General Rules

I was on a long walk today and I saw something that made me think.  In the window of a video store, there was a poster for a movie starring Larry the Cable Guy.  I thought, "As a general rule, I don't watch movies with Larry the Cable Guy."  That phrase, "as a general rule," stuck in my head and I began to wonder what other "general rules" I live by.  The following is a non-exhaustive list, and not in any particular order, but these are just a few things that came to mind:

-  As a general rule... I do not watch movies starring Larry the Cable Guy.

-  As a general rule... I do not read newspapers with red titles (international joke).

-  As a general rule... I do not spend time alone with members of the opposite sex who are not my wife or daughter.

-  As a general rule... I do not listen to or watch anything with Barbara Streisand.

-  As a general rule... I do not vote for politicians who support Abortion Rights.

-  As a general rule... I do not read magazines about celebrities.

-  As a general rule... I do not agree with the positions of the ACLU.

-  As a general rule... I do not read paperback books from the grocery store.

-  As a general rule... I do not eat food in bed.

-  As a general rule... I do not like fluorescent lights.

Does anyone else have a list of "General Rules"?

Claire is Two!

Our baby girl is two years old!  She is now officially and little girl, not a baby.  We had a small party and Claire was thrilled with her cake and gifts.  Her big present was a tricycle...

..., but her favorite gift was a new baby doll.  We call her Maria Jose.  Here, Claire is feeding her "baby":

Claire LOVES babies, and walks around the house rocking her toy babies.  Not only Maria Jose gets this special attention.  She will also wrap Barney or Elmo in a blanket and pretend to rock them to sleep.

Claire is a beautiful girl, full of energy and life.  She loves to laugh.  She loves to dance (more on that in another post).  She loves to play with her brother.  She is my delight.  

Happy Birthday, Nadia Claire.  It's been a wonderful two years!

Normal Saturday

It's raining in San Jose this afternoon. This is an every day occurrence here for about 8 months a year, but this is a hard driving rain that is seeping through the exterior concrete block wall of our house (see below).
Fortunately, this is living room/kitchen wall and there is a house connected to the other side of the house. It would be rather disconcerting to have water coming through our bedroom wall!

*******

In other domestic news, two weeks ago, the power went out in half of our house. Our landlord and an electrician (well, two electricians) came on Saturday to check it out. The first guy inspected the wiring, inside and out, but couldn't find the problem. Later in the afternoon, the owner returned with another electrician. He pulled off the meter and found this:

A wire from the power service line had shorted out and melted the terminal and back of the meter. They do not know when it happened, but kept saying (to each other) that it could have been worse. We were without electricity for a few hours until the power company could come and replace the service wires and the meter. Around 7:30pm, the lights were back on, and were conspicuously brighter than before. To say the least, we are were all very thankful to have power again and everything working (and that our house did not catch fire!!).

Have a nice day!

My good friend Amy Norris says that God speaks to her best through nature.  I think I have finally grasped what she is talking about.  Even though it was 6:30 at night as I was preparing chicken fajitas and cutting up chile dulce, the Lord was clearly saying, "Have a nice day.":-).  After Kyle took a picture, I considered putting it on e-bay until I realized the fajitas just wouldn't be the same without it.

Home Again / Top Ten

After nearly a month in the States, we are back home at our little house in Costa Rica.  It was rather dusty, but everything was just as we left it.

The kids were happy to be home.  Out in the garage, Thomas cleared a construction site in the rock garden for his "backhoes".

As always, Claire, a typical little sister, prefers to play with Thomas' toys.  She's been practicing riding his tricycle while he is busy in other places.  She cannot quite pedal, yet, but she can get around.

We went to the US to renew my passport.  I expected it to take 3 weeks.  It was back in 3 days! However, we made the most of our time there.  I've compiled a non-exhaustive top ten list of the highlights of our trip.  With the exception of #1, these are not necessarily in order of importance.

1.  Father's Day Gift - Braves game and night in Atlanta with Ali

2.  "Vacation" in Thomasville

3.  Vacation from the kids in Marietta

4.  Dinner with the Norris' and Kingsfields

5.  Three Sundays at RiverStone

6.  Good Food! (Woodvalley, Kiosko, Thaicoon, Casa Grande, La Parrilla, French Bakery, etc.)

7.  Aquarium with kids and Ali's family

8.  Having a car / Not getting rained on every day!

9.  Time with family and friends

10. All around "In-Flight Trivia" champ on flight back to SJO (unfortunately there is no prize for this!)

Back in the States

We are in Georgia for a few weeks.  The kids are having a great time with their grandparents.  We are enjoying seeing friends and the freedom of having a car (thanks Suse!).

We had a great week in South Georgia at Ali's parents' house.  Ali's family really takes care of the kids.  It was like a vacation for me and Ali.  It was nice to sleep later than Thomas and Claire.  

While we were there, the kids got their first motorized riding toys.  Thomas got a tractor and Claire a pink four wheeler.  Thomas was a natural on the tractor!

We'll be around for another week.  We would love to hear from you while we are in town.  We are at my parents' house in Marietta.

Dancing Kids

The first video on the left is of Claire and Thomas.  I could not easily isolate their video, so I cannot vouch for any other clip that might show up on that bar.  Sorry!