Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year, I would like a truck and some race cars to play with. I would also like a UPS truck. I have been a very good boy this year.

~Vikram

Yup. V brought home his letter to Santa today from pre-school:). He already has an UPS truck, 20+ trucks and 10+ race cars. I love all his requests begin and end with a truck :). We were at the auto show last weekend. There was a Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls Royce and all other cars. I asked him what he would like when he is old enough to buy a car. "Pick up truck momma". It was almost like a "I can't believe you didn't know that's what I would pick" kind of response :). Whatever makes you happy honey, whatever makes you happy ;).

What's In A Name?

Apparently a lot. V is into "Pretend play" a lot these days and he expects every one in the house to call him by his 'charecter' name the day he is playing it. God forbid we call him Vikram. We will then be given a short lecture on why he is what he is that day and so we should not call him Vikram if we need him for something. Thought I would share some of the names/charecters for your entertainment :)

Police Officer Man Vikram (Do not ask me why/what)

Pirate Boat Vikram (what is wrong with me just calling him Pirate Vikram?)

Yoda Vikram

The Stig (From the show Top Gear on BBC)

Karate Master

Chef Vikram (This is my favorite for obvious reasons :))

Truck Driver

And a recent addition. This might be the weirdest thing:). Patient Vikram. Oh yeah, he made me the doctor and him the patient. Here's some proof for ya'll;)

Missed Oppurtunity

I was at our local outlet mall today. What else would I do on a long weekend ;). I was trying on some shoes when this girl came by and says while passing by, "Hi, just wanted to say hi because I saw you at Nordstrom Rack yesterday and thought it was funny I see you again in Saks today". Before my "Hi, how are you" ended she walked away. She was a desi too and probably felt weird at herself for coming and saying hi.

Now here I am kicking myself for not talking more to her. It happened so fast that I was trying to collect my thoughts before she left. Dang, should have had a conversation and made friends with her, considering I have none in this desert and it definitely looked like we both have similar taste in clothes/shoes;). Oh well, may be I will see her in Nordstrom Rack again :).

Four Years - A Truckin' Birthday

V turned 4 today. We had a small party for him at local Imagination Avenue. It was super fun. I tried to do a truck theme this time. Hand made the truck invitations since I couldn't find anything that was to my liking. For the favor bag, I made some crayons at home using candy molds. They are pretty easy to make. It takes time to peel all the paper of the crayons :). Using a double boiler, melted all the crayons, poured them into molds and then off to the freezer for 30 minutes they go and you get this:

If you want to do this, make sure you get crayola crayons or any good ones. I did one batch with Crayola and one with a pack I picked up from local dollar store. The dollar store ones have less wax and so they came out a little "muddy" and took a long time to melt. Crayola ones were fast and easy to make. For the cement truck, I melted silver color crayons and used a brush to paint the cement bin and wheels :). Boys got small spider man and bob the builder bags with crayons, truck and candy. Girls got some fun flower bags with crayons, horse carriage and candy. I did think about keeping trucks in their bag too but I know these kids and they would have hated me for it :).

V had a lot of fun and was psyched about the the party and the fact that everyone was there for him. I made a truck cake from scratch. Last year I cheated and used cake mix from box :), but this year I slaved into making a chocolate cake from scratch and did a 3D truck cake using small and big bread loaf pans. I also made some chocolate cars at home so as to make it look a bit like transporter truck :). Wheels are oreo cookies and the cables and exhausts are twizzlers and head lights are candy :). It took 5 hours but I am so impressed with it and so is V:).



I made individual car cakes (Using a cars cup cake pan) for kids. I let the kids add the icing and sprinkles :)


He also received a package via FedEx yesterday and the fact that FedEx guy came to our house got him so excited. Prabu's parents sent him a gift. you can see the excitement in his face opening it :)


It was a fun day with lot of family and friends. Here is my little brat :)

Can You Make Me A Truck Momma?

