Unfortunately, we aren’t the ones doing the greetings from Rimini. We got a call last night from the huge family reunion taking place at our cabin, and enjoyed hearing how much fun the rest of the family was having at our house!
(A quick recap of the summer’s trials and tribulations: we got back from India, [...]
Before all the hoopla happened with my knee, we’d been hitting some garage sales for summer stuff. A few years ago, our kids and the Toomer kids had a ton of fun playing Risk on the porch of our cabin. So when Susan found a Risk game at a garage sale, she was all ready [...]
Want to get up close and personal with the inside of my knee? We got some pictures from the doctor when he did the surgery, and I’ve posted a little play by play description of what is going on. Nothing too graphically gross, actually pretty cool if you’ve ever wondered what the viewpoint to an [...]
That is what my mom would say when we kids did something that she plain did not understand. I suppose it implied that whatever behavior we were exhibiting came from “the other side of the gene pool” (and not from those brave Spartans!).
As I work through my recovery from knee surgery, I am in the [...]
Well, the incisions have been incised, the grafts grafted, and the sutures sutured. All seemed to go well with the surgery on Monday, and I have spent the last 2 days encased in a metal superstructure designed to protect the knee and keep it from bending.
Seeings how it is my birthday, I have also had [...]
So here’s the latest, and it ain’t pretty.
We got called in today to go over the results of the MRI, and right away knew that summer plans were a-changin. Everything is off for us this summer, because it looks like my surgery and recovery are going to be a bit more complicated than earlier thought. [...]
Oops - just as things were falling into place for all the summer travels, we’re having a major shake up in plans. I went with my sister-in-law to play volleyball last night, and the sand just didn’t agree with my knee. I heard a pop, felt a ‘catch,’ and now all of a sudden my [...]
Well, we made it to DC, and are having a great visit with Uncle Rob, Aunt Blanche, Boyd, and Sam. They have been so gracious in letting us use their apartment, which is conveniently located right near a Metro stop, so we’ve been able to zip downtown on a couple of occasions to see a [...]
Here are the kids - all ready for their final classes before summer break! They have a half day today, and tomorrow Alea gets a birthday present: no school!
She got the first part of her ‘presents’ yesterday, as we welcomed the first big rainstorm of the season. The kids had just gone to bed when [...]
Things you never consider before living in a place that has monsoons: after 8 months or so with no precipitation, the rains have a curious – though utterly predictable – effect on the roads here. That first little bit of moisture ‘brings up’ all the accumulated engine oil, axle grease, tire bits, and other assorted [...]
Through our first year here, we’ve posted a number of pages centered around things that we see in our daily life. As the school year is almost over, and we will be in the US for most of the break, this is the last page of pictures from India that we plan on uploading until [...]
India is a vegetarian’s heaven. Besides all the fresh fruits and veggies that are available in the markets, at roadside stands, and in neighborhood carts, the idea of vegetarianism permeates the culture. Religiously, it makes sense. Since India welcomes all sorts of different faiths, including those that won’t eat beef (Hinduism), those that won’t eat [...]
This week was the fifth graders’ PYP exhibition, a culminating project incorporating all sorts of learning that took place over their elementary school years. The class focuses on a student selected topic for the last 8 weeks of the school year and then presents what they learned to parents, teachers, and peers. This year’s theme [...]
One of my new favoritest foods here is lollipop chicken (or chicken lollipops, depending on which particular menu you are using). They’re just like a chicken wing, except that they have the bone with just a big blob of meat at the end. None of that pesky double boned wing stuff to get in the [...]
Finally got the Kerala trip webpages all finished up and posted. The last big trip of the year always seems to get rushed in at the end of everything. With all the stuff going on lately - the end of school and getting ready for summer - they kept getting put off…
But now they’re on [...]
We had a Kiara roof coffeehouse evening last Saturday night called CAF-ASB (pronounced Café – S – B). People shared food and showed off their talents in the arts: poetry recitation, singing, music, painting, etc. It was a beautiful evening accented by flickering candles, providing the perfect setting for such an artsy get together.
One of [...]
The sun has been coming up earlier and earlier these days, as we move out of winter (or what passed as winter here) into summer. This morning, however, it actually seemed darker than it had in days past. Looking out the window, we figured out what it was - there were CLOUDS in the sky!!
Now, [...]
I had a fascinating afternoon with some girls from school yesterday. We are hosting a middle school volleyball tournament this weekend, and part of the activity schedule was to go to a mall and go bowling. When the big bus showed up to take everyone, there wasn’t enough room for all the players, so I [...]
As the year winds down, nothing around the school seems to slow down. The weeks and weekends are full of sports, student awards, socials, speeches, and all sorts of other “S” worded events.
Let’s see, today is Wednesday. Today there is volleyball practice and Susan’s after school activity, Tuesday were schoolwide meetings and a speech by [...]
April 30, 2008 – 10:38 pm
One of the toughest things for the kids to get used to is the poverty. Mumbai is an enormous city, and India is still a very poor country, and people from all over head to the big metropolis in the hopes of building a better life. Unfortunately for them, most end up in the sort [...]
April 24, 2008 – 10:00 pm
We are in a foreign land filled with mystery and wonder. There is much to learn here.
Take for example the fact that, according to our landlady, people who are working in the fields in the hot weather will put onions in their ears and wrap them into place, along with an extra piece on the [...]
Who says Mumbai has no wildlife? In addition to the rats we’ve seen running along the sidewalks (for which there are official city jobs dedicated to killing them) and the raven/crows that eat everything the rats miss, Bombay is home to tons of different kinds of animals. Our experiences this weekend centered around 3 specific [...]
April 15, 2008 – 10:15 pm
Now, the biggest religion in India is Hinduism. And people who practice that faith are Hindus. And the ‘unifying’ language of India is Hindi. So there really is nothing wrong with a company adopting a prefix that refers back to the glory of the region, right?
Well, I’m sorry, but I do have to chuckle every [...]
I love the news that runs in the papers here. Not necessarily because it is fun to read or ‘uplifting’ in any way, but because the headlines and stories serve as a constant reminder that Toto is no longer in Kansas. Just as a taste, here are a couple of snippets from recent articles (besides [...]
…must all have name tags on them. We’ve found this out as we’ve traveled around the country, and it is kind of a fun little routine for us. When you check in, you have to fill out a name tag and put it on your bag. Then when you go through security (which involves a [...]
