Livingthedreamwithdiana.com

I have to tell you that I started the day as I normally do, but something felt “off”.

I can’t really remember, exactly, what was off, but it was something that was normally of no notice.

I putzed around the kitchen, and living room for a bit, then finally got down to my prayer routine. Still, nothing to speak of, but definitely a lack of energy, or motivation.

I was only able to walk 2x today, both very short walks, the first time was after prayers, but before eating breakfast, around 9:35am. I was able to walk all of 13 minutes, for .45 km. Yippee. The second time was later in the day, at 12:54pm, when I got all the way to 5.0 km, which took 16 minutes.

I knew something wasn’t right. I came home, did some playing of my computer games, Vita Solitaire, and Vita Mahjong, (which I know for a fact is nothing like “real”mahjong, but it’s amazingly fun to play). Really, nothing much.

So, about 45 minutes ago it hit me, as if someone hit me with a brick to my back. At the moment it’s 8:39pm, and I have begun a fever, no chills yet, but total body muscle aches, even my skin hurts. I took Ibuprofen 800mg when I got up this morning, and about 30 minutes ago. I’ve had to take the same 2, possibly 3 days in a row so I should have seen this coming. Come to think about it, I’ve been sneezing all day today, yesterday as well. Well duh!!!

I’m watching The Chosen, then, immediately after that the Aftershow, and then the Bible Roundtable, all discussing different aspects of each episode. If you haven’t seen any of what I just described to you, you owe it to yourself, and those you love, to connect, or reconnect with Jesus through the Chosen app. It has helped bring Jesus back into my life, bringing me back to reading the Bible daily, and bringing me back to daily devotionals in Jesus’ name. He never left me, I strayed from Him. Huge difference.

Download it, and watch all that I just told you for free. It will change your life. Well, that having been said, if an amazing change in your life, spiritual, and every other way possible, isn’t something you want, don’t watch it because that’s exactly what will happen to you if you do watch it. Guaranteed.

I’m going to bed as soon as my fever breaks because my face is going to explode.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

I made homemade pasta for the first time today.

It was delicious. I made it to go with a dinner of scrimp scampi, which also was delicious.

The pasta was a bit of a physical workout, but well worth the time, and effort. I discovered that I could attach the pasta roller to the countertop without damaging the roller, or the granite countertop. Win-win.

So simple that it took about 12 minutes kneading the dough, rested 30 minutes in the fridge, then rolled it out so easily. It took about 4 minutes to cook in the boiling water, and dinner was on the table.
Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

The high temperature today was 19ºC, or 66ºF.

It’s the end of June, for crying out loud, and feels like November. Am I complaining? Not for even a moment. I even smelled what I imagined were burning leaves tonight while watching an episode of the Chosen.

That is on my list of things I miss about living up North- the colder weather. Imagine this, I was sitting at my table, as I said, watching the Chosen, in a long sleeve top, long leggings, socks, and a Columbia fleece vest. It made me laugh out loud several times during the day, just thinking about what I was wearing. I used to make fun of the people here because they wear even more layers than I have on right now.

Anyway, I thought you’d get a kick out of such nonsense. Until next time, stay happy, and healthy with the Lord.

As you know by now, I am walking around the park, across from the condo, at least once a day, but, more often than not, it’s 3 times a day.

I frequently see the same people every day, so I wave, and say “hi”, to each person I pass. Whether they return the greeting or not is entirely up to them. Actually, though, most do. We exchange a “buenos días”, good morning, or a “buen día”, good day, or a “buenas tardes”, good afternoon. Even if I walk around 6, or 6:30pm, it’s still buenas tardes.

The park has 2 long sides, and 2 short sides. The long sides all have streets that dead end on the outer perimeter of the park as they are all gated neighborhoods. Many have automatic gate opening capabilities, but several are still manual, with an attendant there to open, and close the gate for the inhabitants of the block. (I hid the street names as I have no idea who reads my meanderings other than my sisters. Better safe, than sorry.)

