A lovely winter morning

Thodi si zameen, thoda asman, tinkon ka bas ek ashiyan..... (थोडी सी ज़मीन , थोड़ा आसमान , तिनकों का बस एक आशियाँ - A bit of earth, a bit of sky , a bit of few things more for an abode)............ A group of teenage friends singing on the day of graduation from college - Saumya, Somali, Nidhi, Sandhya , Seema and I . We called ourseves 'Nisansotusalu' . It meant nothing, just the alphabets put together from everyone name and jumbled up in a way so it could at least be pronounced. The song we sang was special -hopes, dreams, aspirations and things as such.

The other day was a lovely winter morning so we went out to that church building opposite to our apartment where usually its quiet. They have swings in a circle shaped area and a big green pasture. So we went swinging for that's Neev's favorite thing to do. Later we played soccer with kids and went some more swinging. Sunshine kissed our faces as we swayed to the rhythm of going back and forth and I felt like singing that song. I did. Neev kind of liked it as was clear from his bent head against me, a sign of falling asleep. I glanced at Avi and Anurag playing soccer and continued singing...........थोडी सी ज़मीन , थोड़ा आसमान, तिनकों का बस एक आशियाँ !

Goodbye to St. Andrews Preschool

Today was the holiday program at St. Andrews Church and also Avi's last day here (we would be moving to San Jose soon). The church was packed with parents. Children entered the church in a line with bells in their hands and singing 'Joy to the world' and 'Jingle Bells'. I caught another parent (besides me ) wiping eyes. It was really special. Avi walked with his friends and teacher to the podium and sang Christmas Carols they had been practicing in school. It takes a lot of courage and confidence for little children to stand in front of a large crowd and they all did so well .We finished the program with sandwiches, soup, hot cocoa and hugs from Avi's freinds and teachers. It was his first preschool and he liked being here. We'll be taking lots of good memories with us. Goodbye St. Andrews !

Sea World Visit in San Diego

We visited Sea World in San Diego twice in a week. Their Shamu show (whale show) called 'believe' is unbelievable. We were lucky to also catch their sounds and lights holidays version in the evening with live music entertainment. Anurag and I had done whale watching tour 8 years back in Cape Cod and Shamu turned out to be a great memory refresher, actually even better. It was incredible to see 17000-22000 pounds heavy Whales so well trained and so elegant.We had visited the Aquarium in Chicago a few years back but I don't remember seeing anything like this.  Avi loved watching whales but his favorite part was going thru' the transparent tunnel on electronic walkway where we could see Sharks swimming all around us.  It was something to see those guys up close as they swam over us. Avi enjoyed simulated helicopter ride in their Arctic Zone and we were all fascinated by graceful Beluga Whales. We saw Walruses, Polar Bears, Penguins and managed to see all the holiday shows of Dolphins, Sea Lions and Pets. Yep, they had a show called "Pets rule" and it was hilarious watching dogs, cats, birds, and even pigs perform tricks that left us saying 'VOW' ! 

Neev LOVED watching Sesame Streets show in Sea World and wasn't a bit scared going on Elmo airplane ride and tea cup ride. He kept saying 'whee.....ee......' all the way and just wasn't ready to leave that place.

What did Anurag and I enjoy most - an hour's quiet ride back home with double shot of espresso (kids were so tired they had fallen asleep the minute they settled in their car seats).  

My children ....updated

Neev is almost 18 months old now and Avi will be 4 years old in couple of months. I can't help myself gushing over the moments when they are playing together. There are times when I hide behind the door to catch them pouring affection on each other . These are the moments when I usually have my hands on my lips and my heart going.....o....o......h ! Its adorable how Avi is willing to share his lovies (his blanket and little lamb) with Neev first thing in the morning. He would come to my bed and we would sing our good morning song. He would attempt to snuggle with Neev which usually would result in Neev resisting and at some point end in banging his head with some body part of Avi. Yep, its not always hunky dory but nonetheless, its precious in its own way. Sometimes they would fight for the same toy and for my attention at the same time but it is still fun to see the dynamics. If I try to discipline Neev, Avi would be like 'Mommy please don't talk to him in that tone, he is just a baby'. And the next moment I would overhear from kitchen that Avi is totally bossing Neev and saying the same things to him that he requested me not to say to his brother. 

Neev is this adorable toddler who has a mind of his own . When we go out for walks, you can't make this little man go your way unless you want to pick him up. He wants to play 'follow the leader' with his never ending turn of being the leader. We have tried saying 'bye bye' to him thinking he would turn and follow us. We have tried hiding (and still be able to see him from a spot) and waiting if he turns back . Oh yes....he does turn back, scans and fearlessly marches on his way - without caring if we are there or not. If he spots us, he would make this gesture with his hands which says 'come on you guys'. He also loves to listen to songs and excitedly joins us by saying 'pop' in 'pop goes the weasel' and 'down' in 'the grand old duke of york'.  His favorite place in the house is the bathroom. Nobody can use the bathroom without having to hear  his 'knock knock' on the door. I have figured out that if you hand him a sheet of toilet paper in the beginning, he would let you go in there for 2 minutes which he spends walking in the rest of the house and tearing it before coming back to the bathroom door to say 'knock knock'again. Its an absolute delight to watch him run, bending over, pulling the magnets off the fridge, dumping the boxes out of my kitchen drawer and to be with his 'bhai'. That's right, he calls Avi "bhai' and its his favorite word. He gets so excited to see Avi when we pick him up from the preschool. Yes, he blows him kisses but also smacks him on his head sometimes (we are working on the 'gentle touch').

Avi is 46 inches tall and Anurag thinks he would be reaching my height VERY SOON. He is enjoying his preschool and last week in parent-teacher meeting we were told that he is doing great. He can count up to 23 objects correctly and loves to talk. His favorite time is when Michael (guitarist) comes and plays for them. His favorite song currently is 'the grand old duke of york'. Its hilarious how he sings it without missing a beat or a word. Last week we were told by Avi's teacher what he said to her, 'Barack Obama is our president now and when I am 100 years old , I am going to write him a letter and invite him over to my house'.  She thought it was really funny. It is, and no surprise to me because when we go grocery shopping, he is always pointing to magazines on the checkout counter saying, 'look Mom, there is Barack Obama - our president. I want to call him and meet him". Sure dude, even I do !

His love for reading continues and his imagination can take him anywhere from caves of Oklahoma with bats and spiders and to outer space in his rocket ship where 'he' is an alien. Sometimes he is a superhero and rescuing people and sometimes a robot. His favorite color to draw is black and his interpretation of abstract art is usually airplanes, rockets, storms and caves. 

I've been missing our family in India a lot and I know they miss us too. This piece is specially for them to get an idea of what Avi and Neev are doing right now. Love to everyone !

San Diego Zoo

Its November but no sign of winter here.  We visited San Diego Zoo last weekend. We all enjoyed it, specially riding the zoo fary and the bus tour. They had the largest reptile collection that I have seen so far and believe me , I've been to a lot of zoo (s). I've always been very afraid of snakes but at the same time they have not ceased to fascinate me. The setting of looking at them up close behind the glass window is perfect for someone like me. We saw some rare species of rattlesnakes of which a white one was just unbelievably captivating. It was about 4 feet long, pretty thick and had white beaded skin. I am not the one to call snakes 'pretty' but this one actually came close. It stood totally different from others - graceful. Anurag and Avi had witnessed a very active King Cobra who according to them put a show in tandem with his reputation of being ferocious and deadly. Quite apparently this guy was not very happy either being caged or having too many pairs of eyes prying and was moving a lot, standing up and showing off his fangs and tongue. 

We also enjoyed watching Koalas tugged to the trees. We learnt that not many zoos have them and San Diego has a climate for growing the only food they eat - eucalyptus. Its a huge zoo and there is no way a family with kids can cover it in one day so we'll go there again........soon.

Pop goes the weasel

We call Neev our little parrot since he loves to mimic all sounds and words he hears from us. He calls Avi 'Bhai' or 'dada' , calls me 'Mimi' and Anurag 'Da...ddy'. For a last couple of days when we sing 'all aorund the cobbler's bench.........', he gets excited when the word 'pop' is about to come and joins us to shout 'pop'. It just cracks us all up.

