Today was a good day.

This morning Sun booty and I slept in (until 7:15) and had a good breakfast together of oatmeal and eggs. She seems to have grown over-night and her mood is happy and content. Our electricity didn't go out for the first morning since we moved here! So, our laundry was done early. L and her mum J came over for lunch and the girls played very well together. L has two older brothers so she is a very easy and happy kid. Her mum is also a very good-natured and kind person, so the company was superb.

After playing at home, our girl went to the playroom at the club with her nanny who she calls Channa (which means garbanzo beans in hindi). I sent the driver out to buy flowers and he came back with roses. :)

I went to the baker's and picked up some quiche, lemon merengue and bread. Their charge card machine was not working and I didn't have enough cash but they said to pay the rest later. This is a routine practice in India. I also found some hair bands that will work in the baby's hair, some light-weight toddler trousers and band-aids that don't wash off in the water, all at the local mall. While shopping on the street is cheaper, sometimes it is hard to find the "picky lady" things there.The malls can be a sad place however, as they are empty most of the time. The expats aren't spending like they used to and the prices at the mall are ridiculous. They like to put things on "sale" (as my brother J says, "Isn't everything for sale?") after they have marked them up sufficiently. For example, a salwar outfit (long top, pants and scarf) will be marked up to 2200 rupees (44 dollars) and then go on "sale" for 50% off. 20 bucks a bargain does not make.

My crack up baby thought that Sissy's bolt from the litter box was worth five minutes of belly laughing, especially as I imitated it over and over. We ended up on the rug laughing heartily together.

As I said, a very good day.

It is raining for the first time in months and the air is cool. The sound of the rain is quite lovely and I wish it would rain all night. The AC needs a rest.

MARCH 19!!!




Today is the girl's second birthday. I am going to give her this book for her birthday, (see slide show version).



Yesterday she had a high fever in the morning (following 4 high fever days), and after being on anti-biotics for four days! Sadly, she missed a trip to a farm with her class. Luckily, she knew nothing about it. I am disappointed seeing that we have been cooped up for days and we are "all about" farms.

Instead we called her pediatrician and had her make a house call to make sure there is nothing further we can do to help the booty girl. The doctor changed her meds from Taxim-o to Augmentin. She thinks Sunboot has a sinus infection and not a chest infection as the doctor at the hospital had thought.

I don't like anti-biotics. But a fever of 103 can only last for so long before one wonders. In India we don't like to messaround.

'Cause today is your birthday!
Dunnanunna Nunna,
We gonna have a good time!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Home One Year!!!

One of our cats sheds a lot and the only one who can brush her properly is Mr. D. Last week he gave me a big ball of hair and I put it in my pocket and forgot about it. Yesterday it came out in the wash in a rounded oval shape. I saw MOUSE. And added felt ears and a tail.

I also finished Sanbates crocheted slippers which she likes to wear to bed.

After all the complaints about not eating in India I had to stop and think. It has not been a fabulous culinary experience certainly.Partly this is because I like food that is raw, or lightly cooked OR cooked very slowly. Indians use a pressure cooker, which cooks the heck out of foods and is, according to the health "experts", not the best way to heat food. There is a smell that comes off a pressure cooker that resembles burnt rubber (this may be the rubber thingy that keeps the pressure valve locked properly).But I also realized that all my favorite Indian cooks are in America. As a rule my sister-in-law makes the best of everything I like and don't like. When making my list of Indian foods I DO like I found that most of what I enjoy is breakfast or snack foods.

Above is a picture of the Dosa, which is a breakfast food. I like it crispy and without sambar (again unless it is made by sister-in-law). Dosas are crispy lentil and rice pancakes served with soup and coconut chutney. The same batter makes idli, which tastes really, really healthy and is steamed instead of fried.The restaurant in San Francisco called "Dosas" makes good ones. The Indian restaurant in Belmont, Ma. also makes good dosas (nice and crispy). We used to have dosas after going to the Lakshmi Temple in Framingham, Ma., at "Udupi Palace", which is now closed. They were Wicked Good!

I also love the snack food, Dohkla at the Indian grocer on Moody street in Waltham, MA. It is also steamed but made with chic pea flour and garnished with cilantro, coconut and mustard seeds. Sister pours a little yogert over hers when it is still hot so it is moist.

Pao Wadda is like a potatoe burger with my favorite garnish, cilantro chutney. I love them at "Hot Breads" in Massachusetts.

Ghatia is a fried chip made from Chic pea (besan) flour. You can't get those here but H's parents bring them from Mumbai. I make myself sick eating them.

The sweets that I like in India are unlike sweets in the US as they are not baked. My favorites are Boondi Laddoo, Aradya, Mysore pak, and Ras Malai. The first two are round, moist cake-like cookies and the pak is like fudge, but made with a lot of gee and cardamom. Ras Malai sits in a sweet milky cardamom sauce and is sort of spongy, so when you bite it all the juice comes out. Sister in law and my h's best friend's wife, N makes them and they would kill you but luckily they only prepare enough of them to force you into hibernation for a day.

When going out for Indian food I usually eat Channa Masala with garlic nan. Channa is chick peas and nan is a flat bread.

When I am at the in-laws I eat everything because it is good. Not so when we go out or our cleaning nanny cooks.

Picky Picky!

My motto is:
If it doesn't taste good, don't eat.
Hence the -20 lbs.

Last night H went back to Singapore and we hope to join him next week now that we know it is a super place for kids.

What is amusing to me is the fact that we have been whining about leaving India for the last 6 months and now that it is happening I think I will miss some people here. Especially baby's friends! Their mum's (and the dads I know) are brilliant as well. Maybe they will come and visit us.

I hope that Sanbate is able to find as many good friends in Singapore and that mommy finds a job she likes. I hope Daddy comes to realize that baby needs a sibling and that starts to "happen". I hope that we can find a house we will stay in for at least 2 years.

In my enthusiasm for finding fresh Buffalo milk last week I drank some without boiling it first.

Desastre!

Diarreah all the next day accompanied by vomitting all night. The next morning, I felt fine. Am I superhuman now?

Husband says children die from unboiled milk here. Gee. In New Hampshire I was drinking fresh cow milk every day in the summer. And I never felt healthier!