Costa Rica

I left Mexico on Sunday morning, early. Too early. When I arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, it was still only 10 AM. I came to my hotel, played on the internet until it was late enough to eat lunch, ate, sat reading by the pool for a while soaking up the Costa Rican sunshine, then came up to the room to take a nap. I spent the rest of the night in my room (you KNOW I was tired if I missed dinner!), watching TV, doing some work on the computer, appliqueing my second plaid Dresden Plate.


Monday morning, I had to leave the hotel at 6:30 AM in order to make it to my first school visit on time. How lovely to have a driver to deal with the traffic! I sat up front and practiced my halting Spanish with him all day as he drove me around the city. Did you know that they don't have actual addresses in Costa Rica? The addresses are like "200 meters north and 300 meters south of the catholic church". Can you imagine being a foreigner trying to find your way around here?


Anyway, Monday was a long day - I didn't get back to the hotel until 7:30 PM. It was all work except a quick brunch at a small corner restaurant eating a typical Costa Rican dish, gallo pinto con huevos revueltos (rice and beans with scrambled eggs). Isn't this the cutest little place with the colorful walls, the hanging bunches of onions and plantains, the coffee bags covering the ceiling? And the food was GREAT!



Today there was a bit of time between some school visits, so my driver took me to the Sr. y Sra. Ese Souvenir factory and store where they make and sell wooden souvenirs from some of the fantastic exotic wood found in Costa Rica. Of course I had to pick up a couple trinkets, wooden earrings,

a little wooden painted lizard,

and a wooden hotpad(?).

There were so many cool things there, just not many that I could 1) afford and 2) fit in my luggage. Exhibit A - this awesome carved bull's head.

This evening, I'm lounging in my room, watching TV, sewing, reading, catching up on blogs, and generally just relaxing prior to tomorrow morning's flight to Ecuador. I'm still having fun, but I SO miss my family!!

I love tequila!

Remember when I posted yesterday that I was a bit tipsy? Today I am sloshed! If what I have to say makes no sense, please blame it on the tequila. I swear to you, I only drink one of two times a year, only when I am traveling and with friends and not responsible for my children. Today, I let loose!

We had a 4 hour college fair today. 4 hours standing behind a table saying the same thing over and over again. 3 hours is torture. 4 hours is unimaginable. But salvation came in the last hour when a girl approached me and asked tentatively, "Um, do you have a twin sister who is a guidance counselor at a high school in Western Massachusetts?" My answer, of course, was "Yes!" How is it that I met a girl IN MEXICO for whom my twin sister had been her guidance counselor two years ago? It's a small world, after all...

After the fair, I hit the executive lounge in the hotel for some free hors d'oerves. I'm loving my upgrade!!!I get free laundry service, so I sent my gym clothes off to be laundered this morning (I've been hitting the gym for a mile run and and upper body free-wight circuit while abroad), and lo and bhold, they are back in my room wrapped in a cute package - free of course. Then, my two new professional friends, Lisa and Leticia, joined me on my adventure taking the Metro to a place to buy traditional Mexican dress. Jackpot! I bought this dress

and this shirt. Loving them both!

I also bought a small woolen bag in autumn colors with a butterfly on it.

When we returned, there was a reception for all us college counselor folks and the bar was serving a drink called a Paloma (dove). Lemon juice, tequila and Squirt (grapefruit soda). It is my new favorite drink, and I drank them down like lemondade, and didn't notice until I stood up that I was drunk, having drunk more than I have since before I graduated from college 17 years ago. My wake up call is in 5 hours for my flight to Costa Rica, so I'm not sure tomorrow morning is going to be all that pleasant, but boy did I have fun hanging out with the girls this afternoon and evening!

And before you think I have spent all my waking hours in a cup of tequila, I did finish one Dresden Plate block, and started in on number 2.

And guess what I forgot to share with you all? Remember my string quilt that I sent away to be quilted last February,

only to have the quilter disappear off the face of the planet? Well, she's back, and she contacted me on Thursday to get my mailing address to send my quilt back to me. Yay!

OK, must go. My cheeks are numb and my eyes can hardly stay open. I hope to catch up on blogs when I get to San Jose tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, ciao!

Greetings from Mexico City!!

I'm not going to lie to you - I'm a tad bit tipsy. I just drank a frozen tamarindo margarita the size of a toilet bowl. Oh, that sounds gross. Maybe the size of a fish bowl. Not much better. Let's just say the bowl of the glass was about the size of my head. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I arrived in Mexico City Thursday night at about 8 PM. An hour and a half later, I was through customs and the longest taxi line I have seen in life, and on my way to the JW Marriott. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I was upgraded upon arrival, so I'm staying on the Executive Level on the 23rd floor where everything is free. No joke. I can have two items of clothes pressed each day within one hour - free. I can have 5 articles of clothing laundered every day - free. Wi fi, free. I have access to the Executive Lounge with free food and drink at all hours - I'm nursing a coffee right now, hoping to counteract some of my tequila buzz. And get this, I can have fresh hot coffee and all the fixings, including real cream, delivered to my room each morning at a time that I specify - FREE! I am being royally spoiled right now.

