Mass Advertising.

I've mentioned in the past about how funny I think it is when a tourist attraction is advertised several hours away from the actual tourist attraction. It just strikes me as... humorous. :)

Well I found a new tourist attraction to add to my list: Meramec Cavern! Now I don't recall exactly when the billboards started, but perhaps what they lacked in mileage they made up in abundance. As in many. :-) I wish I had taken a picture of the three billboards that were within close proximity of each other ~ all advertising the same thing! I'm really restraining myself because we're only 7 miles away from this cave and I feel like I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt that it's not a dud of a tourist attraction. :-)

We'll be in Missouri for the next few days at a conference, so perhaps during our spare time, we might be tempted to give in and visit well-advertised cave.

I'll keep you updated should we dare to go below... :-)

Toothpaste Tubes.

My pastor was preaching on contention tonight and made me chuckle (to my self, of course) at one point. I have unknowingly spared my marriage from one of the classic marital disputes: the dreaded toothpaste tube. Squeeze in the middle or bottom? (Or top I suppose). How did Nat and I manage to skate past this potential land mine that would threaten wedded bliss?

It's quite simple. Really!

When Nat and I first got married, we packed for our honeymoon separately (insert a big "obviously" here!). That meant our toiletries were separate... right down to that little tube of Colgate (or Crest... we're not picky). When we returned to our apartment, we continued the trend we started on the honeymoon: using our own toiletries. Including that little tube of Colgate (or Crest... like I said, we're not picky!).

Never once have we had a dispute over the tube being squeezed in the wrong place because we each have our own. I don't care how he squeezes his toothpaste tube and he doesn't care how I squeeze mine. Rocket science is taking place here at our little apartment:). And thanks to Pastor's message, we're reminded about a little piece of contention that we are missing out on... gladly!

"Slap Ya...."

I've mentioned before about what the team does on Thursday nights around here and last night was no exception. After a wonderful Bible Study, we all gathered around for the food. Now if you know me very well, you'll know that soup and I just aren't good friends. For some reason, I just don't gush and swoon over a bowl of soup:). But I loooove the smell of soup cooking. Kinda like I love the smell of coffee and can't stomach the actual drink. I'm a study in contrasts:).

Anyway, last evening, Bro. Tom made a big ole' pot of gumbo. For those of you who are as uneducated about gumbo as I was (until I met some people from Louisiana two summers ago!), Wikipedia comes to our rescue with this short blurb:

Gumbo is a stew or soup originating in Louisiana which is popular across the Gulf Coast of the United States and into the U.S. South. It consists primarily of a strong stock, meat and/or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable "holy trinity" of celery, bell peppers and onion. The soup is traditionally served over rice.

Thank you, Wikipedia.

The smell of the gumbo wafted through the Gaudets' house as well as mine because our kitchens are connected (I would show you a picture of our kitchens, but blogger is being a goober right now and won't let me upload any. Ahem). Everyone gathered around the food with anticipation and dove right in. I even took some gumbo, at which point Pookie asked me if I was sick as she felt my forehead:).

Earlier Bro. Tom had asked me to bring over some gumbo seasonings from my house since there used to be a girl from Louisiana who stayed here. So I grabbed anything that had the word "Cajun" on it and headed out the door. Well, one of my Thai co-workers - Berm - wanted to season his gumbo, so he reached for one of the seasonings and read out loud "slap ya mama." I started to laugh right away, not realizing that was the actual name of the seasoning and that all this time it had been sitting in my cupboard:).

With a look of confusion on his face, Berm turned to me and said, "Isn't that rude???" At that point, Pookie and I just lost it and I realized that once again, an Americanism had slipped through the cracks into Thailand and offered great confusion to a Thai person:). We finally got it all explained to Berm, who happily seasoned his gumbo with "Slap ya mama" and moved on with his evening.

Lest you think I'm making this up, I offer you the official website: "Slap Ya Mama". I highly recommend you refrain from taking that course of action though... maybe just do the kiss-on-the-cheek thing:D.


Just another typical evening in the Land of Smiles, thanks to some good Cajun cooking!

Microphones - Gotta Love 'Em.

