We are back from China. The trip went fairly well. I thought I’d compare what we did to the todo list for Costa Rica.

1.                    Hit the beach – I don’t recall ever seeing sand. We did ride in several boats though. One of which we had to power outself via pedal power.

2.                    Visit a volcano – No volcanoes were to be found.  

3.                    See a monkey in the wild and not contract rabies – We saw a wild kitten

4.                    Check out some sea turtles – We saw live turtles at a pet store.

5.                    Drink Costa Rican beer – We drank plenty of Chinese beer.

6.                    Smoke a Cuban cigar – This was a non smoking trip

7.                    Visit a rain forest – We were rained.

8.                    Attempt to surf – Again, no beaches were seen

9.                    Read Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix (audio books count) – I mostly read a book about the Khmer Rouge

10.                 Hike in a jungle – Plenty of hiking was done. It was all in big cities though

11.                 See and photograph some exotic birds – counts for #25 – I got pics of some parakeets in one hotel we stayed at

12.                 Buy touristy crap excluding items relating to #26 – Plenty of this was acquired including a RC helicopter, Tea flavored candy, and many chopsticks

13.                 See a waterfall – Didn’t happen. We did swim in a cool pool that caused water to fall out the sides

14.                 Sample authentic local food in conjunction with #5 – Every meal was local excluding the sidetrip to a McDonalds

15.                 Meet someone that we stay in contact with after the trip – One friend on FaceBook has already been made.

16.                 Hot tub with or without #15 – There was some hot tubbing

17.                 Snuggle – A little here, a little there

18.                 Haggle with a street vendor – Nearly every purchase requires haggling

19.                 Buy a cool hat – possibly a Fedora and possibly from #18 – I used the hat I purchased in Costa Rica

20.                 Do a zip line and not break anything – No ziplines were found

21.                 Last 10 days near the equator without getting a 4^th degree sunburn – I got tan, but never burnt. This was with several 100+ degree days and many hours walking in the sun.

22.                 Learn 100 new Spanish words – We picked up a little Chinese. No where near 100 words though.

23.                 Visit a questionable museum – Shanghai museum was swanky.

24.                 Do a canopy tour – We toured the Shanghai canopy atop the 2^nd tallest building in the world

25.                 Take 800+ photos – The total was more list 1600+

26.                 Not purchase anything with googly eyes – Victory (again)

27.                 Keep my mouth shut as necessary so as to not botch up the trip for all – This mostly happened

While there we did the hop on / hop off city tour. This is where you pay $40/person to ride a double decker bus for 2 days around New York City. There are 45 pickup/dropoff points and you can ride as much as you want. You also get a guide that tells you about local attractions. This was the highpoint of the trip.

One guide was quite political and made sure to let us know how our vote for president would decide if we would be staying at war or not. He also let us know he did not like investors coming in to his city and driving property values up.

The next interesting guide called American history as she saw it. She told us how Teddy Roosevelt read Rich Man Poor Man and decided that he should craft the “New Deal” to correct the situation. For those non history buffs, it was actually his 5^th cousin, Franklin Roosevelt that crafted the New Deal. We also drove by the famous Guggenheim museum in NYC. She proudly let us know Floyd Wright designed that structure. She was sure to point out Oprah’s best friend Gayle attended an event in a church we drove by also.

There were a few other tidbits of homemade history she peppered us with, but these were the highlights that stood out. I feel we definitely got our money’s worth!

Other than the GMA piece and sightseeing, not a lot else got done. We stayed at the Milinium Broadway Hotel. It was ok as a hotel, but the location was perfect. We did get 10 “I 'heart' NY” shirts and some other trinkets. Overall, it was a nice unexpected trip.

I’m about to embark on another trip. This time it is to Sin City with 3-4 friends and a few other tag-a-longs I don’t really know. We leave Thursday morning and return Monday night. Kelly is staying home and initially incouraged me to go on this trip. I'm not sure if she still wants me to go but the tickets are bought and bags will be packed shortly.

For this trip someone else came up with a collection of must-do events. They even picked favorites for each category. I was selected for #3. Below is the list.

The 2008 Las Vegas Olympics begin August 28th.  They will be comprised of 10
events spread out over four days.  Anyone currently living in Tennessee,
Mississippi, or Arkansas is eligible to enter.  

