Looking forward to the new year !

So Its been a month I logged in blogger to type...The little baby keeps me busy and when I am free I am too lazy to pen my days....

A year back, when we attended a friend's kiddo birthday party, we were in couple-phase and were surrounded by friends with kids...They were sharing tons and tons of stories about their babies and toddlers and stories/experiences about Diapers,Spit up,Colic,baby blues, dresses,toys,Strollers,Sleep,Swaddle- I was jus smiling there and wondering how I am going to handle it ....All said and done, being a new parent, now all I mind now is to make sure the little king burps at the end of his feeding, if the little one poops and pees, if the little one is sleeping properly and if I am doing it right...

And with all these things, 2008 is coming to an end and If I read posts from earlier this year, I see that it is quite an eventful year with pregnancy to parents visiting to 10 day road trip to nice vacation with friends to resigning job to 1-month old Junior :-), Quite an eventful year isn't it?

So There I am ready to welcome 2009 and looking forJan 17 for our trip back home. Yes, We are moving back to chennai and everybody in family are eagerly waiting :-) A lot of things to do and lot of occassions to look forward in the next year with family around.... So the next few days are going to be busy with us packing baggages to check in and I want to stuff all my belongings in check-in luggages and getting ready to travel with small one...The house is almost clear with most of the items sold and most of items packed for shipping...The shippers will be here next week this time and then we have 2 more week before we fly...A lot of occasions have been planned already and I hope and pray everything works out and we settle soon :-)

So I am ready to welcome 2009 with a spring in my step and wish everyone a happy & prosperouse new year ! :-)

.....The little one joins us

After few days of dilly dallying, the little one joins my small world on November 17th, 2008.



My whole world is rocked.One day Life is a bliss. One day Its a total disaster. One day Life is totally blur. One day Its like Kodak moments. And we learn everyday :-)

Whats happening?

A lot of things happening in my world …

I could have written a blog post about the super quick valaigappu arranged at my home after my parents arrived….Or will a pic be suffice ;-)?

Or I could have written about the humongous packing going on at my home and making an accurate inventory of small and large things to be shipped. Or will a pic suffice?

Or I could have written about last minute shopping and preparation for our baby's arrival at my home.

Or I could have written about Param’s latest addiction with his DSLR or should a pic be suffice?

Or I could have written about how my due date has passed and I am still waiting anxiously ;-)

But actually I could not put my thoughts in words with my world spinning so fast. So this post with little nothings - cluster of happenings……

Negotiator

To start preparing for moving back, we started selling off few things from home. And one of them was a shoe rack. We advertised it for $10. One of the guys came to pick it up. And he started bargaining with me. I am not good at all with bargains and bargaining. I just told him I do not want to negotiate. Then he gave me money. I just counted and it was $9 and he immediately said that he forgot to bring $10. As I had already got the money, I said its fine. These guys are tricky to deal with ;-) Maybe by the end of all the sales and move, I will become a pro.

Today was book sale day in my neighbourhood library. I added few books to my collection to bake more :-)

Time for sweet treat !!

Once in a while, I need to treat myself with sweets - Sweet mini butter cookies.

Verdict - Delicious !!

Have been there....Done that

I worked hard my way thru school, did not bunk any classes at college (actually it was more of I could not bunk), was very honest daughter to my parents and got a job after months of hard work !!, At my first job, I did my very best only to quit it at the end to get married. I could have continued to live in Chennai after marriage and while him in NJ. I see lot of couples who do successful long distance. But being the girl I am, I wanted to live together after marriage. I never thought of how this would change my life. I decided to take life as it comes. I came here with no clue about what I am getting into…In fact I was not forced to move here but decide I wanted to enter the next stage of life… In retrospect, if it had decided to hold on to my old life, I am not so sure if I would have changed to what I am now …Living together definitely makes both persons to work for the relationship…

When I came here, I just stayed at home idly and did whatever new to me…like blogging…Then the impatient me applied for work permit. Surprisingly I got into the same kind of job I was doing back home. Life went on and when things were getting better we had to move to West coast and I quit again. Once again, I had the luck to get another job in my field at west coast where opportunities were very meager compared to east coast. That leaves you with the question why I am writing all this today….Now I am resigning again....Today is my last day at work! As I continue to wrap up my work, present my overall activities to team, submit all my expenses, return the test cars, delete my old mails, uninstall Google talk from my laptop, say Good bye to colleagues, I keep wondering how the next stage is going to be and how life is going to unfold … I know I will have my hands full with baby and moving back home–but will I work again?-At this point I do not know - I leave it to Future-Me :-)

With all these things going on, one thing that I want to write down here is the way friends/families annoy me whenever I talk about quitting my job. A few friends commented that I should quit working at least for few years and that I will not be doing justice to my kid if I start working sooner. I get it that I need a break and will not rush to work again. But advises from people who haven't quit once, folks who have had kids and continued to work, folks who have always put career before everything, folks who don’t want to become financially dependent, folks who haven't handled any serious relationships really irks me…..

