PS, I Love you - The Novel

PS, I Love you was the first novel I read. Yes, I started very late. While I was in Germany, I was free most of the time. I will cook, clean home and after that I will just chat with my friend S who was working in India.  She too will log out by 2 pm.  After that I was on my own. I was just married then without kids. I will go for a long walk.  However long the walk is, I will return by 3.

I read, but I am not a novel person and only like short stories.  But one of our friend M gifted me few novel and he also commented that I will like them. So thus started my Novel days in Germany. The one attracted me first was PS, I love you.  The story was emotional and was so touching anf it talks about love and loss. Basically, it was my kind of novel. I was so involved in the story that in spite of all my fights with MM, I held him very close to me. It talks about Holly and Gerry, loss of Gerry and after effects for Holly. It sure is a nice novel and worth reading. And quote Cecelia left, 'Shoot for the moon, even if you fail, you will land among the stars' sure deserves my credits.

I will not say, that this is a review but this is my blog .  I wanted to write and am writing. ;)haha..

Tea-holic

I was a TEA Lover.  Now-a-days I am becoming a Tea-holic too.
For me tea goes with mostly everything.  I drink my tea with Biscuit, Muruku, Thatai, Chips,  Friends, Colleagues, Kids, Book, Computer, TV, even with my In-laws..

When can I drink tea? Any time, I drink tea while I get up, while jogging, while my kids play, while traveling, while working. To put it together I drink tea all the time.

I used to drink 6 cups of black tea a day at my seat while I work(at home count is not added).  My TL got so irritated(Whenever she peeks into my seat, I will be sipping tea) She made a rule that no one should have tea at their seat.  And all my colleagues cursed me(you know why) Boys used to tease me saying that I am drinking phenyle/Saraku (black tea) as it supplied free of cost at my office. Thank god, my colleagues does not know about my Turkish tea consumption. While I was in Germany, along with MM and other Friends used to drink Turkish tea continuously for 3 - 4 hrs. (at least 15- 20 cups of tea) Those were blissful days :-)

Once one of my colleague fainted/about to fall due to dehydration and my tea was used as a hydrating tool(Water was not around).  But poor gal, puked and went so furious. She asked me, how I am drinking that black liquid.  I was thinking that she wasted my precious tea. :P

How to make my Tea?
Hot water + Tea bag + a few grains of sugar or without sugar  --> As simple as this.

You can add any other accessories if you really want them.


I have listed some Special teas prepared by my loved ones.

My mom prepares Milk tea with lots and lots of Ginger. I longed for this tea, while I was in Germany/US. Now I am so privileged to drink my mom's tea daily.

My Sister make lite tea with milk. Less Spicy but with lots of love.

My mother-in-law prepares strong herbal tea (with milk) especially for me.

MM once made me tea with Inji mittai can't get such a tea again.. :( We were out of ginger that day)

My close friend A made me green tea at her Patio, I still remember the taste though it was 3 yrs ago. 

One day the boy who supplies tea asked me, why do you drink that dirty colored water? Ooops You too.. I drink tea because it is so healthy and the main reason is I like drinking it. Do we need any other reasons?

Today

My good friend Mookuthi, sent me a link for a free gardening workshop at Homedepot. I finished all my works and went there in time.  But nobody was there.  I started asking each and every employee, who pass by.  And at last, an elderly women came. She asked me, the type of garden I have.  Ooops.. I do not have a garden.  I just have a patio, where I grow some small plants. I told here about my plants.  She gave me a coupon and said there is going to be a draw on it. And she started explaining lots of things about plants and how to take care of them.. In no time, an hour passed. I was the only one attending the workshop. But when people saw us both talking about plants, they gathered around us and started to listen. When she was done with her explanations, there were some 10-15 people around us.  She handed a coupon to everyone.  She shuffled the counterpart of the coupons and took one out of it. Guess who the winner is??? It is me.  Hi hi hi hi.. I got a big hanging Pelargonium plant.. I was already happy and satisfied with the workshop.  In addition to it, I got a super duper gift too. Isn't it an excellent day, today?..

