Oh yes, there is. In India, I have found something I refer to as "Guiltless Chocolate." (A moment of silence, please!)
I wish to thank the wonderful people that stock this delightful treat on the grocery store shelves. I mean really, who wants to have to ponder the chocolate dilemma of "Should I? Should I not. I know I shouldn't but I wanna." Normally, every time I reach out for that Sweet Treat as I'm getting ready to pay for my other items - I have an inner battle between good and evil.... between self-discipline and self-indulgence.... between instant gratification and long term goals.....
I mean. It's bad! I've started hearing voices! Jenny Craig comes and sits on my left shoulder whispering, "A moment on the lips - Forever on the hips." Fat Albert sits on my other shoulder bellowing, "Hey Hey Hey! Live it up today!"
It's sheer torture...I'm in turmoil!!
That is until the wonderful people of Cadbury came along!!
Step aside Willa Wonka and your creapy little Oompa Loompa friends....
By George! The Cadbury People have got it figured out!!!
DAIRY MILK!!! I mean, COME ON!!! Is that sheer marketing genius or what!?!?
Don't us ladies need more calcium in our diets? Let's not forget about the benefits of Vitamin D!!!! I tell ya what - I plan to fill my basket with this miraculous MILK at every visit to the store....It's for my HEALTH, you know!?!?!
However! There is much drama surrounding a photo that was allegedly taken by the Indian paparazzi claiming to have captured this photo of ME riding around Palm Meadows on our motorcycle last week.
SAY WHAT!?!?!? I PROTEST!! It's not me I tell ya!
I mean I know the picture quality is poor but SERIOUSLY!!!
I'm not bald!!!
I will admit I can see where some of
their confusion starts to set in....Hmmmm....
I guess I need to consume Dairy Milk in MODERATION!?!?! ;0)
Whatever your means - Stay Healthy Ladies! Live long good lives, get your calcium, vitamin D and if you behave yourselves - I might just be able to sneak home a secret stash of Dairy Milk in my luggage for you! ;0) xoxoxox
I have soooo much to blog about from our vacation but the thought of it is a bit daunting so I am going to wish you all a Happy Halloween instead and I will work on the vacation blogging in the coming days :) OH!!! AND!!!! Our sea shipment arrived! YA-HOO! No more sleeping on air mattresses! I can't even tell you how nice it's been. We are currently buried in boxes but it's so much fun opening up each "package" and finding items we've been without for the last two months. It's all about "The Little Things" isn't it?! Who knew that Smuckers Strawberry Preserves or Dunkin Donuts could bring so much happiness!? The last few days have been filled with "little" things that remind us of home and give 'ya the warm fuzzies inside.
My heart is a bit heavy today for my Sweet Little Erica. She's been having an emotional day. Some days are just like that here. One minute all is hunky-dory and the next moment something happens that triggers a memory or some random sad feeling and before you know it...You're crying. That's Erica's day today. I went out to run some errands. Erica and the boys chose to stay home and Rachel came with me. After being gone about an hour, Erica called me on my cell phone. Crying. She asked how much longer I was going to be gone and said she was "Just really missing me." I was thinking to myself, "Really!? How is that even possible? I just left and we've spent the last several days together...Don't you need a BREAK from your Dear old Mom?!" Anyhow. I promised I would get home as quickly as I could and encouraged her to try not to be so sad. When we pulled into the driveway, she came rushing out to meet me and gave me a big hug and told me how much she loved me and that she was so glad I was home. It was all a bit overwhelming (and I kinda enjoyed the extra attention! HAHAHA!) Anyhow. I just figured she was "having a moment" and didn't really think too much about it and then I sat down to the computer and I just found an email that she sent to my mother-in-law while I was at the store. Oh Dear. My poor sweet Erica. I didn't realize she was having such a hard time. I know tomorrow is a new day and she'll be fine but today - My Mommy Heart Breaks for her. Prayers appreciated that Jesus will chase her blues away.
Here is the email she mailed to my MIL: subject:im sad i have been missing everybody!i want to go back to america.im crying.
so upset.i cant do this at all.....i cant be in india im not ment to be in india.imment to be in america its just.......MY HOME!
LOVE erica i miss you!
My Poor Sweet Girl. She's more like her Momma then I thought! ;0) India can be a very overwhelming and at times a lonely place. I pray tomorrow is brighter!
