Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles

It's time to take a moment to mark the passing of an icon. A flat, grimy, matted icon. It had a good run. It has been witness to some very fun times. But it was time, and we can't say we're sorry to say goodbye to the carpet at the beach house. So pour something on the floor and shout hurray! And we'll see you at the beach in summer 2016.

It's cold in Bangkok, by which I mean I had to put on pants this morning, and the high will be 83 F this afternoon. The Thais literally think they might die. People who have to work outside are making bonfires. Last night Chris and I were walking down the street and a stranger stopped their car to ask if we were OK and did we need a ride somewhere because it was too cold to be outside. It was 68 degrees. I admit that I did look around for the heater this morning (there isn't one), and I cringed a bit, putting Theo's swimsuit into his school bag for PE. The Brittish, bless them, aren't having any of it. Quit your whining, kids, and get in the pool!

In other Bangkok news, the headline of the Bangkok Post last week: "Battle for Top Monk Begins!"

Also, Thai women are really into whitening their skin. There's skin-whitening powders, creams and ointments. There are ads for 'whiter-looking skin' everywhere. All the sunscreens also have a bleaching agent in them. And yesterday at work I noticed a can of deodorant on the bathroom counter, 'now with whitening action!' Because everyone needs lighter armpits, I guess.

Syd's Got Talent

Have you ever wondered what Theo would look like as a young centaur?  Well, now you know.

Truth, and a Happy Birthday.

Me: Theo, if you were stranded on a desert island with just one person, who would you want it to be?

Theo, (thinks for a long time): Beth. Because she would get the coconuts open.

She would too. Happy Birthday to one of the most beautiful, helpful, resourceful people that I know.

How do you say "let's take turns!" in Hmong?

About once a week I go "teach" at a preschool for Vietnamese refugee kids. They are all here with their families, waiting to be processed through the UN refugee program. Because they're here illegally, they aren't allowed to go to school for the 4-5 years that it takes to get assigned to a new country. I'm not actually sure how much they're learning, but they sure are cute. I thought I'd give you guys a visual.

Christmas party last week.

They're very bright kids.

This week we had 45 kids in this room.

Snack time.

So many choices!

What happened when Gordon asked Hal to pick a cake for his birthday-

Here's the transcript- "This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! This one! Marshmallow cake!"

I think the blog is slowly drifting off into Facebook and Instagram, but I'm loath to let it go completely. Especially if there's stuff like this to remember:

darcy photo shoot

nature walk at the elem school

dead forest... sssoooo sad.  terrible terrible

picking out a christmas tree with viv and sarah and kids (hal)

beet salad, rach stuffing, lemon/blackberry pie, viv rolls, ham, fancy drinks

staying up late with viv

sarah got sick

blessing baby mae: tim, grandpa, jerry, gordon

claire crying at what she was thankful for and making gordon cry at his

jerry was funny

gwen was fairy queen of the stairs

eric and levi watching stanford play football

beth "i want this pie eaten at my funeral

eric  "why are we even TALKING about your funeral!?"

claire " well?  LOOK at her?!

mae sleeping so soundly on grandpas lap

soccer outside

falling asleep by the fire with eric on the blowup mattress, then being jumped on by hal

watching "girls just wanna have fun" late at night with darcy and syd, sarah, viv, rachel