V's birthday is coming up in a week. Last year was a Fire Truck themed party (Not because he was obsessed with fire trucks back then, but just because I did not have time to plan it better). This year, I decided to do it a bit better and see what he is really into. Boy oh Boy! He is into trucks. Not monster trucks or fire trucks. The big rigs, Semi trailer trucks, Flat bed trucks and car transporter truck. Mind you he gave me a lesson on those differences and apparently bike transporter trucks are not as fun as car transporters. So I decided to do a truck themed party. I looked all over Google and it's mother for anything truck related which would be useful for a kid's birthday party. Nada. You see, no one is as weird as my brat so it's hard:).

So I decided to make the invitations myself. Took me close to 2 weeks to come up with half way decent prototype. And another week to actually make them (Cutting head, body, wheels and cables is hard work ya'll). Here is the sample (The pic you see on the truck is V holding steering wheel. It's a cropped shot of him at the pumpkin picking)



Another reason it got delayed was because I got distracted and ended up making him a "garage" out of cardboard.



I think by now V figured I can "make" things. So today we were at the toy store and he saw a yellow transporter truck and played with it for a bit. Before going to bed he says, "Can you make me a transporter truck momma, please?". I told him I will see what I can do and that I am not sure if I can make a truck. But what the heck. I had the cardboard and a glue gun. I can't wait to see his reaction :). Presenting a weird (a bit crappy too probably but I ain't complaining much) transporter truck (made with some cardboard, steering wheel, ribbon spools, pencils and some hot glue). I will let him pick which cars he wants to use in it or I can make some new cars ;).

Police And Prom Queen

Happy Halloween Everyone :)

Hide Me......Now!

Before Mr.Smarty Pants gets a bit too smart. V's friend R comes over to play with him every day or every other day :). After he leaves, I tell V to clean up the room. Usually he says, "but momma R did it". Then I have to remind him it's his toys and so he needs to take care of it and doesn't matter who did what.

Last night after R left I told V to clean up his room and that I would check back in 20 minutes. 20 minutes later I found him playing with his car wash toy.

Me: Why are you still playing? Can you clean up first?
V: I am not playing. I am cleaning.
Me: I see all the toys on the floor. Where did you clean.
V: Look momma I am cleaning all my cars at the car wash.

If any of you have a response to that let me know. I was kinda speechless for few minutes :).

R walked in today to play with V. As soon as they went to the playroom I hear V telling his friend,

"R, you are making a mess. You have to clean up after or play nice". By then my mom was on the floor in the kitchen laughing (can't laugh in front of them ya know;)). R said he just wants to play and doesn't want to clean up. You would think V would let it go? Nope. Tat came V's response, "Don't you clean up after you play in your house?" Now will you hide me :).

Rewriting The Lyrics

Few weeks on his way to Karate class V kept singing. I uploaded few more on you tube. Here is a snippet. This is a random song.



He also is in a "I am going to change lyrics to popular song" mode. Some of them include:

Original Lyrics: "I like to move it move it"
Vikram's Version: "I like to poo poo poo poo"

Original Lyrics: "I am blue da ba dee daba di"
Vikram's Version: "I am brown da ba dee daba di"

Original Lyrics: "Rama Rama Krishna Krishna" (This is the title song of a telugu movie)
Vikram's Version: "Rama Rama Vikram Vikram"

I don't even make an effort to make him sing the correct version any more because I am busy laughing :).

Depression Hurts,You Shouldn't

Ahhh, I used the 'D' word. Well it's obvious I am going to hell anyways, so what's one more post ;). Few weeks ago CNN had an article about bi-polar disorder in kids. In it one of the doctors says "ideally, as a first line of defense, family support and therapy would be given to the child...". That got me thinking. Because I guess it applies to adults with issues of our own too. How many of us are willing to provide the support without saying things like, "Get over it" or "Fine, take some crazy pills" or my favorite, "You are just using it as an excuse". Hence the title of this post. Depression hurts people. Mental illness does things to a person's brain in a very strange way than we can ever fathom. But you shouldn't hurt people. Would you go tell a cancer patient "get over it". Would you be angry at them for "Getting cancer". No? Then why would you say the same(or be angry) to some one who has mental health issues. For me they both fall under the same category.

