A gift from God?

 Everyone faces the January blues. The end of the relaxed Christmas days are awful. And what stretches in front is a whole new year, with all plans up in the air, holidays still nebulous and the weather still not the one to warm the hearts. Luckily this year, since 1st January was on a Saturday, we got a day's leave on the following Monday. This made the first work week back, a 4 day one! Woo hoo! A single non-working day kinda made all the difference. 

The next week, there was all kinds of jokes in my team where we all made fun of finally having a much cherished 5 day working week back. That evening when I went to pick up Chiyaa, I could see from the class window that her face looked glum. I was a bit worried that she had a fight with someone or some incident that made her upset. As soon as she was out, she complained of a headache. We were sure its nothing and back home gave her the recommended dose of paracetamol. She felt much better, but that night had a raging fever. Which called in for a PCR test for Covid the next day and a day off school. She spent the day playing with  Lego, re-reading Harry Potter and watching some television. The next day her PCR test came back positive which meant she would need to isolate for a minimum of 5 days or a maximum of 10 days. If she got a negative home test for 2 successive days within day 5 and day 10 she could go back to school. Not ideal, given the fact that she loves school, but then there was no way out. Strangely, with one kid not going to school, the workload seemed lesser. There was one less uniform to take care of, one less bag and bottle to check, one less head of messy hair to comb on time and one less kid to pick up (which surprisingly saves time!) Also since she had to isolate, I didnt feel the extra pressure of taking her on walks and keeping her active. She could literally be at home. I ensured she had a bit more fruits at home and a daily dose of vitamin C in the form on 2 mandatory oranges. Luckily Chiyaa is quite self reliant as well, and manages herself with books and toys. So that she does not become totally lackadaisical, we put some educational sites up for her. She took to them quite well and completed all the required courses. It is quite cute to have a kid at home too. She roams around from room to room and I could go for occasional cuddles to her. She would come up with sudden Harry Potter trivia and bore us to death. It was awesome to snuggle with her at night, since we kept the kids separate while sleeping. Sleeping between both of them is spine crushing, but just one is swell :) 

 We started taking daily tests, but even on day 6 and 7 we were not getting the negative results. It was a very very faint line, but not  a sure shot negative. This was bringing us close to 20th which would be her day 9. 20th is K and my anniversary and we had planned the day off. We both are into running. K much more than me now! He will be running a ton of races this year. I do not believe in driving to a place, paying money and running a race to come 1021 in it. Like a few for fun is ok, but not on a regular basis. But for the first time ever we are having a local town run, being organised by the local run club of which K is a part. Since he is running all over the world, I told I would be keen to run 10 kms in that race. But I havent run that length in the recent past. So 20th was the day decided by us to run and check how I was faring. Now 20th happened to be day 9 for Chiyaa. We needed a negative result on day 8 and day 9 to send her to school. Day 7 the line on the test was super duper faint, in fact you would blink and miss it. We were confident that we would get a negative on next day. And we did!! Phew! On 20th morning, we got her ready on time. It was quite a change after the past 10 days when she was getting up whenever she wanted and spending some time reading in bed :) But being the enthusiastic school goer, she got ready and took her test. It  was a sure shot negative!! Yay!! The girls dropped at school off went the old couple on their run ;)

The run was fabulous. It was horribly cold, but it was amazingly sunny. What else do we need? Run done, we came home to some fabulous tea and rice kheer made by my sis. After a quick shower, we popped up to a local middle eastern restaurant. The owner happens to run with K in the run club. He also happened to be lunching then. And he happened to take an item off our bill! What a sweet though inadvertent anniversary gift! Once out, we spotted a plant shop nearby and of course I had to make K spend on a couple :)  We had absolutely no engagements for the evening. Which meant K could play video games and I could play Lego with the kids! A God gifted day indeed :) 

Mission accomplished

 Maine fir blog maata se mannat mangi thi, yeah kaam sahi salamat kar loon to ek post zaroor likhoongi.

So I had decided I would write a post if I was successful in a venture of mine like I was here. 

Now back to the story. I had a problem since the past 3 weeks. It all started when in a frenzy of being healthy I did a nice and big sumo squat. Something like that 

Now, that messed my left knee. It ached that evening, and I thought it was because of the exercise and would get better in a few days. There was the usual application of pain relief balms. Over the week, the pain got better and I started regular exercising again, though nothing that would impact the knee. All was well, though there was a slight lingering pain which needed regular application of pain relief. Then a week on, the pain was back. Really back. I started popping a few painkillers. But going up and down the stairs was proving really painful. I was not able to put any pressure on my left knee at all. I developed a deep empathy for older people. I have seen how Amma and Mummy climb up and down the stairs with baby steps. And I could finally, totally get their pain! 

