Livingthedreamwithdiana.com

Never, ever, under any circumstances, do we plan on going to Home Depot, Sam’s, or Soriana on Saturday or Sunday. First off, during the week it takes about 20 minutes to get there, (if it is before 1:00pm). On the weekend, it is easily 45 minutes to an hour, regardless of the time. If you forgot something during the week that you need for the weekend, call a relative that is coming over, and have them pick it up. You know how crowded the Christmas shopping is on the 24th of December? That is how it is here on the weekends- a major shopping spree for those that work!!! Not only does everyone go shopping, but all along the major routes, there are small Mercado’s that have balloons, pop, popcorn, candy, clothes, etc., and families make a “day out” where everyone can have fun. Shopping, for some, does not have to be all drudgery. So, those of us that no longer have to work, go during the week. Sometimes a couple of times a week. Just never on the weekends!

I am going to try to insert some photos for you, showing what the apartment looked like when we bought it. It is a 3 BR., 3 BA, LR, DR, laundry room, elevator, covered storage on the roof, 2 parking spaces (side by side, very important), and is 120 m2. Here everything is metric so these are square meters. Let me see if I can download a few before photos. I will also attempt to separate the before and start of demolition. You should be able to notice the changes without any explanation. Here goes.

September 1st, and I do not have much to report on this morning. The weather here is a bit warmer than I would expect, however, it is only warm to Ivan and me! Everyone else is fully clad, as I said before, mostly with a down vest, but everyone has long pants and long sleeves. Maybe, someday, we too, will be cold. Who can say?!

It makes me chuckle, when we are driving around town, to see all of the popular logos from the US- McDonald’s, Coke and Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Dominos Pizza, etc. You cannot go 1/2 KM. without seeing a sign like the aforementioned, or one similar. As visual porn goes, CDMX is full to brimming over with visual stimuli. Once you move your eyes away from the signage, and refocus on the landscape around you, all of that, sort of, dies away. The lush greenery on every street is constantly surprising. As we had a luscious lawn, with beautiful trees up North, it is rare to see a “yard” with the same. Most homes have a small green space in the front, some even have a bit in the back, but, as most neighborhoods have a common wall between homes, there are very few “side” spaces. Unless you have a corner lot- then there might be room.

Before you envision homes, one on top of the next, and everyone’s house looking the same, first envision a subdivision locally, or, worse yet, those additions in major cities, where a contractor builds 2 or 3 versions of the same house. With all of the millions of homes here, it is actually difficult to find 2 even similar, much less identical. Now, mind you, we have not driven to every neighborhood here, but of the routes we normally take on a day, or when we want to “explore”, (read took the wrong turn), each house is completely different. Who, and how, I have not discovered yet. But I will try.

It is good to have goals. 😉

Today, August 30th., my husband, and best friend, Ivan, turned 66 years old. We (11 of us) had 2” rib eyes, grilled outside, (with only the slightest hint of rain), mashed potatoes, tossed salad, and Stella Artois!! For dessert, we had Gelatina Mosaico, ice cream, and coffee. Amazing!

Starting out the day we had to take the BMW to have it “certified”, and registered with the government. Because it is in such excellent condition, we were given the certification of “zero”, which allows us to drive it every day of the week. Down here, if you are given a number from 1-7, that is the day of the week you have to leave your car at home, potentially cutting down on the amount of pollution emitted into the air. As there are many, very affordable, alternate means of transportation available, it is really no big deal. For example, we took the Metro, the train, about 50 minutes, from the house here, to downtown and it cost us 10 pesos each, about $.50. We also took a taxi from the house to downtown, different day, same purpose, and that cost us $5.00 each direction. Gas is a bit more expensive here compared to up North, but to calculate how much you need, and how much it will cost is a bit taxing to my feeble brain. And when you see on the pump that you have filled the car with 66 liters of 92 octane, and it is going to cost you $1956.70, it takes you back a bit. Then you convert all of that from pesos to dollars, and, yes, it is expensive, but it probably will not happen like that again. Since we have been unable to drive the BMW until today, after it got certified, the tank was almost empty. We plan to keep it always above half a tank. The fill up cost us almost $100!! Live and learn.

