Nearing it..

As the closing date to the new home approaches, mixed feelings emerge once again.

Past 5 months, we were in a temporary home. That holds true for everything about our life. More than half of our things boxed up in the basement, we were living with what is utmost necessary. When seasons changed, we went on the look out for winter clothes in suitcases. We realized that however good you label your boxes, it is not possible to quickly get to what you want.

About 2 weeks to move out of this apartment townhome, it does not still feel real. When the structure was being built, we would swing by every day to see what is new. Every little change was exciting and it was a ritual for our family to drive by every day. Once the structure outside was complete, then we started getting inside the home to look for any changes within. And then came a stage when we were locked out. We can only get in with the builder's help. It has been exciting so far.

This temp home was so convenient in one aspect - we had the school bus stop right outside the home. Never had it so close before. So when my 1st grader is ready, we get out of the home and wait for the bus.

We have fun conversations at that time. Once the bus comes, I wave bye to him and he blows me kisses.It is like we do not care how stupid we look to others and I have never done that with my older one even when he was small. Once my older one got on to the bus, I could never see where he was.  Also this is much different from my to-be teenager now who does not want to see me anywhere near the bus stop.

I think that is what I will miss most when we move out of this home. The memories of me waving bye to my younger one and him smiling to me eye to eye!

Change is good

Last week, we had the most exciting days. We sold our current home and moved to a rental place. All the foundation work for eventually moving to a new home in the near future.

After spring break, we put our townhome on sale. The one month and odd when our home was on sale - constant cleaning up, refraining from cooking inside, take-outs and eat-outs, yelling at kids to not mess up the house, getting out of own own home for others to walk through it any time - thank God that all ended when we got an offer. It seemed like a very long time though! We could not believe it that it ended since during our Open House we did not even have a potential buyer come in and the response that was so great in the first 2 weeks we put it on the market dwindled down very very soon. Just about when the hope was running low, we got an offer.

Then came the stages of inspection, mortgage appraisal from buyer's loaning company ..one step at a time. We were really afraid to tell anyone for sure since anything could go anyway. The date was fixed by the buyers to settle - it was the same day they were selling their home.

Now the challenge was to find a rental place which fits our future school district needs. We were looking at a new construction from time to time and working out our agreement with them. After a bit of struggle, we signed a lease with an apartment where our kids would go to the same schools when the new home is completed.

Last week was the big  move. Even after the movers took the bulk of everything, we were shocked to see how much more needs to moved to the new place. It was a marathon loading our cars and unloading stuff in the new place.

The settlement meeting went smooth. Now we slowly settling down in the rental place. I am even enjoying the rental place and unpacking boxes - I do curse when I hit a box on the way or can't find what I am looking for right away..it is all part  of the game!We embarked the journey now on making selections and finalizing options - will take some months to get our home. One step at a time...but the changes are really exciting.

The Year That Was

So why was I procrastinating so much from writing? Finally I hope these thoughts will see day light.

The Year That Was - I am talking about the year I decided to quit my job and be home. When

I quit the job, I thought I will be home for 3 months. How that went to a whole year (and a couple of months) is a story.

Once I put Nithin into the half day Montessori, my life revolved around that schedule.

Memories:

• Early morning walks in the Mall when no shops have been open yet. I would buy coffee and wait around to return something in a shop. Somedays I was to early in the Mall after dropping him that I had to sit in the car, kill time with iPhone until it opened.
• Times when I always early for everything including the one time I was 1 hour early for a doctor appointment
• Times when the radio station talks about traffic in the Turn Pike, I switched it off because I don;t bother about it anymore.
• Times when the people I interacted most were automatically non-working moms.
• Afternoons sitting on the king size bed with Nithin and reading to him
• Evenings when I would look forward to work with Nikhil on Kumon or something - so I feel like we accomplished something together!
• Days when I had the enthusiasm to cook and days when I hated it so much that I escaped it
• Sundays when I felt and enjoyed the relief of not being compelled to go to work the next day
• Days when my Google Calendar consisted of nothing other than kids' birthday parties

In an effort not to break the rhythm of Nithin's half day school, I did not feel like looking for a job. B had a 1 year timeframe in mind after which I should start looking for a job. Summer went by like a breeze with my parents' visit and with kids out of school.

September began with the worry of how Nithin will adjust to his schools - he was to continue the AM in his montessori and the PM in public school. I had worried about this all year, but other than the the first day's crying, he adjusted beautifully. I started getting bored at home - so automatically I started job-hunting - as per plan.

The next couple of months I went through the frustrations of

a job-hunter. I was back in the same state that I was after my layoff (2 years back). Trying to market my skills - except that this time I was looking for new role completely. I did not want to commute too far and did not want to travel for my work either These really narrowed down the options I had.

After some weeks of hope and despair alternating, I should say Thank God for that phone call.

Ek Pal Mein Zindagi Badal Gaya...

I heard the golden words - We want to make you an offer. My old work place. The product in which I had worked for 5 years before. A chance to start off officially as a product analyst. B will be my colleague once again. Commute = 5 min.

