Busy

To all of you nice people who still read our blog, I am sorry I have not posted anything recently. We have been busy. I will get back on the wagon soon.

Also, a picture of my Kristen Stewart mullet haircut has been requested...ummm I am working it. I first must not wash my hair for a few days to get the full effect. Just kidding! I could never say that about Bella, I mean Kristen's hair. Who else is excited like a teenager about Eclipse (or Twilight 3 as KB calls it) coming out this month?

Milkman

We lived in this city for two full years before we found out we can have fresh milk delivered daily to our apartment. It was not laziness that kept us from finding out. We really tried, but everyone we asked said fresh milk was not available in our city. For two years we drank shelf milk.

Shelf milk is basically just what it sounds like. It is milk in a little juice box type carton that sits on a shelf until someone buys it. I think they are good for up to 2 years. Although they do the job when it comes to cooking, if you want to use milk for cereal or drink with cookies, shelf milk is not the milk you want to have available. We were milk deprived. In fact, when we went to Thailand the very first time after arriving here, KB gain like 10 pounds from drinking so much fresh whole milk.

Earlier this year we found out that our city does in fact have fresh milk, but you cannot buy it in the store. We found a friend, who found a milk man, who puts 5 bags of fresh milk in a little "milk box" outside of our first floor door every morning at 8am. This has been wonderful. Not only do I feel better giving AB milk that actually expires in the amount of time milk normally should expire, I do not have to go to the store to buy it. KB really enjoys using it with his cereal.

On a side note. I have recently learned how to make ricotta cheese from whole milk. It is super easy, and we are now able to eat a decent Italian meal again.

To add to our wonderful milk experience, we love our milkman. He is quite possibly one of the sweetest and hardworking men we have met in this whole country. Unfortunately he only speaks dialect, so our communications are a bit strained, but we are convinced whatever he says to us is probably really nice anyways.

New Favorite Pictures

Newest Light Fixture

Living here is an adventure, and expectations in the service industry are quite different.

Recently our dining room light broke. This was not surprise. All the rest of our lights have been breaking one by one. The question was more of when it was going to happen. While we were traveling a few weeks ago we purchased a fun new light at Ikea to replace it.

We got a guy with the job title of "decorator" to come install it. In the US we would do this part ourselves, but the wires are not wired very friendly in our apartment. We preferred someone else electrocute themselves than us.

I gave him the Ikea directions. He looked at them for about 2 seconds and discarded them. He did not even look at the second page. He left our apartment and then thirty minutes later brought in a HUGE drill that is capable of drilling through cement so he could put a hook in the ceiling to hang the light on. I made the mistake of going into AB's room while he used the drill. When I came out I saw, in horror, that he did not drill the hole in the same hole all the wires are hanging out of. He drilled it beside it. I then watched in horror (again) as he hung my pretty new light off center in a room in which everything else is centered. It reeeeaaaally bugged me.

He attached the wires and looked at me as if to say, "finished." Oh no no no. The light has an adjustable lengths. Since we selected the shortest length there is a ton of extra cord. It must be threaded through the light and cut. Then that new end of the cord must be wired to the power in the ceiling. He said it was not possible (if he had looked at the instructions he would see it was possible, grrr). I gave up and decided I would chance electrocution rather than convince the "expert" I knew better than him.

Then I asked him about the nice big hole in the ceiling that my light was hanging beside. He said it was no problem, meaning that it was not problem that it was there. He had no intention of doing anything about it. I told him it was ugly. He told me to tape a piece of paper over it. I said no. He told me to put some red (b/c red is the lucky color) wall paper over it because it will look "beautiful." I said no. In the end I used some sheets off of my lint roller to cover the hole while I figured out something permeant. You can still see the whole through the lint roller sheets, but it catches the bits of cement that randomly fall out of it.

What I have planned to fix the hole and center the lamp is very simple. However getting it done here is headache inducing. Who knows when it will get fixed. I gave up on getting rid of the extra cord until I can fix the hole. I want to really only chance electrocution once. I wrapped it around the lamp...I think it looks a little trashy, but really what else was I going to do with it?

Speaking of people who think they know better than I do, two days ago I went to get my hair cut. I told the guy I wanted to grow my hair out, but I needed a trim. I walked out of that salon with a haircut just like Kristen Stewart's mullet...not a trim. I also now have bangs, which are super annoying. I have regretted every single hair cut I have gotten here. Twice my hair was cut uneven - like shorter or one side. Twice I have been given bangs without asking for them. The other two times I really do not know what happened, but they stylist was very proud of what he did to me. When will I learn to just let it grow, and wait until I see my mom to cut it? On the bright side, I went to the most expensive salon in town and it still only cost $10.

Decorations

I have mentioned in the past that AB LOVES to put my undergarments around her neck and wear them around the house. I sometimes even find a stray, but thankfully always clean, undergarment in her bedroom...usually in her tent. When Kristy was visiting, AB even blessed her with the honor of wearing her undergarments as well. Maybe getting to wear her own undergarments around her neck will be a motivator to potty train?

Anyways, when undergarments are not available, she often finds other things to strewn on herself. On this particular day she had me put her rain jacket on her, and she did the rest. She is wearing a pair of white tights, a fleece hoodie, and a sparkley grarland thingy around her neck. She was so proud.

Playing with Hats

AB got a hold of her daddy's hat, and decided she needed to put it on and take it off of my head a over and over again. It was actually really sweet. It is the first time she has ever done something like that with me.

