Livingthedreamwithdiana.com

I am going to shave, my face that is. I have watched a half dozen YT videos on the subject, and my little bitty derma- plane blades will be here in the middle of the week.

I know what you are thinking- your hair will grow back black, and stubby, like a beard. Not so ladies. That is a myth, perpetuated by women with too little estrogen, or too much testosterone.

The truth is that those of us with “peach fuzz” long enough to braid, although it is white, and soft, it is still annoying, so, off it goes. Those women who show themselves on the videos, say that their skin is so much smoother, that it takes foundation, concealer, moisturizer, powder, whatever you put on your face, and makes your skin feel soft, but smooth. It dermabrades your skin, meaning, it removes all of the dead skin cells you may not even realize you have. Your makeup looks smooth, and natural again. If you use powder, to set your foundation, that does not clump up anymore. Plus, they recommend you only do this once a week.

Well, I am here to tell you that five to ten minutes, once a week, I am in. With both feet, I am in. I cannot wait. Of course I will let you know how it goes. But think about it. Women with darker skin, women of Western European decent, we all have these fuzzy little “beards”, and felt there was nothing we could do about it.

Oh, and do not forget the newly acquired mustache!!! What is up with that? All of that will be gone before this time next week. Until then…..

Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay safe. Wash your hands, cover you mouth, and buy a gun. It sounds like it may be coming to that.

Puzzles. I adore doing puzzles, especially since my sister, Nancy, reminded me about puzzles. She showed me in a text which one she has been using, to remain sane, during this incarceration. Low, and behold, it is the same one I used to play, back in the States. How fun is that?

One thing she did mention, but I chose to gloss over it, was that she was now addicted to playing puzzles. How silly is that, I thought. Let me just say, that at two o’clock this morning, it was not so silly.

My back is hurting, my shoulders are solid rocks, my neck is stiff, and I am loving every minute of it. I went to “sleep”, (read, I laid horizontally on the bed), and the music of the puzzle kept going through my head for hours. In fact, I heard it for so long, I was able to make out several of the harmonies within the music. Thank you sister mine.

We have lost our ability to sleep a night through, and are up, and down, all night long. Ivan “naps” during the day, and, sometimes, I too, will lie down for thirty minutes or so. To no avail, however. I rearely achieve REM sleep, but do, occasionally dream, so that is better than nothing. There is only so much one can do while incarcerated. If only we had……

If you, too, are looking for puzzles apps. on your phone, or computer, Jigsaw HD is free, and amazing. The puzzles are beautiful. You can change the number of puzzle pieces you want to use, (currently I am up to 225 pieces), because the more pieces, the more difficult, and time consuming is the puzzle. Be prepared to lose hours out of your otherwise busy schedule.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, and cover your mouth.

Post script: Protesters at the US embassy were throwing Molotov cocktails over the metal wall that had been constructed several weeks ago, around the perimeter of the embassy. I do not know any more than that, unsure if anyone was injured. Not sure, exactly, what they were protesting about either- the video did not say. Stay safe people.

It has been four months, living without a microwave oven. And they said it could not be done.

When we were still in Iowa, and were discussing what appliances to have in the condo, we both agreed that we would not have room for the Breville Smart Oven we had just purchased, and a microwave, so we came to the agreement that the smart oven would be used more often, and for a wider range of foods, than reheating coffee, or quickly defrosting something in the microwave. So, the smart oven won.

I must say that neither of us miss the microwave at all. I never thought I would think that either, but I do. All of our little “accessories” are geared to the smart oven, the smaller baking sheets, the small cast iron skillets, the sizzle pans, which is good, because we use it every day for something. We use it to toast our bread, bake bacon, yum, broil whatever needs broiling, and, well, you get the idea.

Since our kitchen is so compact, we have to be very careful about what we have, unlike our kitchen up North. In there, we had every kind of gadget we could find. Did we use everything? For the most part, yes. A fair amount of space, mostly in the garage, was taken up by all of my canning equipment, and there was a lot of it. We definitely got our money’s worth out of that lot. I canned two and three times a year, at least.

