"Bed, Bath and Biyyam"

That's V's lingo for Bed, Bath and Beyond.

V: "momma, bed bath and biyyam veldam" [let's go to bed bath and beyond]
Me: Enduku [for what?]
V: Shoes boxes, shoe boxes

Yup, my son wants to buy shoe boxes. I made the mistake of taking him to The Container Store and BBB one day to pick up some shoe boxes and other nick-nacks. From then on he loves those 2 stores. Did I mention he is a weirdo? This is what happens when you tag your 2 year old to whenever you go. It's actually a good thing. I get my shopping done without much tantrums and fuss. He also loves costco, target and such stores :). I am surprised he doesn't ask for toysrus even though we took him there bunch of times.

My Trip to Atlanta - Part 2

Woohoo, I am home. Trip went fine. Not an issue in Atlanta or on the way back. V was super good and very well-behaved to the point that the guy sitting next to us said, "You and your husband should be proud of the way you are raising him. He is very well-behaved." I told him, it's just that V is trying for the Oscars this year and so he is trying to put his best performance and has nothing to with me or Prabu.

Since I read so much about kids acting out on planes, Prabu and I kinda worked hard on making it a good experience for him instead of making him feel like he is stuck on a plane for few hours. We bought a book on planes and helicopters week before I were to leave for Atlanta and got him all excited about it.

Instead o taking his existing toys on the plane, I ran to party city and picked some party favors. A pack of 12 mini cars, a pack of 24 sun glasses (he loves them). These were actually cheaper than buying regular toys. He loved when I opened a new pack on the plane. The portable DVD player is my new best friend on travel and the walks me and V had on the plane.

Over all it was a nice trip. Had fun times with the family and had more fun coming back home.. All about that in the next post :)

Here are some pictures of me and Vani and also V on the plane with his loot.

And this is V all wrapped in my scarf. He walked from one end of the plane to the other like that and said hello to everyone whether they saw him or not :).

My Trip to Atlanta - Part 1

Part 1 because I am still here and will post part 2 once I am back in Phoenix on 17th. I was dreading the 3.5 hour flight ride to Atlanta from Phoenix. Just me and V and I wasn't sure how he would do. (touchwood) he was such a good baby. He got upset twice: When they took his shoes off for security and when I gave the stroller at the gate :). The security people were very nice and so were the fellow passengers. One of the ladies helped me with the stroller. He ate a pizza, slept for an hour and a half on the plane and watched movies.

Here's few things I learned from this trip. A week before we were to leave, Prabu and I talked to V about how we were going to go to a new place on a plane. he had a book on planes and he got all excited that he will go on a real one. I took lots of distractions. These are not his regular toys he played at home. I bought a pack of 8 tiny cars form dollar store and opened it on the plane and V went crazy over it. He didn't even notice me putting the seat belt and the take off.

And ladies and gentleman, portable dvd player should be your new best friend if you have young kids. We bought one for this trip and boy was it a life saver. Once in the air, I played his favorite DVD and he was good to go. Also, I bought few snacks just in case. Something I usually won't let him have much at home :). Chips, Chocolates. He actually didn't care for them at all :).

Vani has been making good food and Srikar and Vibhu have been entertaining Vikram. Chaitu is coming this Friday and he is taking me and V to Colombia to visit some of our friends. I cannot wait. Finally I will get to go out after 5 days :).

Since I jinxed it, I am thinking I will have a bratty V on the way back.

A Beautiful Gift

Chaitu came for Thanksgiving weekend. I made very non-traditional Thanksgiving meal with Coq Au Vin, Scallopped potatoes, Roasted Veggies and Rice. We left for babbi's place on friday. We got to see the Hopi reservation and also took a tour of the village that had no water and electricity. Yes people, there are people living in the USA without water or electricity and it is sad.

We stopped by at ahouse, and Chaitu bought their pottery while me and Julie bought some Kachina Dolls. While Julie and Babbi were talking to that family, Vikram was playing with their little osn. He was probably 6 or 7 years old. Him and V were playing catch with a ball. When we started to leave, the boy came running behind us, gave his ball to V and said he can have it. It was V's best gift I think. V did say thanks:) and for me it was an "Awwwww" moment to see a young kid give away his toy. It might not be a big deal for us adults, but I think for kids it is:).

So that was our thanksgiving weekend. I am leaving for Atlanta this saturday to visit Vani and Vitti. I am excite dto see them but nervous about the plane ride with just me and V. I am just crossing my fingers and hoping everything goes well.

My Life - An Episode of "Friends"

If you are as nuts about the show "Friends" as I am you will remember the episode, "The one with Boots". In that, Monica buys these ridiculously expensive boots only to find out that they hurt like hell. I just did that last week. The silver lining, mine weren't expensive at all. I still will wear them but man do they hurt. Hey, have to pay some price to make it look good.

On non-boot news, Chaitu is coming this Thursday and I am super psyched. I finally have a menu set. I think next year I have to convince my whole familia in Jersey to come to AZ for thanksgiving since weather is much nicer here at this time ;). I know it's easy for me to just fly out there but man the thought of cold weather makes me tired :).

And as for a solution to my post the other day, I called Chaitu and told him he needs to fidn some one soon and get hitched so he can also get to be miserable once in a while like all us married couples are and then I can live happily ever after since my mom will be off my back.

Things That Make You Feel Good!

I told you before leaving my last post that I will be watching a movie that's going to make me feel good :) and oh yeah it did. Something about the latest Rajshri movies that gives goose bumps and feels good. Mind you, they are not for everyone. You have to be another Sowjanya to like them because I haven't met anyone who likes them as much as I do. I will give you this, they are overly romantic, "things like that don;t happen no more" kind of movies. But boy do I love them. There is the kind of shyness between the main characters in their movies that you just don't find anywhere.

I saw their latest movie Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi last night. You will hate it if you watch it :). I loved it. Por Que? because I am a hopeless romantic :).

Match Maker I am Not!

Everyone in the world knows my brother is single. That guy is happy being single and has not made any efforts to find someone. Meanwhile, I am getting my ass kicked by the family for not making any effort in finding him someone. This where you say, "What the EFF?" I also get, "You are settled, you should help him." Again, WTF. He is 20 flippin 9 years old and if he doesn't care, why should I?

Now that mom and dad are in India, I get these weird calls from mom.
Mom: Babai wants to know Chitu's salary because they are looking girls for him and the girl's parent's would like to know how much he is making.
Me: Mom, I called to find out how you are doing, I told you I have nothing to do with Chaitu and his marriage
Mom: How can you not know what Chaitu is making?
Me: Huh! Did you not hear what I just said.
Mom: I am sure Prabu knows. Have him call me
Me: Mom, you are tripping, no one knows how much Chaitu is making except Chaitu himself and we do not care.
Mom: Ask Prabu and let me know.
Me: You know what, I am hanging up.

She also got me in a wrong time and mood. I am already ticked off/frustrated with Prabu working long ass hours on weekdays and week ends ( Yup he won't be home tonight till 3 am) and feeling like a single mom. I got too much shit to take care of around the house, not to mention managing a full time job, full time mom (V doesn't have day care yet),full time cook, maid and what not and somehow I have to take on the responsibilities of being a match maker. No thank you.

Here is a perfect Saturday night hen V slept early and I am sitting here worrying about if I was rude to my mom on the phone. Damn, I hate feeling guilty and hate how parents do that? I am 110.89% sure one day I will do that to my children, so when I do, I hope this blog post comes back to kick me and makes me open my eyes.