Eniya Tamil Putthandu Nalvazhthukkal (Tamil New Year wishes)

I used to think Why this much hype for Christmas, Easter or Halloween in this country.. And I also felt that they all target the kids.. I mean like Santa will come leave a gift for the kids and with Easter egg huntings and the Halloween Costumes for the kids etc..  
Last week, I met an Indian woman(North Indian while I am a South Indian) we were chatting.. She was asking how I am preparing for my festival next week. I was literally blinking( I don't know what it was).  Looking at my puzzled face, she told that she was talking about the Tamil new year. Ooops.. And our conversation went on.
Now coming to the point, how will I celebrate Tamil new year??? I used to get up early in the morning, go to temple and greet friends & relatives.. Everyone in Tamilnadu/Tamilian does that.. What is exciting about that? Will my Mowgli or Nemo ever appreciate or enjoy it? Or any other kid/younger generation enjoy it? No way. Will they ever think about it in future.. If they dont enjoy something, how can they pass on that to their younger generation? Now I understood why there is hype for Christmas, Easter or Halloween. They make the Kid to expect/wait for that day and the kids enjoy and appreciate them. And they remember the good time and the excitements they had forever. And they pass on the tradition to their younger generation. Makes sense isn't it?

p.s.: Our Deepavali has Cracker/holiday/snacks and Our Pongal has sugarcane/holiday/snacks, which will excite the kids. The Festivals which is not exciting for kids will definitely die soon. What can I do about that? Nothing much but I made lots of bakshanams(snacks) and drew some kolam and let the kids color them.. hi hi

Today

What will happen if I am left outside my home in the snow, all through this long winter.  I would have died.. Today while cleaning my Patio I saw this Mums plant. I bought it last September and used the flowers for my Kolu. It was still there in my Patio for the past six months in all the snow and freezing rough weather, it has taken all the pain to live..
Today as I was driving Mowgli to his school, I saw a Cop..  I was thinking what will he ask me, if he catches me.  license!!!.   As we were late, I was in my track pant. . And the license was safe in my Jeans hanging in the closet(obviously at home). Oooops... After going home, the first thing I did was keeping my wallet(license) along with my Van key.. Went to library today and selected few books & dvds and I was rubbing my pant for the wallets. But it was with the Van key, which I forgot to take. Oooops.  Run, run, run to home. And I ran driving home ;-) without the license again.

Life

This is good/inspiring, isn't it? I am going to do all of them..

To do list 2011..

We are going back to India next year.. This may be the last full year here in US. Let me finish up some tasks, which I cannot do there.( I will have other important works to do there ;-))
1.Speech therapy  --  mm is having trouble pronouncing some letters/words.. So I have to straighten it up before we go back to India..
2.Learn Swimming - I started this long back while mm was 6 months old and due to some reasons I could not continue with it. Now my tiny nm is 19 months old. I am still a half swimmer.. I dont want to go to India as a half swimmer..
3. To learn photography  -- Whenever I see our new SLR I feel like exploring it.. But somehow, I could not..  The main reason is I dont find a reasonable time to spend with it (you are right I am a bad time organizer)..   And this auto option, which dilutes my inspiration by giving an excellent output..
4. Ice skating -- I have even bought my own shoes to try this..  let see..
5. Guitar -- This Guitar is with us for the last 6 years..  Whenever I see it, it is pleading me to use him. My target is at least a small rhyme with it.. ;-)
6.To learn about the stocks  - For a long long long time I am thinking about it.  Lets see how this works..

Spring is here!!!

