November!

... and a happy day to you all! I have a fun and exciting post today.The highlights include some Indian food, lots of snow, and my indoor plants.

So we finally went to an awesome restaurant where I could take pictures again this past Friday.

Mom and I enjoy a mango lassi and some chai tea. (The chai was admittedly not as good as Josh's. But don't ask him for his recipe. He'll be like, "eh, add a little of this, or hmm, maybe some of that? I don't really know. You just gotta wing it.")

Dad's very un-Indian pinot grigio.

For lunch they have a buffet, which you'd better believe we're coming back for.

The bar, and the very obviously American son of the Indian father (on the left there, with the laptop).

Oh my WORD this was the best naan ever. EVER. On the right is my regular naan, but Mom got some Bombay (not Mumbai, which I found interesting) naan, which is stuffed with cheese, nuts, and raisins. It was mildly sweet and SO GOOD. Behind the naan on the left is Mom's chicken something and my Malai Kofta on the right, which are vegetarian dumplings in a tomato gravy.

Dad got some garlic naan, and it was just about the most garlicky anything that I've ever put in my mouth.

The thing about Indian food is that it looks highly unappetizing, but if you can get past the green goopy look, it's amazing. This is Dad's saagwala lamb.

Well look at that. Snow, on October 29th. Hmm... I am really hoping this isn't a sign of things to come.

The kids all in for the winter! Sophia (on the right) is unhappy. She hasn't been looking very good. But Chester (middle) is doing fabulously!! And this is Mom's coffee plant on the right, César, who is doing okay too. But they none of them enjoyed being out that extra day when it was like 30 degrees.

Snowy window.

Holy cats, it is really coming down out there. There was probably another 2 inches after this.

Now I will interrupt to tell you that this day, Saturday, is the day that Brad was taking the train out to see me. It was snowing pretty hard, so because it has four wheel drive, Dad and I took Mom's car to the train station. Unfortunately, the train was delayed quite a bit in Harrisburg, where it was waiting for power, which is all the information that Brad had. We asked a fellow at the station and as it turns out, a tree had fallen onto the west-bound train and taken out the power lines, leaving the area without power. So Dad and I sat around in various places around Lancaster for about two hours, waiting for the train, and playing the forehead game. We didn't have any paper, so we just thought of someone for the other person to be and then the other person asked questions until they guessed it. It was a blast, honestly. We had a great time. We went to a bakery, which closed, and then we went to the bookstore, and got tea and coffee in both places. We were there for probably 2.5 hours, or at least 5 games' worth of time. Finally Brad texted to say that they had gotten going. Almost immediately thereafter, he texted to say they'd hit another tree. But by then, they were in Elizabethtown, the stop before Lancaster, so we said get off the train, we're coming to get you. So we stopped by Panera and got him a sandwich and headed out. When we got there, Brad said the windshield had blown out of the train, cutting the conductor all up! Can you believe that?? I guess he's going to be okay, and was not seriously injured, but the train was still sitting in Elizabethtown when we got there. Poor Brad ended up being more than 4 hours late, and was on the train for like 9 hours. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Thankfully everyone was all right and Brad got here only a little late. He kept trying to convince us to just go home and he'd get a hotel in Lancaster when we got there. This kid.

Sophia's new home inside.

Chester and my unnamed orchid. I have to think of something really beautiful and exotic for her.

So happy in the sunlight!

Blossoms on Chester! First time ever!

Today I started my new job tutoring after school. Interesting first day. More on that tomorrow!