We started our blog a few years ago when we first started thinking about moving to Mexico. We love our new life in Mazatlan!
I am so excited - son Phil and his family are here! We have been having a wonderful time, Sunday hung around the house, went out for drinks, and made a wonderful dinner at home. Monday we walked the dogs and rambled around Centro and then went to Stone Island for a day of swimming, lounging, and relaxing. What could be better than that?
This morning we’re going out to breakfast and this evening heading to a Venados game - if we can get tickets.
More later!
I know you have all been waiting for an update on my baby knitting marathon! (that was sarcasm…) But I am having lots of fun, as you can probably tell!
Here’s the finished baby blanket for Adam and Martha’s new baby. It took a long time because I used small needles so it would be nice and warm. I love it. The pink is very soft and subtle. I can’t wait to see her wrapped up in it!
Then I needed to make something for friends David and Linda’s expected baby, Margarita. So I bought some acrylic yarn and whipped up another one of these cute hats, but this is in the smallest size. Wow did I hate that yarn! These hats are cool because if it is warm you can button the ear flaps inside and still have the ties to tie it on with.
Then I started in on a ruffled jacket for Adam and Martha’s baby. I am excited about this one, and once it’s done I think I’ll make some little ruffled pants. Am I going nuts here? (Click on the link for the pattern & picture)
It’s funny, the baby blanket required a lot of counting for the basketweave pattern. And for some reason I started counting everything! Steps in our staircase - 24. Seconds of Henry’s first pee in the morning - 12. Seconds to fill a glass at the water bottle - 8. I counted and counted. And counted and then counted some more.
End of knitting report, see you later!
The financial news just gets worse and worse. I read the paper and find myself just shaking my head and wondering how it will ever get sorted out. One side of me just wants all the irresponsible people and companies to pay the price for their idiocy and greediness and the other side of me knows that if they all go bankrupt or out of business the mess will be just as bad if not worse.
Yesterday I read an article in the New York Times on a town in California where 90 percent of the homeowners are underwater on their mortgages - they owe more than their homes are worth. People bought homes for nothing down and are paying interest only. Where is the logic in that? What ever happened to having a down payment and paying principal and interest?
Today I have been reading about the bailout that the US auto manufacturers want. I just can’t believe how stupid US automakers have been over the years. Devoting most of their energy to SUV’s. Of course automakers around the world have been making innovation and energy efficiency their goals for many years. Why not in the US? I think we know the answer to that one. Here’s Thomas Friedman’s opinion on the auto bailout, if you’d like to read it.
All of this is in addition to the $700 billion already promised to shore up the financial industry. The plan for this money keeps shifting and it really does seem they don’t know what to do with it. I just hope that it isn’t wasted and that it actually helps the situation.
I am ashamed with how greedy and wasteful so many people have become…one man in the NY Times article linked above said he would have to cut back from buying 50 DVDs per month. Per month! What is it with people?
I can remember being young and broke and having to eat our way through fifty pounds of potatoes. We bought tiny eggs inexpensively due to their small size. I made my own bread and sewed my own clothes. I canned fruit and vegetables and had a garden. A splurge was fresh mushrooms or a roll of paper towels. The kids wore cloth diapers and I washed them myself. We used the library. When I got my first credit card I used it when those kid expenses like new soccer shoes cropped up in between paydays. But credit was something you used, not just accumulated.
Real estate is another thing…you buy it if it pencils out. For an investment property, this means it pays for itself after expenses, and for a home, it means you can afford to make the payments, and if you had to sell, you know what you could get for it. Realistically, that is. I remember buying a duplex back in the 80’s where the only way we could put the deal together (and it was a good deal) was to assume the seller’s loan and then the seller’s father loaned us a second mortgage for the balance so his kids could get some cash out of the deal! Interest rates? 10% and 13.5%! Remember those rates?
I have a lot of optimism in Obama. I believe many good minds are working on these problems. And, I hope that answers come in time. The main thing I am wondering right now is whether people in the US have any idea how to live on less. Can they do the math? Can they get out of the drive-through and cook? Can they do without designer jeans and the latest gadget? Could they give up their cell phone if they had to? Or their DVD habit?
I’m glad I know how to live frugally. I think hard times are coming for a lot of Americans, in a way that many have never experienced before. Will they find the strength within themselves to adjust or will they complain and try to place blame? Time will tell.
I am almost done with the medication for Salmonella and I am feeling close to my old self. One thing that happened to me during this illness is that I totally embraced napping. I had really never been able to nap before, but now I can sleep for 15 minutes and wake refreshed. I love it.
I’ve become somewhat wary of eating out, wanting to only go to places that we have eaten many times and know are careful with their food. I hope I can relax soon, although an old standby of mine, the quesadilla, will probably not be something I order in the future. I really don’t want to get this again!
The weather here in Mazatlan has broken. It is cooler and less humid all the time, and the nights are now in the 60’s. It is wonderful.
Friends are returning from up North, and more gringo tourists are visible around town. It’s feeling more lively, and with the cooler temperatures it is wonderful to be out walking around, even in the afternoon! The arts environment is back to its winter activity level with the First Friday art walk last week and also a Japanese drumming group performed on the malecon. It seems like every day has something going on.
Son Phil and his family are coming for a visit the Sunday after this. I am so happy - never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we’d have them visit twice in one year! We have some fun stuff planned for their visit, but also some time for hanging out, eating and visiting.
I’ve been knitting like mad, and am getting close to done with the baby blanket. I also made another baby hat for friends who are expecting this month. And I need to find just the right pattern to make Adam and Martha’s baby an outfit in the bright yellow yarn Martha bought. I am having a lot of fun, and have been listening to books and Spanish lessons on my MP3 player while I knit.
The backyard remodel is almost done. The main construction is expected to be done Wednesday, and then there will be a couple of small jobs to have done out there before we get some topsoil brought in and install the sod. It is looking beautiful, I’ll do an update next week.
So that’s a little update on what’s been going on with us. I think I am back now to my more normal blogging self!
Barack Obama (BBC News)
So many times throughout the years I have wondered what my parents would think about changes I experience.
My dad worked hard for civil rights in San Francisco, my mother fought blacklisting in real estate. I spent Thanksgivings at the Booker T. Washington center handing out dolls to black kids. I helped wash dishes after fund raisers. It was just what we did, as a liberal family in San Francisco in the 50’s and 60’s.
My 14th birthday party was a bust because of the death of Martin Luther King in 1968. Rioting was expected (but never happened) and no one was inclined to be out on the streets, lamenting his death by staying inside in shock and fear for what the event boded for the future.
As liberal and forward thinking as my parents were, I remember my mother commenting when she saw me walking down Holloway holding hands with my black boyfriend, James. She was shocked. I was shocked by her being shocked.
These reminiscences are from my teen years, and I’m now 54. I can’t believe it’s taken this long, but finally I see that the US is able to evaluate a candidate without focusing on the color of his skin. I am thrilled in what Obama’s win says about the people of the United States.
I know my parents (dead since 1970 and 1982) would be thrilled to see that it is possible for Obama, a passionate, smart, thoughtful, serious black man, to be elected President of the United States of America. I know I am.
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