The choice she made ...

My colleague usually goes home for lunch. Today, there was a lunch out planned by her team and she was looking forward to it. But as luck would have it, she had to attend to some thing important, at the very hour when she was supposed to go for lunch. So decided to drop out of the group lunch.

She was done with her work in the next 30 mins ... now had the option to go for lunch. She had our office cafe, subway, home and other restaurants and drive through as her options. She also mentioned to me that her hadn't had her breakfast that morning and was really hungry ... "Go get a sandwich" I suggested. She listened and pondered about how to deal with her hunger. (The time she spent thinking about this, she could have got herself a sandwich)

She then stepped out ... went to the vending machine and bought a packet of pretzels. The lady in question is on the stouter side and tells me she is trying to reduce her weight. I have seen her cave in for sweets / pizzas / donuts when offered by others in the office ... and when she was really hungry she bought Pretzels ??? WHY ??

Should I remind her of her weight goals ?? Should I remind her of the healthy food habits ? Should I remind her that skipping meals is not the best idea to lose weight ??

ps: I didn't say a word ... just looked at her pretzel packet and asked "Is this lunch?" and she smiled back.

2010 -Winter break

The Winter break was eventful. Mom and dad left on 21st Dec ... so I had took off from office on 21st and 20th. Working on 22nd / 23rd was not easy ... the house felt strangely quiet. Hubby had taken off for 2 weeks to spend time with family. The kids were home and noisy as usual ... but still missed daddy / amma.

We had plans of skiing on Christmas day at Lake Tahoe... but the weather played spoilsport. We decided to go to Monterey instead and enjoy the Aquarium. Before we drove to Monterey, enjoyed breakfast at Komala Vilas. Aquarium was good and the kids co-operated, but I felt it was slightly over priced for what it had to offer. As we walked towards our car, we noticed folks biking by the bay ... my sister insisted we check out bike rentals and we did. And boy, what a lovely experience it turned out to be !! My little one and nephew (chunnu and munnu as they are affectionately called) were seated in the front row and took up the responsibility of ringing the bell when instructed. It was very cute to see them ring the bell everytime someone requested "Bell please" ... my little girl would ring immediately ... and nephew followed suit.

The bike had 3 rows and was perfect for 2 families. We biked for an hour and headed home.

On 26th, we hosted dinner for one of our friends' family who are moving back to India. The menu was Methi paratha, Chole, Bende Kayi gojju, Kayi sasive anna, mosaranna and Badaam Halwa... and oh, the cucumber - tomato - carrot puri chat was delicious.

Cousins and their families visited us on 28th for dinner. We went out to "The Jungle" before having garam garam Masala Dose, Avare KaLu saaru, mosaranna, Basundi (prepared by sister) and fruit salad for dinner.

I was just browsing the weather site when I noticed that Jan 1st and 2nd had snow storm predictions in Tahoe which meant, our Ski trip would further get pushed. So hubby made instant decision to go skiing on 31st. The only problem was we had already committed to a New year get together for the evening. After some browsing / consulting, we booked a room for 30th and headed to Tahoe. We spent the night at the hotel (played Sequence after a long time) and headed to Tahoe on 31st. It was a bright sunny day ... perfect for skiing... if only the kids co-operated and rentals did not have long queue. We braved all odds and still managed so go tubing and kids enjoyed snow rides after much persuasion.

We came back home around 6:30pm and went for the party at 8:00pm. We played Dumb cherads / 20 questions ... and had yummy food and welcomed new year by cutting a nice cake. We were home around 12:30, wished family members and hit the sack.

Apart from all the activities above, managed to watch some movies (all movies were watched late night starting at 10:30pm)

Overall a great break ... and the grind begins now :)

Happy 2011 !

Summer break almost done

Summer vacations are soon coming to an end ....

School Supplies - Check

New Pants - Check

New Tops - Still to be done

New skirts - Check

Shoes - Check

The classroom list will be out the next week.

My little girl will start school next week in a new positive attitude :)

Cousin bonding

My 21 months old nephew is coming to our house since yesterday ... and its interesting to see how toddlers bond. My 2 year old who once could care less about her cousin's presence has suddenly started to bond with him. Their games / conversations are interesting.

