customers

i am thankful for customers and tourists. they are here!!! happy halloween. off to sunday market to buy some pots and pans. yeah for street vendors. (still waiting for table-guy and spaghetti-lady to come back by.)

walmart?

i am thankful for walmart. never thought i would say that. but i was able to buy pillows, rugs, some dishes and a mop. seems that everyone goes to town to get these items. i would prefer not to go back... it was a little to shiney and too many things to choose from and compulsively buy. BUT thank you for being there.

cori

i am thankful for cori. she made dinner, i supplied the wine and we chatted for hours. thanks!!

moving day

i am thankful for a new place. it IS great. bodo already found a way out the window. (he'll get to meet the unfriendly neighbor chiuauas sooner or later. oh... and chickens! that will be a funny day. today we need to find the gas man. (when he drives by) and get that hooked up. find out who we can borrow internet from and find out what is making that 'dead' smell. (pretty sure it is/was a rat) all is well and loving the mexican headaches.

yoga

today was the last day of the 7 day yoga challenge. it was so wonderful to go out to the beach in the morning at sunrise and do an hour of yoga with some amazing women. i was the only one (other than cori, the instructor, who made it everyday.) i am so thankful to have meet these good spirits and share that time and energy with them. tonight cori and i are celebrating with $1 beers, while sitting in the plaza. (i love drinking in public.) since we've been up on the hill i have only been in town one night in three weeks. i am looking forward to the new place, closer to town. yeah!!

hill

i am thankful for one more trip up gringo-hill and one more afternoon in the (cold) pool and one more night sans roosters. thank you casa juanita, for all your head aches and heart aches. it has been nice. NEXT!

keys

we got the keys to the new place!!! it is even better than when i first saw it. our landlord cleaned and cleaned AND gave us furniture, pictures on the wall, soap, dishes, a couch... it is awesome!!

i am thankful for our new place. it will feel like we live here rather than vacation here. we will have chickens, mexican neighbors, chiuauas, garbage on the street, stray cats... it is perfect. i can't wait til thursday.

job?

i am thankful for creating this reality here in sayulita. i also might have a second job. paula from across the street is looking for someone to sit in her shop for a couple of days a week. since i sit out front of our shop everyday for 3+ weeks (= $60) i might as well make $15 a day sitting at her shop and waving at joshua from across the street. it is funny to do the math... what i can bill nike at and what i would be paid per hour at paula's shop. $2 and hour or $65? given my surroundings and choices of lifestyle... i have made the right choice a hundred times over. i love how the universe has a sense of humor. (and i get the joke!)

shoeless

had a lovely day at yoga. today i sent all my energy to jimmy, in hopes that he can find some peace with some of his struggles right now. (i hope it helped!) i've been trying to find someone for each day to think about. i claimed the first one for myself, day two was margi and three was jimmy. i'll have to see who devote tomorrow to. : ) it was pretty fun today, when i was at work i kicked off my flip flops and spent the day without shoes. going to the store, going to see if frenchman made his chocolate donuts, the hardware store, the beach... it was a nice little freedom.

i am thankful for yoga and a shoeless day.

mexi home

i am thankful for feeling at home. the smells are right. (maybe not on white-y hill) but in town. the sea, the people, the food. i like the heat... the constant unknowns. and the ability to get keys made at a moments notice. it feels right and i can't imagine being anywhere else at this moment.

clean up

after a wonderful time at day 1 of the 7 day yoga challenge i was buzzing when i came off the beach. i could hardly sit still at the shop. i got some breakfast from taco lady and started sweeping our part of the street. almost everyone on our street was cleaning up. (might have been an official day for it, i don't know.) but it was great. the curbs got repainted by jonic (of 'rooster' the men's clothing store) rick supervised (he runs the 'iguana azul' restaurant next door) neighbor guy sweep on the other side. cori cleaned her stoop (works at 'scarlett' the women's clothing store and is my yoga-amiga) gretta (works at 'buddha spa') swept, street vendors on our corner took care of that end and even the 2 french boys that are in town for a few months helped out jonic. i am so thankful for everyone taking part in cleaning up our street for us and the tourists to enjoy. it looks beautiful!

