"A Friday ritual. A single photo - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
I LOVE how the daughter is flaunting her doggie (which rolls around and laughs hysterically, and the daughter imitates the doggie every.single.time - its darn cute :))....and giving THAT look to me.
And I'm digging these CK Jeans of hers - I wish I had a pair that looked sooooo good!
And while we're at the jeans, I wish {never in my dreams I thought I would say this} I had curls in my hair too!
- I fell more and more in love with the daughter. I am enjoying her toddler-hood even more than the infant phase last year. Every moment spent either being with her or thinking about her brings me to a place of joy and peace. She is my best creation till date, and will always be!
- I LOVE watching the daughter sleep. I love that she falls asleep in my arms every night. I secretly hope this never changes.
- I spent 7 months this year with my parents. Including the 8 months we spent together last year, it's been an amazing 15 months with them. Much needed, much deserved - I have been away from home for 12 years now, and only managed to spend a few weeks every year with them until now. They are both retired, and need me more than ever. They adore the grand daughter, and it's just absolutely magical to see them soooooooo happy with her. I can't wait for them to come back next year for few more months!
- I feel extremely blessed and grateful to find a caregiver for the daughter who is loving, nurturing, trustworthy and sooper sweet. On most days, the daughter runs into her arms with a smile, and is hugged and kissed all day. She is fed well, and has never been miserable. As a mom, I leave a piece of myself when I leave my child in someone else's care, and I'm glad I found someone I can trust.
- I am also grateful and proud of myself, for deciding to switch to a reduced work week and stay home for 3-4 days every week and spend quality time with the daughter. Everyone has been very supportive of my decision, and it's been very rewarding too.
- My babie sister got married in January. The entire event went very well and was very memorable. Her husband and in-laws have blended with us so well, that it seems we've known them for years. They take great care of my parents in our absence, and have entered into our lives as a blessing.
- We traveled to Alaska, with mom n dad n the daughter. Even though there was rain in our forecast, we were greeted with sunny warm days during our stay. The glaciers, the wildlife, the wilderness, the midnight sunsets, the helicopter ride over Denali, the landing on a glacier - it was all surreal. Alaska is breathtaking.
- The daughter's cousins and aunt and grandparents visited her. Her cousins showered so much love - it melted my heart.
- I had many ups and downs with the husband, but we are ending the year on a high. Love is the deepest, trust and respect are the foundation, bond is the strongest. I brought humor and play into our relationship, and its working wonders.
- I learnt through experience, that even the closest of friends can become strangers.
- I decided to take the minimalist route on many things. I disconnected cable TV and my cell phone data plan. We did not purchase any new gadgets or furniture for the house. We hardly ate out and chose to try new recipes at home. We reduced socialization - parties, gatherings - and chose to spend quality time at home as a family all year long.
- I read many good books this year - Born to Run, The Help, Steve Job's biography (yet to finish coz its very long), Rafa (Nadal's biography), etc.
- I managed to blog 83 posts in 2011 - which is equal to the combined total of posts from 2008-2010. That's pretty amazing!
- I learnt to be much more patient this year, thanks to the daughter. There have been times when I'm literally on the edge, but I don't lose it. I cannot thank her enough for bringing more patience into my life.
- I learnt to live in the moment each day, just like the daughter. I enjoyed simple pleasures of life - sunsets, flowers in my garden, home cooked meals, presence of elders, the ocean, park visits, reading books, giggling - just to mention a few.
- I also learnt to be more humble and compassionate.
As this year comes to an end, I feel grateful for another healthy, adventurous, and fun year. I feel loved. I feel content. I feel blessed. I feel at peace.
Here's the daughter on 1-1-11....she was only 5 months old:
And here she is on Christmas 2011.....what a terrific year it has been watching her grow in front of our eyes.
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
There's something special about taking an unplanned day off :).....I did that on Tuesday {the daughter had to be kept home due to illness}. It turned out to be a 5-day break for me from work, since I had Friday and Monday off as well :). She was bored being home and was feeling good enough to be outdoors for a couple of hours, so we headed to the library where she LOVED playing with the wooden peg puzzles, and then we went to the park next to the library where she ran around and explored all the structures. We socialized with other visitors - the daughter wins hearts by giving away flying kisses and saying "love you" on demand :). We ended our outing with fun times on the swing just when the sun was starting to set :).
