Tagging along...

I was tagged by S again, and here goes...

1. Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it.
I have a scar on my right leg. My parents had taken out the mattress of our cot to clean the place and me being 7-8 years was playing around the place. I looked at the cot without the planks and a bright idea occured to me. I had recently watched the movie Sagara Sangamam and was fascinated about how Kamal Hasan danced on the walls of a well balancing himself so well. I was at that point learning Bharatnatyam and wanted to try a leg at this act and went ahead when I got a chance to be alone in the room. And ofcourse I fell and scraped my leg pretty badly. I remember it was a sunday and we could not find a doctor for a long time and the wound bled a lot. I get the shivers thinking about it even today!

2. What is on the walls in your room?
A mirror.

3. What does your phone look like?
I am not too crazy about phones so much so that I dont remember the model of mine..its a silver colored flip phone Sony Ericson Z500 something.

4. What music do you listen to?
Started with just bollywood and Pop, now I also like rock, some forms of country, indian classical (ahem I know some people who know me are going what??? )

5. What is your current desktop picture?
A picture of my baby with one of her naughiest possible looks. :)

6. What do you want more than anything right now?
To pause and take a break from the routine and enjoy what I have.

7. Do you believe in gay marriage?
Yes why not its a free world.

8. Are your parents still together?
Very happily together.

9. What are you listening to?
Sounds of my colleague typing and friday afternoon chit chat from the break room.

10. Do you get scared of the dark?
Yes especially after I've watched a horror movie.

11. The last person to make you cry?
My baby, when she kept hugging me last evening when I returned home late from work.

12. What kind of hair/eye type do you like on the opposite sex?
I like black eyes and any type of hair. Not too fond of bald heads.

13. Do you like pain killers?
Yep when in pain I sure do, after I saw what labor pain feels like and I took the epidural. It is a god sent gift!

14. Are you too shy to ask someone out?
Depends, my shyness is pretty unpredictable.

15. Favourite pizza topping?
onion, tomato, green bell pepper, pineapple, crushed red pepper and cheese.

16. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?
kosumbari (cucumber salad)

A lull..

and I am back. It has been a busy time for me…so much so that I could neither post anything nor read the blogs I usually do! Lots of things going on…
Things are really busy at work and to add to this we are moving into a new place this weekend. So the usual fair that involves a move, packing, cleaning and above all the planning! But am really excited about this move as I really like the house we are moving to and also because it is a little closer to my work place. And I am hoping against hope that because of this I will get more time with my baby from here on!
I had told myself that I will not act silly and will not write about this in this post, but I cannot help it. The new place has a walk in closet and I being all of 5 ft and 1 inch think it’s the best thing that is happening to me. Now suddenly everything in my closet will be reachable! So here I am dreaming of it day and night! These days when I am not in a good mood all that B says is the magic words ‘walk-in closet’ and that’s enough to cheer me up!
And when I am not being busy at work or with the packing or dreaming about the closet, my baby is in full charge of all my attention. She is on a spree doing new things. She is standing without support for a few seconds and both we and she are thrilled about it. And she now tries to communicate with a few actions, and keeps us busy trying to decipher them. And above all she calls me Ma!!! I have been on cloud nine about it until she started calling B. Its Ma for me and Pa..pa..pa..pa..pa for B. Does the number of repetitions indicate the excitement in seeing the person….I wonder!
Anways all in all I’ve been busy but I have been busy for good reasons…and I think I am now officially back to the world of blogging.

These days...

these are some of the things my baby does...

Gets up from her sleep with a smile. Sometimes I find her playing in her crib after she has got up.

Waves to say Hi

Salutes to say good morning

Waves to say bye

Claps her hands if we sing..clap clap clap….clap your hands.

Crawls fast to the bathroom if we say shall we give you a bath.

Loves her bath. She has her own small mug with bath buddies and pours water on herself

Answers by saying hmmmnn if I ask her do you want mammm mammm (food) or laala (milk)

Looks into my eyes and tries to read my lips when I tell her something new that she does not understand.

Looks into my eyes and then looks at something and goes hmmmnn when she wants it.

Goes bananas about bananas and shows the fruit basket and goes hmmmnn meaning I want one

Has a balloon in the shape of a monkey holding a banana and knows the difference between monkey’s banana and A’s banana

Repeats after me if I sing lalalala or kakaka or tatatata.

She thinks any rhythmic sound is music and moves her body to the tune, like the sound of the dishwasher or stirring a cup with a spoon.

