Marsh Mellow Goodness

how much does it cost? i'll buy it.

2012-02-23T10:23:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was a beautiful one. It rained, sheets of rain, Friday night, clearing the way for a mostly humid-free weekend. Now we're spending some days in the capital for training, as well as various other meetings and workshops and general busy times, which usually involves the wearing of professional clothes for at least eleven hours. We're talking an ankle length skirt with a collared shirt, for the record.

On Saturday, we'll hit seven months in Cambodia, which feels a bit surreal- even weirder than six months. I'm finally reaching a place where I feel like all those observations I've jotted down about life in this little country are ready to be put into coherent words and stories and shared.

One of the first observations I made, and still make nearly daily, are generally some amount of "in Cambodia" versus "in America."

In America, it was a given that my hair would be worn down. In Cambodia, it's a miracle when I can leave my hair down for more than an hour.

In America, it could be a day tipping the thermometer at triple digits, but there was always the sweet respite of indoors. Oh temperature control. In Cambodia, every day throws the thermometer into highs and levels of humidity arrive that seemingly no one could live through day after day, and there is never the sanity of air conditioner or temperature control available. Relief arrives via a cool breeze drifting through the leaves as you take a moment under the shade of a tree.

In America, safe and cold water is almost always free and available. In Cambodia, safe can only be bought and cold is never guaranteed.

In America, you can run out of butter, toilet paper, and garlic and purchase all three in a one stop shop. In Cambodia, you have to buy things at completely separate shops. Hell, in Cambodia, you don't buy toilet paper because you don't use it. You only buy butter (real butter) in the capital. Garlic, though, is used in everything.

And then, finally. In America, the price is the price is the price. In Cambodia, the price is the inflated number the seller says to see how much or little you understand about culture here. It's the starting point.

Becuase, here, we bargain. And it's all charming and fun at first. And then it's stress inducing. And then it's annoying. And then frustrating. And then downright maddening.

Why, oh why, can't the price of my tuk tuk ride just be a fair price? Why do I have to convince you that me paying a dollar is far better than paying a dollar twenty five? Actually, why do I have to convince you that I'm NOT going to pay five dollars, which was the first number you said? Why do you have to comment on how far it is, or how much Khmer I know or don't know? Why do your friends have to crowd around us while we're negotiating and laugh and tease and cajole and tell me that a dollar is not a good price and blah blah blah.

Now I understand, bargaining is what it is. A fact of life. It's inevitable and happening every moment, and if I greet it with a smile instead of a frown, it goes much better.

But I still wish there was just one damn price.

happiness is...hilarity is

2012-02-20T02:00:00.000-05:00

happiness is:
realizing, for the one hundred and seventieth time, how lucky you are to have a shower.

really, that's it.

also, that maybe you've lived in your site for nearly five months, or one hundred and seventy days, already?

hilarity is:
have such an incredibly sore bum because you fell not once, but twice, in three days while getting out of the shower.

not only, but also suffering the humiliation that is your husband opening the bathroom door to see you sprawled, naked, trying not to cry because you fell really hard on your behind and it's embarrassing, hilarious and painful all in one.

happiness is:
your husband taking your challenge of "use some of these spice packets we got sent to us, yo!" to make three most delicious meal parts, one involved rendered pork fat making the most delicious green beans and carrots you've had these past seven months.

hilarity is:
wondering why you can't seem to get any of that delicious food in your mouth and then realizing that it's really happened:

you've forgotten how to use a fork and will now require a spoon for the rest of your meals forthwith.

happiness is:
planning your upcoming trip to vietnam with your husband and getting excited about train rides on soft sleeping berths and canyoning trips.

hilarity is:
getting irrationally angry at your husband because he asked you to help him plan it, when really you were trying to be all "go with the flow" for this trip and let HIM plan it, only to realize you've been pouting and maybe a bit mean when you actually wrote "plan vietnam trip" in your planner last monday and maybe you need some chocolate because your period is making you a bit crazy?

happiness is:
waking up to a gorgeous, sunny day.

hilarity is:
realizing that what was a gorgeous, sunny day to you was actually an eighty-nine degree with seventy percent humidity day.

and that's how you know that you've either a) adjusted to a new, drastically different climate or b) simply stopped trying to care about how much you sweat.

what's your happiness and hilarity for this week?

a leap year month, half gone

2012-02-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

when i move back to america, i should think i'd like to raise a cocker spaniel and a mini pig. they will be the best of friends and love each other forever and always. they shall be my spaniel and pig, and i shall call them pig and pup.

here's what i've been up to so far in february, all of which can be found daily at my tumblr.

so as you can gather, this month so far has involved some vomit, baking, delicious indian food (all unrelated, except they happened consecutively), and typical cambodian days involving bikes, monks and dry rice fields ripe for the planting in coming rainy months.

how's your february so far?

pa pa pa pa pa, i want a wife...

2012-02-16T09:07:00.000-05:00

...and my thoughts on other khmer music videos.

i'm going to come right out with it. i love khmer music videos. i love them far more than i love american ones, and those k-pop (korean pop) music videos? don't even compare.

music videos are streaming constantly around me everyday. on the bus, they play one of the myriad of cds compiled with 20 or so videos. in the cafe where i get pork and rice- playing behind me. in the quickie mart where i go to drink a coca light and read for forty five minutes- on full view, playing via the surround sound.

in the car of my fellow teacher who drove topher and me to a wedding two weekends ago? playing in his 2003 toyota camry, in the small video screen where the rearview mirror used to be.

(process that one for a second.)

these videos rock because they usually tell a story. more often than not, that story is quite tragic and ends with the singer dying in the end, but it's a great love story as it unfolds. my favorite videos are the multi-part ones, where the boy and girl trade back and forth singing the songs as the story unfolds with one "to be continued" after the other.

a particularly awesome one involves a girl and boy falling in love while girls sings about it, then boy getting hurt while girl sings about it, and then boy almost dying but not while girl still thinks he died while boy sings about it, and then girl discovering that he is still alive only as he lays dying in the street as they sing about it.

somewhere in there, the boy dresses up like a clown and hands out free balloons but is a sad clown because the girl thinks he's dead and has found a new love.

it's amazing.

AND THEN! the other day, on the bus, i was treated to a full soap opera drama musical MOVIE! it was so fantastical, i cannot even describe. it featured DOPPLEGANGERS and was so fantastic. maybe the best 75 minutes on a bus i've ever experienced.

so, let's discuss my absolute favorite khmer music video. it took me an hour to find it, and i had to google in anglicized khmer phonetics to find it, so you should watch it and enjoy it.

i think this is my favorite for a series of reasons:
1. it's hilarious and upbeat. the guy is singing that he wants a wife, and his dad- who sells street food- is saying "with what money?"
2. it tells the story of khmer life! he meets a girl, falls in love, has to find money, so goes to the fortune teller to find out how, uses magic to get a great huge lexus, enters a cell phone contest and WINS, meets the girls parents to tell them he wants to marry his daughter, all while upgrading via magic to the BEST red shirt i've ever seen.
3. you just need to watch it. it translates across all languages, trust me.

another one of my favorite parts about khmer music videos is how everyday life is the center- as in, this could all be happening down the street to your best friend! or, hey, even to you! often music videos will take place in a rice field, or in a new cozy cafe in phnom penh, or the rolling hills of the beautiful northern provinces. i like this one most because it features my favorite glorified gas station TELA MART!

and this last one is thrown in for good measure so you can see my favorite khmer singer who's quite popular- sok sophea- and enjoy the love songs of my new country.

my husband tells me he's going to share his favorite khmer music video on his blog one of these days, and when he does, you'll need to take a look. it's awesome because it's quite....westernized.

you'll see.

how are music videos going over there in america?

and hey, did you watch these? reactions?

to topher, on the day for out-loud-love

2012-02-14T08:46:00.001-05:00

dear valentine (and all you other lovers who read along),

so today is our eighth valentine's day, and we celebrated by you sending me three hoops-and-yoyo e-cards using my hallmark account that i sneakily used your debit card to pay for months ago, having lunch hot and ready when i got home from teaching, and then taking on the burden of teaching our private class by yourself while i napped this weird stomach sickness away.

so, in sum, it's been great! and i didn't even mention the rose you got me OR the other awesome gifts you brought home from our students that they sent to give to me.

today, in this public letter, i'm ready to admit to the world something that we used to battle about many moons ago.

here and now, it shall be known that i, kate marsh, aged twenty six years, hair color brown, eye color hazel, bending towards blind with a visual acuity of 20/400, heretofore shall readily exclaim:

i do not believe you are my soul mate, topher.

for many years now, i've been trying to get you to believe in fate and soul mates and meant-to-be-ness. but somehow, in letting the discussion lie, and letting life to take its course, i've come to realize that it must be a blue moon because you, dear sir, were right.

i don't think there is fate. i don't think there is one person, made for me. i don't think it was kismet that we met, or that we fell in love or that we married. i don't think there was some stronger force at work causing our paths to cross, alighting our eyes with the recognition of a soul's true other half.

(if it was, we probably would have had that moment way back in september 2003, the two times that we met that i don't remember?)

but i do believe that i am married to the one person who can make me happiest. i do believe that it was fantastic luck that we both chose (what seemed to me, a girl from idaho) a random college and maybe it was the funniness of life that you happened to become good friends with my good friends and eventually we met.

i do believe that you are my best friend and the person whose personality and interests and general life values align best with mine, and i do believe that when we purposely chose each other, we chose somebody whom we felt we could love, enjoy, and grow with for many years to come.

not to say that we agree on everything, and enjoy each other always. rather, we match quite nicely because of our witty-to-us repartee and loving cajoling that lends itself to solving disagreements without major emotional damage. we fit because we both believe that knowledge lends itself to self betterment, and self betterment in your spouse can only lead to self betterment for yourself. we work because we both know that a marriage, and love between two people, can only flourish if both people choose to foster it with small and large displays of affection every single day.

what i think i like best about us though, and how i know we are not soul mates, is that we have grown and changed immensely in the eight years since our first valentine's day. our opinions, our interests, our life projections and trajectory have all changed considerably since we were eighteen.

thank god.

but most important, dear non-soul-mate, i want you to know that despite how much i love baking,

i will always love you more.

xxoo,
kate

thoughts?

of lately, timely items.

2012-02-10T05:28:00.000-05:00

yesterday, i rode the bus (for the first time by myself!) to phnom penh. approximately 77 minutes in, i had rediscovered the joy that is nsync's "it's gonna me be" and also was assaulted with a terrible, sickly sweet smell.

the child in the seat directly in front of me had thrown up.

we still had a good forty minutes to go, so as the stomach-convulsion-invoking scent drifted back toward me, i grabbed my cardigan to cover my face. as i glanced around i noticed that my fellow khmer bus riders had all reached for their handy face masks they carry with them at all times and were pleasantly enjoying the ride as if nothing had happened.

have i mentioned that face masks- like the surgical ones doctors wear- are all the common rage here? for when you're sick, or afraid of getting sick, or avoiding dust, or, as it turns out, for the random horrible smell you attempt to avoid onboard a bus going to phnom penh.

in other news, the other weekend, i decided it would be easier to climb under a table instead of asking three people to stand up so i could use the restroom?

in the same vein, i am now seventeen again instead of twenty six?

and finally, you should know two incredibly important things came of the last 36 hours in phnom penh (outside of the work completed for a committee i am on, which was the purpose of the visit anyway):

one. i ate a delicious cheesesteak. except it was on a hamburger roll? but the roll was toasted and squishy and perfect so it was ok. and i drank a delicious free coca cola with it. yes, yes i did.

two. i get to bake amazing things on sunday? like in a real kitchen, that is already pre-stocked with "all the necessary items to bake chocolate chip cookies" i am told. friends, this is hands down amazing! i have not seen butter in nearly seven months! the heavens are opening and archangles are descending, singing their glorious heavenly strains! in the name of butter and baking!

results will be shared forthwith, as will the amazing photo i captured of my khmer friends wearing their masks, and me trying to make it work with a cardigan from old navy.

in the mean time, i am off to find macaroni and cheese with bacon. because i can when i'm in the capitol.

cheers to your weekend!

the essence of me, in blog banner form

2012-02-07T09:14:00.002-05:00

happy tuesday all! on this dear tuesday, i have a small quandry for my dear bloggy friends.

i recently took my blogher earnings and directly sent them from my paypal account to an incredibly talented woman's account and will soon be lucky enough to have a blog graced with a banner by the incredibleness that is irocksowhat.

however. those of you who click through to my page know that i've gone through several (one short of half a dozen) banners in the last month, and nearly a dozen in the eighteen months of blogging. instead of ridiculing me for such a fact, let's just chalk it up to inherent indecisiveness and a good deal of time on my hands once the sun has set, mmkay?

some past randoms:

but now. now, we gets to be getting a glorious piece of art from a talented (and hilarious woman- you should honestly add her blog to your reader now) adorning the tops of this blog.

aaaannnndddd, here's the quandry.

i have no clue exactly what i want the banner to look like.

shocker, i know.

i've written some random ideas down, but would love your thoughts, if you'd be so willing to share.

i've thought about continuing the lightning thing. i like the lightning because my maiden name was watts- like electricity- which was "discovered" via a kite into lightning? but it has no other meaning than that.

other than harry potter, of course.

i've dallied with the idea of having three distinct images representing LOVE, MARRIAGE, and CAMBODIA- like a heart, flowers and a bicycle- next to a simple title.

or maybe something more visual like the city skyline from baltimore or dc on the left of the screen with a little plane hop, skip, and jumping over to an outline of angkor wat?

le sigh. or maybe just a giant sun. because i like suns. they make me happy. like my favorite ben franklin quote "keep in the sunlight."

jdkajflkjeiojdnfoihioqjdpoasopnkln! and now i've referenced ben franklin twice in one post? once directly and once inferencely?

i need your brilliance and ideas. i can't just send an email back to this amazing artist that says "i have no idea! have fun!" that's just not fair to a designer.

so. everyone who reads this knows me either in REALZ life or in BLOGZ life, which really, is inherently the same, yeah? so you can tell me, what is the essence of me/this blog that should be captured in awesome artishness above?

please to be sharing your ideas. or suggestions. or anythings.

tia (thanks in advance!)

that's how it goes

2012-02-06T11:58:00.000-05:00

Shout out to 2006!

