Bubbliest Babs!

Yesterday the two of us were cuddling close to each other trying to take a nap. You wanted to wiggle away and I held you close saying, "in a couple of years you wont come close to me, so just stay put." Your eyes teared up, you turned and looked at my face and said, "amma don't say such things and make me sad."

I reminded you that," this is a part of growing up Babs, it is what I did and what everyone has done. Nothing wrong with it," I tried to rationalize. You being all of five asserted, "amma, I will never stop cuddling with you, if you say such things, I am going to get really sad and cry."

"I promise, I wont say such things again," I assured her and held her close by scared that in a few years you will be embarrassed to hug me, give me a kiss on the cheek, or hold hands with me like you do every time we go for a walk. Which by the way I love, our walks. Our evening mile long walks when we do multiplication tables, sing songs, say stories, talk nonsense, fight, and you get tired when I drop you off home with Dad. I love those.

I love the way you experiment walking on your own a few steps and then hurry coming back to hold my hands. I love the tiny fingers and big talks. I felt bad when you cried after seeing a dead squirrel on the road. Then I loved the story to made up to make it a happy ending for the squirrel, the enthusiasm with which you shared the story with your dad and pointing the exact location where we found him when we drive by each time.

You are so grown up...well...most of the time. And then again you are a little baby, our baby. We fight everyday when you eat slowly, as if each bite should and has to take 3 minutes at least. We fight when you start bargaining TV time for doing even the simplest thing. I love that you know how to strike a deal. We fight when you start doing something and loose focus on it. We fight when you go to a class and spend more time chatting than actually working. But at the end of the day after you have slept, when me and your dad look at your face, we are in awe of everything that you. All the energy, ideas, ideals, laziness, and most importantly the love your being holds, how you define us and how we define ourselves because you. I love you my Babs!

Love
ART

Slacker!

When you are busy or just feel that 24 hours is not enough then the first thing that goes out the window is....your blog. Yes! That is what has happened to me this year. I have never been this bad...oh well! Records are meant to be broken.

Anyways, this year has been epic so far. I cannot explain in words how each and every month has a scary turn associated with it.

February saw me getting into an accident...an Ford 250 pick up rear ended me on a busy high way at peak traffic hours. I am glad that I could drive that car home and could put my fingers in front of my face and could count them...I did a self test while I waited for the cops to arrive...gave myself a clean chit...no concussion. The cops never arrived and I drove him a beaten up Prius. Two months later and after a lot of back and forth we bought yet another new Prius...my brand new car was totaled.

Friends have been sick, not the usual cold, but something more serious. A friend met with a horrible scary accident. Another friend is going through some issues that  break my heart every time I think about him and his family. And things going here and there that are scary. A late night phone call freaks me out...so do not call me late unless it is the juiciest of juicy gossip.

I have not seen many new movies but am still engrossed in love with Korea and everything Korean. Love my dramas. Love my Korean actors. And the Korean Language...Still in love...more in love after I found this out...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravido-Korean_languages. I wondered why it was so easy for me to pick up Korean...and then I realized the similarities that I pointed out to G, and he googled this up. He wondered why I had not thought of doing it before, and I told him that I never thought there could be such a thing...well wonders never cease.

Anyways...this is a good start and hopefully will keep it going!

Keep visiting and I will continue blogging...and switch over to another RSS feeder before google shuts Reader down.

Love
ART

Kaapi na Narasus Kaapi Dhan...Besh Besh Romba Nanna Irukku

Remember this advertisement? I used to watch it every single time it came on TV, to just see the young and handsome Arvind Swamy's face. I would run all the way to the living room as soon as I heard the noise. I did not care about coffee but I cared about Arvind Swamy. Sadly, not any more...heard he did not grow up to be cute...

Anyways, remember the song, from Minsara Kanavu? In that she says, in Tamil, Pasi konda neram thaalikkum osai...sandhosha sangeetham...when you are hungry the noise of food getting prepared is happy music (thalikkum =  making tadka).

How true is that line? I think in those days Vairamuthu knew exactly what was going on in my mind. Almost all his songs reflected how I felt...anyway getting to the point...I remember hearing and smelling the tadka for the dal being made and I would be at the table ready to gobble up whatever came out of the kitchen. I think you get twice as hungry if you can smell and hear the ghee tadka...

But now I am into one smell, nope, aroma...coffee...I never thought, even in those days of dreaming of Arvind Swamy that I would be a coffee drinker. I was raised as a South India drinking Desi Chai at home...not British, not American or Narsus Coffee drinker...I was a chai girl.

I know how that happened. After moving to America the only time I get my Desi chai fix is over the weekend. What do I do for the 5 days in between? I tried to tea bag it, and realized that it is the worst type of drinking tea ever. Then I tried hot chocolate, does not help at all in Texan Heat. Then finally I settled down with Coffee, creamer, and loads of sugar. At first, it was a 1/4 American sized coffee mug (equals one cup of coffee in rest of the world), then a little over 1/4 mug and now I have graduated to the point of slightly over 1/2 mug and less than 3/4 mug. I am proud to have made the transition. I have managed to keep it to strictly a maximum of 2 cups a day.

When I walk into the office kitchen, seeing a full pot of coffee makes my heart happy and then the aromahhhh...this is a close second to the sound and smell of mom making dal tadka...I think as we grow up we tend to slowly replace old memories with new ones...and that is what is happening to me here...

