one month on...

indeed. 1/12 months up. i feel like cinderella here. at the stroke of midnight on the 365th day, the house, the car, driver, maids ... poof. all gone. hindi film ishtyle i will be out on the streets, bags packed and tossed out.

get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged.
get back, jojo.
*grin*

but today, i will enjoy the party.

so what do i like, not like?
i'll give it to you in all its gory glory. some of it is intensely mine and irrelevant to the casual reader, so bear with me, while i bare... my thoughts ;)

i like...

1. no, i love, the country. just the thought of being in india. but that is not measurable, right? ok. so not a valid point but one made nevertheless. india can take a 1.0 on that.
2. my parents being close by, my in-laws being close by, my grand parents being close by.
3. the wildlife sanctuaries being at driving distance and the nilgiris a viable weekend getaway.
4. the food. everything, absolutely everything tastes awesome. ok, you guys knew that.
5. the weather. bangalore is bliss right now. no fan needed. A/C? i have stopped calling the guy to get it fixed (it is not yet fixed, by the way.)
6. tennis on TV. tennis in the newspaper.
7. shopping. there is eye candy all around, even while grocery shopping.
8. sanjana learning kannada. still only at words right now, but phrases are slowly coming on.
9. my kannada improving.
10. weekends. yeah! i can see sanat for more than a few minutes ;)
11. clean kitchen after cooking and no, this time it is not sanat doing the cleaning!

i miss...

1. my space. while shopping, while cooking, while traveling.
2. time with sanat. carpooling back and forth in chandler, chatting all evening... nada. not happening here.
3. my friends. aka you guys. believe me. even heaven can be boring without good -OH buddies to hang out with. especially if you are a choosy cranky dreamy idealist piscean holding dear friendships brewed over many years ;)
4. working. yes, i do miss it. i want to start doing things, but with sasha at home, quite impossible. so am thinking of starting some art projects i always wanted to do. Ha! now that i have said it aloud, i will procrastinate and do nothing, i'm sure ;)
5. my bookshelf. this is not in order of priority obviously... i long for my bookshelf everyday. didnt realize how much i just casually looked thru so many books, especially my stash of NG magazines.
6. being able to trust (u know what i mean.... it's been blogged).
   OK... now the cranky part...
7. having the luxury of the pool, tennis courts, anything. if i were at home like this in the US, i would have put sanjana in some summer school, resumed playing tennis myself, been swimming every evening.
8. being able to drive screws into the walls myself. have all these decorative pieces lying around with nowhere to put them.
9. MY house. living in a rented apartment is a re-education. living in a community has its own restrictions (can't do work after 7pm, between 2-4pm; write a letter for allowing delivery vans, write a letter for A/C guys, write a letter for internet access.)
10. having power outlets every 8ft.
11. NPR, linkTV and democracy now. i need my left wing new media!
12. being able to order things from amazon, on the net in general.
13. michaels, home depot and target. never thunk i would, but i do. i am not yet sure of where to go to get a rope, ribbons, to get a good memory box... you know what i mean!
14. handy toilets with assured water suppy, soap and clean towels! i dread 3 words from sanjana each time we are out..."mommy, wanna potty."

now that i have sounded like a complete spoiled firang, let me say this. in spite of #1 - #14 "i miss..."es, i do not regret coming to india. not one bit. i just need to start doing stuff i love :)

.. and i need you guys to start visiting... and better still, join us!