Ring of Fire

Yes, yes...it's been awhile. I initially decided that I would update whenever Motheater updated but then realized that I may be an old pensioner by then and my arthritis would prevent me from typing. Not even gentle prodding from her bird-loving roommate helped.

I'm here! Thanks for all the e-mails of concern and wonder from blogland on my whereabouts. Ok, "all the e-mails" makes it sounds like a lot of people wondered when in fact I received 3 e-mails BUT they were 3 sweet e-mails. (Rat! I didn't get the info today. I'll call you when I get to India). The truth is I had started 2 different posts but lost both of them somehow and got frustrated. Too bad cos 1 of them was a long juicy one which in hindsight I'm glad I didn't send. OK, so in the interest of time I will get you caught up in the life and times of Mint:

• It's cold and snowy in Chicago.
• Went to Dallas for work, my first trip ever to Texas. My presentation was well received and I like my team although since then one of them has officially burned a bridge with me. (He realized it as soon as it happened). The Brit stats guy was there although he wasn't as cute as I remembered him to be. This could be because my new thang is French Canadians. We have a new business development guy that made me swoon. The way he looked in his suit, the way he had a firm but gentle handshake and made direct eye contact when he spoke. WOW. I also have an Indian-Canadian team member based in Montreal and she was so beautiful with her French-Canadian accent. She had beautiful eyes and wore lipstick that was so perfect. Unfortunately you could tell off the bat she was a big-time smoker which was sort of a turn-off. We have lots of sites in Canada so I hope to visit our neighbor to the North in 2006.
• It's cold and snowy in Chicago.
• Went to Wisconsin to watch the big football game as well as have dinner with all my inlaws. Dinner was in some way-out-of-the-way place in the middle-of-nowhere, Wisconsin. Our new family favorite CD to play in the car is the best of Johnny Cash. The Boy knows all the words to Ring of Fire and the girl bops from side to side like she's his personal back-up dancer. Here are a few pics from that day:

Nothing but farmland

View of my sister-in-law's backyard. We've gotten a ton of snow lately.

Christmas store in Wisconsin. Christmas overload.

Cake

On the long car ride to and from, D and I had deep conversations about "meant to be's" and "the one." I've decided that it must be normal that you can be together with someone for so long but still have passing moments where you feel you have little in common with that person except the 2 kids in the backseat sleeping off their sugar-high. I look at my mother in-law and sometimes wonder how she and her husband have been married for 25 years. I personally think it was more about companionship. Her husband died leaving her a widow in her early 30's. She raised four kids on her own and didn't even consider dating until D (her baby) was in high school. Her (new) husband is all-in-all a nice guy but their personalities are so mismatched. His rocky relationship with his stepdad is the reason D moved to Chicago to go to college. It's plausible to think that had that not happened, D and I would have never met.

Here's D's mom and dad. They would have celebrated 50 years in July.

• My mother-in-law and I discovered that we both love a lot of the same old Cary Grant movies, most notably An Affair to Remember.
• It's cold and snowy in Chicago.
• Have been out to 2 different movies in as many weeks; Pride and Prejudice and Syriana. Pride and Prejudice was good although D looked like he was going to vomit at the ending. He also thinks Keira is sorta cute but conceded that she could probably cut someone with her sharp chin and jawbone. Syriana is definitely a thinking sort of movie. There are 3-4 stories/lives that only come together at the end. I would say at least 10 people walked out cos it wasn't what they expected. If you're expecting Ocean's 20 DO NOT SEE SYRIANA. I liked it.
• It's cold and snowy in Chicago.
• Went to my parent's house and put up their Christmas tree last weekend even though they're in India. We also celebrated my sister's 26th birthday. The tree was sorta half-assed cos my mother wasn't there to give us any direction. D and I decided not to buy a tree this year cos we wouldn't be around to enjoy it. SO...we're bringing a tree to India. Yep...a little 6 foot tree with a whole buncha (supposedly) shatter-proof ornaments. Wish us luck.

Parent's house before

Our lame-ass, half decorated tree.

It was too cold outside so we put the plastic Santa near the fireplace. Perhaps we should place him in the neighbor's display where the 3 wise men are in the middle of the freaking North Pole.

The girl received a princess tea set from my older sister.

• We leave for India today. Last week the boy was sick with a cold and I ended up sending D to the consulate to take care of the visas. At the consulate, he met an old friend he used to work with who we always referred to as the "reverse us" (American girl/Indian boy). I always thought D had a crush on Sue and wouldn't blame him if he did. She's like one of those totally put together people who walk into a room and everyone flocks to talk to. She is going to India over Christmas to meet her boyfriend's family. Of course, D being D didn't find out any important details like are they engaged? where are they visiting? is he cute?

Blog break. This one for obvious reasons (wish us luck!)

Happy holidays everyone!