Today, we have some very important things to discuss.

Firstly, why is the movie Batman and Robin so terrible? Alone, you have three medium-good-in-the-right-niche actors of George Clooney, Alicia Silverstone, and Chris O'Donnell, who are not that horrible in general. But then you put them together with really horrid dialogue and bad lighting and cheap pyro and you get what may be the worst movie in the entire Batman series franchise.

And you also get the only thing on television. And in a household wherein your husband thinks he's Bruce Wayne, loves Batman and has since his inception in the womb, you get two hours of awkward laughter and groans of lamenting.

It's really just awful, guys.

On that note, have you seen American Psycho?

(Train of thought: Batman-Christian Bale-Newsies-Opposite of Newsies-American Psycho.)

American Psycho is actually a very good movie. Except that I saw it when I was sixteen and I should have been weirded out by it but I actually liked it? I watched with a high school girl friend, and we both loved it, but then we also watched Fight Club and she loved it and I hated it.

Still hate it, actually. But American Psycho! Good!

Maybe it boils down to liking Christian Bale far more than I like Brad Pitt OR Edward Norton? I don't really like Brad Pitt. He's too pretty to be attractive to me. And his eyes are tiny.

Now Harrison Ford. That's an attractive male actor I'll always love. He's old but hot.

Other important things.

Secondly, I've been meaning to tell you about the two sides to Cambodia. On the happy side, Cambodians are incredibly generous, giving, and helpful people. They are willing to do many things for the greater happiness of the population. This was evident the other week when our bus broke down and all the men on the bus got out to push it so it could start again.

And then, two hours later, I was trying to get myself some really terribly almost-delicious cheeseburger and fries, and then it happened. A body, in front of me, butting in line! And then another! And then four total people were crushing my bones from both sides! and I remembered:

There is no concept of "line" in the 'bode.

Thirdly, Topher and I disagree about the "name" of this actor:

To le husban' he is Peter from Office Space. To me, he is and shall always be the cute-but-in-the-end-post-it-dick Berger.

Source here

I mean, he's Berger, right?

And then, fourthly, there's the fact that I'm a an ex-underwear addict. It's true! If this were the basement of a church, we'd be sitting in a circle and I'd say my name was Delilah. And I'm actually an ex-addict. Because I used to own a ridiculous amount of underwear. I used to be proud of the number but I don't actually want to admit it. Like, now, instead of being proud of and exclaiming how many raw-cookie-dough-cookies I DIDN'T eat, I have to think of a less embarrassing fake number of raw-cookie-dough-cookies I DID eat.

That made no sense.

But guys. I have lived for six months utilizing thirteen pairs of underwear. Thirteen! I'm saving sixteen other pairs. I'm not sure for what? I think I'm just so used to seeing a stockpile of underwear. I'm saving some. Like, for future me. Because future me, she deserves some super soft never been worn underwear. Future me should get the luxury of sweating into ultra great nearly America-smelling cotton undies. HOORAY FOR FUTURE ME! Jealous a bit, I am, yeah.

Somehow, when I began this post I was going to tell you about how jealous I am of Topher's deodorant, his boy stuff, because it absorbs so quickly! and doesn't get stuck to the pits of shirts! and that I sneak wear it all the time!

And finally (sixthly?) I was going to expound on the amazing things that are shelf bras? Because my boobs are so small that the built in bras in my tank tops that I wear under, well, everything, is all I need? And I kind of wish everyone could know the joy of a supportive shelf bra?

To round this out, seventhly, Topher would also like it be quite clear that he does NOT like or endorse the movie Batman and Robin.

That's how it goes.

to topher

2012-02-02T09:10:00.003-05:00

hey blue eyes,

i do a lot of my thinking about blog post topics while i ride buses, or bikes, or eat rice. so, as you know, that affords me a great deal of time to brainstorm.

one of the more recent ideas that my brain derived was writing to you. which seems so silly in actual fact, because don't i spend so much time with you already? isn't this the most time we've ever been around each other? hell, it's a crazy day if we're apart for more than four hours at a time.

thusly, it would seem pretty anti-reality to write you a little something when i could actually just tell you things anytime. i could right this second, in fact. tonight we watched (listened to? tolerated? ok, mocked) vanilla sky, and when it was over you couldn't believe that social network was coming up next, as you were hoping we spent the last ninety minutes dealing with tom cruise in hopes of something better.

but secretly i love the movie social network? though i kind of think this isn't a secret and you know it, but you were so kind to choose not to give me crap for it.

its the little things that make me love you. so thanks.

a lot people might not know it, but you're actually one of my most loyal blog followers. which i love. my breath is usually quite bated until you give me your thoughts on my recent writings/rumblings/erklings/verbvom. so you can imagine how hard it is on my lungs sometimes when you don't say anything until the next day. but i always know you're going to read this. and give me an informal rating of sorts.

sometimes you just offer me your opinion on what i wrote. when this happens, i know you liked it and it made you think or laugh or cringe.

other times you update me on my comments, because you know that sometimes i get down when no one says anything.

my favorite is when you actually read it while i'm around and you chuckle and then i find out that that it was me, my little post, that eeked out that chuckle.

but really, i think i'm writing this (and probably more?) because even when you spend approximately nineteen hours with your husband, there are still just some things you'd like to say. so here's the space for that.

in the hours we were apart today, you should know that i was still cleaning, like i was when you left. and in the midst, when i realized that somehow you'd caused a big ole mess by trying to make sure we had a full water filter and had to stop my cleaning (ugh!) and sop up a buttload of water from the floor.

you should know that in that moment, i made the decision to actually use both of our towels to clean up the water. not just yours.

both of ours.

your welcome.

love,
the happiest wife who has to go watch the social network now.

happiness/hilarity is:

2012-02-01T08:39:00.002-05:00

happiness is:

.a cold coca light.

.a cold coca regular, for that matter.

.a cold coca anything inside a mason jar.

hilarity is:

.being amazed by things like GLASS JARS.

happiness is:

.the satisfying sound of a mosquito getting electrified to death on my orange and purple mosquito racket.

.impressing ten young children with your khmer writing skills- no matter that you had to look up every single word before you wrote it.

.a long email from a good friend.

.one of your trainees confiding in you between classes.

.mascara.

(.even when everything else is sweaty, mascara is wonderful.)

.going to school with your hair down and coming home two hours later with it STILL down.

.the simplicity and brilliance of mundane tasks like labeling library books.

hilarity is:

.labeling 'see spot run' books "fiction-intermediate" with the volunteer librarian because she doesn't know any english and can't discern the difference and i don't know enough khmer to explain clearly.

happiness is:

.reading three really good books in one week.

hilarity is:

.having time to read three books in one week because classes have been cancelled for (going on) three weeks now.

happiness is:

.michael c. hall.

hilarity is:

.apologizing to your best friend waitress at a local restaurant when you offer her some fry sauce to try, and making her puke because she hates it, and then being forgiven, though maybe feeling slightly vindicated about hating durian?

.even better, that said restaurant has been dubbed the 'not brothel' by pcvs because it, in fact, is not a brothel.

(but the place next door is. perhaps.)

have you any happiness or hilarity for hump day?

january, the end

2012-01-31T11:12:00.002-05:00

this past weekend, we rode a lot of buses for many hours to visit a northernmost province here in cambodia. and to visit friend who lives in said province.

and i learned that while some people might hate being cramped into a pretty small bus seat for countless hours and then repeating the same travel experience 36 hours later, i love it.

i love the endless amounts of sitting and thinking it affords me. the hours of watching rice field, water buffalo, and street-side "cafe" ride past. the endless moments of people watching and life pondering.

it's utterly satisfying unto the soul.

to round out january and welcome in a month i'm super excited about (leap year, people! say hello to february 29th!), let's visit the final pictures in my photo a day series you can follow on my tumblr.

what'd you do this month?

the daily cambodia: advertising

2012-01-30T09:12:00.003-05:00

As others who have spent a good deal of time living in other countries will tell you, one of the best parts of the experience can be the daily humorous things you witness as your new country attempts to develop or grow or simply just fold in some of those more Western things that we take for granted in our culture.

In particular, English signage or general wordage can prove quite hilarious.

To begin, let's digest two fine examples of advertising I've seen in the last few weeks. Perfectly enough, both of these examples come from imports from OTHER Asian countries- Japan and China.

You know you want to buy these amazing butter cookies that are produced meticulously, delicious loved by all. Also, you should know that they have adopt advanced technology to make these cookies.

Or perhaps that is simply a general directive to the consumer to avoid being left behind, technology wise?

Get thee to a Best Buy!

Social status is heavily based on the color of one's skin here. The lighter the better, and they've taken to using everything they can to lighten- or whiten- here. See above, wherein we've imported a miraculous treatment from China called LOVE Speckle-dispelling & Whitening Distillate Set, which describes itself best as an In-depth Whitening Cleaning Milk Whitening Tender Mend Liquid Skin Life Liquid and Spot Dispelling Cream.

Of course. Don't forget to use the Tender Mend liquid before the Skin Life liquid, and apply the final cream.

All sales final.

vlog: my worst haircut. ever.

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

as i mentioned yesterday, my mother, cindy, allowed my independence to flourish as i grew up. this not only turned me into the woman i am today but also allowed for an outpouring of terrible hair decisions and outfit choices as a young girl.

the sad part is, you'd expect that having made terrible choices at seven, and ten, by thirteen, i'd have earned some common hair sense. you already know i didn't, friends.

and so we had the saga of the maroon hair. wherein, yours truly decided that dark brown hair was mine to be had, not realizing that the box of choice was overloaded with red highlights, which would react oddly with my own natural red undertones thus producing maroon hair.

maroon as kelly kapowski's face during the homecoming episode where she got a zit and used zack's miracle zit cream that actually instead just gave her a huge maroon rash all over her face?

except, instead of getting homecoming queen anyway (like kelly!), i got to freak out and rush to have my hair stripped of all color and then redyed in an attempt to return to the mousey brown i was trying to avoid. and endure copper colored hair instead.

and thusly, i didn't learn from my seven year old self, who, as you'll see, opted for a bowl cut. for reasons unknown.

world, meet bowlcut kate. bowlcut kate, meet ~~ridicule~~ world.

thoughts? reactions? are you done giggling yet?

tell me you've done worse. tell me!

or, just join us next week in vlogging and share:

What is one of your current daily routines? Record it and show us! Ideas include your makeup or hair-doing, your daily commute, your breakfast routine, whatever! Just share a little slice of your life!

we tend to vlog sometimes (join us!):

Adventures in Love and Happiness

Life's Journey with a Smile

what's the haircut you're pondering right now?

of permed bangs and a 200th post

2012-01-26T03:54:00.002-05:00

when i was in fifth grade, i gave my very first political stump speech. the year was 1995, and bill clinton was up for re-election, running against bob dole. as we read our weekly reader, our teacher asked us who we would vote for and i found myself rising out of my seat to refute what a classmate had said about bill clinton being too young for the job and other things they were likely repeating from what they'd heard their parents' say at the dinner table.

that day, i stood my ground on the premise that we could in no way elect bob dole because, quite frankly, the man was too old, and to be sure, we didn't want to elect a president that would all too soon keel over from a heart attack, no?

the best part of the speech, in my opinion, was the enactment of said heart attack i then gave, collapsing into my chair, to much applause from my peers.

(the applause may have been in my mind, as i was quite an imaginative child.)

ponder, if you will, what a ten year old who will go to great lengths to speak out against old men for president will do when given the chance to dress and make decisions for herself?

if you guessed permed bangs, silk purple shirts, overalls and rose-tinted round glasses...

