leaving behind the old blog - and it's 2 1/2 years worth of posts - also means i've left behind alot of history. i've been trying to figure out what to do about that. i don't really want to link between the two blogs - that's part of my super duper evasive spy techniques - and i don't really feel up to moving the old posts over -that's not being evasive; it's being lazy. so i'm gonna give a brief history here. and if you wanna know more you can email me at leakingcrazy(at)gmail(dot)com or leave your email in the comment section and i will send you a link to my previous blog.

it all began in april 2002. we were living in texas and took a vacation for most of us -working holiday for the man - trip to colorado. we spent a few days in denver and then headed to colorado springs to spend a few days with my old college roommate. as we drove into the springs we felt, very clearly, that God had a home for us here. (for me this was a huge deal, my kids are the 5th generation born in the d/fw area). so, at the end of the week, we headed back to texas to see how we were to make this happen. at every step doors opened. we sold a house, we bought a house and by july we were in colorado.

october 2002

arriving in bangkok 13-01-2008

an internet cafe... so right now, all four of us are lined up in a row like a momma duck and her baby ducklings enjoying a little bit of www heaven! who knew? of course, every other person in here is a teenage gamer - and not caucasion. we're so not cool. but we're happy and not cool.

and now i have a moment to really write. and another bonus, a lovely woman at the hotel is letting us borrow her adapter/converter. so as we sit here interneting we have a laptop and a nintendo ds charging - talk about a good day.

i received many emails to let us know about the cowboys' loss... #1 took it very hard. his reaction was probably a little cowboys' loss and a lot loss in general. it seems perhaps it's a dallas curse, first the mavericks and now the cowboys looked so promising. well, at least make it a little further than this promising.

and i have to again say thank you to all for helping with our house. you know how when something is done for you that you can never ever pay back - well that is what's happening right now for us. it's very humbling and also makes us feel very loved. so thank you guys.

okay, so now for the juicy stuff. calm down, it's not really all that juicy... i feel like we're in a bit of a holding pattern. not in our house, but in a hotel. not on a vacation, but not really living here, either. i know, i know we are living and we are here - you know what i mean. #2 is all out of sorts, #1 is okay, but not great and #3 is having the time of his life because every morning there is a breakfast buffet. no routine to speak of, other than passed out cold by 8pm. #1 is starting to enjoy thai tv. we watched a show about police officers - i'm pretty sure it was a comedy. and we've also seen a drama(?) about airline crews. no idea what happened, but a good way to pass some time. bh gets in tomorrow. after he arrives we take the kids to the school for testing and while they are testing bh and i go sign on the house. talk about alot of waiting and then a big hurry up and rush.

no tv - well, that's not really true - we do have thai tv. i watched an entire episode of ghost whisperer dubbed in thai. now, i'm really wishing i had watched that show in the u.s. and internet is limited. yesterday we went to the zoo and the night market. today i want to do nothing. maybe read, nap, walk around the hotel. i'm hoping i can get the kids to agree. of course, #1 just asked what are we going to do today...

it's here. the luggage came in late last night. now everyone is fresh - no more stinky boys. i know all around us must be relieved.

today we've visited the zoo - it was a great distraction for the kids and now we are all exhausted!! today seems to be #1's day to be out of sorts. i'm really quite glad they are taking turns, i'm not sure i could handle all of them at once.

thanks everyone for your comments. i appreciate them bunches. it makes my day a little brighter when i get to read them.

and a big thank you also to the wonderful ladies (winey & trish) who are busy sorting out my house. i know it is a ton of work and i can't thank you enough.

we slept 13 hours last night and are all still a little draggy today. i took the kids to see the house, they all liked it. #3 wanted his own balcony, like a#2 and the man & me, but other than that all is good. they were thrilled with the amenities - swimming pool, tennis courts, badmitton, etc...

the lost luggage is still lost... and we're still waiting. but it's all part of it, right? think pigpen from charlie brown - only without the little squigle stink marks and with a real stink instead. but it is just the boys - #2 and i are great.

i think we're all feeling somewhat overwhelmed. #2 had a small break down at breakfast - i think some of the novelty is wearing off for the kids. or maybe they didn't ever feel it was at all novel. but nothing like a few tears in a hotel restaurant.

we are in bangkok. at least the kids and i are. the man has just left for singapore. the rest of us are waiting to get to chiang mai, because of our delay we have to fly standby. we will know in the next few moments whether or not we will make this flight. if not, there are others today. right now we’re cranky, tired, smelly and really just ready to be done. one day this will be the funniest of stories.

