bethany725

Thanks!!

I'm not opposed to try it out a bit more "lighter," at all.. just a bit nervous, t'is all I am sure I will be just fine.. I was worried about all of the other travels before, and I got through those unscathed Thanks for your encouragement!

Not long now until your mom is there then.. Let me know before her visit, and I'll keep an eye out for pics and all that!

That is SO neat that she's getting to travel so young.. Those things are experiences that people take through them all through the rest of their life, and it can really make an impact. Traveling is such a blessing.. It really lets you see the world from a different perspective, and it's wonderful that your daughter is getting to start so young; these experiences can really help shape her!

Hey no worries.. Everyone but me calls him "Raj" anyway, so I didn't even notice that you'd said it!

The NGO I'm working for is called "CHIP," which stands for Supporting Children in Pain. It basically adopts schools in the area and works to better the existing infrastructure through provision of sanitation, installing running water, cleaning the school grounds, remedial classes / special programs, and creating education standards. The school they work with most closely is a school for 1st-4th grades, but CHIP has now created a kindergarten program as well. I do a lot of the PR and Community Communications work, and we're currently working on putting together a charity function to fundraise. It's a great experience, and I love that I can work sort of when I want, how much I want, and it can be flexible around our schedule. I've been pretty busy with it lately, though!

Were you the one that is studying Psychology in school? I can't remember if that was you or someone else. If not, what ARE you studying, and how far through the program are you?

Things are good here.. Mom's visit just finished up, so I'm catching up with friends here before Raja's family comes in Saturday night. Then it's Round II of sight-seeing! Haha.. I'm going from Mom who pretty much eats meat with every meal, to Raja's mom, who is a vegetarian. Seeking out these dining places for guests is quite the feat!

How are things with you?

This sounds great! Thanks for the info.. I'm going to sign up for this right now. I can't believe the predictor has never been wrong for you -- What a cool little tool they have!

Hilarious that it told you you'd hate "Eat Pray Love" by the way.. dear goodness, if only I'd had that prediction before I started it

Thanks again for taking the time to send this to me!

Totally American here.. Born in Alabama, and lived there until I was 25 and was married. Husband is from Alabama also.

As for HK, we LOVE it here. If this place was in the States, we'd probably settle down here for a long while. There's tons to do, it's really nice here, there are mountains and beaches, and people are nice. Plus the Asia market is hot right now in the finance sector, so business is thriving and the economy is still growing, despite the hard time globally.

If you ever get the chance to come to HK to work, do it! What kind of work do you do, by the way?

Weekend over here! We went out hard Friday night, so spent the next day pretty much useless.. and today just doing all the usual Sunday errands: grocery shopping, washing clothes, etc. We're trying to spend as much time as possible relaxing and hanging out w/friends before my mom arrives in 2 weeks -- She'll be here three weeks, so we'll be go-go-go then!

How was your weekend? Anything fun going on?

Well. I was slightly off, but close enough, since the book has pictures!

What? You need security people?

What a serious task lies ahead of you!

Good luck! ;)

Why, thank you!

I finally found one I like enough to keep for a while... These avatars were stressing me out!

What are you reading right now ? (I know I know.. I should look on your profile.. but I can't right now b/c I'm typing this message!

WOW! Your brother is engaged to an Indian girl? She's not in India though, right? That is going to be one interesting wedding.. these half something / half Indian weddings are NEVER boring..

I'll be honest and say that I was miserable in India for the first month probably. You are right -- It is TOTALLY different, and its really hard to adjust to. I was used to nice big, wide roads with lanes.. pretty buildings surrounded by grass or even clean concrete... I moved to India and got a lot of calls to prayer, people hawking useless wares at every intersection, potholes and a lack of lanes in the roads, and beggars grabbing my arm everywhere I went. DEFINITELY hated it at first.

Yeah.. If he was here 2 years and he still hated it, he may have just been too into comparing it to back home. I was told the easiest way to adjust is to NOT compare it to what you're used to, or most parts of Asia will fall short. It's hard to not think "It was soo much easier to do ________ back home," but it really does help a lot.