...sadly, you were right.

from a very young age, my mother ~~had very little choice but to~~ let me dress myself, let me advocate for my own hairstyles and make decisions about my general appearance. i'd hazard a guess it was an exercise in sanity preservation for my parents, and perhaps a bit of choice vindictiveness as i now realize, being an adult and all, that there must be something quite satisfying about letting your daughter choose many askance wardrobe options and know that someday, in ten or fifteen years, you'd get to witness, first hand, their self-realization that they were, in essence, insane. and they should have listened to you.

i'd imagine that's how it'd be anyway.

especially if your mid-twenties daughter continues to do silly things like wear (and actually LURVE) oversized glasses.

i've never strived for stylish. i've always chosen those things that i think are fun, quirky and silly and worn them. much to my detriment, i suppose.

except for those damn permed bangs. they were the sad results of me trying to be stylish and cool and up to date. all of my friends had perms in 1994 and 1995 (we were so COOL in idaho!) all i wanted in the whole world was curly hair. my brown, long, straight hair was my everest.

but permanent waves were one thing that cindy put her foot down on. after what i can only guess were weeks of whining and complaining and maybe even crying, she relented. but just an inch. no taking a mile with MY cindy.

and so a family friend/hairstylist permed my bangs in her kitchen on saturday afternoon.

so can you understand when i cringe just the tiniest bit when i imagine having a little girl and having to raise what is sure to be mini-kate, in all her "i dress myself, i choose terrible glasses, i beg for a perm and end up looking like i have a chia pet on top of my forehead for my school pictures" glory?

and that's not even taking into account the dangly skeleton earrings i insisted on wearing in my fourth grade picture, or the velour striped shirt in sixth grade.

some things never change

i share this all with you in the spirit of this being my two hundredth post, and it feels apropos to do a bit of soul sharing on such an occasion, no?

you are now welcome to share your musings on my ten year old self. or your ten year old self. whichever you prefer.

*eta: i am struggling to upload my vlog for tomorrow, so it's more likely you'll get it on monday. i hope some of you will decide to join in, and in the spirit of this post, share your worst haircuts!*

milestones: 8 years. 6 months.

2012-01-24T04:02:00.000-05:00

today marks the middle day between two very important milestones.

yesterday was the the eight year anniversary of topher and i meeting. in the wedding blog world, i've often seen this referred to as a "meetaversary."

ok.

tomorrow is the six month anniversary of our moving to cambodia. of our physical arrival on cambodian soil, marking the true official beginning of this amazing job, journey, experience.

6 months in Cambodia and Day One in Cambodia

topher and i have never been the hugest of anniversary celebrating type people. we much prefer the random moments to the official ones- like that time that he got me a wii on our four months married anniversary.

but we've always acknowledged that day that we met. we may still disagree about a few things, like what i was wearing that day, but still.

so here's to eight years, topher, and to six months living this amazing cambodian life.

Then. Now.

cheers to choosing to embark on this awesome, joyful, crazy ride of peace corps volunteerism together.

cheers to finally remembering meeting each other that cold january night freshman year.

cheers to eight long, whirlwind years of a lot of laughing, the right amount of crying, and an amazing amount of other -ings.

and here's to eighty years more and many months more living in the kingdom of wonder.

dreams, lately

2012-01-23T09:23:00.001-05:00

i've always been the kind of person that remembers her dreams. maybe not full out dreams, but nearly always snippets and flashes and brilliance of color and frozen images.

i've also always been the kind of person who tries to explain to her husband what she dreamed about when she wakes up.

the below, details changed daily, is a common occurrence in our bedroom:

"i dreamed about you! we were at a theme park type place and then everything turned to giant blow up rubber playhouses, like those things you can rent, and then i really had to get to the other side but we kept getting bounced and then something about your nose was wrong...i can't really explain but it was really weird."

poor topher.

but see lately, i've been having dreams and i wake up with feelings and small pieces of pictures. remnants that i can physically feel, that leave lasting impressions.

like mosquitoes. i swear, i will shut my eyes and drift off, only to jerk awake again because i can SEE the mosquito hovering and landing on my shoulder or ankle or cheek.

not to mention that i sometimes wake up and i'm actually scratching my mosquito bites? how does my brain tell my arms to do that while i'm sleeping? HOW?

and boomer. i can actually hear her little playful bark, feel her silky ears, and cuddle her little face in my arms in dreams. sometimes, we're on the couch in our house in maryland, and we're both tense, waiting to hear topher's footfalls on the stairs, which will surely end our couch time fun. or i'm getting home from work and she's making her excited growl barks and her toes are scratching on the wooden floor from overjoyment.

and then i wake up, and i can't believe those ears, that nose, that little furry thing is far away.

and then there's this. a soft, small head with light brown hair. a perfect little face, scrunched up, and then, in the next moment, sleeping in a stroller, sunlight streaming overhead, and then the same head in the nook of my arm, squished up against my chest, me breathing in the sweetness. i can feel the little blue blanket, emanating little body warmth in my arms. i can feel the tuft of hair tickle my nose as i inhale the sweet baby scent.

and sometimes, terrifyingly, i wake with the most incredible yearning pain in my heart. for that little face. and i tell myself, really? we've got a plan here, and uterus, you need to go back to sleep, we've got some years until that happens.

but it's just so real.

your dreams, lately?

Vlog Friday: I wish it would snow in Cambodia

2012-01-20T06:33:00.001-05:00

Can you believe that today is actually the TWENTIETH of January? How and when did this happen?

Also, can we just discuss for a second- does anyone else inevitably sneeze when they tweeze their eyebrows?

So, if there is one thing that makes it so unbelievable unto me that it is January 20th, it's the fact that there is absolutely no snow, or cold air, or any change in the season at all. As my friend Jill says, time sort of stands still here. The sun rises at 5:45 and sets at 5:45, every day, as it has since we moved here in July.

So in honor of missing such things snow, let's reminisce about my favorite snow days.

Join us next week- I have something HILARIOUS to share!

What's the worst haircut you've ever had? Describe it! Bonus points for pictures!

Join those of us who Vlog!

Adventures in Love and Happiness

Life's Journey with a Smile

oh, 17 year old me, how smart you weren't

2012-01-19T10:42:00.000-05:00

Growing up, I always thought that the only way to manage a household budget was via one shared account. Both partners contributed their full salaries to said account, received and used personal debit cards for said account, and shared and utilized salaries equally, regardless to ratio of salaries contributed to said account.

You know? This was quite a hot button issue for me, in my incredibly life-experienced seventeen year old mind. This was the ultimate way to manage finances because it was the way my parents had done theirs.

In fact, I can even recall telling Topher that I would REFUSE to marry anyone who wanted SEPARATE accounts.

Ah, how the fates could smite me, if they existed.

Back in America, after we got married, I didn't even think of relinquishing my personal bank account. According to the plan Topher and I had worked out (the plan that was nothing like I'd envisioned nine years ago), I was supposed to transfer my direct deposit into our joint account.

I never did it.

Topher and I had set up a plan, that we will still implement when we return. In essence, our joint account will hold the majority of our money, including bills, our mortgage, etc, and we'll divide an even amount out each month for personal spending- for fun things we want! We'll also take out small amounts into savings for emergencies and travel.

And then two weeks ago, we had the revelation that we could still use the same idea here in Cambodia. It was a real revelation because I was riding a bike, and that's when real epiphanies happen.

Currently, we've been managing two separate accounts, and spending them separately. We'd do our best to evenly split food from the market and general supplies for our house. If we felt like being nice, we'd buy dinner for the other person. It's actually quite different from how I've seen at least another fellow PC couple manage their allowances, and of course, it's the exact opposite of how I'd always said I'd run my marriage finances.

I guess my independent streak has overtaken the sensibilities of my seventeen year old self. Or in my infinite wisdom of my additional nine years of life, I've come to realize that maybe there isn't a way to handle household finances that will actually predict relationship success?

God, I'm so smart at the ripe age of 26.

So! We realized we could manage our Volunteer allowances in a similar fashion as we would regular salaries in our home of record.

Thusly, starting next month, we're planning on contributing a same amount of money for food at the market and supplies, and ensuring we have a good amount set aside for travel. We'll still be mainly independent, but maybe we'll do my seventeen year old self proud.

Is your current plan for money management how you always planned it?

while my chest tremendously aches

2012-01-18T08:02:00.008-05:00

such a dramatic title for such a wee little pup.

let's chat for a moment about the small ache that i carry around in my chest each day. that little part of me where i actually lose my oxygen, where the sadness presses against my lungs and hearts and shoots a resounding gong of lament when i see a certain four legged furry thing in a picture, on skype, or even another furry thing on the streets of cambodia.

the CERTAIN little furry thing is named boomer.

she is deeply loved not only be me but by countless others.

her wacky little ear, her fuzzy little belly, her relentless little growl at the doorbell.

each piece is a heavy and sharp pang.

and every time i ride my bike, i see countless furry reminders of my boomer. furry little animals, covered in invisible fleas, missing spots of fur, often with rib cages protruding through it all, noses scouring plastic bags and rubbish piles for remnants of rice.

endless pangs for man's best friend that are anything but in my new country. friends that are in fact rather guard dogs, things to be tolerated, but more often a nuisance, something that gets in the way of all moving vehicles on the roads, loud thumps when they aren't seen after the sun has set.

it's not that cambodians hate dogs- i haven't seen anyone maliciously attempt to seriously harm a dog. and it's not that it's a bad place with bad dog-hating people. it's just the pup reality here.

and the reality just is.

and to end on a happy note, a video of the boomster playing a favorite game called "slide on the floor" at my parent's house.

how deeply would you miss your furster if you moved to another country?

kmai style

2012-01-16T08:32:00.006-05:00

As an English teacher Volunteer in Cambodia, I go through several phases of outfits each day. These usually correspond to the two or three showers I take each day, which most Khmer people will tell you is a necessity when you live in a tropical (read: hot and humid, every day) climate.

It's been interesting getting used to the idea and then the physical reality of sweating through layers of shirts and clothing items each day. I used to think I was gross when I sweat through my armpits while teaching in America. Now I realize I didn't understand true sweating until I had sweat running down my thighs and creating large sweat circles on my back on a daily basis.

So, for your leisurely Monday morning perusing, a walk through my daily styles.

Let's start with a typical work outfit. A sampot (a long skirt that folds and secures via a metal clasp on my hip) and a shirt I've had made here for six dollars.

Let's take a little closer look at that Khmer style shirt, and admire those poofy sleeves and RUFFLES. I'm kind of a ruffle whore now? As in, why would I purchase a hand made shirt without ruffles now? I'm pretty sure I'm going to bring ruffles back to the United States. They were absolutely a thing at J. Crew a few years ago, and I think it's time they return.

When I'm not working, but I want to still be seen in public, I adorn a variety of more casual yet still modest clothing, most especially my jersey gaucho-ish pants I brought in three colors from the U.S.

When I'm bumming around the house though, I'll usually go for one of two looks. Here you'll see a slightly more appropriate/I could still talk to our host family without too many looks outfit, though I'll admit, I more often wear a tank top with one of the shorter sleep shorts I brought with me. HELLOPASTYWHITETHIGHS.

Ah, yes, and then the sarong. Used for toweling off, walking around and generally anything. Usually worn as a skirt by Khmer women when they arrive home to cook or clean, though I prefer to pair it with a tank top, usually secured just below the chest.

Quite exciting, no?

I'm pretty sure it'll be an adjustment when I return to 'merica and will be expected to embrace my plain ole pencil skirts and cottony blouses.

Damn, I miss pencil skirts.

Vlog Friday: Rihanna meets Stand Up meets Wally Lamb meets Harry Potter

2012-01-13T09:50:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Friday, friends! This morning, I woke up with a slight head cold. Mostly my left nostril is runny and stuffed, at the same time. Seemingly impossible, but not.

The worst part of having a cold is when you're me having a cold. Firstly, because I hate blowing my nose. I hate it. Topher is pretty sure I didn't even really understand how to do it, but I know it's because I simply hate the feeling of forcing out gross stuff out of my nose. I'd much rather just sniff.

Which is the second worst part. Because then I sniff and sniff and sniff and I get a headache and even WORSE Topher then sits there and sniffs to make fun of me.

Jerk.

On to the vlog. You get to listen in to my favorite songs- including a Khmer re-make of Beyonce's Halo.

Have you seen a good movie that I need to watch? I'm so helplessly out of the loop.

Oh, you want to see the music video for the Khmer song? Of course! Here you go!

Cole tells me some parts of the U.S. have been hit with some major snow. So! Do a vlog next week, as we talk about our favorite snow day childhood memory!

Join in with some fun, cool people, yeah!

What are your movie, book and song recs for a girl living far away?

january, thus far.

