Sweet nothings

 Another term holiday comes to an end tomorrow. It has definitely put me back in the groove after the unmatchable April trip to India. 

It was a public holiday on Monday, which means all of us were at home. It was a lucky hot day as well. We enjoyed the heat with some homemade food and the traditional pakhala, which is the ultimate must-have for every Odia. When I went to bed that night, I was filled with a lovely satiated feeling. It was the feeling of finding immense joy in the simplest of things. 

I have been toying with the idea of planting vegetables this year. I started them as they prescribe, first with seedlings in the house and then transferring them outside. It has been labourious and a proper test of my patience. But there is a small degree of thrill in it as well. A part of me is enjoying the small plants slowly finding their footing. While there is another part of me who is very anxious and wants to see the result soon. But it is definitely a very exciting journey. Keeping my fingers crossed every step of the way.

The girls had their holiday, and as always, it was super awesome to wake up late. I know it's a small pleasure, but I am not saying no to it. It always reminds me of the days when they were easy-going younger and I had to wake up super early to look after them. I was so used to missing having a lazy weekend. But it has been fabulous now that they are older and can look after themselves. Just affirms my belief that everything gets easier with time.

Work has been super manic. The challenges are very fulfilling but tiring. Can't have it all, I guess. But with the slow passage of time, I have only to thank God.

Waiting

 It has been over a month since our return from India. It has taken long to get used to the routine back here. I kept looking for ways to distract myself. But some things are healed by time. It took weeks of routine and IPL  to finally get into the flow. 

But the flow doesn't come without interruptions. My sister was informed of redundancy cycle in her organisation. This threw a lot of plans into jeopardy. We have so much of our future tied up to how things are in the present. We plan holidays and meet ups and events and so much more. Things are in a tizz for quite a while because of these developments. But then as usual time has lent its healing patch. Through the stages, we all finally reached acceptance. We are lucky to have the ability and the aspiration to go ahead. And go ahead we shall. As we wait for the results of the discussions to come forth, we try our best to continue as normal.

With this news in the background came her 40th birthday. Some people herald the age quietly some with a lot of fanfare. For her it was the former. The passage of time gives maturity to relish things without making a hue and cry of it. And that's exactly what we did. We made cake at home, we crafted gifts at home and we went for a quiet lunch. 

On my work side, I had a good rapport and camaraderie with a team mate. And I got the news of his leaving the organisation. I was quite sad because I do not share the same informal equation with anyone else. The current team is quite big and most of the people have been here too long. So much so they forget to make a new person feel at ease. In the midst of this there was this one team member who was always there answering my questions and being ever so patient. With him moving away there will be a huge lacuna in my work life. I have to put on a brave front and bear through the tough project. Again time will come with its healing salve and make everything ok. With my current colleague moving out, I have plans to catch up some old colleagues, because the few I have have been quite supportive for a long time. 

Things move on and time pacifies, time sorts, time heals and time helps. 

What a March

 This March has been a bit of a tizz. There was just so much happening. Yeah there are a million memes regarding this on social media. But really there was so much happening in the month of March, that it seemed like a year to me :) 

My company prides on being a tech for good company. As a result social values are highly ingrained into our ethos, being something that is encouraged from everyone. In the beginning of the month there was a chance to volunteer in a school to give a presentation about careers in tech. I love teaching and engaging with young minds. It is something I have been naturally drawn towards, perhaps given the huge number of teachers in my family. So I was not going to miss this opportunity. And the cherry on the cake, it was in Chiyaa's school. Of course! I was going to go for it. It was a wonderful presentation which made me feel quite fulfilled at the end of it.

With our imminent travel to Bhubaneswar in April, it was finally all feeling real. The suitcases were brought down from the attic, the clothes were collected, lists were made and last minute shopping commenced. In the midst of all this anxious excitement, what we did not need was the world leaders to start a new war. With the war came flight reschedules! I did mention that it had been rescheduled once and it was cause of much panic. Fortunately deferring a January problem to April was a good thing. Cos this time the rescheduling has given us much more time to make our transit. K definitely heaved a huge sigh of relief. So did I but let me paint him as the more panic stricken one :) 