translator

i am thankful for internet translator. i just spent two hours with gisela. we both only know a little bit of each others languages, but have a great connection. lately we have talked about some surface things with deep conversations waiting in our minds. so today while i was at her house we used the internet to translate our big conversations. it was wonderful to 'hear' her words and big ideas that we have been struggling to share. our connection only got deeper. i hope when we both move that we will still have time together to talk. it is an interesting realization, that you can have a connection with out language. (you hear about people in love having that, but i did know that friendships could have that.) it is great.

pasta

today was another day of fantastic comfort food... mac and cheese. it is some how better and exotic in mexican packaging. i can't say that it tastes any better but it feels nice. familiar.

it was a bit of a shock (and i probably won't make the mistake again) when i was eating, i was reading the part of "eat pray love" where she is italy describing every form of pasta, sauce, gelato, vegetables, fruits pastries and breads and all the pleasure that eating food with intention and passion can be like. mac and cheese somehow lost a bit of its zing after that, BUT... i am thankful for the inspiring words that make me want to create, indulge and savor every tid bit of the amazing food around me. every drop of mole, fresh tortilla, ripe avacado and succulent sour lime.

cool?

i am grateful it has cooled off a bit in the mornings. this morning joshua turned the fan off and i put a blanket on. wow!!! it so wonderful to be under the covers.

chocolate donut

i am thankful for my lovely french friends that make 'chocolate donuts' on the weekend. wow!!

stephanie

i am thankful for stephanie today. she gave me a ride up the hill... i had bad cramps when i got done with yoga today and had no desire or energy for that damn hill. thanks, lady!!

ps - mole is a sauce used in many mexican dishes. it is a rich sauce using peppers, chilies, chocolate and spices. recipes vary from chef to chef. it is a balance of spicy, rich, sweet... deep, amazing flavors.

mole

i got it!!! (chicken mole taco) i am thankful for taco lady, fans that work, walks in the afternoon, neighbors, cat and toilet adventures, horses in the street, iguanas, joy's voice, pizza with orange sauce, a nap and a great book.

rent

i am thankful that we were able to find another place, starting at the end of the month. the plan is to have this one for 6 months minimum. i paid for the first month, to reserve it and between now and then, they are going to do more cleaning and maybe get us some furniture.

beers on the beach

i met up with gisela and we bought many $1 beers and drank them on the beach as the sun went down. it was so nice to have a girl to talk with. we struggled with the words, but always understood each other, like girlfriends do. she also made me a dream catcher. it is about the size of my palm and made with recycled string, metal and has shells from the sayulita beach. i am thankful for beers on the beach with my new friend.

mole y practica

today gisela came by the shop. she is a lovely chilean, that i met on pizza night. she knows a bit more english than i know spanish. we have seen each other the past 3 days or so, and making a habit of practicing english and spanish together. we have a lovely connection and want to know what the other is saying... so it is great motivation to learn more words!! she brought a lesson book to help us today. i learn how to say, "do you have roastbeef?" "do you have beefsteak?" "i take coffee." "joshua takes coffee." woo hoo! a couple of verbs. i also got to tell rick, "rick's restaurant has very delicious food." he liked hearing that. (he is owner of the restaurant owner of the place next to our shop.) i hang out with him everyday at work. i give him toilet paper and he lets me use his bathroom. it is fine trade. i also had the ladies $1 street taco again today. mole was the 'drug' of choice this morning. amazing!!! i am thankful for learn more spanish with gisela, rick and joshua and eating some of the most incredible food.

pink

i got up this morning... around 7/730 to be at work by 8. i have complained about my up hill commute but i can't see a reason to. it is in the fresh air, it is only 10-20 minutes (depending on direction) and the scenery is always beautiful, even through the sweat in my eyes. anyway, i starting walking to work and everything had a pink hue to it. it was divine. i am grateful and thankful from my daily walks and the for the ability to do them everyday. thank you for the commute!!

