The Week That Was

Monday started off with preparing mango pie to be taken to Nithin's school for the Diwali celebrations at the Montessori.

Tuesday was the Diwali party. All the Indian moms contributed to a couple of hours of Diwali joy with music, food and crafts from India. It was a beautiful sight to see all the kids dance to Bhangra and Bollywood Music. We indulged in eating the goodies and savories made by other moms.

The week day evenings were busier than usual for the past few weeks due to practices for the upcoming Diwali Party for our community. Nithin was going to the Diwali dance with his age kids. I was happy that he was not clinging to me like last years' practices. I could just drop him off and pick him up and he went into the routine without issues. He is growing up fast and he is already 6!

Nikhil also was going to ramlila practices. B was playing guitar in the band that practiced songs for the Diwali party. I sang two songs - so music practice meant we four would go to the venue and the kids would play DS - but they were being good boys letting us sing. In fact, they also would sing our songs when we are back home.

Wednesday I had lunch with two of my fellow friends/moms. As usual, we chatted a lot about us and kids and this time we had lunch at the Thai restaurant near by. Fun times.

Friday was the arrival of B's parents. Their flight got delayed and it took them much longer in the travel than usual. They all got home at 1pm in the night.

During the day was the Halloween parade at the school which I missed at the last minute. I had mehndi applied in my hands by my beautician neighbor and that made me handicapped totally. I did not factor in the time required to get the mehndi dry, so I figured B has to go to the Halloween parade! It was a torture because I could not even make a phone call or pick up a call using my iPhone. I had gloves on my dried mehndi, so my swipe action would never work. Finally I had to use the thumb of my foot to swipe it ON and receive a call. Next time, I swear I will get it done towards the night, so I can sleep without feeling handicapped (pun intended!)

Anyway, mehndi was done and it looked colorful!

As I wait with bated breath for the much awaited Diwali Party in Saturday evening, Saturday morning begins with snow. All of a sudden, the weather turned unbearably cold. We had different engagements throughout the day and B and I were in the car on and off over the snowy roads. We did get through the commitments, went to party hall and set up music instruments and mic etc and came back home to get ready for the party.

The attire was decided already this time. B had bought me a saree just for this party from his India trip. I had also got the blouse stiched by an Indian lady. I discovered her through a friend and thank God, she had the bandwidth to stich my blouse in this festive season. So I was super thrilled about getting a blouse stiched in the US for the first time. With B's mom's help, I wore the saree, jewelry and the rest of the boys wore jubba.

The evening went by smoothly with our music performances. The disturbances of the mic were annoying. It was hard as usual to get the talking crowd to pay attention and keep quiet. But I was happy with our performance. I have to mention here that I could sing one of my all time favorite songs - I had been suggesting this song from before but the time time came now. It is 'Janeman Janeman tere Do nayan'.. from Chhoti Si Baat. I love Amol Palekar's innocence in this movie. So being able to sing my favorite song made the day for me!

Also I sang a duet with B - 'Sham' from 'Aisha'. Of course the whole orchestra gang did a great job and we all enjoyed the practices and the performance. The public review was encouraging as well.

Sunday was marked with the halloween parade within neighborhood. We lost power for the whole day almost. Heating up food in the stove without microwave is a pain. Thank God it came back toward evening and life soon became normal.

Monday evening was trick or treating. So finally it feels like we can breathe. That is the story of how eventful and happening last week was.

Playdates and more fun

John Lennon said: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

I would like to rephrase it to say: Life is what happens to you while you're taking kids to birthday parties and play dates.

What an eventful week that was!

Tuesday was B and my 11th wedding anniversary. I scheduled our annual physical appointment with our physician that day, so we both can go together to the doctor and B will take off also. I like to flow with the habits enforced by the health care culture here in the U.S. So if anyone of you have been skipping the annual meeting with doctor - here is a reminder from my side. Please go!

We cut a chocolate cheesecake (I love cheesecake and Nikhil loves chocolate, so he picked a chocolate cheesecake from the grocery store!) in the morning. Kids were excited because only on these occasions they get so much sugar as part of breakfast!