Well, if you know me even a little bit, you’ll know that no one escapes my notice. I give a wave, and an audible greeting to most everyone, almost all of the time. If you’re on a bike, delivering something to someone on my route, you get a wave, and a salutation. If you’re one of the guards at the gate openings, you get, you guessed it, a wave, and a greeting. If you’re walking your dog, or are a professional dog walker with, usually, 4-6 dogs in your party, all of you get the same treatment. If you’re in the huge garbage trucks, well, those guys almost always wave, and give me a greeting. I love it.

I especially enjoy greeting, and waving to the guards on the North side of the park, who sit on a chair, or on the curb, outside their guard houses, as they look bored out of their minds. Each, and everyone of them acknowledges me with a wave, and an “hola señora, buenos días” as well.

A fun thing started happening yesterday on my morning walk. As I was just coming up to 3 of the different guard houses, the gentlemen waved at me first. This was the very first time it happened, but I was greeted by them each time I walked around. It lightened the load, I’m here to tell you.

What an amazing experience.

Until next time, stay happy, and trusting in the Lord. (And have a fun, but safe summer holiday celebration.)

For said explanation, let me start with a photo of what I want to explain.

This is my dashboard as of 11:07pm today. Of my 1200 calorie allotment, I have already eaten over 1000 calories, but as I have walked 3x, over 11,000 steps, I am allowed an extra 380 calories. WHAT?

Yup. Walk a lot, eat a bit more. What’s not to like about that?

I rarely eat early, so I start my day with a RedBull while praying the Rosary, then listening to BIAY, (Bible in a Year). After that, I do about 15 minutes of back, and core strengthening exercises which readies me for my first of 2, or 3 walks around our area. When I get back, I make my breakfast, usually, 1, or 2 eggs, a slice of toast, a slice, sometimes 2, of deli ham, (sliced microscopically thin), or a few strips of Walmart bacon, and salsa verde with aguacate. After that, I do the dishes, and start my “to do” list. Everyday is different.

Tonight, though, as I was finishing my day, I happened to check my Fitness Pal app, just checking my step total, and discovered I could still have over 500 calories worth of whatever.

So I had a cocktail of tequila, and grape juice. Interesting flavors, but it was relaxing.

The moral of this nonsense is “if you want to eat more calories, walk your arse off”.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

I’ve started freezing unbaked bread.

Ha! Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?!?

I have been eating a restricted number of calories over the past few weeks/months that I’ve been walking, which has, finally, started showing promise. I’ve lost 12 pounds, and am walking at least 3K every day, cutting down to 1-2K one day a week. When I don’t walk I feel so dumpy, but usually have a 1-1.5k weight difference the next day. Strange.

I digressed.

Since I have been making all of our bread, and pastries by hand over the last several weeks, I have gotten into a routine of mixing a loaf of bread, either potato, or a plain sandwich loaf, from recipes I’m familiar with, and confident in the results, once a week. For some reason, this week we haven’t finished the loaf, so I have frozen part of it. I went ahead, and mixed a potato bread from a new, and different recipe, this one from Chef Jean-Pierre. It looks amazing in the photo, and I watched him make it on his YT channel, but we aren’t ready to eat it yet.

So I froze it.

I’m excited to try it, and hope that it will be as delicious as the recipe I’ve been using. I’ll let you know.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

Only .75K away.

It’s a shipping kiosk in the Plaza Taxqueña, which is, as you may recall, only a short walk from our apartment. As I’m walking over 3K daily now, it’s a nice change of scenery.

I had purchased 2 pairs of clogs, in children’s size, which is what I used to do in the States. Here, however, the exchange is just a bit different, so, as it turned out, they were too small. Less expensive, for sure, but too small.

So, off to the Plaza I went. When I got there, the young man at the kiosk said the packages needed to be in boxes, not the bags in which they came. I bought the 2 boxes needed, which were all of $2.50USD, and we switched the items, with the exterior labels, and insert customs form, into the boxes. He taped them up, printed my receipt, and away I went.

