Zoo and More

Okay so, this post was actually written on the 28th of Oct. but I had saved it to my computer thinking that I would add to it. I completely forgot that it was there until just now. I'm up at 1:30 AM -- can't sleep. The Philippina teacher across the street has the chicken pox (undoubtedly caught them from Kristen's class -- they've had five or six kids get them) and I keep dreaming that I've got them. I've never had them so I really, really, really don't want them now. I'm going to try and go in to get a vaccine for them tomorrow. Anyway, here's the post.


Well, I did promise a post about our recent mini-vacation so here we go. As mentioned previously, over the semester break we took a mini-vacation to Korat. We would have loved to take a vacation to a more exotic place – beach or island but decided that we ought to take things a little slower and easier since Kristen is still recovering from her bout with morning sickness. Therefore we decided on Korat because if things weren’t going great we were just a 2 ½ hr. bus ride from home. The bus ride down was really nice. We went on a VIP bus. They served a small meal and the seats were really big and comfortable. While in Korat we splurged and stayed at a nicer place ($35/night). It was really sweet because we were on the ninth floor and had a corner room so we had these huge windows that opened out and looked over the city – although the skyline in Korat isn’t quite what it is in some cities :-).

The Mall in Korat is huge and we had a great time just walking around and seeing all the different shops. We ate a Sizzler which was another nice treat. The highlight of our trip was the zoo. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Trea had a lot of fun too although I’m still not sure if she enjoyed the animals or the small playground more. The funny thing about the zoo was that we were taking pictures of and looking at all the animals while most of the Thais were checking out Trea and some even wanted to take pictures of her. I guess that to them she’s kind of like an exotic animal. They had a couple of elephants (an adult and a baby) out along the sidewalk that you could feed sugarcane to or you could ride the adult. Anyway, we stopped to feed the elephants. This proved to be a hilarious event. Trea FREAKED OUT (FROKE OUT). Even watching daddy feed the elephant freaked her out. Kristen held Trea and tried to feed the elephants. I know it’s bad to get so much laughter out of your child freaking out but it was really funny!

We had decided to stop and see some ruins on the way back to Khon Kaen. Little did we know what this would involve. We had to take a 2 ½ hr ride on a non-air-conditioned bus packed with people and our child was tired and cranky. The ruins (Pi Mai) were nice but once you’ve been to Angkor Wat no other Khmer-style temple is going to really inspire awe. Fortunately, on the way back to Khon Kaen we had air-con on the bus but this time no seats (they were all full).

The ultrasound went well. The baby is doing well and appears to be healthy. Unfortunately, the baby was too small to determine the sex. So, we’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully we can go and get another ultrasound done because I don’t like surprises. It won’t break the bank at $15.

Kristen and I purchased our first car together this past week. Last Friday, Nuansri’s son brought us a car at school to look at. It was a white European car (manufactured by VW but under a different name). It looked all right and we decided that we would think about it. After we went home and had been hanging around for about a half hour we got a “knock” at the door. Nuansri’s son had sent a friend of his over with his car that he was trying to sell – a 1992 dark blue Honda Civic. We liked the way it looked and took it for a test drive and were sold. So, we actually bought the car on Tuesday. I’ve only driven it a few times but it’s SO nice to have a car.

Also, I am now officially the elders quorum president of the Khon Kaen branch. I actually was a bit surprised by this. At first they told me that they were going to call me to be the pres. but then a while later they said that I was going to be one of the counselors so when I got interviewed again and was called to be the elders quorum pres. I was a bit shocked. I am excited to be serving but I’m really in the dark a lot here. I think that I’m going to have to get to know the missionaries really well.

Eye of the Storm

Well, this happens to be the second version of this post. I’m an idiot and didn’t save a post I was working on and here I am typing it all over again. My lack of posting lately is a result of things being very busy around here. The last day of first semester was the 29th of September. I had to try to finish as much of the material as possible and put together semester exams for my classes. I made it through but with more than a little stress. The past two weeks have been semester break. As a foreign teacher I get the time off. The Thai teachers have to go in to work. It’s laid back and they can dress down but they have to go to work. We’re down to our last three days before we go back. Last week we took a small trip down to Korat (about two hours south of here) for a couple of days just to get out of town. I’ll post about our trip separately. This week has been just running errands and taking care of things around the house. We’ve been taking Trea to nursery this week just so she can stick with the routine and we can get some stuff done. I’ve been able to get a lot of little things done that have been on the backburner forever. We have done some car shopping over the past few days and hope to be able to get a car in the next week or so. Used cars here are so expensive (relatively)!!

We had a coup a few weeks back. Most of you probably heard or read about it. In fact, most of you probably heard more about it than we did. The international media made a huge deal of it. Most of the Thai’s were pretty much like, “whatever.” It’s kind of been something that happens here every 10-15 years. Most of the people were actually pretty happy that the PM was ousted. Things may have been different in Bangkok for a few days but here we had a government mandated school closure for one day but otherwise EVERYTHING stayed the same. I don’t want to get too much into the politics of it all but I’ll just explain very briefly what I understand. The PM was found to be making some shady (perhaps not illegal) business deals that got his family out of paying a lot of money in Thai taxes. The majority of the people wanted him to step down and he said that he would but he didn’t. Without any legal way of getting him out of power they waited until he was out of the country and staged a coup.

School starts up tomorrow (it’s now Sunday) and I’m not excited about going back. I’m always like this after long breaks. Work is just never something I want to go back to. I know a lot of people get some satisfaction out of work and I guess that I do get some (and I know that I should get more) but the fact of the matter is if I were independently wealthy I think I would be a bum and not hold a job. I just like hanging out too much.

Let me talk about the kid some. I’m sure most of you haven’t heard enough. She’s getting to be really demanding. Lately she’s started saying some funny things. About a week ago she was looking at Kristen’s wallet and saw a picture of Kristen’s grandmother. Kristen told her that it was “great grandma.” Trea already has trouble saying “grandma” but when she says great grandma it comes out as “Grape Mama.” It’s so funny!

Also I have to report that I’m very pleased that my daughter can say “MASH” and occasionally requests it. She doesn’t understand it but sometimes just asks for it. Even cooler is the fact that she will ask to see U2. She does this by saying, “watch hello, hello?” again and again; “hello, hello” being a reference to “Vertigo.” She also says “Bono” but it comes out more like, “Bonman.”

Something else that she picked up from Kristen – when I come home and walk in the door she yells from upstairs, “John?” because that’s what her mom always does to make sure that it’s me walking in the door. Yes, at least once Kristen has had someone else just walk in. It’s really funny to hear your two-year-old yelling out your first name. I don’t even think she realizes that it’s my name, it’s just something that mommy does when daddy walks in the door so she does it too.

Over a month ago when we went on our first date and left Trea to be babysat by her nursery teacher we came home to find her with three additional stuffed toys. Teacher Jaw (it rhymes with “cow”) said that she could just keep them for a while and return them to the nursery later. Anyway, one stuffed toy is a blue doll, one is pink, and the other is a baby. So she has named these dolls: one is T. Jaw, one is T. John, and the baby is Trea. T. John happens to be the pink one!! Another instance where I don’t think she realizes that T. John is daddy but it’s pretty funny to think that this is me in doll form.



