I know…I was on vacation last week.  But this week is school vacation and I think the euphoria I felt last week has made this week seem even more, well, UNBEARABLE!!!

Actually, having Grandma Ginny here to entertain the kids has been a HUGE help because I’m supposed to be getting some work done this week.  The kids have been sleeping late, watching too much TV, eating pizza daily, and the highlight of the week – going to swimming lessons every afternoon.

We’ve had a couple of play dates but that’s about it.  Their friends are going to come back to school with stories about the Kids’ Club at their resort, the trip to Disneyworld their parents surprised them with, or the fabulous Staycation organized by their creative (and obviously heavily medicated) Mom.  Oh well.

I think Norah was a little disappointed when she woke up Tuesday morning and excitedly asked, “Is today a school day?!”  I told her she wouldn’t be going to school all week because of school vacation.  She jumped out of bed and yelled, “WE’RE GOING ON VACATION?!?!?!”  Um, no…but would you like to see the photos from MY vacation??
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I’ve got lots of ideas.  I haven’t found the one that’s going to make me rich yet, but I think about it a lot.  I really admire people who turn a great idea into a business opportunity, and we met a young businessman in Costa Rica who definitely earned my admiration.

As we were driving from Arenal to Monteverde on the winding dirt roads, we drove through a little town and our attention was occupied by the people representing the country’s 4 political parties outside of the polling location.  A nicely-dressed guy walked out into the road when he saw us approaching, and signalled that we were going the wrong way and told us to turn around.  We did, and as we got back to where he was standing in the road, he approached our window and handed Sherry a hand-drawn map photocopied onto an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet.

The map had landmarks like “green house” and “bus stop” on it, and the guy gave us directions in perfect English as he pointed to the map.  There were a lot of lefts and rights, all noted on the map but impossible to remember.  He then pointed out his name and phone number printed in the lower left corner of the map, in case anything happened while we were on the road. 

I knew where this was heading…nothing’s free these days, right?  But I was so amazed by his ingenuity, that when he said that the map was for sale, showed us his business license, and said he was a college student, I would have paid him double.  I think we paid around $4 for the map but it was actually helpful because there are absolutely no road signs in Costa Rica and you can easily drive up a road that goes nowhere.

Now I just have to figure out how I’m going to make my first million.  I don’t think selling photocopied maps in the ‘Ham will get me there.
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We had to get up at 4:00 a.m. to catch our flight from San Jose to Atlanta, but we made it home by 5:50 p.m. with no weather problems or mechanical difficulties.  Ben and Norah picked us up at the airport, and Adlani and Aliya were anxiously waiting for us at home with Nikki.  Sherry decided to drive home to VT that night – she was still not feeling great so I’m sure she wanted to spend the night in her own bed.

I’m having a little trouble reacclimating.  I spent a whole week without yelling at anyone, repeating myself, or being late.  I never once told Sherry to brush her teeth, and now I’m saying it 60 times per day.  And it makes me even more furious than it did before I left.   

Work is overwhelming but I’m having a hard time getting worked up about it.  I have 148 emails that need to be handled, along with 57 items on my to-do-immediately list.  There are at least100 items on my other to-do list but that list has basically become a list of stuff I need to do before I die because I never get a chance to look at it with all of the stuff that needs to be done immediately.

I could have spent this weekend working through a few items on my list or at least washing the laundry from my trip, but I haven’t even unpacked.  Yesterday I organized a bunch of my vacation photos into a book of colors for Norah’s preschool class.  Today I set up my new website for fire door inspection, www.firedoorguide.com.  I also went to Zumba both days, so I guess that’s something.

While I was away I got an email from work with the URGENT symbol and lots of exclamation points.  I didn’t have the needed document with me and didn’t have a way to procure it until I got home.  I responded to my co-manager that I was feeling no sense of urgency about the emergency and he emailed back, “Oh no! What have they done to you? You get home right this instant…no more fun for you.”

I need to win the lottery so I can fulfill my dream of shedding all of my stuff and my tasks, packing everyone up and riding off into the sunset.  Who cares if they don’t brush their teeth?  They’re eventually going to fall out anyway, right?

I didn’t realize what a great photo I got of this sloth until I looked at the photos on my computer yesterday.  Awesome!

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Our flight from Atlanta to Boston was cancelled because of the threat of snow, so we were *forced* to spend an extra day in San Jose.  The city is not really someplace you’d want to spend a day of vacation, but we ventured about 45 minutes away to the Cafe Britt coffee tour, and Zoo Ave, which is a rehabilitation and breeding center for animals and birds.

The coffee tour was great.  We learned a lot about how coffee is grown and processed, and the people leading the tour were hilarious.  It was almost like a show, with skits about coffee’s history.  I was so glad we had the extra day to fill so we could go to Cafe Britt.  We had lunch there, with super-awesome giant iced mochas.  YUM!!!

The zoo was nice – not too big, but a few good photo ops.  There was only one family there that we saw, so we had the place to ourselves.  We saw the *resplendent qetzal* which is the national bird and very exciting to see in the wild.  Less so in a cage, but at least we saw one.  Sherry had a glimpse of one in Monteverde but I was busy buying a rain poncho for my backpack. 

In addition to today’s unexpected activities, we also went to Jacó Beach yesterday which we hadn’t planned on doing.  It was REALLY HOT, but we had a nice lunch at the TacoBar and spent a little time on the beach.

I think we’ve milked every bit of enjoyment out of this vacation and I will miss being on Tico Time.  If I could only figure out how to live like a Costa Rican in the ‘Ham.

Pics below.

The drive from Monteverde was a little scary but SO BEAUTIFUL!

The road got better (paved!) but we still had the cows to deal with.