I've been in the US almost 12 years, and to be honest, I've never really enjoyed the holiday season much. It's usually a depressing time, with dark evenings and cold nights, no family around, no traditions to follow, and not much to do outdoors.
Over a period of time, I've gotten used to the weather atleast.....infact, I can even say that I quite enjoy wearing my coat and boots and stepping out everyday. I have even tried skiing and snowboarding - I hated skiing but loved snowboarding. I've tried snowmobiling and snowshoeing as well, and I quite enjoy being out in the mountains during this season. Although, given a choice, I would take a flight back home to see my family anyday...and I've done that many times.
This year, however, feels different. It's the first time we have the daughter around during the holidays (last year we were in India and she was only 5 months old) and I feel excited, happy, eager to do things that everyone does during this time. To begin with, we ordered custom stockings for everyone - mine needs to be put up but the rest are up :).
Next on the list was the Christmas tree. I don't like to spend much on things that cannot be used year round, and occupy space in the garage. I'm not much of a consumerist, and lately, I have been going the minimalist route on everything (more on that in another post). So I wanted a Christmas tree, but did not want to spend much....also we could not get a huge one coz the daughter would get to it, and with the lights and ornaments, it would be hazardous. I was discussing this dilemma over lunch with a colleague, and he generously offered me this tree that was lying in his garage. Its PERFECT - it's small, has lights (fiber optic strands) that blink and change colors, and it sits pretty in the corner of our family room. The daughter is smitten - she loves the color "blue" and waits for the lights to turn that color, and also says "blink blink blink" all day. She insists we keep the lights on ALL day, and we gladly oblige :).
We took her for Santa pictures last weekend, and she was extremely cranky when we first got there. So we stepped aside and let her play in the toy area, and she fell in love with the pretend-play kitchen, and was back to her smiling personality :). The red dress gives such an Xmassy feel - I love it :)!
We also took her to the holiday lights show at the Folsom Zoo. We saw Santa (again :)), billions of lights, a bear mascot (who she called "Pooh") and lots of nocturnal cats playing in their pens. A lot of zoo volunteers were around, and were educating us about the animals. A couple cool things that stayed with me:
- How do you know whether the animal is a prey or a predator? It's from the eyes. If it looks straight, its a predator. If it looks sideways, its prey.
- Cougars (or mountain lions) - They have one of the best BMI's of all cats. They are ambush predators, and hunt mainly deer here in California.
Here are a few pictures from our zoo outing:
It's also funny that the daughter calls Santa "Baba". We have taught her a morning ritual of doing jayjay to Sai Baba's picture in our family room, and bowing down to him. She can also say "Sai Baba". Now she thinks any bearded dressed up man is Baba, and Santa perfectly fits this thinking of hers :).
Now coming to the gifts. So far, we've bought many small but useful gifts for the daughter. We have 3 books, a hat+mitten set, a couple wooden puzzle sets, and a toy. She's getting few things from her maasi (aunt) and close friends of ours. Her naani-maa has already shipped her a box full of custom-tailored outfits.....they are so cute, I wish I could wear them :). I know she's spoilt rotten by everyone, but looking at the infinite amount of joy she brings into each of our lives, she deserves all of this, and much more.
Last couple nights, she's been a laughing riot before bedtime. I had tears of joy looking at her - giggling, laughing, giving kisses, doing stunts - just being so content and happy - last night, before she went to bed. Our ritual is - after masti-time, I hug her tight, softly whisper a prayer in her ears, and she falls asleep by the time the prayer is done. I can tell from her breathing how soundly she is asleep. And I only leave once she's into deep sleep, her breathing has settled, and she's at peace, and looks content. I can never get tired of admiring her beauty or simply just gazing at her while she's asleep. Its absolutely my most favorite thing to do. I find it irresistible to not eat her up at that time.
