"Two More Sleeps Mom!"

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!

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

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

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

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!