Hotmomsrus

Home Sweet Home

2011-08-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well there goes my fun. I left our camera in the rental car in the U.S. and doesn't look like we will be getting it back :( That would include all our pictures from the States trip this year as well as tons of other pictures. Boo hoo!

The good news is our upstairs is almost done. We actually have a really big school up there. It is so cool and feels so awesome up there. Not to mention a really great view of the Valley.

Great Quote

2011-08-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

I have heard the last part of this quote but never the whole thing, it is awesome:

"Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Mary Oliver

Fears

2011-06-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

I was just reading a blog I like and she had posted the question, "what do you fear?"

I had to laugh because she was trying to downplay any "fears" we might have right now at this moment. I imagine she was thinking that most of us would look around and say yeah you're right my fears are not really that real.

The reason I had to laugh is because of the answer that came to my mind when she posed the question. The thing that came to my mind was, " I hope my son stays alive through this night."

Swim Lessons

2011-06-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

Baby and I have spent the last couple of weeks teaching her to swim. The only problem is that she already thinks she can swim and is pretty clear about not taking directions from Mom. She is doing pretty good overall and I think she could keep from drowning if the situation should arise.

She is getting to an age that I would like to put her in some kind of lessons but can't seem to find anything she is really interested in. We have done it all of course with six older siblings, and she does not find any of the activities that interested them interesting to her.

We have kind of run out of creative things for her to do. She thought she wanted to take karate, then I told her I had problems when I thought of her hitting people and getting hit. She thought about that for about a minute and changed her mind on that one. We tried dance and she found it really boring. I told her DS is not an option for an activity!

I think she is trying to find something her elder siblings have not tried out, now that is going to take awhile to find. We went and sat in on a gymnastics class for children, no way she said it looked boring. The grandkids are all charged up about that one and will be going to classes there, but that was not enough to convince her.

Hubby has talked about taking Chinese language lessons with her, maybe that is more up her ally. I just get a little hung up on her physical self. Too many years of doing triathlons have taught me that if you don't start a kid when they are young on a sport they will not have a chance at being competitive. There is that word, the one I think baby is trying to avoid. She does not want anything that looks "competitive". She does not like it and tends to be very much like her Mom and Dad, super competitive.

The search is on!

Lazy Daze

2011-05-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

Puerto Viejo with the family. It was beautiful and the food was great, oven baked pizza!
The trip from Hell! Our bus got caught up in a strike by the truckers traveling across Central America. What should have been a five hour trip to Nicaragua ended up being an eight hour trip.
Senior and Senora Viejo in Puerto Viejo a fun trip.
A mother daughter moment in Viejo!
Tattoo time with her big brother.

O.K. so I have had a bit of a lazy spell about blogging. I really should not do that as I am planning to blog to book all my posts and that is about as far as I get on the whole scrap booking idea. I have included a few recent pictures to update out big adventure.

When we moved here four and a half years ago I never imagined the effect the move would have on me. I can't speak for the rest of the family, but for me it has been a life changing adventure.

One of my sons called me from the U.S. today to tell me about how he almost got a ticket for riding his skate board through a stop sign. It was the most bizzare feeling in the world to realize that it made no sense to me. It also made me wonder how it ever made sense to me. I asked my family " if you are driving in your car and you get pulled over they can give you a ticket if you do not have a seat belt on. Why?"

No one could answer that question. It no longer makes sense to us.

I have also had my named removed off the rolls of the mormon church. I cannot talk bad about my experience in the church. It was what it was and I am ready to move on. There are many, many people who are very bitter about their experience in what they refer to as the "cult".

It was always my choice and I could have left at any point and time. We are glad to be done with that phase of our lives and look forward to the life and adventures ahead. Peace and pura vida!

Happy 2nd Birthday

2011-03-08T17:03:00.001-08:00

Life Crazy Life

2011-03-07T17:46:00.000-08:00

This would be babies first trip to the spa! We took our students to Spa Uno and they all got a foot massage. She was thrilled with hers and is hooked on them. I thought it was kind of ironic since you usually see the Asian chicks working on feet and here she is already spoiled to getting her feet worked on. Fun day!

Happy 17 and Chinese New Year

2011-02-05T18:18:00.001-08:00

Happy Year of the Rabbit! We are all thrilled around here to usher out the crazy year of the tiger and welcome in the mellow restful year of the rabbit. Now saying that I may be asking for it, but it sure sounds good to think about a mellow year. At least all family members are somewhat settled in and ready to get through the year. Micah is finally in Buckeye, the girls are here, and now all the boys.

On another fun note tweeny turned 17! That is so hard for me to believe. I can still remember my 17th birthday. Went out with hubby for dinner at Red Lobster. Scary. I am just glad she still likes to have fun and will hopefully wait at least 10 years to settle down. She is looking at a fun year of taking the GED and getting started in her estitician career. Should be a great year!

School Time

2011-01-26T14:57:00.000-08:00

School starts in two weeks aughhh! It seems like baby just got out for summer break and it is time for her to return already. Her very lovely teacher has been spending an hour every week working with her and getting her ready for second grade. I keep thinking I want to homeschool but she is having so much fun I hate to take her out. I suppose as long as she is enjoying, learning and having a positive experience we will leave her there.
We have been in an ongoing battle with aerocasillas over mail delivery. Evidently thanks to homeland security you are very limited on what you can mail to yourself these days. That would include a mate gourd as well as some mate and a tatoo kit. Get real what is the problem?
I am trying to talk grandma into visiting and delivering gifts with her visit. She has not visited in the four and a half years we have lived here and I believe she would love it.
Daughter and her family have found a great three bedroom house right around the corner from us. It is nice to have a little elbow room but still have them close enough to run over.
Teeny worked for two and a half weeks at a call center taking verbal abuse for eight to twelve hours a day and decided it was not really what she wanted to do with her life. Now to get her studying and ready to take her exams. She really wants to go to estitian school. That would be fun for her and combined with her massage training she could work well at any spa.
We still have the "guy on the chair" playing his game non stop. I love computer and internet surfing but this guy puts me right to shame. Our oldest son is planning on moving here for awhile to chill and get his life together.
We really thought we found a pretty good hiding place here in Costa Rica but evidently not :) Actually I love having the tribe around and we are enjoying hanging out, going to the beaches doing leaves etc. Pura Vida!

Summertime and the Living is Easy

2011-01-07T19:07:00.000-08:00

Yerba Mate latte!!!! We have been experimenting with mate recipes and this was the result of one try, yum! This particular recipe was mate, with chocolate syrup and some steamed milk on top. We make our own chocolate syrup from raw cocoa powder and raw sugar and water and vanilla. This one is a keeper for sure. We have added a little mint and that is good also. I made another one yesterday with mate, lemon juice, raw sugar and some fresh ginger grated in. Awesome! Soon to open our mate/cafe shop.

We took our summer trip to the Parque of Diversions. WE had a great time and the kids had so much fun. The craziest moment was when baby was too tall for the train. I almost cried when he told her she was a little too big for the ride. The funny part is her little short nephew weighs more than her :)

Revolution Not Resolution

2011-01-01T14:55:00.001-08:00

This year it is time for a revolution and I am ready!!! I just keep listening to John Lennon and know it is time for a revolution. My thinking has changed drastically this year and now I will have a time to act on it.

My biggest goal looming at the moment is Ironman Mexico in Cozumel this November. Boy I get really nervous in my stomach when I even think about that one, it will be a doozy. I have been doing four runs and three bikes a week. Next week the pool opens and I will add a couple of swims a week. The thing is I never get really fast at swimming, but I sure need to get stronger.

I have so enjoyed getting back on the bike. Man it feels good to cycle again and I forgot how much I loved it. Last week I even made it all the way up to Monte. It took some doing and I was a little sore in the hamstrings the next day, but it was awesome to make it.

One thing I am trying to incorporate this time, since I am not working as much and do not have six children at home, will be yoga. I hope that training will not be quite as stressful with less kids and less work and better weather. We will see. I do have the disadvantage of being 10 years older than the last time I did this.

Looking forward to an awesome year!

Santa and Sandwiches

2010-12-25T16:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all! We had a great Christmas with the family. The kiddos were so dang wired up taking them to the park yesterday did not even calm them down. Maybe next year a marathon the day before Christmas or something like that.

We had yummy food and played card games and made all kinds of racket. Hubby was going to attend midnight mass with the guys but they all started dozing off and voted against it. Maybe next year.

This morning we all got up very early and enjoyed a few presents. We are down to a $50.00 limit per person, so the shopping gets harder, yest more meaningful. After receiving all the blessings we went downtown Heredia and handed out meat and cheese sandwiches.

The girlies were awesome and not even one bit scared to approach those homeless people and give them a sandwich. I did feel a little bad when baby told me she was starving because she had only had a tangerine for breakfast and could she have a sandwich.

The highlight was my granddaughter. She came to get another sandwich from me after giving one to a guy sleeping in a box. She said how weird it was that he was sleeping in a box. I told her that was all he had, he had no home or bed or food. Later we were walking and she remarked to baby that when she grows up she is going to build a very big house for all these people to sleep in!

And a humanitarian is born!

Graduation

2010-12-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

O.K. so someone did not enjoy the kindergarten graduation today. O.k. maybe he never enjoys anything that does not involve him in the middle of it. He sure was throwing a fit at the ceremony. We could not even get him to smile for the camera.

Whew, she made it through kindergarten! That was quite a haul and now there is just first grade. As they say here, that is the most important grade in Costa Rica. That is the year they learn everything they need for life. Yup that is what they told us anyway.

Two very excited party goers. They are excited also to gift their teachers with their goodies they made them for Christmas.

Picnic in Paradise

2010-12-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like a beautiful December picnic two weeks before Christmas to make you so thankful for living in paradise! This little girl needed the sun on her face and the wind in her hair something awful. She was begging for a picnic. As we were trucking our bags of stuff up to the bus to hit the hills my son made the comment how funny would this look in the States? Yeah probably does not happen there.

It is so nice now that the kiddos are all big enough to play on the equipment and not kill themselves. Now we just have to worry about the adults, like the time my oldest daughter caught her pinky toe on the slide, ouch!

Even the teenagers enjoy getting out and playing. Oh wait she is a teenager but I guess he is an old man, and I mean old, won't even go there right now. Different post for a different day.

And don't these two goofy goobers just look like they are having a blast? They are just anxious to get going on the fire, the good part.
Did I mention I love Monte de la Cruz?

Eddie Vedder - Society

2010-12-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

I feel like this song best sums up my feelings about Christmas as we know it.

Minimum Sentence

2010-12-02T09:57:00.001-08:00

Although I try to keep the news about my son in jail on his blog I have to post this good news. Yesterday I flew into Arizona for his sentencing hearing. After two and a half years in county jail he has received the minimum sentence of five years. He can finally be transfered to prison and will have a little less than two years left to serve his time and price to society.

If anyone is unclear about how I feel about jails and prisons I will make it clear right here and now. I oppose all jails and prisons and feel they do nothing at all to rehab or help anyone anywhere. They are nothing more than schools to learn bad things and bad behaviors. I only pray my son can keep his great spirit through his prison experience and find good like minded individuals in the process.

There are not many people who can come out of the prison system better people than they go in, but I expect to see him do just that. In his two and half years so far he has read over a dozen classic books, as well as written a book and another to be published soon. If he can keep up this attitude in prison I will be so dang proud of that kid.

The only good part about yesterday, besides the minumum sentence of course, was the fact that I got to visit for over two hours with my son. We had a great talk and tried to take each other in since it will be a few months before I am able to talk to him again. He will be in transfer as well as the fact that we cannot talk on the phone or visit until we get approved after our background checks.

