That holiday feeling!

A holiday has always been a sure shot way to get me to instant bliss. So when its two back to back holidays, its a double scoop of super loaded, twice as much, packed to the brim blissfulness! Clearly I also ate too much ice cream on vacay (double fudge, chocolate chip loaded, with twirls of dark chocolate, nutty Oreo bits and oozing with decadence....sighhhhh)

Anyway, getting back to the point, we're just back from first, a short-ish holiday in Panchgani followed by a long-ish holiday in Dubai, with a gap of about a week between the two which felt like a quasi holiday in itself since all we seemed to be doing was unpacking, packing and planning for the upcoming trip! We've been back home for a couple of days now and both my children seem to be suffering from a severe holiday hangover. Bedtimes, nap times, waking up times are topsy turvy and meal times have been replaced by grazing whenever the fancy strikes (or not!). But none of that is bothering me right now because I'm still basking in the post vacay glow and not even lunch at 3pm or both kids bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5am can get me down right now (that and the fact that we have a few more days to recover before its back to the school routine and I'm forced to snap out of that holiday feeling)!

The Dubai holiday also ended up being a completely disconnected-from-the-virtual-world one for me because my phone died on me just a few days before we left and I found myself Facebook-less, Watsapp-less and also contact-less for a while so was pretty much cut off from everyone apart from P and the kids. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise (after I'd survived the initial panic attack) because it was just so refreshing to switch off from all of the virtual messaging and info overload; a lot of which can be mostly unnecessary. Anyway, so I also managed to fall off my hundred happy days of blogging wagon in the meanwhile so I'm just going to pick up from where I left off, with a couple of happy holiday posts thrown in in-between (and photo posts too, no less!). In the meantime here's to holidays, new and old, the ones that've left lasting memories and the ones yet to come. Like I read somewhere in a shop window in Dubai, your vacation starts the minute you begin planning it and in true holiday spirit we started planning our next one on the flight back from Dubai. Coz nothing can quite beat that good ol' holiday feeling!

Telephone Etiquette 101

Tring Tring Baje Phone!
Hello, hello, kaun, kaun?

Or in our case, 'Hay, hay, kaun, kaun?' Coz the telephone is Mister Cube's newly discovered obsession and he just can't get enough of it! When he's not tinkering with the buttons, putting the phone on speaker mode and then listening on in rapt fascination to the melodious dial tone or trying to break the receiver into smithereens by attempting to dismember the phone by separating the receiver from the rest of the instrument, he is answering the phone (or so he thinks because said answering happens even when the phone doesn't actually ring!) in his own inimitable style. This consists of lifting the receiver, flinging it over his shoulder with a distinctly Shammi Kapoor-esque flourish as he tries to emulate the more mundane version of lifting receiver to ear that other members of the household follow, cocking his head to one side with a look of intense concentration and saying 'Hay?' He follows this up with some extensive gabbledy gook which his sister apparently understands and joins in and much merriment ensues as his little band of household admirers eggs him on between wiping away tears of mirth at this ongoing demonstration of telephone etiquette 101.

Never thought a telephone would be capable of bringing this much joy, or fun! And since we are ringing in so much merriment thanks to the telephone these days, this is what I'm gifting Monsieur Cube for his first birthday (can hardly believe its already been nearly one year since Mister Cube came into our lives!) coming up soon:

