delicious sunday

What. A. Day.

Absolute perfection in the weather department here in Delhi this weekend. After several weeks of heavy rain, which is very unusual here, we were suddenly treated to bright sunshiny skies. And although Delhi is also usually quite desert-like, following the rain we've gotten the shockingly unusual treat of lush greenery, relatively settled dirt and dust, and no air pollution. Or at least no VISIBLE air pollution. And since it hasn't actually gotten at all cold yet, no one is burning wood for warmth, so there's no smoke in the air. And to top it all off, another side-bonus of the long monsoon is that the temperature is utterly pleasant and comfortable. Still warm, yes, but I sat on the front lawn today in our rattan lounge chair and didn't break a sweat even one bit. Doves and parakeets came and snacked on seeds in the garden, a gentle breeze blew through our super tall palm trees and our new-new papaya trees, the girls came out and smelled the roses, Ji got out his skateboard and taught himself some new tricks, Phet sat on the front porch (and smoked HIS cigar, smoked HIS cigar...wait, no, that's a SONG) and finished some work reports, and I did absolutely no work until late in the evening!

In the afternoon we had John come in and we went out to the big mall to see if we could get tickets to the newly re-released (in 3D!!!) Beauty and the Beast, but there were only tickets available for the front row. So we wandered around the mall for awhile, letting the kids race about, and then drove over to Dilli Haat for dinner. Dilli Haat is a nice outdoors market-slash-attraction near us. You pay about a dollar to go in, and it is a well-kept pedestrians-only shopping area with a decent food area where there are shops selling provincially-specific food from across India. On top of that, there are special artists and artisans who set up stalls and performances based on certain themes. Like one time we went there and it was a fruit fiesta. Today, there was a focus on Punjab, and there were six different drum gangs performing all around, and a central dance stage as well. The girls loved it and Laree said she wants to go back right away.

Earlier this weekend, we had a scrumptious evening - on Friday we shared out all of Phet's loot from Lithuania. We had invited people over to our place last Sunday, but a few friends were sick, so we called it off and Patricia offered to host instead, which was easy for everyone to get to after school since she lives on campus. I brought a big swimming back and a rollie full of meat, cheese, booze, bread, and salad over, and it was all well received. We had six varieties of sausage / smoked meats, a ONE KILO loaf of seriously awesome heavy rye bread, two kinds of mead, three varieties of Lithuanian ricotta-esque cheeses, and a hefty bottle of GREEN NINES liquor, which is alot like Jagermeister only tastier. And I like Jagermeister!

After stuffing ourselves, we enjoyed the high school play which featured six of my past students / actors. It is so much fun to see them go on in drama! One of the main characters from Rice Boy had the lead, and two of the kids from Fright World were in it as well. Speaking of plays, I'm well under way with prep for our November show. It's all going well, but I am starting to get to the point where I wake up thinking about the show and I go to bed unable to sleep for awhile because I'm thinking about the show. Eventually it gets so I need to keep a pad and pen by my bed because otherwise I can't sleep period as ideas keep rushing through my head.

In sad news, our annual trip to Rishikesh got cancelled because of the heavy rains. But on the bright side, I've got an extra week of rehearsals now, which is fantastic. Hopefully the trip will be re-scheduled for February / March.

Looking ahead, it's four days till my tenth wedding anniversary! And twenty years since I started dating Phet! 20-10, 2010...coolness, huh? Mom, I got your anniversary card (which is kind of why I rememberd that the anniversary was coming, which is usually what happnes every year, although maybe this year I'll do something nice for Phet...maybe!) Have to say I am a pretty lucky wife. It used to be that before Phet cooked, I'd say, we'll the only thing I can complain about is that you don't cook like my Dad does. But now that he's upped his game in the kitchen, looks like there's nothing I can complain about. He's a great Dad, thoughtful brother- and son-in-law, excellent son, good nephew, kind friend, hardworking work dude, and still someone I am happy to see and talk to every day.

One last thing - sorry about the video problems in the last message. I made the mistake of saving the video as an mp2 and it was like INSANELY HUGE so I have re-saved it as an mp1 and hopefully that will work. Click here to see the message for Gramma.

[Delhi-26-September-2010]