FREEDOM!!!!!

Here's Coley on her way to celebrate her day of becoming a "free" woman once again. Yesterday she got word her divorce had become final. So the two of us went in to town to have a drink at Zi's and to order chicken wings for supper, Coley's favorite.

Once we got into town, I saw Kevin who does the yarn braiding. He and I had talked about me getting one, and since we were celebrating, we both got one to represent freedom in our lives, her from her husband, me from my job. Tomorrow I'll take a picture to share with you guys.

After we got the braid, I took Coley down to her favorite dress shop, just before you get to the beach and bought her a little sun dress, more of an evening dress, but in black, similar to what she's wearing in this picture, except it has little sequined designs. It's going to look really good on our cruise in January when we celebrate our 60th birthday.

We both had a really good time and even though I got home much later than usual, I was really happy to be here with her. I remember when I divorced my husband, I cried the entire afternoon after going to Court and asking a Judge to grant me one. I felt like such a failure, even though I was the one who wanted it.

I hope Coley and Mike will be able to resume a friendship at some point. He's been in our family for 33 years, and I will miss seeing him periodically. He's a good guy, they simply took it as far as they could.

Being free is something each person has to learn how to live in. It has it's own moments of great joy, but also deep despair. Learning to be alone and yet not be lonely, is only one facet of this rough diamond. Many other opportunities for growth as well. Coley is strong, independent, self-sufficient. She will find her way through this and she and I will have many opportunities to discover our own rhythms together.

One of my lessons

Yesterday was a day like every other day, we got up, had coffee on the porch, played a game of Farkle and then worked our way through the day. It wasn't sunny enough to get out in the pool or the ocean. Coley heard there was going to be a band at Lavida Loca, a bar at the beach. The owner was celebrating his birthday.

By mid-afternoon, Coley asked me if I was planning on going to the bar with her and I replied that I was still straddling the fence. I kept trying to work up the enthusiasm to go in and listen to music, drink and be there for my sister so she wouldn't have to go by herself. When it finally came to the point where I had to make a decision, I started to cry and told Coley I'm simply not a bar person. She hugged me, kissed me on my neck and said "please don't cry, it's OK, I still love you and you don't have to go if you don't want to. Besides, if you weren't here, I'd have to go by myself anyway". I said "I'm just not a bar person, it doesn't appeal to me at all".

Later, after she got all dolled up and left for her evening out, I thought about what I was feeling. I thought about my experience over the past month, and I've come to the conclusion that being around a bunch of men who only want to drink, get drunk, talk about their sex lives, and then end up taking one of the local street women back home with them, is not my idea of having a great time. Not once in the three or four times we've been to the bar has one of these "gentlemen" offered to buy us a drink, or sat and had a conversation about something other than sex or some innuendo related to sex.

I know my twin really loves to dance, and she can find any number of people who are more than willing to dance with her, but unless I'm out with a group of people and everyone is dancing, I'm probably not going to be up there with her.

As we get into being together for longer periods of time, we are discovering just how different we are, but also how much more we love each other. I knew when I came this would be an opportunity for me to be true to myself, I just didn't realize how much I want to make her life everything she wants. In denying myself, I deny her the opportunity to grow as well, so yesterday's angst enabled both of us to step into our own power, and to honor where we are both at. She's a fireball, full of energy and drive. I'm driven in a totally different way, more inner than outer. Together we are whole, separately we are discovering how to be whole, yet each individually.

I'm so thankful for this opportunity to re-discover this woman who has always been half of my heart!!!!!

PICTURES FROM THANKSGIVING

Mom, I told you Coley would find a turkey wing, and here's the proof!

We had a really wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in the home of Anna. Anna lives at the golf course area, very near the 4th green which is shaped like a heart. There were about 60 people at the dinner. All the traditional foods were there, but for my southern tastes,there was not a single cornbread dressing.


The picture below is our friend, Lily Rain.
She's almost 12 years old and lives just below
us. It was a last minute decision to take her with us, but she had a marvelous time and ate her way through the dessert table. This after eating a plate of turkey and mashed potatoes. Look how cute she looks in her beautiful dress. She asked me to braid her hair, which I did.




To the left is Mike, his girlfriend, Freckles, Vicky, and Coley. The home of Ana, was high up on a hill, so we had a beautiful view of Playa de Coco. You can kind of see the hills off in the distance. Nothing was green hills and trees to look at. It's amazing me to me that Ana lives so far out from anyone, and lives in this huge home by herself.

Hey, Jeff, really enjoyed talking to you yesterday and I told you I'd send you a message. Look carefully at some of the pictures I've posted. I understand when you get here that all the hills will be brown instead of green. I think you'll love being at the ocean and having every moment to kick back. So hurry up and get down here. As for all the rest of you, I say again, when are you coming?!!!

HAPPY DAY OF THANKS!!!

Here we are, the day before Thankgiving, enjoying another day in sunny Costa Rica. This morning we returned to Pacifico to participate in the water aerobics class. As you can see by the pictures, it's not a very pretty pool and we have to force ourselves to get in. Yeah, and if you believe that.....!!! The instructor, however, is superb!!! This picture on the right shows a white masted ship between the palms with the sails down. That's the Pacific ocean in the background and today it is really quite blue.

As we come into our Thanksgiving holiday, Coley and I have expressed how amazing it is that we are both living in Costa Rica, her permanently and me sporadically. Growing up in Albuquerque, moving away to create our lives and somehow opportunity collided with luck, and well, here we are.

Tomorrow as we gather with other ex-patriots and vacationers, Coley and I will be thinking of each of you, holding you in our hearts and sending love north, south, east and west. May we each find the contentment and peace we seek with our families of origin and our families of choice. And, for us, if we eat too much tomorrow, Susanna has assured us she will work off our turkey in the pool on Friday!!!!!

May the Force be with you all!!!!!

Alive

This morning I decided to check out the local church. It's called Hope Fellowship and it's very close to Hermosa, about 20 minutes from where we are in Coco. Since my usual Sunday begins with CBS Sunday Morning, I "sacrificied" myself in order to make it to church by 10 a.m. At this point, the jury is still out as to whether or not this church satisfies my spiritual needs. I had hopes it would be non-denominational, but it's grounded in a "christian/Jesus" slant. Not that I have any problem with the slant, but my personal belief lies more in accepting all faiths, all masters, all deities as leading to the same God, no matter by what name we call Him/Her. This church, at this time, has no minister, so members take turns each Sunday giving the "message" for that day. Today it was about being fully alive. We watched a very interesting video about the cosmos, the pictures taken with the Hubble telescope and the amazing universe created by God. From there the speaker went to the amazing features of the human body and all the trillions of cells that make up our physical bodies, the hundreds of miles of veins, capillaries, and arteries. Well, without going into alot of details, it was a very interesting video. I'm going to go again, to see how it feels the next time. I did meet some very interesting people.

This afternoon, Coley and I decided to meet our friend, Trish, at Zi's for drinks, chicken wings and a game of Tri-dominoes. Here's my twin posing in front of our condo unit. Look how pretty she looks!!!! We just arrived home after being at the bar for the past three hours. It goes without saying, I won the game, but it was a very close match.

Trish and Paul will leave here on Tuesday to return to the States to spend time with their daughter for the holidays. Coley and I are both going to miss her, since she's the only other person we've spent considerable time with playing games. When she gets back the middle of January, Coley and I will be in New Orleans or out on a cruise. So we won't actually reconnect with her until February, 2011.

Hasta luego, mi amigos y amigas!!!!

Let the game begin!!!

What a great day we've had today!!! We started off at Pacifico this morning at 8:30 a.m. for a water aerobics class. The teacher,Susanne, is really good and we had about 15 people in the pool. The pool is what is called an "infinity" pool, so it looks like we're at the ocean's edge. Very classy. The Pacifico is a very exclusive residential community and the only way to use the facilities, like the pool, is to buy one of the residences, costing upwards of $1million. I don't know what Susanne's connection is, but twice a week she teaches water aerobics. Mom, Coley and I both thought of you and know you'll love her class.

When we left there, we came back to Flamingo Rosa, where we live, and I got in the pool. Later Coley suggested we play Farkle, so the picture above, is what we call "water Farkle". Let it never be said that Coley and I let a little thing like a pool deter us from playing the games we like. I literally was in the pool from about 9:30a.m. until about 2p.m. I'm becoming a regular "water baby".

Don't know if anyone is actually getting these, but, if you are, I hope you're enjoying the pics. Hugs!!!!!

A New Day, A New Adventure

A couple of days ago, Trish, in the beautiful blue dress, met Coley and I at Zi's for a drink. Coley and I had planned on going into town to grocery shop and to see if the card guys were playing card. We had mentioned teaching them to play Euchre. They were there, and Coley and I played two complete games with two other guys. We had such a good time, we spent much longer in town than we had planned. The middle picture is a really sweet guy we call Brooklyn Jimmy, obviously because he's from Brooklyn, and Jimmy seems to be a popular guys name here. For all you Italian food lovers, Jimmy had, that morning put on a pot of homemade meatballs with his own mother's recipe for sauce and was letting it cook all day. Boy, I would have loved to have sampled. The picture to the far right is a picture of the monkeys that come into town periodically and climb the trees just above the bars and restaurants. Now, if you look really close, you might want to get a MAGNIFYING GLASS to see in the top of the tree in the center of the picture. You see very clearly it's monkey at the top. So please enjoy my picture of the monkey!!!!!

