Starting to think of home

Now that we have about a month left of our current stay here in Mexico City, my thoughts are turning to going home to Chicago.  I have started the airline tickets search as well as making a partial list of what will go back to Chicago with us and what will stay here for when we return next year.  I'm planning where I want to eat with my family when we get back, and I can't wait to visit Barnes and Noble and Joann Fabrics.  I want to have a backyard bbq with friends and family and I want to take long walka with the dogs through our neighborhood.  My limit for a stay here in Mexico seems to be five months.  Longer than that and I get too lonely for Chicago and especially for my family.  By the time we leave in September we will have been here for almost six months.

And our time here in Mexico City has been good.  We've traveled with friends to Patzcuaro, visited so many beautiful and fun neighborhoods in Mexico City, and we have visited with our family here.  We have had backyard bbqs with family and friends and have thoroughly enjoyed the garden that Arturo has worked so hard on, as well as the glorious view of the mountains from our bedroom balcony.  We have created a daily routine here that I will miss when we are back in Chicago.  Mexico has been good to us during these months. If my family lived here with us it would be close to perfect.  But they don't, and that is why my heart can never be completely content when we are in Mexico.

The last two weeks we have been so lucky to have our good friends from Chicago, Tom and Goya, here in Mexico.  They have been staying in the Condesa neighborhood in a super lovely condo.  We have spent good days and evenings with them going through Mexico City's neighborhoods and eating at fun places.  They leave tomorrow and we will miss them very much but it is easier because we will see them again in a month.  Next week I'll post a blog about one of the visits we made with Tom and Goya to see the great Mexican artists Rina Lazo and Arturo Garcia Bustos.  That was a super day!

In the meantime, here are a few photos but I have to say that I have not taken many pictures at all during the last two weeks.  Instead, I've been too busy talking with Goya.  I'm hoping Tom can send me some of the ones he has taken when they get back to Chicago!

Have a great weekend!

Slowly learning

At times it's hard to believe that we are already two thirds of the way through our six months here in Mexico. It was hard for me to leave Chicago back in March - much more difficult than it was to leave in January, 2012.  Maybe it was because I knew from past experience that I would miss my family, friends and familiar haunts.  As well as Thai food, Chicago pizza and the Athenian Room.  Mostly I was just being a big baby because Mexico is a beautiful country and I'm perfectly happy here.  There are days when I get lonely but who doesn't?   We have family and friends here in Mexico and we have spent many happy days with them.  I miss them when I'm in Chicago.  All in all I am very fortunate and I'm well aware of that.

So what is the point of this post you may be asking?  I'm not really sure other than to say that I'm learning to enjoy life day by day and that actually is a hard lesson for me to master.  I was so accustomed to fast paced, crazy days at work, then running home to start my second job - all the time frustrated because I didn't have time to do the things I longed to do or more time to spend with my family and friends.  Then all of a sudden I have that time and I have to admit that it has taken me almost two years to get used to that.  Sounds insane I know.  But I'm getting there and part of that journey has taught me to sometimes just sit still and look at the scenery.  To watch a bird hopping around our garden. To literally listen to the birds sing.  I don't feel so guilty over "wasting time" doing those simple things because in the end, maybe they are more important for the soul than worrying about finishing the next article I'm working on.  Being here in Mexico has helped me learn those little lessons.  Like I said before, Mexico is a beautiful country.

Here are a few more pictures from Patzcuaro, el "Pueblo Magico" and the surrounding area.

The house of the "once patios" - eleven courtyards

Zirahuen

Patzcuaro through a courtyard

Zirahuen

The church in Cuanajo

Our street at night

I can't remember which lake this is.

You know this little guy

So, the point of this post is to take each day for the blessing it is.  And although this is a non sequiter, pay it forward!

Have a great weekend!

Chicago and Boston!

I spent the best two weeks in Chicago and Boston with my girls!  I love Mexico but it was so good to be back with family, friends and familiar surroundings for a couple of weeks.  It was sunny and warm the whole time and I soaked it up after having such a rainy, cool summer in Mexico.  The good news is that since I returned on Tuesday to Mexico City the weather has been gorgeous - sunny and warmer.  So I consider myself very fortunate.

