finally, some time

in monteverde, our internet time was by the minute, though we had 30 minute vouchers every day we were there. still, not a lot of time to email the family and blog. today, we have free reign on the computers at the hotel.. for now at least.

so right now we´re in la fortuna, which is the city right by the arenal volcano. we arrived yesterday morning after a van-boat-van trip from monteverde. the roads in monteverde aren´t paved and are essentially huge rocks and gravel so the first leg of the trip was bumpy and jolty and no fun because i had one of the fold-down seats in the van. there was a really nice guy from calgary so we were able to talk about the weather - typical, i know. he has been here before and was able to recommend our next stop. more on that soon.

on the first leg of the van-boat-van trip still, there were two girls of the bigger tour group that we were travelling with randomly at the side of the road. so we stopped and apparently had to climb through barb wire fence and then hike through a farmer´s field to get to the boat. this was a little sketchy and we were waiting for the farmer to start picking us off sniper-style. that didn´t happen, obviously. we get to the boat without incident and get on. it was a quick (45 minutes) trip across part of lake arenal and then onto a big big van.

thankfully, the roads are paved in this part of the country. the ride was so smooth! i got a crappy seat again on the bus but the ride wasn´t long. our hotel is the nicest we stayed in this whole trip. i was able to have a hot shower and shave my legs. it was getting a little ridiculous! possibly that´s too much information. moving on.

la fortuna is much hotter and dryer than monteverde so i´m working on my tan. our hotelroom has a perfect view of the arenal volcano (not the active side though. it has 4 craters, but only one is active) and the hotel has a pool. we´ve been up to the lookout point of the volcano twice now and have some really amazing long-exposure pictures (i sound like i know what i´m talking about but really it was j doing all the camera work. he´s calling himself a volcano papparazzi now!)

we met a really nice couple from new york and will hopefully exchange volcano pictures once we´re back home and can upload the pictures.

earlier today we rented a scooter. talk about a weird feeling! i felt enormous compared to this little tiny motorized vehicle, but teeny tiny compared to all the huge four-wheel drive suvs and trucks on the roads. we zoomed up to the catarata park and hiked down into a canyon and spent some time at the base of the catarata waterfall. (oops, catarata actually means waterfall. still with me? good.) the water was super cold but j went in the pool right near the base of the waterfall. i got some crazy pictures of that. (mmm, pictures. soon, my pretties, soon!)

la fortuna is a must-see for anyone who is in costa rica. tomorrow afternoon we leave for the manuel antonio national park. (as i type this there is a lizard making its way down the wall of the reception area of the hotel. on the inside!) anyways, this national park is south of here on the west coast. we´ve heard only good things about it and are really glad we ran into all the people who recommended it.

that´s about it for now. today is day 10 of 15 so we´re gearing up for our last leg of the trip. we´re looking forward to being back home, but aren´t finding being away as hard as we thought it would be. i can say that now that i´ve had 4 hot showers. four! in the day and a half we´ve been in la fortuna! weeeee!

still in santa elena

went on a canopy tour which included a hanging bridge tour and a zipline tour. the zipline tour was so cool. i was so scared at one point that my whole body was shaking and i´m not kidding!

we are planning on heading out tomorrow morning to go visit lake arenal. hopefully j will be able to windsurf there.

more later, as usual.

santa elena

we spent our first full day in santa elena and visited the santa elena cloud forest reserve this morning. it was a very wet and drippy rain forest (though i assume all rain forests are kinda wet and drippy). we were looking for sloths and monkeys but saw neither. though our crazy bus driver somehow spotted a sloth way up in a tree on our drive back into town. all we could see was the sloth´s fur blowing in the wind.

we also went to a butterfly farm and j got to hold some pretty gross things (tarantulas, scorpions, cockroaches). we saw some really pretty butterflies and some really annoying tourists. we also stopped by the serpentarium and saw lots of snakes, turtles and other reptiles.

we´re staying here tonight and again tomorrow night and then we´ll see what´s going on. we´re hoping to head north to la fortuna and arenal for some windsurfing and volcano action.

gotta run!

tamarindo to monteverde

j and i took a crazy bus ride to monteverde this afternoon. the last 38 km of the bus ride took 3.5 hours. they were crazy rough roads through mountains and we both were feeling a little shaken.