Work was pure madness with some tricky bits being implemented by me not getting the adequate support. But we eventually made it after what seemed like a nightmare of changes and reviews and changes and reviews :) While all this was going on, I decided to add extra pressure on myself by signing up for an AWS certification. I was working towards it and somehow in spite of breakneck work had managed to get some momentum. I did not want this to break with our trip to India and me having to start it all over again. So I booked my exam which meant my evening were full of stress going through the study material and giving tests while thinking about packing and flights and work and kids and what not. You get the drift :D While my mind was going through all this, my body decided to throw in the towel as well. So I have an auto-immune condition called uveitis which results in me getting a redness in one eye. Its essentially my body attacking the outer white layer of my eye (very specific taste I know!) This can become serious if not treated quickly. I had a bad episode in 2021 and I thought it had been laid to rest. But then last Thursday it seemed to be back. Again with all the juggling balls up in the air, I did not want to loose sight (haha seems like a joke when I read) . So a call to the doctors and I was urgently seen by the Ophthalmologist.   It was diagnosed as another episode of the same and I was put on steroids for the next week. I was satisfied with an early diagnosis and remedy and hopefully should be all good by the time India comes calling :) 

Well after this proper madness of a month I am really looking forward to the 2 weeks of rest in India. I know it will not be a rest, there will be meeting family and lots of eating and chatting and the weather will be a test in its own. But I am so looking forward to it finally and hope that it all goes well. 

Some planned some unplanned

The kids are back in school after the half term holiday and it definitely feels very weird. I have come a long way from dreading these half terms to being in a state where I love, enjoy and look forward to them. Working from home and growing up kids do take the edge off a lot of things. 

Rewinding to the day Pumpki came back from her residential, we had quite a bit upheavals. We are getting a bathroom renovated in our house. This means, a lot of mess, a lot of people coming and going, things being noisy and everything topsy turvy. Pumpki missed 2 days of all this since she was away. The day she came back, she was drenched and in need of a good clean. She went to take a shower and there was no hot water! After 2.5 days of messing about in mud and generally having unsupervised standards of hygiene I wanted to reinstate my authority. That started with a bath. But no hot water meant not a good bath. We called the plumber and he said he was  bit tied up and would be able to come in the morning. So there was no other go but go old school. Out came a bucket, 2 big kettles of boiling water and the frigid water from the taps. It was not a bath worthy of my exacting standards, but well! Something we had not anticipated, but had to deal with.

There were 2 more days of torrential rain before we could  forget school runs. Saturday evening I got a message out of the blue from an old family friend. We were quite close while starting out our UK journey. Since then life happened and we moved on. We have managed to keep in touch. The usual wishes over birthdays and New Years. They were in the vicinity and said would pop over in the evening the next day. It was something we had not planned for, and we definitely do not host people often in our house. I invited them over for dinner. It was quite a different experience planning and hosting a family over. There was a lot of work, cooking, cleaning, ferrying Pumpki for swimming and getting her back and ready. But once they arrived it was pure joy having them over. We reminisced the days past and it was a veritable trip down the memory lane. The evening had seemed daunting at first, but it was such a pleasant end to a Sunday and what a way to kick start the one week of holidays. Since there was food leftover, the load of cooking was way reduced. Kids enjoyed their time on video games and I was busy tackling some code bugs which was not fun :( 

Tuesday K had plans to get some Chinese takeaway and we had a blast gorging on some delicious food. It was pure coincidence that it happened to be the start of Chinese New year! There were no plans for Wednesday but Thursday Chiyaa had some outing plans to the city centre with her friends. All grown up in making those plans but still a baby when  it comes to executing them :D Since the weather was going to be a bit rubbish K decided to provide taxi service. Because they were going all the way to city centre, I decided to take the afternoon off and take Pumpki to my sister's house which is in the area. This was a sudden plan but it was a lovely plan. I was going mad with all sorts of issues in code and was finding it very difficult to switch off. Many evenings I would be up staring at the code and trying to get to the bottom of an issue. But taking that half day off and having the Friday  off was a real boost to my happiness. I felt glad just hanging out with the kids in the living room not thinking about failing tests.

February is Chiyaa's birth month. So we spend quite some time and effort scouring for gifts for her. Chiyaa is also a pasta fanatic. So Friday we had the day off to enjoy a pre-birthday lunch at an Italian restaurant. The lunch was a huge success with everyone enjoying their meals. After having the lunch we strolled around the city centre, notched a few steps in our kitty and made out home. When we reached home there was an unwanted surprise :( As I had mentioned we have the renovation work going on. The tiler was in and he was working when we left home. He would lock the house and go once he was done since we had another set of keys with us. But on reaching home we realised that we had forgotten to grab the keys! It was the worst possible outcome at the end of a fruitful but tiring day. We called the plumber and asked if he had the tiler's contact to give the keys. Luckily he mentioned that he was home and gave us the address. After a few fumbles with the address we reached the right home and collected the keys. Phew! 

So we had quite a happening half term. The coming term is a shorter one. And at the end of it we have the trip to India!

