The Start of Spring in Seattle

When we first moved here, someone told me that the hardest month here was June."

Surely summer should be here by now".

DH and I though- find that we don't mind the rain at all.

I think we were really sensible to buy the house that we are in -  not too big nor fancy - just right..

Lots of windows and light.

Its somewhere we love coming back to. Our Knoxville house is large and comfortable too but in that house we were always looking to go out and be in the backyard.

Saturday

A bit of a gloom hangs over this weekend as I need to go to New York tomorrow.

Oh how I hate traveling!!!

However-  I am speaking on an "expert" panel and that is making me feel very.grown.up.

Someone whom I once interviewed sends me a note saying she heard I was one of the "distinguished" members of the panel and this makes me walk on air

R is weeping beasue he cannot find the cupcakes we baked yesterday - they are on the stove and are just covered with a napkin. Once Discovered - all is well

R settles in with a cupcake and I settle in with my Espresso- my latest addiction .

Mother and son - We do love our pleasures

DH has been grumbling about my Nespresso a lot - he is not cheap - but he hates getting into these  relationship "traps" with companies.

He has already looked for how to make a DIY coffee capsule but its a real flop so now he has given in

We take R for his socials skills class which is in a bowling alley today- we are early ( we are "getting to be like white people now" I tell DH - as this is a joke among us - Indians are always 15 minutes late while white people are always on time)

We go to our date restaurant"The Guilt Trip".

Delicious Indian- American Fusion.

The owner comes out to greet us and tells us that the reason he calls it a guilt trip is because " you should come here once in a month - not every week .. but when you are here - please don't think of calories and fat" he says all his food is inspired by his mum.

We meet his charming husband as well who works for the company that makes Wii and we chat and he suggests that we bring R to the Nintendo store sometime.

A pleasant faced plump woman comes out - his mum- she is very traditional as I can see she is making a long string with alternating green peppers and limes - this is a traditional Indian recipe to ward off the evil eye.

The food is sublime and we enjoy ourselves thoroughly -

We walk over to Macy's DH has been jonesing for a Harris tweed coat and we go and try his size out - 44 is ideal.

Then off to pick up R who has had a good session .
We cook in the afternoon and watch TV which is our usual routine  and then the evening routine of
the sports club -
OMG this boy has a great sense of direction and he just revels in going into all the nooks and crannies of this large 4 story building .
The day is endless as I have to get things ready for next week since I am only back on Wednesday.

Sunday 

I gird my loins to go and DH reminds me that I will be really glad I went

We have started binge-watching Blacklist and we are halfway thru an episode when the taxi comes - evidence of the power of story is that DH and I actually speculate whether we should watch the next 20 minutes and be late to the airport or lot.

Its a gorgeous sunny day and of course NYC is under a cold wave.

R and DH come out to say goodbye and feel such a pang while taking the picture below, that DH tells me to go fast and not linger.

 At this unceremonious send off - I have to smile

By the time I reach the hotel in NYC - its freezing and 10 pm - the cabbie has taken me to the wrong hotel and insists on taking me to the right one gratis- he is of Indian origin and wants to look after me  - he is so sweet that I give him an extra generous tip.

I have not had dinner and Times Square looks bright and shining - so I decide to take a walk

OMG Its FREEZING and I have to buy hat and gloves for the princely sum of 10 dollars - The shop owner also tells me that he is charging me half price as I am from India as he is.

How nice people are!!

I pose in front of an Applebee's in Times Square  as DH and R are eating at our Redmond Applebees

I work till 2 am in the night and sleep like the dead

Monday 

The conference is very interesting to me but I want to not tell you anything about it as it will be horribly boring for you ( do I hear you sigh in relief?)

My niece - whom I last met when I was a 1st grader works-( so about 32 year ago )  in NYC and she comes over - Its SO lovely to see here - we eat dinner and catch up on our family.

My dad's side of the family is full of eccentrics and give you a lot to talk about.

We walk and walk - oh how I love the Sidewalks of New york.-- Above I am in front of the main New York Library which is the scene for so many Law and Order episodes.

 Once again  back in my hotel room and I have a load of work  and its 2 am by the time I am able to sleep

Tuesday 

Is the panel - all the other panelists look so smart - there is Verizon, ESPN, Huffing ton Post, Merck Lab and ordinary me.

The panel goes really well and I am super happy.

The interviewer is French - I sit next to him at dinner.

I think the French must feel such pressure to live up to the impossible standards to which the rest of the world hold them- we discuss the differences in French culture and American culture.

He says one of the biggest differences about the French is that they appreciate "melancholy".

