Unfortunately, we have lost our wonderful French chef, Laurent. Laurent has moved to Argentina to a five star restaurant as the head chef and we are, of course, very pleased for him and his family but very sad for ourselves.

The good news is that Café Adelita is up and running after renovations and is flourishing. Café Adelita is perhaps more casual dining but the food is very good and meticulously prepared by Chef Shea.

The other attraction of Café Adelita is the live music Thursday through Sunday.
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When we were first here over 17 years ago now I played tennis and when I needed new tennis shoes we would drive into Guadalajara to one of the big plazas to the sports chain store “Marti”. They always had everything I needed. They carried all the name brands at very good prices and I was very happy with my purchases.

I don’t play tennis anymore but I do still play golf and walk my dogs five days a week. I need shoes for both of these activities. I usually get my Footjoy golf sandals when we visit relatives in North Carolina and I have been buying walking sneakers at Walmart.

As my Walmart shoes were letting stones in the soles I realized it might be time for a new pair of sneakers. I went to Walmart to buy my third pair of Sky sneakers and this time they did not have my size.
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On Sunday morning our son and his bride had the Ford Explorer packed to the rafters and headed off to Toronto, Canada via Dallas, Texas and Virginia. All the necessary preparations had been made including insurance, new US license plates, all paperwork for the vehicle, passports, exit visas etc.

Getting across the border from Mexico to the US can be a tricky business, at best, depending on the agent you get at the crossing and their mood when you pull into their lane.

The thought of customs people going through all the stuff was daunting not because there was anything to hide but because there was so much. Everything from paintings to salad spinners and the usual assortment of electronic devices were carefully jimmied into their space and I doubt if you could have fit another manila envelope into the vehicle.

They had a route all planned out but at the last minute they heard about another route through Matehuala in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. The reason they chose to go this route was, from all accounts, it was a very safe place to stop overnight with an overloaded vehicle. Evidently, the hotel Las Palmas happily accepts pets which is a plus for many travelers.

They left about noon on Sunday and arrived in Matehuala by 8:00 pm that night. They had a good night’s sleep and crossed the border into the US without incident the next day and were in Dallas, Texas by 11:00 pm last night.

They will stay in Dallas for a couple of days visiting relatives and getting any more necessary paperwork and then will head out again for more relatives’ fabulous cabin retreat in Virginia. They will stay here for another couple of days and then head north to Toronto, Canada.

They should arrive in Toronto early next week where they have friends and family eagerly awaiting their arrival.

We are all hoping the crossing into Canada will be as straightforward as the one into the US. .

This trip was a massive undertaking for newlyweds especially as the driver was recovering from a dislocated shoulder but they are happy and glad to be starting their new life.

We wish them safe travel for the rest of the trip and I am the first to admit that I will not rest easy until I know they are both safe and sound in Toronto.

We had 13 family members here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala from the US and Canada for our son’s wedding earlier this month.

No one had asked “Is it safe or will we be OK?”. Everyone happily hopped on a plane and came to support the family. Granted it is not terrific weather in Toronto at this time of year but nonetheless…
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I had been hearing about this “taco stand” for some time from various sources but admit that I dismissed it out of hand.

When someone tells me about a taco stand next to the Pemex on the libramiento it was not somewhere I had to try.

As some of you know one of our daughters is an amazing cook and when she told me about Lake Taco and how good it was I did have ears for her.
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Last Sunday we were out for dinner with friends and family and decided we wanted to get home to see the Grammy’s (which Adele swept) and one of our favorite shows the award winning “Downton Abbey”.

We came home to a black house and two howling dogs.

Someone had driven into one of the hydro poles on the service road two blocks below our street and it caused a power surge which knocked out 2 TVs, 1 DVD player, the clock on our stove and our Leaf Frog device which allows us to change Star Choice channels in our bedroom.
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We attended a wedding at La Nueva Posada this past week-end. Everything was absolutely perfect. We had planned on having the wedding in the garden with the guests facing the lake and enjoying a beautiful Mexican sunset with a lovely dinner under the stars.

The weather had different plans for us and it rained up to and during Saturday so everything was moved inside. Michael Eager Jr. transformed the dining room into a spectacular vision of candles and white lights. The tables were adorned with calla lilies and the wedding cake created by Marta Camacho de Eager was the amazing center piece and was lit by beautiful brass candlesticks.
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To us nothing is more important than family. Both my husband and I come from very close families. We both have lost both our parents and for my husband the loss of his mother was very recent. We all went to Toronto for the Memorial Service and now most of our beloved family members are arriving for our son’s wedding this month.
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We do have almost perfect weather here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala. Occasionally, however, some storm on the coast affects our weather or we will experience Cabanuelas which is the word Mexicans have for January Rain.

It very seldom rains any time other than the rainy season from June 15th to October 15th so everyone is quite stunned that we have had light rain on and off since Sunday.
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This year the highly anticipated local event, The Mexican Chili Cook Off, will be held February 10th, 11th and 12th, 2012.

This is an event that everybody seems happy to participate in was originally started by the late Morley Eager of La Nueva Posada 35 years ago.
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