A Few Educative and Fun Clicks

A very handy software for sight word drill-( http://www.fileheap.com/software-sight-words-buddy-download-46052.html )

Another fun Mathematics site - (http://www.fun4thebrain.com/)

Starfall.com & Kindersite.org both good for phonics stories and word memory games

And this one is a painting by Ojas on Paint software

Where Does Money Come From?

Tejas- Mamma, why are you going out everyday (office)
Me- If I go to office only I will get money
Tejas- Get the money from the bank
Me - how?
Tejas- put card inside and money will come
Me- But unless I go to office, the "Uncle" will not give me money
Tejas- Ask him to come home and give you money
Me- !!!!

Ojas- Did you get me toy?
Me- No I did not have money
Ojas- you went to office na? Then how you did not get money?
Me- !!!!!

Lazy Lazy

August is such a lazy month for me- always. My mind is all over the place except where it is supposed to dilligently be.
To me it heralds the start of all that is festive - starting from my birthday- ah well, is it not about me always?
I start getting excited about all the forthcoming holidays.
The think about festivals is that the moment you take the compulsion away from it- it becomes easy to handle them. I have started to make my own rules for festivals. I do stuff which I can handle and at my own pace which makes it fun. At one level I had started looking at festivals as a day spent slogging rather than a nice peaceful holiday. But now, no longer so- because I do only the things that I enjoy doing - even if it means not spending time in the kitchen trying to make delicacies which I can't. (I still have not got over the nightmarish episode of burnt coconut laddoos of 2004 )

August is the month I begin to make giddy plans for the kids' birthday
Or start hoping for some Year end holiday

Work wise it is all about rushing to finish up the commitments
Year end conferences-cum-fun (zyada)
Fun activities like planning collaterals for the festive season wherein you get to go all bossy with the supplier side
If it is to be anything by last year's standards then I have a hectic last quarter to handle!

I have been a dragon this entire year. Together the husband and I have done the major part of home redecoration and all that we were talking about and not doing has been done. I have only chasing the electrician & plumber throughout the last couple of months because I decided I do not want to have even a single malfunctioning switch or a tap that need an arm wrestlers strength to close. In fact I have pushed the electrician beyond his limits and capabilities.

Yet again I have joined the gym to try to achieve the stretch goal that I set last year and my mind is all in it. In fact in my mind I have lost lots of weight but the scales don't seem to ratify that.

The kids' school start moving on fast track and I go all crazy trying to stay afloat.

At this rate I wonder- work-life balance is such a vicious cycle.

So what are your plans for the most exciting part of the year

I am Cross

At one point I would do crosswords like crazy. Especially the Hindu Crossword.
From the time I switched to Times, I stopped getting my dose of my favourite Hindu crossword.
I don't do straight- I adore cryptic- straight is too vast. I especially dislike the Times Crossword full of four letter words. How restrictive.
I tried downloading free software that would let me do the Hindu Crossword (THC) online but failed.
For now I just print it out on some one -side used paper and work on it- after I finish my Times Sudoku and jumble that is!
I had vivid memories of my mom and assorted chacha-mamas bent over the Telegraph jumble and my little self trying hard to worm my way through the crowd and work on unscrambling the jumbled words. And some memories of my Mami and cousin R & me competing with each other to solve the similar word jumbles and crossword.
In MBA hostel, I would bug a certain senior to guide me through the world of cryptic crossword through THC that I had only then discovered.
At some level, it saddens me to see that many children do not really savour these word /number games. Perhaps parents should get them hooked on to areas beyond normal studies right from the beginning. I have seen kids who top their class score pathetically when application of the same set of skills is concerned. I sour education system flawed that way?

Big Talk

Eshan- Mamma,... जब मेरा muscles हो जाएगा तब हम उसमे drawing करेंगेMe
क्या drawing?
Eshan- Lion
(He meant Tattoo)

Aryamman dips his finger into the cake and licks it
Me-छी वैसे नहीं करो
Aryamman- हम तुम्हारा केक खा रहे हैं। तुम्हारा केक छी है क्या?

Suspicious

Well Sue same pinch.
1. The husband has complimented me on organising the Independence day party and the rangoli we made.
2. The husband had been extremely co operative while I ran around planning for the function
3. He has encouraged me to go and visit the parents in Patna and even encouraged me to spend a few days more than I planned to.
4. He bought me a gold ring on my birthday.
5. He has joined the gym.

You be careful man! I am watching you!

