Salivation

Making lists of things we are looking forward to helps ease the ever-increasing pain of having to leave. And, because making lists of things we are going to miss makes us cry...

Anyone want to sign up for any of the following?

• BBQ'ed meat (sounds like we have a taker already... Anyone else?)
• Indian food
• Sushi (home made would be wonderful... hint, hint)
  
• BBQ'ed corn
  
• Parmesan cheese. Not from the shaker. (You know who you are!)
• Ukrainian food! Specifically: perogies and, if possible, beet-leaf buns (yeah we know we're pushing our luck!)
• Thai green curry anything
  
• Non UHT treated milk
• Rice wrap spring rolls
• Sweet chili sauce
• Salmon. Salmon. Salmon.
• Memories of Thialand light peanut sate sauce (or the homemade equivalent)
  
• Spinach salad.
  
• Jalapeno Havarti on a trisquit
• Activia yogurt.
  
• Chicken or portabello mushroom burger.
  

To be continued... More than likely.

Happenings

• Tonight we went to a dance class. Learning the salsa and meringue was 'fun'. I don't think we'll do that again. I'll wait 'til Tom reads this to find out that I don't have a huge desire to go back either.
  
• Last week we played hockey with the youth. Tom and Ben hunted down wood, sawed-it 'up to make hockey sticks, and learned the children how to play. The kids loved it... So did the audience that grew around them wondering what in the world they are doing playing soccer with sticks.
  
• When I was putting the slide show together over the last few days I was really impressed that there were so many pictures of us working and smiling. Did you notice them too?
• On Saturday we went for a long hike to process some thoughts (and get some exercise, and enjoy a few moments to ourselves...which sometimes we have to run away for, and enjoy the non-scorching heat... Although I still managed to get a sunburn). And after those few hours, we still aren't ready to answer questions about our life plans. May God's will be done. That's all I ask. We're trusting. It's a fantastic place to be.
  
• We still don't own any flights from Manitoba to Montreal. I think we've truly gone Costa Rican... Tranquillo! We'll buy them and make a plan tomorrow.
• In a feeble attempt to ease some of the strange feelings we get when trying to process not living here, we've been listing things we're looking forward to doing/seeing/eating when we get home. Anyone want to volunteer to cook us a piece of red meat? For a nearly-vegetarian girl I can't believe this is amongst the tops things I want. I must be lacking sufficient hemoglobin to provide adequate oxygen to my brain. (heehee, smart jokes) Honestly, I'm willing to gnaw on a piece of iron right about now.
  
• We introduced some of our friends here to green beer in celebration of Saint Patrick's day. Seven of us shared 4 dyed beers in true Costa Rican style... 3 days after Saint Patties day.
• The fact remains: grease is hard to remove from dishes without hot water.
  
• I'm sure if we checked our blood levels, Tom and I would be way over the safety limit for ByeGone... The brilliance in a bottle that is about 12 times stronger than Raid. We love the stuff.

The calm(ish) after the storm

Wow.

Lots has happened over the past few weeks.

And this evening we find ourselves, for the first time in a long time, with an 'empty' house.
No house guests.

No drop-ins.

No gigantic bugs threatening to take over the place.

And man, have we been productive!

Neighbors visited, moms called, reports written, videos assembled, and blogs written! Check out my thoughts on Chirripo and the new video posted on the LEC-CR site. I hope I at least captured a taste of our adventures in Chirripo for you. Let me know what you think.

So many things

Where do I begin?



I really don't know.



The truth is, I haven't started.



 I'm not necessarily in denial, but just haven't started the process.There's just....



So many things.

So much to say.

So many lessons learned.

So many things to process.

So many things to plan.

So many things to do.

So many things to wrap up.

So many things to look forward to.

So many things that can make you feel sad.

So many things to dream about.

So many things to remember.

So many things to forget.



There's just.... So many things.


Once this process starts, it may not be pretty.