It’s now Saturday morning (1:45 AM) and I can’t sleep so I’m posting a bit more. Obviously this post was to be posted a while ago but wasn’t. So far school is going well. I took Monday off because Trea was sick and so only had to teach four days and next Monday is a holiday and then Friday is an all-day student sport day. So we have another short week next week – only three days of teaching. I’ve been told by the other teachers that second semester here just flies by because there are quite a few holidays and students have a lot of stuff going on – practicing for year-end shows and what-not.

Kristen and I finally found a car that we like. It will be our first time buying a car together. It’s kind of funny how you do things here because you tell a few people that you’re looking for a car and pretty soon everyone at the school has heard that you’re looking for a car and is on the lookout for you. We asked the head secretary if her husband (he’s retired) could keep an eye out for us because we’ve heard that he’s pretty good at finding good cars at good prices. So, what does she do? Her son’s been out patrolling used car places looking for us and then brings cars by the school for us to look at – it’s crazy. Anyway, on Monday we are buying a 1992 Honda Civic. It’s dark blue with gray, leather interior. We are SO excited to finally have a car.

In other news Kristen also found a great OB/GYN here. It’s been a great week for us. The doctor speaks really good English and is really progressive thinking (for Thailand) and will allow her to do natural childbirth (a rarity in Thailand) and basically do what she wants to do. She’s so relieved and happy to have a doctor finally. Tomorrow morning we are going in for the ultrasound. I’m excited. I’m really hoping for a boy – either that or a monkey. But of course, I’ll be happy with another girl too.

Engrish Brog - Vol. 1:2

Well, this was to be posted last night with the other one but blogger was being stupid and not letting me upload pictures.

A few weeks ago I was in the mall and passed a shop selling sleeping mats with pictures of VW Beetles and the words "Bettle Bug" all over it. -- Nice!!

Just two days ago I saw a truck pull up to the school to pick up a student with the following painted on the side: "Anun Bakkery." I should write ads for these people -- Anun Bakkery, for all your bakking needs. Bakked goods . . . mmmm.

This is one of my favorites because it's one of those "What the . . . ?"


The front text reads: "Palliates." The back reads: "Relese the tension and welcome palliates of your new life style." That's right folks, welcome palliates into your life and I'm sure things will start looking up.


No caption necessary.

Tasto brand: RIDGE CUT POTATO CHIP NATURE IDENTICAL BARBEQUE FLAVOR. It tastes like all the natural barbeque I've ever found. It's just like the sap from the old barbeque trees back home.

This next one is also great. I bought a pair of dress slacks at the department store the other day. It was really inexpensive so I'm not expecting them to last long. Anyway, the makers of these slacks go to great lengths to try to make them look like they are imported from Italy. In fact sewn on the inside of the belt is "Emponi Givanno." Here is the tag on the inside - Commposition (Italians can mispell words in English), Viscose Kayon (Rayon?), and lastly I'm sure that Italians frequently mispell Italy - Itrly. I spell America wrong all the time.


No caption necessary.


One of the best things about this is where it comes from: The 7-11 catalog. That's right everyone, 7-11 puts out a catalog. It's actually quite good with reasonable prices. In fact, we just ordered a toaster and some glass bowls from the catalog. You don't have to pay shipping because you just pick it up at 7-11 in 3-5 days. Our town seems like it has 20 7-11 stores. Anyway this is a fan cover to give your fan that extra something. Actually it's to prevent your child from getting their fingers chopped off. The design for this one is "Baby Bare." Naked babies are kind of cute but who wants fifty of them on their fan cover.

Another one without a picture. I bought a pen that was actually made in Korea. It has a picture of a dog and has printed: "THE DOGS" and below that: "Artllst Collectlon." The back has the following: "Shih Tuz." That's my favorite kind of dog. I've always wanted a shih tuz.

Engrish Vol. 1:1

First, I want to preface this post with a few things. First, there is another new post just below this one so check it out. Second, as those of you who have been to Asia before (Joel and Amelia) can attest, Engrish is EVERYWHERE. I'm really bad at carrying my camera around with me so some of these are just some that I can remember and I don't have pictures. Also, the malls and some stores don't allow cameras so that cuts down on a lot of great Engrish pics. Anyway, here is some Engrish for your enjoy. Some are better than others. Also, the formatting is kind of jacked up so forgive me for that.


This is a toothpaste tube -- "squeezy mint." Forget spearmint, wintergreen and cool burst, I want some squeezy mint.





This looks like your average plate, right? Check out the back. If you can't read it: "Scotch: Essence of Chicken." I like my dinnerware with essence of chicken, doesn't everyone?
















Whiz: it's the only thing I use on the wwindows in my housee. Keepss the dustt off for monthss.

-- No Title Entered --

So, what's new . . . we're just hanging in there. Sometimes, just barely, but it's going all right. This past Monday the three of us had to go up to Udorn Thani (an hour north) with Kristen's boss to get Kristen and Trea's visas extended. It was a pretty decent excursion all things considered -- a toddler and a morning sick woman. Actually Trea was really good and Kristen only felt really sick a few times. Luckily we didn't have any trouble with the red tape either. I hear that the guy at the office there likes to show how much power he holds and is a pain sometimes. I think he just wanted to get Trea out of there as quickly as possible.

Well, Kristen had about five days where she felt really good and has since been sick again but hey, at least she isn't throwing up! She does say that she feels better than before even though she doesn't feel great. So, as a result of her condition and me taking care of Trea and not having any time to get any cleaning around the house done we've got a maid coming over two days a week. She's actually working for Jick (Kristen's boss) who lives two houses away from us four days a week and comes to our place on Mon. and Thur. She actually does our laundry too - with the machines down the street. Of course we provide soap and coins. We're paying 170 baht a day which is about $4.55. I almost feel guilty that it's so little but it's a pretty reasonable rate and people here are always willing to take jobs like that (showing how poor a lot of people here are). Also, she's said that cleaning our place is really easy.

Trea is doing really good. Just two days ago I was on gate duty at the school (help see students off) and stopped by to see Trea at the nursery for a moment. She told me to get out (in Thai). Okay. She knows her numbers 1-10 in both English and Thai. She knows a lot of nursery words in Thai - sit down, let's go, eat, no, go to sleep, drink milk. It's funny because when she wants milk she asks in Thai almost exclusively.

For those of you who haven't heard we are coming home for Christmas. I can't wait to see what Trea's like. She's going to be like, "hey, where did all those different people go? Nobody's speaking that funny language." "Where's my adoring audience?" Then she's going to get used to hearing only English and then we'll get back to Thailand. I know it's kind of cruel but I think it's going to be kind of funny.

Semester break is coming up in less than a month. I'm so excited. I just need some down time. Hopefully, we'll be able to get out and see some of Thailand or at least the northeast. It kind of depends on how Kristen is feeling. If she's not feeling good that's okay too. As I said, I just need some down time.

Hopefully, I will get the first edition of the Engrish Post out soon.

What's in a Name Anyway?

So, I now realize that my readership went from maybe five people down to one but hey I don't know what I expected when I take such long breaks between posts. It's Sunday morning and I should be getting ready for church but I was laid out yesterday by something I ate (I think it was school lunch on Friday) and am still not quite up to going to church. I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible for all of us to be healthy at the same time.

Anyway, I've been meaning to post about student names since I got here and just haven't gotten around to it until now. Nearly everyone has a nickname that they go by in their classes and it's a good thing too because when you've got names that are 30 letters long . . . For example, look at some of these names:

Passawalee Seearamroongruang
Kuntida Chokboonsongsawat
Chuanfachom Navabunniyom

And these are just a couple in one of my classes. Anyway, I really get a kick out of the nicknames that they give their kids here. It's quite funny to a native English speaker. You have to keep in mind that some of these names are nicknames in Thai and they just romanize it into English and you end up with something like "Earn." I'm only going to list the funny and interesting ones.

