Back to it

It's funny. I was away for 10 days. I had no children, no husband, no work. No one to worry about but myself. No toddlers to feed, no laundry to sort, no dogs to clean up after. Being on a break like that was great for me, I think. But what shocks me somewhat is how easily I've just shifted right back into my 'normal' life.

Like there was never a break. Things here are crazy. Work is so insane right now it's actually laughable. I've got my two wonderful kids just being kids.

Maggie won't stop hitting people. We tell her no and move her away. She either turns around and runs back and hits again, or throws herself to the ground and freaks out. She is 22 months old - help? We've never needed to do time-outs with Cam, and I think she's too young anyway. What the heck do I do? She is a bit of a whirling dervish. She doesn't get what she wants? Complete and total freak out. Monday night, she wanted to stay in the tub. It was well past her bedtime, so we took her out and tried to get her ready for bed. She cried for 2 hours. TWO FULL HOURS. At first, I thought she was sick, so I went up and held her, rocked her - it was like trying to hold an angry cat. She was so loud she woke up Cam (so then I had TWO crying babies), and needed DADDY. Aaron came up and finally got her calmed down by letting her play with his iPhone, and she finally passed out. I think she was just overtired....I have to admit I was thinking at one point during this two hour scream fest - are we showing her that if she flips out, Daddy will come and play with her? But it didn't happen last night - I think she just worked herself up so much and was so tired that she couldn't self-soothe. But my friends. The force is strong with this one.

And Cam is just this crazy ball of Big Boy. Big boys sleep in BIG beds. Big Boys use the potty. Big Boys ride REAL bikes. It's hard to keep up with him! And it's also hard to believe that he will only be 3 in December.

Both kids have just shot up in size. I had to do my seasonal purge a bit early. Baby clothes require SO much more work then you would think!Sorting through what fits, what we should save. What to donate, what to try to sell.... it's just a bit overwhelming at times. I had everything dumped out in our guest room, and was slowly working through it (in that I'd pop my head in every once in a while and then walk away because I didn't want to deal with it), when our good friend Darrin called and asked if he could stay at our house for a few days. I overhear Aaron say 'We've always got room for you!' and I was like.... um. Not right now! And spent 4 hours sorting, chucking, organizing and putting things into bins. My system, though a pain in the ass, works great. I put each size in a big bin, and on the outside, I label what's in there. If someone offers me handmedowns, I can check quickly if it's something we need.

That's my life. I love it.

Traveling to India - my trials and tips

I'm guessing that most of my daily readers aren't planning on trips to India, but maybe people will google and find this. I would have loved a little write up on what to do as a woman traveling alone in India.

I think when you read this, you must know that my travel style is to try everything. I'm not afraid of failure. I try different foods (assuming that they seem well cooked - I'm not risking food illness) because what is the worst? I may not like it. I go to local places, and I try to experience the culture as much as a can (which in this case wasn't always easy because I don't speak the language). I also go in with the idea that if it's a success, it's fun - if it fails, at least I have a good story! And I also usually have the option to 'fix' it. If I hated traveling on the train, I would have sprung for a taxi home. If the hotel sucked, I would have switched. I'm a pretty flexible traveler. Which I think allows me to do and try more things than the average person.

First off, the people are friendly. Maybe too friendly, as many people wanted to practice their English with me. But don't be afraid to travel alone. I think the worst thing to be afraid of is pickpockets. I walked around with confidence and kept my bag close.

Pre-paid taxi stands are your friend. At all airports and railway stations, you will find these. Most places they are right out front. At the Old Delhi train station I needed to walk a bit, but they exist. Only the guy INSIDE the booth gives you the price. You will walk through a sea of people offering you taxi rides for probably at least double if not triple what you would pay at the pre-pay booth. At one point, I was at the window talking to the guy (he told me that it was 140 rupees to go where I wanted) and another taxi guy was telling me 200 rupees. They'll pressure you until you pay the guy - it's amazing.

If there isn't a pre-paid taxi stand, insist on a meter. I actually had to tell someone to stop to let me out because he wouldn't turn on the damn meter

Be ready to barter. Everything is up for negotiation. At first, it's fun. They give you a price, you offer half of that, and then you go back and forth. Sometimes you walk away. If they chase after you, you know you can still negotiate. They won't sell it for less than it cost. By the end of the trip, I was so done with this. Usually what I would do is set a price in my mind that I thought it was worth to me. Like cool pashmina scarf - $20 seemed fair to me. As long as I hit that price I was happy, but sometimes I got significantly lower.

What to wear. Sure, it's hot. But nobody wears shorts or tank tops. I got by with t-shirts and capris. Bring your own sunscreen.

