happy mother's day in thailand!

this week has been a wonderful, restful week at home in bangkok. we had three days off of school this week for the mother's day holiday (Happy Mother's Day, MOm!), we're back to school tomorrow. i hemmed and hawed about going somewhere for the five-day break, but decided to stay in town and see some sights. i saw a lot of the malls (free air con!), i saw a movie (Bourne Ultimatum... the second one was better), i got a one-cup COFFEE MAKER for my apt (score!!), bought an external hard drive, saw the gym several times, saw an awesome band called Futon (and made friends with them, they're SWEET!), made some new thai friends, and finally (finally) went to the Grand Palace (it was really hot and hugely beautiful)... not too shabby! i messed with my sleep schedule so much that i'm giving myself a bed time tonight. 11 pm. i'm firm on this because i stayed up until 3 am the other nights. RiDICulous! i had to peel myself out of bed three times this morning... and ended up going back for "another half hour"... made it to the gym by noon... not too bad. i'm pumping, like, 180 at the gym these days... you won't even recognize me when i get back to MN. kidding. they have an awesome training staff that keeps us all in tune with a good program and i'm no longer afraid of the weights/machines... but still get weirded out by the huge weightlifter guys (they make the STRANGest noises when they Pump Iron. *shiver*)

i'm really looking forward to all the visits from various friends and family over the next six months. mom comes first and i'm beaming with joy! i can't WAIT!

this coming weekend i will attend the Gwen Stefani show with some friends/collegues!!! i'm so pumped! we went and had shirts made... one letter each to spell BANANAS. (refers to one of her songs). she's an old favorite of mine from the days of No Doubt, so i'm excited to see her live again (for the fourth time!!)... this will be the first time i've seen her solo act. i'll have a full report of costume and set changes. she's so cool. i should figure out how to get backstage! *yea, put that on the to-do list!*

still praying for everyone at home. it makes me feel more and more relieved with every body and vehicle removed from the river. bless you all!! did you see that a bridge collapsed in china and another one somewhere else prior to mpls collapse?? seems a little strange to me. somethings not right there....

much love. enjoy the day!