Life Now

Its been very long since I blogged... laziness I guess..

Life is a routine. Wake up in the morning.... send kids to school..read the paper.. household chores.. watch Masterchef and Greys Anatomy on Star World.... sit around doing nothing.. Abhinav comes from school..sit around some more.. eat ..siesta... then Tarun comes.. give them the evening snack.. clean up.. homework..George comes.. then dinner.. clean up and sleep... and the whole thing repeats itself...

I have decided that I will do something for my self (excluding the TV viewing, which is surely for my self  :) )  - start blogging  - again - The friends who used to check my blog never do so now  I guess... Its been too long..

There was this time... when I used to go to office.. . I used to check a list of blogs.. that I always read...and then only start my work... but now..I have all the time in the world... but not doing anything...

Yes.. I will !!!

All in the Family

Tarun participated in a singing competition in school. He sang ‘Country Roads’ by John Denver, and won the third place – the bronze. His school had taken a photograph of the singers and sent it to the parents. The singer in action :)
Abhinav too is intense about music. The moment he hears music, he claps, or sways or taps his thigh in rhythm. I had read in some baby book, that all babies have a sense of music and can follow rhythm.

Abhinav is ONE

We celebrated baby's first birthday on August 2nd. It was a small affair with close friends, neighbours and family. Baby was just perfect. He never cried at all, unlike his big brother, who cried throughout his first birthday party. Not to hurt big brother's sentiments, both Tarun and Abhinav cut the cake together. We had cake and potato chips and home made wine. This was later followed by mutton biryani and its associates.

All went on well... and we still couldnt believe that baby had grown up so fast :)

Update :)

Long since i even opened this page... Was busy.. an excuse :)
So far :
I have resigned my job and am a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) He he he...
Mom was diagnosed for Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and was operated upon on both hands.
Dad retired on April, and mom and dad going back to kerala in August
Tarun started going to LKG at Montfort, the first week us sorrowful for him as well as for us, but now he's enjoying it.
Abhinav will turn 1 on Aug 2 (so fast).
My brother had come down for vacation for a month, and finally my long term wish, a trip to Pondicherry with George, kids, Anoop and my cousin Amith, was fullfilled.
(Abhinav baby's first trip besides native Kerala was to Pondicherry :))
Me at home, a change after working for so long.
George has shifted job, from his recession hit company to heading the training division of Trends n Vouge, CavinKare. Thanks to God for that.
I do think of my blog friends, Julia, Pearlie, Abe, Roopa,Theresa,Preethi, though i dont read the blogs (coz i have 2 kids to manage :) ) and wish them well.

Endae Keralam Ethra Sundaram and a Wedding

Us Cousins

Tomy tying the minnu

Family sans Abhinav

The bride

Dinner the previous night

We left for Kerala from Chennai on the 25th of December, for my cousin's wedding. Tarun and Abhinav, contrary to our fears were at their best behavior in the train. I was excited about the wedding as I was to stand behind my cousin, to fulfill the duties of an elder sister as it is our custom, till the minnu/thali was tied by the groom. On the previous day of the wedding, all of us cousins, stayed at the bride - Anjana’s - place and had a great time – lots of games, gossip and ofcourse food. As my uncle, the bride’s dad, was a building contractor, there were so many people coming and going. We had erected a shamyana outside and hired tables and chairs because the people coming and going would not fit in the house, and also that it was easier to serve them food there, on banana leaves (no need of washing and easily disposable). We too had our dinner there. My mom and aunts were forever in the kitchen, preparing tones of food…breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tea, coffee and juice for those people walking into the house in between all this.

The wedding – as in our community – is conducted from the groom’s side. Due to this we had to travel over 120 Kms – one way - by road, from Maramon to Kothamangalam. Lucky for me I left with my cousin in a car early in the morning, to hotel Sicilia (we didn’t dress up from home due to the distance), located at Thodupuzha, to get dressed then to the groom’s church. The rest of family and friends joined us at the church directly.
My cousin Anjana got married to Tomy Thomas. I stood behind my sister and my duties got over once the minnu was tied by Tomy, and from thereon, his sister-in law took over.
The food was lovely.. appam, mutton curry, beef, fish, chicken, pavakka fry, aviyal, thoran, rice, salad, ice cream etc etc….
Then from there close friends and family left to Tomy’s house, to participate in another custom, where the girl goes to the boy’s house for the first time. We were welcomed with cake and wine. After prayers, we started our journey once more, this time back to the bride’s place, where the bride and groom would spend 3 days, after which the bride would go permanently to the groom’s house.

The only difficult part of the wedding was the travel. We traveled over 260 Kms by road My... it was one big journey. The road, had lots of hairpin bends – enough to make our stomach’s lurch and vomit, I think George was the only one in the family who didn’t vomit - and lonely stretches amidst rubber plantations. To top it up, we lost our way a couple of times, adding to the extra kilometers.
The wedding was beautiful, and Tomy a very nice person. Tarun was dressed in a white kurtha and he managed it beautifully, again contrary to my opinion about him.

