Questions And Statements

V has been sleeping in his room by himself for a while now. Before bed ritual now includes tickle time with Prabu, brush, book and bed. Right after he gets into bed, he loves to chat and call us every 2 minutes :). For few days he tried, "Amma, I need 10 hugs and 10 kisses today". And I fell for it. Then I realized, he would hug me and won't let me go. Brat I tell ya :).Then he would call me or Prabu saying, "But I have a question". Here is last week's conversation between him and Prabu

V: Appa
P:Time to sleep Vikram
V:But I have a question
P: Ok, what's your question?
V: Amma recorded new Mickey Mouse for me today
P:That's not a question. That's a statement. When you ask something it's a question. When you just say things that happened that's a statement. So call us if you really have questions. And even if you do, ask them during the day if you can :).

Fast forward to today. I pick him up from pre-school and he says, "Amma, I have a statement". I had to try very hard not to laugh. So I said what's your statement honey. "I had a great day at school. How was your work?"

Gotta love the brat at times :). Here's a latest picture of him. He tries very hard to dress like Prabu :).

I am Mad

PS: This is a political, purely opinionated 'I have to get this off my chest' post. Not about V or about his cuteness. You want that, click on some picture links on the right ;).

Like I have never been before. I get angry. Angry to the point of yelling and screaming and wanting to throw something ( I think I might have done that too few times). But my anger today is going to cross all boundaries. Here is the reason for my 'I-can-punch-someone-right-now' anger. Texas approves bill requiring sonogram before abortion. The shortest version of that news article is that Texas state approved a bill that now 'requires' a woman to get an ultrasound if she wants to have an abortion. Because you know women wake up every day and say "Yippie,how fun. I am going for an abortion. Let me have a party".

Are you effing kidding me Mr. Perry (Watch it dude, I heard Karma is truly a bitch)? What's next, you will tell me if I should use pads or tampons when I get my period. Do I look like your puppet? Are constitutional rights for select group of people? You would think these idiots would work on making birth-control pills easily accessible to woman. But no. Let's cry and scream and say "My tax dollars are paying for your abortion". You know what, screw you again. It takes more/all of my tax dollars to raise the 8 kids that an idiot decided to give birth to because she thought she is the next Angelina Jolie than to someone who needed an abortion because she was raped.

I had to have a colonoscopy when I was 19. Why don't you make a new law that says every one who get's that procedure done HAS to (oh in your words is required to) watch the procedure after wards on video? Sounds good? You know damn well why you passed this bill. Get off our back. I will have sex if I want to and I will have an abortion if I want to. It's my choice. Let me say it again in case you can't hear it. It's my choice. Now back off.

Lying My Way Through

Mom left for Atlanta few days ago to visit cousins. Dad left for NJ today. I tried preparing V for it but every time I brought up the idea that the grand parents might be going away for few weeks would make him sad and he would start crying. So I decided to deal with it when the day comes. The day after mom left he asked me where she was. I said she went out and will be back. He came home from school and didn't find her. I gave him the same response. He then went to check their room to see if she is may be "tired and sleeping". I felt so bad for the little guy. He was crying/upset last three days asking for my mom to come back.

Today he came home from school and noticed my dad missing too :). He had tears in his eyes when he asked me where Maathe and Thatha are. I just lied my way into it and surprisingly he did not cry and almost seemed like he was ok with it. Here is the conversation we had:

V: Where are they amma?
Me: They went to visit a friend who is sick honey.
V: Did he hurt himself?
Me: Yes
V: What did he hurt?
Me: His leg
V: Right leg or left leg
Me: Right
V: (Pulls his pants up on right leg), Can you point to me where he hurt himself?
Me: Here on his knee
V: Oh ok. So maathe and thatha went to make him feel better.
Me: Yes

Couple of hours pass by and he comes to me and says:
V: What's the name of their friend amma?
Me: Ram I think ( Why can't I come up with a name quick enough is beyond me. Don't ask)
V: Haha. That's a funny name. Doesn't sound like a real name right?
Me: Well there are lot of people with that name that we know
V: Yeah, you are right amma

I don't know what I did/said was right or wrong. All I know is it was just sad to see him be so upset and I wasn't ready to have a "Deal with it, people come and go" conversation with him. This way at least he knows they will be back soon :).

Can you get a new program?

I logged into work this morning and had an email ready about an error in production. I got into thinking mode on how to fix it and Vikram, who was getting ready to go to school noticed. Here is the conversation (Yes he knows about mainframe. Don't ask..lol):

V: You ok momma? you have angry eyes.
Me: Oh no hon. I am just thinking about an error.
V: What's an error?
Me: Well, amma made a mistake in a program I wrote.
V: In your mainframe?
Me: haha yes, in MY mainframe :)
V: Why don't we go get a new program?
Me: lol
V: I have a great idea momma. We can may be get new mainframe.
Me: Yup. That's it. Thanks honey for your help.

"I have a girlfriend and she is so red"

Spread the Love, Send a Hug, Say a Prayer

A year went by since I wrote this blog post. Last year, this year and coming years, the answer is always love. 2010 took me and the family through a beautiful wedding, truckin' birthday and a Disney trip. It was also the year we had to say good-bye to our good friends who moved back to India. V and I are hoping they will come back this year :).

Everyday since January first, I would say, "Ok let me update my blog today" but never happened. First V was sick for a bit and now I am sick and then tragedy hit our near by town on Saturday and I can not stop thinking about it. It's still raw. Every one is walking around searching for answers to "Why them?", "How can this happen?", "Where are we going like this?", "What can we do?" There are no finite answers and I don't think we can have an answer for any of this madness that will help anyone heal. I wanted to write so many things here today, my anger at some of the stupidest things I have read about the tragedy, idiots who don't know when to shut up and the most ridiculous opportunists I have ever seen. Then I have to stay away from it all because the more attention I give them, the more angry I get and it wasn't helping anyone or anything. So I end with this again:

Spread the Love, Send a Hug, Say a Prayer.

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 ;).