Inevitable

I received an email recently featuring pictures of how various aspects of the world would look if women ruled. One of them was a car dealership which organized the cars according to color. That made perfect sense to me. Cars are vehicles which move people and objects from one place to another. I prefer ones that are gas efficient - if I could afford a hybrid here, I'd get one - and are colors I like such as red or orange.

I understand boys are different in this respect. I saw this firsthand today when Ethan peered over my shoulder in the car and said, "Mom, is that a Ferrari in front of us?" I said, "No, that's a Lamborghini." (the only reason I knew that is because it said Lamborghini on the back). All I could think about was how ugly Lamborhinis are, and how choosing yellow made it even less appealing. But I could practically hear Ethan drooling behind me.

"You think that's pretty cool, huh bud?"
"Yeah," he said in a long drawn out way.

I will never understand, but it seems my son is falling in with his own kind.

I should have known

I am happy to announce that I am once again the proud owner of a pair of white Gap pants which do NOT smell like fish. What finally did it for them was a good vinegar and water soak. Of course it was vinegar that did it! I should have known.

I think I may have become vinegar's biggest fan. Check out this website: 1001 uses for vinegar. I plan to try every one. In the last six months I've started to use vinegar for almost all my cleaning. It's cleaned things I couldn't get clean with anything else. I put it in my laundry instead of bleach to disinfect my clothes. It made my dingy sink white. It finally got that black scum off my tub. It removed the mold from the tiles in my bathroom. Mix it with baking soda and you've got an amazing scrub. And it's cheap and non-toxic!

Ok, now that I sound like an infomercial, rejoice with me that I no longer have fish smelling pants thanks to the wonder of vinegar.

Word to the Wise

Here's your friendly tip for the day: Never, ever, EVER, leave your omega 3 fish oil pill in your pocket. Why? Because when you wash your pants, it will dissolve and your pants will smell like fish FOREVER.

As you may have guessed, I know this from personal experience. I have washed this pair of pants three times, but it still smells. Any suggestions? I was thinking of soaking it in a bleach solution because it's white. I'll probably google "fish smell pants" later.

Just trying to help you learn from my mistakes.

The toe

People keep asking about Megan's toe. It's never visible to the general public because she herself refuses to view it. This requires a constant switching of socks, Crocs (but only inside!), shoes, flippers or loads of bubbles in the bathtub.

Today I convinced her to let me take a few pictures of the toe for you all to see. It looks fairly normal, but the lack of a tendon on the bottom side means that she can't curl it down. As a result, it sticks out a bit more than the others. It also seems to be much more chummy with its right neighbor than it was previously.

So here it is - judge for yourself how it looks. She is coming to terms with the fact that it may never curl down as much as the other ones, since she lost the tendon on the bottom. I for one think it might end up being a cool party game someday (hey, check this out - I can make my middle toe stick out straight!). Maybe that's just wishful thinking.


Can you tell which toe it is? If it's not obvious, it's the middle toe on the left foot. Her foot itself looks a little goofy because she has a rash right now. Notice how the skin between the second and third toes is connected a little higher than on the right foot. This is what seems to be making it lean to the right.


I think if you click on this picture you'll be able to see more clearly the pin mark in the end of the toe. Here it's a little more obvious that it's not back to normal, and may never be. Are you still letting your children wear Crocs outside?? They're evil!


I asked Megan to curl her toes down, which is when the injury becomes more pronounced. It's strange to feel it, because literally she has no power to push her toe down - there's no muscle there to make it happen. But we're thankful she still has a toe at all!

Now I Remember

Sometimes you need to do something you haven't done in a long time to remember why you vowed never to do it again. Like the Polar Bear Swim. Or drinking grape soda.

This morning I remembered why you should never, ever, under any circumstances, go to Mustafa on a) a Saturday morning after 8, b) with children, or c) on Saturday morning after 8 with children.

Because it sucks.

Some of my friends might think I'm crazy for going to Mustafa at 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays, but having the freedom to shop alone (and I mean totally alone) is worth so many hours of extra sleep. Mustafa, under the right conditions, is a glorious one stop shopping experience that I'm sure has saved me hundreds of dollars during my stay here. Under the wrong circumstances, it's right up there with heavy dental work on the torture scale.

