Yesterday it was Thankgiving in Canada. One of our friends in Playa found a restaurant that was offering a fixed price Canadian Thanksgiving dinner for a group of us to go to. Yes, Thanksgiving dinner in Mexico. It actually wasn’t bad at all and we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts and gravy. We all seeemed to have a great time and I am really glad that we decided to join in.
This time of year is always hard for me. 10 years ago we were spending our last few days with Mom before she passed. 8 years ago I went through a horrible time when both my siblings ended up in the ICU at 2 different health issues. While at times they were in critical condition they both survived. I am always anxious when the FaceBook posts of what was going going during both those times. I try really hard to find the things I am thankful despite the time of year just to put a positive spin on it all.
I realize that with everything going on in the world many people would struggle to find something they are thankful for. I harken back to when I was a kid and Dad would bring some lonely (usually poor) person home for holiday dinners. He would always remind us that no matter how bad things were, there was someone out there that has it worse.
There’s always the easy thing to be thank you for. We have amazing friends both at home and here. I still have friends I met from around the world that I correspond with. I’ve been married to my best friend for over 33 years. While I wouldn’t say we are well off, we don’t have to worry about how we will pay the bills. We also have enough that we are able to subsidize my sister when needed. I guess those are pretty important things.
I’ve come to realize that the work I do as a volunteer really allows me to look at things a bit different. I deal with seniors who are getting by only because they live in subsidized housing. I facilitate a caregivers’ support group where I hear the stories of what these people are going through taking care of their loved ones and I marvel at how they can keep going. I listen to the stories of the people in my community and how affordability is destroying people. My heart breaks hearing about people in need who can’t find the resources to get help.
And so I am thankful that I get to be part of an activist community that is trying to make a difference for others. I think that might be what I am most thankful for.
Yesterday was a fun day. There’s a tour group here in Playa del Carmen that every other Friday does a trip into Costco which is in Cancun, a 45 minute drive away. The trip starts with a stop at a taco place for brunch (my husband and I usually skip that in order to have a Costco hotdog instead). Then it is on to Costco where you have 1 1/2 hours to get your shopping done before we head back to Playa. I’ve done this trip several times because Costco is the only place we can get ‘good’ milk (if you have ever had milk in Mexico you know what I mean) and they also have awesome thick sliced bacon. So we finished shopping and headed back. We were about 1/2 way home when there was a loud noise beside me at the back of the van then it felt like we were driving on rumple strips. The driver pulled over and sure enough, a tire had blown. The driver (not a young guy by any means) started working on jacking up the van when 2 young guys stopped their truck, came over and within 10 minutes had the tire changed. It was actually quite a great experience.
I have been crazy busy while I have been at the condo especially this past week. We are a week away from election day for the local elections and so there is a ton of work to do. I’ve at times struggled to keep up with the massive amounts of emails that I get each day along with paying invoices and ensuring the books are up to date. Then of course is the Provincial election which happens 2 weeks from today. It has now started to ramp up and I am learning how to use the financing tool the party has provided me and even attended an evening meeting with the campaign team this week. To top it all off I got work from a client this week so am trying to get that done as well. It is a lot and it is stressful even when tequila is involved.
Obviously I need something positive to relieve the stress (i.e. something that doesn’t involve tequila). And so I try to spend at least an hour a day doing some diamond painting. I think I have explained before that diamond painting is simply paint by numbers using beads. So far on this trip I have finished a large painting with 3 humming birds. It actually turned out really well. This week I started a medium sized one which is a sea turtle. I have one other left here which is another sea turtle. I have ordered a couple more to bring down on the next trip and eventually we will get them all framed to hang around the condo.
I find doing the diamond painting to actually be quite relaxing. It takes my focus off all the work I have to do and when I complete one I like the feeling of accomplishment. This is really not challenging work but you do need to concentrate on what you are doing. There is also a strategy involved in deciding which section you will be doing and the order of the beads that you will be placing. That means while doing the diamond painting there is no room in my head to stress over the work that is outstanding.
So that is how I am dealing with stress. It is really helping keep my anxiety in check and I am grateful for that because if I start thinking about all the reports I have to put together and file when I get home I am pretty sure my head will explode.
