Life in the hutch

We weren’t quite sure what to expect from the lils as we embarked on our trip to India, but I secretly felt that it would go one of two ways. They were either going to be travelling superstars, or we were going to be asked to leave one of the planes. I am so happy that they were the former, at least for the flights and airport time when I wasn’t sleeping alone in business class.

They got to charm most people in the lounge in Ottawa, as they excitedly watched planes land and take off. They did the same in the restaurant in Frankfurt, all the while discovering that German children apparently get their milk served warm (this did not go over well). We were doing well in the gate, where there were once again planes to watch, and people to make smile. By the time we got on the plane, they were pretty tired, so Woo flaked out in front of the seat back TV and Goose slept for about two hours.

When Goosie woke up she was cranky, and more than a little stubborn about how she saw things going. Unfortunately, she chose to express her displeasure by thrashing about, and ended up kicking the seat in front of her repeatedly. As soon as we saw this was happening, we tried to stop her from kicking. Simply asking her to stop and explaining that it was bothersome to the person in front did not work, as she saw the seat back as hers. I was reaching forward and holding her legs while trying to explain that the seat was not hers, when the woman in the affected seat leaned between the seats and said “Can you make her stop kicking my seat? It is bothering me.”

While I agree that it is a pain in the ass to have anyone kick your seat, Goose had barely awakened, I was clearly aware of the situation, and trying to nip it in the bud. Rather than point this all out, I apologized to the woman and let her know that I was doing my best to have it cease. Her reply to my apology shocked me. “Well if she doesn’t stop”, she said, “I will make you sit here, and take your seat.”

Not only was this an over reaction to the actual kicking that had occurred, the plane had numerous empty seats, including the one directly in front of her. Rather than point this out to her, or tell her what I really thought of her attitude, I chose to attack the flaw in her thinking. “That puts you beside the two year old for the rest of the flight, are you sure you really want that?” I said. It was the last I heard from her.

For my thirtieth birthday, Willy gifted me with a trip to Italy. It was a completely unexpected and over the top gift, so I thanked him profusely and started booking! we had a fabulous time on our two week trip, where we spent a few days in each of Rome, Florence, and Venice. I knew before we left that I wanted to go back one day, and hope that we can get back there soon.

In all it’s awesomeness, the trip also gave me one of my favourite tales to tell. At the end of the trip Willy and I arrived at the airport, checked in and waited around for far too long. When we were finally ready to board, we walked to the gate and handed in our boarding cards. The gate agents noted that we were together, and this was causing some distress on their end. We tried not to get worried, and through a disjointed conversation that was part Italian, part English, and part who knows what, we were able to figure out what was going on. They had upgraded Willy. Only Willy.

I encouraged him to take the upgrade, even though it meant that he was going to be pampered in business class while I was still in cattle class. On my birthday trip.

The real reason I was so adamant that he take the seat was that he has a history of extreme sinus pain while flying, and I knew that the ability to stretch out and be comfortable would help immensely if he found himself in pain. What I didn’t know is that he would jump on that offer from me, and never look back. Not even to come and check on me. I also didn’t know that I would be stuck in the way back section of the plane, in the middle of a section of five seats. THIS part gave me a great story to tell about how he ditched me on my birthday trip.

I can no longer tell this story. I have a much better one to tell now, one where my husband is again upgraded on a flight that we are taking together, but this time he hands the boarding pass to me, despite the fact that we are embarking on a long journey to India, with our two year old and four year old in tow. I took that boarding pass, and barely looked back (although I did check on them several times).

Business class was very nice, especially the seats that recline fully to a bed. I loved that I was served my meal in courses, that the wines I was presented with were matched to my meal, and that I was made to feel special. I also loved the fact that I was alone, even though I did miss the lils and Willy. It gave me time to rest, to mentally prepare for the next leg of our journey, to feel a little guilty, but mostly to reflect on how awesome Willy is. Who does that? Volunteers to sit by themselves with the lils on a very long flight, deal with their craziness and never once complain? When I expressed my gratitude to him, Willy’s only response was “You do the time when I travel and earn the points, so you should share in the reward”. He’s pretty awesome, that husband of mine.

Good people…

tell you they are coming to help and give you the option of picking the day

take the day off work, just to see you and help you out.

fit you in to their day, even tho it means they have to drop something else.

open with “where can I start”, and don’t blink when you direct them to the sink full of icky dishes that came out of the fridge moments before…

bring scones, fresh out of the oven. That come with jam and clotted cream, because that is how it’s done.

or they come bearing freshly baked chocolate, disguised as muffins. With a side of latte for good measure.

drop by to pick something up and see that there is lots to do, so they offer to help. Even though they have a toddler in tow.

don’t blink when you say “There are sixteen library books in this house somewhere. Please find them”. They just find them. Well, they find fifteen of them, and that last bugger was really well hidden.

pack the toys that need to come with, and tidy the ones that don’t.

leave for an appointment, noting that they will be back as soon as they can be. And they are.

rake up cold and wet leaves and plants without blinking an eye.

eat the dregs from the freezer for lunch, even if it is billed as “somewhat sketchy”

do the really crappy and dirty outside jobs with no complaint, even though they are neglecting their own yards.

stay all day long, never once complain, and continue to ask what is next.

