Feels goooood

The pressure for the work season is finally over. It feels good to know the items I have to work on, but that I can take mytime to respond back on those. And there wont be blinking voice mails on my work phone for two totally unrelated projects at the same time requesting something right away.

We got up early this AM and Nithin did not give too much trouble in getting ready. His hobby is to pick some reason and cry, making us feel bad. Today we both were ready by 7.30 AM and dad had already gone to work.

He is into this pajama phase now. Never wants to take the spiderman pajama off his body. I put a shirt on top of it - and told Miss B to remove it and wash it. She is superb! And when she says, he would just remove the pajama and give it to her. She washes it and keeps it ready for us! Nikhil never had any such obsession as far as I can remember.

We have not fully recovered from all the exhaustion and tiredness from driving to NY on Sunday, packing for Nikhil and working late two nights earlier. Yesterday, I was sleepy all through, unable to enjoy the bright sunny day. Today is an even more bright day - much warmer! Hope to take Nithin out to cycling today. And to library! With just one kid to take care of, I am thinking of doing this and that with him.

When I have some free time, all the things in my mind's unwritten TO DO LIST flash one after one, tempting me to pick everything up and mark them all with a check mark and be DONE with them. I become so overwhelmed with this thought process that I collapse and get nothing done!

Happy Weekend, Guys!

Parting tears

When I stood at the airport gate, watching my 1st Grader walk away holding the hands of his friend, I struggled hard to prevent tears from rolling down. After all, our friends who were standing next to us, were also parting with their son and they were holding up pretty good.

Nikhil is going to India for a summer vacation. Flying for the first time without us. Of course, our friend D was going to take care of both Nikhil and G throughout the flight. Two boys whose eyes are always glued to their Nintendo DS. We teased D a lot saying the boys will have to take care of you. It was all fun. We lectured a lot to Nikhil from time to time. Dont run away here and there. Always stay with uncle. Blah Blah. But that is all you could do, once you have made a decision to send him for a totally new experience - a vacation with grandparents in India.

I am really amazed at his courage. Did he realize that he wont be able to meet his parents and his brother for 2 months? Does he know that he cannot come and hug us when he wanted? I think he knows, but he may be in for a surprise , when some emotions might strike.

As we drove back from JFK, with all the lights sparking on the Verrazano bridge, my mind was flying down the memory lane.

The 13 days NTSE Scholarship camp was the first time I was staying away from home that long. I was in Thrissur and my parents were in Trivandrum. We were staying in the dorm rooms of a school in Thrissur. I wrote a long letter to my Appa which was loaded with tears and worries. I missed home so BADLY. My letter gave him a shock and made him feel helpless. His reply came telling me not to worry and to enjoy the experience - which was the intention of sending me, according to him. I was worried that I may not pass the scholarship exam and felt bad that I will be failing to fulfill his dreams. I was so relieved to hear that he was not so particular about that part at all.

I was reminded of the Trivandrum railway station where I waved Bye to Appa when he left to Bangalore for work. I was in college then and he had moved the job there. Everytime, I step out of the Railway Platform after the Island Express leaves, I would be in tears while I walk to my Kinetic Honda.

Parting tears and the pain in the throat that accompanies when I try to suppress them. Wonder if my son is old enough to feel the feelings I have felt..and if so, I just hope he learns to recognize them and express them.

Rated P

One of the very few traits in me that can be termed adventurous or brave is that I love horror movies. I hate to sit on even very simple rides in theme parks, but am very eager to experience the thrill of watching a scary movie. When we stop at BlockBuster, I am in the horror movie row - but you know, there lies the problem - so many choices and not all of them are classy.

That is how we got tricked into watching two very yucky movies! One was called 'The Slither'. And the other 'The Mist' (better than the former).

A classy horror movie is one which does not resort to yucky animals or creatures in an attempt to horrify us. It should be able to thrill us with the storyline and screenplay and not just special effects. Having sat through these two movies, here are some elements that are part of such movies.
1. Tentacles - absolutely need tentacles to grab the attention of the viewer (pun intended)
2. Goo - some yucky liquid is secreted out of the dreary animals' body parts...yuck!
3. A man who is stung by the dreary creature is 'pregnant' with tiny baby Poochis and at one point his body bursts to release them all..which crawl in all seven directions quickly..Ayyo rama!

