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11:30pm- This is the day/night of Paty, and Pepe’s, youngest son, Arturo’s, office Christmas party, along with his ESPN coworkers. There are about forty-some people here, and, very nice people they are.

They all brought food, and/or drinks, as well. In fact, one clever young man even brought a coffee maker that brews individual cups of coffee, which is then mixed with one’s favorite alcohol. Good planning. Good times.

12:45am- Everyone is having a great time, even my husband, and I. I, personally, did not think I would like helping host a party that was not “ours”. I could not have been more wrong. It is turning out to be quite the fun evening.

Bonus – several young English speakers appear to be interested in a few things I have to say. I think they appreciate my longevity here, as well as my love for this country.

Ok. They are all still here. It is now two o’clock in the morning, and they are all still here. Have they no homes to which they can go? One can only hope.

Right now, it is 3:12am, and they are still here. My sense of humor is waning. Really. I do not think even I can drink enough to make it to this nights end.

Oh, my dear God in Heaven. It is 3:50 am. They have started playing games. Just kill me. Please. Seriously. No, I mean it.

It is 4:15 am. No one is leaving. The music is so loud I want to hurt someone. Unfortunately, these kids are all too nice to hurt. Shoot me. Someone. Please.

It is 4:28am, and a fair few have started for home. (Thank you, Jesus). Surprisingly enough, although these folks are loud, (that is an understatement), and, are really having a great time, only a few are needing rides called for them. Ivan, ever vigilant, as always, is walking people to their cars, their rides, or, is hailing taxis, as needed.

It is 5:05am, and we are finally heading to bed. We have had all of the fun we can stand for one night. Only about a dozen folks left, and Arturo seems able to handle them.

5:25am- A great time was had by all. Thank you, Arturo, for allowing us to be part of this night. You work with some really amazing, and fun people. But you already know that.

Post script: There was one fatality, I am sorry to report, but only one. The large, white planter, shaped like a Grecian urn, which sat atop, what looked like a portion of a Roman column, was knocked over, sometime, during the party. In it, Paty had planted what is called a Big Leaf Hydrangea- purple, it was. (In thy final resting place repose, oh, sweet urn. Thou shalt be sorely missed). You may be interested to know that I saved, and planted, the hydrangea, close to where a large portion of the urn landed, in the garden.

Telcel is the major phone company here, and, let me just say- wow.

I have not had internet on my phone for about the last three weeks. We, evidently, got our billing date mixed up, consequently, we were late with the payment. Did they cut Ivan’s phone? No. They cut mine.

Why, you are silly enough to inquire? Because everything is in my husbands name here, not mine. The only things I have a claim to, at present, is the condo, and, second as Power of Attorney for my father in law, Juan.

Here is one I never saw coming. We had to change our Sam’s Club registration, and now my card reads Diana Lee Anderson Nelson Cavazos. Good thing I do not have to sign it like that. It takes every parent into account. Hah! (I knew you needed a laugh). 😂

We are thinking we will not be in the condo before the beginning of the new year. Martín has started making our beds, though, so that is a plus.

Two, you may remember, will be Murphy beds, one twin, and, one queen. Our bed will be our beloved queen, raised about twenty inches off the floor.

When all is said, and, done, we will have plenty of space under our bed for storage of all of our beddings. And we have a ton of them. One thing I cannot abide, (I am speaking for our home, not yours), is sameness, lack of change. I enjoy changing bedding, pillows, and, with this new home, and furniture, even the cushions.

Christmas will be here soon, so we will have to wait until next year to decorate our place, but that is okay. Maybe we can get some after Christmas specials. We have no tree or ornaments, except those we just bought, so special sales will be welcome.

Let me know what you are doing this year, if it is anything different than the past, or is everything the same. I am waiting to hear back.

We got to go over to the center of Coyoacán, a very beautiful, bohemian neighborhood, here, in México City. Technically, we live in Coyoacán, not five kilometers from the beautiful center area, in fact. The area we live in, however, is much more affordable than at the center.

The center of Coyoacán is where Mexican artists Frida Kahlo, and, Diego Rivera, along with Marxist theorist Leon Trotsky all lived in the mid 1930’s. They all had studios, and homes there, which are now open to the public for a small entrance fee.

