Yeah, I know, I skipped posting a blog yesterday. Tummy troubles (of my own making!!!) got the best of me. I’m doing much better today after a semi-fast and lots of water!

 

I did still walk 7500 steps (slowly!) yesterday, though.  I do that every day.  I’d have to be non-ambulatory to skip that ritual because I love it so.

 

During my walk, I saw Luz, Noelie and Homer. I finally got a selfie with Homer but I didn’t ask permission to share it with my friends, so I won’t post it here.   I want to get a selfie with Diane, too, before I leave here in February.

 

I haven’t told any of them that I’m leaving yet. I will wait until the holidays are over to do that, because I know they will feel sad about it.  I know I do…

 

I also saw and spoke briefly to Geraldo; wished him a Merry Christmas. He was with another man I haven’t been formally introduced to. They were clearing some land downslope from Calle Esteban Salas.

 

Tummy Troubles Explained

 

I orchestrated the tummy troubles because I bought a four-serving size bag of Lay’s Sour Cream and and Onion potato chips and ate the entire bag in two sittings on the same day two days ago.  Because I have been so good with my Costa Rican diet, throwing crap into my system in one fell swoop was just too much for it. I definitely earned my lesson!  Potato chips don’t even tempt me. The very idea of them turns my stomach again.

 

When you get almost instant feedback on something you’ve eaten (pain near my spleen or pancreas every time I took a deep breath and a semi-nauseous feeling, followed by frothy urine), you know you’ve done a number on your gut!  Everything is fine NOW, but it took two days and almost a total 24-hour fast (plus lots of water) to evict the residue that was causing the malaise.

 

Yeah, it was stupid.  And I won’t do it again.  

 

Yesterday, for breakfast, I had two eggs, two pieces of multigrain toast, coffee with a little honey and milk, and a thermos full of water.

 

During the day,  I drank more water and rested.

 

Last night, for dinner, I had a handful of lettuce mixed with balsamic vinegar, a wee bit of grated cheese, half a handful of mixed nuts, and a quarter cup of apple nectar. Other than drinking another two or three 20-ounce thermoses of water (with ice taking up most of the volume) that’s all I consumed yesterday, so when I got up this morning, I weighed 150. (I’m usually 154.)

 

This morning I drank coffee, water and hydrating drinks until about 10 and then I ate a small bowl of mixed brown rice, beans, cheese, mushrooms and Lizano sauce to see how that would sit with me.  Fine!  So I’m back to pre-potato chips.  I didn’t feel like eating at all yesterday!

 

Oh! I forgot!  During my semi-fasting recovery day, I also ate two small rows of a milk chocolate candy bar from the Alps. It tasted heavenly! RICH! DELICIOUS!  And I still have more than half of it left!

 

WHAT ELSE?

 

Just counting the days to Move Day (Feb 1st) and Lisa’s Arrival Day (Feb 11th). Those are MY happiest upcoming dates. Christmas has long since lost its luster for me but I do hope to speak to Lisa that day if she can find the time.  She always works holiday because it pays time and a half unless T-Rex has fucked that up, too!

 

I hope the days Lisa is here go by a helluva a lot slower than they probably will. But we’re gonna enjoy every waking moment, that’s for sure!  I will take a lot of pictures of our adventures and of just hanging out together so  I have  pictorial documentation to enjoy again and again until she can return in the far-flung future.

 

Jon has set aside as many as three days (Feb 12, 17th and 18th) to drive us around to animal-y places, including one place with adorable capybaras (which are not native to Costa Rica). In addition, we’ll do the feria on Friday the 13th and have lunch with my Costa Rica family afterward.

 

Lisa is gonna be in photographer’s heaven on those days, but I’m not sure we’ll tie up Jon that much.  I don’t know if Lisa will feel rested enough for a Feb 12th outing. That’s the day after she arrives.  We’ll see and let Jon know so he can make other plans if necessary or desired.

 

I MUST remind Lisa to get a travel sickness prescription again because most of the roads here are full of sharp twists and turns. And I’d like her to bring the kitchenware set she bought me for one of my birthdays if she can fit them and a couple packages of (TMI, ask me Lisa!) just to have on hand, in addition to the very few things we discussed before I left:

 

Two Floof’s Cafe t-shirts

thumbdrive of the address book on my old desktop PC

McCoy Action Figure (EXO)

 

… and whatever else we discussed. (I can’t remember. She made a list.)