BTW, how cute was Arvind Swamy in Dalapathy, Roja and Bombay? Perfect South Indian boy...

And have you heard Urvasi Urvasi in the recent past? What fun lyrics...the movie released a year before I sat for my boards and everything Mr. Vairamuthu said in the song held true for my life.

Anyways, even if you cannot speak Tamil or know what Tamil is click through the links and you might find something fun...

Love
ART

The Recap

This year I have been slow about everything. I will blame it on the drive, once again. I barely find time to do anything else. Even spend time with the family is now going on, on the basis of appointment system. In between all this chaos, I am trying to work in some work out and that is going nowhere either. But then, I will not complain, 2012 was full of surprises. I have changed jobs, learning a lot and my daughter turned 5 and life goes on...And here is a recap like I have been doing all the previous years:


January 2012: We started off partying and welcoming 2012 in San Francisco with family and close friends. A trip to the Golden Gate on the perfectly clear and sunny day was very welcome and ending it at a coffee shop watching the waves hit the rocks was perfect.

In an attempt to loose some weight, I went for an early morning boot-camp, and in the process of doing something I am normally not capable of I tore my LCL. I think my body warned me but I did not listen to it.

February: India beckoned and we went away for a month. There was a wedding filled with his family and then small trips to Goa, Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai completed the rest of the trip which went into March. I thought I was getting off the brace and almost stopped using it until I realized that I had not healed yet towards the end of the trip. Came back with a swollen knee...too much fun is also not good sometimes...I guess...

March: We got back in time to celebrate my birthday and then a family trip to Houston where we went to Brazos Bend State Park and spent time with the Aligators...Also March saw me switching over from Iphone to Samsung and buying my favorite toy an Ipad to replace the void of not owning an Apple product. Oh and BTW turned a year older.

April: Was in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm, sitting and waiting it out in the stair case while tornadoes went past us...and it was also the time when I got re-addicted to my Korean Dramas! Oh and there was also the trip to Austin with family living on the lake for three days and lazing away supremely.

May: The big change. Took a break from work. It was relaxing, therapeutic and could not have come at a better time...summer! Babs and I got to spend so much time together doing new things. I knew that this break was short lived and tried to pack as many things into it as possible.

June: One of the worst months in the year but a lesson learnt. Kids deal with adversities way better than adults...Babs broke her hand while doing a harmless jump from a harmless place in a harmless mall play area...I cried. I freaked out. She said she did not care and went on with life. I panicked. I created scene!

July: I do not remember anything fun. All I can think of is trying to keep Babs with a broken arm busy and making up things to do with a child with one hand in a cast.

August: I worked through July and August at this interior design firm. It was one of the best experiences I will carry with me.

September: A trip to the family before I started my new driving job...brothers and parents and all the kids under one roof. It was chaotic but so much fun like only family can be. And more Korean was being learnt in the household. I started my 100 mile a day drive this month!

October: Parents came! Babs birthday! Hubs birthday! It was all so fun and so busy. October sets off the busy time of the year with every weekend all the way to the end of the year being booked. We also squeezed in a Cowboys game among everything. A first time visit to the amazing Cowboy Stadium in Arlington.

November: We went to a Kansas State Home game. Thanks to our K-State friends. It was the best game experience ever! It even trumped the Cowboys game. Being with fellow K-staters, screaming and cheering for your team cannot be compared to sitting and sulking at the Cowboys game. Plus we won! what a night. Thanks M and V. November also marked the last time G's bro and family would drive up to visit us. They moved out of the country to a funner place but that only made all of us super sadder!

December: There were parties to go to. Gifts to buy and wrap. Games to be played. Plum cake to be consumed. Cakes and cookies of different size and shape to be made and eaten. New coffee shops (Korean of course) to be explored. The winter snow on Christmas Day was priceless. No wonder that it is the most wonderful time of the year.

And that brings us to now...a year during which I hope to blog more. Write more. Spend time with my friends more. And keep in touch with all family as much as I can. I have to stop complaining and start living!

Love and Enjoy
ART

Things I Say

Will now get either said back to me or repeated whether I am around or not. I keep learning and re-learning this lesson but never remember to follow it through...

The other day we (as in Babs and I) were stuck at a light. It is one of those lights that take for ever to turn green. I could have turned right but then I decided to go straight and we were stuck. For Babs, the time it took for the light to turn green was equal to how soon she would get her weekly frozen yogurt. Suddenly from behind she yells,

"Chal bey! Poora din rukhna hai kya yahan. Kitna time letha hai ye dakkan red light. (Move it you, do you want to take the whole day? How long will this annoying red light take.)"

I realized that I had passed on my road rage issues to my daughter. And of course you cannot blame me either. I drive 110 miles a day...the least I can do is scream my guts out when I get stuck anywhere on the road.

A Conversation with Babs to remember

Babs: Do you know what a crush is?
Me: Ya, like a squeezed fruit juice? They call that a crush in India.
Babs: No, not that one. There is another type.
Me: Oh, you mean like crushing you when I give you a tight hug? (me playing innocent."
Babs: No mom, like when someone has a crush on someone, it means they like them.
Me: Really? How old are you?

Ya, my daughter is growing old faster than I want her too. I want her classmates to slow down so she would and we could all slow down this growing old process...

But the stuff she throws at me...if only I could write them all down.

Merry Christmas
ART