Here is a list of the events:

1. Blackjack - Everyone starts with $50 and has one hour to earn as much money as possible.  (Gold medal favorite: Jeff K.)
2. Darts - Traditional cricket tournament beginning at midnight, the hour of the devil.  (Gold medal favorite:  Dave N)
3. The Buffet - All contestants begin at the same time and winner will be the person who eats the most plates of food.  Each plate must have a minimum of 0.5 lbs. of food on it.  (Gold medal favorite:  Tom F, due to his food eating display in Gulf Shores last year)
4. Comps - Each contestant compiles a list of all free things he receives during the trip.  Whoever's list has the highest retail value wins.  (Gold medal favorite:  Daniel B.)
5. Casino relay - The winner will be the person who visits the most casinos and brings back a chip or souvenir from each one.  (Gold medal favorite:  Ben)
6. Boozing - Obviously, the winner drinks more than everyone else and doesn't pass out.  (Gold medal favorite due to secret practicing at home: Ben)
7. Overall gaming - Whoever plays the biggest variety of games wins.  There will be grouping of games, i.e., Penny slots and Quarter slots don't count as two different games.  (Gold medal favorite:  Trey)
8. Girlies - Whoever gets the most lap dances wins.  (Gold medal favorite:  the winner of the Blackjack event)
9. Sports gaming - Everyone starts with $100 and bets on the college football games - winner will be the one with the most money.  Minimum of three games must be bet on.  (Gold medal favorite:  Not Dave)
10. The last event will be decided on during the flight to Las Vegas.  

Personally, I don’t understand what all this means. I’m not even sure on some of the words. Still, I’ll try to report back on what happens and who makes it back alive.

Terminus was a lot of fun. I went with sociallyawkrd and   

quietish

We drank much beer, partied like it was 1998, and socialized late into the night. I don’t have any awesome standout stories that come to mind but there were a lot of cool small incidents.

• We saw a great video on how to make a duck tape purse.
• We jumped up and down a lot at Wrock Chicago.
• We ate at a lot of expensive places with $3 Cokes (no refills) and $15 hamburgers.
• We learned there are different parts of the internet.
• There was a memorable mint exchange that seemed to blow a cabbie’s mind
• I met many new HP/LJ folks.
• I paid $6.75 for a beer at Kitty O’Sheys
• We paid $5.99 a six pack at Warehouse Liquor around the corner
• Hilton screwed up our bill and billed us for 2 in-room fridges we never got and omitted billing us the $41/day parking. Once we got that cleared up we still couldn’t leave the parking lot because the machine said our ticket wasn’t validated. You would think that if you pay $164 for 4 days parking they would get it right!
• We skipped the Bon Voyage Ball so we could get home in time for T’s 1^st day of school.
• sociallyawkrd had a gravy soaked lunch at a Flying J on the way home.

All in all, it was a good time.

OK, so we got back form the land of Pura Vida last night. I went with my son T and sociallyawkrd. Before we went I made a list of things I wanted to get done while there. Here is the scorecard of what worked out plus a few more tidbits...

