The Scorpios

Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Friday, January 30, 2009

E-cycling News on Recycling

Afterlife for Empty water bottles- shove those bottles uner the carpet

Responsible Recycling- You pay to get labour intensive, hard to recycle stuff, recycled

EnergyCalculator- so what are the stakes of your device

Why Recycle
  • Good For Our Economy -companies rely on recycling programs to provide the raw materials they need to make new products.
  • Creates Jobs
  • Reduces Waste
  • Good For The Environment -Recycling requires far less energy, uses fewer natural resources, and keeps waste from piling up in landfills.
  • Saves Energy -Recycling offers significant energy savings over manufacturing with virgin materials.
  • Preserves Landfill Space -No one wants to live next door to a landfill. Recycling preserves existing landfill space.
  • Prevents Global Warming
  • Reduces Water Pollution -Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials.
  • Protects Wildlife -Using recycled materials reduces the need to damage forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife.
  • Creates New Demand -Recycling and buying recycled products creates demand for more recycled products, decreasing waste and helping our economy.

Recycling Facts
• Recycling a ton of paper saves 17 trees, two barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for six months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space and 60 pounds of air pollution.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild their entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months.
• Recycling creates six times as many jobs as landfilling.
• Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70 percent, water use by 50 percent and air pollution by 20 percent.
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for three hours.
• The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year
• If every U.S. household replaced just one roll of 1,000-sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100 percent recycled ones, it could save 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space and 155 million gallons of water.
Sources: Eco-Cycle, Environmental Defense Fund, Colorado Recycles, Steel Recycling Institute, Seventh Generation Co.

Simple Stuff You can Do to Make a Start

  • Ebills- say no to paper bills
  • Online transfers
  • Re-Using 1 side used paper- taking notes, printing, converting to tiny notepads- use it for must writes like recipe notes, shopping lists, grocer bill track etc
  • Printing on both sides
  • Not printing at all
  • Using a white board on your office wall / desk / calendar for short term notes instead of paper
  • chalk & slate/ magnetic board for kids instead of paper and pencil for general doodling
  • Recycling packing foam/ cartons
  • Using bottles/ beakers/ cracked vase as planters- they look overtly pretty too
  • Using large calendars for lining cupboards
  • Converting old cotton dresses to kitchen napkins/ wipes

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Document Must Dos

Being the official scatterbrain, I have often been cornered with mails/ questions like- where is this document or sudden messages that the last date of the bill is due. Since I have the least faith in my memory I have this back-up system in place-
1. If I have submitted a document/ application to the company, I always back it up with a mail indicating the list of documents I have submitted- this includes stuff like application of PF transfer, submission of vehicle documents etc. I have absolutely no faith in either my memory or in the system in any organisation. And even if the system is perfect it is not necessery they will respond the moment I need something.
2. Never ever issue a cheque or lend money whether it is to a colleague, dhobi, maid or neighbour, without making a record of it. Chances are I will forget and they will too- without meaning to.
3. Have a single folder for all bills of major purchases like white goods- whenever I need the warranty card- I know where to look for.
4. Separate folder for all investments big or small.
5. A diary that maintains a record of what comes out or gets in into the bank locker
6. A mini record of who has borrowed my books and when
7. Blog that records major events/ medication/ travels so that I can extrapolate events from there if I need to refer to something.
8. Mobile alerts fixed for - checking if the gas is over, phone bill, credit card bill - so that I am not caught unawares incase I have not been told to book the gas when the gas cylinder is changed in my absence.
9. All bills that are to be submitted to the company are docked separately so that I have to just pull out stuff from there and submit my claim
10. As a rule, I make payments in cheque as far as possible. So that there is always a record of the same.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Is This a Milestone?

Of the Bloggy variety, when your husband calls you by your blog name- Mamma of Twins?

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Healthy Kids Exercise With Pooh




This fun book of exercises from Disney is a hard board book with sing along rhymes that make us stretch, bend, run, hop, skip, jump. A CD is also included.
So Stretch Stretch, Stretch like Winnie the Pooh, Kanga & Roo...
.... and the other friends as they sing & exercise. Altogether great fun for both Mamma & Babies though Mamma was left panting at the end off it all. Very bad example set out!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Jai Hind

Ojas & Tejas wore their Lucknow Chikan kurta pajama on Friday for Republic day celebrations at school. A snap captures the moment...
A day before they had to dress up as a joker & a juggler respectively.
Smart Mamma picked up the relevant masks during a birthday party & gave them the same! Easy peasy!



