I’m happy to report that July had an adventure. I had thought to get away in June, but the logistics with the dogs was too complicated.

But first, obligatory cats pic:

I mentioned no churn ice cream in my June post. July is when I discovered this decadent eggless concoction made of whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk. Since the pandemic, I have not had a decent ice cream place other than Dairy Queen near me, so being able to make my own satisfying ice cream with almost no effort and with whatever mix-ins I want has been amazing! This first effort was pistachio with chocolate ganache.

There’s a decent taco place across from Pilates with an incredible salsa de árbol. I pretty much only eat there for that, and not that often either as I usually come out of Pilates too late. Well, I went in July, and the server greeted me with “Hi, long time no see, here is your salsa naranja. Al pastor paquete with everything but no cheese on corn tortillas with jamaica to drink, right?

Then he turned to another server and said, “I told you she existed.”

What am I, the Bigfoot of taquerías? 🤣🤣

In July, I took advantage of a sale and got an ice maker, something I’d been thinking about for a long time. Croft helped me figure out a routine with it. Turns out you have to let them run for a few hours for the machine to get cold before it’ll start producing usable ice cubes. I run it every few days for a morning to fill a bag. My foster son, Roscoe, loves ice, so that’s a nice treat for him.

I wasn’t able to eat beans for years, not realising it was a way of my body trying to regulate my blood sugar. Since the spring, I’ve been rediscovering them, and my favourite way to have them is in a highly seasoned sauce (English curry style) with flat bread. This particular version was different, with a Japanese flavour profile that involved miso and rice wine vinegar. My bread above was meant to be pita but turned out more like naan, a happy event as fresh pita is easy to find here while naan is not and I haven’t had much luck with actual naan recipes.

I tried a bunch of melons in July. This one was so delicious despite its hideous name of toad skin!

My next ice cream was my favourite flavour of cookies and cream. That one disappeared so fast I decided I need to take a brief break from making ice cream.

Here’s a shot of the jicama fridge pickles I referenced in a previous post (the flecks are Tajín seasoning because I’m a genius):

The new fridge is just so amazing, tons and tons and tons of room to put meal prepped items. I’m definitely due, after a few months of living with it, to empty it out and reorganize it, but even in its current state it is so much more functional than was the side-by-side with its cavernous cubicles.

By the end of July, I was a bit on edge, just needing a break. Coming out of Pilates on a Saturday morning, I suddenly remembered that I have a local driver’s license and can rent a car. I headed down to Fiesta Americana to see if anyone had a car available for a few days. I ended up with this modern Batmobile looking thing from Kia.

Sunday morning, I decided to do the circuit I’d promised I’d do whenever I got access to more fuel-efficient vehicle than Moya had been, and ideally with air conditioning!

I head north towards Progreso and finally turned right to follow the coast all the way to Dzilam de Bravo.

I tried to get a ride on a lancha to go to a nearby cenote, but despite seeing many boats go out, there was never a seat left over for me.

I had lunch at Los pericos, where service was great and the food delicious!

They started me off with a tray of complimentary botanas that included beets!

My main was succulent camarones a la diabla, by far the best shrimp I’ve had on this side of Mexico.

Since I was driving, I had a couple of limonadas minerales rather than a beer. They also offered me a free dessert of meringue, which I was so sad to have to decline.

I went back to the car after to get a hat, discovered damage to the car (missing side view mirror!), and decided to stroll through town then head home. I messaged the rental company to let them know about the incident. I’d gotten nearly full coverage, so I wasn’t too worried about being charged for the damage, but I’d read the contract fine print and knew I had to report the damage before returning the car.

The town had some pretty spots.

This was a great day and reminded me of how much bigger my world will be when I can head out on excursions like this on a whim.

Monday, I only enjoyed the car in the evening, to go to Pilates and then Walmart. Being able to drive to Pilates and the gym would be the single biggest improvement to my current situation that I can think of, turning 50-minute roundtrip into a 20-minute one. Near daily swims before work would suddenly be possible. And while I prefer not to drive after dark, doing so in my area is not a problem.

Tuesday, the car had to be back by about 2:00. I had a dentist appointment at 10:00, so I went for a swim first. The appointment took a bit longer than expected as the dentist decided to clean my teeth. I was then officially released from orthodontic treatment and regular visits at very long last!

After that, I drove a few blocks to Amato for brunch. The carnitas chilquiles were incredible (and so pretty!).

