We're going home
Better believe it
Two of Us by The Beatles

I've been trying to hear as much as possible about the blasts in Delhi as well as the train accident in AP but the US news is apparently made for extremely short attention spans. It's really aggravating.

I spoke to a friend this morning who asked if we were still planning to go to India in December. I didn't hesitate before I said "Of course we are". We had tickets booked for October 2001 when the Boy was a year old but with the uncertainty that followed September 11th we canceled our trip. My grandmother ,who is now in her early 90's, has been waiting patiently to meet D and the kids. Now that J is married, meeting R becomes an added bonus for her. Besides, I can't wait to show D and the kids where I'm from. I can't wait to show them that although there's green in the US, there's a lush green that you only see in Kerala. I can't wait to see D's eyes when he sees masala dosas the size of a small child or the Boy's expression as he wades in the Indian Ocean.

Terrorists or no terrorists, we will be on that plane 6 weeks from now.

J is one of my team members based in Oregon. I needed someone to go and visit sites in Canada and J sweetly agreed. (By the way, J and I happened to be talking about blogging last week and I told her about my blog. *waves* Hi J! Thanks for always making me laugh.)

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(This morning, sitting at my desk trying to unjam my stapler)

Phone rings

Me: Good Morning this is Mint.

J: (whispers) Mint?

Me: (whispers) yes

J: (whispers) it's me, J

Me: (whispers) Why are we whispering?

J: (whispers) I'm about to board the plane from Seattle to Calgary...

My mind starts racing. Terrorist strike? Hijackers?? Starbuck's ran out of scones?? I'm touched that she would make her final call to me...

J: (whispers) Guess who I'm sharing the plane with?

Me: Who?

J: The BC Lions

Me: Who??

J: Canadian football Mint! (whispers) The British Columbia Lions.

Me: Oh.

J: I need you to look up who #45 is. He's damn hot.

Me: How do you know what number he is? Good grief, is he wearing his jersey on the plane?

J: No, they have it on their duffel bags. (They probably do that so women can look them up)

Me: (Looking it up) His name is Tyson. He's 6 feet tall and weighs 220 pounds. Good Lord, his neck is the size of my thigh in this picture.

J: *sigh* I love Canada.

So guess what was on my doorstep today?? A package FOR ME courtesy of Ms Wandernut and Mr Box. Spreading love Malaysian-style!





From Box:

• Mementos of Box's former careers including a CD with very funny agency promos complete with voice-overs.
• A book of Eight Plays by Huzir Sulaiman
• 2 short stories written by the Box (Absolutely wonderful by the way)
• 1 short comic drawn by Box's partner at work
• A stamp with my name translated in Chinese characters plus red ink! It's gorgeous and thoughtful and I just can't say enough.

From Wandernut:

• Stained glass coloring book for the Boy
• Mr Bean mini bear for the Girl
• Little doggie mobile accessory
• Chinese dress handphone pouch
• Japanese Anime key chain
• East Malaysian bangles
• Bejewelled hair accessory (which I'm wearing right now)
• Glow-in-the-dark rosary
• Lavender incense
• Lavender soap
• Postcard
• Container of HOMEMADE chocolate-mint cookies!!

When I told D about the cookies his first reaction was "Is that legal?" Who the hell cares??!! It's homemade and it's chocolate, nuff said. After having one of her cookies I think even D is willing to do some jail time.

There's also 2 wonderful CDs; The Wandernut Jazz Bar and The Box Set.

It's been pretty obvious that I don't blog as often as I used to. Some of it is blog burnout and some of it is the fact that my life is pretty busy. I use blogging as an outlet from a fairly demanding but completely blessed life. Nowhere in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would get to know so many wonderful people from all over the world.

Thank you both from the bottom of my heart.

It's cold and dreary and wet and all the leaves are falling and my uterus hurts. I hate celebrating my womanhood.

• I dropped off Chutney for a bath today. He took one step outside and looked at me like I was nuts. Sort of like "Mint honey, do you realize how cold it is??"

Yes, he's now a 62 pound puppy.

• I've been having some very interesting conversations lately. The majority of the girls I knew from grade school have chosen to be stay-at-home moms. They are all in their early 30's and most have 2 children. I think being a stay-at-home parent is the hardest job in the whole world. That being said, I have never had the desire to quit my job and stay home full time. I took this job because it allows me massive amounts of flexibility and although it is common to see me up at 11pm working on stuff, I've never feel left out of my kid's lives. Today my one friend made me feel bad that I don't keep the Girl home with me. I wish I felt more guilty about working but the truth is I don't. However if it's ever becomes possible I would cut down to part time in a heartbeat.
• Then there's the other argument. I recently spoke to my mentor and found out that one of the papers I helped him with has been accepted for publication. Dr B took this oppurtunity to lecture me about how I'm selling myself short in my current position and how I should return to acedemia. Acedemia is definitely intelectually stimulating but I'm not in a position where I can deal with grants and funding and long hours of writing and rewriting. The mortgage aint gonna pay itself.
• D called this morning to tell me there's a rainbow outside. After some recent rough patches we've been communicating so much better with each other. I was 23 when we first met and I thought I had all the answers. It's only now I realize that I didn't even know half the questions.
• Lots of talk recently both in and out of blogland about marriage and relationships. If I was forced at gunpoint to offer advice I would summarize as follows:

