My Sunday

Mother in law and I decided to take the kids out on an excursion today to the Festival Nacional de Gallo Pinto. Mother in law had heard about it on the news and expressed her desire to go with me.

It was a short outing (as mother in law was tired and hot), but a nice outing all the same. The kids had fun, and the whole point of the trip was to gobble up some 'Gallo Pinto', which we did. According to mother in law, they started cooking the beans 10 days before the event and they made enough food for 90,000 people.

There was a huge crowd and a few activities for kids. A nice day all in all.




























On our way back home, we made a pit stop at the Museo de Oro in San Jose. I had NEVER been and had always wanted to go. It cost c500 for entry (for residents) today. Sorry foreigners, that would be almost c5.000 for you. But I think it's worth every penny.

The museum is CLEAN and airy and cool and fancy and nice and fun and... well you get the point. My kids had a blast, not to mention I was so busy taking pictures and getting wrapped up in all the finery, I'm going to need to go back just to get some history in me.

There is so much information, one trip will not do. There is so much to see and learn, it can be a little overwhelming. But everything is orderly and if you follow the order, you can learn everything you need to know about pre-Colombian era. Unfortunately that might take a few hours, and with 2 little ones, we could barely spare the hour or so we were there browsing around... eyes wide, gaping at all the gold.

I cannot wait to go back.

My Guilty Pleasure, Part Uno

Can grocery shopping be a guilty pleasure? I think I am addicted to food shopping then. It is so much fun for me to go to the supermarket and pick up whatever I want, throw it in my cart and not have to worry about price. Lately, I have taken to doing the aisle race again.. shopping at three of my favorite chains... Pricemart, Hipermas and Megasuper supermarkets.

I honestly look forward to grocery shopping every week. I get excited thinking about what I will buy, making my list and then actually buying the stuff (most times I go off the list to get a few luxury items... which is always fun). I get a sense of pleasure when my pantry and fridge are stocked and overloading with a plethora of choices for me and my kids.

I have many guilty pleasures: chocolate (recently the chocolate covered peanuts I buy about once a week and indulge in), shopping (clothes, shoes, toys for the kids), and watching reality TV. But I have to add food shopping to my list of guilty pleasures that I do not really feel all that guilty about.

I Get It

So I have been told, numerous times, how Colegio Monterrey (CM) is such a good school. I am still holding judgment and waiting until mid year to make my assessment on that.

Yes, I chose the school because of the good feedback. I heard my friend D talk about it (she has friends whose kids go there, and she would love to send her kids there; would if she could in a heart beat)... CM, she says, is a REALLY GOOD school. I took her word for it

The other day, the taxi driver mentioned that it's was a really good school, BUT expensive. I can agree with you there, man. The school better be good for the money people pay, right? I mean on Costa Rican terms, $250 a month is like, a fortune, for tuition!

I have been mulling over and over if I made the right choice for Boobie. I let my emotions speak and jumped at the first sign of true love for the school (I'd seen so many and had lukewarm feelings about most of them). And while I know CM had good reviews, I was still mulling over my decision to send Boobie there: wondering if I made the right choice and wasn't just persuaded by the fact that Boobie loved it and so did I based on LOOKS alone?

I guess I can say, besides the money aspects, that I still like the school... though not as much as I did in the beginning BEFORE Boobie started. But the feedback from people is good, especially strangers. And if a school has such a good reputation then I guess I can say, for now, that I made the right choice. Updates to follow.

I Can't Do This

I just can't go on like this for much longer. I am about to lose it, if I haven't lost it already.

My life is essentially perfect. I have everything I could possibly need: a house to call my own, healthy, happy, well rounded kids and my health, plus a good Hubby who works hard to provide for his family.

I even have a few luxuries: a dream yard, a kid in a good private school and a dream job (as a stay at home mom). What more could I want? Well, more.

I NEED A BREAK!!! From life, from this house, from my kids (yes, on occasion those well adjusted, happy kids can drive me bonkers) and some time for just me, myself and I.

And I don't mean the 45 minutes I take each morning to go running or power walking. While it is ME time, and time well spent on making myself a healthier mommy, it's not enough time for me. I need to get away, get re-energized so I can come back to my life and long list of (mommy) obligations revved up and ready to go.

