Indian Culture

Last night Ron and I joined some friends from Jaycees for "A Night in India". We ate some yummy Indian food (which neither of us had ever tried before) and then viewed a slide show about India and learned all about the country from Singe (I think that is spelled correctly)and her family, a friend of Sheila's who moved to the US a few years ago. At most points we had no idea what exactly we were eating, but the "chicken 65" was really good and the dessert -- a flowery flavored sorbet -- was great!

It was definitely something different and we learned a lot, too. Singe is from the southern part of India and she was able to share many of the customs, historical facts and ways of life. I was most interested to learn that she and her family are all Christians and not Hindu or Buddhist....that really surprised us all. She and her husband, Jobe, were married in an arranged marriage (she met him only a month or so before the wedding), yet she told of how her sister wanted to marry a man who was not "chosen" for her. The father sent the man off to complete "tasks" before he would allow the marriage. One of those was that he must convert from Hinduism to Christianity. The man met all of their father's requirements over time and is now married to her sister. It was all very interesting and the family was very sweet. I would love to visit India someday and see, in person, the sights we viewed on the screen.

We Got Our Glasses....Again

If you remember back at Christmas, we were all excited about getting the Flying Saucer Christmas '07 glasses, well, last night was St. Patrick's Day glass-nite. After the Jaycees membership social at Wild Wings about 15 of us headed over to Flying Saucer to get glasses...and we almost literally got the very last ones they had! (They always go on sale at 7 and they were sold out by 8 last night.) These are really cool, too, just like the Christmas glasses. And, no, we don't use them...these are totally for collecting at our house.

Elizabeth and I show off our glasses!

We even wear our sunglasses at night! Haha! Rhea, Ben and I just all happened to still have them on us and thought this would make a great picture!

This is too funny because Ron and Brett were actually talking to each other....they were inputing their numbers into contacts....

What a Sunday!

We were up early again this morning. Okay, not as early as yesterday, but early for us. My friend, Elizabeth, invited us to visit her church and we got up for breakfast and to pick up some things at Walgreens before meeting her. We LOVED the church and can't wait to visit again.

After service we hurried to drop off the boys and get dowtown to the Heart Center to join the Jaycees to work on the B106.7 Radiothon for Children's Hospital (I'll be back on Tuesday night and if we don't get any calls, I may be calling YOU!) We were able to stay there for about two hours before leaving to meet the JWC girls (and a couple of other hubbies) and the kids from the shelter for a "behind the scenes" tour of the State House. One of our provisionals, Michele, has a husband who works at the state house and he arranged for us to not only see the "usual" tour, but also to visit the basement (which is almost entirely granite and yes there are some tunnels, but not the rumored "escape" tunnels) and the dome(s). I chickened out of going all the way to the top of the dome as the heights got to me about halfway. Ron and whole bunch of others, though, went ALL the way. He was so excited as we were pulling off of Main St. to point to the tip-top of the State House and say, "I was up there!". It was an AWESOME experience to see parts of the building that most people don't get to, hear the history and workings of the facility.

The best joke was that in one room there was a hatch to an underground area and you have to be put in and lifted out by harness because of potential dangerous gas that Jack Bauer wouldn't need a harness and he would make through the gas to the bad guys hiding underneath to save the building. After that we started making JB jokes as the facility guy pointed out safety features.

Another really cool thing was the "moat" that surrounds the building and the earthquake prevention features that have been put in. Completely fascinating!

I will add more pictures later....my friend Paula took some GREAT ones and when I get those, I'll share them, too (especially the one of us in the "dome").

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Early Satuday Morning

I did something for the first time today. I watched the sun come up over the city from the zoo. Ron and I got up at 5:30 (AM..in case you were wondering)to get ready and be at the zoo by 6:40 to volunteer with the Jaycees at the March for Meals 5k. It was great to see everyone and very interesting to watch the race dynamics -- the serious runners to the strollers, those with wheels and those with feet.

I was at the beginning and the end of the race in the parking lot, while Ron was inside the zoo. We were there just to make sure folks stayed on the running path. Afterwards we met up with some of our old and new Jaycees friends to chat for a while before heading over to Main St. for breakfast at Chic-fil-A and a quick walk through the "Excavating Eygpt" exhibit at the Art Museum. It was a great exhibit and I can't wait to take the boys back to see it. Ron and I then came home and took a LONG nap!

(in the photo from L to R: Elizabeth (with Ron hiding behind her), Me, Sheila, Randy, Ben, Hailey, John and Ryan)