November 11th 2008
Quick trip to Miami and getting ready for Christmas
Dear Dad,
I am sitting at my desk yawning and watching the clock so I can go home.
Last Thursday David and I took a quick trip to Miami. Since I already had planned for a trip earlier in October I had a ticket. David cancelled his trip to Alaska so he had a ticket too Our anniversary, a whopping 38 years together we decided to go and see friends and celebrate in Miami, do a little shopping for Christmas and eat Stone Crabs and that is just what we did.
Now that we have American Airlines status of Gold Advantage, we get better treatment, like boarding first. Since we knew we were going we did early check in the night before and saves an early arrival at the airport with a bonus of checking in at the First Class section. What does this mean? It means that instead of having to arrive three hours before our flight we only had to be there one hour before.
I love having the extra time in the morning before leaving the house.
Years ago, when Bryan and Celiece were little we used to go to the Miami Boat Show in January, trying not to miss a year. One year, when Bryan was two and David and I were planning a trip to Miami I took the time to explain that we were leaving for a week so he would be OK with the idea and not scared. Afterwards, I went and told David that I thought it would be a good idea for him to talk to Bryan too. When David told Little Bryan that he and I were going to Miami Bryan quickly replied , ¨ Not your ami it’s Mommies ami ¨. We all had a good laugh except Bryan who didn’t understand.
The flight is only about 2 ½ hours and probably the same amount of time it takes to drive to Puntarenas if you don’t count the time waiting for the plane to leave.
When we arrived in Miami and after we waited our turn to go through Immigration, the officer behind the desk asked David more questions than usual. He wanted to know if David had ever been to Illinois. David said he had been there maybe 40 years ago. Anyway, the official took David’s passport and said ¨follow me¨. Yikes!!!! What for’
We were led to another desk and another officer who placed David’s passport in a blue plastic folder and then a third officer said ¨follow me.¨
In the meantime, Jetty – a friend we were traveling with that went through the visitors’ line – had disappeared heading for baggage claim and we could not notify her of the detour.
David and I were led into an office and there were about 100 people in there with folders of different colors. There were red, yellow, green and blue folders that I am sure all had different meanings. We sat and waited for David’s name to be called. Sat waiting and wondering. A woman in uniform was checking all the baggage tags and we still had no idea why David was pulled out of line.
Every other person in the room was a foreigner and it reminded me of something I heard George Gobal say once when he was making a joke about feeling out of place. He said he felt like a brown shoe in a roomful of tuxedoes. We really did feel out of place when hearing the other people from other countries being asked for their visas or permissions to enter the US.
Soon, well……not so soon…………David’s name finally was called and he went to the counter. Another officer asked a lot of questions and finally asked David for his Social Security number. David gave him the last four digits and was finally told that a man with his name and must look like him is wanted in Illinois.
While waiting for the color to return to David’s face, David asked if there was a way to mark his passport somehow so as to avoid more confusion in the future. The officer told him NO and to always carry his Social Security Card with him.
The two of us walked out of the special office with a hundred pairs of eyes staring at our backs and went in search of our friend.
In the meantime, Jetty had gone down stairs to baggage claim and waited and waited and finally called our friend Cindy (we all were invited to stay at Cindy’s home) and told her that we had disappeared. Cindy told Jetty that she was on her way to the airport to pick her up and the two of them would figure out something.
David and I appeared a few minutes later and told Jetty of our experience. David called Cindy on the phone and told her to turn around and go back home because we were OK and also we were renting a car.
Jetty, because she owns a travel agency, had reserved a car and she and David had planned on sharing the expense. When we got to the rental car office, Jetty noticed that her driver’s license had expired on her birthday a week before and she could not rent a car. David and I decided only a few days earlier to go to Miami with Jetty and celebrate her birthday with Cindy because Cindy was turned back at the airport for not having a Yellow Fever vaccine and missed Jetty’s birthday celebration at the spa the week before. Jetty was relieved that David was there to drive as she would have been stuck at Cindy’s
House without a car and would have to rely on Cindy to take her shopping, or borrow her car.
All of Cindy’s pets, two dogs and three cats, met us at the front door when we arrived.
We had a delicious dinner of BBQ shrimp with the trimmings and a delicious chocolate cake for dessert.
Friday was shopping day and we hit the Malls. On our way David called Louie’s cell phone and to my delight he was visiting you. I love modern technology and that Louie was able to put you on the speaker phone so we could talk. It was wonderful to hear your voice and you sounded like you were standing next to me too.
Shopping when there is a list is difficult because one has to look for the desired items. I was looking for more Christmas ferries to decorate and gifts for the kids for Christmas. We are getting too busy and I won’t have time in Costa Rica since we are expecting Marty and her husband on Monday for three week stay.
Friday night we had a wonderful dinner at Joe’s crab House and filled up on Stone Crabs and sweet potato French fries, creamed spinach, a delicious salad and Key Lime Pie for dessert. Yum.