SOOOOO! Onto a lighter subject. We celebrated Halloween a day early. I don't know why. Maybe it's an Indian thing!? Regardless of what the calendar showed, it was October 31st in our hearts and we had a great time. Our neighborhood sponsors a Halloween parade for the children followed by trick or treating within our community. (Maybe that's part of why Erica is missing home. Holidays are a time you think of friends and family and traditionally our last several years of Halloween celebrating have been spent "Spookin it Up" with some of our dearest friends. Oh Dear. Moving on or I'll be the next one sobbing!)
Happy Halloween 2011
For the first time in Halloween history (NINE years to be exact!) Rachel decided NOT to be an animal for Halloween. We broke the mold and got our creative juices flowing and came up with this Chiquita Banana Girl costume! She won 2nd place in her age group at our Community Halloween party. Her prize was a soccer ball and she was soooo happy to be one of the big winners. She was quite smitten with herself! hahaha!
Stepping Up to Claim Her Prize!
Rachel is the proud owner of...... Drum Roll Please.... A SOCCER BALL!!!
She was so caught up in the moment she forgot that she HATES to play soccer! hahaha! Amazing what a little time in the limelight will do to the 'ole brain, aye?!
Erica stormed her closet and pieced together this little number all by herself. I was most impressed that she came up with a "name" for her character. She is a "Pom Cat"....you've heard of her distant cousin the Tom Cat, right!? How clever is she?!
Michael is the resident Super Mario Brothers gamer extraordinaire. So it came as no surprise that he would disguise himself as the Big M! What I didn't mean to do was make him look like some sort of "Adolf Hitler Mario" Oops! Let's just say I won't be making any extra money as a make-up artist! (Our driver, Cladius, LOVED Michael's mustache and got quite a kick out of it as almost ALL Indian men have mustaches!)
CRAP! Mikey is his twin!
David. David. David. What are we going to do with you?! Maybe we should have dressed him up as Mr. Crabs instead of Spongebob, aye!?
I'm sure Michael is only trying to help but chances are that pulling David up by the tips of his hair fibers is NOT going to help in the "Smiles" Dept.
Yet another FAILED attempt to get David to SMILE!!!
Ah-Haa!!! When all else fails - You threaten "You get NOOOOOO candy if you don't smile in this picture!" Amazing, the boy is actually smirking! hahahaha!
Heading down our Avenue to participate in the Halloween Parade
Met up with some friends.
Parade Registration
Michael leading the line-up of 6-9 year olds. (David joined their group as he didn't want to have to walk alone!)
YEP!!! All the way in India - I found someone sportin' the Purple Pride of Minnesota! Loyal fan!? Yah, ya Betcha!!!
Since arriving, I have discovered there are actually quite a few people here from Minnesota. I've been thinking we should get together and cook up a hot dish and drink some Pop!?!?! (If you are now lost in translation - You are clearly NOT from Minnesota!!) Uff Da!
Although we often find ourselves missing friends from home, we remind ourselves this is only temporary. An opportunity of a lifetime and God has us here for a purpose! We finished the night off by counting our loot and going to bed on a sugar high. Does it get any better than that?! Happy Halloween, Everybody!!
Rachel claims they hit a new "World Record" in Candy Collection!!!
The kids have the next week and then some off of school for Diwali! Since they will have a vacation day on Halloween the school had a special day for them today. For 10 rupees they were allowed to dress up (the money collected goes towards helping the Indus Community School). The Fab Four decided that they didn't want to wear their "actual" costumes to school today. Michael imparticular was concerned b/c his "real" Halloween costume is a jumpsuit style costume. He came to me in hushed tones and said, "Mom. What if I have to go pee at school?!" I told him, "Well, there is Velcro on the back and you can take your costume off." "Mom! Everyone will see my underwear!" "Yep, pretty much," I said. He quickly decided wearing his "real" costume was probably not the best idea. So, off to the mall I went to see what I could come up with. I did find a small shop that carried miscellaneous (and extremely overpriced) costumes. Actually, saying they had costumes is a stretch. Mostly, it was costume accessories, no real costumes. After waiting outside the shop door for 40 minutes (in the middle of the day), apparently the store employee decided to go to lunch!? I had just decided I was giving her 10 more minutes when she showed up.
