The problem with not having anything going on is that there is nothing to blog about, and the problem with having a lot going on is that there is no time to blog about it. The highlight for September is that towards the end of the month, we traveled to Charlotte for a week to attend my cousin's engagement party. The way it works in the Indian circles I know (far be it for me to speak for a billion people as there are lots of different customs and traditions in India) is that the guy's side hosts an engagement party and the girl's side hosts the wedding. The engagement party is often the guy's family's opportunity to host a big celebration inviting all the people they want to since they are not likely to have a large guest list attend the wedding (to avoid burdening the girl's family). The cousin I speak of is my mother's sister's son, and in a close-knit family like ours, it would be unheard of for us to miss a family celebration. Oh, and I haven't yet told you that we won't be able to attend his wedding due to my job-related timing! So it became imperative for us to attend this party. We didn't have family pressure; we simply felt the desire to be a part of at least one celebration.
We flew to CLT on a Thursday and arrived around 4 p.m. I went to a Carolina Panthers football game with my brother that evening (he has awesome second row seats which only I hadn't enjoyed in the family!). Too bad the Panthers couldn't keep it together and I was falling asleep at the game due to having been up since 4 a.m. that morning! On Fri, S and I both got haircuts from my favorite stylist in the world, and we had a short visit with M's parents who came to CLT to see us and to attend the celebration. We got a little dressed up on Fri evening to spend the evening catching up with family at my aunt's house and eating a lot of good food. We also met the same aunt's daughter's infant twin girls for the first time! Sat was the big day, with a religious ceremony in the morning at my aunt's house with approx. 100 people in attendance. My parents and S were ready to go and M and I were still struggling (you try to manage all this with a 2-year old!), so we decided to send him ahead to the morning festivities with my parents. He fell asleep on the way there, and then was rather upset to wake up and find no parents and lots of other relatives whom he did not recognize. He is an otherwise happy, jovial child, but it took him all morning attached to me to finally realize I wasn't going anywhere without him. Lesson learned! We went back to my parents' in the afternoon to try to get some rest before the big evening party, while M went to the mall to buy a new shirt and tie (only men can manage to be so last minute, I think). We all got dressed up yet again (ladies in saris, men in suits, including S who looked precious in his little black-with-white-pinstripe-vest-and-pants and pink tie) to head to a hotel ballroom for the party. S actually had a cold by then and a slight fever and M suggested we stay home. I felt like a bad mother but I had not flown all this way to miss the one thing for which we had made the trip. As I was saying this, S was running around downstairs with my parents and bro and having a blast, not acting the least bit sick! So, we went to the party with close to 300 guests and had a great time celebrating my cousin and his fiancee, and spending time with family. It was my first time balancing multiple family events with multiple outfit changes with multiple late nights with a 2-year old, and I will say that I would do things a little differently if I had to do it again! I'm pleased that our family understood and absolved my cousin (the one with the twin girls) and I of any and all responsibilities for the events, except to take care of our kid(s) and enjoy ourselves. I'm disappointed that in the chaos of it all, I did not manage to get a single picture of the three of us together in any of our various outfits, or a few other shots that I had in mind. Oh well. What I will always remember is S dancing to the DJ's music that night with cousins, and the smiles on all of our faces (including S's great-grandfather), while watching them.
On Sun, we spent time with M's parents before they headed home on Mon morning. On Mon, M and I went to dentist appointments during the day and went shopping at the mall (I was on mission to find a dress appropriate for the upcoming Marine Ball). On Mon night, we got together with a big group of friends at a friend's house. It was wonderful to catch up with them, and to see their little ones (they're all around S's age) and how well S interacted with all of them. On Tues, we took it a little more easy, but hit Target and a few other stores (can't not go shopping when in the U.S.!) and packed. On Wed, we flew out of CLT around 6 a.m. to arrive in BGI by 2 p.m. - it was no surprise that after all this activity and craziness, both S and I slept the entire two flights home (and M slept one of the two)! Pictures here...
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