V was 4 months old when I started this blog. He will be 4 in few weeks and I still struggle with all the changes pregnancy and child birth has done to me physically and emotionally. The tummy you get doesn't magically go away 3 minutes after the baby is born. So you stay home till you get fit or dare go out and get asked "How many months pregnant are you" and then go back to your dark place again. You go between "aww I love this cute bundle" to "I just want you to shut up and leave me alone for just one minute". Oh yeah, happened 4 years ago. I even posted about it only to get a call asking me how can I post things like that and what happens if someone reads it and finds it offensive. I felt bad and deleted it. Come to think about it, what the fuck do I care? Growing up, my mom's favorite thing to say to me was, "Do not do anything that will make you not look at me or your dad straight in the eye". I am guessing she meant anything illegal or stupid :)(thanks mom). To feel something is not illegal neither talking about it.

One more example of why I think you should talk and you should talk it out louder about your feelings at time. 7 years ago my friend in India killed herself. I don't know why and I probably will never know. Till today I struggle with "Did I miss sending a reply to her mail?", "Did I miss anything that was obvious in her conversations?", "What could I have done". I know there was nothing that I could have done or not done that would have prevented what happened. But it still hurts once in a while to think may be, just may be if psychiatry/therapy was not seen as something for "crazies", may be she would have asked for help. When I first heard the news, after the grief came anger. I thought, "How can you be so selfish and do what you did and leave your loved ones hurt like this". It was only few months ago it hit me why she chose that route (no not because I wanted to kill myself, chill:)). It's the feeling of "There is absolutely no one in this world that can understand me or care for me". It's like the girl in the cnn article felt, "Nobody was on my side". That thought is a very dangerous place to go and that's when your brain tells you to do something, anything to get the attention you want. Some cut themselves, some set themselves on fire and some get to the top of a mountain and scream. All of them need the same thing. Few seconds of attention, a shoulder to lean on and some professional help at times :).

Happy Birthday Ganesh!

Last Saturday was Vinayaka Chavithi. V has seen an animated movie on Ganesh (the Elephant God), so he was very excited when I told him it's Ganesh's Birhday. His first question was , "Are you making a cake for Ganesh momma?"

I did not make a cake but told him we will have some pooja to do and the itsy bitsy traditions that go with it. This is the first Indian festival he participated 100% and sat through me reciting the mantras and the story and all that Jazz. He was very excited that I got him new clothes. When I showed him the Kurta pyjama he wanted to know if "Do you have a matching kurta pyjama momma". Well I didn't but found a pink saree (yes he's wearing pink, get over it).



Then we started with the slokam



At the end of the pooja my boy sang "Happy Birthday to you Ganesh" :)

Changing Professions

Nope. I am not quitting my job and becoming a Chef. It's V and his lovely thoughts on what he wants to be when he grows 'big and strong'. He is still going strong with his love for bikes, trucks, rockets and cooking. Odd combo you say? Not at all. Few weeks ago on Master Chef the task was to cook hamburgers for truck drivers. I recorded the episode and I can't tell you how much V enjoyed those 15 minutes :).

When we were in India, he was cranky one afternoon and to put him down for a nap, I started telling him about Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. He now loves to hear how they landed on the moon and all about rockets and NASA :). So last week on Top Chef, the task was to create a space food dish. And they had none other than Buzz Aldrin as Chef Guest. I missed my camera but boy oh boy. The way V's face lit up when he saw Buzz Aldrin on screen was just priceless.

Before he saw Master Chef Episode he was saying

"I will drive my Hayabusa during the day and cook at night"

After the Master Chef Episode it was
"I can cook in the truck"

And now as of today after watching Top Chef, he's decided to be Head food Scientist for NASA

It's fun to see how far kid's run with what they know. I hope he reads this one day when he is graduating from college without a Hayabusa in hand ;).

