Day 7 Final Day - Seven Days of Positivity

We made it to the final day of this positivity experiment - YaY :)!

This is the first time I posted something on my blog for seven straight days - quite an accomplishment :)! Being on leave did make it a lot easier though :)

I have truly felt amazing as I wrote each post this last week....and along the same lines, I hope I can continue my habit of sleeping with one happy thought in my mind every day....

Today was truly a relaxing day. I woke up early and read for a while, after which I spent the entire day at home.

Here is today's list of things that made me happy and I feel grateful about:

- My home office - I have a very nice setup at home to work on the computer....a 24-inch flat screen, a beautiful L-shaped desk, a window looking out on the street and a lovely lit room. I really enjoy spending my time in my home office and am grateful to have one!

- Scanning, uploading and emailing my maternity portraits - It was fun looking at all the maternity pictures that we clicked over the last month and scanning the few studio prints and emailing them to family n friends.

- Making chaat for dinner - Had a wonderful dinner at home with hubby n mom-dad...we made dahi-sev-puri chaat.....I did most of the prep and made it for everyone too....ofcourse mom helped quite a bit. I feel grateful that I am still able to do things in the kitchen and am not being a burden on anyone.

- My friends - All my close friends from all over the world have been regularly checking on my health. Friends in town come home and meet me. I feel very cared for and loved by each one of them. I am grateful to have my circle of friends surrounding me with love during this special time of my life.

- My family - Hubby, Parents, Sister,  In-laws, Bro-in-laws, Sis-in-law, aunts n uncles n cousins - each one of them has been extra nice to me during my pregnancy. I feel truly blessed!

As I wrap up this post, I want to thank Preeti for taking this initiative and inspiring so many bloggers to join her.

Always count your blessings! Stay Positive!

Day 6 - Seven Days of Positivity

Only two more days to this experiment - I think I will miss writing these things down after tomorrow :)

Today turned out to be another busy day.....not physically exhausting but tiring nonetheless.....

However, focusing on the positive these days is helping me forget the not-so-good moments very easily.....so try this experiment for yourself and see how well it works :)

So let's dive into today's happy/grateful moments:

- I woke up with a friend's phone call.....he doesn't realize but a few amazing things he said will stay with me forever. The entire conversation was not a happy one, however, I choose to only remember the positive :).

- Afternoon outing with dad - I took him for his first haircut outside India today...it was fun :) and then we went to Costco where we found clip-ons for his glasses....they fit very well and he is happy about it. Feels wonderful to be able to do such small things for him and with him.

- Dinner tonite - Mom made one of my favorites - Undhiyu today.....Dad and I helped her in the kitchen all afternoon....although she did a major chunk of the work. It was oober-delicious! And the three of us had a fun time prepping up!

- The cool weather - After several hot ~100F days, it was extremely pleasant all day today. We had the patio door and windows open all day.....California weather is such a blessing!

- Massage - Got another wonderful foot massage and a little bit of shoulder massage from hubby....it helps me sleep a LOT better at night.....and am very grateful that he offers to do it every single day.

Do make it a point to sleep with a happy thought in your mind! It truly does make a difference!

Day 5 - Seven Days of Positivity

The weekend is over.....didn't realize when it came and left.....it was a busy one as usual.

Today was an action packed day - haven't had such a busy day in a while now, so I'm glad the day is over. I also don't have to go to work tomorrow so I can rest all day and get all my energy back :).

Here is today's list of things that made me feel happy/grateful:

- Guru Purnima Satsang with mum n dad - Its always nice to do Satsang with parents.....today was an auspicious day and I felt great after doing it with them early in the morning.

- The countdown begins - Only 10 days to my due date now....can't wait for Baby's BirthDay!!!!

- A visit to the California State Fair - We spent the entire afternoon/evening at the state fair today at Cal Expo, Sacramento.....visited exhibits, saw a couple of shows and livestock, visited the county booths and also took a monorail ride of the entire fair in the end. It was a great way to spend our Sunday!

- Full Moon - The moon was gorgeous today.....did you guys see it? I missed watching the sunset in Folsom, but the clouds and sky were brilliantly colored at dusk!

