Spring 09 Catch Up

Afterall, life is a beach....

Actually, this is Dave and Anna...he finally found someone to answer his ad about long walks on the beach ;0)


The Four Caballeros (Jill, Cassidy, Erin, and Billy)

Our new addition - Leo....bothers guests more than mice...

Ok, the list of excuses for not blogging would be as long as the blog so let’s see if we can get caught up…As of right now everyone is doing well in the family and the business is thriving and keeping us very busy (fortunately…we’ll see what the economic collapse does later this year probably)…

Liam started at a new school this Feb less than a mile away…Although the other school was very good, it was just too far away and the communication was bot good enough between us and the teachers to keep close tabs on our special student…Liam shares many of his dad’s traits at that age…smart, but not very organized, skilled, not little attention to detail, fairly well behaved but short attention span if not engaged, cute, but devious…hey wait…dad never changed ;) anyway, the new school is working out great and Liam is doing very well and enjoys the teachers, classes, new friends and being able to sleep an extra hour and ride his bike to school…Ok at least the last few are true…His Spanish is excellent…his hobbies include roaming the jungle, fort building, kayaking and taking guests kayaking,wii, legos still, and the latest…cirque du freak books…I finally found one he likes…..we had a kid staying here about 14 who told me about them so I ordered a few and cassidy of course read them all in a couple days, but Liam has already knocked off a few of them and even said I love you mom and dad, I am going to read,,the other night and we thought an alien may have taken over his body, but it is just a new and glorious phase ;0),…

One outcome of this change was Cathy unexpectedly reentering the workforce…Yes, Cathy was offered a job teaching English at the school and happily accepted…It worked out to a an hour or two a day and more work than expected (good fulltime teachers must really work hard). She is doing a great job as evidenced by how well the kids have improved in just a few months. Cathy enjoys getting out and about and it is definitely helping her Spanish as all the teacher meetings are 100% Spanish…I told her yesterday that she is” adding to the stream of life” ;-) (don’t worry, she looked at me confused too)…Cathy has also been “out on the town” a couple times with our two girlfriends from Portugal…they moved here to start a restaurant and have become good friends stopping by most days for coffee and to tell us about what really goes on out in the real world…I guess they had a pretty good time at the discos and they go shopping and stuff (not quite as satisfying as what one might think of girls going shopping as there is not really anything to shop for,..) I caught cathy shopping on J Crew and some other websites the other thing knowing she was not going to buy anything…just for the experience…good thing she gets out of here a few times a year for retail therapy or they may find me buried out in the jungle…

Delivering Dinners to Guests (no pics of us fighting over who does the dishes

Life's not all work..we got to go out on a hot date too...Thanks Sissy and Jilly (and Marky)


We also went to the beach a couple times all by our lonsesomes que romantico

Cassidy wrote a quick sentence<<< :P I have gotten all good grades but I don’t really know about French its just so boring and the teachers EVIL so whats the point xD teenage years are here so I will fill in the gaps…her good friend moved back to the states a few months ago which was sad fo all of us, but she seems to have bounced back ok and hangs out with her buddies and we fight over the computer every night for her extended chat sessions and the phone is nearby as well which has also resulted in her Spanish getting to be surprisingly strong…we do not hear her bust it out as much as Liam, but now and then I hear here with her friends and on the phone and am plenty impressed and of course all the school work is in Spanish..right now she is making us dinner which is a fairly regular occurrence and definitely her apple pies and other deserts are yummy as well

We’ve had a few sets of visitors since the last entry…Jim and Pat, grammy and grampy came in late jan early feb and had kind of a wet experience in that it rained most every day, but we had fun anyways and there was still some good beach time in there, and Pat had a good time watching the white faced and other monkeys come for their daily visits…jim brought some yummy steaks, we are red meat deprived mainly because we are spoiled and the meat here is…free range…he also whomped up many garlic, onion, pepper based dishes and of course eating is always a big pastime with jimmy around.

Jim and Dave on Patrol in Puerto Viejo

Dave and Anna came in late feb and also had kind of a rainy trip, but Dave managed to get a pretty serious sunburn to go along with his bug bites and a 24 hour food poisoning…all of his own doing, just to make sure he could say he had a horrible time and the country is a dump, but we all know he secretly loved it and wants to move here,,,…he was impressed by the food and we all, minus cathy, went out to dinner at jungle love and had amazing marlin, tuna, shrimp and great deserts…we eneded up there by accident though because dave’s playtoy, the golf cart, had charging issues and we had to stop there or risk walking home…it was destiny.,,enough so that they went back for valentines day and had a spcial evening .cassidy learned to drive, but used both feet and drove uncle dave crazy…they all went to the surf competition one day and had a good time, as well as several other little day trips…We all had a great time, but dave did consider checking into the one sterile place with air conditioning at one point (as he cursed me moving from one house to our new casita)…It was great to meet anna and she and cathy had plenty of girl time and caught some rays and beverages on the beach..when the time came for them finally to leave I cried and signed relief at the same time and hope they come back soon, but I don’t know…it was easier to get Dave here when he did not know what to expect ;0) I guess it is my turn to visit, but phish tickets were too hard to come by…

we found these girls hanging out in front of the pulperia

Dave got to hang out with our neighbors at the beachbar

Dave took us out to dinner...in a limo

Ok, here's the limo///what fun!!!

