Tuesday, July 28, 2009

NEW JOBS

We are still in a dry spell. It is hard to believe the whole month of July here in Cosat Rica has been relatively dry. I have even had problems with dry skin, in the middle of rainy season no less. We have not questioned it though, just enjoyed the heck out of it.

Hubby started a new part-time job today. Being semi retired is all fun and games, until you get bored! Besides the fact he can get residency working for this company and that would be awesome.

He will be working four days a week and I don't know what we will do with ourselves while he is gone. I guess more cooking and maybe even some cleaning will get done. It is hard to get things done when he is around, fall into talking or going for walks and things just don't get done.

My daughter will also be working with him, so we will have the little ones for awhile. They are fun and that will sure keep us busy.

Monday, July 27, 2009

BUSHED


This is what a sleepover will do to you. My daughter had baby over for a sleepover on Fiday night and this is her Sat. night. She ended up playing with the nephew instead of niece, she crashed before the party even began! You can check out pics of the great sleepover party at my daughters web site.

The real thing is that I can relate to this pic. Today we finally did the long run we were supposed to do on Sat. We had to change our long run days around due to work hours. So we ran 16 miles this morning. I can't and don't even want to move a muscle. I am bushed. It would not be so bad if it did not take us so stinkin long to run that far.

We ran as long as it takes really fast people to finish a whole marathon. Actually not even really fast people, just kind of fast people. The good thing is we did it and only have four more long runs until the big day, cool beans. Now I am going to start eating my way through my house and try to recover.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

EENY MEENY MINY MO, WHERE DO WE GO?



Every ninety days we are off on another adventure. Since we live in Costa Rica as perpetual tourists we have to be tourists. That means every ninety days out of the country and get the passports stamped and stay out for 72 hours. It could be a hassle but we kind of look forward to it.

We have been to Panama in Bocus del Torro, as well as Nicarauga. We prefer Nicarauga because it is much easier to get to and cheaper. We have stayed in Massaya, as well as many times in San Jaun del Sur. Our all time favorite is San Jaun. Sleepy little beachside town.

We have been thinking it is about time for a trip to Florida. We have not been there, except on lay-overs flying to the states. We would love to do a Disney World trip, but are saving that one for the marathon there next year. In researching places to stay in Florida I found Fort Myer beach vacation rentals. The prices are amazing and we could stay for a whole week. The amazing part is there are rooms cheaper than the ones we stay in in Nicarauga, weird ha?

Friday, July 24, 2009

WEEK GONE

Man when you have a long run comming around these weeks tend to fly by! Tomorrow is our 16 miler and I am trying not to think about it too much. My daughter said she would be over in the morning, but not too early because we have to do some warm weather training, to do our long run. I just gave her a duh look and said "is it already Sat?"

Baby went to sleep over with her sister and niece. They were going, her and niece, to build a fort and sleep in it. She just called to tell me good night and was mad because her sister woke her up. My daughter told me she thought her eyes were open and she was still awake. She always looks like her eyes are open even when she is sleeping.

So tomorrow I will post pictures of our long run and of us limping around, should be interesting.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

EARLY PIONEER DAY


When we had our 'Family Night' this week we talked about pioneers. It took a few stories and pictures to explain it to baby, but she finally caught on. She really got into it and we decided to celebrate. The problem came when her really spacey mom got her days mixed up and thought today was the 24th. Oops, rather than make her really sad we just celebrated a day early, not like anyone could tell her different!

She got up early and put on her one and only long dress, had me braid her hair and ate two bowls of "pioneer porridge, oatmeal". The off part was the visit to the dentist, but hey better than just pulling them all.

We had read a story about a little girl her age who only got to take two items when they walked across the plains, and chose her dolly and quilt. So all day she carried around her dolly and blanket. When her niece came over to play she had her long skirt on and brought her dolly. They had fun playing all day.

Usually baby is pretty mellow and laid back. After she got her tooth pulled today and a cap put on the dentist said she was supposed to rest and take it easy. It was the most active and hyper I have ever seen her!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

R2D2

I call swine flu r2d2 because I can't remember the new name for it. But personally I think it is getting a little ridiculous. Now they are planning on closing schools for a longer period of time. I guess it is good we homeschool, but the whole baby dancing thing this week is blown for sure.