Loves her bitter sweet vitamin drops and asks for it every night with her usual hmmmnn. Once she has had her dose smiles at me and then the bottle on the table knowing she’ll get it again the next day.

Plays patty –pat with my hands

Plays peek-a-boo using her blanket

Likes to observe our fingers and imitate when we sing ‘Where is thumbkin’
She moves all her fingers when it comes to ‘Where are all the fingers’

Say ‘Gimme a five’ and she will give you one.

Makes her grandparents take her for a ride on her bike all around the house

Asks her Thata to take her for a walk as soon as he gets dressed

Shows the pictures of Amamma and Thata and her Aunt when asked where they are

Waves when she sees a plane

Kisses saying aaabaaa

Does purrrrrrrrrrrr on my tummy

Clicks her tongues if she hears somebody do it.

Covers her ears with her hands if she hears the cooker or the blender.

Loves it if we play a game where we pretend that we cannot see her and say ‘Where is A, I cant see A, where did she go?’ She comes close to you and waits till you see her face and say ‘There you are!’

Pats herself if you ask her ‘Who is A?’

Loves to see pictures in books, and turns the pages one by one to see them.

Goes to sleep listening to a story in the night

Loves her soft toys and promptly hugs them every now and then

She shows her affection by patting, so when I get back from work and carry her she puts her head on my shoulder and pats my back.

Loves her blanket, she will drop anything and run to it if she sees it.

Loves her dad even more, she will even drop the blanket and run to him!

What is with my memory?

There were times when I used to remember my friends' birthdays well in advance and I used to make plans days ahead! And today I conveniently forget these dates and what is more, I don’t even realize when I see an email from them!
Aug 7th was my friend R’s birthday and yes I forgot, what is new about it these days! But what was really unbelievable is I got a general email from her this morning telling me that she is reading my posts, etc. and I still don’t realize! Here I am sending her a reply seeing her name and the date together and yet not a single clue!
Just growing old or too preoccupied with things? I think its both. I think its being too preoccupied with things because of the responsibilities with my age. Whatever! I still feel as bad as before even after all the reasoning! So, will make an effort not to be too preoccupied and get lost.
Before I delay it further, Belated Happy Birthday R!!! Hope your day was fun and the celebrations will continue through the weekend. May all your wishes come true this year!!!And I will make sure that I wish you on time for the many more birthdays to come!

Things I like...

My friend S tagged me to write my favorite things, so here goes...

1. Playing with my baby
2. Seeing her smile as soon as she wakes up
3. Walk with B on a cloudy day
4. Cloudy sky
5. Friday evenings
6. A cozy dinner
7. A relaxed evening with a movie and popcorn
8. My mom’s saaru
9. Parents and I talking in their room on Sunday afternoons and early mornings
10. Early morning walks with my dad
11. My room at my parent’s place
12. Sleep over with friends
13. Good food
14. Cooking together with B
15. My grandmother’s gojju
16. My mother in law’s pongal
17. The feeling of being home at the end of a long day
18. Well organized home
19. Talking nonstop about the day once I return home
20. A ready cup of coffee when I wake up
21. Heartfelt compliments
22. Surprises
23. Getting wet in the rain
24. Eating ice cream in the rain
25. The fresh smell of rain
26. Reading a book by the river surrounded by mountains
27. Reading a good book without putting it down
28. Unexpected holidays
29. Flowering trees in spring
30. Autumn leaves
31. Walking on dried leaves
32. Chasing birds
33. Wearing a saree
34. Fresh sheet of linen on my bed
35. Genuine smile of strangers
36. The sight of my car on a hot day
37. Singing in the shower
38. Turning in circles in an empty room
39. A long bath
40. Hair massage
41. Back massage
42. Prisms
43. Google.com

I thought I just started writing this list and I can go on and on. I think I will refer to this on gloomy days so that one of the things in the list will set things right for me! And one more thing, this list is in no particular order :)

