This weekend

I should say it started last Thursday evening. I had a haircut (it was way over due) after work. I was about 15-20 minutes late for my 6:30 PM appointment. The traffic on Atascocita Road was bad. I called from the road. Thui (who has been cutting hair for our family for years) understood and was waiting. After the haircut, I dropped the old newspapers at the recycle bin.

On Friday afternoon (Friday is generally a half work day at our company as we put in lot more hours in the first four days) I got a few more things done. I mailed two boxes (box of books and the Christmas gift that were left behind) to the older daughter in San Francisco and a box of cookies/candies to our younger daughter in Tokyo (she wasn't home for Christmas). Then I got my wife's car inspected (annual state safety inspection). I also went to the gym for about an hour (trying to stay in shape is hard work, "there is truly no free lunch"). When I got home, I cooked something quickly for dinner (my wife had already cooked some dishes before she left for India), as our guests Sarmas from Austin were to arrive soon. It was pretty late for bedtime as we kept chatting after dinner.

Saturday morning was busy too. We picked Amit (son of Sarmas) and his fiancé, Jillian from the airport. They arrived from Washington D.C. We had breakfast (more like brunch) before leaving for Galveston at noon. Amit and Jillian were going on a Caribbean cruise. Amit's birthday was a couple days ago. His mom specially made his favorite sweets ("Gulab Jamun") and brought it with her from Austin. Amit received a few music CDs and Jillian received a book by her favorite author from the Sarmas. All in all, it was a good morning.

After the guests left, I called my wife in India. She had just gone to bed (it was 11:30 PM there). Anyway, she arrived safely (arrival at Delhi was about an hour late and the flight to Guwahati was late because of fog in the morning). She had to pay for excess baggage for the domestic flight. Her cold and cough appeared to have gone. She had plans to go to a wedding reception Sunday evening.

[Commentary: According to my wife, the whole Sunday (until 5:00 PM) the city would be shut down because of a protest call ("Bandh"). No one (including the public servants, elected officials, ministers, etc.) cares about public inconvenience. The election rallies by political parties take over the roads with boisterous noise. Those who are supposed to enforce and uphold the law, break the law as if they are entitled to such right. The "Bandh" culture continues to thrive in India.]

Today (Sunday) I did some household chores. When we moved this house a year ago, I had saved our daughters' childhood dolls and other memorabilia in cardboard boxes in the garage. My wife had purchased some large plastic containers to preserve those. So, I dug through the boxes and organized those in these plastic containers. I also slightly organized my wife's study room (she did not have time to put away some stuff on the floor before she left). Then I did the laundry. I also went for a short run in the neighborhood.

The day is almost over. I plan to watch some episodes of "Firefly" (complete set of DVDs that was a Christmas gift to me from the daughter in Tokyo, she wants to know if I like). So, I think I will stop here and go watch "Firefly".