Noon
Bonus
Plug
Ice
View
Oak
Dragon (Oh wait, that's not a nickname -- that's a real name!)
Earn
Simba
Turbo
Proud
Pee - Pee
Bank
It
Gift
Need
Big
Peach
Benz
Future
Fifa
Dear
Net
Bell
Flash
Arm
Mink
Dream
Alpha
Earth
Pop
Opal
Japan
Title
Donut

One of the other teachers was joking with me the other day. He asked if we have a boy if we're going to give him a Thai nickname. He said that he jokes with other teachers that they're like American Gladiator names -- Turbo, Flash, Bonus, etc. I like Nitro. So, if it's a boy, he'll have an American name but you can just call him "Nitro."

My Life is Run by a Toddler

It's been over a month since my last post and this month has been an interesting one to say the least. Well, with so much happening, where do I begin? Hmm . . . how about with the fact that we're going to have another baby! After being late and feeling lousy for a while Kristen thought she might be pregnant and so took a pregnancy test. The test was negative. When taking Trea to see the doctor she asked about it and he said that it's probably just hormones (new environment, stress, etc.). About a week later she wanted to check again so we got yet another pregnancy test (this time the $5 imported from the US model instead of the $1.25 one). This too, had negative results. By this point Kristen is really starting to feel lousy (similar to her morning sickness with Chantrea) and is pretty sure that she's pregnant regardless of the what the tests say. In fact, she asked her mom to send her some medications for morning sickness the before we got a positive test. Anyway, we are excited. Giving birth in a foreign country will be an interesting experience but I know that if anyone can do it Kristen can. I'm really hoping that it's a boy.

I think our house has kind of been the sick ward for the last month. We all had a real nasty cold about five weeks ago. Then nearly two weeks ago Kristen gets throwing up and can't stop and has to go the hospital and get an IV. She spent the night. I did all right with Trea. The next day I start getting a really bad toothache in a tooth that had had a root canal two years ago. Anyway, the toothache was so bad that it kept me up half of the night. This on top of Trea fighting us to go to sleep for two hours. Her sleeping habits went out the window when we all got sick and Kristen and I didn't have the energy to fight her and just let her sleep with us -- BIG MISTAKE. Anyway, after a lot of hassle trying to find a place that can get me in and will actually do something while I'm in pain (apparently it's pretty common practice for dentists to give you an antibiotic and say they can't do anything until the pain goes away) I just get the dang thing pulled for a grand total of $12 (with five days of painkillers and antibiotics). Another root canal would've been about $200 plus another $100 for a new crown and the doctor said that the outcome is questionable so I just went for the extraction. That was a really bad week for us. Kristen was ready to go home. She said she would have if she wasn't so sick and could've handled the flight.

So, when Kristen and Trea first arrived Trea was really attached to both of us but particularly Kristen. Anytime Kristen left the room she would cry. I understood why. Daddy had left for six weeks and now Grandma and Grandpa were gone and Mommy was the constant in her life and she didn't want to lose her mom. Anyway, this lasted for about three weeks or so and then she really started getting back to normal and would be okay if we left the room. About two weeks ago she decided that Daddy is the coolest and now she won't let me go anywhere without being at my side or crying. It's kind of flattering for about two days and then it starts driving you crazy. I know it's aweful to talk about your child like this but lately she's like a leech. Weekends aren't a break. It's hard to get anything done. If I'm doing something she doesn't want me to do (typing on the computer, reading, giving attention to Kristen, or anything other than giving her my undivided attention) she fusses. I realize that a lot of this is typical toddler behavior but I'm just venting that I'm going crazy here. Kristen isn't able to help due to being sick but I honestly believe that even if she wasn't Trea wouldn't give me a break.

School is going all right. I had my first parent-teacher conference last month. It was all right I guess. I feel like I'm making progress as far as what I'm doing. I feel like I have a better idea of what I want to teach, how I want to teach it, etc. If only the kid would give me some time to prepare. I've got four kids in fourth grade who are always getting in trouble and getting detentions. I'm getting pretty sick of it but I'm not sure what I should do.

Chantrea has pretty much fully adjusted to nursery. She doesn't cry at all when I drop her off. In fact, she seems somewhat excited to be there. She knows all her teachers names and I'm told the names of all her classmates. She's picking up a lot of Thai. It's so cute to hear her speak Thai. She's really good at wai-ing (putting your palms together in front of you) and all the locals eat it up when she wais.

Hopefully my next post will be more exciting and less whining.

PS -- Anyone reading this who wants to talk: we got our webcam hooked up and a microphone so we can now talk on the internet (Yahoo MSGR with voice or Windows MSGR). The quality is about the same or better than the intl. phone calls and much cheaper.

Rocking Out!

Wow, it's been so long and so much has happened I don't even know where to begin. I've been meaning to post so many times and have just found myself busy and haven't been able to do it. It's really hard to get my lesson planning done now that I have Kristen and Trea around. Life is really good now that they're here with me. If you want to read some of what has been happening since we've been here check out Kristen's blog at chronicallysleepdeprived.blogspot.com . She's a little more on the ball with blogging lately. Thailand with a baby is quite different than Thailand without one. Although now that I've typed that I realize that everything is different with a baby than without one so it sounds kind of stupid.

The first two weeks that they were with me were . . . let me say . . . interesting. Both of them were having some serious adjustment issues. I hope Kristen won't kill me for saying so. I think I just got lucky and didn't really have any culture shock this time around and kind of forgot to think that it's the normal thing that happens. Anyway, I was stressing out because Kristen was stressing out because Trea was having a hard time adjusting. Anyway, I believe that things have settled down, for now.

We know know somewhat how celebrities feel when they go out in public because a "farang" baby (see previous posts for what a farang is) is nearly unheard of here. People are like in Trea's face like all the time. Everyone wants to play with her and hold her and touch her. Drove her nuts at first but I think she's gradually getting used to it. This past Monday and Tuesday we had off because of Buddhist holidays. Monday we went to a park by the lake here and just let Trea play on the playground. One boy (probably eight or nine) was talking to his friend in Thai, and basically said, "Whoa, a farang baby. I've never seen one before." It was almost like he wasn't sure they really existed. It's nice to be able to understand at least enough to catch jewels like that.

I'm working on taking pictures of some Engrish here and would like to collect enough for an occasional Engrish display/post on the blog. So keep your eyes open for that.

Also on Monday I found out that I have bronchitis. I went to a doctor who lives down the main road from us. His office is probably five mins. on a songtaew. His English is really good because he studied in England and did his residency in the Philippines. Anyway, I saw the doctor, he gave me some cough medicine, five days of prescription meds: for bronchial spasms, an antibiotic, an antihistamine, and a cough suppresant. My bill for the entire visit was 300 baht, about $8. The doctors here sure like to prescribe a lot of medications but I figure if it's gonna cost me $8 (including the visit) I don't care. Speaking of cheap, I've had a couple of pairs of pants that I bought at the super store here sitting in my closet for nearly a month. They've been sitting there because they sell the pants here unhemmed. I finally pulled them out and had Kristen figure out how long they needed to be. We went into town and took them to a seamstress (they just have these sewing machines out on the sidewalks) who hemmed both pairs for about $1.50 and had it done in an hour.

