Livingthedreamwithdiana.com

It was 5 years ago today that I retired from my former job, career, and lifestyle.

Exactly 30 years from when I started at Trinity, which was not called that at the time. It went through changes of name, and location, but the people were always the same.

I’ve not regretted a single moment, however. Life here is not a bed of roses unless you understand there are still a few thorns. The occasional thorn is worth it.

That said, I hope all of you have a wonderful day, possibly remember me with kindness, and treat each other well.

Until tomorrow. Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

We cut my hair.

We did a descent job of it as well, if I do say so.

So says Ivan, as well.

My hair is so thin, and fine that, even using a hair trimmer, it cuts quite unevenly. Very little of my hair gets caught in the blades, causing the unevenness.

That’s where Ivan’s help comes in. He spends 5 minutes, or so, whatever the needs are, to even things out where I can’t reach.

The top I like to leave “spiky”, so, if it’s not all the same length, well, that’s how I meant it to be. 😉

So, having saved us at least $200MXN, I’m going to sit down, and have a Coronita, a 210ml. Corona Extra. It has become our favorite beer down here. The more stout beers, the ones with lots of hops, etc., are for up North. Here, a lighter beer is better.

Hope all is well with you lovely folks.

Until next we meet, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

I am going to attempt to get us out of credit card debt within the next 2 years.

This January, I began by decreasing the monthly payments I had been making in an attempt to have just a bit more cash on hand to purchase our groceries, make our local utility payments, plus the condo association fee. In the past, most of the above went on cards as it was easier to pay for the utilities online, instead of driving all over the community to make the payments in cash.

We are going to try the driving around part for the next 6 months for a couple of reasons.

1- I think it will be good for us to get out of the apartment a bit, see the sun, hear the birds, and remember that life is going on around us.

2- Making the payments in cash will allow me to tuck some “left overs” into a makeshift savings for us, here in the apartment; available as needed for emergencies.

3- The cards will not be needed as we will have the cash here at hand, so the payments will actually make a difference over time.

I will let you know, periodically, now it’s going, but I feel, in my heart, this is going to be a good thing for us. Wish us well.

Until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

I got to drive to the local Walmart Express the other night; just after finishing the fridge clean up.

Ivan handed me his keys, and told me he would be waiting for me at the garage entrance.

OMG!!

It’s been forever since I drove the car.

I love driving, and have for many years. I just don’t get to do it much down here as I have no license that says I can.

No problem.

Went to the store, came back, and had to park the blasted car. Down the narrow ramp to the reserved basement parking spaces, then into said teeny weeny, (seemedlike it), parking space.

It only took me about 5 minutes to get it to his specifications. But, I did it.

I told him it would only take me about 100 times to get it right on the first try. He laughed. I didn’t.

One day, in the future, I’m going to drive us to the nearest big box store, and get us home safely.

I’ll let you know when that happens.

Until then, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

I’m getting older.

I feel it, and see it every day.

However,

It beats the hell out of the alternative.

Am I right?

Until next time,

Be happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect.

I take extreme pleasure in watching videos on YouTube that have been filmed anywhere in Europe.

It doesn’t matter where in Europe, and it doesn’t have to be there, specifically. Really, they can be anywhere where there is beautiful scenery.

I take advantage of that by taking screenshots of something that I wouldn’t normally see, and saving them for my own use later; specifically making them into puzzles.

I have told you folks, before in a post, that I enjoy doing puzzles on my computer. The app that I use allows me to make my own puzzles from photos I have taken, and saved.

I love it. Not only do I get to see a part of the world I will, probably, never get to visit, but I get the opportunity to see that particular place for a couple of hours, as that’s how long it normally takes for me to finish a puzzle. Let me show you a few shots I’ve taken.

One would think this a silly photo, but I absolutely adore it. The creativity of people never ceases to amaze me. Photos like this bring a much welcomed smile to my face.

Here is a photo taken by a YouTuber on a train traveling through,

Damn it. I don’t remember where they went, but the videos they took were amazing. Look. (Maybe it’s the Alps?)

I think the above photo was taken somewhere in New Zealand, but, of course, do not quote me on that. Isn’t it spectacular?

Just one more, and I’ll stop. This photo is a mine that is still in operation somewhere in the world. I can’t remember where this one is either. Duh!

You get the idea. These photos make wonderful puzzles, and they didn’t cost me a penny.

Until next time, stay happy,healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

I have gone forth, and done my best.

It was time for my bi-millenial refrigerator clean out.

Yuck.

By now, you know that I absolutely hate cleaning; the fridge, the oven, the kitchen, the apartment as a whole, et.al.

But, I did it. I cleaned the fridge recently.

It was Leap Day, so, for that reason alone I guess, I had a sudden burst of energy that I hadn’t had for awhile.

I told Ivan, earlier in the day, that I was going to clean the fridge the following day; we were expecting a bit of perishables to arrive from Walmart the next day.

Then, all of a sudden, while listening to a ridiculous book from Audible.com., I went into the kitchen, opened the fridge doors, and decided, right then, and there, to get to it.

That was 5:30pm. By 8:30pm I was done. Finished. Finito, Benito Juarez. (Sorry. I always say it like that, and have for years.)

I am unbelievably ashamed to show you the “before” photos, but I am going to. Please understand that the yuck was due to having different products defrosting in the fridge without being put into a container to catch the yuck.

That said, here is the transformation, once again.

So, I’m done with this for another few hundred years (days), and am not sorry for the time spent. I was able to get rid of quite a bit of inedible produce, and cheese, and have a better idea what we have, and where it is.

The moral to this post is to put ALL defrosting items in a plastic container. DUH!!!

