Round Up!

Of course it is a wrap! 2017 is closing down and 2018 is gearing up for a start.

I stopped believing that things really change in the new year. I do not believe that an entire year sucked or rocked because of one incident. What is a year but a marker to keep life feeling immeasurable...and yet, I do these posts every year.

2017 seems to be the year I blogged the least. I guess I was busy at home and at work to spend a few minutes on my blog. I will try to fix that in 2018. I am getting older and wiser.

Things we did this year:

•   S ran her first 5K with me. We joined a running group and she ran-walked the whole thing. It was super fun.

• Enjoyed Holi with friends at the temple with friends! It was crazy!

• We threw a fun Harry Potter Themed Baby Shower for our dear friend A.

• We camped in OK by one of the most windiest lakes ever. Our tent almost flew with us in it. It was an adventure and we loved it!

• S had her second Bharatanatyam recital. She did amazing and so did her entire class. Parents visited and spent two months with us. It was amazing!

• Summer was filled with pool fun. Friends and family alike...S enjoyed.

   

• Z visited us alone! She is a big girl now and we had a great week with her.
• G's family visited us in summer! We went to Destin with them!

        

• The Solar Eclipse of 2017! Where we rocked the solar glasses! 

• And then, off we went to Niagara!

• S got her bangs hairstyle that she wanted for the longest time. She was super excited!
• Dandiya with friends - twice! It was super fun! I am looking forward to it again this year!
• S and G had multiple birthday celebrations! Lots of cake, lots of friends, I wish we could do this all over again ever year! Love the friend-family.

     

• Started biking this year with G. We have had some fun and adventurous rides exploring our neighborhood! See the turtle we hung out with at Interlaken in Plano.

• S turned double digit! so we had a fun birthday planned! A slime party and sleepover with a handful of girls! 

       

• S did her first Bollywood dance with a new friend that she enjoyed hanging out with!

• And then we left for our world tour! 
• Germany
• Visited Schloss Alsbach
• Dinner at Heidelberg - double date sans kids
• Drive to Neushwanstein - met with M & B there!
• Eat - the yummiest veggie paella in the world!

      

• India
• Taj Mahal
• Wedding fun @ Kurukshetra
• Eating @ Delhi
• Pune - Enjoying with J and family - Karla Caves
• Mumbai - Spending time with M, A and R. It was a treat! 
• Visited the India office of my company.
• Mangalore - Reception fun.
• Beach trip
• Village visit
• Bangalore - 
• Bino, Thameem
• SP's family
• Hareesh, Seenu
• Eating and dancing - S's first dance floor experience.
• Spending time getting pampered with friends and family and Lakme alike!

      

            

• France:
• Paris
• St. Gervais Les Bains
• S and G's first ski experience. They loved it! 
• We had to trek down from our chalet to buy oil, wine and bread! The trek was in 4' of freshly fallen slow. We had no roads or trails that we could see. I fell a few times before we reached St. Gervais! It was an experience. Spectacular views...Alps!

         

• Started the trip in Alps and ended it there! How fun!
• Came back feeling empty and luckily had friends to cheer us during the X-Mas break!

      

Now we look ahead to the next year and hopefully it is not rocky and is smooth sailing!

Happy New Year to everyone! Cheers and have a great one! From ours to yours...

A New Year ART

2016 Recap...A Little Too Late...

I normally would have written my summary for the year gone by before now but this year I am blame the slacking me. 2016 was tiring. That is the best way to describe it for me. Too many things done, too many weekends spent away from home but in general I still have the feeling that much was accomplished or maybe not...

January - Most of the family cleared and went back, the house felt silent and quite. The in-laws were still there so it was still a little busy but we missed the hustle and bustle of 14 people under one roof. I filled my evenings with long walks with my father-in-law and we spoke about everything. It was relaxing and we bonded.

February - My first time to South of the Border. It was one of the most fun vacations ever. Cannot wait to do it all over again.

March - Mixed bag! Got another year wiser! Went to NC to visit my parents. My brothers were throwing a big party to celebrate my dad's 80th. So we went there and had a blast. The party was great but the cousin bonding was amazing, the kids had a better time than the adults. S got to sit in the cockpit of the aircraft we flew in - a first! Father-in-Law's mother passed away. Our house got damaged severely in a hail storm. Good things and sad things...

April - S did her first Color Run at school. S got her first tennis trophy - a runner's up but still something. A very light month. We had booked our tickets to India so the countdown had started...

May - S finished another year at school. She was also very close to getting her Black Belt in Tae Kwan Do. S did her first Bharatanatyam performance. S's cousin R visited us with her mom from india and spent a couple of days with us. It was super fun to show them around town.

June - R was still here and we had more fun time together. Summer was spent with great friends, good wine and good food. The pool was warm and our house was welcoming. We spent many evenings and night sitting in the pool.

July - Saw Kabali in the theater with my BFF. It was just fun to be there together with her. S won her first ever tennis tournament. The date to the India trip was getting closer and G and I were on a weight loss mission...

