My kind of tree trimming

Check this out.

I didn't have to be in charge of the tree. I didn't have to go get the tree. I didn't have to get out the boxes of lights, test the lights, or hang the lights.

I didn't have to explain to other family members that this was a family activity. One to be savored and enjoyed, dammit.

I didn't have to get out the ornaments, divide the ornaments into child-safe and adult-safe boxes, hang the ornaments, or arbitrate the children's participation in the hanging of the ornaments.

All I had to do was sit on the couch, placate Julia, take pictures, and drink a Foster's. And I still got to pose with an ornament, so as far as posterity is concerned, I totally participated.


Now I'm no Scrooge, but this level of participation in the trimming of the tree? Was like a breath of fresh, pine-scented air.

Disadvantage #1 to last-minute packing:

Actually, I'm not sure we can blame this on last minute packing, but let's just anyway.

I didn't forget the cable for the digital camera, because I distinctly remember unplugging it from the computer and holding it in my hand.

It now seems that I didn't, however, get as far as actually packing it. Hopefully someone around here has a compatible cable, but for now I'll just have to tell you that we got to see the Irazu and Poas volcanoes as the plane was taxiing down the runway, and then we flew right over Poas.

Good to be here

Few things are more difficult
When one is six years old
Than a flight that is delayed
Indefinitely
At bedtime.

Public Service Announcement for the State of North Carolina

Take your echinacea. You are about to be exposed to Julia's miserable, miserable cold.

Again with the beautiful

Julia's graduation was tonight. The kids were supposed to dress up in traditional dress from different countries, and somebody loaned us a Chinese dress for her.

I have more pictures, but won't post them now because of the monitor thing - can't tell what the colors are doing.

Plus I have a plane to catch in like 36 hours and I may have one or two things to take care of before then...

I apologize in advance

But a promise is a promise, and Phydeaux totally held up his end.

So here's the track in question (see yesterday's post if you weren't here when it first came up). It is the second of four Spiritual Truths that, from the track list, appear to take up about 45% of the CD. The part I mentioned yesterday is at 2:10, although if you start at 1:25 you get to hear about how his dad belted him for lying, "love the sinner" style. (Assuming the player has the same proportions on everyone's monitors, click on the status bar right above the right hand side of the volume button. The sin part is about where the envelope icon starts.)

Also, turns out that this is not technically a baby voice. It is an old geezer voice - also considered comedic gold hereabouts. But the "old geezer" is telling a story from his childhood, so he actually slips into "Grown man doing old geezer, doing little kid."

Cringing,



Here's a different kind of link to the same thing if that doesn't work.

Robin's pageant

Robin's school had its graduation today. Only the sixth graders graduated - and there were only three of them - but most of the event was more end-of-year pageant than graduation ceremony.

They have focused on the continents at all grade levels this year, so they had an artistic presentation representing different continents.

Drumming for Africa.
(I hope Julia picks drums [the other choices are recorder, guitar and keyboards] when she gets to first grade next year. I don't know why, it just seems right for her.)

Europe was represented by a playful dance/skit by the younger ballet students, as well as two songs in English by the entire school.
(Yellow Submarine and Love Me Do. I love my kids' school.)

Two traditional Costa Rican dances, of course, represented America.

And Asia (the best part) was represented by Robin and the other older ballet students.

Look how beautiful she is:

Cultural learnings of Costa Rica

You know what Costa Ricans find humorous that I do not?

Songs, shows and comedy skits where adults dress, act, and above all talk like children.

*Shudder*

Julia won a CD at a birthday party about a year ago, and rediscovered it this morning. They're listening to it now. I'm trying to decide which is more grating, the guy singing in a baby voice, or the flat-out preachiness of lyrics like "Your parents are a gift from God, gift from God, gift from God..."

Updated two minutes later to add:

The preachiness. The preachiness is worse.

She won this CD at a children's birthday party at a local nature park. And yet it has a spoken-word bit that says in part, "Children, teenagers and adults are all sinners. And that separates us from God."

In a baby voice.

This is really nice

Well, the video I posted is gone now and this one is really just the audio. Oh well.

Or go here for lyrics and audio.

Why I buy those 5-gallon things of water

Julia's bath, before Julia got in it:


This usually only happens on really heavy rainy days, especially at the beginning of the rainy season.

Anyway.

Hey, wanna hear something awesome? We're leaving for our trip on Friday and, although I do have a lot to do between now and then, my only outside obligations are afternoon and evening things.

I don't have to get up early till the day of my flight.