Missing thatha

Munchkin and me are leaving for India in two days time.I have been waiting for this day ever since I booked the tickets.Or is it ever since i got the idea of going to India?I think I anticipate this visit right from when I leave India..as to when I will return back.There would be a major void when I go home this time.I will miss thatha(grandfather).I am trying to remember the last conversation I had with him but I am drawing a blank.I am trying real hard but I cannot because I never knew that it would be the last.I try to remember the feel of him as I hugged him good bye the last time I was in madras and I cannot because I never knew that it would it would be the last time I felt his loving hands embrace me.
But I have the memories..memories of walking beside him to the busstand,of singing bhajans on Sri RamNavami’s,of drinking afternoon tea and talking about the days happenings..lots of good memories and I am thankful for that.

Thanksgiving

ThanksGiving Time..I started off writing about the things I am thankful for.I am thankful for a lot of things in my life- my family, my parents, Linux, my friends, health and so much more.But then I got an idea reading another blog to make a list of some of the totally frivolous, non essential things that I am nevertheless thankful for?So here goes..
I am thankful for ..
Mp3 players.They make my 2 miles on the treadmill bearable.
The wonderful experience of reading a book and be transported to this whole other world.
Whoever thought of putting series/shows on DVD..I have caught up with so many shows this way which would have been otherwise impossible.
Wii.It lets me play games like tennis without sweating.
Living in a state which is by the seashore.I love beaches.
I have a lot more to go on but then I think I will stop with these.Tell me what are those frivolous things that you are thankful for?

Nostalgia Nagging

I met one of my college friends over this weekend.A has come over to NJ officially and we planned to meet up in NY city.Its been 7 years since we completed our Masters and this is the first time we are meeting.Lots have happened over these years..not just in A’s life and mine but to all of our class mates.Almost everyone has got married, some of them have kids who are in the 1st grade. It was great reminiscing over student life..a simpler life.Down memory lane…A journey we make often.

A day with the fishes

So we went to the Aquarium in Camden, NJ.The second time this year.The first attempt was in summer.I say attempt because we never got to see anything the first time.Munchkin was very excited but it was afternoon by the time we reached and he was sleepy..so it was a whirlwind tour, literally!!This timewe had been with munchkin’s thatha(grandpa) and paati(grandma). We had a good time tho munchkin was scared to even get down from the stroller.The only time he was enthusiastic was when we were watching the hippos swim.That was an amazing sight.(An interesting thing about hippos is that they cannot swim and are not buoyant. When in deep water, they usually propel themselves by leaps, pushing off from the bottom. Their specifc gravity allows them to sink and walk or run along the bottom of a river). I loved watching the jelly fish.Somehow they were entrancing.Its hard to imagine a thing of such beauty, grace can give a deadly sting.We got to touch some baby sharks too. Now, that was an experience!

Reviving...

I was talking to S today when she said that my blogs of late have both reduced in frequency and content. I have been feeling that way too but the truth always strikes home faster and sharper when someone says it out. It got me thinking as to why I started writing in the first place.I want this blog to be a chronology of our lives.We are making memories and I want to have a journal which I can visit in the future and find happiness.Its not just a journal about munchkin , its about our lives. A place where I can share my happiness, vent out my frustrations, dream…A blog is verbalism at its best!
I am going to make an effort to blog more ..not just for the reasons above , but because I love writing.

Tot time

I am having the mother of all headaches..I guess it is the weather mixed with a bit of residual cold that I already have courtesy munchkin.We have signed up for a Mommy & Me class at our local library and it starts at 10:30 am today.I don’t want to miss it cos munchkin is pretty excited about it.He misses going to the daycare and being with friends.I had some sukku kaapi(paati’s vaidyam rules!!) and feel a little better already.I am sure I will feel a whole lot better once I go to the library.Being amidst kids is a therapy by itself.Their joy is infectious!!

Trick or Treat

If a picture speaks a thousand words here are 5000 words to describe the fun munchkin had on Halloween.We spent Halloween day in Linux’s cousin d’s home in Virginia.It was fun.We had been to the Shenandoah mountains during the day.Munchkin had been having fever on and off so he was kinda dull the whole trip.Thanks to Tylenol, he was his usual self for Halloween night.D and me took the dinosaur Trick or treating(he was dressed up as a dinosaur, a very cute one…).