Nicknames given to Neev by his big brother are 'Neevo', 'Neevi', 'googli eyes' and 'bottomi' (during diaper changes and after shower moments). It's hard to explain the joy seeing them interact. Avi lets Neev pull his hair but does not like getting disturbed during his TV time.  Neev loves to have Avi put his head in lap and tickle him. 

This is just so I don't forget all these little things....

October action summed up...

I posted so little in October it may give an idea that nothing much happened. Actually it was a month full of crazy, busy , action . Trips between theater, playground, preschool, playball , not to mention costumes and  Halloween parties. Avi decided to be Pirate this year . Neev dressed as Pumpkin for one party and as lion for another. He looked so cute in the lion costume , friends joked that this lion wanted to be eaten . Last week we went to Boo Bash to University Park where Avi loved to throw the spiders in their webs and catching fish in the net. 

Week before that visits to Strawberry farm and pumpkin patch were very enjoyable . Avi got to ride the pony and Neev loved to roll in hay. Day before Halloween we carved a pumpkin and I was pretty happy with the outcome, this being my first carving project and all. It made a cute and pleasant looking jack-o-lantern.  Finally Halloween, trick or treat and a great 'After Halloween Party' at my friend Tina's haunted house. She did some serious decorations in her house and Avi was not one bit scared or overwhelmed with all grown ups in costumes. He in fact loved trailing the pretend cockroaches and mice Tina had put everywhere against the walls. Her jell-o dessert was yummy , only in shape of a skeleton hand and smashed brain, yep .....brain. It did not stop the guests hacking into them or enjoying the 'pusballs' she named her cream puffs. 

We celebrated Diwali at home and I was very proud of myself for arranging 'all' the items necessary to perform 'pooja', including holy water from Ganges. Avi loves doing 'aarti' and can sing along a lil bit. Later that week we celebrated again with a bunch of friends and potluck dinner. 'Bhagwan Ji' brought Avi a remote control car and 'Batman with missile launcher' for being a 'good boy' this year and he was thrilled. Now he wants Diwali everyday :)

Last week we also went to 'Wild Animal Park' in San Diego and loved it. This was our first long day trip in a long time and we learnt that single stroller would not do for any trip requiring to be out for more than 3 hrs. 

For November I hope to record my life more frequently as it happens.

Steel Magnolias Farewell

It opened with a smash and last Saturday was sold out. Actors deserved all the accolades they got. Orange County Theater Company got compliments for its superior and professionally staged drama. It was a great experience for me being the Stage Manager for the show. I had such fun with this team. Made new friends and met some really nice and talented people. Tonight we all met for dinner and had a great time. We kept saying the lines from the play and kept laughing. We won't be rehearsing Steel Magnolias anymore but who knows.....may be something else. 

Irvine Global Village Festival

Haven't documented few things we did in last few weeks. 

On October 4th we went to Irvine Global Village Festival. Irvine's signature annual event, expanding awareness and highlighting the extraordinary diversity of this city. A chance to  explore more than 50 different cultures, sampling new foods, learning to belly dance, learning about world religions, experiencing the world without ever leaving Irvine. 

We loved that India had a huge presence in the festival. A lot of food sampling, HSS's small subset of the Hindu Exhibition and Surya Namaskar demonstration, Mandir's booth and my favorite - several Indian dance performances. It turned out to be perfect weather too. Avi and Neev enjoyed the shuttle ride. Avi wanted to know how long he'd have to wait to be a Police Officer so he could ride the cool electric scooters like them. He watched the Puppet show and listened to a story in Noah's ark. Neev loved running on the grass and we loved watching our little doll tumbling and toddling. It was Fun.

Back seat Driving

I have a back seat driver in my car. If you guessed my husband (usually is in most women's cases), sorry ! Its my 3.9 years old boy. Okay, so I have been sneaking a bit of driving wisdom while telling him about stop sign rules, slowing down on yellow light at the intersection and watching out for Pedestrian etc. (Just so he would imbibe it and it may come handy 13 years later when he starts learning driving ). I did not think he was paying much attention to it until recently when HE HAS  started giving me lessons on good driving.

While driving to drop him off at the preschool (8.15 AM) I reached for my insulated chai cup to take a sip and he said, 'that's a distraction Mommy, you should not do that when you are driving".

The other day I reached for my overhead sunglasses holder and fumbled to pull my shades and he said, "Mommy you should have both your hands on the steering wheel".

Another time I was the victim of bad timing judgement on my part and braked rather hard  when yellow light turned into red at the intersection (don't we all go thru' that- between slowing down/speeding up on yellow light sometimes) and he said.,"that was not very smooth Mommy , you should not do that" (that one was as cute as it was annoying and in that moment all I said was , "Uh Huh" ).

And today when I went to pick up Anurag from his office, I pulled up in the 'disabled parking spot' for just a minute. This owes an explanation -Anurag was already there at the office gate and I needed to spend just 10 seconds to change spots (Anurag prefers driving himself when he is in the car). To my son, time was not the matter, the matter was that I broke a rule. He said, "Mommy please don't do that again, that spot is for wheelchair people". Yes, he noticed the sign.   

And in the evening when I got ready to go to the rehearsal, he said "Bye Mommy , drive safe". 

Sleep Sweetly Sleep

I love sleeping. I love naps. I don't like the idea of Power naps . I like my afternoon siesta stretched to 2 hrs. I love waking with a head clear of weight and feeling warm afternoon Sun on my cheeks and eyelids. Add a cup of ginger & clove tea  and that's my idea of life.  Heaven ! Well, close. Rewind 4 years of my life reel and it was not such a rare thing. I wasn't working ... actually could not work (forced decision because of my dependent visa status).  I blamed  my break on the government policy  and LIVED LIFE ! I stayed up late, woke up late and took naps. I did not know that it was God's way of compensation to what was  to follow. Four years and two kids later the idea of sound, uninterrupted sleep exists only in my fantasy . Familiar to many moms around the world,  here is my nightly schedule beating up the 'Sleep tight' stages of full night's rest-

Waking -
The waking stage is referred to as relaxed wakefulness, because this is the stage in which the body prepares for sleep. My relaxed wakefullness schedule after the kids have gone to bed - plop the notebook in my lap ,free of children only at this hour, check emails, replying to them or postponing replies to hop on cnn.com or msnbc.com to check the latest scoop on Sarah Palin (just kidding).  After realizing that nothing in the world outside my world has changed much from yesterday or day before, I decide to check tomorrow's calendar and get a head start on that - packing water and dry snacks in our Great Park sack (I love to use it for everything - from toting library books to groceries). Groceries on my list - I check to see if I have coupons for anything (yep ! I clip coupons ). Oh, Did I mention the dishes, leftovers and cleaning kitchen because sometimes I leave that for until after kids have gone to bed , to spend some more "meaningful time" with them. So, the relaxed wakefullness period .................ahem..........is not the onset of what's to come as next stage of sleep cycle. 

Stage 1 
Stage 1 sleep, or drowsiness - usually lasts for 5-10 minutes. When I should be taking cues to head to bed, I remember to brush my teeth and put my socks on. I approach my memory foam , my body and brain longing to shut the world up. As I lay down, ready to hit the stage 3 , my brain refuses to co-operate , it refuses to slow down. Instead its on lightening speed, flashing a gazillion images and thoughts. I beg for it to slow down, I somehow try to train it to not think, not at this hour anyway. It works as my muscles relax and my heart rate begins to slow down. Finally when I am ready to drift off, Neev who co-sleeps with me and is used to nursing on demand, wakes up and would not get back to sleep without a snack. There......my hard work at stage 1 sleep ....ha...ha !

Stage 2 
Stage 2 is a period of light sleep during which polysomnographic readings show intermittent peaks and valleys, or positive and negative waves. I am more than ready at this point and somehow manage to rest. 

Stages 3 and 4 
These are deep sleep stages, with Stage 4 being more intense than Stage 3. These stages are known as slow-wave, or delta, sleep.  Well, sometimes I sleep thru' it and sometimes not. 

Non-REM Sleep 
The period of non-REM sleep (NREM)is comprised of Stages 1-4 and lasts from 90 to 120 minutes, each stage lasting anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Surprisingly, however, Stages 2 and 3 repeat backwards before REM sleep is attained. So, a normal sleep cycle has this pattern: waking, stage 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM. Usually, REM sleep occurs 90 minutes after sleep onset.

