My Life as You Know It

I officially miss Thailand.

A lot.

Aside from the news stations having Terrible names for the storm that trapped me here in Denver yesterday, I'm in a really good mood.

I'd never been snowed in before and once the "storm" actually ended it was pretty cool. Tunnels, face plants into snow drifts, romping with the dog, and...oh ye gods...the shoveling. I have to contribute, I suppose, because we're shoveling MY transportation free, but that doesn't mean I'm excited. At least we have 2 adult and one child shovels so it's not union labor today.

The sky is so beautiful and the holiday tea is so good...this following the hot chocolate with butterscotch shots in it a couple night ago. And my mom is literally a hero. If you ever hear of Frontier Airlines keeping their ticket counters open for the full 30+ hours of this storm, rest assured that is true, because my mom was one of 6 people doing it. I'm so proud of her and she's still so pleasant (if a bit smelly prior to her 3am shower). And, she's an angel who went BACK to work at 4am this morning after only getting home at 7pm from that hellish shift. We're hoping she'll get off in a few hours instead of having to work until late like she was scheduled. (The 4am is a fill-in shift because some employees still can't get back.)

I'm hoping to drive out soon. (I miss Ben.) Who knows when. But I need a shower. I really miss Ben. How did I miss that this was coming? No, really, how is it that I could go from some guy I talk to at parties to this kind of intensity? It's amazing and I can't wait to get back.

I think I'm just avoiding the shovel. I believe I have now inherited one of David's "Before-I-Got-Fat" Snowsuits. It looks rather nice if you don't have an aversion to jewel purple. (Why was a 6'4" man wearing jewel purple?!) They're cool inventions. And I'm such a dork. The girls are experts on snow and I'm running around alternately giggling and slipping and being utterly confused.

I'll be back in Saint Louis soon. But not until every drop of this tea is gone.

Being back in the USA is, in fact, very bizarre. And not entirely in the good way, which really makes me sad. Many things are just funny. Like re-experiencing the joy of driving. I almost had a bit of an incident yesterday when I forgot that I was in charge now of braking the car when the car in front of me stops.

More importantly, however, is the fact that a major storm is blowing in which wouldn't bother me except that Ben is (supposed to) flying in in a few hours and that WE're supposed to drive out on Thursday.

But there's no helping it, whatever happens, so I'll just curl up in my big warm bed and hope for the best.

The little white dog on campus gave birth yesterday to 3 adorable little worms of newborn puppies. Two white and brown ones and one black and white one. This is pretty awesome for me. Like eating hot dogs with God awesome. I can't wait for my puppy to come home.

Damn the self-doubt. I am very, very happy with my life choices. And I do, in fact, love Russian literature.

Yesterday was homework day and Ben and I kept BBC World News on all day. And then we watched (live) Saddam Husseim receive his sentence of Death by Hanging. You really have to Remind yourself of everything he did because watching one man receive a sentence like that is hard.

And then I found out about muggings at gunpoint.

And I saw a snake by my foot.

We drove to school in the middle of a herd of Brahmin cows. No, really. In the middle of them. I was a little freaked that the one taller than our van with the BIG horns was going to get annoyed with us honking at him.

I'm revved up about the wedding, finally, and I've been feverishly working with Ben on Save the Date Cards and venues and such. So much fun. I'm so excited.

I'm ready to be home. Culture shock? Maybe. But mostly I have so much to do and I can't get it done here.

USA can bite me.

Ben and I got back today from Pattaya. What a great time! We stayed at a fantastic guest house for not as much as I think the room was worth (It included a king sized bed, swimming pool, self-contained bathroom, AND Boomerang, which equaled Lauren watching Looney Tunes whenever possible).

We hit the beach, and ate Mexican food, because what would you do while in Thailand with THREE Mexican places within a kilometer? Damn straight. Ben had a Margarita, I had a Daquiri, we split chicken enchiladas, guac, and nachos, and almost threw up from the whole thing afterwards (our appetites are miniscule [sp?]). Luckily, we walked off the calories from that and the sundae we split the next afternoon during a thunderstorm by refusing sangthaew's in favor of walking all over that damn city. It was amazing. (Day one was really spent in Bangkok trying unsuccessfully to visit the Forensics Museum and instead discovered a great little restaraunt in the tourist district that served big salads. We woke up the next day and I rode my first train ever.) Day One: Got lost trying to find the hotel. Found hotel. Ate at Mexican place. Got lost again. Found beach. Designed a tattoo that I did not get because I'm pretty sure the guy's hands had PLASTER on them and that made me nervous. Passed out after walking 4 or so kms. Day Two: Thai omelette for breakfast (already missing thai food by now). Went to Ripley's museum. Really cool. Much more extensive than we expected. Wandered. Discovered my engagement ring lost a diamond. Pouted until we realized there was a big fuck-off dead jelly-fish on the beach and the water was perfect. Went to my first Thai Drag Show and drank cheap beer while laughing at the Japanese tourists going ape-shit for men in skirts doing a traditional dance. Passed Out. Day Three: Stormed like nothing else so we cancelled hitting the southern beach in favor of fighting with every Thai man in town about whether or not there was a train to Bangkok. Hitched a ride with an overenthusiastic Thai lady in her van and caught another van back home. Now we smell real weird, but we had a great time. We both decided it was about time to blow some money and just play tourists for a few days. Yeah, we're about done with that. I want some real Thai food like mad.

I promised Ben I'd let him sleep tomorrow morning so I guess I'll hit the pool/beach situation in the AM.

I'm starting to groove on this rainy season thing. Now that I (finally) figured out that the sun is bightest in the mornings, I don't mind so much playing in the rain in the afternoons.

Registered for classes. Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Nice. Intro to Psych, Buddhist Arts, Politics of Race & Ethnicity (and Museum Studies). Awesome.

Doubly awesome now that I have to go back and get a second wisdom tooth removed. I got the first one done and the procedure and the drugs cost less than $20. Nice. And the drugs are incredible. They numb my jaw without totally fucking me up. Which could be considered a bad thing I suppose since now I'm AWARE of how retarded I sound. Meh.

Life is good. Had a day off due to hole in gums. Buddhism is crystal clear if you read about it on drugs. Interesting. I was under the impression that soma had stopped being used BEFORE they wrote down the Pali cannon. Maybe not.

The boy should be home soon which is good because I'm starting to talk to myself. Since the jaw is numb, this mosly entails a lot of garbled drooling. And I'm at Nino's so it's much more obvious.

Add to the list: Being in a coup. What happened? I ate a hamburger while watching CNN and then swam with some stoned Americans. Big deal? For Thailand, yes. For me, kind of. For the american media, nope.

Yay coup!

Sign up with pfaw.org. I just sent an email (indirectly) to Pres Bush asking him to stop fucking up (in more grown up terms). Useful, given how angry I am.

I <3 Thailand.

Ben and I figured out life today. And my mother already has ridiculous amounts of wedding plans. I love most of them. I think.

She's more excited for me to get back from Thailand so that she can discuss the wedding than she is to discuss Thailand with me.

I love my life.

I had my first freak-out today...that overwhelmed feeling. It passed once I sat down with Pad Bai Krapao (sp?). Mmmm...I'm starting to get feeling back in my lips, so maybe I'll have some more later.


Yay! Field trip to Ayutthaya.

I do love it here. But working out transportation is hurting my head. Any tips?