Wednesday, December 31, 2014

31st already

And I have not put up my year end post :( 
I know it's unlike me. But I am not one of them to let the year past without the year end post. So here goes. 

The year has been a breeze. Like all others before it, it seems to have passed so quickly. But I would not say it was without its fair share of ups and downs. The winter had me attending a very big interview. It was literally a dream job in a very big corporation. I had restarted my career in UK with some compromise. This was my chance of striking equal ground. I prepped hard, I gave it my best. And I bagged an offer. Till visa and restrictions and long term availability started playing spoil sport in actualisation of the offer. It was  long drawn anticipation game. As plan B, I had managed to get another offer. But my heart was set on the first one. I would love having it because it was a bigger firm, was closer to home and the best bargain was it had flexible working. Real flexible working! I was pinning my hopes on it, and finally exactly a month before the end of my term in my first job in the UK, the letter of offer of employment reached me.

30th April, 2014, I started in my 5th job. I started working in the same firm the husband works in ! Albeit as his client *blushes*. Yes, I had a 'return of the prodigal daughter' feeling. I had worked the starting years of my life in a firm that I don't like at all( Hate is a very strong word :P) I did not like the way it treated me, I did not like it treats any body, I did not like the work culture. K is still with the firm as are many of my friends. Finally I was working with that very firm, although in a very different role. It was like the wildest dreams come true in a very very convoluted way ! When K used to work at this place, I used to rue the fact that the office was so close to the town centre. They had good eating joints to catch a quick bite in lunch time. You could step out for anything from grocery shopping to window shopping. The location was so prime and vibrant. Unlike mine. I used to think out loud - Wish I get a chance of working in a place like this! Be careful what you wish for .... :S For mine had come true. Love and spring was in the air! 

It was very different couple of weeks, walking to work with K, being on the same floor as him *Shy* Yep - I used to blush if I met him in the coffee zone. Urgh yeah silly me. We used to have our lunches together. God never gave us the chance of being in the same place when we were dating, and now after a kid, we get to sneakily hold hands at lunch time. Doh! How low dramatic can our lives be! But it was 15 minutes of peace we had without a toddler crawling on our shoulders. Some of K's errrr... 'our' colleagues gave us the 'look' But hey who cares :P For make hay when the sun shines. Cos on this island, it aint shining for long :P 

Soon K had to opt for another role in another city with a change in his designation. At long last, he received his long over due promotion. He was third time lucky! Well, when he missed the first 2 nominations, it did lead to some nervousness.Being the ever oh so eternal optimist, I assured him, he would ultimately make it to the next level. In the grand scheme of things, when he retired, he would not even remember whether he jumped the grade in year 8 or year 10 of his career. As long as he was learning something, the job was worth doing. Uh well, that was my mantra :P K believed, like Lincoln, he would try till he succeeded :D To each their own :D 

Coming back to the travel to another city part of the story.  It was a 40 minutes train ride away. Luckily I had mommy here! It was simply amazing having her over in summer. I was a bit worried for my sister having to be alone with Papa (alone with Papa - is that even correct? But I guess you get the drift :)  ) My sis was also in a bit of a rut with respect to her work life. Luckily she was able to make a move! It was simply amazing! 

With Mummy, the home was warmer, cleaner and Chiyaa was definitely better fed. It was so much easier with many of the work at home accomplished without lifting  a finger. And not to forget, the lazy strolls in the evening with her, the endless chatting - even window shopping held a bit of allure for a change :) Things got better when Papa came over for 3 weeks. We had the most amazing time at Belfast. I wished time to just stay still and we remain in those idyllic days. If wishes were horses..... Papa had to go back. And the months rolled on, till Diwali was at our door step. It was a fantastic Diwali with Mummy. Though, 2 days later, we had to say goodbye to her too.  With autumn setting in and mommy going away,things were looking a bit dismal. That is life is nt it?

We got on with the maddening pace of things. I got in touch with a few old pals. Dear Ashu made a progress in her career. Roomie dear also moved on with a job. A close relative of ours who had endured quite a lot of struggles in her youth, had been diagnosed with cancer. She has a very young family. Things are looking promising for her too!  And well, things were happening. 

As we stand on the threshold of yet another new year, I know there are so many milestones we wish to achieve. There are many milestones which the future has designed for us to achieve. Here is hoping that we have the courage and spirit to work for them and the courage and spirit to face not accomplishing some of them. Here is hoping that the heart is content but the mind is challenged and the body is resilient. Here is hoping for the circle of love of near and dear ones and strength to do just that extra bit for ourselves and for others.

