Two things you don't want to see when moving to Costa Rica

This week has seen two events unfold which you really never want to see when moving.

• First, after getting our house under contract and getting really close to closing...your 3 year old son walks through the house with a full strawberry shake and the bottom of the damned styrofoam cup falls out...sending the entire contents down onto your beautiful beige carpet which you have worked for years to keep clean so you could sell your house someday! Thanks Sonic for your crappy cheap cups.
  

• Second, after you have already sold your truck and cashed the check....but you are still driving the truck since the Hamburgler is out of town and nice enough to let you keep driving...the roofing contractor down the road decides to leave you a nice present in your front left tire! And then when you go to have the hole patched...you find out that there is a 6 inch crack on the inside of the tire. Even the mechanic is nervous to blow the tire back up due to the threat of explosion....so you end up putting $600 worth of new sneakers on someone else's truck....

I guess the second one is ok though...I would have felt really terrible if the Hamburgler was injured due to a tire blowout in the first week driving the truck! Oh yeah, He works in mysterious ways...

Kade's Classes

Kade is now officially booked all week. He is in preschool (T/TH), a farm class (F) and a swimming class(M/W). All are "no mommy" classes and he has been doing great at all of them up until this week. Suddenly he started having a bit of a breakdown at his swimming classes. This is interesting seeing as how it is just one of the three classes...but is it still a disconcerning trend. Maybe Jen and I are just hyper sensitive at this stage due to the impending move and the impact it will have on Kade...but still, it never makes the papa happy to see the glum face. We just hope that the stress of the move is not starting to show through....

The farm class is interesting...they collect eggs, hold baby animals, milk cows and stuff like that. He appeared to enjoy the first week (last week)...we will see how things hold up.

The apple didn't fall far from the tree...

Kade plugged the toilet for his very first time....I am a proud papa!

WTP - 2007

Every year our friends host a white trash party. Everyone gets dressed like white trash and gets together to eat an assortment of pork rinds, spam based foods and drink really cheap bear in really big cans. This year was no exception. This year Jen out did herself with her excellent Peg Bundy outfit...it was top drawer! Joe also gets a

honorable mention with his slicked back hair and some classic drunk Joe faces ;-)




Just for completeness...here are a few Al Bundy quotes:

* I never wanted to get married, I got married.
Never wanted kids, I have 2 of them. Why the
hell am I here?

* Remember our motto: We ain't got it.

* Standing here with my loving family,
I wonder why I'm running from the axe.

* I'm going back to Chicago; where I only
die a little every day.

* Envy me. That's my wife.
Those are my kids and I sell womens' shoes.

* It must be your mother. Tell her I said 'oink'.

* Peg, did your mother get so fat she spread across the border?

* I'm not paying for mistakes.
I've been doing that since I got married.

* If you want something fixed right, get an ugly guy to do it.

* If God had wanted women to play ball,
he would've made them men.

* Guys may come and guys may go, but daddy's always daddy...
well, at least until he jumps a freight train.

* Peg, is there any reason this cactus is
where my alarm clock should be?

* I had a dream last night. A big red haired mosquito
in tight pants was hovering over me sucking money
out of my wallet.

Hamburgler strikes again...

Yesterday was a sad day. In continued preparation for our imminent move to Costa Rica, I sold my truck ;-( That's right...my wonderful companion of 11 years is finally heading to another home. Interesting little fact: I have owned my Dodge for just about as long as I have known my wife...and it has cost me a LOT less over the years ;-)

It ended up selling for just shy of $4K... so all in all it went as expected. Its a good thing I finally fixed that coolant leak ;-) And to top it all off, the hamburgler is the one who stole my companion...you gotta love that!

Now, don't be scared

Last week Kade and I were playing on the living room floor. I showed him how to throw down a figure-4 as well as put someone in a full nelson. He was having a ball and kept coming back asking me to "do it again". Jen and Payton were watching all this from the couch and so naturally I tell Kade to go put mommy in a full nelson. So he immediately proceeds over to Jen and puts both hands in the air and says "Now, don't be scared". Then he starts climbing up on Jen trying to execute the move. It was HILARIOUS!

