Lately

Good Afternoon. I just scraped the paint off our landlord-provided coffee table with my fingernail. I didn't know that was possible. I also tripped in slow motion over a cord, fell down, and pulled my laptop to the ground. I'm just sitting on the couch now. Sitting and typing. Nothing else is going to happen, right?

It's been a while since we've told you about everyday life, so let's have another "Lately." We'll start by updating you on the Christmas Card Challenge, which has been humming along nicely since our interference (See: HERE).

It's delightful to wake up in the morning, and see a bunch of your cards on the floor. 

Yesterday, we received another Christmas card. It managed to evade the post office for six months. For fairness sake, it's probably too late to include it in the Challenge. What a bummer. An unintentional June Christmas card is a real feat.

Here's what's been going on lately, broken down by category, and in no particular order.

Events We've Celebrated:

• The Kid's birthday.
• My birthday.
• Finally finding something to give Phil for his birthday (which is upcoming).
• Our anniversary.

Phil gave me this German gummy hamburger as an anniversary present. I hid it on a high shelf, and just remembered that it's still up there. I pulled it down, and took a bite out of it. Now I want a meat hamburger.

Food We've Eaten:

• Mangosteen

I have a hard time describing this fruit. It's very, very good. It's both sweet and tart. It's sort of a grapey mango nectarine texture. 

• Snickers Oats

It was a lot for one candy bar. Peanut butter and peanuts and nougat and oats and caramel.

• Thai donuts

They tasted like deep fried vanilla cake. They were so good, but so rich. 

• Rambutan

It's a koosh ball on the outside with a big, mild grapey thing inside.

• Pad See Ew (or phat-si-io, or pad siew, or ผัดซีอิ๊ว)

I purchased this from a place that was listed in the New York Times as one of the best places for street food in Bangkok. Three different people sent me the link. I felt obligated, but it was in the New York Times for a reason. Yum. 

• Disappointing Watermelon Popsicle

I was so full of hope when Phil took this photo. I thought it was going to be exactly like the Pirulo popsicles I loved in Greece. This was much, much sweeter. Sad.

Things We Saw:

• A pretty place to walk

There's a path between Benjakitti Park and Lumphini Park. There's a lot to see on either side. This mosque was to our left.

These flags were to our right.

• An extremely accessible and active construction site

The Kid would really want me to show you this. That's the Golden Mount (Wat Saket) in the background. I have more photos of that, for another day.

• Big, lounging monitor lizard

My initial reaction is always, "ALLIGATOR!!!!"

• New money

Rama 10, the current monarch, is on top, and Rama 9, the late king, is on bottom.

• A really expensive Bangkok sky bar

That blue thing dangling above the trees is Dinner in the Sky. It's a popular thing in a lot of cities. They feed you nice food while you're strapped into a rollercoaster-like chair, and suspended on a platform by a crane.

• Songkran (Thai New Year)

This is just a photo of decorations. My phone was encased in a waterproof plastic holder for most of the holiday, because I didn't want it to get sprayed by passersby. Songkran is essentially a nationwide water fight. It's delightful. I'll tell you more about it sometime, because I really dig it.

Things We Did:

• Went to Lumphini Park (not pictured yet)
• Went to the Grand Palace (not pictured...yet)
• Found a wonderful bakery (not pictured, okay?)
• Visited Golden Mountain (not pictured/get off my back)
• Went to a national park (" ")
• Traveled to Phuket and Khao Lak (" ")

• Family-wide haircuts

Here's Phil's. He hated it, and went over it again later with his clippers. Mine is probably pictured somewhere. I love it. I haven't cut my hair this short since high school. The Kid got his very first haircut. It was traumatic, for me. We went to one of those kid haircut places where they sit in airplanes and watch TV. Because Thailand is a highly service-oriented culture, there was another person in additional to the stylist whose entire job was to distract The Kid.

• Garden rescue

My hibiscus plants looked terrible, so I moved them into bigger pots. I spent three times as much for the soil and pots as I did for all three of the plants combined. It was not worth it financially, but it's the principle of the thing.*

*you hear this a lot when somebody's suing someone else. "It's the principle of the thing!" Which, to attorneys, means $$$$$billable hours$$$$$

Look at these poor suffering creatures. They've been doing exponentially better, though the aphids have hit them again hard this past week. Stupid aphids. 

Weather We Watched:

• This is just a way to justify my extensive collection of cloud pictures.

Misc. Bella:

She's still neurotic and thriving.

Look what she's reading!

Unposed, I swear.

I can't remember why she was giving me this look, but it was definitely a look. I didn't just catch her at a weird angle.

More later, as always, in perpetuity.