Old countdown over..new starts

A BIG SORRY for being so silent. I got a couple of emails/comments from friends who care and were tired of this silence. Countdown to return back to US was over long time ago.

Back in US, I could see the market was getting better. I got two offers around the same time.
One close to home, in the same company where I worked for 5 years some time ago. Another one, far from home, but promising to give me some new kind of work experience and build more on the knowledge I gathered in the past two years. It was a tough decision. But I chose the far job over the close one. I will join the job this coming Monday.

When I went to interview in my old company, it was a great experience. It was like walking into one's own home. I could recognize almost every person that I saw there. In spite of that, I have made a decision to try out some new challenges. Biggest challenge for me is the 45 minutes drive in the Turn Pike one way every day. It is much more than what I have ever done. But I am hoping for some exciting times. New office, new colleagues, new places to eat lunch..I will be working close to two of my friends' offices. Work wise also, I will have a lot to learn.

Another major change in my life was that B's parents returned back to India a month ago. We miss them a lot. They were very much helpful in our day to day life. I am now playing the role of a house wife - planning about what to make for the next meal, grocery shopping, driving Nikhil to activities etc. But since I was at home, I enjoyed it all.

This week, Nithin was sick for past 3 days. He is on the mend now. I am hoping he recovers for the big change in our lives next week. He will have to go to day care all 5 days from the '3 days only' schedule. He does not like the idea much. I am worried my transition into the working mom role goes easy with the three men in my life!

Countdown starts

Not even a week left before we start back. Yesterday, was a forced lazy day on me by myself.

In the past 3 weeks, we had roamed a lot. So we felt exhausted and worried about our health. We had my schoolmate visit us, so we had done some roaming within Bangalore last weekend. Now was the time to relax and recover or else we might break down. I had to cancel a fun trip planned with relatives and we decided to breathe.
But that one day was so hard to be inside home. I am so much of an outdoor person that I find it so hard to stay indoors for one complete day. It is true that even in US, if I stay home all day, I have this itch to get out for a drive at least in the evening.

So Nikhil and me were back in action today after the complete rest yesterday. A morning at the games arcade in the mall near home, bit of shopping and the walk back home to rest the afternoon. Evening, I took him to watch Ice Age Part 3 in the theatre. By now we both are so familiar with the Forum Mall and its theatre. After the movie, we caught up with a friend at the food court and headed back home. Countdown begins!

Real taste of vacation in India

• Listening to Appa talk about his favorite movies and songs
• Playing 'Aradhana' songs and Hemant Kumar hits and enjoying them in the car
• Listening to Kamal songs in car
• Watching 'Avvai Shanmugi' in DVD at home and discovering new hidden jokes
• Eating spicy Andhra meals in banana leaf
• Recovering the collection of old photo albums and looking at young Appa and Amma, good old friends and listening to Nikhil scream at my old pictures with long plaited hair!
• An impromptu visit to a movie theatre in the near by mall to catch the next available movie and a McD's nuggets meals for Nikhil
• Waiting for my close friend from school days to reach Bangalore to meet me

This is going good, Thank God!

Half way through!

The first few days saw me and my family go to Coorg. It was fun - we visited Talakkaveri ( starting point of the river Kaveri), Abbey falls, a Tibetan village with the huge Golden Temple and Mysore Palace. Then few days of rest at home and we are now in Chennai.

Chennai is way more hotter than what I thought. AC rooms are in every home nowadays. So I take refuge there. Living around close relatives who shower love is a delightful experience. These folks have seen me from the time I was a baby. The college girls now here in this home are babies I have held in my hands. It is a long lasting relation I cherish with the bunch of joint families here.

On the flip side, to my surprise, the hot weather, traveling and eating different foods has made me feel exhausted. All the things I have craved to eat while I am US, seem to not entice me now. W hen my tummy aches. I feel safer eating curd rice! The 9 years of US life has made me addicted to cleanliness. I was never the one to be bothered about the dust or the dirt while I was in India. I was proud of being so adaptive and flexible also.I seem to have changed a lot, my tolerance towards dust/dirt/polluted air has come down. I used to laugh at people's cliched dialogues on pollution, traffic etc, but now I am the one feeling it. Hmmmm! 15 more days to go.

Nikhil is enjoying the time with kids here. I am glad!

Day 1

The flight was long, tiring but not too bumpy. Food was not great, except for the last breakfast which was Puris! At the London airport, the one thing I did that was exciting was get a change of 1 pound and use it in an internet kiosk to type an email to B and Appa. Getting on the internet made me feel homely in the vast airport. Felt like I am not that far away India and USA. Little moments of fun!

Nikhil was good. I was super thrilled when he ate the Puris with the spicy curries for breakfast in the plane. I forced him to sleep in the second flight for we fear a monster called JET LAG! Day 1 activities were planned to involve Nikhil and make him walk with us to some small shops etc to prevent him from falling asleep. After 3 hours, he could not control it anymore, he fell asleep in the car. Today is the first night - last time he could not sleep well for some days. Let us see how this one goes.
In the couple of phone conversations, Nithin and Nikhil exchanged 'miss you's and 'love you's. It is hard for them to be separated now, especially thar they have started playing/watching Star Wars, DS etc etc together. Hang in there, folks, I will keep posting my updates!

Shower time

A great breakthrough - Nithin agreed to try out the shower with his Chacha (short for Achacha, meaning big bro). And he liked it so much! Now taking a bath seems more fun than ever to him! Bye Bye, bucket! Welcome, shower! I can hear them talking to each other and it is fun to hear Nithin talk like a big boy!

Fast Forward

We all know the 'Rewind' button in our minds - that takes us into the past and helps relive the good moments of our lives. It looks like I have hit the fast Forward button. My mind is always in the trip that I am about to take on with my son. It is like I am re(?) living the future. I am daydreaming of each day in India. Shopping, preparing, packing is going on. Plans for small trips while in India are in the making via phone with my Appa. It is exciting, but at the same time, these thoughts make me nervous also.

Since I have got used to B's presence so much, I have become dependent on him for so many things. He takes care of minute details and I can rely on him that he will pack everything that is needed and fix all mechanical/hardware issues. Since he won't be with me, I am afraid where all I will have to act as B! I will have to do all his usual chores when we travel together. When Nikhil misses his Appa, I would not know what to do. I will have fun shopping and roaming around with Nikhil, but I cannot entertain him the way B can. Playing DS together, watching Star Wars is all beyond me. Since I won't have B to share the parenting role, I feel completely responsible for anything Nikhil will go through. I am worried about his health throughout the journey.

Let us see how it goes.