Long Time No See

And no I'm not talking about how long it's been since I've blogged although that would be a good application. I'm just talking about a short day trip we took with Rachel today to places we haven't been to in a long time and seeing some people we haven't seen in almost two years!

The other day I thought about going to Chiang Dao. It's a little over an hour drive, and it's usually a place we like to take our guests. There's a pretty mountain, and the scenery changes from what we see in the city. There's also a nice market that I like to visit that is in Faa's home village. We didn't get to meet up with her because she was working in the flower fields, but she and Rusty were messaging throughout our trip.

We went to the market first, and it was the first time that I have been there that it was disappointing.

There were a lot of mangoes, but we've been getting so many from the schools I easily passed them by. They didn't have that many vegetables that I could put up in the freezer so I just bought some cabbage, chayote, cucumbers, lettuce, and bell peppers that I could use this week before we leave for Rayong.  I was sad that they didn't have any corn or green beans as these are my favorites to stock up on.

The coffee shop at the market has improved since we first started going, but the prices also went up! I think I'd rather have the better coffee than saving $0.30.

It's so hard to get a good picture of the mountain because we're always fighting with lighting or power lines, but it just looks so big! It's not really that tall, but it really sticks out from the surrounding landscape. Maybe someday we'll hike it.

The other big find was the restaurant "The Chef's Kitchen." If you've visited us, you have probably eaten at their original restaurant in Mae Jo. It was one of our favorite stops on Sunday afternoons as it was a made-to-order place, and everyone could get what they wanted. They abruptly moved about a year-and-a-half ago, and it crushed me. For some strange reason I felt really sad that they didn't even say goodbye. I "randomly" saw the sign as we passed by, and we decided at the last minute to return the same way home and stop in. At first I didn't see anybody we knew from the old place, and then we heard a squeal of delight. The lady in this picture was just about in tears and hugged Rusty a couple of times. I think they felt the same way we did about not getting to say goodbye. The new restaurant has some upgrades as the chef makes his own pasta, they grow their own herbs, and he now makes Northern Thai sausage. I think their new business is doing well, and I feel better now that we've reconnected.

I had mentioned to Rusty that there is also a burger place in Chiang Dao, and he wanted to find it. I didn't remember anything about its location except that it was near a gas station. He found it!

It's a pretty nice open air burger place, and Rusty said the burger was pretty good. He also got a side of homestyle fries and sweet potato fries. I sampled those, and they were good! All-in-all we had a good and fun day. Not bad for a quick day trip!

What else can we fit in today?

I used to ask this question just as a joke when we were nearing the end of a crazy day. If we still had a few hours before bedtime I would just randomly ask and would usually hear a nervous chuckle from sonewhere. I think the hearers were genuinely scared that I would think of something.

A little over a week ago I got Rusty off to teach at the kindergarten while I called my mom and did a bit of weeding around the yard. Then I went back inside to get some laundry going and doing other cleaning projects. Rusty surprised me by coming home early. Neither one of us realized the kindergarten would only have him teach for two hours. I wasn't ready to go to the store yet, but we eventually made it out the door.

I had planned to go to only one store, but it ended up being three by the time I finished. I always feel like I have to cover everything so that I don't have to run out again anytime soon. At the third store Rusty also walked over to the barber shop to get his hair cut.  Then it was home to get supper and get ready for class.

We had a quick supper and started the regular evening class. Then at 7:30 Kru Jim's family stopped by because we needed to help his daughter with a presentation she had to do the following day in Bangkok. I can tell you by this point I was really feeling the tiring effects of the extreme heat of the day. It will wear you out!

We finished up with their family probably around 9:30 and headed outside to get our watering done. I can tell you by the end of this day I wasn't trying to be funny by asking if there was anything else we could fit in. The only other thing I could fit in was a shower and my head hitting the pillow.

Easter Time!

