We’re here in Thailand, safe and sound.  And exhausted.  Nothing says “Happy Independence Day!” like a 19-hour journey with a two-year-old.  I could write and tell you about all the interesting cultural sights I’ve seen here, but all we’ve done is sleep in until noon, watch the Disney Channel with Chickpea, and go to the grocery store.  And in a few hours, we’ll be going to sleep again, so that we get used to the time change (it’s 12 hours ahead of Texas time, if you’re interested).

As modern as our current country of service is, Thailand is even more westernized, at least according to our friends who have been to both.  At the store we visited today they had a KFC, Dairy Queen, and a Dunkin Donuts – places we never patronize in the States, but it was still a trip to see.

I’ve always enjoyed the 4th of July, for some reason.  I think it’s because as a child we always did something fun together as a family, since it’s my brother’s birthday, and then later on I always did fun things with friends and/or family – and so I associate it with being with people, one of my favorite things.  I also love the food involved, from the barbecue to the potato salad to the ice cream to the beer.  It’s pretty much the only day I look forward to in the summer.  Well, except for my birthday.  And Kabob’s birthday.

Anyhoo, that’s why, to me, it was a bummer to have missed out on any July 4th celebration this year.  Even overseas, you can manage to find ways to have a shindig – we always had Independence Day parties in our village in Kosova, there are other Americans to hang out with in our current city, and before we got to Thailand, we read about a free beer-n-bbq party happening here at the U.S. Consulate.   But alas, we celebrated in the air, drinking German beer (Kabob) or Sprite (me) and watching The Pursuit of Happyness (us) and Finding Nemo (Chickpea).  Oh well.   Maybe next year.

My first doctor’s appointment is tomorrow morning, so we’re just taking it easy until then.  Our biggest goal here, obviously, is to start getting better.  This involves both medical stuff, counseling stuff, and generally making it a major priority to live a balanced life as a family.  If we have time, we’ll take a few vacation days and sightsee – but only if it doesn’t cause added stress, because we’re supposed to be keeping that at an all-time low.  It’d be crazy not to take in some of the abundant tropical fruit and an elephant ride or two while we’re here, but beyond that, we’ll see.

Well, I’m going to rest before I have to wake up at 4 a.m. my-body’s-time.  Hope you had a good July 4th!

posted: 07 July 5
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