(It’s January 2024 and I’m backdating a post for each month that I have not blogged.)

(Post 242 of 263)

July feels like a lifetime ago. I already shared the biggest highlight, getting my mortgage, but as of the time of writing this post in January 2024, we still have not closed. It’s been a Process, but since I’m already in my house, the delays haven’t been too onerous and I remain patient, waiting for this final chapter, this end of the beginning of the rest of my life, to come to a close.

The summer was infernally hot, so looking at my pictures from the month, I just see lots of cooking, cats, and memes. Really the only exciting things that happened were a Costco run and the day I played hooky to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny! I like to go out for ribs on movie days and tried a new restaurant, TGI Friday’s, this day. The food was forgettable but for this fresh habanero salsa, of which I ate the whole thing. I finally have Mexican tastebuds!

Some shots of the girls in July:

I did a lot of Conqueror Virtual Challenges in 2023, as motivation to get exercise beyond just Pilates. For each completed challenge, you get a beautiful medal. Here is one I received in July for the Giza Pyramids challenge:

We have a fledgling new bus service in Mérida that uses a prepaid card that you top up rather than cash. I finally was able to get my card in July even if, spoiler alert, I didn’t get to use it for months.

I’m really pleased by how much I read for pleasure in 2023. I got through all of the CB Strike novels. In July, I got to work on the last one in my pile, with the goal to finish by the time the next one arrived in early October!

I can’t believe the Taco-Bell-style bean burritos were made in July since I finished the last one yesterday. This was some of the best meal planning I’ve ever done as they are fairly nutritious and filling and they freeze well. I was always happy to pull one out for a quick meal over these last five very busy months.

On to August. I hope that month was a bit more riveting…