We started working on Easter around the first of April. Depending on when Easter falls each year, we have to watch the calendar so we don't run out of time due to the local Songkran holiday. It's a big one, and our students are usually traveling. So this year we started on the Easter story before Songkran and finished up with our party when the students returned. The kids knew at the beginning of the month when Easter Sunday was, and they wanted to come back to class on a Wednesday because they knew what to expect.

This year was a bit more difficult to teach because Nua's family wasn't with us. Even though they surprised us one night with a visit, it just wasn't the same without her. She was our all things holiday lover! She still remembered the story and seemed very sad she wasn't going to get to come back for Easter. I think she also knew that with school starting soon they weren't going to be traveling very much. Plus they sold their house. :(

We started with Easter story cards, and we usually finish up with a big Easter Jeopardy game. This year we tried an easier version which was still too difficult, but they'll do better next year. The parents understood the story; I'm thankful that they stay and are involved with the class. This group of parents is unlike any other parents we've ever had. They want to help and be involved.

 

The parents fixed us up with some duck eggs. They're great for dyeing! We've used regular brown eggs before, but Adam found us a good deal on duck eggs a few years ago. We've been using them ever since. It's not so bad to pay a little more since there's no waste with hard boiled eggs.

On Thursday it was time to get ready for the party. Whew! This was the first time we've done a party without extra hands to help. I've started a list on how to improve for the next one; I think we can do better!

I'm not the master egg hider. The kids had no idea what to expect. They were pretty easy! I think we found about four later, but we'll probably have to wait a year to get an official final report. Hiding things in the dry season is harder since our yard doesn't look like a jungle!

We got the outside table decorated. I broke my new from America via China Easter tabletop decoration as I was coming out the door; the kids found the broken pieces outside and wanted to count those as "found" eggs. Not happening! One year a students took all of the eggs from the washcloth bunnies, and we didn't even notice. :) Pretty sneaky!

We learned about lamb cakes and butter lambs this year, and I really like the symbolism! Mine doesn't look like a traditional one, but the kids knew it was a lamb! I finished it off with the red ribbon symbolizing Jesus's blood and the Alleluia flag meaning Praise the Lord/Peace on Earth. He also has the black eyes signifying the light of the world.

We also had resurrection rolls which we had to rename to Thursday night in the grave rolls. The store was out of my usual cheap marshmallows, and this new brand didn't disappear! They tasted good, but the picture wasn't completely correct. :) Well it was after we changed it...a body wrapped in spices.

It was almost dark by the time the kids got to hunt eggs. We were waiting for some students who were studying art somewhere else. 

I think they found all of the resurrection eggs as well. So Rusty got to go through the story one last time with the kids figuring out what each item represented. My homemade version is a mix of lots of different suggestions from the internet.

As we were finishing up and the kids were enjoying playing, a transformer blew just down the road from us. Some parents were wondering if they should leave, and I suggested playing. I was thinking the kids would enjoy a good hide and seek in the dark game, but everyone started leaving soon after that. Rusty and I spent some time in the air-conditioned truck; I got caught up on some reading, and Rusty may or may not have snored a bit. It took just over 2.5 hours for them to get it fixed, and it was hot outside! I guess we're getting the early rains which make the electricity very unpredictable. For the past seven days, we've had blackouts or flickering every day.

The Truth About Haze

You may have seen us talk about the air pollution problem in our city, and you may be wondering how bad it really is. I cannot find numbers for the previous years. I know that the government has recommended wearing smog masks several times before, but this year does seem to be pretty bad. If you look at the map you'll often see many different colored flags mainly orange, red, purple, and burgundy. What you don't want to see is burgundy. Wait a minute...I only want to see green.
A few years ago I noticed I had fallen into a pretty bad habit. I would wake up feeling pretty good after sleeping in my lovely air-conditioned bedroom, but as soon as I would exit the bedroom, I would be met with heat and stinky air. Every morning I had the exact same reaction--an audible YUCK would come out of my mouth. I realized that wasn't really the tone I wanted to set for the rest of my day, and my yuck did absolutely nothing to change the air. So I purposed in my heart that I wouldn't do this anymore. In addition I started mentioning it to Rusty (and probably anyone else who would listen) so that I would have some accountability, and if I caught myself doing it I immediately spoke the truth out loud, "This does nothing to change the air. God is good to us."

