Winding down and easing in

 December has a sense of winding down. There is a degree of laxness in  routine. There is a general chilled out attitude. This year it was more so because  Pumpki 's swimming classes were cancelled for some renovation work in the pools. This took out the hectic after school dashes on Wednesday. Pumpki loved it since she had more time to pursue  her art and craft projects.  Chiyaa had a lot of cancellations of her guitar classes as well which were very much to her glee. 

The Christmas holidays were a mixed bag. There was a whole lot of relaxation but there was the season of sickness as well. We somehow scraped through it and managed to land in January. K was the first to hobble back into work. I took the first 2 working days off sick since I was in no position to sit through a full work day. The weekend before start of school, we geared up with uniform ironing, books setting and the regular activities that are mandatory before start of school. But then it snowed. It snowed like there was no tomorrow. 

Sunday evening we received messages from the school that there might be delayed start to the school day because of snow and the disruption it was causing. We heaved a sigh of relief since we didn't need to start at break neck speed and be jolted into reality on 6th of January in the snowy and icy conditions. We woke up all relaxed at 7am to receive the news that both schools were closed. The hurrays from the kids went through the roof. One additional day was like manna from heaven. They spent the day baking and playing video games. Everything was already ready so there was no news for preparation for the next day!

One extra day did give us a more pumped up demeanor for the rest of the week. We woke up on Tuesday to news from Chiyaa's school that it was going to be closed since the premises were not safe from an ice and snow perspective to house the  kids. Whoop! We got Pumpki ready who was a bit dejected at having to go while her elder sis was to be at home. K painstakingly cleared the paths Nd worked up a sweat defrosting the car. He was about to start for the drop when I decided to check the emails for good measure. Her school had emailed that they would be shut too! OMG! The best thing ever for parents and kids alike! Another relatively relaxed day and we were ready for the week 😅

We had to grin and bear through 3 days only before a relaxing weekend. The start times were relaxed and we picked up both the kids together. It was lovely to have them come home shrieking and shouting and regaling us with  stories of school. 3 days indeed were not too hard and we slowly eased into the weekend. Sometimes snow is good  🙂

A lot can change in 2 weeks

 

A lot can happen in 2 weeks. Just 2 weeks ago we were winding down for the year. There were plans being made. Plans to continue come to the gym in turns so that we don't undo all the gains. Plans to take the kids on a lot of long walks which we hadn't managed this year. Plans to spend time planning for an upcoming holiday in February. Plans to have family friends over, who we hadn't seen for one reason or another in a long time. There were plans to read a lot, watch lots of shows together, cook, clean, organise. Essentially have a productive time together. 

It started well enough. Chiyaa had an early finish on her last day at school. She came home and chilled for a bit till it was time to pick Pumpki up. Chiyaa accompanied me and it was quite fun walking  back home with both of them. We were to have friends over on the next couple of days. There was a lot of tidying up to do. There was also a lot of food to be prepared. It was an all hands on deck scenario. I loved how everyone came together. Giving their ideas for the menu, helping out on the kitchen chores and cleaning the house. We had a fantastic dinner over the Saturday and the Sunday was spent in the lovely company of another family. 2 more days of work and we were good to bid adiue to the year.

Monday contrary to expectations was quite hectic with work being wrapped up. Plans for a walk came to some fruition and we managed a short one. We seemed to be doing all right when it came to execution of the plans made a few days ago. Morning shows the day and we were quite hopeful that it would indeed be a productive couple of weeks.  

Tuesday our work places called it an early finish since it was Christmas eve. We had plans to venture out but the girls were too busy playing on the consoles. Well it was Christmas eve so no point in being too hard. We decided to let it go and call it a chilled evening. 

The next day was Christmas and time for us to work on our annual lego pieces. We sort of have this tradition of building huge legos over Christmas. Chiyaa, Pumpki and I got busy making our legos. It took the good part of the day with some overflow into the next day. Well our other plans were going for a toss but then it was Christmas time!

Boxing day I started to feel a bit unwell. It started with an itchy throat. I popped some paracetamol and rubbed some pain relief balm on my neck with the hope of feeling better. The next day I was feeling worse! Much much worse. And to make matters worse, it was Pumpki 's birthday the day after. I really wanted to be better for her sake. I was still quite unwell the next day but we somehow managed to celebrate Pumpki 's birthday. It was a good celebration. 