 

AZO CranberryPro

 

I just ordered three bottles of AZO CranberryPro softgels from Amazon so Lisa can bring them to me when she flies down in February.  I’m not sure that what I got here at the pharmacy is right for me. Holly (my NP in Tacoma) told me to get the AZO CranberryPro softgels because some cranberry supplements are harder on my one remaining (and compromised) kidney and I don’t want to risk danaging it further.  I can order more and have Amazon ship it here when the ones Lisa brings me run out. By then I’ll have my new address or the address of the establishment that accepts Amazon packages for CR residents.

 

BIG ASS BUG IN MY BEDROOM 

 

Two nights ago Charli notified me of a big-ass roach or beetle-type bug on the wall of my bedroom, so I got out the bug catcher, captured it, and put it out. We don’t find them often indoors, but whenever Charli does, she lets me know, for which I am very grateful.

 

Some bugs here are nasty. Mosquitoes. Assassin bugs. Kissing bugs. Certain species of beetles and centipedes/millipedes. Some of them can pack a nasty punch.

 

Charli is my Insect Inspector/Detector

 

She hears them walking on the walls, or smells them, or something.  Nothing gets by her.  Luckily, she doesn’t try to catch them herself.  She just turns her complete attention on them and I witness the posture.

 

I don’t get many unauthorized critters indoors, fortunately. I won’t in the new place, either. Fully and professionally screened places are remarkably insect-proof.

 

What else?

 

Other than my recent bout of stupidity (cramming my face with potato chips), I feel soooo healthy here!  My vitals are fabulous. No leg cramps. No heart palpitations. BP, heart rate, oxygen levels optimal.

 

I eat healthy almost 100% of the time: food fresh out of fields,  pastures, chicken yards, lakes and oceans. Beans, cauliflower, avocados, mixed nuts, fish, chicken, occasional beef, lettuce, Lizano Sauce. Eight hours of sleep every night. No stress.

 

AND I feel completely safe. The government here isn’t focused on making the lives of neurodiverse people, immigrants, or LGBTQIA+ living hells.  PURA VIDA, INDEED!

 

Graphic outside Immigracion Bldg in San Jose, CR

 

My New Landlady

 

My new landlady Deb says she loves to cook and usually has plenty to share, so that’s super cool, too, since I’m not much of a cook. She also says I can ride into Grecia with her when she shops if I have anything I need to get. Nice lady!

 

Maybe I’ll see if she’s amenable to driving me to pick up Lisa at the airport on the 11th and return her there on the 20th if she hasn’t scheduled anything else for those days. I’ll be happy to pay for the gas and for her time if she will. If not, I will need to find another option.  (There are several.  I already know three professional personal drivers.) It’s just a 45 minute to one hour drive one way, from what I hear (on a good day). Not a huge chunk of time.

 

ACK! I can’t find the Allen wrenches to take my cat trees apart!

 

I was sure I had all  my tools (few as they are) in a small plastic bag, but I can’t find the allen wrenches for my two cat trees.  I have to find them before the move. There’s still plenty of time, but I’ve already looked everywhere I think they should be, and no dice.  I can buy one, if necessary, but don’t want to if I don’t have to.

 

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

 

I’m trying to think if there’s anything I want to get myself for Christmas. Can’t think of a thing other than a rice cooker for me, Science Diet (a small bag) for Charli to see if she will eat dry food again, and maybe a good used digital camera (the older type with some heft). Or maybe a hard-rimmed straw (or other) sombrero with a wide brim to keep the sun off my nose and mouth.

 

What I want for the New Year is to be closer to my Costa Rica tribe

 

Proximity-wise.  People are working on that outcome.  If it happens, I will be deliriously happy!  Being so far away from my Rainbow Refuge/Villas Escondidas/Posada Mimosa/Grecia friends has been no fun.  Although I am far from a social butterfly, having found “my tribe” and just knowing they’re nearer by would mean the world to me.

 

I’m hoping for that outcome with all my heart!