Happiness Is

... waking up on Monday morning and watching the Giants play on Sunday night football while enjoying a cup of coffee! Although the Giants did lose, it was a great game and was fun to watch.  No one in our home would dare give me any grief about the loss as the Giants' games LOST (3 games) is exactly equal to the Redskins' games WON. Ouch!  Poor Kevin has been waiting for many, many years for the Redskins to turn things around but it just doesn't seem like it is going to happen anytime soon.  

We are starting to get back into our routine after being out of school for a week of vacation and then missing another 8 school days because of the flooding.  ISB's e-learning requirement during the "flood" days really helped Caitlynne and Christopher. Although they didn't learn any new skills or topics, the assignments maintained their academic focus and kept them fresh with what they had been learning right before the break.  I was afraid of the amount of homework they would come home with last week but it wasn't too bad.  They were very happy to be back with their friends and to be socializing again!  They both jumped right back into basketball with practices last week and this week.  The BISAC tournament was re-scheduled and will take place this Saturday.  Nothing is ever simple - Caitlynne is playing at a school on the Western-most side of downtown and Christopher is playing at another school on the Eastern-most side of downtown.  Kevin and I are still trying to figure out how to be in two places at once.  Their games are played every two hours, beginning at 8.00 am and continuing to 5.00 pm so it will be a very long day for them!

Last Thursday, I had my second Interior Design class.  We went downtown to visit a few antique shops that the instructor frequents and has established good relationships with the owners.  It is amazing how affordable and abundant fine antique furniture is here.  Granted, everything does have an Asian influence, either in design, style or color but we saw some really beautiful (and so inexpensive!) pieces of furniture, porcelain accessories and art work.   Some pieces were more "Asian" than others but, even I, who has no inclination toward the Asian influence, found many items that would certainly work in our home.  In fact, our instructor told us that almost every designer showcase room contains at least one piece of furniture, an accessory or art work with an Asian influence.  The trick is knowing how to work it into the overall decorating scheme.   

Kevin returned from the U.S. very early Saturday morning and we were all so happy he was home!  He and I ran some errands on Saturday and went by some neighborhoods near us that were horribly flooded.  It is odd to look down a street and see people in boats instead of cars.  There are massive aid and assistance efforts to help those affected by the flooding going on throughout Nichada and Bangkok.  Caitlynne went to a friend's home Friday night to help pack relief bags for flood victims who have either chosen to remain in their homes or who are back at home cleaning up the damage. Many areas remain flooded and are without power.  This weekend, ISB's booster club is having a fun run and then a pancake breakfast as a fundraiser for flood victims.  I think the worst part of the flooding is over for our area but it is just taking so long for this massive amount of water to drain out of the rest of Bangkok and into the sea.  The traffic has been very bad because most of the lower roads are flooded so everyone is driving on the (raised) expressway.  Kevin has been leaving to go into work at 5.30 am so he can then leave early enough for home in the afternoon to miss the traffic on the expressway.  

Today, I had my first Thai cooking class.  There are 6 students (plus the chef) in my group and we made hot and sour soup, beef salad, green curry and satays.  

I did not take a photo of the soup but here is the beef salad.  PeePorn has made this for us before.

The satays (chicken and pork) with a peanut curry sauce and a chili sweet and sour sauce.

The green curry (made by yours truly!).

 

Even with the six of us working, it took us almost 4 hours to chop, prep and cook these dishes!  Sometimes I wonder why it takes PeePorn so long to cook dinner for us and now, after today, I know how much work is involved.  Even if I don't ever make these dishes again, taking this class was a great learning experience as far as identifying the different vegetables, herbs and spices used.  Everything was delicious and I don't think there were any leftovers.  It will be interesting to see what we make in next week's class!  

Have a great Tuesday!