Even sleeping and turning at night got painful. Apparently I was groaning in pain at nights. Finally I decided to visit the doctor. She saw the swell in the knee and recommended an MRI scan. I was fine for it. That night, the pain was just horrendous. Think that sent a shock wave to my brain which remembered to take an Ibuprofen which is a more powerful painkiller and also an anti-inflammatory. I popped a pill. And I was pain free the next morning! After 3 WEEKS! I felt absolutely no pain in my left knee. (OK a very teensy bit if I paid ultimate attention :D)

With this came the next question - should I now go for MRI? It would be a waste of time and precious medical resources. But there was a more important aspect. 

Part 2 of the story. I am scared of driving. I can drive confidently. But more of the itsy bitsy ones - school runs, swimming classes, nearby mall. But the heavy duty stuff - drive to the sea side, go for an appointment in another city etc etc, I start shi*ting bricks. Please excuse my French. Mostly I am accompanied by K. Dont get me wrong, I have driven to sea-side holidays and appointments to a different city. But I am scared. And in instances when I am super scared I just take the cab. In this instance too, I was keen to take a cab. But it would be quite a ride and for a now non-existent pain, it would be quite an expense. K was super confident that I would be able to manage, given my "experience" and his assessment of me. But I was super scared. This was the major reason, I was keen on backing out of the appointment.

But then I remembered an old advertisement dar ke aage jeet hai :D (There is victory beyond fear) In proper movie-style I replayed the numerous instances I had driven, the times K had commended my driving, the "ok" feeling once I was beyond the steering wheel. Yes I was still rubbish at reading maps and following directions on the navigator, but then, if not now then when. K assured me "Dont worry you wont crash and burn". 

I had a thought, what if  I did. Mere chote chote bacche! But if not now then when? Thats when I took the pledge to write a post. And that was my motivation to go for it! 

Since I am writing this post, reader might have guessed that I did not "crash and burn" :D It was a jolly good ride, though I was sh*ting bricks. But till next time, I feel awfully confident! 

One chocolate

Mummy started back to India on Saturday. To be honest, it was not that nerve rattling this time. Maybe because I am getting used to it. Maybe because she was leaving me in a much better state this time – a bit more settled, with the kids adjusting as well as they can to daily life. Maybe because it is inevitable, parents can only stay so long. I was sad – of course – I was sad. But it was just the sadness of missing her, the sadness of her absence. It was the not the devastating sadness I have felt at other times which makes me feel clueless and lost.

But one thing had not changed, there was too much to do now. Mummy still takes over so many tasks that the feeling of doing them all by ourselves is quite overwhelming. We decided to skip swimming class for kids on Saturday morning since the lunch and dinner preps were daunting me. The kids got busy with K and minded their own stuff. We went on a trip to the city centre.  Going through the places where mom and I used to roam around made me feel the pang of nostalgia. But then… My sis was keeping me constant company and she was like a pillar of support. So concerned! She is seriously so grown up! Saturday passed relatively uneventfully.

I hoped the next day would be better because sleep does cure a lot of things for me J It was a sunny day while Saturday had been cloudy and outright depressing – so one sleep did sort out something there J But there was again the rigours of keeping the house in order – the cleaning, the clothes, the ironing.  Pumpki had a birthday party to attend. We divided and conquered. K went with Pumpki while I convinced Chiyaa to come along with me for a walk. She grudgingly agreed – which 7 year old wants to go on walks *rolls eyes* Since I was pre-occupied with the tasks for the day, I did not manage to get much done for coming week in terms of cooking etc. We decided that we would concentrate on the kids this week and keep cooking for adults to a bare minimum. Seemed like a good plan till we got the rhythm.

So yesterday was the first work day sans mummy. Anything could happen! I had set the alarm for 0540 – one never knows how much buffer time one might need and the more the merrier. Mondays I don’t face much of an issue waking up since I am rested over the weekend. I woke up, got my stuff done, cooked the fish and rice for kids and was ready way ahead of schedule. Chiyaa also woke up on time and was a very peaceful baby. I left them at 0725 with K geared up to handle it all. He has been tremendous. He has been cool. I noticed over the weekend that though he would have loved to watch tv or read up about the tech being used in his latest project, he was trying his best to be with the kids. Come Monday morning, he was quite chilled about handling the kids. Kids are white bodies when it comes to vibes – they will reflect the vibe that is being  projected to them. Fear, optimism, nervousness – you name it, they will push it back to you. K was being positive and chilled out and so were the kids with him.

In a mega role reversal I was being high strung. So. I finished work a bit early ( I had started work a bit early). I picked Pumpki first, then I picked Chiyaa. My route is something like this.

