... about my pregnancy that is the question.
I’ve been going back and forth on that for several months now….well, not more than seven months. I had mentioned in one of my earlier post that many blogs I read/lurk (yes yes I know it’s a shame, but I don’t mind lurkers on my blog at all... although I have to admit that its nice to get a comment or two from total strangers) are about new moms, veteran moms, to-be moms… so when I found out that I was pregnant I was thinking may be I should write about it…but then, a part of me wanted to just wait until the baby arrived and then share stories of baby and pregnancy. Now that due date is fast approaching, I notice that I am pre-occupied with just baby/delivery/pregnancy thoughts and that translates to nothing concrete to “capture” on the blog other than my baby/delivery/pregnancy thoughts. So, I decided not to wait and go ahead and jot down some random pregnancy related things while I am still pregnant… after all, it will lose its “sensational” effect after the baby, because I hear that babies take up all attention. :-)
Stay tuned for some pregnancy posts coming up…
PS: See how many times I used the word "Pregnant" in this post. I am telling ya, I've become very single dimensional.
03 December 2009
07 November 2009
Picture time.... finally
Pictures, at long last!
Lake Tahoe - Foggy & Snowy
Salmon Spawning
Lake Tahoe
V all smiles at the 18th hole of Pebble Beach - someday he might get to play there for real ;-)
18th hole - How come all beautiful locations are taken up by golf courses? No fair, I say!
Checking out some produce at a Pumpkin Farm
Ocean on one side.....
... Farms on the other
A Hot fudge brownie sundae anyone? At the Ghiradelli shop in SFO
SFO - on our way to Sausalito
Noisy, Stinky seals enjoying the sun....
Now here's one from Vegas! (didn't want Vegas to feel left out)
Dad and Son at work... fixing a flat tyre. After seeing the Canyon, we came back to see the flat...
Hoover Dam (from another side)
El Tovar at the Grand Canyon
hmm.... do I have to say what this is?
Taking it all in...
Sunrise
Lake Mead
04 November 2009
Releasing... Rush 3.0
It’s the day I say Good Bye Twenties… and Hello, Thirties!
Another decade gone by… From being that girl in her twenties to that woman in her thirties… I don’t think I have changed and morphed in to a wiser woman overnight... and I will be dishonest if I say I haven’t changed at all... but I am in no mood for reflection! :-)
Today, I decided to write down twenty points that came to my mind when I thought of my twenties… So, here’s a quick twenty20 ;-)
1. Became financially independent
2. Bought two vehicles with my money ;-)
3. Continued my constant fight with fluctuating weight
4. Developed a love for baking
5. Lived away from parents and outside India for the time… for work
6. Learned a little bit of German
7. Learned a little bit of Spanish
8. Learned to be a decent cook
9. Attempted to learn swimming… ended up learning how to float
10. Met some wonderful people, who I call very close friends now
11. Met the person I wanted to spend rest of my life with
12. Got married; thankfully to the person I intended to spend the rest of my life with
13. Trained for and participated in two 10 K runs
14. Realized the importance of fitness and eating healthy.
15. Realized that I can't stick to the eating healthy part always
16. Shed my geeky glasses for contact lenses…even sported colored lenses for about a year
17. Started drinking alcoholic beverages… experienced some really terrible hangovers as well ;-)
18. Got to see some beautiful places, amazing beaches, vibrant cities and historic monuments…
19. Worked in four organizations
20. Volunteered… two times in ten years… I know, it's pretty bad!
In the next 10 years, I hope to…
1. Travel… top places on my list are: Hampi, Taj Mahal, Brihadeeswara temple, Ladakh, Rajasthan, North East India, Goa (I know, I know, never been to Goa! Shame on me!), South East Asia, New Zealand, Alaska, Italy, France…
2. Become a mother… a decent one at that
3. Continue focus on fitness
4. Learn a new language… I should be able to speak fluently
5. Learn how to swim… not just float
6. Own a dog
7. Do something adventurous… Skydive… may be ?!
8. Own a house
9. Learn cake decoration
10. Train and Run a half marathon
In ten years from now, if I make a list… I have something to validate it against ;-) But for now, its happy birthday to me…
Now go on… wish me well and say nice things.
