Band-aid, band-aid, who's got the band-aid?

Amazing how a few chiropractic adjustments and some localized injections -- plus your prayers! -- have made such a HUGE difference. My back still aches but the shooting pains are history and I am once again able to stand and sit in [relative] comfort. Hallelujah!

Thought I'd share another little difference in how medicine is practiced here. We had to first buy the vials of medicine and syringes at the pharmacy (with a prescription, of course) and then take them each time we went to get the injections. While this country has socialized medicine, anyone who possibly can pays for auxiliary insurance with a secondary health care provider. We are members of a local company that offers a 24 hour emergency room. And I mean "room". It's nothing like a hospital ER, but rather a small-house-turned-into-a-clinic. I admit to being a little put off by the shabbiness and rather unkempt appearance so just prayed for an infection-free experience :) On the plus side, we never had to wait and were always ushered right in.

Also learned on our first visit that we should have come prepared with more than the medicine and syringe. When we got home I had to change clothes and wash the blood out of the ones I'd been wearing since no band-aid was provided. Made sure we threw in some band-aids after that! Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...although my hips do feel a bit like a pincushion :) 

Now we'll work on strengthening my back so this doesn't happen again. Took a nice walk this afternoon and will continue with those until I'm well enough to add other exercises. I'm SOOOO thankful to live by the costanera, where we have lovely walks all around us.

Speaking of costaneras, there's progress with the lot near the currently-under-construction-river-side-costanera across town. Facing some complications like the title still being in a previous owner's name, unpaid property taxes and the need to get the plans approved for the casita already on site (which should have been done before it was built). Ivan has been meeting with different people involved and talking to an escribano who would handle the paperwork. But it actually looks like it might go through! Not holding our breath, as we are well aware anything could happen to upset the apple cart.

Meanwhile I can't help but daydream just a little :)  I've sketched floorplans, downloaded inspiration photos from the internet, and jotted down pages of ideas for a future house. Budgetary concerns being paramount, I'm trying to figure out how we can do things well but inexpensively. On our walk today we were particularly noticing fences since that will be the number one priority if we get the lot. For sure the sides and back will be a cheaper, temporary fix that simply addresses the security issue but we want to do a really nice, permanent front fence and gate right away. Down the road when we have more time and money we'd change out the back and sides to something more aesthetically pleasing.

Sarah (from Dream in Domestic) mentioned her photobucket "album" of inspiration photos and I totally copied the idea and am having a great time organizing all the pretty pictures I've found on blogs from around the world. In the process I've found some new sites I need to add to my blogroll. It's been a fun pasttime while being incapacitated.

Looking forward to getting away for a few days to Sta. Rosa -- this time just to REST. No projects, can you believe it?! At least for me. I think Ivan wants to do some more work on the new tank but he said it's a minor thing. This trip will actually be a belated getaway for our anniversary which was two months ago, back when we had the retreat in Sta. Rosa -- followed by the Nasty-Head-Cold-of-2010 which was certainly not conducive to celebrating anything.

The kids are on winter holiday this week and next so the schedule is a little different. That's worked out well for our co-workers to get away this week and us next week. Instead of having English yesterday, Ivan spent time with a group of the guys, watching them play soccer and then providing refreshments. This afternoon he's helping one of the boys repair the water tank on their house -- he's had a little experience with those of late :)  I'm having a quiet afternoon catching up with laundry and starting on some paperwork. Regarding both: WILL THEY NEVER END?!?!

Mmmm, felt good to get that off my chest.

I had two major fails in the kitchen recently. One was trying a new recipe for cold sesame noodles with chicken. Too peanutty for our tastes. I think I want to try again, but alter the amounts of the sauce to minimize the peanuts and kick up the sesame and soy. The other OOPS! involved leaving roasting red peppers in the oven too long so they collapsed and leaked all over. Guess what I'll be doing once my back is in better shape?

On the plus side, I rescued enough of the red peppers to add to some yummy dishes. Last night I made a risotto with mushrooms and roasted red peppers and this morning I threw red peppers into the potato and cheese omelet we had for breakfast. Both = DELICIOUSNESS. Roasting red peppers really brings out their sweetness and adds a hint of smokey that's just irresistible.

I think that's enough randomness for one afternoon. While writing this post I've had the TV on, tuned into the casa.tv channel. The first program I watched was in Spanish but it just dawned on me that the show that just came on is in English! I can suddenly understand EVERYTHING rather than just random words and phrases :)