It's only this profound happiness and joy that the daughter brings into our lives is going to make the holidays so special this year. This is our real gift, and our choicest blessing! Everything else is just wrapping paper around it!
Happy Holidays 2011 - from our family to yours :)!
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
The daughter adores this hot pink coat of hers :). She wears it first thing in the morning, and it stays on until we take her for her bath in the evening. She wears it all day at daycare as well. She looks oh-so-cute in it - I cuddle, snuggle, snuddle, n smooch her gazillion times a day :)!
I ❤ winter coz it makes babies look chubbier :) :) :) :)!
I also like how demure & different she looks in this picture. The reason is - we had tied her hair in a ponytail, and she had just removed the band before this picture was taken....if we had waited 5 more mins, her gorgeous curls would have made an appearance :)!
Camping under the Jumparoo is her FAVORITE thing to do. She naps, eats her snack, plays with her toys - does everything here. And yes, it's very cute to see her hang out here :)!
And the sight of a book makes her grin from ear-to-ear.....she devours them like nothing else. I hope it ALWAYS stays this way {touchwood}!
“True friendship isn't about being there when it's convenient; it's about being there when it's not.”
Last Friday was my husband's birthday. For my birthday in November, we had a flight to catch in the evening, so we could not go out for dinner or celebrate in any other way since we both had to go to work. We thought we shall do some celebration on hubby's birthday. Our team had a quarterly event that day, and I was organizing it (a game of cricket as most of our group is non-Asian and wanted to learn the game), so I had a busy though fun-filled day planned. Right in the middle of the cricket game, one of my very close friends called me. She was profusely crying, and told me that her dad passed away in India. I was shocked, and for a moment, I did not know what to say. I quickly recovered from the news, and at that time, I told her to calm down, told her I was extremely sorry to hear the news, and I told her I'll call back in some time. I was umpiring the game and could not just run away from it.
Hubby and I spoke briefly about this news, and decided to drive down to her place (2.5 hours away) in the evening. We fed an early dinner to the daughter, and had a light dinner ourselves at home, and left. We were there with them until they left for India, and even though it was a stressful weekend, and unlike what we had planned, we were grateful to be there for them when they needed it the most.
We often hear such news, and dismiss them, since it happened to others, not us. It's similar to a natural disaster striking in some part of the world, but not ours. We quietly thank God and count our blessings. And then it happens to someone we know, or, sometimes, to our own family - and we are left shattered. Living in the US, the guilt of not being there with our family is profound. And I feel, the best thing you can do is to be there for the person who has lost someone, or has been affected by a life-changing calamity.
I gave my friend and her sister, who were both in shock and grieving, countless hugs and kisses. I listened - they expressed how they felt, they thought it was still someone's dad and not their dad who passed away, they worried about taking care of their mom, and many other thoughts that they poured out. I helped keep the house going by cooking meals, and ensuring everyone was fed. We kept her girls (who are 6 and 3) entertained and out of trouble. I reminded them of important stuff to carry. I helped them book tickets. I cleared out the refrigerator, and all the trash. I helped them pack their bags.
I explained to them the 5 stages of grief - Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. I told them they will have to pass through these, and I pray and hope that they get the strength to bear this, and that they heal with time.
I spoke to Aunty (their mom) and told her I will be there with them until they leave for India....and I fulfilled my promise to her. She has always asked me for help and trusted me in such situations, and I lived up to her expectations this time as well.
All this was very very hard for me - emotionally, as well as mentally. I've known my friend and her family for years (15+), and I met her parents earlier this year during my sister's wedding. I admire her mom tremendously, and have always looked up to her, coz she was a working woman until she retired just last year, and worked very very hard all her life for her family. My heart was crying out for all of them, but I had to put up a strong face, and be calm and collected. I think I did a fairly good job of it.
I have to especially thank my husband, who supported me on every front. It was his birthday, and we could not celebrate it. Even if we do it later, its not the same. This was my friend, not his. But he put her needs before his, and I admire and love him for that.
