Livingthedreamwithdiana.com

Ivan was unpacking, still, a tote the other day, that had, as we both like to say, “more kitchen stuff”. We have enough “kitchen stuff”, for two or three kitchens.

The pan and lid on the right were hand hammered in Italy, and have brass handles, while the other two are from France, and have cast iron handles. This photo was taken after a quick cleaning with a powder called Bar Tenders Friend.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed cooking with the copper. They are so easy to heat, cook with, and clean. The small fry pan, in front, in the above photo, has a small area of exposed copper so we are trying to find someone that can re-tin the surface. There are places in the US that re-tin, so there must be someone here that can do it, as well.

Between these, and my cast iron pans, I am set for life.

PS: we have decided we are going to redo them ourselves. We can get the supplies we need right around the corner from the condo. I will let you know how they turn out.

We inherited the best shower heads ever! I have discovered, after a bit of work, that they are Helvex, with, I believe, seventy some little silicone schnozzles to drench us in a torrential downpour every morning!

When we first got here, we had every intention of changing out the heads because there was very little water coming through them. The mineral buildup was intense.

On Sunday evening, I placed the shower head from our bathroom into a reusable (of course) silicone “ziplock” bag, and let it rest until Monday morning. This is how it turned out.

With the best water pressure in the whole condo, we have a torrential down pour every morning. The perfect shower.

There are some parts of the city where you cannot go two blocks without some kind of “wings” restaurant. “Alita’s”, (wings), “Wing Stop”, “Pollo Felix”. You get the idea.

Every time we drive by one I tease Ivan that “one of these days we need to stop, and see what all of the fuss is about”. Usually does not get much response, not very often anyway. He could not possibly respond each time, as there are so many of these, we would not be able to talk about anything else! (LOL)

Wings are very popular in southern Texas as well. Within the few blocks surrounding our hotel, there were at least five chicken restaurants, most of them featuring wings as the top sellers.

Not sure why wings are such an attraction though. They are mostly bone, and skin. I do suppose that they are small enough that you could have several different flavors without having to eat half a chicken. Not a bad idea. That is my thought on the subject.

Why do you think wings are so popular. I would like to know your thoughts.

My gosh. Recently, when we had gone to the Office of Immigration, we decided, because it was so late getting out of there, to take a taxi back home, well, to the Metro, close to our condo.

It had been overcast all day, no rain, however. We got about two kilometers away from the office and, all of a sudden, the skies above opened up with a downpour unlike we have seen in a long time. It rained so hard the cars in front of us were either driving very slowly or pulling over altogether.

The taxi driver’s front passenger window was leaking water on Enrique, and the front and backs windows were fogging up. He turned on the AC briefly, which helped some, and had E stuff a cloth, of some sort, in the window to stop the leak. Comical really.

Then came the hail. Small chunks of ice, to start with, which, fairly quickly, turned to sheets of ice. Amazing, to be in a new city, in completely different surroundings, and not be able to see out the car windows.

Of course I panicked. I expected nothing less, dis you? I have such a limited vocabulary and ability to know where I am in the city, especially when we are in places in which we are not familiar.

We survived, obviously. Plus, the taxi ride was only two hundred pesos. (We gave him three hundred for his excellent driving skills.

We collected E’s car from the Metro, and went to an Argentinian restaurant and had dinner. It was seven o’clock and we had not eaten all day. It was manna from Heaven.

Last week was one long week, ending with Ivan, Enrique, and me, going to the Office of Immigration, and FINALLY getting my two year residency card. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I did not think it was ever going to be done.

Since the last time we were at the office, sometime in September, they have completely remodeled the inside of the building. I mean everything, except the pillars, holding up the structure. The offices have all become visible to the public, all glassed in instead of solid walls, and everyone’s offices have been moved to different parts of the building itself.

