December! Almost Xmas! OMG.

Or should that be JFC? ??? Time flies, in any case

House closed. Maybe I’ll take some photos soon. Well, I will, but I’m in Vancouver at the moment. November 30. Soon it will be December. Like 11 hours from now. And then, it will be 2022. Amazing. We’ve been mostly in the house for two years thanks to Covid. Although two years ago, we did have a full house Christmas (Cuernavaca) — we didn’t start hearing pandemic rumblings until January. We clearly aren’t out of the woods yet. Must practice caution.

So, the house closed with mostly no trouble. Chris flew over on a Monday to do the walk through. We went together the following Thursday (another day trip) to sign at the lawyer’s. The following Monday it closed, and Chris picked up the keys and supervised moving our stuff in. Then came back to Vancouver. I stayed here. Then we went back over to the island and worked like dogs for about five days emptying tubs (half done) and had to come back to the city for work. Will go again in one week and I will take some photos then. It’s been pretty busy.

Just before we left, I bought two Chinese cabinets on Facebook Marketplace for a ridiculously low price, they are red and I love them. Low cabinets, credenzas. I’ll take photos of the whole set up. We still need to figure out what to do for a couch. We had two big stuffed feather gray chairs, but they lost one. So back to the drawing board on the living room. “They” are the movers.

We have flowers here too

Our plans are sort of coming together. We had appointments for flu shots here on the 2nd, and i have a meeting with a client on December 6, so it makes sense to hang out. Going back and forth takes some time. It’s okay, I guess. Really only a couple of hours each way, we are so close to the ferry docks in both locations. And my phone works. I’m just not *as* productive but maybe I can afford to slack off (or just “think”) for a few hours here and there anyway.

Now it’s the 2nd. Got our flu shots. We’ll go back on the 7th to the island for a week (at least). Until we’ve got it sorted out. We will spend Christmas here on the mainland but will be back on the island for New Years and most of January. We’re spending New Years Eve with Buffy and Mark, which will be fun. Hard to make any plans beyond that, at least any plans that might involve travel. We’ll have to see what the Omicron variant ends up doing. It could be the one that saves us if it’s highly contagious but not as dangerous. Or it could go the other way. In any event, it’s definately prudent to put off making any travel plans until we figure it out. Big sighs all round.

Working away. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. I think probably there will be more clarity in the new year. I have to pull in my horns and stop spending, that’s for sure. But the big stuff (the move mostly) is done.  If you ever move to Mexico, don’t move your stuff.

I was just hyperventilating for a minute about all the stuff there’s still to do, and then I remembered, all the stuff we’ve done in a year. This was a FB memory today:

So, there’s really nothing to hyperventilate about. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. It’s all anyone can do, right?

And now, December 12. I’m going to write for two or three hours and then publish this damn thing today. I have been busy. Unpacking, repacking, nowhere near done. It’s a bloody mess in the garage, worse than when we started. But the house is getting there.

Okay. Getting near to Christmas. Did I show you my tree yet? It gets so much attention.

Back to the house. I’ll show you a few photos of the downstairs (coming along) – but do note that those three vertical pictures in the front window are NOT staying there – we are waiting for our bottom-up cellular blinds W-everTF those are. And don’t want people peering in.

We have two of those Chinese cabinets (one four-drawer, one three-drawer) that I got for a song on Marketplace. From someone who lived in a million-dollar house on an island and barged them over to the van, but that’s another story. We worried they would be too much for the room but it’s ok. The problem with this house is most of our stuff doesn’t fit. This room must be grey-based because of the floors and walls. It’s very limiting. It’s like this upstairs, too.

We painted a house entirely one color before but it was a very, very, very light ash grey. Different story. Anyway, it’s what it is. Only our green and clear stuff fit in this room, which is our entire downstairs. We like the open. But dislike the decor limits.

Upstairs is a lot larger because it includes over the garage (who wants a garage). I guess because this is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom and they expect it to be a family house and kids stay in their rooms a lot these days online. There are USB ports in every room 🙂

The kitchen is okay. I feel like I’m in a relatively high-end, well-done Air BnB. Which is great compared to the last year or so. In fact, downright relaxing. And a six-burner gas stove, be still my beating heart. The kitchen is really messy right now but it’s such a pleasure compared to the rental.

