I carried a watermelon?

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the globe after another GREAT DAY in the Lion City. You know, I really thought I was doing good. I mean, 2 months here, and to date I think I've only missed 4 posts. But oh no, today I found out that "just posting" wasn't good enough.

You see, today the Shogun himself called me out. During a reply from World Wide Weber's completely slanderous and erroneous email pointing out alleged "errors" on my Corp Dir Business Card (as IF - when has Sammy the Bull EVER been wrong? Muffin - quiet, please...), Shogun responded: "Good call on this Christine. In fact, this email is far more fun to read than the blog has been lately. Let's do a recap of Sam: 'Hi, I'm Sam. I worked late and then ate a pineapple.' APAC CLEARLY isn't as exciting as billed."

A guy can't win - SERENITY NOW!!!!!!!

All joking aside (and I did get a good chuckle out of that, Brewmaster - full marks), I do think that Team Taylor is once again settling into a new normal. The last 6 months in London (what Dinger affectionately terms "Season 2" on the blog) were a WHIRLWIND, and it's nice to finally get back into a rhythm of 3-4 days in the gym and at least 1 day in the weekend without a plan of attack. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased with all that we've seen and done, and I'm even MORE excited about some future vacation coming up (shocking, I know), but suffice it to say that dinners in, watching the occasional CSI episode on the telly, and even (DARE I SAY IT), multiple AFD's have been a very nice change (4 in a row this week, for the record. But MAN could I go for some Absolut right now...speaking of, who knew they did Vanilla? AMAZING!).

As for today, it was another great one at work, complete with discovering our new FAVORITE stall at the Hawker Center. Seriously - $4 will buy you THE BEST bowl of Tom Yam noodles you could ever ask for - SO GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD (peppy cheekies - mom, that was for you). The even was good and active as well, with Muffin battling it out at another Kandy Kickers practice (she was the striker tonight for the red team - I can confirm goals were scored!) whilst I logged 5 miles outside. Miller - it was a cool night - about 83 with 95% humidity. Gotta take advantage of these chilly days!

I jogged past the Merlion again, and sure enough they are building some kind of hotel there. Apparently it's only going to be up for 2 months, but it's going to TOTALLY surround the thing. Now don't get me wrong - I'm all for creative ideas in tourism, but really? REALLY? BRING ME BACK MY MERLION!!!!

Also, Sammy's happy to report that he's cleared for takeoff again!!! That's right, folks - today I picked up my passport at the embassy. They turned that passport around in ONE WEEK. CP - can you guys come BACK to Thailand?

One note about the embassy that I simply must point out. We're waiting in line, and the security guy (again, NOT a Marine - Wackenhut, baby) asks us to switch off our mobile phones. I, like almost everyone else, does this without questioning it. But one gal makes a HUGE deal about it, spouting out "Why do I have to turn off my phone? Since when did we start doing that? Now we can't even talk or receive calls in line?" This went on for about 2 minutes. Unfortunately, I'd left my sawed off shotgun at home so that it wouldn't be confiscated by security. Oh well, next time...

In other news, not a whole lot else to report. Shogun - I realize that this post was pretty boring again, hence the title of the blog. I know at least someone will get the reference, but if not I'll throw in this one for free, dedicated to Dinger: "Go stand in the corner, baby." That still makes Four Leaf smile.

Lastly, a few things I've noticed about myself lately:

1. My normal use of foul language is down by about 90%. See, NOBODY cusses here, and I find myself holding back as well. Consequently, my vocabulary has shrunk 83%. To quote Jenny's mom: "Sam, if you can't threaten to fire people, kill people, or burn their house down, you've pretty much lost your entire management strategy." Jan - I'm happy to report that I'm still hangin' in there, but just barely... :-)

2. So I KNOW that you are all going to CACKLE at this, BUT - I honestly think my accent is softening a bit. It's not because I want it to soften. It's not because I'm tryin' to be "citified." It's just a basic necessity of SURVIVAL out there, as the odds of most folks understanding my Tennessee twang on the first go-around is about .003%. However, after I do the "fake anchorman" voice, we usually make a little progress. C-Web's actually heard it in action. C-Web - I was basically smooth like Brad Pitt, wasn't I? Don't lie...

3. When folks ask me where I'm from, invariably I tell them Tennessee. Now don't get me wrong - I LOVE North Carolina, am a die hard Heels fan, and think Charlotte is an AMAZING place to live. However, the more you move around (and we've obviously been doing that a lot lately), the more I think you tend to gravitate to thinking of home as the place you truly spent those formative years. To be fair, I've always thought of myself as a Tennessean through and through (minus Heels athletics, NO MATTER WHAT CP SAYS), but given that we don't have an anchor in the states right now, I definitely think of myself as a Volunteer. I think seeing Rice's photos on Facebook of us at Calhoun's only further solidified this.

4. And speaking of Volunteers, I looked in the mirror and realized something for the FIRST TIME EVER this week - I have Granddaddy's ears. WOW. Perhaps I just needed to drop 15 pounds and get closer to his size to notice it, but MAN - there's no mistaking those puppies! Perhaps I should change my signature line going forward.

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow (AND we've got an activity planned - new characters to introduce!)!

Love,

The Ridgerunner and Jenny the Striker