Rich

I've been talking a lot about thanksgiving and being thankful with my students at school this past week. Yesterday, one of my third grade girls said to me, "If we have a house, food, and people that love us we're rich."

I thought that was a very profound thing for an 8 year old to say. It took everything I had to choke back the tears. She's so right. Often we, I included in this, forget what things in life REALLY make us rich. I am thankful a child was able to remind me of this.

Let's go Pacers!

Last night we went to our second Indiana Pacers (NBA) game of the season. The Pacers played the Boston Celtics. It was a very fun game to watch. We had good seats...and the crowd was wild!!! The Pacers won 113-104...so that made the evening even better! :)

(view from our seats before the game)

--MMR

Pitch-in

I was reminded this week of my first "pitch-in" experience...

We had just moved to Indiana. It was my second week at work and people were talking about a pitch-in. There were papers posted for people to sign up for what you wanted to bring to the pitch-in. I was so confused, I had NO IDEA what people were talking about. I wondered what on earth this could be. I came home and asked Abhay, and he had no idea either. So the next day I went to work and said to my co-worker, "Ok, so this maybe sounds stupid but what's a Pitch-In?" She laughed hysterically and said, "That's right...you'd have no reason to know what a pitch-in is. Here is Indiana we call POTLUCKS pitch-ins!" Huh...

I was reminded of this when I was in a meeting and people were talking about our December meeting and what everyone wanted to bring. I told my current co-workers this story and everyone laughed uproariously.

They are POTLUCKS Hoosier, not pitch-ins...

--MMR

3 Enjoys

I am going to list 3 things we enjoy in life right now. I know it's a little different than a "normal" blog, but I think it's a good thing to focus on the things we enjoy in life.

1. Enjoy: We have been so lucky to be enjoying such a lovely fall season. The weather here in Southern Indiana is unbelievable. This week has been gorgeous! Sure it gets chilly during the night 30-32 degrees F (-1 to 0 Celsius) but during the day it's REALLY sunny and the temp usually reaches somewhere between 60-68 degrees F (15-20 C). It's awesome! My body and mind is still on "Minnesota weather" where is really chilly and it's already snowed multiple times. I hate living away from family but Indiana weather trumps Minnesota weather any day!

2. Enjoy: Abhay has given up tennis for the season and has now moved onto to Racquetball. He's loving it. It's a good outlet for him after work. He, and our friend Suresh, play every Tuesday and Thursday night. He used to play often during his master's days at Michigan Tech but hadn't played it for years. I'm happy he enjoys sports and is able to do them. Me, on the other hand, I WISH I was athletic! :)

3. Enjoy: Having Fridays off of work. I work LONG and busy hours Mon-Thur but I love having my Fridays mostly off (from time to time I have to do a few hours of paperwork, emails on Fridays...or have a meeting). I enjoy sleeping in (which sleeping in for these days means 8am), relaxing, and running around town doing errands that Abhay and I never have time for. I always, always, always get a nap in on Fridays as well. I think EVERYONE should get three day weekends. When Monday comes around I'm usually fully rested and in the "right mind" to go back to work. feels the same way.

--MMR

We had a very low key weekend! It was much needed. I had a VERY hectic week at work, and was absolutely exhausted. Abhay had a stressful week at work as well. So we were both in the "same state."

Friday night we went to see Michael Jackson's This Is It! It was an amazing movie. It was fun, and sad, to see all the preps and rehearsals for his big tour that never actually happened. It was just another reminder of how talented Michael Jackson truly was...an artist in every sense of the word. We also enjoyed a dinner of Indian (buffet) food at the local Indian restaurant. The food is usually fantastic, but Friday evening it was a little off. We still enjoyed it though.

Saturday evening total spur of the moment (after other plans fell through) we drove to Indianapolis to eat at Olive Garden. It was yummy and exactly what we needed. We came home and relaxed...and have been doing that all day today as well. It's been so nice. From now until January, are weekends are packed with plans.

We're both really looking forward to seeing our families in the upcoming weeks!!!! We have been doing lots of shopping for both thanksgiving here with my family, and for our trip to India. :)

--MMR

Halloween fun!

Our friends Shiva and Sheetal had a Halloween party last night. We had a BLAST!! Here are some pics from it:

Abhay and I: Email attachment :) :)

The Michgian Tech Boys
(Param, Sangram, Abhay, Ajit, Shiva, and Suresh)

The group!
(Suresh, Swetha, Abhay
Sangram, Sheetal, Pretti, Me
Shiva, Param, Ajit)

The whole crew...

--MMR