The Sea is a Salty One

  Let's just say they aren't going well. Not taking or anything else involving art classes. Saturday. Painting class and I'm sitting nearby a woman my husband knows of and does not like. My husband likes everyone. He does not like her, which tells me there's something very wrong going on with her. We ran into her during our last Price Smart run. She's a weirdo. Just very off putting vibes. The painting is ugly. Ugly example. Ugly wrong directions with ugly ideas all the way around. No, it's not the one above. That's one I painted twenty years ago and I love. It's based on a place I used to go to off Pensacola, Florida. Weirdo lady kept yapping that the teacher promised them a "Picasso" alike project. Well no, I started explaining, this project has more in common with a Piet Mondrian or a Mark Rothco than Picasso. Just like that I'm sucked into a college level explanation of painting styles of the more modern artists and what distinctives th...

  Caballeros at the Santa Cruz Rodeo festival last week Yesterday I was on pins, needles and threads going to church. Was quite curious to see if the pastor of the best gosh darn mini megachurch in the rainforest (his name for it, not mine) would mention any need to pray for the things going on in our world. Meaning the shootings in Minnesota by ICE agents. Crickets of course. Nothing, de nada, it was all sunshine and "control your thoughts" per usual. I don't get why the hubby loves this church because a lot of the theology is out of Christian Nationalism.   The funny: The Ogress was there when I was walking in and I complimented her on her pretty dress. She looked at me, started to smile and say something before remembering that we're supposed to be mortal enemies in church. So she scowled, turned up her nose and went elsewhere. Laughing because whenever I run into her in town she's friendly still, but in church there is something of a performance going on in fr...

  Yes, yes, I have been here a lot the last two weeks. We've been in Santa Cruz moving some of our investment funds to a credit union here. Gonna give you a big moving to Costa Rica secret -- the banks and credit unions here offer the best certificate of deposit rates, unlike the USA. We live off the interest of our various investments in Costa Rica. If you do that not only will you likely beat the volatile stock market along with the bonds and CD rates, you'll gain investor status here. It makes residency much easier. Costa Rica just wants to make sure you can support yourself if you move here. Pretty excited tonight! My new dishwasher has been installed and made pretty short work of the dishes. I have been living in this house nearly eight years with me being the solemente dishwasher. I am so thrilled! Ordered the new washer and dryer and they're supposed to be in at the store in a week, and installed the Tuesday afterward. Repairman here tomorrow to work on putting a cov...

  About as much fun as getting groped without consent. See I can poke fun at the Democrats too. Since May/June when we had to fly down to Louisiana because my mother was in the hospital we've all be puzzled over the rapidity of her dementia decline. Was it even possible to lose marbles so suddenly? The best the medical experts would say was "white ischemic matter found throughout brain" with no deeper explanation than "causing dementia".   Not so now. More tests and a more definitive diagnosis of something I never heard of before - CSVD or ' Cerebral Small Vessel Disease.' Her brain is dying while her body is in tip top condition from her years of excessive workouts. Not an ounce of fat on her body anywhere. Her cardiologist said she has the heart of a much younger woman, even with all the AFib. None of that matters if your brain is toast. The brain is the boss and it needs fat to live and function. They've tried the limited spectrum of dementia dru...

  Feeling like a hen in a pot sailing on the ocean a long way from everyone. Found out this afternoon there have been many more falls by Mom and the hospitalists say she's needing cameras to watch her all the time, possibly round the clock nursing and hospice. Mostly what I am feeling at this point is relief. It's her own poor little brain dying. Very likely I will be going back to Louisiana for a spell.

  I have been better behaved, I promise! Although I was anxious to fly the double birds like this to 2025 because of the mom shenanigans and the husband's cancer recurrence.  The last day of the year was anti climatic. I went to a new beach I'd not seen before hidden away between Brasilita and Flamingo. I wish I'd have brought a camera because there's a small island just off shore that you can walk to during low tide. I cannot wait to wobble over there and hunt for sea beans! That was the most excitement of the holiday. I fell asleep early, work up just as the fireworks were going off and went right back to sleep. Tried to go to sleep early last night. I felt tired, but unable to sleep well, waking up again and again with leg cramps and pain, weird dreams and the like. By the time I got up this morning it was pretty obvious something was deeply off. Dang, on laundry day too.  Now I have the flu, no doubt exposed by some American slumming it at one of our local grocery s...