Go to Agra. Seeing the Taj Mahal was one of the top 5 experiences of my life. It's amazing and majestic. No matter why you are in India - make it to Agra. Trains are cheap, and domestic flights are reasonable. Some people gave me advice to take a personal car tour of the Taj starting in New Dehli. This would have cost me about $400. I took a train back and forth for $30, and got a pre-paid taxi cab for 8 hours around Agra for 1500 rupees ($30). You can see everything worthwhile there in less than 5 hours. If possible, get to the Taj first thing in the morning before it's crazy crowded (the buses start arriving from New Delhi at 10). If you stay until sunset, ask a taxi driver to take you to Mehtab Bagh. This is a garden - but don't actually go into the garden. If you walk down the edge of this park, towards the water, you can see the 'backside' of the Taj. It's a great, not too crowded place to watch the sunset. When I was there, I was with maybe 20 other tourists.

Take a train. The train system is a HUGE part of Indian life. And they are safe and a very reasonable way to travel. I took a 6.5 hour express train to Jaipur, first class AC, and it cost me $21. You can book in advance on Cleartrip. But if you happen to need to book it the day of - there are tourist offices IN the railway stations (the ones outside are scams) that save a few seats for tourists usually. I mostly rode in first class AC, but second class is also fine - just make sure you are in an AC carriage. DO NOT EAT THE TRAIN FOOD.

NOTE: Be aware of scams. If you have a ticket in hand, it is good. An e-ticket print out IS a valid ticket. I had a moment of freak out when someone tried to tell me that my eticket wouldn't work, and that I needed to be at the station 2 hours before the train to confirm my seat. That is bullshit. I would recommend getting there a bit early to get on the right platform and settle in - but you don't have to check in like you do for a flight.

Drink the coffee. They make is with boiled milk, not water. It's delicious.

Try a heritage hotel. I only booked one hotel for myself - in Jaipur. They did have the tried and true US chains there, but for $120 a night and no charm. I risked it and stayed at the Umiad Bhuvan guest house for $40 a night. Great place!

Get a Aruvedic Massage.

I think that's it. The most amazing trip ever. I only wished I got to share it with Aaron.

Not even close to Wordless Wednesday

I finally have a few minutes to sit and share pictures of India with you!

I arrived Sunday night, and I stayed with Nick (Suzanne's brother). He took Monday and showed me around New Dehli. That place is crazy. So many people in such a small place - and when you get into Old Delhi, it's even more so. Here is a picture of Old Dehli I took from the steps of Jami Masjid:

Tuesday morning at 4 AM (after staying up all night waiting for my lost luggage, sigh) - I flew out of New Delhi to Coimbatore, where the wedding was. I tried to take pictures to show what it was like to be at a wedding with over 2000 people, but it was impossible. This is the night before the wedding - me with the bride and groom (the groom worked for me about 5 years ago)


This is the next morning. The wedding was at a Hindu temple at 5 AM. The major theme for this trip was me getting up at 4 AM. Somehow I wasn't tired, but this is a picture of me with people who were hanging out near the coffee - so I did get some caffeine, at least.

They make coffee with milk, not water. It. Is. Wonderful. The other funny thing is that every time I took a picture, everyone wanted to get in it - but then they didn't smile. Strange.

And this is me with the bride and groom and his parents. I was trying to just get a picture of us together, and they insisted on making it formal like this. The whole time I was in Coimbatore for the wedding, the father was making sure I was taken care of. He had some member of the family with me at all times - it was awesome, but I felt bad - like he had other things to do during his son's wedding!

When I would protest, and tell them I was fine, I was informed that it's how things are done there (Indian hospitality) and I should just give in. So I did.

I stayed in Coimbatore for 3 full days, and although much of it was taken up with the wedding, I did get to explore the countryside for a bit - which was SUCH a contrast from the cities. Here I am with one of Dhana's friends exploring a tea plantation.

The countryside was so GREEN and the hills were amazing.

Next stop was Agra. I took a train there, and this is for another post - but I was almost scammed out of my ticket. I have loads of pictures, but I'll sum it up with this funny one:
The Taj Mahal is the single most amazing thing I've ever seen. No picture can do it justice. You have to be there. My day in Agra was so much fun - I met a Swedish woman on the train and we shared a tour for the first part of the day, and then I spent the afternoon seeing all the rest of the sights. Amazing place. I got to see the Taj at sunset - that beautiful white building glows pink. None of the pictures I took show what it really looked like. But it was amazing.

Did I mention it was amazing?

When I got back to New Delhi on Saturday night, it became apparent that the hurricane in the US was going to screw up all my flights. Again, a story for another post, but Aaron finally managed to get through, and got me on a flight home on Weds. Which gave me 3 more full days to explore. I decided to go to Jaipur. I had met a Japanese man in Agra who told me I couldn't miss Jaipur - that the Amber Fort was amazing and I could ride an elephant.

So. Of course I had to do that.

