Corozal.

Well, I guess it's time to update (Lord, where does the time go?) the blog...I feel really negligent in not attending to it as frequently as I wanted.   Here's the thing, we've added for a brief time period another person back into our day to day lifestyle (Welcome Em!) and moved again and started a whole new chapter.  I miss the village, not the bugs or the ferry or the problems with the internet or the lack of a sink in the kitchen, but the people, especially our friends at Copper Bank Inn, Dove & Phil.....But we do go back every Saturday and will continue to as long as the roads allow to help out on Saturdays and hopefully we will do a little more bar hopping in the upcoming weeks!!!(Thanks Phil, I needed that!)
So, the changes, the scenery (I don't have the lagoon at my front door), I have HOT water, a KITCHEN,Cable with HBO and other channels,  a fenced in yard, two really nice bathrooms, the bedrooms are bigger, there is a constant breeze where I live since I am "up the hill" from the bay.  I am now Out of the bedroom with my painting and into the main area, CJ is going through Orientation (this is his last week of it and then he's off for the summer, though College starts back up on August 26th...)a nice fenced in yard where we are starting to work towards a garden, an airy carport that we hope to create an outside living space, and some really nice neighbors.
There is a social atmosphere here in Corozal, most of the former residents of the States and Canada and England living here in Corozal meet at Jam Rock on Wednesdays and I've joined the group of women who play darts there on Wednesdays....it's fun and for a brief time period I feel as though I am just enjoying myself again and not working on Wednesday's breaks up the week....Most days I am spending my time with the housework (no, I didn't hire a maid like everyone else here does...) planning out and executing the menus is interesting because you never know for sure what you will find when you go to the market, painting and working on my book.  I am trying to start up an Artist's community since I found out about 4 new people have moved into our community and are painters and artisans and we have a lot to commiserate about, things that others don't think about such as how do I make my own canvases since you can't buy them here and what's the best way to get art supplies here?
I am still up in the air about Belize, believe it or not....most days I am fine but I miss seeing my children and my grandchildren.  I think that is the only thing that is really bothersome to me....I know that I could have a decent conversation with them now but they have gotten out of the habit of talking to me in the 9 months we lived in a bad area without any real way of talking.  And they are all so busy with their own lives now, too busy for a Mom so far away....I don't regret this move because it's taught not only me but CJ and Charlie some things.....Life is precious, too precious to spend the days in an office trying to fix other peoples problems and not enough time to grow up together.  You don't always need the best newest brightest next thing from the technological market and if you are lucky enough to get it you appreciate what you have more.  And a final thing is you are not so inclined to fret the small stuff....now if I could only get Em to slow down a little and quit feeling as though she needs to have her whole life planned without even knowing where she wants to go .....what did I do to my children?  I often wonder about that....did I encourage what society forced on them?  Did I make it so they had to PRODUCE without figuring out what it was they wanted to produce? Without figuring out who they were or what they wanted to be?  I find myself not wanting to fix their problems and issues now, I want nothing to do with the problems, I just want to be involved in their lives,....is this because of my move here or is it because I've reached an age where I just want to be me?  Or is it because I just want to enjoy what I have left of this precious gift of life?
I am sure things like my parents and Charlie's Dad's death played into how I perceive things....I am now not so focused on keeping up with things because I realize that things will and do go on with or without my input .I am more focused now on what I need to do to make this world a better place....and what things are truly important!!!
When Em got here she had some major issues going on....her glasses broke so I had to get them replaced which cost me $400 BZ ($200 US) and she had picked up in her first year of college something that had affected her intestine....I was amazed at how quickly her issues got resolved here by the doctor.  He saw her, requested some blood work and a stool sample, we took them in the next day to be analyzed and the Doctor saw us again that day and issued some medication and she is on her way to having some important problems resolved.....within a few days...the total cost of her care her was under $100 US....it would have cost us so much more than that in the States....
On most days I have everything I could ever want....except my grandchildren......life is good in Corozal!