Holding the Fort Down

Mark has been in the states now for over a week, he had a meeting in San Antonio and combined that with a trip to see his Mom and my parents, so I've been holding down the fort in Thailand. I've been dreading the month of November for some time knowing that he would be gone 2 weeks to the US and then 3 days to Singapore. He returns late on Sunday night and leaves on Wednesday for Singapore. We have really missed him but have been staying really busy to keep us distracted and help the time pass faster.

Last weekend, we traveled to Bangkok with the Clarkson's to an All-Star basketball tournament. It was a great experience for Dustin. Each of the 4 International schools of the Eastern Seaboard combined their All-Stars to form one team. Because of that, Dustin and Drew had the opportunity to play together, which was great. Their team won 3 out of 4 games and won their division, which is amazing considering they practiced together about 6 times and had never played a game together. I was excited for Dustin, he started every game and really contributed, remember this is his first experience playing basketball? They played some really large private schools from Bangkok. The tournament was held at the New International School of Thailand. The gym had 3 full-size, wood floor, air-conditioned courts, so different from all the schools on the Eastern Seaboard. We stayed overnight in Bangkok and really enjoyed our time with the Clarkson family.

Today, we are traveling to Cambodia for a tournament between 8 countries. ISE is a part of an organization called MRISA and they compete and partner with other countries to enrich their International School students experiences. Cambodia is hosting the Jr. Basketball 2008 competitions. The boys will travel with the team and Ethan and I will join them. Dustin and Nathan will be staying in a Cambodia host home, they will be staying together with two other team members. Ethan and I will be staying with a friend from Muleshoe that is teaching at a Bible school in Phnom Penh, we haven't seen each other in over 20 years, I'm anxious to reconnect with her.

As you can see we've been busy while the Daddy is gone. I've tried not to concentrate too much about the fact that Mark went to the states without us, through DC at the prettiest time of the year, meeting with old Grace Church friends for dinner, seeing my parents, eating lots of Mexican food....Okay, I'll admit I've struggled some with jealousy. It didn't help that last weekend when I called my parents house at the pre-appointed time to talk to Marko that my Dad mentioned it wasn't really a good time because the pizza had just been delivered and the Texas/Texas Tech game was underway!! Well-Excuse Me for not timing my call from Thailand better!!! The conversation was thwarted by, "Yea!What a catch...." Have you ever had one of these conversations? You're missing your husband in a major way, can't wait to talk to them and then the call just doesn't go as you imagined at all? I just received a call from him from San Antonio and it was all good again! He was feeling very thankful for me in fact. The meeting is for all the refinery managers around the world and he was able to visit with several friends/co-workers he hasn't seen in a few years. We were devastated to learn that a couple of them are now divorced, one of them commented, "I guess just one too many moves." Mark was very sweet in expressing his thanks for my flexibility and willingness to follow him wherever.(Hey, that part was in our wedding vows 26 years ago!) None of us can take our spouses for granted and really need to protect our marriages with God's help. I'll let you know how the Cambodia trip goes-love to all.