Goa

I've got pics but can't download! Frustrating. Three machines and counting on this trip. Whoop Whoop. Amanda and I are staying in a resort in Goa which is in the southwest and are loving every Kingfisher of it! We took a 12 hour train ride to get here and with 7 assorted bags that's no easy feat. No news from Mom in trivundrum so assume its all good.

Southern India

Hiya, Sitting at an Internet cafe in Ponducherry which is 3 hours south of Chennai on the South East coast of India. Amanda and I are here together in this town that is influenced by the French who colonized it. The architecture is a mixture of European colonial and Indian decay. Overall the effect is wonderful and we are staying at a fab guest house with mosquito nettting, brightly colored quilts and the most peaceful balcony.

We left mom in Chennai and she should be at the end of day two of her stay at the Ayervedic spa, Ideal. We meet up with her again in New Delhi next week but gave her our mobile number just in case she has got to get out before that. They will be sitting very still and staying out of traffic so I think she will love it. I have my girls with me and I warned them before we came that India is a lovely intoxicating yet difficult place. I think they agree now. We have each had the experiences now with the solicitous Indians who wish to please but who in reality cannot understand a word you are saying. However, being here with Mom and Amanda has made it far much more fun for me and has enabled me to see it with a more generous spirit. At least I'm trying.

This shirt is getting too small.

Mom did you ever take pictures of us in clothes we were outgrowing because you loved us in them so much. I made B stand still for this. He was not impressed.

Kung Hey Fat Choy

It's the year of the Rat.

My Boys

Further Adventures in Mispronunciations with the 13 Year Old Kid

Does this kid have sex on the brain or something?

Last night I asked J if he was being obstinant about some such thing. (The answer is yes in case you were wondering) and N said he had heard the word obstinant somewhere before. Let him think. Oh Yeah, in his sex ed video.

Ummmmm. I explained that I think he was thinking of the word "abstinant" and he said yes. Since he gives us openings like this like daily (Katie can attest to this since she was there for B singing "Wait don't touch me there, that's my private square" which is a jazzy little school bus ditty about R-A-P-E they sing on N's bus.) I wonder whether I 'm supposed to take these openings and talk to him about sex. Every time. Its exhausting. I don't know what to say about it. I asked if he knew what abstinant meant and explained it in the most generic terms possible. I swear its a minefield in the early teen age years.

So, now I'm just waiting for when he is talking about an orgasm instead of an oraganism or a virgin instead of a surgeon. I think it's only a matter of time.

Happy New Year!

To all my readers (Ha ha) I hope you had a good holiday and are home or coming home safe and sound from your travels.

2008 promises to be exciting with the big India trip coming up in February and two other shows this year!

J, the boys and I spent part of New Year's day playing Pictionary. Yay, B's easel finally came in handy! It was really fun, until it wasn't anymore.

But our Christmas isn't quite over yet. We won't be able to put the holiday to bed until we get our hands on a Wii. N's girlfriend got one. Actually got one. Her parents pre-ordered it. Smart. The boys have been wonderfully patient about the fact that they haven't actually gotten their big gift yet. I am happy, because I am afraid that the Wii is going to change our little family dynamic forever. I will want to play Monopoly or Chess or the piano and they will just want to Wii. So, I am treasuring our Wii less moments. Is that wrong? The skateboard and digital camera have gone over really well and of course the heely's and the whack a mole and ipod dock, etc. We managed to come out without too much "stuff" to show so I think we were a success on that front.

The midnight train to Anshan

Just a hello to all. We took the overnight train to Anshan and it was lovely. I had a top berth and I met a man from Perth who was coming to Anshan tomeet his future bride's family.

It is cold outside but blue skies so far. Cold outside but boiling hot inside.

Things are well. Hope all is well where you are.

Love, Megan

Harris, Harris', Harris's

Can some one help me? It always happens around the holidays when I want to sign cards from the Harris's. I don't know if it should be from the Harris' or Harris's, so I just sign everything 'from the Harris family'.

N has a girlfriend

Her name is Taylor, or as we call her at our house, Tay tay. N and tay tay made arrangements to kiss on the bus last week but unfortunately the kids haven't had school since the note was passed. N is anxious. Dying to kiss her. He told me he thinks maybe Tay will be his wife. And we like any good parent/stepparent/brother are making fun of him mercilously. Maybe we should stop. He talks with his mouth full so I told him to make sure he didn't do that if he was eating with Tay tay and her fam. J and B now use every opportunity to act like food is coming out of their mouth. "I wuv you Tay tay." Is it fun? Hell Yeah. Is it damaging to a 13 year old psyche? I don't know.

K and I talked about "being in the box" when we were young. K doesn't remember it. I do. I remember Dad saying "It's your night in the box, Megan." I think it's N's day in the box.

B had his piano lesson today finally. Talk about logistical planning! I got in trouble from the Mom for not running it past her first. I apologized and said I was too gung ho. It's true. I just know that boy needs music lessons of some kind. It was worth it though. He loved it. His teacher gave him some bar paper and told him to write a song. So, he did. Not half bad for the first time out either.

In other Harris/Cramer news, evidently Stephanie's hair is falling out and she is going bald. She told the boys it was because of their fighting. And also because of medication for Rheumetoid Arthritis. I think though its a broken arrow thing. There are lots of ladies with very thin hair. I saw them today at Wal-Mart while ringing bells in the freezing cold. Lots o ladies with combovers. The boys said this during dinner last night and it was something about the pizza and the subject but I felt like vomiting. I told the boys they are making my hair fall out too.

So, power came back on at the office on Friday at 5:00 p.m. Just in time for the weekend. Maybe next week we can resume business as normal.

I'm off to China for the week before Christmas. Have a happy holiday!