She calls out "Hi S" the moment he steps into our house .... and the little fella responds with "P .. P.." calling out her name. My 6 year old then gives him a tight hug and he is only too pleased to be cuddled. Then starts their "Game" of running around the house scream some war zone cries at the top of their lungs.

The way this game is initiated is simple ... one of the toddlers screams out the high pitch cry and starts running ... turns back after 8-10 steps and looks at the other. Signal enough for the other to join the fun.

I as much as I see the little ones bond, I so wish my 6 year old had a similar play date as well :)

Bicycle

I learnt to bicycle when I was 10 ... the same year I started cycling to school. The school route went through some busy streets ... but I managed just fine. I rode my bike to every single class I attended be it music or dance. I event went to different corners of the city to participate in various competitions on my bike and thoroughly enjoyed the independence.

My daughter has been biking since she turned 3 (with training wheels) and 4, with out training wheels. That was quite an early start, we thought. (parents's pride)

But I don't see many kids biking to school or other classes here in the US. I understand there is a lot of traffic here and the speed of the automobiles is quite high ...

But is that the reasons for fewer kids biking to school or it is more parent's not approving biking for other reasons ???

My daughter is going to be 6 in 2 days, and I do not plan to send her biking to school atleast the next 2 years.

Card games

Ispit - as it is called in our household, is one family entertainer for the adults.

Kids under the age of 20 are not allowed to participate .... and most kids in the family seem to have mastered the skill even before they start playing, just by observing. (me included)

Cards is not played in our house for money ... its for fun .... "Nirmal Anand ke liye Khelte hain".

We play lots of games

* 250 points Rummy

* Best of 7 (limited to 7 games)

* 28

* Hearts

* Oh hell (*not sure about the origin of the name*) ... sometimes called Justice

* 26

* Donkey

* Set

Of these the last 3 days has seen us playing Oh hell, 26 , Best of 7 and Rummy .... It had been almost 2 years since I played cards ... I was pleasantly surprised to find out no degradation in my expertise :)

Candies

We celebrated our second daughter's birthday in May. The theme for the party was "Candies". We planned hard to have everything in alignment to the theme.

* Made candies in different / shapes and sizes for decoration

* Made a Candyland game (blocks) for the guests

* Made a Cookie house

* Made giant Lollypops and gumballs

* Made Giant Ice cream cones

* Made candy Table center pieces

* Return gifts to ladies - Raisin candies wrapped in glass bottle

* Return gifts to kids - Books (this could very well have been candies ... but the prize as part of Candyland game was candy)

The food was catered. Menu was Nav Ratan Korma, Baingan Bhartha, Naan, Veggie Biryani, Raitha, Veg Pakora, Curd rice. We had special items planned for the kids ... like pop corn, Peanut butter / Jelly Sandwich, Cone ice creams (3 flavors).

The only hitch was end was May still proved chilly and windy. Our efforts would have been fruitful had it been a warm sunny day ... but alas. But the birthday girl had a blast ... and to me that was the most satisfactory part.

Some of the candies we had mimicked were:

* Ferrero Rocher

* Ghirardelli

* Nestle

* Hershey's

* Lindt

* Eclair

* Crunch

* Rocky Mountain

* Skittle

* Chocolate Orange

* Mounds

* Almond Joy

The guests were asked to list down the candies they saw around and point out any spelling mistakes :) It was fun watching teenager / pre-teens out do their parents :)

Parents are here ....

Daddy and amma came to our house June 23rd ... wednesday. It has been such a relief for the past few days. My daughter's school closed for summer break on June 10th. Since then hubby and I took turns to stay home with the kids.

My parents landed around 1:00pm on 23rd and my girls instantly bonded with them. Even my otherwise shy younger one gelled quite well with them.

Its been two weeks since their arrival and we have already made a trip to LA ... looking forward to spending an exciting summer with them.

LA Trip

Recent trip to LA was a last minute decision... but turned out just great.We left early saturday morning to reach Hollywood around 1:30pm. Universal Studios was alive with people walking all around as expected :) Each ride came with a wait time ... the longer the wait time better the ride. Studio tour had the longest wait time of 60 minutes where we sweated ourselves in the hot sun despite the cooling fan arrangements made. Dad loved the tour... especially the KingKong / Dinosaur episode of the tour.

We took turns to take care of my little one ... and covered most of the rides. We wrapped up our visit by 9:15 and drove to our hotel. Reached there by around 10:00pm ... ate our packed food and called it a day.