Up and down and up and down

It’s the last week of the dreaded January. It seems never ending for many but somehow for me it seems to be flying by. Yes it’s been a while since last salary day in December 😂but January payment is round the corner. The bank account may not have seen much activity but there has been a whole torrent of activities in life. 

Last week was our anniversary week. K and I have this tradition of taking a long walk to the city centre , gorging on food and then taking a long walk back home( I might have mentioned this but forgive me for repeating. I never possessed a good memory anyways 😁) That was one day of leave from work and it could not have come at a better time. It was mad busy week for me with a bunch of fixes to be done for a previous project. In the midst of it , a day of leave did seem like a disturbance to the flow of work. It would have been better to get things done and dusted. But on the day I quite welcomed the relaxed feel. The days are very busy and one day of not sitting and working was more rejuvenating than I had anticipated. With a slow start to the day we set off to enjoy the walk followed by some amazing Japanese food.

After that quaint day it was break neck work. So much so that I quite forgot the advent of gorgeous Friday. My sis and I had booked tickets for the movie Border2. It was also the day when the final cut of our code would be handed over. After a demonstration in the morning where most stakeholders were quite pleased we looked forward to a relatively relaxed afternoon. But then some weird issues started popping during peer testing and it was again panic stricken coding 😣Alls well that ends well and I ended Friday with a high and one mighty code deployment. But it wasn’t time to rest on my laurels . I had to get stuff sorted at home- get the kids fed, give instructions for the next set of action for the evening and having bitten more than I could chew I had picked the day to change bedsheets across the rooms. This is a mega boring and Herculean task. And with added pressure of the movie in the evening there was extra zing to the activity. Somehow got it done and whizzed out of the door to enjoy 3.5 hours of patriotic fervour. It was an great experience for me stirring nostalgia and emotions. 

The weekend was a doozy with television and chilling and good food. 

And we kicked off a new week with lots more work. It was to be a super busy week again. But one never knows what around the corner. The kids were full of sniffles and cold. And today the heavens had opened up pouring cats, dogs and piglets. K and I took the executive decision that it would be better to give them a break and decided to keep them from school. Chiyaa is generally the one who wants to keep her attendance on point. But today she was willing to sacrifice it. The kids slept till 10. Parents worked. And around 11 am K was notified of an offer on a food delivery app. Well all that he needed was that nudge and we had noodles for lunch. It was therapeutic to forget the madness of work and just relax with kids for 30 mins during lunch break while the skies poured down. A busy afternoon for K and I while the girls rested and we called it a day.

Tomorrow routine.

Fielding set for January

 And just like that it's half of the first month of the new year done. In a matter of few days here we are in the full swing of things. A far cry from somewhere the same time in December when we were winding down. There were lots of card games, lots of TV shows, lots of food and lots of lazy mornings and days. We have still carried forward the card games, the TV shows, the food. The lazy mornings have of course been replaced by break neck school runs and the days have gathered their routine.

In all honesty it has not been as bad as we had anticipated. We did imagine things to be very murky but K, the girls and I have all felt that things have not been too bad. It was fairly ok to settle down. Personally I was dreading work since I had lots of dependencies in a new project.  I prefer working in an independent way without much hand holding from others. But somehow the timing of my joining a new project and the resource structure was such that there was a lot of inter dependent work. With that my progress with deliverables was slow which was a bit annoying for me. I spent a good week fretting and fuming. There was one small silver lining when I was needed for another task with a previous project. I felt valued and was looking forward to contributing in right earnest towards it. As they say when it rains it pours. Coincidentally on my current project at the same time there was some rejig of resources which led to much better synergies. So January was ironing itself out.

There was yet another curve ball in the shadows. I am making a trip to my home town Bhubaneswar. For the first time ever we could book a flight with Indigo which would taks us to our destination in quite a small duration. But then, the Indigo Gods acted up. Our flight has been rescheduled. This means our domestic leg from Delhi will be from a different terminal. Terminal change means more hassle and potentially delays. We went berserk. I literally bombarded everyone on my contacts list if they had any idea about changes in Delhi and if 2.5 hours would be enough to make it. There were some positive votes ( yeah you can do it!). Majority vote  were for its possible but with a lot of speed and stress. It was a lot of cognitive load looking through discussion forums, askind the all knowing (for now) AI platforms, going through different help desks and the lot. Finally we have given up to the best power in the universe. Dear God. He has brought us to it, he will take us through. With this another hurdle of January deferred to April 😂

So things have come out way and we have dodged some, deflected some and deferred some. Looks like an exciting year ahead! 

