Some Quickie Catch-up News

Well, here I am, after a long absence. Shame on me!


Last trip down our internet was so spotty it made it hard to post so I had planned on doing that when we got back, but I haven't even kept up on reading my blog list for the past month or more.


We'll be arriving in Progreso on March 6th and staying until the 24th. Just a quick trip this time because our daughter is expecting her second child on April 2nd. Hopefully Baby waits until we get back so we don't miss the show.


Sr B's rotator cuff surgery has left him with limited mobility. Not because of the rotator cuff issue itself but because he has so much arthritis in the joint. The surgeon did a debridement and Sr B thinks that by clearing out the junk, it caused his joint to shift. He can raise his hand to head level but no higher. The surgeon said he would eventually need a shoulder replacement. He's already had both hips done. When we got married, I had no idea I was marrying the future bionic man! He says when they dig up his bones, 1000 years from now, they're going to wonder about the robots we had way back then...lol.


RED LETTER DAY One year from today, Sr B will be retired. He can't wait. He's been with the same company for 34 years and, while the pay has provided us a decent lifestyle and he'll have a great pension, he's getting tired of the bureaucracy of a big corporation.


If March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, then I'm expecting, no...demanding...that the end of March be downright tropical. Old Man Winter has been especially cruel to Canada this year. The past few nights, and for a couple more upcoming, night time temps are in the -38C/-36F range with windchills of -47C/-53F. The whole winter has been colder than usual and has made us even more enthusiastic about being snowbirds.


I guess that's all. Looking forward to leaving the cold behind and seeing everyone in Mexico again.

More Shopping

Yesterday we went in to Merida with upstairs neighbours I and N. We went to Costco and Sr. B and I finally!! got ourselves a membership.

Back in Canada, we live about 3 hours from the nearest Costco so we've never bothered to get a membership. Although plenty of folks from our town will make the drive, we can't be bothered. But the Costco in Merida has some things we like and, since the store is very accessible and a membership costs less here, we decided to go ahead and get one. It's funny how having this small card that says Mexico on it makes us feel more like part of the local community.

Today, neighbour Kris and I went uptown to the tourist market. I picked up a cute little summer dress for our g'daughter. She likes those ones with the shirred elastic top. I just hope she likes the colour I chose. She's 13 and a bit fussier than she was when she was younger...lol.

In March, I bought a beautiful salad sized bowl and a matching botana sized one. There was only the one small bowl at the time but today I found another one, so I picked it up.

I noticed something interesting at the market. As soon as Kris and I told the various vendors we dealt with that we lived in Progreso, their demeanor changed just a wee bit. They became warmer, friendlier. Not that they weren`t friendly in the first place, but there was a slight shift in how they interacted with us.

I also bought myself a couple of knit dresses that are styled like a tank top at the shoulders. Washed them up and put one on. Oh my goodness! They`re the next best thing to being naked. These are going to be great when it`s beastly hot.

Speaking of which, a norte is apparently in the forecast. The breeze picked up a bit late this afternoon, its chill portending the upcoming storm. The cooler temps and rain will be a nice respite from the heat of the past few days.

Last night we had a mosquito in the bedroom that we couldn`t find and murder. I awoke to a half dozen bites on my arms. The good news is that Ì seem to have finally developed a degree of tolerance to their bites. I don`t swell and itch anywhere near as badly as I did when we first started coming down. Tonight`s breeze will help keep them at bay. Fingers crossed that one didn`t sneak into our room during the day.

I've tried to post some photos but our internet connection is too slow and the page to load pics onto won`t come up.

An Evening in Merida

Well, I didn't succeed in posting before 3 days had passed but that's ok. Not too much has happened.

Tonight we went into Merida with neighbour Bindi and W and S, who also own a unit on our floor. They've recently purchased a new-to-them house in Merida so we went to see it. Lots has been done in the courtyard and it's gorgeous. The kitchen is being worked on and it's going to be fabulous. The house is built in a U shape with 4 bedrooms on one side.  Each bedroom has a door leading into the next bedroom, as well as a door to the outside. I found this flow-through odd but I suspect it's actually fairly common in older homes such as theirs which was built in the 1920's.

We stopped for a drink just outside Teatro Peon Contreras. I mentioned having gone to the symphony there in March. S and Bindi have never been but would like to so S, who is a native Spanish speaker, is going to find out if there's a symphony in the next few days. If so, we're going to go get ourselves cultured.

We went down to the park that's at the end of Paseo Montejo. S told me the name of it but I've forgotten. The big Christmas tree was being lit and we made it with just a few minutes to spare. They did a 1 2 3 countdown and then played a trick on the crowd by pretending the lights weren't working. They did this a couple of times. Well, karma and all that...it turned out the lights really didn't work. After fiddling with them for a few minutes, the lights came on. The tree is gigantic! This is probably only about a third of it.

 

Then we went to the Cafeteria Impala, which is also located at the end of Paseo Montejo, for a bite to eat.

