Chhanges...

WOW.. you will be surprised with the amazing amount of things that has happened since my last update in Feb! Its been a whirlwind for sure!

So...we didn't go to Varanasi for two reasons - one confirmed that I was pregnant and two our cat ginger masala was super sick and we didn't feel good leaving her with no supervision while she was recovering. So poo-y nothing special for the birthday this year. But what other amazing news though right?!

And secretly, or not so secretly i had been planning an Oct wedding in SF but given the baby news, we had to push that up a lot earlier than hoped. And things just sort of fell into place in the most unlikely of ways!

For Paul's birthday and for a last minute getaway, we decided to go to Dubai. I had been insanely sick with the pregnancy and was dying for some American food from Chili's and a break from the heat of Mumbai. So off we went - last minute as usual. Had a great weekend - it was the first time in weeks that I had 3 consecutive days of no vomiting. I began to think that it must be India that was making me sick!

Then back to Mumbai.. or so we tried! Apparently something was wrong with Paul's visa and he was promptly deported from India and returned to Dubai. Well, actually it wasn't promptly - they kept him locked in a room with a chair all night long waiting to see if they were really going to deport him or allow him to enter and sort out the visa through the foreign registration office. They made me leave since I had been admitted into the country, so I went back home at 3 in the morning not knowing what was going on with paul - and a mess emotionally!

It wasn't until late afternoon the following day that I got a call from folo saying that he was in Dubai and checked back into the hotel we had just left. Urgh. His work was trying to help and we tried to see what could be done from Dubai. After a day or so it seemed that the only option was to return to Ireland to get a new visa. Double URGH! And so after 3 days of being in Mumbai myself, I returned to Dubai to give folo a suitcase of winter clothes and stuff for the wedding in May just in case he wasn't able to get back to India!

On Easter sunday Paul headed back to Ireland and I headed back to India. And again my stay would be short. I figured that if he wasn't going to be in Mumbai there surely wasn't any reason for me to stay there, so I booked a ticket to the US and headed off after 3 hectic days!

Yeah.. America! I loved that there was nice cool weather in SF, tons of food to eat and friends! Paul was stuck in Ireland getting his visa and I was in SF putting together the wedding. So even though it all seemed like a nightmare, it was great that it all happened and I went to the US well in advance of the wedding. Otherwise I don't know how we would have done it!

Finally Paul got a new visa and then headed over to SF to help with the final wedding preparations. We managed to pull off a great small wedding, all the family made it over from ireland (even with the volcano interrupting travel again!). And then a week after the wedding Paul headed back to India and back to work. I stayed on in the US to baby shop!

So now it's almost 3 months later from when I first came to the US. I can't believe i have been here so long, but it's been great and I've actually really enjoyed being back. At the moment I am ready to go "home" but I am not really that interested in going back to India if that makes any sense! I miss folo and the kitties and having my own space, but I don't miss the heat, the dirt and the noise. But I do know that having the luxury of a maid and a driver will be invaluable when the little one arrives in oct. so i'll just have to grin and bare it for a while. and the fact that i have no health insurance and wouldn't be able to have the baby here in the US anyhow!

So.. less than 2 weeks before I head back to India loaded down to the gills with baby supplies and a bulging belly. Fun fun.

oh and no, we don't know the sex of the baby. paul wants it to be a surprise and i wanted to know. and since you can't legally find out in India, I had a scan here in the states and had the sonographer (a friend from jr high) print the sex and put it in a sealed envelope! So now that I have the answer in my hands, I actually don't want to know! And i think Paul does! haha. So we shall see when we are both together in the same place what we decide to do. Without that official paper telling us, everyone else in our lives seems to think it will be a boy. stay tuned in Oct for the real results :)

So... life is changing and moving on. We are excited and scared and nervous, but looking forward to new adventures with a little one in the backpack :)