oh wow. I am so sorry you had to deal with that. Awful, awful people.

So yesterday we decided to go car shopping. Yes, the rumors are true... the motorcycle is no longer welcome in this family. Now car shopping in Penang is sort of a depressing little task because all the cars here look exactly the same. So it's like "Would you like THIS small, square-shaped, boring car with a lawn-mower engine? or THAT small, square-shaped, boring car with a lawn-mower engine? And I'm like, really? What's the difference? It certainly makes me miss the variety we have in America. At any rate, yesterday's car shopping was even more frustrating than usual because I also got to experience my first real dose of racism here. It went like this: We walk into a small dealership. A young Chinese salesman comes over to assist us. He has great English which is helpful. I am looking at a car that seems to be exactly what I want... only two years old, very low mileage, good price, excellent condition and then he says... him- And you will be happy to know the previous owner is Chinese. me- why would that make me happy? him- well here on the island we have Chinese, Indian and Malay people (he obviously thought I just moved here) me- yes, I am aware of that him- well, (and he gives me this little smirk like he is about to share some secret knowledge with me) you only want to buy cars owned by Chinese...don't buy a car owned by an Indian (and he punctuates this sentence with a look of disgust...like he just drank spoiled milk) So I am standing there picturing my beautiful daughter's face sitting in the back of that car...my beautiful INDIAN daughter...and I had the sudden urge to take a Louisville slugger to this guy's head. But because I have class that he obviously lacks (and because I don't want to end up locked in a Malaysian jail cell)...I simply say... "Thank you for your time. I think we will look elsewhere." You could call it grace under fire. You could call it wanting to avoid jail time. I call it "stupid racist idiot...I wouldn't buy a car from you if you were the last dealer on the island" racist people suck the end.

I would eat nothing but Nutella on Ritz crackers for the rest of my life if it were socially acceptable and wouldn't kill me. In fact I would eat just Nutella...by itself...with a spoon. If I were about to be executed my last taste of food would be Nutella. :D

GREAT replies ladies!!!! Thank you!!!

I am writing a post for my blog called "40 reasons why 40 is fabulous" so give me your best answers!! Why is being 40 (or older) really great??? :D

THis added to the fact that in America we seem to think that EVERYONE should go to a 4-year college and get a bachelor's degree. Well, I am sorry, but after teaching high school for over 10 years I can tell you that NOT every kid should go to college and yet we keep pushing them...and they can't hack it...and the professors don't want to fail everyone so they make the class easier...and what we are left with are bunch of people with "watered-down" bachelor degrees.:glare:

really fabulous ideas.... gosh, how will I ever choose just 12???? A lot of them I have read...several I have not. I am so excited about this challenge!

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So part of my "turning 40" resolution is to read one really incredible book per month for the entire year until I turn 41. I read more than that per month but I want to pick 12 books, have a list, and purposefully read one per month instead of just randomly picking up books at the store and reading them. So I need your suggestions. What books should I put on my list? qualifiers- I read Pride and Prejudice...not all that impressed so I will skip the Jane Austen suggestions. I have read the LOTR books, Pillars of the Earth and the sequel, Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Three cups of Tea, The Help and the Book Theif this past year and loved them all (those are the most often suggested books). So I need some new ideas.... HELP!!!! I am already 3 days in to the year and no list. :glare:

I would love too! How awesome!

sure! http://www.childrendesiringgod.org

COnsidering I just spent my birthday writing a 15 page paper on the doctrine of unconditional election...I'd write the paper. Even if it wasn't my best work I'd turn in something.

That's actually not true. Race is a VERY big issue in Malaysia...HUGE. There are even laws that favor Malays over any other race that lives here (like Indians and Chinese which are pretty heavily represented) and gives them all kinds of special privileges. It's like affirmative action run amok... legalized racism. I wrote all about it on my blog.

When we adopted our daughter who is Indian (Tamil) my ds said "her skin is kinda brown like mine!" :D He knows that he is Korean now and that Natalie is Indian but he still doesn't see it as being different than any other family. Of course, again, being in an environment of so many different ethnicities helps because there is no one dominant race here. You could say it is "Asian" but our Asians are of so many different countries you can barely keep track!

She worked as a consultant on the Houghton Mifflin Math series. Interestingly, I did just bring in Singapore Math as a supplement as well!

I have on SIL on my husband's side and we couldn't be more different. We are cordial and see each other on holidays. My brother's wives are great though!

I have two younger brothers. One I am very close with, the other not as much and it is due to his lifestyle (he is a raging alcoholic, pill-popper, racist, etc, likes his life that way, doesn't want to change).

