India or Bust!

As I sit here in a nearly empty apartment, where all that remains is the patio furniture, two very large duffle bags and an inflatable mattress, I can’t help but think our little adventure has begun. The reality is our adventure began several months ago.

Hillary was nearing the end of her first three month assignment in Hyderabad. We were on the phone one night (morning for her), and she asked the question, “How would feel about moving to India for two years?” My reaction was about what you might expect. I said, “Of course wife…anything to be where you are.” Actually, I immediately started thinking about the logistics of the idea, and I’m sure my response more closely resembled a primitive grunt than an expression of my lack of excitement. We didn’t talk about it anymore that night, but the seed had been planted.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but I will say that one of our strengths as a couple is our ability to convince each other to do just about anything, as long we get to do it together, and the pros at least marginally outweigh the cons. In this particular case, we feel like the benefits will be significantly greater than the challenges.

Fast-forward to Saturday afternoon; two weeks ago. As we are scampering through Target and asking one another if we should get a second cart (deciding not to, even as things continue to jump out of the one we have), the magnitude of what we were about to do started to sink in a little more. Hillary was due to fly out Monday, but very little had been done in the way of preparing. Maybe that’s why it hadn’t really sunk in, yet. All but a few of the next 48 hours or so were spent preparing for Hillary’s departure. The break was spent attending a farewell dinner hosted by Lynda (one of Hillary's Directors) and her husband Mario. The authentic Italian cuisine was excellent and abundant, and gesture was greatly appreciated.

By late Sunday, the first of what would be 6-10 inches of snow had started to drift in. Being a kid from Texas, I still get excited when the snow falls and starts to coat the ground. This time, my excitement was tempered with concerns for what it would mean for a Monday evening flight. We forged ahead with operation India or Bust! and checked the flight status over and over and over… and over again. It still showed up as "on schedule", but we both knew better.

At some point, an exhausted Hillary looks in my direction and asks if this was some sort of an omen. I wasn’t sure how respond then, but I think I know now. Not even the heaviest snow fall New York has gotten all year could stop what had been set into motion. The flight was airborne a mere 25 minutes behind schedule, which for Newark means it was on time. There was no question about it. We were going to India.

And so begin The Adventures of Hillary and T.J.

We will do our best to update this blog regularly, as things continue to develop. We hope you enjoy following along.