rest & laughter.

It was a long week.

Somewhere between two hospital visits, attempts to coerce a six-year-old to eat something, and teaching every morning for three hours, I was tired. But this weekend, we welcomed rest and laughter.

Well, after we spent Friday night at the hospital getting a man’s skull stitched back together.

A few things worth cherishing:

Saturday morning we took our weekly biking and hiking trip, returning about noon. I really love this time–we have three hours to talk through our week, our work, the community. We can observe Mae Sot and respond to all that goes on around us day in and day out. And we wear ourselves out in the process.

This Saturday, though, I was not so worn out. I went for a couple hours of tennis with a friend in the afternoon while Stephen spent some time in his studio. I love recreational sport, and have loved the year-round opportunity for tennis and regular football games with friends. And I am not so bothered at the regular loses and my general lack of skill and/or coordination.

Throughout the whole weekend, I feel like I laughed a lot, and very hard. Stephen is a pretty hilarious person, and that is worth celebrating because it can make a weekend.

In the evening I was still energized after the 34km of bicycling, a hike, and two hours of tennis, which we were a little baffled at. We decided later this might be related to the large amounts of sugar cereal we received in the mail for Stephen’s birthday. Though sugar doesn’t have quite the strong effect on him, the four bowls of sugar cereal I had through the day seemed to keep me over-energized until about 9:30, when I collapsed.

Stephen went to a friends house, supposedly to work on creating a camera stabilizer for his video projects. Instead, he returned home and surprised me with my very own incredible tortilla maker! Best gift ever and a very fun surprise. I had already crashed when he returned, requiring him to pound on the window (after multiple phone calls) to wake me to unlock the door. My exhaustion did mean we postponed our first batch of tortillas.

We enjoyed a Sunday morning doughnut run and spent a couple hours at the pool swimming and reading, followed by an evening with our friends who will be moving soon. We can at least enjoy the time we have with them!

And last, Yuh Meh Oo is back to her normal self, eating regularly and coming over for hugs and smiles. This gives me a deep rest that I am thankful for.