A Spinster's Day Out at Barnes and Nobles

I am not really a spinster, but it was nice to act like one. It was a day Nithin was supposed to be home and not go to school. Thanks to having grandparents at home, I could set out early morning to Barnes and Nobles. It was B's idea and his own dream to spend an entire day there browsing through books. Only that I got to do it.

With no kids to trouble me and husband at office (away from my trouble), it was a day where I could be myself and focus on reading technical books and prepare notes. I bought a coffee and climbed up the escalator to the technical section smiling to myself. Kappi okke vangichu..ini joli kittumo? It all entirely depends on how best I utilize my time there! I picked a book that interested me and made myself comfortable in the huge plush chair there. It was not crowded and I felt at home, muttering the words in the book and taking notes.

One of the incentives of this exercise was to have lunch from a nearby shop and return back to studies. At 11.30, the lady in the bookstore who helped me in the morning saw me and she asked 'You still here". I said :" Fear not, I will be back after lunch :-)" . I did not say the whole sentence, but just a part of it.

It was a bright sunny day. I walked to the Mexican fastfood near by and had a Sonoroan Quesadilla , once recommended to me by Laksh. I spoke with a friend on the phone and walked back to B&N. The rest of the afternoon was not as productive as the morning. I got distrubed by other people sitting in chairs next to me and the music on the air. Can't do much about it since I dont' own the shop, can I? But I managed to read something, so I enjoyed the stay at the shop overall. I finished my day by visiting two other shops, got some shirts for kids for good prices (am not a shopaholic and am very much behind in getting good deals, so this time I felt good doing it!). That was the day that was!

Slow, trying to be steady

Things are moving slow. A week would bring loads of hope, followed by another with nothing fruitful happening. A week would have me believe that changes are imminent and another would fly by without any major achievement.

Job hunting is a job by itself. Being jobless is not fun.Having worked so far continuously for all these years with only a 10 month gap in between with Son1 at home, I might have gotten used to being busy and occupied all the time. I would not say that being home, I am finding it hard to kill time. No, time files quickly! But what I miss is the feeling of having done something productive or useful for some one (a project, or a company!) . I miss interacting intellectually with my colleagues. I miss running the project, planning things for its execution and knocking off items from my tasks list.

Some people tell me to take a break. Somehow, I started looking for a job right away. In this market, it is hard to get something even if you tried hard because you are competing against so many other people who got laid off! A day off when I was working had a totally different meaning. I used to look forward to doing so many things on a day off. But I have not done any of those things since I lost my job. I was more prompt with visiting blogs, commenting there and posting my updates in mine when I was working. A 5 minute break from heavy workload meant a lot! I have not gone shopping for fun. I have not watched any movie on any weekday!

Things I did differently/newly are
- landed on a week day story telling session in library with Nithin - first time!
- walked with Nikhil while he bicycled on a sunny day
- took a walk another day with Nithin outside in our neighborhood.
- wore saree to church one day - for the first time to our church
- drove to couple of new routes by myself to meet recruiters, an interview
- gained confidence that I can go by train to Center City, Phille in needed.
- went to Thursday 9.30 workout lesson in gym thinking who will be there now and was surprised to see the hall full of women in the Pilates class!

Tomorrow is Nithin's first day in his preschool. He has to move out of our beloved babysitter's home for some reasons. From the cozy comfort zone of our babysitter, we have to move him to a school environment. It is exciting to think about the changes he will have, but it is worrying/scary to think about the transition phase and how he will face it. Big bro is advising him to 'just get used to it'! We are keeping our fingers crossed. So I am currently working on the project to transition him into new school environment. Obama (US. Labor ) is paying me for it ( I mean, unemployment comp!)

BTW, it was nice to meet Suman at UL's home yesterday. UL, Laksh and myself were meeting her the first time. It was really nice to get together - missed some others who are regulars (Shy, Anila and JS!). Catch you later!

A Good Friday

It was Good Friday. B and myself were in downtown, Philly to meet someone. Once the meeting was done, we came out of the building to be surrounded by those skyscrapers. It is a totally different world out there. It felt like we could spend days and days together walking around the downtown. Lots and lots of shops and restaurants. We entered into 'THE PITA PIT' - only because the name enticed me. We don't see these kinds of shops in the area where we live. They were churning out Falafels. I ordered a Pita Wrap and filled it with veggies. After that quick snack, we walked out. We grabbed some tea from a TEA SHOP. Not like the chayakkada back home, this was a fancy shop selling tea alone.

Back home, we took kids and grand parents and set out for another drive. I felt relieved at the thought of a weekend. A week full of job hunting efforts. A week which showed some positive signs of the job market. Nothing definite has happened, but this week sowed some seeds of hope.
It saw me enroll into a course in the PSU, just a first step, but when I got the StudentID, I felt I am doing something toward a GOAL. So I felt that I rightfully deserve some weekend fun. We all went to Devi Vegetarian restaurant. The buffet was decent and I found some nice options. I was glad all of us enjoyed the food. We picked up some Indian DVDs and spent the rest of the evening in front on the TV watching 'Sooryan' starring Jayaram.

A nice Friday.

Lasik update

My LASIK surgery went fine. B took the day of surgery off - it being the last day I will see the world with my current vision capacity! We went for a movie (I Love you man!), laughed a lot, had lunch and then reached the eye care center. After initial checkups, I posted my previous post and killed some time. Then I went into the laser suite. I was nervous, but went with the flow anyway. It took a maximum of 15 to 20 minutes. When I came out of the room, I was surprised - "I can see!" They asked me to go home and sleep - I obeyed that. Then I was told NOT TO RUB MY EYES and wear eye shields when I sleep.

I religiously followed the medicine eye drops schedule. The next day we went for the check up. While B was driving, I was looking at the outside world. I was now able to read all the sign boards without my glasses on. I put on my eye glasses and everything became blurry. This is truly magic!

I was extremely delighted with the results. It was TOTALLY PAINLESS! I had very little discomfort. Only discomfort was sleeping with eye shields on - always cautious not to rub my eyes. Recovery after surgery was quick too. 5 days later, one night, Nithin reminded me "Amma, drops!" and I said "medicine drops are DONE!". One week later, when they said - all seems to be well, now say bye to the eye shields, I was happy. Nithin wondered where the white glasses (shields) have gone!

I hope this is it - and I don't develop any complications over time. I will recommend that to anyone who has been contemplating it.

It was my passion - to get LASIK done and say bye to eyeglasses. I worried a bit inside my mind - "why create problems when all is well with my eyes, I can see well with the glasses". But I have been following the LASIK dream since 4 years at least now. Every time, I heard or met someone who got it done, it brought hope. It was a risk - now I can say, it was a risk worth taking! I have the satisfaction of getting what I wanted. Thanks to B and parents for standing by me with the decision! My kids were literally standing by me and watching me whenever I put the drops in and handed me a towel!

Yesterday, when I went to watch "Monsters Vs Aliens 3D", I could comfortably slip on the 3D glasses - which so far had to be tucked on top of my normal spects. I felt good!