Stupidest system ever invented on earth!

Let The HolyDays Begin

2010-11-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Black Friday (A Day Late and a Dollar Short :)

1. Uh Oh We’re In The Red, Dear
to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Uh oh we’re in the red, dear.
On our credit card it shows
Christmas is almost over,
But the debit line still grows.
Shopping like Santa’s zombies,
Sent our budget down in flames
But all our Christmas spirit
Helped the giant retail chains.
I’m so foggy Christmas eve,
Wondering how we’ll pay
Christmas doesn’t seem so bright
When our finances are tight.
So here’s a plan for next year
Let’s forget the shopping spree
Let’s give a gift of love, so
All our Christmas gifts are free.

2. Listen to the Message
to the tune of Oh, Tennenbaum

Oh shopper dear
Come over here
And listen to our message.
Oh shopper dear come over here
And listen to our message.
The women who toil
In far off lands
So you can wear
Your favorite brands.
Don’t get a break-from dawn `till dusk
It isn’t right — let’s make a fuss.
When buying shirts and pants and stuff
Ask were the workers paid enough.

3. Profits
to the tune of Jingle Bells

You’re eating up our lies
And dashing to the stores
Then all our prices rise
And how the money pours
If we don’t keep you drugged
And watching your TV
You might see the hypocrisy
Then where would business be?

Profits here, profits there,
Profits everywhere
Christmas time is funny,
We smell money in the air
Advertise, glamorize,
Fool you with a flair.
Let’s make sure that Christmas
Is a businesslike affair.

We’ll tell you how to think
And tell you what to try
What to eat and drink
And how to live and die
And if our plan succeeds,
When Christmas-time is nigh
Instead of seeking love and peace
You’ll hunt for gifts to buy
(repeat chorus)

4. Buy And Sell
to the tune of Silver Bells

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Lined with advertising
It’s the big retail season of Christmas.
Children begging for each new thing
Toys for mile after mile
And the mood of the season is clear.
Buy and sell (Buy and sell)
Buy and sell (Buy and sell)
It’s Christmas time for consumers.
Ching-a-ching (ching-a-ching)
Cash registers ring (registers ring)
Must we spend Christmas this way?
Maxing credit, running debits,
Buying things we don’t need
With money we don’t really have.
Children crying, parent sighing
No time for family
And the reason behind it is clear.
(repeat chorus)

5. Learn to Sew!
to the tune of Let it Snow

Oh, the economy’s really frightful
But the shopping is so delightful
When you desperately need some dough
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.
Oh, there’s no sign the work is stopping
`cause the orders keep us hopping.
When you’ve got no place else to go,
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.
When you finally say good night,
And it’s two a.m. in the morn,
And the foreman wants to hold you tight,
And you wish that he’d never been born.
Oh, the economy’s really frightful
But the shopping is so delightful
When you desperately need some dough
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.
Oh, the industry isn’t dying
But the work is really trying
When you’re bank account’s getting low
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.

6. O’ Dumpster Are You Full of Food
to the tune of O’ Little Town of Bethlehem

O’ dumpster are you full of food
For us to eat today?
I wonder why, when it’s still good
The stores throw it away?
Could it be that it serves them
To make more than they sell?
And giving it to hungry folks
Won’t pay them very well.
O’ Dumpster when I lift your lid
What treasure waits for me?
A winter coat? A basketball? A five-pound bag of peas?
Though sometimes I get sickened
But it’s not from the food
It’s `cause I know that all their `trash’
Could feed my neighborhood.
O’ dumpster, why have they locked you?
You’re wrapped in chains today.
Did you know it’s against the law
To take what’s thrown away?
But bolt cutters and crowbars
Can liberate your fill!
And make sure that it gets to folks
And not to a landfill!

7. Slaving in a Sweatshop Wonderland
to the tune of Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Door bell rings, are you listening?
On your brow, sweat is glistening.
You’re working tonight; it just isn’t right,
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

Gone away are the good jobs
Here today are the sweatshops
They want you to sew
Seven days in a row
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

In Toronto, Woolworth has used sweatshops
And they’ve paid the lowest rates in town.
Ask about a union, they’ll say no ma’am.
Homeworkers do the job for the poorest pay around.

Later on, they’ll conspire
How to raise prices higher
The plans that they’ve made
Won’t make us better paid
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

Door bell rings, are you listening?
On your brow, sweat is glistening.
You’re working tonight; it just isn’t right,
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

8. Way Up on the Top Floor
to the tune of Away in a Manger

Way up on the top floor,
where people can’t reach,
The boss of the bussiness
plans trips to the beach,
He counts up his money
and spits on the poor,
While workers are angry
and bang on his door.

His company’s huge
and it eats up the globe,
It controls the TV
and everything we know,
His power’s not endless,
he’ll run things no more,
We’ve come to his condo
to kick down the door.

Stop shopping his stores,
stop supporting his banks,
Don’t polish his shoes
or build his big tanks.
Come out in the streets,
come out one and all,
Come join revolution
and his empire will fall.

9. Silent Night

Silent night, peaceful night
How can you sleep tonight?
Soldiers occupy lands afar
To feed more oil to polluting cars
When will there ever be peace?
When will there ever be peace?’

Silent Night, peaceful night
We’ll survive through this fight
Build your prisons, banks and walls
We will work to dismantle them all.
We’ll live a life of true worth,
Come, live a life of true worth.

Silent night, peaceful night
Bankers quake at the site
Of wealth distributed to the poor
And debtors who don’t stay docile no more
Once revolution is born
Once revolution is born

Words A Mom Does Not Like to Hear....

2010-11-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

My son returned from his bike ride this afternoon. I heard him from the kitchen talking to my daughter. She asked him how his ride was and he said good, really cool in fact because I got in two wrecks!

Now there is a problem with being an ex biker mom. My first question was not how are you, or are you alright? No my first question was how is the bike. I guess in my mind I knew that if he was sitting there talking he could not be hurt too badly, or he was in shock and I better treat him for it.

The wrecks were both his fault and I hope he learned before he does get hurt. In the first one he was riding on the tail of a little Honda and of course the Honda stopped quickly, boom he hit the car and flew over his bike to land on the back of the car. Thank goodness he survived. The driver came out and started asking him how he was doing in Spanish. My son told him that he did not speak so the guy asked in English is he was o.k. He said he was fine and they went on their way.

The next one the bus just ran him right off the road. Thank goodness no one can go very fast in their cars here, that probably saved his life today.

Flying Fears or Freak Outs

2010-11-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

I have got to stop reading, listening and scouring the news for scanner and groping reports. I am going to get in the security line and just keel over from anxiety! I will have myself worked up to an actual frenzy by the time I get to the gate. Like I already have myself worked up to a frenzy. In fact my kids have forbidden me to even speak of the groping I will have to endure.

Come on can't you just look at an old woman with dreadlocks and know she is as harmless as a fly? Really just figure on seven kids and five grandkids and I will even bring pictures and brag a little to convince them.

A client of mine was flying several years ago and all the bobby pins in her hair set off the metal detector. The TSA person began to pat her beehive, she is old, and take out her bobby pins. She informed her that if she messed up her hair she better put it back the way it was. They left off messing with her at that point.

I am still trying to figure out my best strategy to deal with someone touching me all over my body. My kids do not seem to understand my reluctance to be groped by a stranger. I try to explain to them that I have been teaching ethics so long in conjunction with our massage school that I really believe in ethics. I believe there are ethical ways to touch a person and not touch a person.

We are all sacred beings and deserve the respect and reverence due us. So many people say that they are willing to give up a little self respect to feel safe flying. Do they really feel safe flying, because I know I don't!

Britt Coffee Tour

2010-11-20T20:44:00.000-08:00

If you ever come to Costa Rica, and you love coffee, and you have a couple of hours and an extra $15.00 you really should take the Britt coffee tour. Today we took our student over so she could do the tour. I really don't drink coffee, nor do I have $15.00 for a tour, so we just checked out the store.

The store was really cute and had tons of chocolate samples. That is right free samples. We hung out there for quite awhile until the worker lady came out from behind the counter and started hovering. Of course the fact that my granddaughter was eating chocolate covered coffee beans by the handful may have had something to do with it.

We looked over at her and both cheeks were full of candy and both hands were full. Needless to say the next hour we kept her busy walking around trying to keep her from climbing up the walls. Good times!

The weather has been holding at beautiful and we are so looking forward to a weekend at the beach next week. Time to chill.

Summer At Last

2010-11-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

It is beautiful today, I mean freakin beautiful. Like the kind of day you just want to hang out at the park or go for a bike ride, or just sit in the sun and meditate. Awesome I think we have survived another super wet ugly rainy season. We will be better, wetter, stronger people for it I am sure.

My awesome baby did not have to take her English exams. So glad they finally realized she speaks English. Maybe they were confused and thought she was speaking Chinese or something. Not sure.

We are thinking about Thanksgiving next week and planning the menu. Roasted chickens and the works. Heading to the beach the next day is the best part of Thanksgiving this year. I have it very carefully timed so that we "have" to take a student to the beach every year on my birthday. Now isn't that convenient. I cannot think of anything I would rather be doing on my birthday, than teaching massage and going to the beach.

I love my life!

Another Granddaughter Gets Older

2010-11-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

I still can't understand how my kids and grandkids keep getting older but I don't. Amazing! This little munchkin turned 6 last week. I still remember the day she was born, and it was a doozy.

We had been home from China with her aunt only four days and her Mom was ready to go, one month early even. She only weighed 5 lbs. when she was born and needed a little oxygen.

Now she goes about a hundred miles an hour all day and drops to sleep like the dead. She also loves to tease and run and eat cookies with Grandma!

Aren't those curls the cutest?

Yoga Classes

2010-11-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

We have two weeks of yoga now. it feels great and we are actually feeling better and even getting the hang of it. I have not even hurt my toe since hour first day. My daughter is a natural at yoga and I keep telling her it is her thing.

In the meantime we just keep running our four days to burn the calories and try to keep the game fun. The weather is changing into dry season so it has been so nice this week.

We have been teaching the past two weeks and enjoying the heck out of it. I love being in the classroom and working with our awesome students. I am just constantly amazed that we keep getting the coolest people in the world to our massage school, wonderful.

Today was the celebration of my oldest granddaughters birth. I cannot believe that eight years ago I became a grandma! Whoa getting up there for sure. The bummer is the stupid p.o. did not get her gift there in time. I guess it will give her something to look forward to in the next couple of days.

Rain Gone

2010-11-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that the rain in Costa Rica has finally stopped, after only five feet, and the sun is shining. It is a beautiful day in paradise and we are all in much better moods to see the sun once more.

People would wonder how I spent eight years in Missouri with my sun thing, I would say it was not easy at all! Living in the midwest requires kind of a different mind set, like just go into hibernation mode for a few months and like it!

Can't do.

Today we took the kids down the street to the park so they could climb some trees and get the bugs out of their systems. After three days cooped up they were ready to run in circles like the dogs, it calms them down.

My daughter, son and I are doing the px90 so we have been working out hard and heavy. We did the yoga section this morning so now I am trying to get off my butt and go for a run. Man am I sore. I mean like everything is sore.

Hubby says I am too old for the plyometrics work out :)

Flooding

2010-11-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Last week we were celebrating the end of rainy season. This week we are mourning the death of 19 people who died last night in mud slides. Apparently hurricane Tomas is the culprit. We have had almost five inches in the past three days, and it is getting ready to start again.