The loop

 And just like that, a month has passed since my parents travelled back to India. Saying goodbye this time was super hard, but strangely the recovery wasn't too bad. I think earlier they were so active and so all over the place, helping in this, doing that, going for walks, playing with the kids, that their presence seemed to be everywhere. But this time I found them a bit more sedate. Yes, they were ever eager to do things, full of ideas for changes and willing to go out anywhere. But the tiredness of age was there as well. The preference to be at a certain place, the intention of conserving energy, the thrill of being looked after was what they sought as well. It was really sweet in a way to have this turn of events from their side, because both of them are ever buzzing without a moment's rest.

The autumn half term is the longest. It just seems to go on for ever. This time that seemed different too. It was 8 weeks long, but to be honest, did not seem so at all. Both girls were super engaged in one club or the other. There were events in school and I was personally  a lot busier at work. Work was new, super challenging, interesting and in large volumes. Most days I did have to end up working after the girls are home. Thank God they had their hobbies of gaming and books to keep them engaged. This was the first time in a long time that I did not feel the pain of a super long term. When Pumpki said, we just finished 8 weeks of school, it was sheer news to me!

We are tied in the cycle of half terms and school activities. Some years ago what seemed limiting and restrictive now seems like a blessing. It is in fact a blessing to be able to have those days of rest during the half term holidays. It is refreshing to not wake up to an alarm clock. Those few extra minutes of sleep add so much to the day. It is a different cadence to relax with the girls as it is to end up in a frenzy with them. As it is a different cadence with my parents, a gentleness, a slowly down. Life is so close to clockwork.

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 step

 K hankers for a pet. They come up as regular discussions in our household. The girls are of course gung ho about a pet - any pet. But my stance is clear, the only permissible pet was a hen. It would be outside most of the time and Mother Nature willing would lay an egg. The girls were fine with that, but no chance that would fly with K 😅

So one day on the radio K heard an advert. It was from the charity Guide Dogs. They raise dogs, who would assist visually challenged or people who need assistance in being mobile. It is a quite a good charity making solid and positive changes in the lives of people. The charity was asking for volunteers, especially men with tattoos and beards to raise puppies. The idea was, puppies need to be exposed to a wide range of appearances early on so that they can acclimatise to their future life where they could be paired with any person. The cause was asking for people to raise puppies from the age of 14 weeks to 14 months -ish. Then the puppies would be taken for training and if they passed put forth to be matched with people needing a guide dog.

 K has both - tattoos and beard! He came home super excited. It was a very good cause. Most of the costs of the care aspect, food, insurance, etc would be covered by the charity. All they needed from us was the time to raise a puppy through 1 year. I agreed.

This set off a chain reaction. First K had to fill in a very detailed application. Next detailed pictures of the house, the car, the neighborhood so that they were aware what sort of environment the puppy was potentially going to be in. After that, he went on to the interview. During the interview, he was informed that since there was another adult (me) in the house, it might be a good idea if I was made a supplementary applicant as well. Else for insurance purposes I would not be allowed to do anything for the puppy, for instance take if for a walk if K wasnt around for some reason. My application was a bit lighter than K's. But he took all the pain. My interview was quite straight forward too.

Once done through the stage, we awaited the results 😊 We received an email that we had been through and all that was needed was for us was to come to the centre and walk a dog for them to see our dog-handling skills. At the centre we were made to walk a gorgeous 17 month old called Peter. We were both oohing and aahing at how adorable he was. After the walk, we both were given the green flag and were officially recruited as puppy raising volunteers. 

Our coordinator Helen took us through a few more details. She recommended that since we had not had pets before and were first time puppy raisers, it would be a good idea to board a puppy for a few days. Puppy raisers do need to go away be for vacation or work. In that duration, they need boarders who would be willing to keep the puppy for a short duration. We were more than happy to house a pup for some days to get a feel of what it was like. 

That set another ball rolling. K looked up and found a ton load of stuff that would be needed. They were minor details he really wanted to sort - a drinking bowl, a bottle to carry water for the puppy, a blanket and many such small stuff. He got some second hand, some required trips to the shops, but he set up the house in perfect order to host our boarding puppy - Lucky. 

The beautiful eyes of a child

 The other day Pumpki and I were going to school. The radio was on and there was a caller on the station. The caller said that she had a date planned for one evening. She went to the supermarket to get a bottle of wine so that she did'nt turn up empty handed. When she was checking out, she saw herself in the security camera. She felt she looked horrible. She was so disgusted that instead of going ahead with the date, she went home and drank the bottle of wine alone. Then there was a ton of conversation around how do those cameras work etc etc.

