Tag Archives: life

May28

Way Too Many

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Way Too Many

For the past month I have been scanning photos. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are way too many. Why on earth did we take so many pictures? Why are there so many albums? The albums have been sitting in waterproof bins in my son’s basement for fourteen years. Has anyone even looked at them? This is 2024. Digital is the way to go.

In roughly the past ten years, I’ve had four surgeries in three different countries, sought asylum in two foreign countries during Covid and have moved from city to city in foreign countries. But none of this has been as stressful and gut-wrenching as going through these photo albums. I hope this doesn’t sound too crass but so many people in these photos are now divorced or dead.

I think I need a new project. But first I need to finish this one so I can get back to East Wenatchee. I need some normalcy in my life again. But I think I still have to wait a while for that to happen. My new ETA to the USA is now mid-June. End of May was unrealistic.

Caution to my readers. If you ever decide to do what I’m doing, you better hope that you’re in a place where it rains every single day so you don’t mind being holed up in a room with a computer and a scanner for hours on end. So far that’s been my experience this May in Winnipeg. Rain, rain and more rain.

But I’m strong and I can do this.

Mar14

Life 101

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Life 101

Life 101: Mental and Physical Self-Care. University of California, Irvine. That’s the course I’ve just started this month on Coursera. This week we’re discussing habits. We’re learning how to overcome bad habits and turn things around so that we form good habits. We’re learning how to look at our current life situation and interpret things in a more positive way than we have in the past. We’re learning how to strive for goals differently by considering the benefits of intrinsic motivation over extrinsic motivation.

The beauty of taking a course on Coursera is that I work at my own pace. Other courses I’ve done on Zoom demand that you be there on certain times and on certain days. With the nomadic lifestyle I follow, this is difficult and sometimes even impossible. Thankfully some of the writers’ workshops I attend on Zoom frequently send me recordings of the session and that is quite helpful.

Less than three weeks left until I fly back to Washington. I finally went down to Central yesterday and got my bus ticket to Puerto Vallarta. I have a hotel booked and I fly back up north to Wenatchee via Seattle on April 2nd. This winter went by way too fast.

I’ve been stockpiling meds as the cost here is about a third of what it is in the USA. I really don’t enjoy all these tedious last minute things to do before I leave. And I especially despise having to say goodbye to friends. It’s interesting the close relationships you develop with people although you’re only in a place for a few months.

And then there are other friends who have left Aguascalientes and are now living in other areas in Mexico as well as in the USA. But Aguascalientes has become home to me. I love my neighborhood and the delightful tiendas and papalerias. I have my favorite restaurants that haven’t changed much over the years. There are the familiar parks and streets that are comforting. However, I still look forward to the time I spend up north.

When I first arrived in Mexico in 2010 I met several people in Mazatlan who had decided to leave Mexico and return to the USA. I really pondered that one until I reached year six living fulltime in Mexico. That first visit to Leavenworth in 2016 had an impact. I became a snowbird after that. And I have been blessed to enjoy the best of both worlds.

But it’s still hard to say Adios when it’s time to leave.

Sep24

Trapped or Ministry

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Trapped or Ministry

Last Sunday Pastor Mike began a new series called Trapped. It was enlightening and definitely merited more introspection. So naturally Steve and I got into a discussion about the traps in our lives, and if they really were traps. We concluded that what often appears to be a trap can instead result in the opportunity to become a ministry.

I’m a firm believer that people come into our lives for a reason. And I also feel that I have ventured down a path that was predestined for me, although I do find myself occasionally straying off to the side. I always have been a bit of a rebel. It’s a lot to ponder. Why do I live where I live? Why do I do what I do? Is it a trap that has turned into a ministry? Can it fluctuate between the two? Dare I stray further?”

I often wonder what keeps drawing me back to Washington instead of snowbirding back to Canada. There can only be one answer to that. If you’re a believer you’ll get it. And if you are not a believer there’s no way you’ll understand it. The same holds true for why I have chosen to return to Aguascalientes during the winter months.

While it’s still a nomadic lifestyle it now has a twist. I’ve been coming to Washington since 2016 and to Aguascalientes since 2019. Before that, at the three or four year mark I’d move on. But now I’ve more or less settled in two places….Washington state and Aguascalientes.

The wanderlust has waned. I don’t get quite as excited about traveling and exploring new places. But on the same token I’m not prepared to call only one place “home” just yet. It’s actually kind of fun having more than one home although it can be a challenge when dealing with Immigration in three countries.

