(Post 161 of 263)

I have friends coming at the end of April, so I decided to just go ahead and get the guest room done properly. This turned, of course, into a “if you give a mouse a cookie” situation. The new guest room doesn’t have AC and it made no sense to by a unit for that room since it would get used so rarely. So I decided to buy a new one for my bedroom (quieter, cheaper to run, and with a programmable starter) and move the old one into the guest room.

So I figured, if I’m going to have workers in the bedroom, I might as well have them touch up the paint and give the bathroom a facelift, to essentially finish my master suite. And then, while on the Home Depot website, ooh, my dream fan for the mezzanine is in stock and on sale, so might as well grab it too! You know how it goes!

I contacted my contractor from last summer to see if he’d be interested in a hodgepodge of small facelift-type projects. I have had a lot of people say to me, “You’ll never see that guy again.” Ha. Just goes to show a blog never gives you the whole story. I’d no sooner messaged him that he was calling and we were making plans. He came by the next morning to have a look at everything and then we made an appointment to go shopping at Home Depot on Tuesday morning next week.

I ended up doing an online order from Home Depot because all but one of the items I wanted wasn’t in stock in Mérida. I was nervous about delivery times, but everything came within 24 hours! We still have plenty to shop for on Tuesday, so I’m sure he’ll be happy the heavy stuff is out of the way. I also made a Coppel order that I’m disappointed is saying delivery by April 20th, but it’s for one of the last things that needs to go in so the timing might work.

The AC shopping wasn’t without some drama.

I came up with a list of features my dream air conditioner should have and found one by Mabe that met all the criteria and was on sale at Elektra for $12,200, by far the best deal I’d found for any brand. More than I’d hoped to spend, but the inverter ACs are pricier, with the studies showing that they pay for themselves over time in terms of power bill savings. They are also quieter to run.

I ordered the unit and was given a delivery date of April 8th. I got no further communication from Elektra until I noticed a refund to my credit card! I was stunned that I didn’t even get a cancellation email because service from Elektra is normally good.

At this point, time was of the essence and I decided to just focus on my wish list and getting a good brand delivered quickly. So I went to Bomssa, which, spoiler alert, is the only place I’m going to buy appliances from from now on if they have what I want in stock. Third time ordering, third time amazed by the service and price compared to competitors. Bomssa’s website is frustrating in that they don’t give a lot of details. But there’s a link to Whatsapp with a human. So I reached out with my wishlist and was given two models to look at.

I settled on an LG unit that is normally priced at $17,200 but which they had on sale for $13,300. I’d seen the same unit was on sale at both Liverpool and Costco for about $16,000, so I was happy with the price. The attendant processed my order for me and confirmed my method of payment. I like that they have a mobile terminal, so you can pay with your card at delivery. And then I got two surprises: 1) I was getting next-day delivery and 2) the price on the site was if you wanted to finance your unit. Since I was essentially paying cash, they were able to drop the price further to $12,200!!! So I was going to get a better unit at an even better deal than I would have with the Mabe. Things work out!

Of course, this reno coincides with a huge stretch of work starting, but I think that since I know I can trust the guys to work cleanly, I should be able to lock myself in my office and work while they are here and that there won’t be as much disruption as there was last summer. I do think I’ll be out of my bedroom for a night or two, though, so I’ve got on the to-do list for the weekend to make sure my hammock is clean and set up in the “game room.”

April’s going to be a big month, so I can’t wait to enjoy its final weekend with some friends. Life really is starting to feel like it’s getting back to semblance of normal and it’ll be great to have a beautiful guest room ready as the requests to come visit start trickling in!

(Post 159 of 263)

I’m at the end of a much needed three-day staycation. Since I’m heading into a very full April, it was good to get caught up on chores.

Yesterday, Saturday, I had to be up and at ‘em by 9:00 because my cleaning fairy was coming by with a flete to pick up some furniture I was giving her. That done, I headed out to the Chuburna market for the sole purpose of having breakfast (my usual turkey salbutes with watermelon water). I was amused that I passed the Batmobile on my way!

I came in and gave the kitchen a good tidy, then decided it was a good day to make a batch of gyoza, Japanese dumplings. They are my favourite prepared food to have in the freezer. In Canada, I could get them surprisingly inexpensively at the supermarket, but here, the commercial brands aren’t great, even the ones at Costco. I was about to head out to the Asian Mart to get wonton wrappers when I realised I have ton of bread flour to use up, so I’d be better off making my own. I don’t like the results as much, they always end up very doughy, more like pierogies, but I also wasn’t in the mood to make a batch of 100 or so anyway, the way I do when I get the wrappers. The recipe for the homemade version only makes about 30.

