these small moments

[Before you read this, know both my dad and Molly are ok.]

My day began when I woke up to a phone call from my dad. He had been in a car wreck and was in an ambulance on the way to a hospital in Shreveport. All his tests came back clear, and he was released to go home a few hours later. Now he is at home recovering and we are just praying it's only whiplash.

Dad was headed to play golf when a car coming the opposite direction swerved into his lane. I'm not sure how he avoided a head-on collision, but in that moment, he jerked the wheel and saved his life. I spent all day yesterday thinking about what would have happened if he had been checking his phone, getting a drink of Coke, adjusting the volume on the radio...but you just can't think about how bad something could have been. We can only rejoice that God protected him in that second and he got his car out of the way.

While we were in the hospital, he was telling everyone who came in our room about the miracle that had taken place. He told each person to go tell their friends and family how God had protected him that morning. It was pretty incredible because my dad has had a lot of close calls, and God must have pretty big plans for his life because He has brought him through each and every time.

As my mom and I were on the way to the hospital, I had to explain to her that, if I had been in Cambodia, I would have wanted to know she was in the car on the way to the hospital to see dad. That I didn't want to be notified two hours later after all the tests were done. That's the kind of thing you have to think about when you live on the other side of the planet and you feel completely helpless during times like these.

Once we got him home and situated with the newspaper and ESPN, our dog had an accident. Molly (who is old and not in the best of health) fell and hit her head pretty hard on the floor. I really thought she was going to pass away on our kitchen floor, but I put her and my mom in the car and headed to her vet, who is located about an hour away from our house. We couldn't just leave my dad home alone so my incredible friend, Kenny, came to our house to keep him company.

We got to the vet and Molly had started to respond to us again. The vet said he wanted to keep her for a few days and he would keep us updated. As of last night, Molly is on the mend, but it might take a while to get back to her state of normal. On the way home, I kept wondering what the third bad thing would be.

Was it when I dumped my tea all over the floorboard of my mom's car?

Kenny and I decided to go see a movie, and for some reason I thought Monster's University was a good choice. It was a great movie, but I think what I really needed was a few hours of distraction in the form of a movie. What we got were all kinds of distractions from everyone in the theatre. The guy to the right of me's reaction of everything was, "That's weird!" I wanted to tell his girlfriend she should go for somebody with a bigger vocabulary. The guy in front of us was making a lot of noise, and the people sitting next to Kenny were eating snacks with loud wrappers and saying things out loud like, "I'm gonna have to open this with my teeth!"

There was also a baby who screamed bloody murder for approximately 23 minutes.

All we could do was shake our heads and smile. You know, after the desire to yell at everyone went away.

After the movie, we went to Kenny's house and hung out with his family. After we told the story of our day, I joked about something bad happening at their house because I was there. I shouldn't have done that because a bottle of wine ended of broken and all over their kitchen floor.

Peaches.

Lord, thank you for getting us through yesterday and for providing moments of laughter and love to ease the moments of fear. We are blessed.

M

you can get what you want or you can just get old

Packing time must mean blogging time.

My roommates and I are packing up our whole house. I am moving to another house in Phnom Penh, Maria is moving back to North Carolina, and Lorinda is moving back to South Africa.

[Meredith: 1 Mosquito: 0]

Even my classroom moved. I am now located on the second floor. There's just been a lot of packing happening. I am choosing not to deal with the fact that I have to leave my beautiful blue bedroom, and I am instead hoping my new landlords will be on board with me painting.

I am also choosing not to deal with the fact that my two incredible roommates won't be returning with me in July. I'll probably have a good cry on my long flight, and people can just think I'm really into whatever movie I'm watching. I feel like next year I'll be starting all over, but I'm excited. I'm excited for our new staff and my three new roommates. I'm just not ready to let go of life as I know it.

Can I just give a shout out to Billy Joel? His greatest hits album has gotten me through so much.

Saturday night, we depart for South Korea, where we'll be staying for a few days with Maria's friend who teaches there. I think I'll arrive in the states on Wednesday.

I don't mean to sound all Debbie Downer. I really am excited about this summer. I'm just too exhausted to express said excitement.

Soooo you should probably watch this now.

Debbie Downer & Lindsay Lohan Infamous SNL Blooper Sketch - watch more funny videos

<3Mere

happy birthday to the ground

In my younger days (freshman year of college), I probably thought turning 25 would mean I would be about to have my second baby. 