Ignore the mess. It’s a functional kitchen with attractive accoutrements.

But it’s not this kitchen ???. We are so much more eclectic than this current house, it’s very Stepford wives but it is okay for now. We needed a place to land, and as you know if you’ve been around for a year, it was the only thing we could buy at the end of 2020, for completion a year later.

I won’t publish today. We go back on the 15th, I’ll publish by noon my time that day. Gives me a chance to actually think of something to say, LOL. I do think lots. I just haven’t been at my computer, I’ve been unpacking for a very long time but there was a lot of stuff. Now I’m half organized but don’t really feel like it. Of course, I have to do it all. CW helps where he can, he took cardboard to the recycling depot and helped fold down boxes. But the unpacking and repacking anything for storage is almost all me, unless I carry something up to his office on the 2nd floor. We don’t like having two storeys, not in the least. Another thing.

I’m grateful to even have a house the way this market is going. But I would like to find somewhere to live that we feel we can stay for a while. Like until we die. I’m done moving around. To be honest, I’m getting kind of unenthusiastic about much of anything but I’m sure it’s just a passing phase. Could be gone in a few hours.

Kind of true. I lie awake in bed and wonder what I’m going to do with my life. I keep busy enough and I have lots of irons in the fire. Found another presale to buy this morning, possibly. Well, for the company to buy. Maybe. I guess we’ll see. Just getting info on it now. That would help ease our fear of owning nothing here while prices keep going up LOL. Oy.

Have to map out the logistics of this one. We had hoped to live in it for a while but the stairs really aren’t helpful with CW’s back and it’s not private enough. I guess that’s what happens when you buy sight unseen (presale so there was nothing to see except plans). Still, we’re here and may stay, I guess the smart thing to do is put off any decisions really. Or analysis. At least until February. Things change all the time around here.

Like Omicron. It’s December 14 today. And Ontario is tripling in cases every three days. That is 3,000 miles away, but it’s coming to BC – you can fly here without any tests at all. Although you do have to be vaccinated to fly now in Canada, which is wonderful. Once we both get our boosters, I’ll feel better. I have an appointment for the 18th, CW is waiting on his text to register, he’d forgotten one step so it should be any minute, we hope. The uncertainty really is getting to me, I think. When I wake up at night (2:30 like clockwork) I have to chant myself back to sleep and block my thoughts. Which isn’t good (blocking thoughts). But there’s a lot to worry about. Still, I’m going to have to get back to living in the moment soon because this constant mapping out the next step is getting tiring.

I have three or four creative projects in process and sort of in play. Feelers out, a producer (the one with DogStar) who is really loving stuff and attaching directors and moving on things. But you know how it goes. At least you should if you’ve been reading this blog very long. ???

Sometimes I feel like I’m on a treadmill, just walking, walking, walking. But never moving. AFTER today, there should be some important decisions that can be made. At least, that’s what Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone says. I’m hoping that means clarity will surface. Sometimes, that happens. I walk around thinking of things for weeks (months?) and then a path emerges, seemingly out of nowhere. But we all know it’s not really out of nowhere. Our unconscious minds are amazing things and we know more than we think we do.

I should try to think about Santa instead…

I guess that 2:30am shit is still monkey chatter. I tried edibles and they put me out but I still wake up at 2:30 so what’s the point. I’m back to sleepy (chamomile) tea before bed. It really only takes about 15 minutes to get back to sleep but I don’t like those 15 minutes. Can’t shut myself up. Well, I can, but I have to chant inside my head very loudly. So I do. We do what we have to do. I think I need to stop reading the news for a bit. That always helps 🙂

Okay, that was fast, within an hour of registering, CW got his appointment for a booster. Had he been registered (he forgot that step when getting the Canadian vaccine passport issued), he would have had the notice at the same time as me. But all done, same-day appointment only in the afternoon. In a sense, it’s hard to avoid thoughts about the virus when so much of daily life is connected to it, masking, appointments, bubbles, vaccines, boosters and news. Enough. I’m going to call a time-out (blackout) until Christmas. Work is slowing down. Maybe I should pick a project and write the flipping script already. Put on the headphones and lose myself 12 hours a day. I can turn one out in a week once I have the outline. Time will tell. For now, I’m thinking ahead until Saturday once we have our boosters. Then we’ll go from there. What a time to be living. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s like that Chinese curse: May You Live in Interesting Times.