I asked him how long the store had been there, and he told me only 1 year. Thank you Jesus. Until now, we had to take any returns all the way across town, which is usually a trial due to traffic. No longer. Yay.

This is the kiosk, and, as you can see, we can either pick up a delivery, or return items as needed.

On my way out of the plaza, I came across this lovely establishment. Can you tell what it is?

Correct. It’s a pastry shop. IN THE PLAZA. HOW COOL IS THAT?

I’m going to return tomorrow, buy a few pieces of sweet bread, and see if the taste is to our liking.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

Caitlin Clark.

WNBA point (?) guard for the Indiana Fever.

Have you seen this phenom? She is to women’s basketball as Larry Bird was to the NBA. Down here we can only watch her on YouTube so there’s that, but what we’ve been seeing is a female athlete at the top of her game being ignored by the referee’s in each game she’s been in. Not only her, but her teammates as well, Sophie Cunningham, all getting fouled without penalties being called against the opposing team.

What?????

Depending on who you listen to, some say her coach, from the University of Iowa, GO HAWKS, didn’t teach her what to expect when she started playing with the “big league”. So we should accept that it’s ok to throw another player to the ground without provocation? We should accept that a significant hip thrust resulting in being thrown, once again, to the ground, that’s ok? That’s how it is in the “big league”?

Personally, we, Ivan, and I, don’t think so. Having listened to several male former NBA stars commenting on this blindness in not calling blatant fouls, several feel that these girls are being made stronger for the abuse, but several also say that at her age, 23 years old, CC is the best new WNBA player of all time.

I feel that the commissioner of the WNBA needs to get involved in this nonsense, and hold the referees accountable for their lack of calling obvious fouls, and that the fans also need to hold the officials accountable as well.

The Fever, it has been rumored, are considering a boycott of some upcoming games. Do you understand what that would mean for everyone concerned? The ticket sales alone would be nothing. The concession stand sales would be nothing. The endorsements would be nothing. CC is one of the biggest, if not the biggest money maker in the history of the WNBA. Have her sit out a few games from injuries incurred by being fouled without them being called, God forbid, and see what happens to the industry.

Of course there will be WNBA after Caitlin has moved on, and it was there before her, but with her there, right now, it’s never been as good.

Until next time, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord, and pray that the Lord does something about the horrible referees in the WNBA.

The trees in the park are dying.

We’ve been here almost 5 years, and I’ve been photographing the park since we moved in, and I’m telling you, something is wrong with the trees in the park.

Everywhere I look there’s a dead palm tree, or a dead evergreen, or a cypress tree. It’s disturbing for sure. Let me show you.

It’s sad. There are so many more that I didn’t photograph. I don’t know what to do about it, if there’s anything I can do about it. The government structure here is quite different than in the States. I’m sure there is someone I could talk to if I could speak well enough to do that, but finding that person is quite difficult.

It seems to be mostly the palms that are dying. Most of the other indigenous trees are all doing well. I doubt I’ll ever know what has happened here, but it makes me sad.

Until next time, please, be happy, and have faith in the Lord.

As one of the dinners Max sent me for the 1200 calorie ADA meal plan, this was one of them.

It had, however, no spices, and very few vegetables. So, the seat of my pants to work.

I have sent Max the tweaks I made to his recipe, and he sent it back to me with all of the revisions I gave him. It was absolutely one of the best stews I’ve ever made, and I want to share it with you. Now, let’s see if I can do it.

There it is. I used the veg that I had in the fridge, so use what you have on hand. Use what’s going to spoil soon so you waste nothing. I forgot to add S&P to taste to the recipe because they’re both already in the recipe. I didn’t need much salt because of the Knorr chicken bullion powder, though, now that I think about it, I remember I had to add another 1/2 T. As you can see by the nutritional information, it’s low in calories, as well as carbs, but has a good amount of protein.

Nothing else to tell you right now. I will have lots to show you next time though. I’ve been working hard on getting this place a living space, not a storage unit.

Until then, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

Post script: it’s been pouring down rain for about 30 minutes, so the breeze coming in through he windows is heavenly.