Happy Birthday Poppy

Kade and Payton would like to extend a great big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to Poppy!

Hope you are having a great day, Danno!

A New World Record

This weekend I think we may have set a world record. Sunday we ended up driving 180 miles to eat lunch at McDonald's. Anyone out there beat that?

Also, there have been a few more posts over at GenX Finance if you are interested...

Easter Recap

This Easter we had a great time with the friends and fam. As you can see from some of the pics that Jen put up...there was a lot going on. It all started on Saturday when we went to the Redeemer Lutheran Church eater egg hunt. They had a couple of jugglers in for entertainment, then the Easter bunny showed up for a quick visit. Then it was outside for the eggs! Unfortunately, it was about 30 degrees and snowing...so the Easter egg hunt itself was a pretty quick affair.

Then Sunday morning we got up early and went back to Redeemer for the 8am service. It was a good sermon but the kiddos were a little squirmy so it was a rough hour-plus. When we got out it was snowing hard again and our car was covered in snow...Easter...really? Then we headed home and conducted the traditional Cavitation easter egg trail (legacy from when I was a kiddo myself) . Kade's trail was made of jelly beans and Payton's was made of cheerios this year. Kade really got it this year and followed the trail around the room finding presents along the path...Payton just ate her trail ;-) Then the Zup's came over and we had a quick easter egg hunt in the living room since it was still snowing outside. Then it was off to the Marriott for Easter brunch. We met two other families there so there was pretty much total chaos (8 kids). It was great fun and the food was pretty good too. The rest of Easter was spent hanging around the house...not doing much of anything that I can recall. All in all a great Easter.

Giants 2007 Schedule

WOOHOOO!!!! Finally, the 2007 New York Giants schedule has been released. And what a great looking season. There are 5 night games which means that we should be able to see quite a few games this year. Plus, the non-conference games are a perfect fit...Green Bay (Rhonda/Scafidi's), Detroit (Ritz-bitz), Chicago (Mr. Hiner), Minnesota (Mr. Farr), Buffalo (Mr. Cangemi) and New England (Mr. Roberge). The only one missing is Oakland...sorry Ken...you are the only one without the chance to lose at the hand of the mighty big blue ;-)

PRESEASON
Saturday, Aug. 11 vs. CAROLINA, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 19 at Baltimore, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 25 vs. JETS, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 30, at New England, 7:30 p.m.

REGULAR SEASON
Sunday, Sept. 9 at Dallas, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 16 vs. GREEN BAY, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 23 at Washington, 4:15 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 30 vs. PHILADELPHIA, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 7 vs. JETS, 1 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 15 at Atlanta, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 21 vs. SAN FRANCISCO, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 28 vs. Miami (at London), 1 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 4 BYE WEEK
Sunday, Nov. 11 vs. DALLAS, 4:15 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 18 at Detroit, 4:15 p.m.*
Sunday, Nov. 25 vs. MINNESOTA, 1 p.m. *
Sunday, Dec. 2 at Chicago, 4:15 p.m. *
Sunday, Dec. 9 at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.*
Sunday, Dec. 16 vs. WASHINGTON, 8:15 p.m.*
Sunday, Dec. 23 at Buffalo, 1 p.m. *
Saturday, Dec. 29 vs. NEW ENGLAND, 8:15 p.m.

* Times of games for Week 11-16 are subject to change due to the NFL's "flexible scheduling" plan.

Getting ready for Costa Rica...poor Kade

Poor Kade...the Thomas train table that Dad and Poppy put together for his second birthday has fallen prey to the Costa Rica move. It will shortly be in storage for a looong time. Sorry dude. Pic on left was the table in it's heyday...picture below is it's current sad state.

Costa Rica: Calahonda Home

Belen wins the poll with 63% of the vote. Escazu was in second place with 25% of the vote. This means that 2 of you were right (and I know that Jen voted for Escazu, so that really only means that one person was right).