My husband has taken to calling me Rambette. That is because I now dress in full protection mode when out walking in the morning. To start, I now wear a satchel that carries the kitty food which means I have 2 hands free. Then, tucked in the satchel but visible is my water pistol loaded with strong vinegar water and in my water belt there is a bottle of vinegar water in case I have to reload. Finally I have a good, thick stick which I use as a walking stick but it is mainly to threaten the coatis. Apparently I look menacing because when I ran into some monkeys today they gave me a wide birth.
The weather last week was terrible. We dealt with massive thunderstorms which literally brought sheets of rain. As such there were severl days where I didn’t go out for my morning walk. Not to worry, I did not miss a single online class so every day I did do some sort of workout. Now not walking always makes me feel guilty not just because of the lack of exercise but while I am here I feel bad that I am not feeding the kitties (note, it is not likely they would be sitting out in the rain so I’m not sure why I feel bad about this). I am determined I need to find a way to deal with this going forward because we are in the rainy season here.
My husbad suggested that I just simply put on some rain gear. We have both rain jackets and rain ponchos. Now at home I do have a rain jacket that I wear when out walking but that is different. You have to picture that even at 5:30am it is at least 25c and always humid. If I put on that plastic poncho or the rain jacket I would be soaked with sweat within a block. It is just not a feasible solution.
So I have come up with plan b. Our tv system here has some Zumba workout videos. I’ve done them before and while it is boring to do the same workout over and over it is a pretty good one. I also as a backup could do some of the recorded classes from my fitness centre particularly choosing ones in which I didn’t previously participate in (if there is some doing a class online via Zoom they will record it then post the links on our FB page). Either of these will get me that extra hour of exercise that I so crave.
I am dealing with the challenges of the weather here and for the rest of my time here I will ensure if I am not walking then I am doing something else to make up for it.
Wow, has it been raining in Playa the past several days. I mean I live in Metro Vancouver where we get tons of rain but nothing like this. It started the beginning of the week with an impressive thunder storm. We’ve actually had a thunder storm pretty much every day this week. But the past few days we have also had massive rain storms. Normally here you will get squalls come through but these have lasted for hours. At times it is sheets of rain that have been falling from the sky. I know when the sun comes out eventually it will be unbelievably humid and the mosquitos will be breeding like crazy.
I realized last week that my ankle brace was starting to fall apart. It is still wearable but I don’t know if it will last the rest of this trip. And so I did the smart thing and used social media to find a new one (ok, not really a smart idea). We have an Ex-pats FaceBook page and I got lots of suggestions for medical equipment stores that should have a brace for me. Unfortunately all the ones we went to only had the sleeve braces that you slip on. Those simply will not provide the support that my chronic tendonosis requires. I can probably get away with doing my walks without a brace as it is flat here but sometimes I have to run to get away from the coatis. On top of that I do really need the brace for my fitness classes.
One of the medical supply stores that we went to suggested we try Liverpool. Now Liverpool is a high end department store. Those in Canada, it is like a Hudson Bay store. I thought that was kind of an odd suggestion because why would they carry this kind of brace. So I got online the other day and looked and sure enough, they seem to have good, supportive ankle braces. They had a wide variety and I was stunned at the price which is about 20% of what I pay for my brace at home. Ok, they may not be the same quality but as long as they give my ankle the support it needs I’m game to try.
So today we are heading off to Liverpool to see what we can find. I do have a plan b just in case there isn’t anything that meets my needs, we are going to duct tape my current brace to hold it together until I can bring down a new one from home. Hey, this is Mexico, using duct tape would absolutely fit in with the culture.
Holy cow have we had thunderstorms come through the past couple days. Yesterday there was lightening and a thunderclap right about our building. Both my husband and I nearly jumped out of our seats! Today when I went out for my walk I noticed some flashes in the sky but I could still see stars so thought I was probably ok. By time I was heading back to the condo the thunder and lightening had started and I was wondering if I would make it before the storm started which I did but it was a good one that went on for quite awhile.
When I start out on my morning walk in Mexico it is usually around 5:45am so it is dark. I am always cognizant that I am going to see wild animals. Now some of them are pretty harmless. For example, the deer. The worst experience I have had with a deer is when one came crashing out of the jungle near me. I scared it, it scared me, we both kind of screamed and it ran back into the jungle. Next is the sereque or agouti which is a bit hard to describe. They are a type of rodent that kind of looks like a large rat with a flat nose who runs on skinny back legs that are longer than their front legs. They don’t bother you and are sort of funky to look at.