We were on the way to school and the neighbor stopped us and informed us that schools would be canceled because of the disaster. Costa Rica has declared a National Disaster.

We were just bummed out because we missed our run yesterday, wow small bubble we live in.

In the meantime the U.S. delegate is heading to the Isla where there are continued conflicts over whose land is whose. Apparently the Nicas decided to dredge a little South and increase their holdings a little. Kind of a squatters right problem, which is not at all rare here.

The interesting part is the "pretend police" that keep showing up from Costa Rica. I am just waiting for the U.S to give the word for the 7,000 troops just chilling off the Pacific Coast. After all gotta keep those guys busy.

Still Stylin'

2010-10-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Every year on October 27th we have a tradition. That is the day we celebrate "Gotcha Day" with our baby.
We get out all the baby clothes she was wearing on that wonderful day, and she tries them on. I can't believe that after six years they still fit her, amazing.
The funny part is she is turning into a model in them, even down to the split pants.
This year was fun as she is understanding more and more about the whole mind boggling idea of adoption. I'm not real sure when or if it ever actually makes sense to a child that their birth mother gave them up, but she acts like she gets it.
She never asks questions about her birth mother. She just tells people that she has two moms one that had her in her belly and another one that takes care of her.
I guess every year it will become more understandable for her. In the meantime we will enjoy the excuse to party!

Omitepe Island

2010-10-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Usually when I think of islands I think of beautiful aqua waters, white sand beaches and palm trees. We blew that whole picture out of the water, literally, when we visited Omitepe this week. It is the only island in the middle of fresh water, a fresh water lake no less. There are actually two volcanoes and they are in the middle of Lake Nicaragua.

When we visited Tamarindo last month we left a couple of hours before a big earthquake hit. Today two hours after we left Nicaragua Costa Rica "troops" or I guess we should call them "pretend troops" since Costa Rica does not have "real troops", moved into the border town.

Apparently a bad guy is messing with the river dividing the two countries and dredging in the river and even threatening a kid and cattle. This of course calls for some pretty drastic measures.

So this afternoon the "pretend troops" moved in to restore order and strike fear into the Nicas. The real problem here is they have real troops! Just waiting to see how long it takes the U.S troops off the coast to mobilize and help out, since that is what they are there for right?

Anyway just glad we escaped with our lives and don't have to worry about leaving for a few months.

Now the thing about Omitepe. If you have not been there I would just recommend you check out my pictures and experience through them. In other words it was a little boring. There are of course some cool places to hike to, if you want to spend a lot of money and fall in with the other tourists.

The most interesting part was the guy who owned the hotel we stayed at. He had this cool beaver tail and some great stories. One rainy day we just hung out with him and listened to him talk story and looked at his pictures. This guy had been all over the world as a peace ambassador for the Native Americans.

He is a true blue headband wearing Indian. He and his tribe actually live in teepees on Omitepe, pretty appropriate ha?

Nica Bound

2010-10-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

We will be heading off to Nica tomorrow for our 90 day leave. We are really excited as we will be visiting a new place. Well new to us, really old to everyone else. It is Ometepe Island. There are two volcanoes located there and we are planning on hiking the big one, Conception. Exciting.

Half Marathon PR!

2010-10-17T16:17:00.001-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I would agree after looking at these. We both, Bekah and I left it on the road today. We did our race in Cartago and the first hour was all up hill. From there on it was awesomely downhill and fast, even for us! We finished in 2:10 and 2:15. You can probably look at the two last pictures and guess who had which time :)

Logistics of Family Racing

2010-10-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am not used to having other members of my family racing along with me. It is fun and of course very humbling. There are a few drawbacks, but the fun is worth it for sure.

The biggest draw back would be the food bill! Holy guacamole we all eat a lot when we are training for a half marathon! Especially when we all do our track workout the same day, and long run the same day, lots of calories to replace those days.

Last night I cooked a perfectly healthy perfect meal. Whole wheat penne pasta with a vegee marinara sauce and a beautiful salad. About thirty minutes after dinner hubby started talking about how good a banana split would taste about now.

At least we did healthy banana splits. A great huge banana, only two scoops of ice cream, home made chocolate syrup made with cocoa powder and raw sugar, and nuts on top. I don't even want to know how many calories, but it did satisfy the itch and was fun to eat while watching the Biggest Loser.

I think hubby is still trying to recoup his calories and rest after his 10k on Sunday because he ordered cheeseburgers and potato wedges for dinner tonight. Good thing we are getting ready for our half marathon on Sunday.

Which brings up another logistic problem. Me and my daughter are going to ride the bus to Cartago to do our half marathon. I was thinking this morning "wait a minute, I don't want to ride three busses in my running clothes, and not to mention wearing them home after a half marathon! We would clear the bus to be sure".

I asked my son who also did the 10k last Sunday if he would be willing to go with us and watch our junk and maybe shoot a couple of pictures. He readily agreed so that base is covered. His very kind younger sister went along to their race to be the holder, and picture taker.

Not sure what we will do when we have bikes to haul, probably have to break down and rent a car for those races, or just ride our bikes to the race :)

10.5 K

2010-10-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today my middle son raced his first ever race. Considering he has only been training for two weeks and finished in the top one third of his age group I am very excited. Mostly because I am so relieved he did not get is Mom's very slow genes.

I knew he was strong and an awesome biker, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he is also fast.

He takes after his papa who also raced today. He did awesome also and is of course bummed about his time and looking for ways to get faster. I guess none of us would continue to race if we were happy about our times...

Seventh, Seven on 10/10/10

2010-10-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

Pretty special day around this part of the woods.

My seventh child turns seven and it is 10/10/10! Pretty cool and pretty fun birthday party for sure.

She of course chose one fried egg for breakfast, her favorite. For lunch lazy soup. And for dinner fish, baked potatoes, and salad. And of course a strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

The best part of course was the presents. We don't usually spend much on birthday gifts, way too many birthdays for that. This one was an exception for a very good reason. Teeny had a cell phone that had died a horrible death. She also had a Nintendo DS that she never ever played with.

Well baby loves the DS so we made a deal with Teeny to trade her a new cell phone for the DS she was trying to sell on Craigslist for $150.00. I guess it turned out win, win,, win considering we would have had to buy her a new cell anyway, and baby will be very busy for a long time!

To The States Again....

2010-10-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

Time for another trip to the States. Good thing this one will be very short, and hopefully very sweet.

Micah will be having his sentencing hearing the 16th of November. Since we have classes to teach here we will fly in one day, hearing next day, fly out that night.

The big question and prayer...minimum sentence please!!!!!!!

Bittersweet

2010-10-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today is "baby boys" birthday. It is a bittersweet day for me. On the one hand I am filled with joy when I remember his birth. I was talking to his older brother about it as we walked home from our track workout this morning.

My whole goal that hot October day in Independence Missouri was to finish our paper route before I finally had this baby. He was two weeks late and I was so ready to get this fifth baby born.

Since we did not do the ultra sounds we were all just hoping that he would be a girl. Having three boys already and only one girl we were all so hoping for a girl.

I loaded the kiddos in the little white car and we drove the paper route. As soon as we were done we loaded up the whole family in the van and drove to the hospital. My friend Jackie was there to keep the other four kids in check during the birth.

Really the only thing I remember the most about his birth was the fact that a)I almost had him in the toilet and b)his shoulders got stuck and it took a couple of pushes for the doc to turn him around and get him "unstuck".

Other than that it was quick and he was a lovely little squirmy guy with tons of black hair, and of course very big shoulders. He weighed in at a whopping 7lb.15oz. and was 21" long. Man was I happy to finally get that boy here.

Now all I can think about is how happy I will to finally get that boy out of jail and have a real birthday party with him on his birthday. This is his third birthday in county jail and we are all ready for a real party.

Of course like he in all his optimism reminded me tonight on the phone, at least I know he will not get drunk and die on his 21st birthday. That much we know.

Personal Training

2010-09-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten how much I loved helping people get fit! Our last school student wanted me to help her put together a marathon training program. We went through and I gave her a great program based on her mile time. I got an email from her telling me how much she hates Mondays! Yes, success!

The reason she hates Mondays is that is track workout. I have her doing some speed work on the track and she is obviously loving that part. In all fairness we also do our speed work on Mondays, so at least we feel her pain.

I have also given my 24 year old a work out schedule to prepare him for some triathlons. He is luckier than I in that he has a bike. He is at a disadvantage in that he does not know how to swim, so we will be working on that one. Piece of cake though. When I started doing triathlon I went to masters to learn to swim. The coach still jokes about how shocked she was the first time I showed up for swimming.

I had on my little pink goggles, as well as my pink one piece and a little pink cap. I thought it was charming. My friend, the coach, said she just kept waiting for me to either drown or stop coming. Well I am still living and I know how to swim so it was great that I proved her wrong.

Though I do have to admit when my swim group heard that someone had drowned at Ironman Utah they were pretty sure it was me..

When I was giving my son his work out I just looked at him and commented that I could not believe I ever worked out that much. Those were the days....

A Biker Is Born

2010-09-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

When my children were young we had a standing rule in the family. They had to be faster than mom at some sport. They grudgingly took on a few sports and struggled through. All but a couple of them that is. Teeny is much faster at swimming,, when she trains. My oldest daughter, whom is my running partner, I should say was my running partner, is super fast. Now my third born has taken up cycling, running and swimming.

Today he rode up to Monte for his first time. He loved it, once he got there. He was also enjoying coming down until he blew out his back tire. And the good news was once he fell and got it over with he was ready to go on the new pedals.

Needless to say a new Biker is born! Watch out Uncle Bart he is going to carry the torch!

Intensity

2010-09-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

What an intense full moon week! We have another son coming to live with us this week, as in tomorrow. My son-in-law has busted his butt to put in a new room for the son. Now we are just thinking about moving all the little ones out there, hmmm quite the idea.

Today a verdict was handed down in a trial, putting one mother through hell. The shooter in my son's case was found guilty of 6 of 7 counts against him. All of them felony charges. He is 20 years old. All I could think of was his poor mother and the anguish she must be feeling. I hope they had a couple of good years the past two and a half years, knowing that their lives would change forever.

I read a book, "A Different Kind of Normal" that addressed this issue. The issue of families that plan their holiday, vacations, and where they are going to live based on their kid in prison.

Hey that is my life as a matter of fact. Now we can move on in the whole process, get a sentence and continue with this thing we call life, a different kind of normal life that is.

Home Sweet Home

2010-09-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again. Home safe and sound. The good part was we missed the earthquake on that side of the country by two hours. It was crazy to think it happened right after we left. I have not heard of any damage, but I'm sure the waves went crazy for sure.

We loved Tamarindo and are looking forward to our return already. It was an awesome trip and there is nothing I would change about the whole trip. We were able to relax, play, and explore the little town. Met some really cool people. I do believe next time hubby goes on a date with me he will make me cover the dreads. He got tired of people saying, "Rasta, you want ganja?" It was pretty funny.

The kids had fun but were happy to get home to their beds and dogs.

Just found out another son will be joining us next week. Good times! Will be working on adding a screened in porch out back so he can have a space. It is nice even if you are a little crowded to have a little space of your own. Especially when we have to close off the front of the house for massage class and clinics.

On the really good note, it only sprinkled for a few minutes today, yippee! I would like to think rainy season is slowing down, but I know that is too good to even think about. We are in for a couple of good months yet. Ah well at least we have a wonderful drier now and can dry out our clothes. There is something comforting in knowing if you get really wet you can still dry out.

Let The Fun Begin

2010-09-13T13:47:00.001-07:00

Rough Run

2010-09-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, these should say how our marathon was.