Now the teenager just had her church activity canceled for the swimming pool tomorrow. She is very disappointed. I guess they told her they are actually sending people home early from church now.

The worst part? They may start canceling soccer games :(, now that is a bummer.Maybe if we all agree not to breathe on each other they will let us go to the movies and watch games? Maybe if we show them none of us are pg. or have compromised immune systems they will let us to out?

Or maybe not and we will all have to suffer. After studying the lymph system the last couple of days and the immune system I can say that it is up to us to keep our own healthy. No one else can keep your immune system healthy, but there are many things that you can do to stay healthy. We have studies dry scrubs, salt glows tomorrow, as well as yoga moves all to pick up your immune system.

I would surely encourage one and all to work on strengthening your system and staying healthy, and being responsible for your health!

Monday, July 20, 2009

FACEBOOK FUN

I have been catching up with old friends on facebook. How fun! The biggest reason it is fun is because I think I can't possibly look as old as "them". lol! I found people that I went to High School with, like people from the dinosaur age for sure.

Very interesting to see where everyone ended up and what they are all doing these days. What I find the most interesting is that I don't care how much money they have made, how many things they have aquired, or what they have accomplished. What I want to know is, are they still married, and are they happy! Those are the big questions to me anyway.

Too bad we all put our best face forward on facebook, wouldn't it be fun if there was a truth only facebook? Where we all had to tell the whole story and not fudge at all. Like not only tell about the good moments of the day when we make a really nutritious meal and work out. Instead tell about when we make a whole batch of cookies and half of it in dough and the rest in cookies. Then we sit on the couch and watch some mindless show the rest of the day. Not that I would ever do that though :)

Friday, July 17, 2009

LET THE CLASSES BEGIN!



Time to go to work, yeah! We will be beginning classes again Monday. Since the weather is perfect we are excited to get started going again. It is fun to teach and clear out the ole' brain cobwebs that tend to gather with inactivity. Oh wait I do blog so I guess the brain is not sleeping too much.

I don't know about you but some days I feel like the only thinking I do is when I write a blog. Even then not too much :) Tomorrow is long run day and we are looking forward to getting the 14 miler out of the way. Kind of like labor, every pain only lasts once. With the long runs you only do each distance once.

I had to cut my exterra hat into a visor because it does not fit over my dreads anymore. They are getting out of hand for sure.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

WHAT HAPPENED TO "WE THE PEOPLE"

Do you know there are people who support this ridiculous new health care bill? I went to a comment page on one of the local news sources and was shocked to find that many people think it is o.k. I find it alarming that people think it is alright to take from the haves and give to the have nots.

I don't know about you all but I was raised to believe that you get what you earn. If you make enough money you can pay for things that other people who work pay for. I do understand many people are out of work. In that case they should study alternative health and learn to take care of themselves.

It comes down to an issue of who is responsible for me? I am responsible for me. I don't want nor need my government to take care of me.The reason I feel this way is the thing we are seeing right now in our society. You have to pay the piper. Nothing is free, you have to give up something to get these supposed handouts.

Me I will keep my freedom and as much of my integrity as I can!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

BIRTHDAY BOY


How the heck can I have a 29 year old kid? I am just really puzzling about that one in my head right now. I mean come on I ran 25 miles last week and will do 28 this week, aren't I supposed to be in a rocker or something at this phase? I guess it is more fun to keep up with them, than to just watch them.

I just hope my son has a good birthday and I'm sorry I missed it. He was very excited to sleep in, as the family were out working and his father in law called at six thirty to wish him a happy birthday before he went to work! This is a guy who works sixty hours a week and seldom gets a day off, much less a chance to sleep in.

I still remember the night he was born, in fact it is about fifteen minutes before the time he was born right now. I was in hard labor for 24 hours after my waters broke at the theater. Hubby was in the army and we had gone to the movies on base. My mother and older brother were there with us. It was hot as hadees in San Antonio that summer, in fact they made t-shirts that said "I survived the heat wave of 1980" That is hot.