Another decade gone by… From being that girl in her twenties to that woman in her thirties… I don’t think I have changed and morphed in to a wiser woman overnight... and I will be dishonest if I say I haven’t changed at all... but I am in no mood for reflection! :-)
Today, I decided to write down twenty points that came to my mind when I thought of my twenties… So, here’s a quick twenty20 ;-)
1. Became financially independent
2. Bought two vehicles with my money ;-)
3. Continued my constant fight with fluctuating weight
4. Developed a love for baking
5. Lived away from parents and outside India for the time… for work
6. Learned a little bit of German
7. Learned a little bit of Spanish
8. Learned to be a decent cook
9. Attempted to learn swimming… ended up learning how to float
10. Met some wonderful people, who I call very close friends now
11. Met the person I wanted to spend rest of my life with
12. Got married; thankfully to the person I intended to spend the rest of my life with
13. Trained for and participated in two 10 K runs
14. Realized the importance of fitness and eating healthy.
15. Realized that I can't stick to the eating healthy part always
16. Shed my geeky glasses for contact lenses…even sported colored lenses for about a year
17. Started drinking alcoholic beverages… experienced some really terrible hangovers as well ;-)
18. Got to see some beautiful places, amazing beaches, vibrant cities and historic monuments…
19. Worked in four organizations
20. Volunteered… two times in ten years… I know, it's pretty bad!
In the next 10 years, I hope to…
1. Travel… top places on my list are: Hampi, Taj Mahal, Brihadeeswara temple, Ladakh, Rajasthan, North East India, Goa (I know, I know, never been to Goa! Shame on me!), South East Asia, New Zealand, Alaska, Italy, France…
2. Become a mother… a decent one at that
3. Continue focus on fitness
4. Learn a new language… I should be able to speak fluently
5. Learn how to swim… not just float
6. Own a dog
7. Do something adventurous… Skydive… may be ?!
8. Own a house
9. Learn cake decoration
10. Train and Run a half marathon
In ten years from now, if I make a list… I have something to validate it against ;-) But for now, its happy birthday to me…
Now go on… wish me well and say nice things.
27 October 2009
Totally Random
I was in one of world’s most boring training session and here are some things that I jotted down in my notepad. I thought I should transfer them over to the blog for posterity ;-)
~I wonder if this guy’s (the person who was presenting) family and relatives find his voice irritating too.
~I wonder what other people think of me…
~Do I have a work personality and a non-work personality? May be I do… I snap quite a lot at home… I am a lot more patient with folks at work… hmmm that’s what I think.
~My nails look horrible…
~I should never get acrylic nails in my life.
~My fingers are crooked… They don’t look symmetrical at all… Sh*t my fingers remind me of my grandma’s fingers…
~OMG I am so sleepy… I am so sleepy….
~Why did I sign up for this?
~2:30…. It’s just 2:30?
~May be I should drink some water….
~Or may be a loo break…
~This is probably my hundredth yawn…
~I hate that my eyes water when I yawn…
~Why is it that my eyes water when I yawn?
~Damn it looks like I am crying…
~I should buy an iPhone… everyone owns one. It looks so cool… and I can find out why my eyes water when I yawn..
~Wow, that’s her 4th cookie… How can some people never gain weight? Why can’t I be one such person? I don’t even like sweets that much! No fair!
~I should work out more often… what happened to my drive? I was so good with my work routine 2 years ago!
~Thank God they don’t make you take a test after this session
~This s*cks!
~2:40… WTF!
~Are we ever going to get a break?
~I should talk to V about going on a three-day trip after in-laws leave…. Miami? Key West? Puerto Rico?
~Let me chew gum… may be that will wake me up…
~I should start getting fruit-y flavored gums… Mint is not fun…
~WOW! Someone is asking a question?
~WOW! Someone is really listening…
~This reminds me of school and college…
~Fun times!
~At least we could bunk classes. I wonder how many afternoon classes I attended.
~How I wish I was in V’s** room….
~Aiyooooooooo… May be I should make grocery list…
I ended up making the grocery list… then thankfully we got a break… and the ordeal lasted another hour!
** - V is a very good friend of mine from college. We used to go to her house for lunch and invariably end up sleeping, watching a movie or just chilling out at her place post lunch. When our choice was to either sit through a class of System Software in a hot and sultry room… or to chill out in V’s room with air condition on full blast…. I guess we never had to think too hard.