Whoa

2010-09-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the heck? How did this marathon creep up on us so fast? I was just busy teaching and living life and of course training, but here it is. I am trying to be positive, like watching Nike commercials etc. to get pumped for the pain. Actually the last two I have done have not hurt. When I did the half in Leadville I was going too darn slow to be sore. And the marathon last year, just was not sore.

Well I have a good friend in Flagstaff that would tell me I did not go hard enough if I was not sore. So Saturday I will be sore! I will give it every ounce and by golly I will set a pr if it kills me! And yes Rebekah you can take off, stay, or do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself while I am spasming out!

I have come up with a plan that goes against all running rules. The deal is it is cool for about the first half of the marathon. Then that wonderful sun comes up and it heats up, fast. My plan is to run the first half faster than the second half. Now I know all the books say opposite, but they aren't running a marathon in Tamarindo at 98% humidity and about 89 degrees.

We also have the guys in our court and they will be keeping us in the coconut water for our trek. Man this is going to be fun!

Snails and Shells and Puppy Dog Tails

2010-09-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

I figured after all my rantings about boys last week I would post a reminder of why they win my heart over. I mean always and forever that is, not only when they are this young and charming, or as we call this little guy "guapisimo".

More On Boys

2010-09-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

This was a good day for boys. I think boys are just like that, all good or all bad. The trick is when you have four sons, rare to get a day when they are all good. I got a chance to talk to Micah today and he was in a great mood. The trial is winding down and he is looking forward to receiving his sentence and moving on. He is also super excited that we are still selling copies of his e-book.

Son numero dos is doing good. He is trying to get himself moved down to the valley with his older brother. He has a truck that needs fixing and then he is on his way. Ready to move on all the time that one. He loves to be moving. In fact he said he walked 15 miles yesterday. He is a walker. Kind of like Forrest Gump, just feels like walking.

Numero dos has actually moved himself and his perro down to the valley. He found a studio apartment for a good price and is anxious to get moved down there. The really bad news is he has to get rid of his dog. The problem is the dog has never been right in the head. He is scared of everyone and everything. In the beginning when my son would walk him he had to carry him. He was obtained at a no kill shelter and apparently had been beaten or otherwise abused. So he was never a good dog, but still hard to part with after two years.

Numero tres is still struggling to deal with is divorce and not having his three girls around. I really don't have much empathy, never having dealt with it myself so I just try to be there for him and do lots of listening. He has found old friends that have been through similar trials and are there for him, so that helps.

I won't even go into the daughters :) That is another post for another night. In the meantime we are wrapping up our marathon training and tapering. Ah tapering my most favorite word in the whole world. Except I get really antsy and bored and my legs have that achy feeling. One more mid distance run tomorrow and then it is short runs for the next week in preparation for the big race. I say race when what I mean to say is run. That is much more appropriate.

Sons

2010-08-30T20:02:00.001-07:00

What is it about sons that can send you over the brink of bat crazy? I mean seriously how can four I was going to say boys, but I guess they are men now, drive me so crazy?

My oldest son got divorced today. Yup just like that, after 8 1/2 years they decided they were done. Not worth it anymore I guess. It is interesting to talk to them. They both said they knew they had made a mistake the week after they got married. Now that is sad.

So we said to him "congratulations, now it is time to nut up or shut up". In other words prove that since you felt you were unequally yoked now you can soar. Now you can do things your way and hopefully that way will be better. Hopefully that way will make you happy. Hopefully your way will make your children happy. Hopefully someone will be happy after all is said and done.

If I sound a little cynical and upset about this I am. I guess mostly for the kids sake. Since I have never been involved in a divorce maybe I make more of it than is there. Maybe I over react to it. Maybe I just don't understand it. At any rate I am always the champion for the kids. The little ones that don't have a clue what the heck is going on and wonder why their Mom and Dad just can't get along. After all they have to get along with everyone don't they?

Book is Here

2010-08-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

IT'S HERE! Just go to Micah's blog
This book is a compilation of Micah's poetry written during his first two years incarcerated in Coconino County Jail. I must say, totally unbiased of course, that he is a heck of an author.

Coffee With Apollo will make you laugh and cry and think. It really does offer a bunch for only $10.00. A lot of people have asked how they can help Micah. This is the best way. It is a great morale booster at a pretty tough time for him as well as keeping him in the coffee for awhile.

Thanks to all for continued support, love, prayers and trust in Micah.

Knitting Madness

2010-08-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

We are all knitting like mad around here. It is already half way through August and we have until November to complete our goal of 1,000 articles for the orphanage in Hondurus. I will post pictures once my daughter finishes her blanket and we will all have one project down, only 997 left yahooo!

I have finished three hats and am loving making the hats. So far I am just experimenting and trying to find out what style I like the most. The little fitted ones are so cute, but then again the little curled brim hats are also really cute.

Besides that excitement we are all hoping and praying that the trial is over soon and some closure will be brought to all families involved. It is time to get this over with and let some boys move on with their lives, wherever that may be.

Well I better get back to my knitting and keep up with the speed knitters around this joint!

Best Use of Cigs

2010-08-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

If you ever find a pack of cigarettes in your teenagers room and want to dispose of them rather creatively, here is a good idea for you!

It may piss them off a little bit, but hey at least they are that many cigs farther away from lung cancer. Now if we can just keep finding the hiding places we may just give her a few more years of life.

Here's Your Sign

2010-08-16T19:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Sunday so naturally we went to church. During the first meeting the Primary President, who was sitting behind us gave this beautiful braclet to baby. Do you know what that plant is? I surely don't think she did because it is a pot plant. Now I have to admit it is a darn pretty braclet, but I was a little shocked nonetheless.

I guess I can't really complain considering the fact the Y.W. President carries a really cute bag with pot plants all over it. Only in Costa Rica, pura vida!

Here

2010-08-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Just Another Monday

2010-08-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

Just another Monday, but a great run! Finally felt some legs and could actually run again without dying. This week and next week will be the most mileage for our race and I am ready. WE have an 18 miler this weekend and a 20 miler next weekend. This weekend is Mothers Day! I am really hoping for my new running shorts. I need new shorts really, really badly.

I am also in the process of trying to recertify for my NCBTMB. The thing is you have to take 50 CEU's every four years. I did all of mine last week, and the Ethics course also. Now I just have three more practicum massages and I will be done with that. The only problem? I forgot that it takes 10 days to mail anything from here and they probably won't get my stuff in time.

Dang I have never done that before. I just really lost track of time and am having so much fun that I did not think about it at all.

The course I took was an Ayurveda for Massage Therapists course. I enjoyed it and and am really ready to move along in my Ayurveda studies. Still trying to set on a date and place to go in India next year to do some more studies. And of course I still have those three massages to get done for three very lucky people.

Yoga, Mate, and Running

2010-08-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

So the verdict is in. I cannot drink a muy grande mate-latte every day and run. I also cannot go back to yoga after a year off and run the next day. This whole running thing is certainly starting to get inconvenient.

All week I have been having awful runs. I just could not figure out what the problem was. I would just be jogging along and boom my heart rate would jump up, I would start sweating bullets and get queasy. Kind of like I was working out at max heart rate, but I was not.

Thursday I was teaching, after drinking a huge mug of may mate-latte, and I broke out in a dripping wet sweat. It is like hot flashes, at least like I imagine hot flashes since I have never really had one. I just looked at our student and apologized for sweating like a pig.

Finally this morning as I was struggling because I was so freakin sore from yoga last night, I remembered one other time I had these same symptoms. I was taking some "all natural" diet pills. They were loaded with caffeine, as well as garana and some other pretty potent stuff. Same thing happened. I would be biking and my heart would feel like it was going to beat right out of my chest.

Hopefully now that I have figured it out I will start having better runs. As for the yoga, of course I will do more! Classes on Monday and Friday for me now.

Ayurvedic Massage

2010-08-05T13:05:00.001-07:00

I really enjoy doing Ayurvedic massage. I have watched videos and studied it for awhile, but I finally buckled down and did a couple. They are very fun, lots of oil and movement. In some ways it is like doing Lomi Lomi massage, which is Hawaiin massage.

The longer I am a massage therapist the more things I find to love about the profession. There are so many modalities and cool things out there for me to learn and experience. That being said I would not have taken this class or even tried it out had I not been made to.

In order to stay Nationally certified I have to complete 50 hrs. of CEU's every four years. I am about done with my credits and will be recertified for another four years.

And the best part was it was fun and I learned a lot.

Long, Long, Long Run and Week

2010-07-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

For some reason this has felt like the longest week in the world. I guess because we have started a new session of class, and I had a long run, and my daughter and her family are trying to get ready to head back to Hondurus for a few days, and my periods are getting incredibly far apart.

Nothing bad of course, just lots of reasons for it to seem like a really long week. It is actually great to start classes up, and our school room is taking on a beautiful feeling, I love it!

Today was our 16 mile run. We had to wait until late afternoon to take off as my running partner was taking a final downtown. That turned out to be a really good thing because things had cooled off considerably and we had a wonderful run. It is amazing how much better long runs go when it is under 80 degrees!

My son-in-law went to the Honduran embassy last week to get his passport renewed as it was about to expire. Turns out they did not have the "machine" to do this and informed him that it would "just be easier" for him to go back to Hondurus to take care of this. Easier for who? That is a 15 hour bus trip and my poor granddaughter has been crying all day just thinking about going back on that long bus trip.

Then the really good news, the cycles are getting farther apart. Up to four and a half weeks now, could this really be the beginning of the end? And for the bigger question, will I get more mature now? Somehow I doubt it!

Irony at It's Finest

2010-07-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Last night I was thinking about the great injustice taking place in Arizona. As I was thinking I was reminded of another group of people that were treated the same. I had to laugh out loud as the irony of it hit me. I realized that a Mormon man has actually issued an "extermination order" of sorts to a group of people, after the Mormon people were the only other people to have one issued against them. Now isn't that irony at it's finest?

Headquarters of the Militia,
City of Jefferson, Oct. 27, 1838.

General John B. Clark:

Sir Since the order of this morning to you, directing you to cause four hundred mounted men to be raised within your division, I have received by Amos Reese, Esq., of Ray county, and Wiley C. Williams, Esq., one of my aids, information of the most appalling character, which entirely changes the face of things, and places the Mormons in the attitude of an open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this state. Your orders are, therefore, to hasten your operation with all possible speed. The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace--their outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you may consider necessary. I have just issued orders to Maj. Gen. Willock, of Marion county, to raise five hundred men, and to march them to the northern part of Daviess, and there unite with Gen. Doniphan, of Clay, who has been ordered with five hundred men to proceed to the same point for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons to the north. They have been directed to communicate with you by express, you can also communicate with them if you find it necessary. Instead therefore of proceeding as at first directed to reinstate the citizens of Daviess in their homes, you will proceed immediately to Richmond and then operate against the Mormons. Brig. Gen. Parks of Ray, has been ordered to have four hundred of his brigade in readiness to join you at Richmond. The whole force will be placed under your command.

I am very respectfully,
your ob't serv't,

L. W. Boggs,
Commander-in-Chief.

I Am That Mom

2010-07-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is a post for a fun blog carnival!

