bethany725

hahaha.. this is going to be an eventful night for you! I, meanwhile, will be eating dinner with a set of bible-thumping newlyweds, of which the female half "is grateful for rickshaw rides because it gives her more time to pray." I mean.. i love the girl.. she is VERY sweet.. but I'm certainly not going to be kissing any women or downing any jello shots tonight. :-/

We should be leaving next week.. could be any day next week, but we'll move in either on April 1st or April 5th, depending on our housing options.

Rach -- Thanks so much for my birthday message! It was a great birthday.. Much of that due to so many nice messages, emails, phone calls, and texts from people.. Birthdays really make you feel special!

Sorry for another message so quickly, but I just got my TBR list all edited with those 3 titles on it! I also looked them up (they sound fabulous!!) and saw that Darkly Dreaming Dexter was the basis for the TV series Dexter. I haven't watched this but people say it's really, really good. So excited!

Yes, I'm super ready to go.. and Mom booked her flight today; shell be visiting from June 3 - June 24th! YEY! I think we'll be packing Tues and Wed and then be on our way.. so excited.

It sounds like your weekend has been pretty busy -- Are you finding that less internet time has helped you get more accomplished?

Hockey, hockey, hockey.. always hockey w/you .

Thank you, Mia, for my nice birthday message! So nice of you to think of me.

Saw a red, sparkly Absolut bottle this wkend in Dubai.. just like the one you have in your photo! I thought of you!

I see it's your birthday! Have a happy one!

Oh, you're fine.. I only kid about the hockey talk. Besides, it generally leads to some funny stories.

Nope, Mom didn't visit while in India -- she wasn't able to take off enough time from work to make it worth the long, expensive trip over. I got to go back over Thanksgiving/Christmas, but this is the first time I'll see her since then! I think Raja's brother is coming for a cple of weeks in July, too.. we should have quite a few visitors.

You keep stitching away.. if it brings you online so I can chatter away, stitch stitch stitch! Is this the gift for your friend you've been talking about? You need to send me some pics so I can see what you're doing-- once you get your camera back of course.

Yes yes! We are back, mostly settled, and it's back to reading and BCF for me while Raja watches sports.. just like how we left it.

Things are good.. New apartment, new furniture, new(ish) city.. now just need a job and new friends!

You are still doing your internship yes? A few more months left, right? And how's BF? (Look at my discretion.. I'm the best secret keeper EVER!)

xoxo .. yeeeeeeey!! ii again!

oh, absolutely! I'll PM you w/it. Does it cost an arm and a leg to send texts internationally? I haven't a clue how these things work. A few well-placed, completely inappropriate messages are well worth the expense, I'd say!

I think you're right.. my mom would have HATED India for the most part. Now that I'm out of there, I look back and wonder how I lived there for 6 months, and even more, liked the place! It's crazy what it does to you!

And if you convince your BF to come to China, you may as well make HK a stop.. it's supposed to be wonderful for shopping, plus Iiiiiii'm there!

Hahhahah.. you MUST show me photos if his friends have taken ridiculous things. That's going to be hilarious. That's something fun to look forward to, yes??

So how was it?? You are back now, yes? I hope you enjoyed!

We just went out with friends one night and spent a lot of time on the roof at the hot tub and pool.. Raja not feeling 100% so we took it pretty easy. Nothing as exciting going on here as your vacation, I'm sure!

What a serious task lies ahead of you!

Good luck! ;)

Haha.. No problem, Mac! I'm not so good at remembering birthdays myself, so I never expect anyone to remember mine or send wishes on time.. I like the belated ones JUST as much! Thanks for your msg!

I' m definitely experiencing food.. I've been cooking like a maniac for the last couple of months and trying all kinds of new recipes! So 'Suzy Homemaker' over here.

How is the new job coming along??

Sending hugs your way, as I know you aren't feeling good at the moment.. Will keep you in my thoughts.

You could be right -- I can't stand being miserable, and if I can do anything to make myself not miserable, I'll be doing it. India was probably just that.

That's fine.. you can be all "No. Let's not stay here. Let's not enjoy the summer. Let's not hang out with anyone at the summer place." That seems effective, no?? Haha.. the "view" is good.. only you!

I'm glad to hear it I loved it.. then they made it into a movie which was dreadful, but the book was so fun!

lol.. yep.. definitely a reason for concern here! It's actually funny.. I was like "Ooooh a girl on my book club forum online has this picture on her profile, and I'd never seen it before that. Now here it is!!" and he rolled his eyes playfully and said "You spend waaaaaaay too much time on your book club." Then he promptly handed me his blackberry to see if I could access BCF from it.. (boo.. I couldn't).

Trip was great.. Dubai's fantastic. I miss it already!

Yes.. It IS scary! My mentality is apparently very powerful when in self-preservation mode.

Oh I've heard about this chopping wood sans shirt thing.. You like to drag up chairs and make it a spectator event. I wonder if your BF would think I was strange if I brought my chair over, too. I can watch while practicing saying his name over and over.. because THAT wouldn't seem like I was crazy.

Glad to hear the French reception went well! If you have any pictures uploaded on any site, I'd love to see some. January, huh? Not much longer.. That's going to be so exciting!

Shenzhen was great.. And we leave Thursday for Thailand. Hopefully it'll be fun! We will go back to the States after that.. looking like Manhattan could be the final destination, but nothing set in stone yet. We shall see!

Oooh.. I hate that when you're reading a book and you have this feeling that you've read it before but can't quite remember.. I'm always so disappointed by that. I hope you enjoy it through the end and at least eventually figure out if you've read the story before!

Oooh this one looks great, Charm! It looks all scandalous and spooky.. I'm definitely putting it on my list right now. Thanks for letting me know about it! :hugs:

I hope you're well! I can't wait to catch up with everyone once all our company gets home safely and I'm not so busy. I love your new avatar too.. from the same line you like, yes?

Hi there We are good.. We haven't moved just yet, just took a weekend trip to mainland China this past weekend. We will be going back to the States on Sept 18th.. We have 2 weddings the following weekend, and that next week will be when we are moving. It's looking like Manhattan is going to be the final destination, although Baltimore is a distant possibility as well. Hopefully we will find out soon!

How was your weekend?

What a fun day that would be! I mean.. I can even do the outdoors for that kinda thing. I envision magazines.. yummy alcoholic beverages.. some Wheat Thins.. and possibly some binoculars? Just so if there's a detail we spot, we don't have to get up and move cloesr.

Looks like we'll be going in March, just before we leave India. If you find the name of the reserve you liked so much, pass it on to me.. We've been trying to do research to get ideas of where we should go and what we should see. So glad to hear you enjoyed Kerala.. I hope I like it as much as you did!