What amazes me is how many people are willing to endure those conditions. Don't they know it's open 24 hours a day? I propose a country wide schedule where people can sign up for a time, thereby spacing out the number of shoppers. But no one can sign up for Saturdays from 5:30-7. I have dibs.

Pine Wood Derby

They say a good story needs conflict. If I may be so bold, this is a good story.

The annual Cub Scout Pine Wood Derby was today. Ethan's worked hard on his "Legomobile" (could it have been anything else?). He is a "Wolf Scout" which means one step up from Tigers, but below Bears and Webelos. We drove the long haul up to the Singapore American School in time for the Wolf Rank registration from 10-11. As we neared the school, Erik said, "Do you have your car buddy?"
To which Ethan replied a meek, "No."

Quick, think. It's 10:25. Registration ends at 11. The race is at 11:15. It takes about 1/2 hour to get here. We can't possibly go home and back in time.

I suggested we call our neighbor and ask a giant favor. Erik hesitated until I insisted that we had no other choice. Mark was willing, and he grabbed the car and headed our way.

Inside, the Derby was running late. Good thing because the car showed up at 11:10 still needing to be weighed. The cars can't be over 5 ounces. Ethan's was 5 ounces at home, but there it weighed just over. Get the knife! Erik frantically scraped chunks of wood out of the bottom of it. Weighed again - still over. Try another scale! Perfect.

We slipped our "late entry" car into the mix just in time for the first heat. Ethan's car was in it, and he won! Each car races three times. Second heat, 1st place! His third heat wasn't until the very end, but he easily pulled another 1st place finish.

But wait! The timers were broken today, so the cars were given points rather than times. There was another car who also placed first three times, so they had a face off. Ethan won by a nose.

Now as great as all that was, it meant we had to stick around another hour for the grand finals. Unfortunately Ethan didn't place in that race, but he was happy enough to be the Wolf Champion.

Erik does the last minute whittling to get Ethan's car down to the right weight.


Ethan's car is the second one in. We used magnets to make the top look like a Lego. I'd like to take credit for the Lego idea. As usual though, Erik gets full credit for the engineering.


We like to call this one, "Eat my dust."


The tie breaker for 1st place in the Wolf Rank - Ethan won!


Last year Ethan got an award for Best Design. He had no idea what it was for, but he was thrilled. This year he knew what he'd won and he was pretty proud!

Reading Like a Pro

Ok, this is one of those brag-on-my-kids post. If you get annoyed with those, you should just stop reading right now.

The topic of this post is Megan reading. Some time in the fall I checked out a book called Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo, who also wrote Because of Winn Dixie and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane which is absolutely wonderful. Mercy Watson is a pig, for the unenlightened. Well, the kids liked it so much that two weeks ago I checked out Mercy Watson Fights Crime. The kids usually plunk down on the living room carpet and browse through our books when we get home, but Megan didn't just browse Mercy Watson - she started reading it. She read the whole thing. It's a chapter book! She's not even 6! Now, by Singaporean standards she should have been doing this by age 4 at the absolute latest, but I'd say that's pretty good.

So we returned that one and got Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride and Mercy Watson to the Rescue. She read both of them in an afternoon. I'm a little baffled as to where to go from here with her. If anyone has some suggestions for books around that level, I'm sure she'd be happy to read them.

Ethan (just to balance out my bragging) is immersed in Magic Tree House research guides and Magic School Bus chapter books. He's evolving into a walking encyclopedia as a result. It's so fun to see my kids take off in reading and love it!

We Have an Eight Year Old!

Ethan's willing to give me a smile while he waits for his cake



This picture's a bit blurry, but hey, it's an action shot! Truth be told, my photo skills were lacking this day. But do you see the red balloon about to hit the birthday boy? Way to hold him Aaron!


Seems like just yesterday I finished watching The Truman Show with friends, started doing dishes, and went into labor. (I don't believe either of those activities influenced me having contractions). But apparently it's been eight years since that night! Ethan requested a "Star Wars Lego" birthday party. We bought Star Wars party supplies in the States last summer and made do with sticking Star Wars Lego figures all over his cake. He was satisfied.

