Multiplied Smiles

My Aa completed 6 months yesterday. Half a year already??! That's fast! It's like I have blinked and suddenly she's this big. This is what happens with kids, eh? They grow up? Just like that?

The months that have gone by since January have been life changing for me. I have experienced pain, love, fear, sorrow, joy, and many ups and downs. I have learnt what sacrifice means. I'd never imagined that I'd survive sleepless nights. Or that I'd send the weight machine panting under my kilos. Parenthood can change a person in so many ways!

SO,


we thought of celebrating Aa's 1/2 birthday with some fruit cake, which obviously was gonna be gulped down by her parents and grandparents.

  

But since I am such a sweetie mommy, I decided that Aa does deserve a piece of her cake for all the hard work she puts in for rolling over and trying to crawl.

and she is happy about it too!

and so are her parents - happy, proud and smiling!

For more pictures and better captions, I hope you are connected to me on Fb! (This is not an open invitation to those who are not! :P)

Blogathon update : Was toying around with the idea of staring the blog marathon with this post. That's when I decided to go ahead with it and conveyed my intention to the husband. As thoughtful as ever (and perhaps a better analyst of situations), he said I should wait since we are planning a trip to St Louis, MO (YAY!!) this weekend. "And I am in no way guaranteeing you the Wi-fi connectivity there. You might not be lucky always." 

So yes, I too agree with that. I am in no mood to disappoint myself and readers. In fact, I am gonna start with the month long commitment on 1st August 2012 - 31st August 2012 . How's that now? No estimates! Only promised dates! (Yeah I sound like some side-y advertisement) 

P.S. Parents are leaving on 31st July. I am hoping that doing a blogathon then will be thereupatic.

Home Sweet Home

Greetings from the US of A! Yes, we reached here safely and have almost settled. The journey was not smooth. With Aa crying for an hour during the first flight drained all our energy and enthusiasm! Anyway, this post is not about the past. It is about reveling in the present and looking forward to the future.

I am in love with the house. It is bigger, better and lovelier than our previous one. I am having a gala time decorating it. This time we have rented a 2 bedroom apartment (since my folks are here) and anyway here they have some rule saying only 2 people live in one bedroom apartment. Even if you have a baby, you are supposed to rent a 2 bedroom apartment. Yeah, totally :|, I know!

Husband is over the moon to finally see Aa and me. Due to the AI strike, we were unsure of flying, before finally cancelling the tickets and making a fresh booking on Lufthansa. Aa also took to her father pretty soon and awarded him with a heart melting smile as soon as she saw him.


I am already missing homeland - its sights, sounds and smell. Doesn't mean I am not happy here. I had a welcome back feeling when I landed.

All in all, I am genuinely happy after a very long time. And I hope to stay that way, being happy and spreading happiness.


So, I have been all talk about doing a blogathon this year too. Good news is that I shall soon be embarking on the month long journey. This time, promising all the readers word posts and picture posts too. Now there is so much I can (and have to) write on.  I shall start as soon as I get my husband's much needed support. :) Yeah, he pushes me to do things when I am lazy. :)

Hoping that you will stay with me on this journey, reading, encouraging, commenting on posts and giving me suggestions too. Although it seems pretty simple, it takes a lot of determination and mental energy to keep going on. I need assurance that the blog's being read. Do not shy to voice your opinion on the matter. All blogger swear by the importance of getting even a single comment for their posts. You do not necessarily have to agree with or like what I say. Different points of view add dimensions to a subject that can be explored.

Keep your eyes on this space. There shall be Fb updates of course. See you then!

April or November?

Its been a while since I really got down to writing. Earlier, I'd spend the whole day lazing in front of the lappy, choosing right words, adding, deleting, embellishing my posts. Now that hardly happens; given the very little time period alloted to me for pouring out my mind.

Sometimes I really wish we had some sort of cord that could connect the brain to the PC. Just like camera or card reader. I'd just plug it in the slot and everything would be transferred and posted on blog. Easy?

Well, just like the previous year, I plan to do the blogathon. Yeah, I am enthusiastic about it! Although am a bit confused. I wanna do it in the month of April, but am unsure if I can sit down to do it. Lemme admit, doing 30 posts one after another is not a joke. Its a commitment that needs to be fulfilled.

I still have a fortnight or so to decide. So lesse!

