MARCH is another BIG Birthday month for our family!
Three very special people get to pick their birthday dinner this month...

An extra special shout out to my great dad who turned 80 years young on March 22.

Chiree and Joshua celebrate very close together on March 18th and 24th respectively.

We wish we could have been with you each on your special day!!!

We hope you know how much we love you. Sending birthday wishes from afar!!!

Medical in India
All I have to say is...We pay WAY TOO MUCH for our medical care in the US.
For the past 3 weeks, I've been battling with some funky, long drawn out cold. I'd have a really bad night and then a couple of good days, relapse and have another bad night, etc. I finally caved and went to the hospital's walk-in clinic this past weekend.

You have to pay before you can be seen, so we paid 500 rupees ($10) to see the doctor. He diagnosed me with a viral infection, but ordered a chest x-ray as well as blood and urine tests to rule out Malaria, Typhoid, Tuberculosis and Dengue Fever. So it was back to the cashier to pay for the tests before they would do any of them. This was expensive, another 1200 rupees ($24). BUT...No waiting, in and out! And the whole cost $34.

HERE THEY COME, WALKING DOWN THE STREET...

just a few of the animals you could see while driving the streets of India.

This is MG Road, one of two major thoroughfares from Delhi to Gurgaon.

My driver stopped so we could take pictures.

So they pulled over to accommodate us! For a nominal donation, of course.

I put the money in the elephant's trunk and he passed it up to the driver.

Tomorrow nights dinner.

A monkey riding on the back of a bike?

Donkeys and Beautiful Women!

And the HOLY COW!

The only animal I've seen so far that I haven't shown you here is the PIG! They're everywhere! They are the governments solution to the littering and dumping of garbage. The pigs will eat it! Unfortunately, the country generates it faster than they can consume it and the trash is winning. Back the drawing board fellas!

PS...I must give credit to my dear friend, Debbie Dolson, who took several of these photos when she and I were out and about and she HAD her camera with her. I've got to get in the habit of throwing my camera in the car no matter where I'm going, YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE!!!

Joel did this for the grandbabies to see on Skype before we went down.

            HOLI 2012

Happy Holi to all our loved ones back home!

They promise this comes off...eventually!

Today is HOLI. One of India's largest celebrations. Festival of Colors!
A day to celebrate Good over Evil.
What it boils down to is a giant water fight with paint included!








These pictures were taken at our apartment. We were encouraged to stay within our apartment complex and NOT to venture outside into the city streets. Here's a quote from our Apartment HR department in an email to me regarding the holiday...

 

"Holi is a very wild festival. It is one time when people go berserk with excitement, shed all inhibitions and just go crazy! I am not trying to scare you or anything.

Your driver is right. You should not venture out into the city as the locals get a little rowdy.

Hence, play Holi in the Club Aralias – where just the community people will be playing.

Joel looks like he's enjoying this way too much!

This little guy is one of my favorite apt personnel.

They were a lot more polite than we were.

 I say these two were polite, but right after this picture was taken a female friend(?) came up and doused this poor woman with paint and then splashed a whole bottle of beer all over her!

This is AFTER a shower....they did say  EVENTUALLY.

Perth, Australia

Perth City Center

 Only after a week back in India, Joel and I hopped on YET another plane to Perth, Australia. Joel on business for a week and me tagging along for the fun of it! What a breath of fresh air...Perth is beautiful!!!

Bell Tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cottlesloe Beach at Sunset

 While I had to go it alone every day, I couldn't think of a better country or city to do it in.

I toured Perth, the Perth Zoo, King's Park, the Swan River, and out to the coast for a day in Freemantle.

This is the Bell Tower, in Perth, at the Ferry Landing. It's one of the largest musical instruments in the world. 












Our last night in town, TOGETHER we got to enjoy the sunset and the best Fish and Chips on Cottlesloe Beach while we watched the sun go down. Breathtaking!!!