Thursday, 29 November 2012

The Roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!!!

This morning while I was getting showered, dressed and ready for the day there was this God awful burning plastic smell.  Well!  Unfortunately, this is not an abnormal smell to come wafting through your nostrils when you are in India.  Nearly everything and I do mean EVERYTHING gets burned in the streets of India.  Unfortunately, you smell a lot of bad burning smells in India :0/  So, although, I was thinking, "Oh, Gosh!  That smells horrid."  That was about as far as my little brain went.  No more.  No less.

That was until I walked down the stairs and the smell just kept getting worse and worse and worse (you get the idea!)  So, then like a hound dog hot on the trail - I had my sniffer to the ground and was going to find the source of this smelly stench.  I didn't have to go far!  This week I put up my Christmas decorations and to say that my Christmas lights have been a little bit of a "pain in the rear" is the understatement of the year!  (I love it when I rhyme!)  Anyhoo!  Literally, for three consecutive nights when Matt has come home the tree has been black as sin.  Not a single twinkle light aglow and he removes his shoes and sits down next to the tree with tools in tow and changes microscopic fuses and somehow, everytime he magically gets the lights glowing again!!  (I love being married to Mr. Fixit!)

Since blown fuses have become a daily occurrence we decided that something needed to change.  SO!  Last night, Mr. Fixit and I separated the strings of lights so that half the tree would be plugged into one source and the other half into another.  Well, wouldn't you know it!  It worked like a charm!  No blown fuses!  We enjoyed having the tree lit up all evening and again at breakfast today before the kids left for school and then.....dun dun dun.....

As I said, when I was up getting myself ready for the day and started to think, "Gahhhh!  Man that smells so bad!"....that is when I went downstairs and discovered that my tree was once again BLACK!  No sparkly lights greeted me as I walked into the living room just a dark, drab and sad looking fir tree.  AND!  That's when my eyes were drawn to the floor where there was a strange looking orange stain on the floor.  Ah ha!!!!  It wasn't just a bizarre blemish on the floor it was the source of the STANK!!!  Just like the Wicked Witch of the West, my electricity converter was
M E L T I N G!!  It was burning!  It was STINKING!!!  Oh for Heaven's Sake!  THIS is why my whole house was smelling like a big 'ole pile of putrid plastic!  Argghhhhh!

Oy Stinkin' Vey!  What a nightmare!  I'm back to square one.  I don't think I will have Mr. Fixit do anymore work on these idiotic strings of lights.  I suspect what I have known for quite sometime now is that we are in fact, distant relatives to Clark W. Griswold and that's why we have so many complications with "lighting things up" on Christmas!

So, I am on a new quest or maybe it's more like a raging WAR of me versus these Christmas lights.  Never fear!  I shall be victorious.  I WILL light that tree and it WILL stay lit or....or...or....Well, I don't know.  It just WILL, okay!!!  Bah Hum Bug!
ACK!  Proof of my stinky - flamin' Floor!
 The kids love making up their own lyrics to their favorite songs.  Of course, right now we are listening to a lot of Christmas songs so one of their current favorite creation is to the tune of "Last Christmas I gave you my Heart - But the very next day you gave it away...."  They have turned it into "Last Christmas I ripped a juicy fart - But the very next day the smell went away."  NICE, right?!  They are soooOoooO their Father's children! ;0)  I, on the otherhand am singing my own version of, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!"  I will now be singing, "The floor, the floor, floor is on fire!"
Argh!  Stay tuned.  This battle isn't over!  ;0)  I gotta get this tree lit!
 
 


Sunday, 18 November 2012

When you fall at school....

Wee-ooo-Wee-ooo-Wee-ooo!!!  (In case you are wondering that is the sound an ambulance makes in written form!)  SO!  This week I got a call from the school infirmary that went something like this, "Hi.  Miss Jeany-fur?  This is Miss Smita calling from the infirmary at the Indus International School.  I have Rachel here with me."......Okay everybody pause here for a second because I don't know if you are like me but whenever the school calls....infirmary...class room teacher... teacher's assistant... I ALWAYS assume the worst and before I even pick up the phone I am having a mini-panic-attack!  So, as you can imagine, my heart had already begun its uneven & accelerated "FREAKING OUT" heartbeat and my ears were throbbing and turning fire engine red, my throat became parched as I braced myself for the news of what had happened to Rachel....