1. Hit the beach  - did it. We actually went to 2 beaches. The second was more human freindly as the waves in the first were life threatening
2. Visit a volcano - did it. We saw 2 volcanoes. The first was kinda crummy though due to heavy rain, being cold at 9000+ feet in altitude, and cloud cover obscuring tthe crater and other key features. The 2nd was great. We had clear views and even saw it erupt and lava flow. We wanted to cook marshmellows off the lava but were advised that was a bad idea.
3. See a monkey in the wild and not contract rabies - did it. I didn't get bit so I am assuning I am rabies free.
4. Check out some sea turtles - did it. We saw them lay eggs, return to the beach, smoke cigarettes
5. Drink Costa Rican beer - did it. Imperial would be the preferred local brand. Yum yum
6. Smoke a Cuban cigar - did it. Nice and smooth. Also smoked a Costa Rican cigar. It was ok. 
7. Visit a rain forest - did it. Visited several. Amazingly they were fairly bug free. We get bit a lot more at home. I didn't get one mosquito bite the whole trip.
8. Attempt to surf - Best I got to was body surf. Waves were small and no boards to be found.
9. Read Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix (audio books count) - did it 1/2 way. Read Goblet but left OOTP at home. Also read the Translator and 1/2 of Beautiful Boy.
10. Hike in a jungle - did it. We hiked all over the place. No signs of jungle rot to be found luckily.
11. See and photograph some exotic birds – counts for #25 - did it. No parrots but got a few bird pics.
12. Buy touristy crap excluding items relating to #26 - did it. We probaly got $400+ worth of crap.
13. See a waterfall - did it. We actually drove over it in our bus.
14. Sample authentic local food in conjunction with #5 - did it. Ate more beans and rice than I cared for.
15. Meet someone that we stay in contact with after the trip - did it. We exchanged emails with the group and Kelly already got an email from one of them
16. Hot tub with or without #15 - did it. Shockingly, nearly all the hot tubs were not hot. There were more like room temperature pools of water.
17. Snuggle - did it. It actually got cool/cold several nights. I snuggled just to steal/share body heat so I could warm up.
18. Haggle with a street vendor - did it. Bought a Pucca watch for Kelly, cigars, and other items from street vendors.
19. Buy a cool hat – possibly a Fedora and possibly from #18 - did it. It was more like the hat Jason Mraz wears in his video. Several people said they liked it.
20. Do a zip line and not break anything - did it. It was awsome!
21. Last 10 days near the equator without getting a 4^th degree sunburn - did it. This was the most surprising part of the trip. I usually get burnt bad when I spend any volume of time outdoors. Somehow I eluded being cooked alive. Don't ask how.
22. Learn 100 new Spanish words - I never took could but I know how to get a beer and ask where the bathrooms are. Those are really the only things you need to know. Everything else is just verbal filler.
23. Visit a questionable museum - did it. The national museum was pretty mediocre.
24. Do a canopy tour - did it. Rode in a tram 5-100 feet above several miles of jungle.
25. Take 800+ photos - did it. Not sure the exacy total but easily got 800 pics.
26. Not purchase anything with googly eyes - did it. Kelly tried real hard but I held her back on this.
27. Keep my mouth shut as necessary so as to not botch up the trip for all - did it. It was a great trip.

Costa Rica is only 4 days away. Everyone appears to be ridiculously excited and can’t wait to go. We have spent a lot of time and effort prepping for the trip and hopefully it will pay off and allow everything to go smoothly.

While we thought we were all ready, somehow today we had lunch at Target and spent another $146 on clothes and other travel related items. We probably need to go sooner than later so we don’t spend another $500 preparing.

FIY: I’ve made the following list of things I’d like to do while there…

1. Hit the beach
2. Visit a volcano
3. See a monkey in the wild and not contract rabies
4. Check out some sea turtles
5. Drink Costa Rican beer
6. Smoke a Cuban cigar
7. Visit a rain forest
8. Attempt to surf
9. Read Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix (audio books count)
10. Hike in a jungle
11. See and photograph some exotic birds – counts for #25
12. Buy touristy crap excluding items relating to #26
13. See a waterfall
14. Sample authentic local food in conjunction with #5
15. Meet someone that we stay in contact with after the trip
16. Hot tub with or without #15
17. Snuggle
18. Haggle with a street vendor
19. Buy a cool hat – possibly a Fedora and possibly from #18
20. Do a zip line and not break anything
21. Last 10 days near the equator without getting a 4^th degree sunburn
22. Learn 100 new Spanish words
23. Visit a questionable museum
24. Do a canopy tour
25. Take 800+ photos
26. Not purchase anything with googly eyes
27. Keep my mouth shut as necessary so as to not botch up the trip for all

I may not get it all done, but that is my list. As you see, many items are interrelated. Also, several will be taken care of with the tour so that relieves me a lot of the burden. I’ll try to keep track and report back on how successful I am.

I have nothing interesting to write, yet I am plugging away here. Sometimes I feel if I start typing that something good will eventually pour from my bran. Often that assumption is incorrect.

I will state that today is a bad day. I stayed up past 2 last night and drank entirely too much beer. That was a repeat from Monday night. It is all starting to catch up to me. So now I sit here both emotionally and physically tired. I don’t like my job anymore and am irritated by life in general. I can’t seem to get over this depressive hump I’ve had for the last 2 months.

I do not know what I can do to feel better. I’ve been given a lot of suggestions, but I truly don’t feel like any of them will do the trick. I do know what can make it worse and I am having a hard time resisting doing that. Self destruction feeds itself and I have a hungry soul. It needs to be fed.

