Toilet Paper is GOLD

It's unbelievably beautiful here. We spent yesterday at the beach after church, and even in the shade, we burned. We didn't care. I'm going back today, just to read, fully clothed, but it sure beats reading inside.

There were wasps building a mud nest under our towels that were drying on our porch. Derek went out and got the towels, and killed one with a bottle. He said it was a shame...apparently, they're "pretty." I hid in the room and watched from the window. Call me a coward, but I'm alive!

There's also a GINORMOUS spider living in the Thai Totes building. Gai wouldn't kill it because of some mumbo-jumbo about the "circle of life." Whatever. That thing was the size of my hand, and brown and fuzzy. The worst part was that I was sitting next to it for half an hour before I moved a few bags and discovered it on the wall. I thought, for some reason, that it was fake, because in my mind, there is no such thing as a spider that big in real life (outside of the rain forest, as we have learned). It's still there. Eww.

Last night, we had spaghetti and ice cream and french fries...mmm, home-cooked food and sugar! We watched an incredible clip about Burma. We were both blown away at the atrocities the people there continue to suffer. Burma is never in the news, but still maintains the third most brutal dictatorship in the world. Many of the Burmese are Christians, and they are hiding out in the jungles to avoid the government military. It's an unbelieveable tragedy. Please pray for the people and their country.

It's not a good idea to eat something with a TON of cheese in it when you haven't had dairy in almost two months. Let's just say missing half of the church sermen to spend time in the bathroom with the ant colony, without any toilet paper, was better than the alternative. Toilet paper should be treated like gold, because it is...hoard it!

Kim took us out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate a successful seminar. We had 50 teachers and mothers over to hear teaching on Positive Discipline for Children. The seminar was led by two Thai teachers who got their PhD's in America. They teach 101 principles that the people traditionally believe will not work in Thailand (no spanking, positive reinforcement, etc), but they have implemented the program here and have proven that it works. While the seminar was going on, I babysat two little girls for mothers downstairs. One mother gave me a little pink elephant satchel to thank me for helping. They watched cartoons and colored most of the time, but it was a long day, so Gai and I took turns. By the way, Felix the Cat is a demonic show, and it's even scarier in Thai...especially if you're watching it for 5 hours!

Our parents will be here on Wednesday, and we are getting so excited for their arrival!