I wish every day was Sunday!

So many things make Sunday the best day of week for me. Sundays mean sleeping in. Then my sweet hubby Z goes straight for the kitchen and makes pancakes for Abi and I. I get to stay in my pj's as long as I want. There is no house work, and no one else except our small family. We watch our American church online from the comfort of our office (in the comfort of my pj's). I make an easy American lunch and we enjoy reading a marriage related book together while Abi takes a nap. It is a simple day simply full of  relaxing, learning, praying, being together, and love.
Oh by the way, Happy Easter everyone!

From the pages of my Journal 3/15/2013

Last night and this morning I have enjoyed pleasant weather - there has been a nice cool breeze blowing. I love these days and take advantage of them before summer hits. So I got exercise out of the way around 7:45am and then watered the plants & washed the car.
Abi was playing in the patio while I was working. Unfortunately it only took her under 1 minute to slip away from me and head up the marble stairs. I did not know where she had gone until I saw my baby rolling down the stairs. Thankfully she was not hurt, no bumps, breaks or bruises. I think she was more startled than anything.
This week has been full of accidents. The day before yesterday Art got into a motorcycle accident and was scraped up pretty bad. Then I was cleaning the bathrooms with a toilet bowl cleaner that contains hydrochloric acid and one little drop got into my left eye. Instantly that eye started burning and I momentarily lost vision. Z and I quickly rinsed my eye with water for 10 minutes. My eye is still sore from the incident but it is getting better everyday...and we had a good laugh when I put a make shift eye patch on.
We are all weary this week and trying to get work done - and because we are in Curry Land, little stresses keep piling up everyday. The gas cylinder for our stove runs out, no water for hours, no power for hours. All these little things mound up like little road blocks/ set backs on the coarse of a day's productivity. Then we look back over our day & week and wonder 'what did we accomplish?' So much time and energy was eaten up by the road blocks. The set backs will never go away so we must find a way to use them for good. So many times they have a negative effect on my outlook and perception of life here when really deep down inside I love my life here. And if everything ran smoothly, Curry Land would not be the everyday adventure that has made life so endearing.

What Would Cavemen Eat?

Z and me are trying to get healthier...so we have been tossing around some ideas:
Idea #1 - get a Golds gym membership...crazy huh, we have a Golds gym in the Rut! As far as gym memberships go the price is pretty steep.
Idea #2 - Buy a stationary bike or treadmill...one drawback is power outages. I can just envision it now...I am running on a treadmill, jamming to some tunes then all of the sudden the power cuts out, the belt stops and I careen into the front of the machine in an ungraceful front flip and bust it on the marble floor underneath - OUCH!
Idea #3 - Go on the Paleo diet, also known as the caveman diet...Z does not want to eat like a caveman, he is happy eating like a civilized man...so we have debated this one extensively.
Our diet here in Curry Land consists of fresh fruits, and veggies - which already goes along with the Paleo diet, but giving up dairies, grains and lentils for straight up protein would be difficult...do the creators of Paleo know how much goes into finding, cleaning and cooking protein here!?! Then I go out to the villages around my house and I watch families in simple mud and brick dwellings cook over a small mud fire pits fueled by gathered sticks...the picture of simple caveman living if you ask me. And what do they cook in these simple dwellings over small fires? Well, mostly whatever vegetables, grains and lentils that were gathered in nearby fields; also whatever dairy that was collected by their goats and buffalos; and on fewer occasions whatever chicken or goat that was slaughtered.
So for Z and me the caveman diet will be a little different...and could probably instead be called the Curry Land villager diet and will consist of Fruits, vegetables, grains that are simply ground and not processed, Dairy with out additives and hormones, lentils and proteins. Oh, and my inner pyro deffinitely wants to cook over a small fire pit fueled by gathered sticks :)
 

From the pages of my journal

I have decided to add something new to the blog this year...from time to time I will post entries from my journal. I am an avid journaler, not such an avid blogger - so the journal is loaded with lots of stories, contemplations, musings and pages upon pages of raw emmotions and shame...Maybe you will you laugh with me, cry with me, be inspired, be encouraged, or maybe you will be so traumatized you will never frequent this blog again. Or if you are like me you easily become drawn into trainwrecks like those shameful reality TV shows that I really should not be watching.