Any way, coming back to what I feel, I will be restarting again with a clean slate just like I did 3 years ago when I came here…At that time, It was leaving behind parents, family, friends and job and no confidence me! Given the situation, I handled it pretty well. Now it is again leaving behind friends and job but a stronger me. So I am more optimistic with the future :-)

I thank thee

Thanks everybody for the wishes!!!

Jus flash back to February and thinking how things were happening from back then, I need to write it down before I forget how thankful I am to lot of friends and family…

Day when I saw 2 faint lines in the kit- day when I kept on assuring myself I am pregnant- Day when I was wondering how its going to be life changing from then on ….I think that was one of the days I was more thankful than ever to my guiding angel above

Day when I informed my whole family and my brothers - when they called me to wish the best- I said to myself- “You little bun, you are gifted to have a sweet family to pamper you soon“

A lot of days when I thank my body as the 1st trimester went as breeze with no nausea and vomiting.

Days when I have good friends around for lot of reasons
For
A friend who sent me fruit basket

Another good friend who sent me “A Cute T-shirt”
Best friend who visited me all the way from east coast to wish me luck
Nice friend who made me tasty Gulab jamuns

College Friends who arranged for a cute baby shower when I was lowest in my spirits
Colleague friend who took me to a nice dinner during a test drive after we were dead tired driving in LA

Days when Param tries his best to take care both of us – I am thankful for the wonderful support from my dear husband

All I can do in return is feeling grateful to everybody and God and just pray for the guidance for forthcoming months.

I jus feel contented and happy right now :-)

To our 3 !!!

We have come a long way -From strangers to couple
3 years back existed 2 different worlds

F1, Partying & Laptop ruled one world
Work,TV & Shopping ruled the other
On this day both merged
and there we created our own world
With not mine,not yours
But our choices :-)

So Toast to us for
Respecting each other

Loving each other

Accepting each other
Admiring each other
Knowing our strength and weakness
And not the least
For soon-to-be-little addition to our family :-)

Pics :My cake creation for our anniversary :-)

Today

Just when I see vinayagar chaturthi in calendar every year, I think of Tirunelveli days…Days When I had to get up early for Poojai, Days when I hear Seerkazhi Govindarajan singing "Vinayaganey Vinai theerpavaney" in nearby temple, Days when I get to eat sweets like kozhukkatai, ell urundai,sundal, sakkarai pongal and modhakam along with steaming idly/chutney .I guess almost all our festivals are associated with food and those memories. Days when we go to Kokkirakula pillayar kovil and pray (this is a pillayar on banks of thamiraparani, he sits on the river bank and Our families have been visiting this temple for years. It’s a favorite place for me and I have been going there every time I am going to start something new or big. The place gives me great inner peace.), Days I go to my chithi’s home and enjoy the food at her home…Days when we get blessings from elders...Things have changed a lot now and Still these memories are etched to my heart for ever…and once in a while I get to recreate them As far as I can and Today I wanted to celebrate my mentor’s birthday in a grander way

Quote

Listened @ Olympics' 08:
From Dara Torres
"You don't have to put an age limit for your dreams."
Very true :-)

Choose !! Choose !! Choose!!

When it comes to decorating a house, I don't have much idea. But I hear others talking about different ideas from Crown molding to Corner table and all I have is an avid interest to learn from the enthusiasts who write about it in web, who show their decor in Home TV, who write in blogs, who write books....And collectively I think I now have the resources to plan on decorating my own... leave alone the decision making part though ;-)

As our new home is getting ready @ Chennai, we will soon be selecting paints, main door, oonjal etc.. Though my mom and dad do regular progress check of construction, I wanted to start give my ideas to implement before it is too late.

And now one of the mind boggling things for me is painting the house & color selection -I know I want to paint the corner wall in a different color from the side walls and when I browse at Asian paints- OMG They have all kinds of choices and for a too-scared-to-decide-person like me, too many choices are always going to be difficult.

When we decided to buy a home, Param made the choice on builder and apartments and we decided then that I will have the final say on our home interior decoration.