This post is just getting more and more depressing. There is one thing that keeps me distressed and I can’t get it out of my mind. I’ve had lots of dreams and talked in my sleep about it lately. I keep picturing this over and over and hate it but can’t make it go away. I even keep waking myself up and think about it at work. The image will haunt me the rest of my life.

I can’t go into too much detail but here is a snippet of my dream. I’m sitting in a somewhat dark room. I can’t tell if it is a bedroom or a small hotel room. I look up and there I see him. He is a large figure standing in the shadow. The Kool-Aid man is standing before me. I then see him go to the bathroom and hear him pee. When he returns I can’t stop wondering how he peed. He doesn’t wear pants and I see no orifices for liquid to exit. How does the man pee? I try to ask him and he answers but I can only make out mumbles. I don’t know what all this means but think I should see someone about it.

Can anyone help me with this?

Kelly, 

I just wanted to let you know that I cannot express enough how hard this had been for me and how much I am trying to get past things and work to make sure the situation that brought this to a boiling point is corrected. I know it isn't all up to me, but I'm trying to do whatever I can.

Again, I want to remind you that I think you are beautiful, hot, smart, funny, and interesting. I don’t tell you that enough but that is what I think. I love your body. It has just the right amount of curves. You aren’t too skinny and aren’t too big. We are a perfect fit when we cuddle on the couch. I think you are smarter than me most of the time. You are so much more well read, know a ton more about medicine, are much more versed in history and literature. You are a pop culture guru. You even know a lot of computer stuff I don’t know. You have an excellent observational Seinfeldian wit. You know you are interesting. Everyone wants to talk to you and know more about you. I suspect you don’t even notice how much this happens.

Yes I do think about and like sex a lot, but I think a big part of it is you. I was obviously interested in sex before I met you, but I don’t think I lasted without it for 24+ years if I didn’t have fairly high standards. As you know, I asked you to marry me. I choose you. I choose you today. You yourself said that I have all the choices. I make more money, I have much better family support, I am hours away from a college degree, I am good looking(in your eyes), I have a great/cool/interesting job, and there are probably more things that give me choices that I’m not even aware of. I know that give me a lot of options and I am making a choice. I am choosing to stay with you. I can’t say in the last few weeks I haven’t thought about other options. I’m sure you have also. I know you have in the last year. Still, I want to be with you and will do whatever is in my power to make that happen. I choose you. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to screw up and do something stupid that may drive you away. I may do something that I think will help us, but it may drive you away. That will likely happen sooner or later. It’s not in the plan though. I’m trying hard to be sure that doesn’t happen. Just know that I choose you. I choose you.

I know you usually don’t, but I feel a connection between us almost every time. You may take this as bad kismet for you, but I truly believe that if I were married to someone else I wouldn’t want it as much. There is just something about you that I am usually at a loss to describe. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I guess it is the complete package of you. The cumulative combination of all the reasons I love you. The way I know I can tell you secrets and inner thoughts that I could tell no one else. You know me better than anyone else in the world. Better than my mother, sister, friends, anyone. You are not just my wife and mother to my only child. You are my best friend. Even if we were not together, you would still be the best friend I ever had. Friends often take advantage of each other and take each other for granted. We are definitely guilty of that. I don’t treat you with the respect I should. A lot of people do that to their friends over time. It’s not right but it does happen. I’ve been trying hard the last few weeks to not do those things. It takes a lot of work but it is work I want to do. The good thing is that since I want to do it, it feels less like work and more like an expression of how I love you. I feel stupid saying this because it is as cliché as giving “hugs” on lj, but I believe you are my soul mate. I hope you feel the same.

I know you’re tired of talking about the situation. I am too. I just can’t get it out of my head and every time we talk about it a little more I feel better and some things I was wondering about disappear from my thoughts. My greatest hope is that as you answer more of my often unreasonable questions and as time goes on the thoughts will disappear altogether. I need patience though. This will not happen in 1 month, 3 months, or even a year. We aren’t even 3 weeks into this and I can tell you are getting frustrated. Please try to have patience and work with me to make things better.

I need you. I love you. I choose you. I want to be with you 4ever. You are the tapioca to my pudding. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.