Tiny GrassTiny GrassAn unschooling family moving to Costa Rica Articles
Howler monkey poop
2008-01-21 23:48:00 We’ve got a lot of Costa Rica stuff we haven’t blogged about, and I thought y’all would especially dig the sight of howler monkey poop. All the times we were taking pictures of them in trees I was waiting to see if they would chuck poo-poo at us and show off their famed aim, ... More About: Monkey , Poop
Realtor interview #2
2008-01-21 23:36:00 That first realtor interview was not all that. I interviewed the guy who had sold us the house, not because we liked him but because we realized that he had done a good job of smoothing things over. I didn’t like him then, and I still don’t like him much now. If the house doesn’t ... More About: Interview , Realtor
What a Funeral Teaches You
2008-01-18 21:43:00 I attended a funeral today, my great-aunt’s. I woke up and prepared for another burial, putting on my “funeral face”. The day ended up surprising me - not what I imagined when I rushed out this morning. Share This More About: Funeral
Caring for Ducks in Winter
2008-01-14 23:23:00 Now that we are truly in the midst of a cold New York winter, some things have changed for my little ducky children! No more warm days spent basking in the sun…no more frolicking under the spray of a garden hose…and no more nibbling on fresh dandelion greens from the yard. And I’ve ... More About: Winter
What would you do instead of work?
2008-01-14 00:46:00 I’ve been trying to convince my dad to retire. He’s one of those old guys who thinks he just has to work, and the last time I bugged him about it, he insisted that he wouldn’t know what to do with his time. But he could come up with a list of 10 ... More About: Work
Do not search for a domain name with Network Solutions
2008-01-10 19:32:00 I noticed an article on the New York Times today that Network Solutions (aka www.netsol.com) has a policy of registering domain names that people search for. This was news to me, as I’ve always used them. Much to my chagrin, it is true - the domain name I searched for the other day - which ... More About: Domain , Domain Name , Search
the first realtor interview
2008-01-10 16:56:00 I’m interviewing our first realtor today. Frankly, the whole idea of selling the house is the hardest part about moving. I kinda wish we were renting and we could just pick up and leave whenever. The thought of the cosmetic stuff we have to do to sell - painting, etc. - is ... More About: Interview , Realtor
A Google contest shows what real motivation can do?
2008-01-10 16:49:00 Not too long ago, I read The Teenage Liberation Handbook. I borrowed it from a neighbor whose 2 kids went to school and then pulled out of high school. Both felt that the experience of being responsible for their own education, even for 1-2 years, was empowering. I was burned out by ... More About: Google , Contest , Motivation , Real
Is getting stumbled worth it?
2008-01-06 20:29:00 This past week we got stumbled. StumbleUpon.com is a website sharing social network, and someone liked my 5 reasons to move to Costa Rica. There was a DRAMATIC effect on our traffic - we went from some 20-ish visits per day to over 8,000 in 2 days. The majority of the visits were less than ... More About: Worth
Quick review of some podcasts for learning Spanish
2008-01-05 20:03:00 I tried 3 podcasts today - Notes in Spanish : Inspired Beginnners, Spanish Para Todos and SpanishPod. I have to say that I was disappointed in all three of them. I’m can’t say whether they are really poor or not, but after Coffee Break Spanish, they seem to lack organization and verve. It ... More About: Podcasts , Review , Quick , Learning
Learning Spanish: free online resources
2008-01-03 13:25:00 We need to learn Spanish to prepare for life in Costa Rica. I had a lot of fun immersing myself while we were there, and except for one occasion at a bus terminal where I was completely dumbfounded, I was able to communicate well enough. It would be really helpful to learn some ... More About: Resources , Free , Online , Learning
Some days, parenting just seems like a matter of survival?
2008-01-02 17:02:00 Yesterday was One Of Those Days where both kids seemed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed. J in a period where she’s prone to short tantrums and wanting/not wanting to do something at the same time. M is a handful; he’s got a lot of energy, is very ... More About: Parenting , Matter , Survival , Pare
Happy New Year: a mini resolution rant
2008-01-01 16:32:00 I’m not a fan of New Year ’s resolutions. I understand why people are prompted are to make them, with the hype surrounding New Year’s Eve, but I refuse to make them. At least I refuse to make them around this time of year. Everyone should take time throughout the year to look deeper at ... More About: Rant , Mini , Happy , Happy New Year
5 reasons to move to Costa Rica
2007-12-28 20:33:00 We met many interesting people during our trip, and it seems that everyone has different reasons for moving to Costa Rica , with the two most common are cost of living and climate. Here are 5 reasons why moving to Costa Rica works for me. 1. Climate I prefer hot weather over cold, by far. Costa ... More About: Reasons , Move
Unschooling - the next stage?
