76 - MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas is only three days away! 

Although I know it always falls on December 25th, it seemed to  suddenly be here - as if it was unexpected! It just crept up on me!  

The last two weeks have been chock-a-block busy socially every day with friends but our get-togethers had nothing to do with Christmas.  There are no family members in Manzanillo with me.  I don't have a tree.  I don't have to think of buying and wrapping gifts to put under it.  Being a Canadian, I spent most of my life in the cold, snowy north, and there were many anxious weeks of preparation leading up to the big event.  You always knew how many weeks or days till it arrived.  For many years now, living all winter in the tropical climate of Mexico, Christmas has become almost phantom-like to me. It is but a blip on my calendar.  

I think that all of the above contributed to my shocked feeling of "OMG Christmas is only three days away!  I better get my a__ in gear and bake that gluten free carrot cake that is my contribution to the pot-luck Christmas dinner I'm hosting for six friends who had no other plans for the day!"  

Now the realization has set in, I know Christmas Day will be an enjoyable, happy celebration with my friends but without the stress that was associated with Christmases past.  

This huge tree in the Comer shopping centre is the first thing you see when you enter the main doors.   A kindly Mexican stranger saw me trying to get a picture of it, and, with only gestures, indicated he would take a picture of me in front of it.  

More Mexicans are speaking English these days, although most with a limited vocabulary.  With my very limited Spanish and many hand and arm gestures, I manage to be understood for the most part regardless if the person I'm trying to communicate with speaks any English or not.  It's interesting how well one can get along in a non-English speaking country in this manner. When we travelled in Europe on many holidays in days past, we had the same experience about communicating.  

Well, off to the kitchen, to make a tapenade for the goats cheese log I'm taking to a Christmas Eve bash at Maureen's casa.  Also on my list of chores today is assembling an eggplant lasagna before the vegetable I purchased for this dish is too old to use.  The carrot cake for Christmas dinner can wait till tomorrow.   "Tomorrow is another day", Scarlett O'Hara famously said in Gone with the Wind.  I use this phrase more as I get older and realize not everything has to be done in a rush.   

When I washed my hands in the bathroom washbasin before going into the kitchen,  the water wouldn't drain out of the sink.  The stopper was stuck.  I tried unsuccessfully to fix it.  So, a quick call to the office and almost immediately a repairman was at my door.   Within a few more minutes, the problem was solved.  I've had a few other problems in the villa in the seven weeks I've been here, and always, with a simple call to the office, a repair person appears almost magically.  Each time this happens reinforces how happy I am not to be an owner anymore.  No searching for a repair person and no fee for the repair.  It's a great life. 

So, on that note I'll end this episode and send my warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas to my family and my friends who are not with me today!  I wish you all great happiness and good cheer on this blessed Day and every day in the coming year.  I love you all!!