It's now a little after 11 PM and the party across the little street is going strong. As in, the music is still being played and the little mom and pop shop is still open. The thing that is cracking me up (and therefore I'm going to share with you!) is the fact that they are using a microphone even though seven people are at this shindig. Yup, I counted the people gathered around.

Seven.

Now, I probably need to explain this little fact: Thai people love microphones. At any given moment, while walking through the mall, someone invariably is on a microphone somewhere within the 5-story building. Never mind the fact that you would be able to hear (quite clearly, I might add) without the aid of the microphone. Or the fact that a lot of times two people will each be talking to each other using a microphone.

So I suppose that's why I'm not surprised they are using a microphone across the street to celebrate Thai New Year. I should count my blessings, right?

At least they can sing:).

My Latest Find - "Tooth Utensil Hook."

After an exceptionally busy day dealing with the Nepalese language -- we have to work while the translator is here! -- we decided to go to Future Park, also recently renamed "Walmart" by us:). While walking through a store similar to a dollar store, I saw something called a "Tooth Utensil Hook." The English directions had me laughing so hard, and so I thought I would share it with ya'll! I promise you this is exactly what it says:

Suitable Places (smooth surfaces)
The Surfaces Of Ceramic Tiles, Stainless Steel, Metal Paint Surfaces, Combination Bathroom'S Plastic Cement Sufrace.

Non-suitable places (concave and convex. rough and ground surfaces) Wooden walls .plaster walls. concrete walls. flower glass and semifinished glasses.

CAUTIONS:
The sucker will not damage the wall surfaces and it's easy to fix or dismantle. Due to the vacuum installation if the air goes in it will come off easily. In order to keep the sucking strength please follow the methods.

1. If the wall surface or sucker is clirty, it will come off easily, please clean it.
2. If the surface is easy to slide please put a little salad oil in the sucker. it can prevent the air or water from going in.
3. Dropping sucker or old sucker has weak sucking streng the please goak it in water for 5 or 6 minutes and dry it.
4. Don't put too weight on the hook.
5. Dont put the valuables such as watches .clocks. cameras or mirrors on it.

Gotta love it! My new word is going to be "clirty" instead of "dirty":).

Wee Hour Happenings.

The sweetness of being right is so not enough at 3:43 AM.

Earlier today --- I should use the word yesterday, because that is indeed when this took place --- Pookie got up mid-afternoon and uttered some dangerous words: "Anybody want coffee?" Now you have to understand something here. We joke and laugh that Pookie is affected by coffee, but there are some pretty hefty reasons behind the joking. Myra discovered this first hand one night last week. Pookie had had coffee one particular day and was zinging around at night so Myra had taught Pookie new words to an old lullaby:

Go to sleep,

You little creep,

Close your red, blood-shot eyes.

Go to sleep,

You little creep,

And I hope your teddy bear dies!

(So that there is no character assassination going on here, Myra's older brother sang this to her during a sleepover with a friend many years ago as a joke. Said older brother is now a preacher:D)

Pookie loved it and has been going around singing it since then. Except she doesn't sing it as a sweet lullaby, but rather in a really creepy voice. But I digress.

So when Pookie uttered those fateful words in our office Monday afternoon, I turned to her and said, "Does that include you Pookie?" She giggled and said yes. With thoughts of who the victim is when Pookie has coffee (that would be me), I suggested maybe a half of cup instead of an entire. cup. of. coffee. As I turned back to my computer, I said, "Just as long as you don't jump on my bed."

Oooh, sometimes I hate being right.

With an extra person staying with us (Myra), I've been using a mattress on the floor as my bed because Myra's got some back problems. I'm also generally the first person in bed, so in the back of my mind, there's this subconscious fear that Myra or Pookie are going to step on me on the way to their beds.

So imagine my great surprise when I rolled over onto my side in the middle of the night and promptly ran into.... something. I was still 99% sleeping at that point, so I began to whack the thing because the last time I checked, my beady pillow is pretty soft. As I whacked at the object, I became more and more awake. I finally sat straight up in bed and to my surprise and astonishment, none other than Pookie was laying on my bed! I had been smacking her leg the whole time. Once I realized that, I felt a little bad that I was waking her up, but she was in my bed:).

