Tuesday night

On the Crocodile river bridge. Chris, Me and Kirk. Look at those sexy shoes!
The crocodile river
ohh, Crocodiles.

Rich, Pam and Kirk

I think I forgot to mention these guys. We stopped to see them on the way to Jaco and again with the guide on the way to Manuel Antonio. Our guide, Charlie, threw some chicken to them. It was kind of awesome. I did have visions of falling over accidentally and how screwed I would actually be with broken legs trying to crawl away because the fall probably wouldn't have killed you. Really an awful thought!

Back at work

this is the beach at the hotel

this is me at the hotel beach

Well, I am going back to work today. I am not sure I really mind.....today is a short day and then I only have three days and it's off to Vegas for Joe's wedding. I am starting my new schedule this week. Instead of 10am to 7pm we will be working from 9am to 6pm. That makes me happy. I hate hate hated getting off a 7pm. Of course it would be even better if I was working 10am to 6pm but I do have to make money.

I am putting more pictures in this blog. I have to figure out how to put little captions under them.

The pictures from the last blog were from the first day and I was on our hotel balcony. It was a nice little hotel.

I am home

Chris and I got home on Sunday. We had a wonderful time. I just did laundry today and watched TV. I was tired.

Sunday was kind of rainy all day. So he stayed at the hotel and drank pretty much all day. It was an "all inclusive" hotel so food and drinks were free. It was kindof a nice way to start out the week.

Monday we layed around and enjoyed the beach at the hotel. In the afternoon we drove to a small town called Jaco. I guess it was kind of a cool little town. We ate lunch on the beach in an open air cafe and got some pretty pictures of the sunset.

Tuesday we made an attempt to go to the Ziplines at Mount Verde. We had some pretty treacherous roads so it was a real disappointment when we got to the top of the mountain and there was a storm and they had to close. We went down the back way which was not as scary but was so bumpy I could not believe it.

Costa Rica has Beautiful country side......but it is a third world country so not so nice housing. Wednesday we took a tour with a guide to the rain forest at Manuel Antonio and it was incredible. We did get to see some monkeys and sloths. We also had a guide with us and went on a long hike thru the jungle. Through the trees you could see the ocean. It was really a pretty cool hike.....and tiring. After spending a few hours hiking we went to lunch at a really cute little open air cafe with great food. We were very glad someone else was driving that day cause it was a long drive.

Thursday was spent at Tortoga Island. We took a Catamaran over and snorkeled. We had a beautiful morning with alot of sun. We had lunch on the island. The trip back was great too cause the sun went behind clouds and it was just really pretty.

Friday we went up the mountain to go on the Ziplines. It was another cloudy day but apparently not bad enough for them to close down. I have to say it was a great adventure and I did not mind the drive up the mountain nearly as much as the first time. I wanted to zipline so bad but I have to say right before I was about to go I was losing all nerve. As I climbed the first tower (about 4 stories high) I kept thinking "WHAT THE Fuck Am I DOING" So I made sure I was the first to go cause I wanted to get that first one done. It was great fun and the more I did it the less nervous I was. It was cloudy and a bit windy so we could not see much scenery....which maybe was not a bad thing. After you left the platform you could not see them anymore. The person just disappeared into the clouds. It was kind of eerie. The only way you knew they made it to the other side was when the guide on the platform called on the radio for the next one. We did not take our camera up cause it was too wet out. One of the other tourist had a camera and I sure hope he sends the pictures like he said he would.
After ziplining we went on a hike thru the rain forest again. The guide we had on this one was even more knowledgeable than the one in Manuel Antonio. He was just a young kid but was obviously well educated...he was cute too. He was also one of the guides on the ziplines. We had lunch afterward at a restaurant in the small town at the top of the mountain, Santa Elena. I think that was the nicest little town and it fascinated me that people lived up there........and had to make that trek up and down whenever they needed stuff.....not alot of grocery stores or clothing stores. We went down the mountain on the scary side and it was not as scary as I thought it would be. Really the worst part was when a tour bus was passing us.

Saturday was spent at the hotel beach til about 3:00 and then we headed back to San Jose and spent the night at an Intercontinental hotel. Our plane took off at 8am on Sunday and it was just too long of a drive from Puntaranus. It was not far as far as miles go but the roads as so shitty and we had to drive thru the mountains and the roads were switchbacks and traffic could be very slow.

All in all I had a good time but was so glad to get home!!!!! I will post pictures later or maybe I will send you an email.

