Count Down ‘til Christmas/Christmas Break!!

30 days and counting ‘til Christmas….. Not only will I have some time off work for Christmas and new years, but I will also be traveling out of the country for a nice, relaxing time during those 10 days of my Christmas break!!!

I'll be very honest, this was not the christmas I was expecting nor dreaming of. It will be a rollercoaster, from now until probably next year. I will have my good days, and my “sad, just wanna cry” days. I’m glad we are taking some time off, and going away, especially on those days. I know that between shopping and going to Disneyworld and other theme parks it will help for sure to keep my mind away from falling into depression. On the other hand, I’m really looking forward to next year and what 2010 has in store for both of us.

Cold Water!!!

90% of the houses in Costa Rica do not have a water heater. Most houses, have a “thermos” in their showers, and will only heat the water on their shower. Since our house is only like a year old, we did want a water heater so we would be able to have hot or cold water on most of our piping system. Well, our contractor recommended a water heater tank. It was a timer, and has a capacity for 30 liters of water. It was supposed to be the best choice compare to a tankless water heater, because if the power for some reason went off, we would still have hot for 24 more hours.

Well, it was sooooo not the best choice!!! Not only is it a huge tank and it takes up too much space in the laundry room, but the tank only works fine for 4 months, and then it dies. Every four months I need to call the manufacture and book an appointment, so they can come and repair it. It takes them forever to book an appointment, and sometimes I’ve had to wait more than a week for them to come over. And when the repair guy comes in, which he can only come during weekdays during working hours, which means that either Ale or I have to ask for permission at work, they end up charging us more than $100, because their guarantee only covers visits. Seriously!!! We got this tank last December, and it stopped working for the first time on March 2009. The repair guy came in and said it was the timer. Well, it stopped working again on July. And now, last Friday I woke up to a cold shower, ‘cause our tank stopped working AGAIN!! I’m so tired of having to deal with this every four months. So instead of calling in, waiting for the repairman to come over and charge us a fortune (which it is, at least here in CR) we’ve decided to buy a tankless water heater.

It is much smaller, and though it will not heat water if there is no power; I rather not have a hot shower once in a while, than have to wait over a week every four months and be charged a ridiculous amount of money for something that I know it will have to fix in four more months.

Miami it is!!!

Well, after a phone call from my dad, we finally agreed, on taking a trip as we had originally planned it. We’ll be heading to Miami on December 24, and will be coming back home on January 3rd.
We’ll be also driving to Orlando. It’s been a while since my sister and I’ve been to some of the theme parks, and it will be Ale’s first time ever. We’ll probably go to two theme parks, and then drive back to Miami for every girls dream: shop, shop, and more shopping. We’ll also visit and drive around Miami downtown and do some other things while in Miami, because both dad and Ale will probably want to do something other than be at the malls all day long….

Decisions! Decisions?

Ale and I have been discussing whether we should go on this trip with my entire family. My dad seems not to understand the reasons why I don’t think it would be a good idea for the 5 of us to go on this trip, while apparently sister also thinks the same way as I do. Last night he called one more time to confirm by decision about not joining in if my mom was coming along. He just doesn’t get it!

So we came up with a plan B, C, and D.
Plan B is to go to Michigan, and visit Ale’s brother. We surf around and found some air tickets pretty cheap. We do have to drive for a couple of hours, but we’ll get to spend like 10 days with them.
Plan C is to go to the Caribbean. We can get a package where everything: tickets, hotel, transportation, and meals are included. With this option we can get away and at the same time go to a different place and enjoy ourselves.
Plan D is to stay in, but go to one of our beaches. We are bless to have both the Atlantic or pacific coast with gorgeous beaches. We can travel within any of our coast, and still have a great time.

One thing is for sure, we’ll be deciding by the end of this week where we’ll be going for our Christmas break. Ale said that he wanted to wait ‘til the end of this week because apparently we’ll be spending a lot of money on something, and so we need to organize ourselves well, so we have enough for everything else.

Trip?

For the last 15 years or so my sister and I have always spend the holidays with my mom and her family. This year my dad wanted to spend the holidays with us and invited us for a trip. We were planning to fly in Miami on December 24th and come back home on January the 3rd. My sister will be off school, and both Ale and I asked for sometime off from work. Then my dad had the brilliant idea of inviting my mom along with us…

(If I recalled the last time I travel with her for 5 days, which was last year, on the 2nd day I called Ale crying cause I could not bare to be around her any longer. For everything I did the way I dressed, or whatever I said she had a comment, argument, or disapproval.)

I decided to call my dad and ask him to uninvited her from the trip, he went on saying “your mom is a completely new person, and she has changed so much…..Laura you should give her a chance…” And even though I tried to explained myself his final comment was that if I didn’t want her on the trip, I needed to be the one who call her and uninvited her.

And so I did!!! I practice before hand exactly what I was going to say to my mom… I didn’t want her to pull her “victim card” again on me. I practice all the way back home on the car. I even practiced in the kitchen will preparing dinner… I really thought I had prepared myself for this conversation. But I was so naive….not only did she used her victim card again, but she expressed her deepest feeling towards me. Among some of her most memorable comments are: “I’m an ungrateful daughter, I’m a liar, she’s ashamed of me and my life/decisions, and of course…. I’m a sinner”. I’m guessing we will not be traveling together anytime soon, huh?

A "happy" family

I’m bless to have my dad, mom and sister alive. I mean, there are some many people out there who don’t have their parents or siblings with them now. But through the years I’ve learned that my family (dad, mom, and sister) unfortunately are not the ones I can go for help, an advice, comfort, or even have a good time. My dad was never around when my parents were married, and even though he has been a very responsible dad, and has always provided everything we need, he is not always around when we need him to be.

My little sister….well, she has a mind of her own. She has always been in her own world, with her friends, and her own plans. So we can go weeks without talking or seeing each other and she doesn’t even notice it. There is a 5 year gap between the two of us, so I’ve been use to doing thing without sharing most of them with her. But as time passed by, I always thought that we would be the closest of sisters, and have each others back.

My mom on the other hand, she raised us in her own way. Could have been different, but she thought it was the best way. And for many years we have not gotten along. We think very differently, and act totally different too. For years she tried to manipulate my decisions, my friends, and activities. She wanted me to do things I never liked or enjoyed, and she was always worried about they way we presented ourselves in front of others. She never approved any of the guys I had a crush on, and was always trying to convince me to date the ones she liked. When I came back from college she tried my like I was 15 again, and it was not up for discussion.

I decided to move by myself, and our problems got worst. Everything to her is either black or white. She became more judgmental with everything I did, and do. And for everything I do “wrong”, according to her standards, she has a comment or lecture about it. And now a day I have barely a relationship with her because of all this. A few months ago after attending a party at my dad’s, my mom got furious, and after spending a few minutes with her on the phone and calling me all sort of things, I decided that that would be it. For the last few months a have avoided visiting or calling her. But still, when we end up talking, we get into some kind of argument which always ends up badly.

I really wish that things were different between all of us. I wish I had a better relationship with my sister. That we could hang out and for her to be my “accomplice” watching each others back and doing things sisters would normally do. I wish my dad was more involved in my life. And then I wish my mom would just accept without judging my decisions and my personal life.