Huge Disappointment

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After all the issues with scheduling yesterday, I just wasn't feeling it today. Then I get a text message this morning that the mother organizing the event had a "family emergency" and wouldn't be able to make it after all. I know that Mexico moves on a different time but this is the last time that I do anything for someone else. Now I'm stuck with a bunch of expensive clothes on my hands that I'm not sure we'll be able to sell in our own store. Yes, I'm quite aware of the adage "don't count your chickens before they hatch" but geez! A complete waste of a day in my book. I could have packed up the family and headed off to the beach for the day or gone into Mexico City to visit the family like we had originally planned.
A customer who came into the store last night with his family wants a specific pair of Jordan tennis shoes. His brother-in-law, who runs the carniceria (butcher shop) across the street, has a pair of black and red Jordans and he wanted a pair just like it. I asked the customer if he could send his BIL in so I could take a picture of the shoes and attempt to locate a pair in his size when I returned home. True to his word, the butcher came into the shop today to get some change so I snapped a couple pics of the desired shoes. To increase sales and business, I'm trying to solicit specific requests from customers in order to build loyalty and decrease unnecessary costs for merchandise that doesn't move off the shelves. I pulled all the other men's shoes off the shelves and put prices and codes on them all. I had pulled all the women's shoes off the rack when Fernanda showed up at the store to tell me lunch was ready at home.
Mia's cough has turned into a runny nose and now a calentura (fever). Of course, I used up all the Children's Motrin when we were here last time and Mia was sick. She was sleeping off and on between the fits of coughing. Then she sat up and threw up on herself and I. At home, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. I would have stripped off our clothes, jumped into the shower, and thrown the clothes in the washing machine. Here it's a different story. I stripped off Mia's clothes and left her in her underwear and wiped her down with a baby wipe. Then I went into a different room and repeated the same procedure except I didn't remain in my underwear, I put on a clean outfit. Isabel's washes their clothes in the same basin where they wash their dishes so I didn't put to put a bunch of vomit covered clothes in that area. Instead I threw them all into the plastic tub in the bathroom that Mia normally uses to bathe. Thankfully the bathroom has a light and there was still some hot water in the tank so I was able to wash the clothes and rinse them out. I hung them out on the cement divider wall to dry so I could pack them up and take them back home to wash.
Isabel stopped by the doctor's office on the way home and asked him what he recommended because she didn't want an official consulation. I had given her the names of ibuprofen and acetaminophen to see what she was able to find in the farmacia (pharmacy). He recommended Advil and José said that they sell Tylenol down here as well. Gee, why didn't I just think to ask for it by brand name instead of the name of the drug?? I bundled up my naked baby in her blanket and hopped in the Explorer with Isabel and Lalo.
First stop was the OXXO up on the highway in search of medicine. We struck out there but I did get Mia a bunch of popsicles, 9 boxes of Delicado cigarettes, and a couple magazines for José. Next we headed for another little pueblo northeast of town. Here we found an open farmacia that had infant Advil in stock and a digital thermometer. At home, she took her medicine without a hassle and nibbled on one of her popsicles. Her fever broke and she fell back asleep but slept pretty fitfully throughout the night. I'm hoping she doesn't throw up on the bus ride to and from Mexico City tomorrow.

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Photos

I Want These
A customer came into the store wanting me to find him the same shoes as his brother in law.

The Laundromat
When I need to wash clothes, I go back to the grass roots.

Sick Baby
Mia was running another fever and dozed on the couch most of the day.