Here's my little Chef/Helper (Photo Credit: Julie:)).

What's In A Song?

The ability to make me get off my lazy ass and dance for one. And also make me start the blog after what looks like a 3 month hiatus. Finally got my mojo back that seems to have been lost some where for past few months :). It hit me recently that I haven't been singing much. It's been more than 6 years since I sang. No I am no professional singer(poor mom, tried so hard to make me a Indian Classical Singer. Sent me to music classes for years..sorry mom). I am like those characters you see in Indian movies. If you have ever seen an Indian movie, you know how you have happy songs, family songs, romantic songs, sad songs and on and on. I break into songs like that depending on how I am feeling that day or that second :). I was in this I-have-too-much-work-to-do-and-nothing-fun-is-happening-in-my-life rut for the past few months and suddenly a song woke me up and then another and few other latest hits followed. And I am feeling good again :)

Any how, let's get to business shall we? Now that the whole world knows let me introduce to my Vodina. Don't go 'googling' to find out Vodina means? It means Sister-in-law in Telugu. Oh yes, I got my own ;). I was in India for a month and I will have to say this. Those few hours of my brother getting married were the most beautiful, happiest hours for me. I heard from my dad's friends that Dad cried during my wedding ( I couldn't see;)) and I thought aww, he's so emotional. What's there to cry? Let me tell you how wrong I was. I found out the true meaning of happy tears. Probably because I saw how much these two love-birds were glowing that day :). Here's a small collage. There are like bazillion pictures. I will try and cut it down to few and post them later.



V was pretty sick that day so he hardly was in any pictures. He was also pretty upset about the fact that we weren't getting him married. "No momma. It's my wedding" he said when I told him Chaitu mama will be getting married :). Don't worry honey, your turn will come ;). He also got to meet his first cousin Pragnya. He still talks about her.



I will be posting more pics form the India trip and some more fun "V-isms" in the coming days. He is getting very chatty and is in the "I have a question about the question" phase. Good night ya'll. Promise to catch up :).

BBB

Finally we have Big Boys Bed :). Someone is fast asleep right this second all on his own :). We picked up a Bunk Bed ('Ladder bed' as V calls it) yesterday. Prabu and our friend Kishore put it together and the excitement on V's face says it all :)



Honestly I was more excited about it than him. I didn't care if he slept on his own in the new bed. The darn thing looked too cute with a dome and "play area" underneath it :)


I will have better pictures tomorrow morning when the little monkey is at school :). Oh he already wants a slumber party with his BFF Rushil :).



More pictures of V helping his Appa with fixing the bed are here

Who's The Chef?

V watched Ratatouille last week for the first time and it's been his post-dinner movie every night since then :). He knew the meaning of "Chef" before watching the movie, so he was just super excited watching the movie and thinks he is the "Little Chef" and I am the "Chef" :). Here is a conversation we both had today while I was in the kitchen making dinner.

V: Momma you are the chef.
Me: I guess. Because I am cooking now?
V: No you are cutting fast like little chef in Ratatouille.
Me: Ok then, I am the chef :)
V: You are the chef for me
Me: Ok. I am your chef. So you better get to the dining table then, dinner is almost done.
V: And Madhavi attha is Rushil's Chef (Rushil is his BFF who lives next door and Madhai his mom:))
Me: Yes, Madhavi attha is his Chef
V: Who is Chaitu Mama's Chef?
Me: Hmmmmm I guess Maathe (my mom) is Chaitu mama's chef.
V: No
Me: No?
V: I don't know. Maathe is not Chaitu mama's Chef

So if you know who's the chef, let me know... will ya! ;)

Here's my "Little Chef" helping me with making dinner few weeks ago :)

What Is It?

Low Levels of vitamin D can cause it
May be Someone in your family has it
Not enough Vitamin B12 could be the reason
Or it may just be the season
You are unable to recognize the face in the mirror at times
But you have a 3 year old who can recite all the rhymes
How dare you talk about it publicly?
Can you make it go away by being silly?
You realize at the end
You are your own friend
You are the reason
You are the season
You are your own reflection
You are strong
You are silly
You are you and it cannot ruin you

Say Thanks!