Listings

# Munchkin has learnt saying tamil months(chithirai, vaigasi..), tamil weekdays( thingal, sevvai..)and tamil numbers(onnu, rendu..)from his thatha.Its just too cute, especially when he says budham, vyaayam for bhudhan , vyazhan.Mazhalai….:-)
# My cousin C is getting engaged the next weekend.A big occasion in our family.I wish I was there with them..but I am happy that I will be there for her wedding.Now that’s something to look forward to.
# Tomorrow is the annual book sale in our library.I am going to look out for McMaster Bujold’s books and Terry Goodkind’s.And ofcourse books for munchkin.
# I am getting busy with my NGO activities.I am happy that I am involved in something worthy.We are halfway through in developing the website.Once it is done I need to do some serious fund raising.
# I am planning on conducting some workshops in our NFE centres while I am in India.I have some ideas in my head and I need to work on it.
# Our Halloween décor is up.Its not much this year- just a scarecrow and a jack-o-lantern.Munchkin is pretty excited about Halloween day.We haven’t decided on the costume yet..vacillating between Thomas and a dinosaur.
# I have been feeling low for the past two days.No reason…atleast I like to think so!!

Daily fortune

When I opened my orkut home page today, my fortune was listed as
“Today might be a great and wonderful day. It depends on you”.
I laughed a lot on first but when I gave it some thought it made me realize that it was so true.We determine our destiny.We are shaped by our thoughts.We become what we think.
As the saying goes “When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves”.So true!!

diwali this year

Diwali this year was a quite one....and a rainy one(much to the fury of chennai makkall!).
I have a lot to write but i think i am going through a bloggers block!I have a lot of drafts which never made it after 2 lines.I might probably combine everything and post it as a single post.
For now, some of the pics i took today...

Apple picking

We had been to Johnsons farm the last weekend for apple picking.Its become kind of a tradition now for the past 3 years.I love this season(Fall/Autumn).Fall to me is colorful and vibrant.There is something to be said about the colors all around us.It seems like God has created all these vibrant colors just for this particular occasion.Munchkin loved walking through the apple orchards and picking apples.He found one just his size and was happily munching it all the way back in the hay wagon.
We crossed a pumpkin patch on the way back but didnt get down to pick any.In the play yard there was this toy farm store filled with plastic veggies and fruits for the kids to play with.The store came with its own mini shopping baskets, a weigh, a cash register and the works.Munchkin went about shopping to his hearts content.It was too cute, him trudging along a basket filled with loads of stuff and heaving it up onto the cash register.Grocery shopping never held any appeal for me but I could have sat all day looking at munchkin play shop.

Trip to the museum

Munchkins new favorite tv show is Cailou.He has been seeing Cailou for the past some days.There is an episode in which Cailou goes to the museum and when munchkin saw that he started asking to go to the museum to see dinosaurs.So museum it was!We visited the American Museum of Natural History in NewYork City today and had a great time.Munchkin was all wide eyes and a 100 questions.We caught a show in the Imax theatre which was about Ocean Life conservation.It was an awesome show.
City traffic was a sore point in the otherwise awesome day trip.
Now if only Cailou would go on an Europe trip…???!!!

Our trip to Hersheys is jinxed.I don’t know how many trips we have planned till date just to cancel it at the last moment.I don’t think I remember when we planned our first trip but I am pretty sure it was the start of summer.Now that we are at the end of august you know what I mean about being jinxed.
We were supposed to leave tonight and I thought we were going to make it.The stroller was put in the car trunk, the laundry was done,the list of things to take sitting by my side table, snacks packed and Linux came home early so that we wouldn’t get caught in the traffic.We did everything except to look at the forecast for the weekend.Hurricane Bill is on the way!!Its projected path puts it right on Pennsylvania, New Jersey and NewYork.Talk about luck, huh!We called up the hotel to ask whether we could postpone it to next week.Seems like if we postpone we would be paying double but if we cancel we would lose just one nights stay.No guesses for what we opted for!

Here’s what I am thinking….
It hurts when people are insensitive even though they may not really mean it.
There are times when its difficult to be practical, take the good with the bad.But that dosent necessarily mean I am immature..just that I am human.
I have been toying with an idea for a long time now.Its time I acted on it.
I would like to say that I am not judgemental but I am, at times.
Why is it that when men speak whats on their mind , are confident of themselves they are said to have a great personality and if its a woman they are termed arrogant?

vegetable picking

We had been to Stults farm this weekend for vegetable and raspberry picking.There is something to be said about picking our own vegetables.The farm by itself was huge.There were rows of tomatoes, different types of peppers, beans, zucchini and cucumbers. Munchkin loved picking tomatoes.I got to show him a lady bug and an earth worm and that kind of made his day!!We ended up bringing home loads of tomatoes, flat beans, peppers and raspberries. We ended up eating raspberries all the way home and came home with an empty box.They were delish!!

