Now to catch up on some crazy months in 2019 between those hectic returns to Toronto. As you have may have read from previous posts, I now have a roommate, 2 more dogs and a cat. This after more than 20 years by myself with only my dogs and cats, it takes time to adjust. I had as you can imagine, my routine, my ways etc but it was now time to learn to live with more.

Tai, the cat was no problem at all. She would sit with me while I was in my beautiful room while I enhanced my skills at zentangling. Occasionally she would catch a mouse or a lizard, eat the head and leave the remainder of her catch to rot, high in the cupboard. It was gross and smelled awful. She certainly gave Stella a run for her keep as she was an excellent mouser. I left the mess for my roommate to clean up – his cat, his mess!! Tai refused to go outside when it was wet, which is quite often in the valley so I also taught my roommate how to actually keep her litter box clean properly and save him some money. Seems pretty simple but he had no idea. Men!!

Siete and Eight loved me, Seven and Stella. And I loved them back. I was there every day with them and they soon became accustomed to my routine and I was the one who played with them and fed them. But I did have my issues. I was not there as their sitter and caretaker. It was time that my roomie learned that this is a 50/50 show and he needed to do his share. With 4 dogs, there is a lot of shit to pick up, a lot of responsibility on feeding, grooming and vet care. He understood and began to do his share. Fair is fair, right? Now that we had 4 dogs and a cat, my amazing vet would come to the house when it was checkup time and annual shots. How cool is that? No matter how hard she and her assistant tried, Siete was having none of it. She left the shots with me for Fabian to administer. The others – Seven, Stella, Eight and Tai were no problem. There always has to be one!

My roomie and I began to fall into a routine. As I have said, he works long hours six days a week and in no way interfered with my new life in Mexico. We both began to eat better. He had a tendency to eat on the run and for me it is hard to cook just for one. I end up with enough to feed myself for a few days and by the end I am sick of the fare, no matter how good! We also searched for a good pizza to be delivered or he would come home with delights of Indian food. It was great to have company. My original thought was that I would be able to zone on my spanish but I was wrong. All he wanted to do was to speak english! And I must admit, his english was far better than my spanish. We would huddle around by old laptop and watch movies on sundays. Good thing we both liked the same genre. I would also drag his ass off the couch and go for walks with the pack as we were surrounded by beautiful trails and vistas.

I had long been thinking to get another tattoo. I had been carting around for decades a lovely print of 3 canadian geese by semi renowned artist. It was time to have this one inked. Lucky for me, my friend’s boyfriend Charlie is a tattoo artist and uses the traditional method. No electric gun for this guy. He did an amazing job. He is right, his method is far less evasive on the body. There was no pain and it healed incredibly fast. My only regret is that I cannot see it as it is on my back! So, if you ever find yourself in Tepoztlan or even Mexico City, let me know and I will hook you up for your first or next tattoo. You will have no regrets. In fact, I think it is time for another……

During this time I also found out that I have now a severe allergic reaction to shell fish. One day while having a bite to eat with my friend Eva, we shared a shrimp dish. Four hours later I did not know whether to sit on the loo or lean over a bucket. I did both. Fabian came home and found me curled up on my bed with no energy at all. Immediately he grabbed me, carried me to his truck and raced me to the hospital. At first we all thought including the doctor that it was rotten food. After 4/5 hours in the hospital on a drip as I was totally dehydrated, I returned home. Took a couple of days to recover but all was well. Then a few weeks later, my same friend was having a dinner party and her boyfriend being spanish, cooked an amazing paella. Four hours later, I was on the loo or my head over a bucket. This time Fabian rushed to the pharmacy to get antihistamines and in a couple of hours I was fine. Conclusion. I can no longer eat shell fish. Apparently it is quite common to suddenly acquire this kind of allergy when you get older. Who knew? Although I do not eat meat, I did on occasion eat fish or shell fish. Now that was off my menu, which did not upset me. The variety of fresh fruit, vegetables and beans available to me provided me with a very healthy diet. So no great loss. I must say that my experience in the small local hospital was excellent. The nurses, doctors were very concerned and only after my insisting would let me leave knowing that I would not be alone. My visit was free except for the drugs that were prescribed. One could not say that in many countries that you could visit. Was that an exception? I don’t know but I am forever thankful for their care.

As mentioned above, the entertainment hub in the house was my old laptop which was fading fast. Although on one trip back to Toronto, my friend Laura gave me another for which I was grateful but I wanted a bigger screen. For me, movies on a laptop suck. How the hell people watch movies on their cell is beyond me. Having a roommate now sharing the rent etc, I had money to treat myself. It was fabulous.

All that came to a screeching halt.

One day, Fabian was late going to work and I had to go to the bank. I grabbed a ride from him and was gone maximum 2 hours. When I arrived home and entered the gate, I noticed that Siete’s cone of shame was broken. We had to have one on her to stop her licking this one wound. I thought it was strange but cancelled that thought. I didn’t see Stella, which was really unusual. Seven and Eight seemed fine and happy to see me. I got my key out to open the door and saw Stella inside. Now that’s really odd. Then I noticed that the lock on the door had been broken. I began to freak. When I entered the house then I saw what happened. We had been robbed. My room had been turned upside down. All my jewellery gone, new laptop and of course my new TV. Immediately called Fabian. No answer. Kept calling. No answer. Finally when he did answer I was a mess. He called the police and came rushing home. And as fate would have it, his truck got stuck in the river, that you had to cross to get home. Never rains but it pours. The police did nothing – what a surprise but then what could they do? After much deliberation and searching, we knew who did this but of course could not prove it. Who in their right mind would enter a house with 4 dogs? All who, except Stella would not approve. It had to be someone who knew us, knew the dogs and knew when no-one was home. We then decided it was time to get some kind of home security cameras. Being robbed is an awful feeling. You feel violated. You feel vulnerable. The material stuff can be replaced. But somethings can never be replaced. Little things that had been with me for decades that were gifts or mementos of time gone by. Some of my friends back in Canada said time to leave Mexico. Why? Did they really think that this was a Mexican problem? I reminded them that I had been robbed twice before, in Toronto. Does not matter where you are in this world, your house can be robbed, you can be violated. All one can do is to make sure your home is secure and not an easy mark.

For weeks after, Seven was the most concerned. He followed me everywhere and became anxious whenever I left the house. He is such a sensitive soul and is my soulmate.