I cannot continue on this lonely road of single parenting while I have a Hubby. It is exhausting. Tonight, for example, I have a massive headache that is more than just weather contributed (it was HOT today and the heat wipes me out and sometimes leaves my head throbbing). Long after it cooled down, my head was just a jumbled mess of neurons bouncing from brain cell to brain cell, leaving my head feeling like someone was in there kicking around a soccer ball.

With a laundry list long of to-do 'stuff' to get done everyday on top of trying to find ME time within the day, I feel myself feeling drained, burnt out, at the end of my rope and taking it out on the people I love the most: my children.

So I guess another day break is in order. And all I want to take with me is myself. Here's to hoping that day comes VERY soon.

So I Was Pondering...

And pondering and pondering something really unimportant yesterday, as I bought my friend M a birthday gift. Why does eyeshadow compacts come with like 20 shades of different colors but only ONE eyeshadow brush applicator?

case in point: while this has 2 brushes, that is still only 4 sides to work with, compared with the plethora of shades available in this compact.


I told you my 'ponderings' was not something of importance. But seriously. I have wondered that for a while. Why would you give us so many choices of eye color shades, and only about 2 different sides of a brush to use.

If I have 20 shades and about 10 of which I actually love and want to use on a daily basis... you think 2 sides of a brush is enough for me? What do I do when one day I want to use, say brown, then the next day white and still the next day pink, and then the next day I want dark purple on my eyelids; then out of the blue, the next day I want blue? That is not enough brush to use.

Why not pack the compact with at least FOUR brushes... that way I have now 6 sides to work with and I am a happy girl. That way each side is designated a color... and I don't have to go out and buy more brushes, or worst yet, use a shade on top of another shade by using the same side of my brush.

Cosmetic companies, think about it. It's the smart thing to do alright.

And in case I missed it and there are compacts that come with almost as many brushes as shades, then way to go.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!

I'm in a pissy mood. Why, you ask? Because Boobie's new school is literally sucking me dry financially.

It's only a month into the school year and already, besides tuition, I have had to shell out extra money to pay for a field trip (yeah, already), and an upcoming spiritual retreat. And GET THIS... now I just get a flier informing me of a new bilingual program I have to purchase.

I know with most private schools, it's always 'money talks'. But this is ridiculous, no? I mean, a month later and I am already paying way more than the c140.000 colones a month in fees.

For March I shelled out a whopping 176.000+ (that amount included fees for the school ID, which was c1.700 colones, and the Science book rental). I knew I had to pay those, but dammit! It all just adds up so quickly.

Now this bilingual program that I have to buy, must buy, at c17.600 colones and for what? I have to ask, no. I just have to buy it. I am just not in a good mood. I loved this school, but like most schools here, it's already leaving a bitter taste in my mouth as it keeps soliciting more and more cash out of my wallet, on top of the outrageous tuition I have to pay.

I guess I have to grin and bear it. After all, I chose this school. And Boobie loves it. But, it's just a month into the school year and if I am being bombarded with all these money requests so often now, I can only imagine what the rest of the year will be like.

Let me see what else is expected of me:
Extra curricular fees. Boobie is taking arts and crafts and soccer after school, Mondays and Fridays. That's an added extra charge of c6.000 colones each a month for an additional c12.000 colones a month tacked on the monthly tuition. Someone gag me now! Oh well, Boobie wanted to partake in after school activities, and his dad was all too gung-ho about letting him do so.

On the orange paper they give to you when you first sign your kid up for the school, they do spell it out for you what all the extra stuff is you'll have to pay for.... a bilingual program was NOT on that list.

The list goes: rental book fee for Science and Math. The fee for Science is c25.000 colones for the year. I'll get a slip about the Math book rental fee soon enough.

Camp
Convivio (the school retreat)
Annual graduation fees (this only applies to the 6th, 9th and 11th grades)
End of year activity (again, only 6, 9 and 11 grade)
And whatever other fees they dream up to charge us poor financially burdened parents. So I guess that bilingual program falls in that category.

I am sick. But I just hope as the school year settles down, they will stop with the damn fees and give us a break for once. I would just love to pay the tuition and the tuition alone for just ONE month without stressing about paying all the other extra stuff (besides the after school stuff of course).

I guess it's my fault. I fell for this school and now I am having second thoughts. I could kick myself. I guess we'll see how the year plays out. The good news is there are other prospects for Boobie. I'll keep my head up.

Meaning To Blog...

...But have no time. I have so much to blog about too... many topics and a few photos that I managed to take while thinking of this place.