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

did you know that i've been taking a photo each day this month? did you know you can find it at my tumblr site?

and now i've got them here for you.

the first twelve days of january. kate style.

so january.

did i mention that i've been the BlogHer Life section's featured blogger for the past week? it was a pretty great january day when i got that email.

in other january news, i'm having a slight internal existential life what-am-i battle that is manifesting itself externally via my blog header. if you click over and have noticed, this may be the third new header just in twenty twelve. i can't seem to find what i want.

so when all else fails, i go for something that looks like my four year old self would have drawn.

ah, well.

it is january, after all.

(suggestions welcome.)

on the clarity of murky water

2012-01-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

I've grown accustomed to the sound of rushing water. Rushing water filling the bucket, digging into my thigh as its weight grows increasingly each minute, as I dare myself to hold it just a little bit longer.

The satisfying pouring that bring the basins to nearly full, ready for the onslaught of dusty skirts and sweat ringed shirts. The quiet moment of me slowly sinking, sitting, the cool tile greeting my calves. An almost graceful, fluid motion for the girl who is anything but.

The soap bubbles cascade over the mountains of blues and greys, and I slowly squeeze, squilch, squash the soap between my fingers, between threads of cotton and polyester. Slowly, methodically, contracting my fingers, in and out, in and out, moving from one piece to another. Pushing, pulsing the clean in. Pushing, pulsing the grime out.

Pushing, pulsing the clarity in. Pushing, pulsing the clutter out.

Warm sunlight hits the water as it turns toward murky, hits my arms as the tendons stretch and move. My fingers begin to ache as the water darkens, proof of my efforts, my exertion. One by one, I pull each mountain, streaming with water, straining with fullness. Again, my fingers go to work, ringing and wrangling until it drips no more.

Each movement is a new thought, a new gratitude, a new joy. Of thinking, of glimmering thoughts of small consequence, humming from stream to stream. Not of all the work that is to come, not of the things that must be accomplished, must be achieved. Not of success, or failure. But of color, of sound, of gritty feelings in my veins. Of silly things, happy things, exactly-where-I-want-be things.

Of exactly where I want to be things.

to fry sauce, to arctic circle, to idaho, to uncles-in-law!

2012-01-09T00:30:00.000-05:00

i've had two loves in my lifetime. i lost one to maryland, and i brought the other to cambodia.

pictured above, you'll see my first love. his name is fry sauce.

fry sauce.

FRY SAUCE.

for seventeen of the most amazing years, this golden sauce graced my fried and cheesy foods.

fry sauce was handed out with my mcdonalds chicken nuggets and fries.

fry sauce was eaten with my fried cod at skippers.

fry sauce was enjoyed with my cheese curds from dairy queen.

and fry sauce was enjoyed, perhaps most of all, with my greasy cheeseburgers and crunchy chicken strips at arctic cirle.

fry sauce was on tap, people, in my hometown. ON TAP.

when i moved three thousand miles away to washington, dc, i didn't just leave behind my family and glorious mountains.

i left behind my fry sauce.

for years, i've tried to recreate it. in my college dining room, i would mix ketchup and mayonnaise in a desperate attempt to have FRY SAUCE.*

on a road trip through the united states in oh-eight, i asked for fry sauce at every fast food restaurant we graced, in hopes of seeing just how far east this glorious, golden GLORY had reached.

i didn't get any until we hit my hometown again.

why world, WHY don't you know that which is fry sauce?!

so i'm here to say just a few things.

utah, if you can make mitt romney happen, come ON-we've got to be able to make fry sauce happen!

if you can get guacamole on your burger at fuddruckers, we've GOT to be able to get them to see the light of that which is fry sauce!

and if i can get fry sauce sent to me in CAMBODIA, we've got to be able to get it to dc by my return!

yes, fry sauce in cambodia. all thanks to one man by the name of john, who is the uncle-in-law extraordinaire.

mom and dad, you can go ahead and be jealous because i KNOW down there in north carolina, sometimes you just speak out loud to the heavens WHY HEAVENS OH WHY CAN'T WE MAKE FRY SAUCE HAPPEN HERE IN THE SOUTH?!?!

speaking of fry sauce, how do i know this is going to be REAL fry sauce?

two tell tale signs.

a. it's made in UTAH, people. utah is where arctic circle originates. it is the homeland of my golden god, the fry sauce.

b. upon close inspection, it contains tell tale signs of TRUE FRY SAUCENESS. flecks of deeper orange-red grace the sauce, letting me know that this could be the real thing.

this week, i'm off to find as many ways to make fried things that i can use as the carrier of my fry sauce to my mouth.

because that's really all those chicken nuggets, fries, and chicken strips ever were, people.

*this never worked, friends. because fry sauce is composed of those ingredient both undefined and innumerable, usually including things like ketchup and pickles and something mayo-ish, and methinks the magic of the rocky mountains.

thanks, john, for the fry sauce and the skype chat. oh, and the underwear!

so, who's going to help me make fry sauce happen?

Vlog Fridays: We're Back, Boopsters!

2012-01-06T08:30:00.000-05:00

I kind of wanted that there title to say "We're back, B words!" but then I realized I actually strongly dislike women calling other women B-atches, so I decided to make up my own word.

And now I realize it looks a little bit like I'm calling you all boobs. Sorry about that.

I'd like to take a second to expound a bit on something I say below. I've had a recent revelation- Tuesday, to be precise- about life as a Peace Corps Volunteer and technology- specifically, the interwebs.

At first, I had a clearly un-defined stance that technology is good, and mainly around and to be used sparingly but without guilt.

And now, I have a more clearly defined thought that essentially says using the internet in much the same way that I did when I lived in 'merica is not wrong. It's also not always possible, but in general, it can happen and that's ok.

Up until this week, I had not watched a single video or downloaded any shows or movies save for when I was using free wi-fi at a guesthouse or the like. Then, I was opened to the ways of far less money for far more internet GBs, and I realized that just because I live in a whole new world (to me) doesn't mean I actually live in a whole new world.

Everyday, people ask me if I play Facebook, what my email address is, and tell me about a funny clip they saw online that morning.

Technology, it's everywhere, man! And I'm done having an indistinct opinion on it. So, I've decided I can be a great Volunteer and normally communicate with the outside world via my blog, my email and Skype as I would if I was in my country of origin.

Well, the Skype part is new, but wouldn't it be fun if we went to lunch via Skype instead of meeting at the California Pizza Kitchen? Let's try it in 2013!

Ok, finally, the vlog.

You should join in next week, as we talk about our:

Favorite book, movie and song from 2011.

Also, do tell me: why is it so great? You see, I only have a certain amount of GBs and I am wanting to be using them on the best books and movies!

Cheers to Vlog Fridays with some fun, cool people, yeah!

Do you have any planned or unplanned goals for 2012?

o coozy, my coozy

2012-01-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

o coozy, my coozy

how you delight me each day

how lucky i am

that you were sent my way

twelve thousand miles it was

it took you to travel to me

and now you are lovingly wrapped

up in my spindly fingers daily

o coozy, little did you know,

that you were off to a new land

to do the great bidding

of a diet coke drinking old hand

but since your arrival

great pleasure you've delivered

and put to immense use

you've surely endeavored

so o coozy, my coozy

i do say unto thee

thank you for your cool wrappings

and cool pirate too, i've named smee

completely cambodia: paper and pens and color-coding, oh my!

2012-01-04T09:25:00.000-05:00

There are a number of photos I've snapped over the last 5 months and 2 weeks (who's counting?) that simply speak to me as:

Completely. Cambodia.

Today we feature said stationary items that fit the bill for this new series, if you will.

These came to me by way of the two-day conference meeting I mentioned and helps me enumrate on those things which put my prior thoughts on organization and color coding skills to shame.

To begin with, article A. The waterproof folder with snap enclosure, available in a variety of garishly overwhelming colors.

Exhibit B. The gratuitous use of copyrighted images. In our exhibit here, we see Pooh and friends chasing butterflies at Angkor Wat.

But of course.

Artifacts C1 and C2. And here we have the testament to all things organization- the inclusion by the Office of Education, Youth and Sports of two pens. Both a blue and red pen are the standard ware for those who have passed through the Cambodian education system.

And finally, Example D. The reason for the two pens. The ultimate in note taking, taught from birth (I'm assuming), wherein the youth learn that titles, headings, and general notes all go in rotating blue-and-red colors. Drawing a box? Draw it in red and put the writing inside in blue.

And that my friends is how you become Khmer with a simple trip to the Office Max nearest you.

On another note, Topher is CRUSHING me when it comes to yesterday's post. More than 200 people have viewed the post, but we're working at a ten percent comment rate here. Please, cyber friends, and lurkers, help a girl out!

Unless, of course, you agree with the hubs that the photo essay was in fact not worthy of your time.

In that case, actually, tell me so anyway, because it's still a comment toward the remaining eighty or so needed.

Do you have a set system for note taking that rivals the Khmer way?

on water up the nose and a small matter of an apology

2012-01-03T02:53:00.000-05:00

on the occasion of the the third of january, twenty twelve, i do heretofore present unto you a photo essay encompassing a small myriad of subjects.

ahem.

number one.

water up my nose.

number two.

the word hyperbolic.

number three.

a small matter of 100 comments.

the heroine of our photo essay, a lovely woman, name of kate.

today, kate argued with a khmer server over five hundred riel, or 12.5 cents, for which said woman was trying to overcharge kate and her friends for a coca cola.

kate also purchased a chocolate bar, a fresh appearance at the local i love you mart, ripe for the picking and devouring. our heroine could just imagine its velvety, smooth milk chocolate ripples cascading over her tastebuds, envisioning the luscious slab to encase the most delicious of smooth milk fillings which was heretofore promised on the external coverings.

to be frank, excitement was all encompassing.

the next moment, the anticipated chocolate was unearthed, quickly snapped into edible portion sizes and nibbled like a small school girl getting her first taste of tater tots with fry sauce in warmth of her elementary's cafeteria.

and so it was, that on this third day of january, twenty twelve, the bar of milky-filled chocolate was perhaps the farthest thing from chocolate, and was in fact nothing to be compared to tater tots with fry sauce, which are a divine deliverance, and from which we can only assume this chocolate was created by none other than clark w. griswold, in his office at the food manufacturing company he works for and produces such things as liquid-less milk and cereal.

to the point, chocolate it was not and excitement was ill-had.

and thusly did our heroine quickly jump to her saving grace of water to erase the taste of the tasteless brown wax, in hopes of quickly extinguishing all remembrances of things for which she was over the moon looking forward to just three minutes prior.

it was, the deep sip of regret.

regret was had not just for the bite of chocolate-imposter, but also for the too-quick-action of water reprieve for kate not only was unable to rid her tongue of wax-like remnants, but also did in fact, for good measure, receive a healthy dose of cold water up the nostrils.

in fact, water proves to be an ally of the brown wax, in torment.

though, we shan't despair, as our heroine was able to quickly capture, with a small amount of re-enactments by a screen-actors-guild-certified actress, the moments we've just discussed and share them with her companions of late, a certain husband and kentuckian friend.

our louisville lover was quite enthralled with the tale and accompanying art, while the hubs-villain did declare his complete lack of enjoyment for the tragedy.

to which kate did exclaim that such a photo essay and tragic tale would certainly claim one million notes, which led us down the dark path of a recurring disagreement:

is it hy-per-BO-lic or hy-PER-bo-lic?

as in, the number one million was simply hyperbolic, but the villain-topher did state that if the heroine could achieve such a rousing audience, he would reverse the chocolate spell by uttering the small words of apology for declaring the woeful tale not worthy of attention.

and so it was agreed that the tale would be spread far and wide and if it could pull the heartstrings of just one hundred little comments, the husband-villain would be forced to amend and perhaps even atone for his chocolate and photo essay sins!

so i say unto you, dear readers of woe, can you leave a small token or word so that our antagonist shall be vanquished and our heroine shall rise once more?

an unexpected beginning

2012-01-01T11:19:00.003-05:00

On the first day of 2012, there were a lot of giggles and smiles in the Cambodian Marsh home.

We awoke to rooster crows and the sound of sweeping outside our window, two sounds that have become quite customary for our mornings. Two sounds, one year ago, I could never have predicted becoming the norm for us.

We began the New Years weekend, expecting a great deal of down time at home, time for ample amounts of laundry, cleaning, and the opposite of money spending, given as we spent a nice amount over Christmas.

After two days attending the annual end of year conference for school directors (you know, as non-school directors), wherein we spent the better part of Thursday and Friday on a stage, picking out words like "but" "proposal" "idea" and lots and lots of "sirs and ma'ams," we were looking forward to a calm evening at home to watch the ball drop- well, metaphorically.

What we could not have predicted of our stay-at-home-weekend was a last minute phone call New Years eve afternoon from the Deputy Governor, whom we met on Friday evening at a banquet after said two-day-conference. He invited us to dinner at his home, so we resorted to actually showering and donning mid-level professional dress on New Years Eve. What began as the exact opposite of what I had imagined turned in a fun evening, eating crab and fried beef and Khmer curry, speaking about everything from the insanity of the English language to the prospect of a future trip to Angkor Wat with our new friend the Deputy Governor and his family.

