So After We Climbed The Mountain, Here's What We Did!

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

It was exciting to some extent and in other respects, it wasn't.  There were a series of birthday parties.  Mexicans love to party so they just invent reasons to get together.

The first one I invited Juan's siblings and inlaws out for a spectacular dinner at a pretty swank place called Save.  Save gets its name from Guasave, where the restaurant originated.  I think there are three in Mexico now.  It's a hilltop setting with great views.  Everyone had a great time, the food was good and I spent a lot of money.  

Then the two of us had dinner out the next week at a local restaurant in Santiago, La Anfora.  The best Italian food we have had with the exception of La Strega in Mexico City.  Like always, we pick nights when we know there are no crowds and it's quiet where we can sit and talk for a long while.  

The next week, we had a group party of friends.  In the dance group two other dancers, Suzanna and Clara had birthdays the same week.  Clara invited us to her house.  She has a wonderful patio filled with lights and trees in a suburb of Monterrey.  Everyone brought their own steaks and drinks and Clara's brother, who is also in the group was the grill cook.  We stayed until 2 a.m.  I haven't done that for years.  I don't drink when we go to parties as I am the designated driver.

It looks just like the old one and that's what we wanted.  

The pool remodel is finished.  The lighting I ordered will arrive in Mexico next week so there is no water in the pool as of yet.  The grout has to dry anyway so there is no rush.  We are leaving in the morning for San Miguel de Allende and plan to stay there for about two weeks.  We'll be visiting with rvers who plan to head back home at the end of the month.  I guess it was a good winter, lots of Canadians came this year and many of the parks had greater crowds than last.  It appears that many people have abandoned their rvs and are flying down and renting places to stay.  I'd prefer to use the RV. 

We are taking another load of furniture to SMA.  We had purchased a dining room set just to have something and we thought it was a good deal.  It was but we don't really like it and found something better for home in Santiago and will take our existing dining room down with us as well as some other odds and ends.  I am a bit disappointed with the kitchen though.  We found a great cabinet maker but they have so much work he has stopped taking orders and doesn't know when he will resume.  Bummer as we like what we saw and his work is true quality.  We will look around while we are there to see what else we can find.

The weather here has been whacky.  As we say in Spanish, "febrero loco marzo otro poco" (Crazy February and a little more in March.  As an example, yesterday it was 39C and today it is 18C.  Talk about crazy.

We had two funeral masses over the weekend for Juan's niece who passed away in Dallas.   Her mother brought her ashes to the funeral last Friday.  It was a huge event with many of the family and friends showing up.  We took his niece's family out for lunch afterward for some seafood.  With the heat, it seemed fitting.  

 

To put it politely, enough family stuff for this year.  We are off to Texas in April and a week in Reno, Nevada to visit my 80-year-old sister.  She is still recovering from hip surgery and is now using a cane but will soon get rid of that.  I cannot believe that three of my siblings are over 80 now.  Well, with all this family talk and death and dying I couldn't hold back any longer.  I made it clear that we can't stop the world from turning and waiting around for things to happen.  If we're in Timbuktu and someone passes, I'm not getting on a plane and coming back home.  If we're not here, we're not here.  The dead won't know.  

And the same goes for me.  I don't even want a funeral, what for.  I won't be there to enjoy it!  My thoughts are simple.  Once I expire, no need for funeral, coffin, ashes, parties for wakes.  The man left the same way he came.   I was a quiet baby 😎

Of course, I cannot leave you without a political comment.  Even in the U.S. there is talk of an authoritarian government here in Mexico.  We joined the march in Mexico on February 26th to fight for democracy.  Millions around the country came out in over 100 cities including the U.S. and Spain.