You move me, baby

This past Friday was the eagerly awaited big move-in day to the new apartment. We had been living in a hotel, albeit a nice one, for the last 3 weeks. Every day we had a different maid—that seemed so strange to me that in 3 weeks I never saw the same maid maybe twice.

Our new apartment was rented sight unseen. It is difficult to rent anything when you want a short term lease and have a pet besides. We knew generally what the apartment would look like, but it is much much smaller than we had envisioned--only 800 square feet. It is across the street from Esperando’s office so he can walk to work. For me the nicest part is that we are directly over a nice shopping center featuring a Peet’s coffee shop. Although Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world with 17,133 stores in 49 countries, it is nothing compared to Peet’s. Long before Starbucks ever even thought of being the gleem in some entrepeneur’s eye back in 1971, Peet’s was pouring coffee for the denizens of Berkeley and San Francisco in the mid ‘60s. In the last couple of years, at least in the West, you can now buy Peet’s off the shelf in the grocery store. It took them a long time to start marketing their coffee very aggressively like Starbucks has but I am so glad they made the transition to at least getting it into the supermarkets. Their coffee is the best, and you can buy it on-line too. My favorite flavor is Major Dickenson’s, a very full-bodied, complex, rich, and smooth blend.

When we moved in we left Lupita overnight at Camp Bowwow, "where a dog can be a dog", so we didn’t have to juggle her and moving in besides. This was a good warmup exercise for when we go on vacation. When I delivered her there the other afternoon they put her in a small enclosure called ‘Tiny Paws’ whose only other occupant was a small Yorkie trying to take a nap on a small bed. Lupita was yap, yap, yapping, not at all happy at being left. I think Lupita thinks of herself as a small person rather than a dog.

One of the lowlights of our move was finding places to stash all the odds and ends we had collected in just 3 weeks of living. At the last moment I shoved a large bottle of Scope mouthwash into my big airplane carry-on purse which had about 15 packets of Kleenex, my passport and five Atomic Fireballs, those hard-to-find superhot cinnamon jawbreakers you remember from your childhood. By the time we manuevered the luggage cart down from the 4th floor to the car I started smelling that minty mouthwash scent. I had never checked to make sure the lid was secure on the mouthwash bottle and my apparently airtight bag was a awash in Scope. Yuck! I raced back up to our room. Fortunately my passport was undamaged as all the little Kleenex packets had soaked up much of the mouthwash. The cinnamon candies were bleeding inside their wrappers. Its going to take a long time for my purse to smell normal again, if it ever does.

California, California, the hills send out the cry, we're out to do or die. . .

Once again we are on the move. Tomorrow we will start out early for our drive to Ensenada and then on to the States for my Mother’s 102nd birthday in May. She is still sharp as a tack.

My Mother last month holding her newest grandchild, Paloma.

After that we go to Esperando’s son’s graduation from California Institute of the Arts. (Established in 1961 by Walt and Roy Disney, it started as Disney's dream of an interdisciplinary "Caltech of the Arts" and provides a collaborative environment for arts disciplines including music, art, contemporary dance, experimental film, video art, animation, theater, puppetry and creative writing). After 4 years with his nose to the grindstone, Youngest Son will be awarded a degree in film animation. Hot Damn! I wonder if he will remember how to sleep long hours again, since he has been splitting his time between studies and work?

But that is not the end of the odyssey. Once all the pomp and circumstance has died down we will drive on to Northern California where Esperando will be working so he will not have to travel back and forth so much while I remain a nearby camp follower and get to see him more often. We will spend the next 3 to 4 months up in the Bay Area: time enough spend some quality time with our families and friends and take in a cooking class, puppy training classes, and Pilates classes too. I always think of the Bay Area as my home since I graduated from high school and spent the next 30 years there before moving away to start this life of a vagabond.

Baby mangoes waiting for the hot summer to come so they can grow big and ripen. Yum!

However happy I am for a temporary move back to ‘Upper California,’ this will be the third summer of mangos ripening on the guesthouse trees that I will miss. They are still only about an inch long. Last year I saw one almost ripe mango when we were here for a week, but when I came back several weeks later it was gone. I will be sad to leave all of our pets (little Lupita gets to go with us) and our new planted garden. It is such a small start on greenness for us now in this new house. We have planted several hibiscus trees, a couple of bougainvilleas, a bird of paradise, some Siberian iris, wandering jew, rosemary, oregano, mint, thyme, a serrano pepper bush, 3 olive trees, a mango tree and my two roses that I brought down here from Estados Unidos almost two years ago and that have been struggling along in pots until now. I hope our plants survive our absence. Hopefully Francisco will keep them alive, but he only is here three days in a row and when the hot summer comes it may devastate everything without more frequent watering. Last week I gave my friend Don Diego’s mother over to the care of two little Jacaranda tree sprouts that I have been nurturing for the past few months. They were about 3 inches high each. She assured me that they would get excellent care and she has a green thumb, so if they don’t make it with her I won’t know why.

Esperando worries that no one will fill his hummingbird feeders properly, that the sugar water will ferment from lack of a proper bottle scrub and our little feathered friends will have to go back to getting their food from more natural sources and forget about us. The orioles, too, love our feeders and spend a good part of the day squabbling at each other because one of them wants to feed and the other won’t get out of its way.