It was a week full of play dates for Nithin. Back when Nikhil was small, I should confess I never knew the concept of play dates. I never consciously arranged one for him so that he could develop social skills. I was too busy for them and I was not aware too. Now Nithin is having so many play dates with compatible friends. It is fun time for the kids. It is also chat time for the moms. The weather was so beautiful and we spent some time outside in the park soaking in the sun. Make hay while the sun shines!

Yesterday, we bid farewell to another family who are moving to India for good. The potluck dinner was delicious and too much fun with Antaksari and Dumb Charades. Another set of families where the kids played well and adults had some game time. I am glad to be where I live.

Weekend marked B taking Nikhil to soccer game while I took Nithin to a fun birthday party. It is a relief to see him not shying away from people and taking part in fun activities with other kids. It was again moms' talk time - a different set of girls this time. It was a week filled with a lot social interactions and laughter and fun.

Initial SAHM Days

The first week I came back from India I slept - napped with Nithin in the afternoon while the older one went to school. Yet again, sleeping in the night was not a problem for me :-). After 3 or 4 days of marathon sleeping, I finally felt healed physically from all the running around I did in India. I would always cherish the vacation in India - for it was my own time, my own decisions pretty much about what to do where I did not have to worry about kids' health or anything. Seeing my Appa happy to have me around for hsi 60th birthday, meeting my relatives who have known me since my birth, catching up with my old friends with whom I share a unique relation - was all so precious. Knowing that my kids are in the best hands here in IS, I could relax and enjoy the most in India.

Back is US, I checked out a simple Montessori school for Nithin. It is a half day program with lesser number of kids and more emphasis on academics for the time he is in school. He cried the first day since he has been home all summer and he was not going back to the old school. I too wondered if I am doing the right thing. But he warmed up quite sooner than he did for the first school.

Now my whole day revolves around the boys' school schedule and after school activities. With parents in law here, I have not seen the loneliness which probably is awaiting me soon. I am mentally relaxed and free and am able to focus on Nithin without my thoughts wandering off elsewhere (work pressure, commute etc). The initial days of SAH- Motherhood seem to be going well. There are moments of laughter, cuddling and tickling with Nithin. Sitting with Nikhil doing his school work and Kumon, we did accomplish our mini-goals.

Two days ago, was Nithin's 5th birthday. I knew how much he would love to have his close friends whom he has not met in a while. I wanted him to have the celebration right on the day he was born. Thankfully, even with my last minute notice, the boys' parents were able to bring them. We had a simple party with a craft activity and Pinata. Ben 10 cake was what he asked for.
The arrangements for the party kept me quite busy for some days.

Will keep you updated.

Great party

The efforts put it by our party committee definitely paid off well. It was a well organized party with games and performance. Dress code was black and/or red. It was a treat to the eyes to see all dressed up. I myself wore a red saree which is 10 years old now. It is the saree I wore for the register wedding part of my wedding. Well, there was no time to relive memories as it was a busy day and a busy night.

Afternoon, we practiced our songs with the instruments and the mics/music system installed in our basement. And we awaited the evening!

Ours was the last but one item. I must say it has been ages since I stepped on any stage. We all sat comfortably with our instruments and even though I had never had trouble with stage fright before, why was my throat getting dry all of a sudden? We smiled at the audience, I spoke some introductory words impromptu and here we began. Singing in a microphone does boost one's confidence.

First song was 'Ajeeb Dastan Hai Ye' - an old Hindi melody. It is an easy, smooth sailing song - we sailed through it comfortably. Next was our key number - it is the song 'Give Me Some Sunshine' from 3 Idiots. We even called ourselves 5 idiots! It involved more coordination than the other song. But looks like the 'na na na' caught the audience - they asked for once more. After all, they have to support us - we live in the same neighbourhood..hehe! We sang it again and we felt on top of the world. B sang a solo from Guns And Roses. Frankly I was running around hunting for our camcorder to record his song and missed most of his song. Nikhil participated in a group dance by kids.

The rest of the night, I saw many talented singers among the folks there. We enjoyed a karoke session (again impromptu!) with old Hindi songs. Dance floor was open as usual. B and I enjoyed a lot more after the kids were asleep. It was fun! It is ironical that even though B and I both can sing and he can play guitar, we never play music together at home - this event brought a new beginning, I hope! I also hope to enjoy some music sessions with our co-players at the valentine concert in future.