August - Trip to India! Major milestone. After almost 4.5 years. The trip was definitely much awaited and super fun. We visited family in Chennai, Bangalore, Mangalore in the first part of the trip. We had to attend the death anniversary pooja for my grandfather in law who passed on at the age of 107. It was attend by many people from all over the country. The event was grand just like Ajjo. We miss him and his toothless smile. Even when he was 103, he communicated with me in Tamil and he always inquired about us.

September - From Mangalore we went to Goa, and finished up in Mumbai. The night we left was very sad. For the first time in my life I slept almost 16-19 hours on the flight and even in the airport while awaiting transit. I had zero jet lag when I came back.

October -  S turned a year older. Sleepover party. S was Pink Power Ranger for Halloween. We went camping for the first time ever with MN and family. It was awesome! We loved every bit of it and cannot wait to do it again. And then we also did Dandiya with Falguni Pathak. It was super fun. Thanks M for passing on tickets. Went to State Fair for the first time ever and got sick eating junk. Took the train to the fair and it was super fun with MN and A, G was out on a trip to celebrate him having a milestone birthday with his BFF's, they trekked and hung out! Diwali Parties!!! October was busy and hectic!

November - S got her Black Belt..hallelujah!!!. Got ready for the season, went to tree light lighting and got the X-Mas decorations out. Rank the chocoholic 5K with M for a third time.

December - Drove to NC to spend the week with my family. It was one of the best times of the year for me. I got to bond with my neices and nephews. The best part was that G indulged in all the babies. He played card games, tennis, video games, took them all out to dinner, ice cream and chilled with everyone. We took my sister's in-law to watch Dangal for a night show and it was awesome! Good memories! Spent New Years by the lake with a few of my closest friends. And now...back to reality!!!

And that was my year in a nutshell...hope everyone had a decent 2016 and hopefully a more decent 2017. I am mature enough and old enough to know that no year will be perfect. There will be ups and downs and we have to ride it to move on to our next goals!

xoxo
A Slacking ART

Oh God! Why Me?

It was 12.30 in the noon and my friend and I ran frantically between one bus to another bus to get a seat aboard some decent A/C bus to take me to Chennai. I had finished my TOEFL exam in Bangalore and had spent an extra day in Bangalore thereby loosing my reservation on train and the only way to get back seemed to be on road. Which, of course was completely booked. We finally got a set on a Karnataka State Transportation bus which I think was the cheapest fare I had traveled in my entire life between Bangalore and Chennai. And I have done that trip a million times.

My friend who dropped me in the bus was hesitant and asked me many times if I could postpone my ticket for a couple of days. I wished I could but I had to be in Chennai that night so I could take my GRE exam the following day. I walked inside the bus dreading the journey but to my surprise I saw this girl who was my brother's classmate's cousin. We had met at a party and for some odd reason, we knew her parents well and her own brother was my junior in college. The minute I sat down next to her she said, "please don't tell my dad or brother or my cousin that you saw me on this bus." I promised her wondering what her secret was. Which I eventually found out through another friend. At least I had nothing to hide so I saw down feeling a bit better that I had company with me on a bus which had maybe another woman on board.

We chatted a while before each of us got absorbed in our silence, she was not like my best friend or very close to me. We obviously lived different lives, one in which I told my parents everything, well almost and never traveled away from home without informing my family. The journey seemed painless and we assumed that we would reach home early before sunset and I started to relax. I told myself that this was not as bad as it seemed and for Rs.30 I could not have asked for more.

When we got close to Tamilnadu-Karnataka (Hosur) border we heard a lot of noise outside and the bus came to a sudden halt. I did not think it was much to worry for a few seconds before a handful of men walked into the bus with such propriety you would think they owned the bus. They had heavy logs of wood in their hand and the famous South-Indian Veecharuva (sickle). They walked into the bus looking high and low and screaming, "if you are in here come out, you are not going to escape alive." They walked past us and then stopped by us for a few seconds, we were the only two young girls in the entire bus. The two of us bent down looking at our bags intently and did not dare look up till the bus moved again. I think my legs were jelly and my stomach was running at a higher rate than my heart. My friend and I held hands and did not let go for a few minutes. 

The entire bus heaved a sigh of relief but I can bet no one would have come to save us had they wanted to walk away with us. Phew! Thank God! 

When we got to Chennai, my friend reminded me one more time not to tell her family about seeing me. I don't think I met her after that day but I still remember the events so clearly...of course things happened in slow motion freaking the daylights out of me...so much for a non-exciting Rs.30 travel day!

So anyway, I write after reading https://www.facebook.com/GurgaonPolice/posts/511992945549788

I can imagine to a certain extent what each of them might have gone through. Fear is the same when you feel overpowered and unsafe in any situation. It takes a lot for anyone to put aside their life and stand up for anyone else. 

Anyways...thought I will share!

Love

ART