Beautiful oriole at the bird feeder.

I won’t be here for the hot muggy summer, but I want to be and it is already hotting up. I took the extra blanket off the bed last time I made it up. It is hard having these homes in multiple locations, feeling guilty for each one you have abandoned, knowing that they are not getting all the care you would give them if you could stay put day in and out. I don’t see how people enjoy having multiple homes if they don’t need to do so. This morning New Cook started crying when I gave her instructions on caring for the pets. She said,"I don't want you to go, I'll really miss you." Bless those dear souls that take care of everything we leave behind everywhere.

Domestic Affairs

While I was surfing the web last month, I chanced upon Alison Day’s website and got a free online tarot card reading. I also marked a little X in the box asking if I wanted to have a tarot card, with its symbolism explained, e-mailed to me each month. Last time the card arrived one week ago it was The Tower card.

After the Death card and the Devil, The Tower is likely to be the card that causes most fear and consternation to the receiver. The Tower represents sudden and sometimes shocking changes in events and can often represent problems or delays relating to your home. At the time I didn’t think much about it, I just hoped nothing awful would happen.

Then just a few days later Esperando and I were having a discussion about how much traveling he has been doing, and how I don’t like being down here alone quite so much. After some intense discussion and pondering, we decided to temporarily abandon our little casita in Santa Rosalia to relocate to Northern California for several months. We've only been living in Casa Abeja since January, poor little house to be abandoned so abruptly! But he will be where he needs to work, and traveling will be easier in and out of the Bay Area than the 2 ½ hour drive to Loreto for a flight that is only available on Tuesday, Thursday,  Friday and Sunday. I won’t have to be alone so much of the time. It is an abrupt change to our home life, just like the card said. In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined such an outcome.

Lupita will go with us and become one of those spoiled Chihuahuas like Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The down side is our other children (pets) will have to stay here and be minded by the muchachas. Thank God for the muchachas; they love my pets like they were their own. I know that they are well cared for when I leave, even the feral kitties that live outside get proper attention.

On another domestic note we gave the big dog a bath today. It took about 45 minutes. First I called him, he knew what was up and ran away from me. I had to chase him all over the yard. I finally caught him and led him back to where the hose was. Since the city water only runs 2 hours a day on no particular schedule, it can’t be counted on. So we connected the hose to the hot water heater. We gave him a good soaping—he actually likes the bathing part. Then, on the advice of his Denver groomer, we bought a big air blower to dry him. This is how you get the loose and matted fur off; I never could have imagined it, but it works like a charm. The only problem is that Sweet Pickle hates the blower so we have to muzzle him or he will bite us. It was all going on like a charm and he was being very cooperative—then the next thing I knew he was attacking me. I really appreciated that muzzle, and the fact that I had Esperando there helping me. After the bath I was as exhausted as the dog. That was yesterday; today he is dry and shedding like hair was going out of style. Everything is covered with dog hair, the floor, our furniture, our clothes, even our food!!! Gross.

Casa Abeja, a Stuff Story

A friendly little Talavera bee greets visitors at our front door

You may remember that Esperando had been remodeling Casa Abeja (so named Bee House because when we bought it the attic was full of bees and honey.) Well, after a year of hard labor he has finished it! We have spent the last four days moving over. Right now it looks like a disaster zone, with loose Stuff, and bags and boxes of Stuff piled up everywhere. It brings back memories of past moves, every one of which I have hated--packing and unpacking is the pits! My feelings about this haven’t changed one whit. I feel like I am trying to solve one of those hidden object computer games but one of my own devising. You’d think with all the practice I have playing those that finding things would be a snap. But it isn’t. This was not one of your anal organized moves itemizing the contents of each box, but a random Stuffing of items into empty cartons and bags. Today I finally got the last pickup load of Stuff packed up from our two rooms in Casa Boleo. I never could have imagined that we could have so much Stuff crammed into our two small rooms there.

Our new home

Maybe I should explain a bit. Half of our Stuff was purchased when we lived in Australia and were planning a move to Ghana six years ago. Esperando was working in Ghana at the time so all our Stuff was moved from Australia to Ghana and stayed with him for several months there before we realized that the Ghana thing was going to south. Then all that still packed Stuff was sent back to Denver where it sat in it’s unpacked boxes in our basement for the next 5 years. Well--except for some minor tweaking of boxes trying to figure out which one might hold Esperando’s wet suit. (We finally decided that had been pinched by the packers in Australia). The trouble is, that other than a general idea of what sort of Stuff I bought in Oz for our Ghana house, I couldn’t remember the finer details; and I had NO desire to open and repack boxes just to inventory Stuff.

