Tea

I have so much to blog about - I was in Kathmandu last week and had a great time - but I haven't had a chance to put my pictures together so that will have to wait another day or so, but I just had to take a second to blog about two of my favorite things this week.


First, I have been reading a brilliant book "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is about Greg Mortenson's mission to build schools for children, especially girls, in Pakistan over the last 15 years. I learned more about the problems in Pakistan and Afganistan from reading this book that I have in all the news articles I've read over the years. But more importantly, I was inspired with the difference a single person can make in the lives of others. If you want to feel inspired, pick up this book, I promise you won't regret it.

If you need a little peaceful music to accompany your reading, check out the new Dido - Safe Trip Home. Her music always seems to relax me and make me question myself at the same time. A pretty good combination.


It Comes And It Goes - Dido Pin It

Shower

Monday = shower by bottled water (no water at all)

Tuesday = cold shower (50% there - at least there was water)

Wednesday = ?, but praying for a hot shower - will you pray with me?

Wash Away - Joe Purdy Pin It

Easy

Only easy games here - and be careful of the flowers....


Take It Easy - EAGLES Pin It

Shoe

As I pulled the pictures off my camera for my last post I discovered an adorable shot of Miss M. It made me a bit homesick for her and I can't wait to see what she is doing in a few weeks when I get to hang out with her again.

For a beautiful little girl who loves music, a beautiful song.

To you, I would give the world
To you, I'd never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

And the songbirds keep singing
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before

Songbird - Eva Cassidy Pin It

W.I.P.

I'm living in a new apartment this year in Delhi, and it is, in a word, soulless. It's fairly new, the furniture is nice and of good quality but it the walls are bare and very white. The floors are a cream colored marble which tends to make you feel like you are living in a white box.


Since this isn't my place and I'm only here part time I spent the last two weeks debating whether to spend a little money to spruce it up. I finally came to the conclusion that if I had to spend 6 months staring at these white walls I was going to go crazy. So today went to the mall (a relatively new concept in Delhi) and bought a few things - a new bedspread and a couple of table cloths one to cover the desk and one I hung on the wall over the bed. My goal was to add a bit of Delhi color to the place. It's not quite there yet, but my bedroom is a bit more colorful tonight than it was this morning.


I'm off to Kathmandu next weekend where I'm hoping to pick up a cheap rug or two and something to put on some of the other walls.

Today, as I add a little color to my world, it seems a good time for a song about seeing life "In Color" from a guy with a great name.

A picture’s worth a thousand words
But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should have seen it in color


In Color - Jamey Johnson

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Neko

I like Neko Case, so when I saw a headline saying I could download a song, "People Gotta Lot of Nerve" off her new album for free, I followed the link, downloaded it and loved it. But in my search for the song I discovered that for every blogger who posts the song, a cash donation will be made to Utah's Best Friend's Animal Society.

Best Friend's is an amazing organization - they save thousands of animals, in fact they helped save my family's dog. Sam had a serious biting problem and we were afraid we were afraid we would be able to keep this dog we had all fallen in love with. Somehow mom heard about Best Friend's dog psychiatrist, and even though we'd never heard of such a thing, she decided to give them a call in a last ditch effort to save Sam. After a few discussions with Best Friend's we better understood what was causing Sam to bite and were able to adjust our behavior around him. Now many years later, he is a much loved member of the family who no longer bites.

So, in Sam's honor, here is Neko's new song, and if you want to make sure Best Friend's gets another donation by posting Neko's song on your blog, here are the instructions:

Download: http://www.anti.com/media/download/708 Pin It

Y?

We went to one of the nicer grocery stores in town, one that has a large expat clientele and carries lots of international brands including this one, it feels almost like home.

Bootilicious - Destinys Child Pin It

Fired

Do you think the rice in the red sign is just really hot or no longer employed? (You may need to click on the picture to make it big enough to read)


All Fired Up - Pat Benatar Pin It

Cold

This trip to Delhi has been a bit of a surprise - instead of the heat and humidity I'm used to I find I'm freezing. It really isn't that cold, mostly 60's during the day and 30's at night. The problem is that buildings here are built to keep cool in and heat out. The marble floors never do warm up and we get by with small space heaters to attempt to keep our rooms warm. Genius that I am, I only brought sandals to wear (except for my sneakers, which just won't do it at work.)

Today calls for a little Marc Broussard to warm me up:

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Mama Mia

One of my favorite gifts this Christmas was the Mama Mia DVD.  I saw this movie for the first time on the airplane - and everyone sitting near me must have thought I was crazy, because I know I had a smile on my face the entire time the film was on.  It took me back to those slumber parties I had when I was young where we watched Grease over and over again so we could sing and dance along.

I couldn't wait to get a copy of the movie so I could see it on a better screen- and I found myself watching it multiple times over the holidays, and every time I watched I found myself laughing and singing along.

I first saw Mama Mia on stage with my friend Jen on one of our Seattle theater nights (I miss those so much!)  I loved it then and love it now.  If you ever need a pick me up - this is just the thing.  

On about the 5th viewing I left the DVD playing while the credits were running and discovered a beautiful song, "Thank You for the Music" that I can't stop singing.

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be?

Without a song or dance what are we?

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me

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