Friday, January 23, 2009

Animal & Plant Kingdom

2 crows guarding the fish below Cat-fish
Duggi takes a swim to retrieve the stick Huggy is p1ssed off at being tied up
Zimba observes the next door neighbour dog duo taking a walk in their garden
This birdie hikes on the hedge, pecking at delicacies on its way

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Guess What...

...Exactly is this?
Describe the photograph in detail.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I am Abdullah

Shopping/ Task List
1. Sarees
2. Good Salwar Suits
3. Party wear Sandals
4. Shawl
5. Cardigan
6. Sweaters for kids
7. Clothes for the husband
8. Jewelry
9. Make up
10. Parlour visits- Pedicure, Manicure, Facial?
11. Hair Styling
12. Make up practice
13. Clothes for kids
14. Appropriate footwear for each dress for the kids
15. Wedding gifts
16. Shopping Service
17. Party Purse

So thasswhy it is said ki Begaani Shaadi Mein Abdullah Deewana!
Loosely translates to the fact that- The participants get over-excited about a grand event (wedding) that is happening- seemingly much more excited than the actual stakeholders ...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Everyday Art

Sunset at Marakkanam Table lamp, impromptu boquet and lots of reflections

Block Train
Technicolor Flower
View from the car- Marakkanam


View from the car

Chalk Art by Hubby- cannot figure out how to straighten this...

Monday, January 19, 2009

It Feels So Good...

...When the TV is not working on a holiday.
...When you are in no mood to cook and you have lots of leftovers or the Hubby declares that he is eating outside today or you find a dish (prawns) tucked inside the fridge that you didn't know of.
...When the maid is on leave and you are despairing at the work load and the door bell rings and lo and behold a substitute sent by your maid turns up for work.
...When you discover that the artisan fair is still on and it's the last day and you rush to visit it and come back with a few good purchases...a bamboo log converted to a flower pot, brass knick knacks, ettikoppa holders and dress material.
...When the first leaves of a sheared plant emerge after nearly a month, much to your relief.
...When someone mentions that it was good to have you in their city and it felt like the old days again.
...When some people make an effort to make you feel welcome to their home and city.
...When people pitch in to help you from all sides in organising a big day.
...When you go for shopping and find stuff that you wanted.
So this was what the last week had been about!

Friday, January 16, 2009

From the Mouth of Ojas & Tejas

After a long day...
Ojas legs tired
Tejas tummy tired

Why is Tejas Hungry?
Tejas takes a pack of dry fruits from the fridge.
Mamma asks- what are you doing baby?
Tejas- Tejas ko bhukki ayee (Tejas is hungry) . You did not give me coffee naa!

Or...
Tejas ko bhukki ayee.
Mamma- What do you want?
Tejas- juice. (most often)

Or...
Mamma- what will you eat?
Tejas - Tejas kuch nahin khayega. (Tejas will not eat anything)
Mamma- Will you eat chicken sandwich?
Tejas- Yes

Where's the Chicken?
Tejas wanted a sandwich. Mamma made a cheese sandwich.
Tejas- This is not sandwich.
Mamma- what does a sandwich have?
Tejas- Sandwich has bread and it does not have cheese.
So Mamma made a plain bread sandwich.
Tejas- this is not sandwich. Kahan hai chicken? (where's the chicken)
Shop mein buy kiya naa? (like what you bought in the shop)

When 2 wise guys are talking....
Dadda extracts a promise out of Ojas & Tejas- you can have either juice or chocolate or car.
They chose Juice. After a session of juice drinking....
Ojas- Mamma where is the car.
Dadda- You selected juice naa? why are you asking for car now?
Ojas- Ojas is talking to Mamma!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Winter Wonder

So I am back from my funfilled Gurgaon trip. And yes I have truly become the madraasi from Chennai who hasn't been introduced to the concept of winter.


So I was gleefully staring at each and every sweater visible to me, mentally oohing and aahing at the patterns, secretly wishing to own them and publicly declaring that I am glad I don't have the headache of acquiring, maintaining and wearing winter wear!


I was goggling and giggling at the trendy coats that all the dogs were proudly wearing and getting amazed at the captions like "don't mess with me" printed on their brightly coloured coats.


I was ogling at men in their coats and ties and wishing I could see the hubby wear the same.


My solo plain black sweater and black shawl paled in comparison to the variety each person was wearing everyday. Oh and the shawls- plain, printed, embroidered, knitted, crocheted.... I miss the fun of coordinating them with my clothes each day. While the woolens do mess with your fashion statement, they have a charm of their own when worn otherwise.


Hot baths, loads of moisturiser, room heaters, blankets, sun soaking, foggy mornings...I miss them all so much!


