Fall to Winter

Yes, I know. I have been MIA on the blog, AGAIN. Time seems to go by to quickly -- first it was Halloween, then Paras' birthday, then Thanksgiving, and now we're already barreling towards Christmas. So let me go in that order, and see if I can get caught up.

October was a busy month for me, as I was traveling a lot for recruiting season for work. I did find time to get the kids' Halloween costumes in advance: I learned my lesson from two years ago, when I tried to make a no-sew skunk costume for Paras. For one thing, just getting all of the materials for the costume cost $30, and then all of his skunk fur (which had been glued on using fabric glue) started to peel off by the end of the night, leaving Paras just wearing a black sweatsuit with a hood and making him look like a burglar, rather than a skunk.

So this year I got smart and went to Old Navy and bought $18 costumes for the kids. Paras kept insisting that he wanted to be a pink butterfly. I suggested dragon. We compromised on yellow bumblebee -- and Sahana was the dragon. Here is a little clip of the two of them on Halloween night, with me very annoyed because I couldn't get a good still photo (and if the sound is unclear, Paras is running around yelling "I stinged you!" as he pushes his butt against everything in sight):



Andy also made a very nice pumpkin, Eastern style:



After Halloween things calmed down a bit both on the work front and at home. I had to travel again to DC, for a reason that I won't write on this blog since it is accessible to the public and right now I want to keep it under wraps. I celebrated my birthday down there, and the best present was when my friend Cristina emailed me to wish me a happy 36th birthday -- I was about to email her back and tell her I was 37, but then I did the math and discovered that actually, I was only 36! It was like getting a whole year back. So this year I need to live it up.

Paras' 4th birthday came on the heels of mine, and this year we threw him a soccer party at the Y. Paras isn't actually playing soccer at the moment: right now he is very into gymnastics and swimming (he can swim by himself now!). But we stuck with the soccer theme, and I am very proud of my craftiness in making these cupcakes. Like the skunk costume, they don't look quite like what was pictured in the magazine but I think they conveyed the general idea, which made it a success in my book:



Paras, as you can see, had a great time, and in fact has quite a knack for soccer -- he was great at dribbling the ball, and was a great goalie during the drills:





The day after Paras' birthday party we left for Dallas for Thanksgiving. The kids had a great time with their cousins. Paras and his older cousin Abhi (6 yearsold) had some very deep philosophical discussions about God. Excerpts include:

Paras: "How big is God?"

Abhi: "He is bigger than everything."

Paras: "Is He bigger than the Man with the Yellow Hat?"

Abhi: "Yes."

Paras: "Is He bigger than my house?"

Abhi: "Yes!"

Paras: "Is He bigger than Russia?"

Abhi: (exasperated) "He is bigger than the whole wide world, OK?"

We made a trip to Eufala, Oklahoma to visit Andy's family for Thanksgiving itself. It was a quiet weekend, and Paras and Sahana had to find fun without TV and toys, which was a good exercise for them. I had to come back to Dallas early to read files.

Now we are gearing up for the Christmas holiday. It looks like I'll be here, alone, because I have to read files again. Andy will be going with the au pair and the kids to Dallas. A little depressing -- will have to keep the house clear of sharp objects and alcohol. More to come, perhaps over the holidays.