hello again..

This is going to be brief because i already hear the dog barking upstairs....

We are at the hotel ( I think there are only 2 other occupied rooms..) and John and the dog are up by the kitchen. Dorismar, the young lady who makes breakfast then helps clean rooms, really likes Lucky and vice versa. She feeds him sandia- watermelon- so she is his pal for life.

Things are pretty much the same this week. we are still at the home for the infirm...this occasionally includes my husband. He took a tumble on the scooter the other afternoon. Luckily he only scraped his leg, no broken bones. Wouldn't that have been a good time -taking care of TWO incapacitated people....later he rode the bicycle to the house and almost crashed into the bushes on the return trip. Our "patient" suggested maybe cataracs were causing problems with his night vision. Well, we won't rule that out but it was daylight when he laid the scooter down......

So, more church people brought soup, I've had more conversations about religion with the lady from Texas- oh- we also had a conversation about addicts/alcoholics and how they should set up a center on say...Alcatraz. people would be locked up and there would be a facility for folks who want help and one for those who dont. There would be a time limit and if the ones who didnt want to quit still kept it up, they'd be euthanised- " that way they dont have to suffer anymore"....bless her heart....

The doctor who did the bone graft on the hip has been out twice now. keep in mind, this means a 3 hour roundtrip drive to check on a patient...without billing her...because he is genuinely concerned about how his patient is doing...gotta love this system!!! The government paid for his education too....Speaking of health care, a Canadian couple who spends part time in santa Clara recently went into merida to get their insurance. They were only in the office about an hour or two and had insurance-poof! Free. Just like that. We are going to get on board with that as soon as we possibly can. The 'patient" said " well, the quality of those government hospitals isn't like at home. You might be in a bed in a dormitory where the family has to sleep on the floor". As opposed to the plan I'm on now where John would be my attending physician/nurse...well, he does have extensive experience with anesthesia....The Texas lady served as doctor to Johns scrapes by dousing them with something called "balsam and thyme linament". This has some amazing healing properties but burns like napalm when applied. She didn't mention this part to him before she put it on...

We have about two more weeks on our assignment...its nice for John and the dog. They get in daily beach walks that are good for the soul. Lucky is the cleanest dog in the yucatan as he gets a bath after each walk...about 3-4 a week...I'll be glad to get back to my cozy little place. i very much prefer it to the huge, cold, stone and concrete edifice we are in now. I like color and textiles, music and walls with art and photos on the fridge. I may not require much, but i like to feel alive.

So as the holidays approach,the only sign of it at our house are some trees the lady from texas gave me to stick to my windows. i think of "White Christmas" (the movie) - when they open the doors at the end and everything is covered in snow and a happy ending is had by all....I cant get in the mood under the shade of cocnut trees or while wearing flip flops. We will be going to Portland mid January. The decorations will all be down by then and the the stores will have moved on to the Valentines Day displays but I'll be eating turkey dinner with my kids and spending time with friends. Thats when my holiday will begin.......