Finally, Erin and Jill came for a visit and Jill brought her cousin Mark..we had great weather for them and it was so nice to see my long lost sissypantsurina purina////we did a lot of hanging out laughing and of course the beach and shopping etc in Puerto Viejo…One highlight was horseback riding…erin, jill, Cassidy and I went riding and just had a wonderful time from the walk to the beach where we saw a sloth getting attacked by bees (never seen them move so fast) to running for what seemed like hours along a beautiful deserted beach, to riding right under some howler monkeys in the jungle, to rescuing a sloth crossing the road on the way home…Jill and erin muled a whole bunch of much needed stuff down to us, including plenty of candy, food, a couple wii games,some much needed mattress covers, and emergenc power drinks…Mark was fun to have around too and spent most of his time looking for critters and scuba diving, but liam also dragged him up river in the kayaks and the climbed the mountain and brough us back some bananas…It was sad to see ernie and jilly and marky leave, but it was a great tme and hopefully one we’ll do again…I committed to going to taylors high school graduation, and christopher’s graduation and muffy’s birthday in 2010 so I am preparing for culture shock..
i imagine even Milwaukee is the big city after not being more than a few miles from home for a couple years…One thing I have noticed is how wild it is to see something I have not seen before…I know every square inch of this area, but for example had to go to the yoga center for the first time with our portuguese girlfriends and even though it is just up the road I had not seen it before and it was an adventure…I have to get out more…but I have been getting fishing a few times this past few weeks which has been nice although not very fruitful…I usually just chuck the rod afterawhile and go swimming, but my technique and strategy have improved…big difference between trout fisning which I had perfected and shore fishing for god know what will swim by, but I have time on my side..

Ok, I was like that for two days...Black Horse Troop was 25 yrs ago

erin and jill spotted this Sloth crossing the road and our cabbie Pino saved him

why did the sloth cross the road? To entertain sissy of course

Erin and Jill got to meet our best buddies Rita and Pipas

Wow, I forgot my sissy was so hot!!


Not


Peekaboooo....

FIESTA

Liam took my place as cabana boy extraordinaire

Jill and Mark at our drive through ;-)

Our guests have been wonderful including a nice family from Sweden I bonded with for a few weeks and many Canadians and Americans coming for adventure and families are always fun to see together having a great time..every once and awhile someone will come along and give me a hard time, but generally speaking the people who visit here are a blessing to meet and become a part of their lives trading stories and sharing experiences if just for a week or so....
Well that kind of brings us up to date, although there was a lot in the middle I left out…,,today I painted a bathroom..…the last room on the property to be painted…I had a hard time getting in there..I must admit that not a lot changes here and time flies by as I tell the days by which truck or person comes by and the dates by which guest arrives and the time by my buzzer I rarely need to make sure Cassidy gets to school or when the sun comes up, gets hot or goes down…simple, but awesome…now I am booking rooms for 2010…can you believe it…sounds like a movie..

What are we looking forward to? Janice and her kids come for a few weeks in June and then they all fly out with cathy and the kids as they go off to MA for a couple weeks…ummm other than that…the surf contest is tomorrow and although I probably will not go, it means new t-shirts since we are sponsors..hah…I hope anyone reading this is doing well and is happy…Please drop a line, or better yet come visit!!!

Hangin a di playa mon

Cathy's Grecian Getaway

Cassidy and Liam enjoyed their July break from school with a visit from Grammy and Grampy, catching up on cartoons, mastering guitar hero and helping out with random cooking, cleaning and bike runs to the store to pick up backpacks of provisions. Amazingly, they’ve perfected packing the 15 egg package horizontally for the ride back without breakage. My parents visit was a gas, as Bill blogged last time, and we had a lot of laughs, tarzan calls by grampy and gourmet meals. They were relieved at the renovations made in water, sewer and additional kitchen and porch space.

Dinner at Maxis

Playtime

We had the pleasure of getting to know visiting neighbors from Portugal, Pipas, her sister Rita and her son Tiago. Liam and Tiago had fun boogie boarding and they learned the common ground between Portuguese and Spanish to play Wii and PSP2. Cassidy and her friend Cheyenne spend a lot of time in the kitchen baking and cooking, they’ve got a passion and a growing talent we are enjoying.
We also had Alex and family from Slovenia and David and family from Columbia originally and now living in Germany..All our guests bring something that is memorable and are uniquely special and we often comment it feels like the end of an era after having gotten to know them and they depart. We will be voting in hopes of a better economy.
Eagerly awaiting an update on the kitchen??? They haven’t finished yet so Bill caulked the sink and we plan to say thanks and hasta manana after 9 months of poco a poco. It’s hard to recall having roughed it out in the one before. Still unpacking and finding the logical spots for things. The extra porch space is nice as Lucy and Linda spend many hours sequestered on it to keep them following the guests going kayaking to chasing who knows what.