I am that mom that got married when I was 17, and have never regretted it.
I am that mom that wanted 10 children, but had to settle for 7 wonderful souls.
I am that mom that decided to home school my children before it was "cool".
I am that mom that raised my children organic, without T.V. and no sugar, ever!
I am that mom that learned that the above one does not work.
I am that mom that got DES called on her for not immunizing her oldest child, 30 years ago.
I am that mom that is still fighting DES over home schooling the baby, 30 years later.
I am that mom that has watched a son go through rehab, a divorce, and alcoholism.
I am that mom that has watched a son go through crystal meth, and rehab on World of Warcraft.
I am that mom that will let my children live with me forever, I love having them here and they know it.
I am that mom that has a son in jail.
I am that mom that plans our family vacations around when we can go visit my son in jail.
I am that mom who lost all confidence for a few years when my son went to jail.
I am that mom who told all my kids they did not have to exercise ever, as long as they were faster at one of my triathlon sports than I was, they all are.
I am that mom who grew dread locks for my son who is in jail, because he couldn't.
I am that mom who decided at 42 I wanted one more baby and went to China to get my baby girl.
I am that mom who told hubby lets sell it all and move to Costa Rica.
I am that mom living with my family in Costa Rica, and loving it.
I am that mom who has lived four years without a car, and would love to never,ever have to have one again.
I am that mom who would rather hang out with her kids than anything else in the whole world.
I am that mom who loves to run with my daughter and cannot imagine doing a marathon without her behind me with the whip.
I am that mom that insists on living my life my way, and the same right for all my children.

Home Sweet Home

2010-07-21T18:41:00.001-07:00

Being home is great! There are hundreds of reasons to be glad to be home. The problem is there are a couple of very good reasons to miss the good ole' U.S.
They would be guapo #1 and guapo #2! There are also guapo #3 and #4 but I did not have pictures of them. It was so good to see, hang out with, eat with, play frisbee golf with, and just see my boys.

30 Years Ago Today

2010-07-15T08:18:00.001-07:00

I was going to write about how thankful I am for my oldest son who made me a mother 30 years ago. But then I started thinking about how he actually has so much to look forward to in his life. When I think back to when I was 30 I can remember that my life was just getting going at that point.

I actually had my last baby at 32 and then the fun really got started. Today I am hoping the same for him. Many years ahead filled with fun, adventure and great health. He is on the road and it looks like a fun road filled with love and success.

U.S. Fun and Family

2010-07-14T09:22:00.001-07:00

Sand baby. It is hard to believe this beautiful granddaughter is only 5! She is so tall, like the others. She is even taller than her "auntie" who is a year older than her.

Baby! She is 3 and has the most beautiful smile ever.

This leggy girl is a whole head taller than her "auntie" and only one year older. Model material!
And now you can see why the girls are so tall! They get it from their mama!

Contemplating in Texas.

My "baby" is gonna be dirty 30 tomorrow! He feels old, I feel much older. Of course I always explain to people that I started young, that is why I look so dang young, because I am!

Sad Day

2010-07-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad day for Costa Rica. The legislative body has approved 7,000 U.S. troops to move into our coast. They will be there from July until January. The excuse is for them to clean up the drugs there. Good luck on that one.

My heart breaks for the freedom loving folks in Costa Rica. There are many Costa Ricans who love the idea that they are peaceful and not warmongers. Now that whole wonderful pride will be gone.

I really knew this would come someday, but not now. If the people of Costa Rica did not resent us being here before, they sure will now. Our presence will be a constant reminder of how the U.S. took over their country.

I hope all those who voted for good ole' Laura are doing a bit of thinking at this point. Though I suppose it is a little late to figure out who your new president is sleeping with.

As I have always said, they can just look at the U.S and they are provided a perfect crystal ball. You can actually read the future of Costa Rica by watching the U.S. Now more than ever I suppose.

The Great Mountain Climb

2010-07-05T19:41:00.001-07:00

Here is a big Happy Birthday to the worlds best big brother! You know you really love your brother when you are willing to climb from 10,000 ft. to 13,000 ft. just to celebrate the big 50 with him! Well not with him exactly, but for him is a better way to put it. Though he did give me his 5 and 0 from his cake so I could use them in 15 months!

We all enjoyed some really good times. Here we are all enjoying a laid back breakfast the morning after. The amazing thing is I was not too sore. The truth was I could not go up fast enough to get sore, and could not run down fast enough to get sore. Going up it was all I could do to stay upright, man does that altitude make you nauseaus. Coming down the rocks were killers and I was just trying to not fall on my face!

I have to say Leadvlle Colorado is a beautiful spot. Here are the bros and significant others and I enjoying the park with the kiddos. The weather was pleasant, except at the top of the mountain where wind and more wind prevailed.

Pretty cool medals they got ha? Once again I worked my butt off to complete a race and ended up with no medal. As soon as I crossed the line the lady apologized to me that they messed up their order and sent them too many full marathon medals. That is the second race in a row with no medal. What is the lesson in this for me? Get faster so I can actually get a medal! I was 17th in my age group out of 20, not too bad. And I finished in 4:58, under the five hour goal I had for myself.

Here I am coming down the home stretch. Thank goodness the last three miles is all down hill and on dirt road. It was so good to see hubby waiting there and waving to me. I just wanted to cry, I was really wiped out.I could not eat anything the whole climb as the altitude made me really sick. So just lots of water and gatorade, took some real recovery for that one.

We all lined up together. Only three of us completed the race, but my other brother was a great help in getting me to run on the downhill when I really did not want to. He helped me make up enough time that I could go with my goal. Aren't brothers the best?

"Two More Sleeps Mom!"

2010-06-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

We are counting down now. Only two more sleeps as baby says before we head North to the States. It is so hard to explain to people the mixed feelings of returning to the States when you live here. Our home is here, people we love and our jobs and schools. Therefore we miss our home when we leave. On the other hand there are my four sons living in the states and their families that we miss terribly. Such mixed feelings.

Not to mention the fact me and the girls missed a leave and are hoping they even let us back in the country when we head back. We have been hearing rumors of the customs turning people back when they are not legal. That would be one huge inconvenient drag to say the least.

We have covered our bases, we think, as far as the school and house are concerned. Thank heavens for family and friends willing to help us out. We even had one of our sons pitch in to get us back for a visit, that is awesome to say the least.

Today we took care of the last to do on the list. Went to my funny dread lock guy and got some tidy up work done. He uses a lighter and shapes them and gets rid of all the stray hairs. Well not all the stray hairs, would not be much left. I gotta share his story because it is pretty bizzare.

He was telling us that he started smoking ganga when he was 9 years old and living in San Jose.When he was 12 he was out smoking with a bunch of friends one day and his mother saw him. She threatened to kick him out if he did not stop. He got home that day and all his clothes were packed in bags and sitting outside. He took them and went to live at the beach in Limon.

He proceeded to sell his clothes. By the time he had run out of clothing to sell he had learned to make bracletts and jewlery. He grew out his dreads and lived on the beach selling jewlery for years. Now he owns his own store downtown and sells his jewlery and fixes hair wraps and dreadlocks. Pretty ambitious guy for being high most of the time for sure.

I am really happy with the fix up job he did, except for the smell of course, yuck!

2010-06-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.” (Julius Caesar)

On The Lighter Side

2010-06-21T21:31:00.001-07:00

In the midst of trying to get ready for our trip, prevent the PANI from taking baby, and keeping teeny caged up, the world cup has been a great diversion. You can see here that my daughter cannot even bear to see one more soccer game, her eyes are closed!

We had a fun day getting ready for and watching the Hondurus game. They cooked a typical Hondurun meal and it was great. Now if the catrachos had scored at least one point it would have been the perfect day!

I also got to talk to Micah for one of the last times before we actually get to see him in person. Well kind of person if you count talking on a phone through a glass window, in person. Close enough for me right now, though a hug would be awesome.

Also the fact that Flagstaff is burning as I type. In fact our old neighborhood is on evacuation alert and all the people across the highway have already been evacuated. Scary and very sad. We just keep praying and checking on the mountain.

Today is summer solstice and a great day to pray for the earth and all the bad stuff going on to the earth at this time. The oil gusher continues to spew in the gulf, the fire continues to burn, and people continue to kill each other. But hey as long as there is a World Cup to watch we can get a little break!

Fathers Day

2010-06-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

Father's Day for me is a lot like Missionary Farewells, they suck. My father died when I was six, and as a child I can remember actually being very uncomfortable on Fathers day. My friends would all tip toe around the subject thinking they could not talk about dads around me. If someone did not know me and asked about my dad I would feel like I had to apologize. I hated telling people that my dad had died. For some reason that was very difficult for me. Maybe because as a child you just want to fit in and since I had a name like Robbie Robbins and already stood out enough, it was just one more thing to make me "different".

Now of course I don't feel the embarrassment, just sad. I never really got to know my dad. I have blips of memories and fun times. I remember one day my brother 15 months older than me and I were taking a shower. We were in the stall and decided that it would be really cool to plug up the drain and have a swimming pool. We could not figure out why the water would not get any higher than the shower door. That is until our mom came in the bathroom and shrieked. I guess there was lots of water. We both got the wooden spoon for that one, except it broke on big brothers butt!

I can remember him horsing around with us quite a bit. As a child he got the name "Skin" because he was so skinny and he loved to tease. After he died and we would go to Texas to visit family all I had to do was smile and they knew who my dad was! I got his blue eyes as well as his huge gummy smile. Coming from a family of 10 kids he was always fun to be around and a hoot!

He was 32 when he died, and had four kids, and a very young wife.

This fathers day, like many past I will be reading his letters to his sisters. It is all we have that he ever wrote and they actually mention me. From this I have learned the value of journals. If my dad had kept a journal I would so love to read his words. Invaluable!

No More Strike

2010-06-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Yippee, no more strike for our airline. Spirit Airline has worked out their problems and are back to flying as of Saturday. Man that is a huge relief. Especially since we have not a clue what we are doing right now. So frustrated with Costa Rica, just not sure if I want to keep fighting the fight here.

Maybe I am just a little wiped from the good ole' 14 miler today. Man that was one long run to be sure. The humidity was really high and took its toll on me. Long runs are so boring and difficult without my old running partner. She was in bed sleeping! I kept telling my grandson to tell his mom to get up and stop being a lazy butt. He had it down by the time I left. I love being a grandma.

I asked hubby the other day if we got such a big kick out of our own kids when they were this age. He could not remember. I do remember that two is always entertaining and interesting!

Baby is back at school and worked on art work all day today. She loves art and enjoyed making dad a card for "dia de Padre". The school raised this big fuss about me putting her back in school so that she could spend the whole afternoon making a father's day card. Stupid!

Whoa Cowboy 31 Years!

2010-06-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

That is impressive! 31 freakin' years! I can so relate to the quote about finishing life and brushing off the dirt and saying, "wow that was a wild ride!" Not that we are finished, but maybe about half way there. We can only hope to keep kicking and having fun for another 31 years.

Don't get me wrong it is not always a bed of roses. We have gone through jobs, no jobs, awful jobs, almost slavery government jobs, schooling, business together, kids being alcoholics, drug addicts, inmates, run aways, just plain onry, deportation, homeschooling, unschooling, public schooling, charter schooling, University studies, working midnights, working evenings, six pregnancies, one adoption, five grandkids and just a whole lot more of challenges yet to come for sure.

I do have to say with every challenge there have been at least five great things that have happened. Not bad for 31 years. I guess we have accomplished a lot, not only as a couple but as people. Here is to 31 more years, love you mi amor!

Good Ole' Costa Rica

2010-06-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

There are many, many things that I love about Costa Rica. I love the weather here, I love the beautiful greenery, I love the beaches, I love the mountains, I love most of the people.

But just like the U.S. at this time, I hate the politics. I hate the government control over all the people and I especially hate it when they try to reach out their hairy arms and control me or mine.