Spring started yesterday! and it is snowing today... My Mowgli and Nemo are sad as they could not go for a walk, along with all the birds and squirrels who are also upset about the weather.. Last week the weather was soo nice. We even went out without our jackets. We also packed our winter items in a box and kept it in our storage. And now it is snowing & they have predicted more snow this week. I do not  know how this snow will affect my plants.. lets see.
I liked this crocus plants and planted lot of its bulbs in our patio. Two days before when I shot this pic, only one of the bloom was there. Today I shot the other pic with all the snow, all three of them (yellow,white and purple) were  ready to bloom. Look at their growth in just two days..
They open their petal only when they see sun otherwise they remain closed. But we can plant them under a tree as they bloom before a tree would get its fresh sprouts...
Interesting fact: Saffron (Kunguma poo) is also a crocus and is called Saffron crocus but it belongs to Iris family...

Can't  resist posting this quote....
If you love something, set it free... If it returns, you have not lost it.  If it disappears and never came back, then it was never yours to begin with... And if it just sits there watching TV/Computer, unaware that it has been set free, then you probably married it...

What do I like to do?

Playing with my kids
Take a walk
Watch Television
Eat nicely
Chatting with my friends/family
Read a book/Magazine
Gardening
Blogging
Browsing the net
Just do nothing at all for a while....

Maronen

When we were in Germany,  we used to roam around the city during weekends. While roaming like that during a winter day, we discovered a new nut called Maronen in a street side shop. It was soooo yummy.  They just roasted the nuts in a pan and were selling. For €1 we just got 6 to 7 nuts.. Oops. We started searching for that nut in the grocery shops. I found it FBL(Hi I remember the supermarket's name) MM was so happy when I roasted them at home.   After coming here to US, we get this nuts during the Fall and Winter.  Here it is called chestnuts. Mostly all our weekends during fall/winter, we will be munching these nuts at home.  They say, that these nuts does not have cholesterol and is the only nut having C-vitamin. why dont these yummy nuts grow in India?

Our German friend taught us the correct way to roast those nuts. If someone wants to know: Wipe the nuts and with the flat side down, cut the nuts with a sharp knife and make a 'x' mark.  Preheat the oven to 425 and it will take 25 to 30 minutes for the nuts to be ready. we can easily peel the shell off, when they are warm.  It would be difficult, if it becomes cold. Don't ever loose an opportunity to munch one guys...

Comedian of our home

Mowgli is really a comedian now-a-days..
Last week I put him to sleep and was washing dishes and he came running to me
Mowgli: Amma, I was trying to sleep, but my nose is not working. What should I do?
He had cold..

We went for shopping and as it is winter here, sometimes we shed tear due to cold wind.
Amma:  Do you know, why you are shedding tear?
Mowgli:  Becaaauuuse I drank a lot of water..
He looked so innocent when he said that.  Hats off for his imagination..

Yesterday he got up from his nap and got some tiny dust particle in his eye. It was so irritating for him. he started crying. I told him to close his eye for a while and washed his eye with cold water, but it was still irritating for him.  I asked him to lay down for a while, he started crying saying, "My eye broke, while I was sleeping"..

A few days before, he woke up from his nap, Instead of rushing to the bathroom, he went straight to kitchen, opened the shelf and peed in the trash can. I caught him and he said, "Mommy, we got a new bathroom and a new potty".. He was still sleeping. 
Kids at this stage are soo interesting to be with.   Thank God, that I have enough time to spend/enjoy with them. God bless them to have a bright and interesting future..

Happy new year and Happy pongal too!

Lets start  this new year with some good happenings in my life.

1. My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Lot of company for my kids..
2. We have bought a new SLR - Nikon D7000 ( A photographer is on her way) It is too heavy(It should be at least 3 lbs) and I am so scared to handle it, while my kids are around. Operating it is another big task, I am squeezing my tiny brain to take every shot.  Sometimes, I just click using the auto option...(So simple it is)
3. I have enrolled in our apartment Gym. It was a long procedure. When I went last year, they told that I can enroll during the calendar year. I went last week and the lady in charge asked me to sign some legal documents so that I cannot sue them if I fall down from the treadmill.  While I was about to sign the document, she asked me whether I am the unit owner, which I am not. They need my house owner's signature for their official record. That was silly. I dont know how they can stop me from suing them with my landlord's signature.
4. Started some water therapy too(Dear S along with you)
5. Ice skating is going fine and its really fun, especially seeing my little Mowgli skating.
6. I had a hair cut.  How come this be a good news? But it is for MM. He always like short and straight hair. And I had 4 feet long hair.  Now my hair is just less than a feet long and it saves 30 mins of my time daily.
7. As always,  I am enjoying my time with my kids.