Sweet Pickle milling around in the Stuff

In Denver before we moved here, I bought more Stuff that I thought we didn’t own yet or wouldn't be able to find in Santa Rosalia. And that is why I have unpacked (I am not kidding): 2 can openers, 2 reamers, 6 spatulas, 10 whisks, 4 sets of measuring cups, 2 sets of measuring spoons, 25 beach towels, 40 packages of cute cocktail napkins, way too many wine glasses, 5 shower curtains (for one bathroom)--plus about 15 bath mats. What was I thinking? In the bottom of the last box we found Esperando’s missing wet suit. Yay! In addition to all of that I brought great amounts of emergency supplies. Stuff we couldn’t get down here such as Nyquil, Tylenol, Motrin, certain prescription medicines, hair dye for pale skinned women, dog food and cat food, etc. Now we can stock a store! The trailer we brought the Stuff down in has sat like a storage container untouched for the last 1-1/2 years. It turns out that we have way too much Stuff to fit all of it anywhere in this house. And my body is sore from bending, twisting, sorting and lifting. My calves ache, my back aches, my knees are broken and my brain is on sensory overload. Every time I try to sit down for a rest I think of something else I need to find or to do.

Despite the Stuff lost in boxes, Frida’s renewed interest in peeing on beds and couches to show her distain, and the piles of random Stuff beckoning to be put away, it is nice to have our new found privacy and truly our own space. Sunday, our first night in Casa Abeja, we celebrated by opening a bottle of Champagne that we hauled down from the U.S. Later, as I lay in bed I could see all the stars in the heavens through the window—and even though the motion sensor light outside the window came on for a few minutes to annoyingly glare in my eyes, I was still quite happy. I never believed we would move in.

Sour Pickle checking out the new digs

Packing up a princess for success

Lupita’s dedicated serving staff (Duena de la Casa and Esperando Esposo) are packing up her vittles and her chattels in preparation for her upcoming move to Mexico, the return to her “ancestral homeland” as the vet referred to the move just the other day when she gave Lupita a clean bill of health. Lupita now weighs 3.5 pounds, but her accumulated goods far exceed her tiny little self.

Lupita is flying with us in-cabin to San Diego on Friday where we will stock up our truck with food and other goodies for us humans and other pets before we start the drive down the Baja. We will spend the night with Junior Birdman, Esperando’s son, and acquaint Lupita with the concept of cats (he has two) before continuing on to Catavina for an overnight, then on to Santa Rosalia the next day.

Lupita’s chattels are many and take up more space than five Lupita’s would. First of all there are the pharmaceutical items: parasite medicine she continues to take for coccidia; Frontline for ticks and fleas; and Interceptor for heartworm. Then, there is the little pile of assorted small doggie clothes and her harness and leash, a whole folder of papers that includes her rabies certificate and health certificates for the airline. Besides all that there are assembled favorite toys and chewy sticks, her blankie, her carrier, her food and water bowls, a sufficient quantity of food to get her home, and Boulder Dog Food Company’s All Natural Turkey bits which make an excellent training treat that she will die for. More puppy food will be purchased in San Diego for the long drive down to Santa Rosalia.

Esperando and I are hoping sufficient suitcase room will be leftover for the two of us to bring back the items we brought up with us when we came, before there was ever a Lupita in our lives. My how life changes in the blink of an eye! We will need a small suitcase or perhaps a mini Louis Vuitton trunk just for Lupita’s stuff, although I wouldn’t want to encourage her spending patterns—she is already in way over her head. Good thing she is still too young to apply for credit cards.

Flying down the highway

Leaving Denver we passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel, it is the highest vehicular tunnel in the U.S. and 1.6 miles long. Today we arrived in Santa Rosalia after four day’s journey from Denver. We had some long days of driving and are both pretty tired, but we have to organize ourselves to pack up for our vacation starting tomorrow—one night in La Paz, three in Cabo Pulmo (best diving in Mexico they say); and three nights in Todos Santos where we hope to latch up with Ray of Ray’s Hacienda de la Cubana in Mulege (who is spending his summer in there).

Our trip through the U.S. landed us in St. George, Utah, our first night at a Holiday Inn after 9 hours of driving; second night with Junior Birdman at his house in San Diego; last night in the amazing Catavina that oasis out in the middle of the Cirios Biosphere. In St. George we had an amazing full moon at sunrise (we were already on the road by then.) We drove through Las Vegas and were vastly entertained by amusing billboards (simple minds, simple pleasures.) In San Diego we bought a lemon tree, oregano, rosemary and thyme plants. We also brought some olives trees along that I ordered online in Denver. Fortunately they all made it through agricultural inspection in Guerrero Negro, we were concerned we might have to surrender them. All they wanted to know was if we had fruit, which Esperando pretended did not mean the unripe lemons growing on our little tree. We brought two kayaks down; we didn’t realize at the time how easy that would make crossing the various military checkpoints where we were flagged through as tourists, something Mexico is hungry for right now.

The cats seem relatively glad to see me so far. Winnie has been following me around, Frida creeps by hoping I won’t notice her yet. She is REALLY fat. I opened the dresser drawer to pet Carmen who still hides there by day. She moved to another drawer and I found her when I was putting away laundry.

Casa Abeja is looking good. We have a mission for our vacation. We will have to look for a new sink for the bathroom as one of them had a tool dropped in it and broke. I still have dinner to get through, I am so tired all I want to do is go to sleep now at 3:30 pm. We are leaving the mess of boxes full of stuff we hauled down here in the living room for a week while we go away.