 

 

 

Good food at a great price. I couldn't eat it all so I brought home leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

 

It's been very hot out here at the beach so I was expecting it to be even hotter in Merida but I found it to be quite pleasant although Sr B, who happens to be half polar bear, said it was too hot.

 

It would have been nice to stay longer but the last bus to Progreso is at 10 so we had no choice but to leave.

 

 

 

 

Quick Catch-up

Whew! I've finally got a good enough connection to get on here so I figured I'd give you all a quick update.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. We had planned on going down to the main square in the evening for the tree lighting but we just didn't feel like going out. So we didn't.

Monday afternoon I went with neighbour Kris to go wrap Christmas presents for the food hampers, at Sharon Helgason's place. This year's toys were much nicer, and more plentiful, than last year's. I think there will be some very happy kiddies at Christmas. There's another wrapping session tomorrow afternoon that Kris and I will attend.

Tuesday morning I went to a monthly meeting of The Beach Gals Club. They're involved in all sorts of good things in the community. I decided to pay my dues so I can receive the newsletter to know what's going on so I can be more involved. Neighbour Bindi, along with her dachshund Queenie, spent the afternoon visiting.

This morning we went uptown for groceries, bright and early. Well, bright and early for this non-morning person. We left about 9:00 so we could get back home before it got too hot. It's about 2pm and, according to our thermometer, it's 30C. A far cry from back home where those poor folks are suffering through -30C.

And that's it. Hopefully I don't have to wait another 3 days before I can post again.

We're Here!

We flew down on Thursday, American Thanksgiving, and you know what? It wasn't nearly as hairy as we had expected. Apparently the day before was the hairy day. Due to a fortuitous twist, Sr. B and I ended up with 3 seats to ourselves. Other than being an hour late leaving from our home airport, the entire trip was uneventful, just the way we like. We arrived at the condo about 11. Maybe it was 11:30. I was too tired to make a note of the exact time.

Yesterday, Friday, was spent getting settled in. Neighbour Liz was going into Merida and asked if we wanted to join her. She had to stop at Scotiabank...was that ok? Heck yeah! We also had to go to Scotiabank, to pay our fideicomiso. How lucky for us that we were able to take care of that our first day here! We set it up to be automatically charged to our credit card so now we don't have to worry about getting to the bank every year.

Liz took us to a grocery store where we stocked up on a few days worth of grub. The first grocery run of our stays always makes me cringe a bit. It's costly re-stocking from zero.

The evening was spent at Liz's, visiting and catching up over a few drinks.

Today, I went to the state fair with several neighbours. I see the name Xmatkuil but I haven't figured out, yet, if that's the name of the town/city or of the fair itself. Sr. B partied a bit too much last night and wasn't feeling up to coming along.

One of our party was also husband-less so the two of us decided to do some shopping instead of going to any shows. It was a lot of fun being able to do some girl shopping without having to worry about a bored spouse.

I have some photos of the fair but I'll save those for another post.

Our internet is pretty patchy, so, for my readers at home, don't be alarmed if I don't post daily. I promise the bad guys haven't gotten hold of me...lol.

Save the Date(s)

Nov 28th to Dec 16th.

Our next trip down has been booked. Unfortunately, this is a quick trip, just under 3 weeks instead of the usual 4-5.

Sr. B had rotator cuff surgery the middle of Sept and the lengthy recovery time threw a bit of a wrench into our vacation plans. The upside is that he's rolling some of this year's earned vacation days into next year so next November we plan on being there for 6 weeks.

Looking forward to seeing our friends in Mexico again!

Well, I've Gone and Done it

Several months ago an old back injury came back to haunt me so, as of today, I'm officially retired.

The last few weeks have been very emotional, saying good bye to my clients, many of whom I've had the pleasure of serving for many years. Just as difficult was saying good bye to clients I haven't had very long, folks that I was just getting to know.

This job isn't just about the paycheck. It's also about the relationships that are built over time. I know personal details about some peoples' lives that I'm pretty sure they don't share with just anybody and I feel honoured to have been entrusted with this information. Telling my clients that I was leaving felt like I was breaking up with them and each telling felt like a knife in my heart. Many clients were visibly shaken when I told them and some cried. It was very humbling to know I meant that much to them.

I have a darling lady who comes every Friday morning for her weekly set. This lady is my hero. She celebrated her 87th birthday this spring. She still lives in her own house, drives, is mentally sharp and pretty darned spry for being 87. She had told me, several times, that she hoped she died before I retired because she just couldn't imagine anyone else doing her hair. She loves me and I adore her. Telling her I was leaving is right up there as one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. As if the knife wasn't in deep enough, her sigh of resignation was the death twist of the blade.

I've shed many, many tears since making my decision to leave the job I love; the job I wanted to do since I was 6 years old. I feel very blessed that I was able to fulfill my dream of being a hairstylist. It all seems surreal; that the career I wanted from such a young age and worked so hard to achieve, going to school and working part time while raising my eldest daughter on my own, is now over.

I've had days where I wanted to stay home because I had things to do, or because it was too nice a day to be cooped up inside, but not once did I ever have a day that I didn't want to go to work because of the job itself. I can honestly say I've loved every minute of it.