Journal2

Sept 28, 2001...... How do I even start off, after not writing for so long? So much has happened and things have been so busy. It's just so time-consuming to update this webpage!! BUT, that being said, I want to try and commit myself to our website again. In the past few months, something will happen, and I think how neat it is and I'd like to share it. So, to start off with, we are all doing great....yes, even me!! Well, as great as someone can who is now 35years old!! Yep, yesterday was my birthday and I hit the big 3-5!! Can you believe it? I know my mom can't! LOL!! We left for America the last day of May. We had a great time in Disneyworld and visiting all our friends and family. I have to say, the trip was much harder than we thought and seems we hurt some feelings along the way. We really did try to see everyone and spend lots of time, but it was hard to do what we wanted and to do what everyone else wanted. We seem to need a new plan before next summer. On monday, sept 11, we got 2 next additions to our family. 2 kittens named Liberty and Justice. Of couse that daate is an awful reminder of the tragedy that occured in America. Our hearts go out to every American as I know we have all been affected on some level. We watched along with the rest of the world as planes crashed and building came tumbling down. I still turn on CNN first thing in the morning to check out what has happened during the night. Anyway, Libert and Justice have joined us the the kids are thrilled. They reallly wanted a dog, but I just dont' think the atmosphere here is great for a dog. No real big yard to run free in, and the heat!! After returning back to thailand in July, a new driving range opened up. So John, Josh and I began to take golf lessons. We've alot of fun and have even gone out to play a real course a few times. I'm really really liking it and plan to continue to get better. Alexa has taken up horseback riding. This sweet little girl is finally doing what she's dreamed of. We made her wait all last year to see if the desire "faded out"...but it didn't so, we finally signed her up. ONe instructor said she is doing exceptionally well and seems to have a real knack for the positioning and such. We're just so proud of her and I know her self-confidence is really building!! Kristin and Madison is doing some dance and Olivia has learned how to walk. She started right before she turned 13 mths old. Something else, last may, john had the LASIK surgery on his eyes and he now has 20/12 vision!! It was amazing and now its my turn!! I"M SO EXCITED!! My initial eye exam is Oct 9, then I should be scheduled for surgery about a week later. I've waited almost all my life for this!! I've had glasses for 25 years....I can't even imagine what its like to see underwater, or wake up and see the alarm clock, or fall asleep watching tv or anything like that!!!!!!!!! anyway, its very very late here......can ya'll tell from all my typos? I'm going to bed, but give us time and we're going to update more pics and such!! love to all...............melinda

10-14-01.....Good morning. I'm so sorry I haven't written, but I've been having problems getting our site builder loaded. So, each time, I would give up and try again the next day. Finally I got it to load, so I'm able to make some changes to our pages. First off, my eyes. I had my appt on oct 9, and everything went wonderful!!!! He said I was a good candidate for the surgery, so we scheduled it for friday, oct 12. I arrive and am a little bit nervous. I asked/begged to be given more valium, and the dr agreed. So, I got 6mg instead of the normal 2mg. Well, I have to say, it did NOTHING for me!! UUGGHH!!!! Anyway, couldn't back out then...so off we go. I have to say that overall, it was a truly wonderful experience. I anticipated it was going to be very "assembly-linish" and it so wasn't. I mean, the dr came over and talked to me before the procedure. I was laying in a plush recliner covered in a blanket and told to just close and rest my eyes. During this time, I was receiving different kinds of eye drops....numbing drops, antibiotics drops, and something for my pupils. Soon, it was time, so we went into the room. I was placed on a table and a surgical sticky drop was "taped" on my eyes to keep them open. Like a giant piece of contact paper. It is intimidating. But very quickly the dr was in and talking to me the entire time. Immediately he placed an eye contractor to pry my eyes open. Still not really uncomfortable, just seeing someone work on my eye....YUCK! Then he began to cut the flap. I have to say that this part hurt the worse. It wasn't pain, just very intense pressure as he had to really press down on my eyeball very hard and it was very very uncomfortable. But it trully lasted a minute at the longest and was quickly over. So, he made both flaps then did the laser part. All I had to do was stare at the red dot. I couldn't blink, but wanted to but terrified if I flinched at all I would mess up the laser. So, after the laser part was over, he rinsed my eyes very well, then proceeded to smooth the flaps back down. This was also hard, as I could see this instrument rubbing over my eyeball. Boy, I was glad when it was over with, but I sat up on the table and I could see!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! Things were still a little blurry from the pupil drops, but I could definately see better. I went home and slept for an hour or so, and when I woke up, I could see as well as when I had my contacts in. I had to wear the patches till saturday (but I snuck them off a little bit!!) and I went back to the dr to have my eyes checked and patches "officially" removed. He said they looked really great, the flaps were healing nicely. And when each eye was tested individually, I could see 20/20 easily, but could read a few numbers of 20/16. But when I read with both eyes together, I could easily read 20/16. It's just so amazing. My eyes basically feel normal. Last night (saturday), my eyes got real tired, and it just felt like my contacts were dried up in my eyes. But I have eye drops to take and things will get better over the next few weeks. I can't get any water in my eyes for the first week, and I can't swim for 2 weeks, but after that, if things have healed well, it should be fine! Sooooooo.....that's that!!! :-)
Let's see, what else.....Oh, I've been invited to a thai wedding! Do ya'll remember back when we first moved here and I was trying to homeschool and hired noi's neice to babysit while I was teaching? Her name is "A". Well, A is getting married next weekend and they have invited me!! So, that's going to be a big thing for me next weekend. I'm not sure what to wear, or what kind of gift to bring. Different cultures do things so differently. So, I'll let ya'll know how that goes!