My first day of Vacation

I am up early today. I dreamt of getting ready to go to the airport all night. Actually I dreamt that I asked 5 different people to check on the cats. They all came over for keys at different times. I had even asked Art to come over and check on them. He is the little guy that used to live in my old apartment complex that would not leave me alone. I had to finally get a restraining order on him so he would stop bugging me......I have not seen him in years, I don't know what made me even think of him. In the dream, after he left I thought "why did I just give that man my keys and alarm code? what was I thinking?" Art also found Stanley and brought him to my apartment. My niece Heather was over. She answered the door and he said "look what I found" and she took the Kitten and said "Thanks" So there you go, I had a cat. That was when I was still being nice to him. I thought he was harmless. He had such a crush on me. Then it got to the point that I could not even leave my house without him coming out and following me. To the laundry room, to the pool. One day he just walked into my apartment (the door was open, but still you stop and call out, you don't just walk in) When I finally said something to him like "you really need to give me some privacy" he did not like it and then he was rude to me. Oh, he was so annoying!! Anyway I finally called the cops on him one night cause he was sitting on the steps outside my apartment and he said something really rude to me and we got in a fight. He called me "a snake". I am laughing now but it was not funny at the time. I was so mad! The cops suggested I get the restaining order on him. Boy did it work. He never spoke to me again.
Well that was good cause I stopped thinking about getting on the plane in a few hours. Oh, now I am thinking about it again, my stomach is in knots. As soon as I am showered and ready I am going to take one of my little pills and get nice and calm. I don't want to take one too soon cause I am afraid I will lose that edge, calm down too much and forget something. When did I become this uptight? Actually I think I have always been this way about travel it just seems intensified. I am becoming my mother. I loved her dearly but I don't want to be like her in the way.
This should be my last post for a week. I doubt I will take the time in Costa Rica to post but I might email.

Have a good week!

Black Friday

Good Morning, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I had a pretty nice one. I went to work and had 4 manicures. I was only there for three hours so it went really fast. It would be lovely to be able to afford to work like that everyday. Just go in for three or four hours and be done.....and still be able to pay bills.

Betty and David came over to pick up Stanley. They ended up staying for about two hours. We actually enjoyed ourselves. Betty and I drank a bit of wine. David does not drink so he was her driver. We ate dinner about 5:30 and it was very good but it ruined me for the rest of the evening. I was bloated and tired all night and fell asleep around 10. Now I am up early and have to go get ready for my last day of work before vacation.

The forecast for Costa Rica is Isolated showers which I hope means some rain for an hour and then it is done. When we were in Amsterdam that is how the weather was. It would drizzle a bit and be done. Usually it was light enough you could still walk in it. I loved Amsterdam and am hoping to feel the same way about CR.
Rich was talking about going to the cloud forest and spending the night since it was a good distance from our hotel. I guess they have hot springs their (I wanted to get a bikini wax, that reminds me, not that I am wearing a bikini, but you know what I mean) Also a place to have dinner on the volcano (which is where the cloud forest is) also we are going to rent some ATV's one day. Don't forget the Canopy zip lines. Plus drinking beer and eating Mexican food....or what ever you call Costa Rican food. I am thinking it is similar.

Just say a little prayer on Saturday around 1:10pm Arizona time. I sure hope it is an uneventful flight!!!!!!

Thanksgiving

I am sitting here drinking coffee and listening to the rain again. I love hearing the rain and I know we need it but I hate going out in it. I have to work this morning and it would be nice it if was done raining when I go in. I am already tired of it. I guess I only like rain at night when I am laying in bed, glad to be warm inside. I also love thunder and lightning.

I only have to go in for a few hours today. I have four manicures and then I am done. Chris gets off around 1:00 also. We will be eating around 5. I can't wait to eat me some sweet potatoes.

Rich is going to come over later to watch football with Chris. Kirk might stop by too. Craig also said he will come over for a beer. Craig is one of my favorite people. We used to hang out all the time together when I was newly single. Me, Cheryl and Craig were like the three musketeers on the weekends. We all had children and were divorced. We hung out when we had kids and when he kids were with our ex's. I sometimes miss those days. Plus I was skinny then.

Betty is going to pick up Stanley today. She will be watching him while I am gone. He is just too old to leave alone with the other cats. Casey will be checking on the other kids every other day and I did not feel comfortable leaving Stanley alone that long.

Well, that is all for now.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Good Wednesday morning

I am sitting here drinking coffee and listening to the rain. It sure would be nice to be having a morning at home. I do need to get in the bathroom and start getting ready for work. I have to stop at the bank on the way to work to make a deposit. Yes, Chris finally paid me. I also have cash saved up from baby sitting and I need to get that in the bank too. I also have to stop at Carols and do my cat duties. I was going to water her plants this morning and now I don't have to.
I have a really busy day ahead of me. Hopefully people will give me cash tips!!!!! If not, that would be good too cause it will add to my teeny tiny paycheck when I come back.
Yes, Patricia, I do calm down after my trip starts. Even though I don't love flying I will feel better as soon as we get thru security! That can be such a pain in the ass and it will be Thanksgiving weekend so could be really bad. I have never traveled on a holiday weekend. Maybe most people are staying home this holiday and our airport won't be so busy.
That is all for now.