I don't know if it will really happen but we're toying with the idea of getting a car. That's probably the one thing that IS expensive here. It's kind of a pain to get around without one. Especially with a child. It's not like we live out in the sticks but we're kind of on the outskirts of town and it takes like 20 min. just to get into town on a songtaew. So, we'll see what happens. I'll keep you up to date if we do get one.

As Kristen mentioned in her blog we bought a stove a week ago yesterday and have already made good use of it. It's kind of like a glorified propane camp stove but whatever -- it works. It's a "Lucky Flame" and I know that you all wish that you had a "Lucky Flame." Speaking of flames, check out Kristen's account of the school fire drill. It's definately worth a look and I'm too lazy to write my own account.

Last night was the school welcome party. Every year they have a party to welcome all the new teachers and they put off the party until after Kristen arrived. They had some good food. It was a byob affair as some of the teachers had a few drinks of their own (or shared with others). And what is a party in Asia without karaoke!! They have a tradition of making all the new teachers sing. Kristen told me prior that she WAS NOT going to sing. I didn't know what I was going to sing. Kristen, knowing that I knew a few Thai rock songs, told the school owner that I should sing a song in Thai. Now, there was definitely a part of me that wanted to but also a big part that was very nervous about singing in Thai in front of a bunch of people who SPEAK THAI fluently. But once Kristen mentioned it, the deed was done and there was no turning back. So, I got up there and ROCKED THE FREAKIN' HOUSE!!! All the Thais were totally into it and loved it while all the farangs were jealous because I'm the man. I just thought it was a lot of fun.

We are going to get so spoiled here that it's going to be an adjustment going back home. We get our laundry done here for about $25/mo. The lady washes and irons our clothes (we do our own underwear and socks) twice a week and returns them to our doorstep the same day (provided it doesn't rain -- everything here is line dried). It's so awesome. We really could do our own laundry but it's the ironing that just takes so much time.


Yeah, this is my neatly ironed, folded laundry waiting on my porch as I return home from school.

I will try to be more dilligent with the posting but don't hold your breath.

It’s Raining Elephants and Water Buffalo

Yeah, this post is a few days old but I wrote it on the laptop at home and am just now at a place where I can upload it to the blog.

Well, I’m stuck here at home tonight (Saturday) – not that I had plans to do anything but I was going to get a bite to eat – on account of a torrential downpour. This is way beyond cats and dogs – elephants and water buffalo. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE thunder and lightning. I used to stay up nights in Houston just watching the lightning and waiting for the thunder. This storm has had a lot of good thunder and lightning but a couple of times I froke out and almost wet myself because the lightning was so dang close.

It’s a good thing that my kitchen is semi-detached from the rest of the house because it leaks like a sieve and it’s pretty much a swimming pool right now. I’m not too happy about that either because I spent the better part of my morning cleaning it. On the bright side, the heaviest leak drains right into the kitchen sink. It’s like someone took a hose draped it over a rafter, pointed it at the sink (which is metal, by the way) and turned it on full blast. It was like that for a half hour straight.

I had a really productive Saturday. I got nearly all of the house clean for Kristen’s arrival on Friday, did the laundry (which I fortunately hung up to dry in the closets because had I put it outside to dry it would be soaked right now), got a haircut, and bought some food for tomorrow. I may end up eating it tonight though. It’s funny, this morning I was sweeping the patio out front and the neighbor was so impressed that I was cleaning. I can’t figure out if it’s because I’m a Farang (the Thai equivalent of gringo or howlie) or because I’m a man. I get the impression that her husband doesn’t do much around the house but that’s actually pretty normal for Thailand. Then, when I was bringing the laundry in the lady across the street was impressed that I did that myself. Man, if only they could see what I can do with a broom and a mop!! Speaking of cleaning: they have a bathroom cleaner here that is way better than anything I’ve seen in the states and it’s made by SE Johnson (how ironic is that). I wonder if they can’t make anything like it in the states because of safety regulations and such. I couldn’t read the label but I could tell it was dangerous if swallowed and corrosive (symbols). It works amazing but I was afraid to get too close because I thought it might melt my hand or something.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to Udorn Thani (about an hour north) to get my visa extended for a year. It was a nice drive and I’m glad everything went smooth. I’ve heard horror stories about that place – just think of how pleasant the DMV is every time you go there. It’s kind of like that. I’m just glad the school has someone go with you who knows the routine and can speak the language. I can’t even imagine going there by myself.

Well, right now Kristen is in Utah for her sister’s wedding. I guess she’s probably awake and doing her hair or something to get ready. I can’t remember exactly what time the wedding is at. We talk almost every night but since she left for Utah she hasn’t called. I assume she’s pretty busy. In fact, I think she told me not to expect any calls until after the wedding. I’m so happy that the week has finally arrived. Everyone here has been asking when she’s going to come. I fly down to Bangkok on Wed. evening and then pick Kristen and Trea up at the airport on Thursday morning. We fly back to Khon Kaen on Friday afternoon. Saturday and Sunday we are attending a regional conference of the church in Mahasarakham (about a half hour to an hour east). The church is also celebrating 40 years in Thailand so they’re having some festivities for that on Saturday. I’m actually singing with the branch choir (in Thai) which is quite fun. Kristen will take Trea to the nursery on Monday and Tuesday and start work on Wednesday (the 28th). So, as you can see, things are going to be really busy. I’m so excited for them to share this experience with me. It’s been great so far but the missing pieces will be put into place.

-- Monday:

I got a couple of leaks fixed today in the upstairs bathroom. Nothing a whole lot of plumbers tape couldn't fix. The landlord called and had someone come and fix them. He just wrapped a ton of plumbing tape and reconnected everything. There's no such thing as upkeep here. Things just break down and are put together "with duct tape" so to speak. I'm sure the leaks will most likely return as he just kind of put a patch on a larger problem but whatever.

Exciting Times Going on Here

Well, I don't have any new pictures to share just yet but I will. Still haven't got internet at the house yet. I'm beginning to wonder if I ever will. I'm at the school computer lab. Today is a holiday. The King of Thailand is celebrating 60 years on the throne (it's kind of like 50 years in the west because they go by 12-year cycles). Anyway, they've been having celebrations in Bangkok for about two weeks and then on Tuesday, parliament decides that they are declaring Friday a national holiday. Gotta love Thailand. One would think that they would declare this months in advance not a few days. Either way, I was happy to hear that I would have a three day weekend.

Anyway, I'm here at the school with about four other kids playing video games with the sound way up and it's driving me crazy. Yesterday was Wai Kruu Day (honor teachers day). The school had an assembly where students were given awards for the best drawings about teachers, and poems and essays about teachers. The students then present the teachers with these beautiful flower arrangements (they made on Wed.) -- I'll try to post some pictures later. It's kind of cool just to see how different holidays are celebrated.

Things are going much the same. I still have a few students that I want to punt but otherwise things are good. I'm really ready to have the family here. Just two more weeks and they'll be here. I know, I always mention how much I miss them or can't wait until they get here but come on you'd all do the same if you were in my position.