The kids tremendously helped keep the atmosphere of the house lively. They didn't understand what had happened, even though my friend tried to explain to her older daughter who is 6. They just wanted to play, coz it was a weekend. They knew about the India trip during Christmas, so even the travel was not a major surprise...it was just happening a few days earlier than planned. Here they are, enjoying their time together.
I know once my friend reaches India, it's going to hit her very hard. She must have just landed as I type this, and she's in my thoughts and prayers.
A few things I would like to remind myself and everyone else:
- Hug and kiss your children, your spouse, and your loved ones - as often as possible.
- Say "I love you" to the above people as often as possible.
- If you are living away from your parents and siblings, talk to them as often as possible. Even if its a short phone call, do it.
- Leave grudges behind. Let go of things easily.
- Embrace the positive. Be joyful.
- Take a minimum of 5 minutes daily for yourself. Meditate or just have quiet time with yourself. It will help your mind calm down, and help you de-stress.
- Pray.
- Be compassionate. Help those in need.
- Be grateful for all your blessings!
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
Happy Birthday to the most amazing dad. When we travel, he carries the diaper bag, the milk bottle, the camera bag, and sometimes the baby too (she decides who will carry her :)). He also clicks great pictures of mommy and baby. And when he gets a moment, he pauses, and takes in the view!
It seems that the daughter's vocabulary has suddenly exploded in the last couple weeks. She's always been very verbal, and a very quick learner - but now, you just say a word and she instantly repeats it. Just today, she learnt 4 new words - Tiger, Welcome, Neo (our friend's puppy lab) and Hello!
Some of the phrases she can say are: "This is", "nathi javu (in Gujarati)", "Miss you mumma", "Love you", "No bhua (water)", "aa shu (in Gujarati)", "Welcome", "Ha Ha Ha", etc. She can also join two words and respond back in a meaningful way, which I think is a significant milestone!
Some of the words she has learnt so far are:
Mumma, Pappa, Ruhi, NO, Star, Moon, Kite, Light, Clock, Banana, Grape, Plum, Tomato, Shoe, Wawa (for clothes), Nai Nai (for shower), Cow, Cup, Go, Come, Love, You, Yep, Tiger, Yoyo, Phone, Hello, Baba, Maasi, Mama, Ball, Dada, Naani, Nana, Done, Bhua, Mum Mum, Mamaiyo, Neo, Didi, Pooh, Pocoyo, Yum, Two, Boo Boo, Ha Ha Ha, etc.
I'm sure I have missed many words from the long list above. And these ones she can speak; she can understand a ton more.
One of the most enjoyable things is making her imitate animal sounds. She knows how to say the following animal sounds when prompted: Dog, Cat, Lion, Bear, Monkey, Cow, Octopus, Wolf, Fishie, Sheep, Snake, Bee, Horse, Chicken, Birdie, People (she says bleh bleh bleh when asked what do people say)!
She will say "Ha Ha Ha" when asked to be Happy, and say "umm umm" with a sad face when asked to be Sad :). She will also say "GO" after we say "Ready Steady".
She knows how to give a flying kissie, how to give a huggie, how to make her soft toys sleep, how to do vahali vahali, how to do a somersault, how to jump, how to sing, and how to dance, among loads of other things! She knows how to take a phone call and say hello. She finishes with "GOOOOO" when we say "Ready, Steady".....it's been SO much FUN lately!
We have been taking her for swim classes since she was 6 months old. She now understands how to blow bubbles on the surface, and also kicks her legs when we ask her to do so. She stays pretty still when made to float, and jumps into the water from the side of the pool with no fear whatsoever. On Thanksgiving day, we took her to a beach. She kept running to the ocean even as the huge waves were crashing onto the shore, and simply loved being at the beach. She even got her hands dirty with sand, and did not hesitate to taste some :P! I'm glad my baby is loving the water as much as I do!
The other thing she really enjoys is dancing! When we got back from the Mexico cruise last week, we were waiting at the cruise terminal for the hubby to pick us up. It was early morning, and the daughter was full of energy. There were tons of people waiting for their rides, but most of them looked tired, or sleepy, and sat there with sulked faces. The daughter ran around, and kept pausing when she heard an interesting piece of music being played, danced to it, and then started running again. While chasing her down, I noticed something remarkable. Every single person whose path she crossed had a smile on their face as they watched her dance. By the time she had made two rounds in the waiting area, the whole mood of the place had changed. You could feel it being happy and cheerful. I will remember this moment very fondly!