I am off to enjoy my Merlot and a Salman Khan movie. If no one else, at least my boy friend makes me feel better :).

Second Birthday

This is also my 250th post on the blog. How nice :).

Last week was pretty rough on me. V started being cranky and not sleeping, not eating. I couldn't see any physical symptoms of fever or anything. Wednesday was the worst. At one point I almost packed my bag and thought of leaving for Jersey with him. And then he would quiet down and start. This went on whole day and he finally slept at 10.30 that night. I thought to myself, "Ok he is sleeping good. Tomorrow would be better." he woke up cranky and I just called his doctor. The nurse asked me why I wanted to bring him in. My response, "So that you can tell me what's going on because I give up at this point." She asked me to come in, checked him and said nothing is wrong, he is getting teeth and since he is also turning 2 this is normal. Alrighty then.

So by Friday he was better and we had a small get together for his day planned. Took him to the temple. The priest did a 30 minute pooja and V was such a good boy. Sat through the whole thing without a beep. I just couldn't believe how he was this monster one day and such a good baby the next :). Evening went good. Made good food, ate, V got some great gifts that he loved. He was very excited to cut the cake.

Next day he kept singing happy birthday to you. He also wanted to wear his "cake jeans". Well, cake jeans is nothing but the outfit he cut his cake in the night before :).

Here are uploaded pictures.

Na na na na na na

That's me singing. It's been so flippity flap crazy last 10 days that I am just singing my way through it. That's the only thing that let's me relax aside from cooking, reading and other things I try to get my hands on. Prabu has been out few days last week, was busy the rest of the days and worked on a 12 hour shift both Saturday and Sunday. And so, I was the cook, mom, analyst, maid, and what not. I need a Big martini and an appointment to the best Spa's in Arizona STAT... :)

I should start taking advantage of being in Phoenix. Looks like I am surrounded by the best Spas and Salons and restaurants but still haven't gone to any. The second Prabu stops being busy I am going out :). I did go to the mall with V yesterday and purchased something that I have been wanting for long time ( Mind you it was a want not a need).

V is going to be 2 this Friday. I am torn between going away or have a mini get together. We will see. Depends on how I feel on Thursday night:).

Questions That Every Reporter/Detective Asks!

Who got it?
Prabu

What did he get?

This book to add to my cookbook collection.

Where did he get it from?
Virginia

When did he get it?
Yesterday when he came back from his 2 days business trip.

How did you react?
Surprised

Why were you surprised?
Because we are talking about a guy who thinks Romance is the name of Ben & Jerry's new flavor and Spontaneous is something you would see a dermatologist for ;).

Math or Mastercard Ad

Number of rooms Vacuumed = 4

Number of loads of laundry done = 3

Number of bathrooms cleaned = 2

Number of errands run = 1

Vacuuming the Vacuum Cleaner at the end of it all = Priceless

Say Please!

We taught V to say Please and Thank You. He has gotten very good at it. We don't even have to "make" him say it. Ok, all fine and dandy. However he just taught me and Prabu the lesson yesterday. Prabu and I told him to pick up his toys and put them back in their place. He turns around and says to us, "Please". What happened then? What do you think happened? We got embarrassed. Apologized to him and said, "Vikram, pick up the toys, PLEASE" :). We should have known better :).

I booked my tickets to Atlanta to Visit Vani and Vitti and I am excited :). V will get to spend time with his cousins. And I also get to see my friend from school(from Kadapa) after almost 12 years. I am so psyched to meet her.

A Cup of Tea

Lately my wants have been very simple. I have come down from wanting diamond rings and Balenciaga bags to 5 minutes of peace and 10 minutes of "no-one-talk-tome" time. Among those comes my cup of tea. Every evening, I just like to have a cup of tea without V throwing tantrums, neighbor stopping by without calling, wrong numbers staying on the phone for 10 minutes even after explaining to them that I am not "Shop-rite"... well you get the hint.

After all that last week, I finally enjoyed a nice cup of tea today. Sent off Prabu and V on an errand ;). Phew, now I am fully energized to take on the next few tasks at home and at work :).

Yesterday was Halloween. V did not want to wear his outfit at all. I had to bribe him and make him wear it so I could take few pictures. He got out of it in exactly 9 minutes. It worked out fine as he doesn't get the concept of trick or treating yet.


PS: That curl on his fore-head is natural. We did not add any gel ;).

Shoot, Shoot, Shoot

I am kicking myself for being silly over the weekend. I saw my senior from school in Kadapa in the mall. I couldn't get myself to say hi and talk to her. Why? Because I was feeling weird and thought she would walk out saying, "Who are you?" and also, it might have been hard for her to recognize me because I don't look like this no more. Argh! Some one from Kadapa was in front of my eyes and I walked off.. Boo hoo to me.

Anyways, V is feeling better and his nose looks nice too :). We went to the AZ state fair over the weekend. He had too much fun. Spent Diwali at home making good food and at night went to friends place for dinner.

Uploaded pictures here :).

ER - A Soap Opera of Our Own

V got teeny cut on his nose last night jumping up and down the bed. He seemed to do Ok after but we took him to the ER because well, as first time parents it's our right to rush to emergency because we don't know any better..lol. Doctor said it didn't need stitches but glued the wound so it would heel soon.

Have to give credit to V for being such a good baby. Doctor and nurses kept saying "Good boy" while doing their thing and V kept saying "Vittam gooboy" in between his crying episodes...lol.

Here are his booboo pictures.

I Got Me Some Goose Bumps

And no, it's not Prabu this time;). It's Mr. Hrithik Roshan and his movie Jodha Akbar. To think I wasn't going to watch this movie because it was too long and too epic'ish (that's not even a word, I know). I loved it and that's all I am gonna say.

So where have I been for the past month or two. Well the usual, busy with work, home and oh yeah visiting doctors. When I got half my thyroid removed last year, I thought at least half my problems will go away. Apparently not. I got few more new issues that I have never had and it takes few visits/check-ups for the doctor to finally say "Ms.Yinti, your thyroid is the issue". She also was not happy that I lost 8 lbs in 3 weeks, to which I had to say, "Dr, Baraz, my thyroid is the issue."

Work has been super busy. I always wondered how people work 12 to 16 hour days. I just spent whole month of September working 80 hours a week myself and now I feel your pain.

Me: Manager, please hire more people
M: Cannot. Economy is not good
Me: Give me a bonus then
M: Cannot. But we are letting everyone wear Jeans for the month of October as a "thank you for your hard work".

Ya know. I work from home in my pajamas because I have no time to take a shower on certain days till the clock strikes 12AM. What am I going to do with "wear jeans in October". I wish my house was on 3rd or 4th floor. I could so easily toss my work system out the window at times.

Mom and dad left for India 2 weeks ago on a 3 month vacation. My cousins are getting married and so they are visiting. I cannot believe I am missing it. I have already whined, felt sad about it so I am not going to do that no more :). I am hoping to re-live it by watching the pictures and the videos mom and dad are bringing back.

My cabin-fever has kicked back in again. Saritha left me to move back to Virginia (again, darn these husbands and their jobs). Madhavi went on a 3 month vacation to India. And the only other new neighbor that moved in next door was smoking something suspicious at 10 AM in the morning. So I am all alone unless the stress makes me wanna go join my neighbor;).