Then there are the coatis. Those are the Mexican raccons which really only resemble our raccons in that they have a striped tail and something similar to a fur mask. They actually are reddish brown, long and narrow and have a couple of really big thick claws for their tree climbing. Like raccoons these guys are known as garbage feeders and can open up pretty much any locked garbage can. They also tend to travel in large packs with some adults leading the way followed by the babies (ok, they are cute) but there is always a couple of the older, large males at the back making sure eveyone is safe. I always stop and let the group cross and front of me and don’t move until the ones at the back join the rest of the family. These are not the ones that are the problem, it is the ones that aren’t with a family.
I am finding it is getting worse in the mornings while I try to feed the kitties as in a few areas there are a couple of coatis that will do anything to take the kittie food. Now I try and defend my kitties so that they can at least get something to eat but these coatis seem to get braver every day. I had previously at the recommendation of a friend carried mini-marshmallows to distract them but now they are just getting greedy so I have had to up my game. I got a cheap water pistol and filled it with vinegar which I would spray at them. The problem is I had to get close to them for it to be effective. I also have been trying some hairspray the sound of which has them scurrying away but unfortunately they then try to sneak back. Now I carry marshmallows, hairspray and a big stick.
It is taking a lot of work to hold these guys back but I am determined to make sure my kitties get at least some food. My husband laughs at me because I wear my water belt but only one side has water, the other contains the can of hairspray. I look like a weird cowboy with a holster but still I’m protecting myself and the kitties.
The one animal I am happy not to have seen here is a jaguar and I hope that continues though I wouldn’t mind seeing the monkies again.
This week we started getting some repair work done on the condo. We started with getting all shower heads/faucets cleaned. This is a necessity because of the highly mineralized well water here that clogs up all the fixtures (note, the shower this morning had so much better water pressure). We are also getting all of the windows resealed as the caulking deteriorates due to the humidity. Some of our doorways needed fixing again because of the humidity. Finally we needed to pull up most of the tiles in the main bedroom as they were heaving. Let me just say doing this has caused the thickest layer of dust everywhere but still after having the condo for 8 years we know it was the right time to get all of this done.
So, I am starting to question my sanity. I say that because I really don’t listen to my own advice. I frequently tell the participants in my caregivers’ support group about how detrimental it can be to overload yourself. Instead I counsel them to ensure they have time to take care of themselves. I know that is really important for mental health and I also know that piling on stress can do a lot of damage. Sadly, I do not apply that advice to my own life.
Right now in British Columbia we are in campaign period for local elections (mayor and council for our City). Even though I knew I was coming to the condo I agreed to be the Financial Agent for an Elector Organization which is basically a slate of candidates. I’m responsible for ensuring we all comply with the election laws and of couse for managing the funds. It is extremely stressful especially since some of the candidates just don’t understand that I am ultimately held accountable for the campaign to the point where if we screw it up I can be fined and/or sent to prison. Just this morning I had to send them all an email in which I brought the hammer down over them ‘approving’ spending money when they don’t have the authority to do so. We still have 3 weeks to go on the campaign and sometimes I wonder if I will survive.
Having said that, I did a kind of stupid thing this week. Our Premier decided to call a Provincial election on Tuesday. This election will have a campaign period that runs at the same time as the local election though ends exactly one week after we do the local vote. I got a call the day the election was called asking if I was willing to be the Financial Agent for our MLA candidate. Because he is a good friend I of course agreed. He then advised that another friend may be running in an adjacent riding, would I be willing to be to be Financial Agent there as well. Again, I said absolutely.
So let’s recap, I am Fnancial Agent for 6 candidates in our local election. I estimate I have already spent 50 hours working on that campaign. Now, I have added being financial agent for 2 candidates running Provincially. That makes 8 candidates in totoal. What the hell was I thinking especially since all of this will be done while I am out of the country. To be clear, the amount of work just doing the reporting to Elections BC is massive. Still, in less than 48 hours I managed pay all the bills for the local election as well as get the campaign account set up for one of the Provincial candidates. Needless to say there is not going to be a lot of time for myself while I am here.
Seriously, why can’t I take my own advice? I guess it is because I feel I need to do my part. I have no interest in running in politics but I also feel that the way I can make a difference is by participating. Ok, I acknowledge this time I may have taken it to the extreme. Do I know how I am going to pull all of this off? Nope. Do I think I will pull it off? Yep. And in the end I know I will feel good about doing my part. I’ll be exhausted but I know win or lose I will feel I accomplished something.