They got me back on track today, and saved what is left of my sanity. I can’t believe how much we accomplished in such a short period of time. I am so very lucky to have such good people as great friends.

Our new home is roomy enough for us and some guests (!). It is steps from a park, and a short drive to the lils school and Willy’s work. I am sure that we will be happy here… It has a pretty standard/basic kitchen:

A big master, with equally big furniture

A little play area between the lil’s rooms (with a large patio attached)

A king sized be for one of the lils!

It has a nice big (by Bangalore standards) yard…

Complete with hibiscus trees!

Our home for the next year!

Sorry about the pictures, there was A LOT going on when we were going through the houses 🙂

As a fan of TLC and their real estate shows in particular, I have a whole new appreciation for what the people on the show go through on their really short house hunting tours. The premise of the show is that the people fly in to exotic locales (which have included Bangalore on occasion), spend a few days in the area, view many houses, and choose from three houses that may or may not meet their specifications.  

This was my life this week!  In a period of a day and a half this week, Willy and I went through twenty-seven houses, spread all over the Whitefield area of Bangalore.  It was a whirlwind.  We went to see reallllly nice houses, not so nice houses, houses that exceeded our budget, houses that were way under budget, some too big or small, and some that were perfect.  

All during this process, I was frantically trying to take notes for me, notes for the relocation person (which they need for their files), and photograph the houses before they blurred into one gigantic house.  From that list of twenty-seven, we pared it down to five.  Some were really easy to eliminate, like the one that my only comment for was “ick”.   Others were really hard, like the one that was stunning and huge, had a pool, but meant a thirty minute bus for the lils to get to school (I was sad to say no to that one). 

Five houses were revisited this morning, and we quickly eliminated three and tried to decide between two very different houses in the same community.  It was the community that really won us over here, one with parks, a pool, playgrounds and lots of children. The park space was the clincher, something missing in all other communities.  It helps that the houses are both nice too.  

We have but four hours to choose a house and are both torn.  I hope that we make the right decision, but feel that we will be happy here regardless.  I’ll post some pictures when we get home and know what house it will be.

This whole process has completely satisfied my need for real-estate porn.  I am pretty sure that it will be a while before I need to watch any of those TLC shows, although I do note that it is available on cable here.  I can’t believe that there are people (like our guide) who do this for a living!  I’ll gladly take my one house with it’s just right number of beds and baths, or our soon to be house in Bangalore, and be happy to never have to look critically at another house again!

After a long wait, and much teeth gnashing and hair greying, Willy and I finally started our journey to Bangalore on Friday.  The visas came in on wednesday, and this made for a wee bit more scrambling to the week, we were glad for the forward progress.  We even got to start a day earlier than anticipated!  

At first I did not realize how this trip was very much a dry run for us, but the very process of getting there brought this point home for us.  Some discoveries were pleasant surprises, like the number of services that are offered on long haul international flights.  Services that are a far distant memory in North American travel. Food. Free booze. Pillows. Blankets. Real cutlery. Services that made us feel downright spoiled in comparison to the closer to home travel that we have done recently. All in all I learned some valuable lessons, that will serve us well on our return trip with the lils in a few short weeks, and noted that I made some pretty rookie mistakes. Some lessons learned…

My first mistake was to fail on charging my iPad during the first flight.  Always charge your devices while you can.  If not, you are sure to find your self in an airport where North American style plugs are rare or taken, your converter is in a checked bag, and then *gasp*, you find your self on a plane that doesn’t have plugs at every seat.  Or any seat.

I also didn’t bring enough to entertain me.  Nine hours is a long time for anyone to be stuck in one place, let alone one with slight attention deficit tendencies. It doesn’t matter how many movies there are playing in the seat back tv if you end up on a plane without them. I might have asked “are we there yet?” about 1568 times.

Curse USB and their 80 million options.  Make sure that the damn e-books get on your reader before you leave the house, or at least bring the correct cable.  Because the one that is the right shape, but apparently a smidge undersized?  Will not let you download no matter how you wiggle it.  Plan B is to install on my iPad and read there, but I really, really like my reader, and would have liked to read on the plane.  The next one has wi-fi. 

Order the vegetarian meal, or any special meal, actually.  If you are lucky it will have paneer in it, and it will come much faster than every one else’s. Except maybe those in first class.  They pretty much eat what ever and when ever they want.  

If your butter is too firm, place it under the hot meal tray to soften it up.  Don’t leave it too long though, or you end up with a puddle of clarified butter all over your tray, right Willy?

Row 53 is not the last row in the plane. There are in fact three rows behind it!

Be a better plane sleeper, use drugs if you must.  Otherwise you will get stuck between much better plane sleepers on an older plane.  Watching soccer on a small screen at the front of your section. Sleeping approximately 2hours over the course of two long days of flying will make you delirious.  The bed, when you reach it, is heaven.  I slept 10 and a half hours!