So, the other day, after having baked two trays of bacon, (remember the BLT’s?), I just happened to glance inside the oven as I reaching down to pick something up off the floor, and oh, my gosh. There is splatter, grease, “stuff” burnt onto the heating elements. Now, I am off to search the internet to learn how to clean these elements without ruining the oven. I cannot wait. At present, the only cleaning items I have are baking soda, vinegar, and Bar Keepers Friend. Wish me luck.

As always, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, and cover your mouth.

I will let you know how the cleaning went.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy having the windows open? We have the windows open in each, and every room. We are fortunate enough to have screens in all of the windows, so we have no bugs. How exciting is that?

Getting used to the few dogs barking, (or howling, as the case may be), that are in this condo, and the one next to us, has been a challenge. Especially since there are not to be any dogs in this condo. But, again, that is better left for another day.

Looking out our bedroom window, into the middle of the open space above the garages down below, and up to the top floor, there are only two, or, maybe, three other condos that have screens on their windows. There are no screens on the windows at Juan’s house, except upstairs, in the solarium. It is not the norm, here, to have screens, but we do, so I am taking full advantage of them. Plus, we have the window film, reflecting some of the heat outside, so being able to have the windows open is a win.

The fresh air, even when the heat is at its zenith, which is usually about three in the afternoon, and, it is eighty eight degrees, it is still quite comfortable. I can say that now, as I must be getting climatized.

We also have at least one, if not two, air circulating fans, Vornados, they are called, blowing on their lowest setting twenty four hours a day- excepting only when the power goes out. It is amazing how much white noise they produce, even if there is only one fan going. When the power goes out, everything is deathly quiet.

When we were at Costco the other day, we began looking at portable air conditioners, just in case, in the summer months, the heat becomes too unbearable, we will have cool air, at least in the bedrooms. I do not believe that I have become that climatized yet. Time will tell.

Well, folks, as always, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth. We will make it through this quarantine one day.

We got up this morning to a YouTube notification that a policeman, in Guadalajara, was set on fire yesterday. Of course, the note was accompanied by a video clip. He had been speaking to a calm group of protesters, and, had gotten back on his motorcycle, when someone, with a scarfed face, and dark sunglasses, came up behind him. He was sprayed on his head, and back, with a liquid fire accelerant, then immediately set on fire, sending the policeman, running into the policemen gathered, trying to get help.

The crowd, calm up unto this moment, became hysterical in an instant. People were throwing things, shouting, screaming. It was awful to watch, so I watched as much as I could then turned it off.

It was noted, on the video, that the people were protesting the death of someone that had been in Guadalajara police custody for not wearing a mask in public. Several others, it was also noted, were injured in the riot that ensued.

Ivan and I have always said that other countries, México, in particular, seem to emulate all of the worst things that the United States has to offer. Graffiti, gangs, drugs, vigilantes, you name it, México does it, too. What a shame. This is such a wonderful country, and culture, with all of the beautiful art, music, food, history.

That was probably too broad a generalization, and I do not like to do that. Too true is the saying that one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel, but, conversely, it can also be said that most people, when left alone, are good, honest, decent people, and, are true to themselves, and others. It is also a shame that not more credit is given to all of the good that is done in the world.

(I had to pause for a minute, or two, because we lost power. Again.) I am back, and so is the power. A small price to pay to live in this beautiful place.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, and cover your mouth.

I feel that, if I type the above enough times, and, if you read it enough times, then, when this pandemic is over, you may remember to do this, well, not covering your mouth all of the time, only when you cough, or sneeze, but the rest you will remember to do, forever. It is the cornerstone of good health, and hygiene. It can also prevent, or decrease, any new virus in the future.