My youngest ds is Korean. He truly did not "get" a difference between himself and the rest of our family until he was 5yo even though we have told him from the start that he is Korean, showed him where S. Korea is on a map, etc. Once we got here and he met other Korean kids he finally started to ask questions. But there are kids from 28 different countries at his school so it is a great place to learn about different ethnicities.

Well, it's their own fault. They hired me to revamp the curriculum at this school! Hee Hee. :D So I changed the Science program to a 3-year rotation (we couldn't do a 4 year due to some other timing issues). I also got them away from using textbooks in the elementary and doing primarily hands-on science. In the middle school they are now using the Prentice Hall Science Explorer series combined with the God's Design for Science series. And this year I have changed the "social studies" program in the elementary to using Story of the World! My ds is in 1st grade and they are mummifying a chicken next week! The kids are loving it, the parents love it and the teachers love using it! Right now we are using Reading A-Z and Writing A-Z for Language Arts but I plan to try and sneak WWE in when they aren't looking. We also switched over to the Children Desiring God curriculum for their Bible lessons (not WTM but fabulous). And the new math series was co-authored by Liping Ma! So far my evil plan to WTM-ize them is almost complete! Muahahahaha!

Yesterday was the big 4-0. Honestly, it doesn't feel any different than 39. :tongue_smilie: I had a great day (even though I was not only working but it was the busiest day of the school year since we had open house in the evening!) First thing, right after the bell rang, my 1st grade teacher called me to say she had a crisis in her room and she needed me to come over right away. So I hurry over and there and, standing in the elementary courtyard, are 100 elementary students and they all started singing happy birthday to me! Then they gave me flowers and birthday cards they made, I cried. It was a great morning! There were flowers on my desk and presents in my mailbox. Then that evening at open house there were 800 people there and a public announcement about my 40th birthday so I got about 800 happy birthday's! And tonight about 20 of my girlfriends are taking me out to dinner at my favorite restaurant (we are doing a little black dress evening!). Tomorrow my dh and kids are taking me out for sushi. But here is the best part...dh got me an iPhone and..... A TRIP TO BALI !!!! We are going during our first school break in October. I am SO excited!!!! So I gotta say that so far...40 ROCKS!!!!!

hi ladies! It's been about a month since I last posted. Things have been crazy since the motorcycle accident but here is the update: dh is still healing...neck was broken in two places. About two weeks after his accident, as if the injuries were not enough, he got shingles. Poor guy. And now the doctor says he has to have surgery to fuse 4 of his vertabrae in his neck together because it is not healing properly. He still does not have his strength back in his right arm due to the nerve damage and the doctor says it is most likely permanent. We now have a lawsuit pending... Despite all that, we are so very grateful that he is alive and not paralyzed. So he will have the surgery after the breaks in his neck heal fully. The motorcycle is FOR SALE. :D Obviously I made it back from Michigan to Malaysia and about a week later the school year started. It has been crazy hectic but every day I am stunned by how much I love this place. The people I work with are amazing. They provided meals and helped take care of my kids while dh was in the hospital and I was running back and forth. Seriously, I cannot even express how amazing they are. So things are GOOD. We are continuously and purposefully counting our blessings. I have a beautiful home in a beautiful country, an awesome job, great friends, healthy children and a husband who is on the mend. So despite how it might look to the outside world...I am BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE. and I'm back! :tongue_smilie:

Spoke to John this morning. He is getting better with each hour. He can move everything but he still has a lot of pain in his shoulders. The good news is they have down-graded him from a full halo/neck/chest brace for the C7 fracture to just a rigid neck brace. Hallelujah! He is still in traction until the swelling goes down but should get his brace tomorrow. There was some discussion about him not having his helmet strapped on properly but I won't get into that! And he has agreed to get rid of the motorcycle! However, he did ask that we sell it instead of me smashing it to bits with a sledgehammer (the bike is actually not badly damaged!). Hmmmmmm....that's a tough one.....

OMG I am so sorry! :grouphug::grouphug:

MRI results- fracture in C7 (in the back not the front which is apparently a good thing). He has increased range of motion in his arms as the swelling decreases (also a very good sign). Next step- they are putting him in traction for 24-48 hours so the swelling can go down further. Then he will get a back/neck brace (like the kind scoliosis patients wear) until it heals. All in all, he is very very lucky (and I am taking a sledgehammer to the motorcycle when I get home). I am still trying to figure things out from this end but my ahma has agreed to stay at our home and take care of my kids until I can get there (she is so awesome).:grouphug: Thank you all so much for your prayers. They obviously worked!!!!

I hate the time difference....IT IS KILLING ME. I just want it to be day time there so the neurologist will get in there and dh can get the MRI and we can know what is going on!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am pacing, pacing, pacing.....