We met Henry at the house today, that's his handsome face at the left. I told him I had to have a picture of him, he wasn't thrilled but I think it came out fine.

Looking at the skylight and considering rain, neither of us think that much water will end up on the hall floor. The wall will get wet, water will go into the pond and the planters but that's fine. If a hurricane comes through I could put some lexan or boards over the opening above, although I really don't think I'll need to. I am going with the thoughts from mcm in the previous posts comments, once I'm living there and see how it works I can change things if needed.

The other thing about this set up, there is a dry well in the hall very close by, it's a little to the left of where I was standing to take this picture. I took this a little after noon and I'm really happy with all the light.

If there is water on the floor, or when the floor is mopped, we can squeegee the water into that dry well and it's gone. The well currently has a concrete cover that is really heavy. Mimi asked for a lighter one and they are going to have one made from iron with thin shutters on it so you can't see into it but water passes freely.

This is the same well that bubbled up in the last huge rain. Henry looked at it then and immediately said they should have concreted the drain pipe into the well so that it can't back up in heavy rain. They've done that now and if the water can't drain fast enough it will back up the pipe and on the roof and then drain, better than bubbling out in the hall. Inside the hole, there are drains from the air conditioners and we can sweep water into it. That water will drain out through the ground rather than down the well shaft.

We talked about colors today. We've decided on a creamy yellow for the front, darker than a pastel but not bright. The trim is off white per the historical regulations. The garage door will be made from iron with wood behind it. The iron will make it stronger and not susceptible to sun and rain warping. It's automatic, I'll have to be careful that no one is walking on the sidewalk when I hit the remote as it will open from the middle across the sidewalk.

We finalized the design for the office wall that is next to the garage. That wall used to have a doorway into the garage, which used to be another bedroom. The previous owners bumped the wall out inside the doorway so they could get the nose of their car into it. It's actually convenient since the garage, having been a bedroom, is not deep enough for a full sized car.

The bump out in the next room, now our office, was pretty ugly though. You can see it in this picture of the office before they started demolishing it. They tore out the brick bump and are going to use dry wall (in Mexico!!) to continue the wall level with the rest of the wall in the office. That still leaves another 1.5 feet for the nose of a car - love those 2' thick walls! On the office side, it will have concrete shelves and a niche for some kind of art or a statue perhaps.

There is still so much left to do... I'm doing OK with the waiting but I admit that it is getting harder as things get closer. I'm now just wondering if we will be in by Christmas.

I finished the last of these antibiotics last night, for the last 3 days though I've had the runs and a strong pain in my lower abdomen. It is bad enough that it hurts to change position, like standing up, and going over topes and bumps in the road is not good. I got scared a little, we are heading back to Akumal today and the idea that I'd get back over there and be sick again really freaked me out. So, last night I called and went in to see the doctor. I actually saw her partner who is this world famous guy that everyone is in awe of. He's a nice guy, his English is excellent as he was the head of something in London for years. He uses all these British expressions which I found endearing.

He examined me and said that there was no bleeding or other major abdominal trauma, which was my big fear, and that between taking the anti-parasite meds for 5 days and the antibiotic for 8 days I had wiped out everything in my intestines. He gave me a script for some super probiotics to replenish my gut bacteria. So far, I haven't been able to find them at a pharmacy but I'm trying a couple more today. Meanwhile, I'm taking 2 of my regular probiotics whenever I eat. ¡Ojalá que esto esté acabada pronto!