joy

i am grateful for skype-ing with joy. we had video but i could not hear her. she could hear me... so it was a funny typing, video, one-sided-talking conversation. it was so good to see her face, smile and i can't wait to hear her laugh! thanks for the chat, girl!!

ride home

i am thankful for stephanie and her car. we were just leaving the store and gearing up to tackle our hill to go home when stephanie (who lives next door and owns the argentine restaurant) asked if we wanted a ride!! woo hoo!! of course. later that evening i went for a walk to take some photos and met our maintenance man, gustavo. we enjoyed the view and while we were talking, we ended up walking down the hill. crap... then i had to walk back up.

cat

i am thankful for a large porch/deck that bodo and be out on. he chases bugs, stretches out and gets spooked by unfamiliar noises.

the big night

if you have ever seen the movie, "the big night", you will understand the dinner i had. we got invited to have pizza with bruno who used to have a restaurant that made wood oven pizzas. we show up at 8 and see mossimo (one of the local italians. i lied when i said it was the french quarter. it is more like the european corner.) mossimo is italian and met his girlfriend, whom i ADORE. in spite of our language differences, and they met in chile. i bought chilean wine. bruno made pizzas and two girls from town came. (tanya and sandra. tanya is from west linn, oregon and sandra is from here in mexico). then a couple showed up with there baby. SO LOVELY! the most tranquil baby i have seen. (could have been the beer and mama's glass of wine) either way. the whole family was there eating, drinking and sharing stories. i can not believe that I got to be there. it was like being the star of my own movie. everyone drinking, smoking, eating (10 different pizzas, while bruno walked around with his shirt and shoes off) WHAT A COUNTRY! i am so thankful for this group of people that let us join them in their wonderful night of feasting!

no pool

i did not go into the pool at the new house last night. i freaked myself out in the dark. i had seen too many bugs, beetles and a snake that day to wander down, even with a flashlight. i am grateful for our new place that lasts 3 weeks and 2 days. it's a good price and bodo can play all over the porch and even if he gets out, we are in a 'gated community'.

pool

the neighbors have a pool. i saw it from my deck the last time i was here. last night i snuck over the railing and climbed the stairs to the top and hopped in. it is an infinity pool that over looks the town. it was so lovely. i could hear the ocean, some buzzing from town and all the stars were out. what a wonderful little indulgence. i am grateful for this little spot, that i have now stayed in twice. tonight... is posh-ville for 23 days. woo hoo!

sarah

i am grateful for my new friend. she is from canada and been here in town since may with her husband and 2 teenage girls. she is living in town since she can not drive to her place because of the floods. we spoke for about an hour outside the shop she works in, 3 doors down. she is full of love and grace. i am excited to get to know her.

bbq

i am grateful for bbq sauce. yes... bbq sause in mexico. we were sitting outside the shop (yes, i know i have not taken pictures.) and we met a girl named emma. saw her later in the day when we needed food and she and a friend have a bbq chicken and ribs place. YUM!! i ate half a chicken. today we were at the shop in the am and joshua took out 2 guys for a surf and we made $20. talked with tons of people and hope to have a couple of hour rentals tomorrow. still looking for a place, forgot to buy coffee or look for a phone. i guess i had too much on my list for one day. one minute it is morning and the next the sun is going down. i am also happy to report i found a higher speed on the ceiling fan.

paradise

i am grateful for banda music on the bus and school kids singing as we take the bus to busarias again today. we were able to exchange money today. it is a bad rate, but we can now pay our shop rent for 6 months and then it time to find a permanent place to live. the days are fast and slow all at once. we have figured out, if we can get one 'mission' accomplished done a day and some emails... we are successful. today was money. tomorrow is phone. by sunday... a place to live. happily surviving on beans, rice, eggs and beer and LOVE IT!