There are some wonderful shops all around the area, not to mention the restaurants, and bars. In fact, we stopped at “La Casa de los Tacos” yesterday, en el centro, and, I had, for the first time ever, fish tacos. I am here to tell you that they were the very best tacos I have ever eaten, in my entire life- to date. I cannot wait to have to eat them again. I will take a photo of them next time.

We found a small “mall” down a side street that we have been to before, and as we were walking around, looking for Christmas ornaments, Ivan noticed two small rings of just the ornaments for which we were looking.

These are made of tin, and lacquer, and have always been a favorite of ours. In fact, a number of years ago, I brought similar ones back to the states as presents for my coworkers.

These are cut by machine, it appears, but are painted by hand. These are the prettiest ones we have seen. I hope the photo uploads so you, too, can enjoy them.

I say this because, until we get to the condo, any photo I upload, that you can see, is by the grace of God.

I have told you that the internet, here, especially, is used, in the wifi mode, by everyone, and then some. So, to have enough wireless signal to upload a post, plus, photos, is almost impossible. When we get to the condo, however, Ivan will have techy stuff all over the condo, bouncing wifi from here to there, and back again. This house is too big to do all of that. It would be very costly for us to help with that right now.

I believe I wrote about my Social Security benefits being stopped, by me, (duh), in a prior post. In April, I went to the office in Davenport, and had them stop my benefit checks, because I was sure we had enough money, and wanted to save that money for when we were a bit older. So they did, indeed, stop the checks. (Hind sight being 20/20, this was later discovered to be a very bad idea).

After we got here, however, bought the condo, started remodeling, etc., the money, from my retirement, went quickly. So, I contacted the United States Embassy, here in Mexico City, (ugh!), to ask for their assistance, restarting my payments. After multiple back, and forth, emails, I got an appointment with someone who would help me. (If you remember, we stood outside, at 7:30am, with about a zillion other people, in order to go to my 9:00am appointment). The lady I spoke with did not think it would require much more information in order to restart the checks. Wrong!

Well, they still have not restarted them, five months later. I have received a couple of letters, via my sister in law, Mayra, in Bettendorf, from the Chicago office, (thank God), saying that if I wanted to continue with my cancellation of benefits, I would need to contact them within thirty days, or, repay them the money I had already received. If I did not repay the money, or contact them within thirty days, they would consider the withdrawal of my request voided. (That is how I read it.)

So, hopefully, if I do not contact them, or repay the money, I am thinking they will restart my checks. Then, we will truly be living the dream. I will keep you posted. Let me know what you think this letter says.

Our cousin, Juan, told me, not long ago, the shortest time possible is that time between when a stoplight turns green, and three people honk their horns.

Honking the car horn is a way of life here. More so, I think, than any place we have ever lived. If you are not moving your vehicle seconds before the light changes, half of the cars behind you will honk at you to get going. It makes me laugh.

I am not a person that uses the horn much at all. In fact, I have had to honk it, when no one is around, just to know what it sounds like. 😂

I am also unable to drive fast here, (darn it), due to the topes, and potholes! Everyone’s nemesis, those.

In fact, there is an app. most people use here, I am not sure if I wrote about it before, but it is called Waze. It is an interactive app that is a detailed map of México City. I mention it because, with it, you can add potholes, police sightings, speed camaras, traffic delays, etc. When you do, you receive points, plus, you alert other “Wazers” to stopped traffic, or potholes, etc.

Nice feature. As you are driving, it will alert you to those things that you want to avoid- stopped traffic, pot holes, etc. It also allows you to program your destination, and will show you the fastest route to get there, as it has predetermined routes scheduled, and you can pick whichever one you prefer.

Let me say, here, and now, she sometimes gets it way wrong.

When we first started using Waze, we programmed in our destination, but, she took us through a neighborhood we should never have been in. (I think I posted that a few months ago). Scared the crap out of both of us. The “street“ was barely wider than our car, and full of people, cars, animals, etc. Since we were new here, we had no idea how dangerous being one, or two streets off the main road could be.

