Hi Catherine
7 messages
from P. Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 10:20 AM
To: Catherine
Just me checking in to see how you are doing and what you are up to these days. Would love to live in a small house with lots of light.....still trying to sell our monstrosity. So, HOW ARE YOU? pamela
Catherine S. Todd
To: P.
Dear Pamela,
Good to hear from you! I've been really busy; finally sold my last house for half price just to get rid of it (you can imagine what that meant to me financially) but luckily I did get some cash so am back here in Panajachel, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala looking at various projects and endeavors. You can see "what I'm doing" on my various blogs etc. below.
Hope you are doing well, and once that big house of yours is gone you can come somewhere like Lake Atitlan! I'm working on coming up with beautiful, inexpensive and small homes that can be bought in a kit and put up in a matter of days. Wouldn't that be great?
Thanks for writing... Yours, CT
On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 10:20 AM, P. wrote:
Just me checking in to see how you are doing and what you are up to these days. Would love to live in a small house with lots of light.....still trying to sell our monstrosity. So, HOW ARE YOU? P.
--
Catherine Todd
3007 Bent Tree Dr. Oxford NC 27565
H 919.693.0853 U.S. cell 919.605.0727
Blog: http://catherinetodd.blogspot.com/
Music: http://www.last.fm/music/Catherine+Todd
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catherinetodd/sets/
Panajachel, Lake Atitlan
Guatemala cell (dial 011 from the U.S.):
(502) 5013.6300, or (502) 4198.7184
Travel: http://lakeatitlan.blogspot.com/
Architecture: http://catherinetoddarchitecture.blogspot.com/
For 2009:
"The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need do is set our sails."
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa ~ Gospel of Ramakrishna
Peace and justice are goals for man.
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Catherine S. Todd
To: R.
Dear Robin, I just realized that I never write about any happy things that I'm doing (which is most of the time now, can you believe it?) So I am forwarding this brief note I wrote while I was also thinking of you! Take a look at the flickr photo website link below in my email signature to see where I am, and what I am doing. I am finally getting more photos up there.
I still think about you all the time and remember our happy days at Foothill College and our visit in New Orleans - I am so glad we did that! And now I can travel all the time. Finally, at long last. Love to you always, hope to see you again SOON! Your friend Katie
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R. Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:46 PM
To: "Catherine S. Todd"
Hi Katie
I too am glad to have found you again. I realize our physical connections are only "once" so far. But I'm still proud to have you on my list of LONG TIME friends!!
Financially, Don and I are back in the "good ole days" when I went to Goodwill for stuff and made a chicken stretch 2-3 meals!! Considering that I was planning to be retired by now- that is an ironic but funny twist..God doesn't give you more than you (me) can handle....so I'm OK .Anti depressants REALLY help!! I have so much good in my life. My girls and I are so close. I have 4 grand kids (only one is a butt head) and I'm happily married. Hmmmmm. Also, I get to live in a gorgeous mountain retreat with 2 dogs, 2 cats and nature all around me.
Also, I'm sober. And for me that is a miracle!! If not blessed with sobriety I would most definetly be dead by now. So-I'm glad you are good too.and can travel. As soon as our money situation turns around (and it will) I will meet you again. Somewhere!! Love Robin
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P. Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:54 PM
To: "Catherine S. Todd"
catherine.....you are living a dream of mine....to create beautiful small spaces to live in. I have researched small living here in the states for years and years. Just recently the US is starting to "get" the need of all the baby boomers. When I was in Carmel, there was a shop there that had the most incredible lay out for small space living. WOW.....i want to recreate that. i want to go back and draw the floor plan and recreate it. It was amazing.....small sun patio and all. I would so love to watch what you are doing. Will you sell them here? Need a sales rep here? I am available :-) HUGS. pamela
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P. Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:59 PM
To: "Catherine S. Todd"
One last thought.....you cannot imagine the passion I have for what you are doing........I am so ready to down size and BE. pamela
----- Original Message -----
From: Catherine S. Todd
To: P.
Sent: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 20:11:13 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: Hi Catherine
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Catherine S. Todd
To: R.
Dear Robin, what a great email. I have indented your "quotes." More later, I hope!
XXXOOO
On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:46 PM, R. wrote:
Hi Katie
I too am glad to have found you again. I realize our physical connections are only "once" so far. But I'm still proud to have you on my list of LONG TIME friends!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK, I love you too. You are one of my oldest and dearest friends, from one of the best parts of my life. (Tears in eyes)...
Financially, Don and I are back in the "good ole days" when I went to Goodwill for stuff and made a chicken stretch 2-3 meals!!
I am going to be living in Panajachel full time probably in a very short while, and will be giving up my apartment (with the beautiful lake and volcano view) at the end of the month. Then I move into a rented room in my former maid's compound! But Alicia is really a friend, and far from "just the maid." She helps me with everything and we go to church together and I love her children and they love me, so it is working out for the best. I'll be staying with the chickens and luckily no rooster, since Alicia said "maybe it was time to make tamales" when I told her I couldn't rent the room because I can't stand roosters waking me up!