Some nights if I am lucky, I complete Non REM cycle and enter the next one but on most nights during this stage, Avi works his way to slip in family bed and the game of returning him to his bed starts which include bathroom break & massage of his back and feet (his favorite excuse to sleep in family bed - "my back and feet are hurting and they need a massage"). Trust me, we have already ruled out the possibility of this being true (with Doctor). 

Stage 5, REM 
REM sleep is distinguishable from NREM sleep by changes in physiological states, including its characteristic rapid eye movements. Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as a result of heightened cerebral activity. I am not even sure if I want to enter this cycle. Yep ....I don't want to dream....................most of the times they don't make any sense anyway and other times they are completely weird and if I manage to remember them , my next day is spent trying to analyze it and make heads or tails of it. So nope, I don't want dreams, I need sleep - good, long, unbroken, undisturbed and unending (I don't have a death wish, I just don't want a clock to govern it on some days). 

And before I know it............. tick tock, tick tock , its time to sing "Good morning, Good morning, Good morning to you. Our day is beginning , there's so much to do". 

There is so much to do. Ain't that true !

Magical

Yesterday evening we had the rehearsal for "Steel Magnolias" and Carine (who is playing Shelby's part) could not join us. Alba asked if I could read for Shelby and Hunter said yes. I have been watching these ladies at work for weeks now. They play the characters of 'Steel Magnolias' like the next best thing to movie stars and it's impossible not to get infected with their style. So......I read for Shelby and really enjoyed it. Hunter said "I was magical". Magical ! Not sounding egotistical but hey, that's a good complement. My evening was golden. 

Coming Friday we have the complete run thru' at actual stage and the show opens on Saturday - my first stage Management -I am excited. 

September Sunday

Time -5.00 PM

Plan - To have dinner by the pool

Scenario - Avi tired but still working on his Rainbow Fish Puzzle

I want to bring in some excitement in the dull afternoon by announcing rather cheerfully, "Yey, I am all set to barbecue , let's go grilling".

"You mean grill the puzzle", Avi said without looking up.

Avi and Neev - Bath time

Neev loves water- drinking it and playing with it. So much so that its becoming a problem for me to take him for evening walks. Usually around 5 in the evening I take the kids out in children's play area. There are a bunch of kids around that time . Avi rides his scooter with his friends while Neev likes to walk with me. The pool is also right there and all Neev wants to do is move his hands in splashing motion and run to the pool gate. Its started to get a bit cold in the evenings now so I tell him that he can splash in the bath tub later. My promise does not do any good in preventing his cries as I take him away from the pool. The other day during Neev's bath time Avi surprised me by saying that he would like one too. I don't know why but Avi stopped taking baths long time ago. He does not like it. 'Only shower Mommy', he says. May be seeing Neev having fun in the tub he got tempted. They were playing very amicably with the boats, cups and ducks and then we heard Avi screaming ,'Mommy.....Mommy....". Anurag and I ran in the bathroom. Avi had accidentally pulled the plug . He screamed , "Neev is going to drain Mommy". Anurag and I burst out in laughter. We wrapped our innocent angels in bathrobes as Anurag tried to explain to Avi that a tiny hole could not even drain his boats and cups, much less his brother. And then he asked "but what about his toes ?"

I could not trust my memory to remember it later when I need a good laugh hence this goes in my corner. 

Avi's first Movie in Theater

This past Saturday Anurag and Avi went to watch 'Space Chimps' - Avi's first movie in theater. For a total movie buff family that we are, 3 years and 8 months was too long a time period to keep their child blind to big screen experience. Anurag had been waiting a long time to watch a movie in hall after consoling his heart for nearly 4 years that our home theater system and 42 inches screen is not so bad. 

Avi came home and could not stop talking about the "BIG TV". He said it was a bigger TV than mine. "Mine" ?  Usually he refers to all things in our house as "Ours". Suddenly after realizing that there is a bigger screen out there, our 42 inches became very old fashioned and thus it became  "Mine". Anurag told me that he sat in Anurag's lap the entire time . Not because of the darkness he said, it was because his chair kept folding up. And his favorite part was not related to the  movie at all. It was the video games that they have in the theater. "Just like 'Dave and Busters Mommy", he said. 

Steel Magnolias

For the last few weeks I've been a part of Orange County Theater Company, involved in stage management of 'Steel Magnolias'. For those who are not familiar with the name, its an Oscar nominated movie of 1989, original screenplay by Robert Harling, directed by Herbert Ross, featuring Julia Robers, Sally Field, Darryl Hannah, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLain and Olympia Dukakis. OCTC Director Hunter Dion is bringing 'Steel Magnolias' to the stage in Irvine on October 4th, 11th and 18th. I have the pleasure and opportunity to be a part of this drama. The cast is fantastic and very talented. Carine is playing Shelby, Dayna -Truvy, Tracy - M'Lynn, Alba -Clairee ,Tina - Ouiser and Ashley -Annelle. Carine brings 15 years of acting experience with her which totally shows when she is at work. Tracy is also playing M'Lynn in real life to her 13 year old daughter so she does not really have to 'Act' - it all comes pretty naturally to her. Alba has the composure and grace which is needed to play Clairee. Dayna is every bit chirpy, energetic and good natured as Truvy. Ashley, a versatile & talented young actress has just stepped in Annelle's shoes and is up and running in them already. And what can I say about Tina- you just have to see the rehearsals to realize that Tina in real life is funnier than Ouiser Boudreaux. She is the reason that we are laughing all the time. All together these ladies delightfully portray the loquacious belles of South.

Hunter has given all of us nicknames. Carine - Ricochet, Alba-Tequila, Tina- Lola Bola, Tracy - Spacy, Dayna - Dana Point ,Ashley- Mimi. In the beginning he told me about it and I thought it was really interesting. Since he's worked with most of them in the past so may be there is a story behind every nickname. When he graciously agreed to let me be part of the crew, I got on his mailing list and started receiving emails. It wasn't me who noticed it...it was Anurag ....who said that Hunter has nicknamed me 'Star Trek Girl'. So I am the Lieutenant of my crew.

Personally this experience has been more than just entertainment to me. Hunter has been very encouraging and understanding. Thanks to him -I am beginning to get a grasp on nuances of Theater operation. I can't wait for the show to open so I can test my skills.

Here is a video that Hunter made from the rehearsals.You can catch a glimpse of me towards the end :)

Steel Magnolias

Pirate and Batman

We took the kids to Festival of Children at South Coast on Saturday where Avi chose to get his face pained as Batman. Last year it was Spider Man and the Lion. Neev watched with curiosity as Avi's familiar face turned into something stange to him behind the Batman mask. We thought he might enjoy little tickling of paint brush on his own round delectable cheeks. I use the adjective delectable as his aodrable cheeks remind me of Indian dessert 'Laddoo' and I always feel like gobbling 'em up. I don't blame him when he turns his head away at the sight of mine or Anurag's pouting lips in the direction of his cheeks . It must be irritating having someone's mouth there always.What can we do - seeing the rate at which Avi and Neev are growing , we want to get our fill before they stop being so cuddly. Anyway, so we thought that he might like a few swipes of colors on his face. The face painter showed us a few designs and we thought he would look really cute as a 'Panda'. She started with the black paint around one of his eye and Neev started bawling. ofcourse Anurag got up immediately but the move did not calm him down. Now we had this sobbing baby with one very distinct black eye and people looking at us, some of them without kids might be thinking we just punched him in the eye. Neev looked far from looking like a panda and when finally he calmed down, I dared to go back to the face painter telling her it would be nice if she could may be turn him in a pirate by adding a moustache. Afterall I wanted my baby to look anything but someone who just got a hit in the boxing ring. She agreed and while I was still holding Neev, he got a moustache on one side of the lip before starting to cry again. This time it was more intense lacrimatorial scenario since obviously I did not learn my lesson at his first crying session and he had to make a stronger case. So there we were, having our supposed to be Panda face baby, now covered with black eye patch slowly running in tears and with one side of moustache. Thanks to plenty of interesting distraction ,he calmed down quickly. He actually looked super cute with his daubed face. Avi on the other hand was feeling very pleased with the Batman mask. His checkered black shirt combination was perfect for 'Little Man in Black'.