She briefly decided she should try to stick her finger in my mouth. I wash her hands all the time, but between washings I am never sure where those hands have been (i.e. Toby's mouth or some other place).

Then she did not like how my hair was falling in my face. It was maybe one of the sweetest things she has ever done - she gently moved my hair away from my face without ripping any of it out.

She spent about 2-3 minutes trying to clear it away. She was really focused.

It was a really sweet moment for us.

Playing Around

She can't help herself. She just loves to play...and so does her daddy.

Is that Toby's ball? That dirty, nasty, saliva covered ball? What are you planning on doing with it...

Yep, too bad it took me a second too late to realize what she was doing. So nasty.

Just Gotta Dance!

So I turned 29 a few weeks ago. When did I start qualifying as someone in their late twenties? Ouch that hurt to commit to writing. Next year I won't even be in my late twenties...I'll be 30. 24 years old felt just like last year. Sigh.

Anyways, the best part about getting older is still getting to have a party every year. Essentially we like a good reason to get together and eat great food. What better time to do this than at a birthday party? While eating cake, AB got a little rowdy when her daddy started his, um "rapping." Apparently she could not contain herself, and guess who had their camera handy for once?

Desperately Hoping for Spring

Although it finally hit this past Sunday, we have been dying for Spring to show up for weeks! It has been slowly warming up outside, but our concrete walls and floors have just held the cold in. It was chilly all the time. The new warmth has been great. I even stopped wearing my flannel PJs this week too - you know, its not like it is May or anything.

These pictures were taken the day it snowed a couple of weeks ago. AB found this dress in her closet. It was as if she was saying to me, "mommy when will it be warm enough for me to wear this dress?" She carried it around for about 30 minutes, refusing to even put it down to play in her kitchen.

Sleeping With the Dog

Yep. It is official. She really does think she is also a dog. We need to get her some human friends.

There is "Bad Luck" and Just Plain "Stupid"

Unfortunately both KB and I fell into the "stupid" category this week. By my definition we have bad luck when it comes to computers. No one can tell us why our computers keep crashing, and they always tell us that "these things just happen" and it seems that "these things" happen to us a lot. But this week it was ALL our fault.

On Monday we had to go buy my third cell phone since we came here. The first one I left in a taxi in Bangkok. I called it about 5 minutes after I realized this, but whoever found it had apparently taken it apart and was probably already selling it on the street corner. My second cell phone almost met its fate once before when I dropped it into a bowl of water while washing out AB's cup, but it was saved by quick action and a bowl of dry rice. I finally killed it this weekend when I left it on our bathroom counter that spontaneously fills up with water (we truly do not know where the water comes from). When I sat my phone down the counter was dry, and it was pooling with water when I can back an hour later. Nothing could save my phone this time. Even the screen had water in it. On a bright note, I got a super cool pink phone this time!

KB finally had his stupid turn yesterday. He plugged in our wireless internet router that runs on 110 volts (that can only be bought in the US, thanks KB) into the outlet...not the converter. He said to me "Hey do you hear that popping noise and see the smoke? Where is it coming from?" That would be the sound of the inside of our router being cooked to death by 220 volts of electricity. Looks like we will be using internet the old fashioned way until we can get another new router. Yea.

I could not get mad at KB for his stupid moment. He was such a good sport when I told him about my cell phone, and he even let me get the super cool pink one.

Trying to Get a Family Picture

On Easter we desperately tried to get a good family picture. Since it was too cold to take a picture outside, we settled for our living room. However the weather was not the only thing not cooperating, AB refused to give us a good picture.

As we prepared I put the bow in AB's hair. You can see in the photo she is already getting ready to yank it out.

We decided to hold down her little hands so she could not yank it out, and so she gave the camera this sour look.

No bow, but for some reason I am still holding down her hand and I cannot remember why.

Oh yeah, she wanted to yank on my necklace.

Our friend tried for a quick shot before she got to my necklace again, and this was the best he could get. As you can see, she is going for it. AB!

Coming Back from HK

At the beginning of April I had to make a quick trip to Hong Kong. Since we have had problems with AB's visa when we travel outside of this country, we decided she and KB should stay at home. They were together for all of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and I returned that Thursday afternoon. KB specially dressed her for my homecoming. He said he honestly did not intend to mismatch her socks, but he could not find the mate for either of them in the 10 seconds he looked for them. Obviously she did not care, but it was very cute and he was proud.

One of the perks of HK is the H&M. Most places to buy clothes in this country will make an averaged size American girl pretty depressed. I jumped 4 dress sizes just by being in a land where most everyone else is smaller than me. I know I am the same size I always was, but on bad days it really does not help the old confidence. That is why I love H&M. Although I have to always figure out what I am in European sizes, I am not wearing anything other than my normal size. I also love H&M because the clothes are a lot better quality than in this country, they are decent priced, they are pretty youth-full and trendy (and I am totally afraid of looking 30 after someone guessed I was that age already), and they have a children's section. I got her this cute little hat that was apparently too big for her tiny head. It did not bother her, and she took it off and put it on for the rest of the day.

I also got her this little stroller for her dolls at Toys R' Us. I was so confident that it would fit into my suitcase, but it did not. I had to carry it on the subway, on the speed train (they made me check it because it had wheels - nuts), on the bus, and on the plane. It was little, but I accidentally hit a lot of people with it.

She spent most of the day I got home angry at the stroller because she could not find a way to get into it (and almost hurting herself as she fell over while trying to climb on it), but after she finally gave up it became a fun new toy for her. Totally worth the trouble.