Hope you guys are not reading it while having lunch! Sorry, but I had to share this!

So my request to the censor officers is to add a new Rating for horror movies only. It will be called P and it will gives us an indication that it is 'that kind' of a horror movie. P for Poochi!
That means insects and creatures are the stars in the movie!

If you can share names of good horror movies that you liked, I'd be sure to check them out!

Road trip and Mother's Day

The busy schedule continues this week too. I do catch a couple of posts of Laksh and UL occasionally. I have not spoken to my Appa in a week day lately. I have been wanting to write about the wonderful weekend we had at our friend's place in NJ. It was the break I was dreaming for and the road trip B and I were waiting for.

On Friday night, we started late to NJ. We were all set to chill out with the set of family/church friends. It seemed to take forever to reach D's place with the rain and the dark. We got there at 9.30 and thanks to our ladies who made chapatis and curries for all of us. After all the singing and talking, we slept at 2.30PM! That is a world record. In a way, inside an apartment, there is more closeness and we ended up spending time together instead of splitting in batches.

The next morning, after the chaya (by lady B) and breakfast prepared by my dear hubby B, everyone took their own time to take bath and get ready to go for lunch. The host took us to Anjappar restuarant. I was wondering what kind of name it is, but when I saw the name board said 'Chettinad' and 'South Indian', I was OK with whatever they call it and it already looked promising to me. The veg thali was homely. I was thrilled to see Nikhil finish up a dosa - like mom, like son! Nithin sat in the high chair and did well for his standards.

From there, we set out to 'Sandy Hook' beach. With two cars, it was hard to coordinate and find the desitnation. Finally, we all met at the beach. I was surprised by Nithin's reaction as he saw the sea. He said 'Amma, ocean?'. Never knew this word was in his vocabulary. Last year, when we went to the beach, he would not get down. He hated his foot touching the sand. This time, I was amazed how quickly he started playing with the sand. He was all excited. Of course, Nikhil and his friend were super thrilled too.

Back home, B promised to take me to Nan King restaurant which people told us is great for Indo Chinese food. We have been thinking of going there since a long time.Gobi Manchurian and Veg Hakka noodles were good. Came back to D's apartment and relaxed and slept well. Part of the gang had left before then. It was just us - we woke up in the AM and headed back home to PA.

Sunday evening was made colorful again by B's offer to take me to Hot Breads for a Mother's day snack in the evening.

A relaxing and eventful weekend. Ate out a lot. And not too well-prepared for the coming week. But we will cross the bridge when it comes!

Time is valuable

This week has been so hectic and crazy not just for me, but for our whole work group. When I had to work for some days for about 12 hours, there were people around me who were putting in more. I could feel the stress creeping into me and killing me throughout the week. There was no time to eat lunch - to me, that evokes self-pity! Mornings were crazy, it was difficult to get up coz my body has not recovered from previous day's stress and dragging the kids to their respective places seemed painful and gave me guilt pangs too! Mr.Nithin has his own innovative reasons to cry for in the morning - refusing diaper change or dress change.

Yesterday evening, when my job was done and I was graciously allowed to go home, even though others were still at work, I told myself how precious the few hours in the evening are to me. To be able to spend that time with the family was a boon. B had promised N a family dinner outing and we were too tired to even move. But we always try to keep our promises to the kids, so we changed the location of the outing to something closer home and made it.

It was a nice two hours at Carabba's Italian Grill. Kids were happy and I saw B relaxed. We both had to put in additional effort to not scream/yell at the kids. As always, our hearts pounded when Nithin would not sit down and try to mess things on the table, but I have learnt to 'enjoy' the moments with the tension in the background.

Today, finally I got some time to type this up. So how have you all been? I am in a great mood to go on a trip somewhere, but work keeps me from moving out of town on weekends. I love to sit next to B when we explore new roads, making guesses on where we would end up going that route and get excited when my guesses usually turn right. I think of those on-the-way places/rest areas where we stopped to buy coffee/fries. The looks of places different from what we usually see on our daily drives - I am longing for those now!

Next month..I will have to wait for June!

And those of you who can get out and take a drive far away, please do it. It will freshen you up, I am sure! Happy Weekend!