So now that I was completely wide awake, I came downstairs. As I checked e-mail, I heard a thud on the stairs. Carolyn was as shocked to see me as I was to see her:). Soon after using the bathroom and returning upstairs, I heard another thud on the stairs. This time it was Pookie:). I said, "Um, so why were you in my bed?" And she replied, "Well, actually, I thought you were in my bed and I couldn't figure out why you were in my bed!"

So I'm not necessarily blaming it on the coffee-drinking episode from Monday afternoon, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to need coffee to stay awake later on today in the office!

And we all know how much I love coffee....

... or NOT!

Thunderstorms And Bowling.

On Friday afternoon, the skies above Bangkok opened up and we had one gully washer of a storm! This exciting moment made all production in the office cease for a bit as we looked out and saw rain, rain, rain coming down. The last time it rained was at the end of October, so you can imagine our delight in seeing some wet stuff 4 1/2 months later. It's not even rainy season yet:).

We eventually went back to work, but were startled when we heard a loud "ka-boom!" of thunder. I leaned over to Carolyn and jokingly said, "God's bowling again!" because that's what I thought thunder was when I was younger. Carolyn used to think it was the angels bowling, so we all got a good chuckle over that.

A few minutes later all was quiet when we heard KA-BOOOOOOOOM!!!!! Without missing a beat, Carolyn said, "STRIKE!" Myra, Pookie, and I lost it and started laughing. Of course Bro. Tom turned to look at us girls laughing hysterically and just shook his head:). When the laughter died down, I asked, "So how can you tell if it's a spare?" and then Carolyn started laughing:). Good times, good times!

For the record, I was still chuckling about it when I went to bed several hours later. From now on, I think thunderstorms and bowling are going to be associated in my mind!

What's In A Name?

I don't think I could make this up if I tried. I received an e-mail the other day from a man who was temporarily working in our office. He is from a neighboring country and was sending me some details on a project. I couldn't help myself when I saw his name:

Yuqchyitlanu Hpakawn

I think I would have spent all of kindergarten just trying to learn to spell my name:).

Oh, and wonder of wonders, spell check did not recognize the names... big surprise there!

Mirrors And Teeth.

Thai people have a huge fascination with mirrors. It is an endless source of amusement for me as I see shopkeepers gazing into the ever-ready mirror, even though I'm browsing their store. I saw one lady in the grocery store fixing her hair in a mirror that was conveniently place in the meat department. All Thai people do it, including a certain roommate of mine:).

One thing that is a big no-no here in Thailand is picking your teeth in public. That adds to the hilarity of it all when I see Thai people walking around picking their teeth. Mirrors and teeth are quite the combination, I assure you!

So imagine my surprise the other day when I glanced up and saw this Thai lady looking in the mirror on Bro. Tom's motorcycle and picking her teeth!


This picture doesn't capture her intently leaning over the motorcycle, because by the time Carolyn got her camera out, the lady apparently was done with her business. It sure was funny to look up, see someone we don't know using Bro. Tom's motorcycle to do a faux pas:).

Life in Thailand.... there is never a dull moment!

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep. That Is The Question.

If you should happen by our blue/pink house between the hours of midnight and 2 AM, prepare yourself. Someone is probably walking or talking - in their sleep.

Two nights ago was one of "those" nights. While I try to be in bed by 10 PM (with tonight being a rare exception since I can't sleep.... gotta love irony!), Pookie doesn't normally make it to bed until after midnight. On this particular night, I was sleeping when Pookie came in. Normally she doesn't wake me up (that's always a plus since I'm not, ahem, at my best when aroused out of a deep sleep!), but this time she unintentionally woke me up. Or rather, her laptop did. Here Pookie was under her covers with her computer on, trying not to wake me up. As you can see, that plan worked out rather well;).

But wait! It gets better!

For Christmas, the girls from my church office sent over a box chock full of items, including Christmas cards. One card in particular plays into this little drama. It was a musical card that proclaimed, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!!!!!!!" You might think those exclamation points are a bit of an exaggeration, but I assure you they are not. Yes, for some reason, this card starts off at 1 AM singing, "It's the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeeeeear!!!!!!!!!!"