Steeped in Historical Exploration

Bill held down the fort while I went on ‘holiday’ with Janice. Thanks honey! We got back from Greece a week ago, pause/reflect, and thank my lucky stars for Janice as we had a wicked, awesome time. It was surreal to finally see each other in a French airport and board our flight to Athens; all of our planning and emails cannot describe what we were to have in store. Ok, we did carry on only so were off the plane and in a taxi like we knew where we were and went straight to the Plaka Hotel. We threw out the wardrobes, I ooohed and awed at all the fabulous finds she brought…clothing and make up! We freshened up, tried on a few outfits and headed out.
Whoah…busy with cafes, shops, then we turn a corner and boom-there’s an ampitheater from who knows when with and orchestra playing amongst the broken columns and ruins. Cathedrals, cobblestone roads, and then our first sit down and take it in. The spicy kabob meal was our first hint that geez; we aren’t even hungry. We pretty much split a meal a day and kept busy checking things off a list we did not even have. The country seemed safe and tourist friendly and oh my, late nights. That first night we walked up to the Acropolis with some tablemates, super nice young 20 something cousins. They and our trusty waiters aided in first translating then shooing away an old drunk Armenian from Janice. When we sat down we figured he owned the place the way he sat the in the window smiling and happy. We smiled, and laughed him off for hours and then when our mates translated what he was suggested we took the trek. It was quiet of a walk it seemed like we were the only people out; when we got up there to sit and enjoy the view we realized there was an entire late night crowd. We meandered back down and had to have one last bottle of wine at our favorite café; glad to see the crazy old man was gone.
Our night watchman stayed up waiting for us, just kidding, that’s his job. The hotel elevator was one of those manual kinds so we had a few minutes a day realizing, oh, yeah, you gotta push it open. We woke up ready to get our ferry tickets and phone card. We toured back around and slowly began souvenier shopping…hard to ease into it when it’s alley after alley of nearly the same stuff. We got our bearings and began to spend those euros. We decided to east ‘street food’ and picked up gyros and shopped some more. Back to the hotel to phoned home and head back out for the café people watching and just relaxing. Plan A was to catch the 7:15am ferry to Mykonos so we did Plan B and caught the 4pm so we could get up to the acropolis during the day. It was a hot, sunny day so we rode the train up, took the designated picks and back to town for a greek salad. We had also figured out the train station a block away goes to the port station we needed so hopped on and zoomed over to the infamous party island of Mykonos.

The superfast ferry was interesting; we took advantage of a 4 hour nap although did go top decl to see the sunset. We were greeted by Anna, the gracious owner of Hotel Tagoo, and she brought us back to our room. We had nice little balcony that overlooked the sea and a beautiful view of the landscape of white houses with blue doors and shutters. We’d looked at their website so often we headed up to the pool to say hello and headed into town for dinner. We opted for Nicolas’ Taverna and enjoyed the wine, the food was not so tasty. Next morning we wanted to go to to Paragas Beach but had just missed that bus so went to Paradise Beach. We got there about noon and rented beach chairs with the grass hut table and melted into the sun. The sea was cold and refreshing, the day was relaxing until the frozen mango drinks started to pour. We headed out as the sun was setting and walked by the elevated dance floor and go-go dancer. Phew! Refreshed in a bit and out for dinner….pizza! it was tasty and the owner brought out his homemade ouzo and joined us ‘yasas’! Next day we just missed the bus for Paradise beach again!!! It worked out as we had to get our ferry tix to Santorini, grad a bite to eat and scan the shops. Paragas Beach was busy with one group selling fake high end purses and scarves, jewelry and massages! I did go for the full on massage and swear my neck still feels stiff. The foot rub would’ve been just fine. Next time I’ll know. Great day at the beach and back into town to do some shopping while headed back up to our place; about a ten minute walk all uphill. Anna called to let us know the Greek Dance party at the pool was starting in 5 minutes so we rushed and got there for the festivities.

Uuumpah...(or was it Ouzo?)

We danced around the pool a few times and were cheered with a shot of lemonchello and homemade spinach and cheese puff pastries. Ok, there’s always something…Janice had noticed her wrist was swollen, she couldn’t move it and her fingers were a lil tingly. Anna to the rescue…she graciously took us to the free clinic which took good care of her; we were in and out in an hour then treated to a fabulous, fancy dinner with her family and a few guests that have been meet there every year since like 1974. We got back and ventured back to town to the Lotus Bar and had the best wine, of which we cannot remember the name, and a mango meringue dessert. Ahhhh, the hours went by as we chatted with another couple and the owners. Anna rang at 10:30 as check out is at 11 and we were the only ones left! Geez….talk about a morning fog and trying to pack. We had to ask the cabana boy to give us another 5 minutes a few times but made it out without a kick in the pants and headed to the port. The boat ride was another nice place to nap and get ready for Santorini.
We docked and were told there weren’t taxis so decided to rent a car…we had to pay a lil extra for an automatic, thankGod, and it was the same price as a taxi to Oai. So pfffttt…I noticed many people use that expression. I hadn’t driven since visiting Phoenix in January so Janice manned the wheel and we held our breath as the twisty, turny roads took us to Strogoli Houses and Apts. A beautiful spread of cave dwellings scattered down the rocky caldera overlooking the sea. Janice breezed the one lane, two sided street with a huge tourbus headed our way as all traffic backed up behind us and we found the place. We had the tiniest lil cave apt and it was so cute! We were right at the edge and again had the lil café chairs right outside our door overlooking the sea. The restaurant across the street was highly recommended so we headed over there and were the last ones to leave, we had to finish our bottle of wine! We woke to a wonderful breakfast, suited up, sun blocked and headed for one of the many beaches…the furthest one where we hung out at the beach before heading over to see the Red beach. What a variety of color on Santorini, lots of vineyards that look like scrub brush as they grow in volcanic soil. We went over to Ammoudi for lunch and were inspired hire a capt and do a private boat tour the next day. The touristy pirate boats ones would take 6 hours and have 4 yr old to 90 yr olds and we just rationalized that pretty quick and had Capt Billy Brown from downtown set for a 3 hours tour tomorrow.

