puppies at 1 month

brotherly affection

with curt & janna

blue (our favorite)

bathtime

still being weaned

what we've been doing

here are a few highlights from our time in blogger blackout:

1. travelling.
we had a "business trip" which was just that. we went to a few places to work on new languages & get aquainted with the people we serve in the area. one leg of the trip went like this:

we got in an airplane.
we were driven to the hotel.
we had meetings, ate ,& slept in the hotel.
we were driven to the airport.
we flew back to thailand.

thankfully, the meeting was full of really neat people, & we got to hear what God is doing in their country... at least when they were speaking english.

2. riding elephants
we went with josh (he works in our office) and his girlfriend, kim (who came to visit), on a little trek similar to the one i went on with my cousin. It was fun to have Mike along this time :).

3. raising puppies
the puppies are getting cute & huge... actually we have our friends, curt & janna (who are staying with us) to thank for having socialized the little guys & feeding them so much that they are square. they will be ready for their new homes in just a couple weeks... 7 of the 9 have been claimed... one of them by an American flautist we met at a Celtic music concert on St. Patty's Day! The rest will most likely learn Thai like their mother.


4. running races & climbing rocks
boy, am i sore! our friends, curt & janna, are not only professional puppy-raisers, but also personal trainers in disguise... since their arrival, we've run a 5k to benefit burmese refugees & done quite a bit of climbing in the area... mike & curt are also doing some kind of navy seal workout in the backyard that makes me tired just watching. janna & i prefer to stay cool doing water aerobics at a neighborhood pool or doing yoga inside under the ceiling fans.

occupational hazard

as you may know, part of our job involves dubbing a documentary into new languages... we take this amazing portable recording equipment all around the world to make authentic & accurate recordings. sometimes our work has taken us to exotic locations with exotic landscapes, people, food, and tap water. from time to time, people comment on the dangers involved in this line of work.

little did any of us know, however, that we never had to leave our training studio in orlando to incur serious bodily harm....

while reading aloud from Bill Bryson's Notes from a Big Country* last night, we were enlightened:

"According to the latest Statistical Abstract of the United States... More people were injured by sound-recording equipment (46,022) than by skateboards (44,068), trampolines (43,655), or even razors or razorblades (43,365)... even chainsaws claimed a relatively modest 38,692 victims."

note that these injuries were those "severe enough to warrant a trip to an emergency room."

and before you nurturing types begin to suggest another line of work, consider this as you drift off to sleep tonight:

"Every year more than 400,000 Americans suffer injuries involving beds, matresses, or pillows."

*a fantastic read, by the way, for anyone with a curiosity about, love for, or address in America... anyone with a pulse, really. We've especially enjoyed reading it while away from "home".

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