I don’t like silence these days. The radio is always on. Occasionally, it’s Spotify or Apple Music playlists. But I actually like to hear the radio voices in between songs. Probably because in the past two years (almost two years), we have had very little socialization compared to other years. And in two years we have been on ONE flight. One. To come home and under duress. It wasn’t a pleasant trip.

Oh, I lie. I flew to see Dad and Sylvia in August and that was good. So glad I did and plan to go again once it warms up. Next year, I’ll try to go visit everyone. Will be a two-week trip for sure. Sharon, Pam, some of my old public school friends if we can work it out (Diane, Karen my cousin, who knows who might turn up if we put it together). It will be fun to see everyone.

I think not having a dog, while way easier than when the dog was PJ, is hard on me. There was a time, between Clyde and Piggy Caesar (my first bull terrier, in 1980 or so) there was about a year with no dog but I was travelling for work a great deal. I miss it. But it would complicate our lives right now. When it’s time, he (or she) will find us (me, haha).

Outside the BC liquor store. Everyone is doing Charlie Brown this year.
In Mexico, those Christmas ornaments would be stolen in 10 minutes.

Oh, this really righteous Christmas music on the radio has to stop. It’s the kind of music you’d sing in church. Christmas has meant so many different things to me over the years. Of course, we had our family Christmases and you wouldn’t think of not being together. Then mom died and we had a couple with Dad, then we moved to Texas (work) and later Vancouver. We’ve mostly had Christmases that were non-eventful. The last nine years were in Mexico. We had a couple of really good Christmases in the last house with the big pool. They were fun. Easters too, with Ray’s kids. And some great ones with our kids/grandkids but even those tended to be celebrated early as we mostly went south for the winter.

It’s a shame because I really like decorating and present wrapping. But there have to be kids. There is nothing we want and haven’t really bought each other much over the years (we buy each other things for nothing all the time). It’s just not been that big since the big family Christmases stopped — that was probably when Gramma Mc died. We used to have cousins galore and aunts and uncles and kids tables.

It’s kind of sad that often it’s just another day to get through. Of course, I do remember the past and dead people on that day. But we do often make a turkey if we’re alone. We’ll be at the kids’ house this year, now that we live in the same city. But grandkids are 18/16 and mostly need money. We have no idea what anyone really needs, so we give them money. There really end up being few gifts to buy. And really, why do we buy so much crap at Christmas anyway? I suppose that’s a question for another day.

I may wait until next weekend to publish this – just reread my horoscope and there could be a miracle on the 18th – not like a super magic miracle – but something pretty important. Hmph. We’ll wait and see. Miracle on the 18th. Sounds like a title to me. But sounds like a golf story.

Ok, it’s Wednesday, December 15. Happy Birthday, Frannie, wherever you are. And here is the message I woke up to today:

I actually woke up feeling good this morning. I did wake up at 2am but the monkey chatter was gone. I could like there and drift back to sleep, thinking of the rest of the week, the weekend and the days leading up to Christmas. Had to be the influence of the stars — after Tuesday, decisions were supposed to be easier. And I certainly feel on much more solid footing today. I don’t like those times when I get anxious.

I saw my own doctor yesterday for the first time in years and that was nice, I really like her and enjoy talking to her. And now I’m back, health care up to date and 9-1-1 will actually produce an ambulance if ever required and it will take me (or CW) to a place where they speak English. You have no idea how valuable that is until you wake up in the middle of the night in Mexico and have to take your husband in a cab to a hospital where they don’t speak English and keep hammering at you in Spanish. But those days are gone. TFG. And all I have to do is show them a driver’s license when I get there, and never pay a dime. We are truly blessed in this country.