Now, I'm like

I definitely want to get married, have kids, the whole shebang. Last night I had a nightmare about my wedding dress not fitting and I had to wear a blue one. The blue dress was totally awesome, but the point is that I'm technically dreaming about my future wedding. And dreaming about all that is great. For now, I've got this little guy:

                                   

I had always been fascinated with travel, and I always said I wanted to go all over the world, but I can't remember exactly when it clicked that I could actually do all these things I had dreamt of. Maybe it was after a break up when I decided to throw caution to the wind and get on a plane bound for Egypt. Or when, on the way home, Timmy and I had a five-hour layover in Paris. We got in a cab and hopped out at the Eiffel Tower and took pictures on my disposable camera. It was so exhilarating. A new passion was discovered, and that trip sent my life in a completely different direction. I still remember Papaw Buggy telling me, "Heaven's closer than Egypt!" Mamaw Frances bought me that dress. 

The next summer, I was touring the Eiffel Tower and saw Britney Spears. No one else did. Then Timmy told everyone on our trip that he saw Britney Spears. Typical. Also, Timmy, you're welcome because that is an excellent photo of you <3

I just remembered this post is supposed to be about my birthday.

I woke up to a lovely surprise in the kitchen. My incredibly creative and crafty family had sent this banner. The bottom row is pictures of everyone with signs spelling out "happy birthday." It was a happy way to start the day, indeed. I also had my usual peanut butter and honey toast- this time with candles on top! Throughout the day, I got to open notes from friends and family every half-hour. That was awesome, and I wish that could happen every day. My kids enjoyed reminding me to open the notes.

That afternoon, my kids and Sinuon had another surprise planned for me. One of their gifts was two cans of Coke wrapped up. They know Ms. Gore so well. We also had cake! It was a great time. And then I tried to segue from the party to the Math lesson. Yeah...

Nighttime came, and it was Italian time! Several friends got to come enjoy delicious fine dining, and it was a fun night together. Afterwards, I went home and went to bed because I'm a teacher and can't stay up past 9:30. 

It was a great day. Well, two days, because as I was going to sleep, all you westerners were just waking up and realizing what a great day it was! Pretty awesome. 

I'll leave you with this. 'merica:

Countdown to USA: 39 days

M

and the moon is the only light we'll see

There's just something about a rainy day.

A rainy day in a tuk tuk, with a bicycle shoved in it, trying to fight its way through the crazy streets of the country I've come to love. I just had a rather wonderful experience, and thus ends my blog writer's block. A few people (fans) have asked when the next post was coming, and I just didn't know. There are just days like today when all the wheels turn in the same direction and out come the words.

So things have been great, and relatively normal. Here are some blips of the last two months:

Lorinda walks in and asks us, "Did your president just die?" The answer was no, of course. It was some crazy internet rumor or something. It definitely freaked us out, though, and reminded me I needed to register with the US Embassy here (still haven't...oops).

I got really sunburned one day and my kids turned me into a Science experiment where they observed my very red skin and its journey back to pasty white.

My kids had Drama during February, and they put on a really cool play about the plague. They are wonderful performers, and I had fun putting on their stage makeup.

We get Scholastic book orders, which is awesome, and one kid ordered a magic kit. It came with a whoopee cushion. The entire third and fourth grades experienced it together, and Maria and I laughed so hard we cried. It was worse because of how hard we were trying not to laugh. You know, because we're mature or whatever.

And now for an update from Gavin:

My eating habits have drastically changed. It helps that there's not any fast food and exercise is a part of my day whether I want it to be or not. Maria and Lorinda are good influences. They encourage me to try new vegetables, I encourage them to eat more oreos. It's a good balance. Maria gets a kick out of me not knowing anything about fruits and vegetables outside of apples and corn. She made fun of me so hard when I picked up these green things and asked, "is this the zucchini?"

It wasn't. I now know that that is something called "winter melon." In my defense, the zucchini wasn't labeled! I'm learning. Please notice how big my hands look in that picture.

Lots more has happened, but my computer is being dumb and I can't deal. Hopefully it won't be another two months before you hear about how awesome my birthday was.

"My rule of thumb is, if you feel like something's crawling on you, it probably is." -Maria

Truer words have never been spoken.

M

restless hearts sleep alone tonight

The first thing I want to say is how much I can't wait to enjoy a delicious strawberry Icee. 

Moving on.

We just finished a unit on life cycles of different insects, and I was really proud of the posters the kiddos made. We are still working on the whole "group work" thing, but they were delegating tasks and solving their own problems with little interference from me, so yay! 

 My kids are currently obsessed with learning cursive. It's not in our curriculum, and we definitely don't have extra time to spare, so I've taught them a little during their "Fun Friday" time. In return, I asked Rosanara to show me how to write my name in Khmer. I wanted to show them how they see cursive like I see Khmer (except they can still read cursive for the most part). My attempt is on the top. I think it says "Necru (female teacher) Gore," but I'm not entirely sure...

And now for an update from Gavin:

 This post is coming to you because of the events of yesterday. It was just another boring day out and about in the streets of Phnom Penh...