we went from dry and windy and hot to wet, rainy and cold-ish (20C). we just stuffed our faces with food and will be heading off into the cloud forest tomorrow. we´re looking to spend a few days here.

this morning we went on a tour of the estuary and saw a cayman (little crocodile guy), tons of birds and bright crabbies, and sleeping monkeys. it was neat but the crabbies kinda gave me the creeps.

now we´re here and there are more bugs than in guanacaste, but it´s okay. i have big bad j to protect me!

still in Tamarindo

just a quick post to let you know that we are officially snorklers now! we had an amazing time on a 66' catamaran snorkling tour. it was great.

tomorrow afternoon we're off to monteverde. no idea where we're staying yet but we'll figure it out.

San Jose to Tamarindo

san jose, turns out, is not the place we wanted to be. it is a very big and unfriendly city that we didn't feel safe in. so we had to figure out where to go and do it quick.
so we figured out that we wanted to go to a coast. turns out that the flights to tortugero were sold out so we headed west and hit up tamarindo. it couldn't have come fast enough as we saw a man pooping on the side of the road on our way to the airport! gross!

the flight to tamarindo was not long but was hard on the stomachs and j almost almost threw up. we both were ghostly white when we got off the plane, but it was nice and tropical and humid and we were finally happy.

we found a little mid-range hotel to stay at and have been to the beach yesterday and today and even went surfing! i am so proud of myself and j was doing so well, even able to cut one way.. still working on cutting back though. i was too sore to try it again, but i'm hoping to go out sometime while we're here.

so the plan for now is to stay in tamarindo another night or two and then make our way east, though not by airplane. we're thinking of stopping in canas to see some volcanoes and then onto monteverde and santa elena. but it's all very by-the-seat-of-our-shorts-cause-we're-not-wearing-pants. you know.

and there you have it. unfortunately no pictures. we might cave and stay somewhere super nice one of these nights that has free internet but until then the pictures have to stay on the cameras.

hope you're all happy in canada!

we made it!

we made it all the way to costa rica in one piece! we were delayed at the ottawa airport and the atlanta airport, but we're here, and we gained an hour - costa rica is just over the time zone line thingy. it's all very technical.

we're exhasuted and need to figure out what we're doing tomorrow.

crappy crappy firewalls

you know when you post something and you lose your post? normally something happens with blogger. this morning, it was the firewalls at work all of a sudden wouldn't allow any website to be open. anything. we use the internet to view work files and even those weren't allowed. frustrating.

so i'm posting this again, or i'm trying to remember what i wrote and tell you all the same things. we'll see how it goes.

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all yesterday i thought it was thursday. today is thursday and so yesterday was only wednesday. this week has been painfully slow but it's not because i'm so anxiously waiting to leave for the trip. it's because i'm tired. i've had sports every night this week so far and so much to do at work that the days are going by so slowly. being awake when you're this tired is painful.

but that doesn't stop me. besides, i get to sleep in tomorrow, if i'm not too excited to sleep. last night i played with my good hockey team. we were playing another local team that apparently has some of the girls i grew up playing with so that was fun. we won something like 6 or 7 - 0 and i scored the first goal (= the game-winning goal) and am pretty pleased with myself.

the weather made driving torturous. our new neighbourhood is far from everywhere when you drive between 20 and 40 km/h. but i made it to the game and home again without incident.

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trip info

we're leaving tomorrow afternoon for san jose, costa rica. we'll be coming back friday, march 2 and have nothing booked for those two weeks yet. we have a vague idea of the places we want to visit so we'll put something together soon.

we will be communicating with family mostly by email but you can look for updates here too. we're hoping to take lots of pictures but aren't sure whether we'll be able to get them off the cameras and onto flickr while we're down there. we will try.

under pressure

maybe this is typical... i wouldn't know - i'm not a seasoned traveller. i'm feeling the pressure of the upcoming trip. the pressure to get everything done before we leave. but i'm also feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done. i think a lot of these feelings stem from the fact that we just moved, i have to keep reminding myself of this, and the house and my life are in disarray. and then to just pick up and leave for two weeks seems somehow irresponsible.

but it's only me. i get to come home to the mess i've made. well, me and j. i think he handles it better than i do though.