Another thing I hadn't had time for was to get henna on my hands - so I did that in Jaipur:


Basically Jaipur was the cherry on the top of my Indian Sundae. I was so tired, I went back to my hotel around 4, where I noticed a flyer for Aruvedic massage. So I went and got one. The description sounded like torture (warm oil slowly dripped onto your forehead) but Oh. My. Lord. It was wonderful!

And then I finally got to come home and see my babies. It was so nice to go and have a complete change in pace, but I sure did miss my gang.

Disappointed

Every day, on the way home from daycare, we pass by an apple orchard. Both Cam and Maggie love it - and actually, APPLE TREE was one of the first phases Maggie said.

So this year, I came up with what I thought was a great idea. I thought I could buy a bag to pick apples, but instead of doing it all at once, just let the kids stop each day on the way home and pick one apple. Wouldn't that be fun? I finally got around to calling the place and asking if we could do it - I really thought they would think it was a fun idea. It's a tiny, family owned place... and the woman was SO not receptive to it. She said it would be too complicated.

I was really annoyed and disappointed - I really thought that a little family place would be open to making some toddler's day. But no. Oh well. They lost a customer who would have been made happy SO easily.

Friday Night Leftovers

Ah. Back to normal. And I've got lots of leftovers!

• After being away from home for 10 days, there is seriously no place like my home. I love my little family, our house, our friends, and even our climate.


• Today, we took the kids out of daycare so a few of the teachers could have a nice, long weekend. And I'm hoping to get out of work early so I can play with everyone


• Well, maybe not play. I'm thinking of taking the kids shoe shopping. How is it that their feet grow SO FAST!


• We had Chinese food the night I got back, and as usual, last night I was up every hour going pee. I hate it that salty stuff make me retain water like that! Every time I have soy sauce and/or Chinese food, that happens to me. Such a freak.


• We have no plans at all for the weekend. Nice, right?


• But I am going to attempt to make some tomato sauce for canning. last time I did that it was a huge failure. This time, I'm learning from the experts. Our Aunt Mary makes the only red sauce that Cam has ever liked. I'm hoping to have her teach me.

OK - kids are back from the park with Aaron, I'm going to try and 'work' while I play with them. So happy to be home!

I'm back!

Wow. That's all I can say. India is a amazing country, and I had an amazing trip. I think you can all figure out that I got stuck there for a few more days thanks to the hurricane, but it was all fine.

I'll post again with loads of pictures, but for now I'll tell you that this was the best idea ever. I haven't had a real break like this since before we started fertility treatments (over 5 years). We just didn't have the time or money. I was offline, away from work, family - EVERYTHING for the whole 10 days. I needed it more than I knew. I was a super star in India - especially at the wedding. They were blown away that I came that far for the wedding, that I made an effort to wear Indian clothing (more than once I was told that I looked like a 'doll') and I had my own driver to take me around to see the sights.

After the wedding, I took a train to Agra and saw the Taj Mahal - words (and honestly even pictures) don't describe that place. Amazing. When I found out that I was staying in India for another day due to the hurricane on the East Coast, I then made plans to see Jaipur (parts of Indiana Jones was filmed there). My trip up to that point was somewhat frantic - trying to see as much as I could with the little time that I had. But Jaipur was relaxed. I had a great hotel room ($40 a night!), I rode an elephant, got henna on my hands, and even got a massage.

I had lots of adventures though - my luggage didn't arrive with me, so I had the fun of making sure I got that before my flight to the wedding, I had a second outfit mailed to my hotel - that didn't arrive until 9 PM the night before I was to wear it, I almost got scammed out of my train ticket on my way to Agra, I took a sleeper train (I felt like I was in the movie Darjeeling Express!), I rode in taxis, rickshaws, and autos - I bartered for shawls, I even ripped the butt of my pants in Agra and mooned the whole country for a while until someone FINALLY pointed it out to me, lol.

By the time I was finally leaving, I was ready. I was a bit homesick - everything in India is SO foreign, the language, the food, the climate, and I also missed the kids and Aaron horribly. I'm so glad to be home, and so happy that my trip went so smoothly. There were so many chances for things to go wrong, and it all just worked out in the end.

Ok - back to catching up on my life. When I have time to sort through my pictures, I'll do another post.

Friday Night Leftovers

• Deep breath. I'm leaving in 24 hours for my India trip. I'm excited, scared, and so, so ready for some time off


• I haven't been away from Aaron for this long sense we met.


• I spent today getting the little things done. I got a stack of one dollar bills for tips, a bunch of snack foods/granola bars, random toiletries.


• Now I'm trying to figure out what knitting to bring on the plane with me.


• I'm currently making a few easy meals for Aaron to cook while I'm gone. Not because I NEED to, but to be nice. Because he may need a little long-distance nice when he's home alone with two toddlers.


• In other news - the summer is almost over! WTF. Summer is super fast.

OK. Back my my obsessive packing. Talk to you all in a week!