Decreasing the Local Rat Population

We were writing some cards this morning, and James asked if it was anybody’s birthday in the United States.  I said not that I know of, but it is Tax Day in the United States.  James replied, “Can we send them a birthday card?”  Happy Tax Day to everyone in the United States, from James Palm.

We had a great weekend.  Started off on Friday with a small Passover Seder.  Just with our family.  Some of you may be scratching your head about the whole Passover bit.  No, we are not Jewish.  A little bit of Italian/Swedish/German/French Canadian/Native American - but not Jewish.  We have been trying our hardest the last few years to incorporate some Jewish traditions into our year, being that Christianity came from Jewish roots.  So, as you can imagine, the ability to find something Kosher in S. India is a bit of a stretch, but we did our best.  It was actually very un-kosher, but it was meaningful and the kids had a great time.  Instead of Matzo, we had wheat crackers; instead of parsley, we had mint; and instead of wine, we had mango juice - of course.  

We then continued on to Easter on Sunday.  We had 30ish people over.  The lamb turned out great.  I also made 4 chickens...lamb is a bit pricey.  Anyway, everybody brought a dish to share.  I did run out of potatoes, which was kind of sad to me.  Running out of cheesy potatoes on Easter just doesn’t seem right.  I think I was the most upset about it,  running out of potatoes doesn’t seem to get people too riled up around here.  We had a big Easter egg hunt...70 eggs in all - which the dads kept on re-hiding so we could get dinner finished.  The climax of the day came right before we served dinner when Ani came screaming into the kitchen, “There’s a rat in our compost”!  Perfect.  Rats here are just a part of life, so it’s pretty normal.  But for the new girl on the scene, it was disturbing.  Oh, and the rat was as big as your arm up to your elbow... not including the tail.  Also perfect.  Everyone here says that cats are the way to decrease the local rat population, but I have been hesitant, since I am allergic to cats.  But after Sunday, I have decided that using Benadryl for the next season of my life is just going to have to be okay - so our next animal purchase will be at least one, if not two, cats.  Near the end of the afternoon the 15+ kids put on a pretty sweet show - including dance, song, jokes, advertisements (commercials), tricks and wrestling.  Most people that came were from different parts of the world, away from their native home, but we all pitched in and made it a special Easter.

A bit of insight into our marriage here.  About once a year, I get a speeding ticket. Jayson hasn’t gotten into any traffic issues since he was 16.  Every time I go to the dentist, I have a cavity.  Jayson has never gotten a cavity.  So, this week, when Jayson backed into 3 (parked) vehicles, 3 days in a row - I was secretly kind of excited.  I think the issue is that every time we go into reverse, the car/van/can has this music go off - and it drives us absolutely crazy.  Its a combination of the traditional beeping that a semi-truck would do when backing up and techno-Indian music.  Just another way our vehicle is top notch.  Two of the three times he made obvious damage and the people, graciously, waved it off and said no big deal.  Every time I get a speeding ticket, well you can guess, 100+ dollars later.  So, even though he had the driving mishaps, he still got off with a smile...  It’s progress though.

This weekend, we are going on a bit of an R&R to Jungle Retreat.  Do a Google search of it.  Jungle Retreat - India.  We are just going for one night - as a first time trip for us.  Seems do-able.  I am sure something ridiculous will happen, but hey, makes good material for the blog.  

Oh, I forgot to mention.  I bird flew into our house two days ago.  So funny.  Not really India related, because I have a faint memory of a bird flying into our house when I was growing up... but still funny none-the-less.  Jayson was home for lunch when it happened, so he was able to shoo it out.  

In about a half hour Jayson is hosting a “Guys Night” - they are playing the game Risk and eating boy food.  I’d better go get things ready for it...