The Sea is a Salty One

Third mopping by me. Fourth if you count the cleaning crew. Mud, so much ground in mud still coming up. I think I mostly have it all now. Scrubbed the bottoms of the concrete walls, but still need to scrub lanai. Mud still all over the lanai. As you know we've had water in the house before. Twice was due to a plumbing malfunction, a hose that broke while I was in the hospital from a stroke. Another time from a leaking plumbing line in the kitchen. A few recent ones where a two hour rain over an inch an hour caused the rain to creep up to about six inches inside of the glass door. Except for the plumbing mishaps the rest were easily dealt with, a little mopping. The plumbing problems were all clean sparkling water. This was not quite so clean, this was muddy gross water. I'm still finding dirt, and suspect I likely will be for a few more weeks. The house is done. I could move straight back in right now, but I'm not. I'm waiting for tomorrow when I pick up Jim at ...

Late yesterday and today have not been so good. I have developed some sort of cold and lung crud that involves some pretty disgustingly yellow ocher looking snot. There's just no pretty way to put it. House dry and fully mopped. Will remop again tomorrow and keep doing the whole dehumidifiers, ac and bowls of cat litter around the feet of the furniture. My sewing machine table is a goner. It's an old press board cabinet that the original house owners had in the living room holding baskets of shells. It's soggy sawdust now. But the real reason I've feeling wrecked is, surprise, surprise, church. Late yesterday I ran into sweet Maggie at one of the grocery stores. I've not talked to her in ages, I've seen her walking around town, like she does, waved, smiled and shouted "Hey girl! I miss you!". I knew she'd been right up in the middle of the big church split. I knew no details other than the fact that she'd been asked to leave after suppose...

I am still squugeeing and the house is almost 100% water free now. But it is cloudy and muggy outside. We will see what happens. Have been washing oodles of bedding and rugs that were sodden. all the towels from the basket on the lanai we use for the pool, and finally took out my antique chest filled with quilts and started washing them. Right now I'll watch an episode of "Forensic Files" and trudge up to the main house to switch over the laundry. The washer and dryer work fine being in one of the highest points in the house, so there is that! Have gone through 8 gallons of bleach so far. Yesterday morn while going out to pick up the squeegee I ordered I had to swing by the bank to pick up again bucks to pay the pool guys, who have now restored the pool and hot tub after coming out to reverse the pump. We bank at Banco Nacional, and lately they've been using different crowd control methods in the bank. Used to be you pulled a number, like at the meat market or...

Yesterday morn I was up and out quickly, going to drop off things I'd carried in my luggage for people here in Costa Rica, including a box of personalized beach bags for the church volunteer appreciation dinner. Afterward I had to search for a full sized squeegee. Mine is approximately 12 inches long, and just was not cutting it. Mix in needing another pile of things for the guesthouse (living room lamp, four surge protectors, extension cord) and it was off to Liberia for the morning. Trees down everywhere. Roads with mud slides. But I did run into the cutest traffic jam being rerouted around a pile of fallen trees. Once I got to Liberia I ended up getting almost nothing I needed. What did I buy? A huge pile of the same china items I saw in the States branded that blogger I used to hate 'The Pioneer Woman' I hate her, I like her country style crap. I could not believe it, I got a pile of the large mixing bowls in every color for six dollars. It's pretty bad whe...

Yesterday was epic! I did a pile of things before ten am. It rained fiercely much of the day and the water in the house got up to six inches before receding. A tropical storm hit the area. When I went out to get bleach, a new mop and food I saw roads flooded out, and was grateful for my old SUV with the four wheel drive. People I know in the area were posting photos of the waters around Tamarindo, streets out and flooded. Others I know also had water in the house. I am thankful there is almost nothing sitting on the floor of the house, almost everything is up, save a few things. Losses right now include Jim's scale. It was floating, desperately flashing weird numbers under the water. A pile of slides, slide albums and photo albums of Jim's family. I'd warned him before we left to pick them up from the pile on the floor because of the recent water creeping under the door in the living room. Typically, he ignored my advice and now it's all gone. The fridge is dead, th...

Flew home yesterday. Got a fright or three. Airplane circled the airport something like three times. Never did find out why. For bonus fun one of the jet engines was slightly smoking during landing. No one around me appeared to notice, but boy I did.  Oh, here's the windmills off Rutas Una, there's the playa again, there's a landing strip again! This trip was a bit different. Apparently in our government's constantly changing rules I didn't have to go to the immigration desk and actually talk to a  human. They herded us into using the passport scanners, which are about a million times faster than waiting in line to talk to the immigration people. Flying back today TSA Pre Chek was closed and I had to take off my shoes and trudge through the scanner with everyone else. I hate that fudging scanner. It hates my weird body shape and I am always told I have something in my pockets, even if I am pocketless like was I today. Yeah, there/s something in my pockets, me, I...

