Back!

I really can’t pinpoint why I haven’t blogged in the longest time. Life was funny over the last few weeks. Weirdly settling and unsettling at the same time and really hard to explain why. When we last left off, our little family of three was living in an extended stay in Austin ,TX  waiting out the days till we were to move to San Diego, CA. The extended stay was more comfortable than I ever expected it to be, but at the same time it left me yearning for the stability of our own home. The last few weeks especially, the week of my 30^th birthday were marred with each of us in turn falling victim to a nasty viral. Other then that I had the logistical stuff to figure out – fixing an apartment without seeing it, figuring out how to move our car between states, dealing with moving some stuff we had left behind in Texas – all the while working a full time, high stress job. But there are some small mercies in life and for that I am thankful – a wonderful nanny (the same young girl C who had watched Bandar when she was barely a year old) who was miraculously free for the summer, a group of friends who were ready to help when the need arose, just enough financial resources to be able to afford the last few extravagant months of personal hotel living and travel, and the biggest mercy of all – the three of us being under the same roof each night. The hsubadoo and I squabbled , argued and made up in cycles like we usually do, none the worse for living in far too close quarters and we thus bid our days out till the day of our move dawned.

Arriving in San Diego , the city that will be home for the next few years probably, seemed surreal. It marked the culmination of the last few hectic, nomadic months . But apart from that it is the first city I am moving to with some sense of permanence in mind after years. The NYC move had always had an expiry date on it. This was different in every way.

Our life in our new city started slowly with some minor hiccoughs. I was thankful for the 3 days I had taken off from work and the two day weekend we had to settle in. Our belongings are getting to us  from all over the country at their own sweet time. But its all slowly coming together. The apartment is strictly okay, I really doubt we could have done better through choosing one online . But to make up for it, there is a great play area for Bandar and the area we live in is really nice.

We found a school we like for Bandar and she seems happy for the most part. She misses NYC terribly though and keeps asking to go back. Our vague responses of “You can go back when you are grown up” are not really cutting it. Our little apartment there is the first home she remembers and probably will for a little while. We were skyping with her little friend from NYC yesterday and her face lit up with we had a firetruck in the background. But that apart, I have no doubt she is happy here.

So how do I like it now around 10 days in? I now have the feeling we have been here the longest time! Work wise I still work from home, with better timings that I am happy about, even if I don’t love the job and wonder seriously about future prospects. I like seeing the husbadoo happy here and know that this choice of career and city was absolutely the right decision for our little family. Driving around the city even on errands gives me glimpses of the valleys and hills and often the sea and the sheer natural beauty of the place gives me a sense of peace. We had a sunset picnic at the beach yesterday and it hit me that we were not tourists but local! How funny is that! The weather will actually take me a little more time to get used to – I need a cardi for even 68F though the husbadoo and even little Bandar mock the idea of a light jacket. I need to condition my body to bear this mean temp at the very least and that is going to take a while.

There are a lot of desi moms in the apartment complex but apart from the usual hellos and byes I do not really feel a sense of bonding of any sort yet. Maybe it will happen in due course. PB came to visit, which was a treat in every way and I wished she lived in SD. But she’s promised to visit often which is something to look forward to.:)

And that is where we are in terms of an update. I do aim to post more now that we have settled in to some extent. I realize not posting regularly results in me missing documenting crucial changes in our life and Bandar’s development even, and I really want this blog to be a record of these few years of our life. And what’s more – blogging is gratifying. The friendships you make, the comments you get and above all the sense of satisfaction after pouring your heart out as you write. So it is great ROI and I plan on continuing this little investment.