Happy Birthday Bailey

Fifteen years ago today Ross brought Bailey home. Happy Birthday to the cutest kitty ever.

Best Birthday Ever, The Topper

So after riding elephants we went to eat on the River Kwai, which means River River--the way chai tea means tea tea. It was a tourist trap place, but the food was fine (although we didn't trust them when they said some of the stuff was beef.)

The story of the Burmese-Thai railroad is sad. The bridge over the the River Kwai is a reminder of the depressing story. We saw the bridge, we walked a little on the bridge, I was done. I did take this photo of a towering Guanyin statue at the Chinese Buddhist temple across the river.

On the drive back to Bangkok I was still pumped with adrenaline and declared it the best birthday ever. I said that if I could have cake it would just push everything over the top. When we got back to Bangkok I felt exhausted and filthy. We showered and then the doorbell rang--yes, the hotel room had a doorbell! Two giggly young men came in with a birthday cake, card, and little present. I almost cried. Here I was expecting to get a slice of cake from 7-11 or the bakery in the mall, and the hotel brought me my very own birthday cake to my room. That topped off the best birthday ever.

Best Birthday Ever, Elephant Riding

After the explosion of tigers we went and rode elephants. I'm glad we did it. It was just us, the elephant, and the elephant handler going through the jungle. Apparently while we were out on our walk two tour buses full of people came, rode, and went.

The coolest part was when the handler stopped to water the elephant. He gave her a bucket full of water, she sucked some up in her trunk then put it in her mouth and swallowed it. Then he just gave her the water hose and she shoved it into her mouth with her trunk and gulped down the water periodically.

I got to ride on the neck for a while. Elephants aren't soft. The skin is super thick and rough. The hairs are short and stiff.

Many of the elephants in the camp had pink spots that made them even cuter than just-grey elephants. In this photo the elephants were lining up to be fed by the tourists.

After our ride they gave us some watermelon and water. Oh, and we were totally suckered into buying a photo--of us in the water with the elephant. As part of the elephant-walking circuit they walk through the river. Sometimes the elephants suck up water and spray the tourists. Our elephant was nice and sprayed the water off to the side.

Tiger Temple Part 2

After feeding the three month old tiger I got to hold and cuddle a one month old tiger. There were only two one month old tigers there. We weren't supposed to pick them up and carry them or drag them around. If you did, they would squeal. One of the handlers handed me the baby and I headbutted it as long as it would tolerate me. The tiger gave me a little bath, licking at my hand, but of course (just like Bailey), wouldn't lick Ross.

This is our guide, Jackie. He was super cool and the tiger knew him, so wanted to be with him instead of me.
After we cuddled the baby(est) tiger, the monks said prayers. We sat quietly and pet the tigers if they came around. After prayers we had breakfast. They brought out the stuff we had presented as offerings, except for what the monks had kept for themselves. The monks only eat once a day, and apparently they likes they shugga. Only a couple of the chocolate wafer cookies made it out front, and the Dunkin Donuts were gone. Yeah, one group brought donuts. The tourists were allowed to eat first. I was first in line, and actually Ross, Jackie and I were the only ones in our group who ate--the rest of the food went to the volunteers and staff. Ross had rice with green curry. I had rice and vegetables, and some noodles.

Oh, our group. As a bonus, lucky unbirthday present there were only 8 tourists that morning. One of the guides said that the last couple of days had been crazy, with over 30 tourists. The limit is supposed to be 20, but you know how that goes. With only 8 tourists we weren't fighting over the tigers. Each couple got their own 3 month old to feed.

After breakfast we continued playing with the tigers. The female on the right was a jerk. She kept waking up her sister, and then she was biting the baby--and the poor baby cried. Here I am telling the older tiger to quit being a jerk and to leave the baby alone. The lady in the white shirt in the background was crazy. She totally played with the jerk and let it bite her repeatedly.

After temple time with the youngest tigers we moved on to some bigger ones.