Wednesday night I had the pleasure of reliving a memorable experience from my past :-(. I was watching a movie (I rented four last Friday for 90 baht - about $1.25) and noticed a little spider in the air dangling from a web. I killed it and kept on watching the movie. A few minutes later another one. I looked up at the ceiling and there were probably a hundred of those little chumps up there. There were probably about 1 cm across (the leg span - not the body) and they were everywhere. So, I paused the movie and grabbed the can of bug fumigant (I had purchased this in a pinch because I couldn't find regular spray). So, I spray the room for 15 secs. as per the directions and close the door and leave the room. Oh, I must mention that when I looked up at the ceiling I had seen a gecko making a meal of the spiders but I knew that little guy couldn't finish the job by himself so I grabbed the spray. (If there had been five or six geckos I may have just let 'em feast. Anyway, back to the story; after 15 min. I go back in and start airing out the room. Now there are dead spiders all over my bed and probably half of the original population is still running around on the freaking ceiling. By this point I'm so ticked that I start yelling and mumbling at the spiders (as if they are doing this just to make my life difficult and can actually understand what I'm saying). I then spent the next half hour killing the little chumps one at a time by smashing them with a paper towel. GOOD TIMES!!!! Kristen and I had a similar if not quite as distressing experience in Provo a few years ago.

I don't know if I'll get used to the bugs. I'm just going to start using lots of sprays and traps and such. I think I've killed probably 4-5 roaches (and seen as many that were already dead). YUCK!!!

Well, that's the news on the eastern front for now.

Some more pictures

Well, I don't have all that much to say this time. Things are still going okay. My students are about the same -- I want to drop kick them most of the time but ... I refrain. Still loving it. I'm looking forward to getting internet at the house. That will hopefully happen in the next week but I'm not holding my breath. Seems like everything here takes a while to get done.

I found a great new restaurant about a three minute walk from my house. Last night I had a pork steak (they didn't have beef). It was served with a salad, french fries, and a slice of really good bread with really good real butter. Total cost - 40 baht. About a dollar. I was so impressed that I went back tonight and tried their spaghetti which was also very good. I'm also addicted to iced cocoa. It's so freaking good.

I can't wait until Kristen and Trea get here. These last 2 1/2 weeks are going to kill me. The first three went by so fast because everything was so new. Now I'm just counting the minutes until they get here. It's not that I'm bored I just want them to be here and be a part of all this.

Anyway, some more pictures (hopefully, I don't have broken sentences this time). Last time posting the pictures kind of messed everything up. This is called a songtaew. This is the public transportation around town. They've got a couple of different routes that go around town. The different routes have different colors. Fortunately, I have a map that shows where they all go, otherwise I wouldn't have a clue.

Another way of getting around is by tuk-tuk (below). Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of one of these so I copied one from another site. They cost a bit more but are more direct in getting you where you want to go.

Here's a picture that I took on the branch activity. Just a serene little pond. Speaking of the branch, one of the missionaries came up to me on Sunday during choir practice and asked, "Are you ready for a calling?" I asked if he knew what they (the branch presidency) were thinking of calling me to. Hey said, "One of the counselors in the Elders Quorum presidency or maybe the president." Excuse me, I'm doing okay with the learning Thai but I don't speak that well. If I'm the pres. and my teacher doesn't show, I'm supposed to teach. I don't know how that's going to happen. Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

I took this picture just because I get a kick out of these brightly colored and often animated (anime) tour buses.

You know what else is awesome; places like McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Co. (there isn't a Pizza Hut in Khon Kaen) deliver. I haven't yet taken advantage of this but it's nice because getting to these places takes a good 20 min. by songtaew and if I get a hankering for a burger or something else I can call and have it delivered (that is if I can explain what I want and give my address/directions over the phone). Well, that's all for now.

Yeah, I'm Hanging in There

Hey faithful readers (all 4 of you), sorry for leaving you all hanging for so long. I really was planning on posting a lot more than I have. You know, teaching takes a lot more work than you think. I think it would be a lot different had I known exactly I was going to teach and had a few weeks to get some preparation done. As it is now, I'm pretty much planning the next days lesson the night before -- hence the lack of posts. Hopefully, I'll be able to get ahead a bit but who knows. Overall, I' but grade four is pretty bad. I've already handed out about 10 detentions in two weeks. I'm really loving it here though. It's hot and I'm sweaty all the time but I LOVE being in Thailand. I just miss Kristen and Trea. I've only been gone for almost three weeks but it seems like Trea is learning m enjoying it. I'm teaching Math and English to 3rd and 4th graders. Grade three is pretty goodso many new words in just that short time. I got a cell phone and I talk to Kristen just about every night. She found some company that specializes in calling cards to Asia and she can call me for like three cents a minute so it's pretty nice that we can talk and hardly spend any more than we would be if I lived across the country.

Seemed like I had a million things to say but I never wrote them down so I'll just ramble. The school that I teach at is just an elementary school (with kindergarten) and nursery. I would guess that they have maybe 350 kids total. It's a private school and most of the kids come from families with money and are therefore pretty spoiled. My house is behind the school. It takes me like 20 secs to get to the school grounds and maybe a minute and a half to get to the teachers' room.
Here's a picture of the students(only the elementary students) lined up for our morning flag ceremony. You can see the far end of my townhouse building on the right hand side of the picture. The kindergarten director lives in the older style house behind the basketball standard. She's one of the owner's daughters and will be Kristen's boss. She's pretty cool.

Okay, I think I mentioned posting some pictures of our townhouse. I don't know if you've seen but Kristen beat me to the punch and posted some on her blog but I'm going to post some here anyway.

Here's what the place looks like from the front. Here's a shot from just inside the front door.



















And here's what our bedroom looks like.
















Yeah, the formatting of these pictures isn't the best but whatever. I've got a lot more pictures (not just of the place) but uploading them is kind of slow and I want to finish this post so maybe I'll just do another post after this one.

Last Saturday I went to an activity with the branch here. We met at the branch house at 8:00 and didn't get home until 5:00. I knew it was going to be an all day thing so it wasn't any surprise. We went up to a park near a dam and tried to find clues and do things along the way there (we were split into five teams in five vehicles). We couldn't find most of the things on the way there but we had a good time. The park was really pretty. It's differernt going to these kind of things and only being able to catch a few things here and there. I've been to church twice and I learn a TON of Thai but by the time it's over my head just hurts.

So, on Thursday of this week (two days ago) I was scheduled to see the kids off after school. (I do this every Thursday). Anyway, the Thai teachers had the front end taken care of (get the kids into the right car when their folks show up) so I was just supposed to walk around and make sure nobody is doing anything that will get them hurt. So, I play soccer with some of the kids for a while and then a bit later some of the kids ask me if I want to play basketball. I say okay and we start playing. About two minutes into the game I'm driving toward the hoop and roll my ankle. It didn't seem too bad but by the next morning I couldn't put any pressure on it at all. Fortunately, I had noticed upon moving into our new place a pair of crutches in the storage space under the stairs and I took those to school yesterday. Haven't even been at the school two weeks and I'm showing up injured. I'm feeling a bit better now. I can walk on it at least. Kind of a funny walk but whatever.

I love how you find different products made by American companies in different countries. I'm sure most of you have seen this to some extent. They have Lays potato chips here but they have flavors like Nori Seaweed, Grilled Lobster, and Salmon Teriyaki. I've tried them all and they're actually all pretty good. Why don't they have fun flavors like that in the States? I guess probably because there's not a great demand for them there.

Well, I'd better be going. Kristen should be calling soon.