You don't have to try too hard. Simple words. Thank You. That's all it takes. It seems like the first words we teach our kids are how and when to say thank you and please. But in that process we fail to see that adults need to be reminded of these words too in between. Like every other parent, I taught V about the importance and proper usage of these words. I say proper usage because my sneaky little brat thinks I will let him get away if he says "No brushing tonight momma, Pleeeaassseee". Sorry that doesn't work.

Coming back to the point. When we went to Vegas few months ago, one of the things I wanted to do was visit as many "celebrity" Chefs restaurants as I could that allow 3 year old :). Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill was one of them on the list. I called ahead and they said not a problem to bring in V. They had high chairs for kids and V didn't waste no time in flirting with the hostess. Food was good but the service just sucked. Waiter served us with water and V said "Thank you" without me having to prompt him. His thanks wasn't acknowledged. V turns to me and says " Aa abbayi you are welcome ani cheppaledamma" (That boy did not say 'you are welcome momma). Prabu and I told him, may be he didn't hear V so it's ok. No big deal.

And now yesterday, V and I were walking towards the house from the parking lot and we saw our neighbor was trying to juggle bunch of bags and a tray with food. I offered to help and she handed the tray to me. I took it to her car and she told me where to put it and I did. Then she just walked away to her house. V who was standing next to me watching all this says "Oh aa ammayi thank you cheppadam marchipoyindamma" (That girl forgot to say thank you momma).

So all you boys and girls, don't let my 3 year old teach you good manners. He is not a perfect child (I make sure that he is not ;)) but he does pick on these things. Bad part is not only do I have to do damage control at that second but I also have to make sure he doesn't take advantage of these situations. He tries to pull "I said thanks. You didn't hear me" once in a while and I have to remind him that he needs to say i clearly and not mutter.

Oh and Thank you all for listening/reading ;).

BFF Anyone?

Last week V and I had a conversation in the car while driving (Somehow we both talk all the fun stuff in our drives). Topic was about friends and best friends. He was telling me how he thinks Rushil is his best friend and that he can not wait to show his new toys to him after he goes back to Phoenix. Here is the rest :

V: Do you have friends momma?
Me: Yes I do hon.
V: Who are your friends?
Me: Well you have met them. Jay mama, Dolly masi, Avik mama and...(he cuts me off right there)
V: What about Vikram?
Me(Trying so hard not to laugh): What about Vikram?
V: Vikram is your friend?
Me: Yes, you are my best friend too.
V: ok
Me: Now that we are friends, we need to listen to each other and not throw tantrums.... ok?
V Ok :)

Fast forward to weekend.

Me: Vikram, last chance, get back and put your pants on or you are going on a time out.
V: Hold on amma. 5 more minutes
Me: I gave you 20 minutes and we are running out of time.
V: We are best friends right. You should listen to me momma.

The End :)

Parents And Kids, Kids and Parents

It's a circle.
It's a cycle.
It's all the same.
There is a generation gap.
There is a cultural difference.
Fights happen.
Tantrums are thrown.
Warnings are given.
Punishments handed down.
Rules laid out.
Expectations are set.
Standards are raised.
Roles are reversed.
Do as we say.
It's our turn.
We know better.
I hate you
I love you
I miss you


PS: Love you dad :)

Singing and Driving

When some one says stop singing, I equate it to "Stop Breathing" at times. Like you didn't know I am that dramatic ;). Something about a song that makes me forget everything at times. I learned Carnatic Music for 7 years. Then I found out learning classical music is equated to having to sing in front of everyone and I gave up after a while :). That was also the time I realized I want to sing for me and myself alone (I am pretty sure my neighbors were very happy with that decision;)). Watching Indian movies I always wondered, who would just start singing when they are sad and who sings dancing like that just because they are happy. Then it hit me, I do that. Kamalakar Mamayya was the first one who picked on that habit of mine. Back in the day when I first started seeing Prabu, I would be home singing La Bouche's "I love to Love" and he would say, "I guess we will know who he is soon"...lol. Oh yes,they did know who he was 6 months later:). There were also days where I would be singing "Dum Maro Dum" when I got mad at my mom or dad. You see, sometimes it's hard to walk away from a situation and at the same time you would be looking for a break. People have different ways of dealing with this and I do it with singing.

