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.