the lion, the witch, & the painted room

sorry to keep you waiting, but i don't have pics yet of the room we finished painting... because we finally saw narnia last night!!! it just came out in thailand & we went to see it on opening night with some friends here... wow! i was really moved by several scenes.. by their faithfulness to the original book and the Book which inspired it...

here's a really neat quote from C.S. Lewis in answer to a question from a young reader about another Narnia book, The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader' (1952), when Aslan tells Lucy he is known in her world by "another name". Lewis replied:

"As to Aslan's other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who (1) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2) Said he was the son of the Great Emperor. (3) Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4) Came to life again....Don't you really know His name in this world?" (in C.S. Lewis: Letters to Children, 1996).

mike & i agreed that the film really brought this to life... what do you think? for more interesting factoids about the books that inspired the film, go to:http://movieguide.org/index.php?s=articles&id=80

as for our painted room... it's about this color... i hope to get pics up soon!

More Pics & Answers to your questions, Sandy....

mike's mom is about the best question-asker i know... i thought some others would like to know the answers, so here they are.. our answers in red.

are you going to keep/buy the sofa and chair? yes
table and chairs? yes

looks like a new frig ... I assume you'll take that... sadly, no. it's one of like 3 normal-sized refridgerators in thailand & it's already been sold to the haahr's language teacher, who made a special request for it... wait till you see ours, though -- it's a turquoise cutie!

the bedroom pictured ... is that your room? not our room -- it's the guest room (hint, hint)

What's on the floor and why kind of rug did you buy? we're getting rid of all the large, unwashable rugs -- they just collect dust here & we have no vaccuum... we just have a few small cheapies.

Are the kitchen cabinets as nice as they look? They look like cherry... not really, but they do grow some sort of algae as a bonus from the floods this summer!

I like the grill work on the windows ... is it because it's a rowdy neighborhood or do they just do their windows like that? our neighborhood seems pretty safe & quiet, but it's really common -- sort of decorative "security", though they do unscrew from the outside.

The sliding doors you see on the front view of the house ... what do those go into? the front yard area... & mike just got a cool hammock to go in it!!
How long had the Haahr's been in the house? about a year or 2... the hanovers lived here, too, at one point... it's a big place & ready for guests!

Christmas & Home Improvements

We had fun celebrating with friends & our coworkers here... it's a lot like Christmas in the States... only hotter & with less sugar.
As a gift to ourselves, we are painting the main room in our place... here's a "before" pic... come back later to see the results!

no longer homeless....

We've found a place to live! Some friends of ours who have been living here are moving to India, so we are taking over their rental home.... it works out great for us because it's all set up for "farangs" (that's us -- what the Thais call foreigners) to live in... hot water in the showers, ceiling fans and even a/c in 2 rooms!

off to thailand

after much help packing from friends & family, a long drive through pennsylvania, ohio, st. louis, colorado springs, & a quick flight to la, we took a rather long flight over the big pond, and have arrived in chiang mai! (yes, i am on a real buffalo here.)