Rajasthani Art Painting




•This is a Rajasthani Painting reproduced by a local artist using poster colour.
•The unique feature of the painting is the paper on which the painting is done.
•This is an old Revenue Stamp Paper either legally disposed by the government or stolen.
•The stamp papers that are legally disposed off by the government would have a hole punched in the middle. The deals could be on anything ranging from land deals or power of attorney- anything that required a revenue stamp paper. So who knows, you might end up owning a huge piece of property or a power to handle estates or treasures!!!
•The transaction details are printed in Hindi or Urdu or Parsi and the calendar would be the Samvat Calendar.


The sandwiched frame with antique border has a gap around the painting that brings the wall colour into the frame

The featured painting is a representation of Krishna-Balram- which somehow struck a chord in me because of Ojas & Tejas

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Pepper the Puppy

Read through 2 books in this series by Sterling Publishers - Pepper Learns to Take the Blame & Pepper at the Table. The series focus on conflict resolutions for age group 2-6 year old.
A delightful, short dialogue based picture book (non-board book) available for Rs 30 which we read with much dramatisation and enacting.

Pepper Learns to take the Blame-
Pepper basically uses his Mamma's new hat to make a boat and also drops ink into the water tub to make the water like the blue sea. And when the Mamma asks "whodunnit" he blames it on his friends and ultimately when the friends point out that it is wrong to blame others, he is repentent. The best bit is the teaser question at the end of the book- when you push your friend in the playground and he is hurt what do you do?

Pepper at the Table
A huge Aunty Dog has come for lunch and she mentions that she could eat the entire souffle at the table. Pepper the dog is so worried that he dips his fingers err paws into the souffle and proceeds to have a good share before aunty attacks the entire dish. Mamma Dog moves in to show him some table manners.
The teaser questions says if there is 1 piece of cake between you and your friend what would you do.

What I like about the books is that it is very relevant to Ojas & Tejas- topics like brushing, tantrums, fights, too much TV, pet, eats too much cake (err..is there a book like eats far too less or makes meal times a major pain in the you-know-where?)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Finally Read

Shalimar & 5 point someone.
Shalimar- read diagonally with least commitment so much so I sometimes by mistake re read parts that I had already read without finding it familiar. Also read a few random pages to judge how the story will progress. Simple Bollywood style story which was made complicated by adding war, rebellion and Kashmir to the formula. Sadly, to me, things really got exciting and interesting somewhere at the last chapter - precisely the last page, last few paragraphs.

5 Point Someone- Just a story of 3 boys at IIT, reminded me of my hostel days. It has major gaps in places which made me wonder that a page was missing and had me counting the page numbers to ensure that the gap was intended. But yes, a book that speaks to me, had me hanging at each word, made me feel sorry that it was over and much more fast paced than One night at a call centre. Go read it if like me, you haven't already done it.

Monday, January 12, 2009

What is this yaar?

  1. Why can't the ECG and treadmill section of hospital have multiple robes so that one needn't wear a sweaty stinky one and ruin an otherwise perfect experience at the hospital?
  2. Why can't the sari shop fellas be polite while showing the saris so that you don't have to give them a piece of your mind just to get them in line? Why do they believe that youngish (?), salwar kurta/jeans clad girls are there just to make them unfold saris and then not buy them so that the motivation levels in piling on varieties are very low? We have better work yaar. Or the next time I might just make you unfold atleast 10 saris in each section of your floor just to teach you a lesson.
  3. Why can't the police stop vehicles at the beginning of the road which leads to a point where traffic needs to be sent back or diverted? Why wait until we reach the point and then make us go about turn and cause a traffic jam?
  4. Why do slow moving vehicles take the centre of the road or the rightmost lane and why do buses move diagonally and not straight.
  5. Why do you always spot something much better once you have paid up for something else already?
  6. Why do the neighbouring table's order always look more appealing than what you ordered or why is it that they get their orders much faster than ours?
  7. Why do the most interesting, crucial, unputdownable email/ work/ conversation happen during the last 15 minutes of office hours, compelling you to finish at and be late going back home.
  8. Why do the Security wait till you have switched off the engine or worse come out of the car to tell you that you cannot park there or you need to move your car a micro inch away to be in the right position.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Security