Not much else is going on. Olivia finally cut one of her molars! Still have 3 to go, and it looks like its going to be a long haul. The kids were out of school thursday and friday for parent/teacher conference. All the kids are doing really really great. Alexa needs to work on her math skills and getting work completed on time, and Joshua needs to work on self-control on the playground. He's already gone a few rounds still the year started!! :-). And Kristin was having some trouble in a few of her subjects but has really been working hard and really really improved all her grades. I'm so proud of them all. Madison has a conference next week, but her teacher, Radeane, and I have gotten to be good friends, so I already know what her problems are! Madison just thinks alot of her self. Radeane is my "new friend" and she's wonderful!! She does model work but is so down to earth and "real". We have so much in common. The only downfall is she lives in town and not around here. Radeane was born and raised in America, but she married a thai man and moved to Bangkok about 9 years ago. Her mother is thai and her father is american. But she speak thai and even looks a little thai. But, in her heart, she's all american. It was so funny, I gave her a small stash of our american candy...mainly the reeses stuff and she was in heaven! It was so sweet, because you can't get any kind of peanut butter/chocolate candy here. But, I really love her and I'm looking forward to us getting together often! She has a little girl named Tabby who is 6 years old and is really sweet. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to Radeane and I spending alot of time together. John is still working and, I think, enjoying it. We still play golf a little bit...but the past weeks have been pretty busy. We've gotten Kristin hooked on golf now! I think Kristin, Josh and I are all going to sign up for lessons again. It's nice her playing, and fun too!! Okay, this has gotten rather long. We're wanting to get a scanner so we can get more pics up, so ya'll be patient and we'll update ASAP!! Everyone take care and remember God is in control of the world and this unstable time............love, melinda

12-15-01......Don't worry...I'm not even going to apologize for being 2 MONTHS without writing. As usual, I have this great excuse. Actually, I only have an excuse for half the time. Basically, I did update the website with some pictures, but never did get around to writing in the journal. Gosh, I don't even know who reads this thing anymore anyway. It was probably more enjoyable when I was dramatically-depressed last year!!!! LOL!! Anyway, we are approaching the holidays very quickly. Let's see whats happened since I last wrote. I began to have a few problems with my eyes. It really was my fault, but after using the antibiotic drops, your supposed to put in some lubricant drops. But, my eyes never felt "dry" so I rarely used them. Unfortunately, the antibiotics cause dryness and the eyes may not feel dry, but it can cause the cornea to become mis-shapen and mess up the vision. That's what happend to me. Short story, I had to use special lubricant gel at night and after 3-4 weeks my eyes are fine. Neither John nor I have had any of the typical side effects, such as halo's, pain, etc. It's really been a great great thing. Can I even say how GRATEFUL I am that halloween is over!! Such a hard situation for us to be in. But, we made it thru another October. Thanksgiving quickly arrived and with it came my American cornmeal to make real southern cornbread dressing!! Mmmmmmmm!!!! It was so good and sooooooo american!!!!!! And I've still got 3 more bags of cornmeal left!! We found real american-like sweet potatoes that were imported from Australia. The thai sweet potatoes are purple with a white meat inside. yuck!!! So, we had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and looking forward to a real traditional family christmas. We have our tree and all our decorations up and just today FINALLY took our christmas card pictures. I'm very impressed....I think they came out very good. So, I should be getting cards in the mail on monday. The kids had their last day of school on friday. People around here are already filtering oout.....going back to their home country, etc. So, it's getting a little bit quiet. I'm thining of different activities so help keep the kids busy. We are leaving for Phi-Phi Island on Jan 2. We're real excited, but especially John. He's never been. Noi is going with us and I hope she has a nice time. Kristin made cheerleader. And, they asked Alexa and Madison to be mascot cheerleaders. It's so cute. Alexa has