Christmas might be the most wonderful time of the year, but I can guarantee you 1 AM is NOT.

We both ignored the song, and before too long, it stopped. Just as I was about to step back into the land of sleep, I heard, "It's the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeeeeear!!!!!!!!!! Ding, dong, Ding! Dong!" Now keep in mind we were both tucked away in our beds. We have no idea how the card started playing; it just did. I hopped out of bed and rather forcefully shut the card. I contemplated throwing it out in the hallway, but that would require being fully awake to perform that function, which I was not. (Have I mentioned how delightful I am when I'm aroused from sleep?!? :D)

I have no idea what time this next incident occurred; all I remember hearing Pookie say is, "Anne! You're talking!" To which I replied, "All I said was blah, blah, blah." By the time I got to the part about what I said, I was already drifting back to sleepy land, so I really have no idea what I actually said.

5:45 my alarm went off - it's a lady with a British accent saying, "The time is 5:45 AM. It's time to get up." - and I always tell my phone to be quiet for pity's sake: Pookie is sleeping! And I'm normally still sleeping myself when this conversation with the phone takes place, hence the reason I'm talking to a phone!

Theresa Lange and I try to walk every morning, but that morning my eye was burning like crazy, to the point I was crying out of one eye (which is very weird, I assure you!). So instead of walking, I decided to go back to bed, hoping that closing my eyes would help. As I crawled into my bed, I had some sounds coming from Pookie's bed. Knowing that I cannot fall back to sleep with background "music" serenading me, I said, "Pookie! You're snoring!" To which she replied, "Oh. Sorry." I eventually drifted back to sleep before Miss British lady woke me up at 7:30.

In telling the story to Carolyn the next day, Carolyn was (and is!) very thankful she is in a room all by herself. Can you imagine if there were three of us in a room? Let's just say ear plugs and eye masks would be passed out at the door:).

The Cheesecake Side Of Thailand.

Pookie's parents came down on Saturday, bringing with them some delicious Thai food! Apparently Pi Ba (Pook's mom) kept all the foreigners quite satisfied with her cooking, but alas, she moved two hours away from here about a month before I came in 2007. Rats. I always miss out on the good stuff.

Pookie and her mom:)

So we all jumped at the opportunity to enjoy some honest-to-goodness Thai food, toned down to fit the farang taste buds! It was so delicious! After we were done, Carolyn said, "Now I could go for some chocolate cheesecake." Well, that sealed the deal for us so we hopped on a songtaw - a pickup truck - and went to the mall.

Forty-five minutes later and we were happily at home, munching on our pieces of cheesecake. This afternoon I went to go throw away the box it came in when I glanced at the writing on the side. I am not making any of this up! For your reading pleasure, I give you the top three tips from the Secret Recipe store:

*Store the cake in the fridge immediately for freshness. (Immediately, ya'll, immediately!)

*While carrying the whole cake box, hold the bag with one hand and support the bottom of the cake box. (What do you do if you have to open a door???)

*When on board a vehicle, please lay the whole cake box on the car floor or to hand carry it on the lap to prevent the cake from slanting. (Notice "a vehicle" translates into "car.")

Wow. Can't say I've ever been instructed in the ways of carrying a baked good before. But at least they said please:).

The Neighbors? They're In Stitches:).

This certainly has been the week for goof-ups! It all started on Monday night when Pookie suggested a motorcycle ride. Carolyn and I quickly agreed and soon she was wheeling the motorcycle out onto the street. As we prepared to jump on, I noticed that the shopkeeper across the street seemed to have an abundance of people hanging out with him outside - all the more to laugh at us! Pookie started the motorcycle which immediately caught their attention. But what kept their attention on us was the fact that Carolyn and I hopped on behind her. The chuckles were loud as poor Carolyn (who is rather tall) folded herself onto the motorcycle while my feet were swinging rather freely:). I'm sure we were quite the sight!

