Happy Day!

So here's what happened this morning:

My employers sat me down and told me that they will now be taking 3,000 baht LESS per month out of my paycheck for taxes. They also said that they will be paying the RIDICULOUSLY HIGH fees that the condo charges per month, thereby reducing my monthly utility bill by 5,000 baht per month. They also gave me a bunch of snacks because they don't think I eat enough.

So let's recap:

*I get to keep 8,000 more baht per month (or about $260)
*They gave me snacks

I was waiting for them to trot out a brand new pony for me, because that's the only way that the morning would have gotten more awesome, but alas, that may have to wait until Christmas.

All I had for them was a Power Point presentation, but they practically wept with joy when it was over.

I'm not even all that good at Power Point.

I can definitely say that things have turned a (very large, very scary) corner with my employers, and we are living in our own happy little world. There are animated bluebirds that sit on my shoulder all day long, and the flowers in the (rather ample) garden actually sing to me. This has been a loooooooong time coming, and a lot of sweat and tears had to pour forth from my overachieving little body before we could get to this point. I wish I had one baht for every time I thought about running away. I'd probably have 8,000 baht by now.

Oh, wait!! I do!!!!!!!

Honestly, though, it's not about the money or the snacks. It's about a rather solid level of mutual respect and understanding that will give us the footing to move forward and create something wonderful for the kids. And I never thought we'd get here.

Let this be a lesson to you, kids: patience, persistence, the ability to suspend all common sense and dive into the shallow end (spinal cord injuries, be damned!!!!), and a touch of workaholism actually DO pay off.

In all seriousness, though, I'm really excited. I know the next year is going to fly by all too quickly.