The last three weeks

Things have not been what they usually are the past few weeks. Events unfolded and I was succumbed.

Well, to begin at the very beginning I was woken up by my mother at 7am (roughly a week after the last post) saying she was on her way here. By here, I mean, the USA and Houston and by on her way, I mean, all the way from India. She called me on a Monday saying she would be in Houston on Wednesday. Now, I am not a morning person and my alarm gets snoozed very often. But that jolted me awake. I nudged Chuckles and whispered the thunderbolt to him. He reacted by slipping deeper under the covers, turning his back to me, and going right back to sleep. I should have taken that as a sign.

So one week into my new job and about half my torso into both classes, yoga in the evenings and a huge pile of dishes to do, I had to play tour guide to my mom for the next three weeks.

I woke up on Wednesday, made some good South-Indian filter coffee, tidied around the house and left to pick her up from the airport. On the drive home,(roughly 25 miles) I wondered how to tell her I was not going to be around the house the whole day. She on the other hand, sat tight, sweat beads forming on her forehead, terrified to be sitting in a car with me while I was driving. I did fine by the way. We got home safely. Once home I searched for temples in Houston, planned sites to see for the next three weeks and slowly morphed into a nervous wreck.

The one thing I did not do for three weeks? Cook. Mom took over the kitchen much to my happiness.

The next few weeks our home smelled of filter coffee, turmeric and sandalwood soap. She said her prayers and forced us to. We toured temples while Chuckles concentrated on our taxes. We shopped for shoes and other such fun stuff while Chuckles went on business trips and my mom cooked while I ate and constantly missed classes. We drove to corners of Houston and discovered unknown sites and made notes and took photos. I wrote down recipes for Indian food and she tried different cuisines every time we went out. We came back to pack and sit on stubborn suitcases in a losing battle with airlines and baggage restrictions.

She flew back yesterday and we are back to where we started. I never know what to cook for dinner and discovering Houston is no more part of daily conversation. Dregs cleared from the coffee filter and put away with its smells behind instant coffee. The faint smell of sandalwood still remains.