Getting down to the wire

We will be driving back down to Baja next week. Today was my last day of physical therapy, grins! Of course I have to continue doing the exercises on my own now. Knowing me I probably won’t push as hard and if I get off on the wrong track and don’t realize I am doing the exercise the wrong way, there will be no one to correct me. We have to pack all my bands, pulley and large styrofoam tube—makes me feel like I am taking the whole nursing home with me. I am looking forward to the day I can move my arm in all directions and it doesn’t lock up or hurt as to how far it wants to bend. In the meantime tonite, I am having a wine party with my Mother and my neighbors, all other single girls. This seems to be a block of mostly single woman, funny isn’t it? All the other blocks appear to be families. The neighbor on my left never married, the neighbor on my right is getting divorced, and the neighbor just past her has been divorced for several years and now has a steady boyfriend; then there’s me—a mining ‘widow”.

Next Wednesday is the day! It will be nice to rejoin Esperando, but sadly after we drive down and have a week’s vacation in southern Baja, he will be deserting me again to go to Northern California for two weeks. We are going to stay in Cabo Pulmo and Todos Santos, both places we have never been. I am really looking forward to our stay in Cabo Pulmo at Diane Varney's El Encanto de Cabo Pulmo ever since I first saw it on the internet. This past week I have been busy buying, buying, buying stuff to take that we can’t get in Santa Rosalia—premium dog food, impossible-to-find-in-Baja premium cat food, cat toys, bird feeders, vacuum sealer and bags, fish fryer, face cream, hair dye (they don’t have blonde colors that work very well on gringos where we are), curtain rods, custom made blinds, more dishes for the guesthouse, and a slow cooker.

I still have to pack up all my clothes. I confess I have been a bad girl having gone on quite a spending spree while in Denver. Two weeks after my surgery Esperando and I were in REI and I was already trying on shirts, even though it meant I had to remove my sling. And with my Mother here visiting, she isn’t any good influence; she keeps wanting to go back to Chico’s for one last look at the sales rack. I sequester her in the largest fitting room, then race around the store looking for her size and my size, race back try on my clothes and dress again for another tour around the store. She is much slower trying on clothes, so it gives me quite a bit of time to comb every rack and make sure we haven’t missed anything. We made a pretty good haul several days ago.

Yesterday the flicker came back to destroy our house some more. Both Esperando and I thought they would only be a problem during breeding season, which we are now past. For the last two days I have been hearing tapping noises that sounded like them. The first time the dog immediately got alarmed and when I went out in the backyard to see if that’s where they were, he started barking aggressively at me. He followed me all over the yard barking. I had to yell at him to get him to shut up and by then whoever was tapping had stopped. Yesterday when I heard it again I was on the phone. This time I went out the front door and looked up at the balcony. Sure enough, there was a flicker on the edge of the upstairs balcony beating his beak against Esperando’s repair job. When I yelled at him and waved my arms he just stayed there. I went back inside and raced up the stairs to our bedroom, opened the door to the balcony bringing the dog along, and there was the flicker perched on an outdoor lamp. He must have been a young bird because he didn’t know enough to be scared of me and stayed there until I approached within 4 feet, yelling 'shoo' and waving my arms. I could see where he had put beak dents in about seven places, but nothing serious yet. Perhaps because he is so young I have been able to scare him away permanently. This wrecking of our house is a really serious situation.

On an additional sour note before I go, the mammagram people called this morning and said I have to come back in for additional imaging. I will have to wait and fret all weekend until Monday to get re-imaged and find out everything is ok. Neither my mother nor my sister nor any female antecedents in our family has ever had breast cancer. I don't intend to be the first!

Hazards encountered in warp drive

This is how our life works right now. It’s pretty confusing as we are traveling in two different time zones, literally and figurally. I stay here in Denver taking long naps, watching TV, and exercising my arm while my brain moves at 25 MPH. Esperando hops around like a flea all over North America commuting for his job between the San Francisco Bay Area, Vancouver, Santa Rosalia, Mexico City and Denver, mentally and physically speeding around at Mach 10. Two days ago he was on his way up here from Baja, but because his flight was delayed by three hours he missed his connection in Los Angeles and had to spend the night there. He got up to go to the LAX airport at 3:30 am to start wait-listing for the earliest possible flight out and arrived in Denver mid-morning yesterday. The first thing we did was go buy him a new suitcase as his current one is trashed; he travels so constantly that he goes through a suitcase in about 6 months. When we got back to the house, he worked the rest of the day stopping at 6 pm to grill lamb burgers for dinner. This morning we took the dog for a walk, then I went to yet another doctor appointment while he packed to go to Washington, D.C. for some important financing meetings.

My new doctor is a back specialist. I have been having problems with my lower back for the last two months and it took about a month to get an appointment with this guy. I was still struggling to fill out the paperwork that the doctor’s office gives you when you start out as a new patient and was shown to an examining room when my cell phone rang. It was Esperando wanting to know if I left the suit that he wanted to wear to D.C. at the cleaners after the Brainy Blonde’s wedding in May. “I think it’s the one I gave away to the Goodwill,” he muttered as he hung up. I was still trying to focus on the forms and not think about the suit when the doctor came into the room. I must not be the only one who is behind the eight ball filling out these forms as there was a ‘bone pile’ of about ten discarded pens lurking on the table beside me from others who had been finishing up their personal data. The doctor decided I would probably get better on my own, but need some physical therapy for a bulging disc. Oh boy, more physical therapy!! He sent me off with a couple of prescriptions and a new appointment should things not improve.

