25 posts tagged “india”

• So, we had our first house showing this morning.  An older couple from Florida wanting to retire to this area.  They are looking for a place with some land and with the potential for gardening and they have cash in hand.  I stayed up until midnight last night and got up early this morning to get the house looking great.  Every time I got one little project done another would rear it's ugly head.  Jordan, the dogs and I left the house this morning and I wasn't feeling to confident about the shape of the house.  Sue (the real estate lady) called just a few minutes ago to say that the house showed really well, it just wasn't what the couple is looking for.  ~sigh~  At least it is mostly clean and now I just need to maintain.
• While we were out Jordan and I took the dogs to the local park.  I made sure the fence was all closed up and I let them run in one of the baseball fields.  Darcy was in doggy heaven.  She ran and ran just for the joy of running.  Makes me feel bad that she doesn't have the opportunity to do that here.  But, if we let her off the chain here at the house she chases cars and the other neighborhood dogs.  And she won't always come when called if she is intent on chasing them, either.  So, I see more trips to the park for some running in Darcy's future.
• The 'spot' on my breast had another little episode last night where it oozed a little 'clump' and left a hole in my nipple that was burning.  I got up this morning and my nipple looks completely normal.  White bump completely gone--no pain, burning, tenderness, or anything abnormal. I'm even contemplating canceling my doctor's appointment.
• Jordan goes for his yellow belt in Karate tonight.  This is exciting.  It is amazing how far he has come in just three months.  He has good classes and bad classes but all of the kids have those.  It won't be too long and he will have to move to the 'adult' class.  I hope once he's there that he continues to improve.
• Chris is having a good time in India.  He is talking about playing golf at the Hyderabad Country Club this weekend.  How cool would it be to be able to say: "I played golf in India"?
• Gas is down to $3.87 how sad is it that this price excites me?
• Balanced the checkbook and paid bills yesterday.  At one point I thought we were doing great and could pay off all the little bills that seem to accumulate month to month (magazine subscriptions, books via mail, etc...).  Then I happened to look at the checkbook again and realized that I had forgotten to write down an $800+ check that I wrote out to someone.  heh, good thing I caught that BEFORE I paid all the little bills.  Now, though, I'm scared of us running short before Chris comes back from India.  Sucks to go from 'wohoo! gonna get completely caught up!' to 'sorry, Jordan, we can't go out for Mexican tonight we're running a little short on money.' in just a few short minutes.  Once I know how much Chris spends this weekend we'll be better off as I'll know how much to deduct.
• Hung mini-blinds last night---and didn't throw any of them across the room this time.  I hope to never have to hang another set of mini-blinds anytime soon.
• Laptop is still not 'fixed' as I was told by Chris and my boss's boss to stay home today to make sure the house was in good shape and to make sure Darcy didn't get away from Jordan.  Hopefully it will be fixed on Tuesday when I go in to the office.
• Blueberries need to be picked in a desperate way.  I'm terrified of there being a snake out there...and I'm out of freezer room.  What to do...what to do?
  

AUGH!!!

I love my computer---I hate my computer when it doesn't act right.  One day last week whenever I tried to save an Excel spreadsheet to the company's H-drive my computer would restart itself and not save the file.  So, I sent an 'incident' off to our IT department in hopes of fixing what was ailing my computer.  The IT guy asked a couple of questions and I gave a couple of answers.  After several days we set up a time to actually talk on the phone and try a few things.  He has decided that my virus protector needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled, so we unistall Sophos.  As the computer is booting back up I get an error message from Norton telling me about an error it encountered.  The IT guy says 'oh, that is your problem, you can't have two anti-virus softwares running at the same time.'  So, we uninstall Norton and then try to reinstall Sophos. 

~Sigh~  Apparently because I am not at the office on the network the software won't install.  So, here I sit, with no virus protection and a trip to the office tomorrow. 

I'm wondering if I can do my 'normal' work which involves many Google searches, clicking on unknown links and viewing strange websites in foreign languages or if I should just try to do something that doesn't involve too much web surfing.  Of course, since I have a question like this, Chris hasn't called to check in.  ~sigh~ 

Totally Terrible Tuesday Things:

• Chris calling from India, only to hang up less than a minute into the call because one of his travelling companions is beeping in.
• Weird dreams
• Car radios acting creepy
• People with poor spelling and English skills
• Working so hard over the weekend that I'm exhausted going into the work week
• The kid being addicted to video games and getting mad when he loses
• OC is getting old and is acting sickly.  (we've had her for five years and we think she was about 2 when we adopted her from the pound---outside kitties don't have near as long a life span as indoor kitties.)