Interesting thing happened, however. My passport got misplaced in their move. It was in my “file” when we left the building in September, but when we went last week, it was no where to be found. So, now I have an appointment with the (ugh) Embassy to start the process of getting a new passport. This should be another fabulously wasted appointment. (I hate doing to the Embassy). Again, I will let you know what happens. Should be amusing.

I am able to travel anywhere, here, in México without being detained anywhere. I am not sure about going South, to Chile, or there abouts. I will have to do some more research. That is for another time, though. And another post.

PS: here are photos of Juan’s new bed.

We have been walking, now, for the past three days. Yesterday, and today, we walked twice- two times during the day, and twice around the park. Twice around turns out to be about one point four three kilometers- more than we have walked in almost twelve months.

And, guess what? The cold weather is gone already. What is up with that, I ask you? it is in the low eighties by about two in the afternoon. Fortunately, after our afternoon walk, when we get in to the condo, it is only about seventy degrees, almost like air conditioning. Hahaha!

It will be a few more weeks, more than likely, before I will be able to fit into my shorts, so until then, it is leggings for me. Too bad I cannot lose more weight by sweating. (I do not sweat that much.)

Walking around the park, the air is so fresh. We take a deep breath, and it smells like Springtime. it is scattered with little dogs, all running around, yipping, and playing around with each other- none of them on a leash, and, none seem to be the least bit aggressive, or mean to each other. It is so much fun to watch them. It looks like they have all arrived on their play date, and are making the most of every minute, before their humans take them away from the group.

There are three different areas with brightly colored exercise equipment, almost always being used by someone, old, young, male, female. One of these areas, however, is strictly for children, which, again, is usually occupied with several families, swinging, sliding down the slides, and others, playing on the castle. (It looks like a small castle anyway).

There is an area that appears to be sunken, like an area for skateboarding, or some other similar activity. We have not, yet, left the path to investigate. When I looked up the park on Google Maps, the pictures showed a small area filled with water, and some fowl- I do not remember if they were ducks, or geese, as both reside in Mexico. I will let you know when I find out, though.

Laughter, and smiles, and sometimes, some little one, crying, all abound in the Park.

The beds will be arriving this week. We got a photo of one of them, I think it was the queen sized one, for the spare bedroom. (We call it the office, because that will be the room we use for our computers, bill paying, correspondence, etc.)

In one of the next posts, I will try to upload some photos for you so you can see how things have progressed. After we get everything put away, the next challenge will be to start displaying our artwork, sculptures, pretties, etc. All of the walls are concrete, so it will present its own challenges. Ivan has been researching drilling into concrete so he should have a handle on it by the time we are ready to drill.

This are still some projects that need to be done- we would like Martín to build us some shelves for the living room wall, a couple of bedside tables, some shelves for our closet, things like that. We have tons of storage under the bed, thankfully. And, we will be getting rid of lots more “stuff”, as I have said in a prior post. Less to keep track of- works for me.

To finish, we will be collecting my F-I-L from Juan’s house this coming weekend, after his Murphy bed gets installed. He has been staying there until we could get the bulk of the clutter here organized. Neither of us felt this chaos would be good for him, mentally, so he has been “vacationing” with his sister, and her family.

We cannot wait to have him back here, and get him back in his routine. His routine helps keep him grounded, less confused. We think he will fit right in here- especially with the park, right outside. He loves to walk. And so do we. Ivan and I have both lost about seven kilos to date. More coming off each day. Talk about getting back to a routine.

Finally! We finally found the Shark vacuum cleaner I bought, about a year ago, from QVC. What an wonderful appliance. I have been waiting for Ivan to holler at me that he had found it, but wait was all I could do. Box after box- nothing. Totes galore- nothing. But, yesterday, I heard him, in the living room, mutter the word Shark,. Eureka!!!

I have no recollection of the model number, or what it was called, but it folds in half to store it, bends at an angle, like ostrich legs, to get under furniture, and has two batteries that recharge in about two hours, and last about twenty minutes. Did I mention it is cordless, and has six attachments?