12 October 2009
Good times
I have narrated some of my fond memories on this blog here and here . And in both these posts I have talked about a "big family house"... I have been skimming through my collection of photos to see if I had any pictures to share.. but sadly found none. So you can imagine how happy I was, when I saw an email from my cousin with exactly what I wanted. :)
View of the front gate from inside the compound
A glimpse of the main house
The Main structure
The side annex and the main building
The Annex
The small building on the side is the storage room. Housed all grains and what nots. This room was always locked and as kids we were never allowed to go unless in the company of an adult.
Walking down that dirt path straight ahead in between the trees was the pond.
This is where everyone gathered post lunch to chit chat... eventually ending up in afternoon naps for many adults and everything would become strangely quiet... until someone realizes it's time for the afternoon "chaya and tiffin" (tea and snacks). Did anyone count calories at all back then?
Kitchen Well - Where we got our fresh supply of drinking and cooking water. See how the pulley juts out of a window... that's actually a window in the kitchen. We cousins would have fights on deciding who would pull water from the well.
08 October 2009
Around the west in 11 days
11 days, 7 hotels and 6 places… I am back after a wonderful trip! Highlights of our travel were - Amazing landscapes, quaint little towns, the most scenic coast (that I have seen) and wonderfully weird artificial world in the middle of a desert.
Who ever called Las Vegas The Disney World for Adults was absolutely right. This city wakes up after the sun goes down. I always had this preconceived notion about Vegas that it was all about gambling, drinking and partying… and that people who didn’t find any of those activities interesting would be thoroughly bored to death… We didn’t get to do any of the above-mentioned activities (at least not to the extent that I would’ve liked to) during our trip but we still enjoyed every bit of it. I have learned that Las Vegas is not just about wild parties... it has something to offer for every one. Great restaurants, some of the world’s best chefs, amazing shows, beautiful buildings…you could spend days walking around without sipping on an alcoholic beverage or sitting down on a roulette table and still have a wonderful time. I think that V’s parents thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They were amazed at the vibrant nightlife, the casinos, the neon and the whole concept of extravagance that Vegas had to offer. Of course, I don’t expect them to want to go back to Vegas or put this on top of their favorite places in the US, but I am pretty certain they’d always be in awe of the energy this city had.
From the exhausting 90 F heat in Vegas we drove to upper 30 F and an almost freezing little town of Tusayan, just outside the Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim. The next morning we bundled up and went to the Canyon to see the sunrise. It’s truly an amazing experience to see the colors of the Grand Canyon come alive with the rays of the sun. What can I say about the Canyon itself? I don’t know… words won’t do justice. It’s beautiful, but in a very different way! For me… it was humbling. It reminded me that no matter what we do, how much power we humans think we have; Nature is capable of something that’s completely beyond our comprehension!
There is a lodge called El Tovar right beside the Canyon. This old building has such a charm to it that if I ever visit the Canyon again, I’d make sure I would book my stay there. It has amazing views of the Canyon, a wonderful restaurant and most importantly it has a wonderful lodge-y feel to it!
Hip, Artsy, Modern, Charming and Gorgeous city of San Francisco was our next destination. We were blessed with beautiful weather, a little chilly but sunny and nice. V’s cousin who lives in the Bay area was our tour guide. Cable car ride to Fisherman’s wharf was the first item on the agenda. A stop at Boudin Bakery, a bowl of clam chowder (for sea food lovers in the family) in San Francisco Sourdough was next. Post lunch saw us on a ferry ride to a little town on the other side of the bridge; we cruised past the Alcatraz and Golden Gate Bridge in to the quaint and charming Sausalito (Thanks Priyanka for the recommendation). After spending a few hours walking in Sausalito we got back to SFO. We stopped at the Union Square; a local band was playing some foot tapping Cuban music. After their performance we called it a day! I’d definitely love to go back to SFO and spend more time there and check out the ethnic neighborhoods and do more of the non-tourist-y stuff… but for now I am glad I got the SFO experience.
Driving down route CA 1 has been the most wonderful experience for me! The beautiful blue Pacific Ocean stretching as far as the eye could see on one side, vegetables and fruit farms overlooking the ocean on the other side… this has to be the most scenic drive I have ever been on. We stopped at an organic Strawberry farm for a quick berry fix… later my fil being a farmer was thrilled to see all the pumpkin farms… so we made a pit stop at one of the pumpkin farms too. We spent the night at Monterey. We continued our journey to Carmel by the sea… stopping to see some beautiful golf courses and vista points… before we got on the real highway and drove to a relative’s place in Sacramento.
