It figures.

What do I want to do?  Move to Mexico and teach.

What is my husband's cousin doing?  Moving to Korea to teach.

(ok, it's not Mexico, but she's doing it.)

Sigh...........

Earth Hour and stuff

To be quite honest, I had never heard about Earth Hour until today when my daughter told me about it.  So at 8pm, we lit a bunch of candles and turned everything off.  Gerald napped on one couch with the greyhound and the shepperd snored away on the floor.   We turned a battery powered radio on and my daughter gave me a makeover, complete with nail polish.  With my schedule the way its been the past 3 or 4 months, it was great to spend some time with her, doing girl things and just hanging out.  Even after the hour was up, we kept everything off.   It was a nice way to spend some time.  Maybe we'll turn everything off everyday!

Not surprisingly,  we haven't done anything else that would be considered remotely noteworthy.  We haven't gone to the beach, or snorkelled in a cenote, shopped at the mercado,  or visited ruins.  

I get up, go to work, come home, run to school, run home, try to tidy up, hope I'm in time to say good night to my daughter, spend a few minutes with my son, before crashing for the night so I can get up at 5am to do it all over again.  This isn't exactly the life I'd envisioned for myself.

This morning, a Saturday, I got up at 5am again, showered, browsed through my favourite blogs for a bit, catching up on what people have been up to.  I got ready and was gone by 7:30 to drive an hour to the town my mother lives in.  I had to see if I could find her a room in one of the two retirement homes so she can receive some respite care for the next month or so.

On January 1st, she plowed her brand new Sportage into a stopped SUV, while driving about 100 km/h.  She has no idea how lucky she was to escape with only she injuries she had - some broken ribs, and an open compound fracture of her right ankle, which was in about 12 pieces.  3 operations later, 2.5 months of this borg-like looking set of external pins and screws holding the entire thing together.  Now she's ready to be sprung from the hospital, but where to put her is the question.  She healthy enough to leave the hospital, but not healthy enough to go back home by herself.

Necesito unas vacaciones!!!!!

Birthdays

Remember when you were little and you'd count down the days with such anticipation as to make your parents wish they could send you off somewhere until the blessed day actually arrived?  Everyday you'd look at the calendar, count the days off, and remind your parent for the 110th time that you really NEEDED to have that bike or barbie doll?

Today, I turn 39 years old.  Ugh.  Instead of counting down with anticipation, there was dread as each day ticked painfully by.  39!!!!  How in the world did that happen?????

In my head, I'm still 20.  I remember turning 30 and it was a difficult day.  My 20's were hard, but I was still young.  A kid!  Then I turned 30 and realized that those carefree days were behind me and I had to at least, start acting like an adult.  

And now.......  I'm 39.  Where oh where has the time gone???  My oldest is graduating from high school this year.  That's depressing.  In the past years I've started thinking about making sure that we have enough money to retire on, university plans for Mike, dealing with 'grown up' issues....  I don't like it one bit!!!

Of course I'm being silly.  I'm healthy (enough), I don't look anywhere near my age.  I still drive my car with the music blaring.  I can still (occasionally) drink some people under the table.  I still like to go boogie my butt off in a dance club.  I can still wear a tight t-shirt and look reasonably sexy.  That's all good, right?

But what bothers me, is that in all reality, my life is half over.  And I'm still working like a dog to make sure that the bills are paid, that we have vehicles in the driveway, that the mortgage is paid.....  sigh....  the list goes on.

Which brings me back to my very first post.  Shouldn't there be more to life that this?  

I look at the pictures of Nancy and Paul's beautiful house in Mazatlan, and I'm so envious of them.  (By the way Nancy and Paul - if you read this, obviously I LOVE your casa!!!!)

I keep thinking to myself, "All in good time" but 39 has crept up on me so fast that I can't help but wonder if tomorrow I'll be turning 50!!!!  