Our first stop was Boston Books, which is sadly being dwindled to nothing so the whole building can become Steve's Steakhouse. I'm mad at you, Steve. Now where will we get affordable books for our classroom? Maria was hoping to find a book called Bunnicula, and what do you know, it was right there on top of the pile! Our first win for the day. I got a few for my class as well aaaaaand a couple for me because I have a problem. There aren't enough books in my bedroom and I think it's affecting my sleep. 

Next, we headed to Daughter's for lunch and pedicures. For lunch, I bet you can guess what I ordered. That's right, the same thing I get every single time because I am still a picky child. My caesar salad was delicious. I love my pickiness because I am rarely disappointed. It works. Maria may want to adopt my method of ordering after her meal yesterday. She decided to try one of the specials of "grilled vegetables with feta cheese," and this was what she got:

That is, in fact, grilled vegetables with feta, but it took her about five seconds to eat it and you had to use binoculars to find the cheese. The moral of this story is: it pays to be picky. From there, we decided to walk to the riverfront so Maria could get a wrap at a Lebanese restaurant. On the way, we passed the memorial built for the King's father, whose funeral ceremonies were last week.

Another something we saw on our walk was a group of tourists. Like, they put the tour in tourists. Matching sun hats, vests, t-shirts, everything. I was walking straight towards them and didn't have the heart to whip out my camera, but don't worry, we saw them again later that day. Maria got her wrap and we headed to Brown so I could get some coffee. While we were there, I realized I say, "Do it to it, Lars" at least twice a week. I also realized Maria has never once understood that reference. Oh, peaches. Just in case any of you didn't get that, locate a copy of Heavyweights IMMEDIATELY.

For now, just watch this:

From Brown, we wanted to go to Sorya Mall so we could get some DVDs and go to Lucky (a grocery store). Of course, when we don't want a tuk tuk we get asked about a million times, but when we do want one, it's like they don't exist. We walked for a ways and finally got a ride. Our Sorya experience was great! We got all the seasons of Downton Abbey and I got seasons 1 and 2 of Sherlock. Happy happy happy.

And then.

They came, I saw, I photographed.

Leaving Sorya meant entering a sea of tuk tuk drivers bidding for our business. I usually let Maria handle the negotiating because she's better at it, but today I guess I felt brave. Here's how it works, a driver will approach you and usher you to his tuk tuk without setting a price. They don't know that we live here, so we are regularly asked to pay 3x what we will end up paying. So, one of the drivers began doing the ushering business, but I stood my ground. I told him to come back to we could haggle. I said, "Toul Kork. Two dollar half." All the drivers around me began to groan on behalf of this one driver, then they all tried to chip in with their thoughts. They were asking six dollars, like we were in Times Square and I wanted to drive three feet.

My favorite quote from that conversation: "It's Chinese New Year, so it costs more." I called shenanigans on that one and said that doesn't change anything. The thing is, Maria and I have become quite stubborn when it comes to these drivers. We will walk because we refuse to pay more than we should. Finally, one driver agreed to $2.50, and off we went. On the way, we saw the same tourist group again. Lolz.

And then.

The Toul Kork roundabout is about one mile from our house, and this is where our driver decided to pull over. He said, "2.50 gets you to here, any further will cost $4.00."

Lord. Have. Mercy.

I asked God to take control of my vocabulary and my actions in that moment, because my first reaction wouldn't have been becoming of a Christian lady. From the two of us, he probably was the recipient of the two most terrifying teacher looks in all of Cambodia. We said that's fine, we'll walk. We paid, got out, and strutted across that busy roundabout because we weren't going to let that man rip us off. We are carrying our bags and thinking a mile isn't that bad when we happen across some men sitting outside a restaurant. We get beckoned, whistled, kissed at...it was disgusting. I don't know what came over me. Maybe it's the fact that this has happened to me about seven thousand times too many in my almost 25 years, and my quota was full. I'm not even sure what I yelled at them, but they stopped. I am woman hear me roar!

Then we saw three unleavened rats.

What would Jesus have done in that situation, I wondered. "I don't think Jesus was ever whistled at on the streets of Bethlehem."- Maria

We decided we needed a picture of how this day made us feel. You can choose one, because we obviously were confused about our emotions.

<3 M

merry christmas, darling

Coming to America for Christmas was a two-week whirlwind of friends, family, a new baby, an old dog, approximately 34 trips to Chick-fil-A, and much more. I wasn't sure what to expect. I was definitely ready to see everyone, but I didn't know how I would temporarily re-adjust to life back in the states. A life full of Targets and fast food and clean things.