December went by knowing that I have a work place destined for the next year. Parties and holiday gatherings. Dressing up. Apprehensions and tension as usual about the future. How will it be?

More later on how life has changed after joining work.

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.

Zumba

It was a pleasure attending our favorite Zumba class once again last evening.

Some of my friends were pretty regular at a point months ago in attending this class. That is how I started getting hooked to this one. The instructor is very good and she plays vibrant lovely music. Also, my experience says that if you are regular, even somebody like me (!) can pick up dance steps. The class gets filled up so much that if you need a decent spot, you have to arrive early. Decent means that you can get a good view of the instructor to copy her moves - or you are right behind one of those good dancers so you an refer to them when in doubt - and also there is enough room around you so that you don't risk stepping on somebody.

When each song ends and the next song begins, it is a pleasure to realize it is a song that you know and you have danced to in a previous class. She does bring in latest hit songs and introduces many new ones. It takes a while to get used to them and from then on, I am happy to hear them being played since I can manage the steps. She also brings in some Bollywood songs. I was super thrilled to hear this catchy song as a Cool Down song. I would have almost been dancing instead of doing stretches yesterday when I heard this particular one. Since I am not so up to date with new songs, it took some googling to locate this one.

Pee Loon from Once Upon A Time in Mumbai.

Anyway, this post is just to proclaim that ZUMBA is fun and if you have a chance to try it, PLEASE DO!

Bidding Good-Bye and the emotions associated with it

As we stand on one side of the security check at the airport, while Appa and Amma are on the other, putting their hand bags in the conveyor belt for scanning, I felt helpless. I was wondering what more could I do at this point. The truth that we all will have to go back to our own lives, stared at me. Just 10 minutes before, I knew this moment will come and I can tell both Appa-Amma and me were dreading this moment. We don't want to break out into tears and make it awkward and difficult for each other. But the emotions associated with the good-bye moments were overwhelming us.

As B and the kids hugged them one by one, I did not know what to do. May be because the culture of hugging is not in our family, even though I am accustomed to doing it with US friends, wasn't I still not able to hug my Appa-Amma?

It was weird and it felt sudden when Appa just moved on to the line of security check. He did not want to break down. I could see that. Amma waved ta-ta at the kids and us too from the line.

As we watched them complete the processes and as I hoped he would turn back and see that I am still watching them, I could see them walk into the airport. He did not realize that we are still watching them. They don't have cell phone, so the only thing I could do was to wait for his call when they are completely settled.

Throughout the car ride back home, B and I were talking and talking about how life would be for them when they go back. To continue with my own life, there are challenges awaiting me.

Finally the phone rang after I had gobbled up yummy Appams at our friends' place in our street. Appa and I caught up. He sounded energetic and we laughed about surviving the emotional moment with minimal tears. As we walked home from the friends', we saw an airplane up in the sky and my younger one goes, "Amma, I think Thatha and Paatti are in that airplane" and waved at it!

The quiet of the home is not new to us. Whenever B's parents left, the front room has stared at us with the void. It was the same this time. The kids tried to find something that Thatha and Paatti have forgotten by mistake.

I hope everything goes well for my parents as they step into the retired life and restart life in Bangalore.

Life's new routine

When kids had school, I was lost in a different kind of routine. Now it is different. No school for the boys. My parents are visiting us. So days are flying by so quickly. When you are in a routine bubble, it is so hard to break out of it. Each day has to be following the current routine and I cannot think of how I spent my days before this all started. I know when they go back, I will go back to the same old life - but it seems unthinkable now.

Timetable - we sleep late, but I don't like it when it is too late. I prefer to have the breakfast done by a certain time, then cook everyday for lunch and finish lunch by the same time everyday. Just because we don't have school does not have to mean that we do things out of schedule. That is just me and I stress myself around this a little bit.

Highlights of the summer so far are:

• I thought I would not be able to remember how to make Tamil oriented dishes since we cook mostly Mallu at my home. But I have been doing a good job so far with making good meals for my parents. My joy knew no bounds when my parents say they like what I made.

• I was amazed that I could go into this Tamil mode of cracking jokes and making parodies just because I have my Appa here. Some relations don't change over time and it is possible to be pick up from where we left. I am talking about being together in person - talking over phone is fun but different. To say the least, we do enjoy our conversations and a lot of time, listen to him talking whatever he chooses to.

• Making travel plans to take them to some places and making them happen has been fun.

• The best part is seeing the kids interact with them. When they enjoy and laugh at the pranks the younger one does and when they appreciate the older one for being the mature boy - I thank God for making this trip happen. Because I could not have showed them how my life now exactly is better than this.

• Nikhil is hooked to the 7 Little Words' app in the iPhone. I am happy he can connect with Thatha and learn the valuable lessons of vocabulary and English that I got from my Appa. When we three jointly work on each puzzle, I know in my heart I had always dreamt of this to happen if my Appa visits.

A.C is running constantly. It is so hot these days. But I like the way it has been going.