The Elven turf to land my thoughts.

R2I has taken a shape of it's own and it's driving us now and not the other way around. We have the final date set in stone : May 14 th it is. It twists my stomach to even imagine what it's going to feel like, to just say Good bye to the land that's been home for 13 years. Anyway, not the time to get emotional. The shipping date is about 2 weeks away, so we're scrambling and running around, buying stuff. So many to do lists and so little time...... Will try to post again soon.

Choxbox had tagged me a while ago to write about strange coincidences. Sorry n1, it took so long, but here it is: It's a very sad coincidence but the strongest that I've ever felt. Jan 13, 2007 was a Saturday and the four of us went to the temple. After my son said a small prayer to Lord Ganesha, he went and picked up some Viboothi and applied it on his forehead forming three lines across. I gave him a smile and said he did it exactly like his thatha , my father-in-law. After finishing up in the temple and returning to the car, the phone rang and we got the sad news that my father-in-law had a sudden heart attack and passed away just half an hour ago. We were all so shocked. The time of his death was almost the same as the moment that we were thinking of him in the temple. Is there really a sixth sense? I don't know, but I do strongly believe that if you're close to someone you can feel the vibe about their well-being. On a brighter note, I also believe that there are...

Tharini had tagged me to write about a material object which holds lots of memories and here it goes.... My husband had gifted me this CD on our 2 nd anniversary and right the next day we'd moved into an 8 th floor apartment with a sweeping view. There we used to listen to this CD almost every evening, sitting in the balcony. Anytime I pop in this CD, it magically transports me to that place. I can see the apartment floating in front of my eyes, the layout, the view, the roses we had in the balcony, the conversations we used to have.... everything. I remember even the distinct smell of our stinky dishwasher ;) Anyway, it's one of my favorite CDs to this day. I particularly like the second song : 'The Mummers' dance'.

Last night as I was putting the kids to bed, my son started getting very upset and was almost in tears. When I asked him why, he said 'I'm having bad dreams. I'm worried what'd happen to me if you and daddy pass away. I don't want some strangers to take me away.' I've no idea where he got those ideas from. I assured him that mom and dad will always try to be with him and even if we can't he'll always have a close relative taking care of him and that he'll never be taken away by strangers. After some whimpering, he fell asleep. Oh, the little baby, he seemed so traumatised by the thought! I felt immensely scared myself, for sometime after that. To think how delicate our lives are and at the same time to have these innocent little kids completely banking on it, it's very unsettling. I've cousins, who'd lost their father when they were merely 5 or 6 years old and I can't imagine what must've gone through their minds. We feel we...

I've been so bogged down with work and some trips for the past one month, that blogging had slipped to the end of my priority list. But I'm back now. So much has happened since my last post. First of all : Wish You A Very Happy New Year We were in Disney World for the New Year's celebrations and boy was it fun! The whole vacation was just fantastic! The kids loved the parks and the nice pool at the resort. As for us, no driving around meant no designated drivers :) It was a totally rejuvenating trip, loved it! BTW, that's one item struck off from our 'Things to do before R2i' list. Last week we were sworn in as American Citizens. Woo hooo . That's another important milestone for us before we return. We spoke to M&M's teachers about our move back home and they suggested that we could comfortably do it in the 3rd week of May. We're yet to nail down THE DATE, but it will be around Memorial day weekend. The house is the biggest issue on our list now...

I'm thankful for: my family my wonderful husband and our lovely little ones, my parents our health one thing I've realized lately is so delicate and so precious our state in life where we have a choice of where we want to live and how we want to live our ability to be content with what we have the laughter in our lives though I sometimes lose sight of it during my crazy schedule our beautiful home though we're not going to be here for long . I'll cherish every moment we've lived here my work which gives me immense self-satisfaction and many more things. Ofcourse all these come only after m&ms' list of 'things that we're thankful for' i.e. food shelter clothing which we all should indeed be very grateful for. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yep, it is that day of the year - FIRST SNOW. The flurries have just started and it looks lovely as always. The tree branches are slowly turning from brown to that delicate white and the grass is all covered with the powder. I think it's one of the most enchanting movies that nature plays for us every year. Maybe it's the pure whiteness of the snow or the novelty that it presents for a girl who grew up in 35 degree temperatures for the first 20 years of her life, but it never stops to amaze me. My heart jumps up and I feel like a little girl once again. I still remember my 'First' first snow in Iowa State: that morning I was busy working away at the Ames lab and was caught by surprise to see the flying white objects outside. Call me dumb, but I had to confirm that it actually was snow. I have no words to explain how I felt at that moment. I think I'll miss this when we move back home next year. But I'm sure there'll be other things to keep me busy.