The Mamas and The Papas

I am not referring myself and Anurag to the title. It's actually a band from 60's .

When we moved to California, some friends asked us not to turn into Californians . I had no idea what they meant. I still have no idea what they meant. All I know that I love living here.

We have watched shows , movies depicting charm of this western land and heard about its glory and beauty in lot of songs. People aspiring to go to California, to make something out of their lives, to make their dreams come true. Anyways.......back to the band -Mamas and Papas gave this big hit 'California dreaming' in 1960's. Anurag and I love it - it has a bit of sad overtone , specially the flute playing in between. Don't know why but listening to it makes us feel somewhat ...............I don't know ....... I feel a bit reticent writing about it .

So here it is , the lyrics and the video (if it does not upload ,as you know I am having trouble with uploading pictures and videos,watch it on youtube). Chances are you will like it.

All the leaves are brown

And the sky is gray

I've been for a walk

On a winter's day

I'd be safe and warm

If I was in L.A.

California dreamin'

On such a winter's day

Stopped into a church

I passed along the way

Oh, I got down on my knees

And I pretend to pray

You know the preacher likes the cold 

He knows I'm gonna stay

California dreamin'

On such a winter's day

All the leaves are brown

And the sky is gray

I've been for a walk

On a winter's day

If I didnt tell her

I could leave today

California dreamin'

On such a winter's day

(California dreamin')

On such a winter's day

(California dreamin')

On such a winter's day

The mamas and the papas - California dreamin

Montessori Miss.....may be not !

Avi would miss the cutoff date of going to Kindergarten next year (his birthday being January 1st 2005) which means another 2 years of preschool. I started searching for a spot in a Montessori preschool for him sometime back. Its been frustrating calling the ones I want and the ones which are close to us that I am too late even to get a seat in the next session. Within 5 miles radius I have 10 top class Montessori schools and NONE of them have a spot for another 2 years. When we first moved to Irvine, we were not sure if we were going to be here for long term and preschool was far from our minds. Avi and I were happy taking mommy and me classes and exploring the parks. Before long we were ready for him to try the drop off program and though he cried a little in the beginning, he soon started to enjoy it. We all were happy doing this program and a bunch of other fun classes, until…….UNTIL some of my other friends updated me about their schedule – a full time , full week Montessori preschool, summer camps, swimming classes and “Kumon”. “Kumon” for a 3 year old ? For those who don’t know about it, its one of the private tutorials which have cropped up like weeds here. It has a strict sit and learn philosophy much like followed in India. My friend’s son is very precise with writing the numbers till 100 and upper and lower case alphabets and is on his way to reading a simple book of 3-4 letters. As I started talking to some of my other friends about it, I learnt that my friend is not the only one giving her child a head start. I was also told that families who have plans to go back to India, they have got to prepare their child for higher standards or else they may not get admission into a good school back home . I take pride in the fact that elementary education standards are higher in India but in the system – not so much. Not the one which was in my times anyway. I remember having excessive homework, pressure to perform, pressure to keep up with the image which came with being a ‘good student’. My life as a student was anything but fun. I can not argue if that system works or not because so many of us have made it big and far in life and may be one of the things to owe thanks to is the heavy backpack and loads of homework. All I know is that learning is hugely important and should be primary focus of education. I also believe that education system should be able to produce better well rounded personalities with skills that are needed to live life with confidence. I am disappointed that Avi could not get a spot in a Montessori school this year but only because I believe their system encourages the child to challenge his mind. We all do that with our kids but in my case I felt its not very structured or regular (answering Avi’s endless ‘why’ is constantly interrupted by something that ‘has to be done’ and finally ending our open ended conversation with ‘because it just is’ was making me feel guilty ) and that’s something I wanted him to have. I guess we’ll just have to be happy with the preschool program we have right now for him and work a bit more………………oops , I mean have fun a bit more. In the end hopefully I will not be sad that I saved almost $12000 annually as the tuition fee for a Montessori. Now that’s a lot of money, of some we plan to spend on going to the Zoo, Sea World and fun of that sort. To me that’s a better way of learning than looking at the pictures in a book always. 

Avi and Dressing

It started couple of weeks back. My docile child (as far as dressing up goes/used to go) fired me from my job of being his stylist. Every morning he wants to select his outfit which basically means only orange T.Shirt with no. 5 on it or the thick cotton collared long sleeves dark blue striped shirt. If I don’t write the description I won’t get as much kick out of it 20 years later when my memory will be as old as I will be – well I’ll have pictures but then thanks to digital camera, it will be quite a work to locate just that one in the file which is packed with picture CD’s . I usually have about 15 shots of one pose to get that ‘perfect one’ and when I download them to camera, that perfect pose is usually scattered over all 15 of them. In some I have the perfect smile of theirs but the eyes are squinting and if the eyes are perfectly doe….eeish then that charming smile would be replaced by caricature kinds. It makes it hard to delete the rest of the 14. Result – I am sitting on record no. of pictures on CD’s which some day will be discovered by Aliens if we are invaded.

I do tend to digress from the topic of the post a lot. Getting back to it- I usually do 3-4 loads of laundry, mostly all of them the same day and Avi wanting to wear the same two shirts on rotation is throwing my perfectly good laundry schedule out of chart. I thought I could gross him out by telling him that both of his favorite T.Shirts are in the laundry basket probably wrapped with the same shirt on which Neev threw up his food (in my attempt to feed him more and not taking his cues of gagging on every extra bite I was so bent on getting in his little stomach – you think I will be smarter than that since not only he is my second child but also this seems to be a recurring episode on dinner table). Thankfully he did not insist on pulling the vomit covered shirt from the basket which could be an indication that he will not live in a pigsty way later when he moves to a dorm or something (At least I can comfort my heart for now). But what he insisted on was to only wear the robe until I washed and dried that shirt.

And it’s not just the shirt, its matching them with his choice of shorts or pants and shoes too. He is choosing brown shorts with his dark blue striped shirt. Despite my telling him that grey or black will look much better with that one, he wants only brown shorts (Some of it could be genetic since Anurag always needs my advice to co-ordinate colors of his shirts and trousers). It’s not the color combination which is driving me nuts but the weather suitability of his choice. He insists on putting on full sleeves and pants and sneakers when it’s around 80 degrees outside and all he needs is a light shirt, shorts and sandals. Thanks goodness all the sweaters, heavy jackets & boots are out of sight or he could be ready for snowboarding in August. Also it’s a good thing that despite living close to Hollywood we don’t have any style police in the neighborhood, just moms like me who don’t need an explanation for his very unique fashion sense.

Busy week, weekend and a great coincidence

This past week and weekend passed by like it never came. In a way I like it that I don’t have to think about keeping the kids entertained. If the calendar is full, all I have to do is be their chauffeur. On Tuesday we went to Mariner’s for Bubble day. It was great fun for the kids. Big bubbles, small bubbles, blowing bubbles, popping bubbles –whatever most you can do with bubbles. They also enjoyed the bubbly view from the top floor where it was cooler. Avi kept telling Neev not to crawl towards the gate and Neev was not happy being commanded by Avi. Avi likes to always look out for Neev which is good for me (since he is alarming me every time he catches Neev near the trash or toilet which are seemingly two of Neev’s favorite things ) but not so great for Neev since he constantly hears ‘NO NEEV NO’ from his big brother and finds it very constraining –obviously. As a result, anytime Avi calls out his name , Neev has this scowl on his face like ‘I know you are calling my name and I know it can’t be good” :)

Wednesday was my big laundry day (its one of the chores I don’t mind so much). Thursday I drove the kids to Balboa Beach where we were joined by other friends. Avi did not go in water but had fun digging sand and collecting sea shells with his friends. It was Neev who did most experimenting with sand. It was delightful to watch him as he scooped sand in his fists and then let it fall. He bent himself in sitting position and stretch as far as he could and then gathered sand. He liked to use his hands and feet than the shovel. He reminded me so much of Avi when he had his first taste of sand at 7 months and then I hoped that they don’t grow up and grow out of pastoral pleasures of life, not too soon anyway.

