All sorts of updates

First and foremost, Maria and Asim have safely arrived Stateside. I picked them up on Tuesday from O'Hare. I was happy to see that Asim is still in one mostly healthy piece. He's got a lot more hair now. And it's brown. Brown! Mine is, of course, jet black. Maria's is brown.

He can also sit up now. This is new to me. It means that if you surround him with toys on the floor, he will look around at them, pick them up one at a time and put them into his mouth. Fantastic. He can now also perform quite a number on catalogs and magazines with a simple grasp and a flurry of flailing limbs. So long, Restoration Hardware catalog!

I suppose I'll "start" in the present and drift back.

Asim and Maria have been getting over their jet lag the past few days as well. This is amusing to see in a baby. He's pretty lost, tired, in need of a bed, etc., The day they came back they slept at about 8 p.m. ... until 9 the next morning. The next night was something like 7:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Asim would wake up once in a while to feed, but otherwise, he was pretty happy to be asleep and away from the relatives (presumably.)

I went to work only on Thursday this week. Nothing particularly interesting there. Made a bunch of phone calls. Maria's green card expires soon, so I saw what paperwork we need to fill out to get that sorted out. I can't wait to pay $275 to the Department of Homeland Security for that. It's a freakin' two-page form with four pages of instruction. At least it's a pdf that you can type onto and then print.

Wednesday I took off to be with Maria and Asim ... I went grocery shopping in the bitter cold (random cold week here in Indy) so that we wouldn't be stuck eating 7-day-old peach yogurt and ketchup packets.) I believe Wednesday was the day that Maria first started telling me that the bed I made is "too high." Today I told her that the suitcases would be able to fit under said bed. She seemed intrigued by the prospect. I think she's slowing coming around.

So that brings us to Tuesday. Tuesday early afternoon I drove into Chicago to drop off a lamp that I made. Afterward, I headed over to O'Hare, trying to take my time since I knew it'd be at least an hour before Maria and Asim came out (the flight came in at about 2:30). They ended up coming out at about 4 which was tolerable enough. And the best part? All three huge-ass suitcases fit neatly into the back of the Volvo estate. No fussin' around at all. No torn fabric. No cursing and wondering how to rent a car (and then drive two) back to Indy. Sweetness. It made up for missing a turn out of O'Hare, going the wrong way for five minutes, asking for directions, turning around and then going out of our way for 15 minutes. Whatever. We made it eventually.

Monday I was also in Chicago, having stayed with Betsy. And yes, if you're keeping track at home, I took Monday and Tuesday off and missed work that I really probably could have been there for. But hey, that's what vacation time is for. I figured that Maria had seven weeks off and during that time I had taken off exactly 3 days up until this weekend, all three being related to snow.

Anyway, Monday morning I mosied on down to The Loop to find the Dick Blick and get some more small things for the aforementioned lamp. I also called old friend Ben Jackson (also of former Pitt News Editor in Chief fame) and met him for some coffee and catching up. He showed me his office which was cool and then proceeded to "feel artsy" while at the Dick Blick with me before we parted ways. I did a great deal of walking aimlessly in Chicago. I hit up the Architectural Center, the Cultural Center and saw most of State Street in the Loop on foot. It was nice to be there but a little depressing because I know that if you walked that much around Indianapolis, you'd be in Terre Haute before you knew it. I was tempted to go check out a condo-showroom/salesroom-type thing, but decided not to. The truth was that I couldn't find one easily and quickly.

Sunday I was also at Betsy's. We hit up Devon Ave., which is the great Brown Experience in Chicago. That is to say that there are many Indian and Pakistani restaurants and shops in one place. It's nice enough, although the restaurants start to look the same after a while. And if you go to a "nicer" one, you'll find they're just charging exactly twice as much for the same meal across the street. I liked the Indo-Pak street in Toronto better. Heck, at this one there hardly seemed to be any clothing shops (save for one very brightly lit one) and a nasty video-rental/electronics shop at every window. Yick.

Before the Devon, we were at the United Center for the Blackhawks-Oilers game. I had to think again of who they were playing because I honestly didn't know until I looked on the ticket. Speaking of which ... we paid $12 for parking (across the street) and then while trying to figure out the location of the ticket window, were offered a free ticket. We bought another one -- $10 -- and sat at center ice in the 300 section. So, to review -- professional ice hockey, including parking in a major city -- $11 per person. God Bless America. And the Blackhawks won, too! There was even a little jabbing here and there that we were hoping would turn into something more. Alas.

Alright. I'll get around to Saturday's update a little later. I left for Chicago on Saturday night for those of you playing at home. Oh, and there are a few photos of Asim on the flickr.