Some not so good things are also happening in my life
My dieting is going terribly wrong. As usual I cannot resist Starbucks Mocha with Starbucks ice cream in it. I will control my craving all through the week & during the weekend I will make Gulab Jamoons or Coconut cake or Kesari or Carrot halwa and will add up some 2000 to 3000 calories:-(  If  I dont make any eatables our dear friends are gifting things like sonpapdi or chocolates.. I used to do Jogging, but now it is sooooooo cold and lot of snow here.  But I am very sure, I will reduce my weight before Spring.  Otherwise most of my tops wont fit. hi hi... 

p.s.  The above picture is the Amaryllis bulb plant which bloomed last year(during last new year). This year, I am still waiting for this plant to bloom, but it shows no progress. The plant looks healthy lets see.

Dumb phobia

I done know why a few men, don't feel like talking out with their wives. Is it due to that, they earn? or well educated? or man ego? Hmm.. I know a person, who dint talk with his wife for 12 yrs(living in same house). yeah, 12 years.. My god... Is he a psycho? I was really shocked when I heard that. And the reason was very silly(I mean, its not worth 12 yrs of life). I should not be saying this, he is very elder to me, but i could not digest that.

When we went to their home, he was talking with us for 2 hrs. Is that fair? I was really irritated. Elderliness should lead to patience and not to this brutal behavior. His ego hurts him to talk with his wife, but he plays motta blade with other person.. He goes out and mingles with lot of people, what a old women can do at home, without husband's support? How much his wife would have longed for him.. That women died(due to aging, blessed she is) last year with all those frustration.  I really thought God can't reward him in any other way.

Updates

My Mowgli's school started this September and he is enjoying the school.
My Nemo is doing great, walking, running, blabbering etc
My MM is fine doing his work etc as usual.
Me as always, at home loving/taking care of my kids and hubby..

Let me write a few things before I forget about them..
1.I cooked Chicken on Vinayagar chathurthi while our friend who is a christian made kozhukattai.(I dint call my parent, who used to inform me ;-)  )
2.I have started dieting, exercises to reduce my weight.
3.Two of our friend's family are moving back to India.
4.This  month all our weekends were tightly booked with outings, get together, parties etc.  We were really happy.
5.My parents got the Passport, May be I will bring them here next summer.
6.My sis-in-law delivered a handsome boy baby this July.
7. My sister is expecting a baby next year. She was asked to take bed rest as she was bleeding. The better part is, she has started reading books. Poor gal, what else can she do..
I feel, she will deliver a girl baby.  Lets see. 8.My Mowgli has joined an Ice skating class along with his mom. If we find a good baby sitter for Nemo, MM will also join mom and Mowgli. I am so excited to skate.  will update soon about this.

Kolu 2010

When I was a kid, our family lived near a shopping area.  To be exact, we lived in Pondy Bazaar in Chennai. I used to watch people buy things, window shop, roam and enjoy in that area.  Whenever there is a festival, the area would be filled with people, shopping for things. As all kids, I too loved festivals.  My parents used to celebrate all the festival except this Kolu(which is very colorful and attractive for kids).   I used to put a chair in the Balcony and watch the dolls arranged neatly in the shops. My friends, used to invite me for the kolu. I loved to visit them. A few times, I had even asked my parents to celebrate Kolu at home.  But they had other great things to do. That was past.
When my atai came last year, she brought some dolls with her. She celebrated it last year(I mean virathams, slogams, songs, sutha bhatham). And the tradition continues this year by mee ;-).  I did everything virathams, slogams, songs, sutha bhathams and even neivethyams.  I wanted to tell stories about the gods and goddesses but I found very hard to squeeze time for that. Harder than that was managing Kolu with 2 toddlers.  My nemo used to take all the third row things.  Thank God they dint break. And one day he put his finger into the burning camphor and cried all the night along with me. Ooops that was another story. MM was soo happy as he got some or other different dish to enjoy daily. It was fun. Two weeks flew like a few minutes..
We invited all our friends. I even invited few americans. Our neighbor who is a very old lady(she is 83, a lovely woman, I should write a full page post about her) came and asked about all the dolls. She even invited her daughter and grand kids visit the kolu. I was very happy when they all came. I felt like I was in India.
Hope I continue this next year too.