This is what Mark Twain had to say about our last destination - “At last the lake burst upon us--a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole world affords." - He wrote these words about Lake Tahoe.
The lake is definitely the “jewel of the Sierras”. We got lucky and experienced an early snowfall, much to the thrill of my in-laws. This was the first time they saw snow… As for me I was thrilled because we got to see the breathtakingly tranquil lake gracefully nestled between snow-capped mountains. That was picture perfect! The downside of the snow was that it got very foggy near the lake and we didn’t get to enjoy the views from Emerald Bay… but I am not complaining at all!
Between Grand Canyon and Lake Tahoe, I was having a tough time deciding which would qualify as my favorite spot. In the end, I picked Lake Tahoe. As amazing, beautiful and mighty as it may be, for some reason, the Canyon had quite an unsettling effect on me. On the other hand, what wouldn’t I do to own a little log cabin facing the lake, perched on a hill surrounded by tall alpine forests… A cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a book in the other… my perfect vacation! Some day!
Who ever called Las Vegas The Disney World for Adults was absolutely right. This city wakes up after the sun goes down. I always had this preconceived notion about Vegas that it was all about gambling, drinking and partying… and that people who didn’t find any of those activities interesting would be thoroughly bored to death… We didn’t get to do any of the above-mentioned activities (at least not to the extent that I would’ve liked to) during our trip but we still enjoyed every bit of it. I have learned that Las Vegas is not just about wild parties... it has something to offer for every one. Great restaurants, some of the world’s best chefs, amazing shows, beautiful buildings…you could spend days walking around without sipping on an alcoholic beverage or sitting down on a roulette table and still have a wonderful time. I think that V’s parents thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They were amazed at the vibrant nightlife, the casinos, the neon and the whole concept of extravagance that Vegas had to offer. Of course, I don’t expect them to want to go back to Vegas or put this on top of their favorite places in the US, but I am pretty certain they’d always be in awe of the energy this city had.
From the exhausting 90 F heat in Vegas we drove to upper 30 F and an almost freezing little town of Tusayan, just outside the Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim. The next morning we bundled up and went to the Canyon to see the sunrise. It’s truly an amazing experience to see the colors of the Grand Canyon come alive with the rays of the sun. What can I say about the Canyon itself? I don’t know… words won’t do justice. It’s beautiful, but in a very different way! For me… it was humbling. It reminded me that no matter what we do, how much power we humans think we have; Nature is capable of something that’s completely beyond our comprehension!
There is a lodge called El Tovar right beside the Canyon. This old building has such a charm to it that if I ever visit the Canyon again, I’d make sure I would book my stay there. It has amazing views of the Canyon, a wonderful restaurant and most importantly it has a wonderful lodge-y feel to it!
Hip, Artsy, Modern, Charming and Gorgeous city of San Francisco was our next destination. We were blessed with beautiful weather, a little chilly but sunny and nice. V’s cousin who lives in the Bay area was our tour guide. Cable car ride to Fisherman’s wharf was the first item on the agenda. A stop at Boudin Bakery, a bowl of clam chowder (for sea food lovers in the family) in San Francisco Sourdough was next. Post lunch saw us on a ferry ride to a little town on the other side of the bridge; we cruised past the Alcatraz and Golden Gate Bridge in to the quaint and charming Sausalito (Thanks Priyanka for the recommendation). After spending a few hours walking in Sausalito we got back to SFO. We stopped at the Union Square; a local band was playing some foot tapping Cuban music. After their performance we called it a day! I’d definitely love to go back to SFO and spend more time there and check out the ethnic neighborhoods and do more of the non-tourist-y stuff… but for now I am glad I got the SFO experience.
Driving down route CA 1 has been the most wonderful experience for me! The beautiful blue Pacific Ocean stretching as far as the eye could see on one side, vegetables and fruit farms overlooking the ocean on the other side… this has to be the most scenic drive I have ever been on. We stopped at an organic Strawberry farm for a quick berry fix… later my fil being a farmer was thrilled to see all the pumpkin farms… so we made a pit stop at one of the pumpkin farms too. We spent the night at Monterey. We continued our journey to Carmel by the sea… stopping to see some beautiful golf courses and vista points… before we got on the real highway and drove to a relative’s place in Sacramento.
