Catching Up

Everyone in Australia would say that if they wanted to hang out. They'd say, "Let's catch up sometime" or "We should catch up". I thought it was kind of funny. Do people here say that and I just don't know? Maybe no one here says it to me but they say it to each other!! I was so lucky to catch up with two good friends of mine today... but not at the same time.



Last week my friend Tua and I had lunch together. We met while I was on my mission in Thailand. She was a member of the Bang Naa ward in Bangkok where I served for 5 months. She was always so sweet and fun and helped the sister missionaries a lot. She and I 'caught up' again after I got home in 1998. She helped me do a project for one of my Thai classes at BYU where I had to do a series of interviews and conduct a study about the culture of Thailand. We didn't see each other often b/c she was in Salt Lake and I was in Provo. I got married. She got married. We lost touch. Last Wednesday I went to her house in Draper and she made us a great feast of Thai food!! Phad phag bung fay dang (my favorite), Phad Thai, Massaman Curry, etc.



Here's the kids eating their lunch together. I almost got teary eyed thinking about how amazing it is that Tua and I met all the way across the world and who would have ever thought that our little girls would be eating Phad Thai together 10 years later?!



Olivia took this photo of Tua, me, Ashley, Nadia, and Hannah. It is quite possibly the worst photo of me ever taken (no, unfortunately, I have seen worse) Bad hair, bad face, bad day. However, I am glad I documented the moment and took a photo of us. We had a fun time together. She has a great sense of humor and just feels like an old friend to me.

Anyway, today Ashley and I met Tua and Hannah up at the Gateway. We had a lot of fun with the little girls, playing and exploring the Children's Museum. I used my small camera and the photos came out horrible (you can't go back after using a nice SLR!) We only had a couple hours since she had to pick up Nadia from preschool and I had to go meet Kaija for lunch!



My cute friend Kaija and I met when I worked at ProPay in Orem. She is one of the most down to earth, kind, sweet, adorable people I know. She is always smiling! She totally made it fun to work there. I have missed her and haven't had the chance to catch up with her since she had her adorable baby Danika, who is already 14 months old! I can't wait to meet her! But it was fun to sit and chat at Los Hermanos with Kaija and talk about what's happened in our lives over the past few years since we saw each other. It was funny my old boss, Bryan, was coincidentally there having a lunch meeting at the same time. He told me he would hire me again in a heartbeat. Hmm, I could use some extra cash... ha.

I was so happy to meet up with these two friends of mine. It did, however, make for an exhausting day, especially since I had Ashley with me. We went to the potty about 10 times while we were out. No wonder my hands are cracking after all that washing. And I have my own puppy bladder to deal with, never mind her habits! Ok, TMI, but anyway, Ashley did great the whole time. We got home at 2:45 just in time to grab Olivia and take her to ballet, during which I ran to the grocery store and made copies. By the time I got home I just wanted to lay on my bed... which I did. I started a new book. Did you notice my sidebar? I can't believe I am finally giving in to the pressure and reading it!! I feel I am obligated to read the book before I see the most hyped movie of the year. The only problem is I want to read it before the movie and I still need to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for my book club which is like 500 pages. Hmm, I guess I should start the book club one now b/c I'm on a deadline and based on what everyone says, I am going to finish Twilight in about 2 days anyway.