Went out for a happy hour today. Oh yeah, other people who work for my company live in Phoenix too :). It was so good, otherwise I think I would have called a therapist tomorrow..lol.

Vikram - well,the usual. He is getting naughtier and cuter by the day. Speaking both Tamil and Telugu. Understands English well so now Prabu and I have to talk in Hindi if we have any secret things going on. Eats lunch and dinner while watching the tamil movie, "Thiruvilayadal Aarambam" because the hero drives a bike and he loves one of the songs from that movie. Already has 7 pairs of shoes which proves again that he is MY son and my son only ;). Calls my high heels "Tuk Tuk shoes" because of the noise they make :). Says sorry by himself if he bumps into us. And finally will be turning 2 in 3 weeks and I have no plans on what to do that day yet.

Here is a recent picture of the familia :)

Happy Elephant

Today is Vinayaka Chavithi. In order to explain this to V with as ease as possible, Prabu said, "Today is elephant's Birthday. Say Happy Birthday Elephant" My little guy caught on to that and kept saying Happy Elephant, Happy Elephant. He cannot say birthday yet :). he loves the whole pooja set up and insists on doing stuff for the "Swami". He is starting to say words in telugu and tamil (whichever is convenient to him at that moment).

I know it's been a while I blogged. Things have gotten crazy busy at work and home front. Had to get US passports and Indian visas for mom and dad as they will be going to India next month to attend their nieces weddings. I cannot believe I will be missing both the weddings. I would have to make myself feel better by watching the DVD.

I uploaded some pictures here from last month and today.

Blogging from Heaven

We went to Totties for dinner and I am in heaven after eating the food. Awesome food and I got to meet the Chef, Ms. Tottie Kaya:). I love it when I get a chance to chat up with the owner/Chef. Dad and I decided to skip the usual entree for everyone and stuff and went for bunch of appetizers and just one Penang curry for entree. I got their Vegetarian Sushi (that's sooo wrong; I know) which was out of this world and the spicy cucumber, the dumplings, Oy Ve! :). Did I mention Heaven? The only thing was they didn't have my favorite soup dumplings on the menu tonight. I am going back when they have it :). V was such a good baby through the night. He had their noodles, ate some of their home made pineapple ice cream and said thank to all of them at the end :).

It started raining and temperatures are coming down from 114 degrees to 100 degrees, which means it's getting better. Things have been very quiet and busy at the Thevar-Yinti front:). SO not much for updates. I will try and post more pictures and videos soon.

And so it starts...

The fun part of day care. I haven't started V on daycare yet. The local YMCA takes care of your kids while you exercise at their facility. I thought it was a brilliant idea to kind of start V to get used to it and so I have been taking him there. Today was day 2 and we came home in 15 minutes. They will let kids cry for 15 minutes before they call the parents telling them to come pick up. V cried for me yesterday and today.

While I was taking him out, another mom saw my face and said , "Don't worry. It took my son a month to get used to and the trick is YOU have to stay strong." Thanks, I needed to hear that. The second we walk out, he was all laughing and telling me stuff. That little bugger.:)

Stress Reliever

Work has been crazy, home front has been crazier. The only relaxing thing now a days is me and V going to the pool. He loves it there and I am slowly starting on getting over my fear of water so I can start taking swim classes(stop snickering).

I decided to do what I do best when I am totally stressed out. Take a cooking class. I called up Kitchen Classics and they had one available yesterday and I ran :). Learned how to make 3 of the 4 mother sauces. Now if I can whip up some mashed potatoes and fried chicken for the weekend, it would be money well spent:).

Here's a video of V working the "Mixie". Smart ass uses the small jar as a base and the big one for grinding.

V and His Body Parts :)

Weekend of 07/13/08 :)

Prabu and I had the Sunday to ourselves and decided to go watch a movie. We saw WALL-E. I told you we are romantic. I tried to lure him to go watch Sex and the City with me, but he nicely declined ;).

I have also been catching up on lot of Telugu, Hindi and Tamil movies that I haven't seen in a while or missed it somehow. I hate violent movies(unless it has Sallu in it). So I have been catching up on all the mushy-romantic dramas I can get my hands on.

Oh and Chaitu is now US Citizen. And I have been given a responsibility. So where ever you are my future Vodina (Sis-in-law), contact me as we need you soon or the family is gonna kill ME. Make sure you are fair, you have long hair and you have mix of east and west qualities (whatever the heck that means) ;).

Fingers Crossed

Chaitu, mom, dad and V are all out to enjoy Verde Canyon by Train. Since Prabu and I have been on it before we decided to stay home. This is the first time since V was born that we will be leaving him with mom and dad for 9 hours straight. Now before you scream, "Chill what's the big deal", my hubby dear is nervous. Cross your fingers that they will come back and tell us that V was a doll and they had no issues with him :).

And now on to the important part, since we got some "alone" time, Prabu and I have no clue what to do. So we decided to do laundry. We are sooo romantic I tell ya;).

Woohoo!

Mom and dad will be US citizens in 3 weeks after taking the oath. Yayyy for them :).
Chaitu is coming tonight. He's got his citizenship interview on Tuesday. He's got some studying to do :).

It rained here yesterday which is a nice surprise. V had so much fun watching it. H's gotten a nasty cold and is liking it because now he gets to smell Vicks. He loves Vicks, what can I say?

Here is V and mom making "Vadiyalu". Those things are getting done in one day because of the heat.

V and P

Here is V giving me a "Sime". Yup he says "Sime" for smile. He is growing up fast and starting to repeat everything we say. He is also getting more and more clingy to Prabu.


Now a days I started sending Prabu and V on short trips to the store. It's a fun one-on-one time for them and a teeny bit break for mom and me.V also behaves exceptionally well when it's only one of us taking him out.

Long Weekend 07/04/08

Well it wasn't real loooong;) but short and fun. It was too hot for us to go anywhere. V didn't even want to go out for a walk at 8 in the night. He kept saying "Hot". And then went on to say "Soodu" in Tamil and "Vedi" in Telugu like we wouldn't understand if he said it in English. Since we speak 3 languages at home, he picks and chooses the words that are simpler for him to say. Where was I? Oh yeah the weekend. Stayed home, ran some errands and made some yummy food and ate and stayed home more. It was a perfect weekend for me and my man, eat, sleep and don't do anything.

Men In Black

My death-row meal ;).

Anthony Bourdain, Michael Ruhlman, Eric Ripert and Scott Bryan at French Laundry. Do I say more? I wish I can meet at least one of them once in my life :) or dine at their place.

Fear of the Unknown

Well, I am going to utter something I thought I would never have to say because I didn't believe in it as much. "Generation Gap" ladies and gentleman, it's called generation gap.

I wish I was raising V in the 80's when I was raised. From what my parents told me, Chaitu and I were good kids and they never had to discipline us and when my mom raised an eyebrow we knew we were doing something wrong and we stopped. My mom at every chance she get's till today proudly says those things to the point I have to be like, "Mom stop. No one cares." They never read "What to expect when you are expecting?", they don't know who Dr. Spock is and what his views on discipline are and they didn't really care to call the doctor the second a bug bit Chaitu in the eye.

