Up and Out: Hong Kong

The bags are not packed, we are not ready to go, work awaits us tomorrow, and off to the airport at 8p. I think I just decided to toss the clothes on the bed and let our wonderful household help stuff the bags.

Chad

The Votes Are In!

Ezra has decided who NOT to vote for:

His dads approve this message!

Cheers, 

Douglas 

The Whole 30

Not that I feel and different (although I do feel different... more on that in a moment). Age is just a number, right?  And at this point in life, things couldn't be better. We live in an amazing city in an incredible country, I am in love with my work, I have two beautiful and healthy boys, and I am married to one of the best humans on the earth. AND I still have most of my hair and all of my teeth. That's good too, I guess.

So, in order to feel a little better about turning 30, I challenged myself for 30 days during the months of August and September with a program called The Whole 30, which is basically a very strict paleo diet. The results were incredible. I cannot even put into words how doing this made me feel even just seven days into the program. I had more energy, and had the same level of energy consistently throughout the day, my digestive system was regulated (which is a big friggin deal for someone who lives in India), I was sleeping better through the night, and I was really enjoying the food we were eating (which mostly came out of this cookbook). Oh yeah, and I lost 10 pounds!

All in all, I can't even some close to stating how strongly I'd recommend changing your diet for those of you who are feeling weary and worn out, especially you fellow parents of multiples! It is totally worth the time and investment it takes to shop for and prepare healthy foods.

There Is A Song

It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. It is a powerful song. It comes from deep down inside. It sounds beautiful. It is one of my favorites. It is really out of context, but it triggers a memory of mine from ten months ago. It reminds me of my nightly cab rides to visit Ezra in the hospital when I had my iPod cranked just loud enough to drown out the sounds of Delhi traffic, just loud enough to forget the sea of people that surrounded the car at the stop lights, just loud enough to forget the smells of burning India during the cold months, and just loud enough to get me into the NICU with a smile on my face.

There have been four days that the twins have not been in the same place. Those have been the hardest four days of parenting twins.

Today is Doug's birthday! Happy 30th to my wonderful husband. Due to my lack of culinary skills and my inability/unwillingness to make quality things without a box, Doug actually made his own birthday cake. He takes full responsibility for this since I volunteered to make the cake first, but he didn't want a box cake.

I am finally feeling well enough to get out of bed. I have been crazy sick and on strict Douglas instituted quarantine since Wednesday morning. It all started with chest pains, then it turned into fever then no fever and aches, then fever again, and repeat. There was one day I slept almost twenty hours. The final day was full scale strep throat which quickly went away after I overdosed on antibiotics. I misunderstood that doctor's orders of "take three times". She meant take once each day for three days. I understood take three times each day. Needless to say the strep is gone, but so is all my good bacteria.

We are off to Hong Kong on Friday to officially celebrate Doug's birthday. We decided that since we had a four day weekend the week after his birthday we would delay the party and travel to a new country. We are both really excited... oh and I am sure the boys are excited too!

Here is that song: Adele - I Found A Boy

Chad

10 Months Old!

I've been the worst blogger ever. So, since we were dismissed from school early yesterday, I decided to edit a video to show you why we've been neglecting our blog in favor of chasing after these two rascals. 

I promise more blog updates soon!

Peace,
Douglas 

What A Week!

The twins are under a net in the pack n' play on our balcony, I'm sitting next to them editing a video of all the fun things they've been doing, Chad is uber-ill with some crazy strep-like symptoms and is quarantined away from the rest of us, and Jyoti is probably somewhere sleeping.

Meanwhile, school ended early today because of threats of protests in Delhi. Here's info on that from the US Embassy, and also from the Wall Street Journal.

So far, we haven't seen any protesters or any other disturbance, and I hope it stays that way. Seems like everyone in the world is flipping out!

That Sinking Feeling

In Hindi there is one word for yesterday and tomorrow. That word is kal.

I can say with certainty I am too busy. I am only backhandedly complaining because life is good, great, fantastic, and enjoyable, but it is true. I have been running circles at work and at home since the beginning of the year, and today I almost missed something big. I have become completely reliable on technology to keep me in line and today it saved my ass.

I woke up this morning thinking nothing other than it was an ordinary Friday. I was in my typical cheerful morning mood, sipping on my coffee when my Google alert popped up and told me it was my father's birthday. My heart jumped as I thought it was an alert from yesterday and it was already too late, but then I checked the calendar and thanked all 11 time zones for saving my ass.

Now most of you probably think no big deal since I did in fact get to wish my father a happy birthday well in advance of it actually being his birthday in America. Though the simple fact is... had it not been one of my alerts this morning, today would have been no different than kal.

Chad

Up and Out: Singapore

My driver just stopped by to confirm the 4am departure and it reminded me I still have to pack. I am off to Singapore in the morning and my suitcase is still in the closet.

I am looking forward to my first visit to Singapore. I am going for work, but will have a good amount of time to explore the city.

Cheers to clearing out my inbox before leaving town!

Chad