A Bunch of Burts

Last week was Zach’s swim meet, and although the day started off with a rousing thunderstorm and pouring rain, it turned out to be a great day of swimming.

This year he was swimming in the 10 and 11 y/o age group so he was on the smaller end of the scale. The rules state that as long as a child is 11 by the first day of school, he/she can compete in that age group all school year. I think some of these boys just snuck in! Not only were they much bigger than Zach, but oooh, they were fast in the water! Good competition that day.

We were really proud of Zach, he gave each race his all, even when he was dog tired and two of his races were nearly back to back.

That is Zach in lane 5 racing to the finish. He took first in his heat in this individual event, but lost to some other boys in subsequent heats. They were fast!

He ended up with 2nd overall in the 25m butterfly and his 100 Free Relay team took third. I think those are pretty good results!

Here he is anchor for his teams 100 Free relay. Go Zach, go!

Part of the fun of the day was listening to the kids cheer each other on, and encourage kids from the other schools who were clearly beginner swimmers, and lagging a bit shall we say?

This has been one of the big and unexpected blessing of our time in Chiang Mai, having a school like Grace that exists to serve missionary families and also provides the kids with opportunities for sports that otherwise would not exist. Each year Grace needs teachers, and staff members to be able to adequately serve all the families who would like to send their kids. Next year, might it be you? Check out their website Grace International School to see if God has been preparing you to meet one of the needs.

My dear friend Shelly from WI tagged me earlier this week, (OK, it may have been at the end of last week, but who’s counting,) for my first ever bloggy tag.

As I understand, I need to list 5 things about me in several different categories.
Here we go:

10 years ago:
1. Zach was born.
2. I was a SAHM who was not at home very much.
3. We lived out in the country in Western Washington and loved it!
4. I had no kids in school yet.
5. I was just discovering MOPS and serving on a steering committee at my church.

On today’s to do list:

1. Attend a baby shower! Fun!
2. Prepare homeschool work for kids to do in my absence. Not so fun.
3. Take girls to a Hmong embroidery lesson.
4. Catch up on laundry that is piling up around the house because I cannot find enough hours in my day to attend to it.
5. Practice Thai and enjoy a movie with the family after dinner.

Snacks I enjoy:
1. Corn chips and salsa. A rare treat.
2. Popcorn
3. 15 baht Dairy Queen blizzard. That is less than 50 cents!
4. A Thai snack of puffed rice, peanuts, sesame seeds and a leaf used for sweetening and coloring. I do not know what is called in English.
5. Pretz. A little snack they sell here that is similar to a miniature bread stick.

If I was a millionaire:
1. Set up college funds for our kids
2. Send some kids I know here to a good school and then college.
3. Help a boy at our church who was burned terribly when he was a baby have the surgeries he needs to repair his face, feet and hands.
4. Support lots of other missionaries.
5. Meet other needs as the Lord would lead.

Places I have lived: ( I need more than 5 for this one!)
1. Seattle, WA
2. Brinnon, WA
3. Waukesha, WI
4. Baker City, OR
5. Roach, MO
6. Chiang Mai, Thailand

Jobs I have had:
1. Ballet teacher
2. Restaurant worker/manager
3. Secretary for a computer consulting firm. (totally incongruous for my knowledge base, but fun. )
4. School Board member
5. Mom
6. Missionary

I am supposed to tag some others, and do not know many people to tag, but of course there is Kathy, how about you Sandy?

Yesterday Leah and I went down to the market shopping for supplies for our upcoming field conference.
As we were shopping, we passed an ice cream vendor with a most creative sales pitch.

” Ice cream! Ice cream! Ugly people eat free, pretty people 10 Baht! ”

I am sure he has the most lovely customers.

How wonderful friends are aren’t they?
We were sooo pleased to have an old friend from home stop by to visit us last weekend.

Sierra Boone, whom we first met when she was probably 7 or 8 and Leah was just 3, came to visit us in Chiang Mai this past weekend with a friend of hers.

We loved seeing her! It was great to be able to talk about shared memories, catch up on mutual friends, and to visit with her about her life and where she sees the Lord leading her when she gets back from her Asian adventure.

Sierra, thank you so much for taking the time to come and visit, it meant a lot to us, you are welcome back any time!

The guest room is now available for anyone else who wants to come!

This week is a themed edition of Works-For-Me-Wednesday — Your Organized Kitchen!
Hopefully this is not an oxymoron as it usually is at my house.

Don’t get me wrong, I love an organized kitchen. I cook food and bake treats so much more efficiently when the kitchen is cleaned up and put away. Unfortunately that is not always the way it is.
Case in point, on my counter as I type, I can see swim goggles, a pair of socks (clean ones!), sunscreen, a Popular Science magazine, recycling waiting to be put in the receptacle, my Thai Sunday School book I need to be studying, and of course a variety of dishes that somehow will not move themselves to the sink.

So I am looking for some great ideas from all of you!

As for what works for me, one of the best things I have done for kitchen organization and appropriation of child participation is something I already posted about here. Basically it is moving dishes down to a level where the kids can be responsible for putting them away and getting them out without the help of Mom, Dad, a chair, the counter or the dust-pan. (oops mom, dropped one!).

Living in the Northern US, I used to love having my garbage under the kitchen sink. Soooo convenient for tossing food scraps or other wet garbage. Unfortunately, we cannot do that here or we would be overrun with cockroaches. So it lives beside the stove. Not the best arrangement, but better than opening cupboard doors to a host of new ‘neighbors’.

We do happen to have clear glass cupboard door on our uppers here, and that has dramatically increased my desire to keep those cupboards organized and tidy. I guess that tip only helps if you are wanting to remodel as well as organize your kitchen.

I have also found that small, dollar store style baskets are wonderful for corralling the small items in the kitchen drawers, so you do not have to hunt them down. I have my measuring cups and spoons in a basket, food colorings and flavorings in one, seasoning packets and spices in one, and of course the kitchen junk drawer has several. They are clear identifiers of where things go, and you can pull the whole thing out if you need it for easy access and replacement.

My last, and probably already known by you tip for kitchen organization is to keep the counters clear. Large bulky appliances, unless used every day should live somewhere other than your counter. There is something about clean, open spaces that makes the kitchen feel organized and ready for use.

Looking forward to seeing your suggestions, so I’ll meet you at Shannon’s.