1. Don't be a drama queen: That goes for you AND your partner. Life is hard enough and marriage aint exactly a picnic all the time so the last thing you need is additional drama when things don't go exactly as planned.

2. Learn to let go: Even if you snap at each other, deal with it and then move on.

3. Pick your battles: I've asked D a million times (conservative estimate) to soak the dishes he puts in the sink. There's nothing worse than trying to wash off dry crusty oatmeal that's been sitting in a bowl for 3 hours. Sometimes he does. Sometimes he doesn't.

4. Variety is the spice of life: Um... not gonna say much about this except you should try to evolve in all areas of your life. *readjusts her halo*

Thanks to Rat for encouraging me to blog again..

• Thank you to D and AKR for the latest lovely postcard I received from the exchange. The cute thing was that they took turns writing on it just like their blog.

• My best friend is finally engaged. Knucklehead proposed last week and I'm happy for them although my first thought was "Oh Lord...yet another bridesmaid outfit"
• Found out that D reads my blog every once in a while. *waves* Hi honey!
• Saw Elizabethtown. I thought it was OK. D said it was 2 hours of his life he'll never get back.
• We carved pumpkins this weekend.

• One of the first times D met my then-work friends was at my colleague's annual Halloween party. This picture was taken as we were leaving with our prize winning carved pumpkin. Technically it wasn't carved...we stuck potatoes for his eyes and nose and licorice for his smile.

I think this was like 7 years ago but it feels like yesterday.

After a particularly long day imagine my delight when I walk to my mailbox and find the following:



This is courtesy of Mr Vignesh who was in Austria last week and who, by chance, will be in Chicago this weekend. Thanks Vig. Thanks for the kind words and thanks especially for understanding. I played your CD for the Girl this evening and instead of enjoying the song you originally intended for her she was jamming to Groove Armada.

First things first. I received the following wonderful postcard from Dr Sunrayz.



Now if I were a guy I would worry about how her postcard was twice the size of mine but I'm not, so I won't.



Thanks for the wonderful words Sun. I'm heading to London to see my cousin in the springtime and will definitely look you up.

I've had a rollercoaster of a time the last couple days. Unfortunately life doesn't come with an instruction manual and sometimes you just have to wing it. In the meantime enjoy some pictures of my weekend.


The Girl and I went on a shopping expedition while D was away.


At the Pumpkin "Patch" which was more like a parking space with a few dozen pumpkins.


Shopping for Halloween costumes.


The Girl is going to be a pink leopard.


The Boy in some sort of swine mask. In the end, he chose a knight costume.


Birthday party for the Boy's friend.


You learn something new everyday. Today's lesson: The girl is deathly afraid of clowns.


Check out the homemade cake. It was a carousel with horses and a canopy (missing in the photo)

OK. This woman is obviously sleep-deprived and delirious. WTF? D and I have always agreed never to let the children outnumber the parents. I love my children to death but sometimes I have questioned my own sanity after dealing with the tantrums and over-dramatization of the most inane situations. PLUS, I find that prolonged, consistent exposure (like for example when your husband is having a nice holiday in New York the same weekend your 15 month old daughter decides that she no longer needs an afternoon nap and would rather try her hand at riding the dog like he's the Black Stallion) leaves even the most intelligent adult as coherent as Rain Man.

Case in point, on Monday while I was training a team member on our new software I actually said the following "And if there is no adverse event then you can click the tool bar to make the screen go bye-bye." Smooth Minty. Very smooth.

D's back from New York. He said he was surprised about how much he enjoyed New York City. He brought me back a really cool calendar with pictures of vintage French posters on it. You know how much I love calendars.

Rat's beautiful postcard from the exchange has been sitting in a pile of unread mail on our computer desk for a while now. I could easily blame D for not telling me it was there but I won't. He has a quote-unquote system for handling mail and bills. They have yet to shut off our electricity so I suppose I have no reason to doubt him. He says he looks forward to meeting "the Rat" in December.




Thanks Rat! I can't wait to take a picture of my refrigerator with all my postcards on it.

Hide your young. Minty's pissed and she knows how to swear in multiple languages.

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I just wrote one of the longest, most heart-felt posts of my entire blogging life and it's all gone. I just started typing and I couldn't stop. I don't even remember half the crap I wrote.

