I pledge allegiance...

So after spending 14 years in various states of status in the US, I finally took my oath and became a bonafide US citizen. It wasn't really that I thought India was a horrible country to be identified with, or that I am now willing to bear arms for the USA - the reasons were more pragmatic. Every year I find myself traveling out of the country, and the biggest pain in the whole process is getting visas. Apparently not many countries think that Indian citizens should have an open entry policy. But ironically, the same countries that rant against American hegemony welcome American passports (and dollars) with open arms. Sooo.. more for the sake of convenience, I decided to go for it. The added benefit of getting a citizenship is that I can help vote Barak Obama into office. Hehe.

Tish and Priya went along with me. We had to leave the house at 6 in the morning. Priya was barely awake, and she was such a good sport throughout. As is not common during important events, there was a big accident going into Chicago, and the expressway was completely shut down. I heard about it 5 minutes before we were to leave, and I had to get downtown via the backroads. We made it in good time though.

The ceremony itself lasted 15 minutes. The judges lecture on good citizenship was a good deal longer than the actual oath.

Waiting in line to get in the court room

To keep Priya occupied, Tish let her play with the camera. Her smudges got all over the lens - hence the quality of the pictures to follow.

The judge and I are good friends now

Early Easter; A wish fulfilled

We had a visit from Tish's parents this weekend. It was a very short trip, but Priya had a great time. She got to color some Easter eggs, which she thought was a very interesting idea.


Tish finally had her wish of seeing Body Worlds. It was interesting, to say the least. It's definitely worth seeing it once though, so that you can say you've experienced it.

And here's a cute video, courtesy of Christy.

A Hint of Spring

These last few days were a hint of things to come when spring shows up. It was 70 degrees outside - nice and warm to play in. Priya had a play date with Skyler and the two had fun at Wicker Park. I was telling Tish how nice it will be to see Priya in summer clothes. She has such a nice complexion that contrasts well with bright colors.

In other news, I got Tish a first class ticket to fly out to Vegas to visit her sister in a few weeks. This is where mileage comes in handy. Flying first class to Vegas? That will be five bucks. Not a bad deal at all. She's looking forward to it, but she's also feeling sad about leaving us behind.

Doesn't she look so cute with a ponytail?

At least we tried

This Saturday were the big plans to go to the Museum of Science and Industry to see Body Worlds. For those that don't know, it's a slightly ghoulish exhibit with real bodies of actual dead people who have donated their bodies for the cause of science, and are arranged in macabre poses. You can see how much I'm into it... Anyway, it's been a dream of Tish's to see this (I've been hearing about it for over five years), and so when the exhibit came back, we headed out. Since I had just come back from out of town, there wasn't really much planned except getting there the next morning. Here's what we saw...

As we were standing in line (around 11:30a), an announcement went out saying that the next available entrance into the exhibit was going to be 5:20p. Well then... Our babysitter wasn't planning on staying that long...

A disappointed and slightly bewildered Tish

So we headed out to our good ol' standby - Navy Pier. It was such a nice day, and it was good to be out. We still had a good time.

Stubbly me.. Cute Tish.

The ban on eating peanuts is finally over with a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup

Cough cough

I thought I could escape this year without getting sick. But like death and taxes, I think colds and coughs are inevitable. Doesn't help that I am out of town, and working long hours. I wish I could snuggle up in bed and sleep all day.

To keep this blog alive, here are a couple of pictures. Tish is right around the half way point, and I suspect things only get bigger from here!