After I got my licence and my own car, it was an union of heaven and heaven. Driving in my own car for the first time with the kind of music I wanted said, "I have arrived, move over". Everyone looks for that feeling of power or control at times in life. If you try to have it over your loved ones, I will put you in my "controlling, manipulative freaks" file. When you try to control the speed of your car, or the volume of your music I will stand by you and smile. It's nice to release your feelings and emotions at times via your passions without having to involve anyone else :).

oh and I have a new car buddy who listens to my singing and venting without judging me and he is hot to look at too ;)

Family And Friends

V and I are in Jersey for a 6 week trip. This whole working from home has been a blessing and curse at times. I hardly take vacations because, well as long as the place I am going has wi-fi, I am down connecting to VPN and working away. So this trip is also a working-mini vacation. Advantage of it is I get to meet family and friends without feeling too guilty about using up all my vacation days :).

Flying into NJ went smooth with V. He was very good on the plane, ate a Caesar salad with the dressing to the surprise and amusement of the flight crew. We also had a very interesting conversation in mid-air

V: I want to be a Rocket Pilot when I am big and strong
Me:I think people who fly Rockets are called Astronauts right? Remember the book you read about them at home.
V: No amma, Astronauts fly rockets very fast. Rocket pilots fly the rockets very gently. So I want to be a rocket pilot.
Me: Ok then. You can be a rocket pilot (Oiy)

Back to Jersey, weekend flew by with family get-together. Had too much food, wine and fun. V got to meet some of my cousins that he hasn't seen in long time. He was super psyched to meet Leela and Anand again and was following Leela wherever she went.

Hoping to have some more fun this weekend if weather and work permit. Mr. President passed Michelle's Law which means I am back to working long hours (Phulease, you really thought the mail you get from your company about your annual insurance benefits was done via a copier. There is way too much drama behind the scenes for that piece of paper that you throw in the trash without even opening it at times ;))

Dear Happiness,

I thought I had you in my hands when I first held V 3 years ago, you lasted for few hours before nurses took over and feelings of sudden depression, sadness and fear took over.

I thought I had you at my feet when I bought my first pair of Weitzman's on sale, you lasted for one dinner and 3 compliments.

I thought I had you the day my manager said I got promoted, you lasted few hours (at the end of which I found out that the promotion = 30 extra of hours of work per week + $50 increase per paycheck, I guess you are not a Math major either).

I seem to have you at length when I am singing away, but you see that's just not practical. I can not start singing "Let's get loud" in my office meetings or "Waiting for tonight" on Friday evenings.

I see you everywhere and still cannot seem to have you forever. Since you know I prefer better things in life to last forever (in your case more than few hours), could you try next time to stay for more than 24 hours. Oh and while you are at it, go spread some of yourself around the world too. Everyone needs you more than few hours

~Yours Truly
Sowjanya

PS: Yes, we are waiting ;)

Why Oh Why?

We went to a house warming luncheon today. The couple have a 2 year old boy and a play room full of trucks, bikes and other toys. V fell in love with a Big M&M oil truck and was playing with it for the whole 3 hours we were there. Towards the end, I quietly told Prabu to find out where they bought that truck because I haven't seen it any where and thought it would be fun to surprise him with it :). I honestly don't remember V being around when I had this conversation with Prabu (I still think he didn't.. not sure and we forgot to ask them where they bought it and I can not find it anywhere and I am "googling" it for the last hour.grrrrrr).