Friday night we went to the Great Park for Salsa Dance Party. Unfortunately for me Avi was more interested in playing with his friends and watching the hot air balloon than shaking his booty. I still managed to stay awhile and watch people groove (combining two of my favorite things ). When Neev and I were walking around , I noticed the board of the Great Park. It’s catch line ‘one park for everyone’ was written in many languages which represent the cultural mix of Orange County. And there it was ‘ek park sabke liye’ written in Hindi. Felt good. I took a picture.

Saturday we went to a birthday party and kids had a blast with “Winnie the Pooh”. Saturday evening we went to Mandir to celebrate Janmashtami (Lord Krishna’s b’day). Sunday we had a potluck barbecue party at the pool after which Avi and Neev took a long late afternoon nap – usually not so good for Sunday evening when we try to wind down early but this Sunday it proved to be the best thing. At 7 PM my Uncle called from Sydney to tell me that My dad’s cousin and his family were visiting somewhere close to our place and passed his no. When I called him up , he happened to be staying next to the same beach I drove the kids on Wednesday (Balboa). He was leaving the next day for India. I was super excited. After a quick dinner we drove down to see them. The last I had seen them was some 13-14 years ago. We spent a lovely evening with them and took a late night walk on the pier. It was great to catch up with them and a great way to end my week.

India's birthday celebration weekend

This weekend we celebrated India's 61st birthday !

On Saturday Mandir (temple) organized 'Swatantra Divas Mela'. A lot of us were in the spirit with Tri -color clothing and waving Indian flags. It floors me how the volunteers step up to make events such as these a great platform for bringing people together on a land which we have made our home. Amidst food, fun and cultural performances there ran a thread through all of us. People who did not know each other still said ,'happy independence day'. My favorite part as always was to watch cultural performances. As I sat with Avi and Neev and enjoyed the dance performances , a part of my mind raced back in time. Every Independence day, Republic day, School function was an opportunity to perform - folk dances and skits were my favorite and also my forte. I do not remember being an audience in any of the events from school to college. I was up there .....and I remember enjoying it .....immensely. Being on the other side is also fun when all you need to do is relax and enjoy and that's exactly what we did. Overall, it was a fun fiesta at Mandir !

On Sunday we were invited to join Mr. Harry Sidhu, councilman for city of Anaheim to celebrate India's birthday at his elegant old Yorba estate. This evening turned out to be a real treat. My only disappointment was forgetting my camera. As we entered the huge gate guarding his sprawling bungalow, Avi was quick to spot the enormous statues of Dinosaur, Elephant & Giraffe in the driveway. We were led to a big , open area in front of the house where the stage was set up. The whole area was elegantly decorated with Indian theme, tiles with Rajsthani art influence and cushions with batik and tie & dye prints. Something I could not get over was the view of Riverside from there . His house sat on the top of the hill so the whole city was in view. It looked beautiful in the backdrop of Sunset. The ceremony started with the guard of honor to the flags of America and India followed by national anthems of both countries. The councilman delivered a speech honoring our birth nation. The unforgettable part for me and most other people was a performance by 6 very talented girls. They performed the classical form of dancing 'Bhartnatyam' and the theme of the dance was 'Pushpanjali' (opening of the Lotus flower and offering it to The Divine). The girls rocked. It was a 20 minute performance and they did a lovely job of not letting their breathlessness show under their graceful gait and charming smiles. Their costumes, makeup and jewelery ...everything was flawlessly co-ordinated and their talent, admirable. I should mention that equal credit is placed to their Guru, whose calm and eloquent description was just as bit impressive as the jiggle of her student's ghungroo clad feet. It won't be an exaggeration on my part to say that this was one of the best 'Bharatnatyam' performance I had seen so far. To some, it was a show that they enjoyed , to me it was one of the things that make me proud , to be able to say, "that, my friend is a glimpse of India's cultural grandeur for you" !

My experience with fire and tornado !

Man , I should have posted this one with the earthquake post . Then the title would have been 'My experience with fire, earthquake and tornado' and just by the title of it you would have thought , 'Vow ! Is she trouble or what'. Well I don't know ...may be I am but since you are here reading about it........chances are you like it......trouble aka me :)

Here goes..........

I love California, I love this city and most things about it . It 's very attractive here, even to all the natural calamities it seems. We had the worst fire last year , an earthquake 2 weeks back and now I just read about another tough fire spreading wild in Northern California. I very well remember the scare it gave us last year. It was Sunday and Dushehra day. We had stayed home inside all day and had no clue about the fire (it was all over local news on TV and we don't watch any). Anurag knew thru' the internet but did not have any idea that it was going to hit home soon.  In the evening we got ready to go to the temple for 'Ravan Dahan' (Burning of the demon's effigy). Sky looked  darker and  I could smell smoke. A friend called on the cellphone and asked us if we were okay. Turned out that we needed to be worried about 'dahan', not necessarily of Ravan though. We can see hills from where we live. Drove up the way a few hundred yards and we could see the flames. I could not believe how quickly the sky turned into a black lid and it smelled like a barbecue way overdone. We returned and closed all the windows and doors. Turned on the T.V. and sure enough our county was on fire. The flashing emergency message on the bottom of the screen said 'mandatory evacuations for Portola Springs which is only 8 miles from us. That was it ! We started packing our bags - documents,pictures, flash light, set of clothes, water and food. We decided that it they announced voluntary evacuations for our area, we would be out. We put the kids to bed and sat tight. I could not imagine the state of home owners whom lifetime's savings were about to turn into ashes. I always thought about what it would be like living in one of those houses sitting pretty on hills .....not so much that night. I must have dozed off on sofa because Anurag told me that the wind changed direction but we were not out of the woods yet. Next morning we woke up to a grey dull sky instead of a bright blue and sunny California morning that I am used to.  Our porch was covered in soot layer and windows were dusty. The fire kept burning for another few days and was declared as the worst of 2007. It destroyed 1500 homes , burnt over 500,000 acres of land and swallowed 9 lives.

Since we are talking about fires and earthquakes I feel like recording my experience of being in tornado watch too. This was year of 2006 in Ohio. The things I remember - It had been raining hard and wind was something else that day - a tempest. I remember Anurag waking me up in the middle of night because he heard the siren which goes around when you are/could be in tornado's way. I held Avi close to me and we all ran down to the jacket closet. I need to remind that it was a tiny space. Thank God that Avi was/is a good sleeper and did not catch the tension and the stress in my body. I remember feeling terrified hiding in that tiny closet  The siren was going on outside. The rain sounded like a bad rhythm of banging drums. After a while Anurag got out and switched the radio on for latest warning. Thankfully tornado did not come. Laying on the bed with Avi beside me I went through lots of thoughts and they were all scattered - I don't remember most of them but there was one which I get every now and then , specially when I see/read about natural or man made wrecks in our world - Being Grateful ! 

Twenty bug bug

We have a big round circle of grass in our apartment. Usually kids ride their bikes, scooters and play there. Today we were spending our afternoon there and after a few rounds of scooter riding Avi and his friends (age range from 3-10 years) sat on the grass to take a break. Avi who loves to make up stories came up with something, 'look there is a twenty bug bug'. There was no bug in sight. All the kids turned and asked, 'what's a twenty bug bug' ? Avi goes, 'its a teeny weeny, insy,winsy kinda bug and its called twenty bug bug. If you look hard enough you can find it". The younger crowd seriously started looking for 'twenty bug bug' and the older crowd started to pretend like there really was a 'twenty bug bug'. They started playing and saying, 'hey look there is a twenty bug bug up your shoulder, hands, head'. Soon, it became a favorite game and they were using terms like twenty car car, twenty pool pool, twenty tree tree, twenty bike bike, twenty grass grass, twenty stick stick. It was catchy and they were laughing hysterically and running around. I have a feeling this bug is going to last pretty long :)

Subah hoti hai, Shaam hoti hai, Zindagi yoon hi tamam hoti hai !