*Fisher Price Chatter Telephone image courtesy www.diapers.com

Leftover Parathas

I have a recurring nightmare about waking up to a fridge overflowing with leftovers. Domestic goddess I most certainly am not! There was a time in the distant past, almost eleven years ago to be precise, when the mother in law on her first visit to our first home as newly weds had been aghast to find a little mountain of seaweed growing in the refrigerator's veggie tray. Closer inspection and detailed analysis revealed that it was originally a slab of paneer that had congealed with some leftover dhaniya patta and festered over several days to what now resembled the grassy slopes of Mount Mansfield. What had transpired was this: the husband and I had been taking turns to do the groceries since both of us had hectic travelling schedules with our respective jobs and tended to be on the move about fifteen to twenty days in a month. On one such trip I had ambitiously bought a handsome looking chunk of paneer fully intending to turn it into a succulent paneer makhni. The next day I had to dash off to Vishakapatnam to look into some pressing work issues (stagnating sales of Iodex of the 'Iodex maliye, kaam pe chaliye' tagline if you must know) and had conveniently forgotten about aforementioned paneer. The husband in the meantime bought some fresh and sprightly looking dhaniya (to be turned into chutney, we were informed later), dumped it on the paneer (thereby successfully camouflaging it from human view) and dashed off to Shanghai for a sales conference. Needless to say, the fresh and sprightly dhaniya was soon relegated to an obscure corner of his memory. When the MIL went on her investigative expedition of the refrigerator a couple of days (or maybe it was weeks?) later the paneer had been reduced to a (greyish) shadow of its former creamy, chunky self and the dhaniya was a tragic reminder of better days that had once been lived through. United in their misery, together they just formed a desolate, green clump.

Skimming lightly over that unfortunate incident that has since been relegated to the Distant Past (lets just say, the MIL gets a greenish tinge reminiscent of Mount Mansfield if anyone says the word 'paneer') and coming briskly to the present moment, we have come a long long way since those days and such domestic disasters no longer abound. In fact I'm now quite the domestic diva thanks to the latent Paranoia Gene that was activated post motherhood along with the Health and Safety Sensors. However the traumas of the past do not fade lightly and I often have nightmares in which a shimmering green chunk slithers around an otherwise immaculate fridge veggie tray. My paranoia for Lurking Leftovers had gone into an overdrive yesterday because due to a series of unplanned and unforeseen events the food that had been cooked for lunch and dinner had not been consumed in the desired quantities and as a result I went to bed with a heavy heart and much anxiety about what to do with said leftovers. I needn't have worried though because unbeknownst to me, P turned out to be quite the star when it comes to converting Lurking Leftovers into Bedazzling Breakfasts, and I woke up this morning to freshly brewed tea and P's Luscious Leftover Parathas! Recipe below for those who are interested ( and those who may have shimmering green chunks lurking in their paneer, er, past):

Leftover Parathas

Ingredients
Half and half quantities of whole wheat flour and makki ka atta
Leftover kala chana gravy
Leftover lauki kofta curry
Leftover vegetable ratatouille


Prep
Knead all of the above in a large mixing bowl with dahi and some water. Adjust salt to taste. Serve fresh off the pan with dollops of creamy dahi! (And butter for the kids who are still young and don't have to worry about their burgeoning weight).
P.S. You can also add some grated paneer and freshly chopped coriander to the above ;)

Much leftover happiness today which has lasted well past breakfast!

Baby's first steps

And the baby of the house is now officially a toddler! Yes, Mister Cube took his first few confident steps today* :)

Technically these were not really his first steps, he has been on the verge of graduating from baby to toddler for a while now, with a few independent steps thrown in among all the relentless cruising, but today for the first time he didn't falter even once and took a few super confident steps without reaching once for Mama's hand. And once he had begun, there was just no stopping him! He was trotting around in no time with the trademark look of exhilaration clubbed with wonder that all babies have when they first discover walking independently. I still remember the exact same expression on Nikki's face when she took her first steps in our balcony. With her though, I'd been waiting for those first independent steps for what seemed like eons and when the moment finally arrived I was over the moon. This time round, it was more of a bittersweet feeling. My littlest baby is growing up. And he's growing up in what seems like fast forward mode! I don't know if it feels like this with all second babies but they just seem to grow way too soon. Maybe its because as a mother you just have more stuff to do caring for two children and you don't have the intense focus (read hyper paranoia in my case!) you did when it was just the one child, but it feels like time has just whizzed past the second time round. From helpless newborn babe-in-arms to little wriggler to his very own innocuous looking but rapid track belly crawl to sitting, cruising and now toddling, my precious time with my growing-too-quick baby has gone by in a flash.

