HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYA

Today is my friend Jaya's birthday, and she celebrated it at the Madras Club. No, she wouldn't let us sing "Happy Birthday" to her...and no, she wouldn't tell us how old she really is...hmmm. Anyway, we had good food and fun. It's always good to get out of the house. I gave her my favorite book of the year..."The White Tiger", because she had been meaning to finish it for the longest (ha), chocolate candy...a girl can never get too much of that, and aloe vera juice, because she had been trying to find out just what it does for you and how good it could be for you. (I'm sure it keeps you eternally young and wrinkles away, right).

Happy Birthday, Jaya.

A BOY AND HIS NEW TOY

You want to know what makes Johnnie smile so big? Can you saw...NEW GOLF CLUBS!!! Don't even ask me the brand, I couldn't tell ya, and I'm too lazy to run into the front room and look, but look out world, John has now become a true threat on the golf course. Well, believe it or not, this lovely bunch of bananas was growing in my back yard. How wierd, and cool to just pick a banana off of the tree.

This almost reminds me of the time I took my dad to Florida, and he had never seen an orange tree before. He wanted his picture made by the orange trees. Oh well, we had our really nice, expensive camera stolen on an excursion in the Bahamas, and we never got to show the family those pictures. Oh well...

Bree has the bball tournament finals on her camera, which of course I can't find, but I was mortified when the blow up bed I had put our guests on was totally deflated in the morning and they were sleeping on the floor. I tried to make it up to them, but you never get over that.

So Bree is running track now, and we are making plans for a home visit during June/July and a quick get away in a couple of weeks. I really need to go somewhere...

YYAAAAYYYY, MORE PICTURES...

Well, we are on the precipice of hosting two students from Bangalore this week that are competing in the basketball tournament. The plumber is still working on installing our bathtub, and left today with promises of finishing next week. Yeah, right. I've become pretty good at interpreting the lingo around here. Let me see, translation: "Yes, Mrs. Sykes, the tub should be completed by the turn of the century." I think I'll go take a nap.

I've learned a new trick, do ya wanna know what it is? Okay, since stress is a killer, and we are all trying to live as long as we can, when a stressful situation arises and you don't want to deal with it...just walk away like it doesn't exist and go take a nap. I'm telling you, this works everytime. Say the credit collectors are calling you non-stop, wanting the last few month's backpayment and you just don't have it...."fiddle-dee-dee, I'll just worry about that tomorrow..." take the phone off the hook, light an aromatic soy candle, less toxins, play some soothing music, (I recommend Vivaldi or Mozart), and just take a nap...I'm telling you, it works wonders. Say for example Ashley and Bree are fighting again, whining for attention or getting on my last nerve...completely ignore them and???? GO TAKE A NAP. People are always being so pushy sometimes, encrouching on your space -- it's like they don 't know where to "step off", and what's a girl left to do after having to put them back in their place...(I know you're getting the hang of this now) Take a NAP.

So here are a few pictures of Bree and friends and a few repeat pictures that you've seen before that I just didn't get deleted off the smilebox. No, I haven't gotten around to take pictures of the house, it's almost like you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. Whoop-dee-doo. I'm tired...I'm going to take a nap now. p.s. Be sure to check out Bree's video at the end of the pictures on smilebox.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

GO RAPTORS!!

Go Raptors!!! Bree had her first basketball game tonight, and where or where was my camera? Not in my purse where it was supposed to be. Oh well, they looked so cute in their blue and white uniforms. I'm almost resolved to not go to another game, I really lost control. I'm one of those mothers yelling and screaming from the sidelines that usually gets evicted. John was worse than me, and Ashley is worse than both of us. Things got really wild. Boy, these girls are aggressive. I miss Bree's friends from Garfield and the YMCA's team too. Seems like Jessica and Danielle should be running up and down the court screaming at Bree to throw them the ball. It was so many girls out there. I don't know if they won or lost, there was no scoreboard, which was probably a good thing.

Other news of the day, Ashley tells me that my driver Vendan saw a ghost and now he's scared. He ran to the temple today and had ashes on his forehead. He told Ashley he was coming down the road and saw a woman in a dark purple sari with long black hair and her face was convered. And when he turned back, she was GONE. Vanished into thin air...She was standing by a tree, and now he thinks the tree is evil. Hmmm, it's been a while since I studied pantheism, isn't that like when you think spirits can get into inanimate objects...hmmm.

And on that note, I'm heading to my infrared sauna to detox and chill out. We went to HotBread after the game for some hot fries and friendly conversation with the waiters there. I like to practice my Tamil on the guys, and the lead one there is really nice. Now he's being transferred to the HotBread by the airport. Hey, nothing is forever...make the most of each day and treat all people with kindness. Chow-Chica.

SLUMDOG WINS THE OSCAR

It's kind of funny, but if you look at it through this slant, we all can really relate to Slumdog...that is, getting the correct answer by drawing on some (childhood) experience in the past. Let me see, like say what if I found someone's purse in my living room, full of rupees...(you can tell I've been in India too long, I normally would use dollars, okay.) The question is: Should I take the money and run? (a) No....(b) Yes...(c)...Get Ashley and Bree to do it for me (d) Kick it under the couch for later contemplation.....
Then my mind would race back to the days of being with one of my childhood best friends, Sharon, who had swiped her foster mother's purse and we ran off together to Montgomery Wards down the street with the money on a shopping spree, later hiding the purse in one of the bedrooms...Yes the "whoopin' of my life" is still layed into my memory. It's a wonder that I'm still alive today to tell the story...
So, despite the devil whispering in my ear "Go on, take the money and run...whooo, whoooo, whoooo....the answer is: (a) No, Marsha don't grab the purse. Yeah, I win.... I can just see the funfetti falling from the sky as I look up in joyful anticipation.
Yes, I am glad Slumdog won. My analysis on the movie, although yes, it is a love story...the real love story that no one seems to talk about is the one that occurs between the brothers. Yes, I'm the baby of the pack and I know what it's like to have pushy older siblings running the roost (ha). But remember the older brother despite all of his aggressiveness still loved the younger brother.,,he saved him from being blinded. Don't get me wrong, he did his fair share of detrimental work, but he still loved his brother and ultimately gave up his life so his brother could finally connect with his true love. Yes, the scriptures state: No greater love is this that a man will lay down his life for a friend. Yes, to me that is the true love story here.

Okay I'm off my soap box now.

Bree's Big Adventure in an Indian Village...

Well, Bree's 6th grade class went on a trip to a rural Indian village. They took cow dung, cow pee and a little sugar to make fertilizer (Bree said the sugar tasted like grape juice...) They planted seeds and put fertizer on it. I hope I can put the little video clips up. They are so cute. They rode in a tractor, and they played games. Tomorrow Bree is going away for three days. What will I do??? (hehehe)

They are going to Yeligiri Park... or something like that. I'll share more pictures with you when they get back.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIANA!!!

Well, today is my baby's birthday. Briana turned 12 today, and boy have I been suffering through her mood swings. One minute she is happy, the next...she has gotta get out of here. Anyway I'm finally getting around to posting pictures...pictures of the baptism Sunday, pictures of Bree in the hospital, pictures of the birthday cake, pictures of my friends at Tamil class learning how to bargain with the "vegetable man", etc. Bree and Ashley are out now picking out a camera for her. Hopefully that will put her into a different phase of capturing events in her life here. She really has a good eye for shots.