After that visiting aunts and uncles ( read “all the time eating high calorie food”) and other relatives took up most of our remaining vacation time. It was a lovely trip, Kerala as beautiful as ever, fantastic weather, the vacation lasting close to 20 days and Abhinav’s first Kerala trip.

Baby is Baptised ..

Baby was baptised on 6th December 2008. It was a simple ceremony and the only important person missing was Anoop achachen, my brother. Unlike his brother Tarun, who cried from the moment of entry into church, Abhinav never cried. Even when his lower body was immersed in the baptism tub, he never cried.(My dad the told me that the water they used was warmed slightly :)) His bawling started only when the priest poured the water on his head. All went on fine, baby fell asleep after a feed and all the guests had dinner.

Tagged !!

I was tagged a long time back by Abraham. I never had the time... finally i did it..
Most of the questions i guess would be best suited for unmarried people :) Any way here is mine..

Abraham says that its customary to write two lines about the person who has tagged you.. so Abe here it is ...

A cool guy with a good sense of humor
Good writing skills

The other rules are :
RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any
question that they dislike with a new question formulated by them.
RULE #2 Tag someone else to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. If your lover betrayed you what would your reaction be?
Thank you very much for letting me know in advance about you....

2. What’s it that you see in an ideal partner?
A sense of humor, a level head and fun to be with.. (Well George fits the bill i guess)

3. What, according to you, is the perfect date?
Spending time at the beach (Now, with two small fellows to take care of... that's a distant dream :))

4. Would you like to have children soon enough? Or would you wait till your mid-thirties for the first child?
I have 2 - Tarun ages 3 yrs and 5 months and Abhinav aged 5 months

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
George was not my best friend...

6. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?
Works well both ways :)

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you love?
The wait got over July 14, 2003

8. If the person you secretly like is attached, what will you do?
Give him my good wishes ???

9. If you could root for one social cause, what would it be?
Prevent child abuse.. It hits me bad even to read about such things

10. Do you lie?
Well i guess when i was a kid, not any more..

11. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Both kids in school and a lot of time for myself :)

12. What’s your fear?
Sounds silly, but my biggest fear is that my children could be kidnapped and be abused or they could get lost in someplace.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
A cool guy with a good sense of humor.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
Married and Rich

15. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously who will you pick?
George :)

16. Would you forgive and forget someone no matter how horrible a thing he has done?
A Very very difficult thing to do

17. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?
Happy in a relationship.

18. What is your all time favorite film?
Difficult to single out, but i like The Patriot, Life is Beautiful..


People.. you are tagged

Roopa
Julia
Theresa
Hari
Preethi

A song for Abhinav..

My brother Anoop and me have an age gap of six years, and I was in the first standard when he was born. The post delivery room, where my mom was admitted was located in the ground floor of the hospital. I used to speak to my mother from outside, through the window, refusing to even look at my baby brother, due to the ‘Jealousy’ factor. I started liking him, only after he started smiling and reciprocating .

My friends keep asking if Tarun likes Abhinav. Actually I really don’t know. Tarun sometimes tells me, Babiya kupayil kalla (Throw the baby into the dustbin), Babiya ishtam alla (I don’t like baby). He pulls baby’s hair and sometimes hugs and kisses so hard, and releases only when he starts to cry. He’s most excited when I am burping Abhinav. He comes running from wherever he is, saying that he would do it . (I guess when burping, the hitting is justified :) ) .

I really don’t know as to how to manage. We are very careful.. and none of us show any love or attention towards Abhinav when Tarun is around. I guess.. as time passes, everything would be fine…..

One day..Tarun was singing for Abhinav..

Onam

This Onam, we celebrated at my moms place. This is because my father is retiring, and this is the last Onam, in the house where they lived for the past 29 years. This April he would retire and my parents would go back to Kerala. My cousins who are studying in Chennai, also joined us. Mummy made a lovely Sadhya that included, rice, paruppu, papadam, pachadi, inji kari, achar, aviyal, sambar, moru kari, pradhaman , banana chips and sharkaraparati. Tarun baby thoroughly enjoyed himself eating the traditional way, from the banana leaf. We too had a good time.

28th Day - Irivathiyettu Kettu

For us Malayalees, the 28 day after the baby is born, there is a custom called irivathiyettu kettu, where a black cord / thread is first tied around the waist of the baby, followed by a gold chain called the arinjanam.

Abhinav’s irivathiyettu kettu happened in a very simple way. For Tarun, we had invited friends and family and the function was followed by lunch. For Abhinav – I guess, him being the second – there was nothing much. My parents, and inlaws were present. George had gone to Hyderabad, so it was just the five of us.My father tied the black thread around the baby’s waist and my father-in-law, the arinjanam. This was followed, by lunch cooked by my mom. A simple function indeed :)