We had a little dengue scare with Laura, Fany's 2 year old daughter, over the weekend. After seeing Dr. Gustavo Friday she got blood work on Saturday. The blood work showed her white blood cell count was low, which is a sign of dengue.
Yesterday we took Laura back to Dr. Gustavo and he said she is fine. She cried and screamed, "I want to go!" the whole time she was in his office. As the Dr was listening to her lungs Laura screamed, "Save me Mommy! Save me!" A friend who was in the waiting room said the boy who was next in line looked scared while he was listening to all of Laura's dramatics. Finally the Dr. announced she was fine and we all went home. Today she seems to be back to her normal self.
She has taken to knocking on my door lately and asking if she can come in. She's a pretty amazing kid. At two years told she has filled a whole blank pad of paper with drawings. Every page is full, not just a scribble here and there. I gave her a big box of crayons and she has taken perfect care of them. Not one is broken. She can even draw hearts, which I remember struggling with when I was much older than two. Yesterday her theme was pink surf boards. She told her mom she wants to go to the beach and surf. We have no idea where she got that idea from. The girl has a very active mind.
Last night she came in and announced that she was taking off her shoes, which meant she wanted to be lifted up onto my bed. (Laura is very tall, but my bed is humongous.) As she sat there playing with Jetty she told me, "I can help you clean your house Mary Lynn." Nothing like hearing from a two year old that your house needs to be cleaned.
So, at 7:30 this morning I was sweeping and mopping and dusting. It was a good thing I did because as soon as I pulled into the driveway tonight Laura was ready for another visit. I told her that I had cleaned my house this morning because it was - as I struggled to think of the word for "messy" in Spanish Laura helped me out by saying it was "dirty". Thanks Laura. Her mom is the one I told you walks around with a mop in her hand.
Last night Fany made tamalitos, which are like meatless tamales that are sweet. We eat them in September when the corn is harvested. Thanks to Fany I have been living on them. I am pretty sure they are not healthy, especially smothered in mantequilla, which is too delicious to put into words, but kind of like a yogurty, creamy, butter. We walked to the store to buy the mantequilla and she had me try the cheese there. That was not wise. Now all I can think about is the cheese at that little store which is dangerously close to my house with its dangerously scrumptious cheese.
Every year the town where Fany's husband is from hosts a free corn festival. It is famous. People bring their corn and then eat different corn products all night long, from corn on the cobb roasted over a fire, to tamalitos, to atol which is a corn-based drink served hot that people commonly drink at bedtime. I was hoping to go this year but it was cancelled. Apparently the corn suffered as much as the beans. Nobody has any corn to spare for the festival. I am really hoping to go next year. It sounds like a once in a lifetime experience.
After dinner Fany, one of her friends and I sat outside in the yard long after dark laughing and talking about silly things. It was really nice. Fany is only a few years younger than I am. We were friends when I lived here the first time, but we didn't hang out as much. Now we pass back and forth between our two houses and hang out in our pjs like one big family. It is too bad that Fany's husband works so far and has to be gone so often, but I do enjoy my lady time with Fany.
Today I learned that Marlin moved. She hasn't been around the church much lately, so I didn't realize that she left.
The gym now has three guards outside. I asked a lady who works there why the men are outside. She said they are private body guards of people who are inside working out. They are dressed in military clothes. That means some important people must be working out at my gym. I keep trying to figure out who the guards belong to, but so far I have no idea. My car is definitely safer these days, with three men and their huge guns standing next to it. Not too worried about another break in at the gym.
