That's Finished! What's Next?

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Took this picture one day down by the lake.  I was walking and heard some rustling in the trees.  I turned around and this balloon had landed right behind me.  Les said he had heard it pass over his house and it was very low.  Not sure if they were in trouble and looking for a place to land, but what a surprise.

It was a difficult two weeks being at the housesit by myself.  I had a lot of things to do and with the dogs, it wasn't an easy task.  The dogs are great companions for starters.  I fell for them and I think they did for me.  This was our third time here at this house so we knew each other.  However, the poodle suffers from a separation anxiety disorder.  When left alone, she goes on a rampage and begins chewing everything.  She has destroyed remote controls, computer mice, toys, paper, and the list goes on.   Everything has to be put up high and out of sight.  She can jump up to four feet onto surfaces.  I took them with me just about everywhere I could.  SMA is a very pet-friendly town.

Last Thursday, she got into my pill cutter where I keep a two-day supply of my aspirin and nifedipine for angina.  I had gone out for my morning run and when I came back I found the pill cutter and not the pills.  What else could I do, I took her to the vet.  He took her blood pressure, checked her heart and eyes.  He said worst case she would be a little lethargic as the nifedipine would lower her blood pressure.  The little sh--!

I was able to get the utilities changed into our names without having to cancel and start new contracts.  We're on the list for internet but the demand is so high they don't have enough equipment.  We had bought lighting fixtures in McAllen at a next-to-nothing price, I may have told you it was 50% off of the clearance price.  Those were installed along with our lantern hanging from the cupula.  That was an interesting install.  I did some cleaning and arranged some things we had bought.

A lot of my time at the house sit was spent looking online for furniture.  I found some real bargains and I sent the information to Juan and he checked them out and made a couple of purchases.  

We had looked at dining room table and chairs and even went to a factory in Monterrey.  No way at 30,000 pesos ($1500).  I found this online and Juan negociated it down from 5200 pesos to 4000 pesos ($200).  Solid hardwood with glass and upholstered chairs.  

The upholstery needs cleaning and there are pieces of tape around the edge of the table they used to keep the table cloth on.  Whatever that did!  Comes off easily.

I found these nightstands for 200 pesos each ($10) each.  

We just found two sitting chairs for the bedrooms and some nice coffee tables for the living area.  All in good time, little by little and stick to the budget.

What's next?  We are stuck until April as classes started back up again.  The 2nd and 3rd week of April is Mexico's Spring break.  The good part is the 14th of April is Juan's last day of work and enters retirement.  Freedom!   We are thinking about a loop from home to Durango, San Miguel de Allende, and then head north or, we may go West Texas again.  Everything here will be packed with loud and unruly vacationers and we like the peace of the desert.  After that, it looks like we will be heading to Europe.  Lots of planning to do.