Until next we meet, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

Have you ever cut your own hair?

Have you ever to wanted, or needed to cut your own hair?

I have, and I do.

So, a couple of months ago, I just did it.

I bought a hair trimming machine from Amazon.mx, of course, and the one night, I did it. I trimmed my hair.

I used the largest blade guide, I believe it to be 1”, and went crazy. Mind you, I had no idea what I was doing, but, truth be told, it turned out pretty, well; really well, actually.

I want my hair spiked, about 2” on the top, and shorter on the sides, and in the back; think Dame Judi Dench.

Now, let’s talk about the back. Cutting the back of one’s hair is probably the hardest thing one can do. Did I do it?

That is a particular matter of opinion. If my option has weight, then, yes, I did an admirable job of it.

Am I going to show you the results?

Hell no!!!

Not in this lifetime.

Can I go out in public, looking like I do?

Do you have to ask?

I don’t give a good gosh darn what anyone thinks of me. You should’ve known that by now. Translated, I couldn’t care less.

So, have a good laugh, at my expense, and, until next time,

Stay happy, healthy, and safe, Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

Post script: I contacted the owner of the beauty salon in the Plaza Taxqueña the other day via WhatsApp, and am going to make an appointment for a cut very soon.

I am setting the Way Back Machine, (does anyone remember that?) to the late 1960’s.

Come along for just a moment.

I was going to summer camp with friends from the youth fellowship group of the church in which I belonged at that time. (The year is an approximate because, at my age now, the date is really quite vague.)

At that time in my life, as it turned out, I had no swim suit, well, nothing appropriate that I could wear at a religious youth group gathering. 😉

So, I made one; from scratch, without a pattern.

It was very well done, even if I say so myself.

It was a two piece bikini; white, with a brass ring at the middle of the halter top, and one at both hips on the bottom. (How I thought this appropriate for a church youth fellowship camping experience I’ll never know.)

As I said, I made this without a pattern, using some very pretty, shiny white material for the suit itself, (no recollection where it came from,) lining it, however, with material from a white, flat bed sheet my mother no longer needed.

(Are you understanding that, in the late ‘60’s, the sheet had about a 200 thread count??)

It went together fairly easily, as I used to be quite a seamstress. It fit nicely, and I couldn’t wait to get to the campground, and go for a swim.

WE WERE THERE FOR FIVE DAYS.

Every morning we had what was called the Polar Bear swim. We got extra points, (for what, I have no recollection,) if we got up at 6:00am, and, at least jumped into the pool. (Some suck ups actually swam)

Firstly, 6:00am never registered with me unless we were going on vacation. Dad liked to get “on the road” before the traffic got heavy. (HAHAHA!)

Secondly, I was 15ish. What kid that age gets up at that hour of the morning for any reason?

I did. But only 2, or 3 times during that week. It was freezing cold outside, and the water in the pool was not only freezing, but had an actual film of ice on the top.

The bottom of the pool, however, was GREEN.

Needless to say, it took me 2, or 3 days just to make the initial plunge into the yuck, but by then, quite a bit of the algae had been cleaned out, or moved about, or, I don’t remember what.

So, the third morning, I jumped in. When I got out, my teeth were chattering, and my body shivering. I was freezing.

As I got out, a friend of mine gasped out loud. And I do mean out loud. As I looked down at my suit, I discovered that

My swimsuit was completely transparent!!!

For all intents, and purposes, I was NAKED!!

Evidently the sheet that I used as a “lining” wasn’t quite effective!

I was mortified.

The boys, however, were not.

I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Hope you got a chuckle out of that;)

Until next time.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

Post script: update- the ranch dressing, the Kefir, and powdered sour cream is awesome. I highly recommend the recipe, and the substitutions.

I’m not Irish, but I have been lucky of late.

I found a recipe for homemade Ranch Dressing that uses buttermilk as its base. Really, what Ranch Dressing recipe doesn’t?

There is no buttermilk here. I cannot find it anywhere, not even online. Except,

In a dehydrated powdered form that needs to be kept in the freezer. So, I bought some, from Amazon.co.us, and will put it in the freezer. Again, lucky me.

I can’t tell you how many things I have wanted to make using the nonexistent buttermilk, and, now that I have it, I can’t remember a single recipe, except the Ranch dressing.

Let me show you what I mean.

This recipe is one I got from the YT channel That Dude Can Cook. I’ve told you about Sonnie Hurrel before; the roasted turkey, remember? I trust that his Ranch is going to be a good trial for my powdered buttermilk.

Oh, it also calls for sour cream, another very difficult dairy product to obtain. Fortunately for us, I purchased a 1/2 kilo container of dehydrated sour cream, (at the same time as the dehydrated buttermilk powder). Hah! What luck?

However, instead of mixing a quart of buttermilk, (as that is what one of the packets of the dehydrated powder requires, of which I would have to freeze all but the above 3/4 c.), I discovered that I can substitute milk Kefir for the buttermilk, without any noticeable difference, ounce for ounce, of which I just happened to have purchased (2) 500ml. bottles last week.

Why would I buy 2 bottles of milk Kefir you ask? Because I wasn’t able to buy just one. Duh!

So, soon, I will rise, and shine, make the sour cream, use the milk Kefir, and by this afternoon we will have Ranch Dressing in abundance. I don’t think I’ll make the chicken tenders as the recipe is calling for above, but will definitely use it on a salad, and as a condiment when next we make hot buffalo wings.

Until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

Post script: happy 22nd birthday to our first grandchild, Isaac James. You changed all of our lives in the best way possible.

Post post script: you may remember that we can no longer receive edible products from the US, so Kefir is our “buttermilk” substitute for the unforeseen future. All good.