In the mean time, Gerald has decided to take me to dinner to celebrate at Mexicali Rosa's, which is the only mexican restaurant in the city that I know of, and I'm sure their food will be more canadianized (if that's really a word) than mexicanized.  Oh well.  At least it's mexican.  (Sort of)

Gerald and I talked a lot yesterday about Mexico.  The price of airfare is daunting to say the least.  For us northerners, we pay dearly to get to sunny places.  I did discover that Westjet (A Canadian airline) flies directly to Mazatlan from Calgary.  Which means that we'd have to fly to Calgary, Alberta which takes 4-5 hours and then fly from Calgary to Mazatlan.  I'm hoping that they start flying direct from here.  Otherwise, we have to drive into Toronto and catch a flight from there.  (I hate Toronto with a passion)  We could however, drive 24 hours to Orlando in Florida and take a flight from there which would cost us about 300 per person return.  But, that means that we'd have to take extra time off work to facilitate the drive.  Never an easy answer.....

Anyway, it's Easter Monday, and I don't have to work today.  I do, however, have school work I need to get done, so that's what I'm spending my day doing.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Home is where the heart is

I recently had a conversation with someone that made me feel really sorry for them.  This person, whom I'll call N, is a family member.

When I saw N a few weeks ago, I decided to mention Mexico.  Her immediate response was, "What?  What about your house?"

Now, you have to understand that the differences in beliefs between this person and myself vary greatly.  For N, the entire world and her whole life has revolved around money.  Every decision, every plan, every step she's taken, has had money at the root.  Not 'making millions' kind of money, but building some sort of stable base.  Having money in the bank.  Having money put away for 'some day'.

When we bought our house, her advice - which she offers up freely and without concern as to the other party's feelings on the subject - was to buy the cheapest house we could find (within reason), thereby costing the least amount of money possible.  You certainly wouldn't want to spend any extra money on anything.  Once you've bought this house, you keep it.  Forever.  You never move, never upgrade to a bigger house, never plan on leaving it.

But, what this translates to in her eyes, is having a home.  Which, I guess, makes sense.  I can understand where she's coming from.  I know she grew up very poorly and struggled to make ends meet.  Now, retired, she has more than enough money put away to ensure her a very comfortable life.  But still, her main concern is keeping it in the bank, where she can "see" it.

So when she said to me "What about your house?", my response was, "It's just a building.  A thing.  It can be replaced.  We never intended on retiring in this house."

She couldn't understand that.  She looked at me for a few seconds, and changed the subject.  By changing the subject, she wouldn't have to deal with something she didn't like.  She wouldn't have to look at another person's opinion, which if different from her own, is inherently wrong and faulty.

My feeling is that a house does not mean a home.  My 'home' is wherever my family is.  Wherever I can hug my kids, feed them dinner, share time with them.  My 'home' is wherever my husband and I happen to hang our hats.  

I feel sorry for N.  I wish she could understand that 'money' and 'having' and 'real estate' don't mean the same thing to me that they mean to her.  I can leave my house and find another, and that new house will be home as long as I have my family.

I know that I can't change the way she is.  I can't make her understand.  I can't open her eyes.  I can't help to see that new experiences are what living should be about.  She'll never understand that I don't want to stagnate in one little pond, when there are so many other little ponds to see.

I wish I could, but I can't.  That makes me sad.

Dog Blog

I had said in an earlier post that I would introduce the furrier members of our family. They are such an important part of my life - I can't imagine being without them.

I always think that life would be so much easier without them - they do tend to complicate things - but then I know I'd be lost without having dogs in my life.

Chorney

Chorney came from a breeder and is my 'bargain basement' dog. When Gerald and I were buying our first house, my son Mike was 6, and I insisted that every little boy should have a dog. My friend who lived out in the country knoew of a breeder up the road and suggested that we go to see her. So, we're wandering around the barn and the bredder was telling me that she didn't have many pups left, but was expecting a litter in a few weeks.

Along comes Chorney. At 10 months, she was all gangly, leggy and awkward. She walked right up to me, laid down, and put her chin on my foot. It was love. The breeder told me that no one wanted her - she was the runt of the litter. I couldn't say no. She offered her to me for half of what she normally charged for one of her pups. I paid her and make plans to pick her up the day we took possession of the house.

The breeder was calling her Shorty and I hated it, but she responded to it. I wanted to find a name for her that sounded similar to Shorty. On the drive home I started listing every word I could think of that rhymed (Morty, Forty etc), and then a light bulb went on! I remembered a police constable from back home in northern Ontario who had been friends with my parents, and his last name was Chorney. Hence, her name is Chorney.

She has been the best dog. Although first impressions would lead you to think that she doesn't have much going on upstairs, she's an amazingly smart dog. Without a day of formal training, she picked up every command we threw at her with ease. I have no idea how many words she recognizes, but the number is probably astounding.