Oy. Friday, December 17, back on the mainland. Omicron has bust wide open – things are looking tough again. Hard, especially around Christmas. We’re all so tired of this, I know. But everyone is doing their best. And we just have to keep to our bubbles. That’s all we can do. At least we *are* vaccinated. I get my booster tomorrow. CW too but I’m in the AM and he’s at 1:15pm. No more monkey chatter, though. Still waking up but no monkey chatter. So things are looking up.

I feel totally bipolar going back and forth to the island. Don’t like it much. It feels scattered again. I just want one house with all of our stuff in it 🙂

Those are candied cranberries and they are good…

One week until Christmas. I MUST publish tomorrow (Sunday). Booster today. First I pick up a wooden filing cabinet (small) from Marketplace and then my booster at 9:30am. I was going to go to the thrift store after that (K95 mask) but not now. Not even double-masked. I don’t need anything badly enough to die for it. That’s the trick, I’ve found. Take the best and worst that could happen and weigh them. Is finding a better bread knife (or a two-carat flawless diamond ring in a forgotten pocket of a used jacket you bought on a whim) worth dying for? It puts a lot of things in perspective ??? I can shop Marketplace — it’s local, pickup is contactless, I can get stuff there. You pay a premium compared to thrift stores, but you don’t have to spend time looking through other peoples’ junk 🙂

So, what else? After my errands this morning, I am coming back to my computer. Going to list a few things on Marketplace myself and try to get some creative work done. Things are so just simmering in the back of my head, I wish one of them would come out as the clear winner.

Ha! December 22. I am 67 years old today. Ack! Oh, WTF, I guess I just have to roll with it. That’s it. Publishing any minute now. Just need to find a few more photos. I lay awake in bed this morning making a promise to myself. I am going to write something in January. One of them (scripts). I’m going to ask for guidance from the divine muse or whoever it is to pick the right one and to just write it.

Our landlords, a couple who spend winters in San Miguel (and we didn’t know them there, of all things) and summers in Haida Gwai, but come back here for part of the summer every year (we only rented until June 1) — well, he died in San Miguel last week. So who knows what will go on with this place now. They only rent, so we are a sublet. She has basically told us the flexibility is ours, she will just give it up when we leave. I’m sorry it happened, my heavens. And here we are in his house. They only kept it because he had rented it for 20 years and couldn’t bear to let it go. She’s happy to let it go. So, I mean, I guess being able to be flexible is good but it kind of upset me. Not that I know him but I am surrounded with his stuff, all his LPs and his piano etc. It’s full of crap. I offered to help her clean it out if we’re on the mainland when she does. I liked her. She has purple hair (and is 70). BC at its best (she’s from the US though, but Canadian permanent resident).

Ok kids, I guess that’s it. Probably that’s it for 2021. I’ll leave you with one last meme and a song. You never know, I may get needing to write and post again before the end of the year but just in case. Everyone stay safe, stay kind, stay informed.

To everyone: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and may 2022 bring what you’ve been dreaming of. And oh yeah, just because. Every time I hear “I’ll be home for Christmas” on the radio, I hear Uncle Carl (long dead) singing it at our Christmas dinner table on Sumach. That would make Auntie Ann happy. She’s dead too. But enough of that. See you next year.

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4 Comments

  1. Steve Melbye

    Feliz Navidad y prospero Ano Nuevo?!
    Be thankful you have finally extricated yourself from Mexico. I have followed your your journey for many years as I have plotted my move there . I have learned a lot from your experiences enough to know I don’t want to buy there but just be a snow bird renter . For that I’m grateful to you ! Mexico is an incredible country, warts and all which you can overlook if only staying a few months at a time.
    I will say that I haven’t let the pandemic deter my travel . Just got back from Ghana Africa on a anti child slavery initiative for Intl Justice Mission. Never been to Africa and was out in small villages.The heat and humidity was heinous but rewarding working with the people. Also did Spain /Mallorca-not too crowded now. Costa Rica for sons destination wedding in Jan. Israel in May if it reopens by then ? The reason behind all this flying is a 12mo Delta pass from father in law – free travel anywhere they fly!? Plotting my next destination …
    2022 must be better for all – right? Just settle down and bang out some scripts to keep your mind occupied. All the Best – Steve