Happy Saturday!

I’m on top of this today, multi-tasking even as I write this. But you’re my priority  — catching you up on the past two days’ doings — so here we go!

By “multi-tasking”,  I mean I have today’s SATURDAY COFFEE KLATCH with Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse playing in the background, a relaxing musical image video on the 32″ flatscreen monitor (more about the flatscreen in a minute) and this blog interface on my laptop.  Oh, and I’m drinking hot chocolate, too, chasing two cups of coffee. Three of those things are relatively passive pursuits.  THIS is my true focus.

And it’s only 3 a.m.!  Later this morning I’ll be walking dogs with Cindy, and later on today I’ll be going with her to Grecia to shop at Compre Bien. So, it feels like this is a happening day — and I’m excited for it!

But let’s slow down now and revisit yesterday!

Yesterday I walked 10,000 steps by 5:14 p.m.  The ambulation began when I walked with Cindy and her three smallest dogs — Harper, Jenny and Bella.

This was the first time we took ebullient Harper with the chihuahuas.  Bella is usually Harper-avoidant because Harper is still such a whirling dervish; her energy level is off the charts. She walks three times farther than we do when we go out because she darts here and there, constrained only by her leash, so Cindy wondered/feared that Bella might cower, lay down, and refuse to walk.

But because I was walking Harper, the chihuahuas behaved as if she wasn’t even there. So, that was a super successful trial run.

Later yesterday morning, I caught a bus to Grecia to shop a little bit and have lunch with Jon and Francisco at Sabor Mexicano.

I got to Grecia at about 11:30, got colones from the ATM, bought a lollipop from a street vendor for 600 colones to help her make ends meet, walked to the Mercado Municipal pet store for a couple packages of cream treats for Charli, celery and sailfish for myself.

I went to Peri and got a small jar of peanut butter and jelly and a bottle of aloe vera juice to drink (healthy hydration).

At Mundo Magico, I got sunscreen and moisturizing lotion.

Ate a small ice cream cone at Mercado Municipal while I waited for 12:50 to roll around, which is when Francisco was scheduled to stop by in a cab and pick me up to take me to Sabor Mexicano.

At 12:50 sharp, I stepped over to the road near the bus station to start watching for the red cabs that assemble there, thinking Francisco would arrive in one of them.  Within a couple minutes, I got a call from him saying he was there.  So, I started really studying the red cabs to figure out which one he was in.

Surely bemused, he watched me looking for him and then let me know to look to my right.  I did that and there he was, waving from a far-from-red Uber!

I rolled my cart to the car, put it in the rear seat and got in there, too, and off we went toward Sabor Mexicano.

Francisco and I spoke briefly during the drive. He and Jon have recently lost two very dear friends to death, so I offered my condolences in person and also mentioned again how freaking impressed I am by Francisco’s artwork!  (especially los animales!)

As we approached the restaurant, I recognized the area (near Clinica Sanchez) and told Francisco, “Oh, look! My bus stop is right there!”  — less than a block away from the restaurant.  (I felt I needed to keep my eye on the time, because the bus comes by there at 3:20 , 4:05 and 4:50 every day and I wanted to be sure to be there by the time it got there after lunch.)

We left the vehicle, thanked the driver, and Francisco wheeled my cart to the restaurant. Jon arrived very soon thereafter and joined us at the table.  Francisco and I were in the middle of a conversation, so Jon sat down before I even noticed he was there or I would have stood up and greeted him with a hug.

During our 90+ minute lunch and conversation, I mentioned wanting to find dehumidification crystals, so Francisco looked them up online and found a brand at Maxi Pali that doesn’t require buying the plastic tub that goes with it (I have plenty of those tubs already and plastic is insanely expensive here in CR). So, I will pick some up the next time Cindy and I take a trip to Maxi Pali.  I might get her to divert there tomorrow briefly.

I mentioned Pizza Napoli to them, saying I’d like to try it sometime, as it has amazing reviews.  Jon told me it is within blocks of where they live and he’d show me where it is because it’s well hidden and no longer has a sign on it. I thanked him and said we should go there sometime for lunch.  He agreed.

During lunch, Jon told me a little bit more about the last few days of their recently deceased friends’ lives. I hadn’t met either of the ladies, but I know they were both immensely fond of them, so he was as much debriefing as he was explaining more about them.

It’s always hard to lose someone, even when you know it’s coming.  These are two very compassionate, loving people, so their pain was still obvious, even though Jon admitted it was time for both of them to go as staying longer would have gotten progressively worse and less enjoyable.

For lunch, I ordered a casado mexicano (as before): Jon and Francisco ordered a deluxe sampler chitarrones plate that I want  to try the next time we go there. It looked delicious.  (My casado was, too, but I want to try different foods.)

For dessert, Jon and I shared a chocolate-drizzled crepe with whipped cream and strawberries.  YUMMY! Francisco deferred.  The meals were huge; Jon and I could barely get the crepe down!

We finished lunch at about 2:45 so we paid for our meals and then I said to them, “You don’t need to wait with me for the bus.  I’ll just hang here for fifteen minutes and then walk up.”

Jon said, “Oh, no, you won’t.  I’m driving you home.”

I said, “You don’t have to do that. The bus that comes next will take me straight home in no time at all!”

He said, “I know I don’t have to, but because you weren’t expecting it of me, I want to!”   I again said, “Truly, it isn’t necessary…”

He said, “I have your iceberg lettuce in the vehicle. We’ll drop Francisco home first.”

That was his final word, so I gratefully accepted.

We dropped Francisco off. On the way to their place, Jon diverted so he could  show me where Pizza Napoli is. And he’s right. Unless you know it’s a pizza place, you’d never expect to find it there, so far off the beaten path. It’s on the second floor of a nondescript building and there is no sign to indicate its location.

I’m sorry! I forgot to take pictures again, dammit!

 I spent more than I intended to today

…but I can make several meals with what I bought, so that’s fine. I will have less to get at Compre Bien tomorrow!

I got the 32″ flatscreen TV back from Deb yesterday

…so I watched several episodes of the IMO podcast (hosted by Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson) with Rosie O’Donnell, Carol Burnett and Jamie Lee Curtis.  Cried all three times at the end of each episode, so I’m hooked now.  (I don’t know if you know I campaigned for Barack Obama because, as impressive as he was, Michelle Obama impressed me even more, and I thought, “Any woman that smart and inspiring has to have chosen a helluva guy to marry!”  I didn’t think Barack had a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the nomination, as racist as the U.S. is, but by golly, he did and I sobbed my way through his acceptance speech at Grant Park the night they appeared to claim victory.

Yesterday afternoon and last night, I logged the flatscreen onto meditative, musical nature image montages and listened to and watched those while I relaxed.  I also logged onto a series about different countries and put the subtitles in Spanish so I could listen in English and watch the words in Spanish to familiarize myself with Spanish language structure.

I was delighted (and encouraged!) to see how much of the Spanish I was able to understand as I followed along.  Later on, I switched both the narration and the subtitles to Spanish so I can get used to “listening in Spanish” as well as reading it.  (I mentioned my challenge there in the blog post yesterday or the day before.)

That’s what I’ll be doing from now on.  In fact, that’s precisely WHY I asked to have the flatscreen back.  I just got diverted from my purpose the first day when I saw that Rosie, Carol, and Jamie were on IMO and when I found the meditation options.

That’s it for this post!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!