Since it is almost time for me to call my shots, I am kind of getting overwhelmed with the choices and the thought that I cannot blame him if anything goes wrong ;-)

BTW, We do not want to have the usual dining table in our home, since we both realize we mostly use it as a table to leave our handbags etc. Hence I am thinking about a low dining table where you get to sit more close to the floor (though the downside is that it will be a little tough on folks with arthritis)

Anyway I need to start getting my shortlist of painting & decoration ideas, furniture choices in chennai soon and I need suggestions and your experience- Anything that worked out for you :-)

I am learning the ropes :-)

A salute to Sun !!

Finally, my Mini Sunflower has bloomed :-)
My 150th post :-)

Long Weekend

Met one of my best friends after a year - check
Made umpteen changes to vacation plan and finally chose a nice place nearby - check
Had a mokkai dinner with all friends - check
Realizing how we are still the same old person among our old friends - check
Get stuck in holiday traffic - check
Using the phone like A walkie-talkie with OVER at the end of every sentence while coordinating travel between 2 cars- check
Swimmers swimming at Lake Tahoe - Check
Getting wrong food than ordered at restaurant - Check
Sitting at beach in evening sun continue mokkai - Check
Waiting for salad dinner over an hour at Gar Woods grill (Rachel Ray's favi) - check
Trying to get a glimpse of fireworks and driving into Coast Guard Area unknowingly- check Teaching Poker and Playing until 2 am with mokkais - check
Lying on beach with no sun block lotion and getting sun burns - check
Friends having fun with Kayaks - Check
Window shopping - Check
Having Good food at Local restaurants - check
Teasing a friend who was always hungry - Check
All gals in a car drive- check
Gambling at Reno and making $70 - Check
Late yet surprisingly tasty dinner at Casino - Check
Surprise party with friends at home- Check
Group photos - Check
Group collegians photos- Check
Boring Param with our college stories - Check
Having breakfast at local bagel shop with smoothies on the house- Check
Speed boat ride across the lake - check
Giving titanic poses - Check
An over enthu friend pestering everyone for photos- check
Broken car A/C in sweltering summer & traffic - Check
Trying to pass the snacks to gang in the other car on freeway - Check
Friends fooling us that they were ahead of us and we chasing them while they were actually behind us on freeway- Check
Muniyandi vilas dinner where non vegetarians had their night - Check
SFO tour in 3 hrs - Check
Clicked Lombard street with different cameras- Check
Grabbing to go dinner from Udupi restaurant - Check
Transferring photos and making CD copies in 10 min - Check
Dropping friends at airport and waving sad Good byes- Done
All in all had a nice memorable weekend along
with Losing a thing close to heart - Did not want to check but happened

Books again

I had always wanted to read Biographies and I am glad I chose to read "Its not about the bike: My journey back to life" - A book about Lance Armstrong and his fight with Cancer. Fantastic & Inspiring book, more than review I would like to capture a few lines from the book:

As I rode upward I reflected on my life, back to all points, my childhood, my early races,my illness and how it changed me. Maybe it was the primitive act of climbing that made me confront the issues I'd been evading for weeks. It was time to quit stalling. I realized. Move I told myself. If you can still move,you aren't sick...I was meant for a long,hard climb...

Last Weekend @ SFO

Last weekend at SFO with Param's chittappa and chithi :-)

Life is good..

You go to San Francisco for a business meeting at 6 pm, have a discussion until 8:30 pm, reach office at 9:45 pm and drive back home at 10:15 pm, and see a plate of hot idly with chutney on the table :-)

Tid bits !!

Last week was my birthday. I always like the month of June, with schools reopening and already half a year is over. But also for the fact that it has my birthday :-) My friends and family always make it a special day :-) My sister sent a cute presentation with my old photos from '81 -'08. I was so happy :-) The next day we met a bunch of my college friends. After watching a movie, we had dinner at Banana Leaf (Malaysian restaurant). There I had a surprise b’day cake (from friends & Param). It is a very nice feeling to be loved :-) I am very happy I got to hang out regularly with my college friends at least after a few years. It is good fun and I am sure I will miss them next year.

************

Convertible கனவுகள்

From childhood whenever I see films with open cars, I used to dream about driving them one day. And when I was here, where we can rent any cars, I kept on pestering Param to rent a convertible one day :-)

And at my last job, knowing this, my team lead once gave me a ride in BMW Z4. It was a good experience with 2 girls in convertible, giggling and felt like cinema to me :-)

And today, I got a chance to drive a convertible on a super sunny day....

Glad One of my kutti kutti aasai has come true!!

*****************

Now-a-days , they have quite a few costume days at my office -> Nice dress up day, Hawaii day, and today Shorts day...Cool to come to office in various colors and theme!!

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Why do I blog?

