Is it June yet?

Because that’s when I’m going on vacation…in Costa Rica! Yes over the weekend I accomplished many things, and buying my ticket to Liberia, CR is one of them. We will be staying in the casa of one of the bridesmaid’s parents in the northwest Pacific Coast region. I forget the name of the town, Playa something, just south of the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa which is home to the largest remaining stand of tropical dry forest in Central America. I bought the Lonely Planet guide to CR and the more I read the more excited I am getting. So much wildlife and things to see, maybe I’ll even take a surfing lesson.

Other things I accomplished over President’s day weekend:
Did my taxes (and my refund covers the cost of my airline ticket and passport renewal, sweet!)
Went to Yoga on Saturday AM
Swam 2800 yards in the pool on Monday
Shopped at Target, Ross and Whole Foods
Cooked yummy food
Took dog for long walks
Watched season 2 : disk 2 of Six Feet Under

We tried to go see the Tea Leaf Green show at 14 Below in Santa Monica on Saturday night, but it was sold out when we got there. Super lame-o.

Why can’t every weekend be a 3 day weekend? I’d get so much more done.

And finally some food for thought. This is reposted from a forum I frequent, NoPuppyMills.com, in a thread concerning the “designer mutts” that are all the rage right now, “puggles” (pug/beagle crosses) in particular. It just sort of resonated with me as very true and very sad:

"The vast majority of Americans have no concern for the suffering caused by unethical breeders or the animal suffering caused by those who use animals to put money in their pockets. People want what they want and they turn their heads or try to justify their actions. Some people actually have no clue. They are thoughtless and empty headed people going through their daily lives never questioning anything. I find that most people are just selfishly apathetic and don't want to know as long as they are able to satisfy their wants. This is America and we are self indulgent to the point of ridiculous. It takes too much effort to care. It takes too much effort to consider the consequences of our actions. We are obsessed with consumerism. If it tastes good, feels good, looks cute, gives us pleasure, makes us look cool, is a means to pay the bills then that's all that matters to most. I find it interesting that every year the United States generates approximately 230 million tons of "trash", consumer waste, crap that no one wants, no one needs. That's 5 lbs per person per day.Consumerism also takes a toll on our pet animals as well. On average 2-3 million pets are euthanized in shelters across the country every year, another example of consumer waste. 2-3 MILLION, yet no one cares. Everyone is so obsessed with their wants, desperately trying to justify their actions all the while savoring their juicy disease causing burgers, steaks and chicken fingers, which were once living suffering animals, without a care in the world. I think we should be ashamed of ourselves. I can only hope that we can encourage future generations to move forward and make some progress in changing and becoming a more conscientious and respecting people at a scale that the average Amercan [sic] can grasp. A nation that is compassionate, ethical and well educated is a strong nation and one to be admired."