Grecian Goddesses for the day with Capt Billy Brown

We shopped our way back from lunch in Ammoudi and were invited to watch the sunset from a famous spot under the windmill…Golden Sunset Villas. The shops were eye catching and we knew we’d be back to savor. Whoah, the people lined up thick blocking our quest for the sunset…we made it and enjoyed the sunset melt into the sea. People cheered and clapped and we got some good pics. We stayed and enjoyed our wine while the crowds scattered then shopped our way back to our place. We hadn’t realized how close we were to the beginning of the shopping district.
We felt a bit seasick waiting for our capt to arrive but held tough and climbed aboard. Yes, there was a time where we did sing the Gilligan’s Island theme song because the rope got caught in the rutter when we tried to get into a private alcove of hot springs. We toured around were explained many of the islands that were only accessible by boat, lots of historical info about Greek history and why this was built there and when it blew in a volcano. The caldera island we docked at had 5 craters with the one on top spewing sulfuric smoke, ran out of camera batteries but it was a lot of rocks and paths. We were on to the popular, accessible, hot spring where lots of people were doing that thang. We swam in and around the springs and smeared mud and met back up with our capt. He told us he played the guitar and keyboard and sang at a club in Perissa, the furthest from our Oia. Well, when we heard his song about the chicken and the duck we were sold. It had to be worth the drive. Did we squeeze in the wine tour this day too? Not sure, but we did one of those and it was mostly a cruise ship mob scence so we did the get in, get out and sampled a lil of everything. Nothing worth buying. Ok, we’re pooped. We have to leave tomorrow morning and are just giggly over how much fun we’ve been having. Sunset at our patio with some cheese, fruit, salami and wine while gussying up for our night out on the town. We had time so Janice decided to straighten her hair and hmmmm, do you smell something burning? It took a lot of sniffing until it was a clear and we headed out. Billy Brown was playing when we walked in and played elvis, otis redding, pink Floyd, chuck berry and Louis Armstrong’s what a wonderful world. We closed the place and carefully got home. Details from there home are pretty typical, we were exhausted, enjoyed scanning through all the pics and in denial we were going our separate ways again.
I’m home and thankful. Family, friends and memories that keep me satisfied with wonder and inspiration.
Bill’s b’day celebration began after the kids were off to school with breaking out the massage table, the lotion of the gods (Korres body milk– fig scent) from Greece, candles and satellite tranquility music station. I baked a coffee cake for breakfast and he was soon surprised by a visit of white faced capuchin monkeys. They did a lot of swinging , scampering up and down to check him out and then coming in close to get the bananas strategically placed up by a big tree. No guests around to see; Alberto, his Dad and the crew gathered round and we watched them play, eat, rest for like 2 minutes, then swing away. Oh, also a treat was the pirate movie guy came by and we picked ‘In Bruges’ with Colin Farrell (not necessarily recommended). Cassidy and I made a lasagna, salad and garlic bread and the kids finished off the celebration with the presentation of a chocolate pudding pie while we sang HBTY; of course the version you live in a zoo and smell like a monkey is called for as well.
Special thoughts and prayers go out to my Uncle Bob that recently passed; my Dad and Uncle Joe’s brother. I feel blessed for the memories growing up with him and his family, our cousins, aunts, uncles, would meet up for memorial masses, Christmas and other occasions during the year at ‘The Uncle’s’ house for an Italian feast. Us kids would fill up on the first course of ravioli and squeeze into the parlor to watch tv, or venture out and visit all the old aunts and get our cheeks pinched on how big we’re getting. God bless you; we’ve planted ‘Uncle Bob bamboo’ and will post pics as it grows.
We’re looking forward to a dual visit from Uncle Dave and Auntie Noodle soon; she’s working on it and she knows how to get ‘er done!
PLEASE VOTE!

Our new Kitchen (finally done, or at least the guys stopped coming so we think we are done ;-)

Love the handmade slide out drawers

Cara and Scott blessed us with a visit on their Costa Rica exploratory visit, put the new kitchen to use quite nicely (dishes too I might add ;-) and hopefully will be neighbors someday soon..

The new Casita, open December 2008 hopefully ready for Dave's inaugural visit in Feb

Summertime El Verano

Hi all. well it is never really summer here...they say Puro Verano whenever it does not rain for a week or two...plus the kids are not out of school and it can be warm or cool on any given day, but for most people reading this it is summertime... Wussup?, que tal?, como esta? , que paso? Todo bien aquí….all is good here…Highlights of May and June were a visit from John and Kate from Colorado, Liam’s 10th birthday, and a visit from Kim and Mark from AZ (and their gang)

On birthdays..we told the kids when they hit double digits that they would get to go to some exotic location…well, Cassidy chose Costa Rica a couple years ago (that was easy:) and Liam, well he got to be in an exotic location by default, but we turned his into a series of natural, cultural, and retail activities…Last weekend Liam and I went to the cataratas (waterfalls) and spent the morning swimming, exploring, and trudging around in the rapids and jungle…fun stuff for dad and son…We have another couple falls scheduled, and are also going to San Jose for a couple days (woohoo) to check out the mall….It’s been well over a year now since I have been more than 2 hours from home….One might think that I would be excited about this trip, but I am still trying to pawn it off on Cathy as I am not too sure I am ready to venture off to the big city…we’ll see…full report to follow..