What happened in the last 20 plus years? Prabu and I were around kids before we had V. We saw everyone from a brat to well-behaved, anti-social to overly friendly kids. We kinda had mental notes which we never put it down. Whenever we found ourselves judging a kid or a parent, we used to joke saying, "Our kid is so gonna do that and we are gonna go hide in a hole." Now I have this cute bundle in front of me and I feel like I am trying too hard in raising him to be a good, quiet, 'don't-touch-anything-except-your-toys' kid.

Why am I doing that? You want an honest answer. It's because I am trying hard to make sure he stay put when we go out, doesn't raise his voice, ask politely for what he wants, doesn't grab at anything that's not his, stays in his high chair when we go out for dinner. I want my cake and eat it too. But then, notice any parents around you, they are all doing that. They might not be obvious but that's what they are doing. So next time my mom says, "You guys never touched the TV remote", I cannot help but come up with a lame-ass response of, "Mom, we didn't have a TV in our house till I was in 4th grade and that TV in those days didn't come with a remote."

Sometimes, I wonder if we as parents are missing out on enjoying our kid's childhood because we are so caught up on the web of well-behaved children, or may be I need to let it go because I shouldn't be afraid of the unknown or the unexpected behaviors of V that will come across me.

An interesting Telugu Novel

Every month Eenadu posts their magazine Chatura online. Chatura basically is a monthly magazine that has one novel and few short stories. If you are a telugu novel/short story buff like me you will enjoy this. Eenadu publications has been publishing another monthly called "Vipula" which features short stories from different languages translated in telugu. This is my all time favorite. I had a huge collection of these back in India. Too bad, I couldn't carry those 100lbs of books back here with me.

Anyways, if you can read and understand telugu, you should totally check out this month's Chatura novel. It's a very interesting/different read.

Weekend of 06/22/08

We went to Visit Anand:). V got all jealous whenever mom or I tried to hold Anand.

Here's Baby Anand and Babloo.

Training Day

"Shame Shame Momma"

Since V's gotten into the habit of running around the house naked sometimes, I told him big boys don't do that and everyone will say shame shame when they see him like that. So, every time I change his diaper he says shame shame :), which is all fun and cute.

I took him to the mall the other day and while we were walking by, he saw this mannequin in the window of Victoria's Secrets with just underwear and screams "Shame Shame momma". Oy! the lady walking by said, "Oh how cute". I don't know about cute but I think I need to introduce the whole conversation of when to say what ;).

And here's a silly V.

Gentleman's Promise

Even though it was given over a bottle of beer and a martini, someone kept their word and I am getting it on Tuesday. Why yes, your eye's are not deceiving you. That is me doing the happy dance :).

Weekend

We drove down on Sunday to Williams to meet our cousins who were on their way from Chicago to Vegas to Grand Canyon. It was so much fun seeing them after many years. V kept asking for "Aunty" and Mama all the way back home.

Next weekend, we are off to visit our newest addition in the family. Ramesh and Julie had a Baby Boy few weeks ago. V is excited to meet his new cousin Anand:).

Say it with me, "Kudetart"

Well that's spelled "Coup Des Tartes". A faux restaurant we went to, to celebrate our anniversary tonight. I say faux because all over on-line they are claimed as "fine-dining","French culinary institute trained owner" and blah blah blah and it's nothing like it. I worked in a fine dining restaurant for an year and I know what food and service in places like that should be like. I liked the presentation and taste of the dishes we ordered but the way the waitress and everything else around the restaurant was such a turn-off. You can ask me how the food is 2 time in an hour but please don't ask me if I'm done eating when I still have the fork in my mouth with your $30 chicken.

I don't know which was worse, them serving paper menus or our waitress greeting us with a, "what would you like to order". Ahem, could we get some water first and a "How are you doing today?". Ahhh, screw her, Prabu and I still managed to have a good time out of it and enjoy our 5th anniversary and 7 years of being together without killing each other yet. Happy Anniversary Burpus :).

Yes he is only 18 months old

ok may be going to be 19 months :). I have gotten lot of, "Come on. He is only year and half?" from people when I tell them V's age. Hey you asked and I told you the truth. If you ask my age I might pull a " 25 years and 13 months", but I don't think V's there yet :). I think that's because V's a little tall for his age and repeats everything we say without baby talk. Oh well!. So here are some fun things he's been up to. I uploaded more pictures on Picasa. Click on the link to the right :).

"I Don't Procrastinate. I Re-Schedule"

I saw that fridge magnet when we were at smoky mountains few years ago. I remembered it today because I am falling off my wagon and I need to get back. I have used my "busy with work", "playing with V", "doing 60 loads of laundry" excuses already. I still have "cooking", "Vacuuming" left. So let's see if I can get the house in order before that.

Guess what I got?

I got a birthday gift from Saritha over the weekend. Wanna guess what it is? DVD of 'Vivah'. That officially confirms that she's got me figured out and knows what I want to the T:). Now i can drool over Shahid whenever I want;).

Saritha and I saw Sex and the City movie over the weekend. Movie was good actually. I liked it better than the TV show. It also felt like a giant add for all the designers. But who cares, it was lot of eye candy for me (I am talking about the purses and dresses). I think I am definitely buying the DVD when it's out.

Prabu's parents left for India on Sunday. V did ok. He asks about them once in a while and we tell him they are in India and he's trying to say India. He is starting to talk a lot and repeats everything we say.

My to-do list's been increasing by the day. Our 5th anniversary is in a week and I haven't bought a single gift for Prabu yet. I am surprised at myself because I usually have everything planned, bough, wrapped a month before. I guess that's what happens when you go past 4 years(excuses man, I tell ya);).

Don't judge me just because

I have the all seasons' dvd's of "Sex and the City".
I am going on Sunday to watch the movie even if it starts snowing in Arizona.

I do have to make a point(s) here though. Let it be known that I cannot stand Sarah Jessica Parker and think that I have never seen such a horrible actor(she makes me want to like Paris Hilton-the actress;)). I think all her outfits/dresses on the SATC tv show were horrible. Then why do I own the DVD's and why watch the movie? Because I love the other three women on the show and their charecters. If only Dolls was here or I was in NJ. Oh well, can't ask for everything in life now, can we?

Yeah Yeah

I know, it's been a while again :). Chaitu was home for long weekend and we had a good time. I made good food (when do I not?), went shopping and that's pretty much it. We went out to this Indian restaurant on Saturday for lunch. Holy heck, talk about bad food. I hate it when people open restaurants without thinking it through. If you cannot serve proper and decent food, as Padma Lakshmi says, "Pack up your knives and go".

On Monday we dropped both sets of parents at the theater to watch Indian Jones while I cooked lunch. They had fun.

Prabu's parents are leaving this Sunday and we have been busy buying, returning an buying some more stuff :). What? You have never been to India? That's how it works for me. I shop before I go to India, I shop in India and I shop after I come back from India. Even though it's not me this time that's going, we still followed my path.

Work has been crazy busy and I think i cursed few times sitting in my room at the stupidity of some fellows. Let's just leave it at that.

A Hairy Affair

Summer is here and V's hair was growing fast. After many discussions as to whether we should get his head shaved again or to get him a hair cut t the kids salon, we decided to do it at home when he was sleeping. I started it and Prabu finished it. The whole credit goes to Prabu and I think he did a very good job :).

V wants to play in the patio all the time now with "Shamu" (fake fish is called shamu in our house). So I pulled a old rubber-maid box and made it into a swimming pool. Prabu and I actually went shopping to get him a small pool but I decided against it at the last minute. Why? because he will probably never come inside the house ever if I buy that thing :).