Slowly, we have started to potty train her. We do it in the mornings when she wakes up, and are trying to make her understand the concept. If things continue to progress that way they have so far, she will be potty trained soon. If not, it will just take a little bit of more time and effort from our end.
We face challenges as well, routinely. Meals is our biggest issue. Based on how the daughter eats, I decide whether my day went well or not :). It continues to be a huge stress factor for me, and I hope things improve somewhat on that front.
Motherhood has been extremely rewarding, and is making me a better person as each day goes by.
I got tagged by Preeti Shenoy to do this very difficult TAG which goes something like this: Rules: 1) Blogger is nominated to take part 2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog - 1 link for each category. The links are: - Your most beautiful post - Your most popular post - Your mostcontroversial post - Your mosthelpful post - A post whose success surprised you - A post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved - A post you are most proud of
3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nomiate another 5 more bloggers
5) And so it goes on!
I enjoy blogging for myself, and write only for myself, not others. However, a lot of people read my blog, even though they rarely leave comments. I look at the TAG above as a self-review of my blog - anyone reading the 7 posts that I pick out will get a very good snapshot of my blog and get to know me in the process :). This would be the 158th published post here, and I have a few more drafted posts that I hope to complete and publish some day.
Most Beautiful Post Beauty could lie in a picture, in the writing, or in the message. I'm choosing pictures as my beauty, and would like to pick the following post as the most beautiful post: http://shachi18.blogspot.com/2009/04/sunsets.html I'm blessed to live in a town where I get to see a "GORGEOUS" sunset every single day. And I also never miss an opportunity to be at the beach when the sun sets. I absolutely love this time of the day!
Apart from this, any post which has my daughter's picture in it is Beautiful for me :)!
Most Controversial Post I'm not someone who picks up controversial topics to write on my blog here, as I think of this space as a happy place. I am very strongly opinionated in real life, and would definitely chime in my thoughts on any topic being discussed, but the only controversial thing (or close to it) that I've written here is probably this post: http://shachi18.blogspot.com/2010/12/girl-child.html And I DO feel very strongly about this topic!
Most Helpful Post I do a lot of research on things, and I should probably pen down some of it here, as I know many will find it useful. Since I don't have anything that I have researched to pick from, the most helpful post I think is the one below (it's something I found on the internet); it is also googled a lot and I see atleast 5 visitors everyday who land on my blog after googling about this. http://shachi18.blogspot.com/2009/08/regina-bretts-45-life-lessons-and-5-to.html
A post whose success surprised me I do not advertise my blog. Some of my closest family and friends also don't know about it. There's no particular reason for it - it's just that I write because I love to and not for others, and I find writing extremely therapeutic. In this sense, my blog is very much private, and hence you don't see many comments. If success is measured in the number of comments too (just like popularity), then this one surprised me: http://shachi18.blogspot.com/2009/04/hug.html Which makes me think that I should write about my day-to-day experiences more often!
This post, which summarizes my first decade in the US, is something that makes me feel very proud. I tried to include a picture from each year, and summarized the highlights very well.
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
The daughter LOVED sipping fresh coconut water at Ensenada, Mexico! She also ate the delicious malai! We took a cruise for the first time with her, and she did great :)!
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
Sunset @Torrey Pines State Park, San Diego, CA on Thanksgiving Day, 2011!
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
The cake on the top is homemade by my lovely sister. The cake below was a sweet surprise from hubby, and the meal on the right was a full Gujarati meal cooked by my sister for me - kadhi, parvar nu shaak, chhuti mag ni daal, patra, puran poli, rotli and rice.
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
11:11:11 on 11/11/11 - the last binary moment of the century. I spent this moment counting my blessings, and cherishing my daughter's smile, which melts my heart every.single.time.!
