Pot Roast Dinner in the Car

The most beat-up package we've yet received. (Thank you Askers, it was fantastic nonetheless!)

Photos from Ani's first trail ride

Sydney's had a bit of a cold

Jovie wasn't crying in this photo. She's all "cold" as well.

Gather around while I tell you a tale that is unforgettable. That was my sentence that was supposed to grab you, did it? It actually is a tale about forgetting. Within a course of two days, we found out that we skipped right over Mike, our new brother-in-law’s, birthday; I got all mixed up with Sammy’s and David’s birthday (I have been giving gifts to them for about a decade); and I congratulated Betsie on getting married, finding out that I was about a month off. I was very teary when I realized all my blunders, because here’s the twisted deal that goes on in my mind about me being here (here being India). If I am at least present enough in people’s lives, whether it’s emails, phone calls, gifts, notes, blogs, etc... then I won’t be forgotten. And within the course of a few days, I was ridiculously not present. Now, my mind, when it comes to birthdays and such, is not as sharp as a tack. One would think that I would set up some very easy reminders, such as, hmmm... a calendar. I go in waves with calendars. This year, I do not have one going. I don’t know why, I just don’t. So, usually, with my cat-like sensory skills, I pick up on lines that give me clues about upcoming events. But here, I miss the clues. I miss lots of them. Sometimes I don’t always know what to do with all that I am missing.

Jovie is screaming wildly right now in bed, protesting the fate of sleep. I protest with staying up too late reading or watching a movie. I like my protest better.

Today our car wouldn’t start, which is surprising. The Car/Van/Can is surprisingly reliable. A mechanic came out to look at the car... rats had chewed on some very important wires I guess. The mechanic said that if we wouldn’t eat snacks in the car, that would help the rats not to chew on the wires. Okay. It’s not like we eat a pot roast dinner in the car, it’s crackers, chips or cut-up fruit. You try having four kids and not having car snacks. I dare you. The car still isn’t running great, I had this flash of fear while I was driving today, that a rat was scrambling around in the motor and since I practically sit on the motor, that a rat would take a chomp out of my rear. It’s not unheard of you know. When I was growing up, we once had family of mice scrambling around in the van... So, you can understand my fears, right?

Yesterday, we took in two boarders. JJ and Snowball. They are cute. They also have fleas. Do fleas bother humans? Or do they just bother animals? I need to figure out how to get rid of the fleas. Anyway, my eldest is an animal lover. So, kittens it is. I haven’t started sneezing yet, maybe kitten dander isn’t as lethal... I know nothing really. I about wet myself yesterday trying to chase down JJ as he darted around our bedroom. It took me half an hour trying to snatch him up. Half an hour of life, snap, just gone, because of a two pound creature.

Meet JJ and Snowball

Bec told me that I could tell you a sweet story of generosity. First, an important side note. Often in India, instead of people saving money in the bank, they buy gold jewelry and when they want to take out a loan, they give the gold to the bank and the bank gives them as much cash as the gold is worth, and when they have the money back, they take it to the bank and get their jewelry back. Now back to the story. Bec’s husband Glen is looking for a job, and has been looking for the last few months. Well, the family that works for Bec and Glen at their home, took them aside last week and told them that they had taken all their gold jewelry to the bank, cashed it in, and wanted to lend that money (about 50,000 rupees, which is about $1100 U.S. dollars) to Bec and Glen until he finds a job. The family that works for them does not have running water in their house. Amazing.