I've Had an India Week

I'm still surprised that it took this long to have my first India week... which in plain English means a pretty frustrating week. Make that Frustrating with a capital "F". It was a real doozy of one and I'm so glad it's over. Thank goodness it's Friday... with a capital TGIF.

The quick recap of the week...

* Maintenance came by to let us know that we're FINALLY (another 'F' word) getting the breakfast bar put in the kitchen. Only 3 months after the fact. But whatever... it's getting done right? They've already had the contractor come out to measure at least twice, with me there adding my 10 Rupees to make sure it's made to my correct specs. Well the contractor came by again on Monday to take the final measurements to start getting the granite cut and the stainless steel legs sized correctly. So when they came out yesterday to start chopping, cutting, gutting, and making a total mess of my kitchen, I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised that the frame for the breakfast bar was 8 inches too high. The kids would have had to eat at the table while standing on their booster chairs. It took a lot of explaining, loud mutterings under my breath, my maid who speaks Tamil, and several phone calls to the maintenance department to get the contractor to cut the legs down and re-size everything. I was gone all day and came home after my cooking class to a newly re-sized table, already cemented into the new granite floor, still several inches to high. I lost my energy to fight this battle. The kids are just going to have to sit up really straight and hope that they can eat off this new table.

* The maintenance department also has to replace our bathtub as there's a large hole in the floor and it's leaking who-knows-where. I asked that if while they're at it, they would get us one more plastic stopper for one of the sinks in the master bathroom, as its just a gaping hole with an open drain. They told me that they've looked everywhere for one, that they just can't find one, so instead of ordering one from the States, they're just going to give us two new sinks. HUH??? Two new sinks? I just need one little $1 stopper so that I don't have to worry that anything will fall down the hole into never-never land. I don't need a new sink, or even two. Their rationale? They need to make the bathroom consistent, so they'll replace both sinks which will have built-in stoppers, thus reducing my problem of needing one large, plastic stopper. Oh, and while they're replacing the sink, they're going to replace the granite counter tops too. Because that's not a total waste of money... and time... not to mention the incredible mess and inconvenience that I'll have in my bathroom. And since the bathroom is so small, they won't be able to do both the bath tub and the sink at the same time.

* I received an e-mail from our internet company yesterday telling me that I owed money. Really? Because I prepaid four months in advanced, and by my calculations and installation notice, I shouldn't owe a Rupee until December 1st. This debacle escalated when I received a phone call today telling me my internet would be shut off on the 16th. Oh no it won't... I mean, it probably will just because it ALWAYS goes out on Sunday just because it's India... and it can. After many phone calls, e-mails, and extreme frustration as I spent several hours researching where the mistake was made, the situation was resolved at 4:30 pm today. Of course, this was after a another small handful of hair turned gray and my blood pressure rose after I was transferred from customer service person to customer service person, all telling me that I was wrong. Not the right choice of words for them to use with a woman already on the edge.

* On the positive side, Sheridan had a field trip this past Wednesday and my driver drove her and two other kids (who were belted in my car in car seats) to the nature reserve (Parents were NOT invited to attend.) Apparently after I made such a stink about Sheridan's car safety rules, the school didn't try to put any other kids in my car without car seats. However, my driver told me that every other car was stuffed with 6 or 7 people each... all with no car seats or seat belts.

* We're half-way through the cooking class. This week we made peanut butter cookies - with the easiest recipe known to man! 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg... Stir, roll into balls, roll in sugar, press with a fork, and then cook on 375 for 8 minutes. The kids loved them... and so did I!

* The week did end on somewhat of a high. I went to a ladies-only poker night, where we learned how to play Texas Holdem, and had an absolute ball. There were 10 of us who showed up, and the host made a big pot of chili for dinner while we all brought sides or desserts. We clapped and cheered the winner of each hand, and even tried to help each other whenever possible. We played until 10 pm, when most of us turned into pumpkins, and decided to call it a night.

* We're going to do a re-take of our holiday photo on Sunday. Our goal is to get Sheridan to smile nicely in just ONE photo... if that's even remotely possible. Wish us luck!

Getting the wall ready to cement in the granite. The finished product
(minus a few odds and ends that they need to fix on Monday)

My current sink... and a photo of the plastic stopper that I need for my side.
Can we say, "Home Depot" or "Lowe's"

Ladies Poker Night - I took the photo... which was perfect because I'm having a bad hair month!