Too True

A word about summer. I love it. When I hear complaints about lack of Air Conditioning, the Humidex and sunburn, and I think to myself, why isn’t it summer All.Year.Long?

Varun says I’d miss winter. I can now say I am quite certain I would not. Case in point: My sister lives in Hawaii, and all winter sent me pictures of my niece and nephew playing on the beach, playing outside and holding up flowers whose names I don’t even know. I would have traded my Uggs for flip flops in the sand any day.

But back to Canada. For some reason, summer is a bit of a teaser in Ontario. I think it got officially cold, which I define as the need for mittens, about early November. And that was ok. It was cold and chilly, I binged on pumpkin spice lattes, experimented with soup recipes and bought Christmas presents. By January, it began snowing every few days. By the end of March, I was starting to lose it. And then began the hardest part: (non)Spring. As far as my observation goes, Spring does not happen in Ontario. It was cold and rainy until about mid-May, and then, TA-DA! It was summer. I couldn’t be happier! (For four months. Until Winter. Again)

Varun, on the other hand, seems to have no problem with any weather.

Examples:
Rain. He loves rain, the smell, the wet. He says in India it’s a welcome reprieve.
Snow. He drives carefully, avoids ice-skating and bundles up like an abominable snowman. (He wore his down jacket until I hid it mid-April. No Joke)
Hot. This man has gotten one sunburn in his life, and he doesn’t sweat. He was made for 45 C.

This chart describes southern Ontario winters perfectly. I’m so glad someone feels my pain. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to soak up some much-needed Vitamin D.

Welcome to the 90’s

If you’ve never visited Awkward Family Photos before, go do it right now. You will get to a whole new level of Wasting Time On The Internet. You’ll thank me. Speaking of Awkward Family Photos.

My sister and I were digging through some family photos recently and came across this GEM. Sorry Mark, now you never will be able to run for President of The World…

John, Sarah, Me, Dad, Luke, Mom, Mark

A few thoughts:

1. What time of year was this picture taken that I’m wearing a dress with socks, Sarah is wearing shorts, John is wearing a sweater and Mom is wearing a turtleneck? Oh, it’s February. (I’m pretty sure it snows in Pennsylvania in February)
2. Turtlenecks. Oh turtlenecks. How I miss the 90’s.
3. Please note my ruffle socks. Fingers crossed that these come back into vogue Very Soon.
4. What have I done that has evoked the Look of Please Shut Up and Sit Still from Dad?
5. When showing this picture to my 3 year-old niece, she was very confused about who was who. After pointing at differnt brothers guessing “This is Uncle Mark. No, Uncle John. No, Uncle Luke”, she finally said confidently, “This is Uncle George!” (No Georges here).
6. My dress: Was plaid, flannel and denim ever a cool combination? Even in 1996?

And then there’s Varun.

Even at 5, he’s putting his hands in the air like he just don’t care.

He’s got the model pose, the missing-tooth-grin and a wicked paisley shirt (C’mon, it was the early 90’s in rural India).

I think these three pictures sum up our high school experiences.

Me: Hey, didn’t you hate those people in high school who were really pretty and had tons of fun on the weekend and loads of friends?
Varun: Umm no.
Me: WHAT? Why not?
Varun: Well, I WAS those people.
Me: (look of scorn)

But really folks, it’s not that hard to believe. While my classmates were wearing flares and Limited Too shirts and glittery lipgloss, I was rocking the denim-plaid-flannel dress and ruffle socks. And the 90’s still had FOUR more long years…

To Love and To Cherish

Last fall, we were having supper at the house of some friends.

Friend: So, how long have you two been married?
Varun: 18 months, on Tuesday.

Needless to say, everyone was very impressed that he knew to such a precise degree (We didn’t tell them we had just been talking about it on the car ride). Varun now takes pride in knowing exactly how long we’ve been married.

Me: Hmm, so now that it’s almost two years, are we still newlyweds?
Varun: In spirit, maybe. But no, I think we’re just “married people” now.

Yesterday was our two year anniversary. I cannot believe it’s already been two years of living life with my best friend. To celebrate, Varun planned a surprise outing for last Saturday. It was wonderful!

First, he brought me breakfast in bed. This is always a win: Food + bed=awesome.

Next, Varun drove us to Niagara on the Lake, an adorable town next to, as the name suggests, Niagara Falls.

After a scrumptious lunch of chicken burgers and local wine, we enjoyed delicious homemade ice cream and wandered along the storefronts. Next, we headed to the Butterfly Conservatory. Picture a large hall FILLED with exotic plants, sweeping palm trees and thousands of brilliantly colored butterflies flying about.

Varun: Um, this is kind of scary.
Me: What? How can you be afraid of pretty butterflies and not spiders?
Varun: Because they’re EVERYWHERE and landing on people!

(Both points are true)

Over the past two years I’ve learned so much: how hard it is to be loving 24/7, how to (not) make roti, how incredibly patient and generous Varun is…We’ve faced unemployment and a move across the country, we’ve said goodbye to dear friends and held hands as we met new ones. I can’t say it’s been easy, or even always fun. But I’m so thankful for the kind and strong man that God has given me to love. And I’m so thankful that he laughs along with me despite all of our confusion and differences (and gives me a lot to laugh about).

“Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.”-Song of Solomon 8:7