These days, she's lost most of her hearing and responds mostly to things she can feel, like vibrations and thumps. Her back end is terribly arthritic and she's lost a lot of control over it. She's still a happy girl though, who loves to go for (shorter) walks, and plays with her toys. A good day includes breakfast with something yummy thrown in, and then laying out on the back deck in the sun - whether it's summer or winter.

Trap

Trap is a retired greyhound who came to Canada after racing at Melbourne in Florida. He was 2-1/2 when he came home after a very brief racing career. Turns out he wasn't much of a racer. He ran a grand total of 8 races and won - 0. That's my boy! He must have known there was a forever couch out there waiting for him, so why run?

Trap is a BIG boy. He weighs about 85-90 lbs and can walk along our dining room table with his head over the table. This sometimes poses a problem when we have people over for dinner. He's slowly learning manners though, and leaves when told.

Trap isn't what you'd call a fast learner. Stairs are still something he has a lot of problems with. Greyhounds come into homes with no knowledge of 'petdom'. They don't know how to be a pet. I could talk for hours n this subject,so I'll just leave it at that.

Trap is mommy's boy in a very big way. He follows me everywhere, stuck to my leg like velcro.
Sometimes when he really wants something, he'll run along beside me, body-checking me in the direction of what he wants. Maybe he's not so dumb after all!

Greyhounds are like big, huge cats. Don't let anyone tell you that they need a lot of excercise or need to run everyday. There are TONS of misconceptions out there about the breed. Trap is happy to plant his butt on a couch and sleep the day away.

We have also pre-adopted another greyhound, Elliott, who is only 6 months old. He will stay where he is in Iowa until he's about a year old, and then he'll go to schooling. From there, if he's good enough, he'll move to a track where he'll race. When he's done he'll come home to us!

So there you have it. Our dogs are an important part of our lives, no matter how much of a pain they are!

What happened to the Smith's?

I was reading this blog about a family with 3 kids who moved to Merida from Scottsdale for 2 months.  It was a great blog with beautiful photography.  In the last post, they were getting ready to go look at some real estate in Merida, since they were planning on moving there.  This last post was dated October 24, 2006.  

It was the last post, except for a quick update saying they were all well and back in Scottsdale.

What happened????  Did they buy a place?  How did they manage going home?  How did the kids feel about going home to the States??

I was horribly disappointed to find out after searching all over their site to find the next post that there wasn't another one!  It was like watching a really good tv show and then you get those dreaded words across the screen...

To be contined...

I was really interested in this blog because they had 3 kids with them, and it's the only blog I've been able to find written by folks who have their young children with them.  

Now I just feel so......  let down....  :)

If anyone knows whatever became of the Smith Family, I'd sure love to know!

Sore feet

My feet hurt tonight.  I guess that's what you get when you wear high heeled boots all day at work and then wear them to school for another 4 hours.  In the end, you've had a very long day and have sore feet.

It's raining here today.  We've got 5 feet of snow piled up along the driveway, and it's pouring rain.  Let's hope our basement hasn't decided to leak this year.  I'm so DONE with winter.  BRING ON SPRING PLEASE!!!!!  It seems the older I get, the more I dislike winter and everything that goes along with it.  I don't ski, snowboard or partake in any other winter outdoor activity.  I'm a spring, summer, fall kinda girl.  Even fall is pushing the envelope for me.  

I emailed a friend of mine who is a travel agent and asked her to keep an eye open for any seat sales to Mazatlan.  Airfare for 4 of us is going to cost over $3000.00 CAD, so we need a seat sale.  Why oh why is it so expensive????  I know...  don't answer that.  I used to work for Canadian Airlines before they went belly up and were absorbed by the monstrous Air Canada.  Believe it or not, I was a ramp rat.  I loaded and unloaded planes, did the de-icing, marshalled the planes around the tarmac - yes I was the person with the headset and the big glowing orange lights waving them around like a lunatic.  That was me.  The best part about the job was that I worked with over 100 men, and I was single at the time.  It was a great 5 years...  And!  I was in the best physical shape of my life!  Oh, and we flew around for practically nothing.  Yup, airline employees fly for ridiculously low, low prices.  So imagine this short, little thing (I'm only 5 feet tall) slugging your luggage around.  I'm sure that makes you feel great about checking your valuables all packed away nicely in your suitcases.  (Honest.  We were careful.)

