Happy Second Day of 2026!
I’ve been taking longhand notes of my oughts, thoughts and what nots for a day and half now, so it’s time to put what’s worth saving right here in this post so I can toss out the handwritten pages. (I DO NOT want to have to Genius Scan additional handwritten journals ever again. That was a three month long project because I had almost 300 journals! No, thank you. Life is too short!)
On Dec 31 I wrote…
I bought two whimsical notebooks for elementary age school kids because they were on sale for about a dollar each and I couldn’t even get that many lined loose leaf papers for that low a price. The covers are in English, as you can see, but the inside covers are in English and Spanish.
I think that’s fabulous! I wish the US had done that. I wasn’t given the option until junior high (or maybe it was high school?) to learn Spanish. How dumb is that?
Learning two or more foreign languages is common in most countries. The U.S. is so backward in so many ways that truly matter; it’s no wonder it’s falling behind on the world stage. Enough of that rant. But it’s one of the “oughts” and “shoulds” on my list, although the US is no longer my circus or my monkeys. But with the 250th anniversary of its founding happening this year, I do have a fervent (once in a lifetime) prayer. If there is any justice left in the country to be had, the current entire sordid regime will fall and be called to account for its treachery. I think the Founders must be rolling over in their graves right now…
On January 1st I wrote:
It is super windy today. Howling at times. I’m glad I got my walk in early. Did a lot of limb clearing from off the calle, too, so my neighbors’ vehicles can pass without getting all tangled up in tree debris.
My new landlady Deb wants me to meet with her again shortly before I move in on Feb 1st so I can actually see the place (not just pictures of it), start to figure out how I’ll situate my stuff inside it, sign the 3-month rental agreement, etc. I agreed and asked her to send me the rental agreement ahead of that meeting date so I can have Brooke Bishop and/or Jon look it over to be sure it protects us both adequately.
I know it will have a provision in it to allow her to show my space to her with a 24-hour notice if someone is interested in buying the property. I already agreed to that verbally.
I’d also want a provision in it that if either or us decide it isn’t a good fit that we need to let the other party know and that there be a 30 or 60-day move out notice so there is time for both parties to find replacement options (another renter for her, another rental for me) so neither of us are left in the lurch. That seems to make sense and Diane told me that’s pretty standard for rental agreements here. So that shouldn’t cause any stir.
Yesterday the fish monger at Mercado Municipal pulled four large fish for me and wrapped them in ice so they’d stay super cold on the way home. I’m thawing half of one for dinner and freezing the rest. I have probably eight meals worth, he gave me such big fish this time, all for about $12 USD. Heckuva deal.
On January 1st I also wrote…
I spent two and a half hours writing Spanish sentences using words that I either confuse with other words or haven’t memorized yet. It was a great practice. I felt a lot more confident after finishing it. I’ll continue to do that as the days pass…
BENTONITE CAT LITTER IS FABULOUS!
The bentonite cat litter that I bought in Sarchi’ last month is my forever choice from now on. Jon and Francisco recommended it, and Jon carried a 44-pound sack of it to his vehicle and up to my casita the day we bought it. I just started using it last week.
It is clean (not dusty), large grain, doesn’t track, balls up into tight clumps, and lasts for-freaking-EVER!!! And it’s affordable!
I have to get Charli a new litter box
This one (foldable, so I’d have it on the plane, although she didn’t need to use it, luckily!) has worked well for almost four months but the plastic bottom is starting to fray now. I’ll get her a roomier plastic one after we get moved. I don’t want to buy anything more right now that I will just have to add to the moving stash. I’ve already spotted the one I want so I know right where to get it.
Charli will love San Isidro!
There is only one other cat (Mau Mau, a spayed female like her). There are no dogs on the gated/fenced property to keep her sequestered so close to the house; the manicured lawn is large and wide open except for one tree, bigger than she had in Tacoma by a bunch, and it’s tree-lined along its perimeters so she can skirt around the edges without attracting birds (most of which are scavengers at that altitude and this one).
Of course, I’ll keep an eye on her whenever she’s out. She can be my walking buddy when I stay on the properry. Mau Mau has been there since she was a wee kitten and has done fine there, so I’m not overly concerned about Charli’s safety. I truly believe Charli will love it there after she settles in, which usually only takes a couple of days.
I will love it, too, needless to say!
I’m considering bringing one of the suitcases down from the loft
Next time Charli goes outside, I think I’m going to bring one of the suitcases down from her loft and fill it with most of the stuff I’ve already put into small boxes to reduce the volume of stuff that’s on the floor in her bedroom. Doing this will also help me gauge how much WON’T fit into the two big suitcases I moved with to Costa Rica so I can be absolutely sure Marianela’s vehicle will be able to transport it all, plus Charli and me, in a single trip. I’m 99.9999% sure it will all fit, but I want to be 100.10% sure. (This is my neurodiversity asserting itself. It’s called over-thinking and over-preparing, aka anal!)