Best Birthday Ever, Tiger Temple Part 1

We left our hotel at 5a on my unbirthday to head head to the Tiger Temple. Our Driver, Adami, did all the work while Ross snoozed, and I took note of how things looked in the dark. We stopped in Kanchanaburi to pick up offerings for the monks. Where did we stop? 7-11. Thailand is full of 'em. One on every corner and one in between. They more common than Starbucks in Manhattan. What did we buy the monks? Ah, this is the funny part--we bought them yakult (liquid yoghurt) and chocolate wafer cookies. Our guide, Jackie, whom we met up with at the 7-11 said that's what the monks like.

When we got to the temple we put our offerings on these trays, and then the staff added a bunch of real (cooked) food in plastic bags. Oh, the Thai are obsessed with plastic. They put everything in plastic bags! Even drinks. And plastic drink cups come with plastic bag-like carrying handles. Street food is sold in plastic bags sealed with rubber bands.  And they give you a straw for every (plastic) bottle drink you get at 7-11. Of course the straw is wrapped in plastic. It's a bit crazy.

Anyway, back to the temple. The monks lined up and we put the food offerings into their bowls, which was hard because I wasn't allowed to touch the bowls or the monks, and the bowls had narrow openings. Also, we were toward the end of the line, so when they got to us their bowls were full. Anyway, it all worked out and I didn't defile any monks with my uncleanliness.

We were shuttled to a temple and told all the rules. Before I knew it I was holding a three month old tiger and feeding him. It blew my mind. Jackie took all the photos, so we could just enjoy the cats. We had handlers that made sure we were doing what we were supposed to.

Ross got a turn feeding the tiger too. Take a look at those paws! They were so soft/smooth, and so hot. The tiger's fur wasn't soft though.

He we are with our baby boy. I liked rubbing his belly. It was hard to believe we were actually holding a real live tiger. And it got even better.

Ross's Big Day

Today is Ross's birthday.

He started off by opening TWO packages of cookies sent to him by his admirers on the East coast.

For lunch we went bowling at The Goodnight.

I had a chicken fried antelope sandwich and tomato basil soup.

Ross had a burger.

After bowling wore us out we played a few games of shuffleboard.

Ross got to have his favorite food for dinner--that's right--pizza. And I got him a second controller for the PS4.  Yeah, we have a PS4 and dad bought him Call of Duty Ghost for his birthday. I feel bad that I didn't make him a cake, but he has a ton of cookies to eat. I'll make him something this weekend.

February Photo Challenge: Unbirthday

Happy Unbirthday to me!  This is the cake I made myself this year.

The Big 6-0

We went to El Paso to help my dad celebrate his 60th birthday.

First we went to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico to relax in the hot springs there.  The price of the room included one soak on each day, so we had a soak the night we got there and one the next morning.

 Then on Sunday we went to Rudy's BBQ.  Here's the birthday boy.

My dad requested a lemon cake, and I don't have a particular recipe for one, so I used the Mint Cake recipe as a base and doubled it to fill the honeycomb pan.

My dad has been wanting this grill, and I thought they had them in stock in the store, but we ended up ordering it for him and he can pick it up soon.

Luster Birthdays

The Luster girls have both recently had birthdays and we got to celebrate with them both. Julia is now 4 and Evelyn is now 8.  They both got great presents, and great cake that they each helped make.

 Julia with her new scooter.

 Julia's castle cake--Valerie decorated it all herself!

 Julia had had enough of the photo taking.

 Evelyn was excited to open every single present.

 Evelyn blowing out the candles.

Super awesome rainbow cake!

9th Birthday in NYC

We took the bus up to NYC to celebrate my 9th birthday. This is a great panoramic shot of the hotel room that Ross took. Man, the hotel was whack. The color combinations were awful, lamps in our room were broken, and the carpet was so ugly. It didn't really matter though. We were just there to sleep. Still, the white patent leather headboard was funny.

Our first stop in NYC was Ess-a-Bagel, where we got some breakfast. I only ate half of my poppy seed bagel with scallion cream cheese because I wanted to save room for everything else I had on my list of things to eat.

This photo is of one of the ceiling paintings in the New York City Public Library. The library was really cool. I like that it isn't just a beautiful old building, it is still in use.

After the libro we had some hot chocolate at Lily O'Brien's cafe. We got a dark hot chocolate and a milk hot chocolate. I think if we had mixed the two of them together it would have been perfect. I think the milk was a little too sweet and the dark was a little too flat. We also got some chocolates in a box to go. I had a ganache last night and it was pretty good.

