old weather continues UNABATED
millions in thailand reach for - gulp! - socks

Oh glorious day! I checked the BBC weather site and it says that tomorrow's high is a mere 23' celsius. Joy! And the low is an incredibly frigid 17'. Bliss! Today I actually wore my fleece vest while internet couch-potatoing and I have it on again now at 11:18 pm. Even Ji said he was cold and wanted a scarf on over his t-shirt. And he wore jeans today. Full length, full leg jeans. I am delighted to report that neither of us has sweated even the tiniest bit today. I have decided that this indeed is the ultimate weather for me. It is cool enough to feel chilly but not cold enough to necessitate a sweater or to get cold feet. That's what I'm really looking for in a country. Here's my home-land personals ad:

Cold blooded girl with no blood pressure who loves heat but dislikes sweating and hates dry skin, chapped lips, bleeding knuckles, and flat hair, seeks warm blooded country, 17-25' C year round, with extended autumn season. Candidates please write to fixed address and include a photograph of your landscape's best feature.

In other news of global importance I CLEANED THE FRIDGE TODAY. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I swabbed out the shelves. I even soaked them and then rubbed them down with Windex. I got rid of the following:

- one bowl of saag paneer from our party two weeks ago
- one packet of tuna that Emma brought in January 2005
- one half-sucked candy ring embedded in an egg cup
- one tablespoon of butter from July
- one bowl of fish salad from last week
- a packet of two oreos that had been scotch-taped shut
- a bag of dessicated garlic (meant to be fresh, not dried out)
- a tub of cream cheese Aunt Cathie brought in September

And SO much more! I must remember to undertake this activity of a more frequent basis than, uh, annually. I even got rid of the dead ant corpses that had littered shelf #2 since October. Why were there ant corpses in the fridge, I hear you ask. Well, here in the tropics, the ants will discover anything sweet in a matter of seconds if the sweet thing is left outside of the fridge or is not encased in industrial strength, sealed plastic. When the ants got into my cereal box, I just popped the box into the fridge and waited until they had all tried to escape the cereal box but then (mwah ha ha ha ha) perished in the cold mere centimetres away from the box. Then, I got my cereal out and ate it up. Easy peasy. I just couldn't quite be bothered to get rid of the ants afterwards. I left their bodies out as warnings, just as the King of England left Cromwell's remains to rot outside the tower of London as a warning to any other would-be rebels. We will not stand for subterfuge and sabotage!

After I cleaned the fridge I headed up to school with Ji. They're in the process of building new classrooms for the P4 and P5 classes. On the good side, the new classrooms are bigger. On the bad side, I'm not sure how "sturdy" they will be given that they've been put up in 2 weeks. And I'll miss my wood floors. But, so be it. They're also building a new library room and a science room, so that'll be sweet. It was nice to see my kids in chilled-out mode. About half the class is in over the holidays for extra studying. Gawd. They are so crazy hard working. But it seems like fun. They get to wear their regular clothes and they're super adorable. One of my boys was geared up in jeans, a black t-shirt, a black cap (never worn during regular school), and was carrying around a car magazine. He's eleven and a complete doll. So cute.

This evening we headed over to have dinner with Phet's boss and his lovely wife. They have a condo in a primo location downtown and it is beautifully decorated. The highlight of the evening was the incredible TURKEY feast that Denise prepared. It was insanely delicious. I had an enormous plate full of white and dark meat, crispy skin, roasted potatoes, salad, carrots and even brussels sprouts and I ate it in about 6.5 minutes and went back for seconds. Ji was hanging out with some Danish buddies and so I stuffed him full of turkey while they watched Madagascar, and he polished off about a quarter of the bird himself. Kudos to the chef!

Oh, and one last thing for tonight: yesterday I was with Ji in the bathroom and I asked him how he had learned to put his socks on so effectively. He leaned very close to me and stage-whispered in a fake English accent, "Taaaalents from amaaaaazing caaaaats." [Bangkok-21-December-2005]