new mailing address

Please note that, due to our move, we will no longer be able to receive mail in Chiang Mai.

Contact us if you would like to receive our summer mailing address in Orlando... our phone number will remain the same for now.

We will not be able to receive your mail at the new address until late May when we return to Orlando, but due to the slow & irregular mail service here, it will be unlikely that we would receive any mail sent to us here from the States at this point.

Thanks so much for your prayers & warm encouragement during this transition time!

predictions, etc...

"i will tell you right now, it's a boy... i have 50% accuracy."
-OBGYN in Bangkok (trying to be a comedian after we told him we did NOT want to know)

"girl."
-2 thai girlfriends

"I think it's a boy you've got in there!!! ...boys kick harder and earlier than girls do."
-kristine in CA

"it may be hard to avoid 'the area'... but i will keep my word and not tell you."
-Ultrasound reader in Chiang Mai

we really don't want to know, but it's still fun to guess!
what do you think baby B will be? i know there are some experts out there....

five months

So this is Caryn at 5 months. I know what you are thinking, it is the same thing everyone here is saying..."she doesn't even look pregnant!" She is though. The proof is inside...this baby is active and is destined for the World Cup! Not sure what Caryn thinks about it...but she is so pretty pregnant that we may have to have at least one more...

adventures.... elsewhere

So, you may have heard by now that we are heading back to the States this summer! Though we originally were going back in November, we decided that transitioning back before baby B came would be all around better timing... we appreciate your prayers as we (& HR) make decisions on what we will do next!

All that's left to do now (after we sell, give away, & pack up our "Thai" life) is to find a new name for the blog... any suggestions?

The winner gets their picture posted.

halfway there...

at 20 weeks, the baby is officially "half-baked"....
we just got back from the doc's where we saw Baby B floating around on the ultrasound screen sucking in amniotic fluid through its little lips & wiggling tiny fingers... B would not hold still for the camera, but was otherwise very well-behaved & growing right on schedule (though mom needs to gain some more weight).
in light of this, we celebrated with caryn's favorite mexican food... hope the baby likes it spicy.
hopefully we can figure out a way to share the ultrasound pics with you sometime soon.

the dean's watch

i was so delighted to see a couple of elizabeth goudge books in the guesthouse library last month, as they are hard to find... many of them out of print...
i had read the scent of water some years ago at the suggestion of a friend, so i decided to crack open the dean's watch. goudge did not disappoint, introducing me to lovely people who were imperfect, struggling, yet made me want to be a better person... loving people better & living in each moment for better reasons.

heading back...

above is a resent satelite picture of Northern Thailand.
from space, you see large grey areas... where the land continues to be burned.
we've heard all kinds of interesting reasons why this happens... everything from spiritual beliefs that it causes prosperity for the next crop, to animal poachers, to people growing mushrooms that only thrive on a burnt forest floor. not to mention that the common way of getting rid of trash (everything from leaves to rubber tires) is to put it in a big pile & burn it.

though air quality levels in Chiang Mai are still not ideal, they have tapered off a bit... so we are leaving our little haven at The Pines for Bangkok tomorrow & heading back to Chiang Mai by the end of the week... we will reclaim our dog (the Haleys are getting out of town for vacation), pay our bills, and pray that the air quality will continue to prove.

here's a bit of encouraging news...
Chiang Mai exits disaster zone
Chiang Mai Governor Wichai Srikwan Friday removed the "disaster-zone" label from his province in a move that looks set to revive local tourism and relieve local people's worry. The move was now possible given the fact that the haze already stopped hovering over this northern province. In the face of smog crisis, Chiang Mai was among the northern provinces being declared "disaster zone" earlier this month. "We hope to relieve the worry of Chiang Mai residents and boost tourism in the run up to Songkran Festival," Wichai said. The festival will begin on April 13.

