Good Times

We're having a lot of fun-yesterday we went to the Carnaval Parade.  Unbelievable!

We arrived here at 2:00 Friday morning-they tell us that being delayed in Mexico City is pretty normal.  They lost our luggage, but it was here by noon Friday-not too bad!  We've tried to take in as much of the Carnaval activities as possible, but we've kind of worn out, so I think our last one will be the special celebration at the resort.  I'll post pictures when I get home.

We've connected with our friends, and have arranged get-togethers.

Loving Mexico more and more!

Au Jus Cups, Little Zippie Bags and Flip Flops

When we travel, we put our supplements into those little bags that beaders use.  And the Au Jus cups are just perfect for sorting the pills.  Those little stainless steel cups are very versatile indeed-I have them all over the house.

I put morning pills in one bag and evening in another.  Before you have a heart attack, rest assured that just about all those pills are supplements!  The big yellow ones are my latest-they're a turmeric pill for inflammation.  And boy, they do work!

After we counted out pills, we realized that, try as we could, we still didn't quite have enough.  We're just not used to being gone for two weeks.  So off to Bozeman we went.  While there, we had a nice late Valentine  lunch at Fiesta Mexicana.

In other news, here is the top I made the other day.  The colors aren't true-it's much greener and yellower.

To finish the neck, I cut a strip cross-grain, folded and pressed it, and then inserted it like ribbing, stretching slightly.  It's a bit tricky-too much stretch gathers it and not enough makes it flip forward and look sadly homemade.  Then I serged the seam, pressed it toward the body, and topstitched it.  I like the look, I think it looks a lot less homemade.  This is a pattern I have perfected and have made many, many times.  I have a few good books on proper fit and was able to make a pattern I could trust to turn out.  If you saw the pattern you would wonder-part of it is out of freezer paper and the sleeve pattern is the original, but cut, patched and taped.  I am so bottom-heavy that I have to make sure that I give myself enough room.  Not too much, it should skim but not cling-that looks terrible.  I have a few purchased tops that are really cute but they look like the dickens around my tummy and posterior.

I was bemoaning the fact that I only have two pairs of shorts and a couple pair of capris.  The shorts aren't too much of a problem-I hate them, but I always take a couple pair to wear when I wade in the ocean.  I spend most of my time in capris.  I started digging through my closet and found this pair of pants I made in the late 90's.  The upper part was fine, but the lower legs were a bit narrow.  Sooo-I tried them on, marked with a pin, added a hem allowance and whacked them off!  They're done, but I packed them before I took a picture.  Maybe they'll show up in one of my trip photos.

And now for the greatest news:  I can wear my flip flops!!  My knee is finally healing enough to branch out my shoe wearing.  I really wanted to take these along, but wasn't too sure it would work yet.  But I wore them all morning and they felt great!  I quit before the space between my toes got sore-mustn't rush these things!  And please ignore the polish, I did a pretty bad job, but I rushed it and besides, the spillover on the skin will wear off, LOL!

In Answer

This link is in answer to all those nervous people who worry about our safety when we travel to Mexico:

http://www.thetruthaboutmexico.com/

How We are Doing

Stan is doing just great-he even shoveled the driveway today.  He's done dishes, taken out the garbage, finished the crossword puzzles in the newspapers he missed.  I picked up his diabetes meds-very cheap, thank goodness!

The timeshare people called me to let me know that they had a room for me on that extra night, so I called and cancelled my reservations at Playa Mazatlan.  As nice as the hotel is, I am glad we don't have to move off the resort.  Things are coming together.  My cousin offered to take us to the airport, so now I just have to find a sitter for one dog.  Jim and Millie are taking Chloe, but with their houseful of kids and a big dog, Merlin would have been too much-he's a bit high maintenance.

We were laughing about the lack of snow and how we would feel bad about leaving such nice weather, but that changed today.  It's been snowing all day-the kind that makes the roads super icy.  When I got on the Interstate to come home, there were four accidents in a mile and a half.  I made it home just fine, but I don't think we'll leave Manhattan tonight.

My massage therapist asked me to shorten the sleeves on her college professor's suit jacket, so that will happen tomorrow.  He needs it before we get back.  I'll just take a massage in payment-very fair to me!

Well, it's time to make supper happen-after 43 years of marriage I am very tired of that job.  Maybe we'll eat out.

He's Home

Apologies for not posting last night, but I was exhausted and just crawled into bed when I got home.  Stan is home and doing well.  We got very frustrated with the hospital because nobody gave us any answers.  He ended up staying an extra day simply because somebody forgot to take his bloodwork in the morning.  The kidney guy had to chase a nurse down and order it.  By that time they had committed to keeping him there last night.  And by that time I was getting ticked!  We kept asking anyone who came in his room what the score was, and were promised we'd have answers but those answers didn't come.

