The summer that was ....

Summer is over!!

But this summer has been the most productive and most happening in our household. For this kids and for me personally as well ...Let's see

Summer activities
Road trip - Check
Camping - Check
Beaches, sun, playgrounds - Check

Milestones
First tooth fell - Check
Learning to ride the bike - Check
Losing a job - Check

Learning new things
Table tennis - Check
Riding the bike without training wheels - Check

Some were fun events like the road trip and teaching Kochunni to ride the bike, some disappointing like losing my job. We never see the full picture of our life story so taken out of context each of these events  seem to stand out and paint a bizarre picture. Some events have added more color around them as time as gone by like when Kochunni wants to ride the bike every evening, or exited about losing his next tooth and getting more money from the tooth fairy; while others are still unclear. My job hunt is going on, market is good but I don't sell myself well at interviews. Our first camping trip we survived but we have more ways to go before we can be true campers. And so onwards I look to the approaching winter ... hoping for more clarity as the wind chills around us.

Where are we?

So it’s been a week of rain, strong winds, and then a tornado warning! There have been flooding on local streets and days that look like evenings. The sun hasn't been visible and being stuck up in house all day, does makes us all pretty dull. And to think that this is supposedly sunny California!?!



Our garden is overgrown with weeds, my jasmine plant stooped over due to the high winds, but a ray of hope - the tulips we planted right before Christmas are sprouting.



Let’s hope spring is not far away!

Twenty Ten

So would you call this year Twenty Ten or Two Thousand and ten? Would it be bad grammer or as much of the English language over the long run one wouldn't care one way or another. After all the epic question from one of my all time favourite profesors of Botany "Yeh Do (pronounced as Du) hota hai, aur Go (pronounced go) .... yeh kasie?? Do Du hai to Go GU kyon nahin ho sakta???" has never been resolved (watch the clip here). Then again it matters not what you call the year for afterall "... that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet." So here's wishing you all a boutiful year!

Happy New Year!

Snowfall

This past Thanksgiving weekend, after much deliberation we rented a house in Lake Tahoe and headed out with some family friends. It was supposed to nice weather and the snow had just started a couple of weeks ago, so the guys were all ready with their ski gear.

We packed enough food for us to have some nice potluck, but as luck would have it we forgot the rice cooker. Luckily the house had a nice big pot for us to make rice the traditional way, while the kids enjoyed some oatmeal to tide off their hunger. We also took some dosa batter, rava for upma and other ready made stuff like soups, chapati and snacks to ensure there was enough nutrition to go around.

We reached the house late night on Thursday, so after a quick dinner everyone hit the sack. The next day was going to be play-date for the kids. We headed out to the resort that offered some kid activities, but on the way it started to snow. Yes, nice fluffy snow. By the time we reached the resort, it was snowing pretty heavily and we had to bundle ourselves in sweaters and jackets and bring out the umbrellas to avoid the direct hit. Luckily the resort had an arcade which allowed us to stay warm indoors. After some pizza, we had to head back home. On the last trip we saw the snow covered mountains and picturesque lake view, and even though that was the first time Kochunni saw snow, this trip yielded us his first ever snow fall. But I have to say it was great to be back at the house all warm and cozy.

When we woke up the next day, the land and rooftops were covered in white blanket of powdery white sugar, the most beautiful sight was our white car - it looked as if someone had covered it in a white blanket. The kids ran up and down the house trying to catch sight of the snow plow trucks that were trying to clean up the roads a little. Since it was supposed to be 'ski' day for the guys and older kids, their first job was to clean off the cars to pull them out of the driveway. After that they headed out. Moms with younger kids decided to stay home and let the kids play a bit in the backyard snow with the fear of driving with snow-chains, which none of us had any experience of.

Luckily the sun was up for most part of the day, which was a boon. Even though it was cold, it melted much of the snow for us to walk around the neighborhood and made it safer for our drive back home the next day.

