For the next two weeks, James (pastor at SPCC) and his wife Renata are in Thailand, and I get to stay with their twelve year-old daughter Talya. We are having great fun together, and so far, it has been a really productive time for me.

Talya and I are having a "movie education week" to expand Talya's movie repertoire. I was shocked that she hasn't seen Singing in the Rain, and I intend to remedy that this week. Princess Bride and The Little Mermaid (her choice!) have also been included.

We are also baking up a storm! So far we've made peanut butter oatmeal bars, banana pancakes (complete with Jack Johnson running through my head), and lemon curd (YUM!) which will soon be made into a lemon tart, if it doesn't get eaten first. Next on the list are strawberry cream cheese muffins, and some sort of sesame-ginger salad. The Bultemas have a fabulous selection of cookbooks, including one completely about chocolate, and another about lemons. So good!

I've been very productive in applying for jobs and catching up on emails for several reasons. The wireless here reaches into my room (it doesn't at Ben and Verna's) so I can sit on my bed and read emails. There's nothing better! Second, there are fewer distractions, so while Talya does homework, I can work on job applications, something which I would rather skip, but absolutely need to do. It's hard to fill out some of these applications when I don't have any of my files with me in the country. I spent hours today tracking down the names and phone numbers of all the teachers I have worked with over the last 5 years, and it was actually impossible. My list of student teaching experiences is slightly shorter than it might otherwise be because I couldn't remember a name, or find a phone number for a cooperating teacher. Thank goodness for the Internet though, because the list would be non-existent without it!