9/11

I haven't been in the states since 9/11 first took place, so I haven't really had the reminders leading up to the day. Now that I'm in the states, I'm seeing news, blogs, and special stories that bring it all to mind, and it has given me time to reflect.

I can remember the day so clearly. We were in Malaysia, and we were packing to get ready to fly back to Thailand the next morning. We had gone out to eat (we had some great Indian food in a local open market) and then split up. T went back to the hotel, and I went out with the kiddos, when T called me up to tell me what he was seeing on CNN. He told of an airliner that hit one of the towers, then he went silent for a moment. He began to describe what he was seeing: another jetliner came into view and it was headed straight for another tower. It hit, and it felt as though time just stood still. We were incredulous. With the first tower, we were theorizing that maybe something went terribly wrong with a flight. But when the second plane came into view, it was clear. This was a terrorist act. I immediately went back to the hotel, and we sat by the TV all night. Those images, sights and sounds, even half a world away, were heart wrenching. It became clear that there was pure evil in the world. We've always known it was there, but this was on national television and the world saw it as well. And for awhile, most of the world grieved with us.

Many don't know this, but the twin towers in Kuala Lampur were also threatened. For that reason, we also didn't fly for the next few days. We stayed at the hotel, and watched closely to all that unfolded before our eyes. All of the planes. The last phone calls from loved ones, saying their good-byes. The walls of pictures of missing loves ones, all in the hopes of finding them alive somewhere. We clung to the stories of rescues, of loved ones reunited against all odds.

I don't want to forget the feelings of that day. We need to make sure that those that come after us don't forget the faces and actions of evil. It's out there, and it is up to good people to stand up and do something about it.

Things I'm Re-Learning About Life in the States

There are TONS of magazines. Choose wisely.
Police are everywhere.
So are traffic cameras.
Everything costs money.
Tip.
Some places don't give change back.
One must drive. Everywhere.
One must not weave through pedestrians in Walmart parking lots. This causes them to give dirty looks.
Stop at stop signs until you roll back.
Middle school boys do not like "Snack Packs" in their lunches. Other middle schoolers laugh.
Football hurts.
Everyone moves fast. All the time.
There are very specific rules during pick up time at various school campuses. Do not break them.
Don't forget to allow for sales tax.
There are no xi tou's.
There are no taxi's.
There are abundantly more food choices. This requires restraint.
There are abundantly more music stations. Few are good.
Bookstores are grand.
So are libraries.
Bookstores and libraries smell wonderful.
I can ask intelligent questions in doctor's offices.
Doctors offer options and information.
New friends are exciting.
Old friends are comfortable.
So are Texas accents and customs, like saying "fixin'", gentlemen opening doors, and talking to strangers.

It's been a sharp learning curve, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

More Cambodia Pictures

Emily went to Cambodia with my husband, Big Dad, last February. They both came back raving about that place. Em brought her little point and shoot camera, and even though it doesn't offer a lot as far as extras, she did get some great shots. With a little photo manipulation, we think they turned out nicely. Here they are:

My Kitchen

After reading what Craver wrote about picassa and the editing you can do within it (and seeing the difference in the pictures he posted!), I went to my picassa account and started looking through my pictures. I found this picture of my kitchen in China! You have to understand we lived in a small, rural market town, and had little in terms of comfort items. This kitchen was actually one of the nicer ones around. It had concrete floors and such. We put in wires so that we could plug in a small fridge, so that I could go to market every OTHER day instead of every day. :) Milk was delivered to our door in pint sized bottles.

In the picture, there are woks imbedded in the concrete, with holes underneath for wood to heat up the woks. The tall, wooden thing in the corner is what they use to make yak butter tea. It's unique to that area. It's definitely an acquired taste!

The second picture shows my kitchen door on the left, and the door to the house on the right. My dad actually made the screen door when he was visiting. There's a smaller handle toward the bottom so that Nathaniel could open the door. The bench in the corner is one we had made while we were there, so that we could sit on the porch and look at the mountains. I think we had one of the best views on the planet! We were living at 8600 feet above sea level, and one night we were looking at the stars and noticed two "stars" moving away from each other. I ran in and looked up NASA on the computer, and found out those "stars" were actually the space shuttle moving away from the space station, and we were watching it without a telescope. It was really cool. :)

I guess coming back to the states has made me a little nostalgic about our overseas life. Of course we are reliving many things when speaking to others, so it must be natural. But these pictures bring about some fun memories.

No Duck For YOU!

You have to know what it's like living here in Taiwan. There are things that happen here that drive us westerners crazy, mainly because we are so set in our ways. One thing is traffic. It seems the laws here are viewed as "guidelines", and that includes stopping at red lights and stop signs, turning into traffic, stopping a vehicle and blocking lanes in order to run in and get a bowl of noodles. I could go on. Of course Taiwan is not the only place in the world like this, and I have to say traffic is MUCH better here than other places I've lived, but it still gets to a person occasionally.

The other thing is waiting in line. I know there are those in the states who don't do this, either, but it seems to be more common here. I tend to let it go, unless I'm in a hurry myself. But this tendency to not wait in line is what made yesterday so comical.

Enter the duck lady. A lady on a street corner who sells roasted duck. We'll call her the Duck Nazi, because much like the Seinfeld character, the Soup Nazi, she ruled her place of business. People lined up, LINED UP I said, around the corner to get her ducks. No one cut in line. No one spoke. Every one waited their turn.

Step up to the line.

Duck Nazi: "One?"
T: "One." Hands money.
DN: "Change."
T: "Thank you"
T side steps to the right to wait for his food.
T receives said food, walks away, careful not to speak to soon, a little smile of triumph on his lips.

We're still talking about it. If we get a chance to go there again before getting on a plane, I'll post pictures. You gotta see it to believe it.

The Cat is Out of the Bag

Well, I know I've been silent lately, but it's not because of a lack of extra-curricular activities. I've had my hands full lately, and not just with getting Em in college and heading back to the states for awhile. I guess the video below speaks for itself...



Thoughts?

Operation Share-a-Square complete!

A year ago, I began reading Shelly Tucker's blog. She a professional story teller AND from the great ol' state of Texas, a combination that's hard to beat.

A short time after I began to read her blog, she made an appeal to her readers. Seems there's a camp called Camp Sanguinity, and it's a camp for kids with cancer, and they were in need of blankets. Each new camper receives a blanket, and this year, Shelly decided to take on the challenge of making sure they each got one. But she didn't just see the task as providing blankets. She saw the task as a labor of love, one to let the kids know how much others are thinking of them and rooting for them. I guess you could say Shelly got me "hooked."

Her idea? To collect small, crocheted panels from all over the world and piece them together to form 140 blankets. Each panel would have a tag from the person who made it, so the child would know who was thinking and praying for them. Operation Share-a-Square had begun. I sent off a few panels, to be added to the MULTITUDE of panels Shelly collected.

Well, last week, the project ended, and Shelly delivered the blankets. I can't tell it the way she does, so you need to click this link and see for yourself.

This truly has been a labor of love. (I want to emphasize labor, so that you will go through Shelly's archives to watch the progression of the challenge!) Shelly had a vision to not only help out, but to show a little (lotta!) love along the way.

You did it Shelly, you and all of those who contributed. Thanks for being the inspiration for such a great event!