The Nation http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30030090

still waiting...

we are still down south waiting to see if the improvement in air quality over the last couple of days will last... particulate count (amount of bad stuff in the air) has already risen since a sharp dip that followed unseasonal rain 2 days ago. authorities say burning (and the bad air it brings) could begin again at any time. we just spoke to a pollution-sensitive friend in CM who said it was great yesterday, but woke up this morning with a sore throat & runny nose again.

we continue to hear interesting reports of how they are trying to clean the air... the latest & greatest was to load a fire truck (in its entirety) onto a large military airplane from which it sprayed water onto the city.

in the meantime, we are working from a WI-FIed beach near Hua Hin, catching up on Veggie Tales (Sumos of the Opera gets 2 enthusiastic thumbs up), eating lots of good food, reading, & feeling baby B poke around a bit... very fun!

some people have enquired as to how Ginger is getting on without us... our friends, the Haleys (well mostly their son, Gabe, pictured), have stepped in to care for her in our absence... Mike was a little sad to see this pic -- whenever he tries to lay on Ginger this way, she looks very sad & makes a strange noise.
by the way, one of her puppies, Cebu, just had 9 puppies (3 months after running away from her owner & finding a home among the strays of a Thai park for a week or so)... maybe we'll have pictures later.

temporary home

over the weekend air quality in the North improved slightly, only to deteriorate again as officials are unable to control the burning. http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/19Mar2007_news04.php


we've found a missionary guesthouse (out of the smog) to stay at until the air goes back to a less unhealthy quality... it's a bit rustic (no flushing toilets), but very peaceful & we can work from here (there IS internet)... we're just thankful for something affordable & available!
here's where we are until it's safe to breathe in chiang mai:
http://www.thailandhavens.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=29

in case you are interested, below is an excerpt from the latest message from the US Embassy regarding the air quality crisis:

Warden Message

March 15, 2007

This message alerts American citizens living in or visiting northern Thailand to the need to take appropriate health-related precautions due to the unhealthful air quality northern Thailand is currently experiencing. Air quality experts report that excessive trash burning, brush clearing, forest fires and other factors have resulted in severe air contamination in the areas surrounding Chiang Mai. According to the Pollution Control Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, air pollution levels in Chiang Mai have exceeded the maximum acceptable level since the beginning of March. On March 14, the level of particulate matter in the air exceeded the “emergency” level. Measurements at or near the “emergency” level are expected for at least the next several days.

Day-by-day particulate matter (PM 10) and air quality statistics are available in English on the Pollution Control Department website at http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/Default.cfm and at the consulate’s website, http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/consulcm/index.htm.

American Citizen Services (ACS)
U.S. Embassy Bangkok
95 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

clearing the air

i was shocked to see a story on chiang mai air quality on cnn this morning, so this might not be news to you, but all of the north of thailand is going through a smog "crisis" brought on by a number of factors... making it unhealthy to breathe there. people are being advised to stay indoors & wear masks. levels of harmful particulates in the air are anywhere up to or well above 300 (160 is considered dangerous by most standards), depending on the source.

thankfully (i guess, for us) we returned to bangkok this week, after being out of the country for work, to reports of the deteriorating air quality & the interesting attempts to improve the situation -- anything from blowing water into the air to increase humidity & seeding the clouds for rain to telling the outdoor bbq-ers to stop cooking for a while. the government has actually called for people to start the thai water-throwing festival, sonkran, 2 weeks early in order to help. there has been little improvement, as chiang mai is in a valley (where pollution settles, accumulates, and worsens) & nothing but lots of good, constant rain (not usually predicted until may or june) will clear things out.

in my delicate situation, mike has decided to keep me in bangkok & out of the "garbage air" up north, while he goes back to get some work stuff done & gather a few things so we can work from down south until things hopefully clear (can you imagine going to bangkok for "fresh" air???). he'll be back in a day, and we'll travel to a guesthouse and pray for rain.

for more info, here's couple of articles...
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.news.php?clid=2&id=30029266
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.news.php?clid=3&id=30029309
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070313/sc_afp/thailandenvironment_070313105934

