Hey guys, miss me? Okay, did you all even notice that I was gone? :-P

Just spent the last week in Costa Rica with the GF and we had a great time! Seriously, one of the best vacations I've ever had. The flight down wasn't cheap, but the "green season" pricing was fantastic. We stayed in a small boutique hotel owned by a couple of ex-pat Canadians; so-called tax refugees. He was an architect back in the real world and designed and built the hotel himself. As far as I can tell, his W's primary job besides helping to manage the place, is keeping him in line. He's kind of a character...

The place is no 5 star resort. No TV (a good thing), no phone (even better), but it had A/C, and hot water, and was clean with a spectacular view of the ocean. Very intimate too with only 9 available rooms. The restaurant is also considered one of the best in the region. Not too bad for about $65/night.

At dinner on our first night, I gave her a pendant that is modeled after an art glass window in the Clooney Playhouse designed by Frank Lloyd Wright back in 1912. The GF is an architect by trade, and I thought it suited her style.

As for Costa Rica, I'll post a link to some pics that we took below...

Something else of note and maybe a little more on-topic w/re to this site; I dropped the L-bomb.

It went pretty well actually. We were in bed one morning just sort of lolly-gagging around. The sun comes up at 5:30 and so you're awake even when you don't want to be. Heheheh...

I asked her what she thought of the L-word. She replied a little guardedly that it was a distinct possibility. So then I told her that I was in love with her. I assured her that I wasn't making any demands on her or needing to hear it back. That I had given it a lot of thought over a period of time and that it took a while for me to be sure because this time is a bit different for me.

She asked me how so. I told her that I wouldn't insult her intelligence by saying that I never loved my XW. It's a cliched claim from too many people and almost never true. What I have learned however is the nature of how love can form and why. During my separation process, I realized that I fell in love with the XW 12 years earlier because she made me feel safe. For most men who are used to being left in their relationships, being told by a woman that they are committed and won't ever leave, it's very reassuring. I think that was the catalyst for me. It was "okay" to fall in love with her because she promised to never leave me.

I realized the folly of that and recognized that was a conditional kind of love. I'd only feel it and express when I felt safe enough to do so. It was never unconditional. My perspective is different now. I choose to feel that way and express it openly because of the person. Because of who I feel the GF is - NOT because of how she makes me feel about myself. Does that makes sense? It's a first for me and I told her this.

Then she really shocked me. She said that no man had ever said it to her before, and that she hadn't ever said it to anyone herself. Talking Eros-love here by the way, not familial love like from a child to a parent. I knew that while she had dated throughout her adult life, her LTR experience was kind of thin. I didn't realize that she'd never shared an ILY with anyone though. She has stated before that this is the most serious she's ever been with anyone.

Anyway, I explained to her that it doesn't mean anything has changed and that I had no expectations of her. All I did was put a word to what I was already feeling. She didn't freak, there was no funny reaction, no red flags at all and we enjoyed the rest of our vacation.

Once we got back home, she spent one last night and day with me, and the afternoon before she headed home, she said it back to me. It was nice to hear, and done in a manner that I choose to take as independent of my saying it to her. I wanted to let her choose her own time and place for it, if indeed she ever would, and that's about how it worked out I think. If she hadn't said it, I'd still be okay with it. Doesn't change how I feel about her right now.

It's liberating actually. To not feel restricted by the words and actions of the other person. To feel and express as I want to, free from worry or judgment.

Anyway, here are the promised pics:
http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm181/cbard1/Costa%20Rica%202008/?albumview=slideshow

Wow, that's one BIG Magpie Jay!

He looks WELL fed!

Your vacation looks like it was absolutely awesome!

Costa Rica reminds me alot of Honduras, except I was in the jungle for one of the summers and on the Mosquito Coast for another.

I flew a medivac plane for the medical Missionaries.

Is that what that bird was? He was almost 3 feet long from the crown on his head to the tip of his tail. We first heard him down at the edge of the beach we were on (Playa Ocotal). Then he showed up (or his twin brother I suppose) while we had lunch at a little outdoor restaurant. The theivin' bird showed up at our table, and eye-balled my french fries before I shooed him off. Then he hung out on a tree limb just above us, talking and cooing. When we were done, I tossed him a fry, and he started cawing like a maniac, before swooping down and flying off with it. He showed up again a couple of minutes later and perched himself on the chair opposite of us. That's when we got the second pic. Then he hopped onto the table, snagged a packet of mayonnaise out of the little table caddy and flew off. Pretty funny. He seemed to know exactly what he wanted.

French fries and mayonnaise... Guess he was from Ohio.

Very Beautiful Pictures - and in love.... very nice...!!!