We have discovered that white tile, while absolutely beautiful, shows all of the dirt, and dust, that we have acquired, not just with the remodeling, and having had everything out in the garage, but what we bring in with us after walking around the park, as well.

The Shark is, as I said, cordless, has a high suction capability, and comes apart, at several different places. Needless to say, I love using this thing. Good thing, too, because I have to use it frequently.

Unfortunately, we did not find it until very recently. I have been trying to use a broom, and dustpan, up until now. What a waste of time. Even my mop was of little use against all of the dust. No longer. The Shark reigns supreme. Again.

I am off- I have a load of clothes needing to go to the dryer, and about four more needing to go to the washer. All in a days work.

I will see you all tomorrow- not as bright and early as you probably get up. We are up, now, around eight thirty, and to bed about ten. Living the dream, for sure.

Welcome back everyone. What a couple of weeks this has been. We have been working for several hours everyday since moving into the condo here, and, believe it, or not, we are about three quarters done. We can only work for about four hours at a stint, because our backs are not what they used to be. To be sure.

Is everything exactly where we want it? No. I am not sure it will ever be so. We have decided that, even with all of the “things” we gave away, before we moved, or left in the house, we still have too much. Absolute gluttony. Gives me a horrible feeling of shame,

I must tell you, though, the good side is that we are able to give to others, here, others that will be able to use the excess of our lives, and use these things to help themselves.

I ask you, why did we feel the need to have twelve pairs of jeans? Forty pairs of Lula Roe leggings? Fifty Piko bamboo tops of almost every color? Twenty five pairs of underwear, bras, socks, etc.?

The only excuse I can think of is that I really disliked having to lug clothes down two flights of stairs to the basement. It took an hour plus, to wash a load, and at least two hours to dry that same load. Then I had to carry all of that up the aforementioned two flights of stairs to fold and put away. Does not bring back fond memories.

Here, however, the washer, and dryer, well, everything really, is on the same floor, about thirty feet from the bedroom. Lovely, to be sure. I can wash a load of clothes in about forty minutes, and have the whole load dry in less than an hour. They do not require ironing, just folding and putting away. Yay!! So much faster, so much easier. It is almost a joy to do laundry here.

Unfortunately, everything we have had in the totes for seven months, outside in Juan’s garage, throughout the rainy season, the heat, then the cold, all has to be washed, dried, and put away. I have my work cut out for me. But the location of the laundry area, in relationship to the rest of the condo, could not be better placed.

We, truly, could not be happier in our choice of places to live. The condo is laid out just as we would have planned it if we built it ourselves. Blessed. Nothing else to be said.

Last night I set my phone alarm to wake us up at seven o’clock today so we could a) get ready to go to the Office of Immigration, and b) start getting us back into a routine.

For the past seven months we have been going to bed around eleven thirty, waiting for Ivan’s dad, Juan, to finish watching the “noticias” (news) with his nephew Juan. We usually got to sleep, if we did not get our “second wind”, sometime after midnight. As domino’s fall, that made getting out of bed anytime before ten, or ten thirty close to impossible. So, we started our days halfway through them. Rarely did we leave the house before one in the afternoon. Day wasted.

So, now, we have started rearranging our lives back to what was normal for us- up early, walk in the park, have breakfast and coffee, run errands, etc. No more late nights, wasted mornings. It is back to “early to bed, early to rise”. You know the rest.

We have long stopped eating at nine o’clock at night, customary here, because we did not have enough time to digest anything before going to bed. No good. We are, also, no longer eating more then twice a day, and really skimming back on our portions of everything. We are not “starving” ourselves either. Do not even consider that. But, we are not, or, I really should say I am not hungry all of the time. Something new for me. I remember listening to a black comedian saw she heard a coworker say she forgot to eat lunch, and, how does anyone forget to eat?! I can see, now, how that is possible. We have been so busy with our move, and have so little food in the condo right now, that it is easy to skip a meal, or two.