Pumpki listened to this and said "I love the way the cameras work. They do the opposite of the hand that I am using (mirror image) and I find it hilarious) I felt so happy at the innocence which a child has. I wish as adults we all look at the many many brighter sides of life always instead of getting bogged down by the negatives. Many of which exist in our eyes only. 😊

That makes way more sense

 My office has a big presence in Cluj-Napoca in Romania. And my manager is someone very keen on building relationships and hence one who encouraged us to travel and build a face to face rapport. I was not very keen on the travel, but then gave in thinking that it would be a good experience. K was happy with managing the kids for 4 days and said also asked me to go on the trip. It would be my first time away for 4 days from the kids. I had stayed a few nights away from them, but never 4 nights. It would need some getting used to on both sides. As soon as my tickets and accommodation were confirmed, I told the kids. I: “I am going to Romania”

Chiyaa: “What? With Sorina aunty? “ (Sorina is my friend and hails from Romania) 

I: No not with her, by myself.

Chiyaa: So nice.

There were some more questions as to when, for how long, who would put them to sleep, who would do the school runs etc etc. There were a few tears from Pumpki. I was very sad because she was sad, but then it was something that had to be done. The next evening Chiyaa mentioned , “You will be rid of us annoying kids for a few days and must be so looking forward to the trip”. K corrected her that that would be probably something he would do, not mummy. I was thankful for the reply and the girls were maybe convinced. 

That night while putting them to sleep I mentioned, 

‘If it was school holidays I could have taken you and daddy to Cluj. He could have taken you around when I went to office”

Chiyaa : “What do you mean he would have taken us around?”

I: “I would be at office so only daddy would have to take you for site seeing and all.”

Chiyaa : “Why would you be in office? And what office? “

I: “Oh didn’t I mention? I am being sent through work, so I would need to goto office every day.”

Chiyaa:”Oh so you are not going on a holiday?”

I:”Of course not, why would I go on holiday without you all? “

Chiyaa: “ Ohhhh I thought you wanted a holiday without us and would be having a fun trip by yourself.”

I : (hugging them) “How can I have a fun trip without you.”

Pumpki: “Now I feel sorry for you that you will have to goto office everyday.”

I: “Aww.”

Pumpki: “ Who asked you to goto Cluj.”

I: “My manager.”

Pumpki: “ I hate your manager.”

It was so weird and funny that missing 2 words for work made all the difference. All the anxiety of not having me around got transformed into anger for my boss real quick ;)

Much ado about nothing?

I hate going in to work. There was a team gathering that was scheduled in the first week of March. I was dreading it and had absolutely no inclination to go for it. So a week to the event I felt as if my eyes were looking a bit puffier than usual. I felt as if I was being vain or maybe it was just psychological because I had to go into work and spend a day interacting with people :) I was just concentrating on the weird look on my face. I even resorted to strange things like chamomile tea and dandelion tea to reduce the bloat! But a day before the event I could see that the eyes did appear a bit too swollen and I thought it might be better to get it checked. 

When I got in touch with a medical practitioner over the phone, she recommended that it would be a better idea to get checked in person. The next available appointment was the next day and I booked it in. In all honesty I was happy to miss the team gathering ;) The next day I went ahead with to meet the doctor. The first shout was perhaps elevated blood pressure. The measurement the doctor took then was a bit on at the higher side. But they do not decide that on one measurement. She sent me home with a BP monitoring machine and asked me keep tab for the next week. I did so, and there was no untoward measurement. But my face felt puffier for sure. I did not like how it looked at all and was a bit worried that something else was going on. I made another call and this time they directed me to the primary eye care people. Since it was pollen season, the trigger could have been something wafting in the air. I was given a high dosage of antihistamines to get it sorted. The cautionary word was things should subside within the next 2 days. 

I could feel no difference 2 days later. In fact I felt a mild swelling in my palms and feet as well. Then I remembered that a thyroid test had been recommended for me the previous month. I had a funny ache in my neck. There was nothing wrong with my tonsils. It wasn’t a muscular pain either. It was a weird full pain at the bottom of my neck. The doctor had then asked for a thyroid test, which I had totally forgotten about. I decided to get that done.

The report came back the next day and the doctor was in a tizz. The normal level for one of the hormones should be under 20 and came back with 143 for me. Because of the hormones being so out of whack, my kidney was under stress and I had very elevated cholesterol as well. She was quite scared for me and was shocked that I had no symptoms like breathless ness and the like. She diagnosed it as Hashimoto’s disease which is an auto immune condition. She put me on the stabilising hormone immediately. It would take a few months for things to settle down.The medicines started to work over the next month. I could realise the puffiness on the face reducing a lot. I felt better as well. I was super happy with a diagnosis since I was feeling weird inside but could not pin point the real issue. 