On Tuesday afternoon I was cleaning my turtle's tank when Sharon walked by with the Lange children. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Jon asked me, "So, Anne, where is your turtle?" I glanced up from cleaning the turtle tank and said, "Jon, he's right..... oh no!!!! Where did he go?" Here, my rather determined turtle decided he would rather be smashed to smithereens than kept alive in the tank, so he took off running for the street. Again, the neighbors were completely amused by our shouts and rightly so. My turtle dashed for the street (and believe me, turtles dash!), Sharon stopped traffic, I tried to run out the gate after the turtle, realized the gate was locked, and quick darted out the Gaudets' gate, all the while my turtle is running for the road. The poor driver of the truck was looking so confused at what the farangs were doing. I'm glad to say I reached the turtle before the wheels did!

The next amusing moment came on Christmas Day....and it involves that little rodent that is pictured in the post below. As I already mentioned, our door was wide open so when I went out to check on the grill, I was pretty surprised by the sight of the rat just sitting there. Of course I did what most girls do and started to shriek:). This time the shopkeepers across the street and the food vendors down the street all looked our direction with much curiosity. Thankfully the rat had more sense than we did and ran off for the sewer!

I suppose today's escapade wasn't really seen by the neighbors, but I'm throwing it in there for good measure. Carolyn and I were sitting in the living room chatting when we suddenly heard a loud popping sound. As we looked around, Carolyn said, "something must have backfired." I looked at her incredulously and said, "from our kitchen?" We ran to the kitchen and smelled the worst burning smell. Here Carolyn had some eggs in a pot boiling....and, well, boil they did! The popping sound was three eggs exploding in the kitchen, leaving behind a rather charred pot with egg whites and yolks decorating our floor and wall. We took the burnt pot outside where I believe it is still residing. Who knows, maybe the rat will eat it:).

They say laughter is the best medicine, so our neighbors must be pretty healthy:).

The Honesty Of Kids.

The honesty of children is so refreshing, and at times very funny!

The other evening I went over to the Langes' house to borrow a movie. Both Jeff and Theresa were busy at the moment, so I spent a couple of minutes playing with their son. As we were playing, I asked Theresa if I could borrow "Over The Hedge." Jon instantly dropped the ball and said, "No!" He then backpedaled and said, "Well, I mean you can watch it here, but I really don't want you to take it home." Apparently he and the movie were really good buddies, but eventually Mom and Dad won and I had the movie in hand.

Just before I left, I turned to Jon and said, "Thanks, Jon, for being so willing and letting me borrow the movie." As he touched the DVD case, he looked me straight in the eye and said, "But I'm not willing." At that point, Sharon and I lost it and had a really good laugh over that:). What was really funny was the next morning when we were walking, Jon was telling me about this book he had on veterinarians and said, "You can borrow that if you want to." Oh wow, thanks:).

Later I got to thinking about the incident and realized that while I might have thought that in my mind ("hey! I'm not willing!"), I would have never said it. Jon just blurted it out, but at least he was honest. In my opinion, it's worse to think it in my mind and yet be all "showy" on the outside and pretend everything is alright when it's not.

Just for the record, I returned the movie to the owner the next morning...and I got to read the veterinarian book! All is right in my world:).

Blonde moment!

Said by yours truly today:

"Well, the outside doesn't have any air conditioner."


Ummm, yeah.

Step This Way For A Faith-Based Program!

Because I (1) have a sense of humor and (2) used to proofread the church bulletin every week for the main secretary, I got a kick out of this announcement in the church bulletin that was sent to me in an e-mail:


Friday

— Reformers Unanimous 7:00—9:00 pm

Guests are invited to attend our weekly Faith-Based Addiction Program!


Why yes, we want you to be addicted - just make sure it's faith-based!

Church bulletin bloopers 101:).

Crossing THAT Off The List!

I suppose before I can cross something off my "won't ever cross my lips" list, I should have it on the list first!

The latest item that needs to be put on before it's taken off is an experience I had on Thursday afternoon. [But let me just insert this in and ask a question: am I the only one that makes up lists after I've completed the task and then crosses the items off at the end of a project??? Let me know!]