Erica was so excited about my purchases that she immediately went to work picking out just the "right outfit." Such the little budding Fashionista!! You're one tough cookie, Erica (with great dimples!)
Mikey was into it as well! Checking himself out in the bathroom mirror and analyzing exactly how tough we was looking. (His Daddy does the same thing every morning when he's getting ready for work! Wink-Wink!) I don't want to burst Michael's bubble or anything but I'm pretty sure he was "Born to be Mild!" ;0)
After much prodding, I convinced them it was time to take off their biker gear and get to bed. I wonder as they dozed off to sleep if they had visions of Hot Rods dancing in their heads!? It was no surprise that they woke up "Wound for Sound" and ready for their fun day at school. I managed to snap a few pictures of them before they boarded the bus.
B-B-B-Bad to the Bone!
Amigos Cuatro - For Life, Man!
What chu Lookin' At?! Yeah, dat's right, I'm part of the Pre-School Punk Posse!
Wanna make sumpin of it?!
I think part of the reason the kids were embracing their biker attitude is because Daddy recently became the proud owner of a 1963 Royal Enfield. He's going to have to go through the Indian system of getting a license (which should prove to be interesting) but we've been having a good time driving it around "The Hood" (neighborhood for you softies!)
It's a thug life, Baby but somebody has to do it!
While we were out riding we determined that this bad boy does about 0-60 in 2 minutes! Zoo-ee-Mamma! Hold onto your socks! Actually, it really is a cool bike and the boys are loving it. I'm not sure Erica has even got on it?! She's afraid of all the pipes and "hot parts" and is convinced she's going to "melt her skin off!" Rachel, per her usual, was all about the theatrics BUT she did get on & go for a ride! Even though just moments prior she had launched into her dissertation and told Matt that under no circumstances, no way, no how would she EVER be riding on that LOUD, RIDICULOUS motorcycle. She thought we should have gotten a little mo-ped. Hahha!
"Oh, please, Sweet Jesus, I think this is a very bad idea... Please don't let me die!!!"
When out and about in Bangalore traffic we now enjoy looking for other Royal Enfield Bullets. The most we've seen riding on one is FOUR, yes count 'em FOUR people, riding on a motorcycle. Haven't managed to get a picture of that yet but I will! I did snap this one just in time:
Look at that sweet baby slumped down between its mother and father...SLEEPING! Some kids really can sleep anywhere!
The kids tattoo sleeves made me miss my friend, Heather, from home. She'd be so proud we're "starting them young." Hehehe! Her husband, Tim, is a wicked good tattoo artist in Buzzards Bay, MA. You can check him out on-line at http://www.diamondmindtattoo.blogspot.com/
And when you swing down to the Cape to get inked be sure you tell him Jenny from the B'Block sent ya!
We are officially on vacation! Yep! For the next 12 days! The kids have off of school for Diwali and we are Outta Here! He are heading to Kerala India where we will be staying at http://www.tranquilresort.com/
Click on the Accommodations link and then on Tree Villa - That's where you will find the Weimann's for the next few days. Hanging with the tree monkies ;0)
Not sure what our internet set-up will be while we are away but if I can blog I will ;0) We also found out today that our sea shipment is supposed to be arriving next week and hopefully if Matt's cousin, Miriam, can get her visa/passport in time - She's coming from Bangladesh to visit us here in Bangalore! Lots of exciting things in the coming days! Can't wait to share it with you!
Thanks for reading and being a part of our adventure.
xo
JEN
Our sweet David is our accident prone child. He's frequently seen sporting band-aids on both of his knees and elbows. Poor kid is always tripping, falling off his bike or crashing his scooter. He's always been this way. I haven't quite figured it out but I've got two theories. A.) He's a complete and total klutz! B.) He's younger than the other children but doesn't let his age determine what he will accomplish. He may be littler but he can hang with the Big Dogs.
David eating his donut in the school courtyard. "LOOK MA! NO BAND-AIDS!!!"
I think it's a little bit of both. He IS a klutz but he's also attempting to keep up with his siblings. We often have to remind ourselves..."He is ONLY four!" (Although, he looks like your average 2nd grader!) He's our Gentle Giant and the child that if harm is going to befall "someone"...David is THE one it will happen to. He's like an accident magnet!