Still full from hot chocolate we walked back up to Del Frisco's for steak and cake. My salad, steak, and cake were fabulous. As you can see we dug into the cake before I remembered to take a picture. This cake is so good that every time I eat it, I say I'm going to write an ode to it. I need to get around to that. This is my favorite cake of all time. It was wonderful with my cup of tea. I really didn't want to share with Ross, but there is no way I could eat it all myself.

We took the subway downtown after lunch and I bought some flavored green teas at Harney & Sons. I had a couple of cups of their Bangkok blend this morning. Mmmmm. Yummy.

We ate churros at La Churreria after we finally managed to find it. The churros were fresh and came with a chocolate dipping sauce, but I really didn't think they needed the sauce. They were better without it.

Then came shoes. We spent a while at Miz Mooz shoes. I left with two pairs. A pair of short lace-up boots and a pair of flats. I love them both. The boots were on my birthday wish list. I'm so happy I got them. I'll do a separate post with photos of all my bday presents.

Cake, shoes, and tea. I'm happy.

Julia's Two!

Yesterday we went to help Julia celebrate her second birthday. She seemed to like being pushed around on her new trike. She has to really try hard, but she can ding the bell. In between rides she handed out stickers and mine just would not stick! I finally stuck it on my leg and it is still there!
Valerie did a great job making an Elmo cake. She used a crazy small tip to pipe the red fur. I know it took her forever.
Julia really had to concentrate to keep her hands off the cake. That little Luster was so patient!
The cake tasted as good as it looked. I managed not to eat half of Elmo's head all by myself!

Toe Sox Pose

Okay, so Lisa Diane bought Toe Sox and sent them to Ross for his birthday with a photo of a naked woman doing elephant trunk pose. The idea was that the Toe Sox were actually for me, and me doing the pose naked would be Ross's present. I spent a considerable amount of time in front of the space heater getting warm before I did the pose today. Ross took several photos. Happy Birthday, Ross. He took a pretty good photo and then accidentally deleted it, so I had to do the pose several more times. Here is the original photo that came with the socks, and a photo of me doing the pose.

My Birthday Boy

We went and celebrated Ethan's birthday today. Tiffany, her parents, Robert, Ethan, Ross, and I went and ate at a Hibachi restaurant in Lewisville. Tiffany bought Ethan an airplane lego set for his birthday, so we got him a bucket of legos for him to add to his lego collection. Ethan was so excited today. For lunch he ordered ne-ow row (beef)... just like his uncle Ross. The waitress brought Ethan some orange sherbet and we sang to him. He then declared that he needed cake. He's just like his gunma (me). I wish we could have spent more time with him. I had to work this afternoon. Anways, my supercute boy is now 4!

Ross's Birthday

I went to the gym for a couple of hours while Ross did some handyman stuff around the house. On the way home from the gym I ran a couple of errands, including a stop to get Ross a present. I haven't had many chances really, since he's home all the time now. When I got home he proudly showed me the things he'd done and I proudly gave him his present--which came with a free tote bag and T-shirt because the guy who helped me was really cool. Ross continued work on one of his projects (I'll post a photo later) while I sat in my own filth and watched my soap/wrote an email. Now what did Ross want for dinner? You only get one guess. Pizza. We rented The Mummy and ate pizza, chips, then popcorn. I'm not going to weigh myself for a couple of days. That much salt will probably push me up over 150. I think it was an odd birthday day for Ross, but he's happy. A couple of people, including our favorite aunt Judy, remembered without any sort of reminder.

Birthday Bash

Last Saturday I had a birthday party. It was such a nice day outside and it was a really nice party. We started out with sushi, duck spring rolls and tuna sushi sandwiches. We then moved the party outside and had turns at the pinata. I can't thank Valerie enough for the pinata. It was the most fun I've had in a really long time. Here's a bunch of photos. Enjoy.

I had first crack at the pinata.

Margot having her turn.

We all enjoyed watching Tim samurai the cones off the drum.

Trying to spin Ross around and get him dizzy.

Joey and Ross spinning each other around.

Tejal, Ross and Tim.

Me with a knife!