After standing out front waiting for the theater to open, after a great Mexican food dinner, we went into the air conditioning and sat down. Before movies at the base theaters they play the National Anthem and you have to stand up, of course. So I stood up and my waters broke everywhere. I was so glad it was dark. I told my family what happened and they asked what I wanted to do. I said that I wanted to stay and watch the movie. It was "Coal Miners Daughter", good movie by the way.

Fast forward, or I should say slow forward to 24 hours when the little bugger was finally dragged out by the head with forceps. He was posterior, so it was a very long painful birth. Third degree tears and I felt all beat up. Here I was 18 years old and scared to death. The funny part was my mom was with me and she was five months pg!

It took me about five minutes to decide it was all worth it and to fall in love with my little blue cone head. I thought he was beautiful. You can see by the picture how big his head is, and that it is a little pointed to this day!

The amazing thing is that I went on to have five more, only getting smart on number seven and adopting!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

MORE ON SWINE FLU

I have one very disappointed daughter! Today the salud here in Costa Rica decided to extend the two week vacation another week. The reason? Trying to stop the spread of Swine Flu! Even though the sixth person just died, and no kids have died, nor have any healthy people.

She was scheduled to do her Costa Rica dance next week at the theme park. Like I said she is one very disappointed girl. Plus the fact that her teacher was on vacation the week before the two week vacation, that makes a month of one very bored girl.

I guess I could schedule a dentist appointment to break up things for her a little bit! Maybe just a picnic at the park. Her dad is teaching her to play chess, and that is adding a little excitement for her.

When the older kids were young and we were homeschooling Rick started a chess club for homeschoolers. One of our boys really took off and actually entered some contests. He was watching his little sister playing chess this morning and asked if we thought she would be good because she was Asian. I reminded him he is not Asian and he was a pretty darn good little chess player.

The problem is just getting her to stop giggling and pay attention to dad teaching her.

Monday, July 13, 2009

DRY SPELL

I have truly enjoyed our little summer. It has been relatively dry this month and we are enjoying the heck out of it. It is nice to go out in the evening and not have to take the umbrella and roll your pants up. Costa Rica has some weird weather patterns, but we are adjusting to them and even learning when it is really going to rain.

For example you would have thought it was going to rain today. When I went running this morning it was super humid and clouded over. But it just stayed cloudy all day and really humid. Now we have figured out when it starts out a little cloudy and overcast, and windy, it is not going to rain.

Now when it starts out in the morning really hot and sunny you are almost gauranted rain. Now that can fool you once in awhile.

Even though it was in the eighties today the girlies kept saying it was winter. That as they ran around in their summer dresses playing on the swing in the backyard. So after their naps we had popcorn and hot chocolate to get in the spirit of winter.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

HALF WAY

Woo hoo we ran our 12 miler today. Boy am I bushed. Rebekah was all bright eyed and bushy tailed though, so I guess age shows here. I just keep dreading having to get up and do anything. I would really just like to find a station that was showing the Tour and watch other people work out all afternoon.

So we are about seven weeks out from our marathon at this point and I am thinking it is going to hurt, again. I just don't know how to train so that a marathon is not painful, maybe not train and just hurt really bad for one day instead of four months?

At any rate we are training and moving right along. Rebekah wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every day to do her training. I shoot for 7:00 a.m. That is a little more doable. Todays run was a little tough because I could not get my visor to stay on. My dread head is getting too darn big for my visor and I wore a do rag instead, burnt face for sure.

At my age I don't need to be getting my face burnt and getting anymore sun damage. I don't want to look like the wrinkly old ladies we see at the beach. More moisturizer I guess! Oh and maybe a little sunscreen would not be a bad idea.

Friday, July 10, 2009

NEIGHBORHOOD PAINTING




What a great activity for some bored kids while school is out. The neighborhood had a project to paint all the light poles, and I think ours turned out best of course!

The girls had fun, and the baby even giggled while we traced his feet and hands. The neighbor was great and let them do their own things while she went behind and cleaned up and made it look pretty.