A Healthy Wealthy & Wise Birthday

Another birthday - this time it made me turn 35.
I assumed I turned wiser but not a moment went by when I did not anticipate what the Hubby had planned for me, how many people are going to call me and how many friends are going to wish me.
Didn't they say that age is just a number?
The hubby did not disappoint me - he arrived at the appointed hour of midnight with a bouquet of roses (not) and a cake (yes)! Yummy, gooey chocolate truffle cake which was demolished the next day by Ojas at breakfast, lunch and dinner and the rest of us were not too restrained either. The kids made a birthday card each with flower pots and garden and all.
And I became wealthier by a gold ring from the husband!
We planned to go for lunch after I would get home from half a day of slogging at work (not). But then on the way back from dropping the kids to school, I just took an impulsive turn that led me back to base.
Last month I had wrangled a gift from the husband in advance- a gym membership- we took a couple membership and utilized the gift with great enthusiasm during the mid morning hours, competing with each other, until it was time to pick the kids up.
Since we had expended with a lot of calories in advance, we hogged to our hearts' content at Kabab Factory and spend the rest of the evening shopping.
After another round of cake cutting and gifts from the dear neighbours we closed the day with another cake cutting as the husband's birthday arrived. The kids gave a mickey mouse birthday card.
The next day was bunked again with due dilligence and spent at Radisson's International food cuisine- Greek, Chinese, Indian etc etc... a total of 13 nonveggie dishes apart from the cold salads and a whole host of desserts.
We cut a brownie cake in the evening and had an impromptu assembled meal that included a tandoori chicken!

Gujarati Missiles

July has been a sinful month of flying trips, hotels and culinary delights.
I had a chance to go to Ahmedabad and was generally feeling depressed at the thought of another overnighter leaving the kids behind.
But Artnavy's recommendation of shopping at Sanskruti a shop she loves (which was a powerful endorsement btw!) gave me enough reason to get super excited about the trip.
I had almost forgotten how the sun sets late in the western part of India. It was wierd that the place was all bright even at quarter to 8 and it somehow gave me a false sense of the feel that it is not late enough and I took it very slow- shopping, bargaining, snacking, eating, until I saw the time and realized with a shock that it was nearly 11 pm.
So Sanskruti was the first stop- in the sense, I barely dumped my bags in my hotel room and walked out and got into the cab straight into Sanskruti.
The shop was a treat- even though I didn't really explore beyond clothes for self. I picked up 6 kurtas at less than Rs 3000- this when the sales person was not willing to sell- he went on saying- we don't have in your size, or select fast we do not have time, stuff like that which made me want to smack him or complain to the Management. He also gave me a look of great disgust when I challenged him that the size he has given me is several sizes smaller and refused to find another piece that fitted me. Well, inspite of that, I loved the stuff. Totally my style.
I also picked up the lovely colorful bird wall hangings made of cloth and strung together using beads, with cow bells attached in the end, and similarly made wind chimes and a pair of horses for the kids. All picked up from the street vendors.
I would have bought more if I had a house large enough!
We had the most amazing Gujju thali on both days - a deviation from normal behaviour- no non veg at all.
The thalis are so cheap that I was tempted to buy in bulk!! Rs 130- Rs 150. The usual fare would be a green veggie, a potato, paneer, a lentil (moong/ chana type), 2 fried stuff- samosa, vada, patra, dhokla, 2 sweet dishes, khichri, roti, poori, buttermilk (slurp). More than paisa vasool.
My agenda of having the various Gujarati Missiles like Fafda, Dhokla, Thepla etc was accomplished.
We even did stuff like visiting the Amul parlour and seeing the automatic dosa making machine (not in action unfortunately) and having phuchka on the road.
A totally fruitful trip in terms of shopping and eating atleast!!

Kolkata Beckoned

And I went flying- not as much for the crappy conference but more for meeting the lovely ladies of Kolkata.
As I walked into the hotel and saw Dipali & Eve walk in, I felt as if I have come home.
I simply handed myself over to them and tagged along to Mocambo which serves Continental food, where Sue was eagerly waiting for us with a table already bagged and all (not).
Anyway the lady arrived gorgeous as ever and the evening was spent primarily doing two things- luring Dipali with nonveg food - the meats and the chickens and the prawns and generally feeling amazed that Eve's photos do not do any justice to what she is in person- much more sauve and sophisticate than it appears. Even though it did not feel so, I was meeting Eve for the first time if you are wondering.

The next day after attending to the (un)necessary business of attending the conference, more beacuse of the food to be had (tender meat if you ask and the most perfect daal), we camped in Dipali's house where in I got to put a face to another name- M4- and a very lovely face I must add. I had the opportunity to taste Dipali's famous cooking- I must have had atleast 10 helpings of rajma that evening and lots of helpings of laughter and giggles!

Is it already time

For the kids to start discussing the names of all the girls in their class?

Or for them to tell me - you already gave me juice in the snack box then why should I get juice in the afternoon also? What is the point in wasting it?

Or for them to advice- Cap the pen- why are you wasting your pen.
(forget the fact that their own marker is lying around uncapped)

Or for me to hold their hands or feet in my palm and find that they no longer feel like a baby's? To find that they do not fit inside the palm of my hand at all but spill over outside.

I hold on to my tender thoughts and the feel of the tiny hands nestled in my hands and wonder when exactly they crossed over to the other side? Damn