Blago

(yes the title of this Blog is named after Rob Blagojevich in honor of his new spot on celebrity apprentice. THANK GOODNESS HE'S BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT!)

Anyway let's get back to business in Thailand. I would like to apologize to all of my fans about totally slacking off in the blog writing department. Isaac has totally been carrying all of the burdon of blog writing and I am sorry. I told him that it's because he's so much more talented and prettier than I am but he only accepted that excuse 100 times. His ego really needed the boost. He feels much better about himself now so I guess I should just write on the blog.

I can't think of too many exciting things that are going on over here except we did have some awesome political turmoil a few weeks ago. I don't really think I should give too much info because I don't want to end up like Claire Danes in that movie: Brokedown Palace. Anyway the short version is that these people are dressing up in red and they don't like the government so they have parades and stuff. I got to see one of the parades on the way downtown on saturday. They were all happy and carrying flags and riding in the back of pickup trucks and on motorcycles. It reminded me of baseball parades except there are no grenades at baseball parades........at least I don't think..........

Anyway, don't worry. They only throw grenades at banks and I don't think I look like a bank, although Isaac may beg to differ.

In other news, Isaac and I spent a really nice day at the mall all day on saturday which was great for our relationship. haha that was a JOKE! Going to the mall together all day with your husband is NEVER a good idea. Nothing makes men crankier than having to spend more than 30 minutes in the mall without buying electronics or going to the movies or something. The good news is that I got a new outfit despite the fact that Thai stores don't carry clothes that are anywhere CLOSE to my size. I felt like I was shopping at children's stores. Actually, maybe I was in children's stores. I still haven't learned how to read Thai. dang.

Isaac and I ended up splitting up (he went to look at cameras, we didn't break up! Don't worry, Dad, we were able to salvage the marriage. You still have your favorite child, Isaac.) and we met up at this student exhibit at the mall of artwork by kids from our school. It was the perfect combination of sexual stuff and swears. Honestly, one of the paintings just had the F word written all over it. Another one was a naked female body being ground up in a meat grinder. It was pretty interesting/disturbing but I guess it was a memorable artistic experience. Nothing says art like the F word and nudity. All of the meat grinder art made us hungry so we went to Outback for steak. Mmm beefy.


Random story: On friday we had a few wierd encounters with our neighbors and Isaac took a video to share so let me take some time to explain. When we arrived home from work, we noticed that there were all these people in front of our neighbor's house and they had built this 2 story shrine thing with gold and money all over it. They also had these gigantic speakers and a band in the street and they were playing music and whatnot. We figure that they were finally welcoming us into the neighborhood. It took them long enough. Sheesh! We're still waiting for them to drop of the gold and money at our house.....

ALSO, when we got home we found some OTHER neighbors in our yard and they seemed to be telling us that there were 4 snakes in our front yard. We looked around and couldn't find them anywhere so hopefully they're in the house. Last time there was a snake in the house, I ran at Isaac with a knife. Really it was just a coincidence. I happened to be chopping up vegetables when I saw the snake and I didn't want to drop the knofe because, obviously, I didn't want the snake to use it against me! OBVIOUSLY. Isaac freaked out about the knife and totally overreacted. But he did use his snake charmer skills to get the snake out of the house........after moving every pience of furtniture and running around like a little girl. He's my hero! I love you baby! :) Seriously.

Ok I think those are all of the stories I have for now. Hopefully I won't wait 4 months before my next blog.

Thanks for reading!,
Becky

There goes the Mooban!

On Monday of this week, a tent was put up in the road in front of a house. We thought it was a little odd, but then again, A LOT of things we see daily are a little odd. We thought that someone just wanted a car port or something. Then yesterday (Friday), we when were coming home from school we figured out why they needed the tent...kinda. There was some kind of a ceremony with dancing, and music and flames. It was interesting to say the least. We tried to capture some of it in the video above without being rude.

In other news, Becky alerted me to people taking our Mangoes this morning again. I sprang into action and told those fools off! Not really, I told them that they need to give us half of what they pick. It works out well for us cause its not easy getting to the Mangoes. Everybody Wins!