We had a wonderful surprise this morning as well. We stopped by the apartment to see what progress has been made, and, as soon as we walked in, everything was so bright, and white!! The dark brown tile that was on the wall as you come in is all gone; the “stage” is gone, except for the actual webbing that made up the base. But, the surprise is under the wooden base- beautiful white tile, with a very pretty gold and brown patterned tile, inset in a pattern we cannot quite make out yet, but it is going to save us tons of money not having to purchase the tile we thought we had to buy!!! The closets are gone in our bedroom, and by the third bathroom; soon the entire kitchen will be gone too. It is really starting to come into shape, and they have only been working 2 or 3 days. I will keep you posted.

My comadre Paty’s brother, Sergio, passed away recently of pancreatic cancer, a physician himself. A wonderful anesthesiologist I used to work with, Dr. Brent Ohl, died of this same horrific cancer just a few years ago. It broke our hearts to see him leave us, little by little, his skin changing color, his weight dropping, his inability to breathe without auxiliary oxygen, his pain, as he passed into the end stages. I will tell you though, he fought every step of the way, and never lost his beautiful smile. He was a passionate man, mostly about his wonderful family – all of them, but next was BBQ, how he loved BBQ, then medicine and the people he worked with in the past, and those he worked with towards the end.

I  did not know Paty’s brother, but Paty, her husband Pepe, their children, and her entire family, were devastated by this disease process. It took the man in their lives that they all loved. This cancer knows no bounds- no ethnicity, no race, no creed, no social status. It happens to whomever, whenever, and it can take them so very quickly. I can only suppose that the speed is a blessing. Sergio had been in terrible pain for several weeks, but it has come to an end. He had requested, and received, a brunch with his family, not to cry, or be sad, but to celebrate the wonderful life he led, and the blessings he had with his family and friends.

I just want to say that we are all sorry for your loss.

I just bought 4 new pairs of glasses with polycarbonate and transitional lenses, and progressive bifocals for approximately $557.00. After a fairly extensive exam here at the house, it was determined that, after my cataract surgeries this past December, my left eye is seeing quite well for distance but my right eye needed a bit of an assist. I am having trouble seeing at night, still, and with entirely new surroundings, I need every ounce of help I can get. The roads here are full of minor, and major, defects, not to mention the myriad “topes ” (speed bumps), and to hit one, unexpectedly, can ruin ones vehicle. This does not interest me- ruining our new cars.

The young lady that came to exam my eyes, also brought a dozen trays of frames from which to choose. And since I am of an age where I can be as crazy as I want, I chose 4 frames that will do that very thing. Two pairs are red, one is brown, and one is black. Her father owns his own lab where they make the lenses for said frames, so they have very little overhead, thus the expense is minimal. Win, win. I will show you how they look later.

Ivan finally got his government issue voting card!!! It is called the INE, which stands for Instituto Nacional Electoral, and it has taken at least a month of torment, but he got it. Without this particular card we can do nothing. Now we can open a bank account, PLUS, we got the “points” card at the local grocery store, Soriana, (we’ve been using other family members cards, giving them tons of points. They give 1 point for every 8 pesos you spend, and we routinely spend 1200-3500 pesos weekly. At almost 20 pesos per $1, well, you do the math!!). It doesn’t get much more exciting than that!

Having a bank account here, however, is not like in the US. Here, there is so much money laundering done that if you deposit xx amount of dollars within a specified amount of time, usually 30 days, and then deposit xx amount more, within the same 30 days, you are immediately under investigation. They want to know just how you got the money, where did the money come from, (having to show proof of its origin), why you have deposited so much within that particular time frame, plus you have to pay 30% of said money to the government in taxes- then and there. So, before we open said account, we will be speaking to said bank officials about our riches, and all of the millions we are making as retired US citizens 🙂

We will not move all of our money here because the folks at the Moline Municipal Credit Union have been so amazing over the past 20 years, or so, that we have been members there. They have seen us through the good times and the bad times. And they have continued to help us transfer money down here, first to buy the apartment, and then the Mercedes!! It is a lot of work to transfer that amount of money into a country very much on the radar where money transfers are concerned.

