Tales from Costa Rica

In the mist of cooking up some yet to be determined offspring....John took off to Costa Rica for a week of surf lessons (a.k.a. "surf camp") with his brothers Tom and Joe. Sadly, my skills only improved marginally, but progress was made. The waves were great...small at first and slowly building during the week. The experience is drastically different than our usual day to day grind at the hospital.

So, while Melissa was home enduring lots of what we fondly call "pokies" (shots), John was surfing and fishing. All of this leads me to a new Costa Rican "tale", a superstition if you like. It turns out that if you or your spouse is pregnant...you wont catch a Marlin..a fact that I only found out after the fact when my brothers and I spent a day fishing. Sure...we caught some small stuff, but when we actually saw a large sailfish right next to the boat and maneuvered to get it interested in our bait...it just headed the other direction! That is when the guide let me know this little known fact of Costa Rican lore! My brother Joe reminded me that it is why they call it "fishing" rather than "catching... Regardless, we had a great time.

My only cell service was if I went to a particular spot on the beach in the evening and stood very still so I could talk to Melissa every evening. I would send her these pictures of the sunset and wished that she was sharing it with me. I am ever hopeful that the costa rican superstition holds true..and we will know in a few days if that is the case.

Thanksgiving 2008

This year we were able to join the Smart family on a cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozamel. We had a great time and it was certainly a good time for a break.

Before...and after!

John and I decided that we needed to do something to make our front garden area a little bit more manageable. We spent countless weekends trying to debride the garden without much success. We decided that we needed professional help. We first hired a hillbilly (I really wished I had a picture of him to share with you) to rearrange the randomly placed rocks into a retaining wall. After he took out almost every sprinkler head that we had, as well as a few of our neighbors, we decided we were done with him. We are really happy with the end result. Hopefully it makes the house a bit more appealing and we can get a few bites in the real estate market! Hopefully you will be able to tell which photos are the "before" and which ones are the "after".

Run, Bike, Swim

I just did my first triathalon and it was great. It was all because my sister did one about one month ago in Texas. She got me all fired up to give it a try. So...after 3 weeks of training I did it and I survived to tell about it. It was a 3 mile run, 10 mile bike, 300 m swim. I am not a big swimmer, so that was the hard part. Hopefully I will have a little more time to train before my next one. Thanks Krystle for lighting the fire!

Davey Jones...or is that my mom?

So...I thought you all might like to see what my mom looks like on Halloween. Ever since we were little kids, my mom has had a great love for Halloween. I think this is partially due to the fact that it is also Krystle's birthday. My mom loves dressing up and usually starts planning her costume a year in advance. I wonder what she will be next year!

Alley Cat!!!

So..."Q" has officially turned into an alley cat. I am not a big animal person, but John loves cats. I never actually thought that I would be a cat owner, until the day John told me he saw a mouse in the garage. Maybe this was John's clever way to make me give in to getting a cat. We went straight to the Humane Society to adopt our little kitty. I was starting to get a little worried that "Q" was not going to be tough enough to be a killer. When we first got him, he was scared of us and wouldn't venture any further than the main floor of our house. Little did he know that right outside the door was "cat paradise". I am happy to say that "Q" is finally starting to earn his keep around here. His killing tally includes 1 tarantula and 2 mice. He makes us so proud!!!

Nicaragua House Update

Here are a few updated pics of the house in Nicaragua. It is going to be awesome. It was really fun to see it in person. You can't appreciate the amazing views and the magnitude of the house in the pictures. Anyone want to come on vacation?