so, yesterday, once we woke up and got around, we realized we were hungry. what to do? we looked out of our hotel window and saw what appeared to be the only viable option.

so we started walking, and decided to be brave - to persevere - to walk the dangerous streets of la. and boy were we rewarded.

you know all of those choices had to be hands down better than a 7eleven taquito. and they were.

we're doing it. right now, we're doing it. all five of us are at the airport, with what we managed to pack. what we didn't we hope someone else will enjoy. we were able to coordinate rides to the airport. one for our suitcases and one for us. and now we sit, and we will continue to sit. when we got to the airport our flight was delayed 20 min., now it's delayed 2 hours. so we sit... and blog, and fight about discuss taking turns on the computers.

and this early in our move i've already missed some great picture opportunities. i missed our house in a pretty serious state of disarray as we left. and i missed us at check in with our 10 ginormous suitcases open for all the world to see while we tried to balance them. and we did, only one was over the 50 pound limit, but the others were so close we had to frugally spread those 7 pounds out. and i missed all 30 of the minutes we spent getting through security. and we weren't waiting to get through we were going through the process of security. we had at least 12 tubs lined up with our various belongings strewn about. tsa people doing bag checks, making sure bh's cpap machine wasn't dangerous, the plastic cases for the wii games looked suspicious, so lots of digging and time and everyone behind us getting a bit impatient. and probably my favorite, when we all take our shoes off we discover #3 has on only one sock and c#1 has on no socks.

but the two hours will be put to good use. i can go ahead and cancel our garbage pick up. call the carpet guys to lay the carpet we ordered and let the realtor know that the clean up might be a little more than expected.

we're doing it. right now, we're doing it. all five of us are at the airport, with what we managed to pack. what we didn't we hope someone else will enjoy. we were able to coordinate rides to the airport. one for our suitcases and one for us. and now we sit, and we will continue to sit. when we got to the airport our flight was delayed 20 min., now it's delayed 2 hours. so we sit... and blog, and fight about discuss taking turns on the computers.

and this early in our move i've already missed some great picture opportunities. i missed our house in a pretty serious state of disarray as we left. and i missed us at check in with our 10 ginormous suitcases open for all the world to see while we tried to balance them. and we did, only one was over the 50 pound limit, but the others were so close we had to frugally spread those 7 pounds out. and i missed all 30 of the minutes we spent getting through security. and we weren't waiting to get through we were going through the process of security. we had at least 12 tubs lined up with our various belongings strewn about. tsa people doing bag checks, making sure bh's cpap machine wasn't dangerous, the plastic cases for the wii games looked suspicious, so lots of digging and time and everyone behind us getting a bit impatient. and probably my favorite, when we all take our shoes off we discover #3 has on only one sock and c#1 has on no socks.

but the two hours will be put to good use. i can go ahead and cancel our garbage pick up. call the carpet guys to lay the carpet we ordered and let the realtor know that the clean up might be a little more than expected.

...begins impossibly early in the morning.

...begins without a watch.

...begins in an airport, in the u.s. - where the threat level is orange.

...begins on an empty stomach, because i'm too nervous to eat.

...begins without caffeine. (no, really, it does. i wouldn't have thought so, either.)

...begins on a very, very, impossibly small plane (i can see it out the window right now. it's tiny. maybe not, private jet tiny, more of 4 seats to a row tiny.)

...begins right now.

i'm doin' it. i'm sitting here in an airport waiting for a plane. waiting for a plane that will take me to los angeles - where i'll wait for another plane. a plane that will take me to hong kong. where i'll wait again - for a plane that will take me to bangkok. where i thought bh would be meeting me. but, he won't. instead i'll be spending...

wait for it...

it's worth it...

one night in bangkok.

yep. and, of course, i had to look up the lyrics. i'm hoping that maybe this one will be my lyric - "one night in bangkok and the world's your oyster". and not this one - "one night in bangkok makes a hard man humble" - or this one - "one night in bangkok and the tough guys tumble". you know, i sing the song, or rather i hum most of it and then belt out the one night in bangkok part (until just a few moments ago those were the only words i knew. ) it's a fun song to hum/sing. the tune made me think bangkok might be fun. but the lyrics - they scare me. anyway, after my one night in bangkok, it's back to the airport and off to chiang mai. that's where bh will meet me. we have an interview at the kids school. i feel like i should have every moment planned. know what we're doing each day - have something to accomplish. but i don't. wait, i mean we do have plenty to accomplish, it's just i don't know how we go about doing it.

