Pregnancy, football and residency..

Thats been my life for the past month. Worrying about the pregnancy, and hoping and praying everything turns out all right, coaching football, and trying to become a resident of Costa Rica!

The pregnancy has been a great source of joy and stress for us both. Early in the pregnancy we went through some potential problems and were scared that something was wrong or could easily go wrong with the pregnancy. After an ultrasound we found out that there was a small lesion in the amniotic sac that was causing some bleeding. Of course this cut was a concern and needed to heal quickly or it could easily become worse when our baby started to grow. After almost two weeks of bed rest for Jone and 2 ultrasounds we have been cleared to live a normal life again!!! Everything appears to be healthy with our child and its mother, and we are eagerly awaiting our child!!

The Offensive Lineman: (from left) Manuel, Santiago, Pablo, Javier (Jamon), Kelvin (Samoa), Javier (Cañas), Jose (Puma)

Praying as a team before the game!!

Football has been moving along just fine!! It is a huge blessing to be involved in the sport I love once again, and be able to coach with some of the same coaches and players as before! It has been a blast to see the progress of the players and be able to help them get to the next level as players and team. After two games we are 1-1 heading into a game this weekend against the second place Bulldogs of Santa Anna. If we are able to execute the game plan as a team, we have a great chance at a win. This win will move us up to a tie with the Bulldogs for second place!!

Residency has been a headache from the start. From the outside looking in the process seems to be a muddle of rules that no one seems to know completely. Or maybe every office that I have to go to, to fill out a form or turn in a form is operating according to their own set of rules. Every time I think that I'm making headway someone tells me I have to do things in a different order. The latest issue (when we were sure all our ducks were in a row) was our marriage certificate. The photocopy of my passport wasn't notarised so they couldn't process our certificate. They apparently emailed someone to alert us of the issue but the email address they used was not correct so no one knew there was an issue until we ordered a copy and went to pick it up. Without the certificate I couldn't file my residency paperwork. Without that paperwork filed my visa was going to expire. So, I had to leave the country to renew my visa with about 3 days notice. Very long story short I was able to take advantage of a loop hole in the system and just go down to the Panama border walk across the border and get an exit and entry stamp (at the same window) then walk back across the street and reenter Costa Rica with a new 90 day visa. Oh the joys of living in another country!!!