Tag Archives: plans

Sep2

When You’ve Gone Through The Entire Alphabet

Posted on by
Standard
When You’ve Gone Through The Entire Alphabet

It’s time to go back to Plan A, second time around. Or maybe it’s third or fourth time around. I’m really not sure. But I’ll have to see if this Plan A works out.

I had hoped to publish two books this summer. But it looks like it will be next spring. Far too complicated to publish in Canada while I’m still in the USA or in Mexico. And I’ve decided to go straight back to Mexico next month instead of taking any side trips to Canada.

And that’s okay. The third book in the trilogy will be ready to publish in the spring.

I did an interesting workshop online the other day. It was all about choosing titles for books. Right now I have a title carved in stone for the first book of the trilogy. Now I have some new ideas to toss around for the second and third books.

It’s September and the kids are all back in school. School Year’s Eve is over. And that date varied from state to state. Actually the term School Year’s Eve was a new one for me. I guess I watched too many TV commercials this year. That term was never around when I was a child nor when my kids were school-age.

It’s September and temperatures in the 100s are still in the forecast for this week. I hope I’ll still be around to see the leaves change color. Fall has become my favorite season.

Talk about plans changing……………..booking flights today was on my radar but Alaska’s website appears to have the flu today, or maybe it’s that new strain of Covid. Whatever. Or maybe someone up there doesn’t want me to book flights. Hmmmmm.

And now I’ll turn to a different type of writing. I need to make some notes to be read at book club later this week.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Jan16

Plans For A Crazy Day

Posted on by
Standard
Plans For A Crazy Day

Today is one of those crazy days. My mind keeps wandering as I’m trying to focus on my writing. I’m working on the Epilogue now. And things haven’t exactly turned out the way I’d anticipated when I’d first started writing this book. And that’s okay. Plans don’t always work out.

Plans. My thoughts drift to the sermon the pastor gave last Sunday. It was all about plans and God’s plans for us. And I sometimes wonder about that. Why did I wind up in Aguascalientes? No ocean here. I don’t hang out with gringos. The art galleries and museums are nothing compared with those in Guadalajara. And then there’s Washington state. I keep being drawn back there. The lure of the mountains and life in the USA.

Yes. Life in the USA. I grew up hearing about how we were so lucky to be living in Canada. Such a great country. The way things are going right now, I don’t think it’s such a great country. Despite the political divide, I prefer my life in the USA. The big drawback to me is that my kids still live in Canada and don’t want to visit me in Washington or Mexico.

Back to plans. My TV has been doing weird things like freezing and no volume and no nothing today. So there goes that plan of watching a movie in Spanish in an attempt to improve my skills in that language. But I have been doing some texting in Spanish today so that helps.

Speaking of today, I had planned on going to the tianguis on my street today. But it’s almost 2:30 and I’ve missed it once again. Oh well, there’s always next week. And I really should take some pics.

Pics. I’m slowly but surely organizing all the pics I scanned when I was in Winnipeg last summer. My son has promised to send me a link so that I can share a few thousand with him.

My son. The other night I missed a video call from my daughter in Kelowna as I was doing a course online at that time. When I called her back, to my surprise my son and his girlfriend were there visiting from Winnipeg. My kids don’t exactly keep me updated on their travels. But it was so great to do a video call and see them all together. Only wish I could’ve been there with them.

Of course that was another long ago plan that never happened. My kids and I all living in the same city and seeing each other all the time. That was the way I grew up. But someone up above had a different plan for me.

Back to my plan for today. Back to my Epilogue. And I’m listening to The Rolling Stones in the background.

What’s your plan for today? And how is it working out for you?

Jan3

Here We Go 2024

Posted on by
Standard
Here We Go 2024

Happy New Year! May 2024 be filled with good health, love, peace and joy.

Right now I’m also praying for warmth. The month of December was rainy and cold. Overnight lows in the 30ths and daytime highs that don’t even reach 70 are not my idea of a winter in Mexico. Mexican homes are built to keep the heat out so it’s not surprising that outside it feels warmer than inside. This is my fourth year here in Aguascalientes and I wish I’d brought a ski jacket with me. Last year I never even put on a sweater. This year my hoodie is my best friend.

Do you ever wonder about why you are where you are and why you do what you do? Today is one of those days where I find myself doing just that. When I first came to Mexico back in 2010 it was a one year plan to teach English in Culiacan. But here I am fourteen years later, still in Mexico. Granted I reverted back to a snowbird in 2016 when I discovered Leavenworth, Washington. But I still haven’t found that one place where I want to settle down.

Sometimes I imagine what that one place might look like. I prefer smaller towns to large cities. I’d like to avoid snow but I would like to experience the beauty of all four seasons. I make friends easily everywhere I go and a sense of community is important to me. And if I ever do settle down again I would definitely get a dog.

I would love to perch comfortably on the seat of a bay window when I write. I’m not one for traditional chairs and desks. I find it more inspiring to gaze outside, especially if I can also hear the sound of waves lapping on the shore. Sunshine is also preferred although the patter of rain is also welcome from time to time.

But right now the bay window and the dog are still just a dream. And that’s okay. I will continue to volunteer my time teaching English in Mexico in the winter. And I look forward to going back to Wenatchee in the spring and rejoining the writers’ group and the Tai Chi classes at the Senior Center.

I have no idea what else lies in store for me in 2024 although I do have some tentative plans that include travel to Canada. I have a mission to accomplish but haven’t quite worked out the logistics yet. In the meantime I intend to enjoy the three months I have remaining in Mexico.

