The blur that was July

July, being my birth month and all, has always been special to me.  Three years ago, I woke up on July 1 and told M how excited I was that we would get to meet our son later that month.  This July 1, I thought fondly back to that day and looked forward to the rest of the month with all of its birthdays: my brother, then S, then me, then my mother, with a few other relatives thrown into the mix.  But here is what really happened in July.  ALL of our stuff arrived (from Barbados and the U.S.) seemingly at once, and on July 3, our place was full of boxes and unpacked belongings everywhere.  That same night, we escaped by going to the Consulate's Independence Day celebration, and it was such a great evening!  I took two days off specifically to get the house in order, and we spent a long weekend of 5 days in a flurry of putting things away.  July 9-12 was a combination of regular work duties and preparing for the advance team's arrival (more on that later).  I enjoyed the weekend of July 13-14 by relaxing, and spending time with M & S since I knew I wouldn't see them much over the coming two weeks.  We started working with the advance team for VP Biden and the Second Lady on July 15, and the next two weeks went by in a blur of activity.  I enjoy that sort of stuff, and preparing for a White House visit was a great experience (personally and professionally).  It gave me the side benefit of getting to know Mumbai in a way that I never could have accomplished on my own or as quickly.  Seriously... I got to see so much, from the slums of Dharavi  and the red-light district of Kamathipura, to the opulence and glamor that is the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the full range in between.  While lots of people did lots of things for this visit, our team was tasked with putting together a separate schedule of events for Dr. Jill Biden.  Visit Dr. Biden's Blog and read the entries for July 24 and 25 to see what she did here.  It was a very successful visit, and we all have the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.

Meanwhile you're wondering, what about those birthdays?  My sentiments exactly!  So... we sort of celebrated S's 3rd birthday on the night of, by having cupcakes at 9 pm when I finally got home from work.  He had taken a late nap (thank goodness!), so he was full of energy and happy to see me, and I was happy to spend some time with him.  My birthday was less of a success given I did not get home until 11 pm that night.  However, I have to say the day was still made special with cards, emails, phone calls, texts, and cake and flowers from one of my colleagues.  On July 27, I got a much-needed massage to recoup from the stress of the past 2 weeks, and went to a baby shower for a friend.  On Sunday, July 28, we celebrated properly by having cake and dinner with family in Mumbai.  Meanwhile, my family in the U.S. surprised my mother for her big birthday that same day.  And, "that's how the cookie crumbled" for July!  One of the best things to come out of it is the tons of comp time I accrued, which I cannot wait to use.