first 11 of '11: 1.6.11

today was an overall great day!  it all began just before 10:40am when i roused myself awake just before the alarm went off.  i got to sleep a bit more since paul claimed the shower first.  yeah, i love when he does that for me.  the girls went to lunch at the living room cafe down in bkk and it was fabulous.  the younger girls played in the kids playroom while the older girls chatted and reflected on the holiday here.  it was a fabulous time and all of thoroughly enjoyed being together.  we had lunch and then made three stops before coming back to the house for the afternoon--the frame shop, monument toys, and the pharmacie.  i got the cool indigo dyed fabric i bought in laos sorted out for framing as well as the piece of art that our favorite cafe owner in seoul, jenny, made for us when we were there in october.  big check off the list of the last bits for now of the home decorating.  monument books/toys was to get a birthday present for the smallest girl of the bunch and both of them spent a bit of their christmas cash on crafty items too.  last stop was the pharmacie, my friend needed to stock up on some basic meds that they can get here and not get in seoul.

afternoon tea at the house with our housekeeper, ming, and her entire family.  stu made scones and they were awesome!  we visited, took pictures, and played video games.  the afternoon breezed by and soon it was time for round one of goodbyes.  ugh....they are hard no matter what the circumstance i think.  the girls were really sad to say goodbye to sreyleak.  they have had such a great time being together for the last few weeks.

we kept dinner simple by ordering in pizza.  we shared one last meal together before starting round two of goodbyes which were more gut wrenching than the first.  ming did not want to leave the girls and they surely did not want to leave her.  it was hard to watch and totally a heart breaker.  soon after the girls laid down for a nap before having to leave for the airport.  the adults sat down stairs doing one last bit of chatting before the tuk tuk crew arrive to carry our friends and all their luggage to the airport.  it was sad, hard, tough, and tearful.

paul and i again closed the night with some episodes of big bang theory to cheer up our moods and topped it off with the latest modern family.  no big plans for the weekend at this point......we just want to rest and i am sure that won't be an issue since we seem to have genetic gifts of sleeping and resting.

first 11 of '11: 1.3.11

today i slept in until 11am which was glorious.  india has been quite the snuggly cat since the beginning of the holidays.  when i woke up this morning she was sitting near my head, curled up and asleep.  so nice!  got up, gathered my clothes and took a shower.  then sheree and i made our way out the door for another trip to russian market.  i was armed with a list--lamp lady, silk lady, and mirror lady.  i bought some orange silk for cushion covers and a runner for our bedroom.  i also some to cover the new lamps.  i am so excited about the new look for our bedroom.  after the silk lady, we went to the lamp lady to give her the orange silk to cover the new lamps and give her my sketch of the korean lamp that is still in need of a lamp shade six months later.  :)  thrilled about this too.  last stop was to purchase the big mirror i had found a few days ago.  we bargained her down and i was thrilled with the final price.  i had asked her for the measurements so i could come home and make sure it would fit and look proportionate.  she wrapped it up and added hangers while sheree did some clothes shopping here and there.

the last stop before coming home was at the frame shop, but again they were closed.  not sure where they are or what the deal is, but they possibly might be on holiday.  who knows?!?!  we will try again tomorrow.  i bought some beautiful indigo blue fabric in laos that we cut into 5 one meter strips to be framed separately.  then i also have a piece of art made for us by our favorite cafe owner in seoul, jenny.

now back at home, we had lunch of cheese toasty sandwiches, fresh mango and bananas, and some leftover roasted veg from last night's dinner.  so good.  i think it might be time for a nap and some reading.  i love the holidays.

paul and i had dinner out together at tell restaurant.  we chose the cheese fondue and beef fondue.  it was quite tasty and we were happy with our selection.  it was nice to have dinner with him and be able to catch up and just be together.  we ordered vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert.  yum!

made a short stop at bayon for beverages and other needs before coming home to watch some tv.  we chose to watch some more big bang theory which is hilarious.  we have decided that season 2 episode 11 is the BEST show to date.  we laughed until we were crying.......great fun!