Today is Thursday, and Trish, just below in the red beach coverup, Freckles, looking away from the camera, and Coley on the far right and I went on a boat ride with about 25 others to enjoy the day. They took us to a little beach about 45 minutes from Coco Beach.

So, just so you'd believe I was there, Coley says, "let me take your picture". Yes, here I am ready for my shot Mr. Demille!!! I am certainly ready for this adventure. This flowered top is my brand new swimming suit. You can't really tell, but everyone of the others has a pretty color to their skin, and I am actually turning from bright white to a special color pink/dark beige.

OOOOOOOPPPPPPPSSSSSS!!!!! I just deleted the picture and can't figure how to get it back. I need an I.T. guy to come and help with all this computer crap. Any takers??!!! Free food and lodging!!! But, you'll have to do your own laundry.

We had such a great time, today. We left at 9:00 a.m. and got back at 3p.m. When they dropped us off at the beach, they made available to us kayaks and snorkeling. None of us did any of that, we spent the majority of the time in the water. The picture to the far left, is looking back at Playa de Coco, the beach we live at. The middle picture is our lonely beach towels, waiting for us to return. We actuallly had to move them to higher ground because the tide was coming in and eventually claimed that part of the beach. OK, I here you, Sherry and Sandy, going "oh, boo hoo, you had to move your beach towels, how sad is that"!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Just another day in paradise, with sand up your you-know-what! Can't wait to get here, can ya!!!

some pics to share

These pictures were taken last night, Friday, at the Beach Bum Bar and Restaurant right here in Coco Beach. Coley wanted me to see the sunset, so we walked into town and headed for this restaurant. We did not make it for the sunset, but as you can see we got there at dusk and the colors were starting to get reallly beautifly. The middle picture is of the signs which say "gracias" "adios" as you're leaving. It is really a tropical paradise here when you're on the beach.

These were some of the pictures I took at a place called Ocatel Beach. It' about a 10 minute drive from where we live, but the beach is more secluded and not as many people as the one in Coco. The top two are a couple of special camera features, toy cam on the left and fish bowl on the right. The bottom two are Coley and Shanna close to the water and the beach babe, Coley coming up to sit with me in the chairs. We had a really good time being in the ocean, swimming around and floating. The nicest part about being in salt water is you don't really have to work at staying afloat, you just do.

Tonight we are supposed to go to Zi's, but since the band cancelled, it's still up in the air as to whether or not I'm going into town. Coley and I had such a good time last night, talking, eating, drinking and visiting with some of the people we know here. After my day in the sun, I will probably curl up in front of the telly and lull myself into a tv stupor.

Hasta luego, mi amigos y amigas!!!

11-11

Here is one of the most unusual looking plants just outside the pool area at our condo. It's called the "rasta" plant or the "Bob Marley" plant. It's obvious why. One of our friends, Mike, stood under one of the plants and his wife took his picture. Although I didn't see it, I'm sure he looked pretty amusing.

Here's a picture Coley took with my phone and the Fxcamera feature. It's a Warhol effect and as you can see, this is me reading my Kindle on the porch. Looks like I have a rainbow coming right into my body, pretty cool, huh!!!??

And, finally, while I was pet-sitting the first part of the week, I was taking care of two dogs, Paca and Negro, and the cat whose name is Come'er, or as I like to spell it, Kamir. She apparently decided one night to go catting around and didn't come in to eat until about 5:30 a.m. So while I'm watching TV, I looked over and she appear to be hiding her eyes, I guess so she can get a little more shuteye. That's what happens, Kamir, when you stay out all night, the next day you're not worth a crap.
This is my first post in almost a week. Partly because I was pet-sitting and didn't have a computer that worked very well. Now that I'm back at Coley's I can begin again. One of the first things Coley and I did yesterday after I got settled back home, was to sit out on the porch to play a game. Coley taught me how to play liar's dice. The object is for each person to roll out 10 dice at the same time, then to call out what they have, using not only their dice, but what they think the other person might have. For instance, I had three 5's and thought Coley might have two more, so I called out five 5's. She could either accept my bid or call me on it. If there were a total of five 5's or more than I would win, if not, I had to give up one die. You play until one person has the remaining die. We played several hands, and when we both got down to two dice, Coley called out two 2's and I then called out two 5's. She called me on it and when we showed our two dice, we both had exactly the same two dice, a 2 and a 5. We both started laughing at the "coincidence" of it. Things like that tend to happen more often than you might think with the two of us. Pretty fun!!!!

