The latest news from Centro Historico

Hola friends and family,

It is now into 2012 so we are looking forward to this chapter of life. 2011 was a mixed bag. Our 20th anniversary and two wonderful months in Europe were great. We also decided to make Mazatlan be our primary home. On the negative was the death of Janice mom, Evelyn at age 95 and Joel's stroke on August 21st. Even the negative had positive sides. Evelyn was freed from her pain and from being bedridden for the last several years. She died looking forward to a reunion with her parents and siblings in Heaven. Joel's stroke was a wake-up call and he has now lost weight and is eating healthy.

Our life continues to be a joyful one. It now has been the second winter that Steve and Linda Whitaker have spent in Mazatlan. We enjoy seeing them on a regular basis. Steve and Joel eat lunch every Monday with a group of guys and they also meet on Wednesdays for the weekly meeting of Beans and Beer. Janice and Linda recently traveled to Piaxtla for a three day Mosaic workshop. We also have a wonderful circle of friends from Mexico, Canada and the US, along with a few other countries. Mazatlan has an interesting mix of people. Our friends are mixed economically. Some are just getting by, most are somewhere in the middle, and a few are wealthy. We have friends from Tea Party Conservatives to ultra left Liberals. Again, most defy labels and tend to judge issues singly, rather than look at the world through doctrinal glasses. All mix well together, oh yes there are a few snobs from all ends of the spectrum, but they are the unhappy ones and don't affect most of us.

Olie, Janice and Joel are staying in good health. Joel is down 42 pounds and Janice is down 20 pounds. Olie is the smart one and doesn't have to worry about weight as he stops eating when he has enough. Joel had been put on several medications after his stroke. He has now stopped the Plavix per Dr's instruction and took himself on his statin after his cholesterol dipped extremely low. It is now at a healthy 158. His last blood pressure check was 120/80.

We will be moving on May 1st to a condo on the Malecon. We will finally have beachfront view and an awesome view of the sunset. We are hoping this is our last home for 20 years or so.

We are still processing our summer plans. We suspect at least of half of it will be spent in Mazatlan, but still are discussing San Miguel or Lake Chapala for a couple of months, or possibly a month or so trip through Southern California visiting Santa Barbara friends and Santa Inez Valley wineries. After that we would go north to Fort Ord to check out sea glass beaches, then to Napa and Sonoma Valley wineries and then to Oregon through McMinville wineries. Finally to Washington to visit family before we drive back an undetermined route as of yet.

Janice continues along with Linda spend a one morning at the orphanage. Janice continues her jewelry making and has now had good sales the last three Art Walks. Joel continues to work one shift a week at the library, plus one shift a tourist aide. A lot of Mexican workers have been put out of work due to the US medias scare headlines, so one of the tourists aides goal is to make the tourists that have made the trip feel comfortable and see that the US and Canadian media has blown things out of proportion. We are hoping that cruise ships will again make Mazatlan a stop. Their not stopping has put many people out of work. To our friends up north, come on down, there is a wonderful welcome here for you.

Until next time, life in the slow lane continues.