Friday Catch All — News I Haven’t Shared Yet.

Here we go!

It’s all good.

No cliffhangers this time!

If any of this is a repeat, chalk it up to Senior Citizen short-term memory loss or something classy like that instead of being too damned lazy to review my previous blog posts for the same stuff.  (But I THINK I still have most of my marbles!)

On July 21st I Wrote:

Today’s to-do list:

walk with Cindy and her dogs

shop with Cindy

edit Sonia’s last three stories

let her know final payment price

request Sonia’s BOBBY two “convo additions” to be sure they do what they need to do

Marianela and I have a lunch date

…planned for Monday at 1 at Cafe Delicias to catch up on each other’s lives and doings. I’ll take the bus in and she’ll drive me back home afterward for free. I’ll get her some coconut treats OR 5k colones for doing that (if they’re out of her coconut faves).

Tomorrow is Subway Day. I’ll be going alone.  I will also get bloodwork done at Clinica Sanchez. My last three kidney pills will be gone on Friday, so I may need to get more.

Neil deGrasse Tyson reports that people

…of the same body mass at  other higher and lower latitudes weigh LEAST at the equator, so some of my weight loss can be attributed to the fact that I’m just ten degrees north of the equator instead of Seattle-Tacoma, WA.

FASCINATING!

I’ve certainly lost some additional weight as a result of a healthier diet but not as much as I previously thought, which is actually reassuring. (Usually in my family of easy keepers, significant weight loss means cancer, diabetes, or some other not-great condition.)

Had a Wonderful Visit with Adilio

…while he was driving me to and from Jon and Francisco’s yesterday. We talked about his new job as a SENASA employee at SJO where he counts and tags incoming livestock and pets and about how to report the biting dog to SENASA so it can be investigated and removed. (Yes, the dog remains a menace as long as its owners allow it off their property. I’ve encountered it numerous times recently, although it certainly has my number now. All I have to do is point the rounded end of my cane/dog beater at it — which I have never used to hit it — and it scurries away.)

It’s Almost Time to Give Cindy a Jingle 

We’re each other’s twice a day “wellness checker.” At our ages, it’s smart to have wellness checkers, we’ve decided.  We have each other’s emergency contact names and numbers so we can call if we don’t hear back from the other when we check in upon waking and going to sleep at night. I also have a key to her gate so I can check on her myself if her emergency contact doesn’t answer.

Yesterday July 23 I Wrote

Back from the doc. Got my blood pressure cuff checked to be sure it is working correctly. It is. You know what else was discovered if you’ve read my last blog post, so I won’t revisit that info here.

Jon won’t be going with Adilio and Me to Immigration

…on Wednesday because there’s no need. Adilio can accompany me inside and all I need to do there is present and sign the request to expedite letter in the presence of an official after showing him or her my passport and expediente number to confirm that I’m the author of the letter.

I Knew Not to Worry About My Test Results

…unless Dr. Pacheco was worried after reviewing them today. I slept fine last night. I’m good at observing my concerns without owning them prematurely. It saves a ton of anxiety to be able to laugh at my “worst case scenario” imaginings.

Besides — frankly — the thought of my demise doesn’t upset me. I’m at peace with the reality that I’m gonna croak someday. All my affairs are in order.

My only remaining concerns are about Charli losing me before I lose her, and HOW I’ll die.  (Kidney disease, by the way, is one of the best/least uncomfortable ways to expire. I’ve researched it extensively.)

I just hope I die in my sleep or so suddenly that I don’t suffer. Suffering would suck! I don’t do suffering at all well.  I’m a wimp.  If it came to that, I’d fly to the Netherlands to be euthanized.

I will walk with Cindy again tomorrow

…for the first time in (gasp!) three days. Usually I walk with her every day, but Clinica Sanchez ate up the mornings the past two days. I need my Cindy fix!  She is a terrific friend.

I’ve Been Eating Like a Horse

… most of the afternoon. Weighed 145 this morning, around 150 at Clinica Sanchez, and will probably weigh even more at bedtime. But it’ll disappear overnight. A lot of it is from drinking lots of water, as prescribed by kidney doctors worldwide. It’s important to stay sufficiently hydrated down here in the tropics.

IN THE TROPICS!!!

WOW! I live in the tropics!  How freaking awesome is that, after 12 years of endless dreaming about it?!!!

Which Brings Us to TODAY Fri July 24

Walked with Cindy and her dogs Dogi, Oliver (who is newly groomed and perfumed as of yesterday) and Harper. We had a great time except for a near run in with a loose big dog that looked like it wanted to eat two of our smaller dogs.

NOT ON OUR WATCH! 

Cindy picked up Oliver and I used my “dog beater” cane to keep the bigger dog away from the other two.  The dog’s owner tried to stop and tell us his loose dog wouldn’t hurt them, but its hackles were raised, its teeth were bared and it kept lunging, so we huddled together hoping the guy would walk away and take his dogs (one of them on a leash) with him.

He felt obliged to stay put and explain that his dog wouldn’t hurt ours, but neither of us were convinced, so I kept waving and saying, “Adios!” and “Vaya con Dios!” trying to get the guy to walk away.

He finally did, thankfully!  Sheesh!

I meant to get pictures of Dogi, Harper and Oliver but freaking forgot again.  Dammit!

Charli Wants to Be On the Other Side

…of the screen door every two minutes  (meow, meow!) so I finally told her to make up her freaking mind and then — finally, after about the sixth time! — I made an executive decision for her.

I know that what she actually wants is for me to leave the screen door open so she can come and go at will, but I can’t do that without letting flying insects in, so that’s non-negotiable.

(She probably thinks I’m daft because I can’t figure out what she wants. Not true! I just can’t do it safely down here! The insects here can carry nasty diseases.)

Poor Charli…

When I Got Back from the Walk

…I heated up a small plate of crockpot soup.  Oh my gosh!  I need to make some more already.  It is soooo freaking good!

That’s all I have for this time.  Sorry for the lack of images.  I need to write on my hand TAKE PIX, DAMMIT!