ITS OVER

The school year for the Purdy kids is OVER.

O

V

E

R

I am so proud of the way the have copped with the massive change in their lives. It has not been a easy transition for the kids going to the school they have been at this year.

Leaving home at 7.30am and travelling so far everyday has also been a huge change from our one minute drive around the corner to school at home.

Eliza has faced the biggest challenges with the subjects she has done. Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Environmental Management and French. These have been the hardest and most foreign of the subjects she has done. Along with Maths that was far advanced in comparison to what she had ever done at home.

So report day was today and she has done pretty well, all things considered. She finished 9th in her class of 20 and has really opened up socially this term, much to her teachers delight.

Sam......What can I say, he has done well with A's and B's in all his subjects and possibly a D in his conduct according to his C**P teacher. (But we all really love Sam, he is so funny, but so naughty) Get the drift? Lets just say we are very happy to have him OUT of there. Her discipline methods left alot to be desired.

Now begins the LONG break. 15 weeks to be exact. We have 12 more days in Chennai till we depart to cooler weather. Nearly 9 weeks at home and then back here to start the new school year at AISC. Lets hope it's all we are wishing and hoping for. Another new school for the kids to get used to and new friends to make. And hopefully lots of discipline for my Sam.

And The Winner Is.......

Since living in Chennai now for 9 months, we have been on the eternal hunt for the best Chocolate Brownie.

And today we found it.

Oh my goodness, it was a taste sensation from heaven. We had a lovely lunch but decided that we had best try a Brownie to share between the 5 of us. It was warm and moist and tasted like "REAL" chocolate, unlike some phony brownies you come across here in Chennai. It was also served with marscapone cheese, not something you commonly find here.

I nearly fell off my chair when Andrew the, I don't really like desert person, suggested we order another.

YUM

Do you think I have a problem?

All I seem to blog about these days is what we are eating or else I am whinging about living here.

After today life in Chennai just got better.

They also do a great Cold Coffee, can't drink the hot stuff these days as you feel like you are going to internally combust.

New Technology

Driving around the other day we come across this groovy new Street Sweeper.

Imagine how many people would be out of work in India if there were too many of these around.

I wonder how many people could ride on this at one time?

Josi, The most Loved Baby In Chennai

I think at this stage Sam was trying to convince me to take Josi home.

Easter Sunday we spent the morning at Sparky's Dinner. Their Easter Brunch is eagerly awaited all year. And I must say it was GOOD. The best part was that we got to spend time with our Favourite Baby in the World, Josi. He is the sweetest thing you have ever set your eyes on. We all love him and would love to pinch him and bring him home with us. I don't think his dotting parents Phamei and Christine would be to happy though. We got to have lots of cuddles with him and the kids couldn't take their eyes off him. Sam especially loves him to pieces, maybe because his most favourite teacher is Phamei, Josi's Dad. We will miss seeing Josi grow up when we go home, but I am sure he will grow up to be a fine young man just like his wonderful Dad.

Thanks Mr Chief Minister

Today the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu called a Bandh, from 6am - 6pm. This is what we we would call a strike. They have called this Bandh to protest against the killings of innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Most schools, shops and offices were closed and public transport was not operating. Late yesterday Andrew was told that he would be having the day off and would be making up this day with a compensatory working day in the future, which basically means he will be working one Saturday to make up this day off. An email came through from the company to warn all ISE's to be careful going out and staying home would be the best thing to do. They also suggested staying away from the big hotels.

The 3 kids had also been given the day off so the thought of a day at home was too much for us all to bare. A day frolicking in the sun was just what the doctor ordered. We planned to meet some friends at a resort down the coast where we figured it would be safe to hang out for the day.

We couldn't believe how quiet the roads were, with no big buses flying past us scaring the, you know what out of us. It was almost a like a leisurely Sunday drive in the country.

Ideal Beach resort is an hour away from home and a perfect place to get away from it all. The kids had a ball hanging out together and burning some energy, while us grown-ups enjoyed the peace and quiet and a good chin wag.

You know what it is like, if the kids are happy........every ones happy.