Anyway, for the past several days, one team member or another has been sick, so it wasn't exactly surprising that I began to feel queasy to my stomach on Wednesday afternoon. I came home from work and at Krinny's suggestion, I took a 2-hour nap and felt much better!

I thought that was the end of my stomach issues, but Thursday I started feeling yucky again. So I began to go through the possibilities and realized I had two options:

1. I caught the stomach bug going around the team.
2. I had a very good reason to take worm medicine.

Neither option was preferable, but the second one just begged to be noticed. You see, it's a foregone conclusion that living in Asia means I am susceptible to getting worms or parasites in my food. We take lots of precautions with food we buy and prepare at home, but the honest truth is I don't know if the food vendor down the street is as careful as I am!

The solution isn't to stop eating from the vendors on the street; rather, we take worm medicine every couple of months just to make sure we're on the up and up instead of the down and out:).

So that's what I did, but I still didn't feel like I was running at full speed. As I was sharing this with Carolyn (who has an upper respiratory infection herself), she said, "Well, I have some charcoal if you want to take some."

HUH?!?

After convincing me that the charcoal helps with killing any toxins and posions in the stomach, I agreed to take some but wimped out at preparing the glass for myself. Do y'all remember the green and purple ketchup they came out with several years ago? I heard it tasted just like ketchup, but since I already had a preconceived idea about purple and green ketchup (eww!), I never tried any. I wasn't about to let that happen with me preparing the charcoal for me to drink.

Carolyn, being the sweet lady she is, put it all together and handed me the glass (yes, my eyes were closed). Just as I took the first sip she told me it was best to get down as much as possible. Oh boy, let the fun begin! Down, down, down it went and I chose to ignore the little fact that it was in fact charcoal I was drinking.

Still being a wimp, I set the glass down without looking at it and expected instant results. Later I was telling Krinny about this and she said, "Oh yeah! Charcoal does....." and I was thinking, "what rock was I hiding under that I had no idea that this is normal to hear that someone just downed charcoal?"

But I suppose there's something to be said for it all - I feel much better today, which is good!

Now I have a problem - was it the charcoal or the worm medicine that cleaned it up? I'm not real anxious to go through that whole experience again too soon!

Ah, well, now I can say I drank charcoal... better go put that on the list to cross off:).

And of course I'm not going to tell you what else is on that "supposed" list because you know what they say about never saying never.... :D.

Flip Flops And Garbage Cans.

I did a true "Anne moment" today. One might say all of my moments are "Anne moments" and I suppose they might have a valid point, but it's normally the bizarre events that are classified under a true "Anne moment!"

But first, do y'all remember in Anne of Green Gables when Anne was so frustrated with Dolly (her cow) that after Anne chased Dolly out of her neighbor's cabbage patch she sold Dolly "on the spot" for $20? Later she discovered that she hadn't sold her cow, but her neighbor's cow and she wailed to Marilla, "Now what am I going to do?"

That, ahem, was my true "Anne moment." You see, on Saturday Carolyn and I cleaned the whole house and I do mean the whole house, right down to the dirty, icky, yucky half-closet under the stairs filled with rat droppings. Yes, it was disgusting! After pulling out all of the boxes and such, I found a pair of No Boundaries black flip flops in a box that looked strangely familiar. After looking at them for sometime, it dawned on me that I had brought the flip flops with me last summer! Excited over my "find" and always on the lookout for a bargain, I started wearing them (and just to clarify, no rat droppings were near them!).

My excitement was soon dampened as I remembered why I stopped wearing them last year. I'm sorry to say, but my Wal-Mart special NBs were nothing but painful as they dug into my feet. So with that little reminder, I decided to throw them away so I wouldn't come back in like 6 months and squeal over my "find" and go through the whole process again (and this is just a little tip for y'all: you can probably give me the same gift within a year and I'll be really excited over it!).

I never got around to throwing them away Saturday and the following days just flew by. In the meantime, a group of 5 girls joined us, and I must say the shoe pile was pretty phenomenal! As we got adjusted to having suitcases in our downstairs, I decided to quick straighten up the area this morning, and that includes putting shoes two by two (remember my OCD???) As I did that little task, I noticed I had a pair of flops in the pile and so I grabbed them to take upstairs. I also noticed the black flops and decided now was just as good of a time as any to dump them.