Through a mom's eyes

Before I became a mom (or maybe to-be mom), I would find it funny that people always spoke about their kids. It seemed like they glorified every small thing that their little one did. And so I had decided, that one day when I have one of my own, I will not talk too much about my baby and will not brag about what she does.
Well, that was then and here I am now! After 9 months of pregnancy and delivering my baby and 9 months of being a new mom, I am in total awe of my princess! I cannot stop talking about her and being constantly amazed by what she does.
In March 2006, I saw a tiny black pumping dot with a heartbeat displayed on the screen of the Sonogram monitor, and that was the moment we were introduced to our baby. For the next 8 months, she moved, she squirmed, she wriggled, she kicked, and sometimes she didn’t do anything for hours and made me rush to the ER. I finally met her physically on an evening in Nov, and (here I begin) she was more than I had imagined through all the months! I say this for two reasons; I was warned by a lot of people and in my Lamaze classes about the awkwardness that babies are born with, but she looked perfect to me; And the other, I thought she was my baby too, what is with her being a photocopy of B!
She has me totally mesmerized with her actions everyday and the next day only gets even better. It has been a joy watching her achieve her physical milestones of rolling over, swimming and crawling on the floor, sitting and standing. Cannot wait to see those tiny steps! But what I have enjoyed the most is the work of her mind! Her mind seems like a sponge which just absorbs almost everything that she sees and hears. I think I can start another blog about the work of her mind! But maybe a post will follow soon.
I have been thinking about what makes my baby’s crawling or babbling so different from that of numerous kids that I have seen? What is so special about every one of those little actions that I just cannot stop talking about? I think it’s the very fact that she is the first baby I have seen transforming from that tiny dot on the ultrasound monitor, to the soccer player inside me, to the innocent face learning to satisfy her hunger, to the infant learning to be mobile, to the baby understanding her surroundings and knowing who is who, to the person who tries to communicate with her eyes and babbles! I can only see this fascination with her grow over the years, and I can now understand how each of those parents felt all these past years.

Food Blog

Just as I promised (I guess more to myself!) in my earlier blog, I have started a food blog. I have barely started posting there so bear with me!

http://treasures4life.blogspot.com/

Crush on Cash

No I do not have a crush on money, but I think I do have one on Johnny Cash! It was not until I watched the movie ‘Walk the Line’ that I was introduced to his music. The credit goes to Joaquinn Phoenix for doing such a great job on the singing. The movie was good but what kept haunting me were those songs. I put it all behind for a while, but the ‘Burns burns burns’ of the song ‘Ring of Fire’ kept echoing in my mind time and again.
B finally could not bear to hear me hum it all wrong and got me his 16 biggest hits CD.
I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to that CD, it has been a blessing on all those days I was stuck in DC traffic. I think what I really like the most is his gruff voice, but also the way he speaks some simple words into the mike along with the music to compose a song!

It has been fun to feel like a teenager again, when I hear the words ‘Hello I'm Johnny Cash’. I cannot qualify as his fan as yet as I have not heard any other songs of his other than his biggest hits, but I’ve liked what I have heard so far. My personal favorite is ‘Walk the Line’, its amazing how these three little words can mean a whole lot!

Candy or Candid?

I was walking home from the parking lot when I met my neighbor.

Me: Hello, how are you?

Neighbor: I am doing good. Been really busy. I haven’t seen you in a long time!

Me: Yes it has been a while. etc…Oh I wanted to tell you, we are moving to another place in 3 weeks.

Neighbor: Oh really! I will miss you soooooo much….etc.

I was smiling all the while, the moment she said this I stopped. Why will she miss us?? We hardly see each other once a month and when we do, it is just some friendly exchange of words without even knowing each other’s names. It was so difficult for me to talk to her for the next couple of minutes, because I knew I could not respond to her with the same kind of talk and I really didn’t want to tell her things that I did not mean!

I have been in these situations many times and have always failed to know how to react. Honestly I find it silly that people say things like this and it is so outright obvious that they don’t mean it at all. I don’t get it! Do they think they are making the other person feel good? Well speaking for myself, I feel far from good, I feel uncomfortably irritated. I feel disconnected with the person I am talking to as soon as I hear something like this.

That being said, there have been a few situations where I have had to make comments that I have not meant, simply because I wanted to be polite. I am not as revolutionary to just speak my mind out at all times. Like when somebody gets me something which I really didn’t like, I’ve said it is nice simply because of the fact that they got something means a lot to me. But I will not go on and on about how much I liked it unless I really felt.

In another incident, X has invited Y and family for dinner and everybody in the room knows that X is not a great cook.

X: Hope you liked the food.

Y: Oh the food, it is excellent! Very tasty food! Your husband is one lucky man I must say! (Turning to his wife) How come the chutney does not taste as good when you make it, you must get this tasty recipe from her today!

Agreed that Y could not have said ‘I am barely able to eat this with a smiling face’!
He could have just said ‘Nice food, thanks for inviting us’. But he instead went all out in the process embarrassing X and her poor husband and above all irritating his wife.

Maybe it is just me who thinks this way and people are fine the way they are. Maybe this is the protocol of the world and you are required to communicate with a façade at all times. If it is then I don’t care to follow it, I am fine the way I am. If I come across as rude, so be it!