Halfway to Halloween, Halfway to Thanksgiving, and Fully Exhausted

For the last couple of years, the hubs and I have done our best to celebrate what we call the Halfway Holidays with a spooky theme to all of them.

In May, we celebrate Halfway to Halloween.

In June, we celebrate Halfway to Thanksgiving.

In July, we celebrate Halfway to Christmas.

At least, that's the idea.

Now, you might have noticed that I haven't really been posting much this year. What I have written has mostly been rants about our frustration with renovating one of our properties and the repercussions of the constant acts of vandalism that have delayed the project's completion. As you might imagine, we haven't exactly been in a celebratory mood.

Hell! I celebrated my 49th birthday in July, and I completely forgot to decorate. To make matters worse, it turns out a few of the people I considered close friends forgot it was my birthday too and never even took the time to wish me a happy birthday. Luckily, I did receive a handful of messages from my more thoughtful (though physically distant) circle. Those honestly made me feel a lot better. But if it hadn't been for the hubs making one of his delicious cakes, I might have forgotten that I even had a birthday.

The hubs cooked my favorite: homemade Southwestern Eggrolls

Besides the cake, he also made me my other favorite: Key Lime Pie

Despite how down we felt, we still pushed ourselves this year to celebrate Halfway to Halloween and Halfway to Thanksgiving. Why do we keep doing it even when we don't feel like it?

Well, just like the regular holidays during the "-ber" months, we've accepted that the Halfway Holidays don't always have to be Instagram-perfect. Sometimes we're excited. Other times we're so mentally and emotionally exhausted that we almost feel like skipping them altogether. But you know something? Even when they're not spectacular, we still make them count as long as we have each other.

For Halfway to Halloween, the hubs made a version of chili with rice and biscuits and it was delicious and warmed me up as the weather here is colder in May.

We also carved this handsome fellow!

We got crafty this Halfway to Halloween and used empty soda bottles and black trash bags to create a body bag for our decoration. It came out pretty cool albeit a little spooky.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies anyone?

Mini-corn dogs, fries and garlic bread to snack on during our horror marathon

We thought the chili might not be enough, so we gave these McD's burgers a makeover

Here were some more snacks

Dirt Pudding with a monster eye and tentacles

Leatherface Pie

Using Mint Oreos, a decorating pen and edible eyes, we created Franken-Oreos

Bat Biscuits - We had some dough leftover

Sometimes, simply putting up a couple of decorations, baking a dessert, or ordering something instead of cooking is enough to make those days feel different from the rest, even if we're the only two expats abroad celebrating.

For Halfway to Thanksgiving, I picked up some KFC strips and then we made some side dishes to accompany the meal.

KFC chicken strips, popcorn chicken, mashed potato casserole, and stuffing with edible eyes

We also bought a shit ton of KFC sauces!

The hubs made a delicious mashed potato casserole with cheese and corn

To keep with the horror theme, the hubs made a pie with a navel in the middle

Our Halfway to Thanksgiving mini-tree

Although we didn't celebrate Christmas in July, we may still do it in August. It might not look very Christmas-y when we finally get around to it, but that's okay because not every freaking holiday, real or symbolic, has to become an epic memory.

Sometimes money will be scarce. Sometimes we'll both be tired. Sometimes the only thing we'll want to do is watch a scary movie marathon. But when we get older and look back on these great—and maybe not-so-exciting—moments, I doubt we'll remember whether the decorations were perfect or whether we cooked an elaborate meal. We'll remember who was sitting across from us or next to us, enjoying a piece of pie or watching Jeepers Creepers for the hundredth time.

That's really the most important reason we do this.

Renovations, Broken Dreams, and a Whole Lot of Frustration (Part 2): Five Break-Ins Later

If you haven't read Part 1 of this post, I recommend doing that first before continuing. You can read it by clicking here.

Previously, I talked about how we were renovating one of our properties and converting it into two separate units: a house and an apartment. The idea was to rent both of them out and generate income from a single property.

Well... we've hit some serious snags along the way.

Since January, vandals have repeatedly targeted the property, breaking in multiple times. I briefly mentioned this in a post I wrote back in May, which you can read here.

It started with something relatively minor. A section of the front gate had been ripped out of the ground. The photo below was taken just a few days after we cleaned up the mess they made and repaired the area. 

For whatever naïve reason, none of us believed they'd actually try to break into the house since it was heavily fortified with locks and chains.

We were wrong.

Over the last seven months, vandals have broken into the property five times.

Nothing we tried kept them away. We installed motion-activated exterior lights, replaced the chains with heavier ones, and reinforced the metal gate, but none of it made a difference.

They smashed through the front door every single time. With each break-in, the damage to both the door and its frame became progressively worse, requiring increasingly expensive repairs.

But the front door wasn't the worst of it.

For whatever destructive reason, the vandals destroyed bathroom sinks, bidets, and toilets, too. Replacing them was expensive enough the first time. 