Satisfied that the horrid flip flops were in the trash, I walked away to the office knowing that they wouldn't *really* go to waste since the pre-trash lady would come through and pick out anything they consider "useful" before the trash man came along.

I came home for lunch and was contently sitting eating when my gaze began to take in the room. I'm pretty methodical and like things organized, even if chaos is going on. Organized chaos is much better than just normal, every day chaos:). As I noted the suitcases, the shoes, and the clean living room, my eyes fell upon the floor beneath the dish cabinet. Sitting there staring me back in the face were the Wal-Mart No Boundaries black flip flops!

Pookie was upstairs at the time and all she heard was me laugh and say, "oh no! OH NO!!!" I dashed out to the garbage can and my suspicions were confirmed: the can was empty, meaning the ever-faithful trash lady came along and snagged herself a deal.

Knowing full well I didn't toss my flops into the trash can, I came back inside and had that moment that hit Anne Shirley hit me. "What am I going to do?" Pookie, who was confused at first, just laughed but I knew that those 5 girls were coming back tomorrow and one of them would be missing some black flip flops!!!

I just stood there wringing my hands, because we all know *that's* what you do in an emergency situation like this! I started thinking of ways to explain that I purposely threw away someone else's shoes: "Hi girls! Glad you're back! Sooo, one of you is missing a pair of shoes, thanks to me." That didn't sound very sincere, and I was debating how to avoid seeing the girls for the next two weeks when suddenly inspiration hit me.

I went back to the trash can and looked though the second one, even though I was sure I threw them in the first one. There, sitting at the very bottom (under two bags of, ahem, trash) were the flops! As I grabbed them out, Pookie started laughing and saying, "the neighbor's laughing at you!"

Hey, at that point, I could care less what was going on behind my back! I placed the black flip flops back on the floor next to the rest of the shoes... and of course we all know that those flops were side by side!

I am happy to report that the Wal-Mart NBs are out of the house. As to whether they're still in the trash can or not, all I can say is I saw the trash lady looking through our cans today:).

All Sorts Of Animals.

Note to self:

When leaving the doors to one's house wide open on a gorgeous November day, keep in mind that a cat might coming wandering in and scare the dickens out of you!

Also the scratching noise you keep hearing is NOT a lizard running around your house (thank you Krinny for that story!). Rather, those two turtles you are watching for the Langes apparently have some mighty long claws. Do not, I repeat, do not, have a panic attack.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

:)

Murphy And I Are Still Friends.

November is a huge birthday month in my family. My brother Tom is on the 2nd. My sister Michelle is on the 8th. My mom is on the 17th. My sister Mary is on the 26th. Just for grins and giggles, my dad's birthday is on October 14th and my brother Phil's birthday is December 8th. I'm the only one with enough sense to be born after the holidays (February 1st for those who wish to know!).

Since I can't celebrate with my family in person, I figured I would sent each of them a card through the mail (although my frugal little heart really had to fight that one out... I mean, come on, the group just left and think of all the money I could save on postage by sending the cards back with them!!!) Nevertheless, I figured it might be nice to receive something through the mail besides bills and credit card offers. Plus most people haven't ever received anything from overseas and Thailand definitely counts as overseas.

So with the thought in mind that my sister's birthday is Saturday, I took Pookie up on the offer to go to Future Park - the five-story mall right down the road where we spend waaay too much time:). There were seven of us and we split into two groups: Pookie, Berm, and I in one group and the rest in the other group. Pookie headed off in the direction of her bank while Berm and I entered the post office.

[Insert elevator music here]

Mass chaos was taking place when we entered, so we figured we came to the right place!!! We joined the oh-so-long line, decided instead to grab one of those "take a number" cards, and then waited. The post office clerks were on #97 and we held #115 and 116 in our hands. Figuring that the "express" lane would go faster, we decided to put our cards back and stand in line.

I have lots of experience of "people watching" in the post office, and this time was no different - well there was the whole language thing, but besides that there was no difference! So I stood and waited and watched and waited and moved and waited and watched the number ticker climb higher and higher. I couldn't figure out the hold-up in the "express" lane, but I did notice that number ticker advance from 97 to 105. My line stayed the same and the ticker went to 106.