"The feeling of the end of Autumn in Paris when everything is dying". He says that melancholy is a real experience while in other Western cultures there is a lot of pressure to be positive.

This makes me pause - as I am exactly the sort of person who urges people to "look on the bright side"

I see his point- that there is no reason to want to live in just one part of the emotional spectrum - even if its the most joyous one.

Remember the William Blake poem

Under every grief and pine,
Runs a joy with silken twine.
It is right it should be so,
We were made for joy and woe,
And when this we rightly know,
Through the world we safely go
In India there is a similar concept regarding sorrow ( the word directly translated means "pain" but I am not using it as its nothing to do with the 50 shades of grey :-) It will commonly be said "he can really not sing or act because he his voice has no sorrow"

We talk and talk and  - he describes his fiancee( Australian-Indian)  "who wants a pink diamond of all things"
I and a colleague get to accept an award on behalf of Microsoft for this ad campaign.

And I have my own assertive moment. As me and a woman pose- a tall  man comes and stands in front of us - completely blocking us - we both insist he move.

I am super proud of myself for being assertive.

Wednesday 

Is a mad rush - Lots of meetings and calls- I spend 6 hours on the plane.

DH and R have come to pick me up and I greet them with presents - chocolate for DH and Jelly beans for R.
R is very cool and relaxed.

Its LOVELY to be home - the house is so neat and clean - I am very pleasantly surprised -

I want to cook dinner from scratch as I am sick of eating the bland food of Marriott.

We cook and watch Blacklist and don't check email and feel the bliss of being home all around me

Thursday and Friday 

Are madly hectic days at work and home is very routine

Saturday

DH drop R off at the library - there is a petition at the library that I go to sign - the library is to be closed for remodeling and there is a petition to stop that.

This is something I love about Seattle - people are passionate about their books !!

As I come out a young man( obviously on the A-team approaches me) he says "My name is Steven .. what is yours"
He shoots questions at me and is very happy that I answer all of them without missing a beat.

He also tells me that since I am Indian I should say Namaste to him - we say Namaste solemnly to each other and I bid him adieu- I love autistic people - I really do.

There is such joy in interacting with them - they are so simple and so without an hidden agenda.

We eat at a restaurant that I love - not only do they have fried spicy tofu that is DELICIOUS - the tables are the EXACT same table we have at the cabin

Then we go to the mall and get DH"s Tweed jacket ( that he eventually ordered from JCP as they had original Harris tweed) and he looks like a prince.

DH says his shin hurts and " do you think I am exercising too much"

This is such a smug and pious thing to say - since he is very virtuous about all the weight he has lost and says sanctimonious things like "you should eat sweets in moderation" or " just eat one piece of chocolate instead of 5"

( knowing fully well that this is impossible for me. These sort of comments are  why fat people loathe skinny people - as they share this info with the air of giving you great wisdom.)

I tease him for the rest of the day saying things like "do you think I am too good a person for this world "?...." do you think that I may have become too charming"..."do you think I just love you too much"

 (These weak jokes are like the breath of air to our marriage - Does each marriage have its own language? Mine certainly does- I tell DH that if he were to leave me  - a huge slice of me would be gone- for that K exists between us and us alone and belongs only in this marriage - nowhere else)

Back home we cook and have to go to out for dinner as this is R's weekly ritual. He is very particular that we do not fob him off with a cheap dinner ( McDonalds/Spazzo) and go to a semi fancy place.

DH and I are aching for something sweet and such is our motivation that even though its raining heavily - I run into the store and get Ritter Sport White Chocolate(me), Toblerone( DH) and candy corn ( R)

At home we have our iconic moments - Bliss. Perfection is a good cup of espresso with white chocolate - a good show on TV and no chores.

Sunday

Is the first lazy day I have had in 2 weeks - I am tired at a molecular level - I wake up late -
R has got into the candy corn but I do not care.

We drink espressos and chocolate for breakfast and when R has his therapist we hike at the park.


You know guys - think I am falling in love with these gorgeous trees -

Their majesty - look how much taller these trees are than me.

 the queer quality of the emerald light - how on days of cloud and sun - you get these shades of green.

 the almost fluorescent green that the moss on the trees has

A bit of the sun has come out and R insists I go outside and set up the hammock. I do so - he points at a tiny sliver of space next to him and indicates that I should accommodate my considerable bulk in it

I negotiate that we can go and lie down upstairs in our bedroom- we loll about about reading our books and snuggling.

The sun comes out - R lolls about in a beam of sunlight that turns his skin to gold.

I ask him if he know what a gift from god he is to us.

R does not know rhetorical questions yet and he answers  "Yes"

Such was this week.