Margaret and are going to meet at the Cancun airport, rent a car, and then drive to Akumal, which is about an hour south.  She’s flying from Vancouver, and we have direct flights from Kelowna, so I’ll be there about 90 minutes prior to her arrival.  God willing, of course, given winter travel in Canada.

Nicky’ll stay here with his filthy dog Fuji so that the cats and Louie are properly taken care of.  The little female cat, Iris, now knows how to use the cat door, so all three cats are fairly self-sufficient.  One thing I have to warn Nicky about is if the tuxedos run out of food they swipe the dishes off the shelf, crashing them onto the tile floor.

Here’s something disturbing.  I went to Value Village as it was 50% off and bought some tops, and then I decided to count how many tops I have.  Just on hangers, I have 77!  Add the folded tops in drawers and I must own 100.  This was very upsetting, even at $5 each top, it’s the insane volume that kills me.

So now there are many sections of thrift stores in which I can’t allow myself.  Besides women’s tops, I eschew the nick nacks as I can now shop in my own house for gifts for people.  However I’ve been looking for a small French press to take on my trip, and somehow came home with stone horse head book ends.

Because I don’t have a cell phone Margaret and I have to make concrete plans for meeting in Mexico.  I’m not really worried about it, as I know in the past whenever I’ve urgently needed a phone, I’ve been able to rely on the kindness of strangers.  Most people are so perplexed by the request they just hand me their phones. Of course then I hand it right back saying how do you dial this thing, and making them do it.

We in the Interior of BC are grateful for things such as direct flights to Cancun, however the departure time is a brutal 7:00 AM.  It means I have to get up at 4:00 because I want to leave here at 5:30.  With Nicky driving, and at that hour, I’ll be there in 15 minutes, and will have my boarding pass in hand.

As I’ve just counted my tops I can just imagine the volume of pants, capris, shoes, etc., however I’m already salivating for things I want to buy in Mexico.  One very useful thing is a litre of vanilla extract as it’s cheap there.   I hope that’s not some kind of nightmare at customs.

When I was in Mazatlan several decades ago I bought some leather goods which I hope to be able to buy this time too.  One was an adorable pair of leather sandals and the other a handbag.  Surely just one pair of shoes and one purse will be okay.

The worst of it is having to put on a bathing suit at this gargantuan weight.  However I plan to do as much snorkelling as I can, so I’ll just have to keep the cover-up on right to water’s edge.  I sure hope there are still a few colourful fish left in the world’s reefs.

I see it’s sunny and 28 degrees C in Akumal today, but then some rainy days are coming so one wonders what sorts of clothes to take.  However if out of 100 tops I can’t find a few suitable outfits then I should certainly pack in my shopping addiction entirely.