Here is wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Main apni favourite hoon :D


I think Kareena Kapoor's character spoke for a lot of women like me when she said 'Main apni favourite hoon' in Jab we met

Well, I completed yet another revolution around the sun last week. Now immaterial of whether anyone else celebrates it or not, I make it a definite point to celebrate my own birthday. I take the day off. For that matter, I take the day off for anyone's birthday in the family. And definitely on my birthday. I would not want to step out of the house and especially into work and let any untoward incident spoil my mood ;) So as usual it was a good nice holiday. For that matter as a good run up to my birthday, we had our office Christmas lunch a day before. So there was not a lot of work and people were generally cheerful and relaxed. A perfect prelude to my favourite day ;) 

After gathering the wishes from mil, it was time to drop the kid at day care and head off for some good ol pampering. Well nothing out of the world, just a trip to the hairdresser to give the mop on my head some shape. I got a cut and marched on feeling real good. What is a home without a lot of chores? So of course there were the boring tasks of drying the clothes, ironing some and setting the house in order. I then scooted to the gym for the much needed workout. It had been nearly 2 weeks since I had gotten anywhere near any sort of workout. Yay! Love the endorphins that kick in after a work out. My birthday also happens to be anniversary of dear Ashu. We got some time for the much needed chat. Boy does it feel good chattering non sense with people who know you too well :) 

I had my eyes on getting Chiyaa back from day care early. I had no intention of doing any sort of cooking :P So dinner was Indian take away. Much to our disappointment, nothing tasted good. The naans, the chicken tikka masala, the schezwan fried rice - everything lacked the oomph. In my craving for chocolate cheese cake, I had gone over board and ordered a massive portion with ice - cream. And was I heart broken with each bite :'( Why God why? Anyhoo, what has been done cannot be undone. So the only way was forward. K promised an amazing treat the next day in a restaurant we all love. By we all, I meant Chiyaa too :) Somehow she loves Nando's. She may have a slow start but ultimately she warms up and gets to enjoy her meal. At most other places its a mad scramble. Post lunch, we went ahead with some shopping of winter wear for the kitten. It was good fun since the kitten walked along and totally participated in the activity :D Once home, it was a good long marathon of Modern Family

Sunday was a lazy day where I spent some time in the kitchen :P The day was pretty quiet but the evening became a bit rough when  I realised K was spending a bit too much time playing Words with Friends. So we had a Farmville  kinda situation again. When are we ever going to learn? So we signed on a treaty that we would have a phone curfew once we are back home. We would not check our smart phones time and again, but rather spend it gainfully with the other half. Been 4 days since the pact was signed, and no one has breached it yet. World Peace \m/

Since I had spent 3 days lazying around the house, on Monday (which I had taken as a holiday! Yay! Long birthday weekend :D I know its amazing that my birthday is in December and I get to utilize my leaves :D :D )it all came crashing down. I had a lot of chores to catch up on. Plus during our Christmas lunch, I tasted parsnip soup. And a whole new world had been opened for me. There were times in night, I woke up to the taste of the creamy delicious soup!! I HAD to MAKE IT. And I did! And it was deliriously delicious!!!! So much so, K a total non-soup person loved it. And his exact whatsapp message after having it for lunch today was 'Hats off to you!' Who would have thought that!!! Parsnips - you are my new found love :D 

In Chiyaa's day care, they encourage each child to give a Christmas card to the other kids. It is totally voluntary, but its a good exercise. I really liked the thought. But I took it one step further. I thought it might be a good idea to get her to make all the cards. Well begun and half done :( Once we got her started, she wanted to take it to a whole new messy level! So I spent a fair amount of time on Monday churning through the cards. Hey there are 31 kids in her room (I think just because they are all at knee height, they do not seem that many :S ) And again going the extra mile, I made 4 cards for the carers in her room. Writing To So and so, Merry Christmas  From V and  To So and so on the envelopes only took an hour! I had under estimated. But I 'think' I delivered it OK at the end of the it (The kids apparently lovedddddd the cards because they were so shiny!! ) 

The trip to the gym was not to be missed, since it might be my last in the a long time :D 
Kiddo back from day care and it was preps for the following day. The end of a glorious long weekend celebrating me, myself. I would tend to feel sad for all of it getting over. Thankfully Christmas is round the corner :) 

The cards we made