I then drove to Parque Oriente, quite a distance from my house, that I’d last been to with Bonita in 2019! The memories were bittersweet.

I dropped the car off around 1:00 as I had some work to do. As expected, I had no extra charge for the damage, but there was some paperwork, including writing a little report.

I took an Uber home and the driver did the most Mexican thing imaginable: he stopped at a roadside stand for fruit.

Speaking of which, here’s another melon I tried. This one wasn’t nearly as good.

I’ve been catching a lot of amazing sunsets:

My favourite cocina economica started sending me fresh whole habanero peppers with my lunches.

I still can’t get through a whole one, but am making good progress. I prefer the red ones as they are much sweeter (think green versus red pepper).

I’ve been eating regularly from this cocina for nearly eight years now. I can’t believe I’ve been here the better part of a decade!

July’s car rental made me realise I’m way overdue to get a car. Driving here when I know the city, have air conditioning, am in a small vehicle that’s easy to park, and especially have reliable navigation with Waze is a far cry from when I was driving here pre-pandemic with my truck. The thing is that it’s complicated to buy a car in Yucatán, the financing options aren’t great (very high interest rates), and prices have risen enough that it’d take too long to save up to pay cash. So I’m working at reorganising a few things to make a partial loan work, hopefully in the start of the new year. I already know what I want. 🙂

June had some really major personal milestones: I got a clean bill of health, in that my thyroid was well managed and I’d managed to reverse my insulin resistance in 18 months with small diet and exercise changes. I also had my first “significant” Pilates injury that required taking a class off and an examination by a physical therapist. I’d somehow strained my rhomboid muscle in my left shoulder as well as all my neck muscles, a result of that area really opening up and getting more movement. The physiotherapist said it was a shame that I didn’t get physio after my breast reduction in ’07 as it would have been easier to reverse my lordosis at at 28 than at 46, but he felt confident I could still accomplish it and gave me some exercises to do daily.

He put me at such ease that I felt comfortable talking about my knees and how I felt that I’d reached a point where I was in better shape than what my knees could handle. Rather than the usual “Just lose weight,” non-help I would have gotten in Canada, he said “Focus on your quads,” and gave me simple exercises to do. I followed his regimen and within a couple of weeks, I had real improvement and could squat and kneel better and for longer periods of time. My Pilates instructors were in awe! As was I the first time I squatted at the grocery store to examine items on the bottom shelf for a minute, then simply got up and continued my shopping as if I hadn’t spent all my life struggling with getting up from a squat..

The changes have been so slow and incremental that I was in shocked when I came out of an Adidas store after buying this outfit in their size large, realising that belly notwithstanding, the real me was about to burst forth, the me that has always been active and fit despite not meeting societal aesthetic standards of fitness. I’ve had such a mindset shift the longer I’ve been treated in Mexico and that my worth hasn’t been determined by a meaningless number on a scale or the BMI algorithm that is literally killing people.

Notice the HAIR!!!!

I’ve put in a lot of work on myself these past few years, and this was a summer of being strong. I not only started doing knee push-ups but almost immediately excelled at them, able to easily knock out 100, before finally completing the first full body push-up of my life. Pull-ups are next!

A clean bill of health meant I could return to eating “normally,” whatever that means in this new reality of intuitive eating, having discovered that my body was giving me clues for years that it was about to crash. I’d just spent 18 months free from diet culture, was down two clothing sizes, and knew that I had the tools to keep trending in the right direction. And best of all, I finally had a kitchen I was happy to cook in!

I got a baking set specially designed for large countertop ovens and baptised it with delicious banana bread:

I’d promised myself a tray of Costco croissants as soon as I could eat starch with abandon again, and they did not disappoint! I froze most of these and enjoyed them over several months.

I had my first burrata, amazing!

Last summer, my mother showed me how to make fridge pickles. After reconfirming the “recipe,” I got to work. I find it weird how Mexicans haven’t figured out sweet pickles yet. These have been life-changing. I also like them with jicama!

On that same Costco trip, I bought a huge amount of cherries, so huge I ended up buying a cherry pitter.

I froze a large portion of them. Months later, I made them into cherry no churn ice cream.

I think the most significant decision I made in June was that it was time to get a second fridge to use as a pantry. As it turned out my dream fridge dropped like 60% at Liverpool on a flash sale (with nine equal no-interest payments to boot), so my old side-by-side went into the dining room to be used as a pantry. I can’t tell you how much I overthought this purchase, but it really was the missing piece to the kitchen I expected it to be.

