THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER…

Sleep is elusive these days.  My mind races at any opportunity.  The decision is made & now the real work begins.  Coffee ready?

Actually, it began as soon as we arrived home.  Lists & looking through closets & drawers with a better sense now-after a month in Ajijic-of what matters, what will & won’t work there, what’s practical & what’s a sentimental “necessity”.  Or not.

I took a walk this morning & was reminded of the beauty of this place-before the heat sets in.  Aren’t we lucky, we remind ourselves, to live in this lovely town?  And in the next moment we remember that the place we are going to is also quite lovely, in very different ways.  We are reminded that with change comes growth.

We spent the weekend recovering from our long and harried trip, creating lists, discussing feelings, dinner with friends.  Groceries, banking, medication refills.  Day-to-day stuff.  Today was different.  Ben worked hard in the studio, lots of orders, sometimes overwrought with sentiment forged from 30 years of successful self-employment.  Winding down, selling off, telling people good-bye…and thank you.  Somedays it just all seems like too much.

The Mexican Consulate was first on my list after my walk this morning.  Much learned. Still questions to ask but now a little more familiar with what’s required for temporary (temporale) and permanent (permanente) visas. Passports, proof of income, application, AND a “menaje de casa” – inventory – in Spanish and English – of everything we plan to take with us.  And I can tell you that THAT makes you want to take less.  Boxes have to be numbered and categorized.  So the 2nd thing on my list was an email to the moving company we talked to before we left – Strom White Movers.  The next contact with them will be to get an estimate on a door-to-door move (resulting in much less handling thus damage) of our household items.  Meanwhile, I called the police department to thank them for monitoring our house while we were away, confirmed my Healing Touch clients for tomorrow, made a haircut appointment and talked with the HVAC man who quickly discovered why our air conditioning wasn’t working.  Typical day-to-day stuff tucked in around the “muck” of this huge decision.

The other thing on my mind…is my granddaughter to be-Hazel Grace Ferguson. Expected arrival late January.  I’ve already bought books for her in Spanish and English.  Making plans to return to the States late February or March to meet her.  Reminded by her parents that vaccinations must be up to date to protect her.  Whatever it takes.  And, yes, it’s a bit harder to leave knowing she’s on the way.  But I want her to be proud someday that she has a Grandmother (Abuela) who lived her life curiously and courageously.  Who wanted to know and experience other cultures, other places, other ways of doing things.  Who put her mind to learning a new language at 67 years old and who knew that parting with so much stuff would ultimately (beyond the grief!) bring a sense of freedom. I can’t wait to meet her!

This weekend we’ll review our notebook of what to do when that’s broken down into months then weeks before moving.  Plowing through.  Next week will bring calls to a carpenter and a tile man, a yard crew and a handyman.  The portable closet for winter clothes to be left in storage will arrive along with the Mexican cookbook recommended by a new friend.  Haircuts and massages and doctor visits.  Trips to the thrift store and the consignment store.  Purging.  More every day. Learning.  Growing.  Confirming that change can be manageable.