It is absolutely not hyperbole that my life changed dramatically, and with very little warning, in mid February.

First, obligatory cat pics.

And then a tale of woe about my dang tooth that I’ve talked about many times over the years. I’d had an inlay and root canal done a few years ago, but then the inlay suddenly fell out one day in February, just when my dentist had closed for a week of work on the clinic. He referred me to a colleague at another location who was able to take me promptly. Turns out that only part of the inlay had come out. To do the root canal, they had to drill into the inlay, weakening it. I take full responsibility for this as I resisted the root canal. Had I not, they would have done things in the right the order. The dentist said that the old inlay would have to be drilled out and a new one put in. This sounds so, so, so much worse than it was because, again, root canal! I never felt a thing. It was just uncomfortable. On my way out the door, she said to go to a bakery a little farther down in the strip mall to get a cinnamon bun, so I did!

I had to return about a week later (I was now at about ten days with a giant hole in my mouth) to get the new inlay put in. I was not satisfied with how it was fitting at that point, but I was told to give it a week to settle and we would make final adjustments. I was surprised that I was cleared to go have brunch after such a big appointment!

By the end of the week, I was pretty miserable with the new inlay. It just had a few peaks and valleys that I was not settling into. The dentist did not argue with me and continued to polish according to my feedback. By the time she was done, the new inlay actually felt better than the last one! The cost of the procedure was 6,000 pesos.

I wonder if anyone can guess what I had to do next. YEP. New top retainer! My usual dentist tried to save the old one, but it just never fit right, so he had a new unit made, so I had several visits related to that. We kept joking that I just can’t get enough of his office that every time he says I’m cleared for six-month visits, something keeps pulling me back. I’m grateful to have such fantastic care! The new retainer and all but one of the appointments surrounding it were free, for a total of 500 pesos.

One bonus cat pic for February, of my sweet Dodger apparently deciding she wants to learn my job!

And now, the bombshell.

My schedule is anchored by my Pilates practice. I fit work around it, not the other way around. I’d been with my current studio for two years and had started to think about making a switch when I learned from an Instagram post (bit rude; I think this should have been announced to the Whatsapp distribution list)… that the studio was moving across town, to a location I had no desire to find a way to. I had just finished my class package when I found this out, so that was it with them, so abruptly. Just walked out one night not knowing I wouldn’t be back.

I went through my options for a new studio. There was nothing within reasonable walking distance, so it was going to have to be wherever would be the easiest to Uber to. After much pondering, I decided that the one in my quadrant, 3KM west of me, made the most sense, and I knew from my demo class that I’d found my new Pilates home.

This new studio anchored me in my part of Mérida in a way that I’d been struggling to find since day one of moving here. Markets, fruterías, restaurants, and even a small grocery store were finally on my route.

The first few classes, I walked if I had time, discovering that one of my favourite fruterías was right by the new studio. It had been a dream for years to be able to stop there several times a week for fresh cut produce, juices, and basic grocery items. This was my haul one night, with some bonus tamales from a lady selling them in front of her house.

The only hiccup was this 6KM roundtrip walk wasn’t always going to be feasible. I did a few trips where I booked an Uber to and from, and I will say that stepping out of my house into a car, then out of the studio in the car, felt a bit luxurious, but it wasn’t sustainable. So even before my first demo class at the new studio, I’d been shopping, waiting to confirm that the studio was going to work out before I hit buy.

Still completely oblivious to just how much this purchase was going to turn my life upside down in the best way possible, February 18th, I bought some powered wheels.