Everyday when I go around blog hopping, I find a lot of beautifully written blogs! Be it joy or sad or remembrance or thankfulness or about baking or about cooking or be it travelogues – they express emotions very well. These blogs always inspire me to keep blogging.

I was trying to remember "Why did I start to write?”. It was mainly because I had ample time at home after marriage and I wanted to use it to improve my writing skills. Then I thought I should somewhere log my days. I used to write personal diary @ college but somehow discontinued it after college days. Thus, my blog tend to be more of an open diary. A nice friend of mine even advised me not to write so much in public. He fears it might somehow become my disadvantage one day. But I try to convince him the other way. In retrospect, I feel I chose to record all nice happy memories during these days rather than the sad & angry memories!

Days went on and friends started reading. Ex-colleagues started reading. Old college friends started reading. Then my family folks started reading. I am glad I chose this place only to record happy memories for my small world to read :-)

Does it count for short story?

She was in her office attending 2 hour meeting. The last lindt chocolate was on the table tempting her. She knew she already ate a big share that day. But still she could not concentrate on her meeting.

All her concentration was on the small truffle wrapped in a white foil, smiling at her. She knew she had to work-out & burn 200 calories if she is going to eat it. She knew her friends & families are asking her to loose some weight. The meeting was over. The chocolate was still begging her to eat it. Though she only had salad for lunch, she ate that last chocolate without any further thought!

When will women stop feeling guilty about eating a chocolate?

Birthday time :-)

Every Year on this day, I get on full swing to make cake for You-know-Who :-)

This year, I fast-forwarded his birthday 2 days so that we can celebrate with my amma and sister before they return back to India. With my new cake decorating skills, I grew in confidence to bake a 3D cake...As car is one of his favorite items, I chose a 3D cruiser cake.

I baked the cake day before yesterday. Since the cake was big, it took around 1 hour to bake and more than 5 hours to cool! Yesterday morning, it took 2 hours for me to decorate it with home-made icing...Thats the cake below.


The cream was real yummy and everyone loved it :-) We all had a fun evening yesterday
In retrospect, I should have made a red car for him as he is a Ferrari supporter. Anyway, I tried out my favi color :-)

And I am smiling ear to ear seeing it come out very well :-)
Happy birthday Dear Param :-)

Family Fun trip :-)

Yay! I am back after a great 10 days of vacation!! We had a fantastic time with my mother and sister. My father had to return to India urgently before our road trip and hence couldn't join.

All in all,

• We enjoyed watching Shamu @ Sea world.
• My mother & sis did a lot of thrilling rides.
• We went on safari at Animal park and fed giraffes.
• Everybody had their dream day at Disneyland,LA and an easy day at Universal, LA
• We enjoyed fabulous Vegas- took lots of pics.
• We were amazed by Hoover dam - one of 7 engineering wonders.
• Spell bound by sun rise @ Grand Canyon, thrilled by Helicopter ride over the canyon and mesmerized by the IMAX movie there.
• Enjoyed American/Continental breakfast on all 10 days and I was very happy to see my mother and sis enjoying it as well (Denny's & IHOP were memorable).
• Had a tasty dinner at Woodlands,LA and sumptuous dinner at Tamba, LV.
• We did a lot of chit-chat during our road trip
• Enjoyed ice cream, candy, juices & cotton candy.
• Had a great road trip across lonely hills & desert like terrains of Nevada and Arizona.
• Took tons of lovely family pictures during the trip

On a whole, my mother and sister had their best vacation trying out all sorts of new things. So did we :-)
These days will stay in my diary forever :-)

Super Busy days

My parents have arrived last week and Its kinda of Super-busy from then! They came 8 hours late as they missed a couple of their connection flights due to delay!! We were at the airport 2 hours earlier with WELCOME Balloon and kutti hand made gift for my sis...I was very happy to see them after a year. We told each other how much we have gained/lost weight and had the usual chit-chat all the way to our home. Everyone enjoyed the nice dinner I prepared for them ;-)

The next few days, we did pretty much nothing as they had jet lag... Anyway, after the couple of days, we took them to a Mexican Restaurant and they seem to enjoy the food (to my surprise) as they said Mexican is good :-) My mother has even become a fan of Star bucks! Then came the weekend and we went on a trip to do white-water rafting. The whole gang (9 ppl) drove up to South Fork American river @ Coloma, CA. We had a sumptuous picnic lunch under the shades of trees while chatting/pulling each other's legs...Was great fun (Will post the rafting pictures soon when we get it from the photographer).