?!?!

So after two hours of unexpected but quite delicious fun, we came home quite a bit more full than expected and promptly fell asleep before midnight.

You know, 'cause we're old and married and do that.

Luckily, however, we got to watch the ball drop via CNN at our 12 pm, while our families back home rang in 2012, twelve hours after us.

And then came the giggles and playing and picture taking with our host niece and nephew and the joyous acknowledgement that this, yes this, is our life.

And thus begins our full year of Peace Corps service.

How was your first day of 2012?

twenty eleven, in review: cambodia

2011-12-31T06:14:00.000-05:00

Upon reflection, the second half of this year came to pass alarmingly fast. Startling so. Even now, it seems that I can scarcely believe that I spent the final five and a little months of this year living in a new country.

July

On July 2nd, the day after Topher and I finished work, we drove down to Carolina to spend some final time with my family. My parents took us and my brother and his wife to dinner at the locale that has quickly become our family's restaurant of choice for all momentous occasions. It's right on the water, and quite perfect at sunset. And the steaks, normally something neither Topher nor I crave, are dripping in butter and so.freaking.good.

While in Carolina, it also began to sink in that in two short weeks, we'd be flying away from these lovely people, and even our child-dog. Some days, it felt like this.

After some time with my family, we trekked back up to spend a final few days with Topher's family, including attending a goodbye party thrown by his mother. Here, we say goodbye to Topher's cousins.

We also took Scott and Jenny out to dinner at our favorite cheap Italian eatery outside of DC, and it hit me how much I'd miss these two.

Near the middle of July, we said goodbye to Topher's family as they left for the cruise we were supposed to join them on, save for the fact that we were invited to Cambodia in July, instead of being sent abroad in August as we were told. Here we sit at a typical Sunday morning haunt of a diner where I've eaten more chocolate chip pancakes and bacon than I care to remember right now.

Actually, I'd kill for some chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. And a cruise.

That very afternoon, my parents took Topher and I to our last baseball game for two years.

Over beer, we celebrated a O's win over my dad's team, the Indians.

To prepare for a completely changed way of living, I cancelled my credit card and cut it up for good measure. Mostly for dramatics and the fun of it though. I even documented it to write a blog post about it! Here you go!

And then it was time to go. For our final meal in America for many, many moons, another planned blog post on the joys of Whole Foods' many ready made foods. Including three desserts of chocolate mousse, strawberry frosted white cake and cheesecake. Plus some fruit and greens in there.

August

And then, we were here. Our new life was a hot one, full of learning new languages, riding bikes, and meeting wonderful new people.

One of the most memorable parts of August was a bike trip I took with Topher and a few others to a nearby Killing Fields Memorial.

That month, we also studied a lot, practiced teaching in a Khmer classroom, and got to see the King, who bears a striking resemblance to one dear husband.

Or is the other way around, since the King was born (way!) first?

September

There was a lot of this in September this year. Hours at the wat (pagoda), discussing the ins and outs of teaching with the Volunteers who came before us.

September was busy. I only had time and internet to update once. But! I did take my first trip to a wonderful little place called Kampot town and got a pina colada!

And you'll be pleased to know, I'm sure, that Topher and I remained the same, despite becoming sweaty Peace Corps Trainees.

October

And all to quickly, it was October and we were wearing itchy clothes (or was that just me?) getting sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers.

We thanked the man who gave us the powers of communication- our language teacher, Savin.

And we moved to site, and got very familiar with our new home, including the joys of the three air-conditioned marts. Having just traversed to each of these three marts just today, I can now tell you I am a true resident of this town, because I now know: The I Love You Mart has the cheapest Coca Light and nicest atmosphere to sit and read, the Tela Mart has the best ice cream selection, and the Cool Mart has the largest selection of juices and goods in general. Cool Mart also has the choco-pies, which is important.

Then, in October, Peace Corps allowed us to attend a TEFL Conference in Phnom Penh.

I was lucky because I got to spend my twenty-sixth celebrating with friends and champagne.

At the end of October, we attended our very first Cambodian wedding, wherein the beer flows like the Tonle Sap...

and sparklers are brought out at the same time as the silly string, fire hazard concerns be damned.

November

In the eleventh month, Topher and I hit a bit of stride in teaching and learning. Many hours were spent doing the above: riding a bike in a skirt.

We took our first trip back to our training site, which helped re-set my mind and focus.

I also started volunteering a decent amount of time at a new library in our town and realized how much I love doing simple things like organizing books.

I even learned how to make one of the most challenging Khmer recipes: curry! I've yet to make it on my own at home, but I think you'll see the fruits of that in twenty twelve.

November was about learning to love the speed of life in Cambodia, and not project my American need to be overwhelmingly busy onto my new world. Lying in hammocks is quite a part of this speed of life.

December

And then it was the final month of the year and I was doing crazy things like planning and executing my first workshop...

...traveling to Kampot town (i.e. eating brownies and barbecue) for a weekend adventure with the hubs...

...heading to Phnom Penh for meetings but indulging in a real movie theater and enjoying that which is the fourth Twilight movie...

...and going to the Embassy in Phnom Penh to admire garish light shows, while battling giardia.

You know, it was your typical holiday season.

Of course, we spent Christmas Eve and Day at this little place, on the Gulf of Thailand...

...with these beautiful people.

And then, Topher went out on his bike, after his shower, to buy a internet card for me so I could tell you all about my year. And all he requested was that I blog about it, because clearly, he's a dang good husband.

To which, I had to say, I agree most certainly, and golly, anyone who reads this here year in review would know its truth.

And that's how you have six and a half months of complete normalcy and and five and a half months of a completely upside down version of all that you've known, with just a few remaining constants: love, family, friends, and human compassion.

Happy Twenty Twelve everyone!

twenty eleven, in review: america

2011-12-30T10:58:00.000-05:00

Last year, I returned to a regular flow of blogging by writing my year in review. This year, I've re-lived my whopper of a year by going through these photos. It's an amazing thing, too, because my twenty eleven was, in essence, divided almost nearly in half.

Today, we'll discuss the what-once-was-my-norm half. January through June. Twenty Eleven. Let's go.

January

I rang in the new year the best way I know how: with champagne, family and not going out into crowds.

On January First, Topher's beautiful and generous mother gifted myself and my favorite Jenny a very luscious pedicure. What's better to say hello to 2011 than a French tip pedi?

Also in January, I began posting my favorite recipes and giving in to my favorite thing to do on a Thursday (or any day of the week ending in -day) each Tuesday.

Rounding out January was a meetup with some fellow bees in Annapolis, one of my favorite cities. If you live near Annapolis, please go to the General Store and get a peanut butter cookie dipped in chocolate.

FInally, in January, I marked a few blogging landmarks, including hitting 100 followers and creating my own header. I also started Vlog Fridays with some blog friends. My favorite videos for the project may be these out takes, though.

February

This second month was the first lover's holiday that Topher and I spent as a married couple. To celebrate, the hubster made us a delicious, multi coursed meal. It was really amazing, and makes my stomach literally hurt thinking about it's deliciousness here in the land of no-such-thing-as-this-food.

Though I didn't write about it until July, this was the month that I met up with my amazing teachers and we played laser tag. I also may have accidentally made a kid bleed and cry on his birthday. Not my proudest moment of the year, we'll say, yeah?

February was also the month wherein I really felt like I found a semblance of my written voice. I wrote two of my all time favorite posts that month: Pretend and The Neverending Stories.

Oh yeah, and then Topher and I found out we were moving to Cambodia. No big deal.

Also, I should mention, I'm quite excited for this February, in the oh-twelve. It's a leap year, you know! I'd love to have a child born on February 29th. Then I'd make the birthday super special and for three years, we'd celebrate on the 28th AND the 1st! Future February child, you lucky dog, you!

March

In the ides, we headed north to Rhode Island to visit my uncle and godfather. The oft-discussed and long-awaited trip was fantastic and included trips to the Breakers, some delicious lobster, a little bit of Newport and lots of bumming around.

In March, I also posted one of my most popular Gooey Goodness recipes for homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies, with a twist.

April

Come springtime, I took a trip wherein I only took four photos, the above being the best of the bunch (meaning, heads were included.) That's the Guinea Pig and me, goofing around the French Quarter in New Orleans with a group of amazing bee friends.

I also was getting quite nostalgic for my then-current job, workplace, and co-workers and snapped a few blackberry photos of the desk that will (tear!) never be mine again, likely. It was in such a good spot- facing the much-traversed pathway, with a window to my back, and a heating/cooling vent just above. Le sigh. It's sad to miss a desk area, isn't it?

Oh, and for Easter, I ate a giant chocolate bunny, which is standard tradition around here. Topher heads to Safeway to find the biggest, baddest one around. Except he knows it can't be Dove or Russell Stover, because I don't like their chocolate all too much.

(Really, I like the cheapest Balmer bunny you can find. Something about it.)

Let's be honest, I usually end up with two giant bunnies and I eat them both with no shame.

May

Oh May! What a busy, celebratory month you were! Topher and I spent an entire weekend celebrating our one year anniversary, and I'm pretty sure this is about the only picture I didn't share from our night out in the Capitol Hill area celebrating. We're riding the Metro. God, I miss the Metro!

Topher and I also visited a dairy farm for the anniversary, which was an adventure in itself. I look forward to going back someday in 2013 or so!

And then, we were ridiculously adorable enough to get each other nearly matching cards. Mine on top, his on bottom. I expounded on our ability to laugh at ourselves in this one year update post I wrote for Weddingbee.

Also in May, Topher, little bro-in-law Scott and favorite (Scott's gf) Jenny and I all traversed to Andrews Air Force Base for the annual Air Show and Open House. This is pretty much the only picture I took that included planes. It's becoming a tradition, and I can't wait to pick it back up in 2014!

I also kept this little gem to myself...Topher, uncle John and I all braved a pretty hellish 5k run for the Warrior Dash. This clearly comes from before the race, as were lost to mud afterward. I think the last trip through mud and the high-powered spray trucks afterward were my favorite part. Plus, doing it with Toph and John!

I also made one of Topher's favorite cakes for his birthday in late May, and made it better by adding a caramel glaze. It was in May that I discovered how much I like making caramel sauce- and how easy it is! Seriously, sugar, butter, water and a heat source? Ok!

Hubserino and I also took in a last Nationals game in the hottest day of the year with some friends. I kept telling myself "It'll only be hotter in Cambodia! Get used to it!"

Guess what? I was right.

June

June. Oh June. It was a crazy, hectic, busy, overwhelming, sad month as I spent my last weeks in my job executing the welcome week for new teachers I'd been planning since January and prepared myself to say goodbye to this group of amazing teachers. Even now, I find myself thinking about each one of them, especially as the majority- even those beyond their two year commitment- are still teaching. I often will think "I wonder what my corps members are doing this Friday? If I were there, I'd love to arrange a bowling extravaganza to celebrate the end of the year!" Or some such nonsense.

That same month, Topher and I attended my last TFA party for the time being. I hadn't missed a celebration for four years running, and it was crazy to think that I wouldn't get to ring in the holidays with the region or welcome the new alums the following June!

To avoid being overly sad, Topher took me to Denny's after the celebration, wherein I drank a giant Diet Coke and ate chocolate chip pancakes.

Clearly, he's a genius.

And so, we've come to the nearly final moments of America-Kate. The second half of 2011 introduced me to Cambodia-Kate. She's exactly the same, except she's much sweatier, fifteen pounds lighter, and can speak a tiny bit of a relatively unknown language.

July through December coming tomorrow.

Also, is it crazy for me to want a Leap Year Birthday Child?

And, what really are your thoughts on air shows? I hated them growing up (my neck hurts! it's hot!) but I have a deep and abiding respect for them now.

a christmas, in cambodia. sans snow, plus beach.

2011-12-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

candy canes and santa were had in cambodia this christmas.

sun and fun were had in cambodia this christmas.

sunburns, slightly visible here, may have also been had in cambodia this christmas.

red wine and fresh cotton hanes tee shirts were had this christmas in cambodia.

cheese, cheese and pizza and pasta were had this christmas in cambodia.

i think i'm going to start a tradition of an italian feast to add to the christmas traditions for my future little family. lasagna, spaghetti, and pizza on christmas eve eve is in my future. hopefully for the next fifty years.

cheers! how was your holiday?

someone stop me. please.