Some U.S. based Air Quality listings….
http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.fcsummary
Thailand's...
http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/Default.cfm

baby pics

Sorry we have no actual pics of Baby Bazemore to show you, but we went to the doctor a couple days ago for a test, & they did an ultrasound unexpectedly (which is fine bc it only costs about $12 here :)…

The baby looks great… about 8 cm long (normal for 12 weeks), heart beating, good looking face, & plenty of amniotic fluid! Yay!

here's what an ultrasound looks like at 12 weeks.... (Baby B is a little fatter :)
http://z.about.com/d/pregnancy/1/0/-/C/05us12a.jpg

here's what the fancy 3-D pics look like that you can get done in the States now... (has anyone actually had one done?)
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/SFL/images/12weeks001.jpg


i thought it would be fun to ask for suggestions for baby names... we're especially stumped on girls' names (the sex will be a surprise!). ideas??

fishing in Thailand

A picture of Mekong catfish with Mike's dad, Bill, during his visit to chiang Mai last month.

Mike with his hard-earned catch.

In case you haven't heard...

for interesting details on the progress of our little one, see our calendar

(you may need to go to the current month).

earthquake

12.12.06

05:02:30 PM UTC

location Thailand ( 18.91N, 98.93E )
magnitude 4.7

depth 5 miles

first earthquake for both of us... happened maybe 20 miles north of us in a town called "Mae Rim".... shook the house a bit, but nothing too exciting (not that we were not alarmed)! just something about the earth beneath you moving... i'd prefer hurricanes.

useless info

this is probably not why you read our blog...but it's so much fun giving out useless info about myself & i'm not feeling particularly inspired otherwise lately....

1. Where were you 1 hour ago?upstairs reading the end of jane eyre... why did no one tell me it was so depressing & so good! (trying to stay off my sprained ankle & get rid of a sore throat)...
2. Who will be your next kiss?mike
3. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?Yes, my cell phone & my house slippers
4. Are you wearing socks right now?no
5. When was the last time you went out of town?last weekend to chiang doa for our 4th anniversary!
6. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?No
7. What was the last thing you had to drink?blueberry, pineapple & banana strawberry smoothie
8. What are you wearing right now?cargo pants & a black shirt
9. Have you been in a car wash in the past week?No
10. Last food you ate?tom yum ramen
11. Where were you last week on Saturday?eating yummy food at chiang dao nest
12. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?does an ankle brace count?
13. When is the last time you ran? as in exercise?
14. Whats your favorite Color?dark brown
15. What is your favorite age you have been?30
16. Your dream vacation spot? anywhere quiet with mike &/or another good friend
17.What color is your carpet? wood
18. How old are your parents? i think they'll appreciate my silence on this
20. Do you miss anyone?of course!
21. Last play you saw? "Doc's Holiday" (school play).. before that, phantom in Orlando
22. What are your plans for tomorrow?pack up my house
23. What is to the right of You? a library copy of jane eyre, my 2006 calendar, & a dining room chair that no longer belongs to me
24. Ever go to camp? not really... i was a counselor once for a week in college
25. Are you an honor roll student in school? i was
26. What do you want to know about the future?what i will be doing in a year... but not really
27. Are you hungry?a little
28. Where is your best friend located?mostly in the US
29. Do you have a tan? was born this way... not very, though
30. How old do you want to be when you have kids? ?
31. Do you collect anything? stuff to make stuff with... sometimes i actually do
32. Last time you got stopped by a cop? summer of 2000, lake tahoe
33. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? whenever i can
34.Do you have any chores? ha!
35. Do you like hot sauce? yep
36. Last time you took a shower?last night
37. Who do you have a crush on?my husband when he's doing outdoor things
38. What is your mood? a little melancholoy after jane
39. Are you someone's best friend?hope so :)
40. What's the last book you read? jane eyre, charlotte bronte
Oh and as an extra:41. song currently stuck in your head?none, thankfully