really learned the cheers and keeps up with the bigger girls well. But Madison is just too adorable with her minature uniform and always being one little step behind the routine. Maddie and Alexa have only attended one game, so we'll get some pics up on the webpage after the holiday of them cheering! Josh is have a little bit of trouble in soccer. He's really keeping up his chin, but he's very disappointed they've suffered a really large losing streak. They don't have any more games until after the holidays, so maybe the new year will bring them some wins. Well, my big news is coming up in Febuary......my best girlfriends and I are taking a cruise to Hawaii. AND, we even got a balcony suite!!! My travel agent got me an incredible deal so we just couldn't pass it up!! I'm so thrilled to see the girls again and just can't wait to get my little self in Wal-Mart!! Do ya think Wal-Mart misses me? My flight arrives at 7:30 in the morning....the girls don't arrive until about 4 in the afternoon. I tell ya, I'm dropping my bags off at the hotel and hitting all the "normal" stores I miss so much. A dream would be to have a Target!! I really don't plan on buying anything.....I just want to see a real American store with American people everywhere and everyone speaking english!! I mean, my heart just begins to race thinking about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kristin and I were giong to take a weekend trip to Singapore for last minute shopping, but between all the things I brought back from America and a few export sales I found, I think we're pretty much set for theholidays. Okay, I'm going to try and update a few pics that we took today. Hope to hear from people soon! Much much love...........Melinda

12-27-01.....Okay everyone...let's hear it for Melinda for writing 2 times in one month!!!! YEA!!!!! I hope everyone had a blessed holiday season. AND, I hope everyone received our Christmas cards. If not, then I don't have your address and it's your own fault!!! LOL!! So, how are plans shaping up for New Years Eve? We are doing nothing....just the normal day/night. We leave for Phuket on Jan 2, so I'm sure I'll be packing, etc for our trip. We had a really great Christmas. I don't know anything I would've changed. Lots of food, lots of gifts, but man, was I homesick!!!!! Oh gosh, it was horrible. I can't even recall how many crying episodes I had on Christmas Eve day. I called my mom and sister and just hearing them talking while cooking food.....oh, I was so sad. I'm just sooo grateful I have 5 kids....at least my house wasn't too empty. The kids were blessed more than they even realized. We received lots of gifts from all family members and we had lots under the tree. But it still didn't feel like Christmas. I told John I don't know if I want to stay here next year from Christmas. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens. Let's see....the day after Christmas, Joshua had a little accident on the playground. He was on a see-saw with a friend and the friend jumped off and Joshua's end came down and his foot was underneath. So, it started to swell and he wouldn't walk on it. Long story short, after a few days and a few different doctors, the doctor suspected it had a very very slight break and put it in a cast. So, my sweet Joshua is on the second cast of his life!!! LOL!! He's amazing.....he just runs around on it now. The dr said we'll take it off next tuesday, do anothe xray and hopefully he'll be able to keep it off. If not, it's no snorkeling in Phuket for him. And John so wants to take the kids into the water. What else....oh, John's bday was the 20th....well, the wonderful wife I am, I "whisked" him off for a surprise trip to Chiang Mai for the weekend. He didn't even know until we were in the van driving. He really thought we were going to the movies and was totally shocked!! I packed and everything!! He's such a love and it was an honor for me to be able to bless him. We spent saturday at an elephant camp and went trekking thru the jungle. We then went on a bamboo raft down a river..and the guy even let us paddle the raft. Well, we got to "put the stick" in the water and push off the bottom.....that's the paddle!! After I get the film developed, I'll stick some pics up. We stayed on the night bazaar strip and actually got "shopped out"!! Fun, but it really started getting old seeing the same thing cart after cart. Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm really enjoying life, but man, I can't wait to come home. Life is really feeling good now that I've got the holidays behind me. Everyone have a safe and happy new year...............love, melinda