But that is good because you need something to make up for the HOURS spent in traffic. I presented 2 sessions at the American School Foundation this morning, then sat in traffic for hours getting to an Education USA event, then sat in traffic some more on the way back to the hotel. I didn't even go to my room - I made a beeline for the Executive Lounge and poured myself a hefty glass of Merlot and snacked on the hor's d'oerves.

Then I got together with some other college counselors and set off in search of some Mexican goodies - after all, I have a giveaway to start collecting goodies for. Speaking of that, according to one of the online random number generators, the winners of the giveaway are:

#23 - Rachel, who said, "Oh Erin, you ARE a busy girl. Your adventures wear me out haha. Love the photo of your adorable nephew on that beautiful quilt. I agree - that is why we do this!
Have a great trip. You deserve some fun...and a rest!"

#18 - ShelleyK, who said, "I bought a house ~7 months ago. The only room that I got around to painting was my guest room - with a Central American theme! I've been to Guatemala and El Salvador, so I've sworn to only fill the room with authentic artwork - whether it be colorful paintings or woven fabrics. I would absolutely LOVE another piece to put in there! By the way, I don't comment often, but love following your blog. Your quilts really get me in the sewing mood."
and

#20 - Debbie, who said, "I hope you have a safe and uneventful trip. I don't comment often but I do enjoy reading your blog. I have even checked out some of your reading suggestions from my local library. I would love to entered into your giveaway."

So, ladies, congratulations, and be sure to stay tuned to see what treasures I find in my travels. Not too much today, because of all the time spent in the bus, but I did find some drink stirrers with red and green chiles on top, and some typical colorful paintings on parchement-like paper.

I've just arrived back at the hotel after a late dinner with an alum from the university where I work who wants to be involved in spreading the word about Washington & Lee University in Mexico. He is a delightful young man, and I had a great time talking with him. Plus, he took me to a wonderful traditional Mexican restaurant with fantastic food (I had fish tacos - yum!), a live mariachi band, and drinks the size of toilet bowls. But we've covered that already, haven't we?

Tomorrow afternoon, after the college fair, I am hoping to hop on the subway back to Templo Mayor, where I visited 2 years ago during my last visit to Mexico City, to look for some traditional local crafts. Then, early Sunday morning it is off to San Jose, Costa Rica. But for now, it is off to bed for me. Despite my reservations about all the unrest in Mexico right now, I've been having a great time. Here's hoping the rest of the week goes as well!

Checklist

As I prepare to leave for this trip to Latin America, I keep noticing little ways in which my little guys are growing up, and I fret about what I will miss while I am gone. Donald seems to incorporate more and more sophisticated words in his vocabulary every day - he doesn't sound like a little kid anymore. And he has moved into his own room and has been busily setting about making it his own space. Jason is running for Student Council Secretary (because 3rd graders can't run for President) and spent last night working on his campaign speech. This weekend he is headed to New York City with his grandmom to do A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM at the Natural History Museum. I hate to miss any of this!

However, duty calls. (For all of you misguided folks who thought this was a pleasure trip - NOPE! I'll be working or traveling every day, including Saturday and Sunday. I'll try include some fun stuff in there to share with all of you - and to get my mind off the fact that I am working every darned day!)

I need lists to keep me on task as I prepare for this trip abroad (my plane leaves in 4 hours). Unfortunately, the list shows me how much I have yet to do. The truth is, some of it just isn't going to get done!

Prepare some Dresden Plate blocks to applique onto backgrounds on this trip - check!

Finish another color word - YELLOW (W really threw me for a loop!) - check!

Stock up on books and PlayAway audio books for this trip - check!

Catch up on laundry and recycling so my family doesn't have to deal with it in my absence - check!

Help the kids clean their rooms so their Daddy won't throw away all their toys while I am gone - check!

Clean the fish bowl - check!

Prepare presentation for Friday's conference in Mexico City - nope

Edit scholarship market letters for this year that were supposed to have been mailed already - nope

Make travel arrangements for prospective students to visit campus next month - nope

Finish project for Board of Trustees meeting later this month - nope

Pack for this trip - other than my quilting and reading materials, nope

I'd better get cracking! (You can kinda see where my priorities lie, though, can't you?) Next time you hear from me, I'll be somewhere exotic...stay tuned! And be sure to leave a comment on my last post by midnight EST tonight if you want to be entered in the giveaway for a mystery gift from my travels.