We had a big family shopping trip this weekend and while we were heading into the mall...you know, casually walking along the sidewalk....David nearly falls into a hole! YEP! I saw it coming a mile away.
It kind of goes without saying, you should always be careful of where you are walking in India. Most areas are an active construction zone or at least that's what they look like. Things are generally unkept and run down or unfinished. It is not uncommon to find huge gaping holes...random holes....some of them VERY deep and some obviously related to construction but some are just basically items in disrepair. So, as the family is strolling down this sidewalk hand in hand....I can see we are approaching this hole. Not a cavernous hole but a HOLE nonetheless. David, in his typical, carefree and generally speaking "Not paying attention" way, is literally a second away from his whole LEG going down this hole. Me, in my generally calm and collected way, (NOT!) I reach out and the only thing I can get ahold of is the back of his t-shirt. I manage to snag just enough cloth and I give it a good yank and shout, "HOOOOOOOLE!!!!" After I've just saved the Clueless Kid from what surely would have been a DISASTER! He looks at me and then looks down at the hole and simply says, "Oh!"
"OH!?!?! Oh yah!! Geesh, Boy! WAKE UP, I SAY!!!" Immediately, all of the other kids start laughing!! In retrospect, in my moment of panic when I reached out to seize The Child, I realized I had been quite LOUD and dramatic but I seriously thought he was going DOWN and I wasn't sure what he would have lost in that Abyss!? His shoe? His foot? Dear, God, His entire LEG!?! (Drama. I'm all about the drama! Hahaha!) And David's reaction was so typical David. Little was uttered just a simple, "Oh" but in that one word I can read him like a book so many thoughts in his mind. "Hmmm. Didn't see that there." "Wonder where that came from?" "Tricky those holes!" "Never saw that coming." He's just calm, that David. Cool. "Hmpph. Interesting." "A hole." "Oh." :0)
I have a feeling it might have been one of those "Guess ya had to be there" kinda moments but it was really funny once the moment passed and our brains all started to rewind what could've happened and thank God what didn't happen. I immediately did an about-face and snapped a picture of the seedy sidewalk.
Gotta love how there is SOOOOO much space all around where you could walk and risk no bodily harm and where was David headed? Yep. Straight for the this Crazy Chasm!!!
(Good thing I have lightning fast reactionary shirt yanking skills!)
God only knows what's down there!?!
Well, actually, I probably do. POOOOOO!
D R Y H E A V E!!!!!
In David's defense, I will divulge a little secret about myself. I'm not exactly the Poised Princess (SHOCKING, I know!) You know the 'ole phrase, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Well, I think we might be witnessing a little "Apple / Tree" action here. While walking with the girls one day, although it wasn't a gaping gorge or anything, I somehow managed to put my foot down in just the right crevasse (Pronounced Crevause if you are Bear Grills) and BAM! It de-shoed me! One minute I was tromping along and the next I was Cinderella with only one slipper to my name. SOOOOO! Even if you think you are watching your footing - It can happen and I was left saying the same thing as David, "OH!" "Geesh! How did that happen!?" "Give me back my shoe you sneaky sidewalk!"
Yep, it's no joke. Whilst in India...unless you are a FOO (a CRAZY fool!) don't drink the water. Ever. We use bottled water for everything. We have water coolers in every bedroom as well as the kitchen. It might be overkill but we haven't brushed our teeth with anything but bottled water since we got here! (Actually, double check with Matt on that one. I'm pretty sure he claims to be "An Oak" so I think he uses the tap water on his teef (yes, I meant to say teef.) but he's NUTS! The rest of us "Saplings" are not taking any chances!