Totally Terrific Tuesday Things:

• My Dad safely back from Argentina and a mission trip
• The house finally on the market.  (Sometimes the link works and sometimes it doesn't...I don't understand why.  If you can't get it to work go to www.ballardrealestate.net and it is listing number 08-1363)
• A nice clean clutter-free house.
• Poutine for lunch (Not at all healthy, but oh so yummy!!)
• School starts in 8 days!

This morning I sent Chris off on an 11 day trip to India.  I don't sleep well when he isn't home.  Mainly because when he isn't home I don't have a big bad 'protector' sleeping right beside me (or awake in the family room playing his racing game).  So, when he's not around I try hard not to watch scarey shows or movies or even talk about creepy things as my mind will file them in the back to be brought out front and center when I'm trying to fall asleep and I hear a strange 'creak' coming from somewhere in the house. 

I wasn't thinking about that earlier when Kelly and I had a discussion about the X-Files and a particularly creepy show we remembered watching.  Maybe one thing isn't too bad especially because I have Darcy, the big mean ferocious looking Husky/German Shephard mix who is very protective of her 'pack'.  But then as Jordan and I arrive back home from Karate lessons I put the car in park and we sit there a moment finishing our conversation.  As we are talking to each other we happen to notice that the volume on the radio is turning itself up and down.  Seriously, this happened three or four times---the volume would go up a couple of notches, then it would go back down--up--down.  I turned the car off before he could get too freaked out.  But, yeah, I'm totally freaked and am sitting at the computer with all the doors locked tight---like a locked door can protect me/us from whatever was turning the radio up and down.

I did some basic Google searches for the answer to these questions and I either didn't search right or I just couldn't find the answer.

How long after the bump on the head happens can the symptoms appear?  Let's pretend that I fall in the bathtub and bump my head on Monday night.  (hitting my hip and bumping my eye area on the faucet---I think---and I'm knocked out for a moment or two.)  Tuesday morning when looking in the mirror I can see that the skin around the right eye is swollen, but there isn't a bruise and a bruise never appears.  Just the minor swelling. (As in a casual observer would notice something was 'off' but would have to study the face to figure out that the eye area was swollen.)  Other than a slight headache I appear and act 'normal' Tuesday afternoon/evening.  Wednesday, I'm still acting 'normal', except I complain about some pain from other areas of the body effected by the fall...I visit the local pharmacy for some pain medicine and do some shopping.  Thursday morning I'm sick to my stomach...nausea and vomiting occur and I am unable to work.  I am seen by a local doctor who tells me I may have a concussion and should be seen by a specialist upon my return home.

Okay, so really....can a person get a bump on the head and not have problems from it until THREE days later??  Why wasn't there a bruise?  This whole situation just sounds fishy to me.  I guess I would feel better if I knew someone with experience with concussions; which, I guess, is why I'm asking any of you, if you know anything about concussions. 

I'm asking because my co-worker claims she fell in the tub while we were in India.  This has become a workman's comp issue and she hasn't been back to work since she left India.  She is an admitted 'recovering' pill addict and some of us are concerned that she has fallen off the wagon, so to speak.

We just had a wonderful day. The morning kind of drug by, but it
was nice to sleep in and just get ready for the day in a slow and
leisurely pace. I commented to Chris while we were eating breakfast
that I felt better than I had in a long long time. I am trying new
foods: fruits I've never heard of and some I've never tried
(pomegranite and papaya) I even tried something that sounded kind of
nasty the first time I saw it on the menu----spinach and cucumber
juice...that stuff is pretty good! A great way to get in the
vitamins and minerals of spinach w/o having to eat it. Tonight at
supper I had corn/spinach au gratin; that was really good, too.

This afternoon we went shopping. Oh my goodness shopping in India
is an experience. If you show the least little bit of interest in
something then someone will come over and try to get you to buy
it...if you gently shake your head and tell them 'no thank you' they
quickly show you something else. You basically have to just ignore
them while you browse---but get ready to haggle when you decide on
something. We bought so many things and didn't spend over $150
dollars. It was fun. I took a lot of pictures, but I don't have
them on Chris's computer they are on mine. My computer can't get on
the hotels internet--I'll share pictures another time.