Whirlwind! (and a giveaway)

Let's go back to Friday. Because of all the rain in Philly, the two schools I was supposed to visit were closed. Luckily, one of the counselors informed me of this the night before so I didn't get up early to be thwarted by locked doors and empty classrooms. Instead, I spent some more quality time with my sister and nephew. How rewarding to visit her where I get to sleep under a quilt that I made and see my nephew on his quilt and wearing a bib I made him. THAT is why I quilt - to see my creations in loving use.

On my way back to Virginia, I stopped in to see my old neighbors. Unfortunately, the husband's alzheimers is so bad that he is in a special unit and the wife, my quilting buddy, is living alone in a room in the assisted living facility. I miss them so much, not just them being my neighbors, but them also being the vibrant, energetic, independent people they used to be. My friend and I went out for a nice late lunch/early dinner, and then I rushed the rest of the way home to pick up my boys for one last time at the drive-in movies this season. (Incidentally, on Sunday, there was a membership meeting at the drive-in, and it turns out I volunteered 14 times this summer - wow! I had no idea!)

Ideally, Saturday should have been a day of rest. Ha! You know better! We started the day with karate testing - Jason and I got our brown belts and Donald got his yellow belt. (and my husband failed his photography test)

My mom came over to watch/support us, and we all went out for lunch together before she headed back over the mountain, and I headed home to my sewing room. I want to get some Dresden Plates ready to take on my next trip with me. However, wouldn't you know it, my machine started acting up! I took it apart, cleaned it, fiddled with the tension, and finally got it working, but by then it was time to leave. Argh!

Off we went to a cub scout campout. It was loads of fun, but I was super tired, so I jumped at the chance to sneak off to bed when I noticed Donald falling asleep around the campfire.

This campout was LIGHT YEARS better than the last one - an air mattress makes a HUGE difference!

On Sunday, I finally made some headway in the sewing room, but not with the Dresden Plates. I cut up a strip of yellow to make centers for some log cabin blocks, and started piecing some scrappy log cabins. I added another column to the scrappy lap quilt I started two weeks ago. And I made this drawstring backpack for Donald to keep his karate uniform in.

It is made from another old t-shirt that I never wore, with the reverse applique D, the top edge and the lining made from fabric from my stash - I'm not just busting fabric stash, I'm busting T-shirt stash, too!

Right now, I'd love to catch up on all the blogs I've been missing these past few weeks, but I need some sleep. Today was another lunatic day with work, karate, grocery shopping, checking on the painting job at our rental property and all the every day activities that make up living and loving a family and pets. I wonder if I can convince my husband that he wants to massage some of the tension out of my shoulders...

But before I sign off, I noticed that I've passed 200 posts. I'm not sure I have anything to give away that anyone would want BUT I am headed to Mexico, Costa Rica and Ecuador starting this Thursday. I would LOVE a reason to go shopping. How about a giveaway? I don't know what the prize(s) will be yet, but they will be from one or more of those three countries. Leave a comment by midnight Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, October 7th to be entered, and I will choose a winner (or two, or three) to be the recipient of some of the booty I am sure to find in the "mercados artesenales" that I am sure to visit! I am happy to ship anywhere in the world. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who reads my rambling posts about my adventures in quilting and child-rearing and life, in general. The connections I make with the people I "meet" through blogs bring me comfort and give me hope in a world that I find harder and harder to understand.

Just in case you think my travel is glamourous...

Let me be the first to dispel that notion. Today started with a cold shower. Note that I HATE cold showers, but I couldn't figure out which way to turn the knob for hot water in my sister's guest bathroom and I was the only one awake. Pathetic, I know, but I was in a hurry. I wanted to leave early enough to stop by a Dunkin Donuts on the way to my first school visit. Doubly pathetic, I know.

I got out of the house in plenty of time, but Dunkin Donuts was not to be. Knowing that I had to make a left turn eventually, I was driving on the left hand side of the many lanes of traffic on my way to the first school visit when I realized, too late, that I needed to be in the right lane to continue on the road I was on. I tried to move over, but I'm not the aggressive driver I used to be, and I didn't make it. I found myself driving over the bridge into Camden, NJ. Luckily, I don't stress out about being lost. I do stress out about being late, though, so I called the school and let them know my mistake and that I'd be running behind. Once over the bridge, I swung around to come back into Philly, along with about half of New Jersey all trying to squeeze into the same four lanes. Unfortunately, as I was nearing the toll booth, I remembered that my cash was in my jeans pocket - back at my sister's house. I navigated out of the toll lanes and started driving around Camden looking for an ATM. That experience was much like finding my quilting needle when I lost it on the couch one day this summer - akin to finding the needle in the proverbial haystack all the while with a rising sense of panic. I finally found a bodega with an ATM sign outside, got some cash, and got back in line to cross the bridge. I made it to the school half an hour late. Oh well. I'd be on time to my NEXT visit.

