Better late than never… someone once told me. Do you ever wonder who comes up with these sayings? Wouldn’t it be cool to be THE ONE who made a saying like this fashionable and timeless? I mean come on… if the “where’s the beef” lady can live on forever with a saying like that, I’m sure one of us can think of something clever. Someone had to say it first, right? BTW: If you feel a sudden burst of inspiration, please share… I would love to say I knew the person who coined the phrase “all we are is dust in the wind, dude” or something like that. 

Why Am I Thankful? I’m sure this question was on all your minds this past week. For me, I found out something interesting as I traveled back to Atlanta, Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Being a Buckeye (to the lay person, this means I grew up in Ohio)… I was no stranger to the four (4) seasons of the year. Winter always gave us a white blankety landscape where we could ride on lunch trays (our version of sleds) down a hill; barrel down bigger hills on skis; ice skate on ponds, build snow forts and snowmen, have outrageous snowball fights, and my favorite – drink hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows! In Spring, the days would become warmer and longer and flowers would brighten the landscape; we would hunt for Easter eggs, play tag in the rain, throw a ball around with some friends, roll down a grassy hill and then just lay there looking at the clouds trying to figure out what they look like. All this fun was Spring’s way of announcing the promise of summer which would drive excitement into every school child. Then you would hear the ring of the Ice Cream truck, and you knew Summer was here! This meant you would have ALL DAY to do nothing, if you wanted… OR, all day to do EVERYTHING:  swimming, baseball, tennis, kick the can, picnics in the park, camping, fishing, bike rides… <takes a breath>… 

“OH thE wAys And dAys wE will stAnd in A linE, WE will stAnd in A linE TimE AftEr TimE.” Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book, doesn’t it? Take just a moment and think about ALL THE TIMES you have stood in a line… Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! …which IS actually a REAL Dr. Seuss book and one of my favorites because it contains one of Dr. Seuss’s solid-gold morals, the joy of letting one’s imagination rip.

OK… the cat’s out of the bag (no pun intended), NOW you all know where I get my inspiration… from Dr. Seuss and lots of caffeine. Which reminds me… if you want to have some fun at a party, pull out a Dr. Seuss book and read it aloud as fast as you can. Trust me… belly laughing will ensue.

 Let’s get back to standing in lines. Seriously now, just take a moment and think about ALL THE TIMES you have stood in a line… just waiting. Here are a few that came to MY mind.

Imagine one projection T.V., several long tables, a plethora of cervezas (i.e. beer) and people screaming and cheering in 4 different languages. I know… this sounds a lot like every bar in the States during Football season… except for the speaking in 4 different languages part. BUT remember… I’m not in the States, I’m in Costa Rica. This means its FUTBOL season!!!

No… not Football Americana… but Futbol. You know the sport… very hip looking guys in shorts and cleats running around on a field, performing acrobatic stunts as they try to kick a ball into a goal while other guys use any body part they can to try and stop the ball from reaching the goal. I know… this sounds a lot like American Football… except for the hipster part, and maybe the shorts… but I’m talking about Soccer and the 2010 World Cup qualifying rounds.

They all have children who go to Del Mar Academy – my daughter, Sage’s, new school here in Nosara, Costa Rica. I don’t know about you, but growing up in Ohio, if someone showed up at our school from Kentucky… now THAT was a big deal. So for us, meeting people from around the globe is very surreal and exciting.

Sage’s First Day of School
My daughter is an extremely outgoing, fun-loving, intelligent person with a great sense of humor and a tad bit of shyness. IMHO, she has the perfect blend of humility and confidence that makes her the kind of kid that everyone wants to be around. Being an only child, she has been around adults quite a bit and so she has developed an uncanny knack for adapting to any situation we put her in. I wish I could have been as enthused about meeting new people at the age of 9.