Going home to Costa Rica in the morning. Kind of sad, kind of glad. The fully paved multi laned highways here kind of freak me out. I'm used to pitted, rutted roads sometimes lacking paving where 35 mph is your top speed. Shopping is just too insanely easy here. Stores everywhere with everything you could imagine. I forget when I'm there that it's not a full day trip, careful planning and lots of consulting Waze to get yarn in the States. I have had a pile of bad experiences with rude folks here. Millennium edition right down to giggling kids pushing past seniors to sit in the seats reserved for the elderly and disabled. Foods are problematic. My stomach problems/allergies are highly exacerbated here with restaurant foods and processed foods. Air conditioning is everywhere! Even places like stores and public spaces that are unair conditioned in many places in Central America. I am shivering, wearing socks and sweaters here in the constantly being blasted ac. If it...

Just two more days Stateside. I went on a clothes buying binge while I was here. I meant only to get underwear but am somehow coming back with three new outfits and a pile of shorts and tees. I have found that buying summer clothes here is so cheap this time of the year. Happy with the pile of normally expensive swimsuits I got. Time to toss last years three dollar Walmart swimsuits. The chlorine in the pool eats suits. I went into the local quilting shop to replenish my supplies. Went in to get royal blue and yellow fabrics for a quilt for my bedroom. Ended up coming out with bird fabric in oranges and turquoise, a pile of fabrics in peach, cream and light green with octopuses, jelly fish and assorted marine life on them. Quilting plans shifting again. Unexpected buy? A Polish pottery egg holder to keep my eggs in on the countertop. In Costa Rica no one refrigerates their eggs. I don't know why, but I don't either. Unexpected item here? There was a big beat up looking ca...

We're back in the States for a few days, but it has not been without bumps and dramas. Jim just about drove me around the bend with last second packing, He somehow managed to open each and every cabinet and closet hanging. Bins of fall clothing upended and scattered, his box of ties scattered like autumnal leaves. I got very bent out of shape because of this. I do my packing in an extremely organized fashion. I have my toiletry bag permanently packed I just toss in. I keep my clothes for the States sorted into zippered  cubes by season. Toss in the right season, toss in the toiletries and underwear and you are packed. Not so with Jim Travel is travel. Flight from Liberia, Costa Rica to Atlanta, Georgia, smooth, completely unremarkable. And then it got weird. Flight from Atlanta to Washington D.C. We get on the plane and the area is hit by a sudden pop up storm, high winds. So we sat on the tarmac. As the grounded minutes ticked by I started to notice that the flight attenda...

Water in the house. Towels on the floor in front of the glass doors/walls. Apparently when we had the back yard torn up to put in the pool and then the hot tub we messed with the natural slope and drainage of the property. When we get intense rain storms over more than an inch and hour it creeps in under the glass doors. Put in that non-Costa Rican thing, gutters, a few months ago. Looks like we're going to have to go with a French drain all the way around the house funneling down the side wall to solve this. Just when I was hoping to have the money to remodel the damn kitchen. It's always something. During pool installation Pool in. Does not even look like the same backyard does it?

That's the name of the place Jim went to yesterday. We laughed because that was the literal translation of the hardware store's name in Spanish. Living here is sometimes a recipe for bizarreness. Just this morning we saw a kid that could not be more than seven driving the family car while Mamacita sat in the passenger seat. Super busy end of the week. Jim drug me to a fundraising bingo game for Terraza, the new teen center in town. I am so not a bingo player, but now Jim is. He's gone like 4 times now and last time won a bottle of wine and a gift certificate to Waffle Monkey. How I won a gift certificate to Little Lucha's Tacos I will never know. I could not hear, I could not see the screen. Plus I'm always twitchy in a crowd. Add in the dogs and smoking and it was just not a place for me at all. Saturday Jim went in the screw hunt. I'd only been asking him for two months to change out the lightbulb in my sewing room. I have two lamps in there, a clamp on ...

I guess you know by now what today is the anniversary of. It's kind of hard to avoid. I've already had to put up with Jim's conspiracy rant on 9/11 this morning. Told him to shush, tell it to his fellow conspiracy pals. A friend of mine was talking about that day today on her Facebook feed and it got me thinking about that day. I did originally have it up on my old blog, that awful day. I was still firmly part of my old church and there were some surreal moments of that day involving the church. I got up that morning with Jim, at 4:45 am, and prayed after he left. It was a beautiful sunny gorgeous day in Northern Virginia. After getting the kids off to school and doing a few loads of laundry I sat down with my coffee in front of the tv to fold clothes and watch the news. It was shortly after the first place had hit, and no one was sure of what had happened, if it was just a tragic accident. Abandoning my coffee and laundry I watched, horror struck when the second plan...