We went to a wedding at Park Sheraton the other day.
At the gates, our car was stopped, we were asked to open the boot, then the doors which they opened almost causing our kids hanging on that door to tumble out of the car and only then did they let us go.
The gifts were being collected at the door itself with a person manning it- carefully listing out the gifts collected. We were frisked at the entrance and come to think of it, the whole procedure made me feel better and safer, for whatever it was worth.
Earlier people used to take offence if they were frisked and checked at the gates of a wedding venue just because there is a person with high security needs attending the wedding. It was rare and occassional. Not something happening when ordinary folks like you and me are attending or conducting a party at a hotel.
But the situation has changed and like everything that evolves over a period of time, a security protocol has evolved to include stringent measures and we actually feel okay about it.
It's ok to not give in to the temptation of idling in front of a patch of lilies in a major IT park and just hurry past it now because the Security doing their job may just get suspicious and check upon you.
It's prudent of us to not go to a crowded marketplace during peak hours or before major festivals.
It's a way of life to be cautious, aware and vigilant...like our ancestors living in the wild.
The animal is different now.
PS: The food was lovely though and the fried fish was polished away real quick by the four of us.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Another Blog Meet

The friendly, talkative and extremely busy Choxbox was in town and she was sweet enough to make time to visit my home. She says that this was the first time she was meeting a blogger in person! Isn't it strange that we make an effort to meet people whom we know only through the blogworld? and we can start off on an easy note as if we have known each other for years!
She gifted the kids an exciting picture-story book- Ed and Mr Elephant- The Big Surprise by Lisa Stubbs. This is a simple reader with pretty pictures that look like line drawings coloured in pastel shades. No wonder my kids thought it was a colouring book and made a few marks in pencil on a page. The story is about the red car Ed that takes Mr Elephant on a ride to the "big surprise" through a series of situations like railway crossing, ducklings crossing the zebra crossing, fire engine, rains etc. The fun part is not everything is narrated - some of the scenarios have to be interpreted and explained and the pictures are cues to many side plots in the story- like count the number of ducklings, or what can you see inside the park or who is the engine driver etc. A very interactive and child friendly book.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Thank You

For this....

The Hip and rocking Hiphopgmom says ITW for being the charming mother of not one but two 'little delights' and the free-spirited wild child Mom M4
I am truly honoured to say the least.
This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.
I pass this award to

kiran
Justlikethat
moppet'smom
dottie
mama mia
cuckoo

And some more...

The versatile Monika bestows the Certified Honest Blogger Award

which I pass on to-

Sue

Yet Some More...

Cool Dipali
honours me by saying that my blog is cool! saying- writes not only about her delightful twins, but practically anything under the sun that happens to interest her.

And I pass on the cheer to
MayG
Rads
Poppins Mom
Tharini

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

The New Colors of My Home

With the husband unleashing his talent on the walls and thereby saving us good money, we have taken the courage to experiment with the bold and the beautiful so that incase we become bleddyfools with the experiments, we can rectify them at ease, having a painter on hand available for free and all that.. and especially the type who doesn't demand food and refreshments while he is painting and needs no watching.

So this is code red and I bring out my raunchy red bedsheets to match the walls and add to the festive cheer the new colours are spreading.



Mango Yellow and I coincidentally had bedsheets and pillow cases that go with it.

The other side of Mango yellow is a limy green which has not been represented well in the photo though- so this pic comes to just record it.

Brush strokes that made the kids feel that the job is not yet finished or perhaps the walls have been deliberately spoiled by the Dad.




The Festive Foyer. ..

Mommy Tip- If you paint in front of the kids, they will think it is ok to use their paint on the walls...

Monday, January 05, 2009

I can't believe that...

...the sight of our people in hubby's office, dancing and making merry at the stroke of midnight this year made me feel so glad that we were among them and not in some much more enjoyable bash somewhere else.
...and that as employers, it is only right that we should endeavour to make those few hours fun for the people who are striving so hard for us.
...For whatever 2008 has given us we are thankful and we are holding on to 2009 to give us much more
Touch Wood.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Girls Know Best



That a combination of Mommy bloggers, their husbands and kids is really a great idea.
So for the first time the Chennai Mom blogger's meet included either by default or by design or by force the man of the respective families.
When the Mad one and the other celebrity came to town, how can the Chennai bloggers not gear up to meet them?
Art generously invited us all to her lovely home, totally undaunted by the number of people coming over including Minka with Bubbles, Lavs with Lil Buddha, IBH with her oh-so-professional Nikon, Koushalya with Abi, Nisha with the Brat, not to forget the famous brat, bean and Ashu of the above mentioned celebrity blogs.






Welcoming balloons, the blog meet den with our blog banners displayed on the window and lots of french fries, smileys and pasta...thanks Art for making it all so much fun So little time, so many toys to play











The famous kids and the famous hand in profile...
Historic snap so well taken by the Boo







The spoils of the war To many more blogmeets...here's a toast to 2009!