The times

I have always wondered why most of the clocks or watches on display show the time 10:10.Have you?I was told that the time was significant.It was when Lincoln died.Someone else told me that it was the time when Martin L. King died.And then last week I read in one of the blogs that the time dosent really signify the death of anyone.It was purely for effect.When the hands point to 10:10 it looks symmetrical on the clock and everyone prefers that to asymmetry.Also the brand name gets displayed beautifully enclosed between the hands.Which leads us to wonder why not point to 9 and 3 .But then that wouldn’t be symmetrical, would it?How about 8:20?That could work except that it would be like the clock is frowning at us.

I know what i did...

Munchkin's vocabulary is expanding a lot these days.I am happy that he is able to communicate what he needs, wants.It makes a lot of things simpler.Communication is so effective.It is also one of the first things we learn from birth.
Today I was sitting in the couch with my laptop when munchkin came up to me and said “Amma, I broked it amma”.
The good thing- He was able to tell me what he did.
The bad thing? He broked it!!

Weekend laziness

Weekends are always lazy.We plan on going out somewhere but by the time we wake up, have breakfast its already too late to start out.Munchkin takes his nap around 12:30 to 1:00 and we don’t really want to disturb this or there will be hell to pay!I mean it!We sometimes start around 4 or 5 and go to the park or beach(which has become a favorite haunt this summer) and someother times we just laze around at home.Today was one of those days.We had originally thought of going to Stults farm to do some vegetable picking but we had to take munchkin for his hair cut(which we have been postponiong for a very long time now).Munchkin was crying the whole time.The stylist asked me whether I wanted a scissor cut or a machine cut .I said whichever was the fastest and so machine cut it was.Munchkin screamed the whole salon down by shouting “amma, girl putting vacuum on head”.Phew!!

It seems like its going to rain this evening and I don’t think we will be going out anywhere today.

I have been reading ‘The Sharing Knife’ by Lois McMaster Bujold .Its been kind of ok so far but nowhere near to her previous work ‘The Curse Of the Chalion’.I got to complete the book today on account of Linux being at home to play with munchkin.

happy b'day

It was Linux’s birthday yesterday.Munchkin now sings the whole “happy birthday song” and so when Linux woke up munchkin and me sang “happy birthday”(off key ofcourse!!).The fun part was when munchkin said “wheres cupcake appa” the minute he was done with the song.We should have expected it because his school celebrates birthdays with cupcakes.We had none at home and as I am no baker I promised him one by the end of the day.We had dinner at Carrabas, an Italian restaurant.I love the ambience and it is a kid friendly place.The waiters are friendly people and don’t make faces when a kid makes noise .We ordered munchkin a cake with pineapples, strawberries, cherries and the works.Infact the waitress brought a separate plate with extra cherries for munchkin.The cake was yum yum..how would I know??Because munchkin just ate the strawberries and cherries and declared he was done.So much for his cupcake wish!We had a great day..Happy 34th!

munchkins hand and foot prints

thinking out loud..

I love reading but I have a problem with sequels – the endless wait.There are some authors who deliver the sequel on the said time and there are some who don’t.But either way, there is a wait.
I started reading George R.R Martin’s “The Ice And Fire Saga” in 2004.Aweome book!when I started out, there were three books already released and so it was a joy ride.I dint have the need to wait endlessly.The fourth book got released in 2005.I have been waiting for the 5th instalment from then and in the process I think I forgot the plot!Its been 4 yrs now so I cant really blame my memory.I discovered new authors like Terry Brooks, McMaster Bujold, Terry Goodkind but I still come back to thinking when will I read the fifth book?There is something about leaving a book unfinished, dont u think? Even more so if we get involved in the plot and the characters. That’s the problem with sequels.They trap you in, weave a magic around us and leave us wanting for more. And I continue to wait…

Summer time

Summer has been amazing so far!It feels wonderful to walk out of our home without the jackets,gloves,hats,earmuffs…..Oww!even the list feels heavy.I love opening up the windows when the weather warms up.Fresh air is rejunevating.
We had been to a petting zoo and munchkin had a wonderful time complete with cotton candy and a trip to the park.Having to take munchkin to a zoo to catch a glimpse of hens, goats, cows, pigs always crackles me up.I mean back home I would just need to come out of our gate and sometimes not even out of our gate.I remember a goat had once come inside our compound and happily chewed up half an hibiscus plant before we shooed it away.There was also a time when a cat had kittens in our verandah.
What a world of difference!sigh!!

Munchkins first contradiction

Munchkin has a lot of pet names..Linux and me together call him with a lot of endearments.I use ‘gundappa’ or ‘gundamma’ a lot.

Yesterday evening we were all sitting together in the living room and this is how the conversation went:

Me: gundamma, dont run..

munchkin: amma run..i wansu run

Me: ok..be careful..

(No reply)

Me again: gundamma?

munchkin: I no gundamma ma.I am boy!

Linux was in fits!Oh well, my baby has grown!!