You'd think with five years of parenting behind me I would've got used to it by now but clearly I haven't. I was really having fun with the cruising and the first few faltering steps which always ended with a frenzied dash into Mama's waiting arms for some much needed comfort before setting off on the next expedition :) But before I knew it (and clearly before I was ready for it, although I wonder if I would ever get to that stage!) Mama's arms were being impatiently brushed off as little Mister Cube discovered that his two chubby little legs didn't need no support no more! And just like that he was toddling, no brakes! And in his case no speed bumpers either, clearly our man believes in living life on the fast track!

And so yet another milestone is achieved and another little birdie gets ready to discover his new found wings. And the little birdie's Mama is going to try and put a lid on her melodramatic tendency to start weeping over her soon to be empty nest (just eighteen odd years away and at the rate at which they're whizzing past I'll probably be blogging about it here tomorrow!) and instead revel in the new found and incomparable joys of a toddler's first steps. Here's to that on #HappyDay4.

*Today was actually yesterday**
** No I haven't completely lost my marbles (yet), Mister Cube took his first few steps yesterday (Sunday the 28th). This post is appearing a day late thanks to the Gods of the Internet- hopefully their wrath will abate today and I'll be back to blogging on a regular schedule.

Breakfast Yoga

Kick started yoga today after nearly a year long hiatus.Its not the traditional yoga that I personally prefer; its closer to power yoga but the class fits in really well with my current weekly schedule and so I decided to sign up. Also, its a class I've done before and I really took to it the last time. Apart from the obvious fitness benefits, it really helped me get in touch with myself physically and mentally (looong way to go before we can add spiritually to that list methinks!). It has the perfect mix of postures, breathing and meditation and is just the right amount of challenging you to the point where you think you can't take it anymore, inter spaced with really feel good relaxation.

Perfect way to kick off a Saturday. Walk through early morning quiet to get to the class. An hour of yoga which felt really good to get back to. Back home to breakfast with the husband and kids only to find that the kids had been brushed and breakfasted (Go P!) and were really happy to see me home. Feeling limbered up, stretched out (in a good way!) and blissed much.

***The Day 3 post is appearing a day late because the internet decided to play hooky last evening for the substantial part of an hour and thereafter seemed to develop a serious bipolar disorder. Also, it was Dandiya night and I'd promised Nikki I'd take her dancing, so after much impatient persistence I gave up and decided to just post today instead.

After Eight

No it's not the chocolate I'm talking about. Although, given the chocoholic that I am, that divine chocolate bathed mint is quite likely to figure in this list one of these days too. But for today, it is the time that I'm talking about. After eight. Eight p.m. that is (Eight a.m.? Now that be a whole different story. School runs. Ack!).

Eight p.m. is when the kids go to bed and I am once again the master of my own time. Eight p.m. is when silence, peace and tranquility descend over our hitherto bustling household where up until then chaos, disarray and mayhem have been merrily reaching an ear shattering crescendo. Okay, maybe I'm getting a little carried away here, those are only the bad days, but anyhoo (Yes! Always wanted to use that word somewhere) post eight p.m., once the two little munchkins are safely tucked in bed, life becomes significantly quieter and one can actually envision oneself sitting down for fifteen minutes at a stretch with a mug of hot chocolate without having to mediate a fight, supervise an art activity or prevent a soap flake or a dust ball from being ingested by the resident soon-to-be- toddler.

Suffice to say the after eight feeling is right up there on the list of things that give me the instant 'I love my life right now' feeling.

Happy Firsts

It was kind of like love at first sight...

Almost.