Two months ago we took baby out of the local public school so that we could home school her. She was having problems with her teacher and some of the other students in her class. We have been home schooling her and she is now reading and almost done with her first math book.

She has done very well at home and no longer gets the headaches and stomach aches that she was getting when she was in school. A couple of weeks ago two ladies from the school she had attended came by to talk to us. They made it clear that she needed to be enrolled in a school somewhere and would be in touch with us.

Today we got a call from their version of family services telling us that if we did not have her to school tomorrow they would be taking her from our family. Yes they told us that it does not matter if she is a U.S. citizen, or that we are home schooling, the law in Costa Rica says that if you are here and are between the ages of six and sixteen you will be enrolled in school.

Evidently our five year plan has just become a four year plan. Oh well it has been a great learning experience and we have certainly enjoyed our time in Costa Rica. We do hope that we will still be able to return here and teach our classes to keep them going, we will see how that goes.

Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that Spirit Air will work out their problems and that we will actually have a way to get out of here!

Spirit Airlines

2010-06-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

Fingers and toes crossed that we even get to fly in two weeks. Just wondering how long it takes pilots and airlines to settle these disputes? Just hoping it is not longer than two weeks. The real clincher is that they won't refund your money until they have officially canceled your flight, which is usually the day before. Does not exactly give you lots of time to cover ha?

We will be planning for plan B. Not sure what plan B is, other than wait and go another time. I am going to be so bummed if I did all this training for my half marathon only to be grounded!

Come on people get along already!

Mortons Neuroma

2010-06-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons that I am thankful to be a massage therapist. One of the biggest reasons is the help I can give people, including myself. Having specialized in Sports Massage I have seen lots of different injuries. Most of them I have never had, thank goodness, but a couple I have had.

Mortons Neuroma is one I have dealt with on a couple of different occasions. The first occasion was with my own foot. I was doing a lot of track work outs and developed a neuroma in my right foot. If you are wondering what it feels like think hot poker in the ball of your foot right under your middle toe.

It is a very nervy feeling and is kind of like a tooth ache in that it lets up if you quit puttin pressure on it. As you can imagine that is pretty hard to do if you are running, on your feet anyway!

I looked it up, talked to my running coach and fixed it. I taped a piece of folded up napkin onto the bottom of my foot. I had cut out a hole in the middle of the napkin so that it looked like a doughnut and put the hole right on the owie place. It worked like a miracle and I was back on the road.

A couple of years later I had a client that was suffering from pain in the same place on her foot, only on the top of the foot. Her trainer had looked at it, and they could not figure out what the problem was. I took her foot and put it into plantar flexion and low and behold a big bump appeared on the top of her foot between her third and fourth toes.

I told her she had a gangleon cyst and tried to imagine how she got one of those there. Come to find out she had a "foot doctor" scrape her mortons neuroma on the bottom of her foot a couple of years earlier and the scar tissue had caused the cyst. Good ole' surgery ha?

Once they figured out what it was they went in and of course scraped it out and got rid of the cyst.

A year ago a friend of mine emailed me and said she had surgery to get rid of her mortons neuroma. She by the way went to the same "foot doctor" and he told her the only way to get rid of it was to go in and scrape away some of the tissue. Hello that only causes more scar tissue. I asked her if she had ever tried taping or any other preventitive. Nope. Nada. Bummer.

Today in my first four mile loop for my long run I got the old familiar pain in my foot. Above is my brilliant taping job. You know what worked really well? A pad! Yup I just cut a hole in it, stuck it on my foot and taped it to secure it. Ran another five miles and felt great. Like I said the things I learned in massage school are invaluable!

IPod Shuffle

2010-06-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

When I say shuffle I mean it. In that my daughter keeps stealing it. She steals it, I find it and put it up so she can't get it, and she finds it and nabs it again. Hence it is the IPod Shuffle.

She used to have her own IPod, but it finally expired after three years of abuse. Of course then she just started using mine. I would not mind except that mine is my life line. I cannot ever run without my IPod. I don't mean it is hard and boring, I mean I really cannot run without it.

On my long run a couple of weeks ago my IPod died. Daughter had been using it the day before and it died. I was like the energizer bunny that ran out of batteries. I stopped running and walked the rest of the loop to the house. I plugged in my IPod and waited about 15 minutes for it to recharge, while I drank a coconut water of course.

Once it was done, plugged in that energizer bunny and off I ran to finish the job. Yup that IPod is essential to my run. For that reason I have to come up with a much better place to hide it than my private shoe box in my closet. May have to come up with something really creative.

One other point on running with your IPod. Unless you really like Miley Cyrus, and Lady Caca, as we call her, don't let your 16 yr. old program your shuffle. I really have to skip quite a few songs. The only ones I don't skip are the ones in Spanish and that is just because I can't understand most of them :)

Too Much Fun

2010-06-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

Today was another beautiful day in the rainy season days. Costa Rica rainy season days are great. You get the whole morning to get things done and finish up your business, then get ready to hunker down for the afternoon rain. I personally like to knit or read, or even cook during the afternoon shower. Then it is done and you are free to travel once again.

We have never had a car here, and I'm sure that would change the way we do things here. Maybe people with cars don't have to plan quite as carefully as we do. We just really do not like to get our pants and shoes wet making our way to the bus. Without a drier it could take days to dry a pair of jeans or shoes.

Some people think we are not all there living as "primitive" as we do. The only things we really miss are our drier and of course moments of missing our car. Once we get our bills paid right around one hundred dollars and never have to spend hundreds on car repairs we are reminded why we do without. It is doing without some convenience, but at the same time it is doing without even more headaches.

Two Years Already

2010-06-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe this little guy was born two years ago! Time flies when you are having fun. I also can't believe my daughter was brave enough to birth the boy in the public hospital here in Heredia. It was one scary place to be sure. I know there is a trend for people to come here to deliver their babies so that they can get residency.

Just know that this is not as easy as it used to be. It is lots of paper work, paper chases, as well as the fact they are getting sick of people coming here to do that and are onto that scam. For that reason they have built in blocks making it more difficult to get you residency.

We did have a great party, as usual and enjoyed the heck out of this little guy opening his presents. He was very animated and excited about each and every present he received. Once he got over the guests all looking at him that is.

Summer Fun

2010-06-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well as if we weren't busy enough, we added the Tamarindo Marathon again. I know, I know we complained bitterly about it, but that actually played in our favor. My daughter left a comment on their fb today and the director finally responded to her complaints. He apologized profusely for us not receiving our medals, and my plaque from last year. Then he offered us free entry if we wanted to race this year.

How could we say no? That is like someone giving you a hundred bucks. Of course that means we have to run a lot of miles, but hey it will be worth it. Of course I say that because I have been training for my half in July, but my daughter is a little more panicked. She has not been able to run much because of knee problems.

She has some IT band issues and it looks like I will have to work on her and get her better so she will be ready for the race September 12th. That also means some really early mornings for me as we will be having class the last six weeks before the race.

We do love a challenge and I am excited that we get to have a do over on this race. It should be a better race this time since we know what to expect. Hot, really hot, and humid and hilly. The three h's. Of course after doing Leadville it will probably feel like a walk in the park, at least there will be oxygen!

Coconut Time

2010-06-03T19:12:00.001-07:00

It was so nice to have a running partner today. She only graced me with four miles, but that was great! I forget how much faster the time goes when you have someone to talk to when you are running. I do enjoy my music, but it can get a bit boring. And now I have her hooked on the coconut water as well.

Now I don't think I will ever be able to run again in the States. Where am I going to get my coconut water?

Awards and New Recipes

2010-06-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for an excuse to try out a new recipe. Hubby gave me an excuse. He was invited to be in the Alpha Beta Kappa Honor Society. I believe that means he is pretty darn smart. Or he works really, really hard, or a little of both. Of course I vote for the smart part because of course he chose me. Or maybe I chose him, can't really remember.

So here is the recipe that everyone has probably tried a hundred times and we are just now getting around to:
1 pkg. of oreo cookies crumbed
1 pkg. of cream cheese
mix the above together really well and roll into balls.
dip in melted chocolate.
Our version:
1 pkg of CR oreos, which means you have to unwrap every single one.
1 pkg. of queso crema, which I swear tastes just like the U.S. but everyone says I have forgotten.
Dipped in chocolate, means buy a cheap bar of chocolate and add some butter and milk and try to get it to the right texture.
It worked though and that is the good news.
They are supposed to refrigerate for two hours, but we did not make that and they were still pretty good.

A great way to top off a fun pool day and get ready for the big 12 miler in the morning. It is gonna be a hot one, that much is for sure. We are having all kinds of tropical storms here, which has been lots of fun and interesting. Also another earth quake on Monday night.

Last month our family practiced the "earth quake Position". Well here we get the big chance, and no one even got into the earth quake position! We were watching Greys Anatomy and no one moved, just looked at each other and wondered if we should get into the "earth quake position". Oh well!

Family Fun

2010-06-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

I should probably explain my pictures from Memorial Day. We just chilled and enjoyed the beautiful weather. My daughter and her family are here visiting, so we are really having fun with that.

Our family has become very Tico. We love having family all together and the more the merrier. In fact if the rest of the family wanted to live here, no problem. We have been known to have 11 people living in our little apartment at one time.

Funny story. When my daughter and her new hubby were moving into their apartment we went with them to sign papers. The landlord looked very sternly at my son-in-law, who is obviously Latino and gave strict orders that he was not to move his whole family into the little two bedroom apartment with them.

They all agreed to that and moved in. Fast forward two weeks, he gets deported. I told my daughter to hold onto the apartment because we needed a place to stay while our old trailer was being hauled off and our new modular being moved in.

A couple of months later we moved in with my daughter, at the moment there were only five of us. Two weeks later hubby and I left for China to pick up baby, making it six people in the two bedroom. A month later my 19 yr. old son moved in with us to get his life straightened out. Next month another son separated from his wife and moved in with us. Next came my youngest brother needing a place to park it for a short time.

Then my poor daughter and her baby came back from Hondurus. Man we were packed in like sardines and needless to say the landlord was not at all happy. Of course it took them about six months to get our home done and we lived in that little apartment the whole time! Crazy times.

Good times, good times!!!!

Happy Memorial Day

2010-05-31T15:50:00.001-07:00

Dread Lock Ties

2010-05-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

Woot Woo! The dread locks are finally long enough to tie back! I am so excited and love them tied back. They look awesome if I must say so myself.

Don't Call Me White

2010-05-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

My boys had a favorite song while they were growing up. I can remember the chorus, "don't call me white, don't call me white". Now why would anyone say that?

Read this quote:

"I'm tired of the title "racist" being rocketed towards anyone that feels people should only come into our country LEGALLY. I feel this way and calling me a racist will not scare me. My family and I lived in Costa Rica for a year...LEGALLY. We didn't go ANYWHERE without our passports...even to the grocery store! I didn't call any phone where I was prompted to push 2 for English, EVER"

Pretty outraged ha? Pretty sick of the whole illegal deal ha? You want to know a secret? They were illegal when they lived here! Yup I asked her when I met her if they did their leaves, well no but my hubby is a Tico so it is ok. No it is not ok, yes you are illegal.

When I reminded her of this after she left this message on FB she said "tee hee, I knew you would catch that Robbie". Ok then why the heck did you say it? Why in the heck did you even set yourselves up as an example of righteousness?

Yeah "don't call me white".

Gringa Feo?

2010-05-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a friends birthday party this weekend. It was very nice and we enjoyed the company, well most of the company.

For some reason from the moment we moved here to Costa Rica three and a half years ago, there is one family in our circle that really does not like us. Actually they are racist and don't like anyone that is gringo or nica.