Mac in his ear protection..... He has had a lot of ear infections since arriving in Chennai so we have now come up with a way that we we hope will keep them at bay till we can get home and see a decent ENT Doctor. Do you like his pink swimming cap?

Good thing he is not old enough to worry about the colour.


Love this shot of Sam fresh out of the pool.

The perfect way to end a perfect day.

Ice-cream...
Mac and his friend Alice

The Week That Was

With the heat rising in Chennai I am defiantly looking forward to going home. Today has been around 37, the real feel about 42 and with 66% humidity it is not pleasant. I don't know one person who is loving this heat. Even my Laptop doesn't like the heat and has been shutting down most days and now my Web-cam wont work. So if you skype me you wont be able to see me but I will still be able to see you.
Along with the heat, the week has been full of surprises.
I will begin with the fact that Sam came home from school and said his teacher hit him!!!! Yes I saw red. It is not an uncommon thing in India for teachers to hit their students, but with our kids going to a school that has a no hitting policy I would have thought that our kids would be spared this kind of punishment. Now Sam is NO angel, I am the first one to admit that, but he is by far, not that naughty that he would need to be hit by his teacher. So after a phone call to the school and a call back from his teacher insisting that she did not hit him, but then proceeding to tell me my son is very naughty, but very funny and they all love Sam........ I was not a happy camper. So after a few days to reflect on the situation I am just about ready to tackle this problem head on. I have now calmed down enough to be able to go to the school and not rip someones head off. That's next week issue now.
This is how the rest of the week has been,

• Kids exams, half days at school with the afternoons at home to study (SCREAM),
• Eliza throwing up on Monday night.
• Tuesday Tamil New Year, Kids off school.
• Macs ears sore again on Tuesday so off to the doctors, which is another whole blog on its own.
• Sam off school on Wednesday as he doesn't take Tamil so didn't have to go and sit the exam.
• Andrew still unwell from his trip to Bangalore and the cockroach in his breakfast issue, so another trip to the doctors.
• Eliza home on Thursday with an upset tummy again.
• Thursday another trip to the immunisation doctor to check up on our immunisations to be told that we are due another Hep A &B needle that we have missed. Eliza stressed about that.
• Friday a visit to the dressmakers for the 4th time to pick up a top that still is not right.
• A trip to the bank to deposit a cheque to pay our Visa card that has been returned twice already due to the wrong amount being written on it, but was checked last time by a bank teller before I banked it and said that it was correct which has now meant that we have payed an extra $300 interest due to the payment being overdue. Not Happy Jan!!!!!
• One staff member asking for a loan for the second time this month and it is only half way through the month. Since when do we have ATM tattooed on out foreheads.
• The other staff member walking on thin ice since she asked for a $2000 loan and we said NO.
• No driver in the mornings due to the half school days and it is not worth coming back home for one hour before having to head back down the road an hour to pick the kids up

I have managed a lunch with a friend who has been out of town for a couple of weeks and my mornings at home have meant I have had some good scrapping time. So life isn't too bad.

20 days and counting till we are home.

That's my week... How's yours been????

Warning! Chocoholic in Residence

Guess who's getting Easter Eggs?

Today we found heaven in Chennai.

At a loose end today I decided to take my friend Emma's advice after she suggested I take the kids bowling at the local cinema complex. We had yet to discover all that this complex had to offer. Our one and only venture to the place had been to go to the movies, so we headed off there today to try and fill in some time. On arrival at the cinema we realized the option of going bowling had been left too late in the day, there was half of Chennai milling around the outside which sort of freaks the kids out a bit. So we popped into the deserted Dessert restaurant "ECSTASY" for a bit of lunch.

OHHHHHHH, What Bliss.

Eliza and I had a scrumptious Molten Chocolate cake which was more like a gooey souffle and Sam tucked into the yummiest chocolate moose cake that had a biscuit base to die for.

Mac devoured 3 scoops of Vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce. In the biggest bowl you have ever seen.

Are you getting the general feel of this place. Yep it is a Chocoholics paradise.

Oh, why had I not ventured to this place before you may ask? I can't even begin to know why.......But I will defiantly be returning soon.