And please, don't freaking comment with suggestions that I use Word or save as a draft more often.

And, the fact that I have children doesn't mean I can't use profanity. Tas de merde. I NEVER swear in front of my children. I've become very accustomed to using "oh fudge" or "aye caramba" in my moments of dispair. BUT. If I can't let loose here, then what the hell is the purpose of blogging??

My stat counter shows a flood of people who have been misled to my blog in search of Mint Chutney recipes. Is there some sort of contest or ethnic condiment craze that I'm unaware of? Sorry to disappoint. Try here, here and here.

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D leaves for NY tomorrow. Now I know how he feels when I travel for work.

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13 postcards for the exchange have been sent to the US, India, Singapore, UK and Cyprus. If you sent me your address, I sent you a postcard.

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Just prior to leaving, both Kafka on the Shore and Fingeek mentioned signing onto their computer and finding they had absolutely nothing to say. I hit that wall today. I've been here before but today I actually had no interest in finding my way around the wall. I kinda like it on this side.

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Oye! I am blogging about the fact that I have nothing to blog about. That's never a good sign...

I've been tagged again by Tablemannered so here goes...

Destiny (Part 1)

Will I live? The elderly patient with the broken foot smiled as she checked his pulse.

You’ll outlive me, she laughed.

Across the room, the man with pneumonia watched their interaction. That’s the woman I’m gonna marry he tells his nurse.

The nurse politely nods as she adds an order for a brain scan.

Destiny (Part 2)

The elderly man walked past the row of grave markers in quiet anticipation.

His grandson waits patiently by the car wondering who held grandpa’s admiration enough to travel an ocean to visit.

The old man sobs as he reaches her headstone. A lifetime of could-have-beens flood his heart and soul. Hello my love, he whispers.

Conversation earlier between my sister J (the newlywed) and I:

Me: So I'm sitting there watching CNN interview Harriet Miers freaking hairdresser when D comes over and switches the channel to catch the football highlights. Can you believe that? He didn't even ask...

J: Geez Mint, you have to learn give and take in a marriage.

Me: ::::: blank stare:::::

J: Wha?

Me: Are you giving me relationship advice?

J: I...uh..well yeah. I guess I am.

Me: (I'm in a really bitchy mood today). Sweetie, I have gum in my purse older than your marriage. I think I know a wee bit more about give-and-take than you do.

J: (rolls her eyes)

Lately I'm reminded of how opposite D and I are. I'm a night-owl, he's an early bird. I'm a news junkie, he's a sports fanatic. I love seafood while he thinks beef is a birthright. Some days we are the poster children for "opposites attract".

As the room spins around I need your love -Hawkmoon 269 ~ U2

Mint, the relationship packrat (inspired by Wandernut):

Things I've recently thrown away:

~troll doll my 6th grade crush bought me at a garage sale

~chop sticks from the Thai restaurant my first real boyfriend took me to. (Real as opposed to all the relationships I was having in my head)

~pair of gloves from my cheating boyfriend

~poetry and letters written by my longest relationship before D
(I'm not sure if this makes me a heartless bitch but I have to say it felt good when I did it)

~ticket stubs from various concerts attended with above boyfriend

~note from guy senior year of high school explaining that he got back together with his ex-girlfriend and hence would not be taking me to prom. I believe I wrote back and said "No problem" when I really meant "Then why the hell did you ask me asshole?"

All these things we're easier than I originally thought to toss out.

Things I decided to keep:

~just about every card and note D has written me.

~letters and mix-tapes from a long distance boyfriend. (Not the one from above!) They convey pure love and yearning and still make me smile to this day. I also kept a picture of us in front of window overlooking downtown Chicago

~wonderful e-mails from another long distance boyfriend. More yearning, lots of smile and some tears. Hmmm...I'm sensing a pattern. I seemed to have great relationships with guys who are not in the same time zone as I am.

~rocks from beach where D proposed

~note from boy in grade 7 who said my eyes were like 2 big drops of caramel. He actually liked my best friend but I still thought it was sweet

I didn't hesitate twice in keeping any of these.

• Overheard on the train ride through Disney:

Her: How can you break-up with me after we just spent all this money on this trip??

Him: The tickets were non-refundable.

Ouch.

• When it's really cold, I hate living in Chicago. It was fu*king freezing these past few mornings. (45F...I think that's like 7 degrees C)
• D came home early from work with a cold. Man was he GRUMPY.

I'm trying to respond to the tags I've received the past few weeks. Lavi had a cool one where she showed us the contents of her purse and around her closet. My purse is a mess so I aint showing it to anyone. The most interesting thing I could find was the shelf in our living room:

Besides the books, I have a few family pictures and some gifts given to us by friends and family. Click on the picture for the breakdown of what's there.