Anyone heard of triple A?

While in the Curry Land capitol we were visiting some friends at their hotel when they were traveling through. We drove there in our car, parked in the back (b/c Z is too cheap to get the car valet parked), and entered the swanky hotel that made us feel like we were no longer in Curry Land. It did not even smell like Curry Land! The hotel had this crazy water misting set up that sprayed lemon grass scented water on all four sides of the building so that guests were not assaulted with the normal smell of raw sewage upon entering and exiting. For some reason I could not make Z see the importance of installing a similar set up at our house. Anyways during dinner I asked Z to get something from the car for me. He was gone for a very long time...I was getting worried...so I called him. He informed me that he was alright and just waiting for assistance because he had locked the keys in the car. No one knew of any locksmith that could open our car. So Z paid two security guards to break into our car...which I find ironic that he is willing to pay someone to break into the car but not to park the car.
We learned a valuable lesson that night. Locking your keys in your car is a big pain, there is no triple A in Curry Land.

Hey Shandon peeps

Shout out to our Shandon peeps!

We miss you.

Introducing Anny - warning she's quirky

So one of my Crazy A friends left the Rut and I inherited her house helper. Her blog name is Anny. There is a lot I am still learning about Anny. She had a love marriage instead of an arranged marriage, She has two little girls and has buried a son, She always smiles, and she plays with Abi any chance she gets.
One day she saw a Space Bag laying on the bed and exclaimed 'Oh you bought this off the home shopping network!' You could tell her bubble was burst when I explained that I did not even know there was a home shopping network in Curry Land. I learned something important about Anny that day...she is an avid veiwer and promoter of the home shopping network. Everyday since she tells me about a great household product I should buy off the home shopping network.

The many uses of Shower caps

 

We travel a lot...and I have to confess that yes I am one of those travelers that raid the hotel room bathroom and sweep it clean of any complimentary item provided. In the past I would always leave the complimentary shower cap...they reminded me of my grandma and her newly permed hair that she could not get wet...so I thought, 'surely I don't have a use for a shower cap.' Boy was I wrong! Now those dinky shower caps are the first thing I look for...my hotel experience is gauged by whether or not they offered complimentary shower caps. I use them all the time here in Curry Land, and not because I get my hair permed.

- They are a great substitute for cling wrap when letting bread dough rise...

- you can use them as a lid for Tupperware when the right lid goes missing...

- or covering your salad bowl so pesky fruit flies don't hover...

 

 

 

- Also useful when you have to give yourself a lice treatment

 

 

Unfortunately lice is an occupational hazard here...at least I have a stash of shower caps :)

The wedding of the 3 brides

Last weekend we went to Art's sisters' weddings...the three of them got married at the same time to three guys, two of the guys were brothers...so it was kind of like 7 Brides for 7 Brothers except that weddings are completely different here in Curry Land, also the brothers and brides did not sing or tend to farm animals...so, probably nothing like 7 Brides for 7 Brothers...bad analogy.

 

 

 I've been to a few weddings here in Curry Land and at this one I finally got to see them sign the marriage certificate. BTW, these men are not the husbands...they are the religious leaders explaining the significance of the marriage certificate and asking the girls for their approval and signature. Once the girl says yes and signs she is officially married. No special prayers, romantic songs or loving vows...the ceremony just consists of this colorfully embossed sheet of paper and a pen.

 

Since three brides were involved and three grooms and the brides had the same last name and two of the grooms were brothers I hovered close by waiting for a mix up...I was sure one of them was going to sign the wrong certificate or one get married to the wrong brother...

 

But alas, these guys were pros, no such incident occurred. The brides, without even seeing their husbands at all during the engagement or wedding, said yes then signed. It was a powerful moment to witness, these women's lives will never be the same, my prayer is that their men will be good to them and they will have a blessed family.

 

...meanwhile wedding guests took advantage of a distracted mommy who was soaking in the cultural experience and passed around Abi, made her pose for pictures, and fed her all sorts of sugary substances. Which in all honesty is pretty much a normal day for her in Curry Land.

Where did my baby go?

Guess who turned 1? I'll give you a hint - not the bearded one :)

Of corse she thinks she turned 16.