Now that I was done with the doctor, I could properly focus on the Missing Suit. I just couldn’t ever remember taking it to the cleaners. Then it came to me—he hadn’t worn a suit at the wedding; he wore a blazer. The suit had been given to the Goodwill because he said it didn’t fit anymore. When I got home I reminded him of this. “Yes,” he said, “I gave away the wrong suit, I gave away the suit that fit me. The one left in my closet now was the one made in Thailand that doesn’t fit.”

It is one of those ‘Aha!’ moments. Your husband hands you a nice wool suit and says, “give this away, it doesn’t fit anymore, I don’t know how it ever could have fit even when I had the tailor make it 15 years ago in Thailand. In fact, it is impossible that it ever fit me.” This little nagging in your brain tells you that the suit he is handing you is not the right one, not the one from Thailand that you remembered being a different fabric, but your conscious mind is not listening to that little nagging voice. You are remembering the trip to Thailand—going to the tailor there; eating Thai food; watching the little Thai girls give him a haircut/massage; and thinking about how the suit did fit him at one time. You are clearly not focused on the suit you are holding in your hands. Your brain stopped concentrating when you married Esperando, now it is basically a lame brain. And if you're are Esperando, your brain moves way to fast, it is like a stone skipping over the water, missing little chunks of information along the way because you are riding the waves and most of the time it works, but now and then something falls through the cracks. And that, my friends, is how you give away the wrong suit.

D-Day minus 3

Ok the heat is turning up. I feel I have to get EVERYTHING loose packed up today, because tomorrow I will be busy cleaning the house from stem to stern, taking pets for health certificates and having a MASSAGE. I suppose there is really not an exceptional amount to pack but I feel like there are a lot of loose ends yet which I don't have under control--I almost forgot to pack a swimsuit for instance! Of course I am starting the day off in great form with a roaring case of hayfever. Arrrrrrrrgh.

Today Esperando goes to the doctor and gets his final ok for the trip. We have our fingers crossed that that will be the case and that some new wrinkle doesn't develop that delays us again. I also have my final trip to the dentist today although he could squeeze me in on Wednesday, but I really hope that doesn't happen, I just don't have the time.

We had a pleasant little interlude up in the mountains yesterday. Lunch and a little gambling at Black Hawk--I actually won and walked away with $50! Not my normal luck, but really good luck. It casts the week ahead in a positive light.

I also feel my mind shifting from worry about our immediate trip and am casting my thoughts ahead to worry about Casa Boleo. Our first corporate guests (huespedes) will descend on us shortly after we arrive, I think about the end of August. Esperando is making noises about going to La Paz to stock up on food, as well as coupling that with a trip he needs to make to Cabo. Ordinarily that would sound like fun, but it will rob me of some of the time I need to get the guesthouse ready. Additionally the cook and maid have to be organized, I need to come up with a monthly menu, and I also need to start our account with Dali (the restaurant supplier in Loreto). Then it struck me I will have to make an inventory of food so I can keep up with what we are using or not. I think managing the food end of this thing is going to be my worst frustration, not knowing how many guests we will need to feed for dinner, what their food requirements are, if they stay to eat or change their minds at the last minute and go out to dinner (like we did to the staff several times at the Newmont guesthouse in Ghana), how to manage leftovers, etc. Anyway my first huespedes I am sorry to say will be the guinea pigs and they will be coming SOON!

Enough! Enough! I am off to organize breakfast for the Texican and me. Tonight we will have a final nice dinner out at Elways, a great Denver steakhouse.

Here we go round again

Yesterday Esperando went to the Mexican consulate here in the Mile High City to get our valued inventory of household goods stamped properly so we will have a minimum of problems going through customs in Tijuana. This included 4 copies of: his passport; his FM3; our list of things (translated into Spanish); proof of residence in Denver; and proof of residence in Santa Rosalia. He didn't get everything exactly right so he had to come back and redo some things, and go back again. We are told the papers will be ready for us on Tuesday.

In the afternoon he got an email from our Man Friday (Señor Viernes) in Santa Rosalia telling us the shipment of stuff, the 63 boxes, had arrived. Much of the stuff had be taken out of the boxes and was loose, about a third of the boxes had been "disassembled." We were sent a photo by Señor Viernes that somewhat represents the loose stuff. Smart me, I had a list of what was in what box and could go through the list he sent of still intact boxes and figure out what had been taken out of its box, and I assumed, was gone forever. It was pretty staggering. But it turns out the custom broker is the one that had to take EVERYTHING out of its box, and itemize each item with a special code for customs before it could be cleared. Nothing is any longer in its original box, so I will have no clue where to look for things once I get to Casa Boleo. It will be a while before I know if anything is missing. It will be really annoying not to know exactly what box to go to get this or that thing. Life is getting pretty interesting.