Unfortunately, because my brain was racing around in a million different directions all at the same time I was only partially listening to the sweet sounding voice on the other end of the phone.  So I am not entirely sure if she said that "Rachel fell down the stairs."  "Rachel jumped down the stairs."  "Rachel was playing and fell down the stairs."  All I remember is her saying SOMETHING about falling.  Stairs.  Crying.  Ice.  Pain Spray.  And then I tuned back in when she finished relaying the news by telling me that "Rachel is very upset.  Too much of paining, Ma'am.  Can you please come get Rachel?" 

They put her on the phone & she was crying.  Still couldn't figure out what happened through her crying voice but understood the "It really hurts Mom!"  "Please can you come get me!?"  So!  Of course I said, "YES!" however, in India that is easier said than done.  I was over an hour from the school and had no idea how long it would take Claudius to get me there but I told her to "Be brave!  I will be there as quickly as I can!"

About two hours later I showed up at the school and had my first visit to the infirmary.  Standard school infirmary.  Exactly what you'd expect.  Several cots in a room.  Two occupied with what appeared to be two high school girls that were more "sick of school" than "actually ill".  They looked like they were having a lovely chat when I walked in to gather up Rachel.  She was lying on one of the said cots with her ankle wrapped in a pink bandage.  She was so happy to see me!  She nearly lept off the cot.  Good thing she didn't ....  I mean with that "hurt" ankle and all.  Okay.  Pardon me here.  Another pause in the story.  SO!  If any of you have daughters that tend to fall into the "A Bit Dramatic" category you will appreciate this whole scene.  I am SURE that Rachel DID hurt herself and there is no doubt in my mind that she really was in PAIN.  However, she also could score an Oscar for her ongoing daily theatrics.  She's really quite amazing AND you get the same quality of acting for something as minimal as a splinter as you would for a lost eyeball!

Okay.  Back to where we left off.  So!  I could tell immediately from Rachel's facial expression that ALL was going to be fine but I did just drive nearly TWO hours to reach her so I decided to go along with the "she NEEDS to go home" thing.  She hobbled on one foot to reach her shoes that were resting under another cot in the front room and Ms. Smita told her, "Slow down, Rachel!  I don't want you to fall again."  (Seriously!  She was so sweet and sympathetic....If I was Rachel, I would go to the infirmary just to spend time with the kind infirmary staff!)

Anyhow, after she managed putting on her shoe.  Yes, just ONE shoe b/c OF COURSE the other foot was all wrapped up & no way was a shoe going to fit over that sucker!  I offered her my arm to help keep her steady and Ms. Smita helped her down the ramp and out the front door.  Rachel and I started off down the sidewalk together.  "Slow and Steady" I told her & that's when Miss Smita yelled out, "No!  Wait!"  I will call the ambulance for you!  I quickly jerked my head to the left & to the right to see who was in need of emergency care!?!?!  Hmmm.  Funny.  I didn't see anyone.  Nobody was around.  Just me and Rachel!?  Miss Smita ran to catch up with us and said, "Wait here.  I will send the ambulance to drive you to your car!"  :0)  Oh my GOOOOOODNESS!  SERIOUSLY!?!?!  You gotta know that Little Miss Rachel was over the moon about such kindness & genuine concern over her injury.  We waited on the sidewalk & in a millisecond - A gentlemen showed up.  Keys jangling & he ushered us to the ambulance that was parked at the end of the sidewalk.  Well, don't you know,  This sort of thing doesn't happen everyday so you know me - I pulled out my camera & caught the scene in action!

She hopped from the ambulance into the car & Claudius had a look of horror on his face!  I gave him the ole "wink wink face" and said, "I think she's gonna make it Claudius" & that put him at ease.  By the time we reached home she was asking if she could go swimming but mentioned she wouldn't be able to peddle her bike with her bad ankle.  ;0)  Oh Rachy, Rachy, Rachy!!!  What would I do without you!

What an adventure!  What a day!

**DISCLAIMER**
So as not to have you think I didn't appreciate the school & their cautious ways, I actually DID and would much rather have them operate on a "better safe than sorry" policy then to be careless when indeed there could have been something seriously wrong, right?!  It's a good school with good people & I'm very happy my children are under such watchful care.
**RACHEL UPDATE**
Ankle is fine.  Possible sprain but she's back in the saddle (or should I say back to bike riding!) All is well!
Wee-ooo-Wee-ooo! ;0)
Can you see the "injured" one in the back?!
Smiling Through The Pain :0)

Saturday, 17 November 2012

World Tour Birthday Party

Today Erica was invited to a birthday party!  Wait until you see all the places she and her friends got to go ;0) 
Starting out at the Taj Mahal!
Eiffel Tower
Leaning Tower of Pisa

Walk Like An Egyptian
The Great Wall

Don't let their cuteness confuse you - These Girlie Gladiators are FEROCIOUS!!!
Showing my ignorance here - I'm not sure where this is supposed to be & neither were the girls so they all decided to do a "plug your nose" pose as they pretend to go swimming in the water of !?!?!?......I'm not sure! 
Ended their world tour back at the Taj!
Okay Okay.  So they didn't really travel the world that would have been QUITE the extravagant birthday party, no?!  Hahaha!  No, while they were waiting outside the mall by our house for the other children to arrive for the party they had all of these displays set up & they had a fun time pretending to visit all of these sights!  The REAL party consisted of a day at the spa, food & swimming.  That's a little more realistic for a bunch of 9 & 10 year old girls, right?