After this I just went further downhill. I totally lost my appetite. I literally went 29th and 30th without any food. Without food my energy was rock bottom too. Thankfully my sister was around and helped with feeding and looking after the rest of the household though she wasn't feeling great herself. With 0 energy the only thing that could be done was watch TV. And we watched a lotttttt of TV. We finished the Harry Potter series and started The Lord of the Rings. We even watched some lesser known shows and movies on Netflix which we still enjoyed a lot.

I was hoping to get better atleast by New Year's Eve. But that was not the case. I was better but still not there. So that was another day of being at home, sitting with the kids and doing nothing much but watch TV. 31st December was quite sedate. We were greeted to some friendly neighbourhood fireworks which brought some spontaneous smiles. 1st January came with some recovery, which enabled me to manage to clean some of the neglected bits of the house. I was still weak but felt the house was in desperate need of cleaning. I did as much as I could manage and then had to plop in front of TV. We were not happy about it, but by this time even the kids were feeling a bit under the weather and we did not want to risk aggravating their condition. I had to take 2nd and 3rd January off sick. I managed some chores around the house but still it was TV which was the primary source of distraction. The kids were coughing and troubled by aches and pains and given the scene at home, it was best to stay in doors.

The last weekend of the holidays brought in snow. And the best excuse to cross the threshold of the house. It was cold but bright. It was wet but magical. The snow seemed a weird twist of fate indicating a turn round the corner. It was finally a new week and things were going to be better.

2024 year end post

 I have not my yearly ritual for last year. I did not do my annual summary which I definitely do before the year turns around. But this year I was very sick to do it. So its late but anyways here it is.

I had absolutely no expectations from 2024. I remember driving back from school one December evening and telling my sister that I had no plans, no excitement for 2024. I had no holidays to look forward to.  The  house extension was still in progress and I had no idea when it would get over and I could have control over a normal house again. My sister very maturely had said go with the flow. I took it as the mantra for the year.

The house extension which had started in October 2023 took upto end of January to get done. The house was just one part. There was getting the furnishings, painting, decorating, carpeting. We also went on to buy new sofa, new dining chairs, repainting the entire house and getting all the curtains redone. It took quite a lot of effort, time, money. But slowly but surely it enhanced the look and feel of the house. The total upheaval made us feel better overall as well.

In the month of April - May Amma  reached our place and my parents reached my sister's place. It was good to have both sets of parents in the same town. 

Around the same time, K decided to volunteer for guide dogs. Going with the the flow this was something we hadn't anticipated would happen in our lives. But we did get accepted and it was a whole different suite of experiences dealing with puppies. Again we had hoped things would go swimmingly,but we saw ourselves not being competent enough to raise puppies given our family and work conditions. So we down graded ourselves to be boarders. We took care of puppies when their original owners were incapable of doing it for some reason. It was  still a very enriching experience and we had unmentionable joy looking after our favorite Imber. 

The weather was very murky for the good part of the year. There was a lot of time spent indoors watching the Olympics, T20 world cup, IPL and   a host of sporting events. Towards October to bid adiue to our parents. We had ventured now where for the entire year. But then an opportunity presented and we decided to go on a holiday in October. It was an immensely relaxing 4 days.  Things started really winding down in the months of November and December.  There were some bad news with respect to jobs for friends for which  I am eternally grateful to God for helping us keep ours. 

This year we have ended up really going with the flow. There were unanticipated travels, unexpected moves at work and unprecedented moments with friends and family. Overall over the year, we are at a much better and improved place from where we started on 1.1.2024 

Here is hoping who ever chances upon this post a year of improvements and extensions and enjoyment of those enhancements. May good things come your way ❤️

Miss you puppy

 I miss you when I add the banana to my morning cereal and don’t have to leave half for you

I miss you when I have an orange and have to finish it

I miss you when I boil eggs and have to throw the shell away

I miss you when I go up the stairs and there is no barrier to cross

I miss you when I enter the garage and there is a smell of you

I miss you when we have to throw cardboard boxes into recycling without you to rip them apart

I miss you when I can eat in peace without your face lurking around

I miss you when I come home and there is no one bounding with joy

Imber we had you for 17 days and it was an absolute joy looking after you. You are a gold standard puppy who is just the best. Love you a lot 💝