Seeing the snow fall and having a snow fight was loads of fun, the kids even made a small snowman with the pine cones and snow. But if I ever owned a vacation house I would much prefer it if it were a beach house facing the warm sun and salty seawater. Here I leave you with some wonderful pictures of our fun trip.

The last post of 2008

So how do I do the last post of the 2008?

I have been racking my brains on this – seems like a big thing – you know ‘end it right’, sorta thing. Thought of many things to do - a summary post (who has time), a time capsule (Dottie did a far better job already, see here), a resolutions list (come on you know I won’t keep it) or maybe a snapshot of the blog that is rocking and all that jazz (who am I kiddin', my readership has probably fallen to the deep abyss already)

And then it hit me. I do the last post (drum roll please) with CELEBRATIONS! Because, I made it to a 100 post per year this year. Isn’t that reason enough? :D

Here’s wishing you all a HAPPY HAPPY 2009! May all that be blessed come your way. And here are some great pictures of how everyone is celebrating.

Lastly a prayer

O Krishna, we praise and thank you for the gift of living this year,
This year has been a time filled with many blessings,
a few challenges and some opportunities, joys and sorrows
While we trust and believe in You,
Sometimes it’s been difficult to understand Your ways.
Guard us and show us the right way
May we continue to grow in age, wisdom, knowledge and grace
Throughout our lifetime.
Jai Shree Krishna.


Happy New Year!

Naam Kya Hai

Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
~ Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Maybe, but my dear husband claims “How can you call our son Kutie (on the blog) – sounds so ‘girlish’; he is going to grow up and sue you!” Well if he is anything like is dad, he probably never will … the last time honey read my blog was when I threatened to run away. But since I have seen many fellow bloggers changing their names, and trying out a new look( myself included), I said why not?

Now what do I call my dear boy? After much thought, I have decided to call my little Kutiepie – Koch-unni or the little Unni, not based of the “Kayamkulam kochunni” – The Robin hood of Kerala, just a little pet name that sounds good to me.

What say you?

In Dad's Shoes ... & More!

There are few things in life that we take for granted, no I don't mean parents (which most often we do) - I am talking about the material things (for now).

I love photos ... sometimes, when I was younger, on a warm afternoon, my dad and I would bring out all the albums (in the name of cleaning up the cupboard) and immerse ourselves in nostalgia. I would try to hunt my parents and myself in the old black & white pictures, laugh at dress code of yesteryears and marvel when I would be told a story surrounding that picture. Later in life, I remember a time when my honey was shown all the old pictures, I was sort of ashamed ... not really wanting him to see me as a little girl in ponytail, shy and demure. I felt that was not the 'me' anymore. But he said, 'It's is so nice that your parents have all the memorabilia surrounding your life, I don't think I have so many things from my childhood days,' Thats when it hit me, photos are valuable, its a window into the past. A way to see where we came from, our friends, that perhaps we are destined never to meet again, places that we might never visit again ... a little crooked path to go back in time, to rewind and relive the moments!

So when I was first introduced to the digital camera (honey bought one for our wedding); I felt cheated! Here was something that one could take a picture, check it out and delete it all in a matter of seconds. No doubt, everyone was in awe, there was no waiting at the shop to get your pictures printed, everything was available at your finger tips. I still remember how honey had to explain to friends and relatives over and over again at the wedding about the digital camera ... a few had heard about it, but none seen it up close.

Today, after owning a couple of versions of the little thing, I cannot think of life without it ... how can I? When I need to take 10 shots to get that perfect little shot of Kutie when he is running around so quick. I hope some day soon, I could spend an afternoon with him and the photos & videos, tell him stories around each and relive the bygone years.

I admittedly have changed my tune and love the digital camera and very happy to note that I finally found my handy flash drive to deliver all the pictures to my PC and here are few for your viewing pleasure ...


Kutie just might fill into his dad's shoes a day too soon ...





Vishu 08 pics










Kutie having fun

Vishu 2008

Hoping this post gets through finally ... Blogger has been acting weird.

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What a great beautiful sunny bountiful day it is!!

