Things are coming together...

The logistics of moving are a nightmare! Not only do we have to stage and declutter our home in St Louis, and get it ready to sell but we have to work on the visa's for Mexico. We are continuing to build parts our home in Merida as well working on all the hassle of moving the stuff we want to bring . And I do have to mention we are taking our 4 cats.

3 of my 4 cats, L to R, ragdoll, tonkinese and maine coon..the siamese was shy..all rescues

However we have made some strides! I have sold many bookcases and other furniture on Craig's List. A hundred year old dinning set was given to cousins in Iowa and was picked up last weekend. I'm so happy as it was a wedding gift when we lived in York, Pa and I wanted it to stay in the family!. They also took the black forest cuckoo clock.....I have all Carlos' books packed in boxes as well as our mask collection, some dishes and pottery. Now I am working on CD's, DVD's and photographs.
Most all of our other furniture, couches, chairs, end table, beds and desks are spoken for. Next I will go through linens and bedding and decide what is good enough to move and donate the rest...perhaps to a rescue organization.
While I was in Merida two weeks ago I asked someone if there was something they wished they had brought but did not and I was surprised by the answer...it was lamps and lamp shades...so I have decided to bring a few of my lamps.
Meanwhile in Merida we have added a few new to us pieces of furniture and it's getting more comfortable. There is so much space I don't think it will ever look cluttered, but just in case I have lots of closets and storage spaces!

New Upper Cabinets

New to us Couch in First Room

Brought a small TV down in my suitcase.... really surprised customs!

We have received information on shipping a container via land from St Louis to Panama City, FL than by sea to Progresso, Yucatan where it would go through customs and than overland to our home in Merida. We were surprised how reasonable a 20 foot container is.. Of course we would still need to hire a customers broker which can be pricey as well as store our goods here in St Louis until one of us has a permanent visa... still it is under the $'s we had allotted for the move!

So I am still painting rooms and fixing small items and we hope that by the end of May or Mid June we have our house here in St Louis on the market....cross your fingers it sells fast.. and for a great price!

We are pool challenged..

This is the first time we have ever owned a pool. We have never lived in an area where having a swimming pool made sense..New York was way to cold  and Missouri had a short pool season too. Plus with the additional home owners insurance that would be needed in the USA it was cost prohibitive to consider one. So now we have a pool in our Merida home.
We went to Barroso, our closest pool store and had a pool technician come to our house in December. He spent an hour with Carlos explaining how the equipment worked as well as what chemicals were needed and what they did. Carlos even took notes!

When we arrived on Easter Sunday, the pool water was clear and so blue...by Tuesday it was going green and by Wednesday it was pea green! Yuck! Thanks to research and videos on the Internet we realized that we had an algae problem and quickly went out to get the stronger chemicals that we needed. Carlos shocked and scrubbed and vacuumed until by Saturday the pool was finally looking blue again!
It was so enjoyable to swim several times a day and at night the water was like velvet!