Friday, July 30, 2010

Yesterday was a good day

We started the day off with coffee, followed by a large plate of fruit and tamales we'd bought the day before from the tamale lady who walks through the colonias. Then...

- I was able to get two loads of laundry hung and dried before the showers came.

- The link to Capi's Property Management was finally added to the MyIsla site. And Miguel starts working with his first customer as of August 1.

- Miguel cut pieces of the wire mesh holding up the plant roof over the front entrance, and knocked out a lot of dead leaves that served to provide shade and keep us dry during rainy days.

Here's how it looks sunny-side up:


Here's how it looked from underneath:


Now the dead matted leaves are gone and a little more light filters in, but there is still a fresh cool feeling when one enters the garden from the street.

- With the chores done, we headed into town to get our hair cut. 100 pesos later and we both had excess hair removed from our heads and we feel cooler. If hair growth is any indication of health, I'm very healthy - my hair grows fast, and is thick. In this humidity, once my hair reaches a certain length, it droops and hangs in my eyes and drives me nuts. I would like to let my hair grow a little longer but it's not practical, my hair simply makes me feel too hot.

- When we got back from town we took a siesta - Miguel on the front terrace in his hammock, and me on the bed where one pesky mosquito made several itchy spots and prevented me from falling asleep. I am missing the hammock on the front terrace, but the mosquitoes have a feast with me there, and so I'm banished to the indoors until they get around to spraying. I actually have a net that goes over the hammock, but it also blocks out the breeze so I don't really like using it. The bed on the ground floor is a good second choice for siesta.

- After siesta Miguel made chilaquiles and while he was doing that, I was too hungry so I dove into the fridge for a piece of chicken parmesan, slapped it on a piece of roll I'd saved from the day before, and ate it cold.

- After eating, we took to the couch to digest our food. Then Miguel went off to school to take the final test to complete his secundaria level (junior high). He came home around 8 pm - he passed! So once he gets his 'report card' (credentials), he can start preparatoria - also called bachillerato (grades 10-12, high school). Many older adults as well as young people here are completing their education via this program. Miguel went to work at the age of 14 when he came to Isla Mujeres to help his father at Aquarama (now Zama), so even though he took other courses over the 11 years he was enlisted in the military, his formal education was abandoned. I hope he continues to study and complete high school - I know it's important to him.

- The lottery booth closes at 8:30 pm, so when Miguel got home we quickly jumped on the golf cart with Loco and drove over. The hamburger stand was open, and nobody was in line, so while Miguel bought his tickets, I went over and ordered a hamburger/fries for Miguel, a hotdog/fries for me, and another single hot dog. The woman knew the single hot dog was for Loco - no onions, please.

- We finished the evening on the couch - Miguel enjoying connecting with his family via Facebook, and me putting the finishing touches on a new design for our web pages. Each page takes a long time to add the little things that make it a standard look across the pages, and keywords to optimize the site for search engines. I will do a post on this process once I get the site up - hopefully in the next few days.

- It was late when we headed up to bed, and before we could even get settled, there was a nasty cat fight in the kitchen - much more than the usual little scrap. Upon investigation I figured out that Maya went after Minina but in the process scared Smokey. Everyone seemed ok but I took Maya upstairs and made her sleep in our room so the other cats could get some peace. Of course, to Maya this was not punishment, it was a treat - and she slept quite comfortably in the sink. Next time she is going out back - but I didn't want to put her out there when we were not sleeping where we might hear if she got into trouble - she has never spent the night out back but it is in her future, if she keeps up with the bullying.

- Since I was unable to get Luna in last night, I knew our screen doors would be popped open sometime during the night. Luna's night out ended at 3:30 am - such a nice hour to be disturbed. I had been up a little earlier to let Loco in when it started to rain. And I'd been disturbed around 1 am when a mosquito bit me on the bottom of my foot - so itchy! At 5:45 I was up again - too hot. I wanted to put the ceiling fan on high but to do that I would have to stand on the bed, and at 5:45 I was not about to test my balance and it would have disturbed Miguel anyway. So I came downstairs, put out the garbage, put out all the cats (except Maya), and finished my sleep in the little bedroom.

Today everything is back to normal. Has anyone figured out that 'normal' here at Casa Susana is relative?

13 comments:

Jane said...

Congratulations, Miguel! BTW, from my viewpoint, you both seem blessed to have discovered each other. Amazing grace, how sweet ...

Ann said...

I'll add my congrats too! I applaud anyone that has the determination to go back to school after being out for awhile--that's a big accomplishment for him , along with everything else he does!

drgeo said...

Felicidades Miguel ! Pero cuidado porque este juego de educacion es adictivo! drgeo,PhD, NCC, CCMHC, LSMFT

KfromMichigan said...

I love your entrance! Congrats to Miguel!

Jonna said...

Yes, congratulations to Miguel. It is hard to go back but he sounds very determined. Good for him!

Your entrance is so lovely, cool and inviting.

I have to tell you how much I love reading about your 'normal' days. They are wonderful.

I love that we are having a good rainy season but the mosquitoes are a major pain. It's cooler with the rains, but the bugs are more plentiful. It's all a trade off I guess.

Life's a Beach! said...

Congratulations to Miguel! I'm ready to get back to my 'normal' days for a change. Is that a t-shirt Loco's wearing standing out in front of the gate? He's such a comedian! The entrance looks beautiful!

Senor Senior Citizen said...

Way to go Miguel-that ia a great accomplishment!!

Jackie said...

Sue, Your front gate makes it look like there could be magical garden behind it.
Tell Miguel that I said I was very happy and proud of him for getting his report card.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Miguels new business Capi's Property Management. The care he puts into his own properties shows commitment to caring for other properties. Hope anyone having property management concerns or a new listing that people reading this blog will recommend his services. Dujy
Love the entrance

Sue said...

Thanks everyone for the congratulations for Miguel - I have read them to him (he doesn't read my blog, too much English, he says).

The plant work at our home is all his, I don't dare touch it except when he's away, and he always notices. Plants are his passion.

Beck - it's a dog t-shirt, that picture is from the winter, and Loco was feeling the chill...lol.

Anonymous said...

Sue, add a string to the fan chain long enough to reach without standing on the bed! We added one to my Mom's fan with a little decorative knob on the end so she could easily reach it -she's 87... no standing on the bed possible!

Linda
aka Isla Chica

Anonymous said...

P.S. Congratulations to Miguel! Keep studying!!!

Linda
IC

Islagringo said...

The entrance to your house is the subject of my envy! It is so beautiful.

I loved this post! The everydayness of it was just fantastic. Thanks for sharing.