I will close by saying that for the first time in our lives we own two luxury cars, a luxury apartment, and are completely debt free. I know many of you reading this are not thus, but remember, please, that Ivan and I are 66 (next week) and 64, respectively, and it has taken us all of our lives to get here. We thank the good Lord every day for what we have been given, which allows us to give, generously, to others. It is so exciting!! Thanks for coming along.

Oh my gosh! Ivan and I were just talking about my Mom, and some of the things she did, and did not teach me- some things I had to learn elsewhere. Well, one of them was doing the dishes. My sisters, Martha and Nancy, can attest to the daily routine of having to decide whether to wash, dry, or put away. I hated all three choices but was forced to choose one almost every night. When I was extremely put out at always ending up with the “put away” choice, I would “have to go to the bathroom”. (Wise idea on my part:) Needless to say, that did not fly with Mom every night, so……. I started lying down on the two chairs on Martha’s, and my, side of the table, (mind you, the chairs were hidden from “them” because they were pushed under the table, (“them” were washing and drying the dishes), and they could not see me. When they were done with said dishes, and I was “done going to the bathroom”, I would magically appear to tell everyone how sorry I was, but I could not help it. “I had to go!!!”

Shame on me, I know. But now, here in the house of our cousins, I have the opportunity to make up for those times, in my youth, when I was a lazy young girl who did not realize the lesson her mother was trying to teach her- that of patience (my mothers name) and discipline! I am learning both now. Thanks Mom. I love and miss you every day.

Everywhere we drive in the city, parks divide the roadways. Most of them are absolutely stunning due to the care that is taken in their upkeep. Each park has different things growing in it as well- no two are the same. The flora here is mostly tropical in nature so there are huge rubber trees; ficus that are over 10 ft. tall, and pruned to different shapes and sizes; jade grows as a ground cover. The bougainvillea are the most stunning, with their brilliant reds, magentas, and oranges.

Our long term goal is to sell the apartment in a few years and buy a house. I want, more than most anything, to grow at least two different colored bougainvilleas. It has been a dream of mine from the very first time we came here. Maybe one day that dream will be realized as well. We are here, and that was the first dream realized.

Our longtime friend, Luis C., who happens to be a contractor (!!!, little did we know), came from Toluca, Mx., (an hour and a half away, depending on the traffic), to talk with us about the remodeling of our beautiful, new, luxury apartment. You all know that we purchased it this past month, knowing that we wanted to redo it “our way”. Well, originally, we had asked our cousin Marco, youngest brother to Juan, and Pepe, who is an engineer, if he knew someone who could help us with the renovation. He said he “knew a guy” that would do the floors well, and would not be not too expensive. We hopped on that like locusts on wheat! Little did we know that “the guy” was younger brother to Luis, but lives here in CDMX.

Fast forward to today- Luis, and his carpenter, Mario, brought samples of flooring, and countertops. OMG! The flooring we picked is a beautiful ceramic tile, 20″ x 20″, very pale, but white, marble-looking, and the countertops will be what is called Blue Pearl Granite, though it looks more black than blue. We have decided on medium-light oak cabinets in the kitchen, with glass inserts, and that go all the way to the ceiling. The ceramic tile will be on all flooring outside of the kitchen, (which is already white), including the bathrooms, and all 3 bedrooms.

We are completely redoing the bathrooms- the first bathroom, off the living room, will be handicapped accessible, in that we are expanding the door opening 7″ to accommodate a wheelchair, removing the large existing sink and vanity, and replacing it with a smaller, possibly angular, floating, corner sink; moving the toilet from front facing to facing the door so a wheelchair can come up along side of it; building a “wall” of what we call Saltillo block “behind” the toilet, as part of the shower, and removing the “lip” on the floor entrance to the shower, making it completely flush. (I will try to post before and after photos as things progress so it will make more sense.)

We are changing the flooring to match the rest of the house, the ceramic tile, but are, at this moment, leaving the dark brown tile that is currently in the showers. It is “corrugated”, so none of us will slip and fall when showering, we hope, plus it looks really nice with the dark brown “stripe” of tile around the walls. (I will show you, at some point.)

EVERYTHING is being gutted in the apartment except the stove and exhaust fan. Nothing will be the same when we are done with this “soon to be beauty”. And it will be us, the two of us, our ideas, our hopes and dreams, and it will be amazing.

I hope you stick around to see the magic happen.