- Foot Massage with Oil by hubby before bedtime - I suffer from pregnancy induced Edema, and hubby regularly does a great foot massage with sesame seed oil for me....today I needed it the most because I walked so much all day, and did not get any time during the day to put my feet up and relax. I will go to bed feeling much better after the wonderful massage!

Another week of leave begins - it also happens to be my 40th week of pregnancy - I'm almost there.....

Day 4 - Seven Days of Positivity

Today flew by so quickly. It's close to midnight and I just got done with the day. It was an extremely productive day though, and a happy one :) so no complaints!

Here are the 5 things that I am grateful about today:

- My prenatal yoga teacher Glenda - She is amazing....going to the class every Saturday (and now every Tuesday as well) has been something that I have looked forward to throughout my pregnancy. Me and her click so well....I even invited her home for lunch one day and introduced her to my family. I hope to continue postnatal yoga with her as well.

- Playing UNO with mom - Priceless! I wish I could capture all the expressions on her face when she plays card games with us.

- Showing the house/garden to friends/family - Its been more than a year that we moved into our home, and we still have visitors who come to our new abode for the first time. I still get the same excitement as the first day we moved or the day of our housewarming while showing them our home and our garden. It's the first home hubby and I purchased, so its very special to me.

- Shopping for fresh veggies at the Indian store with mum n dad - It is a boring task if I have to do it alone, but mum n dad make it so much fun. We have one Indian store in our area, Desi Bazaar, which gets fresh Indian vegetables from the bay area every Saturday. We go there every couple weeks right around 2-3pm when the veggies arrive, and it's a lot of fun picking them up. We discuss recipes, when we will cook what, etc etc....and also share it with friends when they visit :).

- Hiccups - I love the feeling I get of bubbles being blown inside my tummy when my baby is having hiccups :). Simple awesome!

Tomorrow is going to be an eventful day....it's Guru Purnima so we will do Satsang early morning, then we are planning to go to the California State Fair in Sacramento.....and we may have ice-cream at a local creamery which I absolutely love! Stay tuned :)

Do sneak a peak at the full moon in the sky - its going to be beautiful!

Day 3 - Seven Days of Positivity

I made a habit few weeks ago to think about one thing that made me very happy during the day before going to bed. This post is about five such things - and I have to write them down here, so it's harder than making a mental note, but its that much more fun :)!

Today was another peaceful day at home. This week I have really made it a point to relax as much as possible - physically as well as mentally. Everyone has said that it will be extremely busy after the baby, so I am making the most of this precious time before my bundle of joy arrives :).

Here is a list of 5 things that made me happy today:

- Listening to my baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office - nothing can beat the feeling I get when I listen to her heart beating inside my tummy. It truly is special!

- Cracking up on gujju jokes sent by dad - Dad reads all the Gujarati newspapers online and keeps forwarding us articles/jokes. The ones he sent today were hilarious!

- Watering the plants inside my home and in the garden - Gardening provides a lot of peace and relaxation to the mind. Usually my hubby waters the plants every evening, and sometimes mom does it. Today I decided to do it, and it was fun seeing the tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro, mint, oranges, lemons, roses - all blooming so well in the garden.

- Picking up my maternity portraits from Kiddie Candids - I was looking forward to the prints from my photo session last weekend....they did not disappoint :). I picked up one color and one black & white collage.....will scan it sometime and put it up here on the blog.

- A text message from my friend S - I supported her during a difficult time she went through last couple weeks, and she sent me a lovely text message saying how much it meant to her. Needless to say, it made me happy :)!

Preeti Shenoy has created a positivity group on Facebook - 7 days to Positivity. Please join if you are interested and share your thoughts.


Ninite and Sweet Dreams!

Day 2 - Seven Days of Positivity

I felt great yesterday after writing about the 5 things that made me happy/grateful.

Today has been another good day. I feel extremely relaxed staying at home with mom and dad. A full time corporate job is indeed stressful, no matter how much you enjoy your work.

So here goes today's list:

- I am grateful for not having to go to work today. I could not sleep at all last night. At around 6am, I changed positions and finally went to sleep...I woke up only at 10am. It felt great. I got much needed rest which I would be deprived of if I had to leave for work at 8am.

- Mom's cooking - My mom is an excellent cook, and I feel blessed to be able to enjoy homemade meals prepared by her these days :). Lunch today was my favorite.