Alive and Kicking

I made it!! Here is my first post from Thailand. The flight was actually pretty good. It went by rather quickly and I was able to get probably 4-5 hrs. of sleep which is pretty good for me. I watched King Kong and thoroughly enjoyed it too. I spent the night in Bangkok and then we travelled drove up to Khon Kaen today. I got here this afternoon at about 2:30. I have met with some of the teachers at the school but should meet most of the rest tomorrow morning.

The townhouse is pretty good. It's about what I expected. It's pretty basic but will meet our needs. I took some pictures and emailed them to Kristen. I'll have to post some of them here for all to see (I don't have them with me right now or I would).

It's great to be back in Thailand although I of course miss Kristen and Trea. I can't wait until they get here. Then the fun is really going to begin.

I have to admit that I'm still a little nervous about teaching. I think it's just one of those things that I think I will just have to give it a little while and then I'll get into it and be comfortable. The nice thing is that everyone here at the school is so friendly and helpful so I should always feel like I can go to them for help with teaching. From what I've heard it sounds like I can go to them for help with just about anything.

Anyway, just a quick update before I head home and crash for the evening. I haven't had a whole lot of jet-lag this trip which is nice (knock on wood).

I Hope to update often.

Catch you on the flip side.

So, here it is . . . my last post from the USA. Wow, I don't even know what to say other than this is totally surreal. I can't believe that this moment has finally come. It's now 9:45 PM Sunday and I am just about eight hours away from flying out of Reagan Intl. Airport headed for New York and then on to Bangkok.

These last few weeks have been really nice. I've had a lot of time to spend with Kristen and Trea -- taking walks, going shopping, to the park, playing in the yard, etc. I can't decide if in the end it will make being away from them harder (I've been around them so much and kind of got used to it) or easier (because I at least got a lot of time in before I left). Either way it's been nice.

For those of you who haven't heard, I now know that I have an allergic reaction to something. I haven't a clue as to what it is but something got me really good. I'd never had hives before this past week and at one point I think I had them covering 2/3 of my body -- very unpleasant to say the least. I did get in to see a doctor on Thursday and he prescribed me some Prednisone (sp?) and it's working miracles. I was imagining having those aweful hives on a 17 hour flight. That would have been hell. Anyway, I'm basically back to normal and ready to go.

This time over I'm going to try anything and everything to see if I can sleep. My last flight to Thailand (May 2002) I think I slept for like two hours (out of 23 or something). It was aweful. I've got a neck pillow, eye mask, ear plugs, and Tylenol PM. I'm gonna look rediculous but my sleep is more important. I just hope it all helps. Also, I don't think I'm going to go to sleep tonight.

The other day I found a trip report from a guy who had taken the same flight that I'm taking (direct from JFK to Bangkok). Here's a picture of the route over the north pole. Just reading the trip report got me excited -- Thai Airways is awesome.

Kristen has been practicing learning the Thai alphabet. In just the past three days or so, she's learned all 44 consonants. I'm really impressed!! I have a lot of fun seeing her learn Thai.

Anyway, I will probably be busy for the next week or two settling in, etc. but after that hopefully I'll have all kinds of fun and interesting stuff to post about. Oh yeah, Kristen found some info the other day that it may be possible for us to get DSL in Khon Kaen for like $25 a month. It all depends on if we have a land line or not. I'm praying!! Posting would be so much easier from home with a fast connection.

So, I'll catch you on the flip side.

Johnny You're A Bad Boy

Yes, I'm a lemming but really, who cares? Those of you reading this have already seen how this works so I'm not even going to explain it. It's really fun to see what comes up. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. I've added a comment or two (after the dash --)

1. in combat boots John looks like a monstrous spined robot with a large amount of weapons in normal activities he looks like a full conversion borg

2. John looks like he has a lot of feelings.

3. John looks like something out of Deliverance here

4. John dolls himself up for Marlena's wedding and sneaks past the troops. Will he be caught?
(The link is titled: Days of Our Lives: John Looks Like a Lady)

5. John looks like he weighs 300 lbs and molests ...

6. John looks like he is testing his new rear springs.

7. John looks like he’s about 5’8’’. -- Yeah, in my dreams.

8. John looks like he wants the cameraman.

9. John looks like he's trying to hypnotize someone with those eyes. -- You know it.

10. John looks like hes gotta pee!!

11. John looks like an angel.

12. John looks like he's sweating in a lot of scenes

13. John looks like hes going through constipation and Hulk is trying 2 squeeze it out of him

14. John looks like a girl!

15. John looks like Coolio

16. John looks like an aging Queen -- (This was actually Elton John)

17. John looks like Jesus especially in the cartoon on the Chit Chat Ledge.

18. John looks like John still.

19. John looks like an ahjushee -- what the?

20. Do you think John looks like a garden ornament?

Yes, these are all real. I just started at the top of the list and went down. I was going to stop at 15 but they were just to good to stop there.

My O My

So, as usual, here I sit ready to blog and all of the ideas that were flooding my brain have vanished into thin air. I had quite a few things to blog about but now I got nuthin.

My last assignment with the temp company ended last Friday. I figure I may be done for a couple of reasons. 1. We're doing all right financially and 2. I was planning on taking a week and a half off before leaving and the temp company usually takes nearly a week to get me something. So, I've got three weeks to get ready and spend time with family. That will be really nice since I won't see them for six weeks.

Last night we went to an O's game. It was so much fun!! It was my second MLB game ever and the other was a long time ago. My brother-in-law Mark got us some good seats from his company. We were on the box level between home and third. My in-laws took us out and treated. I love going to a baseball game. Watching on TV really isn't my thing but there's just something about being there. Of course, the fact that the O's won made it even better.

Today I got my visa back from the Thai embassy. I was happy to get it so quickly. I was a little worried that it wouldn't arrive until right before I left. Kristen has been in contact with the school and has worked out a deal to work three days a week in the kindergarten for 15,000 baht per month (I make 25,000 a month). As mentioned previously Chantrea will be able to go to the nursery for free. So, with 40K a month we should be doing all right. We'll probably pick up a few hours of private tutoring in the evenings too.

I worked out in the yard today and that was a lot of fun. I don't know why but I really like getting my hands dirty. I think I got that from my dad. He's a real green thumb. I think I'll be one of those people who loves to do yardwork (not mowing -- but planting and stuff like that) when I get older.

We're going to start advertising the car this weekend. I'm not really looking forward to that. I don't know why but I just hate stuff like that.

My parents are flying out to Maryland the end of April to see us before I take off for Thailand. I'm really looking forward to seeing them one more time.

I don't know if I've previously mentioned this but my niece, Lonna (she's just over two years old) calls Trea "shoo-shoo." We're not exactly sure where she came up with that. Every time she comes over it's: shoo-shoo? (ie where's Trea?). This one was good:

Me: Lonna, can you say Trea?
Lonna: Shoo-shoo
Me: Lonna, say Tray-uh. (drawn out)
Lonna: Shooooo-Shoooooo (drawn out)

Yeah, so it's probably a good thing that we're moving or that one could stick. Kristen has a cousin who approaching 20 who's still called "Scoob" by everyone. We don't need anything like that going on here.

We recently counted how many words she says and actually understands and the number was about 70. One of my favorites is "Moo-shoo." That's how she says lotion. Sounds like she wants Chinese food. Also, recently she's decided that everything needs to end in "ie." Her cousin, Bryce, is "Brycie." Her uncle Mark -- "Markie." Book = Bookie and Light = Lucky (?). She's a hoot.