Yep. Even the kids have become teeth brushing pros. At first it was very hard to remember not to use the sink water. Initially, I would put a washcloth over the faucet when the kids were brushing so that they would remember NOT to use that water. When we first got here and we were living in the hotel I used to sound like an old scratched vinyl record while the kids were brushing their teeth or taking a shower I'd be yapping in the background at them the same old phrases....every SINGLE time... "Don't open your mouth in there. I'm not kidding....Don't get that water in your mouth. You're not drinking that water are you!?" I was the water Nazi . Take no chances. Drink no water. Eat no ice. Drink no fountain sodas. All of them are guaranteed to bring you a bad case of the green apple trots. We had two bathrooms in our hotel and on one occasion I realized that Michael had been in the bathroom for a VERY LONG time. As I rounded the corner, I could hear the shower water running and could see that the steam was starting to billow out the crack of the slightly opened door. Unlike other shower nightmares where the kids had taken down the hand nozzle and sprayed the water UP and OVER the gap at the top of the glass shower door and were screeching with delight at all of the fun they were having. This time it was different. It was far too quiet in that shower and what I wasn't prepared for was what my poor little eyes encountered in the next moment. I swung the door open and you'd think after all of my water worries and constant lecturing about aqua vigilance...what do I behold but Michael laying FACE DOWN on the shower floor! For those of you that your mind instantly shifts to horror and "Oh no! What was wrong with him!?" OH NO! There was absolutely NOTHING wrong with him. The little heedless, imprudent, negligent and thoughtless TERD was RELAXING on the SHOWER FLOOR!! (Prone, mind you! EWWWW!)
Yep! Found him just like my friend, Pinocchio here (and nope, I ain't lyin')
I'm tellin' ya, he was soooo relaxed and for all I know, he might have even been sleeping?! He was definitely "Chillin' Like a Villain!" Well, that is until I surprised the snot out of him and turned into "Manic Mom" squealing out a million "What were you thinking?!" "Why!?" "Seriously, are you kidding me?! GET UP!!!!! If you shouldn't get that water in your nose... mouth.... eyes....what makes you think that laying
BUCK NECKID on the shower floor would be a good idea?!"
That's when I excused myself and assumed my own prone position......
Oh man! I love ya, Mikey! But Momma just lost her lunch!
D I S G U S T I N G !!!!!!
As my Mom used to say, "Why Mother's Turn Grey!" I definitely gained a couple more "sparkly ladies" that day! ;0)
What a night! Hundreds of people from all over the world showed up in their best Indian attire to support the OWC's (Overseas Women's Club) local Bangalore Charities.
Salome came over to watch the children for the evening and she arrived early so she could help me put on my sari.
We're talking a WHOLE LOTTA fabric! Thank God for Salome! I could have never got it right without her!
TA-DAH!!!! Bangles, Bindi and all! (Unfortunately, not the best lighting but it's the ONLY full body shot of my sari from the ENTIRE evening!)
Erica took this picture of us in our living room right before we were ready to leave.
The party was held at the Leela Palace Hotel here in Bangalore. This is where Matt and I stayed when we came over on our "Look See" tour.
The Leela Palace Hotel
The Leela All Lit Up!
This is where all of the drivers pull up and let their passengers out of their cars.
Entryway doors
I felt a bit like Cinderella at the grand ball as I climbed the staircase. Luckily, Prince Charming was already at my side and I didn't have any ugly stepsisters trailing behind me!
En route to the Royal Ball Room
One of the first people I spotted when I walked through the door was my friend, Jet, from Holland.
Me and Jet (pronounced Yet!)
She's got a great sense of humor and from the first day we met at the bus stop - We clicked! Her two children, Elise & Bart-Jan, ride the bus with the Fab Four. When their kids first got to Bangalore they only spoke Dutch and even though it's only been a couple of months they are already making great strides at learning the English language.
Finding Jet was easy in the sea of people because her husband, Bouke, has got to be about 6'7!!! I thought Matt was tall at 6'2 but Bouke towers above the masses. They are great people and I'm so glad that Bangalore has brought us together!
Cheers!
One of Matt's co-workers, John, and my shopping buddy, Joan! Fabulous and FUNNY people!
I know this is probably a terrible thing to say but I have made an observation in our short time here...There are two kinds of people that come on assignments to India...DORKS and FUNNY FOLKS! I would like to think we fall into the Funny Folks category but that might be up for debate b/c we can be pretty big dorks too!? You know what though...I'm okay with that! Embrace it! Be who you are! I say, "Nerds of the Nations UNITE!" All in all it works out great b/c the funny people are able to sit back and see the humor involved in so many situations here in India. I mean, if you haven't got a sense of humor - I don't know that you could survive here for very long. It also works out great that there are so many Freaks & Geeks running around b/c the funny people have something to chuckle about. (I know. That's not nice.) Might I just add, we are ALL special in God's eyes & He loves us just the same! ;0) HEHEHEH! AND! Like I said, most of the time I'm not quite sure which of those categories we fall into....Remember I am nearly 6'0 tall myself and I am riding a scooter to the bus stop that's built for a 5 year old....I'm pretty sure that's got GEEK written all over it! But there you go, I'm sure somebody is chuckling under their breath at me and that my friends is the "Circle of Survival" here in India. Lose your sense of humor and you're a dead man walking! ;0)
There's another Jenny from the B'Block! This is my friend, Jen, from Chicago!