I wanted the kids to have some food on the way. Since mummy was around, she was my backup. If the kids didn’t like the snack, she would prep an alternative in a jiffy. I planned to utilise the distance to get some stuff in their tummies so that they would nt be cranky. And I decided to stuff it with something healthy and something they like – there might be 3-4 food items which would come in this category. Cucumbers are one of them. My girls love cucumbers, also its filling and a good thing to have. So I packed cucumbers. They had a few. I could not keep them on a sugar deficit either (kids can get crazy when blood sugar levels are down!) . So I gave them both a small chocolate once the cucumbers were done.

We reached home. No crying till now! So far so good! There was a mild skirmish when they got on each other’s nerves, but I managed to handle it. K also came in early (ah! Backup!!!!) Soon after the week’s grocery got delivered too. K in a major bout of magnanimity gave Chiyaa a chocolate – one that was meant to be a treat, one that was supposed to be hidden from her, one that was not supposed to be given to her since she was yet to have her dinner.

I erupted. “Why did you give her the chocolate” I howled. Like a mad person I tried to hide a few as if Chiyaa would not be able to see my futile attempts (seems so laughable now, imagine me hiding chocs from a kid in front of her, and trying to do so quickly but that attempted haste making the process slower. Comical is nt it!)

K responded “ She saw it and she asked for it. “ (this is know as a lie because I saw him offer the choc. We agree to disagree on this point)

“Good now she is not going to eat any dinner. All this while I have been trying to keep her away from junk food so that she has something healthy for dinner”

“Why are you shouting, its just one chocolate. She will have her dinner when she needs to “

At this moment Pumpki walks in and asks for a chocolate. I have to give her *rolls eyes again*

“Now little one has also had a chocolate, she wont eat dinner either, she will be hungry through the night and will keep asking for milk. And I have to keep waking up to fill her bottle”

“Just one chocolate and you have already thought till 1 at night! It was all going so well till now”

“Yes and it all went down once you came”

“Fine I wont come from tomorrow, I will stay at office. That’s what you want isnt it”

“Yes”

“Very good. Just one chocolate “ (It wasn’t a big piece frankly ;) and I know at this point it all seems like my fault but, trust me my intentions were good.)

“Just one chocolate can hugely ruin the appetite of kids. But why would you care”

“Yeah why would I care”

“If you care, I dare you to feed them the dinner they are meant to eat.”

“One day since your mom left and look at how wrecked you are”

“I am not. You are disrupting everything”

The kids went about munching their chocolate. I approached K to ask if he needed his dinner. He replied that he was no mood. I blasted again asking what was the need to be cross for so long. He said my reaction for one chocolate was a bit over the top too. And we go debating about the size, impact, related health concerns and what not of that “one chocolate”. I cried a bit, he shouted a bit and I went off to change in to normal clothes ( I am in workwear till the window of opportunity comes). I took a bit longer to come down. And the vision once I was back was surreal. K has managed to feed the healthy salmon to the kids! (Challenge accomplished!!! ) The kids ate the well intentioned “healthy dinner”. I got a card from Chiyaa.

Pumki asked me “Are you happy now?” And I was very happy indeed. We shared a cheesecake and end of story :D #DaagAcheHain

Daag acche hain

Yesterday was a funny day. It started with a big quarrel with K and that too for a petty reason. The reason being - my cell phone had gone kaput!

My Sony Ericsson W580i had been giving me lot of troubles. It used to hang intermittently, mostly when I needed it most :| - so much so that many a times I had to remove the battery to re start it. Removing the battery itself was a tedious task and a separate story in itself. Sometimes removing the battery and re inserting it would not work, and we had to take it to some store for repair. Some pricks and pokes by the mechanic, and it used to come back to its senses. As I am writing this, I remember, the very first day I carried the phone, it got stuck by the time I reached office! After some months it had stopped charging from the ac charger. Well, not a problem, I used to get it charged from the USB charger - a process that used to take 10 times more time than a standard ac charger. But me being lazy and the cell phone being pretty much indispensable, decided to go ahead with the arrangement.

But................ yesterday the cell chose not to get charged from the USB point. It in fact decided to get discharged when connected to the USB port! ARGH!!

I lost my cool and was fretting and fuming about loosing my communication channel. Since the phone was a recommendation of K, he took it personally that I was indirectly blaming him for all the inconvenience. This lead to a war of words, some hurtful some sarcastic.
We started for office after the peace resolution was passed.

But then, the whole incident had kinda bummed us out a bit.
Evening coincidentally, we were able to meet up at a common point. And guess what, K had got paan for me - something which I have a weakness for :) And as we were walking to our home, K said shall we have dinner there? And by there he meant a street side place which served noodles and other dishes which could be made in a jiffy. We were an oddity there, in our formals and office luggage, and sitting on run down plastic chairs with most of the other clientele being there for the pricing of the food ( which is very pleasing to the wallet ) was a good experience. It was an impromptu plan for us and the food there turned out to be too palatable. It was a treat worth having.