I've been listening to my spanish cd's and I'm actually learning!  Well, to be quite frank, I pick up languages very easily.  Math is another story.  But languages and me are friends.  I'm enjoying it too.  It's amazing how similar it is to french.  Verb conjugation is almost identical except the endings are different.  That's one of the reasons learning spanish isn't much of a problem for me.  I'm bilingual (french and english) and spanish and french are really very close. So, voila!  

At this point I'm just rambling, but I'm in a rambling sort of mood today.  And I just remembered that I forgot to pick up the newsletters that I had printed last night.  I write the newsletter for our greyhound adoption group.  I was supposed to pick it up, fold them, stuff them in envelopes and mail them out tomorrow.  Oops...  Sorry greyhound people...  It'll be a day late.

A quiet weekend

This weekend has been uneventful and pretty quiet.  I wrote my paper for school (a comparative essay on two 16th century poems), did our income taxes and took out a small roast to cook, but someone put in back on the freezer at some point, so now I have nothing to cook for dinner.  Doesn't bother me as I'm a vegetarian, but everyone else is going to be disappointed when they realize that their dinner was stuffed back into the freezer!

Gerald, Meaghan and I went out to Chapter's last night to browse the store.  While we were there, I realized that Chapter's is one thing I'll miss in a BIG way.  If you're not familiar, Chapter's is a huge bookstore with seating areas, a Starbuck's and more books than you would imagine possible.  It's one of my favourite places to go!  It's also open really late (11 p.m. on Saturdays) so it's sometimes where Ger and I go for a "date".  

Of course, we ended up in the international travel section, picking up and flipping through every book that had anything to do with Mexico.  I also spent some time looking through the section on home-based businesses seeing if there was anything that might be of use to Gerald as he figures out what he's going to do while we're in Mexico.  Nothing grabbed my attention though.

I needed to look something up in the French language section (for school, of course...  what else do I do with my free time?) and came across some Spanish language cd's.  So, being the language nerd that I am, I bought one for 40$.  It has CD's to play and a CD that can be played on your home computer.  It also has all the lessons in text format so I can print them out as well.  I like that option because I don't just want to know how to speak spanish, but also how to write it.  Meaghan and I spent some time this morning on the computer learning some new words.

Besides all that, I did nothing.  Some housekeeping, laundry and stuff, of course, but nothing really worth taking up your time with.  

The kids head back to school tomorrow after another March break, and I'm getting desperate for the end of my school year to get here.  I'm tired, getting cranky, and I really need a break from classes.  Having the summer off will be such a treat!  I have no idea what I'll do with all my spare time!

TGIF

Another Friday is finally here.  It's been a long week.

Gerald and I discussed a lot of things this week - some positive, some negative.  In the end I think we agreed on some points and agreed to disagree on others.  We have a few ideas for the future and for Mexico, but nothing is set in stone, which is a good thing.  We don't want to commit ourselves to something right now only to be disappointed later on.

Two of the ideas were our original idea to spend 6 months to a year in Mexico sometime in the next few years, or to make a few shorter trips down, take an early retirement in ten yrs or so and relocate either for part of the year or permanently.  I doubt we'll decide between the two until, and if we actually decide on that option.

I had ordered 2 more books from Amazon, and they arrived today.  The People's Guide to Mexico looks like a great book with a lot of information and great stories built in.  I think that it's going to be a great resource!  The other book I ordered is The Canadian Snowbird Guide - everything you need to know about living part-time in the USA and Mexico.  This one isn't as entertaining, but addresses a lot of important things from a Canadian point of view.  It deals with more of the 'red-tape' sort of issues.

I was also researching ways we can learn spanish.  There are a few interesting options out there.  I found one software that looks promising, but I'm in no big rush for that  We've got lots of time.  Meaghan is really excited about the whole idea.  I did finally ask her if she'd like to go live in Mexico.  She was really excited and wanted me to teach her some spanish right away!  My spanish is pretty limited at the moment, so the first thing popped into my head was, "Hola!  Yo es muy importante."  We both laughed like idiots while we walked around Zellers (which is a large Canadian department store chain), and she kept repeating "Yo es muy importante!"