Saturday we went out and shopped again looking for bargains and checking items off our list. Bill, Cindy’s husband left for London and that evening we ate delicious White Salmon that David expertly cooked on the BBQ.
Sunday we scratched the last items off our list early and stopped for Sushi and then went home to pack all the stuff we bought. It is sort of trying to put a girdle on a fat lady, but we managed and packed everything in three suitcases with none of them weighing more than the 50 pound allowed limit.
Now we are back at our desks. We have the Christmas party this Monday for the employees and later that same day Marty is arriving with her husband. Then before you know it; it will be time to put the turkey into the oven for Thanksgiving and decorate the house and then Christmas and the end of another year.
Where does the time go?
Uh Oh it looks like maybe Boomer killed one of the rabbits. He was caught licking the bloody head of the dead rabbit that was in our driveway. I just cannot imagine him killing the rabbit because they played together; but the evidence says something else.
Boomer is a feral cat and maybe he really did do it. I am hoping that maybe it was a neighbors’ dog or another cat that got into our residential area and did the dirty deed.
Since there were no witnesses to the crime, Boomer is the prime suspect..
Today is Wednesday. I just got back from the dentist. Ugh!! It was a great check up though. Now, it is raining again.
Since David got up early to play golf I had to take taxi to the dentist. The work on the
main road in front of the entrance to our house is still going on and the taxi driver could not drive up the hill. There is a big hole about 1 meter deep and 10 meters long in the ground where the workers are digging up the road and fixing the drain pipes for the fifth time.
The driveway into our residential area and inside the compound has round river rock that makes walking on it difficult. Yes, this keeps our area very private and quiet which is good, but I had to walk through the compound and down the hill in heels. Not too high but high enough to twist an ankle if I stepped wrong. Luckily I didn’t and best of all it didn’t start raining until I got into the cab.
We are having really cold weather……….well cold for us. I call it ¨a two cat night¨ as this is how many cats crawled up onto the bed to sleep close to me and keep warm.
This morning I got up and washed the couch cushions and the back of the couch to get ready for Marty’s visit with her husband David, whom we have not met yet. I almost hung the wet cushions outside on the clothes line, but then decided not to. It is a good thing I didn’t because it has not stopped raining.
This is then time of the year when I wished I had a fire place. We burn candles, boil water and turn on the oven to keep warm too. I do have two small cast iron antique stoves, but they are not set up and have no chimneys either. I did buy David, Bryan, Celiece and Marlon flannel pajama bottoms and gave it to them now to keep warm.
Tonight David plays pinochle with his friends and I can put the living room back together.
Today I gave permission for Mario and Xochilts to put up the Christmas decorations in the office. They are almost finished and I must say everything looks festive and Christmassy. Both of them love to decorate.
Last year I took both of them to buy the decorations. We had a carpenter build a big wooden box to keep everything nice and neat and it worked perfectly. All the decorations look brand new J.
This Year I bought a few Christmas ferries for the office and will bring them in tomorrow.
I have put out a few Christmas decorations at the house too. I will wait until Marty gets here to put out the rest so that we have a project to do together. I bought a great Christmas witch. Do you remember that Escazu, where we live, is called the city of witches? It is because years and years ago, there were people living there that made home remedies and probably did spells and that is why the general public called them witches.
I have a witch dressed in black with flaming red hair in a braid with a bat hanging off the end and she has a pointed nose and pointed black shoes and now I have another witch dressed in a ball gown with lime green hair. The black witch is hanging near the windows in the living room and the Christmas witch is sitting on top of the stained glass lamp that hangs over the dining room table.
It’s funny; but I don’t remember playing with dolls very much as a child, but I am having fun now with witch dolls and fairies. J
I will also let Mario take the Manta Raya decorations to Puntarenas and put them up.
I did it forever and have smartened up and gave the job to Mario, since he loves doing it.
I still need to buy decorations for the new Casa Calypso. I only want to put up Icicle lights on the front porch and maybe a wreath at the front door and two bathroom doors and maybe some green pine stuff around the windows with poinsettia. Whew, sounds like a lot of stuff I still have to go look for and buy.
Hummm…………David just returned from playing golf. It is 5:00pm and time to go home. He either played a total of 900 holes or stayed at the famous 19th hole with his friends all afternoon. What do you think?
Today is Thursday. When David and I left for the office this morning Happy was not around. I thought I heard a meow and went to look for him since once he was stuck on the neighbor’s roof and another time in a tree, I thought he was in trouble again.
Well, I just called the house and talked to Reina, the young woman who helps with the house work twice a week, and she told me that Happy had returned with a gift. What gift? She said Happy caught a rat almost as big as he is and happily brought it home. Aren’t cats fun?
I called again about my car. I am ready to report it missing. The mechanic left town again and I am without a car and this is making me nuts. I asked the secretary why it is taking so long as we pay upon delivery and are good customers and wanted to know why we are being neglected and ignored. As soon as I get my car I am going to sell it so I never have to deal with them again. It is too bad because I really like the VW Passat.
This is all the news for this week. Hope all is well with you.
I love and miss you.
Besos, Cecs