If I don't do it in April, I will do it in November. I don't know why, but I keep screaming "NOVEMBER" in my head.

So, April or November? Help me decide. :)

Siigh!

She : Why are you staring at me now?

He : Just...

She : You stared at me 1.5 years back and that was understandable... Stop it, please! It feels awkward.

He : I'm looking at you, who was once a girl, then girlfriend, a wife and now a beautiful mother! What an amazing transformation!

... and once again, he steals her heart!

Guest Post by N

A guest post!!! by N, my first and most favourite sister-in-law. Read on what's she got to say. Part 2 of the same will be up, which will be my version of the same story.

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Its been hell loong since I actually wrote anything; even a grocery list. So this blog post better be a good one from me. After all my Purnima now has a reputation to take care of.

Speaking of which, Purni (that's what I call her) and myself have known each other for God knows how long. The fact that she is related to my aunt, who is also her aunt, is the main reason. Well, doesn't my aunt and her aunt mean we might be cuz? Err.. no. Its like this, her aunt in the way of her mom's sister and my aunt being my uncle's wife... aah... now you get it!

Anyways, she's a year younger to me but then, that was never an issue. As long as I remember, my first impression of her was that of a girl who spoke her mind, regardless of who it was. I loved it and her; as it was something I would never even have courage of doing. She was, let us say, a "pataka". She was a little sis I never had, atleast until I had one.  She was the "city girl" in our chota sa village. When we wore salwar, oiled our hair and wore bindis, she would be in her pretty frocks/jeans with her wild curly hair loose. She was a dream we girls wanted to live. I don't think she would actually dream about oiling her hair like me. (blech!)

Zipping into the next 10-15 years, we grew up... meeting occassionally when she would come down during the school holidays to her aunt's house and I too would be there sometimes. Playing was out of question at that time. We just used to sit out and look at our brothers playing Lagori, Cricket and yell for tiniest of "cheatings".. sigh.. those were the days... 

I would like to tell you all my relation with her, she is now my sister in law (legally), but I care for her more... We fight, snicker, tease, bitch about our weight do all that stuff sisters do. We share clothes (unfortunately my waist is rather too big to fit into her clothes), and we both loooove books, hit restaurants like there is no tomorrow, and shop, shop, shop...In short, we are always there for each other (sniff..sniff). 


Purni has been a friend first and sister-in-law next. In fact, other than the mandatory crossover from her calling me by name to calling me "vanni" (bhabhi), nothing has changed between us. We drive her brother (and my husband, who happens to be the same person - V) crazy. The best proof of it would be when V tells us, "You girls are supposed to fight, not backing each other!" We get that from him each time that he is cornered or bullied by us. Or when he pulls our legs. Yeah, we do that a lot! Since I am not to, I let her do the pinching, hitting and punching parts.

We do all kinds of stuff teenagers would. Who cares how old you are? We are still kids :P (we have our own kid(s) now), but still... 

Now, our talks revolve around kids, cooking, books and we still bitch about our weight. I eye her non existence waist and she wants my thin matchstick legs.

How Purni went from being an occassional city friend to a full time sis in law? That's another story. 

I have to say, honestly, I never remember speaking to, far less even look at Purni's brother... When I asked him about it, he says he was busy with his college life. Later I found out he was too shy to speak to girls :P

The very first time I remember seeing her brother was at my uncle's place (duh!)  when I in my 2nd yr degree. A tall, rather skinny guy with French beard who was waaaaaaaaaaaay too shy for his age. After exchanging "Hellos", we were back to our own work. He was then working in Bangalore, and would come down to my uncle's place often during the weekends. I started seeing more of V and my impression of him never wavered. He was definetly the quiet type. We talked and I felt sad for him as I knew he missed his mom and sis way too much. He was actually away from them for the first time, and that too in a whole new state, where he did not even know the local language.

We exchanged email id's and kept in touch. In my final year, V popped up the million dollar question. Honestly, I was not expecting it so suddenly but I was not shocked either. I guess, somewhere in my mind I always knew this would have been the next step. Well, now that it was asked, I had to answer right?  I took my time and finally, I did tell him what I thought. 

For those who don't know me, we got married a year later - after he completed his MS and landed a job in Sg. Its now been 6 year plus and with 2 amazingly wonderful daughters, I wouldn't ask for anything more!

