Bouncing back!

Well friends - I am back on my feet once again! :) I really was only sick for 3 days, but they weren't really fun. However, I do enjoy sleep! I am also back to eating the local flavor, as you can see for yourself. I will not be afraid!

So, I just wasn't feeling my bubbly self...but according to the office staff, I'm back!! Most of you know, I love to have fun wherever I work, meaning: no fun = not really living! So I continue to greet my staff with friendly ferver and bribe them with candy on my desk in order to get them to come into my office and chat/ask questions/sing songs! :) (they especially love to watch me through my glass door and catch me "chair dance" while singing along!). So, we're having fun. And we're doing work! I have been frantically organizing this trauma training we are hosting here in March, and strategically planning to update and organize their casework file paperwork process. And I'm managing, with the social work team, to make it possible to have a field trip to Burma to network with some organizations out there! Things are good and I'm looking forward to the next steps ahead. (Here is a view of the sunset from my office)

So some funnier observations I have made in the past 3 weeks:

1) For some reason, no one around the office likes to put the toilet paper roll in its holder...this has always been a curious phenomenen to me, although in Thailand, most people like to use water instead of paper...get the drift?! anyhoo - this habit of leaving a roll just sitting there on the toilet, on the sink, on the floor (wherever people choose to "place" it) used to irritate me beyond belief! However, it has somehow dawned on me that I enjoy it now, because I get to put it on the holder how I like it!! Fabulous! Of course, the right way is paper over, not under - no matter what anyone tries to rationalize to you! :) (and yes, I will fight you on this one all the way!) Discuss amongst yourselves.

2) Another interesting topic is plastic. Thai people like to keep things wrapped in plastic in order to have it look new...and ultimately stay new, really! Some even use newspaper....this could be appliances, furniture, odds and ends, what have you. The day it became MY reality was with my bed. I purchased a new bed (so Sally could sleep alone!) and my co-worker "B" helped me shop. She said "you must keep plastic on it - that is how Thai's do it". Ok, when in Rome, I say. Needless to say, for the past 2 weeks, I have felt like a 5 year old with an "accident" problem! And frankly, it brings back painful memories...i'm sure you remember, mom and dad? :( As of late, the plastic has come off! (Sally made me take it off - she says the sound of me moving around keeps her up at night!) (here's the infamous bed and a picture of my room/stuff, minus the bookcase) *i can't make this stuff up, i swear! i'm cracking up just writing this! :) p.s. In packages for bed linens - they don't use a top sheet, only a bottom sheet. Interesting...I find this troubling, but I conform.

3) I have found the hard way (on many occasions, for various reasons...) that Thai people don't like to use napkins when they eat, usually. And when they do, it's really just toilet paper. So I decided to buy myself papertowels - cause really, they are more multipurpose than napkins...but I digress. Well, wouldn't you know, my papertowels keep disappearing - so I think either other people enjoy them too, or they are using them for cleaning!? :) Not sure, so I bought another and it's hidden in my drawer - I'm really selfish at heart!

*one extra note* I have come to realize that massages should not be limited to the rich or as a luxury for the commonfolk - they should be had by all...and often! Especially here in Thailand where it costs less than $10 to get a shoulder, foot, and hand massage for an hour. I want to take each of my staff at some point for fun! It's really a crime in the U.S what we charge for these kinds of services(sorry Tony). I think it would really benefit people's mental health to have massages more often, to take the stress and pain and tension away. The world would really be a happier place - I'm not kidding. Just a thought to ponder.

Thanx for reading - hope that was as fun for you as it was for me! :)