I can’t thank God enough for the diagnosis and the recovery.

The best half term ever

 I remember writing this ages ago! It was my very first term break with Chiyaa and tiny Pumpki. Now both are in school, Chiyaa in high school! And I just enjoyed my February half term with them. I must confess it was my best half term everrrrrrr!! 

With Chiyaa in high school, our wake up times have moved to an earlier time since she needs to be out of the door somewhere around 740. Pumpki still has an 40 more mins before her school start. So while I need to wake up around 0630 on a school day, with the school holidays I could wake up at 0800. It was full 90 minutes of extra sleep! OMG that itself is enough to close the case as the best half term ever ever ever. 

I let the girls be by themselves for the first 3 days. Since they are at an age where they have similar interests, they get along well - well most of the time. Their plan was lego for this time. So though the living room was an utter mess, there was some solid play time invested there. It was wonderful to see them creatively weave their way around the different creations of theirs. After some lunch it was time for another shared interest of theirs - video games. Pumpki doesnt quite have the dexterity to play some of the tougher games, but she does a swell job watching Chiyaa play and cheering her on. It was amazing to see them enjoy those sessions as well. I mandated some time for reading and practicing their musical instruments. Those boxes ticked, with an intermittent reminder to drink water and have some fruits - that was pretty much my job done for taking care of them 😂

3 days flew and the next 2 days I was on leave. Thursday we went to the city centre. The idea was to meet K and have a quick meal some where. But we chanced to meet a family friend as well and she joined us! More the merrier! We had some amazing pizza and then said our good byes. We went to shop for some mats for the girl's new room and a couple of plant pots as well. That done, we trekked to visit my sister who lives in city centre. The idea was to surprise her, but it ended up being a flop since she was not at home and we had to ring to find where she was and how long she might take 😝 The kids love visiting their aunty anytime and they had a good time stretching their legs. My sis had to get on with her work and we bid our second set of good byes before making our way back home 😊 It was a lovely day but the next day our plans were even bigger.

As a treat for Chiyaa's birthday I had booked in a nails pamper session with the girls. We had some manicure and pedicure done and our nails painted as well. It was the first for the girls and they hugely enjoyed it! By the time we were out, we were starving and rushed to the nearest cafe to get some food. We got some flowers and some grocery cos why not and marched home. The girls just loved showing off their newly painted nails. 

On Sunday I had to visit another town to see off a friend. She was my room mate in Hyderabad in India. She had been in the UK for the past 5 years. And if one stays in a place for 5 years, one tends to accumulate stuff. Some stuff one doesn't feel like throwing away. She had tried to get rid of most of her belongings that she couldn't carry, sell or donate locally. But some she wanted me to take for safe keeping. Either she would make a trip back and collect them God willing, or she rather I use it instead of someone else. Since she has a 16 months old baby, my kids really enjoy going to her place. It was an amazing day with her kids and helping her wrap up stuff. It was an emotional experience saying that good bye for sure because one has no idea where life will take us and where we might meet again. We have somehow managed to meet once every 5-6 years by the twists and turns of fate which is not true for so many lovely people who have come through in my life 😕 It also made me nostalgic of all the house moves we had done in the UK. Approximately 5 in 7. years before we finally settled in this house. I remembered us leaving Ipswich where we were quite unplanned and had to leave a ton of stuff with a family friend. It has been 7 years since we saw them *sigh* One day ours paths will cross again, till then we have Whatsapp 😌

Since we had this trip on Sunday, and the next day was the start of the new school session, we were more or less sorted ahead of schedule. Chiyaa and Pumpki took their time in the evening for some more uninhibited telly time before hitting the bed for the next school session on Monday. I must say it was the most amazing half term I have ever had. It was full of so much activity, so many emotions and so many experiences that it was the most whole some block of days. Touchwood, heres to many more 🙏

Curtains drawn

 Finally it’s February and finally a few things are falling into place. As I had said in my last post, this year is going to be a supremely unplanned year for me. The construction work is finally drawing to an end. Our driveway is cleared and we can finally park both our cars instead of scouting for and stealing places on the road. We started moving stuff in to the new room which is to be the ‘girls’ room going forward. Things were a bit unclean with still some smell of plaster and paint remaining. We cleaned to the best possible extent and after a couple of days it was more habitable. The girls were ecstatic to be in their new room. As part of regular maintenance work we got the fuse box of the house upgraded. It wasn’t of aesthetic value and not a visible change. But we added in some changes to the electrical fixture which gave the feel-good effect. We have to get the carpets done all over the house as well. At the moment it is done in three rooms and we are loving the feel of the new carpets. We have some more work in the living room and the stairways before we can jump on it. The  curtains are also going to be redone all over the house which will again add to the overall overhaul of the house :) 

Its will be 6 years in this little place we call home on 26th of this month. Doing these small changes feels like giving some tlc to this home which has given us so much. As the tasks slowly draw to a close we hope for another 6 years of pleasant moments. 