One thing that kind of saddens me is that Gerald and I both know that Chorney, our German Sheppard will never get to go with us.  She will turn 13 in April and will be gone by the time we go.  Our greyhound Trap, who turns 5 in April could possibly make it to the beach, and I'm sure he'd be grateful!  The poor boy came to Canada after living and racing in Florida!  Talk about a change in temperature!  I'll post some photos of my fur-kids in the next couple of days, but I really HAVE to sit down and write my paper for school this weekend.

That's it for now though.  It's getting late, I'm tired, and I'm anxious to curl up in bed and read my books!

Yes, no, pros, cons, good, bad etc.

So, let me start off by saying that if it weren't for reading blogs, I'd have a significantly smaller amount of information on moving and living in Mexico.  To all you guys who sit and write blogs, KUDOS TO YOU!!!!!  There are a few that I've read from beginning to end, and I've laughed with you, been excited for you, and yes...  even shed a few tears when something was touching.  (yes, I'm a suck..)

Anyway.  I'm turning to you know for some of your wisdom and knowledge.  I know there aren't many people who read my brand new blog, but for those who do, I hope you'll comment with your answers and hopefully you'll get some others to chime in as well.  Someday, there may be someone just like me, hunting for scraps of information, and they might stumble upon this and find some needed answers.

Some of the good points and pros are pretty obvious, especially for someone living in this frozen hell we call Canada.  Examples would be weather, no snow, warm temperatures, plants that live 12 months out of the year, fresh veggies instead of those which have travelled all the way from California to Canada, and the list goes on.  But!

I know there are bad points and cons as well, and I want to know what they are!  What are the things in Canada and the US that you wish were the same in Mexico?  Tell me the things that you don't like about living in Mexico.  And while you're at it, list a few things that as expats in Mexico, you'd never want to live without again.

We want to know it all! (And need to while we deliberate...)

Think, think, think

It's amazing how much 'stuff' there is to think about when you start considering a move of this proportion. I almost need to buy a notebook to keep with me so that I can jot down things as they pop into my head - as they do, seemingly at the oddest possible times.

The easiest way to do this would have been to follow Cancun Canuck's lead, and just "do it" - leave on vacation and not come back. Not as easy when you have kids to think about though.

Sometimes when you think too much about something - it's just that: Too much. Everything seems to be too much. Too much trouble, too much risk, too much money, too much time, etc, etc, etc... And then of course, everyone has their own priorities which they want everyone else to consider as the most important priority. The king of all priorities. The big kahuna.

Financially, for a lot of people including us (and I'm not saying everyone, because everyone's circumstances are completely different) moving to Mexico isn't the most beneficial thing to do. We will make less money - there's no question about that. But is it all about the money? Not for me it isn't. It's like those credit card commercials where everything costs something and then the last thing is: Priceless.

Well, the experience not only for my husband and myself, but for my daughter, would be priceless. What better classroom is there than living life? But, you have to make sure you can eat and keep a roof over your head. As I've explained, by the time we go, I'll be a qualified teacher with a combined bachelor's degree in English Literature and French. I will get an ESL certification too. I'll have a couple of years of teaching under my belt. So, what that means is that I'll have a job - we won't starve, we'll have somewhere to live and if Gerald can find some sort of employment too, then we're that much better off.

This leads me to MY greatest concern about this whole thing. Good schooling for my daughter and a job in a school for me.

I've been all over the internet researching schools in Mexico. I would like her to attend one of the International/Bilingual schools. The drawback to this is that there are only so many of them. We had wanted very much to stay in a coastal city or town, which from my research, leaves two options. Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

Cancun is too expensive and Puerto Vallarta is not far behind. Now, I admit that I don't have all the facts. For example, I don't know how much a teacher in one of these schools earns, therefore I don't know how much money I will have available for rent. One problem always leads to another it seems.

Concern number 2. Employment for Gerald. Obviously, he can't just arrive in the country and get any old job he wants. This is going to require some serious thought and planning. I've been so busy thinking about the whole school issue so I haven't had a lot of time to start thinking about him yet.

Tied into this concern - let's call it "sub-concern 2", or better yet concern number 2.A, which is also Gerald's primary concern, or Concern 1. He would have to leave his job here in Canada for the period of time we stay in Mexico. He's no spring chicken anymore on the job front - he's turning 40 this year. Employers aren't as eager to hire more..... mature people as they are to hire younger people who may be fresh out of school and cheaper. (Concern 1.A. Subsection B - Getting a job on our Return)

So what does that mean for our plans? I don't know yet. It's another thing to "think" about.

