April 2023 Highlights

(It’s July 2023 and I’m backdating a post for each month that I have not blogged, so scroll down to get the other two posts I did tonight.)

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Honestly, there was nearly nothing of note in April. Work this year has been firmly 200% busy or 0% busy. I’m grateful for the steady income, but have to say that I’m looking forward to refinancing the house to lower my monthly payments so I can start working more humane hours!

I went through the pictures I took from April and it’s all cooking, cats, and memes complaining about the heat, which has been the worst this year since the start of recorded history, absolutely relentless. We didn’t get a winter this past year, four to six months of low to no humidity, so it’s been pretty intolerable.

I did have a leak in the bathroom upstairs, so I had to replace the year-old sink cabinet. Let’s just say that while that contractor did a lot of good work for me, I’m starting to see problems with the plumbing and electrical work his contractors did for me and so I think I’ve moved on to my new guy.

My new guy suggested that he just make me a bare concrete counter since I still had a ton of material left over from the kitchen reno (which, a full year on, is not over, so you can look forward to an update about that!). I loved the idea of having a counter spanning the width of the room, so I told him to go ahead.

The job didn’t actually get finished until late May, a full month later, but the space was usable in the first few days of May. I was just missing those two tiles and it took a while to find ones that would kind of match. The black sink was a complete surprise. My contractor buys materials and then I reimburse him. He saw it, thought it would look good (he clearly likes black, based on the kitchen), and figured he could get a refund if I hated it. If he had told me he found a black sink, it would have been a definite no. But I could not imagine one with a matte finish like this and I love it! The new space, including the faucet, is an absolute dream and I’m delighted with the upgrade. The old sink cabinet did not go to waste, nor did the rest of the construction materials. My cleaning fairy wanted it all, so I paid the $500 for a flete to come haul it all away for her.

Another water-related upgrade happened in April, one that was a long time coming — a reverse osmosis filtering system so that I could drink my tap water and stop relying on garrafones! I’d seen the ads for Bebbia on Facebook for ages. They are a subdivision of Rotoplas, the folks who make tinacos. I asked around and found lots of people who have used Bebbia for years and are happy with the service, so I signed up. All you pay is a monthly fee and the equipment, installation, and maintenance are included. I currently pay about $250 per month and that’ll go up to $350, barely more than I was paying for garrafones without any of the hassle!

I met all the installation criteria, so it was a very quick and clean installation. I was a bit nervous about making a hole in my new sink, but it was worth it!

I’m a little frustrated there’s no cover on the filter system itself. I can’t see it behind everything I have in front of it, but I bet it’s dusty back there. Oh, well, it’s their problem!

The water tastes great. I’ve been washing my produce and rinsing rice with tap water for years as it would be too much garrafon water to do so, so I appreciate unlimited drinking water at the tap now. The unit has its own pump, so filling a water jug or ice cube tray is so quick and convenient now. I also regained a ton of space under the counters. My first maintenance is due in October, so we’ll see how “after sale” service is.

March 2023 Highlights

(It’s July 2023 and I’m backdating a post for each month that I have not blogged, so scroll down to get more new content. This is the second of three posts for tonight.)

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March was a busy work month, so this one’s mostly full of cat pictures. But the first thing I’ll note is that mid-month, I had the roof done properly with a seven-year coating. Writing this after a big afternoon thunderstorm in the rainy season makes me really glad I did!

As for my girls, they really started to get integrated in March. Xtiga is still working on it at time of writing in July, content to spend most of her time in her room, but she sometimes likes to come say hi and join me on the couch for a movie. Dodger is a fully fledged member of the household now and she and Alma get along great. They both like to come up to my bedroom door in the morning and sing the song of their people while Xtiga waits patiently for her treats. They’re wonderful company and I’m so happy they are here.

Mexican standoff. I swear this is where they came to some sort of an understanding because now they are inseparable.

Xtiga, like Alma, loves climbing the bookcase in the guest room. I don’t see Alma in there much now. It seems that she and Xtiga have delineated their territories very clearly while Dodger and Alma share spaces. Dodger is of course allowed in the guest room to hang out as the two sisters are still quite close.

Xtiga is my only proper “lap cat.”

In March, I picked up my knitting needles and started to make hats and scarves for charity. Unfortunately, I’m suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, so I have to be careful how much repetitive work I do, especially with all my time at the computer. So while I’ve had a steady production, it’s not as voluminous as I’d hoped for.

End of March, I had quite a treat, a chance to go to the travelling Van Gogh exhibition. I somehow missed out on the VIP 3D experience, but, spoiler, I had a chance go again in May. 🙂 We all know how much I love Van Gogh’s works!

As another birthday present to myself, I asked my handy guy to install a rooftop pump for my water system to give me pressure in the house. I haven’t really appreciate it much in the shower, to my surprise, but it’s been routine-changing in the kitchen to always have a strong steady stream of water rather than a trickle, plus it makes the hot water come immediately rather than after a few minutes. It also makes a load of laundry take nearly half the time! This was a great addition to the house, even if it’s one more thing in the finicky water system to maintain. Spoiler, it stopped working in June, after just three months, but I suspected it was gunked up with sarro (limescale) and was right. My handyman came over the day after I reported the issue and he had it resolved in five minutes. So I expect more problems in September!

February 2023 Highlights

(Five months without blogging has got to be a record for me. It’s now the start of July and I’m going to do a highlights post for each of those months to bring everyone up to speed and then get to work finishing those last 20-something posts. I’ll backdate each of these posts to the last day of their respective months.)