My Estimate
Since moving here to this casita, I’ve only bought two fans (one of them 22″ and on a stand, but I can dismantle it and box it up again), a shopping cart that folds flat, an umbrella, and two small appliances (a crockpot and a rice cooker).
At Villas Escondidas before I moved from there, I acquired two cat trees which can be easily dismantled to take up very little space, and three lamps from Crystal and Dale (one of them large, but I can dismantle it). Jon was able to get all of it (except the two small appliances, which I got later) into his vehicle for the move here from VE, and Marianela’s vehicle is considerably larger, so I believe everything will fit just fine. I’ve been very careful not to buy anything I didn’t feel I truly needed because as a perpetual renter, schlepping more and more stuff from place to place could quickly become problematic! Hopefully I will be in San Isidro for years! Unless the property sells (it’s listed but expensive!) and the new people don’t want a renter in the suite downstairs.
I want to get a super heavy duty surge protector so my laptop and phone can’t get zapped by electrical disruptions, which happen frequently in C.R. I will see if Deb has one installed for her whole place. If not, I’ll offer to buy one for it if she knows a reputable electrician who can install it for her. If not, I’ll get two individual ones for the outlets I’ll have my units plugged into. Those aren’t very expensive at all.
I’ll ask a phone accessory store in Grecia what personal ones would cost and what an entire house one would cost. It’s crucial, sooner rather than later. I’m protected here in this casita right now.
Yesterday I Also Started Thinking (too much!) About Visitor Logistics
It’s 40 days until Lisa arrives (I’m transferring these notes on January 2nd), 29 days until Charli and I move.
I have to figure out who’s going to be taking me to and from the San Jose airport to get Lisa on February 11th pretty early in the morning and then take her back there on February 20th mid-day. I’d like to ride along both times, but the price might be too high to do that.
I’ll give Deb first dibs if she’s amenable. She says she’s happy to drive me into town when she shops so I can shop, too, so she might be willing to do the airport runs for the price of gas and a little bit more. I think she’d be least expensive because she’s already at the home location.
Next least expensive would probably be Marianela. I know she won’t gouge me. I could even ride the bus to town so she didn’t have to drive up to get me before she heads for the airport. She could fetch me in Grecia and take me from there and then return us both to San Isidro.
Dale and Crystal said their Uber driver charges $70 one way to the airport, so I would really like to find a less expensive option than that! $70 x 4 would be $280 just for transportation to and from SJO! YIKES!
I’m worried about these extra costs for Edward when he comes, too
His friend Edgar said he’ll pay for the RT flights, but there will be costs to just being here. Transportation from the airport being the most costly of them. I’m happy to pay half in both cases (Lisa and Edward) but extra trips to see sights will cost “tourist-price” fees, too. (Except the feria.) I’m thinking both should have somewhere between $500 and $750 to spend while they’re here. They may not need that much, but it’s a good idea to have it.
Most other transportation (except for gas for Jon’s vehicle when Lisa gets here, plus some level of gratuity for spending his days with us taking us to animal-y places) is super cheap. Buses are next to free to ride on. About a buck each way. It’s the personal vehicle transportation that costs more. I have some money set aside for incidentals, but not heaps of it.
Touristy type places start at $35 each for foreigners
And when it comes to Edward, he isn’t in tiptop health. The flights alone will be more problematic for him than for Lisa. He could get airport personnel to help him find his way between flights and stuff like that, though. But God forbid he has some kind of health crisis down here. That would be super problematic. So, having him come visit really worries me. But I know how much he wants to come.
That’s a concern for another time, so I’ll put it on the back burner for now!
I need to get my new address to Lisa asap
The customs agent will ask her where she’s staying when she lands in San Jose and she needs to have an answer and my phone number for that.
Checked Bag
Since Lisa has a ten hour layover in San Francisco and a 13 hour layover in Chicago on the way back, I think she’ll be required to claim her luggage at both intermediate hubs and schlep them around with her until it’s time to check them onto her final flights. That is, unless her bags will be scheduled to preceed her arrival in San Jose because of the long layover. She has to be able to claim and gather the luggage here on arrival or there will be an additional, costly trip to the airport to collect it later… and that would be just awful!
My neurodiversity is on full display here!
I can get really “down in the weeds” (anal) when it comes to dealing with uncommon happenstances. Anything outside my usual routine causes me to overthink and over-prepare!
TRANQUILO, KRIS! IT WILL ALL WORK OUT!
Visits are supposed to be 100% joyous occasions and adventures, not a jigsaw puzzle or potential minefield! Get a grip! Stop worrying about worst case scenarios: delayed luggage, expensive transportation, unexpected illness, etc. It’s all so temporary and unlikely to occur. The universe is unfolding as it should. Expect good things!
See what my mind likes to do? Visit Kobayashi Maru scenarios. DUMB!!! Most of what we worry about never happens so it’s a gigantic waste of energy to even entertain the ways in which things could go sideways.
