Long-long weekend!

There are days when you actually feel like going to work and today was one of those. Years ago, my boss was chatting with me and told me how he comes to work to relax because his weekends are so hectic! The day at office is to sit in meetings or in front of the computer for 8 hrs, go for a lunch break with your buddies and discuss critical issues in the coffee room over a cup of freshly brewed Columbian roast. I did not truly understand what he meant until I met his wife. She was in her late 40s but had energy of a teenager. (Actually I should clarify that to of a 21 yr old since that is the legal drinking age.) What I mean was just she had unprecendented amount of energy. After bar-hopping and dancing till 4 AM in the morning, she was apologetic for having to leave because her husband wanted to go home! So we had one of those fun-filled, busy weekend. What should get (or not) a mention was the long due fix in the bathroom (things like this give long lasting or ever lasting sense of accomplishment). The other discovery was the fact that our home was the best place to watch city fireworks as it was closer than the park we intended to go to and the comfort of the outdoor patio sofa! (instead of the lawn littered with dog poop! eww) The fun part was the 4th of July BBQ we did at our friends place who lives in Santacruz moutains. After driving for 10 miles through the hills, we figured that the car was soon going to run out of gas! The only consolation was the fact that one of Anshu's friends was driving with us so he would at least push the car, if the need be. So the whole day was filled with a lunch at friends place, BBQ dinner in the remote Santacruz mountains and the awesome fireworks that we enjoyed from our home.
But where is the hectic part you think. Well, part of it was assembling the swing which I did pretty much alone. Its the same one that Anshu was happily sitting on. Then there was changing water from the outdoor pool in the picture. We cleaned it and shifted it to the side yard. And other things. ( if you read my other blogs you will know! (I am tired of typing already!)

Lazing around!

It's the perfect time of day
To throw all your cares away
Put the sprinkler on the lawn
And run through with my gym shorts on.
Take a drink right from the hose
And change into some drier clothes
Climb the stairs up to my room
Sleep away the afternoon.
And that is the best way to describe our afternoon! BTW, if you think those words sound familiar and are scratching your head trying to remember where they came from- its from Barenaked ladies "pinch me". The first time I heard this song was in Nov 2000 and it played very often on the radio. When I was trying hard to tell Anshu how much I loved the song and which one it was, all I could remember was the part with getting wet in sprinklers on an afternoon.

On days like this!

On days like this I miss my car! Its a beautiful day, not so hot, with temperature in mid 70s. My first car ever was a Toyota Celica GT convertible, black with black top. And I paid hefty amount to buy it. More importantly, I spent a lot of time looking for a convertible car that looked good and was a convertible. My justification to buy it was that I lived in California where I could actually use a convertible. I remember saying to my (then) friend Anshu that all normal cars make me feel 'Claustrophobic'. To console him I said, "It should at least have a sun roof". (Which his car had!)

When I bought my car, my roommate suggested that a car is supposed to take you from Point A to Point B and in due course you will repent having spent so much money on it. I told my parents that I wanted to buy a cool car because its extension of one's personality. Sure enough, when they visited me, I had them squeeze into the back seat of my car! (Sorry)
I always parked my car behind an identical black Celica which was owned by the VP of that company. When he found out that the other car was owned by a lowly intern, he sure was embarassed. I loved showing off my car and I liked to put the hood down whenever I could which landed me in trouble when I had to drive hood half open on the highway since I could not stop. And for the first time, I did not enjoy people turning their heads. BTW, it had motorized hood and opened-closed very gracefully!
On one occasion, driving back from Fibbar maggies in mountain view, I realized I had left the car lights ON and drained the battery. After driving about a mile we got pulled over by cops. Luckily, the blonde factor worked (I mean Anshu factor, AHA San francisco!) and the cops let us go without giving a ticket or asking us to walk in a straight line! But as soon as the cops left, we found out that the car wont move and it began to rain. We were there in the middle of the night on the street side with the car top open. And I pressed the button to close the top and voila, it did close. That is when I realised that there was battery reserved exactly for this reason!
I had a good time with the car including the 180 degrees skid at the highway exit turning it facing into the incoming traffic. But thats not the point! The point is that after rotating completely, it still was standing solid on all four wheel and did not overturn! So eventually after Anoushka was born, I decided I have had enough fun with it and it was time to sell it.
I now drive a Toyota Sienna. Yes, its a minivan. But remember, car is just a means to get from point A to point B.
(Not! but I will say that till I get my new Mercedes hard top convertible. Its just the color that I cant decide on- red?)