Then the gang set out for the river rafting while I gave company to my parents. My sis was all excited to try it and so was Param. I am sure they had super fun in the water, while we 3 gossiped family stories sitting on a bench and had the whole park for ourselves.. After rafting we headed back and had a good dinner at Krung Thai restaurant (2 hours) ;-) My parents seemed to be able to try it as well (surprise, surprise!!).The whole trip was quite memorable for me , with great company and Saturday ended with most of us tired/sore for different reasons...:-)

We had planned to go for 17-mile drive on Sunday, but everybody was so tired that we dropped the idea and instead went to Kuruvi -Kuppai padam....I had made vegetable puff for evening Tiffin and we had it in theater - just like old times.. And so the Whole week finished so fast :-) Now I am waiting for this Friday when we will be on vacation for 10 days - on a Road trip to LA, San Diego, Las Vegas & Grand Canyon. More updates soon.

Tag from NY girl :-)

Last Movie Seen In A Theatre?
Billa..did not like it so much.

What Book Are You Reading?
Pastries.

A Favourite Board Game?
Trade while in school days and now Scrabble and Chess .

Favourite Magazine?
I don't read anything regularly..I need to work on this soon.

Favourite Smells?
Smell of Rasam on the stove, Jasmine flower, Ripen mango, jackfruit smell.

Favourite Sound?
Mouna Raagam BGM.

Worst Feeling In The World?
When I could not do what I had promised earlier.

What Is The First Thing You Think Of When You Wake?
I need a coffee.

Favourite Fast Food Place?
Adyar Ananda Bhavan for me.

Future Child’s Name?
I haven't decided yet.

Finish This Statement: If I Had A Lot of Money, I’d…
Celebrate first and then decide

Do You Drive Fast?
Only when I am late to office meetings at 8 am

Do You Sleep With A Stuffed Animal?
NO..

Storms– cool or scary?
Cool, A nice blanket around, Cup of tea and bajji, few good friends and card game.
Scary If I am driving.

Do You Eat The Stems on Broccoli?
Why not?

If You Could Dye Your Hair Any Colour, What Would Be Your Choice?
Brown may be, actually I do not like to dye my hair.

Name All The Different Cities/Towns You’ve Lived In.
Bombay,Tiruchi,Tirunelveli,Sivakasi,Chennai,New Jersey, Cupertino.

Favourite Sports To Watch:
Nothing as of now

One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You:
I love her passion for good film making.

What’s Under Your Bed?
Nothing.

Would You Like To Be Born As Yourself Again?
Sure...Yes

Morning Person or Night Owl?
Night Owl.

Over Easy or Sunny Side Up?
I don't know.

Favourite Place To Relax?
Home.

Favourite Pie?
Cakes please.

Favourite Ice-Cream Flavour?
Dulce-di-liche and Arun Pistachio,Tutty fruity.

You Pass This Tag To–
Any one who wants to write a tag.

Of All The People You Tagged, Who’s Most Likely To Respond First?
I don't know!!

They will be here next week !!!

All my friends around me would have already known my excitement, but writing it in my blog is always a special thing to me....

Last year around this time, I had returned from my India trip and this time , my parents are visiting us :-). It's been a year since we saw each other and so we are excited!

My mother has been preparing a long list of snacks to bring, and my sister is busy shopping clothes and already started her packing ;-).My father wraping up his work before the vacation, and I am cleaning our home one area everyday to make it more presentable ;-)

You can definitely expect a few travelogues in my blog in coming weeks :-)

Image source: cartoonstock.com

Dec 2006 ->July 2007->January 2008->Now

Running->Tennis ->Poker-> Chess

We have started playing chess now. Few weeks back we got a chess board and now playing one game of chess is the last thing we do before we sleep. I have to say Its very refreshing. All I do now is trying to learn all tactics of the game and beat Param. That's the goal of the month :-)

My new stash box

Personalised by me :-)

To us

For 1 more reason :-)

I say

our

Images Courtesy: Google Image search

Cake class - Finale

This weekend was hectic! With our last cake deco class on Sunday, I wanted to bake & take a 2-layer cake for the finale and so started baking on Friday night. The first cake I baked crumbled :-( So I had to bake all-over again and this time I decided to bake additional cake layers for back-up. Thus, finally I ended-up with a 3-layer cake after buring couple of extra hours on bake sessions :-) This time I did the cake leveling well. Then I did a joint frosting session with my friend on Saturay. Sunday's cake class went well as we learnt to do stems, leaves etc. At last we were left to decorate our cake the way we liked I am happy with the way mine came out :-).

I even got a course completion certificate!

Its a memorable experience which will stay in my diary bringing back sweet memories whenever I see it later. I am happy I tried this class.

Subha, now as I have little confidence,I promise to male a cake for you when you visit me :-)