Today Esperando and I made the bold move. We went and bought the double axle 6x12 trailer to haul our things down to Santa Rosalia. Normally I would have been opposed to this, but since we are convoying with another couple also pulling a trailer we won't be able to go very fast anyway. The other couple has no air conditioning in their car since they are Canadians and wouldn't need it Canada. I hope they don't die of heat driving down to Baja. Today the weather was 90F and 47% humidity in Baja. They are bringing a small dog with them. I hope the small dog doesn't die too. After purchasing and driving away the trailer, we went and picked up the new sofa set and two queen mattresses.

After the mishap with the other shipment, Esperando talked to the customs broker who will be muscling our stuff through customs (same guy as before.) This should save us alot of grief. He advised all our used household goods go in the trailer as we are allowed a one time deal to bring in used household stuff. This is the stuff that gets inspected at the border and makes it or doesn't. We have a new TV, a new wine refrigerator, and new sofa set we are hoping will pass for used since we took them out of the original wrappings and scuffed them a bit. If they don't make it, I don't know what happens to them or us. The customs broker will be kind enough to shuttle our case of whiskey back and forth two bottles at a time so we meet our quota there.

The stuff we plan to carry in the truck is new and we are allowed, $500 per person or pay duty (20%) on the excess, but if it is over by too much (we are not sure what that number is) then the duty apparently is outrageous. The truck will have our clothes, lots of pet food, cat litter, the Cuisinart, Esperando's new saw, electrical wiring stuff and ceiling fans for Casa Abeja. We are also hauling food (can you believe two giant jars of kim chee—Korean marinated cabbage—for our Korean visitors that must be refrigerated); pinto beans, coffee, and tea.

We spent the few hours after lunch wrapping the TV, refrigerator and parts of the sofa set with plastic to protect it. The TV is especially well wrapped, I hope they don't unwrap it in customs!! I just tried to take a nap but I am way too wired to sleep, so I write this with a tired but wired brain.

Still have to finish packing all the lots of little things and my clothes, although I made a start on the clothes yesterday. The storm clouds are gathering!

Pistol packing mama

Yesterday, with false information about Esperando's FM3 card status and the time frame for bringing in personal goods (6 months after card issue, which turns out NOW not to be true) we convinced ourselves that we HAD to send all our personal things and household goods for Casa Abeja during this little hiatus while Esperando is grounded. First we were going to have movers to do all this, that evolved into they move it we pack it—now we are buying a trailer in the next few days to haul it ourselves. I wonder what I did in some previous life spend this life packing boxes?Our trailer will be hauling our 12 boxes from Australia (those that were yawing in the basement); a few more local boxes; the stuff bought yesterday at Costco—TV, DVD, toaster, coffee pot, cuisinart, etc.; and couches, mattresses and a coffee table purchased yesterday at Sofa Mart.; bbq grill;vacuum; some framed prints and books; the list grows and grows!! No wonder I was so wiped out last night, even for a power shopper I was overwhelmed.


The thing that really makes my hair stand on end is that we don't actually own the house yet, that happens in late August if all of the cards (Mexican bureacracy) fall into place right. And then beyond that we still have to remodel the house before we can move in (give that another 6 months minimum). The advantage of the trailer is that we will now have a portable storage unit where we can store everything until we can move in. I see it now—the next two weeks will evolve into a frenzy of packing and snarling at each other—and lists! You should see how long the lists are! Before we were planning on hauling all this down there so soon, I had actually thought I had a lot of time on my hands. Shows I shouldn't go thinking these random pleasant thoughts. I still have to figure out what clothes to take and get those suitcases packed too. My brain just goes fuzzy when I try to figure that one out. If anyone of you try to call and I am snappy blame it on the pistol packing mama syndrome and forgive me.


Today I get my nightguard from the dentist. I am told I will be there 1 to 1-1/2 hours while he fits it to my mouth. Apparently multiple fittings are involved and for the first week I just wear it after dinner, then progress to wearing it at night once the fittings are more finalized. I must say that its not any wonder I am grinding my teeth.


Tomorrow night our housesitter is coming over for dinner. If I was better organized I would have everything she needs to worry about written down, but I don't feel like doing that yet.

Just call my name, I'll be there

Yesterday I decided to buy a new cell phone. I had my Nokia for 4 years and the battery was starting to lose its charge pretty quickly. When we took it into the AT&T shop they said they hadn't seen one of those that still worked in a long time. They also told me my new phone would be faster, better, smarter. It almost made ME feel like a dinosaur.

Since I couldn't spring for a I-phone I ended up buying an LG Shine. It is just about as cute and has lots of great features such as voice recognition, so I can just tell the phone to call a number instead of dialing it. The AT&T guys downloaded all the info from my previous phone so I didn't have to re-enter my old contact numbers, or even my greeting! It also has a camera and will give you weather for other places. I hate to say this, but I feel like I have made a giant leap into the 21st century.