After savoring egg fried rice, cauliflower manchurian and one plate of scrambled eggs, we marched forth home. Thats when K gave me the choc he had bought. :D A walk through the streets of Besant Nagar while munching on a choc - Awesome is the word for it.

Sometimes if minor tiffs end up in such superb evenings - I think its worth the pain. You see Daag acche hain!

PS : This post was meant to be posted on the Thursday - the 4th of Decemeber. But work at office held me back. So yesterday in this post refers to 03.12.2008

Recent update - I have given my cell phone for repair, I miss it tremendously :( Am using a Nokia oldie model and that in turn makes me realise how used to I was to the facilities of the other phone: seems water had gone inside the charging pin and I will hopefully be getting it tomorrow.

Sh*t happens

Sh*t happens. And sometimes it happens a lot.
The weekend that went by was a typical example of that.

We had a lot of things on the to-do list for the weekend. One major thing was a bed which we were getting for mom in law. Since one of my uncles has a furniture factory of his own, we had decided to get the cot from my place. It seemed an easy job, all we needed to do was to book a packers and movers, pick the stuff from the cargo dept at the train station and get it home. Fix a call with a local carpenter to assemble the bed again and voila! We had confirmed with a mover and packer nearby. K was on a compensatory off on Friday and had decided to finish off this task that very day. He placed a call to the movers and packers and asked them to come over some time later in the day so that they could pick the cargo. But they did not show up even till the evening. A very irate K said that they better show up the next day else he would be forced to cancel the reservation.

The next day also till 9:30 in spite of numerous calls, they responded only by 10:30ish. In the meanwhile we were frantically looking over the telephone directory to find a replacement. But no one was willing to do it on such close notice. Finally when K went all ballistic, the truck reached home at 11:30. That was not the end of the stumbling blocks. There was a political rally by an actor who was turning into politician and launching his new party. K called me around 12 noon and said, there's a proper standstill out here, don't think I can make it before 4 in the afternoon. I was really restless at this news and just hoped for the best. Mercifully, they were able to reach the station an hour later as the traffic budged. K came back with the bed around 1430. He had his own struggle saga to tell about the very corrupt officials at the cargo section. Thanks to Diwali coming up, they took a bribe of 250 bucks. Sometimes some pests are to be endured I suppose, there is not cure for this rot.

Once K was refreshed we had a sumptuous lunch of aloo parathe and onion raita. After that we started on our appointments to a coupla docs, for the general coughs and sneezes that come with changing weathers. Since the houses of a couple of relatives was on the way, we made a pit stop at each of them. Then there was some itsy bitsy grocery shopping and when we came in home, we realised that it was some 5 hours that we had spent just like that loitering on the streets :)

The next day, started on a low key. We had to get some stuff for K for the diwali. Cos of the dull and cloudy weather, we were generally lazy and did not get started till 1400. The first few shops were duds but then we ended up shopping a lot from one into which we had ventured just to check out the stuff! They happened to have such a good collection that my joy knew no bounds :) Pepped up by this, we ventured to go on a bit further to pick up some shoes for me from a showroom. We were close to destination X, but - the bike had a flat tyre all of a sudden. ARGH!! Luckily for us, K s grannys place was nearby. We reached there, managed to get a mechanic and within 30 minutes were raring to go! Another road block - it started to rain cats and dogs and mice and what not! After a good 75 minutes the rain showed some signs of abating.

We thought rather than wait for a dry spell, it was better to speed off and get home in the light drizzle. The drops were like snow flakes. But a few kms from our home, it turned into a downpour. I hate rains from the bottom of my heart. I simply loathe them. I detest each and every aspect of a rainy season - the dampness, the not so crisp feeling on the clothes, the inconvenience. Ok ok rain lovers, I understand your feelings - K is one! So we have daily arguments on the pros and cons of the rains. But yesterday once it was raining like there is no tomorrow, I just gave in. And I loved it when we splashed through the puddles and gave a wash to some cars :D , the vacant road with us being probably the only people in a two wheeler :D , the blinding rains which fogged Ks spectacles, but he would nt stop to clean them but somehow managed to do so while driving itself and the chill in the winds which gave one goose flesh :) When we came home, we were given a dressing down by the geriatric watchman and we felt like errant kids being reprimanded by a senior.

Back home - with steaming cups of ginger tea, some savorioes and Ice Age 2 on TV - I felt yea sh*t happens but the rains come in soon to wash it off :D