Recently my life seems to be dominated by my wants. There is a special something (actually two special somethings) that I want so badly, one more than the other. Everyday in every way I can't wait for the realization of these hopes and the only thing that gets me through hurdles to these goals is my kind, wonderfully patient boy & grace from above.

Things we have been doing in the midst of these yearnings:

• trying out new restaurants (including this lovely one by the waterfront that we only found because of groupon - thanks AD) and finally finding our very fav tapas place & then being inspired to make our own for a dinner party
• heading for movies at the beach - I eventually intend to move out of Jax and somewhere closer to M.L & A.D, in a bigger town, reminiscent of the places I grew up in but absolutely nothing will persuade me to ever live in land locked states again. I love the feel of people sitting in the grass on beach blankets and chairs with the ocean roaring beside them & Tom Cruise up on the screen in front of them
• a month ago, we got some pretty fantastic news which we are hoping will come to brilliant fruition. It makes me MORE (much much more) appreciative of the Boy for his patience and positivity, for there were plenty of times I have given up but he has very nonchalantly kept on. I love that good relationships age well as time goes by and how my love is more filled with awe for the boy now than it has ever been before.
• we are waiting anxiously for yet another iron we have in the fire and the stress has been getting to me in many, many ways. I am learning to be more gracefully patient and that's all I can say.
• I learnt a new term 'working relationship' viz-a-viz in-laws and want to thank Hill Grandmom for it. Which I find much more appropriate regarding my situation than the terms 'good' relationship, which I find irksome because I don't quite know what it means. My in-laws & I have a working relationship. They now respect the boundaries I set for them. And I like to think I exhibit more grace in my dealings with them.
• We are slowly branching out socially and finding friends, who share our interests. Some non-desi and some desi. A.D and I are of the opinion that smaller town/cities of America seem to attract more people from smaller desi towns. And I am saying it here, there is a problem with small towns, desi or otherwise, because of the inherent homogeneity that is their lot. They appear to be claustrophobic, parochial and offer their children no avenue for growth or exposure, unless one is wealthy. The middle class simply remains stagnant (in their world views) which is why children of middle class small towners moving out of their towns, find all manner of things exciting and yet exhibit extreme insularity in their dealings with different others. Yes, this is a sweeping judgement call. But really, I am tired of running across provincial twerps (desi & otherwise) who ask the silliest questions and exhibit the most obnoxious behavior when confronted by live-in relationships, sex before marriage, inter-religious couples, inter-cultural couples, divorces, being single, and so on and so forth. As always, there are exceptions to the rule but honestly I haven't come across any. I hope I will in the future.
• I saw some off-the beaten track movies - The Last Station, The Young Victoria, The Ghost Writer, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, among others with my film club and I love having a group of people with whom I can go out to see indie movies & talk over dinner. It is such joy. I started with the group when I was unemployed because I desperately wanted to find something to do outside the house that was apart from the Boy. And now I have a book club, a film club and writing club and I couldn't be happier being occupied.
• In an effort to find things to do together because we have become quite adept at finding our niche outside of the relationship, the boy and I started working out together and bought bikes to ride around in the beach. We are making progress. V.Slowly. We have also realized that what with both working, we are finding less and less time for each other. So we make it a point to either have breakfast, lunch or coffee break together. & also instituted a 20 minute rule for each day where all we do is be with each other, without TV, Laptop or cell phone. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we walk, sometimes we ride around on our bikes.

Also recently, I have been thinking a lot of all the kind people who reached out to me when my sister was ill and I wanted to send out a cyber hello to them. I hope you are all well and in good health. Your kindness and grace touched me more than I can let on. Stay well and know that you are in my family's thoughts always.