I encourage you to continue praying for world peace.

Jul31

What Plan Are We On Now?

Posted on by
Standard
What Plan Are We On Now?

Change. Change. Change. Adapt. Adapt. Adapt. When you go from Plan A to Z and need another…..then just keep on going.

I left downtown on Thursday and am now out in the burbs in St. Vital with my friend Rita. Until Tuesday Iwhen we head out to the lake again. Another new plan.

I’m determined to tough it out here in the Peg until I can get that photo taken for my driver’s license. In all likelihood I will hightail it back to Washington and I won’t get out west to Calgary or Kelowna. I’m homesick! I don’t care if it’s 111 degrees and threat of wildfires. I want to go home.

Of course there’s lots here to do to stay amused. Rita has had some shopping to do and it’s been fun checking out Jysk and Giant Tiger as well as Canadian grocery stores and Walmart. But I’ll save my shopping for when I’m back in the USA.

I finally got to VJ’s for a gut bomb the other day. This stand is home to the best chili burgers and fries in the province. And they actually have plastic tablecloths on the picnic tables, a slight change that’s easy to deal with.

A friend from Regina called me yesterday. We met at the YMCA about fifteen years ago in water aerobics classes. She moved away from Winnipeg around the same time I did. Kim is hoping to come to Mexico this winter and we are hoping to get together for the first time in way too many years. Another new plan.

And yet another plan. I need to get back to my son’s to deal with one more bin full of slides. My dad took slides, not photos. And I am gladly passing them on to my brother. Hopefully he will do something with them. They’ve been stagnating way too long in a Rubbermaid bin.

I won’t be posting again until next Sunday. I’m not sure if I’ll have Wi-Fi out at the lake.

By next weekend I’ll have another plan. Stay tuned.

May18

After Plan B Comes C, D, Etc.

Posted on by
Standard
After Plan B Comes C, D, Etc.

Life. A sequence of events where unplanned by far outnumber the planned. And when you get to Plan Z, you start over with Plan AA, Plan BB, Etc.

March was when I arrived back in Washington. I expected to go to Kelowna in March but Canada still had too many Covid restrictions. The next plan was May but that isn’t working out either due to my daughter’s work schedule. Another plan was May in Winnipeg but a minor health issue got in the way. I thought maybe June but there’s some fitness training all month that I really want to do here in Wenatchee. So now it looks like July in Winnipeg. There is always another plan.

https://youtu.be/M7wYyVi1ugo

I hope you check out the above link. It’s an old John Denver song I came across the other night. And I can’t get it out of my head. It really takes me back in time and I realize now that none of my plans back then have ever come into fruition. And that’s okay because there is always another plan.

So…….why make plans at all if they never seem to work out? I’ve come to the conclusion that long range plans don’t work for me. Even short range plans don’t always come about. But I still continue to make plans because I have learned to become extremely flexible. I don’t stress out when plans fall through.

To quote John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

My plan for today is, hmmm, that isn’t going to work out either. Oh well!

Aug8

The Best Laid Plans

Posted on by
Standard
The Best Laid Plans

Plans. We all make them. We try to follow them. More often than not, things don’t always go as planned.

I look at my life and wonder how everything got so convoluted. One year in Mexico has turned into more than a decade. But oh the incredible adventures I’ve had. I’ve met amazing people and traveled to fascinating places.

I had just settled in to a comfortable routine of six months in Mexico and six months in Leavenworth, with side trips to Canada to see my kids. When I headed south in the fall of 2019, I was returning to Aguascalientes. Yes I’d visited the museums and art galleries the previous winter, but I’d also made friendships and I had volunteer work planned. Needless to say traveling was also on the agenda.

The six months became eleven when Covid arrived. I watched way too many movies in Spanish on TV, colored for hours on end and found games to play on my phone that were quite addictive.

I used up all my gel pens and markers. I colored every single page, including the title page, of a book I’d brought with me. I headed for the nearest papeleria and bought crayons and children’s coloring books, all that was available in my area.

I spent hours in meditation and prayer, a most welcome respite especially after dealing with INM and obtaining an extended stay when my visa expired. I must admit it was a much easier process getting that extended stay in the USA a few months later.

I arrived in Leavenworth in late September with the idea that I’d pick up my warmer clothes and head up to Canada. These plans changed when numerous restrictions regarding travel and quarantine were enforced. I must admit I quite enjoyed the mild winter here as compared with the brutal winters on the Canadian prairies I had experienced in the past.

It’s now August and I haven’t made it back to Canada yet. Yep, eleven months and counting. But a very different life than I had in Mexico. I can’t remember the last time I colored, although I did take out my acrylics and paint yesterday. Movies are now in English and I’m usually with friends when watching. No games on my phone anymore. They’ve all been moved onto my tablet lol.

Of course it’s also been a very different experience here in the USA this year. I used to wear a mask because of smoke from fires, not because of COVID-19. My volunteer work has dwindled down to teaching fitness classes. Lunches and activities at the Senior Center are mere memories, as are book club and programs at the library.

I’m constantly being asked when and where I’ll travel to next. My answer remains the same. I don’t know. Rules regarding travel change every day. I’ve given up making plans as they keep changing as well.

There is only one constant in my life right now. As the deadline of September 20th approaches, I will be en route to Canada or Mexico. If it’s Canada I don’t know where my destination will be. I have kids in two different provinces. If it’s Mexico I will definitely be on my way to Aguascalientes. To me these are all long range plans and I have more than enough trouble making even short range plans now.

For now, my plans are merely whatever happens to fall together. Extreme mindfulness.