After going back over this post I realized it's kind of lame but I'm too lazy to change it and I've put too much into it to completely erase it so here it is.

I Want to Rip Something

Does anybody out there have any experience with DVD ripping software? Enough to make a recommendation? I'm interested in ripping video to put on my Zen. I'm currently trying out a few free trials but I thought if any of you had a recommendation . . .
I need something that will decrypt. I understand why DVDs are encrypted but it sucks for someone like me who isn't looking to make copies of DVDs I don't own but just to make the stuff I already have available on my PVP (portable video player).

I wish I could upload video to my blog because last night Trea got so tired that she couldn't stay awake to eat her dinner. Being the loving father that I am, instead of getting her out of the high-chair and laying her down, I got the digital camera and took some video. Kristen thought it was pretty funny but did give me a hard time about not getting her out immediately.

Today is the 8th. Exactly one month from now I will be on my way to Thailand. Wow!! I'm really starting to get nervous but only because it's such a big change and I'll really, really, really miss Kristen and Chantrea.

I am Freakin' Awesome!!

So, you're probably wondering why my post is thus titled. The answer -- just because. What makes me so freakin' awesome? -- nothing in particular, I just am.

So, I'm sitting at work on my lunch break and instead of running the errands I need to, I've decided to blog. I'm feeling lazy and don't want to stand in lines at the post office. Well, my new assignment is okay. It's pretty boring because it's strictly data entry. I have trouble staying awake it's so boring but it will take me through half of April and that's what I was looking for.

I'm official with the school that I previously mentioned -- Patanadek School. They faxed me a contract and I signed it and am working on sending in an application for a Thailand Visa (the errand that I'm putting off). Kristen was offered a job through the school but isn't sure she wants to take it. We don't really want to have Chantrea in daycare full time. Kristen will probably tutor in the evenings a few nights a week. The pay is better and then I can watch Trea. I'm hoping that we can get Trea into a daycare a few hours a week, more because I want her to get some social interaction with other kids and maybe learn some Thai. If Kristen works evenings she could just go with Trea to the daycare. Anyway, we're still working out all the details but we'll keep you up to date with how it ends up.

We found out last week that Chantrea's renal reflux (I mentioned it last year) hasn't resolved itself and instead has progressed from stage 1 to stage 2. We were told that stage 1 usually just resolves itself so we just kind of figured that we didn't have to worry about it anymore and just needed to get her in to be sure. Now we're kind of bummed that it's not only still there but worse. We need to get her in to see a pediatric urologist but that's proving to be more difficult than it sounds.

My birthday was a pretty normal day but I'm not a big b-day person so that's how they usually go. But this past Monday Kristen's parents took us out for my birthday and it was really nice. We went to a Japanese Steakhouse (I wanted Japanese food) where they cook the food in front of you. At one point they put a bunch of oil on the cooking area and then light it and it creates a huge fireball. It's pretty cool but it freaked out my niece, Lonna. Chantrea, on the other hand, was fascinated with it. She's gonna be a pyro. No surprise for anyone who saw me as a boyscout.

Oh yeah, something else related to Thailand. A ward member had mentioned that her neighbor was from Thailand and would probably love to talk to us. So she set it up last week but Kristen had to work and couldn't come so I went alone. Anyway, the cool thing is that this lady, Ni, and her American husband LIVED in the town where we're moving for like 10 years!! They gave us a bunch of people to contact and some helpful information. What are the chances? I'd like Kristen to meet them so hopefully we can set that up soon.

Kristen now has her own blog. It's called chronicallysleepdeprived.blogspot.com. So go check it out if you get a chance. I know she would love some feedback.

They'll call me "Teacher John"

So after a lengthy hiatus I'm back. Life has been treating me really well over the past month and a half. I've worked at a couple of different short-term positions and had a good time with them. I was at one for over a week and actually thoroughly enjoyed it. I was helping out the HR director. Maybe I'll have to look into HR someday -- down the road a bit.

The big news around here was the job search. I sent out about 10-15 resumes to schools in Thailand hoping that maybe we'd get a bite. You see, most of the research we've done has indicated that if you aren't in Thailand schools don't usually respond all that much. Well, we did hear back from a number of places. A few that were clueless -- one asking if I could come in for an interview on the 16th or 17th of March (my cover letter clearly stated that I wouldn't be arriving until May 10), another addressing me as Jeffery, and another that was asking me questions about what I'd need to get a visa from the Thai embassy. Those aside I did get a few bites from decent sounding schools and pretty quickly narrowed it down to two schools: The Language Institute of Lopburi (in Lopburi) and the Patanadek School (in Khon Kaen). Financially, the two offers came out about the same -- one offering a higher salary while the other offered paid housing. It was really nice to -- for the first time in my life -- have people really interested in hiring me. After a few agonizing days of going back and forth between the two we have now decided to pursue (we don't have anything official yet) the job in Khon Kaen simply because we feel better about it and it's a bigger town with things to do. Lopburi, although only two hours outside of Bangkok, kind of sounds a bit podunk.

So you can get an idea of where we'll be, here's a map of Thailand. (I say where we'll be simply because it sounds like they're willing to hire me as soon as I give them the go ahead.) Bangkok is on the coast straight below where you see "Thailand" in the center. As I mentioned before, we'll be in Khon Kaen which is located up and to the right of the "Thailand."

I hope I'm not boring you but this is big news in my life. Anyway, some details about the job: I will be teaching about 20 hrs./week but I have to be at the school for a full 40 (8 AM - 4 PM daily). They'll provide us with a two-bedroom, mostly furnished townhouse very near to the school and pay 1000 baht of our utilities ($26). That'll probably be about half. They've offered to let Kristen work full or part-time and Chantrea could go to their nursery at no charge. The English language director that I talked to said that they do everything they can to accomodate the foreign teachers. So, it's always nice to go into a place like that. The school actually has a website -- www.patanadek.ac.th. Although there isn't a whole lot there I could see pictures of some of the teachers that I may be working with. Also, I will be teaching more than just English. I will teach Science, Math, and Social Studies. It's lower grades so hopefully it won't be a problem.

Of course anyone who reads this is welcome to come and visit us any time! :-)

The picture at the top is actually from the school website.

Music post

Well, I have some thoughts that I decided not to mix with the Super rant so here's another post. You know what is really cool -- finding some good music that you just plain overlooked in the past. Recently, while putting music onto the new MP3 player I found a couple of albums on my computer that I had never listened to but which are really great. The first is, Pearl Jam: Riot Act. I really like Pearl Jam but I'm not a huge fan but when I'm in the right mood, they just seem to hit the spot. I really loved Yield but wasn't terribly keen on Binaural (not that I've even heard most of it). Listening to Riot Act though has been great. It's a good record that I obviously just overlooked. The other album: Hail to the Thief by Radiohead. Honestly I didn't think I'd like this at all. I had listened to OK Computer a number of times and really didn't care too much for it. I think I'll have to go back and listen to it again. Anyway, I really like this album. It's funny because I listen to the songs and in my opinion they all sound like they could be soundtrack music for different offbeat movies (seriously listen to the lyrics).

Also music related: yesterday I heard the new Gorillaz single, Dare and I really like it as well. I'm not really a music afficionado (as most of you who read this blog know) but I'm really impressed with how well they (the Gorillaz) can put together a lot of great songs that all sound completely different. You know how a lot of bands have so many songs that aren't the same but sound really similar. It seems like everything I've heard from the Gorillaz is just different.

