I can’t believe I’ve had Bonita eight months already!!!!

Having her here has been a blessing. She was exactly what I needed. And I think I was what she needed too.

We’ve made such strides in our time together. It’s taken this long for her to start to come to me for pets and snuggles and playtime. After all, she’s learning how to be a person’s dog for the first time at twelve. So you can teach an old dog new tricks, but you have to be patient and let it set the pace. I don’t think I’ll ever have a lapdog or one that fetches a ball. But I do have one that’s happy to spend a workday literally curled around my feet, one of hers pressed again my left one, and who wanted pets and cuddles on the couch after my work day more than she wants her supper. Best of all, when I get up in the morning there is someone eager to throw herself into my arms and kiss me and let me know just how much she missed me overnight. My heart is so full and I never expected I would fall in love this hard.

My little administrative assistant.

I wasn’t interested in a dog that was going to be a lot of work — I wanted a companion, not a child. Bonita came to me housebroken, gentle, and non-destructive. All I had to do was teach her that she’s safe here, that she can trust me, that any hurt I cause her is to make her feel better. Just as I took a chance on her, she took a chance on me, and it means so much to me that she’s accepted me as her human.

With her having been an outdoors dog her whole life, she’s perfectly happy being outside if I’m out for the day as she has shelter, water, and a soft place to snooze. So I never have to “run home and let the dog out,” the way that I’d have to with an indoor dog. Therefore, she really doesn’t particularly run my daily schedule. She does make it trickier to get away for longer periods of time, but that was really the whole point of getting a dog, to motivate me to sit still for a bit and not take too much time off work.

With the way business has been the last few years and how my life has stabilised, I am a mere 15 to 18 months away from being debt-free again, as long as I stay the course and, well, stay home and work, at which point so many more options will open up to me. As we say in my mother tongue, c’est un coup à donner. I had never thought I’d have a dog at this stage of my life and it’s turned out to be the stage where momhood of a senior dog makes absolute sense. She’s about 99% the dog I dreamed of and I know that I’m just about exactly the mom the refuge was hoping against hope would come for her. There is such a thing as fate.

So I got home from coffee group 25 minutes ago. I promptly sent my location to a friend who wants to contact my mechanic. I then got out of the truck, locked it, shut the door, and went to my front gate… where I discovered I’d locked the keys in my truck. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh.

Went next door and my mechanic wasn’t there and wasn’t expected for a while. I went into the back to see if the cab window was open. If so, I could poke my grabber arm through there and get my keys. Nope. I didn’t have any tools handy and no way to get into my house to get my spare keys. Time for a locksmith.

I did a Google search for one in my area. The reception on the first call I made was awful, but we got enough out for me to understand that they could help me, but not for several hours. So that was a pass. I contacted another place just a bit further away off the main square and they said they could come in 5 to 10 minutes! Normally, an emergency call is $400, but since I have an ancient Ford Ranger that would be super simple to get into and was right around the corner, they would charge me only $200! I love how people here know to take care of their neighbours. A guy arrived on a motorcycle no more than five minutes later and no more than five minutes and thirty seconds later, he had my keys. It was almost scary how easy it was for him to get in, but I expected as much.

This was a moment where I was really grateful that I speak Spanish. Imagine how long this would have taken if I didn’t — I probably would have had to post to one of my expat groups and ask for help or at least a recommendation for someone who speaks English and who would have had to come from further away. It’s wonderful not to be dependent on anyone like that.

Poor Bonita was freaking out hearing me on the other side of the gate, but not able to hug me. Even getting a visual on me through slits in the gate didn’t help. She was hysterical when I finally came in. So that meant more cuddles than usual. $200 well spent, then! 😀

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I was finally able to get away late yesterday afternoon to try out my “new” truck. WOW. What a difference!!! Moya is purring again instead of roaring. The only person I’ve ever had comment on how noisy she was was my friend M — Mexicans never took notice. But I sure found it embarrassing. Just because she’s looking so very worn doesn’t mean she doesn’t have to sound like it!

The AC worked great, too! It was super super cold, but still got Moya to a very comfortable temperature. I did three stops and each time I’d climb in back in, I’d marvel at how luxurious it felt to go back into a cool truck. When I got home, I was hit by a wave of hot humid air as I exited — that’s how significant the difference inside and out were. And as the ultimate test, I went out in a tee shirt and it and it stayed dry all through my errands.

I didn’t really have any reason to go out, so I decided to head to my favourite second-hand store (San Damian) as I’ve had good luck there finding nice dresses and skirts. I came out of the dressing room wearing one dress that had two other customers and the employee gasp when they saw me in it, so that told me I had to go home with it:

I wanted to go to Office Depot and Scotiabank next and could have done those two stops nearby at Plaza Las Americas, but we were coming into rush hour and I knew parking was going to be a nightmare. So I headed to the Office Depot on Montejo.

I have a love/hate relationship with Office Depot in Mexico. Every time I’ve made an expensive purchase with them, I’ve had issues and lost my money as their refund policy is laughable. But who doesn’t like to browse office supplies?! Staff at the Montejo store (the only one I’ve been to) is always super helpful. Last time I was there, I wanted sheet protectors and asked for “protectores de hojas,” translating literally, and before I could add anything, the clerk told me I had the correct term, took me to them, and explained the differences between each one. Yesterday, I wanted a blotter-type desk calendar. I asked for a big paper desk calendar that you can write your own dates on and the lady immediately knew what I wanted. I had no idea you could get them in any size but ginormous. I went with large medium. 🙂

Then, I drove up the street and parked at a mini mall to be able to go to Scotiabank. And since I was parked there and I had a coupon, I grabbed at delicious burger from Carl’s Jr. to take home for dinner. Let’s just say my food was not as hot when it got home as it normally is. 😉

What a difference having the AC made yesterday! I agree with Bast in her last comment that 4,000 pesos isn’t that much amortised over two years and a bit, but it’s a huge chunk of change towards my new computer. So as long as the AC works the way it is now, I don’t see a reason to make a permanent fix, especially since Moya is likely destined for a scrapyard by February or March of ’21. 🙁

I suspect I’ll be off this weekend and if I am, I’m taking Bonita for a spin!

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