This is what Mark Twain had to say about our last destination - “At last the lake burst upon us--a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole world affords." - He wrote these words about Lake Tahoe.
The lake is definitely the “jewel of the Sierras”. We got lucky and experienced an early snowfall, much to the thrill of my in-laws. This was the first time they saw snow… As for me I was thrilled because we got to see the breathtakingly tranquil lake gracefully nestled between snow-capped mountains. That was picture perfect! The downside of the snow was that it got very foggy near the lake and we didn’t get to enjoy the views from Emerald Bay… but I am not complaining at all!
Between Grand Canyon and Lake Tahoe, I was having a tough time deciding which would qualify as my favorite spot. In the end, I picked Lake Tahoe. As amazing, beautiful and mighty as it may be, for some reason, the Canyon had quite an unsettling effect on me. On the other hand, what wouldn’t I do to own a little log cabin facing the lake, perched on a hill surrounded by tall alpine forests… A cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a book in the other… my perfect vacation! Some day!
21 September 2009
Life with...
... In-laws has been going quite well *knock on wood*. I don’t want to say anything nice and jinx the way everything is going. I am pretty good at self-jinxing.
After having completed four weeks, I’d like to have said that I have learned to adjust, ignore and enjoy the company… but it’s staying at work really late that has helped me tremendously in the last one month.
Fortunately, the month of September is going by relatively quickly, as we planned few weekend trips. We kick started our series of trips with a visit to Florida. A day at Clearwater beach, couple of days at Walt Disney World and to conclude the trip, we took a river cruise at Fort Lauderdale, ogling at mansions of rich and famous.
Last weekend, the dutiful son took his parents to the Big Apple, followed by a pilgrimage to Niagara Falls. I stayed back and had some “No Thangamani, Enjoy!**” time with a friend of mine. It was so much fun to finally have the house to myself and have some down time.
This Thursday we are off on an 11-day trip to the west. Plans include gambling in Vegas, seeing the Grand Canyon and spending some time in California.
After that, my countdown will drastically reduce to 6 weeks…! Given that there’s just three days before we start, is it wrong to think, “It’s just another 6 weeks before I can have my life back?”
***************************
“No Thangamani, Enjoy!**” - For the non-tamil speaking folks, this is a famous colloquy from a Tamil movie called Agni Nakshatram… The scene portrays a man rejoicing after his wife leaves him. At first he is quite dejected, but then he realizes that it can be such a bliss living without his wife. After I dropped the three of them at the airport last Thursday, I swear I said, “en maamiyar maamanar ooru vittu poyittango…yeehhahahahaha No thangamani, yennnjaaaiiii!”… (my mil and fil have left the town)
After having completed four weeks, I’d like to have said that I have learned to adjust, ignore and enjoy the company… but it’s staying at work really late that has helped me tremendously in the last one month.
Fortunately, the month of September is going by relatively quickly, as we planned few weekend trips. We kick started our series of trips with a visit to Florida. A day at Clearwater beach, couple of days at Walt Disney World and to conclude the trip, we took a river cruise at Fort Lauderdale, ogling at mansions of rich and famous.
Last weekend, the dutiful son took his parents to the Big Apple, followed by a pilgrimage to Niagara Falls. I stayed back and had some “No Thangamani, Enjoy!**” time with a friend of mine. It was so much fun to finally have the house to myself and have some down time.
This Thursday we are off on an 11-day trip to the west. Plans include gambling in Vegas, seeing the Grand Canyon and spending some time in California.
After that, my countdown will drastically reduce to 6 weeks…! Given that there’s just three days before we start, is it wrong to think, “It’s just another 6 weeks before I can have my life back?”
***************************
“No Thangamani, Enjoy!**” - For the non-tamil speaking folks, this is a famous colloquy from a Tamil movie called Agni Nakshatram… The scene portrays a man rejoicing after his wife leaves him. At first he is quite dejected, but then he realizes that it can be such a bliss living without his wife. After I dropped the three of them at the airport last Thursday, I swear I said, “en maamiyar maamanar ooru vittu poyittango…yeehhahahahaha No thangamani, yennnjaaaiiii!”… (my mil and fil have left the town)
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