We got to India at a great time. Pongal time is here. Pongal is a
celebration of the harvest...kind of like our Thanksgiving; but it
is also celebrating the end of the monsoon season and other fun
things. One of the past times for kids in India during Pongal is to
fly kites. Chris and I saw dozens and dozens of kites in the sky
this morning. It was an awesome site. Right now our plan is to go
on a roof top sometime Tuesday (the 'official' day of Pongal) and
fly a kite.

There is security everywhere. You have to walk through metal
detectors to get into *any* store or place of business. Including
the hotel. Bags and purses are searched, too. It all gives me a
false sense of security as I asked our guides today if murder,
stealing, and rape are problems----I was told they are. I can't
help it...I feel safer here than I ever did in New York City. Maybe
it is because Chris is right there with me so much of the time.

Well, since it is almost one in the morning and I haven't washed
today's dust and gunk off of my face, much less gotten ready for
bed...I'm going to get off this computer and go do just those things.

I'm having a great time. Of course come Monday it will be back to
the grindstone----but even that is fun as it is such a new
experience meeting and working with everyone.

Presents bought: Done
Presents wrapped: Done
Dinner party attended: Done
Work party attended: Done
Christmas letter composed: Done
Christmas cards written out: Done
Christmas cards in the mail: Done
Wrapping paper, tape, ribbons and bows put away until next year: Done
Left over Christmas cards, stickers, embelleshments put away until next year: Done
Laundry finished and ready to be packed: Done
Someone lined up to feed OC while we are gone: Done
Car gased and ready to go: Done

Today is my last day to work this year.  I won't be working again until January 2nd.  Then I work for five days before hopping a plane to India, where I will work (and train someone how to do my job) for five days. (Not counting weekend days---or the Monday Holiday that is happening in India)  Then I'm on vacation until January 29th.  Wohoo!!!

I hope I can relax the next week or so...because once I come back I will be working hard and long getting ready for India.  But, then I can relax while I'm in Europe. 

As many of you know in January the company my husband and I work for is sending us to Hyderabad, India to do some extra training.  On our way back home we will be stopping in Paris for an extra week to take a long overdue honeymoon/vacation.  (Married 15 years in March 2008)  We will be gone from January 9th and not getting home until nearly midnight on the 27th.  While we are in India the time difference will be about 11.5 hours (noon at home will be 11:30 at night in India).  When we are in Paris the difference will be 7 hours (noon=7:00 at night).

Jordan has just turned 12.  My parents are coming to stay with him while we are gone so he can go to school.  Should we plan on trying to call and talk with him everyday or do you think an every other day (or maybe even every third day) would be okay?  I know that when Jordan is visiting his grandparents we will go two or three days w/o talking to him---but then at the most he is only two hours away.  It looks like calling while in India won't be that big of a deal; I can call him first thing in the morning for me, and it will be suppertime for him.  It will be while we are in Paris/Rome that the time difference will create a bigger challenge.  The 'Mom' in me wants to talk to him everyday.  I'm not sure that it will be completely possible though, as he will be in school during the times it would be easiest for us to call.

What have you done when/if you've been away on a business trip?  How often did you touch base with your child?

YAY!!!

I'm so excited.  It is looking more and more real as time goes on.  Things look like they may really and truly happen.  The tickets to and from Hyderabad have been bought and reservations made at the Marriott in Hyderabad have been made.  We fly out on Wednesday, January 9th, arrive in Hyderabad on Friday the 11th.  We stay in India for a week, working and doing some sightseeing.  Then on Saturday the 19th we fly to Paris.  We have yet to settle our itinerary for the week in/around Paris.  We leave France on Sunday the 27th arriving home late that night.

We will be going to the Loire Valley and doing a tour of some castles and such.  After a day or two there we will hop a plane to Athens and spend time there before flying back to Paris and getting on the plane to come home.  We are thinking about cutting the visits in the Loire Valley and Athens back a day each so we can get some time in Rome, too.  But, that will depend on money and whether we want to 'leisurely' enjoy two places or be a bit more hurried and see three.  This is a trip of a lifetime for both of us.  We want to do it right and see all we can, but not feel rushed and stressed while doing it.

WOW!!  I find it hard to believe that this is actually happening.  I think I've been in semi-denial...afraid of getting too excited for fear that the trip would not happen.  At least now I know that I will at the very least be going to India. 

Now to start planning what needs to be bought before the trip.  New luggage is practically a given.  A new memory card and a new battery for the camera.  Time for this planner to start a list.  LOL!!