Here is my latest doings update.
This one won’t be as long as previous posts have been, I promise!
But there’s some good stuff in here.
On January 11 I wrote into my handwritten notes:
I ate lunch late, but wanted to get the blog post put to bed before I ate. Leaving a task to do another one doesn’t sit well with me. Mutlitasking is okay, but stopping one and setting it completely aside for another isn’t my cup of tea.
God, I LOVE it here in Costa Rica!
I will never get over it, will never take it for granted. Pura vida, indeed!
Took a shower. Felt good.
On Sunday, January 11th I wrote:
Walked 6435 steps so far today (9:28 a.m.) mostly in front of Eileen’s again. Ate chicken and rice for breakfast and drank peach nectar. Then made coffee. Gotta do coffee once a day!
Watered the patio and casita plants.
Forgot to get a bag of avocados when I ordered groceries. GRRR! That’s a no-no! Gotta get them on the next list.
It’s gonna feel like a long time until Wednesday (and Grecia) unless I think of something to do between now and then, other than a daily walk.
I don’t feel like turning on a Spanish lesson, or watching anything, or reading. I’ve already tucked my Kindle away for the move. (That was dumb. I will probably dig it back out soon.)
I don’t have anything to write about, and the news probably sucks, as usual, so I don’t even feel like looking into that.
But I don’t feel in a slump in any way.
Status quo here is fine. Nothing needs to happen to make me happy or to feel alive. Having zero to do works for me as often as not these days. Just looking outside and taking it all in is enough most of the time. I haven’t felt antsy in weeks, as if I HAVE TO get into town and find something to do.
It’s actually quite a good feeling. I’m digging it!
THIS. IS. WHAT. EQUILIBRIUM. FEELS. LIKE.
Calm. Unruffled. Untroubled. Free. Safe. Solvent. Loved. Liked. Accepted.
It’s heavenly!
Just had peanut butter and honey on four small cheese crackers and some extra hydration water.
I also have cocoa almost every day. Costa Rica cocoa is to die for. Johnny’s!
Lisa Will Call
Lisa is supposed to call me sometime today. She has been finalizing her DancingGoatWebDesign.com website and adding to Floof’s Cafe in her rare, spare time. She’s going to start advertising both this coming week. I’ve already touted both on my Facebook page and asked people to share them on their social media platforms. Many of them are.
Heidi Smith, as usual, has really stepped up to the plate. What a woman! She’s a connector. She sued to work for a Chamber of Commerce and she really knows how to make things happen. She’s a gem!
Too much phone gazing makes my vision blurry
b…ecause my eyelids droop and because re-focusing near to far takes longer for older eyes. I end up taking off my bifocals several times a day to regain visual acuity and recovery response time. It’s a wee bit inconvenient!
I’m just waiting for my phone to charge to max
… or to ring (Lisa’s call) whichever comes first. That’s MY next “appointment.”
My dear friend Dale Garrison has surgery scheduled for tomorrow, so my thoughts and hopes are with him tonight. His wife, Crystal, also has health challenges that are well under control.
I’m soooo glad they are both doing well post-diagnoses and treatments. These are two of my dearest friends here in Costa Rica, and I will be their neighbor in just a few more weeks! WOO HOO!!!
I’m in my skivvies and socks again this afternoon
It’s probably 72 degrees outside in the shade. A slight breeze is jingling my windchimes oh so minutely…
THREE WEEKS FROM TONIGHT CHARLI AND I WILL BE IN OUR NEW HOME
WOO HOO!!!
…and 32 days from now, Lisa will be with me for nine glorious days.
WOO HOO x 100!!!
Chatted with Lisa just now (8:28 p.m. CR time)
She sounds pretty happy and super excited to be flying here soon. She’s super motovated to get Floof’s Cafe and Dancing Goat Web Design advertised and out into the world. She needs to get semi-passive income and website income coming in so she doesn’t have to rely solely on such a physically demanding job (lifting and shifting completely helpless clients 3 days per week) because she is no spring chicken herself. She can’t risk crippling herself. It’s sad because she adores her clients — they all become beloved friends — but she can’t be risking her own mobility and wellbeing to serve them. I’m on her back about that, Mother Henning her mercilessly.
