This Is Not Good

Indeed, this is bad. (Click on the above picture for a nice, larger view of the damage) It's what happens in my kitchen when the dishwasher hasn't been emptied of the newly washed dishes. When the dirty dishes are piled this high, the jump start to get them cleaned is putting the clean dishes away. And, this has always been one of my least favorite chores. Bartee has taken charge of this duty for a while now, but he prefers to empty it first thing in the morning, so that means I have to remember to run the dishwasher at night just before going to bed. Obviously, last night... that didn't happen. Now, what do we do? I'm gonna wait it out until tomorrow morning, when I'm sure when I get back from dropping Priya at school the dishwasher will be magically empty and waiting for all these lovely items to jump inside.

Some of you probably cannot understand how I will be able to fall asleep tonight knowing this is what I'll wake up to... but seriously, it'll be no problem. Housecleaning is not my specialty. If you want a nice, hot tasty meal... now that's something I can produce, but a clean house... you'd better look elsewhere.

Things about The Springs

We are coming up on the 5 year mark for living in Colorado. We weren't sure when we left the hustle and bustle of the east coast whether or not it would last, but despite the fact that we miss family, we love it here in "The Springs", as it is affectionately known by the locals. We're not the only Springs in Colorado... there's Idaho Springs, Glenwood Springs, Pagosa Springs, Steamboat Springs and Manitou Springs to name a few... but we're "The Springs". That ought to send a few search engines with tourists looking for places to go to my blog. Here are a few things that have happened in the past 5 years that make me like it here:

1. From the parking lot of Priya's elementary school, there's a view of Pikes Peak (the eastern-most peak of the Rockies that reaches above 14,000 ft)

2. More often than not, if you are at a traffic light that turns green and you don't notice... your kid will tell you from the back seat that you should go, before the car behind you will start honking.

3. At the local grocery store, there's a pony ride that costs 1 cent. Seriously, it takes only pennies... I've had to get change for a nickel a few times so that my kids could ride.

4. At the same pony ride, a 5-6 year old little boy approached me when he saw me reaching for change and said... "It's ok, I've got it" and paid for Sanjay to ride. His Mom let me know that he was doing his "good deed for the day".

5. The swim team is competitive and challenging for me... and the members appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. Just last week a teammate said, during our main set in the wee hours of the morning, "that sunrise is beautiful".

6. At Walmart, it was taking me some time to dig out my credit card and I said to the clerk, "Sorry, luckily it's not too crowded". Her reply... "It's ok. Even if it was crowded, everyone gets a turn".

7. The Jiffy-Lube has a very nice set of leather couches.

8. When I dropped off a donation at the Good Will drive-thru, the guy offered me a cold drink... even let me come inside and pick what I wanted from the refrigerator myself.

Pongal Celebration Today

We missed Pongal by a few days... it is actually celebrated on January 14th, which as it turns out was probably one the most lazy days of my life this year. Seriously, I didn't even blog that day... too lazy to type words on the keyboard. There was lots of laundry in the house that needed attention, the suitcases needed to be unpacked, the playroom was a mess, the kitchen was a mess... and it stayed that way. I wasn't sick... didn't have a good reason for my laziness, but that was my state of mind last Monday. So, today we celebrated. At the request of Amma (my mother-in-law) I made Bartee's favorite... masala vadai (a fried salty snack) and chakra pongal (a sweet dish made with rice and lentils). We burned incense and ate these treats for lunch. It doesn't come close to the grand celebration we had last year in India, but it was satisfactory for a Hindu celebration here in America.