Nov 16 Tuesday

what an incredible day .... first off, I finished the book called NOTHING TO DECLARE, a book about a woman who traveled by herself to Mexico and gautemala and honduras. i am glad i read it but the truth of the matter is that she was miss negative and i think she learned not a thing about mexico or mexicans and basically wasted a year of her life. she is a prolific writer and has written something like ten books. i wouldnt waste a penny buying another. this one was lent to me by Gary. we are swapping Baja or Mexico books.

then the boys stopped over to see the bikes and we agreed to have a bike club meeting this afternoon.  i went shopping and the tienda was closed. so i went to Prieto and abought what he had: tons of bananas, tortillas and cheese to make quesadillas, limes to make lemonade, bread to make sandwiches since we have a lot of ham here.

time for a very funny story. at Prieto's, I am loading the stuff into a basket and he says .... you dont use plastic bags, do you ? Nope, and I smiled.

Prieto was the one who made me cry 2 years ago when we spent 2 whole days cleaning around his store and the next day he trew trash - not boxes - plain old trash around the store again. I remember so clearly...I was with Linda and asked to take me to his house where I started to scream and cry: do you think I enjoy picking up your trash ???? how dare you make another mess !!!!!   I was hsyterical. people came out of their houses. I made a scene and he was rude and walked away in a huff. only to return and say he would not make a mess again (he had no choice - too many people were watching). well, he has indeed cleaned up and now he never leaves trash any more !!  BUT guess what he said to me today ???????????????

sit down....................

take a deep breath ............................

he says:  Blanca, the people who live behind the church are messy and their trash is coming into my yard.  can you believe it ?  Oh boy. what an about face !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I told him that I would check into it.

what else could I say?

So, a new bike club boy had come by yesterday and borrowed a bike to train on with the promise to return it later on that day. he never came back so we went to hunt for the bike this afternnon. found it at his grandmas house and brought it home. his mom is unhappy with him being out and about and he is NOT to have a bike. grandma said he had to go somewhere and that is why he hadnt returned the bike ... whatever .... i was upset that he promised to return it and didnt.....  No doube he shall visit me tomorrow to ask about the bike.

the meeting went well and all the boys here ate sooooooooooo much i thought they would die. holy makerel. i forgot how much my two sons used to eat. it was unreal.  we had a good time and then good thing started to happen.

manny will deliver bikes to derek before they leave on friday
frank will bring his bike
jose might deliver a bike or 2 to frank
wonderful mr mark bought 3 bikes for me, which he will deliver to franks house
along with other stuff we need (tubes, cables, shifters)

and after all this wonderful planning , i get an email from ed that he has 2 more bikes for us - trick bikes.  this after he donated 2 this past weekend and I bought one from the swap met in chivato.

to say i am happy is so putting it lightly. it has been devastating to say to the little ones that i have NO bikes for them. really, really this has been the hardest part. I worked so hard and did all that i could to make the bike scene happen fast .... but God has his way of making it happen as it should.

and we are gearing up for the next project:  skateboards. cheaper. easier for people to bring. and no other village has a team so it will be easy to get people to bring the skateboards down!

now, if I can get my meds, that will be fantastic too.
and if the fish came all of a sudden, that might be good too.
Lord, I give you thanks for all the wonderful moments you give me and the wonderful folks who are making la bocana's dream of having a grand bike team possible.

october 25, 2010

the day started out beautifully today - very nice weather - not too hot and not too cold. did a lot of gardening today. I am trying to prepare for the weekend plant sale to generate cash for the bike club !!

les packed. he went to puerto nuevo with pancho and the doctors. i sure hope they have a grand time. adn that there are not a lot of mosquitos.  i had to teach and of course, people can show up at any time

and so they did. dave and his wife are here and another couple. they are in their motorhome and camper. no hookups yet so really, they are enjoying the view of the ocean !!

i got a call from bill larry and tom. they are coming for the tournament too. how cool is that !!

i am so busy trying toget the last bikes to come in. i dont want to hustle bikes any more. it has been such along long year !!  we are so close to our goal and i just want all the bikes to be here already. the we concentrate on practicing and winning races !!

well, the class I quit on Friday I visited again today. and asked them one by one if they wanted class. about 9 of them said NO. so, i suggested they do something else during this time and their teacher said that they could go and study English with their books on their own !!  They quickly recanted and the class went like a jewel. I will redo the old information and teach one new little thing every day. they are young. they can handle it.

the 2nd class is amazing. i am so happy with them. they are smart. they are motivated. and they are learning and i feel so good about it.

juanchys came by for me to do some printing for him. he is going to sell his  light switches at the tornament. he is making good money on them and paying for his daughter to go to school with the cash. such a smart and motivated man.

I finished Into the Desert by Graham MacIntosh. It was a very interesting book but not well written. It took me a long time to read it. I returned it to Gary and tonight I shall start Journey with a Baja Burro.

Miss my husband. but he will be home tomorrow ....... good night all

11 October 2010

oh my gosh !! how cool is it that the Copa Cabana is really being rented out to Herb and Heathere and their 2 kids !!  I feel like it is the first real inhabitant and the house is welcoming them.  I sure hope the shower works out, too bad Les got the gallstone and therefore didnt have time ot fix it already .... which was the plan.

Well, looks like I finally got thru to Nacho about the bikes and how they belong to the club. I am so lucky that I emphasized that with George and Mary and Smiley and John, because to be perfectly honest - never in my wildest dreams did I think that we would have such a serious argument about it ... Carlos is adamant that the bike was given to Andres. Well, why Andres and not Julian or Cristian or any other kid ????  Just not fair and in my world, the kids should earn their own bikes .... just like I planned way back when. First we all work together to get the first not so perfect bikes and then all can work until each one gets a bike. Thanks so much George and Mary and Smiley and John for the bikes !!!  They are awesome and I am so lucky to have friends like you to support us ....

Les has a bump on his arm where they inserted a IV and it swelled up while in the hospital. We are waiting for Dr Romero to come home since he is in la paz til wednesday. At least Les is taking it sorta easy .....

English class went really well today. Finally the kids are picking up on how easy it is !!  They even said today:  This is easy !!!  Yahoooooooooooooooooooo that is my goal and I reached it.  Whew ......

I am worried about Marisa - she is still in los angeles as far as I know and still has no place to stay and who knows if she has picked up the car .... and my son Marc, her husband, in Korea and really not listening to what is going on here ..... his wife is not well .... she is over stressed and not handling life.... my son my son, listen and head what people are telling you.

October 6, 2010

well, the worst is over.  les passed his gall stone all by himself and there will be no surgery now !!!!  not even the gall bladder will be removed. he is home and healthy and we are thrilled with this outcome.

i am on the hunt for bikes and other sports stuff and mark at UTC is fixing up 3 of them. so nice of him. so very fantasic. now i still am looking for a BMX bike. and bike parts. 

tomorrow, les will visit the kids and i will be herefor my doc appt in hillcrest to biopsy my mouth bump. not fun but hey, better to be proactive.