I set up the Kani yesterday night at 11.30 – this late because (don’t laugh) I fell asleep while trying to put Kutie to bed. But at least I made it in time before the unlucky 12 o’clock (I have this idea that if it’s past 12 then the day has changed so technically you have seen the kani already) Anyway I made it … vaalkanaadi, rice, fruts, vegetables, nilavilakku, betal nut leaves were arranged in front of Lord Guruvayoorappan.

I got up at 5 and after lighting up the nilavilakku, went and got honey to view the wonderful sight. After that, we debated if it’s a good idea to wake up Kutie this early; finally deciding to try our luck I pulled him out slowly. He was still asleep but opened his eyes just a wee bit to look at the display. He was about to wail – so we rushed him back into bed. He slept for another two hours (phew) and I got to get ready for the big day.

After he woke up we continued last year’s tradition and gave the little guy a silver coin as Vishukkaineetam. This time around he had more fun asking us about the items and trying to blow out the lamp! :) He enjoyed plucking the roses from the garden and bringing them over – for once we did not have to buy flowers since we had beautiful roses in our front yard. Plus, being the first Vishu in our new home, this was an added feather in the cap!

I quickly got lunch ready wanting to spend more time with the little fella. Since it was a beautiful day, we played outside in the backyard for quite a while and then I took him to the park. He seemed to enjoy the swing and running around everywhere. The unexpected holiday really turned out to be a fun day for both of us.

Once home, he got taste of the grand feast. Its was illuminating to me, since usually I only offer rice, dal and curds – and today he had a more spruced up food with many spices and he ate with relish! (Note to myself – to let him in on more grown up food) Tired but still enquiring about his dad (who had to go to work) he was off into the world of dreams. His dad came home much late and the two of us had a lovely lunch and movie date.

Come evening we made a trip to the temple and the day ended with a blissful yawn (knowing I have enough left-over’s for two days)

Vishu wishes

Call it by any name, Biasaki, Ugadi, Bihu, Tamil Puthand etc its the time of the New Year - a time to celebrate and bring in the new!

For a Malayalee this is one of the big festivals, which the beginnings of the agricultural season in Kerala. Vishukani the most important ritual on 'Vishu' day; is the first sight you see in the morning - which is said to be the deciding factor on how your day is likely to proceed. For a Vishu-kani - this of course means how your year ahead is going to proceed and therefore becomes all important ritual. People makes sure its packed with all good things in life, in hopes of the same all year round.

The preparations for Vishu start the earlier evening, when the Kani is set up. Often done when the children are asleep to ensure that they see the blessed sight the next morning. Being far away from India means you might not get all items of the kani - especially the kani konna-- I have made up the fact this year with this picture alongside! ;)

Anyway, hoping for a great Vishu celebrations tomorrow ... more to come later!

The color of spring

Holi is probably one of the favorite festivals for kids where the festivities start months in advance. The water filled balloon attacks, the colors that brighten the atmosphere.

After coming to US, I often missed the celebrations and fondly remembered those carefree happy days. Come the night of holi, a big bonfire would be lit & after the pujas the magic of holi will be upon all kids and elders alike. Living on the fourth floor of an apartment complex at such times turned very advantageous and all my friends would be at my balcony (patio) to pelt down a string of water balloons. Sometimes we would rush to the terrace to get a better view, while one of the younger girls would keep a watchful eye on anyone trying to come up the stairs, and when that happened, we would all rush down the 18 steps back to my and my neighbor’s flat, that was the closest to reach. We would shut the doors and hide out; of course the boys would be furious and paint our front door in a mirage of colors and ring the bell to see if we open the door (they used to think we are so dumb to do that). Mom would start chatting with us and dad would be fuming in the background – he never seemed to understand the fun we had and of course, he knew he would need to clean up the mess later!