Finally this morning he got a new nurse who seemed to be more on the ball than the others.  It was after 10:00 and the Dr. hadn't been in yet.  When the nurse walked in I hit her with, "Just what the heck is going on?  We have no answers or concrete diagnosis and we think it's stupid that he had to stay last night!"  She immediately went after the doctor.  Of course he came while I was in the ladies' room!

What we found:  Stan has Type 2 diabetes.  This is what caused the kidney infection.  We have been watching his blood sugar closely for years because diabetes runs heavily in his family.  We were hoping that, at the age of 69, he had escaped, but no such luck.  It finally caught up with him.  The Dr. prescribed pills, plus extra antibiotics just in case he had kidney problems while in Mexico.  He doesn't want Stan to start the diabetes pills until after the trip, just in case there are unpleasant side effects.

Anyway, he's home and happy.  I'm happy he's home, too!

Still There

They're still not satisfied with Stan's kidney numbers so he gets to spend another night.  He seems to be totally fine with it, and was watching TV with his eyes closed when I left.  Still praying-kinda like having him around.  They did an ultrasound today, and we thought the kidney specialist would be in to give us the results but he didn't show.  I gave up and left at 7:00.  He'll be in to see him in the morning, I'm sure.

Had a neat thing happen at the restaurant where I had dinner.  Our favorite restaurant is "Fiesta Mexicana," a real Mexican restaurant owned by a family from Jalisco.  We have gotten to be pretty good friends with them.  Tonight when they found out Stan was in the hospital, I got hugs and well wishes, and they each spent a little time with me.  Then when they found out we are hoping to go to Mazatlan, I got suggestions for food to order in the restaurants.  So nice to feel like we're part of their family.

In the Hospital

I have Stan in the hospital tonight.  The reason he was sick was that he has a bladder infection.  The doctor we saw at Urgent Care was concerned that the infection might be hard to treat in someone his age (?) so she gave him IV antibiotics.  Problem was, he should have been better by suppertime, but he wasn't.  He wasn't better by today.  The doctor had told him to come back today to get another blood workup, and his white cell count was twice as high, as well as his creatinine.  So off to the ER we go.  And after the interminable long wait, he was admitted and is settled in for the night.  They will load him with fluids and antibiotics and watch his kidney function-something they are concerned about.

Prayers are appreciated.

Coming Together

Carnival floats from last year.

Well, for such short notice, the trip is coming together quite well.  We booked three nights at the resort, from the 16th through the 18th, but we were missing one night's lodging because our timeshare had no units for Sunday night the 19th.  So I booked a room for us at the Hotel Playa Mazatlan.  This is a beautiful old hotel right on the beach in the Golden Zone.  The food there is marvelous.  Then we will go back to the timeshare for the last 9 days of our stay.  And when I booked the hotel, I was able to use my PayPal account, so one charge won't make it to my credit card.

Getting plane tickets is always a chore, but Contessa turned me on to booking one way tickets.  It used to be much cheaper to do round trip, but not any more!  And this way I could get us the best itineraries-both ways.  There's always something you don't want, either on the trip down or on the trip back, so this way you can be more choosy.  There are getting to be dozens and dozens of travel sites nowadays.  Anyway, we don't have any red-eyes and I got halfway decent prices. 

I just can't believe we are going to do Carnival! 

Now just have to arrange dog care, stop the paper, pay the bills, do laundry, pack, arrange a bowling sub, arrange a cook sub for a church ministry, and get my sub for church secretary.  Already did that last one-in gratitude for filling for me during my surgery and recovery, we gave her a smoked turkey.  She loved it, so she was quick to agree to do the bulletin again!

Stan is sick today-has an infection.  The dr at the Urgent Care was concerned about his fever, chills and white count so she gave him IV antibiotics before she sent him home with a prescription.  And she wants him to come back tomorrow to check his white count again.  Poor guy-right now he doesn't look like he feels much better.  He hasn't had much to eat today, so maybe supper will help.  I have a lovely ham and sprouted bean soup simmering on the stove-smells heavenly!

Going Again

Sister-in-law has been wanting to go to Mazatlan.  She wants to go during Carnival and stay for two weeks.  Well she is just about to get her wish and we get to go along with her.  I called her this morning to tell her I was well enough to fly, and by 8:00 tonight we had our timeshare booked.

One thing I'm learning is, in this day and age, there are no cheap flights.  And no convenient ones, either!  I'll keep you posted.