Choose Happy -- Retirement Is Grand

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Jacarandas are in bloom.

It's great not having to worry about so many things anymore and the last year was probably the most worrisome of all.  Between illness, immigration, retirement pensions, and preparations, it was the worst.  You meddle through it and keep on going.  We did have fun through all that mess and not-so-good times give you things to look forward to.

It's a state of mind but the human mind is one that, no matter what anyone says, you cannot control it all of the time and worry is one of them.  If you say you don't have it it's because you have given it another name or look at the worry as a problem to solve but all in all, it's worry.  The same goes with sleep.  People will say, "when I go to bed, I go to sleep".  People wake up and pee, sometimes toss and turn for a few minutes, and some stay awake for an hour or two.  That's why people used to wake up at one or two in the morning and the whole house would have a meal and then go back to bed.  At four or five, they'd be back up, ready to go to work.

So here we are in San Miguel de Allende.  When are we going back home?  Not sure and I really don't care.  We do have some things planned for the end of the month but they're all fun things.  Yesterday was a fantastic day.  Doug and Nancy of "Running Away With Doug and Nancy" are here for a few days before heading back to Canada.  We've known about them for years, missed them a couple of times, once being at Hacienda Contreras.  Then we hooked up on Facebook and I learned all about them.  After all these years, I thought maybe they weren't real, you know, like Helen and Margaret.  

It turns out they are real and we had a wonderful time and will have more today as well.  

Our kitchen project is off to a start although slow.  We have one cabinet maker came on Friday and measured.  I was asked to hide upstairs for fear if he saw me the price would double.  The conversation went on for ever and I started to feel like Anne Frank, "I'm in the attic, I'm in the attic".  Now it's wait and see for the design and the estimates.  It's really a small kitchen so it can't take too long to get an answer.

We have a problem neighbor.  Since the day we bought the house she has been an issue not just for us but everyone who lives within a four to five house radius.  Her car alarm goes off whenever she opens the car door.  It's obvious the problem is her key fob.  Every morning at 7:30 she takes off for work, opening the car door and off it goes.  She's become used to it so it's all very nonchalant.  She's nasty mean too.  We're about ready to ask her if we can pay for a new fob.  It happens several times a day.  It doesn't affect us because we are always up and about but it's an irritant.  

We go out for daily exercise and I have some weights here as well so I want to maintain my daily routine.  I'm fearful of one day hugging the walls as I go down the street with my mouth hanging open and bent over like a sad willow.  Tomorrow we go for a hike and again on TWuesday.  

We want to fly to Reno to visit my sister and I am shocked at how expensive flights are.  I've got price alerts out, google flights, cheap flights, wingless flights and more.  Still it runs a good $800 USD r/t per person.  Not that we can't afford it but things have changed since the start of the pandemic.

We packed up everyone in the SUV and headed out of town for dinner.  This is a four-day weekend and we wanted to avoid the crowds.  We picked a great Italian restaurant, Ristorante D'Yoalli.  It's about 10 kms outside of town and well worth the drive.  We have gone there for quite a few years.  There is nothing to complain about.  Service is excellent and the food the best, all freshly made pastas.