Cho-co-la-te

Happy Birthday to my Mom! She turns 55 today. We did nothing extravagant for her birthday, but the day provided many small and special nuances and things she loves.

1. We slept in (until 8am!)
2. Mom and I walked down Calle Principal de Pavas to buy her some new shoes and a snazy green bike shirt to match her green panniers.
2.5 We rolled a couple of errands into that one trip and went to the bank, made an appointment at a dermatologist, and got some groceries. Consolidation, ha!
3. We ate chocolate ice cream bars on the walk home even though we hadn't had lunch.
4. We used various and sundry vegetables that were in the kitchen (including strange Costa Rican veggies that are not found in the states) to invent a delicious soup which we had for lunch.
5. As the soup boiled and mom used the internet, I cleaned the house. I swept the entire house (upstairs and down) and cleaned the kitchen.
6. Abba bought mom a fancy bottle of Chilean wine and lots and lots of bars of chocolate
7. Mom and I planned our overnight to Tortuguero. Wap wap, we leave tomorrow morning at 6am.
8. Mom received many lovely emails from friends and family wishing her a happy birthday.
9. Abba made dinner (spaghetti, of course), and I made the dessert that followed: Brownies with lots and lots of walnuts and vanilla ice cream.
10. Abba and I sang an, albeit out of tune, Happy Birthday as mom conducted with her fingers.

**A few interesting notes about domestic house work in San Jose. First of all, the house gets COVERED by this ultra-fine volcanic ash all the time, so you constantly have to wear shoes (or get black feet) and sweep it away. It accumulates on every surface (a al Women in the Dunes style) and its so fine you cannot feel it, but it is everywhere. Secondly, due to the altitude, water boils below 100 degrees Celsius so you must cook things for longer to compensate.