Park outings are such huge stress busters....

The 12000 Intel Layoffs announcement has suddenly brought on SO MUCH STRESS at work. Every single team I work with is affected. Many small sites we work with are shutting down, affecting all our colleagues working there. We don't know yet what will happen to our team (we will find out next week), but there is nothing we can do except wait for the news.

It's been a crazy difficult week, to say the least.

However, the California spring warm weather has done it's best to keep things cheerful. This is quite possibly my favorite time of the year. Our garden has so many roses, camellias, orange and peach blossoms, other springs flowers blooming. We also have blueberries starting to grow. Thanks to the abundant rainfall this year, the lawn is lush green. The hills around us are lush green. And the parks are so inviting.

Our kids are young, and thanks to both of us working full time, go to all day private schools. We have made a choice to keep them out of ALL structured activities lately. Other than school, they have nothing planned going on. This has helped keep our evenings and weekends completely open. I have loved every single minute of this open time. We make it to the park almost every single evening, and most weekends. It is pure joy to watch them race down the slide, or make sand castles in the sand pit, or chant "higher higher" on the swings, or watch them make slow but steady progress on the monkey bars. It is also absolute delight to watch them make new friends - the son doing that more easily than the daughter, but both trying, nevertheless. After every park outing, we all come home relaxed, and rejuvenated.

Yesterday was one such lovely day, and our visit to a small park closest to our house was one to cherish. The kids made a friend, Sonia, who hit off really well with them. I played tag with them, and fed them evening snacks. The husband climbed slides and raced down with them. They played in the sandpit, climbed the structures, yelled and squeaked in delight, and we came back as the sun began to set, leaving us with a breathtaking sky in the background.

What's not to love?

Here are some more pictures of our park fun....

My biggest fan

Today morning, she said "Mom, your earrings look like Candy".

Last week, she said "Mumma, your shoes are so cute."

The week before, she said "Mummy, I love your dress".

At bedtime, she invariably says "Mumma I love you sooooooooo much".

Every morning, she wants to put lip-guard and a dash of my body spray. She says "Mumma I want to look just like you :)".

When I cook her favorite meal, she says "Mumma, this is yummy in R's tummy".

When I occasionally find time to blow dry and style my hair, she says "Mumma your hair is so straight, I like it so much". I always reciprocate "you have beautiful curls".

Hubby leaves early for work, and I used to miss him in the mornings when I got ready. There was no one to comment on my appearance. But now, I look forward to dressing up and wait for a compliment from the kiddo :).

Often, after she sleeps, I will kiss her. More than once. And often, she smiles at me in her sleep. She knows I'm there, and she loves the touch. Her favorite thing to do is sleep on my arm, cuddled into my body, gently being massaged, and being kissed once she drifts into deep sleep.

She loves to give tighty-tight hugs.

I love having a child who loves to express, and makes me feel so good, every single day.

I am grateful, and I am blessed, to have her as my daughter (and my biggest fan). Love you betu!!!!

These days...I love....

-- A friend who delivers lunch at my desk (and pays for it too) when I have back-to-back meetings without a lunch break.

-- A friend who IM's me to have lunch with her - just when I'm about to start having it at my desk, coz the lunch hour has gone by and I don't have any company.

-- When my daughter senses that I am tired, and gives me a huggie, kissie and does vahali-vahali (gujarati expression of TLC) without even asking for it.

-- My neighbors, who are simply awesome. They help us so much, with everything.

-- My daughter's caregiver, who now showers her with gifts as well, on top of hugs, kisses, I love you my jaan, and much more.

-- My dearest husband, who brings me a glass of warm milk along with my vitamins in bed at night. {I usually fall asleep while putting the daughter to bed - sometimes he does too, but he wakes up to finish the chores and gets me my milk/vitamins}. I know I'm lucky, and blessed!

-- Scoring a cute deal on something I needed to buy soon. That too from the Intel Marketplace (trusted), from a grandma who bought it with so much love for her grand-daughter but it went unused.

-- Gorgeous Folsom winter sunsets. They are much better than the summer ones. Especially if there are clouds around. I saw one a couple weeks ago....it was breathtaking. I did not take pictures, I just stood there on the edge of the hill overlooking the prairie and the city, and soaked it in.

-- Love, Love, Love listening to Adele. {I am listening "Set Fire to the Rain" right now}.

-- The excitement of planting lots of tulip bulbs and spring flowers this weekend. The daughter will love to see them blooming. We are planting blueberries too, coz she can't seem to get enough of them.

-- The anticipation of a possible weekend getaway. {This weekend is a long weekend in the US - President's Day}.

-- Wondering how 2012 will unfold :) :) :) :)!!!!