Having them come back four more times to destroy the exact same fixtures and then replacing everything over and over again has been financially draining, frustrating, and incredibly disheartening.

But there is a silver lining.

It turns out we weren't the only ones being targeted. Several neighbors suspected the vandals lived directly across the street from our property. According to some of the people we spoke with, they were poor AF and had more kids than they could take care of.

Personally, I hate it when people use poverty as an excuse to steal, vandalize, and be assholes. I've never been rich. Neither have my parents nor my husband. Yet none of us has ever felt the need to break in and destroy someone else's property.

It's simply primitive and animalistic.

Unfortunately, the cops are pretty useless in Argentina, especially in Córdoba City. But I probably sound like a broken record since I'm sure I've written about that in plenty of other posts over the years.

This time, however, the vandals made one serious mistake.

At least one of them did.

It turns out another property they had broken into was equipped with HD security cameras, which captured crystal-clear footage of their faces, especially the ringleader's. That footage allowed the police to identify him and eventually arrest him.

From what the authorities have told us, he's looking at several years in prison.

Honestly, I find that pleasantly surprising, given how weak the Argentine legal system often is. But as far as I'm concerned, this asshole and the family that now has to make do without him got exactly what they deserved. I won't shed a goddamn tear for him or anyone else affected by his choices.

So, is the threat over? Not in Córdoba City. When one asshole falls, another one rises. I'm pretty sure I've said that before, and I have no doubt I'll say it again.

For now, all we can do is finish preparing the property and hopefully get some tenants moved in. In fact, we're hoping to have it rented within the next couple of weeks.

Only time will tell if things finally go our way.

Renovations, Broken Dreams, and a Whole Lot of Frustration (Part 1)

I haven't been posting much lately, and there's a reason for that. A couple of things have happened over the past few months that have really taken a toll on my emotional well-being. One of them revolves around a renovation project we've been doing on one of our vacant properties, which I'll call House Alpha.

After the previous tenants moved out last November, my folks and I spent several weeks discussing what to do with the house. My idea was simple. Sell it and use the money to buy another property as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, my parents originally paid around $80,000 USD for the house back in 2007. In today's Argentine real estate market, we'd probably only get about $40,000 USD for it if we're lucky.

I also had a personal reason for wanting to sell. The fact that it never happened is one of the biggest reasons I've been feeling so angry and depressed.

You see, all of the properties are in my parents' names. Adding my name to the title would be expensive as hell in Argentina. In fact, it would cost so much that we'd practically have to sell one property just to add me to the deed of another. Since we own several properties, that simply wasn't realistic.

However, if we had sold House Alpha, we could have purchased another property and put both my husband's name and mine on the title.

Officially becoming homeowners would have given us a lot more leverage when it came to adopting a child, something I've wanted for many, many years.

Earlier this year, my mom and I had a long conversation about why becoming homeowners meant so much to me. She was genuinely excited about the idea of me becoming a father and her becoming a grandmother someday.

But, as has often been the case with major decisions involving my parents, the sale never happened.

What hurt the most wasn't even the decision itself. It was the fact that they made it without talking to me first. To say I was beyond pissed would be an understatement.

Did I hate them a little?

TRY A LOT!

I honestly don't know if I'll ever completely forgive either of them for this. However, at the end of the day, my relationship with my parents has been more business than family for the last twenty-five years. It wasn't always that way, but it gradually became our reality a few years before they left the United States to retire in Córdoba, Argentina.

Looking back, I know I shouldn't have counted on them to help make our dream of expanding our family a reality.

So, after accepting yet another heartbreaking disappointment since moving to Argentina, I waited to see what they planned to do with the property.

Well, guess what? Instead of selling it, they decided to renovate it.

The house is fairly large for a family of four. Definitely nowhere near Kardashian-sized, but spacious enough. Their plan was to divide it into two separate units. A one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment on one side and a smaller two-bedroom, one-bathroom home on the other.

A lot of money has gone into this renovation.

The company they hired to repair years of humidity and water damage—and to divide the house into two units—would only accept payment in U.S. dollars.

That was an immediate red flag for me.

Most Argentine contractors don't normally operate exclusively in dollars, but I'm pretty sure my father opened his big mouth and mentioned that we were from the United States. Unfortunately, some people hear "American" and immediately assume, "Oh... they must be rich."

I've been checking on the property as the renovations have progressed over the last couple of months, and let me tell you... it's been painfully slow and incredibly expensive.

If I'm being completely honest, the quality of the work doesn't come close to matching the amount of money we've paid the company and its workers.

Removing plants that had begun growing on the roof was a top priority because they were causing cracks, allowing water and moisture to seep inside. 

This, in effect, raised the humidity levels in the house, which resulted in damage to the walls and mold build-up. 

The workers installed several layers of what appear to be metal panels designed to provide additional protection against moisture. You can see them in the first photo I added to this post. I'm not sure if it's going to work, but I guess we'll see as time goes by.

As of July 2026, they've finished most of the work on the main house, but they still have to build an entirely new roof over the apartment. The reason for this is fairly simple. We enclosed what used to be the backyard to create additional living space for the new unit.

It's a motherfucking work in progress, but you get the idea.

We also had to trim back several large tree branches. Part of that was because the municipality insisted on it, but it was also the smart thing to do. The branches had become so large that a strong storm could easily have snapped them, sending them crashing into the house and causing serious damage.

All things considered, it looked like my parents were finally going to get what they wanted.

Then everything went sideways.

Vandalism.

And that's where Part 2 of this ongoing frustration begins.

14 Years in Argentina: An Honest Update

 It's been such a hectic couple of months. It's hard to believe that 2026 started off with only a handful of students and virtually nothing to do. Lately, I've been teaching so many ESL students online, and that's actually a good thing. I love teaching people who genuinely want to learn. The money's not bad either. In fact, it helps satisfy our primary vice which is ordering fast food—lots of it—especially now that Cordoba City has a KFC!

But this post is more than just an update about what I've been up to over the past couple of months. It's also a celebration of our 14th year living abroad.

We left the States on June 16th, 2012. It took us two days to get to Cordoba City, Argentina, courtesy of two extremely long layovers. But on June 18th, 2012, we finally arrived in our host city and at our new, fully furnished house. 

From that point on, we've had our ups and downs—emotionally, financially, and with the people who have come into our lives. Sadly, none of them have stuck around, even those who likely owe us their lives.

One of the most radical changes in my life has been my career. About two years after I got here, I started out as a freelance writer and, years later, became an online ESL teacher. I don't know how I went from being a guy who worked in administration and finance back home to this. I guess life's funny that way. But teaching isn't the only thing that's been keeping me busy or driving me a bit insane.

Over the last 14 years, I've taken on more administrative responsibilities when it comes to managing the properties we own. That, in itself, has been a learning experience with more misses than hits. 

I assumed that owning property would be an investment, and yet it often feels like each property is sucking the finances right out of us like a vampire sucks blood. But I'll talk more about that in a future post.

Although huge amounts of stress have plagued me this year, the hubs and I have also taken the time to relax and enjoy doing the things we love, like giving regular holidays such as Valentine's Day and Easter a spookier theme.

Cornbread shaped heart for Valentine's Day

A Homemade Peach Pie with Yoshi Eggs for Easter

Nothing says Easter like a Facehugger ready to hatch!

We've also celebrated two of the three Friday the 13ths in 2026 with movies like Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan, Sleepaway Camp 2 and Sleepaway Camp 3, as well as some delicious food and treats.

Jason Voorhees Pancakes!

Crystal Lake Jell-O and Crystal Lake Drinks

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza. If you can't see the 13, you might be color blind.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls in front of our Friday the 13th Tree because... why not?

Then, on March 30th, we celebrated our 14-year wedding anniversary. Now I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. Relationships aren't easy. Marriage isn't easy. But I'm 100% sure that I wouldn't have survived these last 14 years abroad without the hubs by my side to keep me sane and put a smile on my face, even when it was the last thing I wanted to do.

Despite that, there's been a great deal of reflecting over the last couple of weeks. For one thing, there's less and less communication from our friends and family back home. My friends generally reach out to me only on my birthday or if I reach out to them first, which sucks. My husband's family only sends him memes but never comments, hits "like" on what he posts, or even asks how he's doing. But if I'm being honest, a lot of them are homophobic, particularly his pig-fucking c*nt of a stepmom. Then they wonder why we left. But I digress.

There are a couple of things I'm looking forward to in the second half of 2026. We've already celebrated Halfway to Halloween in May and Halfway to Thanksgiving in June, which I'll post about soon. Now we're getting ready to celebrate Halfway to Christmas in July, but not before we celebrate my 49th birthday in just a few short weeks.

We're also looking forward to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in October, November, and December, as well as the final Friday the 13th of the year in November. Oh, and there's a Friday the 13th spin-off called Camp Crystal Lake premiering in October, which we're really looking forward to. I just hope it doesn't disappoint like some of this year's movies.

Masters of the Universe, Scary Movie 6, Scream 7, and Backrooms, to name a few, were absolutely awful and should never have been made.

But films, TV shows, and holidays aside, I've also decided to finally go to the doctor (hopefully sometime in July) to get a check-up. I've been putting it off for years because the state of the free healthcare system in Argentina has become a joke. But I'm not a kid anymore, and I need to start getting regular check-ups and making sure everything is still working in decent order.

I also know I haven't been posting very often, and that's mainly the result of being busy and, honestly, my state of mind. But I'm going to do my best to write more regularly because this blog has always been a way for me to look back on what we've experienced since moving to Argentina.

Fourteen years ago, we packed up our lives in New York and took a leap into uncharted territories. It hasn't always been easy, and it certainly hasn't always been fun, but it's had some really beautiful moments that I wouldn't change for anything. Here's to whatever the second half of 2026 has in store. Now if You'll excuse me. I need to go buy some hair dye so I don't celebrate my 49th birthday looking like a Q-Tip.