Somehow I always become extremely annoyed at these AT&T cell stores. Maybe they are the same at any wireless store. First of all you have to wait around for someone to help you, then once you close the deal it seems to take forever before you can walk out the store with your purchase. We always go to AT&T because they have good international service. When Esperando bought me the Nokia, it was because we had moved to a new home and didn't have a landline yet. So he went out and got me a phone, but because he was the one purchasing it, the account was set up in his name. At the time we had no idea what that really meant. What it meant was if I wanted to change anything with the account, he had to call to do it as I had no authority to make a change. When he was out of town his calling them wasn't very convenient, and didn't even happen if he was out of the country. We thought we finally got that straightened out, but then it was to no avail when I would try to do something (like have international roaming added). I really got mad at the girl helping me back then.

In any event when we went in this time, I said I wanted the account in my name. They said ok, but did I REALLY want to do that? So much trouble: a new credit check, reestablishing a payment method, extra money to set up the account, etc., etc.) I could be added on as a permanent authorized member of the account since Esperando was with me to verify who I was. The girl assured us that all my problems would be resolved and I would never have issues with them again. Just call her and she'll be there (the staff changes constantly).

This morning when I came downstairs I used my cell phone to call the slumbering Esperando (on the house phone, right by his bed). After all who else could I call at 5:30 am? He wanted to know why the house phone was identifying the caller as HIM? Curses foiled again! The phone company has outwitted me. It may be MY new phone but to anyone getting my call, the caller is identified with Esperando's name. I am so annoyed by those wireless people that I have developed phone rage!!

Ramblings

Today I go to the dentist and see the results of all the impressions they took of my mouth to show me how screwed up my bite is. They took molds top and bottom, two wax bite impressions and lots of photos. It will be interesting to see what it all adds up to. I've already agreed to get the $900 nightguard not covered by insurance. I saw an interesting photo on the web of someone who had gnashed their teeth down to the gums. Ick!! I've also switched pillows to a feather pillow which allows me to keep my hands away from my jawline while I'm sleeping.

All my birds have flown the coop! Esperando is back in Mexico, Mother has gone to San Francisco, my sister has gone off to play with her husband's lawschool friends from times past, and I am inside enjoying the peace and quiet for a bit. It is hot outside. The dog and I took the small walk this morning, he still enjoyed it alot, especially the dog treats he gets periodically while we practice sit-stays. Lots of nice wildflowers blooming and buzzing with bumblebees and honey bees. I am also collecting some of my best rose petals for a small sack of good wishes to be tossed on the bride and groom at my nephew's wedding in September.

Esperando and I are now starting to make the list of stuff we personally will take to Mexico, which includes a little flowover of things for the guesthouse that I had overlooked (such as hairdryers). Still alot of stuff to finish before we go: take my car in for servicing; get the electrician to come out and fix the outdoor outlets none of which seem to work; take truck to get camper top installed; get animals' health certificates; get mammagram; get dental appliance; get hotel reservation for the as yet undetermined hotel we will spend the night in near Ensenada--yadayadayada. Phew!!

The worst part is the overwhelming desire to buy yet more clothes, like this is my last opportunity before I get cut off from catalogs, malls and easy mail delivery. But the best was going with my sister to the Neiman Marcus presale to look for a mother of the groom dress for her, and finding this wonderful pink and lime green paisley shirt for me by Robert Graham.

Well this didn't get this published last night, so I am adding a bit more this morning. The dog and I saw a muskrat swimming in the creek this morning, rather I saw it swimming, the dog just put his nose in the air and smelled it without ever seeing it. It was only 6 feet away from us standing on the bridge. Then I when we got home I found a dead baby cottontail in the front yard. So sad!! Who says we lead a dull life?

Red letter day

Today the movers came and took away the 65 boxes of stuff for crating to Mexico. It was two young Mexican guys, and it frightened me to watch them haul the stuff into the truck. It only took about an hour. If any of it survives unbroken I will be amazed--especially the dishes!!! But its out of my house now and I was able to vacuum where a vacuum hadn't been for months now.

On a cheerier note (ha, ha) my tooth is starting to misbehave and I fear the dentist is in my imminent future. Oh ick, I'm sure he will drill. How can my tooth be so evil?

Esperando's project is fully funded now, so tonite we will go out to have a nice dinner and celebrate that and the arrival of our new as yet unnamed granddaughter who was born yesterday morning. What a little beauty she is from her photo. I am glad her mother has a lot of helping hands around.

This afternoon we have been mapping our drive down to Baja and figuring out places to stay. It is sort of a mini vacation with stops in Albuquerque, El Paso and San Diego. It looks ok as far as San Diego, then when we get to Baja the decision is between Ensenada or San Quintin. San Quintin is about 200 miles closer to Santa Rosalia so that part is good, we just have to find out if the hotel will take pets. The hotels in Ensenada that take pets sound like real dives but maybe San Quintin really isn't any better. I guess we won't really know until we get there. Ensenada has such an enchanting sounding name and sounds like it would have a little more action than the other, but then all we probably really will want is a nice bed, a decent meal and a chance to hit the sack early for a long day of driving.

Monday morning

After a very pleasant sunny weekend spent walking around an antique car show, buying roasted green chiles at the farmers market and giving the dog private lessons to become better behaved, Esperando has quit this joint and has winged his way back to Vancouver. We had two really nice evenings sitting late into the night in front of our chimenea burning scrap lumber and listening to our favorite songs.