Finally, this year we made it to the Holi celebrations at Stanford. The music, the atmosphere, the crowds, brought back warm memories of the past. Though Kutie being too young was miserable at first to see throngs of people – faces marked with so many colors that you could hardly tell who it was. When a lady tried to color his face, he yelled like there was no tomorrow! Later, I bought him a little ‘pichkari’ and we had some quiet fun away from the crowds. The lines at the food stands were huge that by the time we got to eat our samosas, rice/raitha, & sweet lassi we were almost starved to death. I wish they had built more stalls than just two buffet style stalls. Plus they needed to enforce, no cutting in line policy.

The performances by Stanford’s own groups were fun and they really helped bring out good cheer. And of course like all big celebrations, by the end people went plain crazy … the water sprinklers that were being used to fill everyone’s buckets and pichkaries with water had created a little pool of water on the ground, and this muddy water became the appealing ‘color’ to many by the end. Some were lifted and pushed into this wet mud. YIKES!!!! There were many who looked like they did not want the mud bath, but were pushed and shoved into it nonetheless. What is it with crowds that they go berserk towards the end of it all?

It was great fun though, and though getting back into the car was a pain. Luckily we had an extra set of outfits for the boys and I put some plastic bags to cover our car seats. We had to run to the shower and clean up quickly after we got home ... just in case the colors brought in a rash or something especially on Kutie (he has a very dry skin and always on the verge of eczema). Then it was time for the afternoon nap ... all in all, a Perfect Day!

Pictures

Here are the pictures from our trip to the wonderful snow covered mountain tops around Lake Tahoe.

The snow covered mountains


A view of the beautiful blue waters



A view from inside the car of the clean sleek road



BTW Just realized that I hit my 100th post mark! YAY!!!

Fun in the snow @ Tahoe

We finally made it to Lake Tahoe (believe it or not, we had planned this trip from early Jan – packed our bags one weekend, only to cancel the trip last minute due to heavy rains) – to the snow-covered mountain tops, to the cold, chilly Tahoe lake. It turned out to be a great trip – albeit with a few mishaps!

Story so far …
We made the last minute plan Saturday morning to take the trip to Tahoe as the predicted weather was sunny. Luckily we got the hotel reservations and we made the few last minute purchases and were ready to go.

Early Sunday morning after a quick breakfast, off we go. No problems on the way and we make it to the ski resort in about 3 hours. Honey wanted to try his hands at snowboarding and signed up for one of the afternoon lessons. We rushed through to get lunch and ensure we make it to the mountain to see if all the fun or not! Unfortunately, Kutie does not like anything. Not the minestrone soup, not the French fries, no nothing! All he wants is to run around (probably because he was cooped up for so long on the ride) But with hundreds of people at this tiny restaurant it was like ensuring an ant doesn’t get trampled over by the marching army. We try to make by with cookies until we can find something else for the little guy …

Moving up to the snow mountains, Kutie seemed to have more fun. He exclaimed “tampu” (cold) when we held out the snow to him. The only problem, he wanted to run around so quickly but with other skiers coming down so quickly, we were afraid that he would get pushed out. After realizing that this is just not going to work, we took him back to the little restaurant and that’s when I notice that they sold small packets of Oatmeal. Halleluiah! There’s something that the little guy might like.. so I make a little serving. Of course, now rejuvenated he wanted to run around some more. We decided to head up back to the mountain and start to wait for honey to return from the top.

Far away, I see a guy waving. I wonder, is he hurt? Who is he waving to? Hmm .. is that honey? Not sure I try my little tactic of raising my hand a little bit – hoping that I don’t look stupid, if its not him. I run back to get the camera and try to take some zoom in and take some videos. Slowly he comes down bit by bit and its honey. He falls, he scoops up, he’s my hero!

Back from action, he is sore but has loved every minute of falling down in the snow! We get back on the road to get to our hotel. Luckily we find an Indian restaurant and serve up some hot rice and raita for Kutie. Tired, poor Kutie is the first to collapse.

We hoped for a restful sleep, but poor Amma had an eventful night – with vomiting and not much sleep. The car trip seemed to have taken a toll on her, but by morning she was much better.