So, after I dropped Erica off I took an auto-rickshaw back home.  That always proves to be interesting.  Today was no different there was some sort of  gathering going on.  I think it was political but I'm not entirely sure?!
Forget the Pistol Packin' Mama - I'm the Rickshaw Ridin' Mama!
Oh yeah.  It's a cluster.

Holy Traffic, Batman!
Made it home with no incident other than getting charged too much for my rickshaw ride.  Rachel also is attending a birthday party today.  She's going on a tour of a chocolate factory (and yes, she said she'll bring home samples!  WOOT!)
David has been relaxing at home today.  Playing with friends as everyone is coming back from their Diwali travels.  He's also gotten a new game on his itouch....Star Wars Angry Birds and he's totally lovin' it.  Daddy & Mikey also got to have some fun today, they linked up with our friends, Martin & Nico and went on a motorcycle ride together.

Daddy's new motorcycle. 
(Yep.  Sold the other one to a friend and now he's riding this one.  I sense a motorcycle gang in our future!? Hahaha!)

Martin & Nico
And they're OFF!!
Enjoy the ride!
Happy Saturday Everybody!

Spooktacular Halloween 2012

Although Halloween isn't really celebrated in India there were lots of opportunities for us all to celebrate at parties and within our community!

Let the Kid Party Begin!
My friend, Schonell, that hosted the party made this cake!!
Does she have MAD SKILLS or what?!

Vampire Mikey & Princess Rayne
(the hostess with the mostess!)

Werewolf David! 
 Cleoptra & Her Gangstah Friend, Jack
Spooky Skeleton Sam & Pirate Jacob
Henrick the Karate Master, Charlie the Jester & Mikey the Pizza Eating Vampire!
The Cutest Witches on the Block - Erica & Rose!
Magic Show
Wow!  Shock n Awe!

 Face Painting
Candy Apples!
The kids all had a GREAT time at Schonell's party!
We couldn't let the kids have ALL the fun so us "Big Kids" got into the spirit of it all and put on our "fancy dresses" and got all decked out for a night of costumes and LOTS of laughs!

Matt had been brainstorming his costume for WEEKS!  He decided to go as one of the security guards from our community.  For 500 rupees ($10) he borrowed one of the guards uniforms for the night and he made his own "Bomb Checker".  Whenever you pull into any public places in India they always stick a mirror under your car to make sure there isn't a bomb.
 Matt the Impersonator with the "Real Deal" ;0)
Look at me!  I'm a Rainbow Trout!  Complete with blinking hair and tutu!  YEP!  Was soooOOooO much fun!
Excuse me, Alice.  Bomb Check.  Yep.  You're clear!
Marion & Martin
Our Hostess and um....Hostess?!
The Queen of Hearts & Alice in Wonderland
Little Red Riding Hood & The Big Bad Wolf!
 Meghan as Medusa!
Jen, Kathrine, Schonell & Jen
Gellerman's KILLED it!  WOW!
Crazy Kids!
Kevin, Daleen & Sharon
Bouke looking Rico Suave!!!
Uh.  Security you lost something!!
Everybody LOVED that mustache!  Hahaha!
Unibrow?!
Aw!  Bouke & Jet!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
The kids got to wear costumes to school for 10 rupees a piece.  The money that was collected went to the Indus Community School.  They decided to make up costumes and not wear their "real" costumes.  They wanted to save those for Halloween Night!


Our Spooky Line-up!
I don't know if you can read her shirt
but it says, "The Monster Cupcake!"
Guess who wanted to borrow Mommy's tutu (Can ya blame her!?)  She got pretty colors in her hair too!
That's some Boston Celtic Irish Pride, right there!
When I asked David what he was he said, "I'm a fweaky alien guy from Stah Wahs."  :0)

Oy!  There was a cyclone in Chennai so we had a WET Halloween night but the kids didn't seem to mind and came home with a BIG haul of candy and The Fab Four is already plotting what they all want to dress up as NEXT year!  Hahaha!
Happy Halloween 2012