2013 resolutions

I should pay attention more often to the unspoken lessons i can learn from my children.....

I don't have any resolutions to start tomorrow because I decided to take a new approach and begin them in September this year. Jason and I are always encouraging our children to be the best that they can be in every aspect of life. Then it "clicked" I could be the best me without the fireworks at midnight telling me I could begin.

I am still working hard on my resolutions and this new approach has taken the pressure off of starting 2013....especially when I am in a country where the time zone puts those fireworks up in the sky to signal the start of the new year ahead of the my family and friends around the world.

So I think I'll take some more lessons from Karina and Cooper on ringing in the new year....and just have fun, laugh as much as possible, stop long enough to catch bugs and hermit crabs, get a new hairdo, and maybe I'll take one lesson from this dog I saw on the beach yesterday....just relax!

Elephant

 Not sure if it was Cooper or me that was the most excited to have the elephant's trunk search us for bananas. It was NOT Karina as she stood 3 trunks back.

Right here....

A New year is coming in a few days...but Heck... I think I'm just dandy right now, right this minute and right in this spot. I may not leap into 2013, I may just keep leaping into this ocean RIGHT HERE in Thailand and never leave. Yes, it is that spectacular and the people are so warm and generous. I think the people are what I love most about Thailand.

And yes...even RIGHT HERE in Thailand, the sunset and moonrise remind me that this world is the same in many ways....

Thailand heaven

I have a feeling we have checked-in at a little slice of heaven on earth in Khao Lak. The people are warm and generous which can make any place feel like heaven. Then add to the mix the sound of the ocean lapping on the sand with the moon shining bright.

This is the same ocean that devastated many lives here in 2004. I cant help to hurt a bit in my heart as we were driving into this paradise city, and our driver pointed out "see to your right ...boat there from Tsunami." It was a massive boat ( like a small navy ship) that was sitting in the middle of a palm tree patch.

I felt i should write a bit just in remembrance of all the many people that lost their lives here during the 2004 Tsunami. 

Bangkok- Jim Thompson's House

Whose house? That's exactly what I asked Jason when he suggested we tour Jim Thompson's house here in Bangkok. We meandered our way towards the Khlong canal, past all of the street stalls where the vendors were selling fresh coconuts, chicken skewers, rice, curries, noodles, and other items I couldn't even begin to name, finally making our way to this oasis of a spot. http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/

After taking the guided tour of his house and gardens...I was officially intrigued ...to the point I had to google him that night to get all the details about this American businessman that served in Thailand during WWll, returned to live in Bangkok, built a home from six salvaged teak houses, helped revitalize the Thai silk industry in the 1950s which still produces gorgeous silk today, and then in 1967' vanished mysteriously in Malaysia never to be found. According to Wiki, "Time magazine claimed that he "almost singlehanded saved Thailand's vital silk industry from extinction."

Silk worms