First off... it's March. When the heck did that happen? That means Boobie's birthday is around the corner and my former baby and first born will be 10 (going on 16) years old. Hard to believe but here it is, staring me in the face. My baby boy is growing up and it's time to face facts. I have been a mom for 10 years, and I don't look a day over 20... LOL.

Second, I am busy busy busy. As if you couldn't tell, what with me hardly blogging anymore and all. But yeah, this stay at home mom deal, hardly is anymore. I am on the go constantly, literally!

The little kids started playgroup (early stimulation classes) at the library last month. Princess goes twice a week, and Fatty goes twice a week (different age groups). I end up going 4 days a week with both kids... and they love it, as do I.


Fatty, first day of playgroup











Princess on her first day















Also I am STILL running. I upped my exercise routine to 5 days a week now (sometimes 6 if I do my yoga on an off day). I mean why would I stop? I see the results; I feel it. I look better, feel better and I am getting healthier. I have not gotten full blown sick since I started exercising, a great side effect. That alone tells me to keep it up. Plus, my clothes fit better. Some are even looser. It's great! It helps that some of the clothes I can fit into now are things I haven't been able to wear in 5+ years. I feel younger and I feel on top of the world.

And to add to that, I am a mom. On top of laundry, housework, staying on top of Boobie's schooling so he has a successful year, running errands and keeping our finances in check, I still have to feed the fam healthy, well balanced meals a few times a day.

To help with that, I make a menu for the week. With a busy schedule, a menu is a great help. I just look at the menu, which I make either after or before my weekly supermarket run and see what I have to make the next day so I can prep myself for it. This way I know when to thaw out certain meats and what ingredients to get so I have them on hand. And since I like flexibility, my menu is pretty easy going. If I feel like making a different meal that day, I just switch out the meals and substitute one day for the next. Or if I have too much leftover from a previous meal, I add a leftover day, which gives me a free day of no cooking. I love making my weekly menu. It makes me creative with ideas for dinner and makes meal planning easy.

And it makes shopping that much more fun (I love food shopping anyway, but if you don't, menu planning can help you get the swing of things and help you to enjoy your grocery store that much more). It just takes the stress out of dinnertime and that last minute shuffle of trying to figure out what to cook, what to eat and what to feed the kids.



My delicious tuna veggie fried rice... YUM!


Breaded cheesy salsa chicken bake or chilli cheese chicken (and it looks an awfully lot like chicken parmesan, huh?)


Bow tie pasta in a butter and olive oil dressing with broccoli and diced tomatoes


My menu


Dinner time

As if I didn't already have a full plate (pun intended), I am also teaching the little ones some new sleep habits by establishing new bedtime routines.

Before, Princess and Fatty slept in the same room and in the SAME bed. They love being next to me, or someone, so that extra body helps them sleep longer, sounder, and feel safer. And even though they loved sleeping next to each other, there were days a foot would be in someones head or a whole body crushed up against the wall or on top of someones' arm or leg. Besides the fact that there are 3 beds in Princess's room and only one bed was being used, they both just needed their own space.

Plus I had to lie with them at night in the same bed to get them to sleep. It hindered on my night time routines, especially if they took too long to fall asleep since I had to forgo doing certain night time rituals... and most nights being so exhausted myself, I would end up falling asleep with them and not finish whatever nightly chores I had to get done.

Now each kid gets a bed. Princess is back in her crib, now turned day bed. And fatty is back in his bassinet, now turned play pen bed. Princess is fine in her bed. All it took was one night and she knows that is where she has to sleep... she still however, prefers me in the room in bed (the now empty twin 'guest' bed).

Fatty has issues with his bed. He prefers to sleep with someone... and since it's not Princess, it's me. Once he's asleep (after lying with him in the guest bed), I try to put him in his bed, and he inevitably wakes up. Tuesday night, instead of lying back down in bed with him, I had had enough. I left him in his bed and let him cry it out. It broke my heart and a few times I started to go and grab him and just put him in my bed next to me, but I stuck it out and an hour later, he was sound asleep. AND he slept late the next day too, waking up at 8 am. Victory is mine (almost).

So it's been about a week of them sleeping in their respective beds, and I think 'me likes it.' Easier bedtimes for me too. Next step is getting them to go to bed, actually go to sleep, without me lying in the room... still working on Fatty sleeping on his own without me to give him that head start though.