So I instead got on Rappi and put in an order for the filler ingredients I was missing — pork, green onion, cabbage, ginger, fresh garlic. The slight premium to do a shop that way was worth it when you consider the time and expense of taking an Uber there and back. While someone else did my shopping, I got the dough prepped, kneaded, and resting.

The only disadvantage to doing a shop that way is you can’t leave notes about the produce. Had I ordered directly from Chedraui, I would have asked for half of a small cabbage, but I couldn’t specify that through the Rappi platform. So I was the proud recipient of a cabbage literally the size of my head!

I treated myself on Thursday to a brand new at used price food processor on the local buy-and-sell site, so I had the perfect tool to shred a ton of cabbage fast. I made enough for my recipe and then for coleslaw. That still left me half of the cabbage! I chopped it coarsely and popped it in the freezer, to be used as filler in chickpea flour omelettes.

I love oil and vinegar coleslaw soooooooo much.

As expected, my gyoza turned out super doughy, but still delicious! I usually make my own dipping sauce, but I had a sesame ginger commercial dressing in the fridge that I knew would be perfect with them. Yum, so good!

I still have enough for five meals waiting in the freezer. I freeze them like this on trays and then bag them. This way, they don’t stick together.

Baking is always ‘hard’ on my wooden counter, so I scrubbed it well and gave it a coating of mineral oil to return its shine. I’ve had this counter a year now and love prepping food on it.

Later Saturday, I got an email from a client asking me to name my price to read on Sunday a PDF proofreading job that would take about four hours. An excuse to spend half of Sunday upstairs on the mezzanine with Bonita and a huge pot of coffee and to earn a ridiculous amount of money for the effort?! Yes, please!

I slept super late this morning, Sunday, past 8:00, the first time in ages that I haven’t had to set an alarm. First order of business after playing with Bonita was to find and resolve the source of a leak in my laundry room, then put on some laundry. I’ve been so backed up on laundry between grey wet weather and the burglary. I think I will eventually cave and get a dryer to speed things up. When it’s super humid and grey, things just don’t dry, even in the house in front of fans! Anyway, I’m almost all caught up, finally.

About halfway through my work day, I came down to make a delicious brunch. The waffles are misshapen due to using an egg replacer and too much butter, but were delicious! The sausage is Argentinian-style chorizo sold by a gentleman who pedals around the neighbourhood on Wednesdays selling fresh cheeses and sausages out of a cooler. The orange juice is from a fellow on my walk home from Pilates who runs a small fruit stand out of his house and can be seen sitting in front of the house juicing impossibly delicious oranges all morning. I’ve been wanting to make waffles for ages to have as a post-workout evening treat, so I now have six waiting in the freezer.

After work, I did some pool maintenance — it’s ready to go but the water is still too unpleasantly cold to do more than just take a very quick dip. Still I’m keeping it on standby for when I really need it!

(Post 158 of 263)

Friday was my first day all week that I did not have anything to attend to related to the burglary. I also happened to be off. So I decided that after I got back from my early morning Pilates class, I would go into centro to pick up something and have lunch.

This would have been unheard of in my past life before I began taking levothyroxine for my thyroid issue. I would have energy to run one errand a day in this heat and my whole day would centre around keeping enough energy for the errand. So big workout in the morning? That’s the whole day shot. Not anymore!

So off I went to to my 9:15 Pilates class and had a pretty hard workout. I was home, showered, and dressed by 10:45. I hung out with B for a bit and started on a proofreading job (iPad work does not count as work).

Around noon, I called an Uber to take me to Between the Lines, Mérida’s English bookstore. A friend had recommended a book to me a few weeks ago and rather than order it on Amazon, I decided to see if BTL could get it for me so that I could support a local business. They could, and it came surprisingly fast. Of course, I couldn’t walk out with just one book!

Pita is just around the corner, so of course that was lunch, this spread a familiar sight to long-time readers as I’ve been eating there for now six years. Since this was essentially breakfast, I went with a limonade mineral rather than a beer. Funny moment of the day was when I slathered that really hot red sauce on the pita they bring as a starter and two servers yelled in English, “Ma’am, don’t eat that!” I did eat it, and it was delicious. 🙂 I now get through about half of the red sauce when I eat this meal, my tolerance to spicy foods continuing to grow.