Now, I use Waze, in the background, just to see where we are, and, how long until we reach our destination. (I am not sure if the time to final destination feature is determined by the mileage needed to get there, or how it is determined). Or, if we are driving out of town. It is the best map to use down here. Better than Google Maps even. Plus, she speaks Spanish like a pro.

Just curious- how often do you honk your horn, and what provokes you to use it?

I dropped my 11” iPad Pro on the big toe of my left foot the other day. Bare footed, no less. Can I tell you just how badly that hurt?

Probably not. Of course, it was on its end, so it slammed into the portion of the toe between the main, and next joints. I cried. I have to be honest here- I cried, it hurt that badly.

Yes, I elevated it, iced it, Ibuprofened it. That was nine days ago, and it still hurts to do much walking, and it is still swollen, and purple/green/red.

And, no, I am not going for an X-ray- do not be silly. Getting an X-ray here is completely different than getting one up North. Besides, you all know I make a terrible patient. Right?

For those of you that have been a witness to my ever increasing dizzy spells, you know how hard it is for me to let people help me. I am the one who helps others, not the other way around.

BTW, you may be interested to know that the dizzy spells are much less frequent, thank the Lord. They are equally as dramatic, and intense, as they had been, recently, but less frequent. I digress. (I do that sometimes, do I not?)

Pepe, Paty’s husband, made a delicious Cochinita Pibil this afternoon. It is a pulled pork with a rich, adobo/achiote sauce. (Google it). It was great. Thank you Pepe. (Not to be outdone, however, I made spaghetti, yesterday, with a bolognese sauce, four portobello mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces, sautéed in butter, and olive oil, then folded into the sauce; crusty Italian bread, cut in half lengthwise, spread with melted butter, and garlic, then heated in the oven; all served with a nice glass of a Chilean red wine. Yes, folks, it was delicious. And, yes, my toe hurt afterwards. But totally worth it).

Ok. Enough, already. I am going to put my foot up, (again), as I have been in the kitchen most of the evening. I am going to have a couple of well earned shots of Tequila, and hit the hay. (Well, I am not, actually, going to sleep on hay, in a barn, but, you get the idea) 😉

These are a few of the photos I have been unable to show you. I will try to upload some more tomorrow.

There is a very big business down here, as the title suggests- dog walking. They are everywhere. Men, women and dogs.

Some walk two, or three dogs at a time, others five, and six. The really interesting thing is that the dogs all walk together like old friends. I have never seen a single dog become unruly. It is as if they are on a play date, and they are all out having a great time. Comical.

It must be quite a large job market as their are so many people who live in apartments, or condos, and work during the day that they pay others to keep their pets fed and watered.

It is nothing to see a person holding the leashes of six small dogs, walking around the park, the walker holding a plastic bag for the poop. And they seem very respectful of the other occupants in the park. Rarely do you have to step around, or over, dog poo. If you do, it is usually from a stray animal. But there are fewer of those than I imagined there would be, for a city this large.

This may have to become a part time job for Ivan and me in the future. We both enjoy dogs, and may need to add to our retirement income. Who know? 😉

Picture in your mind, (you will have to, because I cannot upload photos yet), large groups of poinsettias, (Noche Buena), so many, in fact, on slightly mounded berms of black dirt, that you can see them more than a block away.

These are planted all around the neighborhoods here- interspersed around the palm tree bases, around the lilies, and around, and among the other, indigenous vegetation as well.

If you read the post around Halloween, where I had photos of the mounds of marigolds, now, those same spaces are filled with beautiful red poinsettias. Everywhere you look the beautiful red color is there, to be seen, and admired.

There are beautiful, huge decorations in all of the malls, as well- inside and out. The tree inside Liverpool is something to behold. It is a huge teepee-shaped “tree” with a sweater-like decoration for the face. It has reindeer, and zigzagging, as well as huge snowflakes on the façade. I really hoped I could show you in photos but, alas, not yet. I know- it looks like a beautiful knit sweater that your favorite person bought, or made, for you. It is simply…… amazing.

I hope you enjoy getting your personal places ready for the holidays and, in doing that, it brings you the joy of the season.