Brain Clutter: Episode 5

*I could be a hippie, albeit a non-camping hippie.  A hippie in a house. A house hippie. And the drug-free type. But the rest of it?  Not a stretch…

*When one boils down any religion, it all looks the same: belief in a higher purpose and kindness to others

*There has to be a better way to come back from vacation. A vacation from your vacation or a Vacation Detox program  to ease one back into real life.

*Pura Vida!

*From Scrambled Eggs Super by Dr. Seuss:

Scrambled Eggs Super dee Dooper de Booper, Special De-luxe ala Peter T. Hooper

*I just don’t get food on a stick. Or food art. I lose my appetite just thinking about eating something that’s made to look like something else.

*City plazas, that’s what we need. Thanks, Latin America, for helping me see the light.

*Could we arrange a situation where we’d receive a list from Heaven detailing exactly what we do well and a prioritized list of things to work on? I don’t even know where to begin…

 

*I hate when I find a new song that I love so much I listen to it on repeat for a week until I no longer feel the same love toward it.  Overplaying spoils the goodness. Down with overplaying.

*Post Conference: feeling strangely hopeful despite my wretchedness. :)

And Elder Holland is my hero.

*I want my kids to travel while they’re young so they’ll realize that people worldwide are just trying to live a happy, full life in the best way they know how.  There is beauty and kindness everywhere.

*Is determination a talent? If so, I am quite talented, people.

 

*I wish I could see myself from another persons’ point of view, just for one day. I think I’d figure out pretty quickly what things I needed to change.

*I have brought a painfully slow new meaning to the phrase ‘late bloomer’.

*I wish I could move the mop/broom/toilet brush/dust rug/sponge just by thinking about it. If I close my eyes and concentrate hard enough on the task, do you think it would work?

*Must. Visit. Biltmore

*It’s hard to say goodbye to the voices in my head. But if I don’t, it might get crowded. Or is it the more, the merrier principal? Congested craziness…at least I’d be in good company.

*I love teenage boys—not in a creepy, old-enough-to-be-their-mother way, but I think they’re so cute., And I get to have two of them!

*I really need to learn a new language. Spanish? French? Morse code?

If you’re at Holi and You Know It

If you’re at Holi and you know it,

throw some chalk….

if you’re at Holi and you know it, throw some chalk,

If you’re at Holi and you know it,

then your face will surely show it,

if you’re at Holi and you know it, throw some chalk.

(Then close your mouth, smear it in and dance around….)

Tropical Road Trip of Culture

Costa Rica 2012

Dedicated to the Taylors

Thanks for being so vulnerable on our journey.

Terms to Know

Puntarenas  (adj.) /poon-tah-ray-nus/

1.disgusting

2. vomit inducing—think loose garbage floating in alkali ocean water with an overlay of grime, just for starters

SU-PER Bueno! (adj.) /soo-per bway-no/

1. Opposite of puntarenas

*Things that are puntarenas*

(Counted in the Order of Franklin)

Number first:

Puntarenas and its ferry

 

Second thing:

Costa Rican driving and roads

3:

3-person hotel rooms @ Mr. Punta’s hotel

Fourth:

Mr. Punta (‘Eh…Mr. Cokes, I notice you have 4 people…’)

Fifthly:

Beach Bill, the Facebook stalker

Six thing:

Wringing sweat out of our clothes after a hike through Manuel Antonio

Number 7:

Bare old man bum at the beach.

(You’re welcome for the sun sticker. Trust me—staring into the blazing sun would hurt your eyes  less than looking at this picture…)

8 thing:

Spindly jungle spiders clinging to windows during a rainstorm

*Things that are SU-per Bueno*

#1

Marshmallow Lady

Number Second:

Baldi’s ample roof for protecting us in a jungle downpour

Third:

Our friends at Envision

(Where DID that smile come from?Or did I mean smell?)

Crocodiles in the wild and Franklin’s estuaries

Manuel Antonio

(There’s a sloth in the tree…)

(And an iguana in this tree)

Eating dinner on top of a plane overlooking the jungle at sunset

Our Cabin de Romance in Atenas

Costa Rica soundtrack featuring Beck and Flo Rida

(“Hey, this is a Zumba song!”—Heather Taylor)

Highly detailed  signs

Heather’s Marriott face

(I didn’t get a picture, so you’ll have to imagine sheer, unadulterated joy and relief)

A day in the hammocks of Los Suenos, surrounded by our local friends

Jac0 (Pardon, policia—donde es Jayco?)

Miguel’s fruit stand

The Yaris

Costa Rican town plazas

‘Sounds of the nature’,

or Heather’s screams from the zipline

Traditional Costa Rican fare: black beans, plantains, and Tico Tacos (best taco I’ve had)

Also, the food that kept us alive until we went to the Super Bueno Super Mercado

Our last meal on American soil (with our ‘knifes’)…literally, on the soil…

And the last meal of our vacation, also spread upon the soil

Josue

Shallow, hot tub temperature ocean water

Body boarding at sunset

Captain’s Quarters on the beach

Mango season and the 33 we consumed

Sleepovers in a hotel at the base of Arenal volcano (which is there, behind the clouds)

Mr. Punta’s shower

Jungle rashes and shots in the bum

Jungle rain

1,000 km in one week=

Tropical Road Trip of Culture!