Thus endeth the lesson. You may go. 😉

Gosh. It is Saturday. Again. Every day is Saturday. I feel like Garfield, the cat. After too much time being lazy, it is it difficult to get motivated to get up, and do something.

Oh, we put up the knife racks in the kitchen, and the towel rack in our bathroom, the other day. I forgot all about that. Such excitement should not go unrecorded.

However, we have subsequently regained all of the weight we lost before the plague hit. Well, I have regained the weight, not Ivan, of course. He assures me he will help me by getting out and walking again. Soon. I cannot wait until the end of the month. My back cannot take all of the weight it has to carry. Poor Diana.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, and cover your mouth.

We got to leave our “jail cell” today for a bit so we went to Costco. Of course, I had to use the bathroom. It is the only store we have been to where you can flush the toilet paper. No kidding.

You may think it is funny, but I am here to tell you that it is not! You spend the next year, putting the toilet paper in the waste receptical in the stall, no matter where you go to the bathroom. At home, do the same. Nothing can go down the toilet except biological waste. So, every two to three days we bag up all of the soiled TP, and take it to the basement, and put it in the correct garbage container. Just one other simple thing we took for granted all of our years in the states.

On another subject altogether, we have been communicating with our cousin, Jason, and his very pretty wife, Margie, in Japan. How exciting is that? We are quite interested in visiting Japan, especially now that we are both retired, and, I have our finances worked out. As I told them, Japan has been in our top five places to visit since we were still in high school, deciding all of the most important elements of our future together. They have graciously invited us to visit them in the future. As professionals in their fields, and with three young children, they are very busy, when not in quarantine, that is.

We want to visit Japan first, then, but not necessarily in this order, Great Britain, including Northern Ireland, Spain/Portugal, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, possibly Greece, and Morocco. We will probably do the AirB&B route, as we do not socialize well, (as many of you already know), and prefer a more one to one relationship with someone that will take us around, like locals, in whichever region we find ourselves.

When we first started visiting here in Mexico City, I was seventeen, and had just graduated high school. Ivan and I took a bus from Davenport, Iowa, all the way to Mexico City. But stay tuned- that is a story for another post.

What I want to tell you is that each, and every time we visited here, for years, Ivan’s cousins, Marco, and sometimes Juan, would take us all around CDMX, places not known to be touristy. We went to the obvious tourist attractions, too, but those came after the unknown places. Every visit was more amazing than the last. That is what I want to experience when we go abroad.

Now that I have managed a blog site for almost a whole year, I am going to delve into the world of the AIRB&B. Wish me good hunting. It is not like I have something else to do right now, or someplace we have to be. Loving me some more quarantine time.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands. Cover your mouth.

I have to tell you, all we do is sleep, watch the internet, and eat. Another reason I could never be put in jail, or worse, prison. I would kill myself, I am sure.

This seclusion is, as I have said before, making me steadily crazier than I was before this all started. That is saying something. Bored is not even close to how I feel. Since the people from the neighboring condo were taken to the hospital two weeks ago, and two people in the small plaza, in the next block over, died three weeks ago, we are not venturing out like we used to. In fact, we took Juan’s pills over to the house the other day, and I asked Ivan to just drive around for a few minutes so we could see the sun, and feel the fresh air on our skin. It was Heaven.

We are going to venture out tomorrow, and restock our pantry, though, truth be told, we have enough non-essentials to last us until July- if only I knew how to take this, and put it with that, and come up with something amazing. But I do not. Not yet, anyway.

I feel like it has been ages since I was able to cook a decent meal, and I really do not know why I feel that way. For instance, yesterday, we had grilled salmon, with green beans, and mashed potatoes for dinner. Not too bad, I think. It just seems pointless right now. We cannot, and do not, go anywhere, except the store. Oh well. Hopefully this will all be over soon.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands.

I cannot tell you how lightened my spirit has become since I started receiving my SS benefits again.