I finally finished packing and numbering all the boxes, figuring what country stuff came from, making a valued inventory for shipping. All I have left to do is wait for the curtains ordered online and the desk from Office Depot to show up. The movers will come June 30 and send our 65 boxes down to Baja. Best deal was finding Ken Edwards (a great Mexican potter making hand decorated ironstone) salt and pepper shakers on ebay for the total price of $10 including mailing! Unfortunately I am still haunted by the untouched boxes in the basement, but fortunately I don't have to deal with them for a couple of months yet.

My sister and mother come on Tuesday and we will go paint the town red. In the meantime I have a few small errands to run, some weeding to do, etc. The dog is acting quite strange after dog training class. I guess he realizes the game of jumping on visitors is over and being a better dog is not his desire.

The garbage man finally came 3 days late after I called to complain, but after all cheese and fish sitting out in the hot sun gets REALLY smelly.

Furniture buying spree ahead!

It is overcast and thinking about raining here in Denver today--sad news with all these destructive tornados in the midwest the past few days. I'm sure today's weather here will just heap on more bad weather off in that direction. Yesterday I bought a bunch of ladybugs to put on the roses. They won't be very active in this cool dampness, that's for sure.

I've pretty much finished packing boxes, still need to number the ones in garage. I am still ignoring those in the basement for now, after all its Memorial Day weekend and one shouldn't stress oneself on holidays if at all possible. Having a girl's lunch with some neighbors--at 2 pm. I am always hungry at 10:30 am, these women are crazy. I guess I will just have two lunches today, I know I can't make to 2 pm (and we are having salad!!) Bring on the ice cream I say.

I should start thinking about what to take for next week's trip to Mexico. Definitively I should pack a swim suit. It should be warmer there than it is here. Some sun sounds like a nice prospect. We will go look at the house we bought in Santa Rosalia, Casa Abeja; do some inspecting of purchased furniture in Loreto; and then go to Ramos in La Paz for the upscale furniture we will be wanting for the guesthouse. I also hope we get a second chance to look at Galeria La Paz, an interesting art furniture gallery we saw in La Paz. I am really looking forward to the great Mexican food we enjoyed in La Paz.

Packing it in

In addition to battling a silly cold, I am plagued by all this junk I agreed to pack to send down to the guesthouse in Baja. Packer and unpacker are among my most hated yet well practiced roles, goodness knows I've gained alot of practice from moving around South America. In addition to the stuff I have to pack that I've just bought for the company, there is also the personal stuff of ours leftover from Australia in packing boxes in the basement that went to Ghana, was never used as we never moved there, and then came back again. So now I have to disturb all those perfectly packed mover boxes as I have no clue what is in them, but still have to make a valued inventory to ship this stuff to Mexico as well.

The plot thickens. I have inventoried and packed half the boxes (that would be 32 boxes) only to find out NOW I have to state country of origin. I used a whole roll of packing tape to seal the boxes, now I have to open all of them and see where I can find a country of origin. I thought maybe if I went to Amazon.com and looked at the item it might say, but no, Kenmore Sears, T-Fal, Libbey glass, Black and Decker, none of the brands state their country of origin except on the packing box. Forget looking at Amazon.com descriptions of the product.

My dreams have been really bizarre lately, mostly involving driving a van with no seat so that you have to stand up to drive. The road is very sketchy full of chunks which have dropped out of it. Ah the road ahead, what does it bring?

It is suddenly warm and wonderful here, the cat, the dog and I go out periodically to sit in the sun. I have vague daydreams of just living here in eternal summer watching the roses bloom. But winter WILL come and all my roses will be covered in snow. In Baja it will be warm and sunny--at least this is what I keep telling myself. I spent today doing recreational shopping at Macys and J. Crew, it was nice to get a break. Tomorrow I will go buy packing boxes and more tape.

I still dread the fated basement with a line of yawing boxes calling my name.

In the beginning

I've never done a blog before but circumstances seem to warrant it. Sooner than I can imagine my husband and I will move to Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, to take up our new life. He will be constructing a copper mine and I will be running the guest house for his company. This means I get to furnish and decorate the guest house, create menus for breakfast and dinner, and manage the staff that will run it. I'm sure I can't begin to imagine the challenges that lie ahead for me--well ok, I can imagine some of them but just think of the things that are going to hit me broadside!

Our front room and garage in Denver are filled with stuff I have purchased for the guesthouse--linens, plates, pots and pans, a dishwasher, trash cans, etc. So far I have gotten most of the stuff on Amazon, or at Target, but I have found some great bedsheets that don't have to be ironed from a hotel hospitality supply, a menu planning software that will be useful by Cook'n, and hotel type safes for each of the five guest rooms. In June the movers will come and crate up all our junk. Meanwhile, our next goal is to go back down to La Paz in two weeks and purchase the furniture for the house.

In August we will drive our selves and our dog and cat down to Baja--of course in the hottest part of the year. I hope we don't all melt on the road but it IS possible. I will tick off the weeks as they go by and you can try to figure out if I am really crazy now, or if I become crazy once I get into this thing.