Giving

Hi there....how have all of you been?

Sorry for the disappearance from the blog. Many posts were drafted but not posted. So many pictures have been clicked and are waiting to be shown off :).

And SO much has been going through my mind these last few weeks. Mostly good stuff, which is nice.

To summarize - we traveled, we fell sick, we traveled some more, we fell sick some more, and when we were not traveling or sick, we enjoyed the local holiday outings. I finally have a winter where I'm BAKING quite a bit. We setup our Christmas tree, and are full-on into the Holiday spirit.

Being non-Christians, we don't really have any traditions. And we may form a handful of them, centered around giving, but nothing more. The daughter goes to school and has learnt many Carols. It's fun to listen to her chanting "Jingle Bells" "Rudolph the Reindeer" all day long. She CANNOT wait for Christmas, as she is eager to open her presents. We have wrapped some and put them under our tree.

So, coming back to the title of this post, "Giving" - a lot of what I've been doing this holiday season is centered around it.

Today morning, I brought homemade breakfast for two of my colleagues at work. Leftover "upma" for one, who is north-Indian, and claims "upma" for be his favorite food. He totally enjoyed his surprise breakfast at his desk. The second colleague, who is a Palestinian, got to try my "banana nut bread" which I baked with almond+coconut flour, without using any sugar or butter or white flour. It was healthy, moist, and had a wonderful flavor from the cinnamon and vanilla extract that I added to it. He LOVED his surprise too.

On Wednesday morning, I'm baking cookies to take to the Retirement Home near the city library. We are going as a group from work, and one of our colleagues has a relative who stays there, and told us that they were a very lonely bunch, with no one to talk with and rare visitors. I can't wait to meet them and make them happy, even if it is just for a couple of hours.

As I do every year, I adopted a family this year for Christmas gifts. This time, it was a single mom close to my age, with a 11 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. The girl wanted "Hello Kitty" stuff, whereas the boy wanted "Mickey stuff". The mama, who was practical, wanted a nice jacket for herself, and some home items. I had a great time shopping for all the gifts. The mama got a really nice Columbia jacket (pink, which was her requested color), and an oversized blanket to share. The kids got most of their requested items. I went above my budget to fulfill most of their needs. It is done anonymously, however, they will send me a letter and hopefully a picture (sometimes,  I don't get pictures) of the family opening their presents on Christmas Day. I'm anxiously waiting :)!

We also have a trip lined up to visit the local church who feeds the homeless once a month. We will go in the first week of January, as December did not work out with our schedules. The daughter will join me this time, and I'm curious to see what she thinks of the experience.

For the daughter's preschool holiday party on Friday this week, we have to pick a gift (voluntary) for her teacher. I will go shopping this week....hopefully I can find something that she really wants but won't buy for herself :). A turtle-neck sweater, with a balaclava (I know she wants one) is on my mind.

I also sent a pair of "golite" gloves to my friend A's mom, who is 74 yrs old, and lives in Wales. They are so lightweight and warm, that she will use them all winter long.

And I just sent out an email to my local friends list for Christmas day brunch at our house, where all the families who join will play the "white elephant gift exchange" game. The gift will be $$ limited and it will be interesting to see what each family picks with the given constraints :).

I have never enjoyed the holiday season so much. And there's still 10 more days to go. I've not been a consumerist (we have hardly "bought" stuff for ourselves) but I've still been able to participate in my own ways in the "season of giving".

What have you been upto :)?

November - The gratitude month

November.

It is my birthday month. So I have always loved it. (18th, if you are curious :)).

But after coming to California, and having lived here for 14 years, its meaning has evolved for me.

- First of all, its the weather. October and November are so beautiful out here. Warm afternoons, patio lunches, slight chill in the morning and evening but you can still go out n about with just a light jacket on you.
- FALL COLORS
- Halloween fun (I love dressing up the kids aspect, hate the candy aspect) (technically, it's on October 31, but it's almost November :))
- Thanksgiving travel (since we don't celebrate it with a turkey dinner, we travel :))
- And last but not the least, the general feeling of "giving" and "expressing gratitude/thanks" all around. I've also observed people are happier, mainly because of the spending days ahead of them. Shopping is exciting, for most people anyway.

On FB (yep, it had to be featured here), many of my friends post their thankfulness list on a daily basis. And because it's a social media website, you will find people mocking about it too :).

I had been toying with the idea of doing a blog marathon on gratitude for this month, instead of FB updates.

And when I gave more thought to it, after having observed what everyone else is posting - I realized that as part of my daily bedtime routine, I already express gratitude for all the blessings in my life.

What new would I add to that list by doing the blog marathon?

Instead, I'd like to post more often about encounters or experiences, which make me feel grateful on a daily basis.

If I think about today, these are the things that happened:

As I dropped the daughter off at school, one of her classmates was having a rough morning. He just did not want to be at school. He stood there at the door and kept crying. My daughter was sooper nice to him, and held his hand and walked him inside the classroom. As his dad and I walked out, he asked me "Will he be okay?" and I told him: "He's going to be fine. They all have such days. Do something fun with him in the evening. Plan a small surprise, maybe get a cupcake on the way home." It instantly lighted up his face. He was less worried. I feel like I made a difference in his day. "Small talk" always helps, when used at the right moment.

My next stop was at the son's daycare. His caregiver told me that a neighborhood lady was complaining about her daycare parents driving very fast in the morning in the neighborhood, and that she was going to complain to the police. She was very worried, and was looking for reassurance. I drive really slow, and she knows that. But I assured her - I said just warn all the parents, and ask them to be extra careful, especially if that particular lady is outside or her children are playing outside. Be sensitive to her complaint but don't worry beyond that. We are not going anywhere else because of such a minor issue. It put her at ease. Giving her reassurance and putting trust in her made a difference.

And then as I walked into work, I realized I had to get a temp badge. The security guard had Christmas Carols on his playlist. And I LOVE Christmas Carols. I went to a Convent and loved every aspect of Christmas celebrations during my school years. So I told him, "wow you have Christmas Carols playing already". He started defending himself "Oh it's just one song on the playlist. It's not that time of the year yet." And I told him: "I LOVE Christmas Carols. I don't mind listening to them anytime of the year." And it brought a huge smile on his face :).

We are conditioned to expect more criticism than positive remarks, in today's world. With much of our communication between people being virtual, so much - like facial expressions, a hug or some form of touch, reacting appropriately after reading someone's face, etc. is lost. I don't like that. I still try to meet with friends in person. I prefer video chat with my parents over a phone call or email. I prefer calling up my friends in other countries/continents vs emailing them. I prefer visiting India every year to catch up with my family and friends than simply waiting years before meeting them face to face. As much as I love Facebook for the value it brings into my social life, I don't let it replace the connection that happens when you connect via non-virtual means, especially in person.

Such are the things I would like to write about, and I would prefer to write them as they happen, vs. forcing myself to do a post every day, and be repetitive.

Having expressed how I feel, I still really appreciate everyone who is doing it, and enjoy reading most of it.

Now, I'm looking forward to my birthday weekend getaway, and Thanksgiving travel :).

November, I'll always love you :)!

Saal Mubarak!

After mom n dad left for India, I have been really short on time. Not able to manage anything other than routine. And that is okay for now. I'm quite enjoying the routine though. Keeping my family happy, healthy and in harmony gives me utmost peace.

I do miss blogging though.

Today morning, as I was sound asleep, my toddler monsters starting jumping on me at 6.15 am and woke me up. (Thanks to the time change, which I absolutely hate). Before I could fully come to senses, our cook's husband called in sick for her. I had no choice but to spring out of bed, and get into action. I made the kiddos breakfast and lunches, fried cocktail samosas for the daughter's Diwali potluck at preschool, and packed hubby's lunch. He helped me a bit around the house, we shared a wonderful family hug session wishing each other happy new year, and also made a couple of quick phone calls back home to exchange new year wishes. It was a wonderful morning!

Here's extending my wishes to all my friends here: Belated Diwali Wishes to all of you, and for those who celebrate today, "Saal Mubarak", "Nutan Varshabhinandan", "Happy New Year"!

Sending lots of love, hugz, and blessings for a happy, healthy New Year, full of adventures, growth, and peace!!!!

I have lots of pictures and stories to post - Halloween, pumpkin patch visit, Diwali, and some travel coming up! Hope to share with you soon!!!!

Cooker of the house

Yesterday morning, after Sukhi ben (the lady who comes to help me 3x/week in the morning) left, the daughter shares this gyan with me:

R: Mumma, I like Sukhi ben to play with me
Me: That's good. She plays with you after she is done with cooking
R: Mumma, I have idea. YOU cook and Sukhi aunty plays with me every day
Me: Why?
R: Because you are the cooker of the house (LOL)
Me: But Sukhi aunty also makes good food
R: No Mumma, I like YOUR food. You are the BEST cooker!

On one hand, it feels great that the kids appreciate all the time I spend in the kitchen. But on the other hand, it seems I never get a break which I sometimes crave for :)!

Happy Friday, and Happy Weekend! I have to take the kids to THREE Halloween parties - Wish me luck :)!

First Performance

After the Garba high on Friday, and a lazy Saturday morning spent at home, I got an email from a friend for 'practice' on Saturday evening. We had skipped the Friday evening 'practice' due to Garba, and even though I was dog tired, I decided to go.