We opted to head to Escazu due to the fact that the neighborhood is more westernized with better sidewalks and more stores in the immediate area. The primary reason for this is simple...the road system in Costa Rica is a nightmare with virtually no street signs. As such, Jen expects to do very little driving around in the first few months...so we wanted to make sure that they were in an area where they could comfortably leave the gated community and venture out on foot.

The house is fairly nice with no major issues. The first floor has a kitchen, a kitchen nook, a dining room, a living room, a study, a half bath, a laundry room, a maid quarters w/ bath. The second floor has 3 bigger bedrooms, a big TV room, a smaller play area and two full baths. All in all, it is fairly big despite being a 3 bedroom home due to the extra bonus areas. The entire home is tile floor...as are most all homes in Costa Rica. The backyard is currently a little scrubby with weeds and some dead grass...we will fix this quickly to shape up that backyard for the kiddos. There is no front yard...but there is a common area with a pool, baths and cooking area. There is also a little swing set close to the front door which you can see in the pictures. It is also very close to CIMA - which is a private hospital...apparently a sister hospital to Baylor University...but I have not confirmed that one.

Finally, we were able to negotiate with the landlord to include appliances which apparently do not come with rental homes by default. This is huge seeing as how they are all very expensive in Costa Rica since most of them are imported. This should free up some of our furniture budget to actually furnish the home instead of buying appliances. We are taking very little with us from the states. Just cloths, linens/towels, toys, pictures and daily essentials like our beloved anodized Calphalon cookware.

Sorry about the picture quality...but as I stated before, we video taped the entire house and did not take digital pictures. These pictures are all snapshots taken from the actual Canon Elura-100 video stream.

One new Kade Saying...

Today I picked Kade up from school, picked up some McDonald's, headed home and started our lunch. During lunch Kade seemed to be particularly affable, telling me many many stories...most loosely based on either the Backyardigans or Little Einsteins. But then he dropped this one on me:

Kade: "Hey Dada, you are big and fat...just like a hippo"
Dad: "You really think so?"
Kade: "Just look at yourself..."

I told Jen when she got home from the store...she couldn't stop laughing! FYI: The first part comes from a book that we like to read at night and the second part is a straight up Jen-ism.

Also, Jen posted the Easter photo album today...check it out over here if you want. I should have an Easter post up in the next few days.

Finally, I downloaded the video of the Costa Rica houses last night so I should be able to get a few pics of the house we chose in the next day or so...poll still showing Belen as the leader!

April Fools'!

A recent April Fools' post by Flogger reminded me of my father's standard April Fools' day ritual. Every year, he would go to the back window and look outside (I was probably about 5 to 7 years old during the most effective years). He would then declare that there was a purple moose in the backyard and that we needed to come and see it. Every year we would tear ass over to the window only to be disappointed in ourselves yet again. So I figured I would get a head start with Kade this year:

• I went to the back window and started screaming about a purple cow in the backyard - seeing as we don't have moose or meese in Fort Collins ;-)
  
• Kade came flying over to the window and started looking around...and looking...and looking
  
• Finally I said "April Fools' Day!"
  
• He looked at me, tilted his head, made an expression like I had three heads and walked away shaking his head

Oh well, maybe next year ;-)

Kade Sayings....

Two Kade sayings to share today. These happened before we left for Costa Rica but I am just now getting to them...

1. Dad: "I love you"
   Kade: "I love me too"
   
   
2. We were all driving home from the grocery store. Kade had just told us something in a very definitive manner. Here is the resulting interchange:
   
   Dad: "Kade are you a man who knows what he wants?"
   Kade: "Yes, I know what I want! .... Mommy, what do I want?"
   
   I do not know where he gets that...
   

Lastly, I finally got around to posting on the finance website again...I have several topics cued up for the next few days...

Days 6 and 7 in Costa Rica

Day 6: Jen and I headed back out in the morning with G3 to look at the three candidate homes.

