snagabag

Saturday night. 10:30pm. Aparna & I are at my parent’s house watching SNL. Mom and Dad? They are out at a party. Something slightly unsettling about telling my parents to “drive safe” and “not stay out too late” when they are heading out on Saturday night as I settle into the couch.

I happy to report Dad is feeling A-OK. ‘Little Mo’ (or ‘Little Apu’) is still giving Aparna fits, but you’ll be glad to know that I feel fine.

Shiraz and Maanasa came over last night to see my dad, and the four us ending up sitting around and chatting until 2am. (FYI, that is late for Aparna and me). In fact, I think it was the first time Aparna had stayed up past 2 since her birthday last year! We were able to pay a visit to Shiraz and Maanasa’s house today for the first time, and they have a great house! Aparna & I were especially impressed with their “media room.” They’ve got a screen, projector, surround sound …ok, so maybe it was just me who was impressed.

We’re back in Austin tomorrow. Next weekend is going to be my first weekend in Austin since I moved from California, and to mark the occasion we are having all of our (nuclear) family come visit! Woo-hoo! Of course, the flip side is we’ve also got a lot to do this week to get the house ready!

I officially moved to Austin on December 19th, and since then here’s how I’ve spent my weekends:

1. Dallas
2. Houston
3. Dallas
4. San Antonio & Corpus
5. Dallas
6. Dallas

Can you spot what’s missing?

Okay, now if only all animals could be trained to do this.

Yes, you are looking at a photo of a potty trained elephant.

My mom replied to my previous post (thanks mom!) with a great line. As a few most of you read my blog just for my mom’s comments, I decided to bring this one onto the front page.

Without further ado, I present my first official Quote Of The Day:

“What can I say? California is Charismatic, Texas is Traumatic.“

True dat. True dat.

Aparna and I had a great time in San Antonio and Corpus Christi last weekend. We drove back to Austin on Sunday, and were actually on the phone with Maneesh when we happened upon this:

:shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:

Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is indeed a dead deer strapped to a trailer. Maybe Aparna and I don’t leave the city enough, but that is not something we’ve ever seen, or really care to see. It is definitely not something we ever saw in California.

My phone’s built-in camera finally comes in handy! I finally transferred my phone’s pictures to my laptop (wirelessly via bluetooth no less!) so you can look forward to more random shots (though this is the only one of murdered animals).

Unpacking continues at Casa Goyal. This picture doesn’t really do justice to the mess in the kitchen (click the picture to see a larger mess).

Started work today. Enough of that. Aparna’s pregnancy can be trying at times. Today she was in the mood for…Red Lobster.

I visited Dimple and Rahul today and was able to spend some time with Rohan. He’s only a little over a week old, but he’s already smart enough to start crying as soon as I hold him!

Things are moving along at Casa Goyal. Rob, Garrett, and Mike came over last night to help me move furniture. And by “help me” I mean “move furniture while I supervise.” I’m thinking of calling Guinness to see if I can get in his book for “world’s heaviest couch.” Actually, I think the boys were most shocked by …my slippers. I don’t know why. I think they look great. Don’t you?

One thing I forgot about Texas is how many bugs there are! They are everywhere. Ughhh… We’ve already had the exterminator come by once, and I’m thinking about giving him a room at our house to live in.

Aparna & I are off to San Antonio tonight. I’m going to see the Spurs lose to the Mavs! Woohoo! I’ll have pictures up soon from tonight’s game and last week’s game.

Yes, this is picture of a real fish. Yes, I’m planning on having a tank full of them in our new house. After all, what says “home” better than animals with freakishly human faces?

Thank you all for the congratulations on our impending parenthood.

My favorite quote so far (no, I won’t name the culprit :smile:):

“I still can’t believe that you guys are going to be parents - holy mother!”

So I’ve had this “pregancy wheel” for years now…there were many of these lying around the DNA lab I worked at in the mid-90’s. Interesting little contraption, and after keeping it around all these years, I finally have a use for it. Needless to say, last October was not Aparna’s favorite month of the year.

(Click the picture to see a larger version)

We are staying in our new house for the first time tonight. I think I can officially say the move is complete.

Yes, there is still so much unpacking to do, and lots of furniture to purchase, and basically just a lot of work left before we are done, but at least Aparna & I are finally home.

I must say that it is going to take me a while getting use to have “space”. While upstairs tonight opening boxes, we both found ourselves reminding each other to “keep it down” until we realized the floor beneath us belonged to us! Oh, and just when I was worried I’d have to surf the ‘net by linking my cell phone to my laptop via bluetooth (not a lie), I discovered I could pick up a signal from an unsecured WiFi network one of my neighbors is running.

Finally, I must give praise to the hotel we stayed at the past few days. Aparna & I had never stayed at a Candlewood Suites hotel before this week. I can’t speak for the whole chain, but the location in Austin off of I-35 is very well run. The staff is amazingly friendly and helpful, the rooms are nice, clean, and in good condition, and there is free high speed internet.