minalisms

I’m not sure whether the past four days have been random, “good behavior and good habits” days or whether I am — quite possibly — turning a fresh, new leaf, but I’ve been floating along nicely on this tide of responsibility.

Despite my concern that I am boasting about merely a fluke and post post-weekend laziness I will have dropped my dedication to tidiness, exercise, at-home meals and blogging momentum, I wholeheartedly believe that Productive Minal (and her ambitions) has been borne out of homeownership. … and, well, the mortgage.

• drank too many margaritas at my bachelorette party.
• damned the creep who dented my parked car.
• married Benny Sheps.
• bought a house.
• hyphenated my last name.
• ate just one helping of turkey.
• thanked God I wasn’t living in the apartment anymore.
• wiped water off the floor of a flooded kitchen.
• warmed up in front of my fireplace twice.
• drained water out of a flooding basement.
• met three handymen.
• experienced buyer’s remorse.
• pored over Consumer Reports recommendations.
• hugged my very own washer/dryer.
• tightened up a leaky water faucet.
• swooned over the water and ice dispenser in my new fridge.
• shooed cats off kitchen countertops thrice.
• grimaced over my appearance in wedding photos.
• incessantly called myself fat.
• stopped calling myself fat.
• started working out.
• cried twice.
• laughed daily.

As if Ben and I didn’t have enough to do 10 days before our wedding, we decided to add one more goal to the itinerary:

Yesterday, we put an offer on what is likely to be our first home. And the offer — which was a damn good one — was accepted. So if all goes well with inspection and such, we will be first-time homeowners on Nov. 25 — just a week or so into our arrival into Smug Marriedness.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then there goes all your savings on a cute, split-level ranch!

More to come…

Tonight, on the eve of the Indian New Year, Ben sent my family, friends and other loved ones a Diwali greeting.

He understood the importance of the occasion among Indians, so he spent part of his workday creating beautiful, unique designs and sending them to me for my feedback and approval. He was excited to share them with me.

“No, don’t use black,” I advised in Round 1.

“Wait, put the stars back in,” I requested in Round 2

“Hmm…I kind of liked the other one,” I offered in Round 3.

This was my feedback — a lot of ‘do this, do that’ mumbo-jumbo.

And though he always welcomes my reviews — even when they’re mainly comprised of criticism — here’s what I left out:

“Thank you, Ben. Thank you for cherishing my culture, traditions and my family. You, too, are cherished.”

I’m not sure what I am searching for. I just know that I haven’t found it yet.