Saturday is for Simba

Who? you're asking. i know, Simba is from the Lion King, but we are not talking about that one... one of the cats on the property that Jerry and Anna take care of is named Simba. Simba was a boy until Saturday. Simba officially became an "it." Saturday is a day off for the clinic so we truly relaxed--all of us but Simba, that is. :) Jerry and Anna got up to take Simba to the Thai Vet by 9 am. I actually should have gone, I think it would have been really neat to see it. Apparently, Jerry and Anna were in the room while it happened and while Anna stood with her back to the table singing songs to soften Simba's fears, Jerry had the privilege of watching the procedure. Jerry is a registered nurse, so she can handle it. When they came back, Simba had a little too much anesthesia it seemed, b/c for most of the day Simba was a limp dish rag, with eyes half open. I was so sad for "it." :) I chose to spend the day reading, writing, and hanging out with whoever was around. Around 5:30pm, Bruce, Luke, Jerry and I played volleyball. Ouch, can I say ouch, my arms still hurt from the ball. I guess that's good, right, b/c i hit it? even though i played back in junior high, i was never able to overhand serve it. well, it was officially a momumental day in Thailand for me b/c i got the overhand serve and spike down! sort of...
again, i was just so thankful to be standing in the grass playing volleyball, something to treasure. julie had to sit it out b/c it hurt her arms too badly. so she walked around as the sports photo journalist trying to catch every action shot. you should have seen her, she was even lying on the ground at one point trying to catch the right angle. :) i know i've done it too (i have memories of doing it in publicly embarrassing situations like the Statue of Liberty!)
we played for a while and then all went in for dinner. to our surprise, we had chicken pot pie!!! can you believe it? we are in thailand, but these missionaries are southern folk from kentucky, oklahoma, and north carolina. don't even let me tell you what i said today at lunch (sunday). really fast i'll interject this... i looked at dr. tom and told him about my experience with the houston rodeo this year and how it was a first for me besides the little ol' austin rodeo. i asked "well, have you been to a rodeo before? do you have those?" he just stared at me!!!!!!! i mean stared... he then proceeded to tell me, "zsila, oklahoma has repeatedly won and been known for winning the national rodeo championships." so yes he knows about rodeos and i will just keep my mouth shut. again, this texas thing... we just don't know what's outside our state apparently. :)

i just screamed really loudly, b/c julie JUST POURED WATER DOWN MY SHIRT, COLD WATER! there is a reason behind this and i'll get to it in a minute... read the section under Sang Kran when i get to it.

back to saturday... Jerry has a tv with satellite so i went over and decided to be updated on everything that is monumentally happening in our world this week like the pope's funeral and prince charles' wedding to camilla. are you surprised that i know??? yes, i do!
i even got to watch the coverage on both. i know you have been doing it to. don't deny it. :) hey, i view it as culturally educational.

well, probably around 10-11pm ish i decided to get the clothes out of the washer that julie and i had put in. the washers are outside, however i was in the lounge just before that when all the sudden all POWER WENT OFF. i mean lights and fans. important necessities around here. so i blindly made my way out of the lounge, fearing that i would step on a dukay (that lizard i told you about that once it bites you it won't let go, and i am serious about this) and made it over to the Ashburns' screen door. i looked in and everyone was playing "Life" the boardgame with some of the Thai nurse aids around a dark room with a candle lit in the center. i asked if their power went off and they said in the most nonchalant voice in unison, "oh, yea it is just the government shutting the power off." i was like okay... and?" i asked, "when will it come on again?" they said, "oh maybe 30 minutes, maybe four hours, maybe all night." hmm, i understand a little more now. so basically i needed a flashlight to get back to the room and to get the clothes out. duh, zsila. i put them in the dryer and it wouldn't work b/c of no power. so i had to get all of the clothes out again in pitch dark and carry them all on my shoulder as i made my way to julie's room to ask her for help hanging them up. she was sound asleep and thought it was like 3 am. it was only 10 or 11pm and she woke up to help me. then the hard part was going to sleep without the wonderful fans. i think this one lasted more than 30 minutes. nevertheless, it was fun to experience a power outage, or power salvage should i say?