By the time it hit 113, I just started chuckling to myself. You see, I have a long relationship with Murphy and so it really shouldn't have been a huge surprise to me that Murphy followed me to the Thailand Post Office! As I inched my way to the front desk, I kept one eye on the ticker. It was still at 113, but there were two people in front of me. My smile got wider as the ticker went to the 114. One person to go!

Suddenly the lady in front of me stepped out of line and for once, for once (!), I thought I was going to beat good ole' Murphy.

And that's when the clerk decided to change the register receipt paper.

The ticker went to 115 (my original number) and the clerk very methodically changed the paper. Just as he shut the lid, the clicker went to 116.

And I just smiled, knowing that Murphy had found me yet again!!!

Of Broken Doors And Mexican Food.

The day started off innocently enough - at breakfast someone mentioned the words, "it's Tuesday!" and that set off a mixed response of excited laughter and blank stares. The excited laughter came from Pookie and I and the blank stares came from all the guys who have since been enlightened. Let me clarify something for all of you in bloggy land (except for Rachel!) who probably don't understand the implication behind those two words. For us, "It's Tuesday!" means that the Cajun Restaurant in Bangkok serves a buffet filled to the brim with Mexican food! And it also means we. are. there. pronto! I'm not kidding either... at 9:30 AM Pookie asked what time we were leaving for the restaurant:).

Our group braved the Bangkok traffic and that's no small feat, I assure you! Several times Pookie looked up and gasped as some driver suddenly slammed on their brakes or just didn't move (which is really helpful when you're on a road with cars!). We finally pulled in to the place and we were not disappointed by the fajitas, enchiladas, nachos with cheese, and french vanilla ice cream!

I suppose it was the ice cream that had us all just sitting around chatting. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact we hadn't received the bill yet:). Either way, there we sat talking. Alex, one of the newer team members, was talking about his brother Andrew's upcoming wedding in June when I asked for the colors of the wedding party.

And that's when it got interesting!

Alex managed to confuse us all by stating the men would be wearing khaki tuxes with purple shirts. None of us had ever heard of such a thing so poor Alex spent quite some time trying to describe it to us. Let's just say his explanation made it sound worse! Sometime during the "tux talk" Pookie got up and left. We assumed she went to the restroom although Bro. Tom did joke that we were sitting there so long that she probably went back through the buffet line!

Just about the time we all started looking around for the server, this lady walked up to our table and said, "Um, do you have someone in the bathroom? She needs help!" Krinny and I got up right away to go check out the situation. Our first thought was Pookie was sick (logical) since the lady said she needed "help."

HA! HA! Were we wrong!

We enter into the restroom and said, "Pookie? What's wrong?" This timid little voice from the third stall answered, "Um, hello. I can't get out."

Being the kind, compassionate friend that I am, I started laughing. Pookie has a way of getting into these scrapes, and even managed to lock our own bathroom door for about three weeks:). So Krinny and I walk over to the stall and sure enough, the handle wouldn't produce the desired effect of opening up that door. Krinny then asked the obvious: "Did you unlock the door?" After Pookie said she didn't even lock it, Krinny began to go through the options. I, on the other hand, was still laughing because the situation presented itself as quite funny!

I'm not quite sure what made me do it, but I used the handy-dandy hip that just so happened to be resting on the right side of my body and I aimed for the door. Two seconds later the door bounced off the wall and a two-inch piece of plastic fell from the door latch and rested innocently on the floor... as if it had nothing to do with poor Pookie stuck in the bathroom!

Krinny just stared at me as Pookie came out of the bathroom, very relieved to be freed from her hot prison. The story provided some wonderful comic relief as the guys joined in on the laughter. I was still chuckling to myself a few hours later!

I think it's going to be a loooong time before Pookie locks a bathroom door again! But in the mean time, it will be one of those stories that will get told again and again down the road and it'll probably start off with, "Do you remember the time we went to the Cajun Restaurant....?"

Oh, and the khaki tuxes? They didn't look too bad after all:).