Every year, the Stockdales venture out into the forest to cut down a Christmas tree.  This year in Singapore, was no exception. 

As we set out on our long journey, the excitement ran high amongst the little Stockdales.

After much searching, we began to encounter signals that we were closing in on the proper area.

At last, the entrance to the forest.

The choices were many!

It took hours and hours of searching to find a Stockdale worthy tree, but victory was finally ours!

The journey over, we retraced our steps and returned to the Stockdale compound.

As always, decorating the tree was the best part.  It obviously went off without any whining, crying, pushing, shoving, or Stockdale sisterliness.

Merry Christmas from the Stockdales!

Last Friday, the middle little Stockdale lost a tooth.  This was a fairly significant milestone for the Stockdales because this was the first top tooth to fall out for any of them.

I had gone out for some frosty malt beverages with a buddy that evening, so Mrs. Stockdale was left to prepare the Stockdale residence for the arrival of the Tooth Fairy.  It seems the preparation may have gone awry, because the Tooth Fairy, unfamiliar with the local coinage, left the middle little Stockdale a fifty-cent piece, not the normal dollar paid for a lost tooth.

To say the middle little Stockdale was disappointed, disheartened, and had experienced permanent psychological damage would be an understatement.  So how did she respond?  Did she cry?  Did she plot her revenge using tactical nuclear weapons or homemade explosives?  NO!  She went Grandpa Simpson and wrote the Tooth Fairy a sternly worded letter with Mrs. Stockdale’s assistance.

This morning, when the middle little Stockdale awoke from her slumber, the customer service department at the Tooth Fairy had made things right and put an additional fifty cents under her pillow. 

Sternly worded letters, is there nothing they can’t do?

If you’re a bad guy and your dastardly plot against the Singapore public transportation system involves disguising your improvised weapon as a soccer ball and hiding said weapon in a group of real soccer balls, the Singapore authorities are on to you.

Got back from the States over the weekend.  At some point I’ll add something about this trip, since it was my first journey back home since we moved to Singapore, but first things first.

Congratulations to all the finishers of Ironman Arizona on November 21, 2010.  However, special interest should be paid to these three jokers.

Brian – 10 hours, 50 minutes, 59 seconds
Sean – 12 hours, 8 minutes, and 31 seconds
Dale Stockdale – 15 hours, 21 minutes, 2 seconds

As you can see, Brian and Sean were showered, changed, and fresh by the time I slogged myself across the finish line.

Today, Flat Stanley joined the Stockdale family.  He came to us all the way from Collin at McCormick Elementary School in Loveland, Ohio.

I’m sure he’ll have fun with us while he is here.

DSD:     Hey Mrs. Stockdale, pick me up some beer on your way home from the office!

MSD:    How much you want?

DSD:     Get one of them new ‘Tiger Value Packs’.

MSD:    There’s only 30 beers in that, what are you going to drink tomorrow?

DSD:     I love  you!

MSD:    Do you have a couple extra $50s?

DSD:    Oh yeah, the ‘value pack’ costs $59.95.  I guess the water diet will be fine again tonight.  Mmm, water.  So refreshing and tasty.  Like a mountain stream or a freezing cold train driving out of a tunnel and into a party. 

MSD:    Maybe for Christmas.  Maybe!

A few days ago was the Stockdale’s six month anniversary in Singapore.  (That’s metric for half a year.)

I’d like to post something nostalgic or reflective about this time, but really our lives haven’t been that different from how they were in Kansas.  Mrs. Stockdale works, the kids drive each other nuts, and I’m responsible for getting various little Stockdales from point A to point B. 

Seriously, other than the logistical challenges of not having a minivan and living in a shoebox, life is the same wherever you call home.

As boring as it sounds, Halloween in Singapore was pretty similar to back in the States.

And, just like the States, once Halloween is over, the Christmas products hit the stores.

There is something advertisingly humorous about this ad, I just can’t quite figure it out.   Thoughts?

Remember, this is how the rest of the world treats illegal immigrants.

http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4410225