Oh and when I come to the condo the end of December, I’m taking a complete month off from doing any volunteer work.
I posted on a community page on FB Sunday asking for anyone attending a prominent local lawyer’s CoL that would be able to give my sister a ride so she could be there (we had known him forever). Most of the responses were kind and we did manage to secure her a ride. There was 1 post that derided me basically saying if I can afford to be in Mexico then surely I could afford to pay for an Uber or Lift for her. First of all, I thought this community page was supposed to be about being good to each other. Secondly, how dare this person. She doesn’t know anything about our situation nor the fact that my husband and I heavily subsidize my sister when needed. She doesn’t know that despite being retired I work while I am at the condo just so that we do have the money to come here. I ask all of you, never do what this person did.
I’ve mentioned before that I have stopped using air pods/ear buds when I am out walking or running. This is because they can lead to ear infections which is what happened to my neighbour. Instead I use over the ear headphones specifically designed for walking/running. While I was worried it would be too hot here to where them, I actually find them quite comfortable. However, last week while I was walking I was startled when someone who was out running passed me as I hadn’t heard them approach. It’s not like I was using the noise cancelling function, it’s just that these are really good headphones.
It then occurred to me that not only was I potentially putting myself at risk from vehicles but also wildlife. Remember, I have a very aggressive coati that chases me and trust me he appears out of nowhere. And so I decided to try the aweness mode and am really impressed. While I can still clearly hear whatever book I am listening to, I can also hear sounds around me and they are somewhat amplified. For example, if I reach in to my pocket to get treats for an approaching dog I can actually hear the plastic bag crinkle. I can easily hear my own foot steps as well as approaching foot steps (though not the coati’s until he is really close because he is a sneaky bastard). I now feel far more comfortable being out on my own in the mornings as I am aware of my surroundings.
On a side note, I have decided to no longer feed marshmallows to the aggressive coati as I think I am just enabling him. Instead at the advice of others I have purchased a water pistol and filled it with vinegar. Of course since I started carrying that I haven’t seen the coati but I know he is out there lurking somewhere.
As you know I am all about safety and when I find something new that may help I like to share it. So, if you are out and about with headphones on, see if there is an awareness mode, it makes all the difference in the world to ensure you can hear what is going on around you.
I did my high intensity strength class this morning. This instructor can be brutal and I always look forward to this class as I feel it challenges me. Don’t get me wrong, the other classes often do as well but this instructor is consistent with mixing things up and really gets you to do more. Today we got through the 1st round of exercises and I thought wow, that was pretty easy. I should not have had that thought! The 2nd round of exercises was gruelling and my legs were shaking when we were done. Obviously the instructor knew what she was doing.
Every morning during my rest break between my walk and fitness class I check the weather. I have an app that looks at our exact location rather than Playa del Carmen where the weather can be quite different. Hmm, I said to my husband it looks like a storm is likely coming through at around 9am and it is going to bring a good squall. It will let up a bit but then hit again around 10am. I really debated things because I know tomorrow we are on a trip into Cancun and will only get in a single 1 hour walk so I didn’t want to cut out my 2nd walk today. Fortunately the rationale part of my brain pointed out I still will have worked out for 2 hours today which is more than what most people my age do.
Boy was that a wise choice. Just before 9am the skies opened up and it started pouring rain. The rain here is not like normal rain at home. Here it hits hard and can flood the streets within a few minutes. Had I been out there with my headphones no doubt they would be ruined and I would be slogging through the giant puddles on the streets only to arrive home sopping wet. And as I type this I can see another squall is about to hit any minute.
I feel no regret about skipping that 2nd walk this morning, it was the right decision. Not only would I have been misable it is really not safe walking in those kind of squalls. I’ve already checked the forecast for tomorrow and I should have no problem doing a walk 1st thing. Pretty sure with that walk and then walking around Costco I’ll still get in my minimum goal of at least 10k steps for the day.
I always take a few days off when we first ge to the condo just to get acclimated to the heat and to spend some time with friends. It also gave us the opportunity to spend quality pool time. Yesterday was my 1st day out for a walk and of course I headed out at 5:45am. 1/2 block from our condo is small townhouse complex that I usually walk through at the end of the walk. There is a large siamese kitty that lives there who has befriended me. Yesterday I guess she saw me walking at the beginning of the walk and she came flying out of the complex for some loving and treats. The more I walked the more of my kitty friends came barreling out to see me. By time I was done I had given treats to 16 cats (and a few agressive coatis). It was awesome being back here.