I suggested to Lisa about seeing if Heidi Smith might be willing to tout Lisa’s web services on a commission basis (for a good percentage of each successful sale). Heidi would be FABULOUS, if she’s up for something like this.
I know Heidi is busy with her own enterprise, Christmas Revisited, but if she has the bandwidth and is amenable to doing some outreach for Lisa, I think it would be a matchless match. Heidi knows Lisa and that she does great work, so she’d know she’d be introducing folks to a quality, responsive website provider.
So, IF she’d like to make some extra money, she might be interested. I’ll reach out to gauge her interest and availability. It’s the least I can do to help Lisa get to where she needs to be to protect her physical and financial wellbeing if she simply has to give up some of her most physically challenging home heath care work to protect her physical wellbeing. She loves what she does in the health care field and wants to keep doing it, but want doesn’t always outrank need…
Which brings us to TODAY, Monday Jan 12 2026
Walked 6690 steps so far (10 a.m.) most of them at Eileen’s. Ate chicken and drank coffee for breakfast before walking.
Diane joined me for a couple of laps before I walked solo in front of Eileen’s. I ended up visiting with Eileen for about ten minutes. She’s 100% okay with me walking there; she was a walker too when she and her husband moved in two years ago and she had the same experience I did trying to walk on rocky, uneven Calle Esteban Salas, so her husband laid down a strip of gravel in front of their place so she can walk there when she wants.
She said I should join her and Diane at the monthly potluck group in Grecia that they attend. I told her I would love to do that. I could take the SI bus into Grecia and they could meet me there and take me to wherever each month’s gathering is. It’s different every month because different expat ladies take turns hosting it.
It sounds like a great way to stay in touch with Diane and Eileen and to meet more people, some of whom also live in the San Isidro area.
Maybe they’d even be up for games of Mexican Trains or meeting at another time or place to play it. There are endless possibilities and opportunities. I will talk to Diane about it and see if I can catch a ride with them while I’m still here this month…
Charli stayed outside this morning while I walked
…so she was waiting for me to return, ready to come back inside as soon as I unlocked and opened the door. Then she shadowed me for a good five minutes to reestablish our connection. She is a darling little angel companion. Now she’s self-grooming to get the “outside” off her, I guess!
My Left Foot Update
My left foot is getting a wee bit better every day. I had to retrain my left leg to stop over-compensating for the formerly flat-footed flopping gait so the ligaments, tendons and muscles could be reactivated properly. That has made quite a difference, making sure I put my left heel down and rolling my foot the way it should be with each step. I can scarcely notice a difference now between my right leg movement and the left. I still can’t lift the front of my lefy foot very far off the floor (from the heel), but I couldn’t do it at all before, so there is definitely progress after only one week of PT and level, tweak-free walking. It’s a process!
Cooking More Brown Rice Today
I finished eating the crockpot chicken this morning so it’s back to rice, refried black beans, mushrooms, lettuce, mixed nuts, cauliflower, cucumbers and cheese for meals until I go shopping again on Wednesday after my Social Security check drops into my account on Wednesday, unless I decide to take some of my colones and walk to the mini mart for something else before then.
I bought canned hongos (mushrooms) — two cans of them. Won’t do that again. Fresh whole ones are so much more satisfying!
I sent wishes and hopes to Dale this morning via WhatsApp. Crystal responded with thanks and will pass the message along to him.
Francisco texted to say he hopes my move is going well. I thanked him and gave him the moving date (Feb 1) and told him I’ll keep him in the loop. What a dear, dear man!
It’s Another GLORIOUS DAY here in paradise
People on Facebook are commenting favorably on the photos I posted of the sights and foliage around my casita:
One said she loves the sound of my windchimes.
Jewels Verne (prospective renter of this place in mid-February) asked why I’m moving from here. I told her because of the steepness of the final ascent to the casita and because of the rocky, uneven road out front because if these things would be deal breakers for her, too, she won’t be a good, reliable long-term renter for Cat and Bernal and I don’t want them to be faced with an early defection for the same reason.
If Jewels is a committed, dedicated daily walker, she will need a different option. Someone with a vehicle will work well here, as will someone who isn’t a dedicated daily walker. As long as they’re quiet, illicit-drug-free, sober, and not a pain in the patoot, they’ll be eligible!
That’s all the news that’s fit to print for this time. Enjoy the rest of your day!!!