Power Jeans

Skirt - Macys
Shoes - Dillards
Cardigan - Calvin Kline
Gray Top - Costco (yes, I do shop everywhere)
Not just Fridays, I can wear jeans all through the year, in the facility I work in. Jeans has come a long way from what they were a few years ago. Now you could look sophisticated and professional in a dark-shade dressy jean. No doubt I love a good pair of well fitted jeans and it sure helps with laundry. But is there such a thing as 'Power Jeans'? Any New York banker would tell you the answer is no and a west coast techie might tell you other wise. For the rest of us in between, its a conscious decision to weigh in.

READ MORE...

Kites

Flying kites brings back nostalgic memories of my childhood. One kite flying season, my brothers and I came up with the recipe for strengthening the dor (thread/string to fly kite). We were determined to get the kites from the street urchins who took ours away. We meticulously prepared the concoction by thickening starch and added some colored powders to it. The next step was to spread the dor all over our terrace and dry it.

READ MORE...

Ro's Favorite Book

Ro is fascinated with animals. Zoo is his favorite place to visit. We read a lot of non-fiction animal books to him. On our weekly library visits, he heads straight to the animal section.
On one such trips, he found ‘Owen and Mzee’, a touching real life story about un-explainable friendship between a baby hippo and a 130 year old tortoise. The baby hippo, a lone survivor of the 2004 Tsunami is rescued and moved to a reserve where he rushed to the safety of a 130 year old tortoise, Mzee. The tortoise is initially reluctant to bond but eventually reciprocates back to the baby hippo. The book takes you through the journey of this unusual relationship via words and pictures.

READ MORE...

A question here and a question there

  
Ro thinks the dinosaur book he is reading is ‘sooooo …crazy’. He questions pointing to the small dino, Amma, why is this dinosaur following the other one?” I did not get it, I ask him why not. He explains, “They are not in the same family, Amma. This big one is a herbivore and the small one is a carnivore.” He was right; they were not even the same kind of dinosaurs.

READ MORE...

Recipe Collection

Not all recipes get into our hall of fame. Ri and Ro have the final authority on that one. This started when Ri was 4 years old and said, “Amma, can you give me the recipe for this one, I want to make it for my kids.” The very first recipe that started our tradition of recipe collection was the Venn Pongal and eggplant Gothsu.

READ MORE...

Up, The Movie

Ri and Ro watched the movie "Up". I heard so much laughter that we decided to watch the movie as a family one more time. In the movie there is an imaginative girl and a boy. They become good friends. Right before the next scene, Ri goes, "This is where they get married". I tell Ri not to tell us what is going to happen and she agrees. The couple grows old. The wife dies.
Now the lonely old man is bored and decides to fly his house with a million balloons. A small boy is added for company and humor. They land in S. America and spot a unique bird. There are talking birds looking for the same bird. Now Ri is a good listener and is determined not to make the same mistake. She says "Amma, I will not tell you who the dog's boss is? ... Now Ro pitches in and burst out to help his mommy. "Amma, I will tell you amma. It is the old man who comes in the first scene".

READ MORE...

Spring is in the air

In our first house, we landscaped the yard all by ourselves. I handpicked and planted every flowering bush and tree (except for the far and few the builder gives you). Sure it was a lot of work to move 27 cubic feet of earth, but it was sheer pleasure to see the garden mature and get beautiful over the years.
I got some tulips, roses, dahlias bulbs and gladiolus. I can't wait to get my own supplies of flowers this spring and summer.

READ MORE...

Spring Break Road Trip 2010

I am sure my parents waited decades or generations before they could narrate 'then and now' stories. Today is a different story. I had to explain Ri that when five years ago, road trips were different. Dad would drive and mom was the navigator. If there were traffic jams, mom would read maps and look for detours. She would also estimate the distance and ETA by eyeing the scale of the map, speed and other road signs. Today, the GPS does it all.

READ MORE...

Bastrop State Park, TX

Is my life getting predictable or am I setting up a tradition here? Spring break means a visit to state park and is usually a week after Holi. This year we missed Holi due to rains and visited the Bastrop State Park located close to Austin TX.
The Cabin we stayed was built during the Great Depression of 1930s, in an attempt to boost the spirits of the depressed youth. They were paid $30 a month and were expected to send $25 home.

READ MORE...

San Antonio Trip

Not that I celebrate St.Partick's day but we were at River Walk, San Antonio during the celebrations last week. The river(not a river by any means, it is a canal system that is 3ft deep) was colored green by dumping eco-friendly coloring dye into the water. The restaurants were packed and the wait time was anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours for dinner.
It was relaxing the following day when we leisurely lunched by the waters and bought a hand painted Mexican turtle made out of clay from one of the local vendors.

READ MORE...

Me Time

Yoga is the purest form of my-time. I am not sitting there and focusing on what to cook for dinner or how to pick the kids on time with a last minute meeting scheduled at 5:30 or about that deliverable due in the next hour. When I am in the mountain pose, I am rooted to the ground and when in the warrior pose, I am focused on the orientation. Gradually, I have learned to let go of my rambling thoughts and instill a deep appreciation for the rhythmic breathing that weaves the body and soul together in every yogic pose.

READ MORE...

Women's Day

 
Well, whether I believe in the need for a special day for women or not, this Women's day I salute my mom's  spirit of adventure and her zest for life.
I hope she has a speedy recovery and swings right back into action.

READ MORE...

Big Day at School

Today is Ri's Writing TAKS (or Standardized Testing) at school. She hit the bed early last night. She woke up at 6 today and was well rested. I made her favorite breakfast - Pongal/eggplant gost and packed Idlis/Onion chutney for lunch along with milk and a snack. Of course I did some prep work the previous night to make this 9 course meals early in the morning.
I like the fact that schools provide grading criteria for grading essays. We ate breakfast together and went over a few writing rules -

READ MORE...

Winter Olympics, Marathon Runners and more ...

It was a pleasure to have a marathon runner as my ex-neighbor at work.  He was such a motivation to look up to. He not only runs marathons but meticulously packs/preps balanced-lunches every Sunday for the whole week, plans his workout schedule in advance, does not skip workout for the sake of meetings or other commitments at work. Just talking to him about his weekend/after work activities would drive me to the gym.
This past week, we watched the Winter Olympics almost every evening. It looked so real on our 120 inch TV screen that it felt guilty being a mere spectator.

READ MORE...