2011-12-28T08:46:00.004-05:00

dudes. in trying to expound on the stupendousness of fbook timeline, i think i've fallen prey to that which i dislike most and am so confused by.

i want. i strongly desire. i kind of really need. to overshare. on facebook.

i find myself drawn to wanting to tell the world the year that i got glasses. (1994, by the by. then contacts two years later, in 1996, after so much begging.)

i want to list all the great internships i had in college and get disappointed when there isn't an available "internship" life event button.

i'd like to blame these desires on my ample amounts of time available during the daily 11-2 rest time that we take here in cambodia.

i'd like to blame these desires on the pleasure i get from organizing, and the visual organizing that timeline allows oneself.

i'd like to blame these desires on the coolness of being able to have a small little space where i can capture all the little events in my life, add a picture, and tell the story of me.

which leads me to ask, how is that all that different from having a small little space like this blog where i share little events in my life, add a picture, and attempt to tell a story about things to happen to me.

is it shameful because i'd be sharing it with everyone, like potential employers and people from high school i haven't actually spoken a word to in nearly nine years?

is it shameful because it can appear to be a weird sort of bragging?

or is it shameful because all of it's narcissistic- this little blog, that little facebook timeline, and even this little post extolling the shame of oversharing?

i'm going to go ponder such questions while i add my nose piercing to my timeline. 2004, for those that want to know. after i met chris, and he begged me not to do it, like i begged my mom for contacts years before.

what say you to the idea of oversharing on facebook, specifically, and narcissicism, in general?

yeah, maybe, i agree

2011-12-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

there are likely far too many posts i could write about the daily struggles and triumphs of speaking khmer. thusly, today, we'll keep it to the simple fact of my daily life.

in my new language, there are three phrases i utter more often than i blink. literally. (not literally.) they are akin to the oft-employed american phrases of 'yeah', 'uh-huh' and 'mm-hmm.'

the most important fact of this being, that i use the khmer equivalencies of these whether or not i've truly understood what they other person was saying. they just work that well.

without further dallying, they are:

jaah.

bpro-hail. (the hail is pronounced like you are saluting a not-forgotten genocidal dictator.)

nung ai. (again, with the "eye" pronunciation of the ai sound.)

or, in english:

yes.

maybe.

i agree.

nung ai actually translates to "and what" but is used to indicate agreement, that you heard the other person, that they are correct or generally that yeah, you get it.

so, the meeng (woman seller, or aunt) at the market might remark on my long nose and i say:

thank you, i agree (aw-koon, nung ai.)

or the meeng might mention how large i am:

again, thank you, i agree. (aw-koon, nung ai.)

or even they say something wherein i catch the words "invite" "rice" and "later":

i say "maybe!"

i use maybe a lot, even when i have only heard the connecting words like "you" "and" "no?"

maybe!

so. should i probably learn more verbs and adjectives so that i can use better responses than these in the future?

yes.

maybe.

i agree.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays, from my little family to yours!

and then there was christmas

2011-12-23T11:56:00.001-05:00

it's quite astounding how, even as a grown-ass married woman living abroad, not seeing your parents and siblings and parents and siblings in law can have such an effect on you.

but it does.

things that make it better include:

-spending it at the beach.

-thin crust pizza and spaghetti carbonara.

-a warm shower.

-multiple skype dates for christmas with families.

-the receipt of TWO of the missing packages with the excitement of the THIRD to arrive with even MORE presents in coming weeks!

why yes, this is the face of two incredibly excited grown-ass married people as they receive boxes of cheer from america.

A Red Letter Day

2011-12-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Not today, but beer bought for us by our amazing country director last week!

Wednesday dawned graciously to the sounds of someone retching outside our window before the sun had risen. I could tell today was going to be different than the last twenty four hours of sadness because my first thought was:

"is that a male or female retching, do you think?"

And thus dawned a day brighter than the rest.

As I toppled out of bed, giving a bleary eyed goodbye to Topher (who always manages to wake up seven and a half minutes before me, thusly arriving to school on time, and without a rushed dressing, instead of my harried gathering of long skirts and ruffled shirts and three minutes past seven arrival), I noticed that despite eating a third of batch of brownies last night, this morning I was feeling quite chipper. Meaning, I did NOT have the dreaded but inescapable morning after brownie remorse! It was not present! Instead, I was feeling quite graciously thin!

"Good sign!" I said to my girlish figure in the mirror.

And thusly I did not respond as waspishly as I normally would have, either in voice or in mind, when my co-teacher arrived thirteen minutes late (ha!) and informed me as we were walking to the classroom that today he would be giving an oral test during the second hour, and so during the first hour, I would be teaching the auxiliary verbs must and have to and the difference between them.

Waspish or not, I had to ask:

"But, what is the difference?"

And do you know, dear friends? It's so obvious, yes?

You must do something when you are telling yourself you need to do something.

You have to do something when someone or something else is telling you to do something. Like a rule.

Or, at least, that's the definitions I cobbled together after my co-teacher's clipped explanation as we entered the classroom and told the students to sit down.

Ahh, now it makes sense! Of course!

Now that we've covered that hurdle successfully (quite so, I might add! Involving a spur of the moment matching game of actions to "must" or "have to" thus reinforcing the fact that I really don't think there is a difference in common American English, but really, follow the rule everyone!), let's talk about the oral exam.

Or actually let's not. It's just better if we know that all students who were lucky enough to receive "Use "must" or "have not" in a sentence" as their one question oral exam passed with flying colors!

Hark! The herald grammar angels sing!

And then there was the best two hours wherein I gifted my counterpart TWO HOURS OF KATE TEACHING! YOU GET TO RELAX! And, how excited was he! He said:

"What a wonderful, lovely, amazing Christmas present! You are the best Volunteer to ever live!"

(or really he maybe said "How nice! Thank you!" Same same, yeah?)

And then I had two glorious hours teaching my trainees three differentiated activities for teaching their future students how to write logically and cohesively using pronouns to replace proper nouns when repeated and connecting words to join ideas. Clear, yes?

It was in these two hours that the hallmarks of a Red Letter Day began to appear because I was just so golly joyous!

And then, after a short pitstop at a failed post office visit, there was sweet, glorious pork and rice for lunch! Oh, fried pork and white rice with pickled cucumbers, how I adore thee! You take upon the mantle of deliciousosity and cheaposity and lift it to the highest of mantled levels!

Over which this mantle of manna pork and rice it was there that Topher certified such a Red Letter Day by informing me that I did have ten comments on my wee little post from yesterday, after many a single digit (or zero) comment posts in a row! Most expressing abiding love and desire for tears to dissipate!

Dissipate, they did comrades in Christmas! Because of you I think the Reeses Christmas Tree angels swooped down upon me as I slept and gifted me such a Red Letter Day (and TWO Reeses Christmas Trees!)

And then! THEN! There were leftover brownies!

Leftover brownies, I say!

Enjoyed with some Order of the Phoenix and some adorable Topher nap-grunting nearby. Nothing better, I tell you.

Except! Except for library book organizing! What's better, I ask, then a day that includes organizing young adult books? I'm seventy percent sure that I one hundred percent need to be a librarian, just so I can organize books for a living. And read them! Read them and organize them and get paid to do it! While eating brownies! Theoretically, of course.

And finally, friends, just as I thought the Red Letter Day was concluding, what happened but that I got to witness the second best thing to receiving holiday packages yourself: watching your friends and fellow holiday deprived volunteers open theirs. While wearing eyeliner, like you haven't in a few months. While drafting a post such as this, and contemplating joining Timeline on Facebook!

And then you decide you want, need, MUST/HAVE TO get Timeline and it's glorious!

Throw in the little bit of day dreaming I did of three years from now about a future little dimpled and snotster chubster babe that looks like the Toph, and you have, what else, but a Red Letter Day.

self censorship

2011-12-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

today, for the first time in cambodia, i cried. not great heaving sobs, but frustrated, down trodden dribbles of tears for about five minutes.

i was trying to go for a "never crying in cambodia" jag, but today, it just couldn't be helped.

but let's talk about the saddest thing that crossed my mind in my lowest moments of frustration. i contemplated actually posting a facebook status lamenting the non-arrival of three boxes from our family that were mailed weeks ago, the impending arrival of a holiday without our family, and my deep aching soul related to both.

but i didn't. i couldn't. i could not let myself succumb to the ridiculous oversharing that my generation seems to deem necessary to exist.

in fact, just this weekend, i actually had to unfollow someone on twitter because in the once monthly twitter log ins i do from my new country, i actually could not stand her bitter, lamenting comments on just how horrible, sad, and unfair her life was.

i've also "un-subscribed" from friend type people on the fbook as well for their constant bemoaning. i'm sorry you have a headache. again. and that it's raining. again. and that dunkin donuts didn't have your flavor of sweetener today. i'm just really, really sorry.

so, i've decided that what i'd like for christmas is a little self censorship. what say ye, children of the 80's? let's go with it.

eta: it seems that twenty three percent of people also agree that depressing comments is a good reason to unfriend someone on fb! check out this huffington post article!

on children (and medusa)

2011-12-19T07:45:00.000-05:00

no, not my own children (let's not talk about the sad sort of clanging coming from the clock in hall, with my absurd little ovaries popping out to say cuckoo. CUCKOO!)

(though that's happening, too.)

no, this is about the children that previous unto today, ignored my very existence. children that live, in fact, ten feet from us.

yes, our host family children. our nieces and nephews?! as they call us "meeng" and "boo" (aunt and uncle), so we'll go with that. let's get to the point.

they hate me.

clarification! up until today, five p.m. greenwich-cambodian time, they hated me.

we're not talking a "they prefer topher over me" kind of thing, either. it was an actual dislike, as compared to a love.

truly, when i biked through the gate, they used to run inside the house. screaming, terrified, tears streaming down their face from the shocking view of the medusa. that kind of run.

but when he came, a wheel clicking through that gate? they came out, giggling, and high-fiving and laughing and jumping up on his bike and pouring their adorable kid magic all over HIM (him being the man i call husband.)

oh, ho, but now. NOW!

now, they lurrrvvveee meeng. jumping on my knees, reaching for my arms, snuggling in my neck kind of lurve. "i like meeng!" was a common turn of phrase round these parts two hours ago.

and i didn't even have to bribe then with chocolate from phnom penh.

(let's not pay attention to the fact that topher had to pronounce my awesomeness many times, and lead them to me. it's just not important, in the long run.)

dear lord, will our real children hate me for the first five months as well?

let's not think about it.

how was your weekend?

happening lately

2011-12-16T10:00:00.002-05:00

this week, i had one of those moments where you stop and realize why you're doing something.

because this week, my teacher trainees did the teaching, using critical thinking to argue the best way to grade writing...

...eventually realizing that every method has it's positives and drawbacks. critical thinking people.

this week, i got to eat a delicious hamburger, surrounded by holiday decorations.

this week, my magnanimous husband suggested that we head to the movie theater to see breaking dawn.

this week, as we entered the movie theather, topher said "it's only part one? what's this?!"

this week, topher and i were the only living beings watching breaking dawn, part one in the "happy" movie theater on thursday evening.

this week, our illustrious country director invited those of us in town for some meetings to attend a family holiday gathering on the grounds of the u.s. embassy.

this week, i got to eat my first- and likely only- candy cane of the season. it was strawberry and delightful!

this week, the "embassy singers" sang home for the holidays as a cruel and not very ironic, actually, joke at the embassy party.

this week, life rocked.

edited to add: this week, i also got giardia. it still rocked, though, despite the parasite-causing diarrhea! cheers!

me and my pillow

2011-12-15T10:35:00.001-05:00

i have this thing. this thing about pillows. i think it started when i was in junior high (that's what we called middle school in idaho in the 90's.) around the time my using two straws and eating reese's and strawberry crush for lunch started happening. but this little quirk is not quite as endearing as chocolate and peanut butter induced sixth period giggles, you know?

i just absolutely cannot stand another person putting their face, back, arm, breath up in my pillow.

i just can't deal with it.

if you've laid yourself up on my pillow, i can feel you all over my face and pores and in my eyes when i lay down to sleep. i'm breathin' you in, eating up your bodily spores, and you're clogging my arteries, causing blemishes and diseases heretofore unknown but awful for sure.

so please, for the love of me, please don't touch my pillow.

taken in another way, if i give you a pillow of mine to use, i absolutely without a doubt love you.

so, this thursday, do be sharing with me that little quirkety quirk that causes your chosen life partner to look at you with crazy eyes sometimes?

all right mate? grab your jumper and trousers and plug this in your timetable!