The day I flew home, we had our Christmas production at school. All the staff then spent a few hours working on materials for our upcoming fair, and then we were free to go. Maria and I went and got an ultimate hair wash and ate at Viva (I think...this feels like years ago). Then we had some time to kill before it our driver came to take us to the airport. I looked around at my room. The room I had just painted. I had pictures put up everywhere and London souvenirs on everything. It was all me. My room, my home, was in Cambodia. I thought about the last time I was about to get on a plane. It was July, and I was a complete wreck because I had no clue what I was getting myself into. All I knew was all the wonderful things, and people, I was leaving behind.

This time was so different. I knew I would miss Cambodia while I was gone, and I knew how wonderful it would be to spend time with loved ones in the US and then come back to my new home.

After 24ish hours of traveling, I arrived in Dallas. I had time to quickly get some Subway before boarding for Shreveport. A guy complained about his cookies not being fresh enough and a woman yelled at the girl making her sandwich. I guess she meant business about extra lettuce. Anyway, it was a good thing I had just come through customs and was on an America high. They have this awesomely cheesy video full of cowboys and front porch swings and iced tea and a really moving song that makes me want to blaze the Oregon trail. It just makes me feel so proud (to be an American...sorry), which is the point I guess. I always want to fly back into Dallas just so I can see that video.

I'm sorry to everyone on the Dallas flight with me who witnessed the first time a human has ever inhaled a sandwich. It's possible, it happened, and it. was. glorious. Subway in my belly. Happy girl on a quick flight to Shreveport. I arrived to a welcoming party of my parents, aunt, and two cousins. They had signs, but more importantly, they had a bag of CFA. You know that part when the Beast is being a slob whilst eating his soup? It was like that. Except nuggets and fries.

  

I didn't know that one day would be spent building Wesley's new ping pong table with some of my favorite guys. I got to play on the old table one last time, and then we got to break in the new one. If you aren't aware, playing ping pong at the Wesley is how I met and became close with some very dear friends. It was also a great way for me get connected when I was too scared to talk to a room full of strangers. Oh, I've come so far. It was also what kept me sane during the internship, I think. Ping pong breaks were an essential part of every hour...um..day. Anyway, it was really fun. 

be afraid. be very afraid. 

The best part of the trip though, what made traveling halfway around the world for two weeks totally worth it, was this little guy right here:

That's Gavin! He wasn't supposed to be born until a few days after I was going to come back to Cambodia, but he came early. He was born a few days before I left Cambodia, and I am the proudest aunt in the whole world. Because he's the cutest baby ever, and I'm not just saying that. I know every says that, but I'm not. He really is. Just look at the perfect wittle face. I don't know how to type out the baby voice I'm making, but just use your imagination.

my brothers: Reed is holding Gavin, and Ryan is the baby daddy. 

My parents kept saying over and over again what a blessing it was to have us all together, and it really was. The whole time I kept having to remind myself where I was. You aren't dreaming, Meredith, you are actually in Wal-Mart. Or, you aren't seeing things, that really is Diet Dr. Pepper for sale. It was all so surreal, but it was all so great. I was right, I did miss Cambodia. Leaving the US this time was so peaceful because I knew I was coming back to exactly where I belong. 

<3M

the pavement shines like silver

Mmk...this one is going to be short and sweet. At least, it should be. Who am I kidding? I'm supposed to be packing. This may be the longest post of all.

Let's see, oh for a while I had developed a habit of falling down stairs. Ok, it happened twice. But it's left my back in pretty rough shape. The first time happened at home, and that's when the back problems started. The stairs here are completely ridiculous and made for people with tiny feet. This little gem was from the fall at school, which didn't help things. My roommates named my bruise Brutus. 

Brutus says hey.

All jokes aside, I got some x-rays done and now I'm seeing a physical therapist on the reg. The flight home should be interesting. Also, Zack Pittman, my doctor says you are not allowed to pop my back when I come home. I already asked her. She did say the break from school should help since I won't be on my feet all day. Oh, that already sounds so glorious. 

My new favorite thing is my commute to/from the doctor. It takes at least 45 minutes to go three miles, so I've been using that time to listen to music and take in the city. It's the alone time I've been forgetting to give myself. Tonight's ride home was just perfection. 

Enough about me, I got a nephew last night! Gavin Lucas Gore, born on his parent's wedding anniversary. Ryan and Christina also share a birthday. And they were all born on the 19th. They are just stealing thunder all over the place. 

A conversation this afternoon:

Student: Does having a baby hurt? 

Me: Yes.

Student: Like, worse than a tummy ache?

Me: (inaudible due to laughter)

Judging from this picture, I'm thinking he's a lefty

I fly home tomorrow....huh? Five months have totally flown by. I can't wait to see everyone and spend hours appreciating Target. I know the next couple of weeks are going to be totally insane, and I'm sorry in advance for falling asleep at random times. Cambobo jet lag is the WORST.

Before I go, Dararaksmey wants to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

He wore that sucker all day.

<3 M