Next morning woke up at ease and were ready to tackle the Disneyland by 10:00am. We enjoyed most of the rides there ... my dad who usually avoids rides, braved most rides much to my surprise. The kids were enthralled by atmosphere that they hardly noticed their hunger. (yes ... food ... especially vegetarian food is a big challenge) They loved Mickey, Minnie, Donald .. Princess and all the other disney characters. Small Wonder was the most favoured ride. We exit the park around 8:00pm and headed straight to Udupi. And boy... were we glad !! The food was delicious ... our daughters who require some eating requests, were more than eager to gobble the food :) Oh yes .. we watched the July 4th fireworks from the restaurant.

Next morning we bid bye to LA around 10:30am and headed straight to the Bay area. With some breaks in between for lunch and rest and with traffic we reached Bay area around 5:30pm.

Nice vacation indeed ! Much needed break from mundane life ..

Movies watches lately

Naanu Nanna Kanasu - 4 star

Wake up Sid - 3 star

3 Idiots - 3.5 star

Avatar - 2 star

Rajneeti - 2.5 star

Pyar Impossible - 1 star ( did not ... rather could not complete it)

Don (SRK) - 3 star

Singh is Kingg - 3 star

Athiti Kab Jaoge - 3 star

ps: Lately is past 6 months :) only Naanu Nanna Kanasu was watched in theatre :)

One year since that day ....

 Already a year has passed since the day my grandpa passed away ... 365 days just went by and still I can recount the turn of events on that day.

 I still miss ajja ... I may have moved continents far away from home ... but the time spent in ajja's house is fresh. Those were some awesome days I will never be able to forget. Thank you ajja and ajja for all the love and warmth you showered on us ... I may not have expressed my love for you in words ... but I hope you know I truly love you guys !

Vocabulary improvement

 My younger daughter is on a roll these days ... she barely talked except for unintelligible words like dadada, tama, kabakaba, bubbaayeeee etc along with some sensible words like amma, abba (for appa), nana etc. For the past month and a half, she has added several words to her talking list including togoli (take it), All done, (soon after her bath is done) Chikki, Chitatata (chikkappa), kakka, poo poo, illa, beda, yethkoli, alli etc. Sometimes she surprises us with words like Barolla, Kodalla ...

 She is one smart girl who understands almost everything we tell her and communicates in her own way. Observing her interaction with her sister is the most interesting passtime for me and hubby.

 She usually sleeps by herself after dinner when she is in her bed and is given her white blanket. But yesterday, she saw me with her sister and insisted on joining us in the fun. It felt lovely to have both my girls on either side of me. They crawled all over me and I felt like a lioness with her cubs .... but that didn't last too long since both wanted my exclusive attention. Nonetheless the experience was just lovely ! 

Death

It happened again ... the phone rang in the middle of the night ... the news was the same ... a family member's death ... the person this time my cousin ... my doddappa's son.

 I cannot begin to say how much shocked I am. I interacted with him just a few days back during my India visit ... he had no health problems. He had just gone to cheer his daughter participating in a Table Tennis match ... had just written down 12 participants' names .. was writing the 13th one's name when he just collapsed ... and he was gone .. just like that. No words .. no good byes ... gone !

 The family is shattered to say the least ... and is in deep shock.

I feel helpless ... frustrated and pained.

India Vacation

Highlights of my recent trip (July 9 - Aug 2) to India

* Daddy seeing my second daughter for the first time

* Me travelling / vacationing with kids (and MIL) without hubby accompanying us for the first time

* Meeting close family

* Missing to meet close friends (had plans ... but kid falling sick ruined the plans)

* Hogging on home made food (Bisi bele bhath, obbattu, plum cake, nippattu, tengolu, chomai, rumali roti, shalya anna, dry fruits milkshake, jolada rotti, basundi etc etc)

* Visiting new / renovated house of every single relative I visited

* Visit Mysore zoo after decades ... visit Chamundi hills

* Shop every single day of my stay in Mysore.

And what did I like best? Well ... just being in my house with my parents in Mysore !

Forgetful me...

I had it all planned in my head the things I wanted to discuss with my manager before she went on a vacation. The clock ticked 4'o clock ... I reminded myself one last time of the 25 things I needed to discuss.