Now it is time for me to get back to a routine. Yesterday I started with an hour walk first thing in the morning. When I head out it is still quite dark so of course I wear my flashing hi-vi vest. Once the walk is complete I get about a 45 minute rest before going online to do a fitness class. We were quite proactive this trip so tested our a/v system Sunday so that there would be no problems. Just a side note, the workout yesterday was absolutely brutal! Anyways, I did another walk to a beach club later in the morning and while I planned to walk back my husband wasn’t feeling all that great so we opted to take a taxi.
Today I was back to the routine I plan to keep to as much as possible while here. I again started with a walk though not quite as far as yesterday. The problem was several large families of coatis crossing the road. When that happens I just stop and let them do their thing because quite frankly those claws on them scare the crap out of me. Anyway, I fed a bunch of kitties along the way which of course makes me happy. I then went on to my strength class which I truly preferred over yesterday’s class. Then it was off for another 1 hour walk. Here’s the problem, when I left for that walk at 8:30am the temperature was already at 34c and according to my app with the humidity felt like 38c. Needless to say by time I got back to the condo I was soaked with sweat. On a happy note, a lovely rescue dog who has come so far in the past few years recognized me right away knowing I would have treats for her.
I am going to test the 2nd walk again over the next few days and may have to change things up. If it is just too much to do the 2nd walk I will start with a 2 hour walk on days when my fitness centre has a 6:30am class (Vancouver time) then I will take the later class. On the days that they don’t have that class I’ll push my 2nd walk to the early evening when hopefully it is a reasonable temperature. The goal will remain, 2 hours walking with 1 fitness class Mon-Fri, 2 hour walk Sat and Sun, well it is always a crapshoot.
Keeping my fingers crossed that I will stick to this because I don’t want to lose momentum while I am here. It is always easiest at the beginning of the trip, the real trial is how I am doing around the week 4 mark.
Sorry I didn’t post on Thursday. I was actually on a flight to Cancun but thought hey, I have internet and a great new keyboard for my iPad so I should post from 33,000 ft. However, when I went to go into my app it didn’t seem to have the password stored. Unfortunately, I had no idea what the password was. Sigh, the best laid plans as they say. Fortunately I looked up the password on my laptop so going forward I will be able to post using the iPad.
Last weekend was our closing celebration at the resort where we have our trailer. On Sunday I asked my husband if he could clean up the outdoor kitchen area as it was looking really junky (note, we have a lot of stuff at the trailer) and we had guests coming over. He shifted a bunch of stuff around and it looked much better. The problem was there was a lot of lifting and turning and the end result was the next day his back was killing him.
When his back wasn’t better by Tuesday I sent him to the pharmacy to get some pain relief and anti-inflammatory meds. I suggested he speak to the pharmacist who recommended muscle relaxers. He was going to shower Thursday morning but I recommended he hold off until we got to the condo which has step in showers rather than using the tub shower at home. By time we got on the plane Thursday he was still in a lot of pain so I did all the lifting into the overhead bin. He also asked that we switch seats so that he had my aisle seat making it easier to get up to use the facilities (note, I hate the window seat but agreed to make the scrifice). As of yesterday his back was mildly better though I still had to help him dress and put on his shoes.
I decided yesterday that along with the meds it was time to do some active rehab. I told him the best thing to do would be to use the pool to help decompress his spine. He used a sitting floatie for a bit then did some walking and stretching in the pool. I then suggested he use my red light therapy unit to see if that would help. The end result is his back feels much better today though is still sore but he figues it is about 60% of the way to recovery.
The point to this is we are all ageing and should remind ourselves of that when we are doing physical activities. My husband just turned 71 so maybe should have asked for some help before doing all that work on Sunday (yes I could have helped but I was busy with other chores and wasn’t thinking about the work he was doing). Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in the benefits of physical activity while we are ageing but we need to be cognizant that sometimes tasks may be a bit much.
So keep active as you age but remember, sometimes things may be more than our bodies can now tolerate. Doesn’t mean I won’t stop walking and working out, just means I need to recognize what my body can’t do anymore.