Personal news: we are officially going to Thailand. We have tickets purchased!!!

Super Vomit into the Super Bowl

Doesn't that title just sound gross? I hope so. I know the Superbowl is two days gone but I'm still ticked about it so I'm going to vent my frustrations via this post. My problem is that once I decide to root for a team (even if I'm not really affiliated with that team) I really get into it. I was, as you may have picked up, rooting for Seattle. I lived there for two years, know a lot of people there that doubtless rooted for Seattle, and I have zero ties to Pittsburgh (other than attending a U2 concert there in October of last year) so it was the obvious choice. Besides, I'm kind of an NFC guy. I always root for the NFC contender in the Superbowl unless it's the Cowboys.

Anyway, back to the game. Halfway through the first quarter I was already having some serious issues with / doubts about the officiating in the game. There were just some really bad calls. I'm sure there are plenty of articles out there about how bad the officiating was but I've only read this one but I thought it was right on target. The author, Kevin Hench, had actually picked the Steelers to win but in his article points out that they weren't the best team on the field. Which is exactly what I'm so upset about. The Seahawks, overall, looked a lot better than the Steelers. I will admit that the Seahawks did make some huge errors but the poor officiating can take a team right out of things in a hurry. It seemed to me that the Steelers won an entire football game with about five or six plays.

Seattle deserved to win this game.

Anyway, I'm still baffled by this but can't even coherantly put together a good post so I'll just stop here.

Super

Yes, I Love Technology -- Always and Forever

I'm back. I guess the news around here is that we are indeed going to Thailand and almost had tickets bought but are reconsidering our timing. The plan was for me to head over the beginning of May, hopefully find a job and a place to live and kind of get things set up so that when Kristen and Chantrea came over (in mid-June) they could move right in. Kristen's younger sister is getting married on June 17th so she wants to stay for that for sure. Anyway, as I said we were all ready to go ahead with these plans when last night I realized that I don't know how well I'll do being apart for six weeks. I think I'd lose it so we're rethinking the timing. Maybe we'll all just stay and go to the wedding.

In other news Kristen and I just purchased an MP3 player. It was actually part of our Christmas but we just hadn't gotten around to it until now. We went all out and got the newest thing. Actually that was mostly me. I put in a bunch of my personal money so we could get the one that I wanted. Kristen just wanted something pretty basic. I wanted all the bells and whistles. We ended up getting the Creative Zen Vision: M. This thing won best in show at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show. It's basically a competitor to Apple's iPod video. It's got 30GB and plays video (divx, mpeg 1 and 4, and xvid), audio (obviously), has a microphone, FM radio, and can display pictures. I've only had it for about a week but it is awesome! I guess I don't need to go on about it forever though.

This past Wednesday Kristen and I went on our first date in forever. Funny how once you have kids it's really hard to get away. We just went out to eat and window shopping for a bit but it was really nice to have some alone time. And eating out is always nice.

Saturday I went in to get a Maryland drivers license now that we've been here for four months. Actually the only reason I'm getting it is because my Utah license expires in March and also our insurance expires and we need to get new insurance and that requires us to get the car registered in Maryland. I HATE government operations. Needless to say, I still don't have the license and I have to go back again. Such a pain.

Yeah, I'll end on that note.

Start Anew

Here we are in 2006. A new year means we get to forget the past and start again with the goals and resolutions. For me that usually lasts about three weeks. Anyway, one of my resolutions is to post more often. So, all four of my readers are in for a treat -- for the next three weeks, at least. I don't know why but I always feel like blogging on Xbox night but of course don't get around to getting even close until it's time to get on Xbox live and kick some butt!! Fortunately for me (and you all) Chantrea was extremely tired today (no nap) and I got her down by 7:30. Lately it's been more like 8:30 or 9:00. So here I am at 7:50 getting an early start to this captivating post.

We had a very nice Christmas. It was a lot of fun to see my parents and Justin's family. His kids are still a riot. His youngest, Jacob is six weeks older than Trea and about five pounds lighter. I swear she is such a chunk. A cute chunk, though. My parents have this little Santa that sings when you press a button and for three straight days that's all I heard as the kids just wanted to push the button and dance. They loved that Santa. Chantrea is finally starting to use a few words and some signs. She will sign eat and more, and sometimes please (although she's usually stubborn and just looks at me like you already know I want it). She will say "daddy" (which is funny because she won't really say "mommy"), "ice," and she says "gah" when she's done. She got that from me saying all gone. The cutest thing though is that she does the sign for sleep when she's tired. It's nice because she can usually recognize when she's tired and she doesn't really fight going to sleep (most nights). Anyway, enough about my kid.

So, I have a new LOST dilemma. We have now seen the entire first season but I want to be completely caught up -- NOW. I could buy the second season episodes on iTunes for $2 but I don't want to pay $10 for a TV show. Yes I'm cheap. That's my dilemma, do I fork over the cash to "get my fix" or just be content with having seen the first season. Another thing I've recently thought to myself is this: even though I absolutely LOVE Lost I don't think it's a show that I would like to own on DVD. My reason being this: when the show ends and goes off the air there will be an end to the suspense and mystery of everything. Once you know how it all ends do you really want to watch it again? I don't know, maybe I would but then again maybe I wouldn't. Let's just say it's not like owning a comedy on DVD. I could watch Seinfeld a million times.

I watched the Rose Bowl last night -- that was a great game. I was disappointed that USC lost but the game was a great one. More exciting though was the Orange Bowl. I couldn't believe triple overtime. Congrats to Penn State on that one. Joe Pa's still got it. His effective use of time outs to score at the end of the first half was coaching at it's best. Speaking of sports (what a great segue), what's the deal with every old coach making another go at it? Is there really no good, young talent out there? Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs, Vermiel (well he's done now but he did give it another go), and Marv Levy, among others. There's probably some Packers fan performing science experiments to figure out how to bring Vince Lombardi back from the dead to coach again. Who else is coming back -- Ditka, Schula, Walsh? I'm just kind of tired of seeing the same old crew. I want some new faces. These guys had a good run. Let's just call it good. There's got to be some young talent out there ready to make the jump, whethere that be college coaches or NFL coordinators. And why are they coming back? It can't be the money. They've got to have plenty of that. They just can't let it go. If I had that kind of money I'd be taking it easy and spending a lot of time with family and traveling. I wouldn't be coaching -- again.
I'm just sayin.

As I'm sure most of you have heard, Bono was voted as one of Time magazine's Persons of the Year along with Bill and Melinda Gates. As an avid U2 fan, I had to make mention of that. The articles in the magazine were very interesting. I've always loved U2's music but I have a whole lot of respect for what Bono has done and continues to do with the influence that he has. A lot of people could use their status for good but really don't. He recognizes the opportunity and takes advantage of it. Anyway, if you haven't read the articles, make time and read them.
Well, to close, I'll update you on where we'll be this year. We are still planning on heading to Thailand. We've actually been looking at some of the finer details lately. We are looking at sometime between March and June. We were planning on heading out in March but Kristen's sister is getting married in June and Kristen's not sure she wants to fly over and then fly back to Utah in June. So, we are working out that detail among others. Also, we are narrowing down our list of possible cities.

I'll keep you updated. We got a new digital camera for Christmas so hopefully, I'll post some pictures of Chantrea soon. My posts never turn out as great as they seem in my head but then again, I think everything in my head seems better than reality so . . .