I do fret about finances
But that’s mostly from ages old habit, as a former struggling resident of the U.S. True, it’s gonna take several months to replace the outlay unless Cat gives some or all of my security deposit ($750) back when I leave here but I’m NOT expecting that unless she finds another tenant before February 1st. It would be super nice to get it back, but I can’t count on it because I don’t want to leave them in the lurch. I adore them waaaaayyy too much for that.
AGAIN, IT WILL ALL WORK OUT. I’M JUST OVERTHINKING!!! WHICH IS PAR FOR THE COURSE WHENEVER SOMETHING CHANGES MY USUAL DAILY ROUTINE!
Which brings me to today
Today I walked 7500+ steps (two laps of it with Diane Cooner and her dogs! YAY!!!) and spotted a CR beetle crossing the road ahead of me.
Pretty thing, a little over an inch long.
Costa Rican Beetle Video:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1540971547115504
After that, I took the bus into Grecia because I had an intense hankering for a Subway sandwich. (Haven’t had one since leaving the States in September!) I also had a couple things to pick up, so I hopped the bus and in I went!
The bus let me off at an unfamiliar intersection (it wasn’t noted as being an official stop, so I probably just got off a block too early; the buses are now parking back at their old stations; they hadn’t been doing that the whole time I’ve been here), but I could see the red metal church from where I disembarked, so I found my way to the bank from where I was using that as a known landmark.
I stopped at the bank and got about $40 and then walked to Subway. Went in and inquired in Spanish if the customer service representatiive spoke English. Nope. But I was prepared for that.
I had pre-typed into Google Translate what I wanted and had rehearsed it until I knew it by heart. She didn’t have exactly what I wanted but it was close enough and I knew the Spanish names of all the condiments and sauces.
The sandwich was very, very good! The bread here is different. Lisa would probably even find it palatable. I sure did.
(On a side note, when I got back home, I discovered that the CSR had charged me for two breakfast meals that a dad had ordered for himself and his young pajama-clad son or grandson, so I ended up paying almost twice what I expected. No big deal — an extra four or five dollars — but I will be sure and check receipts from now on! I’m sure it was an oversight on the CSRs part. I certainly hope she didn’t charge them, too!)
After I left Subway, I went to a grocery store to get trash bags and a small jar of spaghetti sauce (hongos and hierbas — mushrooms and herbs). Then I headed to Mercado Municipal, where I spotted Christine Kerna just about to cross the street with another woman. I called out to her and we hugged and exchanged hellos. I asked her if she knew where the bus to El Cajon is parked these days (since the sign that was very near my bank was gone!) and she said she didn’t know but that the people at the bus barn within the Mercado would.
I bought a box of hongos (mushrooms) and a bag of mixed unsalted nuts (nueces mixtas sin sal) at the Mercado and then asked the man who sold me the nuts (in Spanish) if he knew where the bus to El Cajon was parked. He pointed. It was within 50 steps of where we were standing! So I went over to it, saw that its doors were still closed and that it was half past the hour, so I knew I had time to visit the bathroom before boarding.
When I got back home, I made spaghetti for lunch and looked at my watch to discover that I had walked a total of more than 10K steps that morning. Now — as of 3:30, I’ve walked 11, 270 steps.
Charli is asleep in the loft so I won’t be doing my suitcase loading until she wakes up and decides to go outside for a while. I’m in no mad rush to do it…
I’M COMMUNICATING WELL IN SPANISH
There’s nothing else to report other than I was 100% able to communicate in complete sentences in Spanish with the Subway clerk, the bus driver, the fish monger, the store clerk and the folks who were waiting with me to get back on the bus for the ride back to El Cajon. I even spoke Spanish to Christine at first! That felt FABULOUS!!!
Next time I go in I’ll find out where the bus stop is for San Isidro. I have a feeling it’s right there near the place that sells nuts, too. I spotted the bus stop for Santa Gertrudes. I’m just not sure that’s the bus I’d take to get to San Isidro. I’ve only ridden back from San Isidro to Grecia once and it had a Grecia sign on the front of it (which they all pretty much do).
Anyway, I’ll find out. I’m sure Dale and Crystal know which bus it is and where to get on it in Grecia. There’s still plenty of time to figure it out! I will need to take it up to see Deb a few days before the move. I’ll see if I can find out when her current renter plans to vacate this month and then go up shortly thereafter to see the place, make sure it’s gonna work for me, and sign the lease agreement.
Oh! Just bought another pair of my favorite slacks for Lisa to bring down to me. I’m almost never out of this pair so at some point I’m gonna need a replacement. It has zippers on all of its pockets and bungy-like ties around the ankles, so it’s thief-proof and ankle-biter proof (insect-wise). And they dry fast when they get wet. Perfect for Costa Rica!
Charli just headed outside so I pulled down the suitcases. Gonna get to work packing the miscelaneous stuff right away!