The Palm Six: My Large Animal Veterinarian Friend

James and his friends in the big "boat race". Note his friend Samuel getting into the spirit of competition.

I think it may have been cheating for James to both fan his boat with the paper plate AND blow on it.

The boats had been painted earlier that day. Looks a bit like the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Blue paint...everywhere.

After the race, James brought home this note. Very cute.

Happy Mother’s Day. Last year, on Mother’s Day, I had the India ick and was in bed most of the day. That is, I was in bed until some friends of ours, that had not gotten our message that we could not have them over because I was sick, showed up for dinner. With, might I add, myself and the house in disarray, and hardly anything for dinner. So, I played that my plan all along was to have french toast and cheesy eggs for dinner. We had a nice evening, but I promptly fell into bed when they left. Why am I telling you this story? It was a year ago. Never mind, this year we had a fabulous day, other than the fact that both of our moms are half way across the world. Breakfast in bed, cards from all, a walk in the tea fields, Chinese for lunch, and then we all gathered on our bed to watch The Sound of Music. As you can imagine, The Sound of Music was a bit slow for James and Syd, they kind of bounced around, wrestled here and there. But we were together and it was as relaxing as our family can get.

Jovie wants to be just like her Mommy.

Okay, my large animal veterinarian friend - I have never had one of those before mind you, it’s kind of fun to say. Anyway, she was telling me the other day, that she was doing surgery on a cow, who was having a bit of indigestion, and she pulled out 23 Kg’s of plastic bags. That’s roughly 50 pounds! It’s hard to know what to say, right?

There's a phrase used frequently in this area of India, "Plastic Free Nilgiris". They're obviously still working on it.

I must say, I think my conversational skills are sliding dramatically. I kind of prided myself in my ability to hold a conversation with anyone. Not because I am altogether witty or an intellectual, but I am a curious duck and if you are willing, I will bombard you with questions galore. But, for some reason, I find myself quite boring lately, with nothing much to say, or ask, and if anything does come out it’s insanely stupid or embarrassing. For example, last Friday, I was having a very civilized tea with two other ladies, and I told them that I have had a lot of mucus lately. When I was on my way home the previous day from picking up the kids, I had spit out the window and accidentally spit on my arm instead. Why, Tarrah? Once I started saying it, I knew I was heading into verbal diarrhea and couldn’t figure out to bring myself to a more dignified state of being, so I just kept on going. For those of you whom I have conversations with this summer, can you please give me some pointers, to help me get back on track.

During the parenting class that I do with the Freedom Firm aftercare girls on Tuesdays, I was able to go visit Sangheeta’s new house. She has saved up enough money and moved out with her son to their very own place. It’s a very simple home, with no indoor plumbing, but it has a fabulous view and it has given her a great sense of autonomy and pride that she desperately wants and needs. It is such a pleasure to walk alongside her as she finds her feet again.

Sangheeta's new home

There are some funny desires and cravings from the States that our family cannot wait to have when we get back there this summer. Ani told me the other day that she cannot wait to use a dry bathroom. Our bathroom is flat. Where we shower does dip down a bit, but the water gets everywhere in the bathroom when we shower, resulting in a wet bathroom for most of the day. Out of all the people we are going to see, and the things we are going to do, James told me that he cannot wait to play with his yellow and black monster truck. I’m excited for carpet. Jayson is excited to have really clean jeans. Simple pleasures give such great delight. I am pretty sure that is on some sort of greeting card. Sounds cheesy I know, but it’s so true.