I also started looking for things to be thankful for. This is the first year that we've put on masks; although I feel quite fashionable blending in with the masses, I'm very thankful for their effectiveness. We were blessed to find some made in the USA, and I have some with easy release bands that go around the ears. My blue one isn't made in America, but it's convenient for getting out and doing business. It's like a quick-release version.

It's interesting to note that this is also our dry season. We really miss rainy season right now, and our grass shows signs of not liking the ground water as much as God's watering. But there's still beauty!

 

It's also the beginning of a great fruit season. I love it when I see the prices of mangoes falling; I know it's time! We break out the iced tea for using mango syrup, and mango with sticky rice will usually show up at least once. 

It seems like a lot can hit us at one time. We have hot temps, no rain, and dirty air. We have time off from school but no real opportunity to "escape". Yet God sustains us and gives us good things. He lets us know people are praying for us, and we're very grateful. 

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre."

A Quiet Morning at Home

Rusty didn't have classes until this afternoon so I thought we would have a somewhat lazy morning around the house. It was going to be nice not to have to be out the door at a certain time. After enjoying our breakfast, coffee, and Bible time together, we headed outside to get a few jobs done.

We bathed Texas, and as I was cleaning up his house area, Rusty finished some work on the truck. It was something to do with the radiator although it was more clean up than fixing work. Our neighbor asked about our electricity alerting us that it was off. I went inside to start boiling some water because I knew Rusty would need to take a shower before leaving for school.

About the time Rusty and Adam were ready to leave, trucks started showing up in our village. They started unloading what we thought was electrical pipe, but the truck was from the provincial waterworks. Confusing! Adam was hoping they didn't bust a water pipe when they pulled into the field with the big truck.

Rusty and Adam left, and the electric company showed up. They were moving quickly to run new wire. I ran inside and noticed the electricity was already on. By the time I got upstairs to snap a good picture, I barely had time to get the last man still on his bamboo ladder.

Everyone left; we had electricity and a big pile of black pipe in an empty field. They will be doing something big soon because they're not going to leave that sitting unprotected for very long.

I received a couple of emails wanting to set up appointments for our visa extension with a notice that we need an updated affidavit of our marriage certificate from our consulate. It's not a certificate, but Rusty has to appear before the consular general to swear that he did marry me. Because of course it's possible that we're divorced and still both living here or that I'm his sister or something. Thankfully we got an appointment for the 18th, and we will head to immigration on the 20th. Busy, busy, busy! But things are working out well, and we keep trusting Him.

Now I'm looking forward to that iced coffee this afternoon. :)

Faced With a Decision

I woke up this morning thinking about how God wants us to make decisions. Each day we're faced with a myriad of things that we have to choose to do or not to do. Some carry real consequences that make the correct decision clear, and some require a bit more reflection.

A few years ago our house was broken into, and my wedding ring was stolen. We wanted to replace it, but it was a hard decision to make. How do you replace something that had such sentimental value? We had a budget, but when it came down to it, it was difficult to actually pay the money. I had a definite goal for this furlough that I would come back to Thailand with a ring on my finger. So the order was placed a week before we left the States.

I had chosen a plain gold wedding band from Sam's Club but then found out it wouldn't ship in time. So I turned to Amazon for a quick delivery. I placed my order and waited expectantly for it to arrive. Finally Rusty and I would match! I was shocked when the FedEx man showed up with two boxes. He encouraged me to check my orders to make sure I wasn't billed for two rings, and I wasn't. He explained that since both boxes had the same tracking number it was just a mistake and I could return the second box.  They would explain to the shipper what happened, and I would keep one of the rings.