Pictures and Videos

Click on the link to your right to see the uploaded pictures. I removed all the videos from Picasa. I am in the middle of uploading them onto google video. Will post a link as soon as it's done uploading th gazillion mini videos :).

And I added recipes to the meal we had last night. Good food, I tell ya.

Weekend with Friends

We went to Saguaro Lake today. By we I don't mean just my huge family but also, The Pareeks and The oh shoot I don't know their last name. Well, we have new neighbors/friends. So all 10 of us with 3 kids in tow decided to go to the lake. It was my brilliant idea to pack a picnic and go have fun as it's also Amma and Appa's wedding anniversary today. It was nice. We took a hour and half boat ride, had amma and appa cut the cake on the boat. It was very nice. But going back, what the heck was I thinking?

It was very hot.102 degrees to be exact. We left at 10 in the morning and by the time we got home it was 4 and everyone just slept till 6 in the evening without saying a word. We were just exhausted from doing nothing. It's like my childhood all over minus the sugar-cane juice.

On the other hand, we did bond with the new neighbors and the kids had fun. I need to find out new and inventive heat-proof picnics from now on. Prabu wants to just have a picnic in the living room next week.

Updates at the other biiloggg

Prabu calls it "Bilog" instead of blog. He is goofy like that. I did update my recipe blog with a yummy chicken dish while watching a tamil movie on the side. I think i am liking Jeyam Ravi in this movie more than Siddharth in the Telugu version. Wait, weren't we talking about recipes? So yeah, I finally updated the blog with some recipes and I should do it more often. I am thinking of going into a Salad Season as the summer here is getting to be tooooooo hotttt.

The Real One Year and Six Months

Yesterday was actually when V turned 18 months. I goofed up last month. It was nothing spectacular. I took V to get his first portraits done and boy was it hard work. The photographer kept asking/requesting him to stand on the red light and he kept walking/running around the light and away from it but not on it. We finally got some good shots and I will find out how good they actually look in person in 2 weeks.

Prabu's Parents will be leaving for India in 2 weeks. I have to see how V will do with out them. He's gotten very attached to the grand parents. They have been with him for 7 months now and it will probably be tough for few days for him.

On other news, a new bug bit me. It's called sewing. I dabbled into scrapbooking and it still is my obsession. Since we moved from NJ, I lost my craft space and with V it was getting hard to spend time on it (excuses, I know). Any who, I learned sewing when i was in high school in India and recently I got back into it. With the help of my mom, I made a simple dress. It's not the greatest but it's coming out good. I will try and post pictures of it as soon as it's done so I can get me some validation;).

It is hard work

Raising the kid and taking care of the house that is. I used to wonder why there are articles about how much a woman who takes care of the house and child should be making. And then it hit me when Jaden asked for a $400 raise ;). It is exactly like having a job in a corporate world. Let me explain.

You are doing your job and enjoying it and then your boss comes and promotes you. It's all fun and games in the beginning of the promotion. You are enjoying your new title, your new salary and the perks that come with it and bam, you get with the responsibility that you some how thought you can manage but realize you cannot at times. Same thing in life. You are enjoying your married life, not much responsibility, getting up with a hang-over on Saturday mornings And then you have a baby. Then the project deadlines start. Your kid has to be:

- Potty trained by the time they are two years old
- Stop drinking milk from a bottle by the time they are year and a half
- Count numbers, colors and belch alphabets in sleep by 2.5
- Finish Harry Potter series by the time they are 4

No, I did not make that up. It is definitely true. Ask any mom out there. That's what you will get. We have very strict deadline dates and it's gotta be done by then. The fun part to this: You can not submit your resignation :). You can try but you just cannot. I am counting my blessings that I am no celebrity mom. Other wise V and I would have been here instead and Tom and Katie. Apparently, a gossip magazine can tell you how you should raise your child.

Let me just speak on behalf of most moms out there. We totally understand the reasoning behind doing certain things at a certain age. We are trying and unless we get that raise, we will be doing things at our own pace. We are pretty sure we are doing a great job, otherwise you will be seeing all the kids in college wearing diapers and with a bottle in hand.

Can't last a day without him!

Some days I cannot stand him.

Some days he makes me want to strangle him.

But today I just want to say this (with special thanks to Incubus)

To see you when I wake up
is a gift I didn't think could be real.
To know that you feel the same as I do
is a three-fold, utopian dream.
You do something to me that I can't explain.
So would I be out of line if I said,
I miss you.
I see your picture, I smell your skin on the empty pillow next to mine.
You have only been gone three days, but already I'm wasting away.
I know I'll see you again
whether far or soon.
But I need you to know that I care
and I miss you.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there. Prabu is out with his Parents in Las Vegas. They are coming back tomorrow. I am home with my parents and V :).

I feel weird talking about mother's day. I never knew about it growing up nor after I came here. I picked up on it couple of years after I came to this country. I don't even know why and when it started and what I am supposed to do. May be I should look up wikipedia for it :). Chaitu still refuses to wish me or mom and says to forget it, as he doesn't acknowledge today :).

I guess it's nice to have a special day where the mother's are paid attention to specially instead of all other days through out the year where we take them for granted sometimes (Oh yes we do :)).

I am back, baby

California trip was fun. Viji and Sethu were awesome hosts and they took us to all the fun places. Pardon me for few days while I upload, update and play around with the pictures and videos. Picasa just gave me a hand slap saying I have exceeded my limit;). I have to clean up some stuff to make room and post pictures.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each and everyone for your call, emails wishing me on my special day. It felt nice to get a call after call whole day :).

I have a 2 page 'to-do' list in front of me, so I better get cracking on that. I will update you all with a nice long post tonight or tomorrow. Till then ciao :).

Weekend at Canyon Lake

Since Prabu was working last weekend, I took the family out to mall on saturday and on Sunday we went to Canyon Lake which was 1.5 hours from our place. V had so much fun playing in water even though it was full of stones and not so clean. I just had so much fun watching him flap his feet in water :). Here is a picture of him in new "water outfit";).



We are off to California today to visit Prabu's cousins. I will see you all on Cinco De Mayo.

Random Ramblings

One paragaraph is not related to the other. I have had these thoughts/write-ups sitting in my drafts folder begging me to post them but they just don't deserve a whole post. So I am including them all Since hubby woke me up with his giganormous snore-fest, I figured this is perfect timing before the neighbor calls cops on us for "huge noise from 1st floor". Where were we? Yeah the random stuff.

Rambling 1:

So it is true that "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". Dolls went to Vegas and hasn't said a single thing about the trip except that it's "awesome" and several other adjectives which pretty much mean the same :). I cannot blame her because I would do the same ;). Sometimes, you enjoy certain things so much that you feel talking about it ruins the feeling (well I don't know about you but I feel that way). So we turned away from Vegas and talked about men. There's always plenty to discuss about them :). I was telling her how I usually tell Prabu what I want and they get it. Dolls was saying that I should go get it myself instead of asking. Well the thing is I got sucked into the "If you tell us what you want, it makes it easier on us". Now after talking to her, I am starting to think men are just lazy and use that phrase as an excuse. I mean you should be able to figure it out after a while, don't you think. If not, don't feel bad when I buy my own gifts.