What Made Me Happy Lately

I am all over the moon!!! And this is why,

No, I did not pre order it on Flipkart.com to get this signed copy. In fact, I got to meet her in person...

Preeti Shenoy, one of my favorite authors was in town for her latest book launch; and I did not want to miss it for anything! 

We reached before time, which gave me a chance to talk to Preeti akka fora while... and she is as amazing in person as she sounds on her blog! I got to ask her that one question about her that's been haunting me forever... 

I asked her how she manages to be so positive and how come the same radiates through her blog. Does she have bad days or not? Does she never get upset?

"Its not like I don't have my bad days. I scream too. At such times, I divert my attention by making something - I make cards or I paint or do yoga. Secondly, I do not believe in spreading negativity. If I'm having a bad day, why should I torment others by ranting it out?", she speaks candidly.

Inspiring, isn't it? 

We were also glad to meet her husband, Satish Shenoy, who was a pleasure to talk to. (He writes guest posts on her blog, and they are good reads too!)

During the interactive session, I was curious to know if she faces writer's block, especially when she is doing her Blogathon. Without much ado she says she has a variety to offer - even if her daughter's hugged her during the day, she turns it into a blog post. Again so simple, yet so inspiring! A gesture of love, as small as it may seem, qualifies to be a blogpost. This has certainly given me a boost of enthusiasm for my second run of Blogathon. 

Hereby, I have made some resolutions for my own good. I'm going to put them up on my blog. I believe by having something in writing, makes it more real, more solid. That might just avoid me from shying away from my resolutions. Once the world knows about it, then it becomes a question of honour and I'll have to abide by them. 

:) :) :) :) :)

P.S. My lill baby doll allowed me to enjoy the whole session by sleeping peacefully in her gramma's arms!

It Takes Two to Tango

This Valentine's day, it wasn't about red roses or cute teddy bears... We have gone through that. I cannot say we have outgrown that phase or that we find it teenager-ish to express emotions through flowers and cakes. I can say, "far yet so near" was our theme for this Valentine's. It's all about love, and whether expressed with gifts or without them hardly matters.

2 years back when our "lhau" was new-new, that bouquet of roses and cake felt mushy. My heart would melt thinking about him. It'd whirl, skip a beat and swell with such novel emotion lately tasted. Prospects of starting an exciting life with a person who you loved and who loved you back (so dearly) made me go weak in knees.

The previous year's V-day was special too; that which was celebrated as a romantic double date with friends! We never thought what future would hold for us - all we knew was that it was time we enjoyed each other's company. Hand in hand, each time that our eyes met, we knew we were not perfect beings but we have our tuning in sync and wavelengths ebb and surge at the same level.

Having taken our relationship to an altogether different platform, today I realise that love can have different shades and shadows. It can change forms, it can evolve for the better. Perhaps I can no longer call it new love, but it still is fresh, thriving and blossoming. I got the customary roses and cake for my birthday. However, this time around, I couldn't fuss much over them. I'd a much more important souvenir of love to look after.

Our life has metamorphosed - for the better - through rough patches and smooth ends. If I had to allot a colour to my life, I'd say it was pink earlier, now it is a tinge darker. Today, I find myself embraced in the warmth of his love and care. I'm sure in the coming years it is going to transform into deeper shades of pink, into red to blazing red and finally there'll be a glow that'll never faze out. The journey till there will demand a lot from us individually. We are ready - in fact looking forward to so many things in life.

From the day I got married, I have known what "plenitude" means. And I have never looked back. I have never missed parents' love or their care or even my freedom. I haven't missed friends' support, I have never found myself lacking in anything. Not that I'm saying I don't need them anymore; but there's always been more than I have asked for.

This year we have lived in installments. Together for 3 months, apart for next 3 - for the whole year. It has also been full of conflicting emotions. Tears reigned. For I've felt like a messy, emotional blob. I have missed him like I never thought I could miss anyone. I craved for his banter, complaints, and also his weird choices of movies. I still do.

If he can turn me from a stubborn-unromantic-who-hates-gooey-love to a hopelessly-head-over-heels-in-love-with-him, then he can do anything under the sun. Being miles away, he still sends my breath for a toss, he has the power to bring happy tears to my eyes. Just like right now.

Sometimes, I love him so much that I hate him. And he knows exactly what I mean by that. ;) ;)

That's us! On 14th February 2011