Thailand baby!

We get to go to Thailand next month for two weeks. We are really looking forward to this trip. Kind of a reward after going through the hottest months. Next summer I hope we remember to make plans to be gone in June.

We have to leave the country every six months because of our visa. Kind of a forced vacation.

Micah made a list of what he hopes to do in Thailand. Here it is.

donut shop
aquarium
mall
eat hamburgers
snake farm
zoo
waterfall

I think we can manage those things. I also hope there is a good kid movie out that we can go see. The movie theaters are so nice there and the sweet popcorn is the best.

Depression quiz

I decided to take a depression quiz since I had nothing better to do. I scored "clinically depressed". Now I really feel depressed. Lack of interest in things, lack of energy, thoughts of death (don't worry, I always think about death and life after death), sleeping more or less, loss of appetite. But I wonder if these things are because of the heat. I have no desire to leave my house because I know it is too hot for any Oregonian to handle.

Maybe I should take another test. Or just go eat more cookies.

Alone with cookies

I am making chocolate chip cookies right now. Each batch takes ten minutes to cook. So I am using my 10 minutes wisely by playing on the computer, listening to a sermon, reading a blog, and now writing on my blog. A lot can happen over ten minutes.

Two days ago one of my trainers asked me to make her kids some cookies. She doesn't have an oven. So I said I would. She will be here tomorrow so I have to get them ready. Some of the problems with making cookies in 110 degree weather is that the chocolate chips melt before they get baked, I sweat and the oven heats up the house. But I made a promise.

I have a very small oven also. I can make 9 mini cookies at a time. And after each batch is done I have to make sure they taste okay, so I eat one. That means 8 cookies are ready every ten minutes. This could take a long time.

No one else is home right now. They are all at a friends house for dinner. Steve went to pick up Micah from a friend's house and they invited him to stay. I could have taken a auto rickshaw to their house to join them but I had just started the cookies, so I stayed home. Dangerous situation. Alone with the cookies. And it is dinner time and I have nothing else to eat (that is as good). So I eat the cookies.

a week of good byes

I have had my husband gone for a week now. And my little boy (who isn't so little). They are at kids camp and having a great time. It is cooler there and they can play outside with other kids. Micah has really enjoyed the craft time. He even made a bird/bat house. He said we can close it up at night so no bats make it their home.

I have not been alone at home. First I had a friend stay who was leaving for America. The day after she left I had another friend come for the day who was heading to Canada. The same night that she left, a couple arrived who will stay a few days and then go to America. All the arrivals and departures are around 10:30 at night. So there has been a lot of activity at our house lately.

One nice thing about having people stay with us before they leave is that they usually leave things with us that won't fit in their luggage. Or things like shampoo that they can replace easily. So I am well stocked in that area.

One not so nice thing is that I have to be the farewell committee and I am just not good at saying good-bye. I am not emotional about the fact that I won't see that person again. I'm not hard hearted, but I am a realist. We have a lot of people who come and go. We know them for a short time and enjoy them, but then they go back to their home. We will always have them in our hearts and can stay in touch through email, but there won't be the closeness anymore.

So this time of the year there is a lot of transitions. Every week at church the pastor asks who is leaving and we say good-bye to them. In a few months it will be the time when new people arrive. That is a much more exciting time. We have also learned how to quickly get to know people. This is also a gift. Our life in America was much different. You just don't get to know people as easily. So here you meet someone once or twice and you have become friends. I really like that.

Steve and Micah return today. I had hoped for more alone time, but it just didn't happen. I am glad to have them back. I missed them. And I am glad they had such a great time at camp.

Anxiety and fears

The other day while we were having an aerobics class at my house, a car drove down our street with their stereo so loud that it shook our walls. I froze for a second and immediately my mind went to "Earthquake!" I didn't yell it (thankfully)and realized it was just a stereo. But I realized I have a fear of earthquakes. Whenever there is a loud rumble or something shakes, I shift to disaster mode. I start thinking of how to best escape the house or protect those around me from the walls crumbling down. Why is that? I have gone through a few earthquakes. They usually aren't that big, but one was the big one in Pakistan and we felt it a bit here. So now when there is a small earthquake that I feel, I think, "Boy, somewhere that must have been big."

My other fear is tsunamis. I guess it goes along with earthquakes since it is an earthquake at sea that causes a tsunami. So now whenever I go to the coast (which isn't much) I fear a tsunami. I watch the ocean and if there seems to be any receding of the water I am ready to grab my son and run away. I watch the birds to see if they are acting strange. I figure the animals will be my first signal of the doom coming my way.

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change,

And though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas;

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof.

Selah

Psalms 46