The great thing about an eight pack of party supplies is that it limits the number of guests. I'm all about small birthday parties with no games. Thankfully, this is what my son also enjoys. So he invited seven good friends over for a swim party, a water balloon fight, cake and ice cream, and gifts. His wish list - Mars Mission Legos and Transformers. He got both and some Star Wars figures to boot so he was mighty pleased.

Singaporean spring

For the month of February, it seems, it is spring in Singapore. The rainy season is over but the clouds are still covering the sun, and nice breezes come from . . . well, somewhere. It is a time we wish would last forever, when we leave our windows open almost constantly (thereby enjoying lower utility bills) and wonder why anyone wouldn't want to live here, or at least visit.

Then, overnight, it is over. This year it happened last Friday night. We woke up Saturday, shut the windows, and started sweating again. We'll stop sweating maybe next November, when the rainy season hits again. The upside of this time is that the pool becomes much more enjoyable and necessary. The downside is that some mornings the need for air conditioning hits at about 6 a.m. It was good while it lasted!

Words of Affirmation

Our daughter's love language is words of affirmation. She's always been one to cheer others on and affirm them without prompting. Then again, she can take that sweet little tongue, turn it around, and use it in quite unholy purposes. But that is another post.

For some reason lately she's been on a roll with the encouragement. Each night I get a litany of how I'm the "goodest mommy in the world" or "this is the mommy I love the best!" or "I love you more than anything!" Ethan and Erik are also affirmed in their roles as brother and daddy, but I'm usually the one tucking Megan in so I get the lion's share. I'll admit, if it's just her way of getting me to linger over bedtime, it's working.

Look, mom, a satellite!

Ethan and I have a running joke about how every time we think we see a star, we realize it's just a satellite. We've always lived in very urban areas where stars can't be seen. And aside from one time when he was small, we've only been in the U.S. during times when the sun goes down too late for him to see stars.

In the Mae Sa Valley last week, we were walking back to our cabin after dinner, and we realized at the same time that we could see thousands of stars. I got to point out Orion to him, which he kept calling Ryan (it's the only constellation I know besides the big dipper). The next night he found it himself.

Next winter we plan to go back to the U.S. for several weeks. I'm looking forward to doing a unit on astronomy with real stars! Until then it will just be, "Look, mom, a satellite!"

Mae Sa Valley day 2

Our resort offered a variety of handicraft activities, so our three families chose papermaking for the morning. We picked leaves and flowers, flattened a ball of fiber over a screen, and made patterns in it which what we'd picked. They took it from us and set it out to dry. Then we stirred a huge vat of fiber filled water and took turns scooping it up with a screen, which makes thinner paper. We got to take our creations home (yay! Another carry on!). As I watched my kids stirring with wooden paddles I thought, "Yeah, I didn't do this as a kid. We're really blessed in a unique way."

After another painfully slow lunch, we spent the afternoon at the stream. Well, most of the kids did - I spent the afternoon with Megan playing garbage, this new card game we learned. She was surprisingly happy to stay back at the cabin and play. I think she just enjoyed having me or Erik all to herself.

For dinner we thought we'd try something down the road thinking it would be faster. Think again weary travelers! We found a roadside place that looked promising, until we realized that their English was non-existent and so were many of the items on their menu. The first family got their food within a reasonable amount of time, although one person did get a green Fanta when a Sprite was ordered. After more than an hour, I started realizing how people on reality shows like Survivor get so petty and shallow - they're hungry! The kids were going a bit stir crazy, and then the waitress came out and said, "All done?" to which we all protested vehemently. Turns out when they brought the Pad Thai for the first order, they crossed it out on all three, and so on for all subsequent food. Long story somewhat shorter, we got there at 6 and left at 8. So much for fast.

After the kids went to bed, we adults entertained ourselves playing Bang (card game) and watching season 3 of The Office. It's a funny show to begin with, but when you're watching with others, it's even funnier. I'm tempted to launch into a string of quotes from the show, but I'll abstain. Thus ends day 2.

Mae Sa Valley

After weeks of "are we or aren't we?" waffling, based mostly on our inability to contact any resorts near Chiang Mai, and compounded by Megan's accident, we decided to spend our extra four days after the conference in the Mae Sa Valley outside of Chiang Mai with our friends, the Hausmans and Olivers.