Liam’s birthday party was a success in that some people showed up, everyone had fun, and the food and weather were delightful…Cathy, whose Master thesis was the development of a party planning business BTW, planned the whole thing out…We set up our screen tent (thoughtfully given to me as a Christmas present by the wonderful team formerly known as ITS Implementation and Training Services) and a table, mainly so the kids would not be in the house, and Cathy had punch and snacks and then the night before her and the kids made paper mache balloons (out of the CR phone book we’ll never use) for the kids to paint upon arrival…the kids had a blast with that…In attendance were the son of one of Mark and Kim’s friends Max, Mickey, Alan, and Ramin, and of course Cassidy although now that she is 13 she will not fess up to being there)….We had about 20 invitations, but the kids love all over the place and many like us have businesses to run, no cars, or whatever number of things that would prevent them from getting here…

It worked out well with a small crowd though…After we painted the paper mache, I led them off to the beach where we played whiffle ball and went swimming…good time was had by all…even me,,,people did look at us kind of funny though as baseball is not that popular here and usually people are playing futbol on the beach…then we came back and all the adults joined us and we had hotdogs (gringo yes, but in Spanish they are perroscalientes…they really say that literal translation)..and chips a wonderful cake made by cathy followed by presents of course…Kim and Mark helped us out again by smuggling goods from the states for presents…last year they brought us bed sheets among other things ;-)

Speaking of Kim and Mark and gang….Cathy and Kim worked together and they visited last year when Mark’s school got out, but this year they brought like 20 people and spread out between our place and our neighbors….they seemed to have a pretty g

ood time using the kayaks and snorkels and hanging at the beaches body surfing and canopy tours…Cathy used the opportunity to make Judy, Barb and Kim her first Spa guests and gave them all facials (I think it was one that takes 10 years off or so it appeared and reflexology…Cathy plans to add a menu of spa services to the ever growing list of things we do to help people enjoy their stays here…None of them broke out or screamed in pain so I guess it went well…We also played some card and dice games and hung out a bit..we hope they come back next year as they are a gas..
Ok who are John and Kate? John is a friends of ours from Colorado that we met through Mark, our friends that had Sunny’s Pizza (provided the environment that allowed Cathy and I to meet…kind of an important detail) and then moved to the Vail area…Anyway, we used to see John in CO and at dead shows across the west and he had a free ait ticket and decided to come see us to celebrate his graduation from College…Way to go BS in Polysci graduate John! John brought his friend Kate who helped keep him from getting in too much trouble while he was here… We had a full ceremony, complete with pomp and circumstance (something I learned from the ITS trainers ;0) and the girsl (Cathy and Cheyenne) made an incredible Pineapple Upsidedown cake to help us celebrate… They did the usual beach activities, surfing, lounging etc and left way too soon…

As far as personal stuff goes…The family is doing well…Cassidy and Liam got their grades for the trimester and did very well in all their classes…They are both passing Spanish with decent grades….this is quite a feat considering it is not Spanish like you and I took it, but more like English how you and I took it so they are doing well…liam still goofs off a bit (would not be a surprise to his previous teachers and principles (or mine for that matter as the apple never falls… ;0) Cassidy is doing well too and has become quite the artista….She hangs out with her friends and is still waiting for uncle dave to come and bring her surfboard (of course she wants to see him too).

Cathy finished Liam’s 10 year quilt and has blossomed into quite the seamstress also making covers for some chairs down at the house and other assorted things…other than that, had a good time hanging out with Kim and gang and keeps busy going to the kids school and trips to town and the beach of course…My last big adventure, other than the waterfall, was a hike in the national park,,,,,you can read about it on our website blog if you are interested….our shrimp tank should be ready soon so we can fish at will, our kitchen is about done, but now we have an outdoor kitchen as of yesterday…it is actually way cool to be cooking and doing dishes and looking out at the jungle…well, more to come soon….grammy and grampy come in July a collective YAY …hopefully the kitchen is done by the time the king of olive oil, garlic and onions arrives ;0)
We, if I know you and you are reading this I probably miss and think of you now and then…drop a line if you have anything of interest to share or just to say hi…We are still on dial up so I am still kind of short with e-mail and in a hurry, but always get it done eventually…
Oh, I took a break from this to have Cathy cut my hair and had to include this…you know you have problems when your stylist says “OOPS!” We tried a new outlet and a new setting for the trimmer at the same time and cathy cut a swath right on the front of my head leaving me about a millimeter of hair….now what to do….She said “we could draw some stitches in there”, and “ it will grow back in a month” and “just comb it to the front”…..I did not want to follow her combover recommendations so we just cut it all the same length and wallah…good thing I do not have to go into the office today ;-0)

Bill

Day to Day

Exclusive Rare Photo -

Peaceful coexistence and even some homework collaboration

Wow, way too long since the last post, again…Like anywhere, family, work, school, activities, and leisure (why is that last?) seem to eat up the hours and days…That’s what this post is about..what do we do all day? Our weekdays start just like yours, except maybe aa little earlier and with howling monkeys and parrots helping the wakeup process. Bill gets up at 4:30/5 as always, but now usually uses that time to get breakfast and lunches ready for the kids and walk the property, open the gate, turn off lights, check to see what might have happened during the night (I especially like watching the owl waiting for the bats to come by to pick one off right before sunrise). About 5:30 the wakeup calls to the kids start with Liam only needing one and Cassidy normally needing a simulated earthquake in her loftbed. Sometimes, guests have early morning departures for the airport, other destinations, or tours so I’ll also get them up and have early breakfasts, but that is not the norm. Breakfast is usually eggs, pancakes or toast and Liam has really developed a Mango obsession and Cassidy like pineapples, but watermelon or no fruit at all is usually her preference. Cathy gets up at about the same time and gets coffee and helps the generally push to the door for the 6:10 bus arrival…many of the kids are late for the bus, but he honks the horn if they are so I do not tolerate that with sleeping guests…There was a loud crash yesterday at 6 am as the white faced monkeys came for a visit and crashed a branch down that fell right on my gutter I use to collect water and it fell…I still love them though…

