i traveled to India this week...

looking at old pictures of my trip to India and Nepal brought back many memories. one of the first phrases i hear in my head when i think of India is, "excuse me miss..." which i always ignored. i did one time give in to this phrase when i heard it from a young sweet looking boy on a rickshaw. before i knew it we were heading down a crowded passageway as he told me his story of learning to paint. we stopped suddenly at a small shop and a man comes out stating he is 'Deepak's' boss and he is excited to show me the young boys art work. as he is raving about the natural talent of this young boy i am thinking of a way to escape. and no, i did not buy Deepak's art work. : )

last week J received one of his text books from Delhi. how strange is that? what a surprise to receive a thick package from overseas with postage from India.

Happy Birthday To You!

today is Dad's birthday! since he and Mom are in south america i had to resort to an e-card with Hoops and Yoyo and these little guys are hilarious. Hallmark carries their e-cards which are quite funny. http://www.hoopsandyoyo.com/

a fond memory i have of Dad is watching him shave in the mornings. the earliest memory i have of this is when i was in 3rd grade. he would always shave in the downstairs bathroom which was painted light blue and had white cupboards and shelves. i would sit on the toilet cover and he would talk to me as he shaved. the best part of this event was when he was done he would splash on his aftershave and jokingly dab a bit on me which made me laugh and it always smelled good. now that i am married i find myself sometimes watching J shave in the mornings as we talk. i can still smell the scent of Dad's aftershave lotion after all these years. it's a comforting smell.

God Grew Tired of Us...

http://www.godgrewtiredofus.com/index.html

the movie industry in america seems to turn out movies each year that are not satisfying. we rarely rent movies because of such a poor selection of quality films. winning the grand jury prize and the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006, the film, 'God Grew Tired of Us' explores the journey of three young men from Sudan who were part of the lost boys. the film documents their passage to america from Kenya and their new lives in a country that is so different from their own. it's exciting to see how one of the men in the film has used his experience to help his own community in sudan. http://www.directchange.org/sudan/ this documentary looks like a must-see film!

i am reminded of the many sudanese refugees i saw in Egypt when i lived there. in 2005 i recall hearing about a refugee sit-in located in a park in Mohandeseen where they were physically forced to leave . what a terrible event. there were a lot of negative feelings naturally towards the Sudanese from Egyptians. i am glad to see there is more of a focus lately on what is happening in sudan and a film can reach many people.

chicken with plums...

http://www.marjane-satrapi.com/

Marjane is at it again. this time she tells the story of her great-uncle who was a well-known Iranian musician; a tar (lute) player. it sounds as though it is more emotional than her other books i have read. i do hope though, that she continues with her signature humor in this book which is seen in her other work such as the Persepolis books which were autobiographical comic books. they were quite humorous and insightful and i learned more about life during the islamic revolution. maybe we should start teaching science and history to kids in school through the use of comic books. what do you think?!

kiss the llama...

we drove by this image every time we left the island when we lived on whidbey. i always wanted to take a picture of J with it since i always thought the large piece of drift wood sticking out from the ground looked very similar to a llama. the light was right, the colors were right and i quickly told J to pull over and kiss the llama. and he did.

chicken tagine with lemon and olives

anyone who knows me well can quickly agree that i love salty foods. j is very healthy in what he eats although he has surprised me in a few foods that do not fall into the "healthy" category. he has gotten me into eating tatter tots which i always thought were incredibly gross. he does have a knack for making them crispy all around. definitely not like the kind we all saw on Napoleon Dynamite. another item we eat from time to time is SPAM. i know, another one of those incredibly gross sounding foods but again J knows just how to cook SPAM. i'm not much of a cook but i do love looking at recipe books with pictures and cooking magazines are the best. but please don't ask me to cook anything from them. i'm just a browser of recipes, not a cook. i did though try out the recipe from Cooking Light which was the chicken tagine. the turmeric gave it a wonderful color and the fresh grated lemon rind gave it a nice zing. throw on some cilantro at the end and it is an incredibly easy recipe. something even i can deal with in my lazy cooking style.

very important to get for the pooch...

several weekends ago we drove down to Amelia Island in the late afternoon and it was a gorgeous evening. what a quaint little town filled with enticing shops and little bistros. we went to a little hole-in-the-wall where i shockingly ordered a hamburger which was delicious with organic greens. we also ordered the brie filled with walnuts and honey and baked along with wonderful bread. J decided on the grouper sandwich since he usually gets this at the club house and his looked fantastic. wonderfully fresh food, delicious conversation and a stroll at night as we poked our heads into shops was very enjoyable. i found this very cute Dog Owner's Maintenance log which i thought so appropriate for our new pooch! they also had a Dog Owner's Manual which was hilarious to look at. for example it gave a four sequence set of pictures to show how to put your dog's leash on. the graphics are what drew me to the book. who cares if i "need" a maintenance log! i'm a sucker for anything that looks aesthetically pleasing!

the Pooch...

on saturday we went to visit the lhasa apso puppy we will possibly get. we went to savannah and it was a gorgeously sunny day. the mother and father were well tempered and the puppies were so cute, healthy and well socialized. so the new addition to our family will maybe be with us in a week! what fun to start planning for this new bundle of energy to come to our home. i have been reading about the Dog Whisperer http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/ and we are ready to throw ourselves into being the leader of the pack! we still haven't thought of a name so please leave a comment below if you have any good ideas for a name for a little boy!

Happy Birthday To You!

Today is S's birthday! she has always been very artistic and J & i were fortunate to obtain some of her art work which we think fits very nice into our home, as you can see. thank you S! one fond memory i have of my big sis S is her making me my very first stamp album. i think i was in first grade. her friend D had a stamp collection and so did she so i wanted to join in the fun. D thought i was too young for a stamp collection but S let me secretly join in on her stamp collecting adventure and away i went with my own album, made out of bright yellow construction paper with a picture of a stamp drawn on the front. S has always been creative and artistic! thanks for my first stamp album S! Happy Birthday!

oh yes!

i'm constantly reminded on a daily basis, and in various ways, of how much J loves me. today it was through these...

wild horses, spanish moss, marshes, the beach and constant rain...

the clouds brought with them a drizzle, heavy drops, sun bursts and soaked clothes as we hiked our way north on Cumberland Island. what fun we had as we ate a quick lunch while it drizzled and didn't pour. what fun it was to see J making fun of the cute armadillos as they simply ignored him. and after having spent nearly our entire day soaked, the glorious sun came out to dry us off as we waited for the ferry.