Monday, August 30, 2010

New Kitchen/New Day

We are in the middle of an awful kitchen renovation. It has taken us many many months to come up with a plan and it is finally being implemented, but of course not in the smooth fashion I had imagined. Steve was in England at Limmud Fest and then on to Israel for Rosh Hashanah so he managed to miss all the dirty work, meaning I spent days upon days putting together gobs and gobs of Ikea cabinets (that are all piled in our living room at the moment), clearing out the front of the basement, and moving all the kitchen stuff out all by myself while (or whilst) he has been out having tea, scones and clotted cream, and then davening with at a great minyan (prayer group) for the New Year. I meanwhile, was stuck in Cincinnati at Golf Manor Synagogue. I have yet to tell you all the sordid tale of our Jewish life here in the conservative burg of Zinzinnati, but that will have to wait. Our due date's been moved up a bit, so we're now due on the November 17th, which is like, tomorrow. All's good, the baby's growing, B"H, and we have plane tickets for November 7th. Still looking for a place to stay in Mumbai, trying to save a little by not staying in the hotel. Hopefully we'll find a cheaper serviced apartment. Another question, as far as spending money goes, is whether or not we should upgrade ourselves on the way back from India to business class. Besides the miles, it's costing us a bit as well. And then there's the thought that maybe it's cruel to the other business passengers to fly business with a newborn. When I asked the agent who was helping us with the tickets, she said, "You do what you need to do." Truer words.

2 comments:

  1. Steve, I laughted out loud at "golf manor synagogue" ... that's mostly what whe have here in Denver, too. Re: serviced apartments, we looked at quite a few in Mumbai before our baby was born (the day before, as it turned out!) Most of them were not very nice, and in the middle of pretty depressing neighborhoods. I'd suggest staying at a hotel, because at least you'll have food options, good cable TV, and a gym so you can keep active. Please contact Amit at mumbai@exploreindya.net -- he can get you the best rates on hotels, and he was our lifesaver any number of times while we were in India. Please tell him I sent you. He lived in Europe for a number of years, so understands western clients and speaks perfect English.

    Re: your flight plans, nearly all surrogacy babies seem to arrive before 38 weeks, so decide for yourself whether 10 days before the due date is comfortable for you. If you absolutely want to be there when the baby is born, I'd suggest going earlier. Newborns are very easy travellers, so your other business class passengers won't be too inconvenienced, but check whether the bassinet seats are available in Business. They are great for putting the baby down while you (try to) sleep. Since you defintely won't enjoy all the luxuries of business class as much with a newborn (except the extra room), you might want to consider whether it is worth the extra money for the return trip.

    Sorry this is long, but one more important note: when you return home, you must exit the country through Mumbai, since you're getting FRRO approval in Mumbai. The "permit" you get from the FRRO isn't transferrable to another city. We made that mistake, and it cost me a LOT of grey hair.

    Wishing you an easy fast and the start of an exciting new year!

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  2. Thanks Stephanie! I'll be in touch after the holiday. Have an easy and meaningful fast as well, and a Shana Tova!

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