We were a little afraid that Megan's foot might slow us down, or limit our activities, but she's been taking her cast in stride. We were a little daunted when we saw that our resort is built into a hill (lots of stairs!) but it's beautiful and fun. A little like being in a hobbit village, with all its cute little bungalow topped with straw. It's a bit primitive, I'll admit, but kids don't seem to notice much and we just pretend we're doing high end camping. The kids were surprised by the temperature - after living in Singapore, they can't conceive of places that are in the 50's in the morning and then warm up later in the day. So we've been somewhat unprepared for that aspect. Funny that the Singaporeans dwellers have to come to a cold place to vacation for a change.

Mae Sa Valley day 1
We spent a little time exploring the grounds, and the kids decided the river was the most appealing fun. Ethan has never met a river he didn't want to cross. Once they'd all taken turns falling in, we went for dinner. There's a nice little restaurant there, but the number of tables was deceiving, as it appeared they only had enough cooking equipment to serve one family at a time. Our six adult, eight child group overwhelmed them, as did our inability to speak Thai. Erik's always mocked my mime background, but it sure does come in handy in those situations. As the temperatures dropped, we retreated to our cabins and were thankful for thick comforters.

Mae Sa Valley day 3

Thailand and elephant rides seem to go hand in hand. So we piled into our rented car and threw some extras on motorbikes and headed down the road to the Mae Sa Elephant Camp. We were late, so we thought, "We'll just ride the elephants now and come back later for the show" which turned out to be a good idea. I knew that the thrill of elephant rides has worn off for me when within a minute of starting I sighed and rested my head in my hand. Really, it does get old.

The show in the afternoon was mildly entertaining, though trying to keep our kids from running out in front of the wandering elephants afterwards proved nervewracking. We thought about going to a nearby waterfall, but realized the kids would be just as happy playing in the stream again. The men even got into it and tried to dam it. I'll give them an A for effort.

We adults had a brilliant idea for dinner. The Hausmans took the early shift for dinner from 4:30-6:30 while we and the Olivers watched all the kids. Then they put a video in for the kids while the rest of us went out to dinner. We ate at a place near a waterfall, with beautiful umbrellas lit by lanterns, and I thought, "I love my job!" We get to live in this amazing place and travel to places I never dreamed I would be. The food was great, although it could have been stale and tasteless and we probably would have been happy just because it came right away. We asked for a dinner menu which was all in Thai aside from "caramel custard" and "homemade ice cream." Erik asked about another one, and all we could make out from the broken English was "beans" and something that sounded a lot like, "raw meat." We passed, but they brought it anyway! No raw meat, but kidney beans and some other questionable items floating in a warm sweet soup. Very common in this part of the world.

Before bed, we spent an hour talking about what we learned at our conference, then, to counteract that depth, we watched a few more episodes of The Office. Oh, and the Hausmans found about 1,000 ants in their bathroom, starting from the corner, running down the wall, across the back of the toilet, and having a hey day all over their toilet seat. That's enough to make you want to hold it for a good long time.

Pictures to come when I find my card reader.

Dangerous Crocs

The next time your dear little one is heading out the door wearing Crocs, you might want to remember these pictures. Here I thought that it was a blessing Megan was wearing Crocs when her foot got caught in an escalator, since I thought her wearing open toed shoes might have caused more damage. Turns out she probably had the accident because she was wearing these. Granted, the escalators were not up to safety par in anyone's opinion, but look at her shoe! My daughter's foot was in this. You can't see it too well because the material bounced back, but when it first came off her foot, the top part was twisted 180 degrees away from the bottom (see those cracks on the inside?). Her toe was broken in multiple places and she had stitches on three sides of it. Several nerves had to be reattached and one tendon was severed and couldn't be fixed. She'll have a cast for a total of five weeks. I'm not normally one of those doomsday moms, but this is one of those things that is so easily avoided. It may only happen to one in a million, but believe me, you don't want yours to be one of them.

Oh, and no, we aren't reporting this to Crocs. Why? Well, because it was a fake Croc and I'm guessing they don't care about that. But people have told me that the fake Crocs are actually a stronger material than the real ones, so I suspect it's more likely that the real ones could be caught in a moving floor. There, I've done my duty to society.