Every morning the Sun rises and every evening it sets ! Just yesterday it shone on my face when I stepped out to reach for the bicycle to hurry to school . I closed my eyes to feel the warmth of morning sun..................... I don't know if I liked the dancing tantalizing patterns of colors against the sunlight and behind my eyelids or I simply wanted to savor the tingling of warm effulgence on my skin....................seems like I took a long journey of that experience (s) because when I opened my eyes, a long time had passed me by, a long long time. My bicycle was not there. I wasn't at the same place. I wasn't going to school. Suddenly --wham!-- I realized it was not a few moments which just passed me, it was a decade or more.......................I looked around - a lot had changed , I went to find a mirror and when I did, I took a good long gaze. I looked dissimilar to me and I felt differently towards...................everything in general. No, I did not go in a coma, I lived my odyssey up close, some moments so fresh and close to my senses, they could still scintillate my mind. I felt humbled by the radiance and the glow the sunshine bestowed on me all this time. I blossomed in it . All this so wonderful.............................so why do I feel melancholic ? Perhaps because literally all of it was just blink of an eye, poetically because so many seasons have passed and of some I might have missed the fickle............not knowing what I missed was delight or disappointment but it doesn't matter..........the point is I might have missed it. I will never know it. I know time will not stop, nor would it slow its pace and shorten the passage but when I close my eyes this time, would it be too much to ask that my fare not be a flash ?

                       -From a piece I am writing. More to come in following posts , just bear with me if it takes longer, as you know with 2 kids the only time I get for myself is night and on most of them my thinking cap can only go so far as to 'would Avi be bored with waffles or cereal if that's the breakfast choice I give him next morning (4 days in a row)' :)

Fire Ring Extravaganza

This time Anurag was able to join us as we went to Nature Center for camp fire. We did it earlier this summer but Anurag was working that weekend so it was only half the fun. We did all the usual of the campfire - roasted marshmallows, made s'mores and enjoyed going on the trail and wooden bridges. We learnt that Hollywood is named after Holly shrubs around that area. We enjoyed looking at those attractive, shiny, dark green leaves and large, red berries. We saw massive Cacti plants, huge 2 foot diameter Aloe Vera plants, poison Oaks, Rosemary , Jojoba trees and some other interesting plants and shrubs. I found the Aloe Vera plant very interesting. It had big succulent leaves. We were told that Aloe flower nectar is hummingbird's favorite. Avi loved practicing his balance on the stone labyrinth while I enjoyed looking at the sole house sitting on the top of the hill, wondering about the view from there. When it got dark Neev kept pointing his finger at the moon and stars, saying 'there'.And I almost forgot to mention, when we were singing songs, they asked all the kids to join for 'Old McDonald had a farm.....'. When they asked Avi which animal would he sing for, he replied, 'rattlesnake'. Everyone laughed. You can't blame him as they have put rattlesnake's pictures everywhere mentioning its their natural habitat. He actually enacted it pretty well with the hissing sound :)

Pictures

So I can upload the pics now. Here we go from last week's fun...

Saturday Summer Party and Sizzling Sunday

On Saturday Cisco organized summer party at Mason Regional Park. It had Hawaiian theme and the event management company that they hired did a good job arranging it. We enjoyed the food and drinks but the dessert was the best. It was like a fruit medley with marshmallows and  coconut flavored creme. It was delicious. I also enjoyed peach tea and kept going back for it since chasing after Avi and Neev was a challenge without getting dehydrated. 

They had a lot of games for kids but Avi wanted to do his own thing. He kept himself busy by doing somersaults on the grass and amusing Neev. It was all a lot of fun but my purpose of writing this piece is that when time came to announce the best dressed kids in Hawaiian dress, Avi and Neev had total works without a doubt. Infact they both gave each other competition (it wasn't hard to guess by the applause they both got). Since it was hard to pick a winner, they both won the prize. Avi totally rocked in his orange floral T.Shirt and matching shorts which I also decorated with surf boards and more flowers. With a floral garland and a Hawaiian guitar (also decorated with floral stickers) he looked ready to play Hawaiian tunes on stage. Neev dressed in a red floral shirt and matching shorts and looked adorable with the garland. Even though they were in it, it was my game and I loved playing it :)

We spent Sunday evening at Woodbridge Center watching and rocking to the Rock n Roll Concert. Neev rocked on mine and Anurag's shoulders on the beats and Avi could not get enough of rolling. He watched a piece of dance on 'Step Up 2' earlier and thinks that this is the best form of dancing. Combining that with the influence of gymnastics class he's developed his own technique which is part jumping , part rolling, part falling down on purpose and part sword fighting. Its hilarious to see him do that. I have to remember to go next week since they announced that Indian wedding music and dancing is going to be there. Yoo...... hoo....Balle......Balle.....!

A beautiful morning and Earthquake

My day started off pretty well. Gymnastics class for Avi and a trip to Yogurt Land afterwards. Avi chose mint chocolate flavor with chocolate sprinkles and I got my favorite mango with fresh blueberries toppings. Neev was happy to share mine. We sat next to the water fountain and enjoyed our yogurt while watching a duck bathing herself in the stream water. After finishing our delicious snack we got up to go but half way thru' to the car Neev's discontent blathering and pointing to the fountain made me decide to turn away and spend a bit more time duck-watching (there was just one duck but she did not seem lonely, as I guessed from all the fun she was having splashing water on herself). It was a beautiful mid -morning afterall and I wanted us to enjoy it.  While the kids entertained themselves , I found the 'massage specials' brochure from the Chinese spa in the complex and imagined a day in spa with a friend followed by a cup of tea at Lollicup Tea Zone next door  (it would entice any tired mom the way these businesses have set their locations in that complex - spa, tea shop, beauty supply boutique......). As I day dreamed about my spa and chai session with friends, Avi noticed that the duck was missing in the stream. 'Where do you think she went', I asked and his version was ' I think she is taken to the rocky mountains and she is being chased by bats and spiders in a cave. Hurry, Mommy , we are animal rescuers and we have to save her'. You have to give me a bit of genetic credit for his amazing imagination. Afterall we both have fantasies (if you forgot I was woolgathering too just a moment ago ) :) . I suggested that we rescue the duck by going around on the wooden bridge and the fountain, pretending it was his cave. Finally we found the duck hiding behind some rocks in the stream and 'Avi saved the day' by rescuing him from bats and spiders. Our 'mission' was over and we headed back home. 

Around 11.40 A.M. I put Neev in high chair and just as I finished strapping him, I felt dizzy, like the ground under me was moving. At the same time the windows in the living room started rattling.  Its amazing at what speed your brain thinks ...at first I thought there must be some fixing work going on upstairs but when my T.V. started to shake and I felt some more vibrations under and around me, and the windows kept rattling , it hit me.........................it's an earthquake !  I've lived in California for over two years now and we've had a couple of earthquakes since. I did not feel them since they were during the night (imagine how bushed I must have been that even an earthquake could not wake me). Anurag felt them both the times and not that I wished for it but I was kind of curious how it felt. And now I know ! When it struck my mind that it was indeed an earthquake that I was experiencing, I was totally out of my balance (figuratively). I panicked. All I remembered was Gujarat Earthquake in India in 2001. My mind was racing about how to get my kids to safety. Because I survived to blog about it, you may laugh at me at my crazy thoughts but in that instance how was I supposed to know what was to follow.....another one may be, aftershocks? Who knew? Geologists have been predicting a big one which would wipe half of Northern California, well, may be they just forgot researching Southern California's plates because of all the attention it already gets with its wild fire and all. I mean just last August we survived a mandatory evacuation due to wild fire by just a couple of miles, And now this earthquake ! I seem to be living in an attractive place even to all possible natural calamities. Back to my reaction- I got Neev out of the high chair, held Avi's hands and ran outside bare feet. Avi  who also felt strange kept saying ,"Mommy , I need my shoes". I met other people who also got out and when some of them who've been in this 'earthquake zone' for long told me this was just a baby one. I felt kind of sheepish with our feet sans shoes and sorta dislodged demeanor. So, we returned back home. Visibly I was shaken up but took comfort in Avi's almost anodynic offering,'don't worry Mommy, next time I am going to shoo the earthquake with my magic wand'. My imaginative child did not know how much that calmed my nerves. I called Anurag and of course he was not at his desk. Moments later he called back and my fist sentence was,'did you feel that?". Sure enough every one from L.A. to San Diego did. 

Its everywhere in the news but I would like to mention that the earthquake was measured 5.4 on Richter scale (Gujarat was 8.2) and was termed 'moderate'. The epicenter of the earthquake was about 35 miles from us. No reports of any serious damage or injuries so far. 

So this was my day - a beautiful morning shaken by an earthquake later !

