CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

I find the best way to get into the true spirit of Christmas is to do something for someone else. Today we took part in the fundraiser to raise money for an orphanage here in Costa Rica for handicapped children. Many volunteers pitched in time, money and energy to make it happen. We were glad to just take our crowd and eat the spagetti and listen to the band.

Jim was the serving guy. He was kind enough to even specialize plates for the kids!

Harmony Roads was the name of the band there to entertain us with their great music.

Like I said we were just happy to be there and enjoy the food to do our part!
Believe it or not the girlies waited all week to see Santa! Don't they just look thrilled? After I took the picture I told them that at least Santa was smiling.

CANCER SUCKS!

My younger sister has cancer. She has had cancer for almost 20 years. When she was nine years old they took half of her stomach out. Six years later they took out the rest of her stomach. Presently she is at the doc. most days for pain management or chemo, or ct scans, mri's, or you name it. The latest was kidney stones.

I had not seen my sister for about four years and got a chance to see her when we were in the U.S. in Oct. It was quite a shock. I would not have recognized her if I had not known I was in her house. I think she was happy with the shock effect because she is just like that.

She has a four year old son, a dumb ex husband and a great mom that takes care of her. My mom lives with her and takes care of her, makes sure she takes all her meds, gets to all of her appts, and eats really good, mom is a great cook.

Every day when I run or work out I do it for my sister. I thank God that I have a strong body and am healthy and able to go out for a run. I talk to my sister while I run and tell her I am doing this because she can't, and I want to do something for her that she can't do for herself.

Of course if she had her choice of what she would do if she could I don't think running would be on the list! Sorry Sarah I can't dance.

TEENAGERS

My daughter is 14, it is very painful to be that age I do believe and remember. She has been doing swim workouts every day and doing very well with that. Now the trick is to teach her to incorporate her school work into her day. I have tried to convince her that she can do more than one project a day.

I guess study habits are something that are learned and developed. My son in law is trying to finish up some school and having trouble with the whole study habit idea. His wife also is taking internet classes and dealing with once again, study habits.

With our students at our massage school we try to keep up with them so that they do not fall behind. The ones who do the best? The ones with good study habits.

Good study habits really are nothing more than not procastinating! It is important to keep up with the info as you receive it and learn the important points before moving on to a new concept. With our internet massage classes we try and make sure with reviews as well as tests that our students are caught up and learning the material.

I have always been the "over achiever" in class and tried to be one step ahead. It did make it easier to actually graduate and finish classes and projects that I start. I recently completed an online course for Ayurvedic medicine. I had it done the first two weeks and it took the online instructor six months to complete all the checking and feedback, frustration!

CHRISTMAS RUSH

Do you get caught up in the Christmas Rush? I used to but gave it up for good a few, actually quite a few years ago. I believe it was a midnight on Christmas eve, after we had taken goodie plates to all the neighbors and friends and relatives, and I was working frantically to finish sewing the dress I had made for my daughter.

At that point I took a serious reflection moment and said never again! And fortunately for my sanity I have stuck with that resolution. The next year we started inviting all our neighbors, friends and relatives over for an evening of christmas goodies and visiting. Wow, what a change. That one change in and of itself made my Christmas so much more enjoyable.

I also quite sewing for Christmas. I love to sew, but found it was just too busy around the holidays to even try it. With all the recitals and family activities it was just better to sew other times of the year. In other words if I wanted to make a Christmas dress for my daughter, better get it done by Nov. Well I never did that, so I just bought or skipped it.

The last year we were living in Flagstaff we did our annual Christmas party with the neighbors and I actually ordered pizza! That was getting way lazy, but hey I was working a ton and there was a lot going on! Actually I believe we all had just as much fun and enjoyed the evening as much if not more.

Try to think of one holiday tradition that you can modify or maybe just dump. Maybe it is something you started when the kids were young, but really does not apply anymore. Just kind of reassess your holidays and make you leave the cheer!

MANUEL ANTONIO BEACH

I love Manuel Antonio beach! It is my favorite beach so far in Costa Rica, and believe me we have been checking them out. We even took our christmas card picture there this weekend. It was beautiful at the beach and we enjoyed teaching and just hanging out.

There are many beaches here in Costa Rica and we have checked out many.

We also like Puerto Viejo, which is on the Caribean side of the country. It is very laid back and a little bit more affordable.

On the Pacific side we have visited Jaco, Punteranus, Samara, as well as Osa Peninsula. We did not care for them as much as MA. They are a little more crowded and more expensive. There are as many beaches as places people are coming from to choose from though so there is lots to pick from. If you would like more info or help planning a vacation feel free to contact us, we love to share Costa Rica with all!