But what makes a home a home are the people. And I’ve been blessed with many amazing people in my life whom I consider to be much more than just friends. They’re my family. And I tell them they’re stuck with me now. Apparently they don’t mind and feel the same way. I can’t tell you how great it is to have family in three countries…my native country and the two countries I now live in. It really resonated when I found myself seeking asylum in two foreign countries during Covid. And although things have calmed down considerably, my appreciation for my extended family grows more every single day.

When life throws a curve ball my way, my attitude determines the perspective. Is it a truly a trap? Or is it an opportunity for a ministry?

Time to lighten things up. We’re headed out to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.

Aug25

Why do you blog?

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Why do you blog?

Why do you blog? This was one of the writing prompts on WordPress this week. I decided to give it some thought.

I was living in Guadalajara when I started blogging on WordPress. Two of my housemates, Sean and Omar, were computer geeks and helped me get set up. Both of them were working remotely while living in Mexico for a while.

Before I started my blog, I used to send out mass emails to friends I’d left behind in Winnipeg. But now that I was living and teaching in Mexico, I found myself keeping in touch with others I’d taught with or lived with over the years. It’s true that a one-liner on Facebook got the word out and was easier than writing emails, but I could write in more detail in a blog.

I also used to include a lot of photos in my blog posts. I do a fair amount of traveling and there are always new museums, art galleries and parks to explore wherever I go. I made a lot of new friends and we often went on adventures together. But that changed when Covid arrived.

My blog posts became more introspective when I sought asylum in Mexico in March of 2020 when my FMM expired. I had given up my work visa when I retired back in 2016 so I was now counting my 180 days again. When I finally made it to Leavenworth at the end of September, I had a lot more freedom and fewer restrictions. Life was a lot more normal than it had been in Mexico. I was able to be vaccinated and was able to obtain medication I required that had not been available in Mexico.

My 180 in the USA was almost up in March of 2021. Do I go to Canada and pay $2000 for a two night hotel stay in isolation and then have nowhere to live once I got out? Do I go back to Mexico and take my chances in a third world country during a pandemic? Thank you to the CDC for coming to the rescue and issuing a level 4 travel advisory against travel to Canada. I retained an attorney and successfully sought asylum in the USA.

It’s now 2023 and I’m pretty much back on track with winters in Mexico and the other six months in the USA and Canada. But my blog posts are very different than the ones I wrote when I initially began the blog on WordPress. One featured photo and more writing. I write about life rather than travel. I occasionally write about family. I still tend to shy away from politics and religion.

I can’t remember the last time I sent out a mass email. Instead I encourage people to read my blog. I have followers around the globe and am grateful for all your support. I’m not the least bit interested in making money from this blog although I know several people who do just that.

I blog because I enjoy writing. I blog to give others some insight into my nomadic lifestyle. I blog in the hope that what I write may impact someone else’s life. I blog for me and I blog for you.

Aug10

Whirlwind Wednesday

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Whirlwind Wednesday

When I get back to East Wenatchee, I’m going to need a vacay to unwind from this one. Can’t wait for my next Tai Chi class! Really miss you Jim and all my friends.

Anyone who knows me well is never surprised at the stuff I write about on my blog. I’ve had a lot of crazy experiences and I’m sure there are more to come. But this visit to Winnipeg has a unique twist to it aside from the passport and being together with my kids and my friends. I’ll save the details for later on in this post. Instead I’ll work backwards from evening to morning on Wednesday.

After dinner, Rita, Doug and I binged on Gunsmoke. When I got back this year they were already at season seventeen. In Washington, I often watch Gunsmoke on ME-TV. I haven’t yet found it in Spanish when I’m in Mexico. But I do enjoy watching westerns and other older TV shows. Reminds me of a much simpler time in my life before all the complications and curve balls.

I got together with my computer guru in the afternoon. Della (previously Laura) is an amazing lady who could probably build a computer with her knowledge. I first met her when we both found ourselves back at University of Manitoba getting our ESL certification. At the time she was very pregnant with her second child and it was incredible that she held off going into labor before our final exams. Needless to say, even when I’m in Mexico she’s helped me with computer glitches. Last summer when I was in Winnipeg shopping for a new computer, she had already got it narrowed down to a couple of choices. We were in and out of Best Buy in about a half hour and then she set everything up for me. Della has also become a writer, another thing we have in common, and she’s helping me out with that as well. Self-publishing with iUniverse has gotten quite costly so Della has now recommended a free program to download that will enable me to publish at no cost on Amazon.