After spending the first two days in Chicago catching up with my daughters Laura and Sonia, and son-in-law Patrick, as well as working on listing lots of new aprons, I flew to Boston to visit my oldest daughter, Diana, and her fiance, Reid, for a weekend.  They are living in Marblehead, MA.  Until a year ago I hadn't heard of Marblehead (shame on me!) and now that I've been there I am totally enchanted and want to return again very soon.  It is one of the oldest towns in the United States and just one block from where Diana lives is a cemetery that dates back to the early 1600's.   Many of those who fought in the American Revolution are buried there and the town recently received federal funds to preserve the tombstones.

I love colonial American history through the early 1800's so I was in my glory in both Marblehead and Boston.  The below photos are from downtown Boston which I love not only for its charm and architecture, but also because as you are walking down a modern street, you suddenly run into the very spot where the Boston Massacre took place.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit the museum that is on that spot but I did stop into the gift shop to buy a book on the Revolution.

These are some of the house in Marblehead.  Many were built in the 1700's and have signs stating who built the house along with his profession.

And then there is the beautiful harbor and ocean practically on Diana and Reid's doorstep.  We spent a morning out on their family boat and I felt so free and happy!  Pearl, Diana and Reid's American Bulldog, is quite the little sailor!

Pearl and I having a good time!

Diana, Reid, and Pearl's rear end

When I returned to Chicago I still had a surprise birthday party to look forward to.  My son-in-law Pat turned 30 on September 29th so my daughter Laura and Pat's mom Kathy planned a surprise party for him.  We are pretty sure he was indeed taken by surprise but even if he wasn't, he would never let on because that is the kind of good guy that he is.  Happy Birthday Pat!!

Pat walking in the door

Pat and my daughter Sonia

The sweets and photo table that Laura and Kathy put together

So you can see how blessed I have been and I am truly thankful for my wonderful family and my friends!

Off to Chicago and Boston

We just returned last night from spending two fun and productive weeks in Patzcuaro, Mexico.  And now tomorrow I'm flying out of Mexico City to Chicago for a few days, then on Friday to Boston to visit my oldest daughter for four days.  Then back to Chicago to spend a week with my younger two girls.  On October 2nd I'll return to Mexico City.  I can't tell you how excited I am to see my daughters!  It's been four months since I last saw them and that seems like a really long time to me.

Besides seeing the girls and catching up with friends, I'll be working on my etsy store.  I've made 50 aprons over the last few months and I'll add them to the store and will try to sew a few more while in Chicago.  The busy holiday season is coming up and I don't want to be left behind.

More later...

Lincoln Park Zoo and Rainy Mexico City

I know that I have nothing to complain about - especially since so much of the United States is experiencing such awful droughts - but I am getting a bit weary of all the rain this summer in Mexico City.  It's been raining most of today and we probably won't see the sun for another four days.  On top of that it has been raining, sometimes pouring and hailing, almost every afternoon for the past two months.  I've been wearing a sweater more often than not.  Ok, I'm done complaining.  At least for today.  Now I'm going to travel in my mind back to Chicago.

One of my family's favorite places is Lincoln Park Zoo where this picture was taken.  Ever since our two oldest girls were babies, we have been regular visitors and have enjoyed watching the zoo babies grow over the years and the new ones arrive.  I don't think much compares to the simple pleasure of strolling through the zoo grounds on a sunny day, eating popcorn and chatting with those you most love.  From left to right:  Laura, me, Sonia and Arturo.

Here are my son-in-law Pat with Laura, and Arturo making one of his infamous faces. Luckily we are all used to it. Pat is a Chicago Bears fan as you can see.  As well as the Chicago White Sox and Bulls.  Oh, and the Blackhawks.  Let's hope the White Sox win this year!

Our oldest daughter Diana isn't in these photos since she had already gone back to Denver when they were taken.  However, it is telling that when it came time to select the location for her formal engagement photos, she didn't hesitate in picking Lincoln Park Zoo - of course!  The pictures below are of Diana and Reid back in April, 2012.
                                                                                                           

 Unfortunately, you can't see their faces very well as I was usually too far away.  Luckily I was not the photographer that day.  They wisely decided to have a professional take the pictures.

 They went through a couple of wardrobe changes.  My daughter, unlike her mother, plans ahead.

I took a lot of bunny pictures when the kids were too far away for me to take a photo of them.  There actually were four rabbits and they were all playing together.  They absolutely refused to cooperate and pose together for a picture.  So I had to settle for one.  I suppose if I were a bit quicker with the camera I could have at least gotten two of them together.  I'll have to practice!