Take a look at some photos on my flickr page to see what Alicia's place looks like. Actually, it will be quite nice since I will have everything I need for 300 Quatzales per month ($40.00) instead of $300.00 per month. And to think I used to pay rent here for a whole year even if I was hardly here! At Alicia's I will have a bathroom on the other side of the patio, and will put in a hot water heater (the European gas kind that heats only when you need it) since Guatemalans take cold water baths. But I am a gringa, so can't do that... LOL
Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catherinetodd/sets/
The whole thing reminds me so much of living at Roger's little cabin up in Skylonda, with a wood stove and an outhouse, and I was happy there! So now that the shock has worn off, I am actually looking forward to it. Shades of the old days!
I'll be moving in when I get back in June, most probably. Hope to finalize the last of my business affairs in the states (relating to real estate, all properties are finally sold) and I'll still be back and forth selling the most beautiful beadwork that is done by the Guatemalans here. I'll have to send you some of their keychains I'm selling, since I have yet to take a photo that does them justice. I still donate a portion to LIFE SCHOOL that is the only bi-lingual school around here, but I will use the money to help pay for my plane tickets now that my airline points are all gone. The keychains are really great; you will like them and they are cheap (I sell them for $4.00 each) so people can still afford them. Went from building houses to selling beadwork, but it's better than selling bananas in the street!
Plus I'm working on a Directory of Lake Atitlan. That will be really great, with maps and info and yellow and white pages since there isn't one here now. I'm doing the database for gathering all the info, and publishing it, which I really love doing. Wrote programs for 14 years for other companies and now I'm doing it for myself. This is one of the (few) good things about not having money... if I had money I'd be going crazy getting my houses up on my lots here and have no time to rest. So peace and tranquility has a fighting chance!
Considering that I was planning to be retired by now- that is an ironic but funny twist..God doesn't give you more than you (me) can handle....so I'm OK .Anti depressants REALLY help!! I have so much good in my life. My girls and I are so close. I have 4 grand kids (only one is a butt head) and I'm happily married. Hmmmmm. Also, I get to live in a gorgeous mountain retreat with 2 dogs, 2 cats and nature all around me.
Wouldn't you be bored if you were really "retired?" And your place and your life is a big part of why I can make this Guatemalan change!
They heat with wood here and do all the things you do, but you do it "in style!" I just wish, of course, that I had grandchildren, but of course, given those circumstances, it is for the best that I don't. So I am grateful for that as well, and there are plenty of children that need a gringa auntie here! I don't think I ever mentioned that now that I understand about Asperger's Syndrome (which I believe Les has) everything has gotten so much easier between us. Dare I say even "good?" I actually miss him now that I'm gone. For the first time in YEARS. Who would have thunk it? Maybe one day I too will call it "love." Hmmmmmmm. :) smile!
Also, I'm sober. And for me that is a miracle!! If not blessed with sobriety I would most definetly be dead by now.
OMG. I can't imagine you gone; can't bear the thought of that. So I too am grateful! Makes me grateful that I quit drinking as well; I only had two go-rounds with alcohol (separated by about 20 years) that lasted about a year each, and they were real doozeys. So I too have lots to be grateful about.
So-I'm glad you are good too.and can travel. As soon as our money situation turns around (and it will) I will meet you again. Somewhere!! Love Robin
One of these days I will send you a ticket! There are sales all the time. I'll hit the jackpot again, and so will you... as soon as the economy "turns around." It's all just a land-and-house grab, just like the great depression was back in the '20's. There will be an explosion of money when the dust settles out. Just wait and see!
So good to hear from you with a real letter. Means the world to me! Love, Katie
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Lake Atitlan Directory [Re: Downsizing and Dreams, to Pamela
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Catherine S. Todd
to glenazadi
show details 3:46 PM (0 minutes ago)
Reply
Dear Pamela,
I missed the part about "do I need a sales rep?" You might have been joking, but:
Yes, when things finally get started we WILL need a sales rep, here and in the states! I have no money to build anything yet, but hope when I get back I can get started with SOMETHING. That's what counts, doesn't it?
So look at my Lake Atitlan blog and do a google search for that and for Panajachel, the town largest town on the lake that I live in. I'm working on a Lake Atitlan Directory right now that I also need help with, as I'm adding stuff to a wiki page that I hope to condense and publish as part of the telephone directory. It's rough and mostly a place to store interesting info at this point. I am collecting info in all kinds of places right now (see links below) and hoping to find one that works the best so everything can be in one place. I think the Facebook page for the Lake Atitlan Directory will do it, at least I hope so. That, with a link to another web page where everything is stored and available. If you have time, take a look.
You could honestly help me right now, as a volunteer, if you want right from where you are (another friend is doing this from Oregon since she wants to retire here in a few years). Plus this will help you familiarize yourself with the area. Lots of gringos are coming down around here, and in Honduras and other Latin American areas.
Architecture blog: http://catherinetoddarchitecture.blogspot.com/
Lake Atitlan Directory: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=d1c8d10b18a82a2eb96203c908097a43&gid=67733802006&ref=search
Lake Atitlan blog: http://lakeatitlan.blogspot.com/
WikiSpace Lake Atitlan pages: http://lakeatitlandirectory.wikispaces.com/
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catherinetodd/sets/
More later? Yours, CT
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