And the piece de resistance... Easter Eggs..

This day couldn't get much better.

Yes it can... Andrew will be home at 10pm tonight.

Whats Happening In Our Neck Of The Woods.

You might want to grab a coffee, it's a long one.

I thought I would post some recent photo's of the kids goofing around the other day. They are all well and looking forward to the end of the school year. 3 weeks to go and exams are starting tomorrow. It has been a really long term for them with no break since early January but they have done really well keeping up with everything.

Eliza especially, is counting down the days left at school. She has had it pretty tough at school with the level of education a lot higher than at home, she thinks she has finally 'GOT' maths, we will see at report time whether this is the case or not. She is looking forward to our trip home to catch up with her friends and be NORMAL as she calls it. She is really growing up into a young lady and can be a joy to be with at times. Other times she is still annoying her brothers and being a typical hormonal 12 year old.

Sam is his usual cheeky self, full of beans and always running around the house. He has a broken toe at the moment due to being kicked in the foot at school last week. He is supposed to be resting it and keeping off it, but as you can imagine that is pretty hard for a active 8 year old boy. He is enjoying school and is class monitor this term. He has a great PT Sir whom he admires so much, Phamei is the nicest guy and is so caring and encouraging to Sam. I think Sam will really miss him next year when he changes schools. Sam is also keen to get home to be kept busy with Gramps, who has promised him lots of games of golf and a few fishing trips. So Gramps and Bob had better look out on the golf course, as he has had a couple of lessons and he is hitting a mean golf ball.

Mac is loving his school and his teachers. Welcoming them all with hugs each day and talks about them all the time at home. We get in the car each morning to go to school and Victor asks him, "Where are we going Mac?" and the reply is always the same, "To school please Victor". I am so happy he loves it and he is coming home with lots of new songs and he is learning his alphabet and is spending time on the computer writing his friends names. It is costing us a small fortune but it is worth every penny, there is so little for him to do around home and he gets so bored with my company everyday. He has a birthday next month, 4 years old. Wow. Where has that time gone. And what do you think he wants for his birthday..... A gun. Don't like his chances.

Andrew is as busy as ever and his days aren't getting any shorter. Once again he is away for work. This time he is in Bangalore for the week. He got to fly to Bangalore this trip, as he was a bit late in booking the train and there were no seats left but he has to catch the train home on Saturday night. He just called to check in for the night and told me he found a cockroach in his breakfast this morning. They have him staying at some dodgy guest house while one of the guys that has flown in from England is staying at the nicest place in town. Same company, different travel budget. He is not too happy with the arrangement and thank goodness will be home to spend Easter Sunday with us. Things are going well at work, a bit behind schedule but he is really enjoying the challenge.

My days are kept busy with the normal everyday stuff, grocery shopping, paying bills, doing coffee, scrapping the endless supply of photo's and trying not to get ripped off by every Tom, Dick and Harry. (or should I say every Ramesh, Suresh and Ganesh) The eternal battle of being WHITE, which means Madame must be rich and therefor can hand out money left, right and center. I need a big sign to wear around my neck that says "I am not a BANK" It gets a bit tiresome after a while.

We have just got back into the housing market and have purchased a home in Lara. You know how it is, the right house came on the market when we weren't really looking but we loved it and Lara seems to be the place we want to come home to. Probably because it is familiar and after 2 years in India we will be happy to be settled close to family and friends. We are excited to have something to go home to and I cant wait to see it in May.

So that's the family update for now. 4 weeks tomorrow and the kids and I will be on our way home. I don't know how we will cope with the cold weather after leaving Chennai's summer, it is already heating up and the power has already started to shut down a few times a day. Yesterday it was 6 times. Soon we will be back to daily 2 hourly power cuts. The joys of living in a developing country.

Can't believe Easter is this weekend and there hasn't been a Easter egg pass my lips. Oh, what I wouldn't do to have a hot cross bun and a Red Tulip bunny. To all those fortunate enough to partake in the joys of those Easter delights, ENJOY. Happy Easter to you all.

Hope the Easter bunny can find us.

For God so loved us that He gave His only Son, so that those that believe in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16