Happiness

I took this tag from a blogger (To describe happiness).
Happiness is a fresh flower to me.It makes me smile, feel fresh and crisp and makes me live this life fullest..
But after mm and nm's birth, even flower seems dull in front of them.


The other cheers in my life

1.While in MM's arms along with mm & nm
2.Seeing mm learning things and nm exploring
3.Walking with MM, along with a chat
4.Being with my mom
5.Shopping with my sister
6.Chatting with friends
7.Preparing good food for my fellows 
8.Enjoying music, while there is no one to disturb
9.Playing on swing
10.Reading a good book
11.wearing anklets and glass bangles
12.enjoying black tea while blogging

and the list goes on...

Atlast, am squeezing some time..

I wanted to write about lot of things, but keep on forgetting them. Let me write them one by one. First, I wanted to write a post about the songs I love/hear.
My song choice is seasonal and it changes weekly or every 10 days. When I start liking a song, I will hear it again and again and again...

And this week's hit is "Dil to bachcha hai ji" from "Ishqiya". It is a really really lovely song, sung by Nusrat fateh ali khan, lyrics by Gulzar and Music by Vishal bharatwaj. From my little knowledge of hindhi language, I can say the lyrics is so nice. The singer's voice is so sweet and it blends pretty well with the music and the lyrics. I fell in love with the song and wanted to look at the artists and was googling while hearing the same song again and again all day. On listening, anyone will fall in love with this song.

During Christmas, I was crazy about the song, "Sleigh bell rings, Are you listening" from the animated movie "The polar express" (i could not find the exact song anywhere uploaded in net) . mm was crazy about this movie and I was about this song.  It is a very nice song. If someone wants to hear the song, I am ready to mail.(Will upload and will update the link when time permits)

One day I was listening to songs, sung by Vijay. Suddenly, I heard the song "Vennilavey, velli velli nilavey" from "Vetaiyadu villaiyadu".  I was surprised.  The voice was so flawless, I used to think that it was only from hariharan.  I heard this song so many times and finally concluded that 'Vijay' should have done the chorus. It is such a nice song, I could not stop myself falling in love.
Once I heard the song "Andha nilava than" from "Mudhal mariyathai" n times(Poor MM went crazy).
Likewise my list continues..

Happy new year!!!

Lets invite the wonderful new year and bid a warm bye to old. Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year 2010.

After a very long time, I am all alone at home. mm went to park with my in-laws and MM at office and me sitting in couch sipping tea and reading a novel with some background music. I am bored/tired of sound from games, serials, movies and mm's cartoons all the days. At least some minutes for me to do things which i like..
After a very very long time, I went to library today morning. Picked some good books for mm and a novel for me. I once read a novel named "P.S. I Love You" by Cecelia Ahern. It was a very nice one(according to me). I wanted to read some other work of her. Picked "Rosie Dunne" by her. I can feel the same style of writing in this novel too. She selects one topic and keeps on repeating it in different ways. And she does it interestingly. And when I read, I feel like I am a part of the story(obviously I feel like the heroine in the story ;-) hi hi) . Opinion differs.. MM will never touch such a book. He is designing some Bidding engine for an auction site. It is not a part of his job but a passion towards programming(and also towards that auction site ;-) ). hmm.. silly software programmer.