- Making Quinoa Upma with mom - I always try to cook Indian style dishes with ingredients that are locally available in the US but not in India. Today, mom and me tried making upma with Quinoa grain...it turned out good. Quinoa has a very high protein content and contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. You can read more on the wiki link or google.

- Watching Despicable Me in 3D - I love animation movies :). We had a free movie day at work today. The entire theatre was reserved for Intel employees to go watch any movie of their choice, and I watched Despicable Me in 3D. I loved the ending of the movie, and Margo, Edith, Agnes were oh-so-cute :)

- Evening walk - The weather is so nice after 9pm when we all go for a walk around the community. There was a cool breeze today, it was quiet and peaceful, and being on a hill with very little street lighting, we could see so many stars in the sky. It was wonderful!

Feeling so content after writing this....in a perfect mood to read a book and then off to bed!

Day 1 - Seven Days of Positivity

I read a post on Preeti Shenoy's Blog on Seven Days of Positivity and decided to do it myself.

So here is a list of 5 things which made me feel happy/good/grateful today:

- A visit to the mall with mom n dad n my friend A, where we went to the Apple store and I showed them the "iPad" - they were truly delighted. We also tried the Facetime application on the new iPhone4 and they were amazed.

- Banana/Nutella crepes and Pistachio Gelato - Delish :)

- Receiving my first disability paycheck from the State of California - as I am on maternity leave, I am officially on disability leave and have the benefit of getting paid for my maternity time off from the state. This is the first time ever in my life that I am using any of the benefits that I have paid for so far!

- A hot shower - It relaxes me so much. I am grateful for being able to afford hot water every day.

- My friend P - so grateful for him in my life. I really enjoyed my early morning conversation with him today.

This first post was not as hard as I thought :)...let's see if the next ones get more difficult!

As Preeti rightly said, I'm feeling great already after penning this down! Try it yourself!

Mom-dad US visit 2010 - musings (2)

I started my maternity leave 10 days ago, and time is just flying by. My friends and I thought I would be bored in the first couple days, and boy we were so wrong :).

Spending these few days off with mom-dad before the baby is a special gift. I cherish it every day. Last week, my sister was here too, as she had a week off from work....time flew by but we all had a great time together.

Last night, I made tacos for my parents...dad LOVES avocados, so he enjoyed them very much. I made salsa at home too since the store ones have onion/garlic which they don't eat.

We went to Ikea the day before yesterday...and picked up small things for them to carry back home. They both LOVE the store, and could spend hours in there. For me, I got my walking for the day done :).

Dad accompanies me for all the errands that I have to run - I enjoy driving him around town, and chatting with him on life in US. Sometimes we take mom along too...like the other day we all went to Costco and spent more than a couple hours there. We all love that store too!

We did BBQ in our backyard...it was a first time for mum n dad, and they enjoyed it.

We went to Apple Hill for blueberry picking...it was a hot day, but we had a great time. The best part was stopping on the side of the road near a cherry farm and "stealing" some cherries...before anyone could come and warn us or shoo us away.

We also go for a late night post-dinner walk around the community few days a week. The weather is just amazing at that time....cool with a slight breeze...and since we don't have many street lights where we live, the sky lights up like fireworks. If it's a full moon night, its an added bonus :).

Mom-dad also completed their first 5k walk last month. I thought they did remarkably well, as it was another warm morning. I hope to do another one with them in September/October.

We went to the Sacramento Rivercats Baseball game, and having never watched baseball before, mum n dad were trying to figure out the rules :). Then they watched a couple games on TV and understood the rules, and made sense of what they saw on the field. They found the game very slow and boring (just like me :))!

We enjoyed watching FIFA and Wimbledon during the last few weeks....and a couple of good Gujarati plays on DVD. Our family does not watch much TV, and I find that to be such a huge blessing.

We also play UNO/card games....watching mom play UNO is PRICELESS! She hates to lose, so she gets all tensed and worked up if she has too many cards on her hands. She feels very guilty when she forgets to say "UNO" with one card in her hand, even if it goes unnoticed by others :)! Pure bliss to watch her face during those moments!

Other than these activities, my daily conversations and quiet moments with them are something that makes me feel so content. It is extremely hard for me to see them grow old, and there are few things that I struggle with every single day. However, I feel extremely blessed to be able to spend this special time of my life with them.