. . . and checking it twice

La Manzanilla disguised as Xanadu

I have mentioned several times that I have some personal tasks to complete before I can retire and move to Mexico. Nothing here will shock anyone. If you were waiting for my confession as as a bigamist or burglar, you will have to wait for a later posting. Here are the prosaic issues I need to address before I take off for Mexico.

• My mother will be 80 at the end of February. She is winding down her real estate business. My brother and I need to get her set up where she will be comfortable, not have any financial needs, and be close enough to medical facilities that accept her insurance.



• The dog. I have swung back and forth on this issue while reading the blogs of other dog owners who have relocated to Mexico. Some dogs accompany their owner; some stay up north. I thought Jiggs might be too old for the trip. He does not travel well because I need to lift him in and out of the truck. He is also very sensitive to loud noises due to his deteriorating hearing. Even the gas trucks would startle him these days. Finding a place to rent in Mexico will also be an issue with a dog as large as the Professor.



• I need to sell my house. The proceeds from that sale will be either the money I use to buy real estate in Mexico or it will be the basis to provide any major medical emergency that may arise. But, this is not the time to sell a house in my home's price range in this part of Oregon. I see a potential solution between this item and the prior two. My mother could stay in my home as long as she chooses. She could then rent her house in Bend. It would also force me to rent in Mexico, rather than buy -- a good thing as I decide where I want to settle. The downside is that the house will act as an escape hatch to the States. I really wanted to cut all ties when I move. If I take this option, it will also let me avoid the task of getting rid of everything before I head south.



• If all goes as planned, I will have my home mortgage paid off in the fourth quarter of this year. That will clear up my sole financial debt. Unless I pay it off, I literally would noy have any income to live on in Mexico. This one is a deal buster.



• I am chair of the Salem Salvation Army advisory board. We are currently in the process of building a new community center. My term runs through April of next year -- the date we originally thought the new center would open. I have promised to stay here until my term expires. (Before anyone says it: I know I am not indispensable. Someone else could easily take over my chair duties. However, I have spent so much time and my passion on this project over the past two years, that I want to see it through to its completion.)

Mom, the dog, and the house could be wrapped into one package. (That has all the makings of a Fox sitcom.) And I could do that today -- or as soon as my mother is willing to take that option. The mortgage and the advisory board are not so easily resolved -- today. However, time will heal both of them. By April of next year, each of these issues will find its own level of resolution, and I will be free to hit the road to Mexico.


I have received some very excellent comments from several of you that I need to just do it -- to hit the road to Mexico. And I can hear Michael Dickson (correctly) noting that I have listed a series of excuses, not reasons. But as an old pilot, I know that every successful landing has an envelope. I just need to find mine.

Now -- I need to get my brother to agree to take the Pátzcuaro scouting trip with me. We should be able to arrange that trip at our mother's birthday party at the end of the month.