The thing is they don't even try to hide it. They will say really rude things to our family all of the time. Now these are not young people acting out of ignorance. They are the supposedly educated ones that should know better.

We are very good friends with their son-in-law and have complained to him several times of various offenses. O.k. for instance one time the "dowager" or mom of the clan, came up and started looking through my dreadlocks like she was looking for bugs. Her daughter laughed and told her to stop.

Think the really mean step mom and her really mean daughters in Cinderella.

In fact my daughter and her family will not even go to church with us or to any activity where this family is going to be. Which would be all of them.

For this birthday party I had brought a very good thai peanut noodle salad. Really good if I must say so myself. Hubby was in the dining room getting another plate of food and the dowager did not realize he was in the room. One of the other women in the room asked what the salad was. She responded that it was something the "gringa feo" brought.

Once she realized hubby was standing there she started back pedaling. For the first time she probably wished we did not know any Spanish. I walked in as he was questioning her about her comment and she was denying it. He just looked at me and told me what she had said. About this time someone had tasted the salad and they were all raving about it.

I have to admit it was weird they ate it on corn tortillas, but hey tortillas make everything better eh?

Back to my story. I was mostly just mad, but a little hurt. I am not used to grown women being so mean. Maybe I have been out of the loop too long and have not realized that people act like that. Please tell me it ain't so, people really don't act like that do they?

If so I will not go to anymore birthday parties for sure!

Meeting Bloggy Friends

2010-05-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Cool bloggy experience this weekend! We were at church and a young couple came in with their two cute little very blond little boys. That in itself is unusual of course. They were pretty late, so we assumed, rightly, that they had been lost. Our church is kind of hidden in a small neighborhood and a little hard to find. Like you don't find it unless you are really meant to.

After the meeting baby and I went up to meet them and she was in a hurry to check out the boys books. Of course she was eying them as soon as they got them out. The wife told me they were visiting from the U.S. and were thinking on moving to CR.

They are staying in Atenas, which I think is a beautiful place. We drive through there when we are going to the beach. It also is reported by National Geographic to have the most ideal climate in the world.

She shared with me that they had been feeling a draw for quite awhile to move to CR.

A few minutes later we were speaking with her husband and he told me that he had read my blog and written me a few months ago. I remembered his letter and it was so cool to actually meet someone I had only met online.

When I read other blogs by people in the U.S I am jealous that they get to meet each other. Now I have my first meeting with someone I met through my blog. It was really cool and my first thought was I did not have to worry about what they thought about me, they read my blog so therefore pretty much know my whole life story, at least the part I would tell people.

It is always fun to meet and talk with people who are considering relocating to Costa Rica. Of course I am very biased and love it here, so maybe I should find one of my friends who has gone back to the U.S. and have them talk to them. That way they would get a more objective response.

Writing Ebooks

2010-05-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of writing my first book. Well it is not really my book per se. It is actually my sons book. He started writing poetry when he first went to jail two years ago. He took a break for awhile, but is back at it.

Once I started translating his poems and writing them down I ended up with about sixty of them. The amazing thing is this kid can really write. I have had a few of his words I have had to look up and have been amazed at how well he spells and his grammar.

It is good to see he learned something in all the years we were home schooling, and when he was in a public high school.

Now it is my turn to research and learn how to do this ebook thing for all his friends and family. It is so good to talk to him and hear him get excited about something. Heck I would probably deposit money and tell him people are buying his book, it would do so much for him right now.

I remember a movie where a lady was making these funky little wooden chairs. People were always buying them. One day she went into her boyfriends garage and found it packed with those funky chairs! Cool story.

10 Miler and Coconut Water

2010-05-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

I had a great 10 mile run today. Thanks in big part to hubby. He had read that coconut water, which our corner grocer sells, is chalk full of electrolytes. I had stopped to pee and drink after my 5 mile loop and he was there with my yummy coconut water.

I am happy to report that it worked wonders! Finished the next loop in better time than the first. Also I drank half of it when I was done and low and behold no after workout headache. I have been struggling with these for awhile now and was much relieved to have none!

Now I just have to find a way to take it along on my really long hike. I am thinking I will freeze some in a baggie the night before and pack it for the hike.

Gatorade and Powerade make me really sick to my stomach so I am very happy that hubby found me a really healthy replacement. Maybe your corner store does not sell it though?

Politics, again

2010-05-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

This has been a long week for my son-in-law's brother. Part of the reason my daughter and family moved to Hondurus was to help get his brother out of a very dangerous situation. He had befriended the head of a gang in his neighborhood and they were both on the "gang most wanted" list in town.

That was not a good thing and it was a real drag for a 19 year old kid. He could not go anywhere alone, especially not out at night. They had to whisk him out in a taxi and home again. He was pretty much hating life and anxious for a change.

His very generous hard working brother and sister in Spain offered to have him come live there. It would be a lot of money for both of them. The sister is a maid and the brother does woodworking for a cabinet maker. At any rate they were willing to make that sacrifice to get their brother to safety.

After about 10 very crazy mishaps they finally got him on a plane bound for San Pedro Seula, where he would catch a connection on to Mexico, on to France and end up in Spain. In order to even have a chance of getting let into France he had to have a week of paid reservations at a very expensive hotel in Spain.

Added to that the cost of the plane ticket and they were out about $4,000.00. That is a lot of money for them, heck that is a lot of money for anyone.

When he arrived at the airport in France they took him into detention and began questioning him. They said he needed six hundred more dollars. We scurried and made a deposit here for him on my daughter's card.

Everyday they would have more requirements. I just kept thinking of "Search for the Holy Grail" and expecting them to ask for a shrubbery!

Finally after holding him for the maximum time they could, four days they released him to go back to Hondurus. There was much weeping and wailing and sorrow over this decision.

Now it looks like it will pretty much fall on his shoulders to break off and try to get his life back.

And people wonder why illegal's take this risk? Maybe they really do want to live after all ha? Maybe they are not really there to "take advantage" of anyone at all. Maybe they are not "after" all the perks tax payers work so hard for. Maybe they are not wanting welfare or free health care or free schooling after all. Maybe they really just want to live!

Good Friends are Gold

2010-05-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great day hanging out at Abroadincostarica's house! Their family is a blast and they even have teenagers, and the best part of all, her husband is an awesome cook! Went over to give a get well massage, made her cough lots, hope it helps!

We have both realized that our vacation time is about over and it is time to get back to work. The five years was great, and we have enjoyed it imensly. But too much of a good thing can get a bit boring.

Friends and Visitors

2010-05-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our visitors will be leaving tomorrow. This group has been a blast and we are sad to see them go. Tweeny worked hard to make sure they had fun and saw as much of Costa Rica as possible in budget.

It was great to have a fellow dreadlocker around to compare notes with. I have actually never been face to face with another dreader and been able to have a long conversation with them about their dreads. It is always interesting to find out why, how and when they began their journey.

We had such fun having them here that I signed us up for couchsurfing. We are officially a cs family and will host visitors now. It is great because they can read our profile and make sure they even want to stay here, and we can read theirs and make sure we want them to stay here.

Hopefully we will meet lots of amazing world travelers and find some new and exciting places we would like to go and visit. That list seems to grow longer instead of shorter though.

When these guys asked me what they could do to repay us for letting them hang here for 10 days, I told them the only requirement was they had to play me in a game of Scrabble. Yesterday we had our killer match of Scrabble and they let me win as they were supposed to, and life is great.

Distance Junky

2010-05-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

I have decided I am a distance junky. Well I always knew I sucked at short races, especially sprints, but I am really loving distance. It is like I actually come to life about an hour of doing the sport. The only exception would probably be swimming, just because swimming back and forth is so darn boring. Oh yeah and the windtrainer or treadmill would also be the exceptions here, gotta be outside.

In the past when I have participated in sprint or even olympic distance triathlons I have not done too well. Unless of course there were no other old ladies there and then attrition comes into play for sure.

When I did Ironman Utah a few years back I actually placed in the upper third of my age group. In looking at my stats, because I do that and am actually pretty weird about it, I have finally figured out, don't enter short fast races.

My daughter always wants me to do 10k's with her and I refuse. It takes me 10k just to get warmed up and get the blood out of my stomach and into my legs.

Today I did a 9 mile run. For about the first mile I was thinking about how long this run was going to be. By mile four I was feeling pretty good and thinking how glad I was to be doing another loop. I was even able to kick it out a bit by mile 9, it felt sooo good.

When my daughter and I were training for Tamarindo marathon last year we so enjoyed our long runs. In fact we decided that after the race we would continue our long runs once a week. Needless to say we did not. Now that I have something to train for and am back on the long runs I am remembering how darn good it feels.

I am trying to talk my friend here in Costa Rica into doing the San Jose marathon with me in Dec. I think I will have to talk until Dec. to convince her!

Blog Book

2010-05-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

Maybe everyone else already knew about this, but I just found something really cool on here. I can have them make my blog entries into a book. There you go my journal for the past three years, complete with pictures all done for me. Now I just have to come up with the money then it is a done deal.

I Love Yoga

2010-05-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

I love yoga! The only problem is that yoga does not love me so much. I have had theories about my sacrum issues being that it is either locked up or unstable. Now those are two very different theories with two very different treatments.

So either I try to strengthen and tighten the area or I try to loosen and open up the sacrum. Yoga obviously aims for the second option.

For four months I practiced yoga every evening. It is impossible for me to do yoga in the mornings, so I found I could do it in the afternoon or evening. Anyway so I would work slowly and within my pain threshold to try and get results. Unfortunately the only results I got was pain and soreness.

I hurt all the time and could hardly move. It did not work for me. That is a big problem when you practice ayurveda and your hubby is a yoga instructor. I have decided to try Kundalini yoga. I have tried it before and it seems to work better for me.

The opposite treatment, that of tightening and strengthening works for me. In fact I have to run, swim or walk every day just to be able to move. In other words if I don't move I can't move.

I have tried specific core strengthening exercises and have found I have to be very careful. Using the physio ball works much better for me than anything I have ever used.

The biggest thing? Do not under any circumstances sneeze and twist your body at the same time :)

Pity Party

2010-05-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

I am having a pity party. Everyone is invited! You just have to fulfill a couple of requirements. The first of course is that you have to be feeling extremely sorry for yourself. I mean not just a little sad, really sorry for yourself. You have to be thinking you are the worst mother in the world, and everyone in the world knows it. You also have to be thinking that you have screwed up your kids for ever and ever and they will never have a normal happy life, ever, ever.

Doubting every decision you have ever made in relation to your children would also be a good thing. Remembering every mistake you made, every time you ever yelled, every time you did not yell, every time you looked at them wrong! These all add to the party quite well. Heck throw in the fact that you had a lousy birth with them and dropped them a few times helps also.

Of course you have to look at your life and think of everything you would of should of could of done differently is ideal for a pity party. There are so many things you did bassackwards and that for sure added to the fact that you have screwed up their lives so well.

I love that line in "Fun With Dick and Jane" by the way when they are looking at having to lose their house and she says," then we would have to move and he would lose all of his friends and he would grow up a social misfit with no friends and nothing to show for his whole life". When we watch that movie all my kids laugh and say that is so mom!

The things that would spoil my pity party? Well of course looking at all these really cool people that we have raised the best we could and seeing that, man are they cool people. Like even if they were not my kids I would love hanging out with them. I mean I would even call them on the phone and ask them to go to lunch or something, and I don't do that very often.

In reflecting on my pitiful mood today I realized that in reality I was just feeling "guilty". Man I hate that word! It is a loaded word and I have to write things like the above to realize that I really have no reason to feel guilty. Part of the price of being a Mormon is the guilt train that we all tend to ride, quite often actually.