I received an e-mail from a friend in Memphis about a global meditation taking place tonight. Apparently, because of the increased energy of the 11-11 gateway, people from around the world are gathering together at 11pm ET, 10 pm here in Costa Rica. I've invited six other people to join with us to focus our intent of "one world, one humanity". I'm not sure if there will be anyone here with me or not, even my twin wants to go into town for ladies night, when the drinks are free. She isn't as enamored of all this type of work as I am. So it may be just me, chanting the Gayatri Matra for 11 minutes beginning at 10pm. But I'm OK with that. I hope if anyone is reading this, that you, too, will take 11 minutes out of your like to sit and focus through your heart, how connected you are to others in your family, your community, your world. Scientists do know there is a "unified field", which means we are all connected to each other and to everything on our planet. So having said that, I leave you now, knowing that my heart joins with each of you in love!!!!

Rain, rain go away!!

So, I woke up to rain, and now I'm having another pj day. Here's the Costa Rican beauty, still in her pj's, bed head, no makeup, and thank God (gracias mi Dio) no smell vision yet, otherwise Coley and I will be in trouble. Somedays, it's late afternoon before we brush our teeth and because we're in the pool most days, showers are often taken with several days in between. This is what the sky looked like most of the morning. You can see some of the hills beyond, but none of the house on the top of the hill. It's now nearly 4pm and the sky still looks pretty much the same.

About noon, Coley had had enough of sitting around, the rain had subsided temporarily and she and Shanna decided to get in the pool. Shanna is in the dark bathing suit and Coley has a white visor on. You can't really see him, but Brooklyn Jimmy is under the patio area. Not long after

theygot in the pool, the sky opened up and the rains came even harder. You can see in the photo the rain coming down off our roof. So much for a swim!!!

Now for your Spanish lesson: Coley and I are trying to add some words and phrases to our repertoire. Here are a few: Confida! (Trust me!) Mi voy a la cama. (I am going to sleep)

That one I have down pretty good and since I go to bed way before Coley, I usually say it to her and she replies "Dulce suenos!" (Sweet dreams).

Dulce suenos!!!! love ya!!!

Back at it!

It's been several days since I felt drawn to write. For the past three days it has rained almost without stopping. That gave me a chance to stay indoors and one day actually took a pajama day. Sounds rather funny since I can take a pj day any or every day, but this was one of my first since coming to Costa Rica.

Yesterday, Freckles, Mike,Coley and I went into Liberia, the thriving metropolis. It is unlike any experience I've ever encountered. Most of my trips to foreign countries I stayed at the hotel, shopped in all the tourists spots, and took the tour trips when offered. This was shopping for the sake of replenishing or furnishing, not just shopping for pleasure. We got on the road about 10:30 and got home about 6:30. Since I'm not a shopper, it was an extremely long day for me. I did, however, enjoy the company and we ate at a really good Chinese restaurant , where our order was taken by a tico (What the Costa Ricans call themselves) waitress. It seemed odd to be eating really tasty Chinese food, but no asian people in site. As we left the restaurant, we did pass a little Chinese woman who wished us a "good day". We figured she was probably the cook. I'm sure we will go back for more.

The money here is called "colones" and when you see a price that says 32,000 colones, that's about $64.00; or 1000 colones is about $2.00. It take a little getting used to when you see such high numbers on prices. To take a cab from in town back to our condo costs us $1000 colones.
They also include the tax and the tip, sales tax is about 13% and when you go out to eat they add not only the 13% but also the 10% tip. Many of the prices for food and drinks are fairly reasonable for that very reason.

Tonight is Thursday, ladies night at Zi's. Coley is in the process of getting ready while I type this. I'm opting out. I had a most relaxing day in which I slept until about 8:15 am, got up and Coley had the coffee going already. Got my Kindle out to read, sat on the porch, sipping coffee, and talking to Coley. About 11:00 am, Coley went to the pool and I sat on the porch reading. About 12:30 she went to lunch with Freckles and Trish and I got ready to get into the pool. I had the entire pool to myself, so I did some exercizes and entertained myself. At one point, I was floating on my back and looking up at the sky, and I saw for the first time a double rainbow that seemed to be circling the sun. I can't decide if this is normal, because it's not the first "circle" rainbow I've seen. Is it because we are so close to the equator that rainbows appear to circle the sun, or is it all the rain/moisture in the air. Whatever it is, it was such a delight! Just after spotting the rainbows, Coley came back and I pointed it out to her as well. Then I talked her into getting back in the pool to play ball with me. I beat her at "horse", our version being to get the ball inside the pool ring.

So, off I go again! Coley is about ready to leave and I'm almost ready to climb into bed to read again. This is the life!!