Just returned from my Christmas Eve Walk (7993 steps) where I encountered my neighbor and friend Diane Cooner (who just sadly lost her ancient dog two days ago) and Luz and Noelia. I didn’t see anyone else today.

 

Diane and I talked for quite a while.  She found out I will be moving by spotting my Facebook page and reading some of my blog posts. I told her I hadn’t planned to tell anyone on this calle until after the New Year because I know some of them will be as sad as I am that we will no longer be neighbors.

 

Diane agrees that San Isidro is a very nice place to be relocating to. But mostly we talked about losing her precious dog, which I could tell just by her sad countenance when I spotted her in her yard. Usually she’s happier looking, although she has been worried about her pet’s worsening condition for months and pumped several hundred dollars into helping it get better.  Alas, it was an ancient dog and it basically just reached the end of its life. There’s nothing anyone can do to prevent the certain crossing of Rainbow Bridge…

 

Then she talked about someone whose son is undergoing treatment for leukemia for the second time in his young life. She has sent money to help — all she could afford — and said she has put up a GoFundMe page to help the family pay for treatments and downtime from their business to stay with their son while he goes through the process. The URL for the fundraiser is here so you can help them financially if at all possible. I donated $100 and anything you can add to the total will be gratefully accepted and very much appreciated. The family lives in Nicaragua, the country just above CR.

 

I will get a selfie with Diane when she has recovered some from losing her long-time furry companion. It was tough, but she got to console her as she passed.

 

LUZ AND NOELIA

 

When Luz and Noelia appeared on the calle for their walk, I left Diane and walked with them on their route. (By this time, before encountering Diane, I had already walked to Calle LA and back twice.) During our walk, I let go of Noelia’s hand briefly to pull up Desiderata (in Spanish) on my phone to play for them, to see if Luz was familiar with it. She is very familiar with it.  So that was cool. I told her it’s one of my favorite things ever. You can hear and read it in one of my blog posts a few posts ago, if you aren’t already familiar with it.

 

After we parted, I walked on and on and on up and down Calle ES until I reached and exceeded the daily step goal I have established for myself (7500 steps minimum)

 

Two days ago

 

I sent off an email to Jackie (haven’t heard a peep back yet), letting her know Lisa will be flying down in February and will be stopping by to get the cranberry softgels I just ordered from Amazon and a few more things at some point so she can bring them to me. I also asked her to confirm that Dennis can do my tax return in 2026 as we discussed when I was there.  If not, I have to make other plans.

 

On that day, I also cleaned the casita and dismantled one of the cat trees (the big one that Charli doesn’t use much because she doesn’t look out the door near the kitchen all that much). The dismantling made her a little nervous. I think she thought, “Oh, no!  Are we moving again?”   So I am going to just do a few small things every day to prepare for the day we move so she won’t start feeling anxious.  If I did it all at once at the end, she would get frantic, I think.

 

And I’m pretty sure Marianela is the only driver I’ll need on move day because she has a larger vehicle than Jon so she can get more in it, and I haven’t bought that much since the move to make the next move all that much bulkier: just a standing fan (which I can dismantle and put back in its box) and a very small vertical fan that can go back in its box, plus a medium size crockpot, what remains of the cat litter by then (probably not much) and whatever I will have in the fridge at the time. I plan to get a rice maker, too, and a small bag of Science Diet. But those, too, are small items.So, it should all fit easily in Marianela’s vehicle. This will free Jon up on that day to do whatever else he needs to do that day.  Which makes me super happy.

 

Cat checked up on me two days ago because she didn’t see me walk that morning (the morning after my tummy troubles, which she knew nothing about, as far as I know).  She WhatsApped me a “wellness check.”  I assured her I was okay and that I had walked that morning. She is such a sweetheart!

 

Last Night (the Eve of Christmas Eve)

 

On Christmas Eve eve, I WhatsApped Lisa to make sure she had received a copy of the email I sent Jackie so she was in the loop. She had.

 

I asked her what I owe her so far for the things I asked her to get for me (two Floof’s Cafe t-shirts, several packages of Liquid IV, etc.) and whether she wanted the funds Zelled to her or if she wanted to wait and get them in colones when she arrives here so she’ll have spending money.  She says she hasn’t added anything up yet and not to worry about it; she doesn’t need to be reimbursed any time soon.

 

She confirmed she will get travel sickness meds so the switchback roads here don’t make her carsick.

 

And we confirmed we’ll video chat on Christmas around mid-morning (early afternoon my time) after she has looked in on a client that morning.  She won’t be working that day because her usual Thursday client has been taken to a hospital for care. (A regular occurrence for the past year or so. She has had MS for years.)

 

Time to Start Eating Again

 

I haven’t felt much like eating since the potato chip fiasco, so I’m down to 148.  That’s okay — hell, I’d love to get down to 135 to 140!!! — but this is no way to accomplish that in a healthy way!! — so as of this morning I’m insisting on at least three (small but nutrition-packed) meals a day, whether I feel hungry or not.  And plenty of water and some coffee.

 

So, I need to get off this blog post and eat my first meal of the day. It’s 10:35, fer heaven’s sake!  One cannot walk 8500 steps and upward every single day while not eating much and not expect to lose weight faster than is normal or healthy.  Sheesh!  Wake up and smell the coffee, Kris!

 

Coffee!   I did drink coffee this morning before my Christmas Eve walk.  And I did drink a thermos full of water during it.  So I’m well hydrated, for sure. Now for the NUTRITION part!

 

Gobble gobble!