Wrong. The directions said that the trip to the next school would take 12 minutes. Try 31 minutes. I was late there as well. 0 for 2.

I arrived at my third school on time and had a nice chat with 3 young men who were interested in my university. I was feeling good about myself until the 4th young man showed up as I was packing up to go. I couldn't NOT take the time to talk with him, so there went my cushion of time between visit 3 and 4. I left there with not a minute to spare to get to school number 4 on time.

Did I mention yet that Philly is experiencing heavy rain today? Flood and tornado watches? Just as I was about to arrive at school number 4 on time, I was turned back by 2 men who had blocked the road with their emergency vehicles. The road was flooded. They sent me about 5 miles around to another entrance to the school, but I was late again. How embarrassing! In 8 years, I have rarely ever been late to a school visit, but today ruined my record.

I'm not doing this trip again next year. It wasn't just today. On Monday, I visited 7 schools in Wilmington, DE and got lost 4 times. I must have driven past a sign for the BLUE BALL BARN eight times on Monday. At one point, I was starting to think that it was a sign that instead of visiting schools I should find some good-timing cows to bring to the frustrated bulls that must certainly reside in that barn. (If that reference is lost on you, bless your pure heart and clean mind. If that reference offended you, I apologize, but don't you think it is better that I was silly giddy instead of succumbing to road rage?)

So, after visit 4, I began the trip back to my sister's house, a 30 mile trip that took nearly 2 hours, during which my monthly cycle began. Lovely. I came in the house, put on my pajamas and picked up my nephew for some baby therapy. I would be perfectly happy never getting back into a car in Philadelphia ever again. Of course, I have to go out later tonight to give a presentation. Ugh!

The whole week hasn't been me driving around lost. My nephew is super cute and such a happy baby. Doesn't he look good on me?

This was us yesterday. I came home from the school visits and found my sister in tears. We were supposed to be going out for a nice dinner and she had been trying on clothes trying to find something that fit to wear out. Those of you who have given birth understand her tears. It hasn't even been 4 months, and my poor misguided sister thought she'd be able to get back into her pre-pregnancy 2s and 4s. I packed her and the baby into my rental car and we went to Macy's to go shopping for clothes that fit. After giving her a crash course in styles and fabrics that compliment her more mature, voluptuous figure, I could virtually see her spirits lifting as we took advantage of a huge sale to get nearly a whole new wardrobe for her. By the time we dressed for a (very late) dinner, her smile was a real one. She's one hot mama, isn't she?

The whole happy family (that's the top of Dorian's head peeking out of the wrap on my sister. He slept through dinner. I tell you, he is ONE GOOD BABY!)


After two school visits tomorrow, I head back home. I'm looking forward to the quiet, leisurely pace of life in Lexington, VA and to hanging out with my three guys. And I am determined to spend some time with my sewing machine before I leave for Mexico next Wednesday. At least in Latin America I have a driver and don't have to navigate the roads on my own!

Three great days back to back!

No time for lots of text but there's always time for photos!

On Thursday, I stopped by Tamarack in Beckley, WV to check out the WV artisans' work. It's a good thing I can make quilts, because I could never afford to buy one there. This lap sized, machine quilted quilt was nearly $1200.

I love the stitching!



This hand quilted bed-sized quilt was nearly $2400! (sorry, forgot to rotate the photo)

Another photo not rotated, but I loved the quilting as well as the two fabrics used in this lap sized quilt. $600

I had to take a photo of this Christmas Tree quilt so I could remember to make one for myself. Very festive, but it isn't made with holiday fabrics.

It was the first time I've ever seen dolls made from corn husks. Aren't they precious?

Then, late on Thursday, my twin sister arrived in town, and we hung out late catching up.

Friday was a work day, but I was able to start and end it with my sister, and apparently she spent all the hours in between explaining to everyone she passed that she was not me. People didn't believe her. I know we are twins, but I don't think we look that much alike anymore. Apparently, I am in the minority. She loved the quilted composition book I gave her

and she gave me the coolest (warmest) socks that she knitted

and a novel, The Writing Circle, with a personalized note from the author to me saying that maybe this would be the year of MY novel. Oh how I wish!

Today, I had to work in the AM, then took my sister over the mountain to my mom's in the afternoon, then back over the mountain to my house to have dinner and fun with my brother and his girlfriend and her kids. Fun included all three of us siblings dying our hair reddish,

plus some karaoke

and some karate demonstrations.

Needless to say, I haven't been to bed before midnight in three days and I am exhausted, but my face aches from smiling so much. I love my family! I just wish my younger sister had been here to have fun with us. I'm on my way up to Philadelphia to recruit for this coming week, and I'll be staying with her, so we can work on making some memories of our own.