How come some of the places in Asia have an ethics system that makes it difficult for your OH to go? Excuse my ignorance

Yes yes! We are back, mostly settled, and it's back to reading and BCF for me while Raja watches sports.. just like how we left it.

Things are good.. New apartment, new furniture, new(ish) city.. now just need a job and new friends!

You are still doing your internship yes? A few more months left, right? And how's BF? (Look at my discretion.. I'm the best secret keeper EVER!)

xoxo .. yeeeeeeey!! ii again!

Yes, I'm super ready to go.. and Mom booked her flight today; shell be visiting from June 3 - June 24th! YEY! I think we'll be packing Tues and Wed and then be on our way.. so excited.

It sounds like your weekend has been pretty busy -- Are you finding that less internet time has helped you get more accomplished?

Hockey, hockey, hockey.. always hockey w/you .

Yes! Busy weekend! We are handbag and watch hunting for me.. It's a very tiring search!

Sorry I missed you.. You have to go so quickly. I should get out and about too and start doing something. I've been writing my bound-to-be not-so-popular review of TTTW instead of doing something productive on a pretty day.

The ceiling is back in order.. Although the superintendent was none too pleased with Raja's doings.

Yes.. Hong Kong HAS to be easier than India.. I love it here, but it DEFINITELY presented a lot of challenges initially. I'm really excited.. We're thrilled! Thanks for your well wishes. And who knows.... you may end up w/some crazy reason to visit Hong Kong. Then martiniiiiis!!

Have a great day.. Good luck with your exam! And yummy.. chicken tortillas and pink champagne!! Have a wonderful time w/your friend

Yes.. It IS scary! My mentality is apparently very powerful when in self-preservation mode.

Oh I've heard about this chopping wood sans shirt thing.. You like to drag up chairs and make it a spectator event. I wonder if your BF would think I was strange if I brought my chair over, too. I can watch while practicing saying his name over and over.. because THAT wouldn't seem like I was crazy.

You ARE having a crazy schedule.. You were out and about for almost longer than I was awake yesterday

The hunt continues.. it's going to be a long search, I think. I need to find the perfect things, and that means having patience. Today is swimsuit shopping today, which is a bit less disconcerting as they don't cost as much and I'll just buy a new one next year.

I hope you have a good day today, despite the craziness.. Sometimes the busiest days are the best ones, though

xoxo

You are so right.. It would NEVER make it to me. Thanks for the offer, anyway!

I'm going to keep my eyes open.. It's on my list and I really want to see if I can find it here, so I'll keep looking.

Will let you know once I find it!

You could be right -- I can't stand being miserable, and if I can do anything to make myself not miserable, I'll be doing it. India was probably just that.

That's fine.. you can be all "No. Let's not stay here. Let's not enjoy the summer. Let's not hang out with anyone at the summer place." That seems effective, no?? Haha.. the "view" is good.. only you!

You're right -- I'm on the Faber thread. I've never read any of his works -- I'm adding the crimson petal one to my list, and when I get back tonight, I'll look up the courage one.. Thanks for the tip

What kind of work do you do with adults with LDs? My mom teaches pre-school at a classroom focusing on children with special needs - autism, W-P, that sort of thing.

Originally, my husband and I are both from Alabama.. We definitely won't be going back to Alabama when we're done rotating because there's not that many jobs there that fit what he does, but we may end up back in the States. We'll see..

Absolutely on the music.. as we get drunker, we can even wail along.

Absolutely! I was going to do the same thing but you beat me to it

Ah ha! Didn't know that about it being about the childrens' lives.. I'm still learning about the sequels and things . Thanks for the info.. Hopefully I'll get my hands on The Good Wives soon!

Apparently we're taking it easy today, as husband is still snoozing away here.. Nah, we need a break.. I don't have regular working hours so I can nap and catch up during the days, but Thursday night signals the start of the weekend for us, so he's exhausted from working all day Friday, then doing it all again Friday night. I hope to get some reading done, also! Then tonight we'll go out and do something with friends.. just not sure what yet.