After lunch, I decided to stroll the couple of blocks west to see if Pola gelateria was still open. Yes! They make excellent gelato and have some unusual combinations, like frijol con puerco (yes, pork and beans!). I went with “beso de luna,” (kiss of the moon) that was chocolate, coffee, almonds, and candied orange peel. So good!

I strolled a bit with my ice cream, but the touts were out in full force, so I meandered back to Calle 60, then walked north from Santa Lucia to Santa Ana, where I grabbed an Uber home. I knew this was probably the last day of the summer for such a stroll — comfortable temp and low humidity despite the beating sun.

Got in, continued to read for my client, and eventually fell asleep on the couch! I never do that, but I missed so many nights over last weekend that I’m not surprised! Went to sleep alone, and woke up like this. I love my old girl so much!

I fed Bonita at her normal hour and then puttered. She must have tried to get my attention to let me know she was still hungry, but I didn’t notice. So, being the excellent communicator she is, she parked herself like this in the entrance to the kitchen. After I had a laugh about it, I gave her an extra portion and then her dessert!

Portrait of a Hungry Dog

With such a full and active day, I was able to get to bed early and sleep pretty well, so I’m starting to feel like myself again after a very weird week. I’m off till Tuesday other than some PDF proofreading that, again, is not really work, so I’ll catch up on chores and start to plan the next renovation project!

(Post 157 of 263)

This morning, I got a visit from the investigator for the Ministerio Público. Immediately, I knew something was up. He was warmer, almost giddy. I knew he was grinning under his mask.

They found the guy who broke into my house!!!

Between the AirPod tracking info and the fingerprints, there is no doubt at all it is him. They have not made an arrest yet – I had to do another declaration requesting that they do so, essentially pressing charges – but he’s local and well-known to police for petty thieving. He’s also harmless, only guilty of property crimes.

If this investigation isn’t proof of just how safe Mérida generally is, I don’t know what else to tell you. When I lived in Old Hull and got assaulted on the street in broad daylight, cops had more important things to deal with. Here, a small home robbery was worthy of a full forensic investigation and resource expenditure. I am incredibly impressed (and grateful!) and should sleep well tonight.

(Post 156 of 263)

Late this morning, I got a message from the aluminero, the door and window guy, saying his crew had finished their job early and could come right over to do the repairs. I appreciate how quickly I was fit into their schedule. I was a bit frustrated, though, that I did not have cash to pay and would probably have to do a bank run, when I was going to Pilates tonight, across from an ATM, but, thankfully, I was told I could do a bank transfer.

His guys showed up quickly and got right to work. The foreman had come in to tell the two workers what to do and then left for another job. I had no sooner seen him to the gate that the workers already had removed the patio door and were hard at work.

I was able to keep working as they did their thing, especially since Bonita opted to supervise. What happened to my shy girl afraid of strange men?!

An hour and a half later, I had a new window screen and lock, new slider wheels and and a keyed lock on the patio door, and the fixed patio door panel had been reinforced. I was thrilled with the work that was done, which went above and beyond just a repair but was actually improved security. I made the transfer, confirmed I was happy with the work, and shortly thereafter received the itemized bill to submit to my insurance company. I’m glad to have this company in my address book. I may actually have them come back and change all the window locks to the new type they installed on that one window today.

Happy with the beefed up security, I went back to work feeling a tad more relaxed, when I suddenly heard knocking at my exterior office door. I think my heart stopped for a couple of beats! I finally turned to see what was there, just in time to see this adorable guy literally tapping on the glass with his paws, freeze when he saw me, and then run off! Wonder if I could train my iguanas to fight off intruders!

I’m exhausted but still wanted to go to Pilates. I let my trainer know what was going on and she put me through a more gentle routine than usual, although we still found some new muscles I didn’t know I had!

I try not to make a fuss about my birthday — I think adults who do are a bit ridiculous – but I still like to treat myself to cake if I can. So I stopped at Tere Cazola, a bakery specialising in desserts, on my way home. There wasn’t much selection in individual portions left at that hour, so I came home with tres leches cake, which was meh (I’ve tried various versions of it and concede I’m not a fan), but the coffee jello/mousse thing was incredible, so I now know where to go close to home for a truly special and unique treat in the future!

I’m feeling more like myself and grateful that I have just one more big day of work and then I can take a break before my big April work project starts. Oh, and maybe renos as well. Crossing my fingers my guy from last summer is available for a small job! 🙂