2011-12-13T08:31:00.001-05:00

today, i've decided to get a bit cheeky round these parts and bung some things for you to think about. i'd be quite chuffed if you decided to use some of these luvvly-jubbly words!

for the last fortnight, i've been reading the british harry potters available to me, and for the last four months, i've been trying to follow along the prescribed methods of teaching british english to my cambodian teachers and students.

and i've decided something incredibly important, and you might want to clear your timetable to make some room for revision after i've finished expounding on the glories of british english over plain ole boring american english.

so next time you decide you need to skive off a bit of work, nick a chocolate biscuit and enjoy your nosh!

people might think you're off your trolley, but you'll be glad you aren't gormless if you pick up the british version of your favorite book!

check out the best list of british slang ever here.

what's your favorite "other english" word?

and how long do you think i am scheduled to wait until i will receive my hogwarts letter now that i know that i should avoid bogeys?

on things i love about mormons

2011-12-12T09:45:00.000-05:00

recently, existential type discussions with topher and (sometimes not so nice) articles on the interwebs has me thinking about mormons.

i grew up in southeast idaho, in an incredibly LDS populated area. i grew up in a town that is, according to examiner.com, 75% mormon. the only place with a higher LDS population is in utah, in provo-orem.

i am not LDS. growing up, i was baptized catholic, received my first communion in the catholic church, and then attended the episcopal church with my family until i left for college at seventeen.

at times, it was incredibly difficult growing up non-mormon in a town that felt, for all intents and purposes, ran by the mormon church. at times, it seemed as though 'not mormon' was stamped on my head during events where everyone seemed to know one everyone else's siblings and parents and cousins.

growing up, i was sad that i didn't get a CTR ring at eight- and maybe more sad because my neighborhood playmates pointed out that i never would because i was 'not mormon.'

i was sad in junior high when a close friend told me that she wasn't sure she could be my friend because she learned at church that i wouldn't be going to same place in heaven as her because i was 'not mormon.'

now, nearly ten years after i moved from idaho to washington dc, i have a deeper understanding and even appreciation for the 'not-ness' i felt as a young girl. what felt like ostracism to me was actually a manifestation of one of the greatest aspects of the LDS religion:

a deep sense of family, community, and conviction in the truth of their beliefs.

it's extremely difficult to understand the nuance of this as an eight year-old (and maybe, for some reading this, even as a thirty eight-year-old), but i truly do not believe that what i took as deliberate exclusions were, in fact, deliberate. they weren't even sad, mean, or intentionally cruel.

no matter what religion surrounds you, if you are one of the few only 'nots' and each weekend, your peers are with each other, learning about the unifying thing that is god and religion, hearing each other's testimonies, learning from one another's parents, and siblings, and reading a common book of hard work and grace, it'd be hard NOT to ostracize- purposely or accidentally- others, those 'nots.' because you are connected by something greater than the earthly realm, a truth you so deeply believe, you are a community unto yourself.

what i know about mormons i learned from mormons i actually know. (well, mostly really know.)

in high school, i was lucky enough to be a part of a group of friends that included one of the most devout mormon women i've ever known. this friend- molly, let's say- was the epitome of everything a good young LDS girl should be. modest in speech, dress and action. she has a large family, and her father was the head of the household and the person she had to receive permission from each weekend or evening we friends wanted to do something. molly was everything that some of those on the internet these days could point to and say "see, look! she's so happy all the time, it just can't be real! she's designed to go out into the world and spread her happiness so that everyone will think mormons are really cool, and not weird! she's a plant, walking your high school halls, spreading her happiness!"

but you know what? molly really IS the happiest, kindest, most warm hearted and generous people i have ever met in my twenty six years of life. she was the first of my friends to ask me how i was feeling, or follow up on specific things that had made me anxious, or worried, and or excited. she was the friend that i could count on to always listen to a terribly long story about this boy that looked at me during sixth period. she was the friend that i knew would always be thinking about something she could do to help someone else. i truly cannot think of any other word for this girl other than completely and utterly selfless.

and, you know what again? i think she was like this because, mainly, she embodied everything that the mormon religion teaches young girls. she was kind, and helpful, and feminine, and genuine. she had friends in every single circle in the school- from the jocks to the debate team. she didn't care if you weren't cool in the eyes of high school or if you were the head cheerleader. she knew you, liked you, and dammit, you liked her.

molly is, to me, the embodiment of all that is mormon. she is, as the common world defines it, a true christian.

i wish i were more like molly.

in college, i became acquainted with the woman who was head of the head women's organization on campus, an off shoot of our student government. she led take back the night, funded and planned the vagina monologues, and led the charge for a million feminist things that we feminists are always yelling about. you know.

and then i found out she had, that year, decided to convert to mormonism. i had to ask her "why?" growing up, i'd thought that women in the church actually suffered from a deep lack of power and were relegated to a life of housework and child rearing.

and this woman, this twenty one year old feminist mormon said to me, "i am now a mormon because i believe, as does the LDS church, that as a woman, i am divine and i am imbued with those feminine qualities that make me the important other half to men. as a woman, i have the divinity to birth and raise children. only women have this power. i believe so deeply in my own capacity for love and i believe in honoring women for this divinity."

and i of course, was speechless. and thus began my long, winding path toward a deeper understanding of actual feminism. one that believes that true feminism is actually all women having the power to choose- their life partners, their roles in the home and out.

a deeper understanding that actually has me saying to myself "by golly, but there IS something wholly divine in that whole idea of being a woman and holding THE key, THE X chromosome, that actually allows for procreation, and birth, and children, and LIFE. that is something special, that i have it, just me, because i'm a WOMAN. and perhaps there is something actual real to this whole 'maternal instinct' thing. maybe this is why i am so achingly excited to someday be a mother, a real, live mother."

and so, because of molly and my feminist mormon, i am heretofore actually a bit enlightened.

and then there are the interwebs. there are people out there that will write about the shiny, happy, surreal, nay, "unreal" lives of mormon women content in being mother. women that i personally read every single week, and feel a deep, abiding, interwebs love for. amazing, strong, smart MORMON women that actually serve to inspire me, and push me to think just a bit harder about this little thing that is mormonism, and motherhood and LIFE. women like jenna and natalie.

maybe there are things that don't settle with me about the LDS religion. but this is true for me as in ANY religion. but being a non-religious person who has very different thoughts on what's coming after our heart stops beating doesn't stop me from believing in two very important things:

one: generally, people are good and two: that which you put out in the universe, you will receive. how you serve others, help others, support others, love others will color and shape your own life happiness.

i also happen to think that these two things speak to the heart of mormonism.

thusly, there are things that i love about mormonism, and things that i entirely intend to capture in my family when little ones are finally added to it.

to begin with, let's talk about family home evening. one night where you just stay in, with your spouse and children and love each other? wherein you maybe play some board games and drink some hot chocolate and generally love each other, despite the insanity of the world around you?

um, yes please.

and then there's that whole having an actual day of rest on sunday. you mean, a whole day where we try to avoid electronics, and we read and, again, perhaps just generally enjoy each other's company and talk about the thinks in life we're grateful for?

again, yes.

so, families come first for mormons. this is because they believe that families are sealed forever. without diving into that topic, let's just stop and ponder what humanity would be like if everyone actually put their family's health, happiness and well being over all else.

so, again, yes please.

what about mutual, and that whole crazy idea of having young men and women come together each week to just be girls and boys and talk about things that could make them better people and perhaps less frustrated teens in general?

i actually did this, as a teen, when i joined the christian young women's leadership group called job's daughters. it was amazing. all young people should have such an opportunity. and why yes, i was an honored queen, thank you very much!

the idea of seeking out, preserving and valuing family history?

umm, yeah!

and finally, even the act of a couple, praying together, every night. having the chance to maintain an intimate bond wherein you share your greatest happiness, troubling sorrows, plaguing questions and worries is probably the best thing you can, verbally, to maintain a deep connection with your spouse, especially over time, as you build a family, careers, and grow ever farther away from that honeymoon stage.

though topher and i don't pray to a heavenly father, we do take time to stop and talk about these things, and i sincerely expect that if we're able to do this over the many years of marriage, our love and bond might actually cause some out there to say 'why are they so happy?!...'

'...like those damn mormons!'

and so, because i know this is perhaps a very long thing to read, and digest, and a very difficult thing for me to actually dutifully express my nuanced thoughts, please to be sharing:

what things do you love about mormons?

or maybe,

what things do you love about a group in society, or a person, who is, at surface level, so different from yourself, but deep down, a person or group you should mayhaps be learning a bit from?

do they know it's christmas time at all?

2011-12-08T09:36:00.000-05:00

happy december 8th all! did you know it's less than three weeks until christmas? really, it's nearly two weeks!

i certainly can't believe it. i can't decide if it's because:

a) it's eighty-five degrees with ninety five percent humidity again and the closest i've gotten to seeing snow was when i made topher and myself squint really hard while looking at a rusty roof the other day because if you looked real hard, it almost looked like there was snow in between the rusty parts.

b) a scorpion walked into our house tonight and nearly bit topher. you just don't usually get scorpions at christmastime, you know?

c) topher and i's christmas tree is really a tree outside of our bathroom, featuring our hanging towels. it's got little gold boblet things on the end, though, like lights. if you squint real hard...nevermind, i'm giving up on that game.

d) two nights ago we watched the only christmas movie we happen to have here, which was my impulse buy of the santa clause, wherein topher said during our viewing "it's not even really that great of a christmas movie" to which i had to defend our ONE AND ONLY CHRISTMAS MOVIE IN CAMBODIA by then quoting as much of the movie as possible to prove that was awesome in 1995 is just as awesome now.

"it's a gift from the cable company. we're getting the disney channel. merry christmas!"

let's go with d, yeah? and let's break down the best christmas movies, because this is what topher and i did biking to school the other day.

he said "name the two christmas movies you'd choose over all others."

to which i said "do you know me at all? i couldn't pick two anythings, let alone christmas movies. there are dozens i luuuurrrrvvvveee!"

to which he said "it's obvious that it's "christmas vacation" and "it's a wonderful life." it's not that hard."

and so i say unto you, you KNOW it is that hard, and so i present the top christmas movies i'd have watched already, in my pajamas, on my couch, with hot chocolate and my puppers and hubbers and maybe even YOU if i was in the land of denny's and hockey.

and you don't get pictures because frankly it costs a lot to download pictures from the interwebs of screen shots from these movies, you know?

so you get our respective favorite quotes from each. BETTA, methinks!

it's a wonderful life

topher: "merry christmas, movie house!"

kate: "teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings" (obviously!)

elf

him: "he's an angry elf!"

her: "i just like to smile, smiling's my favorite!"

home alone

chris: "look what you did, you little jerk!"

kate: "buzz, your girlfriend, woof!"

a christmas story

kate: "fra-gee-lay. it must be italian!"

toph: this is not in my top ten, leave me alone kate.

miracle on 34th street

kate: "i believe...i believe... it's silly but i believe!"

the santa clause

topher: "haven't you guys heard of basting?"

kate: "tinsel: not just for decoration!"

charlie brown christmas

kate: "it's too early. i never eat december snowflakes. i always wait until january."

topher: i didn't watch this growing up, kate

christmas vacation
kate AND chris: "and why is the carpet all wet, todd?"
"i don't know, margo!"
we tend to say this to each other, all the time.

and perhaps the best proof that it doesn't quite feel like christmas:

e) it took hubs-a-dub and i a full ten minutes to generate even the measly list above. because, as it turns out, when you don't have tbs and tnt playing the steady stream of christmas favorites, you're apt to forget what you love.

which in the long run, might just serve us better, yeah?

also, turns out, spending half an hour remembering holiday movie quotes with your husband can be a great way to get in the holiday spirit, half a world from pine and tinsel and family.

happy holiday season, all!

so do please share, what is the one christmas movie i should have impulse bought for two years in a foreign country if you could?

of course, you could also share your favorite holiday movie quote?

why jo, anne, heidi, mistress mary and even amy are my fictionary soulmates

2011-12-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

so because i plowed through the recently popular books that i'd been holding out on (such as the help and all of the millenium series), i decided to fall back on those free books i'd downloaded with the desperate to need to have a full kindle, a full library abroad.

in fact, i resorted to the books that i'd read once as a young girl and had either a) discarded in favor of the babysitters club or b) decided to enjoy the movie versions more, with the likes of christian bale and maggie smith.

can you think of it?

yes, i fell desperately, deeply and irrevocably (a la bella) in love with the lovely classics written about women.

like, little women.

and the entire anne of green gables collection.

and the secret garden.

and even heidi.

if you can believe it, jo is far more endearing on paper than when winona ryder played her. and, even better, i absolutely fell for miss amy, who started out as a silly little girl and turns into this actually really sweet, kind-hearted, woman who has the ability to...

forgive other women with grace, humor and genuine understanding when they maliciously try to take credit for her awesomeness; make laurie realize that he needed to get back on track and grow up; was willing to marry fred vaughn not out of some haughty love of money but really because a girl growing up in the 1860's realizes that some daughter has to find a way to take care of the family.

why, i actually found myself wishing i had the temperament not JUST of miss jo, but of blonde, snub-nosed miss amy even a bit more.

and then there's anne. my god, how i AM anne. i ~~was~~ am such a strange little creature unto this world, such that when i was little i spent hours entertaining myself wherein my mother would come looking for me, because i was so quiet, imagining games and worlds for myself. i love everything there is to love about anne.

why, when she was facing marilla and ever so politely trying not to cry as she imagined her return to the orphanage, i was actually crying for her. me, all misty eyed, because you just know this little ten year old girl deserves the amazing world of green gables.

