway she told me that none of the other women (or her) had had a reoccurence....that makes me feel better. My lump was tiny, I didn't even feel it; they found it in my mammogram...and they scooped it out, chemo and radiation, now these damn pills, and I'm good. The freaking pills do give me joint pain and that sucks...but I guess it's better than cancer...death....you know.

I feel good and it will all be good. I'm so excited to see my daughter's new house, and my younger daughter is trying to move out on her own for the first time. I am so proud of both of them- hmmm I must have done some things right, eh? Yes ex husband as well. He was/is a great father, and gave my kids great self confidence. I will always be grateful for that. They are both smart, strong, funny, sarcastic women...and of course beautiful...and I am soooooo proud of both of them. See you soon my sweetyhearts!

Registering for things. I went today to Intercam, a service that will change dollars or euros to pesos and vice versa, cash checks, send money to local or international banks, etc. They usually gove a better exchange rate than the bank, not by much, but hey every penny..ok or peso...counts, right? I think I shared about this place last week, when I was going crazy driving back and forth between there and the bank, trying to get the best rate and not be in line for an hour....both places were gonna be closed Thurs and Fri for the Easter weekend holiday. Anyway I ended up changing my money there, but not with the best rate cause I wasn't a "client" yet, and standing in the at the bank too ha ha. I kept going back and not having the right documents....fun day...oh wait...NOT!

So today I dropped in there, they're only open until 2pm every day, so I went this morning, and yipee I had all the right docs; passport, FM2 visa, and the telephone bill to prove residence (luckily it's in my name). Anyway, if I had signed up at this place when we first got here I would have gotten frustrated, probly mad, indignant for the ridiculous things they were asking me, but now I understand this is Mexico, and things are different. Besides all that, my SS#, what town I was born in, but not my mother's maiden name ....but I did have to mark a diagram by writing in cross streets and my street, then describe my house; second house on the left, one story, red, no trees on the street, kinda crazy eh? But you know what? Things don't get mailed here, bills or other wise. Someone drops them off in your mailbox. The electric bill and the water bill are not even in envelopes, but the telephone bill does. The cable bill doesn't come at all; it just shows up on your television screen from about the first week of the month until it's due on the 14th...unless you pay right away..then it drops off.

But it's good to have a backup plan, a second choice for moving or changing money. If we ever sell the Guerrero house, we're gonna want to move some of that money back into the states, and I'm not sure I want to do it thru our bank here,maybe this service is better...but I'm pretty sure I have some time to figure it out ha ha.

Ok now for dear diary...Spanish class is going good. I realize I just gotta let it go and not pressure myself to learn....just get what I get when I get it. And tiny things are coming together that I know make bigger things. My students in English class told me my Spanish is "more better" ha ha than it was when I first started teaching them. And "more better" gave us a topic for discussion for class!
So we have a special project, top secret going on...I came up with the idea and figured either they'd tell me NO WAY or they'd think it was a good idea. Luckily they all love it! I showed them the words to the song "Still the One" by Orleans...you know..."..we're still havin fun and you're still the one...". I told them about the song, it's a love song, but fun, and happy. Anyway the directors out there are this couple; Karen and Mark, actually they are Living Stones Ministry. I am not into their Christian beliefs, but you know what? I am into helping people who need help. They feed people 5 days a week, they teach gardening, and if you're interested they go to your house and help you start your own garden. I mean these guys grow worms! They grow worms to put into the ground to enrich it. They recycle, they have a free spay/neuter clinic twice a month. There are literally hundreds of stray dogs just here in Puerto Penasco. Sometimes I know Karen feels like she hardly makes a dent, but they also rescue dogs, they take care of them and move them to a no-kill shelter north of town, and then up to another no-kill shelter in Arizona. They give away dog food, and flea/tick medicine.

There's a new project that's already growing; sewing. They got sewing machines donated and now are getting together with another community center in town who also has a group of women who want to participate- they are sewing purses and bags, maybe clothes, I'm not sure. But a woman from San Diego is contracting them by the piece, so they make something, they get paid. She then sells the stuff online.

They make purses and mats from recycled plastic bags. They look amazing, and the mats work really good as door mats, you know? They also do knitting, hats and scarves, cell phone holders, purses, and they sell them at this weekend market. They teach kids English. They have health awareness classes. They help people to get community service hours and then this other group will build them a house! A tiny house, yes, but better than the cardboard house or the house made of pallets, or the back of a car or an old trailer. So they do a lot. They give people hope. They bring hope. It's pretty damn cool.

Ok- so back to our top secret project. This song could be song between spouses, right? It's about love and how after all these years, you are still the one I want to be with. SO- I played the song on my telephone and we all agreed- let's do it. So I passed out sheets with the words, and we only got thru the first stanza this week. Some of the words are hard to wrap your mouth around when you're first learning a language. So we went slow, and they wrote the words phonetically for themselves. So Wednesday I made CD's with the song on it so everybody can practice at home. Some of them are going to put them on their phones, but some have no phones, and some have no cd players, either, but I heard a couple of them talking and they will work it out. So- they will learn the song, probly in about a month, then we're gonna have Karen & Mark stand together, and they will sing it to them as a gift, a gift of thanx for everything they do. So cool eh? And the students are having fun. That's important cause they struggle, we struggle, with pronunciation, with remembering...make sentences...and I have a feeling it's the problem I had in Calif and Southern Mexico- nobody to practice with...So I also started an extra class on Wednesdays for the students who are really having a hard time, and I enjoy that smaller class too. You will have to stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Oh and  I almost forgot- I wanted to say I love looking at my stats- the most pageviews of my blog are United States, Mexico, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, UK....then "onesy-twosy" for lots of places like South Korea, Panama, Jordan, France, China....etc etc etc

Viva!!