Kevin's favourite day of the year

So, I celebrated my birthday on Wednesday... yes another year has gone by, if you can believe it. And of course, it's the day I'm a tiny bit older than Kevin... and he likes that A LOT! He gets all giddy because he gets to call me his 'old bird' again. But, then again, I get to call him "my toy boy" now. So we're even.

We were invited for dinner at our friends' Adriana and Roberto for a lovely meal. Roberto cooked some fish, but the flesh of the fish was brown and had the texture of lamb. It was very unusual, but absolutely delicious. Roberto added some Caribbean spicy sauce, with yummy rice and coleslaw on the side. And having someone cook me a meal is always a treat and appreciated. We always have fun when we get together, too! I also received emails and hundreds of messages on Facebook from family and friends all over the world: Australia, India, Brussels, France, Switzerland, the U.K., the U.S., Costa Rica and Canada of course. I sure felt the love!

One of the best gifts I received was the news that my daughter, Phoenix, and her best friend, will be coming for a visit in three weeks!! I'm SO excited!!!

Although I had a lovely week, today, we received some sad news. One of our favourite neighbours back in Canada passed away on Thursday. We named our little dog, Bobbie, after our dear friend, Bob. We would see him walk his sweet dog, Lilly, around the block. When my son, Jude, was young, he would walk our dog, Frankie, around the same block and would often stop in front of Bob's house to have a chat. Bob was a really good guy, and we often think of him and nothing will change that... we will continue to think of him and hold fond memories.

We've lost a few friends along the way while being in Costa Rica, and with recent tragedy in Beirut and Paris hitting deep to the core of the world's heart, we are reminded how frail and precious life is. And love will get us through. Always love.