so i finally logged into expedia.ca where we booked our tickets and took a minute to look at our itinerary and wrap my head around what we're doing. i think i know everything i have to do before we leave with regards to tickets and itineraries and flights and so on. i wrote it all down. now i'm going to take a look at what we can and can't bring on the plane. you know they have all sorts of crazy restrictions, or at least they did following 9/11.

it's a weird thought that in three weeks i'll be able to call myself a "traveller". i could say it now but i would be flat-out lying. but i really think this trip is out or the ordinary for me and j. we're stretching ourselves and that makes me very excited. anybody can go down south and lie on a beach at a resort for a week. who can tell me they've put everything they'll need on their backs and taken off to a foreign, non-english-speaking country for two weeks with nothing set in stone? three weeks from now my answer will be "me".

the way to my guy's heart: technology

i went shopping today all by myself because, well, i don't like shopping for clothes with other people. i have this thing about making people wait for me, even if it's j, i still can't do it. at least not well.

so when j said i could take the car and go shopping alone i ran out of the house. i bought my first pair of sunglasses (i've been wearing a hand-me-down pair of j's) and some new jeans as well as a bunch of house stuff.

when i got home i immediately put on my new jeans, obviously, and then i brought down the things i bought one by one and put them on the desk where j was playing computer games. i waited over an hour and then finally gave him this:



and here he is opening his nintendo ds:



doesn't he look happy? food is NOT the way to this guy's heart, technology is.

realization hits me upside the head

i realized something last night. more like i finally worked out in my head what i had known for a long time. something about myself. here it is: i am a generalist.

i was driving home from hockey. it was a game with my city team and i played every position (except goalie). they have me playing wing generally, which is fine since i joined the team more than half-way through the season. but last night, i started on wing, played center the second period, wing again in the third, but defence any time we had a penalty (approximately half the game). i guess i'm what is known as a utility player.

and then i realized that this applies not only to hockey but to most aspects of my life. baseball is the same thing - i can play every position. the downfall though of being a generalist is that you're often not too good at any one position. at least in sports. and i say that because i don't think there's anything wrong with being a generalist, in general.

take knitting. there are people who knit up amazing sweaters and shawls and socks and other fancy things that involve more than just knitting and purling (the two basic knitting stitches) and then there's me. i'm quite content to knit a scarf or a blanket (= a very wide scarf) because i enjoy knitting. i enjoy that it's mindless and something i can do while watching tv. my life hasn't included hardly any tv watching lately, and practically no knitting. what i'm trying to say is that i couldn't be bothered to learn the trickier parts of knitting. i'm quite content to plug along in stockinette and crank out the scarves.

and then there's my complete lack of need to argue/discuss/debate. often in the lunchroom at work there will be lively debates about whatever (insert topic here) and i'll sit there, actively listening, but not wanting to share an opinion, if i even have one that is. and then i realized that it's my nature to please people, to not ruffle feathers and just go with the flow. it could have something to do with my complete lack of the ability to voice my opinions eloquently.

but that doesn't mean that i don't have opinions. i do. and i have a strong set of morals and values and a solid understanding of what's important to me. i just follow my rules my way. and as i get older (and possibly more mature) i realize more and more how important it is to be happy and to have people in your life that you actually like and who acutally like you. it's important to be doing the things you want to do. but most importantly, it's important to like yourself and to like yourself you have to know yourself. even a simple realization like the one i made last night helps me to better understand myself and why i do the things i do.

i'm sure there are many more things i have to say on the topic, but i can't think of them now and i really have to get to work. i just wanted it out there: i am a generalist and i'm happy about it!

ps. coke man is too:

nothing

i want to tell you all sorts of stories and make you laugh but i've got nothing. i'm completely worn out from everything that i'm just barely making my way through the work day, only to come home and barely make it through the night, to get up and do it all again. i'm exhausted.

the house is great. it's really nice to have our own place and to come home to it everyday. it will feel even better when everything has been unpacked and we have things like a dryer. the perma-chaos is a little tiring.

work is crazy. i've never been this busy. my fingers are crossed that me being this busy though will look super good and i'll get a promotion. it could happen, you know.

sports are good. i took last week off to pack so when i got to my volleyball game monday night right at 8:30 (game started at 8:30) i was a little flustered and not mentally prepared to play. i did not play well. but then last night at hockey it was a little better. the intramural league is pretty crappy this season so i can use it as a little ego stroking after the beating i took at volleyball.

