My Week

In my last post I made mention of perhaps being swindled by repair men but I have been spared!  I now have a working fridge WOO HOO!

Last Sunday I went to my husband´s ball game and met the fate of being hit in the leg with the baseball which left a very huge bruise.

I´m glad to announce that I am way ahead of schedule for Christmas.  Usually I don´t start decorating until the second week of December and every year I say next year I am going to be ready to decorate way earlier Since Thanksgiving isn´t celebrated here in Mexico I haven´t been busy prepàring for guests and making food so I´ve been able to focus a little more on other things.  For example...

I pulled out all of my pictures and finally fixed my huge frame that holds 1 8x10, 2 5x7, and 12 4x6. It took me longer than usual because the frame was badly molded from the humidity so I had to doctor it up and clean, clean, clean it up.  

The house is still coming together. Here are a few of my peeves as of late.

1) Every morning I have to go outside and pick up 5-7 doggie dumplings in my front yard.  Ever since we finished remodling the front yard is still wide open and with a lot of rock and sand where the doggie´s love to take a dump.  It´s driving me crazy because I don´t even have dogs Plus, I can´t let one day pass without picking up the dumplings or else I can´t leave my front door open to let in the breeze because all I get is an ugly stench.

2) All the traffic uses my yard to turn around.  I know it´s not a big deal but after a while it gets annoying because they almost make it up to my front window.

Ok, I´m done venting for now.  That pretty much sums up my week, I hope to start sharing pictures but can never seem to come prepared to the ciber.

I have an idea of setting up a desk at home to have a working area. However, I have run out of tables and need to buy a new one which I hope will serve as both table and side table whenever needed.  We´ll see but that is the plan.

Well, tootlz for now, its dark here and so I´m off for some pan con leche para cenar.

Swindled?

I´m taking my fellow blogger Contessa´s advice and am going to throw myself into this by posting about daily life here at home in Nayarit.  This place is truly like "Peyton´s Place," but more of that later.

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Today was the 2^nd time I made tortillas by hand, or as they say here in Mexico “tortie” (pronounced: tor-tea-e).  The 1^st time I tried, the tortillas came out a little burned but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it because today I didn’t burn them.  It’s not too difficult to make tortillas there is simply several things one must be aware of because if one is amiss then your tortillas suffer the consequences.  Making tortillas is an art into itself and I will go into how they are made in more detail later.  For now I will simply tell you that I’m tackling the task of tortiando daily.

Earlier today two men were driving down the street announcing that they repair refrigerators, stoves & washing machines.  We asked them to stop because the fridge my suegra (mother-in-law) gave us isn’t cooling as it should.  Reluctantly, my suegra called them over.  I say reluctantly because in the past other people have paraded down the street announcing their handy work capabilities and end up swindling my suegra out of her money leaving her only with broken appliances.

We told the two men that we had a fridge that needed fixing but weren’t very trusting because we have been swindled in the past.  They assured us that they were honest men who live in Tepic and work the surrounding ranches repairing old appliances.  After about 15 minutes of discussion, we (B, my suegra and I) agreed to let them fix the fridge.  We also had them unclog the stove (also given to us by my suegra) because one of the burners wasn’t working.  They fixed both (supposedly) and charged us $800 pesos; $750 for the fridge and $50 for the stove. 

We plugged the fridge in and it seems as if it is cooling more but only time will tell whether or not we too have been swindled.

Wish us luck!

-Trinidad

Home at Last

Ok, Ok, I´m sorry for being away so long.

I made it. I am in 5 de Mayo Nayarit and have tons to share but no time!! We´ve had renovations at the house, and I barely got unpacked a few days ago.  Things have been crazy and today is the first day I´ve tried "El Ciber" at the ranch.  I have to say it hasn´t been bad at all, the connection that is.

This is a short hello, but please bare with me as I get settled in at home.  I think I will create my posts at home and then come in to the ciber all ready to just cut and paste.

On to top of getting settled in I wrangled with a 102 temperature for three days until finally I went to see a doctor and got a shot which took away my fever within hours.  You know how they do things down here in Mexico ha ha.

Well, like I said please bear with me and I hope to post again soon.

"Surprise!"

The cousins and my Mom nealing at the bottom right

"Surprise!" was what I heard as I walked into the door of my aunt's house.

"No guys he's not here yet, it's just me" was my response.  Cousin Londa said "No this is for you!"