Rambling 2:

I will be 27 in a week and it finally hit me that I am getting old. I had a good run so far and am hoping to have good run going forward. Am I afraid of getting older by a year? No. Everyone keeps telling me that I won't feel the same way after I turn 30 , well you never know. I might still feel the same way. I used to feel like I am the youngest in the house, now I have a kid and my cousins are slowly getting married one after the other in India and when they call me asking for something, it hits me that I am their older sister :). Funny I tell ya.

Rambling 3:

I finally shopped for my birthday. I just need to get me some new glasses and make-up and I will be set. Birthday is just an excuse. I think I need some sort of validation for my own sanity to get the "Chic mommy" award. Pregnancy not only leaves you with a flabby stomach, wacky hormones and stretch marks but also with guilt, self-esteem and control issues.

Shamu Shamu Shamu

That's all I heard over the weekend. We went to Sea World in San Diego and all I heard those 2 days were everyone saying Shamu. At the end of Sunday even V started saying Shamu and he knew Shamu meant fish :). The trip was fun over-all. V got to see his favorite Elmo on stage.

I have pictures and videos of the trip but need time to upload. I have to clean up my picasa as I went beyond the limit (take a guess as to why :)).

Prabu will be working this weekend and I still haven't decided what to do with the kids ;). Any ideas? I do have to start my birthday shopping though.

Can I toot my own horn for a second please?

So most of you know by now that I stalk Jaden at Steamy Kitchen. I have been mentioned on Tampa Tribune by her. I swear, I only sent her some Garam Masala and not a threatening note ;).

Here's a link to the article.

And Prabu thought he will only see my name in a paper along the headlines of 'Crazy wife smacks her husband' ;).

Father or Son

7 days before scheduled colonoscopy for dad:

Dad: I think we should post pone it till June.
Me: No dad, it has to be done now.
Dad: I heard it hurts and I am not ready.
Me: It doesn't hurt dad, it's a very simple procedure and you will be on anesthesia.
D: How do you know?
M: because I had to get it done few years ago.
D: But the doctor said it's only for people over 50.
M: The doctor said he likes to have all his patients over 50 to get it done, however young people have to get it done to when we have issues.

Day before procedure:

D: The juice you bought is opaque. Coconut water you got is transparent. It says to drink transparent juices.
M: Dad, here it says you can have opaque or transparent. Then drink the transparent stuff I bought and I will get more if you need.
M: Here, I made fresh veggies broth for you to have.
D: Nah, I don't want to.

After procedure:

M: How are you feeling? You okay? Doc. said they didn't find anything and you are good to go. You want to go home and rest. What do you want to eat?
D: yeah let's go to your place, do you have cigarettes at home?

Oh my god, it was like talking to a 5 year old throwing a tantrum. Chaitu asked me if I gave him a time out. I soooo wanted to. How do you give a time-out to a 60+ year old?

I still love my crazy ass life and I am not ready to trade it with yours yet. Now let me go get him his ciggies so he can have that for lunch.

"We multiply like we mathmatease..."

I have been listening to the old Back Eyed Peas song and that's all I keep singing. Any who, looks like I should be awarded "Stupid-ass-don't-know-her-math mother of the year" award because V is not year and half old yet. Mind you, no one said that I should get that award, I invented it myself.

Prabu's mom mentioned today that V is born on November 14th and he will be year and half on may 14th and not yesterday. My dad says he completed 17 months yesterday and turned 18 months so he is year and half old. I was sitting there watching them figure it out and all I could think was, "Dang, I am tired. I really could use a nap". I know I am a Comp. Sci. major and I should be good at this but I swear you brain dies at time when you have 6 kids to take care of and adding a year extra to your age in few weeks.

I took my nap and felt better only to be made to work my butt off by my Pilates instructor. Apparently, she doesn't like to hear, "Cheryl, my hands do not touch my feet". She's the eternal "you can do it sow" girl and I love her :). So yeah, I am getting one hour of bliss every week. I should add some kick boxing to my routine too, to relieve my stress and kick some butt;).

One year and Six Months

V turned 18 months today. Babloo is visiting us and V had a blast in the evening with him. he got too hyper, showed off all his word skills to Babloo and didn't sleep till 10 in the night ( which is wayyyyy past his usual bed time of 8.30).

Here is a picture of him that I took today.



and here is a video of what he was doing at 9.30 in the night without sleeping. I swear I didn't give him anything sweet ;).

I am alive

I know it's been a while. Things have gotten a teeny bit crazy with V's fever and all the parents out of town for 2 weeks. Now things seem to be on track but let's see. This could be calm before storm too ;).

We celebrated Telugu New Years on Monday. I uploaded all the pictures to picasa. Click the link on the right :). Next week is Tamil New years. V is slowly starting to talk/sing. He repeats any small words we say. He loves the song Mauja Mauja from my favorite movie ( Yes, after making him hear it for like billion times, it became his favorite). He is also starting to request specific songs for me to sing before his bedtime. It used to be lullabies before but now my man has specific requests. He is getting funnier and cuter by the day.



If you click on the link to the pictures, you will find bunch of train pictures. Last weekend we took this 4 hour train drive that goes through Verde River and it was beautiful. I have a video of V running around on the train, I will try and upload it soon. I think I want to go again :).

He said, She said...

Since mom is back, Prabu and I sneaked out for a drink last night after V slept. Here is how it went down:

He: I am so sorry, I have been working really long hours and haven't been much help around the house.

She: Not a big deal. So what do you want for anniversary. It's our 5th you know.

He:I don't want anything. You know that. What do you want?

She: I was hoping we can go to Paris.

He: I was thinking we should go in December. V would be 2 by then, and it might be easier on him and us.

She: hmmm.... yeah sounds good.

He: What do you want for gift? Paris trip is not gift.

She: Well, I was thinking of getting a platinum wedding band (muttering under breath with diamonds)

He: Definitely. This anniversary, I will buy you whatever you want and that's my promise.

She (thinking in her head): I got one sucker to myself. Tiffany's here I come ;).

There is nothing better than making your man promise stuff for you when he is in a good mood and had a drink. I propose all you ladies out there try it ;).

Update

I haven't gone anywhere. Last week was the first time for me and Prabu without the parents around. Just my dad was around and we did good. All the boys behaved and helped me as much as they could. Jay visited us for one weekend and we had dinner out one night and next day I made him some food at home.

Mom's back and V couldn't be happier to see her :). He starting to talk a lot now. Says all the little words and makes sounds like cat, dog, cow and horse. I should take more of those 15 second videos and post it ( Heck yes I show him off ;))

I like to Sweep It Sweep It

Anything you can do, I can do Better

Can I? Really?. Today is day 2 of just me, Prabs, V and my dad being at home. Rest of the crew is in Jersey. I think we are doing ok so far. I just wish I didn't have to work. I love being a SAHM. I am definitely the "I -can-handle-everything" multi-tasker but just the tension of having to finish of projects on deadlines just ruins everything else I want to do.

I still managed to make lunch, work and take care of V today (cleaning, who said anything about cleaning?). Prabu worked from home yesterday and today to help me out. poor guy, he is so busy with work and feels guilty for not helping out. Dad is helping out more too which is always nice.

Another thing I noticed is that after pregnancy and child birth, I am not able to run around and do all the stuff I used to physically. I get more tired and sometimes I just want to sit and write up this blog and just relax without doing anything.

Ok now let me go do my relaxation before V gets up from his nap :).