I was actually very surprised by how well my baby did. She is an artist for sure. Between the Chinese goat sign and the Libra sign she is destined to be a artist. We will have to paint the wall in the backyard now!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

DENTIST APPOINTMENT, NOT

I have a baby that gets seriously nervous about her dentist appointments. She has good reason to as she has had lots of pain in the dentist chair. Today she had an appointment with her pediatric dentist here in Costa Rica.

We finally talked her down enough to get her there, with promises of lots of treats and happy times. We got to the dentist office and waited and waited and waited. Finally the secretary called the dentist and found she was not even close.

We told her forget it we would reschedule and take care of it later. They were very apologetic and hopefully we will be able to reschedule. When we were walking home the first words were "now I get my treat".

It took a few minutes to explain to her that no appointment no treat. You don't get treats for apprehension. I was pretty frustrated and was glad to hear from the dentist and get an apology as she was out on an emergency. It is good to see that costumer service is becoming more of a priority here. Now we will have to get another appointment and do the whole phych thing going again!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

SCHOOL BREAK


I was looking at my baby today and wondering how I would have felt when I was five if I got to spend my vacation watching my mom teach massage! Considering all the fun of hiding in my homemade fort I guess I would have been pretty happy.

I have not posted for a few days as our computer has been sick. Yes unfortunately our computer has a virus and is not feeling well. We are trying to get everything of value off of it before we lose it. Poor thing.

Other than that we have not had internet because, well I don't know why as we did not quite get the reason when the ICE guy came out to fix it today. All I do know is we now have a half way working computer and are back online.

We have been working with another amazing student and received rave reviews about her work, after only two weeks no less! I just love teaching people and seeing the response of the people they work on. It is very rewarding.

The fun is also getting better with our marathon training. We are up to 25 miles a week and boy am I beat, to say the least. I think in judging how I feel and look between 20 and 25 miles a week is the perfect mileage. It feels good without feeling like too much, and keeps the weight off. Another benefit I have found from upping the mileage is no migraine the past two months with the cycle. No IB profin at all, cool!

Friday, July 3, 2009

JULY FOURTH CELEBRATION ON THE THIRD





Another great fourth of july picnic for all us ex-pats here in Costa Rica. It was great this year and for our second one we were very impressed with all the food, we did eat our way through the whole thing, as well as the kids games and activities as well as the marine flag ceremony.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone and let's not forget that we are losing more and more freedoms as we type and speak. It would be a good time to contact your senator and encourage them to vote no on the cap and trade.

Enjoy the Fourth of July and be safe, pura vida!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN


Today is my daughters' boyfriends birthday. I told him now that he is 19 he is too old for my daughter so they can't hang out anymore. He assured me that he is still 12 in his mind. I sure hope so. My daughter stayed up late last night to make him a cheesecake for his birthday. Then she woke him up early at his house and let him blow out his re-lighting candles.


My daughter is feeling very overwhelmed with her doggy turning 2 on Wed. and then the boyfriends birthday the next day, almost too much for a mind to wrap around. I am confident she will have to sleep for a few days to recover from all the excitement.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

VACATION TIME


I have had fun reading everyones' blogs about their family vacations. It certainly brings back many memories of our family vacations. Since moving to Costa Rica we seem to take them quite frequently, but they are still fun and memorable. The above picture is at Samara beach last October. That was a fun trip. Not necessarily a vacation, but a nice sight seeing trip.
The definate most memorable trips were the ones we planned with the kids and worked and saved for. One year we took the youngest two to Disney Land. That took lots of planning and saving, but was a blast for all. Another year we went to Yellowstone Park. Because we were camping that one took a little extra planning and saving.
One of the favorites was a trip to Hawaii with two of the youngest kids. We spent a week on the big island and it was a great trip. The thing with that one was again the money saving. We saved and joined a vacation club thing that helped.
We have also used our income tax refunds for trips. The problem here is these aren't happening anymore because all our deductions grew up and left home! Also because we don't make any money, which sure makes it easier at tax time to be sure!
Another idea is to use credit counseling and use their help.My advice as an old timer? Take vacations the memories are all you have once those little deductions grow up and go out on their own, that and the pictures of course!