31st December 2021

 It literally seems like yesterday that I was penning down my year end post. The first year of the new decade comes to an end today and I am left with a very dull and numb feeling. 2021 was  a year of most unprecedented and unexpected events. 

Work presented all sorts of twists and turns. There were days when I was this close to looking for a new opportunity. The location changed for me and I am not keen on travelling to the new location once we are called to start coming in. I would have looked other places but I want to see how the work from home scenario pans out. The new year will bring in our team's merger with another and that in turn will bring in a whole load of other changes from technology to management and also work culture. What the next year holds in stock will be seen. 

I am not a social person and don't host or visit people that often. But there is a Diwali lunch and a New Years Eve dinner that I host. But I noticed that both events were giving me more strain than being an occasion for meeting friends. The coming year I have decided to cut out these two gatherings. I don't believe in taking any unnecessary stress. No superfluous rituals, no extraneous relationships. And next year I have decided to get rid of a few more. 

Both K and I have had some shocking events in our families. I have the view that they are unpleasant but essentially good changes. The future holds the fruits of these seeds that have been sown. 

I feel the next year will be a year where we will start seeing the consequences of the events that have happened this year. So here is hoping the next year brings in a good crop. A good crop of smiles and opportunities and successes. A good yield of happiness and satisfaction. A good produce of peace. Happy new year to all!

A smile a day - 20

A long chat with a longtime friend. S is such a lifeline of mine..though we don't speak often enough when we do it's such pure joy literally discussing everything under the sky. Plenty of reason to smile. 

A smile a day - 19

 It was the first Saturday of the holiday season. The girls were feeling lazy for their 0820 start for swimming lessons for which they have to wake up at 730. Chiyaa was awake so we made her get dressed and have her breakfast. K told Pumpki wasn't keen to go. I assumed she was sleeping and thought it was fine if she wanted to catch up on some sleep. But when I went to their room she was quite awake :P I made her wake up and get dressed too to which she moaned and cried. 

Not the ideal start. But the class was utter fun! Since it was the last swim lesson of the year after a few minutes of swimming the kids were allowed to frolic around. And what fun they had! It was hilarious to see them convert the pools into a water play area :D. Happy holidays indeed. 

A smile a day - 18

 Caught up on a movie after possibly 2.5 years. The movie was all right but the experience was amazing. 'Spiderman no way home ' worth a one time watch for die hard Marvel fans. 

A smile a day - 17

 Managed to get a lovely Thai massage with my sister. Was massaged by two giggling girls whose vivaciousness made us happier :)

A smile a day - 16

 Yesterday I managed to fix a bug before I finished for the year :) With a smile I packed my monitor and laptop to sign in again on 4th January 2022.

A smile a day - 15

 Yesterday I spoke to roomie dear after 4 years. Yes she forgot my birthday, again! And yes I remembered that she forgot :D And I remember that we last spoke 4 years ago to which she commented "tere database se kuch purge nehi hota?" (Nothing gets purged from your database :D ) Yep such redundant information doesn't get purged for sure :) 

It was the best 36 minutes of my day :)

A smile a day - 14

 The weekend was a memorable one. We hosted Pumpki's birthday on the Saturday. It was a lovely little party with a few of her friends. Since she is a very shy child, it was very endearing to see her play with her small bunch. There were a few children who were not from her school but we invited them since we are close. I tagged Chiyaa to be in charge of one of the girls and Pumpki in charge of another. I had to keep reminding them, but they did their best to be good hostesses and keep all their guests feel welcome.

Sunday was the big day for yours truly. I started with a mild tummy ache which I reckon was caused by the Covid vaccine booster shot. But then I was sure that some time out in the fresh air was definitely what I needed. The sun was shining splendidly and we made our way to the city centre for a wonderful meal and some time in the Christmas markets :) A wonderful weekend before a shorter work week kicks off :)

A smile a day - 13

 I had picked up a small piece of work yesterday. I thought it would get done in a jiff. But nope. My attempts didn't work. I was suddenly not even aware why it was failing. Around noon, I thought a run would clear my thoughts. It did. I got some ideas. But none of them worked either. I spent a day roiling over how to make the thing work. At 1500 I had to break for school pick ups. It was a long and hectic pick up since there was a road accident. Back home, dinner was sorted and I made the kids go to their respective tasks (Chiyaa working on a present for me :D and Pumpki reading a book) K gladly took the remaining tasks of vacuuming house and reading the bed time story to Pumpki and putting her to sleep. So 1830 I was back at my desk. And 2000 the code worked! Whoop! Whoop!

A smile a day - 12

We are hosting a party for Pumpki's 6th birthday. Its unbelievable that she is already so close to being 6! We have invited a close friend who has an older son, 10 years old. I was not able to find a suitable return gift for him. Yesterday K went on a mission to get something for him.And he found the exact thing that I wanted! He got him a Lego gift since the boy is newly addicted to Lego! It felt God sent literally :)

A smile a day - 11

 On Saturday I was invited for dinner by a friend. She was a work colleague who is now a close friend of mine. Since my sister is in town, I could leave the girls with her. My friend doesn't have kids, and my girls tend to get a tad bit bored at her place.

So it was to be an all adult evening. It was lovely having a conversation for around 3-4 hours and we were not tongue tied for a bit. In fact it was quite hard to find a gap in conversation and  make a move :) It was such a lovely evening.