I spend a fair amount of time online so I wonder why I don't blog more...I guess writing requires dedicated, clear thought and I have a feeling that I have been less than adequately equipped with both dedication and clarity recently :) Anyway, the past few weeks have just flown by in a fuzzy sense of madness, emotion, celebration and exhaustion.
I started teaching in Aug (did I post about this yet?) and it's been an interesting experience so far. Like most much-anticipated activities, this hasn't turned out the way I expected it to be, but that's not to say it's any lesser....I am teaching a pre-determined university syllabus (filled with archaic topics!) of a subject I am not very fond of (compensation!) to a 40-strong group of not-very-strong-or-skilled students in an environment that can be described as strictly average. BUT I am making a difference, and that's what was the driver behind this anyway. My classes are on Friday and Saturday and necessitate me taking some hours off from work...but I make up for it in other ways. It will probably get a bit too hectic sometimes, esp. if there are weekend trip plans...but I know I will need to work around it, because this is something I want to do or at least try fully.
I also moved into the new place...seven days of pre and post-shifting activity that was exhausting and irritating, but necessary. I made long to-do lists and taped them on my wardrobe door, checking them off as they got done (some still lie unticked, like the bean bag that never came back!!). I made and re-made and re-made some more the budgets for the coming months...trying to balance the inflow and outflow (that seemed gigantic by comparison, oh lord, why do i earn so less!!). I displayed nothing short of superlative irritable/crotchety behavior towards everyone in general, but mostly towards DB, that has made impressions that will not wear off in a hurry. I also didn't indulge in much physical hard work and yet stopped exercising thanks to the hectic schedule, leading to more accumulation of inches and providing me with the belly of (alleged) prosperity. At the end of it all, I now reside in an apartment that's big, airy, clean, convenient, tastefully done up but doesn't have the coolness n character quotient of my previous one. Whatever. I am now sitting on a roomy balcony and typing away to glory in an atmosphere of near-silence, something that wasn't possible there. Of course, neither do I have leafy green trees to look at or a cool breeze to enjoy. So typical of life.
I had a wonderful short vacation, thanks to the symbolically significant first birthday of Bobo and my 30th birthday. That I consider the former to be a cause for celebration and the latter a cause for depression is a separate matter, but we all (Dhaka, Delhi n Mau) converged in Vedic Village for 3.5 days of revelry (as much of it as one can have with two toddlers!) on Aug 21. The start was rocky (bad rooms got allotted initially, Bobo was upset with our intrusive behavior) but things got sorted out and we actually managed to have a very decent amount of fun for the next few days (except Dolly n Mummy to an extent, as they had to contend with an ill-Bobo). Lavish rooms (villas actually, and I forgot to the take a snap of the bedroom-sized bathroom with a sunken bath and an open-air shower!), well appointed resort, loads n loads of greenery (with snakes provided with compliments of Mother Nature), cake from Flurys (the monetary cost of which, combined with the cost of Dolly's effort in getting in there, probably made one of the most expensive cakes ever consumed), champagne (drunk in normal water glasses, since the resort mgmt reneged at the last moment, bloody creeps!), constant flow of good food n drinks (and if the villas took 3 months off Anjan's annual salary, this took the bonus!), lazyboy/massage chairs (don't know what they are actually called) in each room, reasonable amount of independence to spend the days as you wished (faced with a grand total of 5 choices - sleep/ eat-drink/ swim/ spend-time-with-baby/ vegetate) and a heterogeneous group that managed to get along pretty well....all of it added up to pretty much the type of celebratory holiday we were aiming for! (marred by a highly uncomfortable and painful return trip for Dolly/Anjan/Mummy though)
So, well...that was the last big activity...came back and resumed life...a bit hectic (and a little frustrating) at work but have just completed a typical full weekend composed of classes (tiring, but nice), dentist (painful), shopping (a phone that's stylish - nice - and expensive - not nice), lunch (good but ended up giving me loosies), movie (wall e - very very cute n nice n thought provoking), another movie (rock on - really good) and a sunday that was lazy and beautiful :)
Another week is about to start...but there's stuff to look forward to and agonise about in the coming few weeks - my performance mgmt process....my possible prague trip (for which the visa still hasn't come!!)...dolly/mummy's arrival...so I have a feeling there's going to be another post probably around mid-Oct. Unless of course, I am struck by something provoking enough to make me log on and write again :)