Costa Rica!

My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica.  It was quite an adventure.  We logged over 800 km in a little manual transmission rental car, driving over mountain roads with a GPS that sometimes took us on detours just for fun.  We experienced beautiful scenes, friendly people and once-in-a-lifetime events.  Here are some photos from our trip:

 We watched the sun set over the Pacific (while it snowed back home!)

 We got to see some very cool critters in their natural habitat.

 We SWAM in a waterfall!  Now that was a fantastic experience.

 We peered over the edge of an active volcano.

 We saw so many lovely green, growing things.  After our long winter, it was wonderful indeed!

We will cherish the memories we made for years to come!  Costa Rica is a magical place, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to have an amazing adventure.

Overcoming SAD

I have SAD.  Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Or, as I like to say, I'm solar powered.  No sun and I start to run out of energy.  First the physical energy and I start craving sleep, hitting the snooze alarm too many times, etc.  Then the emotional energy starts to go, and it's a quick ride to a very bad place.  Trust me, I've been there before.

The past two winters, at the suggestion of my "shrink", I have taken winter vacations to sunny locations.  And I haven't experienced much SAD.  So this winter, I decided that maybe I don't have to worry about the winter anymore and I'd be fine.  And it has been a pretty mild winter.  Which is why it took me completely by surprise when Monday at work I realized that all the things that I've been experiencing more and more the past couple of weeks was very recognizable:  I was slipping into the dark pit of SAD.

I immediately called my shrink, who is a very wonderful lady.  She changed the dosage of my meds right away.  The other things that always help are exercise and sunshine.  So yesterday I ran two miles on the treadmill (OK, so it was great for the endorphins, but pretty bad on the calf muscles this morning!)  Today was my day off work, so I planned to get together with a friend at the Arboretum to walk in the sunshine.  No sooner had I finalized the plan that another friend (my walking buddy) called and said she was free to walk this morning.  The sun was out, the temperature was mild, so I agreed to meet her.  We ended up walking three miles.  Here's a picture I took with my phone during our walk:

You can see it was a beautiful day for a walk.  After walking, I worked on a couple of projects, had some lunch and left for the Arboretum, where my friend and I took a leisurely mile long hike.  Then I got a text from my son, suggesting that he come over and walk the dog with me.  Since I never turn down my kids on any offers like that, I agreed.  A half hour after getting home from the Arboretum, Jordan showed up and we walked the dog -- to the Post Office, around the lake, through the wooded area and back home -- a total of three miles.  Here a picture I took with my phone from that walk.

So now I'm home, with my calf muscles screaming at me.  But it sure was a fun day.  And I'm thinking that I've staved off SAD for at least another day!  I hope so, because I may not be able to move tomorrow.  :-)

I've been away

Last week I was blessed to be able to get away from the dreary Chicago winter and spend a week in a condo on the beach in southern California.  I can't even express how soul enriching it was to experience the warm sun and beauty of the ocean every day.  And I even missed the Great Chicago Blizzard of 2011.  (Although I am living with the effects of it every day now that I'm home.) 

Here's a few images to share with my winter weary friends:

Special thanks to my "twin" cousin for suggesting the trip and my family back home for holding down the fort while I was gone.