My Knitting project!

Few months ago, on a Friday afternoon, my boss walked by and asked me and my colleague if we were working on anything time critical. We both said "no" and he told us that we could take the afternoon home and have fun. ( I **LOVE** my boss!)

We started to chat and I told him 'usually' I get pretty bored at home given that Anoushka goes to the day care and anshu is never at home. He thought it was really strange and told me that no matter how much time he spends at home, he can always find something interesting to do!

I started to think how could I not have anything to do if I came home early on a Friday afternoon. First I pitied and said to myself, "you need to get a life" then I immediately dreaded the thought of being at home for 3 months during the maternity leave. Soon enough I found myself walking at Michael's and JoAnns. I bought a quilt material and made a quilt for Sania. It was like the 12th quilt I made so I figured I need to explore something else!

This time I thought I should knit something. Promptly, I ordered couple of books from the Internet and knitting yarn. Not knowing what to get and where from I refered to my walking talking encyclopedia Lise. (see her blog http://www.badnewsbutlers.net/) She can always tell whats the best deal and when they have free shipping. I got this really pretty yarn and started to knit. My mom taught me the basics. Its VERY intimidating to read the instructions off a book. So long story short this is what I made for Anoushka. Its made with yarn of two different colors Terracotta orange and Orchid pink. I did an interesting intersperse of colors instead of creating horizontal bands. AND to give it a thickness at the top, knitted with two yarns. Brilliant no?

Genetically modified 'Organic' fruits!

Everytime I go to Whole foods, I usually spend most of the time oggling at the vast collection of cheeses, pickled olives, fish and variety of ready-to-eat food items. However, today I visited Whole foods with my parents with an intent to show them all the wonderful organic produce and other things they carry. I love looking at the bamboo plates and colorful serving sets and crumpled 100% cotton clothes.
As I walked through neatly stacked piles of colorful fruits, I started noticing that I did not know names of more than half the fruits there. Every time I picked up something, I would look at the label and try to correlate what I picked with the name written below. To make things more complicated, most of the fruits were kept at multiple places while the labels were somewhere else. Anyways, I suddenly remembered the advertisement I had been hearing about 'Black Velvet' on the radio which said that Raileys was the first to carry those. Apparently its a mix of velvety apricot crossed with juicy plum. For a moment, I was really proud to have recognized it and enthusiastically explained to my parents what it was. But my enthusiasm soon started to morph into utter surprise and disbelief as I bumped into Peacharines, Mango nectarines, Pluots and the names I dont remember anymore. Just when I had gotten over the bright red bell pepper and its beautiful orange siblings, I ran into big all white eggplant and white asparagus! Not that I have not eaten genetically altered foods before but this was the first time it hit so hard. Probably because of the irony between it being 'organic' AND 'genetically engineered'. To me, 'organic' means as close to natural as possible. The good part is that I am no longer worried about not knowing names of half the fruits. I dont care anymore!

In the picture is Mango nectarine and black velvet.

How many oranges can you hold in one hand?

Negotiation or should I say Manipulation?

I heard my friend say that little ones are big manipulators. Now, I wont call my own child a manipulator and given that I am in marketing, I thought I should put a positive spin and stick to Negotiation. Anyways. Saam, Daam, Dand and Bhed are four negotiation techniques out of which three are in play here. Saam- is to negotiate by mutual understanding, Daam- is to bribe, Dand- is to punish or compel and Bhed- is to divide and rule.

Scene I: I was sitting with Sania in my lap when Anoushka got home from the daycare.

Anoushka: Mommy, I want to hold Sania in my lap.

Mom: No Anoushka you cant hold her.

(Anoushka tries to snatch her unsuccessfully and gets very upset. Starts hitting me and still wants me to give her the baby to hold. )

Mom: (Cries- fake loudly) Ooo, Why do you hit me? Dont you love me?

Anoushka: Oh my baby! Dont cry. See you have Sania in your lap still. Are you happy? Dont cry.

Mom: (Stops crying) I love you.

Anoushka: (imitating mom) Baby, Will you give me Sania in my lap? If you give me Sania, I will give you lots of gifts. I will give you a gift, Corn, a dress (pause) a PINK dress.

Mom: OK. But promise me you will hold her carefully.

I give her Sania in her lap and she is happily holding her.

Scene II- One minute later

Anoushka: (shouts loudly) Mom, mom Sania is scratching me! get her, get her right now!

Mom takes the baby back.