Tear.

As I stood there it all began to sink in that I wasn't actually there for my cousin's surprise birthday party but a surprise going away party for me. 

They got me good.

I was so emotional I needed a cocktail fast to simmer the nerves down.  My family began to give me hugs one by one, some I hadn't seen in a while so I was very glad they could make it.

The day before the party I told my mom I planned on making up little cards with all my new contact info so that I could pass them out at my cousin's surprise party.  She thought it was a good idea since the whole family was going to be there.  It is so funny how it all worked out that I had thought to make the contact cards and ended up passing them out at my own surprise party.

My family is awsome. 

I still haven't started packing but will get to it soon. 

Tootlz for now.

My One Way Ticket

A one way ticket...for anybody, can feel threatening when it is purchased without the intent of a return.

I have finally purchased my one way ticket and things are starting to feel FINAL. 

This move to Nayarit has been almost two years in the making and to be honest I have often felt that it would never arrive.

My situation has always felt somewhat like a dream that I wasn't really living.  It was hard to be married for one year and then have to be separated for two.  This was a hard and long journey for both my husband and I am so glad and thankful that it has all come to an end - the separation, not the marriage.

So much change lies ahead for me and I know I will be struggling to adapt.  It is true what is said about change and the unknown.  Both are not usually welcomed with open arms.  I believe to truly be successful in my transition I will have to embrace both with my eyes wide open.  Does that make sense?

Back when I started this blog, I had no idea I would be meeting such wonderful, intelligent people.  Thank you for your comments and posts, they have helped me to see this experience in a new positive light.

On Sunday Oct. 2nd I will make the title of this blog a reality and not just a dream.

Oh and did I mention I'm very excited? 

Because I am, even if it is to delve into those dreadful things in life like change and the unknown.

My $5 Coffees

Ok, so I am guilty of enjoying the rediculousness of Peet's $5 coffees.  I can't help it, lately I've gotten much better at taking my own coffee to work and staying away from the coffee mania of Peet's in the morning but not today. 

I woke up rather early to take a family member to the bart station, 6am to be exact, and thus had a ton of time to spare before getting to work.  My solution...I headed to Peet's coffee shop near my work and orded myself a large white mocha with whole milk and whip cream.  Mmmmm. 

Since I've been back, between the bagels with cream cheese and coffees I think I've gained about 10-15 pounds.  YIKES! It's ok because I am 99% sure I will lose it all once I move down to Nayarit. 

As I passed the time in the coffee shop with the much older crowd (which is why I like going to Peet's) I wrote my nephew in boot camp a 5 page letter.  After finishing, I sat outside on one of the benches and longed for some company.  I got to thinking after about 20 minutes how much better I would be enjoying myself sitting on my new patio in good 'ol 5 de Mayo drinking a 5 cent coffee instead of a 5 dollar coffee.

My mother-in-law and I often bond over coffee, it is something we have in common if not anything else we always manage to agree when it's time for café.

Sitting outside that coffee shop made me realize this as everybody walked by me with not so much as a single "hello" much less a "good morning." A realization that my $5 coffees are just that and nothing more. 

All in due time.... for now I wish you all a good morning.

Still Here!

After receiving a concerned email from a dear friend, I decided to write this post to let everybody know I am still alive and kickin'!

I have been a terrible blogger and do apologize. 

I have encountered a couple of obstacles to blogging.  One, my home computer is dying on me.  It is a fight to get my laptop booted up and am in the process of getting it replaced as I have had it for over 7 years and wouldn't mind seeing something new.  However I have yet to take the plunge at getting a new one.

Also, I have been working 7 days a week.  Crazy right? I know.  I figure that I don't have kids or a husband at home that need tending to and so I should be able to manage the schedule.  My last day of work is Sept. 30th and until then I will be working every day except for the Monday holiday in September.

I am on very good terms with my employers and we have a mutual care for one another.  I am on a mission to complete a project at work before I leave plus I don't mind the extra cash.  I will sometimes get online at work but most of the time my project takes me away from my office and thus away from my computer.

Don't give up on me as I should be getting a working laptop soon.  Also, I have recently found out that a new "cyber" has opened up in Nayarit where I will be moving.  So keeping the blog functioning shouldn't be too difficult even though I believe the connection is via satelite.  We'll see how that goes as I hear they are not very reliable.

Tootlz for now, I will be checking in soon!