We have been using our credit cards to purchase quite a bit of the renovation, the upkeep on the vehicles, plus, buying the new appliances for this house, and Juan’s. Now, I have paid off the small cards that we use at the grocery/big box stores, (that way we do not have to exchange money to and from other peoples hands), and have put a rather significant dent into the two cards that have the appliances/reno on them.

Now, I am able to sleep, or not, but if I am not sleeping, it is no longer because I am worried about our debt load. As I see it, we will be, once again, debt free before Christmas this year.

There was a large gathering the other day, in the El Zocolo, the center of CDMX, (Ciudad de Mexico), sending the president of Mexico, Mr. Obradór, off to the Yucatán penninsula for a “vacation”. The cars, driving around the square, had horns blasting, people cheering, banners waving. When I asked our cousin what all of the fuss was about, he said they are hoping he stays there a long time- maybe not to return.

As you may have gathered, he is not well liked here. He made no recommendations about the CoVid19 virus for several months after the US started quarantine. We were allowed to go anywhere, and everywhere for months. Then, a photo was posted of him telling the people here that his religious tokens, called scapular, would protect him from the virus. Nonsense.

Who knows, maybe he has contracted the virus, and does not want anyone to know about it. I hope not, because that is something I do not wish upon anyone.

Stay happy, stay healthy, wash your hands.

But who cares, really? Every day is just like the last one. Except for one thing.

I have all the ingredients, at the same time for BLT’s. Yes, you read that correctly- bacon, lettuce, and slicing tomatoes, plus, a brand new jar of mayonnaise. Oh, and do not forget the bread. We bought a new kind of bread, for us anyway. It is a light, whole wheat that is so soft and tasty. The last bread we tried was whole wheat as well, but too sweet. Yuck.

Yes, I know this is crazy, but we rarely have slicing tomatoes, usually we only buy Roma’s because that is what I use to make sauces, and soups. But, we have found a six pack of slicing tomatoes at Costco, and, after about a week on the counter, they are ready to eat. And they are delicious.

Let me tell you about the lettuce, though, as it was quite the achievement for me. Several weeks ago, we bought a mega pack of Romaine lettuce, at Costco, of course, and it contained six heads of lettuce. We gave two to Enrique, and had the other four in the vegetable crisper drawer for weeks. I kept thinking that I needed to make a salad every day for lunch, but that fell through.

Two weekends ago, I was getting ready to throw out all four heads because they had wilted so badly, then decided to find out what would happen if I soaked them in the disinfectant we use on fresh produce. What was the worst that could happen? They were already ready for the bin.

So, I did just that. I put them in my small salad spinner, filled it with water, and added about a teaspoon of the disinfectant, and left them to sit for the required fifteen minutes. When I returned, they looked they were fresh from the garden. I could not believe it- it worked. I spent about an hour and a half doing all of the lettuce in the spinner, then setting them on kitchen towels to dry off. When they had all been soaked, I used the spinner to finish spinning them dry. Now to preserve what I had done.

Several weeks ago, I purchased a small truck load of the best food storage containers that I have ever used. They are the Rubbermaid Brilliance collection, and they are wonderful. Between those beauties, and the altitude here, I still have about two heads of lettuce that looks, and tastes, as fresh, maybe fresher, than when it is first purchased. The leaves are beautifully green, moist, crisp- nothing short of amazing.

We have had the same thing happen with four loaves of bread we bought way back in April, when we first returned home. It has been in the cupboard for about eight weeks, no joking We have some of one loaf still left, and it has no sign of mold, or drying out at all.

The altitude has to play a major part because I am still having some trouble with my fermentation’s. Nothing seems to want to ferment. Though, when I did a search yesterday about the relationship of altitude to fermentation, the article said that over six thousand feet, it will be likely to take two to three weeks to start a bread or kombucha fermentation. We are at seven thousand fifty feet, or there about, so I am going to keep that in mind while I double my efforts.

Stay happy, stay safe, and stay vigilant.