What makes me feel alive....

:: Helping a local Indian mom, practically a stranger to me, with international child abduction. Using my network to line up lawyers, paperwork, finances, tickets, etc within a couple of days. And more importantly, providing strength, trust, and a listening ear....

:: Cooking a Gujarati lunch for my American friend and admin at work, who just finished chemotherapy and got an all clear on her illness. She loves our simple homecooked meals, and spoils my children rotten. And even though she is the one who is sick and recovering, she ALWAYS bakes cookies for us and brings them every single time we meet.

:: A movie date night with a longtime friend's wife who is new to my part of the country. Shopping, dining and travel tips, tidbits on life with 2 kids and work-life balance, and providing a listening ear to her daily struggles as she settles down here....

:: Volunteering to make a fall rainy day gift basket for the daughter's school. A first for me. And in the process, connecting intimately with 2 moms who were part of my team. Learning about African culture, their life story, their kids. Sharing a bit about us too.

:: An invitation to volunteer and support World Relief Sacramento, which helps refugees settle into the Greater Sacramento Area. The Syrian crisis is still on my mind, and I will use this opportunity to do something about it.

:: Through a volunteering position on the Executive committee for a local non-profit, it's been a pleasant surprise to find a group of like-minded Gujaratis who have extended our close circle of friends and family here. Kids have also found new best friends, and we are hoping for lots of fun times ahead with this group.

:: A calorie busting, sweat dripping cardio workout at home. And the sweet pain that follows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWy_aOlB45Y

:: And last but not the least, Chocolate!!!! THIS Orange Marmalade chocolate and it's wrapper.....you can't beat British classiness....

It's Friday again :)

Thank you so much for the hugs, and words of support on my post last week.

This week has been SO much better. The morning routine has been struggle and stress free...and a day that starts well is a blessing in many ways!

I've finally nailed down the recipe for poached eggs. The husband and I don't eat eggs, but the daughter loves them. I didn't know how to cook them, so the only way I've recently learnt to cook eggs is to poach them. Very British, thanks to my friend A who taught me. She can eat as many as you give her, but I limit to 1 at a time. She loves fruits, and veggies, so here is what her breakfast looked like this week:

Another reason for this week going great is that soccer practices got cancelled due to high heat. 108F expected later today. It left our weekday evenings wide open, and the kids enjoyed play dates, or running errands, or simply playing at home. I've resolved to keep at least 2 evenings free for "play". Although they enjoy the activities and never complain about them, it does take a toll at the end of the week. Right now, all we have is soccer...and only after soccer ends, I'll think about restarting Taekwondo.

I've also been able to cook healthy meals all week. I love soaking a bunch of dals with rice for multigrain dosa batter, which I can use for a couple of days. I vary the ingredients each time, and this is what I soaked this week. I added quinoa to kick up the protein content. And I used the high temps to get the batter to ferment well :).

The long weekend was so relaxing and fun. We checked out three new parks, ate yummy homemade meals, met friends, and had a family beach day. Even though the beach was crowded due to near perfect weather on a long weekend, it's the beach - always welcoming, always has enough sand+waves for everyone, and never fails to relax you with its atmosphere. The Pacific waters were surprisingly warm as well.

And last but not the least, I spent time prepping for my little man's birthday tomorrow! He is celebrating it in school today, will celebrate with grandparents tomorrow, and will have a big party (along with this sister) next weekend! I love him to the moon and back - and I am SO very grateful for his presence in our lives! Happy birthday my one and only, Rusliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Have a good weekend everyone! 

TGIF

This has been a rough week. I've lost my temper (badly) on the daughter almost every morning. I feel so terribly guilty as I write this. She refuses to co-operate and does not wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, get out of the door for school every morning. She had her appointment with the pediatrician today (yearly checkup, nothing unusual) and I expressed my concerns to her doc....came back terribly disappointed by her recommendations and opinions (she talked about making my child feel humiliated which I would never do intentionally).

The Syrian crises has constantly been on my mind. I've looked at local resettlement agencies to volunteer at. Maya Angelou is on my mind:

The manager had to take an unexpected week off due to family illness, so work has been stressful in terms of responsibility (but thankfully, not in terms of time). 

I'm realizing that a change is necessary - either my job, or my routine (less work hours, more hours for kids), more exercise (I have worked out three times this week, but maybe it's not enough?), more quiet/meditation time (this one routinely takes a backseat), picking up a new hobby for myself (I bought some adult coloring books and primacolor pencils and I'm going to start working on them this long weekend) - something has to change. I'm tired, bored, frustrated with this routine!

Hubby and I have not gotten along at all this week - this is rare. We usually parent well together. But this week has tested both our boundaries. Hoping the long weekend fixes that.

All this makes me wonder: Do I have very high expectations of myself and my family? Do I need to slow down and scale back? How would that play out in the long run? I'm generally good at living in the moment and keeping the pace of our lives fairly slow compared to others around us. Maybe I need to rebalance and regroup and set the priorities right again!

On the positive side (and this outweighs all the lows above) - I get to spend the next few days with my mommy and daddy, with my sister and my little 1-year old nephew! They sure will take me out of my funk and restore me to normalcy!!!!

Here's to a relaxing and fun long weekend!