2007-12-27 16:14:00 I know I’ve mentioned that I attend an unschooling support group on a monthly basis. I really love it, and find it necessary for my sanity sometimes. But every so often at the support group, one of the veteran unschoolers starts a sentence with something like, “Whatever stage you are in your ... More About: Unschooling , Stage
Costa Rica - Where I?m at with the move
2007-12-23 11:07:00 We’ve been back in the U.S. for a month now, and I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about our proposed move to Costa Rica . I’ve been really trying to examine my feelings about our visit there, and how I feel about the changes that a move there will bring. Share This More About: Move
Dangers of the School Bus
2007-12-22 10:56:00 Summer’s post over at Mom is Teaching (a few months back), regarding sexual assault in schools, reminded me of a topic that I’ve been meaning to write about for awhile: the real risks parents take when they send their kids to school on the school bus. As a homeschooling family, this is yet another ... More About: School
Our new site design
2007-12-11 18:13:00 I’ve been bored with our old design for quite some time and finally got the time over the last week to refresh it. It took a few tries before Trish ok’d a design - she’s suprisingly averse to change in some ways. I felt that our our changed outlook on life - defining ... More About: Design , Site , New Site
An improved Christmas
2007-12-10 22:19:00 Last year, I vented a bit about Christmas giving. Trish and I revisited the issue and instead of my $10-15/person gift idea, she and her sisters decided on doing a ‘Secret Santa’ deal with a $50 budget. That would allow for one nice present rather than 5 books/cds/t-shirts/etc. And the gift has to be thoughtful, ... More About: Prove
the first ?normal? week after Costa Rica
2007-12-07 18:42:00 This week we got back to our normal lives, after Thanksgiving and M’s b-day bash last weekend. Normal is apparently a euphemism for busy. Busy working, cleaning, cooking, keeping up with bushels of laundry and toys all over the place. The vacation/scouting trip may be over, but things aren’t quite the ... More About: Costa Rica , Week , Costa
Hurray for co-operative games: a review of ?The Secret Door?
2007-12-03 13:12:00 Before we left for Costa Rica, we were playing Uno and Yahtzee pretty often at home. Sometimes M was really happy and complimentary when he lost and other times he was a REALLY sore loser. Unfortunately, losing happened more frequently, and he seemed to get really worked up about winning and would ... More About: Games , Review , The Secret , Secret , Door
Going with the gut vs. thinking logically
2007-11-30 13:14:00 Going with the gut is not something I was taught to do. My parents and other adults preached thinking things through and making logical decisions. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that making life decisions based on logic has pretty much failed me. Like majoring in Economics because it was ... More About: Thinking , The G , Logi , Goin
What will I turn to?
2007-11-29 23:47:00 We are already starting the cleaning out process in preparation for the move. Part of me is enjoying it. But then there is the other part. Arp has this tendency to look around the room and zero in on piles of my crap that he thinks should go. Today’s target was my collection of Martha ... More About: Turn
He?ll take the fall
2007-11-29 17:44:00 I made dinner last night and it tasted pretty terrible. Now, I like to pride myself on being a pretty darn great cook. I watch cooking shows, I try new ingredients and techniques. I can even cook some great meat, regardless of the fact that I don’t eat it. But some ... More About: Fall
Costa Rica car rental review: Vamos vs. Mapache
2007-11-26 13:12:00 Renting a car in Costa Rica ended up being a great decision. I give Trish the credit for wanting to do it, since I was down with taking public buses. I relented after finding out that renting a private van & driver would cost $300 for 3 days. While we would miss ... More About: Rental , Review , Amos
Habits - even in Spanish - are hard to break?
2007-11-24 18:22:00 Today’s my first day back at work and I hit a deli for some breakfast. All the deli guys are Latino and I’ve never spoken a word of Spanish to them before, and had no intention of doing so this time either. Apparently, my habit of ordering food with limited Spanish is hard ... More About: Habits , Break , Hard , Nish
This is what happens?
2007-11-23 02:46:00 …when you get a stressed-out dad, trapped with his kids for 4 straight weeks, doing some crafts on the road. Can you guess the missing letter? fun
Miscellaneous Questions on Costa Rica
2007-11-21 11:00:00 Why do they always bring you margarine in restaurants? And where is the butter? The first time I was given margarine I was kind of surprised and grossed out. I haven’t eaten it in 10 years, probably. I am guessing it is just cheaper than butter. Or do Ticos just ... More About: Questions , Costa Rica , Costa
Ziplining
2007-11-20 11:00:00 I can’t even believe that I went through with it. Do you see my happy smile? Well, check out my left hand. It is clutching the metal railing extremely tightly. One of the ziplining guys was trying to get me to walk a little closer to the edge for the picture, ...
El Mundo de Serpientes
More articles from this author:2007-11-19 18:00:00 So we headed over to the World of Snakes in Grecia. We were partly driving around just to see some of the towns in the Central Valley in order to get some idea of which ones we might like to live in. The World of Snakes was a nice place to bring the ... More About: Mundo , El Mundo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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