I am looking back at 2013 from my vantage point of August, 2019 as I am creating content for my website. 2013 was a challenging year and began in much the same way that 2012 ended, me coping with My Very Strange Illness and living My Great Mexican Misadventure. It was also a year in which I faced an increase in my mental health challenges.
The year also had lots of positive events - visits with friends and family, entertainment at Lakeside Little Theatre and the Auditorio, settling into new accommodations and travel.
In January I joined the Lakeside Freethinkers and I began attending monthly meetings. This became a significant chapter in my life, a story that I will tell separately. This involvement indirectly led to a change in the trajectory of my life which I relate in My Spiritual Journey.
In February, Pat and I attended several events at the Northern Lights Festival de Febrero, an annual classical and jazz music festival that is truly world class. My iPad calendar informs me that we attended three events on the 16th, 21st and 26th. I have fond memories of the performance of Alvin Tong.
In March we prepared for our trip to Calgary to sell our house which had failed to sell in 2012. Our six month lease at La Cristina was expiring at the end of March and the arrangement we had with our tenant in Calgary was concurrently expiring. In April we immediately undertook some renovations and purchased new appliances to make our house more attractive to buyers.
In the early months of 2013 my physical health steadily improved. But as I gained strength and energy, my mental health deteriorated. I remember battling anxiety day after day and feeling high levels of irritation without understanding why.
The Calgary real estate market was favourable for sellers in 2013. My iPad calendar records numerous showings immediately upon listing. After three days we received an offer that was $10,000 above our list price which we accepted without hesitation. The closing date was July 22nd. All things considered, we very much enjoyed our time in this home, which began in December, 1994.
We quickly got busy disposing of furniture and household goods. We sold some items and gave some items to a local charity. What remained was removed by a service called GOT JUNK.
We were in Calgary for the great flood, an almost unbelievable event the likes of which we had never experienced. We had time to visit with friends and family in both Calgary and Edmonton. I was pleased that Pat’s good friend Kasia came back to Calgary for a visit from Quebec City where she had moved to.
After closing our sale and taking care of banking matters, we were on our flight back to Guadalajara.
Upon arrival back in Ajijic we settled in again at Casa Flores Bed & Breakfast. Our priority was to immediately look for rental accommodations. We were unsuccessful in getting our first choice in Riviera Alta. We got our second choice in La Reserva effective August 1st and we were quite pleased. While living in La Cristina we had walked past La Reserva many times and always thought that the entry into the development was very attractive.
In September I met Richard Di Castri and we became good friends until he left Ajijic in 2014.
At this time I was still experiencing mental health problems which were affecting my relationship with Pat. She thought that I was turning into a grumpy old man and she did not like it one bit. For the third time in my life I sought the help of a psychologist. For the next few months I met with Les Strong and it helped to have someone to talk with about life challenges. He was a good listener and he helped me to understand that I seemed to have particular problems with transitions, both big and small.
On October 14th we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with dinner at La Nueva Posada. The event is organized by the Canadian Club. This has become an annual event that we look forward to every year.
The year ended with Our Trip to Manzanillo.