So we come home. He is sitting with me on the couch yappin' away in his usual self and suddenly says, "I don't want any trucks amma. I have a big trash truck right. I have a big trash truck amma." I said ok to him but in my mind I was thinking "What the heck dude. Where do you come up with this stuff. Why do you not want any toy? You can have two different big trucks you know"...hahahha. Oh well! One of those moments that you cherish for the time it lasts :), before it turns into "I want it and I want it now" in the middle of a store few months to years from now :).


Here is a picture of the little brat and the Big Brat ;)

Whose Toy Is It Anyway?

Prabu put together a train table we picked up yesterday (I know, I have been doing a lot of shopping lately;)). We both were so proud once we set the tracks on the table and got it all ready in V's playroom. The jungle I made fit perfectly in the center of the table and I was oh so proud. We both loved the set up. V woke up in the morning and had a blast obviously. And it got me thinking, if I was selfish in the kind of things I pick for him for playing and the "creative" "funky" stuff I do for him :).

Growing up all I cared with regards to toys was the kitchen set that my cousin bought for me when I was in 2nd grace and then few years later my Nayanamma (Dad's Mom) gave me her set from her childhood. I still have few pieces from her collection that I managed to bring across from India to here :). They are not like the ones we get now and neither are they made of plastic, wood or stainless steel. They are made o copper and brass. I used to play for hours and would never let anyone mess with them :). May be that's why I got into loving cooking so much...lol. I was doing it since young :).

Coming back to V, so the toys I pick, I used to always wonder, is this what he will really like ? Am I doing this to some sort of compensate for something? And the big question of all, is it branded a girl toy and boy toy. At the end of it all, it's just fun for me and Prabu to sit back and watch him have fun with whatever we get or make for him. And you know he prefers that empty UPS box to play with than a huge toy you pick for him anyways :).

Oh, you do know you never take a 3 year old to a toy store and say "What do you want honey?" right! Because you will end up him/her wanting this ;)

Farmville Anyone?

So you saw from the below post that I made V a little bit of something :). Today while shopping at the $ bins at Target , I came across this cute green tractor,a pack of farm animals and a cute little red barn. How can I pass those? So presenting an updated "Farmville" ;). For those of you who don't know Farmville is a on-line game offered by Zynga via Facebook :).

I brought them, set them up and then V moves all the animals to the side. I said, "Honey, how can it be your farm or zoo if there are no animals in there". He says, "Momma, they are blocking my tractor. My tractor needs to go fast". Lovely :)



Here is a video of him playing with the farm yesterday (before the tractor, he had a pick up truck driving around :)).

This and That

I created/made a teeny tiny jungle/forest/zoo yesterday for V. Did shopping in Michaels for 1 hour and put this thing in 2 hours. V played with it for an hour today and said, "The jeep has to be in the play room momma. Don't move it please.".. Jeez. Thanks honey...lol.

He also helped me make dinner yesterday. I made Chicken Fajitas and he helped me with making the Guacamole :). Look how proud he is :)

Mantra of Happiness

Few months ago at end of what seemed to be the most stressful day of my life (yes, crap happens at my side of the world too ;)), I had a phone conversation with my attayya. At the end of the call she said, "Sowjanya, keep saying this to yourself every night before you go to bed. 'I want to be happy. I deserve to be happy and I am going to be happy'." It hit right in the head for me and helped me quiet a bit. Every time I get annoyed, angry,upset or sad I use the happiness mantra she taught me and everything seems to fall in place magically :). You can use it when you are happy too ;).

I also have my little brat to help me feel better any time;).

"The Answer Is Love"

I bought this sticker in Hawaii (What can I say, I fell in love with it ;)). It was about love for the Big Island, for me, it was just about love. It was/is always about love for me :). Oh yes, if you haven't figured it out yet, I am part of the crazy gang that believes love conquers all and can conquer all.

Go out and send some love for the person next to you this new year. Show them you care, tell them how much they mean to you and while you are standing next to them give them a big hug. It doesn't hurt and it doesn't cost you a penny. All it does is get passed on to the person next to them, because it is contagious :). Yes, Happy New Year to you too :)