Earlier in the afternoon I got together with Sheila, a friend for almost sixty years. We first met back in middle school when we were both at River Heights Junior High. We found ourselves at different high schools and then I was off to college and got married. We lost touch there for a few years. When we reconnected she had three kids and was married as well. When we get together we reminisce over old times and then catch up on what’s currently going on in our lives. It’s interesting that we now talk about not only our children but our grandchildren as well.

So here’s the unique twist to this visit to Winnipeg. Wednesday morning I reconnected with my brother after twenty-seven years of estrangement. I had no idea what to expect. I’ll be honest. If I’d have seen him on the street I never would have recognized him. It was great to see him but here it is a day later and I’m still feeling overwhelmed. A lot has gone on in our lives over the years. It was interesting to hear about his kids and grandkids. And that he is now a retired judge. And he also brought me up to date with cousins I’ve lost touch with over the years. And I told him all about my family and my nomadic lifestyle. We’ve exchanged phone numbers as well as email addresses so we can keep in touch.

That’s all for today. Contemplation time.

May24

Happy Birthday

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Happy Birthday

Yesterday morning at 7:30 am I was lying in bed debating whether or not to get up and make coffee. Really hard to do with a Keurig lol. And I’m happy I procrastinated or I would have missed a video call from my granddaughter Madeline. Yesterday was my birthday and she wanted to talk to me before she left for daycare. Despite the fact that I had no caffeine in my system yet, I was surprisingly coherent. And it was a great way to start my day.

Birthdays. I have several decades of them. I’ve celebrated them in Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Fargo, Oak Bluff, London, Culiacan, Guadalajara, Mazatlan, Leavenworth, Lake Chelan, Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. I’ve celebrated in different ways with numerous family and friends in a great variety of homes and restaurants. And I have also stopped thinking about where I’ll be or who I’ll be with when the next one rolls around.

My most traumatic birthday was when I turned twenty. Oh My God! I was no longer a teenager!

As the years go by, I tend to celebrate every single day as being a special day. And I am blessed with great kids and amazing friends I can do this with. It’s a year long celebration rather than just one specific day.

This is my perspective on birthdays. What is yours?

Have a great Wednesday!

May3

Do It Again!

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Do It Again!

So often people want to talk about what they could have or should have done differently. Or maybe they shouldn’t have done it at all. I like to think of things I’ve done and if I had the opportunity would definitely do again. In this post I’ll touch on four of them.

I missed the first couple of weeks of high school. My friends from middle school were all going to Kelvin High and I lived in the catchment area for Grant Park High. My parents refused to sign the form that would have allowed me to change high schools. I never did hand in the registration form at Grant Park so I wasn’t registered anywhere. Instead I hung out at Memorial Park where I met some really interesting people. Of course eventually someone did catch on and I wound up at Grant Park. But those couple of weeks were awesome!

I had just received my certification for teaching ESL from University of Manitoba. I taught in a program at Red River College over the summer. Then it was time to find a job. I received a phone call from a school in Culiacan, Mexico and decided to head south. Yes, Culiacan is notorious for having one of the strongest cartels in the country. But I had a fabulous year in Mexico. It was so fabulous that when I returned to Canada to supposedly stay, instead I turned around and went back to Mexico. The past twelve years have been amazing!

That brings to mind the summer of 2015 when I came to Leavenworth for two weeks and stayed for four months. Then I made the decision to turn into a snowbird after living fulltime in Mexico for a few years. But I have become a snowbird returning to Washington State and not Canada. I’ve lived in different areas and have done some exploring. I’ve met some wonderful people who have now all become a part of my extended family. We laugh, we cry and we have incredible adventures together. It just doesn’t get any better!

But I’ve saved the best for last. I have two fantastic kids and it was worth all the nausea during pregnancy and all the pain during childbirth to be blessed with my son and my daughter. It was well worth moving my office home so I could be with my kids from infancy to adulthood. I enjoyed numerous hours volunteering with all the activities they were involved in. I have fond memories of bands practicing (of course they practice at the drummer’s home), chauffeuring, living in bowling alleys, coaching sports, being Akela of a cub pack and so much more. Yes, those were incredible days indeed!

