#019 Thailand Update: Planning for the Weekend

We are approaching the one month marker of our journey. Hard to believe it’s only been a month, don’t you agree? It seems like it’s been so much longer, especially considering how much has happened in our lives. I’ll be curious to see if things ever slow down. I doubt it.

Choir Rehearsal

Livonia is using her gift of song at the church. Last night, she attended her first rehearsal for choir. She’s singing this weekend. It will be so nice to hear her singing again. It’s been such a long time since she last got on stage. I know she really misses it. I picked her up from church last night, and she was happy because she had made a few more new friends. I commented to her last night about how quickly she’s making friends with people. It seems like every time I turn around, there’s a new name in our conversations. It makes me happy to know that she’s adjusting as well as she has been.

Yesterday, Livonia took Christian to visit with his new friend Uday (I’m only assuming I’ve spelled that one right). She told me that Christian has become rather affectionate with all his friends. He likes to give hugs, and has this habit of always showing affection. He kind of reminds me of his Mom. What do you think? I’m not sure where Uday is from, but I know Christian also has a friend named David Lee from Korea. I love that my kids are making friends with kids from various cultures. It is firming up my belief that this trip will prove to be valuable for all of us in the future.

Tired, but Happy

Yesterday was a difficult work day. I know I can’t always have good experiences, but yesterday was difficult. Nothing seemed to get pulled together like it needed to, and in the end we hit a “showstopper” that required me staying at the office until 7:30pm, and then having a phone call with several vendors from midnight until 1AM. I get to bed at about 1:30AM, and my alarm goes off at 4:30AM, reminding me that I still have my daily 5AM phone call with Chandler. and it does not make for a well-rested individual. I drag myself into the van, and groggily crack open my laptop to write this message to you.

So, now you know why I’m tired. Why am I happy? I’m happy because it’s Friday. That means tomorrow we start on another adventure.

Planning for the Weekend

I am planning our next adventure. It looks like this weekend we will be traveling to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. It was the capital of Thailand before Bangkok. It is also the home of a couple of very nice temples: Wat Yai and Wat Panan Choeng. I went on a trip to Ayutthaya on my first trip to Thailand back in 2000, and I haven’t been back there since then. I remember really enjoying that trip. I look forward to seeing how my family enjoys it. I remember feeding some rather large turtles and some enormous catfish on that trip. I’m sure the boys will really like that part.

The plan is to get Livonia signed up for an adult education class on Saturday morning. I believe she is going to take a Thai language class, but we’ll see. After that, we head to Ayutthaya, visit Wat Yai, eat lunch, visit Wat Panan Choeng, ride elephants through the city, and then go home.

Not too bad for a Saturday trip.

We will also be visiting the Grand Palace after church on Sunday. In front of the Grand Palace is another temple, which I believe is called Wat Khao Phrae, but I don’t remember. That is one of the most beautiful temples I’ve ever seen, so I’m really looking forward to Livonia’s reaction at seeing it. I’ll also be having lunch with the church pastor to share some ideas on how to grow people who are on short-term contracts, and Livonia is going out with some friends to Talad Market again. Fun, fun, fun.

Until next time...