Livingthedreamwithdiana.com

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.

Mexican sweet bread (pan dulce)? There is nothing on this good Earth like a fresh, mildly sweet pastry that is not so sickeningly sweet you only want to eat a few bites! When you have an opportunity to sit down with a cup of hot, fresh coffee, with or without caffeine, and a lovely piece of sweet bread, well, that there is a slice of Heaven on Earth baby.

There are dozens of different shapes, colors, and flavors from which to choose, but choose you must. At some point, you could try eating a different bread each time you had the opportunity, and that would definitely be a challenge, but one that most people here are willing to attempt. I, fortunately for me, much prefer a juicy steak, rib eye to be specific, or bacon. Who can resist bacon? Not me, for sure. But when the mood strikes me, and it does, every once in a blue moon, I like a small cupcake with cranberries and blueberries in it.

If you have not taken an opportunity to buy Mexican sweet bread at your nearest Mexican store, you really should. Your time and effort will be richly rewarded. You may even decide you like the subtlety of the Mexican sweet bread as opposed to the cloyingly sweet confections offered by Hostess, et. al. Let me know what you decide.

It is 11:00 am on Monday morning and my husband Ivan, his dad Juan, and I are sitting in the dentists office waiting to be seen. My father in law lost a tooth the end of last week and there is quite an opening there when he smiles. He would not want that, nor do we, so, here we are. Our dentist is a wonderful young woman, always a beautiful smile on her face! A smile you will always remember if you are fortunate enough to meet her!

This past Friday my husband had 3D radiographs of his mouth so we can start work on his dental implants. I do not believe I mentioned that Dr. Solis is also an Endoperiodonist, a surgeon who will do Ivan’s implants here in the office. He wants only a local anesthetic, and she is very confident that it will work just fine for him. He will need 4 posts implanted, 2 top front, and 2 top back. She feels he is an excellent candidate. We cannot wait. He does not like his upper denture plate and will not wear it because it makes him feel like he is choking. Who needs that? So, maybe by Christmas he will have the full, beautiful smile he always had.

When we came down here this past April, the temperature was a balmy, and I do mean balmy, 89 – 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Locals were going around with down vests on, some with scarves, full length slacks. I personally thought I was going to explode from the heat. I wore as little clothing as I could get by with legally. Now that we are here, once again, and it is August, it gets as high as 80* in the afternoon, (I cannot find the degree symbol so I am making do with the asterisk. Sue me.) but once 6 pm. rolls around, and it starts raining, which it does almost every evening, the temperature is kind enough to drop into the 60’s. Thank the good Lord.

I know I do not need to tell you that I have my fan with me- electric in the house, and handheld every place else. Anyone that knows me knows how much I dislike perspiring. (I have been known to muse about how wonderful it would be to be able to lose a certain amount of weight just through perspiration. I also know that this type of weight loss will never work for me. The fans!). But every day, like clockwork, it has rained for upwards of 30 minutes to as much as all night drizzles. I cannot get enough of it. I have always loved the rain, and if thunder, and lightening tag along, so much the better. Would I want to live in a rainy climate all year long? Not a bit. But, for a few months, every year? Well, that is one of the reasons I signed on.

I am discovering that there are about a gazillion ways to get around this city, and even more opportunities to have a car accident. I must commend the drivers here in CDMX for their uncanny ability to weave in and out of the continuous ebb and flow of the traffic here. It never seems to stop yet there are remarkably very few accidents. To my recollection, I believe we have only come upon one accident in the several weeks we have been here. It makes me laugh to think of those drivers, in the Midwest, where we used to live, that can not even merge courteously. To think of allowing the person in the lane next to you to come over into your lane, in front of you, baffles the Midwestern driver. Here, it is second nature. It gets everyone where they needed to be 20 minutes ago. Red lights are long, green lights are short, and there really is no yellow, except as a caution.

Of all of the popular stores we have been to, and with 5 or 6 different family members driving, each has his or her own route that is taken. None of them goes the same way as any other family member. It is comical, really. We are trying to find our way to these stores, then, just as we memorize a route, someone goes a different way. We always get there eventually, and we get home again.