Telugu Daughter, Tamilian Daughter-in-law

That's what my profile says. I think after 7 years of being with Prabu I have become more Tamilian than ever. So much that while typing the title for this post I wrote, "Tamil Daughter, Tamilian Daughter-in-law". I do forget sometimes that I know Telugu and that I am born an Andhriite:).

It's not about just speaking the Tamil language. I still suck at it even though Prabu's family thinks I speak better Tamil than him(BURNNNNN ;)). From the outside we are just two South-Indians. However, the truth is for me it's two worlds apart. The food, clothing, music, movies, culture... you name it I can show the difference. Good part for me is I somehow started embracing the difference and started to be a part of it instead of staying outside and being a total spectator. I learned the language, I watch the movies, I cook and still try to cook authentic Tamil food.

When I started dating Prabu, the only thing I liked was some Tamil songs. When we got serious about our relationship I started learning the language just to make Prabu's mom comfortable. It's hard enough to know your son decided to marry some girl of his choice without the parents' input, you really want to make it hard for them by saying, "Oh by the way she won't talk to you in any language except English." Not that Amma cannot speak English, it's just that everyone feels much more comfortable in their mother tongue. So after I was done kissing Prabu's family with my Tamil speaking skills, I moved on to the food.

I truly believe that whole "You can get to a man's heart is through his stomach" blah blah bull. Why? Only because I know Prabu truly enjoys anything and everything I cook for him. And on the quest of making him say, "Wow you make good Tamil food", I bought all the Tamil Cooking books I can get my hands on. Got recipes from Amma and what not. I thought I had to make so many dishes but one authentic Kozhambu and my man fell in love with me all over again. I should have known that he is sooo flippity flap easy to please.

Any who, all I am saying is, it's not that bad at all. I love the changes I went through and I still enjoy it every single second. And at the end of the day, it's not about what part of the country you are from and what language you speak or what color dress you wear, it just truly is about the person you do it for. I do it all just for this smile.

Shhhhh..... Don't tell Grandma..

That I am running away in her shoes...

Someone Stop Me

I am watching Vivah for the 3rd time in a row(that makes it 15th time in total). I am so flipping addicted and weird. I know. Thanks for your assurance.

Prabu is out at work. I know it's close to midnight but his whole team is there doing some "going live" business ( ask me if I care ;)). I am at home and dreaming about being in NJ and hanging out with Dolls with a Mojito in hand. I really have to start working on convincing Dolls to move here. I miss my girls much more at times like this.

Why WWF or WWE?

I still call it WWF. Even though they changed it to WWE, for me it will always be WWF. I started watching this fighting thing back in India. Those were the days when Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were in the game. Prabu was shocked in the beginning to know I love this show. I could imagine him being surprised because I never ever watch any violent movies and I usually forward any fighting scenes from the movies I see. Then why do I watch this?

Because it's pure entertainment. The plots, the sub-plots, the cute fighters and their outfits is all what that makes it. You don't see blood as often as you see in any Indian or American movie fights. I actually come out with a sense of peace after watching. Call me weird now. I am human and there are times when people I interact with piss me off and I want to smack them. Since I cannot and don't do that, I live myself through this WWE show :).

Enough rambling, let me go watch my wrestle-mania. They got Triple H back :)

Fake Nails, Real Pain

I decided to treat my self for a waxing and pedicure session before leaving for Disney. Some how I got the lady who did my pedicure talk me into getting some fake nails. No judging people who have them but I never liked them. I said fine let's go for it. I told her I do not want the square shape and to keep it as small as possible. She did a good job with it but boy I hate them. I am going tomorrow to have those darn things removed. I burnt my finger real bad yesterday and had to clip that nail off. It's so hard to type and today I hurt my thumb closing a stupid window. Yucks....I need to go get me a drink.

Being in a polygamous relationship

I am not talking about the show on TLC. I am talking about me sharing my husband to 2 more love interests of his. Now, before you all head down here to kick him, hear me out ;). You see, he moved to Arizona to be with his first love interest A.K.A his work. New job, new place, new position. To keep up with it all, he's been working very hard and dedicating as much time as he can to it. I cannot complain much about this lady love of his because she pays us well enough. I can quit my job if I want to because of her.

Now let's talk about the second love interest of his. My new car. Granted we bought it for me and it's mine(trying to make a point that it's all mine). Prabu (he says we but I disagree) already spent quiet a bit on it buying things for it, making it feel special. Already made a trip to the dealer to get some stuff fixed with a tag line of, "It's all for you honey". He wants to take it to the dealer again on Monday because he hears some noise from the speakers.

So I am now living with 2 love interests of his in the same house. Do I get jealous of them? Hells yes. I think I am more jealous of the car than the job ;). I am writing up every penny spent on the car and taking that amount and spending it on myself(May be I should get those Sevens I have been eying). or better yet, I will teach the fit how to cook and clean ;).

V's new ride

Disney Trip

Pareeks and Thevars took a trip to Disney Land in CA this weekend. We left Thursday evening and were back Sunday evening. It was our first trip and we all had good fun. V didn't care much which we expected because he is too young to get into the Disney hype:). He did enjoy the Winnie the Pooh ride and the Chew-Chew train.

For me and Prabu, it was a nice trip and we don't mind going back again and I don't mind going back again and again. I don't know if it's Disney repeating at every step that, "Dreams do come true" or just something about the beautiful fie works with a nice back ground music but I did make a wish as they said during the fireworks. Weird me.

And yes, it was cooooooold.

I took a lot of pictures and they are all here. Here are a few just in case you are too tired to go through them all.

Chaitu's Visit

Chaitu visited us two weeks ago for 2 days. It was a very short visit and I wish he stayed longer. Kinda miss him now that I don't get to see him every day like I did in Jersey. V remembered him even though he was meeting him after 4 months and had great fun. We visited down town Scottsdale on Saturday afternoon and went to the mall on Sunday. Here are bunch of pictures from his trip.

And here is my favorite:

Vivah

I usually don't talk much about movies here because thats the job of Dolls. She gives her reviews and then I decide whether it's worth it or not :). I saw a movie yesterday and it put me in a very pleasant mood(which is hard to get now a days:)).

The movie name is "Vivah" which in Hindi means marriage and is a Suraj Barjatya's movie. I am a big fan of his movies. His movies have this subtle romance and a very deep too-good-to-be-true chemistry between the lead pair which I don't find in most other movies. Any who, I heard horrible reviews about this movie. SO never bothered watching it but I did now because Shahid Kapoor is the hero and I am glad I did. This movie came in a time when all everyone was talking about was action, cheesy flicks. This movie does make you say, "Oh, come on. No one talks like that anymore". Well, no one kills the bad guys and gets away either but we are watching those movie so why not give this a try.

There are only 3 movies that give me goose bumps ( not the scary goose bumps) and this is now the 4th.

Updates

I added a "subscribe" feature that lets you guys know when I have a new post. Simply add your email to the list and you will be notified when I ramble here. The link is on to your right.

You will also notice Prabu's name as a contributor. I have been debating about letting him into my turf ;) but after one f my good friends suggested it too I had to let him in. Be nice to him and he might post some funny stuff for you :).

How do I do it?

I get this question a lot now a days. May be because I have 5 kids to take care of in the house (none of them is V by the way). All the kids(namely mom,dad,amma,appa and Prabu)demand my attention and do throw tantrums. There are days when I want to give them all a time-out and there are days when I want to give myself a time-out from it all. I have seriously considered pulling a Britney Spears too.

