past week..

So its been a rollercoaster week. Media and events have left us pretty disturbed. So Friday was so action packed out here. To think about a city very close to where we lived for the last 7 years before we moved here was under lock-down to find a suspect from the bombings on the loose. Glad they found him although it seems to be like the event may not be part of a bigger plot, just the how people acquire the means and support to get this done is scary. We were all shaken up obviously. I stayed home with kids as it was Friday and friends called me and advised me to just stay home as did my company text message. Daycares were open on this side as we are almost 30 miles away although play grounds outdoor areas was closed. Plus I had to goto the plant almost 40 miles away and didnt want to be so far away from the kids. It was eerie with hardly anyone on the roads even in our community.

Then the crime in Delhi. I think people have expressed a lot of grief, anger and honest thoughts and opinions on this. Some of them were very strong well written articles that were so impressive. Hopefully some reforms will be in place so such incidents do not occur. Some other articles on deep rooted cultural norms due to patriarchal society were addressed and I was very impressed. Some of them are pretty true and were nice reads...

After all this really wanted to have a simple weekend and that we did and its back to our usual weekday routine.

Kitchen

Its been a few months since I started my kitchen hunt for the girls. I had to wait until we moved ot the new place. Growing up the girly-girl that I was, I loved pretend play with my kitchen set, I had a plastic kitchen set but it was all utensils only and then graduated to some steel ones and I loved them. Anyway now you get the kitchen itself alongside all the kitchen ware. I saw a KidKraft kitchen at a friend's place and fell in love with it. Her son loved playing with it and she was very open minded and not stuck up that boys should not play with kitchen sets etc. Anyway I finally ordered it and it came and we fixed it. Its this lovely silver kitchen that I almost wish I had growing up. ;) This has been out of stock forever now. And finally I ordered it even though it was a back order but luckily received it within 2-3 weeks since I placed it and I didnt have to wait or look for another one...

Here is a picture of it. It has a fridge, freezer, phone, microwave, 4 burner stove, oven, dishwasher, sink and paper towel roll. Phew! the 3 girls in the house love it :-) I still have to buy them some play pots and pans etc  to get their kitchen function.

AG

Saw some M&Ms in my car trunk that I had hidden and I had to promptly give her (and obviously her sister) a few to avoid tantrums soon as we enter home so I could peacefully cook, she gobbled some and then was extra nice to me.

Its that simple...

Mighty, Mighty Boston!

Its very sad again one of those many incidents you have to swallow and digest even though you cannot comprehed. You will get some reasons and people behind this but it will not be convincing - there isnt one. Its unacceptable and inhuman. Its been very sad to listen to NPR and hear stories of runners and even professional dancers or kids in the crowd  losing their legs... Not sure which is worse to be left handicapped or lose your life....

A friend ran a marathon and they had to stop him midway, while another was very close at work where this happend. And everyone we know is safe. Someone mentioned on the radio they really chose a wrong city which is surrounded by so many good hospitals that saved so many lives. Amid all this its really admirable how well the emergency protocols were followed, by Police, Medical staff, Government.... Truly amazing!

AG was singing this to herself the other day, and marching in the room, stomping her feet, she loves this song ...

Every where that we go, Every where that we go,

People always ask us, People always ask us,

Who we are, Who we are,

So we tell them, so we tell them.

We're from Boston, We're from Boston,

Mighty, Mighty Boston!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

So we had more company this past weekend. 3 families came over for lunch on Saturday and kids had a blast and got tired. We had some good company and I insisted they stay for dinner, I had cooked a simple lunch for all then for dinner I made daddojanam as we had late lunch and we were kind of full and ordered couple of pizzas just in case. It was nice catching up and weasther was good too. We got tired to at night.

Next day, Sunday had my colleagues over for lunch they insisted we get take out so we did from Udupi, weekends is Buffet so they one of my colleagues picked up lunch for us and we sat home and relaxed, ate, chatted. Then we had our neighbors who stopped by to say hello late in the evening. By then I was done, had fun but was tired as I had a long day both days.

Monday took the day off as daycare was closed being Patriot's day. Did shopping, and A&A got a pretend play kitchen that P installed. In general kids played all day and napped very late, so late that they continued through the night quota of sleep skipping dinner, one of those rare tiring days for them ...

Since we moved in I have been inviting lot of people over and its been very nice catching up, we already had a few groups covered, and we have few more lunches and dinner invites to go but will hold off till next month and space them out.

Phew! Phew! days..

Last 2-3 days have been a bit overwhelming more like evenings have been tiring. AG has contributed a little bit to it by refusing to eat dinner and she wants to only eat Bourbon biscuits, cup cakes and chocolates and then milk and then we should rock her to sleep - yep that's her ideal dream dinner/night - everything else "No Thanks!" - this sweet gene of hers is drowning me LOL, where does she get it from - oh wait its her maternal gene? (and we have staunch chocolate and sweet lovers on both sides of my family) - a certain someone has been addicted to Lindt Milk chocolate with Hazelnuts - so addicted that she hides in the pantry and eats it so AG doesn't see it - yep its her mom . AL is slowly progressing too, she didn't quite like sweet and chocolates as much more like she didn't care and now she is advancing although she still doesn't enjoy that sugary icing (even I don't) but AG clearly likes even the sugary sweet!

　

Anyway the point being that the two-threee hours before their dad gets home - where in I cook for them, feed them, cook for us, pack us lunch for next day and then we sit down to eat dinner between 5pm to 8pm has been crazy past few days. And the main thing impacting the equation being AG not eating. Phew! some days effortlessly are smooth days and some days you put in so much more effort and yet its ends up being crazy busy. And then my caffeine impact. I usually have my tea around 2pm and I happened to take it bit later at work around 3 due to meetings etc and it impacted my sleep a tad bit. So there you go :-)

Guests etc

Was a nice and busy weekend. Both days had guests, kids, did a lot of cooking. BTW which in general I am doing a lot. I missed my kitchen time last few months and I  dived right into it. I never cook as a duty I actually enjoy it and I was blessed with that basic common sense and that cooking gene which helps me make my own recipes. I never needed DH or anyone to help me with any critical analysis.

 

So we caught up with friends after a long time and they were sharing some really bad experiences in recent India trips, their parents / pensioners constantly being humiliated and having treated disrespectfully whether its at the bank or auto driver or nurse at hospital - no compassion no patience no manners or courtesy. I was in tears listening to some of the incidents. Thinking about 70 year olds being spoken to like that by made me feel so bad ...I hope its one off incidents.

Disclaimer: It can happen anywhere just because I dont live in India people may make it seem like I have no right to criticize about somethings in India and take it personal. Its not just about India its about something that really bothers you and does not seem right be it in India or US or Paris or Timbaktu the focus is on the problem. But just cos you are outside India you are forced to say only nice things and not talk or discuss any issues, that's a mindset issue people have. Its just some of those practical issues and experiences one likes to talk about.