 I greeted her and sat down for the discussion. Just as I was done with my discussion, I remembered to discuss that last thing I had missed in reminding myself before the meeting. 

 I came out of the meeting feeling all smug about having discussed everything I wanted and more ...

 Only when I was about to call it a day I remembered the entire purpose of the meeting was to discuss the different issues to be taken care during the time my manager was to go on vacation ... I was going to act her backup ... and I forgot to wish her a happy vacation !! 

 I think I'll stick to my idea of writing down all points in a notepad before I head for a meeting ... 

Farm animals party

My daughter's first birthday celebrated last weekend had a farm animals or Baryard theme. My sister and I cut out farm animals, made out a barn, tractor and arranged the same on the table to give a barnyard feel. The cake was specially designed to match the barnyard theme. (actually the bakery did not have exact barnyard cake, so had to give specific instructions to the decorator)

 We also made masks of farm animals and handed the same to all the kids. Guests really appreciated our "DIY" efforts. 

 We played 3 games ... Tail the donkey, Musical chairs and Memory game. The last one was for couples and it was fun watching the parents struggling to remember the list of barn animals they had just seen.

 Food was excellent ... vegetable pakora, chips, water melon served as starters ... Navratan Korma, Dal Makhaani, Naan, Veggie Biryani and Raitha was the main course, Curd rice and Carrot Halwa rounded the menu. Guests really enjoyed the food ... the sad part was we had ordered more food than required fearing shortage. Thus ended up eating the same food for the next 3 days. 

 We had neatly arranged the return gifts in gifts bags. It comprised of a piggy bank (of different farm animals like cow, sheep, duck, pig etc), a craft toy making set, candies and a thank you note. Overall I was quite satisfied with the way we celebrated the birthday.

 Hubby would have preferred summoning someone to entertain the kids I guess... so the next year it will be his way perhaps :) 

24th May - First birthday party

We had our younger ones' first birthday party over the weekend. I was truly amazed and touched by the willingness demonstrated by some of our friends and family to help out . Within minutes after lunch, family and friends helped us clean up the hall and pack up everything (left over food and presents, decorations etc).

 

 It felt really good to be surrounded by such supportive and generous people.

THANK YOU ALL !!! 

2009 - Indian Cabinet Ministers

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Complete-list-of-Cabinet-ministers/articleshow/4590365.cms

 a good list to be aware of !

Milestone ....

 My older daughter has crossed another milestone ... she can ride a bicycle.

 The look on my husband's face on the day she achieved this milestone was priceless. And she achieved this feat on May 5th 2009 ... much before her 5th year birthday ... due in July.

 We bought this bicycle as a present for her second year birthday. At that time, it was too big for her to even sit on it ... her feet were left dangling in the air if we did manage to put her on the seat. For the first few months after the purchase, she avoided going anywhere close to it. Hubby kept encouraging her to get familiar with its parts atleast ... but she would have none of it.

 After pleading and persuading, hubby managed to teach her to ride the bicycle a week before her 3rd year birthday. This was with training wheels though. 

 Ever since, she loved riding her bike and was quite comfortable riding it to grocery stores, library, parks etc. So it was only a matter of time that her training wheels were to come out. 

 This time though it did not take a lot of effort on hubby's part ... she was quite familiar with the parts and could reach the ground with her feet. But she did whine when the training wheels came out ... eventually she learnt to balance and now can't stop gushing about her feat. 

 Congratulations my dear daughter ! You have reached another milestone !

The same milestone your mother reached when she was 10 years old on her BSA SLR. If you are someone like your mother, you'll continue to love riding your bike for many many more years to come !

POWER OUTAGE

Its amazing how life comes to a stand still in the US with a power outage. This morning, with no warnings there was a power outage in our area. A very rare occurrence for sure. We were already tossing in the bed around 5:30am because of the humidity when the power went out. That woke me up instantly.

 I am known in the family for waking up from my deepest sleep within a second the fan in the room is turned off. It was already dawn .. but I didn't know what I could do being awake. So I lay on my bed. The things we missed:

* A fan to keep the room

* Stove to make fresh tea

* Stove to prepare breakfast / pack lunch

* Lights in the hallway / bathroom

* Garage key since the opener wouldn't function

* My cordless phone

* Internet connection

It was almost our entire morning had come to a halt. Thankfully the power resumed around 7:40 am and we were back to our normal morning routine.