Before even I(Prabu was not part of my thinking process at that time so no "we") had the thought of getting pregnant, I shot an email to few of my cousins,friends and co-workers who already had a baby. I asked them how they did/do it? I had perspectives from different moms. And then we (here is when Prabu joined the scene)sat together and talked about how we would manage. Since my parents lived in the country, we knew we would have help through out. We learned from our nephews, nieces and kids of our friends.

Raising a kid yourself is different from raising a kid with grandparents. The generation gap(yes it does exist), the changes in technology and medications, the cultural differences.. I can go on. It's like a battlefield at times in the house:). Prabu and I decided early on the battles we would fight and the things we would let go for now.

Warning:Modesty stops here. I do give credit to myself for doing things that I do. When I feel exhausted, I look at mothers who have 8 kids and tell myself to suck it up. When I am really really ticked off at things, I start cooking and cleaning:)(weird, I know). Most of all, this is what keeps me going:

Yappy Yappy La

That's V's language for "Happy Happy Love". It used to be so much easier taking pictures of him when he was younger. Now that he's at "I-cannot-stand-still-for-one-micro second" age it's getting hard. I still managed to take some snaps with the V-day gift I got for him.




Before you think he's cute here's what he did to the bear (or in other words, how he ran away form me).




One of my friends wanted to know why I am "corrupting his mind with these pseudo holidays"? Because I am selfish. I want his future girlfriend to say, "Your momma raised you good" ;);). Until unless he decides to go against me;). Well, no harm in trying now, is it? Hey, I haven't been talking to him about Vday yet. One day when he is old enough, him and I will go watch a show hopefully.

Yo blood sucker...

Dear Miss.lady at the lab,

Your job is to draw blood from people. I understand it might not be what you wanted but then you are at work, aren't you? I told you upfront, I cannot unfortunately look at the needle sucking my blood. I am phobic. Again, unfortunately I have to do this every 6 weeks because of my stupid Thyroid issues. So please be gentle with me. Thanks for telling me that you "Hate people who don't like needles". May be you need a new job. You will get all sorts of people at this. I am sorry you are having a bad day but don't mess with my veins and hands. I promise not to come to your lab again on Wednesday because looks like you work on Wednesdays. I hope you have a good rest of the week.

Thanks and Regards
~Lady with a bruise.

Seeing the Changes

It's so much fun watching V grow. He is getting bigger, badder and brattier(with 2 sets of grand parents in the house you think;)). He is at a stage where he wants to play all the time. Since weather is getting nice here, he is out all day playing. I cannot wait to have our own house with a little yard, so I can let him play out:). Yesterday he entertained himself for 20 minutes straight playing with socks and a laundry basket while the grandma's were folding his clothes. Here is proof. And don't ask me where his pants were. Everyday it's a ritual. We give him sower twice a day and both times by the time we put the pants on he is out of our hands running around in his diaper.

Riding with V

V and I went all by ourselves for a little spin around the block in the new toy. He was such a good baby. I played his favorite music ( He is still deciding between 'Mauja hi Mauja' and 'Cheli Jabili' songs) and he sang along with it. It was only a short drive. However, I had fun :).

I also enrolled him in Music Together. Chetna told me about this when I was in Jersey. They are based in Princeton but have branches all over. We have a branch right near our house and I am so psyched about it. We are going for a demo class in March and regular classes start a little later. 45 minutes per week for 10 weeks is not a bad deal at all.

Weather is starting to get nice around here. It's getting warm and V wants to be out playing all day and all night :). Before I sign off, here is the naughty him trying to do somersaults. he hasn't gotten it yet but he is trying day in and day out.

My baby is here....

finally :). I also got my new camera today. So took these pictures with it.




It's a 2007 Honda Fit. I am still debating between which license plate to get:
- One that says, "YINTI"
or
- One that says, "'N FINE"

What do you think?

Here is V with momma's new toy.

Did you vote?

I did. If you can, then please don't forget to vote. If you have already done so, then good for you :). Beg a ride, borrow a ride, steal a ride, do whatever you want but don't give any excuse :).

GO GIANTS

Don't hate me, but I am so excited that Giants won. I wish they won when Prabu was working for Giants Stadium in NJ. Oh who cares, they finally did :). Sorry ladies, Tommy did get his ass whupped yesterday ;).

On to the other news, I am getting 2 things this week. One is a brand new camera that I ordered yetsrday so expecting it to arrive some time next week.

Drumroll please: I will be getting my baby today. Wait to see what and how it looks:). I am dying here of excitement. Can't ya tell?

Botanical Gardens

We took Amma and Appa to botanical gardens over the weekend. I know what you are thinking. Desert and botanical gardens? Well they had several varieties of cacti and that's what we saw. The herb garden was nice but all the chili plants in there seem to have died. It was a nice trip after all only because this was the first weekend after we came to the valley that Prabu hasn't worked over the weekend and gave me and Vikram his 100% attention:).

Here is a picture of V in one of the huts that was on display. You might not get pictures from me for a little while because our camera broke(ask Prabu what he did. I have no hand in that.) And it might take some time before we research into which one is good.

How to make Chapathi Dough?

You watch how Ammamma is mixing it.



Grab the vessel from her.



Mix it like there is no tomorrow.

Good Luck from Jersey

Swetha visited us over the weekend since she had Monday off from Hospital. She will soon be Dr. Swetha ;) and I get to brag about how my little sis is a doctor. Not only did she make my weekend by coming over but also brought some luck because we bought me a car. You heard that right. 2 weeks ( or even earlier) from now, I will be proud owner of a 2007..... suspense. Wait and see for the pictures of my new baby ;).

We took Swetha to Grand Canyon and drove around Scottsdale the next day. We also made her say, "I think I want to get out of Jersey soon". We saw Jab we met, talked for long and it was just a very very nice weekend.

Here is a picture of us sisters. I uploaded more here.

Sankranthi

Happy Sankranthi and/or Happy Pongal :)

Bhogi

Today is bhogi and tomorrow Sankranthi, harvest festival in Andhra. You can read up all about it on Wiki (as usual).

We did the "Bhogi Pallu" ceremony for Vikram.

Here are all the pictures.

Wishing everyone who celebrate this festival a Happy Sankranthi.

And it finally arrived...

after 2 weeks and way past the birthday. Appa's gift that is. I ordered him this few weeks before his birthday but due to holidays and other reasons its showed up yesterday. Nevertheless, he was so happily surprised and showed it off immediately :).

Starting of Celebration Season

It was Appa's birthday yesterday, which starts this year's celebrations. Next comes mom and dad's anniversary, Sankranthi and then before we know, we are celebrating New Year's eve again :). Amma made nice breakfast and lunch and we went out to Dinner for some Thai food. It was Saritha's birthday too yesterday and we tagged her along for dinner:) and had two cakes in honor of their birthdays ;).

Talking about cakes, I made the cake for Appa from scratch including frosting and coloring and wording. As I was telling Dolls, hand me that medal now;).



That fugly picture you are seeing is of a coconut cake with butter cream frosting. Got the recipe from Ina Garten's cookbook. I have so much respect for her. She is the only one I know who worked as a budget analyst in White house under Gerald Ford and Jimmy carter. Looks like she was involved in writing nuclear energy budget and policy papers on nuclear centrifuge plants.

Coming back to birthday's and cakes, here is a picture of V with the Gparents.