That didn’t last long. Moved over to Hugo from WriteFreely for a bit more flexibility. This site is going through some major overhaul. Slowly and recklessly.

Being overseas and not having access to firecrackers, this festival is just not what it used to be. I wish I could go back to those days when we would try and wake up before Kitta mama would burst his 1000 wala before the break of dawn. Days when you yearn to wear those new set of clothes - The only time of the year when you get new clothes and not hand-me-downs. Days when you make a TON of sweets and savories to share with family and friends. Days when you would hop into people’s houses uninvited to see what special delicacy they’ve made. Days when every single house is lit up and the smoke of firecrackers permeate everything. Such good memories…. ...

Since 2007, WordPress has been home to most of my digital presence. Sometime last week one of the plugins – Wordfence, I think – took a major dump and nuked my site down. Didn’t quite see that coming but I take that as a sign for me to change things up a bit. I’ve been wanting to test out WriteFreely for a while now and this might be just about the right opportunity. I’m not quite suew how I want to handle the migration. For now though, it’s a brand new shiny slate. ...

Took a couple days off work for a short break. M flagged a quick trip to the Tula ruins. Just about a couple hours from the city, these ruins were a nice quick visit. There was barely anybody out here as opposed to the crowds at the Teotihuacán pyramids. On the way back we did a quick stop in Tepozotlan for brunch. Once back in the city, S wanted to roller blade and we head to Parque Americana for some good wheel time. I’m so glad we got these rollers! I’m definitely getting better at it. ...

Took the bike out for a spin right after the CLO trick or treat. Reforma and parts of Centro Historico were closed out for the monthly night ride and this one coincided with Dia de muertos. Quite a few people showed up and most of the route was a huge bicycle jam. Nevertheless some good time out on the roads in the nippy weather. Clocked around 11 miles. ...

Spent a good few hours out in the woods along with the girl scouts. M is not a leader this year so we took a step back and had a great time just enjoying the outdoors. S had a slow start and was heavily resisting for the first hour or so. She suddenly flipped once we reached the mid point and didn’t want to stop! She clocked around 5.2 miles in 3 hours and this would be one of her longest hikes in quite some time now! Super proud and she did earn her ramen! ...

Back from a week long trip from Matamoros. It felt much safer this trip with a significant lack of federales presence. Until last Saturday. Locals were getting ransom calls from the cartel and we decided to operate from Brownsville instead. Otherwise a pretty uneventful yet productive trip. Had to wait for a good thirty minutes for the bus to shuttle us to the terminal. Not complaining one bit though. There’s a mild nip in the air. Feels SO GOOD to be back in this beautiful valley. Izta and Popo are snow capped now. So freaking beautiful. Maybe I should head out for a hike this weekend? ...

M taps me slightly and points to the window. I’d mentioned I would go for a run if it starts raining. I’d probably slept for about an hour? Not sure when I fell asleep. Must be the sugar high from the petta that M got from Vancouver. I quickly change and head outdoors. It’s pouring but not as much I’d like it to. Hopefully it’ll pick up soon. It’s real dark and cloudy. The GPS on the Forerunner 250 barely registers any signal. I walk fast and head further west on Polanco towards Ferro Carril via Homero. Reach the biking path by the rail line and bear left. It’s pouring. Decide to pick up some pace and essentially run up on all the foot bridges. There’s barely anybody else on the trail. This is awesome! ...

We borrowed Millebornes from the Hancocks couple days ago since S has totally gotten into it now. The one we owned mysteriously went missing when we PCS’d to CDMX last year. Time to order a few more boxes of this and Monopoly Deal!

So thrilled to be back home in CDMX. The last four weeks have been draining to say the least. Being away from the family and having to eat outside every single day was a bit of a stretch. On the work front, each day of the last four weeks has been nothing but a regular TDY day on steroids. Was absolutely exciting to work through the never ending ‘surprises’ and finding ways to make things work with what was thrown at us. Decommissioning the existing consulate and commissioning the new one in Hermosillo has been a huge learning experience. I need to feed all that I’ve gleaned in Hermosillo into Merida’s upcoming move. ...