Second chances

 I am a firm believer in second chances. I had sat my engineering entrance exam after my year 12. I did not get the branch of my choice and decided to sit the exam again. This time as I was preparing, everything made much more sense to me. The organic chemistry lessons which seemed like voodoo the first time I was studying them became my favourite sections. I had always enjoyed physics and I enjoyed it a bit more this time around. It was all making so much more sense that I felt how dumb was I a few months ago to not be able to understand all this! 

I hated my first job. Everything was super hard, I didn't feel I was treated well. So much so I made up my mind that I was not designed for a career in IT. I still wish at times I had a different career, but my second job onwards I discovered the thrill of coding and loved it. I have been doing it for the past nearly 18 years and will keep doing it for another 18 I guess. 

My previous job was a radical shift in the way of working I was used and in the technology stack. I was working on some very cool and new stuff with quite modern ways of implementing. I felt quite daunted and suffered a lot from imposter syndrome. I was full of self doubt. But then my current job where I kind of do similar things, it is way easier for me. 

I don't know what happens with second chances? Are we armed with more information that we fail to see in our nervousness with the first attempt? Are we more relaxed because of our attitude that 'what's the worse that could happen ' and that lack of pressure makes us perform better. Are we more resilient after what we think was a failure the first time around. I am not sure what the reasons are, but second chances are really a deal breaker. They are our chance to get it right the second time around. Here's to second chances!

The summer update

The days have been going at unique pace this year. There is a lot that is happening but it is all happening in a languorous pace that makes it seem all manageable. Papa Mummy moved back to India on 2nd August. It was a horrible rainy day. We didnt step outside anywhere. My sis and I had taken the day off and sat chatting. We never run out of conversations in my family. It just keeps on coming 😀 And there is honestly so much we discuss at the drop of a hat. We kept chatting while making preps and packing. And then the clock timed for us to bid our adiues. We said our tearful goodbyes. The pain of it was definitely lessened by the fact that I had my sis with me, a part of my parents. They made the long journey back with an overnight layover in Delhi. They really enjoyed staying in the hotel and the one night there refreshed them. We were so happy to have them in the UK for  a little over 5 months. Finally seeing them back at our home in Bhubaneswar brought the full closure. The weekend following my parents return, my sis returned to her rented apartment.

My kids just love being at my sister's place. We make it quite the norm to stay there during weekends and bank holidays. It is a cute unique routine. And once the kids are in bed, my sis and I spend the time chatting. There was one night where we were up till 0130 at night talking about this and that. I did mention we dont run out of conversations didnt I 😜 There was work the next day, but we just went on with out discussions and debates 😆  The kids love the sensation of being at a different place and sleeping there. They are of course pampered silly by my sis which is super endearing.  The city centre location gives them a lot of places for entertainment and also food. The hustle bustle of the city centre is something that can pep anyone up! During the summer holidays our trips to her place have been a bit more often which has definitely made the days more enjoyable.

In the midst of the summer holidays K and I decided to take a certification. In this ripe old age we took upon ourselves to prepare and sit a test. There was no need to do it, but we thought we should. It would help us in calibrating ourselves. There were days of intense preparation and we both passed. It was an amazing feeling and has ironically made us think of the next one 😆 Along with work and studies, we have been enjoying some real long walks with the girls. After clocking off work, we take the girls on a nice long walk which sometimes stretches to 8 kms. It does tire their little legs. But it is the time again for some silly family conversation, some arguments, some teasing and end of the day a good night's sleep 😀

There is one more week left for the summer holidays to get over. It will be a unique experience next term when Chiyaa starts high school. There is the aspect of this bigger school with kids from all over the place. And she has to take to walking nearly 3 kms one way! Pumpki will be in her old primary school and will definitely be missing the comforting presence of her elder sister during the times they used to be together in school for instance during the travel and lunch breaks. Both girls have very different and unique situations to deal with. But I am sure when I give my summer update next year, it would all be routine 💗

Planned unplanned day

 I am a sucker for planning. Anything impromptu makes me uneasy. But then last Monday to finish off one of my annual leaves, I joined K and took a day off. It was to be a day where we would go with the flow and do things impromptu. I mostly envisioned it a day wasted. ;) If it came to it, I intended to do the ironing and deep clean the house - there should be something to show at the end of the day :) We had nebulous plans of going for a long walk, enjoying a peaceful coffee and other sweet things, which I was pretty sure we were never going to accomplish. All those things need PLANNING!!!