Our funny Diwali

We are not your conventional family. Somehow I am lucky to be paired with a weird person like K who loves keeping to himself playing his computer games. We dont like socialising much. We are not part of expat groups and dont do stuff that are organised on a community scale. What we mostly tend to do is keep to ourselves and invite my Romanian friend over. Of course I start nearly 15 days prior to Diwali putting all the lights on cos I need Diwali. I need those lights around when the days are shorter. I need as much artificial brightness as possible :) 

 Since my friend is vegan and I want to make Indian stuff only, it is a brain storming session prior to her visit. Also I feel the urge to showcase the wonderful cuisines that are from our lovely country instead of presenting something run of the mill which she can probably have in a random restaurant. This time we went with the theme of street food. We made pani puris and stuffed kachodis with potato curry. It was quite a cool experience to make them since these are also not stuff we make on a daily basis. The day itself was jam packed with cooking. There was a ton of stuff to make and taste. We bought the puris for the pani puri from the shop. We had to taste to make the taste of the filling and water as close to the real deal as possible. During the process of ‘tasting’ we ended up finishing 2 lots of the puris. So much so that K had to make another trip to the shops to get the required amount. It was huge fun though having this rendition of street food. This is what Diwali brings, the letting loose, just the joy of doing something that is not routine.

Once my friend was over, we had a good time just chatting about everything under the sun. Her husband and her quite enjoyed the food. With this awesome company, the meaningful conversations and positive feeling of the festive season, we celebrated Diwali a week ahead of Diwali :)

24 hours

 The first 24 hours are the worst. That's when everything is fresh and everything hits hard. 

I climbed down to a much quieter and emptier house. As I was unloading the dishwasher this morning I was reminded of my annoying mummy loading it yesterday to give me some respite for one last time this year. I made one cup of coffee while for the past 4 weeks I was used to making one for papa as well on the working days. 

As Chiyaa left for school I thought about yesterday. She said her goodbyes to Tubi and Aja. She cried a lot, they cried a lot. Today she left with excitement to be on a trip with her friends (a happy coincidence). And my parents are in Dubai waiting for the next flight to home. 

Yesterday I did my school pickups without mummy beside me. Today I will watch Pumpki doing her swim lesson without mummy beside me. I will come home to no questions from papa about how Pumpki did. 

Each thought   is a sucker punch. Each wave of emotion is tough. As I go through the day I keep thinking how they would have felt when they say this, what they would think of such and such. My parents have seen it all but I feel wish they were here to see it again. The first 24 hours are the toughest till we get used to routine. 

My favourite holiday

 My favourite holiday is when my parents are with me. And I had the awesome opportunity of having them for a month from September to today. With my parents around it is a strange warmth. It is a mix of nostalgia and moving on. 

My father is the routine bound person who adheres to his schedule with passion. His meal times, his walks, his sports viewing , his news viewing  - every thing goes on with an  absolute accuracy of time. Being a bit out of his comfort zone in the UK and given his age he is a bit dependant on us for every need of his. It makes me feel sad for the cruelty time inflicts on us. But at the same time it also makes me feel happy to be able to take care of him in this reversed roles state.

My mom is also much weakened. Her legs annoy her and her stamina is lower. Still she's always there. Aggressively cleaning the dishes and loading the dishwasher, preparing meals with such love and always ready to make her oh so amazing tea. Today till they left the house she was doing one thing or the other - cooking, cleaning, making extra tea  and even offered to keep a cup for my sister and I to have later. Her love is something that is not of this world.

This year I was lucky to experience Durga Puja with them. I am not a religious person. But Puja has a certain vibe for me maybe because of the school holidays that were a part and parcel of it growing up. We went to see a couple of celebrations in Leeds. Though they were nothing compared to the pomp and show back home it was still joyful spending the time with papa mummy and experiencing the difference. Instead of the traditional prasad we ended up having pizzas since we were too tired to cook. The novelty of it just warmed my heart. 7 of us, 3 generations all wrapped in the warmth of love and companionship. It was just surreal.

But God had another surreal surprise in store for us. The Northern Lights! We had missed the first show on 10th of May. It was my sisters birthday in May on the night of the aurora sightings all over UK. We had missed it. But on 10th of October we were not to be fooled! We were lucky to view the spectacle from our house. It was amazing, splendid, unprecedented and exciting! I just can't thank God enough for letting me experience it with my parents.

I will only thank my good fortune and Almighty for having such lovely enriching experiences with my parents. I hope they enjoyed it too. We will hopefully host them soon again. We will hopefully make more memories together again. We will hopefully enjoy the warmth of each other's company again. Till then we will endure this separation and live through the emptiness.