and then i cried when she got to stay, and i instantly longed for a bosom buddy such as diana and i just know that a girl is meant to have ever so many bosom friends throughout life, as anne does as she travels from avonlea to the island to her dream home on the coast, and i just believe that women should be allowed to shout out "i love you!" to each other, even when they both have husbands, and children, and many other interests. because love just shouldn't be constrained, even platonic love.

le sigh.

and even though mistress mary quite contrary in the secret garden is such an unloving, unloved little thing, my heart just reached out to her, playing on the moors, and i could feel the cold wind in my hair and the earth build up under my nailbeds as she and dickon resurrected rose bush after rose bush.

and all i want now is to speak to sparrows and rescue foxes, like my own little dickon-ess.

so, as it turns out, the classics and their heroines are so much more wonderful when read through the eyes of a twenty six year old, rather than a nine year old.

do tell me, who reaches out to you from the yellowed pages of classic novels and speaks directly to your soul, like the deepest of bosom friends?

and tell me, if you could have just one young woman for the lifetime of bosomness, just who would you choose?

i can't choose between anne from her house of dreams, or amy from her time living abroad. i do think all three of us would get along just splendidly.

the typical wanderings of a monday

2011-12-06T06:55:00.000-05:00

on sunday night, i stayed up just a bit too late watching episodes of glee that topherlicious got for me, wherein i was so cold because now it is the cold season (?) in cambodia and i had to take a real euro shower wherein i take as little time as possible, turn off the water to soap up, and then do the shimmy as i cleanse myself. and then when i exited the bathroom, i did NOT stand in front of the fan to air dry because i was in fact COLD being that it is now in the low seventies in the evenings and it's INSANE.

which is all meant to say that i went to bed late and therefore the morning came a bit too quickly for my liking, and my dream's liking, as i was totally singing total eclipse of the heart better than lea michelle, and then i had to hasten to dress and bike and show up in my lovely, but dusty classroom to teach my trainees about nothing better than....

handwriting and simple cursive!

in which, after my long lesson teaching not actual cursive but 'simple cursive' so that my trainees could, in turn, teach their future-anon students the virtues of simple cursive, or 'joined up letters' wherein you join 'th' and 'nt' and 'et', a student had the thought to ask:

but why even do our students need to learn cursive?

to which i wanted to say:

'because i had to in second grade and if i had to endure the torture that is a cursive 'z' (what IS that?!), so do you and your students!'

but what i really did say:

'because just like in khmer, english has many forms, some fancier than others, and things like cursive are used in places where our students might need to read and comprehend (like, for example, in signs or notes from a superior or such) just like here in cambodia we use fancy, scripty capital letters for ALL signage and important documents such that hopeless little khmer learners like myself are completely baffled by all important information signage, despite memorizing a whole FIVE consonants and FIVE vowels.'

which is mainly a true account of mostly what i said, except the first/real time it was a bit less bitter?! i think.

and then after class, all i wanted was an ice cold coca cola classic but the tela mart did not have it for the second week running!

and thusly i had to settle for...PEPSI. i know.

so i drank that, cold because it was, with some little harry potter (the british paperback version) on the side and it was simply wonderful, minus the fact that is was pepsi.

i also ate some chocolate wafers that absolutely lack any real substance of chocolate in them, but they are still somewhat chocolate-ish so i purchase them. because, honestly, you take what you can get when the world is out of coca cola and the coca-light is another mart away and twice the price of coca classic.

and then topher came to join me, and we were going to work a bit at our new library, but it was closed for reasons unknown, so we decided to seek in search of the best thing we know sometimes, which is...

this pork dish that we don't know the name of that our market sometimes has in a big pot for sale.

needless to say, the market didn't have it today, so we bought other food for cookings, but decided instead of making lunch today, instead we'd go ahead and seek out some diarrhea in the form of cold noodles from who-knows-how-long-made and are-they-washed-i-don't-know vegetables with a mystery meat on top and some wonderful brown juice that is poured on top.

it was quite delicious, and i actually didn't get diarrhea but topher and i did slap fives and say:

'cheers to giving up the pork thing we wanted for diarrhea instead! worth it!'

because we didn't have to cook, you know?

and then after lunch i had to turn all 'super-disappointed-teacher' on my trainees because they were just golly darn rude while their peer did a practice lesson in the afternoon (that we do each afternoon lesson) and so i had to stand on up there, give him feedback and THEN, write on the board (to avoid deep miscommunication across two languages):

'it is rude to talk with your friends, read, text, or do other work while your friend is teaching.'

and then they were rightfully abashed, agreed wholeheartedly and the second hour of practice teaching went far more smoothly, which i'd like to credit to my shaming them as i've shamed many a students back in ye-olde-america.

and then finally, i discovered the lost joys of the word golly and all the phrases that do come with it.

like 'good golly!', or 'golly me!' or 'by golly!'

and today, i used all three quite proudly.

how was your monday?

also, is this not what you wanted when you said a typical day?

and, tell me, what is your favorite, long lost forgotten turn of phrase that could replace an expletive in our modern meanderings?

on things that save marriages

2011-12-05T07:58:00.000-05:00

why is it that i do despise washing dishes so dearly?

it is mostly because i dislike cooking more, and here in this little homestead, we do honor such things as that stupid, nearly universal law that dictates:

he who doth perform the cooking magic shall therefore ever be released from the duties of cleansing the used dishes and pans

perhaps it is because i do despise cooking even more than the water warped fingertips and ruined nail polish that is an inevitable happenstance due to said dishwashing.

my mom and i've always maintained that i dislike cooking because it takes so much time and i had anything but time in america. we say this often when we get together, sitting around the table in their screened-in porch in north carolina, we say to my husband, poor man:

"its not that she isn't a good cook, it's just that she's so impatient. she doesn't have the time to create a delicious meal- the thirty minutes required are just too much for her schedule right now."

except that now, all i have in cambodia is time and carrots and onions and chewy pork and you know what, mom?

i still don't really like cooking.

i still don't like doing dishes either.

but i'll take it over the chopping and sautee-ing and stirring bit.

you're welcome, topher.

also, thank you, because you're way better at those -ings than i'll ever be.

and sorry sometimes i do my nails while you're cooking, necessitating you to do the dishes anyway.

also, sorry that i sold you on a lie that someday down the line, i'd enjoy cooking. and maybe be good at it.

but you like it this way better, yes? yes?!

so now it's to you to share those things that create such a harmonious balance in your happy abode below- yes, please?

Khmer Curry: A Recipe

2011-12-01T22:26:00.001-05:00

This week I have been feeling bits of crummy under the weather. To escape such things, Topher and I are jaunting off to a nearby town this weekend that is complete with ribs, pancakes and just the two of us.

However, a few weekends back, we made our usual Saturday trek to our former training village to study Khmer and this time, learn how to make Khmer curry, which is uber amounts of delicious!

Many people were excited about these endeavors.

I believe this recipe can be easily replicated in both Cambodian and American kitchens. Try it out, will ya and let me know if you think it's delicious?

Oh, and I've converted it to American kitchens in parentheses!

Khmer Curry: A Recipe

courtesy of Siphen, an amazing woman

serves 5-6 people

100 grams dried, red chilis (about a cup or so)

1 kilo coconut shavings (2 cans of coconut milk)

100 grams lemongrass (about 3/4 of a cup)

5 cloves garlic

2 roots of tumeric (about a 1/3-1/2 cup)

small handful of kaffir lime (about two tablespoons)

1 cup raw peanuts

3-4 Tablespoons palm sugar (similar to brown sugar syrup)

2 heaping Tablespoons salt

2 heaping Tablespoons chicken bouillon

2 kilo of pork ribs/chicken/any kind of meat (about 3-4 pounds)

Step 1: soak the chilis for an hour or so, with the seeds removed.

Step 2: Go pick some lemongrass and tumeric from your garden.

(or just buy some from the market, as it's cheap)

Step 4: Chop, chop, chop those chilis into a paste

Step 5: Pulverize lemongrass, tumeric, garlic and kaffir lime in a mortar and pestal (or food processor) into a fine granulated mixture

Step 5a: admire pork ribs and spices

Step 6: chop your pork ribs or meat

Step 7: Make coconut milk the hard way. Put shavings into a bowl.

Add a small amount of water, and begin making small balls of shavings, squeezing out all the delicious milky coconut milk. Repeat once for a think, creamy milk, put aside, and repeat once more for a little bit more, more watery milk.

Discard coconut shavings, or give to your cows.

Step 7a: Admire your chili paste

Step 7b: Bring 1/2 of thick coconut milk (from first squeezing- or, one can) to a low simmer.

Add chili paste

stir until combined, as below.

add spice mixture as well. allow to rolling simmer.

Step 8: roast raw peanuts until browned.

then de-shell peanuts and crush into a chunky mixture

Your sauce should simmer until it is thick, as above.

Step 9: add coconut water from second squeezing

Step 10: Add meat and peanuts, cover and cook.

Rolling boils are good to cook meat.

Step 10: Admire the outdoor kitchen you're cooking in. Or, thank the heavens for your insulated, climate controlled kitchen. Whichever applies.

Step 11: Once meat is cooked, add remaining coconut milk and serve!

Enjoy with friends.

And also, coca cola.

There a million easier ways to make curry (you know, with pre-made curry powder) but I'll let you know how this pans out when I try to cook it all by lonesome in coming weeks.

Happy Friday!

bumblebee

2011-11-30T00:46:00.000-05:00

here in the bode, we have one main mode of transport.

said transport is kind of like our own personal transformer.

it's our be anywhere, do anything scrap of metal.

or you can just take these photos of my proof of trying to make my bike even cooler.

with yellow duct tape.

our little "brother" tried to help by adding this green smiley sticker too.

all bow down to my personal hero, bumblebee of cambodia.

a belated thanksgiving

2011-11-29T01:29:00.001-05:00

happy tuesday, all! though it's a bit belated, rest assured that we did in fact have a very scrumptilicious thanksgiving here in the bode.

though it was in no way the same as home- what can make up for those people and those traditions?- it was really awesome to be among friends and our new cambodian family, enjoying turkey, potatoes, carrots, green beans, stuffing and even the best pumpkin chocolate chip bread i've ever had. (that might be the cambodia talking, though, but it sure was good!)

i am incredibly thankful to have an amazing husband here, and amazing families back home that we were able to skype with to say happy thanksgiving. and i'm ever grateful for our new family and friends here and for such a delicious meal that K4s, staff, and the U.S. embassy provided for us!

happy holiday season, everyone! go make a snow angel for those of us that are still sweatin' to the holiday tunes, yeah?

*thanks to jill and stewart for great pictures :)

is this real life?

2011-11-18T04:48:00.001-05:00

today, topher and i traipsed on down to our local "modern gas" store (complete with 20 varieties of rice cookers and gas stove tops) and forked over thirty seven bucks for an amazing little item that has just increased my happiness scale to near tipping point.

a toaster oven.

i didn't believe topher when he a said a little toaster oven could be used to bake. how is this possible, i said? and now, i have to admit to the whole world:

i was wrong.

you CAN bake with a toaster oven.

and bake i did.

for my birthday, topher bought me some goodies from a local western grocery store in phnom penh. in that sack of goodies, he included an amazing package of fudge brownie mix and chocolate frosting.

oh i put that to good use.

even using duck egg instead of chicken egg, it still turned out well.

did you know you could MISS batter? because i sure did!

i first made brownie cookies. they were delicious.

then i went for broke and tried to make a pan of brownies. because the pan provided was convex, the batter didn't distribute evenly and they got a little toasty in the middle.

BUT.

they were still delicious.

i frosted them...

and covered them in m&ms from my dear mom...

and cut a few for our host family.

and now i'm digging in with topher, jill and dexter morgan.

happy friday, all!

a most perfect of saturdays

2011-11-17T09:10:00.000-05:00

sometimes, as i've alluded to, it's all too simple to get wrapped up in the why's and worth it's of living in a foreign country as a volunteer. you know, the how's of cancelled classes, the what's of a language that i've seemingly stalled in, and the if's of overbearing heat, searing from the sky all the live long day.

and i've discovered that when these black thoughts arrive like a drenched cloud, there is often times a moment harkening not long after, providentially, that reverts me back on the straight and narrow.

a few saturdays back, i had many such providential moments that certainly made living through the frustrations all the more worth it and splendidly set me forth on firm footing for happier times.

we've begun returning to our training village- just seven kilometers away- each saturday to be tutored in khmer with a wonderful woman who led our trainers/teachers during training with other volunteers who live there permanently.

this particular day that brought me out of such a funk, included a surprise of the most delicious pancakes in the smack dab middle of our lesson, a taste of which we've not had since prior to july of this year. also imbued in the day was a gorgeous, shade-filled ride on a long dirt road, a trip to our former respite of glory- an air conditioned gas/mart-, and a visit to our training host grandmother, wherein she loaded us with ten pounds of rice and thirty pounds of coconuts.

the sunshine, sweet batter, and old haunts were just what a soul needs to revert back to a place of happiness and imaginings.