So the kids get off to school and Cathy and I will usually sit on the patio with our coffee and catch up a little on the news and chat about household and business items in no set order (aka an agendaless casual meeting ;-) The “hey I would be at Academic Council right now” or “Today was your in office day” memories have faded…Usually around 7 it is time for breakfasts to start…Although breakfast is only included in our bungalow without a kitchen, most people will eat at least one before they get to the store or the whole time so we pretty much always have some cooking to do…Cathy’ll get all the trays set up and I’ll prep the fruits and veggies etc and the mad cooking takes place and its all delivered and over within an hour…This time is also one where people are coming up or we see them at delivery to talk about things to do, places to eat etc and just general chit chat (why did you move here being the most frequent ;0)…

By 8 Alberto and Maria will have arrived and some orientation for the day’s work begins (so and so come/leaves today needs sheets/towels etc etc)…Alberto generally walks the property too and picks up any branches, trims out any dead stuff, and cleans up the paths and then goes into bike repair, painting, planting etc…Maria will usually start cleaning our house, or if someone has left will jump right in there, but generally she is in our house for an hour or two a few days a week (the kitchen takes a beating and sand and dirt get tracked in as much as you try…not to mention the spider webs that forms faster than you can clean them..

9-10 days, Cathy uses the time from 6-8 to do her yoga with Rodney…She does some poses that would break me and it seems to be evolving her into quite the zen goddess in all aspects…
I’ll usually end up outside at this point consulting with Alberto about projects or just chitchatting with my now 19 year old Spanish/cultural/news guide and friend… There is also more guest relations with people coming and going, needing bikes or tips on where to find things etc..Somewhere in there is some e-mail and internet time and the ever present dishes to do (boy I miss my brand new Bosch stainless steel dishwasher)…Maria will do the dishes, but I’d rather have her out doing other work and I am known as kind of a water conserver and have not been able to get her to learn that you do not run the water full blast for the whole time you are washing dishes…During all this Cathy has been busy of late sewing Cassidy’s memory quilt she received for b-day 13 and Liam’s is under way..or she’ll be baking, doing e-mail, doing deeper level cleaning, or organizing.

Lately we’ve also had this construction going on for exapand our kitchen and patio and that has been a planning in process and I am always helping the guys with what we want here or there…An example being the roof…They were getting ready to do it and were just going to continue the roof line which would have resulted in a 6’ line and restrict my view so I drew them up some plans to create a new roof line and now it is 10’ high, we lose no view and have a little patio we can use upstairs…There are other little things like that, but someday we’ll have a kitchen twice the size…However, we can only have them come now and then because of the noise so we are on month 5 (can you imagine?)…Here’s how it looked on Cassidy’s birthday when we were eating breakfast and a friend stopped by.

Everything drops off at noon so cathy and I will usually have lunch (she makes a mean rice and beans with cole slaw with tortilla chops, Anything but Tipico)…we’ll sometimes take a nap, read, or we’ll watch a little tv, but usually unsucceffully because something always comes up..The kids get home at about 2:30 and that starts snacks and going off with friends,beach. working around the property (liam) or wanting to watch some TV (we vetoed gameboys except for weekends which has worked well)…4-5 p.m. is usually the homework time and if there is none dad has tons of workbooks and Spanish lessons to fill the time…Dinner is around 6, but is often built around cooking dinners for guests as well…Usually a few nights a week and it can get a little crazy if there are more than one and different entrees..and then there might be a bit of tv, but things start heading toward bed at 7:30 although Cassidy stretches this out at least an hour or two more with some internet or school projects…We’ll try to catch lost, dirty sexy money (my show), or something else for awhile.. Then probably dishes, more internet, shut the gates usually around 9 and off to bed by 10ish… Hopefully it starts to rain right then which makes for wonderful dreams between the tin roof and the open windows and trees 4 feet from my head ;-)
However, sometimes we get completely sidetracked and a party starts or, well you just never know…In this picture there is a couple from NY, a couple on their honeymoon from N Canada, and a couple from Oregon…Where else would they meet and hang out for a night? Let’s just say it was the first time I worried about too much noise coming from us at night..….

Some other stuff – Cathy went on a cool tour a couple weeks ago…checkout our website’s blog for some more details…http://pachamamacaribe.com She also goes to Limon now a couple times a month and enjoys some retail action along with our chores… have been fishing a couple times still with little luck as I have not devoted enough time to it…However, Liam and Alberto dug a 1x1 meter hole to create our very own shrimp tank and we have a bunch with babies so I am confident that using some live bait and a little more time at it that my luck will increase.