11-10-11 - It's a binary day today. Tomorrow will be another binary day, the greatest of all (all 1's), the LAST of the century....geeks like me fancy such stuff....I'll be watching my clock at 11:11 tomorrow and will take that minute to pause n reflect....what will you do?
I like weekends that are not too busy. Especially with a toddler in our lives, we need more unstructured playtime as well as downtime to unwind from the week. I don't know how people can keep up with large groups of friends, and attend gathering after gathering every weekend with young kids in their lives. My life has certainly taken a U-turn in that respect, and I'm actually quite enjoying the way things are at the moment :).
Since I switched to a reduced work week, I have every Monday off from work. Every weekend is a long weekend, and I look forward to spending all that time with my daughter :). We've managed to find a play-date and activity to do every Monday that I have had off so far....and it has also helped hubby and I manage our other responsibilities in a somewhat relaxed manner. We also usually keep the baby home on Fridays, so that she only goes to daycare three days a week; on rare occasions she would go for 4 days. Ultimately, I felt that I needed to be a mom first, then an engineer, atleast until our daughter starts preschool. I'm lucky and blessed to be able to figure out a schedule that works in my favor. Of course I need to thank my hubby and manager at work who supported me unconditionally and is extremely sensitive to how I feel about leaving my child in someone else's care while I come to work.
So this past weekend, I declined 3 party invitations - 2 birthdays and 1 Halloween party. I just was tired from the previous 2 weekends where we had Diwali gatherings (which are once a year) as well as festivities going on during the week. The celebrations were fun, but we needed a break. So we spent the weekend by ourselves, just the three of us, and we had an awesome time!
On Friday evening, right after feeding dinner to Ruhi, we went to the new Whole Foods that just opened in Palladio Mall. I had gone for a sneak preview tour but had not visited after it officially opened. We loved the store, and shopped some real good stuff - including organic fruit for Ruhi. We got this huge organic Mango grown in California - it weighed close to 4lbs, and cost $3.99 each. I cut it last night and it was delicious. Ruhi loves mangoes so I'm going to get a couple more before they run out of stock.
Saturday morning was her usual swim class, which she always enjoys. We got home, and spent all morning/afternoon either playing with Ruhi or cleaning the house. We played with our stacking cups - Ruhi loves swirling them with her fingers, and she is quite good at doing that.....
Then we did bubbles.....
In the evening, I took her to play with our neighbors boys. She had a blast, as always! At night, she enjoyed some juggling from daddy (he is quite good at it).....
Love this pensive look of hers in the photo below.....
Then she tried some juggling herself....but failed (which is OK :))......
Then we had some cuddling time with Mommy....and some giggling sessions....and some laughing bouts.....
Sunday morning, we went to the Sacramento Children's Museum and had an absolute blast out there....
In the toddler section....
At the waterways section.....
In the Art Studio.....
Artist in the making.....
Rocking her No-No-No-No-No.....
And doing an impromptu dance.....
Enjoying the lights before finally leaving the museum...
We came home, ate and napped. And then in the evening, we read by the fireplace.....
We did animal sounds (this is doing the Wolf - but Ruhi knows cat, dog, owl, wolf, lion, snake, horse, octopus, fishie, etc)......
And here we are doing the "small" and "big" signs - we have a Pocoyo book which explains this pictorially, so I am doing Pocoyo (who is small) and Ruhi is doing Ellie the elephant (who is big).....
We gave tons of kissies to daddy.....
And the weekend was over....
It was loads and loads of quality bonding and playtime....and it was fun n relaxing as well!
I had a day off today too, so we had a play-date with my friend's daughter Bree who just turned a year old, and we went to MyGym for a class. We love the Monday instructor Caprice - she is the most fun and her classes are always very enjoyable....Ruhi played so much she dozed off on the ride home!
Now I can't wait for the next weekend and our next set of adventures!
A daughter, sister, MOM, a caring and dependable friend, a compassionate human being, a Whole Foods plant based advocate - I am an Indian living in California (USA) since the last 27 years. I am an engineer by profession. I love being a mommy. My hobbies include reading, traveling, cooking, music, sports (Racquetball, tennis, swimming, gymming) - just to name a few. You will know more about me as you read my blog.
