Wow, what happened to the last six months? A lot actually, so let me fill you in month-by-month and in as few words as possible so you will read all the way to the end without getting bored!
October 2009: We were deep in the process of buying Casa Panchito with Jeremy's parents, and learning a lot about the real estate differences between the United States and Mexico. Jeremy was still working hard on building kites and met another architect in town and started a firm with her called Living Arquitectura. The weather was still pretty unbearable--at least for me--but the evenings started to cool down so I knew winter was on its way.
November 2009: We will call this "Dengue Month"! I started working for SanPanchoLife.com in early November and Jeremy's architecture business was taking off. Things were looking up for us--then Dengue hit. We literally got it within an hour of each other. I won't go into all the details about it, but you have a very high fever, chills, your entire body aches, severe headache, and restlessness. You are so exhausted that you can't get out of bed nor can you sleep. There is nothing you can take except for Tylenol and drink 2 liters of fluids a day. Well, that's where I went wrong. I wasn't drinking enough and dehydration set in quickly for me. By day 5 I was throwing up and could barely drag myself out of bed to make it to the bathroom. By that evening I had passed out and had a seizure so Jeremy decided to take me to the San Pancho hospital. I was very hesitant to go to the hospital because I wasn't sure of the conditions, but I needed fluids immediately so I didn't have a choice. After 10 minutes of trying to find a vein they found one and the fluid started to drip into me. After one bag I passed out again and had another seizure and that's when I really got scared. But, I was fine and they took good care of me in the hospital and after three weeks of dengue for me and 1.5 weeks of dengue for Jeremy we were free of it.
We also had several visitors in November. Jeremy's college buddy David Goren stayed for a week during Thanksgiving, Jeremy's mom stayed with us for six weeks, and her good friend Wendy Herron came for a week to celebrate her 60th birthday. During that time we worked on the bar in hopes that we would open as soon as the house closed, which was scheduled for December 15.
December 2009: This month was devoted to the closing of the house and working hard at SanPanchoLife.com. Karen was a warrior in dealing with the house, and we were so glad she was here because of her 25+ years of real estate experience! It was hard to grasp that it was December since it was still 85 degrees and there was no snow in sight, but we did decorate a little bit for Christmas just so we were reminded it was that time of year. Casa Panchito officially became our new home on December 15th and we started working right away on the bar. Dealing with the beer distributor, obtaining an accountant, getting our working FM3's, building the bar, painting, creating our menu. You name it, we were doing it! Karen left the week before Christmas and Jeremy and I spent our first Christmas alone in 10 years. It was definitely a strange feeling, but we had a great time. We also spent New Year's Eve on the beach with great friends and reflected back on the past year and how much had changed in our lives...all for the best.
January 2010: Still working hard to get the bar opened, but running into a lot of difficulties. Money was running out fast and we still had a lot of supplies to buy. Jeremy went to Guadalajara to pick out chairs and went to Tequila to stock up on different kinds of tequila to sell in the bar. I went back to Idaho for two weeks to visit family and friends and had a great time. I must admit I was looking forward to leaving Idaho and the freezing cold to come back to our little paradise. One special treat was a visit from Jeremy's sister, Erin. She stayed with us for two weeks and was instrumental in helping us set up the bar. Thanks Erin! It was also nice having someone to talk to and hang out on the beach with. We had a good time.
February 2010: We received some terrible news in late January that my Grandpa had passed away, so we went back to Idaho for his funeral and to spend some much needed time with my family. But with that trip pushed the bar opening out two weeks--which was probably for the best because I don't think we were ready at the time. Once we returned to San Pancho we hit the ground running and had set a date to open the bar--February 15th! Cali's boyfriend, James, flew down from L.A. to help us with the opening and we had some good friends from Idaho surprise us on opening day! Thanks to all of our good friends and people who found us Panchito's had an amazing opening night--and Jeremy and I were officially bar owners!
March 2010: Jeremy turned 35 and we marked our 10 year anniversary of being together. But learning how to juggle two jobs was somewhat of a challenge. Sleep was becoming less and less of a priority and being able to take a few hours out of the day to spend on yourself was non-existent. SanPanchoLife.com was rockin-n-rollin and Jeremy was working hard on the bar and doing drawings. After being here for nine months I finally felt like we were going to make it here! Karen came back for a two week stay and was a huge help with the bar and the website.
Every day is something special for us. Not everyone has the chance to uproot and move to a foreign country to live a sweeter, more simple life and we are thankful that we had this opportunity.
I won't go into April since it's just begun. But I do plan on writing on a more continuous basis again. Thanks for following us!
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