I took the car for a wash after lunch thinking that would be the light time of the day. Turned out there were atleast 10 more cars lined up before me. Since this was the hand wash and a line operation , I decided to wait up , hoping it won't be too long. When my car was being vacuumed, a whiff of stink alarmed me that there was code yellow (as my husband and I call it when Neev goes number two). I realized that diaper bag was in the car and the car was yet to be soaped, rinsed, dried and waxed . Did'nt I know better what is expected after lunch ....I asked myself and then wondered if I could survive the aromatherapy for another 20-25 minutes. I hoped for it not be a volcano and decided to sit in the lounge (sitting outside at 1 PM with no shade was simply not an option) which was already packed with people, people buying magazines, snacks, coffee, paying for gas and wash, people working on their notebooks, black berries, people bantering on their cellphones, people waiting for their cars to be washed...........Meanwhile Neev was getting uncomfortable . Avi decided to come to his rescue by entertaining him and as he came to bury his head in Neev's tummy to tickle him, he turned away and said as loudly as he could 'Yuck mommy, Neev has gone lot of poo-poo and it smells so bad'. From the corner of my eyes I could feel everyone's glances . Some people probably smiled too on Avi's blooper  (those must have been parents). Not sure what I wanted to do with all the attention ,all I said to Avi was,'yes , let's go , change him' and we left. Sometimes that's all you can do (and later blog about it :)

Highlights

So this is the sequel to the story of haircut. As planned, I did go for the highlights last week. I told Anurag that my haircut post got the most comments so far (3 ???? my friends, if you are reading my blog , I love to hear from you so please add comments and keep adding) and my blog fans are looking forward to read my highlights story and he should not disappoint them. Anurag could reason with me but was not ready to argue with my fans so he graciously agreed to watch the kids while I discussed the shades, tones, pigments , heavy/light weave-in and other analytics of highlights with my color consultant at Studio C (They better send me a gift card or make my next trip complementary .... I can't seem to mention them). Since my hair cut is so short now , it was difficult to get highlights on the sides or back so I chose to put some red on my crown and bangs and color rest of my hair black - close to my natural color. Sitting there, I did think of going wild with purple and pink but a glance on my cellphone screen ,which has pictures of my kids (this time I put my cellphone right in front of me ) quickly reminded me that I could not pull that off. In that moment I also decided to go deep red from bright red. I sipped some tea while my consultant went off to mix some volumes of these shades. After spending a few minutes under processor my foil flowered head was ready to rock and roll. Finally when it was washed and dried, I could not tell if I had any highlights at all . Pretty sure that they were there somewhere I tried to tell myself that I will be able to see it in daylight. So I checked my hair the first thing in the morning and surely I got 'em. My friends told me that it looks good. I think its ridiculous that I am even writing about the hair cut and highlights but actually it was a lot of fun and I totally enjoyed my time at the salon. I am trying to add the picture here (hopefully it will attach...I have not done this before...) so you can check the 'new me' out and people, please.............only positive comments :)

Hair Cut

Ok, so everyone has had a bad hair day or a week or so. In my case it had been a bad hair phase for quite some time now. Frizzy hair, no shape hair, untamed hair, tousled hair, rumpled hair, ruffled hair...............find the synonym of these in thesaurus and chances are I've lived with it all ..and wait till you say 'who hasn't' because in my case every day has been a bad hair day for last few weeks. So I decided to do something about it. I decided to cut it short, a really really short bob. I've had very short hair style before and then for some time layers and then they they just grew out ......no style for the longest time. Grass is always greener on the other side so with long hair I felt that the short is the cutest chic thing and with short hair I felt that long hair is so feminine and beautiful and you can do much with them....and anyone who has been back and forth between the 2 styles knows how frustrating the in-between phase can be when your hair are neither short nor long .......... hence the long wait for me to decide what I wanted. When I set my mind for a short one, I made appointment with a fancy Salon (Studio C). When I first came to States, I went to JC Penny salon and after that its been Super cuts or Great clips.This time neither one of them were going to do it.  I wanted a drastic change and I wanted a lil fuss over my hair. Besides , I haven't had a hair cut in a year and my locks (a very apt description of my hair as they looked completely so)totally deserved pampering (Hello....think about saving money for four cuts in Great clips in a year and then add some .............don't you agree it was in order). So yesterday I went to Studio C and the hair consultant (as they call themselves) went over a couple of books with me and I picked a style which I thought was great . She thought it was cute but wanted to check the texture of my hair (I think) and decided to shampoo and condition my hair before the cut (I already did that at home but who was I to complain if someone was going to run fingers thru' my hair and bathe them). So I changed and let her do her thing. I almost felt asleep listening to music while my crown was getting a bubble bath with warm water and her fingers were massaging conditioner on my scalp. Heavenly I tell you...............You will understand when the only treatment your hair receive is being pulled by your one year old or if he is not doing it, there are many situations when you feel like pulling them yourself. Back to the pampering - my hair were wrapped in a warm towel and I was stationed to get the cut. I was offered wine/tea/coffee (I thought even crossing legs caused angle change of head during a cut  , how was I supposed to hold a wine glass and not mess up the symmetry). Anyways, she ran her fingers thru' my hair again , gently shaking them, looked at the style I had chosen, divided my hair in four sections and looked at the style again. This time may be she thought differently because she took the clippers out and did the sectioning again. The cut finally began and I could not wait to see all that hair gone. After the cut she blow dried and put some Aveda paste to give my style textured look just the way in the book. I liked what I saw and then I left. When I looked at the watch in the car, it had been more than 2 hours at the salon. My cellphone had 3 missed calls from home. I called Anurag back and the only thing he said, 'just come home'. 

When I reached home, he certainly did not have the reaction I had hoped. Turns out he had been through very bad 3 hours. Avi had a stomach ache and he would not stop crying for me. Neev obviously was very empathetic to his big brother and gave him company thru' out. Anurag was like 'how long does it take to get a hair cut and why won't you answer your cellphone (I did not hear it since it was buried at the bottom of my over sized purse. A dose of Mylicon, lots of caressing of tummy and a dozen book later Avi felt better and dozed off. Finally Anurag took notice of my hair and nodded - a good one after a long time. I told him,'glad you noticed, next week I am going to get some highlights done and usually coloring takes longer than the cuts'. You should have seen his expression - priceless.

I love my hair right now, its just that I am going to wear only dresses (and earrings if I can get Neev to be interested in something more fascinating while carrying him) to offset the look I have above my shoulders.  Those of you who are curious to see my new style, wait until I get the highlights ...........I am really going next week :)

Week July 7th to 13th

Since this blog is going to help me reminisce when I am older, I have to record all things we've enjoyed doing last week. 

Let's see .....Monday -gymnastics, Tuesday -water day at Mariner's, Wednesday - puppet show, Thursady -water day again, Friday - playdate with friends. Pictures will help me remind the details so I will skip the narration. 

What I want to mention is that when the other day after Neev went to bed, Avi and I lay down together in his big boy's bed and just snuggled . Running my fingers thru' his hair I said softly,'don't grow up so fast Avi' and he said in the very same tone,'No more milk Mommy'. 

Also Dora's sneaky fox Swiper's line 'Oh Man' has become his Mantra now a days. I say ,'we can't go to blockbuster to rent your DVD today and he goes ,'Oh Man' . I say, 'its 3'o clock and too hot to swim right now', he goes, 'Oh Man' . I have to find another phrase to help him express his disappointments. 

Tunes of heart

Anurag bought this new MP3 player and after downloading all our collection from 'My Music' on our notebook , he hooked it up with our home theater system. Some upbeat hindi tunes got Avi and Neev shaking their legs on Bollywood's balle balle. And then in between this other song started playing which I recall from 'Sangeet ceremony' of my wedding. Its hard to describe what burst of emotions some tunes can bring. With me it has always been very emotional listening to Hindi songs (of my time in India ) in this country. I still remember when I first unpacked my bags in United States and stacked a few cassettes and music CD's that I brought with me. That evening when Anurag got back from work and we sat in bed listening to some of those, I started missing home terribly, tears rolling and wetting my arms which I folded on my tucked knees. It was snowing outside and I couldn't say it was pretty. After I could take it no longer, I got up and turned it off. I was new here but not newly away from my family. I left home to study at the age of 16 yrs. and I recognized homesickness. This was different..........more intense. I couldn't say if it was the distance or the dark which set at mere 4'o clock every afternoon but I stopped listening to Hindi songs after that. After a few months/years, I heard some new ones (thanks to Sundeep and Poonam who always made the CD's for us), and it did not feel so bad. Given my penchant for dancing, I love catchy dance numbers and now my two music lover boys give me company so I have an okay collection of those. But the tunes of my age and of my heart still quaver the strings within. They are the flash-backs of my life about the people I love, the moments which shaped me, events that permutated me........................and more!