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In February, I found my “spots,” Tropico 56 and the rooftop bar, both at the Remate (at the bottom of the Paseo, near Santa Ana). I discovered these gems with my Pilates partner and we’ve since been several times, eating at Tropico and then heading to the rooftop for a nightcap.

Ceviche and mezcal cocktails at Tropico 56.

Tacos and more mezcal cocktails.

Yet more mezcal cocktails at the Remate rooftop.

Remate bar seen from in front of Café Impala.

I took a whole Tuesday off to go to Progreso with my friend. We got a table at Eladio’s and drank all day. The free botanas kept coming, starting off with boring chips and salsa and escalating to some of the best tacos I’ve had here. It was Carnaval, so nearly impossible to get to and from Progreso by bus, so we split an Uber there and a regular taxi back, which was very affordable for us. I believe the Uber was $300 with tip, so $150 each, and the taxi was $650, so $325 each (all prices in pesos, of course, because I live in Mexico!).

Everyone was dressed up as it was Carnaval. I recognised this popular TV character even if I don’t remember his name!

We couldn’t believe this bill considering we had been there for eight hours. All the food was included!

Something truly magical happened at the end of February. The author of one of my favourite books, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt, was staying Mérida and Juanita, owner of the English bookstore Between the Lines arranged an exclusive reading and book signing on a first come, first served basis. It was such a delight to meet Mr. Berendt, hear him read some of his books, and, of course, get answers to questions. MITGOGAE served as my tour guide of Savannah and to that he said “That’s what every author wants to hear.” A class act. 🙂

A Year of Pilates

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I am at a full year of going to Pilates three times a week, very nearly without fail (I missed a few classes during the kitchen nightmare, but made up for them in other ways). That this routine has changed my life cannot be understated. It’s not just about getting into shape, which I’ll get into in a bit, but also about how it is grounding me into a routine and my neighbourhood. It’s forced me to carve out six hours a week for myself, no matter how busy work is. I’ve made friends, I shop in person more, and I’m a regular at some businesses.

That said, I’ll have to admit that the last several months haven’t be great, where I attended class but just went through the motions, resenting every effort. I struggled with the change in my schedule to three mornings a week instead of two evenings and one morning. It wasn’t the time per se, as a 9:15 class isn’t difficult. But I’ve had to discipline myself to get up at a set time three days a week no matter how poorly I slept. I’ve also had to completely overhaul my eating schedule. There’s also been the stress of the kitchen (a still ongoing nightmare) and an exceptionally erratic work schedule.

So it’s no wonder it took me as long as it did to realise there was something actually wrong with me that no amount of extra time in bed or green smoothies or saying no to dessert or pushing through a workout when I just wanted to curl up in a ball was going to cure. As it turned out, I needed an increase in my thyroid meds! I was chastised a tad for taking so long to come to that conclusion, but I think that’s just a residual behaviour from a lifetime of nearly non-existent healthcare access in Canada — I work on myself first, making sure I’m doing everything absolutely right, and then I seek medical help. Maybe that’s not necessarily a bad thing. At any rate, I’m a week into taking my increased dose and today was told that the change in me is “dramatic.”

Today’s class was the first in ages where I was on fire, tackling exercises I didn’t even dare attempt a few months ago. A huge part of advanced Pilates comes from your core strength, something I never really actively focussed on before. All that walking in Campeche while minding my posture meant that I came back with my core much stronger than when I left the week before. It was a dramatic change for such a short period of time. Since then, my ability to perform exercises that require a strong core, which also helps in balance, has grown exponentially.

The first part of last year was about fixing my bad leg, and then helping me build increased strength and flexibility. This year is all about my core and my posture, and this is real work. I’ve started doing extra core work on my days “off,” and I’m constantly thinking about my posture and trying to remember to suck in the ab muscles and shift my spine. It’s a lot, but I want to be one of those ladies who ages gracefully, and so, I’m taking full advantage of having a mentor who can help me work on such things.

I’m slowly doing more and more things that I’ve never been able to do, but today felt like I had pushed through something really hard and come out the other side triumphant. I did this. And once I got into this position, I balanced on one leg, the other one straight back. I couldn’t even get onto the shoulder plates with my feet flat the last time I tried and here I was today balancing very nearly en pointe on one leg!

Image from https://www.sportskeeda.com/health-and-fitness/pilates-reformer-how-get-started

A Week After Getting a Root Canal at Quality Dental in Mérida, Mexico

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Well, I’m coming up to a week post root canal and I still cannot believe what a non-deal it was!

Yesterday morning, I had an appointment to check on the work. Everything looked good and, thankfully, they were able to cap it right then and there. I didn’t realise that that could have been a third appointment, which would have been a pain as this was already my third dentist visit in a week! The dentist is across town from me, so it’s a bit frustrating when I have micro appointments that take much less time than the trip back and forth! As it was, I got into an Uber at 9 yesterday and was walking in the door at 10:30 on the dot, with the root canal nightmare behind me!

It wasn’t until the dentist headed for my mouth with the drill that it finally hit me that he would not need to freeze me because I had no nerves left in that tooth! The drilling and polishing were uncomfortable as my tooth really felt hollow and I could feel vibrations, but there was no pain per se. It was such quick work that it was not a big deal ultimately. I was told that I could use my tooth “like normal” right then and there, no waiting for anything to set.

For dinner, I roasted some cherry tomatoes as the ultimate test, since one of those is what told me that I really could not live with the tooth pain. Dinner was a non-event, so I then did one last test, just in case, getting a celebratory Blizzard at Dairy Queen, making a point to eat it on my left side. All was good! 🙂

My next dental appointment, to check on my orthodontic work, is in a month. I’m really hoping that this is the last “regular” one for a while and that I don’t have to go back for, say, six months!