Then he added that if I hadn't been home he would have left both boxes at the door so I could just keep both. Nobody would know. Did I want to keep both? Some decisions are "easy" to make.

1. Is it right and good? I'm not saying there isn't an internal struggle on whether you want to make the right decision, but some are clearly right and good. God's Word is clear, and it would have been wrong for us to keep something that we didn't pay for.

2.  Is it how I would want to be treated by someone else? After I sent back the ring box, my credit card was credited with the purchase amount. Even though FedEx was supposed to take care of the explanation they didn't, or maybe these things are automated. If I had given someone an incorrect credit, I would want to know. I also don't believe that businesses can afford to be cheated. I sent the seller a message and didn't hear back from them. I thought I should give them a second chance since I didn't receive anything from them. For the second message I received a response and eventually instructions on how to pay for the ring. I ordered another ring this morning that will never ship. Hopefully this will resolve the problem.

3. Is it part of my Father's business? Having a good witness and maintaining a clear conscious is part of my Father's business. Having integrity means doing the right thing even when nobody is looking. I would have enjoyed it if the company would have told me not to worry about it and to keep my "free" ring, but I would not have felt good if I had never received a message from them. There may not have been a clear cut line on how many avenues I needed to try to resolve the issue, but it was obvious to me that I needed to at least be acknowledged by the seller.

It's amazing to me that I have to fight off the feelings of selfishness, jealousy, and fear when I'm trying to follow God's leadership, but most of the time I'm making things a lot more difficult than they really are. The problem isn't really know what to do, it's more often knowing if I'm going to do what I'm supposed to or not.

Real Life After Furlough

We have returned from furlough and have been busy trying to get back into the groove. We're officially over jet-lag which is a huge relief! We completed our two week camp and outreach in Rayong, and we're back in our city getting back to a schedule. It's tough to close up in the US and try to get set back up here, but with God's help we're starting to settle down.

No matter what side of the pond we're on, we always have lots of catch-up work from being gone. In the States we had house repairs as well as rebuilding our dock to tend to, and here we have the growth that comes from living in a jungle during rainy season. Of course we also have the after furlough appliance buy and/or repair that seems to happen every time to take care of.

As soon as I walked into the kitchen, I realized I had forgotten to buy a new kitchen faucet. I really wanted to buy one in the States so that I could get one with the pull out sprayer; I really thought that would be a nifty feature! Also, there's more selection in the States for faucets that have mixer valves (that are plumbed for hot and cold water). I had a choice of about half a dozen units here, but I'm happy with the one we got. It's a bit taller than my old one. Since I was down to only the hot water side working on my old one, I've really really been enjoying this new one!

Rusty also had to install a new breaker. We're not really sure if it was another problem with our dryer or if it was the repairman that decided to run his welder off of the same breaker that caused the problem. As you can tell from this picture, we have a lot to be thankful for concerning our safety.

Before we left for furlough we had the service center come out to work on our stove. Unfortunately the repairs were going to cost $400 on a 15 or 16 year old unit. I thought I would just keep using what I had although the lighters were no longer working on any of it including the oven (nice job, repair guys!). When we returned I figured I would start shopping for a new on. We found this Bosch built-in that will get the job done, and it's convection! I'm ready to try it out! Eventually I'll shop for a new cooktop and will get it into a cabinet.

There was lots of work to be done outside as well! Rusty got my driveway power washed and ready for some more rain. It can get slick during the rainy season. He also got my yard mowed. Usually I like to do it, but this time I'm thankful he did it. I'm not sure what the final snake count was...

Adam's always good to come over and help. He did the trimming and also helped me clean up the road outside of our fence. He also helped Rusty fix the area across the street so that water would drain out. The concrete drainage cover tiles have been broken for a while, and it was causing water to back up and sit in the empty field. It was a nasty mess! There's still some work to be done there, but it's a lot better than it was!

Now as far as the house is concerned, we made a big dent in catching up, and we're ready to get a few more projects knocked out that we didn't get to before furlough.