so, now i sit here. in the colorado springs airport. very aware that this is a big moment. change is in the air. and i don't even know how to describe it other than to say it feels big, huge, momentous. not so unlike the night before my scheduled c-sections. you know somewhat scary - but in a good way, scary in an i can't wait to get going kind of way, but know i can't even begin to fathom how my life will change. and it's not just my life. it is the life of 5 of us. what happens to a kid when you pick them up and transplant them to a completely different culture? i can't help but believe they'll be better for it, i'm sure we'll all be better for it.

and so the journey begins. and for those who might be curious - it's not a journey of a thousand miles. it's a journey of eight thousand eighty one miles. wow.

every once in a while one of my kids will go out of his or her way to make me the proudest momma ever and every once in a while i'll get a ring side seat to endure witness it and when it's an opportunity to make me really, really proud there will be others there as well. it goes something like this. we're invited over to some friends for dinner and another family that we're friends with is also invited. we enjoy a lovely dinner, some good conversation and all and all it's a pleasant evening. between us we have 9 children and 3 of these are teens enjoying the teen privilege of eating with the adults. of course, one of these teens is tb, and it hasn't been too long since he acquired the t in the tb. and it's probably important to note that of these three he's the only boy. okay, i think that's enough set up. oh, almost enough. i forgot one really important thing... and that would be that the friends who invited us over - well, the husband - he's also a pastor at our church. now, i'm ready to tell my tale.

where was i... lovely dinner, pleasant evening, oh and then tb forgets to shut up. i mean he becomes the biggest conversation hog ever. and does he have things to share. i'm not even sure what he's talking about; i'm trying my darndest to tune him out. but i become aware that all ears are on him. so i figure i better start listening too; and he's going on about how they have a word of the day everyday at school and i'm not exactly sure why everyone is paying such close attention to him - i guess they're just trying to be polite; they are awarded greatly for this courtesy, because tb goes on to say, "one day this week, the word of the day was b#$%@rd."* i'm not sure what was said after that, it was like i'd been knocked unconscious for a short while and when i came to it seemed one of my fellow dinner companions had changed the conversation to what we were looking forward to in thailand. tb, who seemed to be totally oblivious to the fact that his mom is sitting right beside him twitching in a most unnatural way, jumps into this conversation with both feet - because he. can't. shut. up. and he lets everyone know that the one thing he really isn't looking forward to is eating elephant penis soup.

*for those of you who are now concerned about the quality of tb's education - his teacher was appalled when i asked him about this word of the day. we're not sure what happened, but an investigation is now underway.

and i do believe tb better pay close attention to what he's served in thailand.

i've been flipping through culture shock! thailand - secretly believing i really don't need this book because i'm so very adaptable - and i came across this...

"thais have a great sense of humour but they don't like sarcasm."

i'm not sure i can survive in a culture that doesn't embrace sarcasm. weird food - no problem, no daisy dukes and bikinis - piece of cake, don't wear my little black dress to a party - can do, but no sarcasm - i won't be able to open my mouth for fear of what might fall out. i have yet to find this in the book, but i'm betting they don't go in for passive aggressiveness, either. this doesn't bode well.

however, i have found something else in the book that gives me a small glimmer of hope.

"one of the most pleasant aspects of thai small talk is the zest for flattery. try to keep your ego within limits when everything about you is being praised."

this doesn't quite make up for the no sarcasm thing, but it's a start...

in 9 months my family is being transplanted to asia. we don't have an exact location. i have no idea how to even begin to plan for something like this. so i googled how to transplant a tree - you know, just to see if any of the steps might be similar. and of course, it's nothing the same - we won't need sphagnum moss for this move. (i'm sure someone more imaginative than me could come up with how all the steps at ehow are very similar to the process of moving 1/2 way around the world) but there did seem to be two things that apply - the introduction and the warning. the introduction says

moving an established tree or shrub is not something to be done on a whim. it takes about a year's worth of preparation...

this makes me feel good. not on a whim and about a year... seems we're getting a good start. then there is the one and only warning... and it does not make me feel good. it is my greatest concern - i'm sure more will come once i really understand this move thing. anyway, the one warning is this -

for the sake of it's health and your own, don't even try to move a large tree or very large shrub; that's a job best left to a pro. as for how big is too big, if there is any question in your mind at all, it's too big.

people in asia are small - that may be a generalization - and I am not. not asian small. from my internet searches it seems that if i need to buy clothes once i'm there it will be moo-moos for me.