Today

is my husband's birthday.

Happy Birthday Tii Rak. You're the best and I love you forever.

kisses,
Amy

Painting Class

I'm very excited to be taking my first art class since I've been in college in the early/mid 1990s. Beginning this Tuesday and every Tuesday for the next 10 weeks, I'll be taking a class on acrylic painting for beginning and intermediate students at the local adult school. It's only $85 for these 10 sessions at two hours each class, which I think is unbelievably cheap - you'd pay that much for a single two hour workshop!

I think it will be a great way to kick start my painting and it's a way to get some time in to paint every week AND get some formal instruction. I also enjoy being amongst the other students, sharing ideas and just being with others who like to paint. :) I'm really excited about it!

Home Again

It's five in the morning! Hooray for jetlag. :)

Today will be spent unpacking all our stuff. We left with two pieces of check in luggage that were filled only half full with clothing and things we needed and we came back with three!

It was a lovely trip and Aidan got to get to know his father's side of the family and immerse himself in Thai language. Golf enjoyed his FOOD the most and caught up with his family. I enjoyed some leisures and luxuries I don't indulge in very often at home such as getting my hair washed and blow dried at the hair dressers (for $3.45 incl. tip) and mani/pedicure twice (for $6.31). A manicure/pedicure in my town costs me nearly $30 after I give a tip, so I was happily keeping up my nails. :) I also got one foot massage for the same price for one hour.

We all stayed with his sisters at his childhood home that has since turned into a neighborhood that is very crowded, noisy and busy with four lanes of heavy traffic. I'm grateful to have stayed here though because it saved us a significant amount of money in accommodation, but in coming back home, my neighborhood feels and sounds deserted and silent!

Two favorite highlights from my trip:

• Meeting Catherine from Women Learning Thai blog. She took me to the British Club for a delicious lunch and fascinating conversation. The time went by far too quickly when you're with interesting company.
  
• Visiting my former school and the neighborhood Golf and I lived. Before going to my school we had lunch at Bon Marche Market, about a block from our old condo high rise. We used to eat there every weekend and it's gone through a renovation in the three years we've been away and it's VERRRY nice now.
  Afterward we walked to my old school and met with former admin staff including the school director and the principal. Unfortunately all my former students are no longer at this school and I was very disappointed that I didn't get to see any of them. I did get to visit with one teacher who is still there. Sue is a Thai-American, raised in the US and reconnecting with her Thai culture. She's been at this school for about three years now and we had a very lovely chat.
  We spent about an hour at my old school, then we stopped at the grocery store in our old condo complex. In that shopping area there is also a computer shop among other shops, and Golf was friends with the computer shop owner who has a son about Aidan's age. So we stopped by to say hello and see his son. They had a nice reunion and Aidan got to meet their son and it was very cute to see them together. Then unexpectedly, Golf saw a retired expat Italian friend he had made who had bought a condo in this complex. He and his Thai wife also have a son about Aidan's age and we got to visit with them too.
  It was really a lot of fun for the both of us, each of us getting to meet up with old friends and reminiscing about living in this part of Bangkok, so quiet and lovely compared to where we were staying in Saphan Kwai.
  

There were only two disappointments on this trip. One was that Aidan got sick. He got that traveler's bug that you get when you're unfamiliar with the food, water and climate of your environment. He was laid in bed all day on the Loy Krathong holiday, the holiday I wanted to take him out and experience. Poor baby - you know when a hyper little boy cannot get out of bed and has a fever that he really is sick. It took over a week for him to get over his runny nose and cough, but his fever lasted only a day. We then got him a flu shot a week later and that made him feel sick that day too (projectile vomiting!) My poor baby got well a few days before it was time to go back home.

The other disappointment was not being able to go to the beach. Reports were coming in that there were storms throughout the Gulf of Thailand, and the resort city we wanted to go to was on the Gulf. No sense going if it was going to rain, so besides one day trip we took, we spent the entire time in Bangkok.

I'll write more later and tell you about some of the stuff I bought and post some pictures too!

Obama!!!

Here in Bangkok I've been closely watching the election returns and I have to say I couldn't be more thrilled about our new President. Just watched his acceptance speech video and can he be an inspiring speaker. I'm looking forward to this new era. HOORAY