The top part is like a standard French door fridge, but instead of having a freezer drawer, you have two compartments with pull-out bins, with one of the bins having the option to be a fridge or freezer. I have a ton of freezer space, so I only took one compartment as the kitchen freezer. The other compartment is kept at a warmer temperature than the top part and holds spices and onions. I love this fridge, and having it paired with the side-by-side and a deep freeze is a dream. My food stores are properly organised and accessible now, just like going grocery shopping.

My favourite detail is this “snack” bin in which my favourite yogurts fit perfectly. It’s the little things. 😉

This photo of Alma isn’t the best, but it’s so funny. She loves playing with my chanclas!

Dodge doesn’t cuddle with me much, but when she does, I’m not allowed to go anywhere!

Bonus Dodger pic. I used to have the modem on this shelf by my desk. It took weeks of not understanding where Dodger was hiding to get locked in the room overnight to finally find her! In my defense, she would usually sleep with her black rump towards me and be invisible!

Sunset by Pilates one night in June:

I rewatched a favourite movie on a night when I needed a laugh. “Junior” will never not be funny!

Worked slowed down in May, so I took the time to fill the freezer and enjoy some downtime.

Summer was in full swing. I had ChatGPT draw my evenings on the porch with the dogs:

It’s hilarious (and impressive) the details that ChatGPT picks up on in requests, like it’s the apocalypse so I’m probably looking a bit hungry. It didn’t do too badly with the dogs either, even if at first glance they seem more similar than in real life. But that’s clearly taller, leaner Lily on the left.

May is when Alma discovered her bliss, lying by me on her back to get a belly rub. When she raises her paws up alongside her head, you know she’s not going anywhere!

Dodger prefers to spend time with me in my office. Alma has taught her to speak, so she’s much more vocal now!

In May, the universe rewarded me with my DREAM cooking set. Remember, I cook on gas. There is nothing better than enameled cast iron for that. I’ve been searching for affordable pieces for years, and to suddenly be presented with my entire wish list from a brand I trust, in a colour I love, and at less than the price of a single piece of Le Creuset felt like winning the lottery!

In a bit of Benedict Cumberbatch withdrawal, at the end of the month I headed out to the cinema to see “The Phoenician Scheme.” It was one of those movies I would have passed on if I wasn’t such a fan of one of the leads, even if I knew he only had a bit part, but which would have been such a loss not to see. Highly recommend it!

I went to The Harbor, a mostly empty mall in the north of the city. Mérida has way too many luxury malls, and I don’t understand why we have this one right next to Galerías.

I had lunch at Los Jumiles first, a real gem tucked away downstairs by the fountain. There, I had a truly gourmet meal, starting with a local beer:

There were some totopos with salsas. I had to ask for picante and got at least one refill. Habanero just doesn’t hurt anymore. Weird!

The tuna tostadas with salsa macha were apparently hot, but not to my new palate. I found them mostly oily, but that’s salsa matcha for you. It’s very rare that I don’t have tuna tostadas as a starter if they are on the menu.

The complimentary totopos came with crumbly cheese that got eeeverywhere. This is my second bowl of habanero sauce, and I hadn’t even gotten my main yet.

I chose beef tongue as my main! I broke the ice on lengua when I had them in tacos, so I decided to see what an upscale restaurant could do with it. The slices of meat were thin, tender, and well seasoned. Delicious! I appreciated the blue corn tortillas to soak up the sauce.

I’d spotted a gelato place in the mall, so I declined dessert and finished my meal with a perfectly pulled espresso:

All of this for just under $700, plus a tip. I really need to get back there!

March melded into April this year with a barrage of pages.

I still took the time to vote in the Canadian federal election:

Obligatory cat pic:

Unusual lizard:

So many people tried to gaslight me into thinking this is just a normal Yucatecan iguana, which it is not — the head is different.

Somehow managed to complete another bag kit between work, Pilates, and cooking:

This one is similar to the “Picotin.” I LOVE this bag and it’s my most commonly used one for a quick errand. It replaced a similar-sized grey bag in vinyl.

April is when I started with a new client whose jobs hit me in the face with an epiphany.

I think most people want a life that matters, a job that makes an impact, even those who say they don’t.  Well, I wanted that, and I found it. I got into the transcript field as it seemed something easy to get started in, never expecting it to transition into a meaningful career that I could look back on as my Life’s Work.