On other Liam notes, He has a booming pizza business on busy weekend etc…I make the dough and he takes it from there and sets up shop up front….People keep showing up after he closes asking for pizza..maybe a future negocio para Liam....Liam and our quasi neighbor/classmate Alan (Tico) hang out quite a bit and either take off on bikes and go fishing, swimming at Alan’s pool, beaching, or who knows what and they do some homework, watch tv in Spanish and play gaameboy/legos yadda yadda…He also has a buddy that has come over a few times who lives in Puerto Viejo (town) at a hotel his mom manages, and then he had a big birthday pool party at another friend’s house last week and had a blast, with good take home candy ;-) Liam is also famous for his Duende runs…Just give him a list and Liam will race off on his bike to the grocery store about a mile away…he has a running record of no broken eggs that none of us have been able to match…However, he is most likely to be seen wandering around with his machete and/or making improvements on his casita (I called his last one Hagrid’s house as it was not very inviting…
Cassidy,,,well, let’s just say 13 brought about some changes..she actually will get up early from time to time and always looks very nice and smells very nice (relative to me at least) before school…She and her friends will either gather at a house or head off to the skatepark for their excitement (no malls or other gathering spots around here)…the skatepark is owned and operated as a Christian mission and allows no drugs, alcohol, smoking, bad behavior etc and shows surfing and skate movies and has free skating and equipment etc…seems to be wholesome enough…Cassidy still misses all her friends back in the states a great deal and seems to keep in touch a bit with yahoo chat and e-mail and the phone…she went to the beach by herself for a dip yesterday and works on homework projects with friends around the area…A proud moment came a few weeks ago when I heard her n the phone ask “porque no estaba en escuela hoy” to her friend who does not speak English….However, her friend is not a tica, she is actually Chinese…That is pretty common here, Chinese, people, and Europeans and latim Americans who do not speak English…the other changes with Cassidy were the first bikini (ouch), earrings (wish my internet could attach the piercing video) and some musical tastes I am not able to identify or understand 9rapping reggae, R&B type stuff I think)…

Both are doing very well at school and are earning good gradees, but can get a horrible grade quickly on a test or something even after studying if the wording is off a bit…Imagine trying to learn science or social studies in a language you do not fully understand…I never thought I would root for passing grades so much, but their education is on a pretty solid path and the Spanish is coming along nicely…

I think that was a run down and summary…still waiting for most of you to come visit, but we understand…People ask me when I am coming back and there are no plans…if I have my way I would not go towards towns at all and just go fishing, snorkeling, and hiking…That ought to keep my leisure filled up for quite some time. but I do miss my mom…she's coming in feb though ;0)

Winter Break US Tour

Hi all, First of all, sorry for moving all the old posts…Believe it or not, too many guests were finding our blog in searches. Not that we have anything to hide, but…you know…It is kind of creepy…Bill can send a link to any of the old posts if people are interested…This one is Cathy’s report of the jet setter tirp around the US during school vacation…yes, we were brave enough o leave Bill all alone to man the fort…..sorry no pics..could not get them uploaded,,10 weeks of Cassidy and Liam on school break…they enjoyed December sleeping in. Cassidy and I took a few surfing lessons and are ready for more. We were busy with guests and did a few day trips and light shopping in Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo.
Christmas decorating brought out familiar, well loved ornaments and memories. Holidays are not as advertised here, which was weirdly welcomed as the only shop that adds Christmas items is the grocery store! We’d stocked up on scented oils and brought in the familiar smell of pine for the month. The lights were hung with ornaments alongside up along the loft beams. The kids and I were leaving at 7am on the 27th so all ornaments were gently tucked away the day after Christmas. We charged up the gameboys and headed out.
Our vaca was a whirlwind bash starting in Milwaukee at the Witty compound; we were surrounded with comfort and family. Christopher was home from college in Arizona, and it was a treat to have him home too. We were so cozy and warm with the soft, fuzzy blankets and flannel sheets Erin set us up with. One beautiful snowfalling day we watched the kids gear up and go out for snowman building and snowball fighting. Red faces and runny noses were treated with hot chocolate. We had a fire going and were inspired to go sledding that night with a light dusting coming down until midnight. We had the hills to ourselves and enjoyed various snow buddy sledding teams and Liam snowboarding. Late nights enjoying O’Witty bailey snifters, home cookin and movies were a treat and the kids would go MIA downstairs with the ultimate game room: pool table with a ping pong top, legos, playstation, couches, recliners, bean bag chairs, blankies and pillows…the cave. Erin and I had a luxury day of facials, lots of shopping stops and wii hunting. We went to our first Harlem globetrotters game on NYE day, great seats and downtown Milwaukee scenes was a celebration day and a great steak dinner and snacks. We were able to meet Christopher’s friends and squeeze a dinner with Kyle’s family where we learned a new board game. We also made a journey to Chuck E Cheez, Trader Joe’s, Luke’s basketball tournament with coach Kyle. Muffy had been down with the flu and luckily was feeling better so we got to visit with her and John and doggy Frieda. It was the coldest there, getting down to 6 degrees with that frozen nose feeling. Cassidy, Erin and Kellen took Gracie for a snowsuit walk and Erin kept me going with a Billy Banks workout and a custom in home gym circuit. Not sure it cancelled out any caloric intake but was fun and felt invigorating! Love and thanks Witty family
Next stop was Grammy and Grampy’s, aka home, and I hung out many nights w/ Kelly where we went out for country and U2 nights for live music and watched the Patriots win the last 2 playoff games at the bar scene circuit she knows which was fun. Chris and Deb had us over for a delicious dinner and Bobby shared his playstation system with the kids. Chris, Kelly and I went out one night for a few drinks where Deb works and one afternoon we went to take pictures on Chris’ new Harley. My dad had fallen while hiking about a month before we got there and had surgery and wasn’t adjusting to crutches so we didn’t do the planned train to Boston days, etc but had fun chilling and renting movies, and a few old favorite restaurant stops. It’s so nice to go back home for family dinners and stopping for a few old familiar foods like Cristo’s salad, pizzas, Chinese food and Dunkin Donuts! It snowed a few nights and Liam was helpful with Grammy shoveling and as Grandpa’s assistant for mail, the paper and whatever his needs were while Cassidy, Grammy and I did lots of shopping. One afternoon Grammy took the kids to a movie at the mall while I shopped for 2 hours alone bouncing like an ADD afflicted adult from shop to shop. Those after Christmas sales are amazing. Our original flight out to Phoenix got cancelled, luckily a full day ahead, and we had time and an internet café to rebook flights out the following day. The storm didn’t prove to be as bad as predicted.