Jen's another Hip Chick! Love her. Now that I think about it - We met at the bus stop too. She has two boys and one of them is Michael's age. We attend the same church, share a love for jewelry and her husband (who I didn't get a picture of) is one of THE funniest people I've met in India so far. So, yep! They're surviving, smiling, living on laughs and just signed on to stay in Bangalore a little while LONGER!!! YAY!! I'm so glad they aren't leaving.
Derek and Matt
Derek is definitely one of the dorks we've met in India! KIDDING! See, I can say that b/c when/if he reads this - He's a wicked funny guy and will LOL when he reads that! (Fist Bump...Love ya, Man!) If you'd believe it - I met Derek's wife, Katie, when we were here on our "Look See" trip (Cue the creepy little dolls singing, "It's a Small World After all..." Katie and Derek are from Illinois BUT Katie's parents recently moved to MN and they live in the SAME TOWN as my parents! WHOA! What are the odds of that one!?
Katie is a real Cool Cat! I totally dig her!
She was cracking me up telling me how her MIL was freaking out when she saw the henna on her hands because she thought she really got tattooed here in India. Then Katie says, "I can't wait to show her my faux nose ring...That's really gonna put her over the top!"
Henna Hands
Henna is often used to decorate hands and feet in the Muslim and Hindu
cultures for various ceremonial purposes.
So as to make sure I haven't offended any Nerds or Freaks in the writing of this blog I took the liberty of checking out www.wisegeek.com and I found out what they had to say about Henna to be very interesting! I knew a little bit about it but not much. Here's a little blurb to catch you all up to speed.
"Henna dyes hair, skin, and fabric organically, similar to a black tea dye. Henna is extracted from a tree by drying and grinding leaves and stems. The greenish powder, when mixed with an acidic liquid, makes a temporary red, brown, or orange design on a porous surface. People use henna in ritual skin painting, called Mehndi, for birth and marriage celebrations. Western cultures have adopted henna to make temporary tattoos and organic hair dye.
The henna tree, Lawsonia inermis, grows in hot, arid regions like North Africa and India. For centuries, people ground the foliage of the plant into a powder to dye cloth and skin. The strong pigment, lawsone, actually temporarily stains the skin. Lawsone is a tannin; tannins are also found in wine and tea. They infuse porous surfaces with a darker pigment, but do not chemically alter the surface permanently.
Henna works because lawsone is absorbed into material like hair and skin. You mix the powdered henna into a mud, using hot water, lemon juice, vinegar, or other acidic additives. An acidic mixture strengthens the dyeing properties. Then you apply the henna mud to a surface like the palm of your hand, bottom of your feet, or anywhere on your body. Leave the mud on for as long as possible, up to 48 hours. When it dries and crumbles off, the skin will have darkened to auburn, orange, red, or brown.
Interesting, right?! There were a lot of people at the Indian Night with henna. I was not one of them. I have to leave something "New" to do next year, right?!
They had several Bollywood dance performances throughout the night. The video footage I took isn't working but here's something similar to what we saw that you can watch via You Tube.
Check out the dudes shoes at about 3:30. Matt's looked just like that... unfortunately no photos to prove it.
Check out these guys!!! I wonder if I could rent a costume like that for Halloween!?
Too bad we forgot our swimming suits or "Swimming Costumes" as the Indians call them.
Would have been the perfect night for a dip!
Lots of great food!
Although it was a very Cinderalla-esque night - We didn't have to worry about our carriage turning into a pumpkin or my sari turning into rags at the stroke of midnight b/c in India in an effort to get people to "shut it down" at a reasonable hour - They stop serving alcohol at 11:30 pm and that pretty much forces people to head home or at least head to 'a home' and get off the streets.
We had a great night! I am already looking forward to next year! Anybody wanna join us!?!?!?