I work on a lot of frivolous cases. I mean, how many times can someone sue a grocery store for slipping on a grape?! But I also work on watershed-type cases that will have a ripple effect into the future. No one will know I worked on these cases, my name will be lost to time, but some of the transcripts I helped create will be referred to a hundred years from now and help a judge make a decision.

I wish I could feel more comfortable talking about the specific cases I work on, especially when they’re a matter of public record, but I can’t. Just know that they are huge, sometimes so huge Netflix needed two seasons to even scratch at the surface of the story of a recent case, and sometimes so important that they are rewriting the law on the subject. And sometimes, for a bit of fun, I have all the juicy details in a big name celebrity custody battle or family feud.

Since April, I’ve worked on three death penalty cases out of Florida, and I am set to work on several more. This kind of work isn’t for everyone. I did a lot of law enforcement transcription before transitioning to editing court reporter transcripts. I’m desensitised to a lot now. Like a seasoned homicide detective, I can look over gory exhibit photos while eating lunch. I do get worn down by a day’s testimony of what was done to a child, but do not really lose sleep over it thanks to an ability to compartmentalise my thoughts. I have the kind of brain that has the empathy needed to work these cases, but not so much empathy that it breaks me down.  The world needs people like me who care deeply, who can work these cases and not be destroyed by the darkness of the world in their fight for a semblance of justice for the most vulnerable.

This quote from the latest Cormoran Strike novel really hit home the other night:

Yes, there is so much to do. And I won’t apologise for how important my Work is to me.

It’s the end of September and I’m finally catching up on my recaps.

February 2025 really was balanced between my homebody self and my explorer genes being activated, as the month ended with a trip but started with serious nesting.

First off, obligatory cat pics.

I really do want to do a bit of a tour of the downstairs to show my home now compared to the empty house I rented, but vignettes will have to suffice for now.

A used furniture dealer helped me find the perfect piece for my dining room to store all my cleaning supplies and tools without it screaming “This is a utility closet!” In one side, I mounted my Dyson vacuum cleaner charger and discovered cleaning BLISS! It’s the little things, amirite?

I’ve always wanted a dresser like this for this spot, so when I saw this inexpensive version in pine, I jumped on it! I mounted my fish from Puerto Morelos above it.

The fish really complements the flamingo in my stairwell.

(my iPhone HATES this paint and refuses to make it look like its lovely self. I swear my house is not that garish!)

After finding a different piece for my office, my fireflies moved to my bedroom, which is where they clearly belong:

I was a super happy Izzi internet customer for years, but started to have issues with my service and decided to move to TotalPlay so I could have faster upload speeds.

Since I had new wiring being run, I decided to make a decision I’d regretted not taking when Izzi ran cable and switched my living room around! This closed up the room, making a cosy living room area with the couch a reasonable distance from the TV and gave me a proper separate entrance.

I can’t believe I don’t have a good before picture of the old layout. The TV stand was on the left where the wardrobe is now, and the couch was where the TV is, leaving a vast sea of open floor in the middle. The acoustics of the room are so much better now.

I found this wardrobe, which I was surprised had the same footprint as the TV stand that used to be there, to use as an entrance closet. All the drawers and cubbies are stuffed with purses, while the rain coat, boots, and sweaters hang in the tall portion. This really finished off the house.

The last thing I wanted was a proper filing cabinet for my office as I’d outgrown the two boxes I’d come here with (we’re still SO FAR from a paperless world!). I was surprised not to find many used ones online, so did a shoutout on my neighbourhood group. A fellow quickly responded that I could have this ugly thing for just $500 to cover the gas and time to bring it to me. It fits perfectly in my office closet.

I still wasn’t done and got these two cabinets for the “bonus” room. One has crafting supplies, the other tools and home maintenance things.

The rest of February was detailed in previous posts. 🙂

March was just work. Holy smokes. There is no in-between in my field. I’m either overbooked or not booked. I did a ton of cooking, including a super decent attempt at poutine after finding the right potatoes on the same day I came into possession of fresh Oaxaca cheese (which squeaks just like cheese curds).

Really, the only exciting thing about March is that I agreed to take a friend’s dogs for the summer while he travelled!

Here’s Lily:

And here’s Roscoe:

They’re super sweet and I’ve loved having them here.