Can you just imagine we are supposed to multiply and replenish the earth, keep the word of wisdom, be temple worthy and prepare the kids for this, teach our daughters to be wonderful homemakers like us, get our sons to serve two year missions, never have your kids get arrested or in trouble etc. etc. etc.....

As you can see lots of room for guilt on that plate. I have gotten into the habit of taking the whole church tradition out of my feelings about people in general. In other words I ask myself," if I was not measuring this person against the church how would I feel about them?" I think it is sad that I have to do this to set aside my judging, but I do. I was raised that way, it is in my DNA.

The really bad part is I don't just judge others harshly, I also judge myself this way. That, my friends would explain why I have to have pity parties. So the party is over, done with and I am on my way to make something to eat. I made a cake earlier that I dropped getting out and broke my favorite brownie pan and just turned and walked out of the kitchen. Just added to the party really well as refreshments!

Have a great Mothers Day and try to focus on the positives, just like I did :)

Resting

2010-05-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

I hate watching t.v. I have nothing to read. I can only computer so much. So I have a new hobby. I have been knitting like a crazy woman. I really enjoy having an excuse to sit, and actually accomplish something while I am sitting, yeah maybe a tad bit type A.

As you can see these two fellas refuse to let me sit alone. They get as excited when I sit to knit as they do when we get the leashes out for their walk! I have trained them that they each get to sit on one side of me, that way they don't fight.

If I do not have knitting they will fight over who is going to sit on my lap. We finally get rid of all the babies and we end up with these two brats. They are so funny and so different.

In this picture I am knitting a pink scarf for a friend of mine. She just got well from pneumonia so I thought she should be covering her face when she goes out in the cold evenings. I used to laugh at the folks here in Costa Rica when I saw them in scarfs.

That is until I caught a horrible five month bronchial infection. After that I became a firm believer in covering my mouth if I go out in the evening and it is cold and damp. That damp cold here just goes right into your body.

I just hope she has been here long enough to be a believer in the scarf theory.

IT Geek to the Rescue

2010-05-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

There are times when being married to an IT geek comes in very handy. Like when you need a web site programmed. This IT guy is great! He figured out how to do all the edits we needed on our web site, and sure surprised himself.

Not only that, but he found time to paint the kitchen, hallway and touch up the front room. What a catch ha?

Oh yeah almost forgot. He also grilled hamburgers for the missionaries for dinner. What a man :)

Ohhh Yeah Triathlon Time

2010-05-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

The news just in! There will be a half-iron man in Feb. of 2011 in Guanacaste!!!!!! I am soooo excited I have been thinking about it all day. Check it out here.

Now that is a goal I can sink my teeth into. And to think it will be just in our own back yard. And a real legit race, put on professionally. After the marathon I did in Tamarindo last year I will be very careful about any race I sign up for here in Costa Rica.

It is kind of like buying merchandise here. You are never really sure if it is what it says. They stick labels on anything, because there are no copyright laws. So you never really know if you are getting what it says you are getting.

But this, now this is gonna be the real thing. I am so ready to do this. Well not really ready to do it do it, just like ready to sign up and get thinking, planning and training for it. Of course this may mean no Ironman Cozumel. That was kind of looking like a bad timing thing, but this, man this is perfect.

I did ask hubby if he would be disappointed in me if I only did a half iron-man for my 50th yr rather than a full distance. He was o.k. with it, of course since we will save a ton of money this way and probably a couple years added onto my life.

Oh yeah for those wondering there is also a sprint and olympic distance race the day before the half. I am trying to talk my teen into doing the sprint. She is heck of a swimmer and runs quite a bit already. Just have to get her on a bike. s

Sabatical

2010-05-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Taking a little break from blogging here. Just adjusting sails and trying to get grounded. Baby has finally made the decision to "quit" school and I am beyond thrilled. I was wondering when she would finally come to this decision. I really wanted it to be her own.

We work hard to encourage her to make decisions and do what she wants to do. The problem is she has her attachment disorder and we have a hard time convincing her it is o.k. to do what she wants. She is always so worried about what everyone else wants.

There has been some real growth this month as she has started crying. It really just took finding something she was passionate about. That would be the computer. That girl loves playing on the computer. She will play all day. When we tell her time to shut down she will cry.

You have to understand she loves cartoons also. I mean really loves t.v. But she has never cried when we tell her to shut it off. She also loves to play with her friends, but never cries when we tell her time to go. I am not sure if it was computer or if we are really breaking through here. Hopefully really breaking through.

When she announced she "quit" school she did it in a funny way. We were sitting on the couch and she whispered that she quit school. Almost as if she did not know if that was the word she was searching for. We all looked at her and smiled, then she said it louder. Finally she shouted and her sister high fived her! She was all smiles at that point.

On another adventure for sure.

The Disease of Consumerism

2010-05-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

Do you think that the people of the rich U.S are the only ones cursed with the disease of consumerism? I am here to guarantee you it is also alive and well in second and third world countries as well.

Thanks to the wonders of the media now people the world over are feeling like they are missing out and going crazy for the latest wonders floating in from China and Mexico.

My daughter lives with her in-laws in Hondurus. Her mom in law makes the minimum wage there, which is equivalent to $300.00 a month.

Her teenage son really wanted a soccer jersey for his favorite team there. Which by the way the rival gangs are based around these soccer teams. Her teenage son was very happy, especially considering it cost her $75.00 at the mall to buy it.

When she got home with it her teenage daughter threw a screaming stomping fit because she felt she should have one also. Her mother explained she would get her one from the Mercado, she replied that she would never wear anything from the Mercado.

While I was talking on skype to my daughter her hubby came in and told her that he was going to the mall with his mom. Yup you got it, to get another jersey for his little sister.

What a crazy world we live in!

Slow Your Flow

2010-04-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have been emailing back and forth with a friend who worked with hubby at the Post Office. She is frustrated and burnt out. Not surprising when you work for the good ole' P.O. I wrote and told her that I really believed that added years off both our lives, especially hubby's by getting out and moving.

Basically we just slowed our flow. I mean some days it feels as if we may have slowed it a tad too much, but it is preferable to moving along at a thousand miles an hour to nowhere. I was stressed, he was stressed and the whole family suffered.

All for the "security" of the jobs and the house and the cars, oh the cars! We are planning on returning part time to the States while hubby attends school. After talking about it we mapped out our route so that we could live close enough to his school that we would not have to buy a car.

Do you get the feeling we have had some pretty bad experiences with cars? One of these days I will write about that, it is like a book unto itself. Suffice it to say we are much less stressed and happy to have no car at this point and time. And talk about slowing the flow, a sure way to do that.

You should check out this site speaking of slowing down. I have been following the Happy family for awhile. We even entertained the idea of the whole motor home thing, but decided it is not really for us. Maybe we are too old?

Oh Yeah Beach Time

2010-04-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

Last week I declared tomorrow beach day. I have to do that or I can't get anyone to go with me. I also had to remind the girls that the bus goes on the super highway now and the trip is half the time. And the clincher? Milkshakes before we head home. It will be hot in Jaco tomorrow, but the water should be fine.

There is a lot of bad press for Jaco, but for a day trip you can't beat it. Sure it is like a little San Diego or something, but hey just hang out on the beach and a beach is a beach. My daughter found a twenty floating in the water there after all! It can't be all bad.

I do have to admit when you are walking through town the prostitutes and drug dealers and transvestites are a little interesting to say the least. It makes for some awesome people watching to be sure. Hubby was propositioned by a Dominical prostitute there one day. That seems to be the majority there by the way. He just freaked out. Mostly because he was standing right next to me! His reaction was pretty funny though, kind of looked like he saw a ghost or something, poor innocent thing!

When we have guests we always take them to Jaco for a day trip. We do advise them to clear out before night fall, it gets pretty crazy there at night. My son 21 yrs. old lasted about a weekend there and swore he had lost about five years of his life, crazy place like I said.

So up and early and off on another exciting adventure. Maybe next time we will even get hubby to go with us. He is just wrapping up his time in Nicaragua and would not really be interested in more beach time. If I was not soooo pitta I would live on the beach.

More Robberies

2010-04-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately our neighborhood store got robbed last week. He is the nicest guy. He speaks English and he and his wife lived in the States for a couple of years but have chosen to live here in Costa Rica. Gringos find it amazing that not everyone wants to live in the States by the way.

When hubby talked with Duglas, the neighbor that got robbed, he said that three other stores in the area were also robbed last week. What a bummer to see that kind of crap going down in your own neighborhood. He also told hubby that he was robbed of $400.00 and his wedding ring and some office supplies. The other stores suffered greater losses. One, the Cheena store on the corner had almost $8,000.00 taken. Of course everyone was wondering why in the heck anyone in Costa Rica would keep that much money in their store.

When baby and I stopped in at the store on the way home from school today things were a little different. You now have to shut the gate when you come in and there is a really tight spring on it to make sure it shuts and locks. He used to keep the gate open most of the time.

The good news was he still has rat poison. Yup that time of the year again. They are out and about. I looked out my kitchen window and scurrying across our car port was a big fat gray rat. EEEEWWWWWWW! You know I would see it the day hubby left for Nica. Of course when the cat is away the rats will play! The last time we had a rat problem was when hubby was in the Osa Peninsula working for two months. Our house is now stocked up and guarded against the nasty, nasty creatures. Let's just hope they stay outside this time around and don't set up camp in my stove again! EEEEEWWWWWWW!

Health Nut

2010-04-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

I love food! And I love healthy food, PREPARED CORRECTLY! I know there is a big movement right now to eat raw. I think food eaten in it's most natural state is the best way to eat it. I also believe though that our bodies are not made to eat raw fruits and vegetables solely. There are so many other foods put here on the earth for our use and thanksgiving. I just believe they were not put here to be ignored.

In my studies of ayurveda I have learned that we are all different constitutions. Being thus we all benefit from eating as well as abstaining from certain foods. There are of course some foods that are not good for anyone or anything. A few of these would be homogenized pasteurized milk, beef, non organic fish or chicken, cheese, and sugar. I guess that pretty much wipes out most if not all junk foods.

In our home we try to eat foods that a)match our dosha and b)taste good.
My hubby is a pure vata. There are a few things he should avoid. The big thing for him is that he cannot have too many raw fruits and vegees. He does better with them slightly steamed or baked. I am pitta-kapha. The things I am supposed to avoid are the sweets as well as the really spicey foods. I don't do too well on that last one but I am trying to get there.

These are little things but I see that they really help us on our road to health. Knock on wood we still have not visited a doctor in the 30 years of marriage.

Of course when we saw an old friend that we had not seen in 15 years he said,"well everyone looks the same but much fatter, except you two because you walk everywhere." Wrong!!! We do walk everywhere but we are also very conscious of our diets and our workouts. All important. If you don't have your health you really do not have anything!

It Is Here

2010-04-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I guess I cannot argue anymore, it is rainy season. It clouds up every afternoon and some days it will dump, mostly when we are out, and other days it does not rain. We better head over to Hypermas and pick up some new umbrellas. We did not even have to buy any last year, but this year looks like we may need some.

Hubby will be doing a leave to San Juan del Sur this weekend. We were hoping that we could avoid it and get stamped here with the new $100.00 deal. Alas we figure since they have not really decided on how the law is going to work it will probably not be in working order for another couple of years or so, at least!

So in the meantime we will continue leaving and getting stamped as perpetual tourists. I never really thought I would be a "perpetual tourist". Just not the title I ever gave myself.