tonight i have hockey with my city team. last time i played with them i was sicksicksick but did okay, so i'm hoping i do okay this time too. and then the week will be mostly over and i can look forward to sleeping in on saturday.

wait, i already am.

so much to say

i have so much to say, really, too much. so i'll just start. friday night we packed until not-too-late. saturday we woke up early and went and picked up the truck.



we still had lots of packing to do but people started showing up around 9:30. so we packed and packed. it was incredible how many people were helping. we had the truck packed in no time at all.

we convoyed over to the new place. j was in the lead with the truck and i was at the back. this worked out particularly well when the group got split at a set of lights. i just zoomed to the front and led the second half of the pack. perfect.



i managed to hardly lift anything, heavy or light, because i had to direct. honestly, not what i prefer doing but it was the only way. anyways, we got everything in, somewhat organized, ate pizza and enjoyed the new house.

but we still had to get the cats from the old place. after dinner, we went by and grabbed them. they were mucho happy to see us.



we hung out with them while they explored the house for a little bit and then headed out to permanent daylight's cd release party. it was a great show, but man were we ever tired.



and now we've slept in our very own house two nights and are gearing up for the third. we're so happy.

the cats like it too:



and there you have it - the nine-month long new house wait is finally over. we're in and we're happy.

thanks again to these people: jg, ka, ya, tm, dl, lp, sp, ah, sw, jj, jr, mg, jg, and rk. we couldn't have done it without you. well, that's not true. we could have done it but it would have taken us 6 years if we hadn't killed each other or ourselves before then. so thank you for saving us. i hope you liked the pizza.

the BIG move

the big move is happening in less than 12 hours. are we packed? hell no! are we starting to panic? not so much. odd. we're getting there though. honestly.

but i won't be blogging for a bit (watch me get on here tomorrow) but expect pictures and such later on.

woooowooooo!

isn't this a cute picture of j:



i was playing around with the camera and a paper towel roll. i got a good one of rolo eating but it's much darker and only i can tell it's rolo eating.

the house is starting to look more lived in:



and will only get more and more full of (and cluttered with) our stuff. we packed up a bunch of stuff after work yesterday, packed more glass and breakables in the car and headed out. we picked up our new recycling boxes and a new phone after getting free dinner (thanks gm&gp!) and getting j a hair cut. we dropped everything off at home and stopped by m&j's place to pick up some bins.

so my plans to go to bed earlier were dashed by all this running around and the fact that i get hungry at night. so i decided to stay up and watch grey's anatomy and eat toast. grey's anatomy was one of the best episodes yet so i'm really glad i stayed up.

and now we're in the home stretch. we have a lot of packing to do tonight and then a lot of moving to do tomorrow. and sunday we sleep in. i can't wait.

on a break

i'm thinking we'll take a little break from posting pictures. i can't even imagine how long it would take this blog to load with a slow internet connection. i never think about that anymore. though, i just did. i'm a walking contradiction.

i haven't been sleeping enough the past couple of nights. i would like to say that it's because i'm too excited to sleep (like that disneyworld commercial on tv last year) but it's not. i'm just not going to bed early enough. and i really have no excuse. i haven't played sports all week so no games keeping me out late, and consequently up late. just me, sitting around, not going to bed.

and have you noticed how dry it is these days? and i don't think it's only the office environment (complete with recirculated air!) that's dry, i think it's everywhere. i know i've zapped the cats about a kazillion times in the past week. the poor animals must think i'm out to get them.

oh, and speaking of animals, our little sandy has taken to chewing on my toothbrush. like the end i put in my mouth and use to brush my teeth. now that's going to far! i know she likes water, but my toothbrush? really, cat? zap!zap!

okay, in new house news, we brought some more stuff over yesterday and we went around and wrote down everything that needs fixing. we have some water issues, like water-leaking issues, and some cracks here and there but nothing super significant. well, other than the basement windows, but they already know about those.

we got our appliances yesterday so the kitchen is looking more like a kitchen. and the washer and dryer are in the basement, but not hooked up and not on their pedestals. that will be for later. now comes the packing. it finally hit me last night that we're running out of time for packing. this is the kind of pressure i need.

i'll be packing tonight if anyone needs me. zap!

ps. i sent out an email about the big move this saturday. email me if you would like to help but didn't receive my email. or call. you could always call.