Yesterday afternoon we drove down for a walk on Playa Granda. Not a soul in site. Our own private beach. I just wish there was a more direct route. We live something like a mile and a half from the ocean's edge but if you go due west to the beach from the house you'd quickly run into swampland. It's a ten minute ride taking a giant circuitous route. The surprising thing was the lack of all people. No one, not even the guy that usually collects parking fees. Only the lady with the taco stand. Meant to only do a quick 30 minute walk but ended up clocking in at over 90 minutes, dragging my exhausted self back. I'd started walking and ended up going almost to the end of the beach by the estuary, hitting up Shell-topia, a stretch of the beach with the most shells. Something about the way the land curves and the cove waves, and the cross hatching waves from the open ocean causes shells to pile up in one spot. I get distracted by the shells, the tiny hermit crabs, the ...

Poor Cindy had to listen to me bitch, cry and moan about Mr. Z last night. But it was good. By the end of the conversation I was so over it. I did drop a note to someone in leadership about his behavior, not just yesterday, but the almost solid year of watching him subtly try to undermine everything at this one particular church. Next time I'm back to my plan, asking for a piece of his hair when he tries to stir the pot and when he asks why pointing out it's for his voodoo doll. Haven't posted as much lately because I am incredibly busy. I'm doing all the graphic work, and setting up the website for Jim's new business idea. I've done a pile of interviews for various news organizations working on a  pile of projects. I'm in talks about podcasts, a podcaster with a true crime slant wants to talk about the Carol Ann Cole cold case. Plus. Drum roll please.......... ......... ......... ......... I HAVE A BOOK DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If, and I mean if,...

Why do so many people connected to churches have to be such enormous assholes? Mr. Zillionaire, the same guy that tried a few months ago to manage my moods, showed up. I knew he would, just like I see his fingerprints all over the recent church split. I knew last week when Jenn jumped on the team leader and what was said that Mr. Z would show up to gloat. He did. When he showed up, I was flipping the bird behind my back. The drummer saw and laughed, not knowing the who or why. I didn't enlighten him. Felt a little guilty, right up until Mr. Z started making fun of me, pointing and mocked me for how I hold my microphone. Shitty. When the service was over I made sure to stay the hell away from Mr. Z. But he chased me down, and the conversation went something like this: Z: "You were really off key today. Really shitty!" Me: "Yeah, it happens." Z: "And what was the deal with your microphone because I could not hear you." Me: Eyeballing Mr. Z t...

Yesterday we leisurely drove back from Arenal, stopping only a few times. To get Jim a full sized Casio keyboard he's been talking about. To get gas, and a couple of times to eat. Jim insisted on some greasy fried chicken. I wasn't having it. Day three of eating non-organic foods had done a number on my stomach. Yes,  now I cannot eat any prepared foods or it's riding the toilet city. I am turning into Lori Alexander/Debi Pearl on foods and I freaking hate it. It was when we stopped for gas we had our first 'Gringo Shuffle' encounter. The smiling Tico at the Mobile gas station in Neuvo Arenal told Jim that the gas came to 38,000 colonies. Jim looked at the pump, and it said 28,000 or roughly fifty bucks. Gas is high here, but not that high.  Yep, the gasolineria guy tried to fleece Jim out of 10,000 colonies, or 18 bucks. When confronted he grinned and handed over the 10 Mil without explanation to Jim. After hitting the music store to pick up Jim's new key...

So we're here, in the cloud forest overlooking Cerro Chato and Volcan Arenal. It's rainy, and it looks like the local volcanos are pouring more smoke than usual into the air. The place is deserted. Which is how we ended up in a private guesthouse up the side of the volcano instead of in a regular room in the resort. The guesthouse is lovely! We've stayed in the others, but not this large octagon shaped one before. It's got windows everywhere, which is not a problem, except in the bathroom. The shower has one wall that is a large floor to ceiling window looking out onto a passing unpaved road. I'm afraid I've scared the howler monkeys, sloths, toucans and drunk old Tico dudes on mule passing by. Because, yes, I showered there. So far Jim has avoided it.  I am about to flash some monkeys again. Jim has been busy rushing around talking to everyone here about a new business idea he has. I hope he does it because it will keep him out of my hair. I'm just fr...

We're taking a three day mini vacation, and after the drama I need it. Going up to Volcan Arenal, to the health resort we always go to that a friend of ours owns. I plan on sitting on the lanai in the sunshine and doing a bit of reading. We'll hike down to the hot springs and waterfall and up to the lagoon. I doubt we're hike the volcano again. Involves too much cursing and ranting on this end. Hard climb. Protip. If you go to Arenal don't bother spending a hundred bucks a day to go to the hot springs at the hotels. Just take the road towards the volcano and watch for the spot all the locals go to for free. There's nothing more restful than soaking in the volcano heated waters while it tumbles down the rocks around you. One of my other favorite things to do there is to sit on the lanai at night in the darkness just to see the many different types of bats swooping and swirling around in the darkness eating bugs. I've seen several different varieties of touc...