I would do all of these all over again given the opportunity. High school, college, adulthood. It doesn’t matter. These are all great experiences that I would gladly repeat again.

Apr23

Playing The Victim

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Playing The Victim

The main character in my book is the master of this. He thrives on attention-seeking behavior. He doesn’t assume responsibility for his actions. He always blames someone else when things get screwed up. After all, that’s easiest, isn’t it? And the more he does it, the more comfortable he feels about it. Even though it usually all blows up in his face, that still doesn’t stop him.

Of course this got me thinking about my own life. It’s really easy to step into that victim mentality. I think we all do it from time to time. I know I have. The big problem arises when we make a habit of doing it and it then becomes the norm. We get stuck and somehow it just feels too comfortable and we don’t even attempt to get out.

As adults it’s easy to blame parents for the mess in our lives. My character is really great at doing this. He’s been doing it since he was a teenager. My character is also struggling with mental health issues. So when he doesn’t play the blame the parents card, he blames the mental health issues when there are behavior problems. He has this all perfected by the time he becomes an adult.

We all face challenges in life, mental and physical. Playing the victim results in hearts filled with anger and bitterness. I’d rather have a heart filled with peace and tranquility. Wouldn’t you?

Mar12

The Times They Are A-Changin’

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The Times They Are A-Changin’

It’s almost thirteen years ago since I arrived in Culiacan. Back then I made a point of proudly telling people I was Canadian. A year later I moved to Guadalajara. Still proud to be a Canadian. I didn’t want to be mistaken for an American. But it’s 2023 now and I stopped bragging that I was a Canadian long ago. Here in Aguascalientes I call myself a gringa and my neighbors know I live in the USA when I’m not in Mexico.

When Covid was declared a pandemic back in March of 2020, I sought asylum here in Mexico. I was given another six month tourist visa. In September 2020 I got as far as Leavenworth, Washington. USCIS said as long as I flew in I could come although I am not an American citizen. That was also the earliest I could obtain travel health insurance during the pandemic that would cover me for Covid.

In March of 2021 it was decision time. Return to Mexico? Hot summer weather coming up and no vaccines available. My 180 was almost up. I wasn’t keen on returning to Canada to quarantine. And I also had nowhere to live there either. The CDC came to my rescue and issued a Level 4 Do Not Travel To Canada Advisory. Once again I successfully sought asylum in a foreign country during the pandemic.

Here we are in 2023. I watch what is going on in Canada with Trudeau and the Liberals. I watch a country falling apart at the seams. Of course, that all began when Justin Trudeau’s father first took office back in the 60s. He has merely taken over where his father left off. Trudeau makes Trump look like an angel.

What is going on now in Canada scares me. I believe it’s every bit as dangerous as Covid. And I wonder what my chances are of once again seeking asylum in the USA. Awfully tempting to try. Define “refugee.” Lots of connotations there.

Where does chocolate milk come from? A dairy cacao! Thank you Alexa.

Have a great Sunday!

Feb19

Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream

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Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream

I’m not sure if it’s because I listened to the song or if it was just my turn to have a strange dream. But Thursday night was the night for more than one strange dream. As I whizzed through different decades in my life, the imagery was distinct and clear. I don’t recall all the details. But I went from nineteen to four to thirty-seven and a variety of other memorable ages. The people in my dreams seemed so real although many have not been a part of my life in years, either by choice or in some cases death. But they were all there and alive in my dreams.

Friday night I was surfing through Spotify and came across some old Perry Como songs. Yes I am that ancient. When I awoke the next morning I felt more than a little disoriented. I expected to see my childhood rocking chair and my record player. Those songs really got to me. They were favorites when I was a child. Middle of the House, Mi Casa Su Casa, Catch a Falling Star. I wonder if my readers remember any of those.

But when I opened my eyes I was here in Mexico, not in my childhood bedroom. Yet it had all seemed so real. For a few fleeting moments I was transported back to the safety of my childhood, a very comfortable place. At that age I didn’t watch the news on TV so I had no idea how chaotic the rest of the world was. My parents did a good job of sheltering me back then. Of course there was no Internet or Facebook in the olden days either.

I wonder if my own children ever have similar experiences. Of course they probably remember Madonna or Michael Jackson rather than Perry Como. The 80s were definitely different than the 50s.

This afternoon as I work on my novel, I’ve decided to listen to 60s country in the background. Can’t wait to find out what the dreams will be about tonight!

Happy Sunday!