First thing first, we dropped the kids off at school. As we came to the car, we noticed that one of the tyres looked a bit flat. The first spanner in the works. First the car was off to the garage. That seemd to be the end of the day - so much for impromptu days! It took some time  for the technician to assess the car. It was given a thumbs up. So only an hour of the available time gone. We still had 5 remaining hours. The world was our oyster. 

The weekend we had been to my sister's place. Mummy had made the most delicious chick peas and soya chunks curry. She had intended to pack some for me but while exiting I missed getting it. She was super guilty for not having managed to send some over to me (Moms right *rolls eyes*) So, I proposed why don't we walk to my sister's place and get the curries and come home! We would have a long 10km walk (back and forth) and dinner would be sorted too. There is always food where Mummy is, so lunch would be sorted as well. K jumped on the plan and we started our trek to surprise Mummy, Papa and my sis. That was a plan that came out of nowhere. 

At her place we chatted for some time. K was in the mood for some Mexican, so we thought of checking some of the vendors that put up stalls near the area. Since my sister lives in the city centre, she has all the hustle bustle. We took a stroll and instead of the Mexican place we ended up being convinced by a Cypriotic food stall. We ordered gyros and marched to her house with the goodies. The food was just divine!! We were totally knocked over by the flavours and totally high fived ourselves on having chosen to go with the dishes we did. Amazing. On the spur decisions are not so bad after all ;) 

After lunch and a little rest, we started our walk back home. Then off to the task of picking the kids and the rest was routine. This was a rare occassion of taking one step at a time and going with the flow and it was worth it :) Sometimes I can do impromptu :D

A different Dussera

 We are not the conventional family. We don't do most festivals in the conventional way. We don't have a prayer room. For occasions the children make cards wishing the Gods a happy birthday and we cook some special food. Et voila!

Navratri /Durga puja is quite popular where my husband and I hail from. But we don't celebrate it with  much  furore. The local temple is too crowded and showy for our liking. But every year something special tends to happen around this time of the year.

This year K ended up eating some cakes meant for the kids. ( A grave offence indeed!)😃 As compensation he promised cakes from a bakery which makes the most amazing fresh cream cakes. The bakery boasts of some fabulous Indian sweets too. And K couldn't resist the temptation to buy some. It was  brilliant  to have the sweets along with some samosas which got devoured in a jiff. A wonderful, unexpected Durga puja.

Wishing you all the very best of festive times 🤗

Garden grown

 My mother is a keen gardener. When we used to live in rented houses in our childhood, she used to always have pots of plants adorning our balcony and veranda. 

Once we moved into a government quarters it gave her the opportunity and space to add some more greenlings to the house As my father got transferred and we moved houses, so did most of the plants.🪴

When we finally owned a house, my mother could officially go crazy. She had place all around the house, the balcony, the terrace - the world was her oyster. She would invest in kitchen scraps, maintain a steady deposit of water from washing grains and vegetables in the kitchen and trade in seeds, saplings and cuttings. 🍅🫑🥕

This disease to see things grow is quite infectious. My sister and I are both sufferers 🙈😁. The kitchen scraps we put in the garden give a good output of potatoes and tomatoes. It's very enjoyable to see the cycle of plants ❤️💚

I have enjoyed the fruits of, well I wouldnt say labour, but repotting many times. I have been too lazy or forgetful to ever take a click. But this time  I  managed one ! 

Butterflies

 

My family would love a pet. A cat, a dog, a bird, anything would do. The kids wouldn’t even mind a gecko! There was a stroke of luck when my elder daughter started learning about metamorphosis in school. To depict it practically, their teacher had a setup of caterpillars. The caterpillars were in a container, and they slowly grew into chrysalis and became butterflies. She was very keen on having a set up at home too. We  were fine with it since we thought the kids could see the process first hand.

Little did we realise this was their attempt at having a pet. Even if for a short time. They looked at the caterpillars with the diligence of a scientist but with the love of a parent. They made notes, kept count of the number of days to the next phase and even gave them names. The chrysalis hatched and the butterflies remained in the station for a few days being fed sugar water, flowers and juicy fruits. After 4-5 days we released them. And it was such a pleasure to see the kids enjoy the experience. We thought they might be sad at seeing the butterflies go, but kids always see the happy picture. My daughter said, “Now the butterfly can have fresh nectar”. Seeing the brighter side, such an amazing but simple skill 😊