Next morning, we made a trip to the lake and enjoy the cool waters. The path was lined with silvery snow, we walked gingerly across them to ensure we don’t fall and hit ourselves. After a great lunch we were back on the road to reality.

The end!

the sights... and the bumps ...made our trip a memorable one! And by the way, it was my parents & little Kutie's first time to see and experience SNOW. And they loved it! Of course, dad complained about the chilliness, but he always talks in opposites!

Pictures of the beautiful white snow, the killer slopes, the icy cold waters ... coming soon!

Here we come

A little take on the nursery rhyme ...

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Here we come 'round the block,
'round the block,'round the block
So early in the morning.

Here we come to see the snow
To see the snow, To see the snow
So early in the morning

Here we come, so let it snow
Let it snow, let it snow
So early in the morning.

Here we come all bundled up
All bundled up, all bundled up
So early in the morning.

Here we come 'round the block,
'round the block,'round the block
So early in the morning.

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Any guesses where we are off to tomorrow?
Clue: Its a very 'cool' place, with a lake covering two US states.
Update on Tuesday!

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is in the air
For today is Valentine’s Day.
Red and pink be today’s colors
My dear Valentine, Be mine forever!




{graphic courtesy coolholidaygraphics.com}
Ok that’s cheesy enough, even my tummy turns (yes I know I wrote it) Brrr … how bad can you get … whatever! It’s a Hallmark holiday, what do you expect?

Now, next mission, maybe I will get honey to read this one post.

But with the cheesy poem, I know its gonna backfire for he will never come back for more! The law of diminishing returns! *sigh*

To everyone else, May you find your true love and may you live happily ever-after! Happy Valentine's Day!

What was I thinking?

Ok maybe I should delete the last post ... I am sure now the limited viewer ship I have would go down even more ... Who admits to reading these things? Right!

No I am not turning into a cheesy romantic! I blame my faux pas to Valentine's Day activities everywhere! *Sigh*

A to Z about me!

Tagged by Swati

A - Available? – hmm … maybe ..
B - Best Friend – L, R and a few other good friends
C - Cake or pie – Neither – I prefer “khaara” to “meetha” unless its chocolates! ;)
D - Drink of choice – H20, lemonade
E - Essential thing used everyday - phone, laptop, my bag, car .. too many things to count... I am the Material Girl, please don't judge me!
F - Favorite Color – Brown, Black, Blue
G - Gummi bears or worms – neither, thanks
H - Hometown – technically Kerala, but Bombay for its closer to my heart (my childhood through teen life)
I - Indulgence - ice cream!
J - January or February – neither
K - Kids and names – one (for now), Kutie
L - Life is incomplete without – my family
M - Marriage Date – Sept 3
N - Number of siblings - none
O - Oranges or apples - Apples
P - Phobias or fears – Earthquake after my last experience
Q - Quote - A few here.
R - Reason to smile – my son
S - Season – Summer to play out, Rain if I could stay home, Spring for the flowers and Winter to cuddle up … so all of them.
T - Tag three people – Anyone who stops by and wants to play … (please let me know if you do it, though)
U - Unknown fact about me – hmm, lets just say its best to leave it unknown.
V - Vegetable you don't like – Karela
W - Worst habit – according to mom, I talk too loud! :(
X - X-rays you have had - Chest
Y - Your favorite food – Anything mom makes, especially tomato dal, jackfruit uperi, YUMMY!
Z - Zodiac - Scorpio

Little droplets from heaven

Dark and desolate, the day begins
The mighty thunder not far behind
A plate of cookies by our side
We jump in bed,
hiding under covers
We take a peak
A bird is out, all wet
Maybe we can dance out in the rain!

Happy 2008 Everyone!

Merry Christmas To All

The joys of holidays

- Elbowing into a parking spot
- Shopping
- Busy malls
- Long lines
- Crying babies on Santa’s lap (see what I mean here)
- Gift lists
- Not finding them
- Re-writing lists
Ah! The never-ending process!