I still remember the day we first met. It was the perfect setting. The lights were dim. Trance like music pulsating in the background. I was feeling impatient, restless. I'd been looking for someone like her for a while now but I didn't know then that she was, quite literally, just around the corner. I nearly bumped into her as I turned said corner and screeched to a halt just short of her. My pulse quickened as I laid eyes on her. Was she the one I had been looking for? I came to a decision after a few minutes of mulling over this.Yes, she was. It didn't me long after that. I can be very quick to act when I want to. Almost impulsive sometimes. And act quickly I did. It was just a matter of days before she was back at my place. I got back home early the day she first arrived. I could feel the excitement coursing through my veins just thinking about her back at home, waiting for me. And waiting she was, in the exact place I had envisioned her to be when I'd first laid eyes on her. I approached her, almost dizzy with anticipation. She was gorgeous. My very own beauty in black. My breath caught in my throat as I reached out and touched her gleaming black curves. I couldn't wait any longer. Grasping her firmly by the sides I moved quickly and...............RAN. My very own Sole F80 treadmill was here at last! She was sleek, gorgeous and stunning! And running on her was an absolute joy! We've kept our running dates quite religiously after that, she and I. Come hail or hot weather, rain or even too much shine, we make it a point to run all our troubles away. Because running on her is sheer, unadulterated happiness! This is my first hundred days of happy then. And I even got a picture!

My Sole Mate :)

I give comebacks a bad name...

...BUT I have a plan! And about time too. Between work, artsy craftsy projects with the five year old, bed time battles with the eleven month old (some things never grow old), travel and the million other things that constitute my life currently, it was becoming only too easy to neglect this space. Except for the niggling little voice in my head that piped up every now and then, reminding me why I had started this blog in the first place. So, five whole years later (I know! We may lose out on consistency but full marks for persistence!), here I am yet again giving it another shot. Unlike the long, rambling, excuse laden posts that I've been wont to indulge in earlier (aside from the fact that with two children, long rambling posts now seem like a bit of a luxury), I'm going to keep it short and crisp this time round. No excuses. Its been five months since the last post but lookie, I'm back! AND, like I said, I have a plan. I'm sure all of you (I can has imaginary readers. So there.) have heard of this. You can't not have. Unless you eschew social media, avoid newspapers because what are they but harbingers of doom every morning and have a whole bunch of friends who think like you. In which case you probably wouldn't be reading this either, so its safe to assume that you do know about the #100HAPPYDAYS challenge. You've probably even done it yourself! I know I've been fantasizing about it for a while now, as a means of reviving this blog. What better way to revive your fading blogging mojo than to publicly take up a challenge like this one and then keep at it hundred days in a row! Originally, I was even planning to follow the guidelines and do a picture a day like the challenge says. And that is precisely why I've been fantasizing about it for so long and done zilch to make the fantasy come true. Because, as many of my close friends will tell you, the chances of me clicking a new picture every single day, even if it is of something that sends me into raptures of joy (unless its the kids and you can't really put a pic of the children every single day, aside from the obvious privacy issues) and then actually uploading it on the blog and writing about it are about as bright as the weather department getting the forecast right with unmatched accuracy every single time. Hopelessly dim, in other words. So I thought I'd just stick to the writing. That being the idea of doing this challenge in the first place. To come here and write. Because with me, and I suspect it would be this way with most bloggers, the more I write the, more I write. The less I write, the further the blog slips into depressing blog-oblivion. I might even throw in the occasional picture on good days! But for the most part it will be about the writing. And the blog reviving. And as a bonus, I even get to be happier, more optimistic, in a better mood yada yada like the challenge says. Not that I need much to make me happy these days. About six straight hours of sleep without the baby waking up for a session of intense night time rocking/ lullaby singing is enough to make me wake up ecstatic. My needs are simple like that. The main thing for me about doing this is really to get this blog up and running again. So, if I do  stick to the guidelines and manage to get a post up everyday, I'm actually going to have one hundred posts up here in the next hundred days! Which is considerably more than the just about hundred odd posts I've managed in the last five years. And that in itself will make me feel quite chipper. Here's to #100BloggyDays then. Blogging Nirvana here I come!