A sunny day in Hamilton

This morning we woke up, the sun was shining and the sky was a bright blue.  And man, is it cold!  After 24+ hours of snowfall we shovelled our cars out of the driveway, and the snowbanks are much higher than the cars themselves.  

Gerald and I left the kids at home, and walked over to Tim Horton's for a coffee.  While we were there, I asked him if we could talk seriously about a move to Mexico.

He's in.  He likes the idea.

He still has reservations about healthcare and employment.  Employment won't be as much of a problem for me as it will be for him.  I'll be a qualified teacher (in Canada) in English and French, and I'll also take ESL certification.  For him, however, the job market will be tougher to navigate.  The other thing I have going is that before going back to university, I was a graphic artist, so I could possibly use that to my advantage as well.

He's also concerned about being able to live comfortably on whatever salaries we make.  I don't think he intends on living like a king by any means, but he's trying to be thorough in his thinking, taking every little thing into consideration.

We talked about making a temporary, or trial move for 6 months to a year, and seeing how it goes.  I'm pretty sure that we will be making a trip over the next year or so, renting a house for a week preferably in the centro area of Mazatlan, and living as normally as possible to see how we'll like it.

Another idea I had was to purchase a home and then rent it out.  That will require a lot more investigation though.  I don't know exactly how we'd work out all the logistics of it, but it's a thought anyway.

The best part of the day was hearing him say that he's on board.  It may not happen for a number of years, but at least we've got a direction to move in!  I'm excited to be able to research things with him and share information and ideas.  I've done a lot more reading on the topic than he has, but I'm encouraging him to do all the research he needs or wants to!  

My son Michael still thinks I'm nuts.  We haven't mentioned anything to Meaghan yet, because at 8 years of age, I'm not sure she'd completely understand what we're talking about, especially when we start talking about a trial move.  All in good time.  She's anxious to take a trip to Mexico though - she was pretty angry that we didn't take her with us the last time!

So all in all, it's been a positive weekend (except for school work that I've neglected).

Stay tuned!

A wasted day

So I've wasted the entire day.  When I should have been doing school work, I was online reading blogs, and looking at real estate in Mexico, rentals, and everything else I could possibly think of.

It was a crappy, crappy day though.  It's been snowing for more than 24 hours now......

Saturday morning musings

I woke up this morning and thought to myself, "There must be more to life than this, shouldn't there?"

Something other than the same thing, everyday.

Today is Saturday.  We're in the middle of another snow storm.  I'm sick of it.

Today I will have to clean the house, shovel the snow, do laundry, vacuum, read for school, do homework, write a paper.  Tomorrow I'll get up and do pretty much the same thing.  Monday morning will start yet another work week.  I'll get up at 5 a.m., have a coffee and a cigarette, have a shower, do my hair, pack lunches, kiss my family good-bye for the day and head off to work.  I'll work and them come home, only to change and head out to visit my mother in the hospital. (That's a whole 'nother blog.)  Tuesday, I'll do it all again, except instead of going to the hospital, I'll drive 45 minutes to school where I'll sit through a lecture.  Wednesday - the same, except Meaghan has brownies.  Thursday - the same.  Friday  - the same but I'll be heading out to see mom. 

This can't be all that life has to offer, right?

There's so much to experience, and we're not experiencing anything!  It's a great big, beautiful world, and all we see is our own little tiny corner.  We get so caught up in our little lives that we forget to experience, learn, see, taste, hear, absorb other things.  

I'm guilty of it too; not looking past my own front door.  I'm guilty of getting stuck in a rut and not living life.  I'm trying to fix that.

I have to finish school.  I've worked so hard for so long to accomplish this.  I have to get my degree.  No question.  I want to go to teacher's college.  No question there either.  

After that?  The responsible, level-headed me says to teach for 10 years and then see what happens.  The life-loving me says to pursue my goals, and then take stock in life and see where I want to go from there.  Right now, the life-loving me is in the lead.

I was wondering if there were any Canadian insurance companies in Mexico.  Gerald is an insurance broker here in Ontario, so I wonder if that may be an avenue he could follow to Mexico.  I'll have to see if I can find any information on the internet about that.