We had a direct flight to Phoenix and Janice picked us and our 8 huge bags of luggage up at the airport. Luc was with and was such a treat to stay with us while mom chauffeured for the afternoon. We had big plans to make our Greece trip reservations…still working on thatJ Can you imagine me and the kids lugging body bagged sized bags—sky cabs and singles kept us going. It was such a bummer to miss a day in Phoenix as the afternoon we flew in was the get together with Heidi & Brent, Ada& Bryan, Hannah and Zane; Tina & David, Colin and Ethan, Kimberly and Mark and Cassidy and Liam’s friends and families. No time for sleep—the Legacy resort was a nice place to make home base and had a spa size tub we filled up for relaxing. We also rented a car which was a freeing feeling since I hadn’t driven since May. Cassidy and Liam hung out and had sleep over and the Bailey’s treated me to a fabulous dinner and drinks. Janice had us over for dinner and a visit and the kids caught up play and we enjoyed catching up and visiting. We did an afternoon of shopping for last minute needs and missed getting to Our lady of Mount CarmelL It’s hard to get it all done with late nights and early mornings! Traffic afterschool was crucial—not something I miss although in the free upgraded, leather interior 2008 Ford Explorer it was easy to pass the time searching through 3 satellite radio stations! I believe this is where Gary was able to run over and get one of the cherished wii consoles Colleen found for us in Dallas! Phew~ that was close!
We got into LA and Moe just happened to be playing in town for 2 nights so thanks to Jill & Jacob and Aunt Mary we did kid dropping in Hermosa beach for a boardwalk arcade night and an Original house of Pancakes –no Cassidy OHP is not Old home for People but the Original House of Pancakes where we met Jill and Jacob for a delicious breakfast and a retrieve the kids spot! Aunt Mary flew in from Chicago and picked them up for a sleepover up on the hill and out for a movie, out for dinner, shopping and homemade cookie time. Luckily, MLK day coincided with a lazy post show Sunday and Uncle Dave whomped up a delicious bbq for all. He also took us to Universal Studios which was a nice change from the Disney rush as there aren’t as many on the list of things to do. Home cooking, Jacuzzi time and satellite TV and saved dvr recordings kept us all at awe, equipped with pillows and blankies, for hours.
Our last stop was Dallas w/ Colleen, Gary and JC who took on the much needed designated wii teacher and game partner. We were on our fourth bottle of airborne by this point and needing a bit of R&R which is exactly how we enjoyed our visit with Colleen and I catching up over senseo coffee pods, yummm, and wine in the evening and home cooking, order out pizzas and unlimited Shellcrosslee pantry raids! We didn’t even go for lugging the bags upstairs and opted to rearrange bags for weight downstairs while Colleen set us up with laundry services for the journey homeward. We rented blockbuster movies one night Colleen and I wrapped up in her luxurious bed for a movie. Our freakishly early flight out on Sunday was touch and goes as it was foggy and nearly missed the hour international time limit—nice woman there walked us though security and we made the flight without having to do the re-check on the connecting flight.
Ah, touchdown. It wasn’t over yet…our driver showed up with a small car, mind you we had been filling large SUV’s to the brim, so we spent some time watching James and a helper waterproof our bags and tether them to the roof of the car for the journey home. We called Bill and excitedly reported we’d be there in about 4 hrs. Well, about an hour out was ended up in a traffic jam caused by a fatality on the highway, this requires finding the judge of the province to come and do his official things. We rolled in about midnight, Bill was waiting for us and we excitedly crawled out of the car and walked down the lush jungle path home. Despite being exhausted we opened the suitcases and found the comfy blankets we hunted down after staying at the Witty’s; Erin spoiled us with the softest, humidity friendly, couch blankies. We were thankful to have made it home safely, regardless of delays. Bill had been busy while we were away ! We woke to see shelving in Cassidy’s room, a towel bar and the entire wood interior was cleaned and varnished. That was in addition to cooking, dishes, laundry, and guest relations. I think Bill’s favorite thing we brought back is this ‘Monkey Butt’ powder Kyle found for him.
Feb 11 began the new year for Cassidy in 7th grade and Liam in 4th and the first report given by Liam’s teacher that also works at the local Duende Gourmet market is that they are doing great using Spanish. The one downfall they’ve reported is that the new school director stopped the pre and post school pulperia, corner market, shopping so no more before and after school treats.

till next time and promise to get some pics up...