Life After Marriage

Since I moved to New Jersey from Portland, Oregon I find I am perennially rushed for time. I do not read as much, exercise as much, laze as much. This despite the fact that I work from home and 8am finds me in my pajamas with a tooth brush dangling in my mouth replying to the first burst of office emails. On analysis it seems the everyday, commonplace activities in my life have become ... for lack of a better word more convoluted and a lot more time consuming.

Furniture before husband:

One hand-me-down bean bag, one hand-me-down rocking chair, one hand-me-down twin bed

Furniture after husband:

Endless bunch of colour coordinating pretty stuff bought after visiting, re visiting many stores, planning, thinking, poring over design magazines, examining, re- examining

Two week business trip without husband

One pair of jeans, one set of trousers, a whole bunch of t shirts, and one pajama bottom all fitting into one overnight bag. 

3 day weekend getaway with husband

Two dresses, 4 t shirts, two shorts, one pair of jeans, one pair of trousers, two dressy tops, 3 t shirts, three pairs of footwear, - an overnight bag and several last minute plastic bags, and some extras sneaked into the hand bag. I could pick a bigger suitcase because that would be accepting once and for all that I am no longer a light packer.

Hiking trip without husband

Old Khakis, old t shirt, lots of sun screen, water 

Hiking trip with husband 

Shorts with pleats, summery top , sun tan followed by makeup to avoid a shiny nose, eye liner to make my eyes pop, spray to make me smell good through the hike. 

Vinayaka chaturthi without husband

Get up late if holiday. Discover that it is chaturthi when chatting with ma on skype in pajamas. If not holiday - Find out that is it chaturthi when girl in office opens dabbas full of kozhkatais

Vinayaka chaturthi with husband

Find out a week earlier from multiple sources reminding me. Get up crazy early, bathe and make an attempt at the kozhakattais. Make kozhakattais that only stay together because I piled them in a box and chilled them till they were kind of frozen into that shape.

My second marriage anniversary is due in a couple of months. I was promised a sense of complacency and putting on weight and taking each other for granted. Though my battle with my weight has become more intense I am still waiting for the blessed complacency to set in. It cannot happen soon enough because all this playing house and adult behavior is killing me ....

Recipe - Vah chef again. Made sarson ka saag. The recipe can be found here. And the video with his regular jumping around can be found here. The man boils the greens in a open pot. This is done to preserve colour. I found out later that this method of cooking results in a lot of minerals being boiled away. Made me feel a little cheated..