1. We started in Escazu. This was the neighborhood we liked best with sidewalks and more contemporary stores in town. Unfortunately, the house was just ok (bigger in size but a little outdated...like the kitchen) and had a very little yard. The common area is basically just a pool so no real help there with the kiddos.
   
2. Then we went over to Santa Ana and saw a really contemporary home (read, not kid friendly) but in a neighborhood with lots of open grass and kids play structures. The home actually had a set of stairs up to the third floor with no railing at all...I am SURE Kade would love those!
   
3. Finally we headed back to Belen (closest to Intel) for the best home of the bunch. It was a really big/new home with a relatively big backyard. It also had a big common area which was done really nice but no kid play area...more of an adult kind of place. Unfortunately, Belen is more of an older/sleepy CR neighborhood ...so no sidewalks or modern stores nearby.
   

Once we saw all three homes again, we headed back to the hotel to make our choice.

Which home do you think we chose?
	1. Escazu
	2. Santa Ana
	3. Belen
Free polls from Pollhost.com

It was at that time that Jen declared that she was done with the house hunting trip (or maybe it was the night before...can't quite remember). For the record, I do not blame her...to this point it had been a mentally exhausting experience...and I wanted to give up also. Juggling the kids and trying to find our home for the next 2 years all in a foreign country turned out to be a little much...but, we really had one more thing to do...price out common items we would need.

Sooooo, I headed out with our counselor to go look at furniture and price out common goods at the local equivalent of Costco and Walmart. In general, the furniture stores looked rundown on the outside but just like any other USofA store on the inside...see pictures. In general things are a little more expensive on average due to import taxes. It will be an extremely interesting experience to fully furnish our home when we get down there...working within the company budget will a nice added wrinkle to an already otherwise daunting task.

Day 7: Travel day back to the states. In general an uneventful day (thankfully) but you could tell that everyone was ready to head back to the states...I think G3 may have even shed a tear when we got off the plane in Dallas ;-) In Dallas, we parted ways with G3 and AuntieR...both invoking massive demonstrations of sobbing from Kade...he definitely enjoyed his time with both of them. Once we got on the road back in CO, we immediately stopped at the first fast food restaurant we came across...SONIC...God bless the USofA!

Days 4 and 5...in Costa Rica

Day 4: So the first day of house hunting started out just fine. We had a hotel breakfast and headed back to San Jose. This time we knew where we were going and made the trip back in under 2 hrs...a dramatic improvement ;-) BUT...that is where it ended. We got back to the hotel and met out "counselor" in the hotel lobby. Apparently when you move to another country, my company provides a local counselor to help bridge the divide...a real plus IF the counselor works with you. So she gave us a quick rundown on the Costa Rica scene and then our realtor met us in the lobby. So off we all went, to find our mansion in paradise! OUCH...something akin to a sharp stick in the eye...called reality! We went from one dump to another and Jen and I were looking at each other utterly confused. So at the end of the first day I got on the horn with a few company relocation folks and said "WTF?". Well, it appears that we spent the first afternoon looking at furnished homes when we should have been looking at unfurnished homes...and we were looking in the wrong areas too...and our monthly budget was a little lower than it was supposed to be. Well, that was the first strike against the relocation system!

Day 5: We spent the next morning at the local mall looking over what Costa Rica has to offer. Electronics are through the roof and housewares are on par with the USofA. Oh yeah, and they have their own versions of a Dollar Store also ;-) Overall, things appear to cost on average right around the same as here. In the afternoon, we corrected course and let our realtor know that we were in the market for unfurnished homes in a better area with a bigger budget. Ooohhh, that made a difference. While we still were not shown our tropical paradise home...on the second day we definitely saw some "livable" situations... a big improvement. We finished the second day with a ray of hope and chose the 3 homes that we wanted to go back to visit the next day. Unfortunately, the home we really liked was in the wrong neighborhood and the house with the best community areas for kiddos was out in the sticks...so unfortunately there was no "easy button" this time.

To be continued....