For now, back to reality, I guess.  Back to the snow, housework and books.  

An introduction

Earlier this year, my husband Gerald and I took our first trip to Mexico.  We stayed in Cancun for one week.  He had won the trip last year from a radio station, and believe me...  we NEEDED a vacation.

In about 2 weeks I'll be turning 39, and in June Ger will turn 40.  We have 2 kids, Mike who will turn 18 in June, and Meaghan who will be 8 in July.  Yup - big age difference.  I work full time, I attend university at night working on a bachelor's degree in English Literature and French.  Gerald also works full time and referee's hockey on the side.  We have 2 beautiful dogs, Chorney, a German Shepperd who is almost 13, and Trap, a retired greyhound who will be 5 in April.  Filling out the crew is Diego, a barn-cat turned house cat.

Our lives are full.  Busy.  Tiring.  Scheduled.   

Anyway.  Back to the point I was going to make.  I am somewhat of an adventurous spirit.  New adventures and experiences get me all excited.  I love to be consumed by thinking about something that really turns my crank!

Since the day I met Gerald, I have always said that one of these days I want to move to another country and start a new life.  Gerald, is not as adventurous as I am.  He's getting better, but he's still a little stuck in his ways.  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he didn't experience a lot in his life before me.  There was no travelling to other countries, no going for a long drive and getting lost on purpose, no adventure.

I had a much different upbringing.  There was a lot of travelling - right across Canada and all over the United States.  When I got older I travelled a little more, and after meeting Ger, I did get him out of the country to Cuba and on a Caribbean cruise.  Then he won the trip to Mexico, and now loves to travel almost as much as I do.

So back to my desire to move to another country.  I had never actually 'picked' a country in the past to move to.  I just knew that I wanted to.  Once we'd come back from Cancun, I was secretly hooked, but didn't say anything to Ger.  I started doing some research on the internet - looking up Mexico, moving, education, schools, you name it.  That's when I ran across a few of the blogs here written by people who have been fortunate enough to live my dream.  

The other day, I cautiously introduced the topic of moving to Gerald in an email.  (We email each other a lot during the day - it's sometimes the only way we get to have a conversation!)  I 'planted the seed' let's say.  I sent him a link to one of the blogs telling him how interesting it was, and I quickly followed up with another email asking him to just consider moving for one year.  To my surprise, he wasn't completely against it, and actually quite open to the idea.  (Holy crap!  I could hardly believe it!!!!!)  Then came the negatives.  We can't because.....

This is typical from Gerald.  He always sees the negatives and problems before he considers the positives and possibilities.  So I asked him to think a little differently, and consider the things we could do to it make happen, instead of thinking about the reasons why we couldn't.  

I know he has concerns about things like healthcare, safety, employment, etc, etc, etc, and they're all valid concerns.  My concern is turning 70 or 80 and wishing I had done what I'd wanted to all along instead of giving up on a dream.  Life is short, you know.  And I'm not getting any younger.

My next step was to visit Amazon.  I'm a bit of a bookaholic.  I love books.  So I did a few searches and came up with a few titles on moving to Mexico, and placed my order.  Living Abroad in Mexico by Ken Luboff arrived today, and because it was only 2$, Easy Spanish Phrase Book came along with it.  I've already started reading Living Abroad and today I told my boss that I wanted to buy a bathing cap, in Spanish.  He laughed at me.

Whatever happens, it won't be for awhile.  I still have another year before my degree is done, and a year of teacher's college after that.  I should teach for a few years before we do anything too, so that we're in a bit better financial situation than we are right now.  One concern I have is that my daughter will likely be in her teens by the time we can actually start thinking seriously about actually moving.  Will she want to go?  Will she be upset and angry?  I think the experience would be better than any classroom, but that's just me.  What do mom's know anyway, right?

Mike, my son, will be grown and out of the house by then.  He thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do this, but I told his that when he wants to come visit mom in sunny and warm Mexico, mom won't seem quite so nuts anymore.

So.  Can I make my dream come true?  Can I actually pull this off?  I want to.  Desperately.  I don't want to wake up one day and wish I had done this but know that it's too late.  The thought breaks my heart.  The only thing preventing this would be my husband.  I think that once he has some time to think about it, he may just be more on board than I am.  Let's hope!