The rain came a couple of days ago and we have been experiencing cooler than normal temperatures – not humid and VERY welcome.

Paul and I went to a hotel in Nuevo Mazatlán for an overnight for Paul’s birthday.  We had a nice time swimming and lounging around the pool and had a very good dinner. But it was quite a shock to hear so much English spoken, as every waiter or bell boy spoke perfect English.  I think the best part was the bed…it was a king size with a feather bed topper.  Ours at home is just too hard!  It was fun to get away but I think next time we’ll go somewhere way off the beaten path.

We had a housesitter stay at the house while we were gone, and it worked out really well.  So we now have options if we want to get away, and options are always a good thing.

Paul has made arrangements to go to intensive Spanish classes in Guadalajara for two weeks.  He’ll be living with a Mexican family, and he is really hoping that this will be the boost he needs.  His Spanish is quite good and he has a very good accent, but his comprehension continues to be a problem.  He is going to scope out whether I would be able to have my vegetarian diet accommodated, and if so, I will probably go in the fall.

I think it will be kind of nice to have a little time apart – we’ll probably appreciate each other more when we are reunited.

The blog has had an unexpected benefit for me this week.  A woman who has been visiting Maz for years was making a trip down from Canada and offered to bring yarn for me if I wanted to make an order at her local yarn shop.  I hesitated for all of one second and am now the happy owner of the yarn, below.  Plus we had a nice visit and learned that she and her husband and another couple just signed the papers on a home near us in Mazatlán. They are really nice people, I hope to get to know them better.

I am doing pretty well with the weight loss and exercise.  I set a really aggressive dieting regime for myself at first that I have kind of backed off from, but I am feeling very good about my progress.  I have not been weighing myself but my clothes fit a bit looser.  I’ll weigh myself on Sunday and may or may not report in!

I have really been enjoying the exercise.  I get going with the iPod on my high energy music, and most days go for a half hour.  By that point I am dripping from my head to my toes.  I never knew my calves could sweat!  I tried the Zumba dvds I have again and think I am hopeless with the dancing, but it is a lot of fun.  Right now I am downloading (thanks, bit torrent) Tae Bo and Callanetics, two exercise programs I used to have years ago and really liked.  I have discovered that if I don’t have cardio around five times I week I feel off.

I guess this post has turned into a hodge-podge, but one last thing that is great is I am going to make spring rolls!  I got so excited after reading Theresa’s post, and I have finally located all the ingredients!  I finally found the asian food store I had heard about (Toyo Foods, on Benito Juarez between 16 de Septiembre and the malecon) and they had the spring roll wrappers I needed.  I also bought jasmine rice and several sauces.  Yahoo!