Love,

iBeck

Get your hands off my mangoes!

The picture above shows a lone mango in a tree. There are actually two mangoes, as you can see in the picture below, taken from the second floor of our house.

You might be wondering why there are so few mangoes on that tree. The reason is that there is thievery in our neighborhood. Becky has thrice seen women with the most jimmy-rigged devices you have ever seen trying to get to our mangoes! The first time it happened, she said, "I saw Lek (our neighbor) in our yard with some other lady when I got home. I think they were getting mangoes from our tree."

Now, full disclosure here, I didn't even know we had a mango tree. I mean, I knew there was a tree, I just didn't know it produced mangos.

Back to the story. I asked Becky what she said to them. And do you know what my brave little buttercup said...Nothing. Absolutely Nothing. Thats right, for all the ways that Becky and I are the same person, we are different in so many other ways. One of those ways is confrontation, which I, quite frankly, find delightful and relaxing.

The second time Becky was at home alone again and some women were climbing on our wall/fence to get to the fruit. This time Becky got bold...and went upstairs so the 5'0" Thai woman couldn't see her in the house. Wouldn't want to disturb the woman stealing our mangoes!

Finally, the third time we were both home and Becky alerted me to the situation. I snapped into action and told Becky to get my camera. Alas, as soon as I walked outside, the woman decided she didn't need any mangoes and left. Its a shame becuase I have been working on my Thai. I was going to tell her every Thai word I know: left, right, stop here, strait ahead, thank you, no thank you, and of course "will you be my girlfriend" - taught to me by my 8th grade students.

Heres the point. If you want to protect your mangoes, don't expect your wife to do it for you!


In other news, the mullet is gone. This is one case where I really wish I would have trusted Becky with my mango/head. I decided that I could shave my head myself, which I have done in the past. This time things started off well. I went all the way around with a #2 guard on the clippers. I took off the guard for a second to clean it and accidentally put it back on backwards with the #1 guard now attached to the blade. Ooops. Becky and I had a laugh and both decided that it was a pretty classic accident that happens to everyone when they shave their head. Har Har.

Then this. After I had almost finished on the #1 guard level, I decided that the blades needed some oil added. So I added oil. Then I immediately put the blade back to my head. Yes, there is one important step missing. I didn't put any guard back on. So that means I have a "0" level hair-cut which is baciscally bald. There was actually a conversation between Beck and I about weather I could just leave the patch right in front of my head or shave it. I had to shave it.

At this point, five days later, it looks respectable again.

Here is the damage below.

Me recreating the look on my face immediately after the first swipe.

PS - Check out the cat planning her escape in the background.

Gone Fishin' - 2010 Mekong Classic

First things first, then onto the fishing!

I have a pretty tried and true method when it comes to hair cuts. I try to only pay for one haircut a year...or less. The last haircut I paid for was a day before my wedding in June. So what does that mean? My hair was out of control. I needed a new do before we hit the lake to fish.

Enter my beautiful wife turned barber, Becky. While it would be easy to just give it a buzz all the way around, we were a bit more ambitious. Becky decided to give me a style that would really help shape my face.

I think she did a great job. Don't you?

Now onto the fishing!

The 3rd annual Mekong Classic was this Saturday at a small lake here in Thailand (so not really Mekong at all). Becky did this last year and I have been pretty excited about it since then knowing I would get to go this year.

I am going to let the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. It was incredible, sometimes taking 20 minutes or more to real these monsters in.

We literally walked up, I grabbed a pole and reeled this little guy in.

Yes, that is the same haircut. Business up front. Party in the back.

Actually the last fish that Becky caught. She finally decided to pick this one up.

Good thing I've been getting to the gym lately.

A little bit bigger now, but...

Becky with a big one now!

Some team work is needed. This was about 10 minutes in and the fish might have been further out that when she started.

The reward was worth the work though.

A 60kilo/130lb MONSTER...That weighs more than Becky!

This is just another reason to come visit us in Thailand.

Love,

Isaac and Becky