Chores, Chores and more Chores

Today was a beautiful day; no rain until late in the afternoon so any day when we can fold completely dry laundry…is a good day in my book. The most eye opening revelation for me is the amount of time spent on chores, whether it be sweeping the concrete floor, doing dishes by hand or doing/hanging laundry. Yesterday I swept the kitchen and living area at least six times, mostly because the boys are messy eaters and any crumb left unswept is an open invitation for our four, six, eight legged friends. I am still getting use to the little ‘land shrimp’ that visit late in the evening in the kitchen…they are small critters and they hop, they must have a short lifespan as they are expired by the time morning light hits. Part of my morning routine is to just sweep them onto the patio and out onto the grass. The laundry keeps me close to the house as I don’t dare leave it unattended for fear that the rains will come and set me back 24 hours…it really is a game…laundry that is. Early this week I hung and re-hung the same clothes over ½ dozen times in one day (lines out in the sun, vs. lines under the overhang)…It is interesting how my frustrations and hot buttons have shifted…most of my frustrations two months ago centered around missing deadlines at work and stress of client satisfaction--now much of my angst is centered around the exhaustive task of laundry!

I am happy to report that Mike and Michael survived their shower…a little touch and go as we started to smell burning plastic and looked up to see the smoke coming from the half way exposed electrical wires (YIKES). After mentioning this to Risa, she replied “oh ya that happens, you may want to talk to the school about that one). Mental note….everyone to shower in mom and dad’s bathroom from here on out!

We headed to the farmer’s market again today and were lucky to have been offered a ride (early in our journey into Santa Elena) by two American women from Portland who have settled here and now call MV home for the past three years. We stocked up on produce and ran into some other teachers who had transportation, so again, scored a ride home. We enjoyed the mariachi band while surveying the produce and chatting with the local farmers. The boy’s behavior is so much improved (really Auntie B) staying close to mom and dad – we hope we are redeeming ourselves at the local Supermercado after the havoc we wreaked during our first trip (chalk it up to transition)! The Tico kids seem very well behaved, always holding the hand of a parent and just overall very respectful. We then hiked a trail to the Dairy where we enjoyed ice cream and replenished our milk supply. We were eager to show Dad the trail I had hiked with the kids earlier in the week, so we headed to the children’s rainforest where we enjoyed the nature center activities and getting up close and personal with a coati. Home for a quick game of WAR, an early dinner and bedtime for the boys. The biggest surprise/pleasure of the day came when Michael stated he was done with dinner, promptly got up, hung up his bib on the back of his chair (we use old bibs instead of napkins) and took his plate, cup and silverware right to the sink…with no prompting)...AH, YES VIRGINIA THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS.