There’s something strange going on. A very good kind of strange, but strange nonetheless. A few days ago, I found this on my doorstep:

If you can’t read it clearly, it says, “ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you… a partridge in a pear tree. Sorry, but we can’t find the partridge so we are giving you some pears from the tree the partridge flew away from.” Hmmm…

The next day, I found this:

The tag says, “ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you… two turtledoves, but we don’t have any… will candy turtles and a bar of Dove soap do?”

The trend has continued…

(3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Today was day 7, and I got a bottle of bubble bath that the seven swans a-swimming “used while they were swimming.”

This is fun, sweet, highly imaginative, and really cool. But I’m confused: my husband swears he has nothing to do with this, so either (A) I (or we) have messed up and he is not, after all, my true love, or (B) he’s becoming quite good at sincere-sounding deception. Hmmm…

Today I’m catching a plane to go home for the holidays. I am so excited to spend Christmas with some of the most important people in my life, to hang out with my mom for the holiday, and obviously thrilled at the prospect of seeing my new husband for the first time since our short honeymoon. We’ll see if this 12 days of Christmas thing continues in Seattle . . .

Friday morning, as I headed off to work, my car windshield looked like this:

As I came home Friday night/Saturday morning (at a somewhat indecent hour) after my first-ever trip to Seoul’s Dongdaemun night market, my walkway looked like this:

Tomorrow/today (Saturday, that is) is the day I’ve been planning to run around town getting some Christmas shopping done. Here’s hoping I’ll still be able to do that, and of course that I don’t completely freeze my tail off in the process! (Although, if I can’t do the shopping thing, doesn’t it sound lovely to just stay in and keep warm under a nice cozy blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book?)

Okay, so the (updated) word is in on my/our future location. Drumroll please…

This: is out.

This: is in.

That’s right: the assignments people have issued a verdict, and the verdict is that Kingston, Jamaica will not be my new home next year, but Chennai (aka Madras), India will be. They have several commonalities: heat, palm trees, beach, plenty of character, both 2-year high-volume mostly-visas consular jobs. The biggest difference in my eyes, though (apart from the obvious other-side-of-the-globe geographical difference), is that I’m told the Chennai plan will offer my husband and I the chance to be co-located. And not only the same place, but at the same time, too. Now that will be very, very nice.

As always, there will of course be a guest room door kept open for friends, families, and other people we like. Think you might want to visit, or just curious what this Chennai place is all about? Check out some travel links and some local links.

So here’s to the prospect of some actual progress toward us having a life together, and to the rug not getting yanked out from under us again.  Fingers crossed!