4th of July weekend

We celebrated 4th of july with friends and Indian Picnic Dinner at Turtle Rock Park. Avi had a great time with friends and getting dirty in sand . Neev enjoyed watching his friend Tanisha toddling and they had some great swinging time together. I brought a huge flask of 'chai' to picnic which was a hit (none was left at the end) and if my friends are reading this - I'd be very glad to bring it the next time ...so let's meet up again :)

Later in the evening, we watched the fireworks from Sandhya and Charan's place and it was a very decent show in exchange for finding the parking one mile away, walking with 2 kids and worst, the return rush. We beat it all and enjoyed the lights sitting on couches. 

Next 2 days, we played soccer , went to the pool and had a family movie night. All else was good fun except the movie night. I was so excited about it and we all went to blockbuster to rent one movie for each of us. My pick was 'Enchanted'. Some of it was my over expectation from the movie and some of it was the buddy time Avi and Neev started having, and some of it was Anurag's "I told you it wasn't going to be great shakes' kinda commentary that I was left not so enchanted.  But the rest of the week - well, close ! 

So, you are a Mom......and what else?

Recently one of my best friends who is also a mother, candidly confessed to me about her feelings in the role of a mom. She loves her kids to death and cares for them impeccably but often feels that she has lost herself somewhere between changing diapers and feedings. Sounds familiar.........? Her confession left me delving into my own heart and it took me back to the day I found out that I was pregnant with Avi. Only a few days in my whole life matched the excitement and joy I felt that day. A lot of other emotions also followed in the next 40 weeks- panic, nervousness among others. Finally, when Avi arrived after 24 hrs. of labor, I went thru' every emotion known to a new mother, predominantly love. We roomed in together but in the night the nurse offered to take him to the nursery so I could sleep 4 hrs at a stretch. Knowing he was in good hands, I tried resting my body which felt like it had gone thru' a hurricane in the last few hours. After 3 nights at the hospital we brought Avi home in a stormy evening. It was partially the time of the day and the bad weather, but mostly it was the realization of being on our own with Avi that I felt a sense of panic. Surrounded by sure and experienced staff at the hospital, the warm feeling I had looking at my 6 pounds bundle of joy,"how much work a tiny baby like him who wriggles from even the snug fit of car seat belt can be" was replaced with,"oh my God, how am I going to take care of him without all those nurses".Well, even though we both survived the first night without the staff and the nights that followed,it sure would have been a whole lot easier if I had one nurse by my side. Someone who could change the diaper and rock him to sleep in those hours when I needed to sleep too. As much as it gave me a chance to bond with my precious, I know that it would not have been lessened by extra help. In the weeks to follow, when I felt better physically and started getting hang of baby related work, I tried to be super human being, doing it all by myself and doing it all. There had been many situations when I felt proud of myself and many more when I felt like I had lost control over everything, when I felt like falling apart and when I felt like I wasn't doing a good job. Despite my wonderful husband's assurance of me being fabulous at everything, it was hard convincing myself of the same thing. I felt, looked,thought as all those women I never thought I would turn into. And I mean deeper issues than not tweezing eyebrows for months, roots showing for weeks before finding time to color them, putting shirt inside-out, leaving toenails without polish until there is an occassion and the list goes on.........Slowly I settled, made peace with a few changes and took charge of the others,until Neev arrived. They say, two times the children, ten times the work (but they forgot to add, hundred times the joy)! This time I am less anxious and I am not in a hurry for anything . Also, this time I am a 30 something woman, struggling with identity issues - do I just want to be Avi and Neev's mom or do I want my life to count for something else as well. I don't know yet......In time I hope to figure it out but until then I am going to try to be content being me.... as a mother. And I hope this for all my friends who are all dedicated moms , who sometimes feel its selfish to think that there needs to be something else to their wonderful self other than being a mom. I think its as normal as it is to feel the overwhelming love for your children. And its perfectly okay !

Lounge Theater and Beach Trip

This Saturday We went to Bommer Canyon open space. Its only about 5 miles from our place and you feel like you are in wild. There are a few houses on the hills as we enter and the architecture is very similar to my Indian hometown. Open roofs and design of the railings remind me of my childhood evenings when one of my favorite pastime used to be standing on our big roof and watching people coming from both side of the street as far as I could see.

Back on track – we had a little picnic there and enjoyed ‘The Bee Movie” lounge chair theater style. When it got dark, it REALLY got dark. I could not believe we were only 5 minutes away from city lights. Despite the big screen and the big speakers, I could feel the quiet of dessert. They are having a camp-out in a few weeks and I am not sure if I want to go. When Neev started to get fussy, we headed back to the car. After he was settled, we parked behind all the people and in front of the gate (nobody seemed to mind) and enjoyed the rest of the movie drive-in style. It was fun.

On Sunday, finally we made it to the beach. Its funny how Avi,a mid-west born had his first beach vacation at 7 months and Neev, a Californian took a year to get his first taste of sand (literally). He does not really like to put anything in the mouth, especially edibles but with sand it was a different story. He licked it, ate it and bathed in it. It was precious to see sand shining on his eyelashes like tiny golden beads. I am glad I was able to take a picture before hurrying up to shake it off. He mostly enjoyed watching his big brother who had a great time digging up the sand and covering his friends with it. The most favorite part of Avi’s day was to jump on waves and splash on Daddy……………so was mine.

I love Library

I love public library and my relationship started with it 8 years back when I first came to this country. The first view of Boston where I landed was full of construction machines and dirt (project Big Dig was going on at that time and all that rubble and dirt marred my vision of land of free and the home of the brave). Visiting the giant sized stores and massive malls did not really help make my life even remotely as exciting as it was back in India. It was a Huge change. Change from one culture to another (watching the white picket fences of this dream country or looking at the  glitz of Times Square in English movies and listening to Madonna and back street boys is one thing and living in it is another - Oh yes it was a dream come true except that I was a bit unsettled after waking up), change from being a working girl to being a homemaker , change from being someone who used to have two credit cards in her name to someone who had no credit history , could not have one because social security number is not given on H4 visa, change from  someone savvy  to someone who needed to learn a lot of ropes. Well, this piece about change deserves some serious writing , today I want to use it in context of my love with library only.

When Anurag saw me going nearly crazy with boredom, he suggested visiting library. I got my card and we started our friendship. Anurag would drop me off after lunch and I would spend next four or so hours over there connecting to the world. I wrote long emails to friends telling them about my new experiences, took printouts of the letters to send home ,read newspapers, magazines & books, borrowed DVD's. I also observed the new culture around me - parents, children, teenagers, old people. Sometimes I walked to the park behind it and watched kids and other people. I appreciated what library had to offer and to me it also meant learning about this country and  its way of life 

When we moved to Milwaukee ,I spent hours studying at the library for my PHR Certification. This library was lovely , a 3 story gorgeous building complete with a coffee shop and a gift store. I enjoyed  their vast collection as much as I savored every sip of coffee in their coffee shop in the cold afternoons.

Then I became a Mom and we moved to Lancaster, OH. A small town with a big library. I appreciated the activities of library even more as I started taking Avi for story time and borrowing board books for him. In a mid western small town where it was not easy to find many activities to entertain Avi and the park was mostly packed with snow, the library came to my rescue. We made friends and scheduled play-dates , had lunch and good times. 

Now we've moved to California and have access to a lot of libraries within driving distance but I love my 5 minutes drive to the closest one (just get me started on the gas prices :). Today we kicked off summer program at our local library with the performance by Melissa Green. She sang some beautiful songs from Eric Carle's books and kids had a great time. Neev shook some booty too watching Avi who loved doing the freeze dance. Every Tuesday afternoon is going to be full of different activities thru' summer and we have marked our calendar.