The 'practice' that I talk about here was for the daughter. She has started attending a yoga+meditation class at one of our good friend's house. The class is hosted once a month. She has been only going since the last two sessions. It's a very informal setting of mostly friends, and it's free to attend. The group of 7-8 kids (the daughter being the youngest) decided to perform what they had learnt so far at the Dharma and Yoga Festival in Sacramento. This festival has been celebrated in various US cities to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

I had completely forgotten that the festival was on October 20th. I thought it was the week after. I had fully intended to skip this weekend's practice, but based on the email that I received, I got a feeling of urgency to finalize things, and decided to go. At the practice, everyone was making final plans, talking about last minute prep work, the poster for the group was done. And I kept saying "but we have more time". When my friend P told me "Please get your camera tomorrow, you have to click pictures of the group performing"  I realized something is fishy....and taking cue from the expressions on my face, she said "dear, the performance is tomorrow, I hope you know that" - Dang....kiddo's first performance and I totally goofed up on the dates!!!!

Anyway, I'm happy to report that inspite of being a goofball (my daughter LOVES to call me that - every single day), thanks to the rest of the group, the event was a grand success.

Our group, representing the Gayatri Pariwar, was called "The Sun Warriors" (we had another small group of Gayatri Pariwar kids from a neighboring town join us as well). The kids did a series of yoga poses, pranayama and meditation. They also chanted the Gayatri Mantra.

The daughter and her friend A (they are buddies from preschool) were the flower girls. At the beginning of their program, they offered flowers. Then, they went into a series of yoga poses - butterfly, cat-cow and cobra - these were the three they alternated between. When the rest of the group reached the warrior pose, they joined them to do that. After that, they did pranayama and meditation with the group.

For her first time being on stage, I think she did outstanding! I love this age....she did not care who was looking at her, and what they thought of her performance. She just did what she felt like. Somewhere in the middle of everything, both the girls giggled and did a little jumping. They got back on track on their own and started following the group. Many times, they turned their backs on the audience to observe the older kids perform. They did not want to miss out :). Overall, though, they exceeded my expectations.

Ours was the last performance, and I missed all the previous performances of the day. But the highlight of the day was the "Kirtaniyas" who left the entire audience mesmerized with their superb kirtan to end the event. They brought SO much energy into the room...it felt amazing!

Here are a few pictures from the event....

There could not have been a more auspicious event to mark the daughter's first performance! I will cherish it forever!!!!

Right now....

I have been up since 45 minutes, and the rest of the family is still asleep.

To be blessed with such a blissful pocket of time, especially after a night of Garba dancing, where I danced till I got blisters on my feet, is precious!

I had such a good time last night at Garba, I'm still on a high. After 4 years, I danced until I got blisters on my feet. One of the blisters broke, and as the daughter looked at it, said, "mumma bud is coming out". {a minor one, nothing to worry about}.

I came home and took a long, hot shower. Hot water and hot showers are very high on my list of luxuries that I am grateful for. Every single time I step into the shower, I express my gratitude for the luxury.

The cleaning lady came yesterday afternoon and the whole house is sparkling clean today morning.

I made butternut squash soup for dinner last night, and the aroma of nutmeg, cinnamon, bay leaves and the vegetables is still lingering in the house.

It's sunny and warm outside. I can't wait for the kiddos to wake up and take them out for a walk.

I am soaking in the warmth of the sunshine and the quiet in the house as I write this post, and feeling blissful!!!!

You know he's in good hands when....

She ALWAYS welcomes your child with a huge smile, and open arms.

She needs the money, but the driving force is her passion to care for babies and toddlers.

She agrees to fit to YOUR schedule vs. changing his schedule to fit hers.

She is probably the most patient (yet firm) person I've ever met.

She texts you a picture of your baby sleeping on her shoulders - for 2 hours straight - and when you ask her why she didn't put him down, she says because he reminded her of her youngest son who looked exactly like him at that age. She cherishes those moments.

You can be assured that your child will be well fed. NO MATTER WHAT.

Unlike other places, she never asks you to abruptly leave at the door at drop-off. She insists that you come inside, settle your child in, make sure he is comfortable, before saying goodbye. And every single day, she will call you within 5 minutes of leaving to make you hear his giggling voice.

She calls you every afternoon after lunch time, when your baby has gone down for his nap.

She says "thank you" for letting me take care of your sweet precious child...coz even though its not her own baby, she has SO much fun with him.

When your child is sick and refuses to take any medicine, she comes with her husband to your house, in the middle of the night, and spends as much time as required to get the medicine into your child's body.

She never reminds you of payment, ever.

She is someone who an extension of your role as a mommy. Someone who you can trust completely. A gem of a person.

 I am grateful for her as I can leave a piece of my heart with her everyday and go to work. Its a win-win - she works for her children and I for mine.

I love our kids' daycare provider. I am beyond blessed and lucky to have found her.