10 on Tuesday written on a Friday

Tags

blogging, life in general, parenting, personal, tattoo, ten on tuesday, This and that

Yes you may laugh at the title. But you know everyday I think I should write something here and everyday I come open the new post window and everyday I sit and think, what should I write. Its not that I don’t have topics to write about. I do I do infact many of them. The problem right now with me is of plenty. I have been away from this blog for soo long that I have a lot to write about and I don’t know where to start.

So I think a bullet point post, mentioning 10 things that have been on my mind and in my life would be a good way, before you see more of me here hopefully regularly enough.

So here is my  10 on Tuesday written on a Friday

1. Life has been full of travel the past couple of months. From 7 months of no travel to the last 3 months full of travel, its hectic but its happy hectic. So in the next few days expect a lot of travelogues namely Kolavara Heritage in Shimoga, Raju Guest House in Tirthan, Ride Inn at Manali, Country Club trip to Kandaghat and then finally Goa. Have also done a lot of work travel to Hyderabad in between that has helped me explore the food scene there. More about that too on the food blog
2. Ojas has joined a new school after a break of about 4 months and seems to be pretty happy with it. And while he was on the school vacation, he went off to my mum’s house in Delhi for about a month followed by my SIL’s house for about 2 weeks. So all in all we had some couple time to ourselves after about 6 years and I can’t tell you how different it felt. Good yes and empty yes too but all in very different and weird. I realised that I am always thinking in terms of three now, always thinking as a mom and to actually think as a couple I have to make an effort but I also found it very refreshing. Had forgotten what uninterrupted conversations felt like and what a delight it is to have them. Also what I learnt was that it really is difficult to adjust back to being a mum now 😉 but I am trying I am trying 😀
3. Also like I mentioned in the earlier post, we moved back to the old new house. And one of the highlight for me moving back has been the studio in the house. Baking Studio, a working space for me. It has a desk corner, an island cooking corner, couple of racks for ovens etc. It is not a HUGE space but big enough to be called an office. I have already have had about three workshops there and they all felt nice and cosy. So excited to bake, teach and make videos out of the studio. One by One
4. One of N’s closest cousins P, actually if you ask me they are more like brothers and he is one of the closest people to N, is getting married end of this month. He went and proposed to his girl in full Bollywood style and decided to get married 6 weeks from the date of the Bollywood proposal. As a result we all running around as headless chickens, trying to arrange everything and enjoying every bit of it. The madness, the shopping, designing the card, dresses to stitch, jewellery to match. So much fun. I missed part of this for my own sister’s wedding in October, one because I was so far and two because they pretty much did a very simple wedding. I am making up for that with this one 🙂
5. Robin Williams passed away, leaving each one of us shocked and sad. Sad because there wasn’t anyone like him. We all loved him, We all loved to love him. Shocked because none of us imagined the person behind those laughs was suffering from depression and could commit suicide. I actually wanted to write a whole post on him but then somehow never got around doing it. Let me tell you this, most people who suffer from clinical depression try hard to hide that from the world and we are experts in doing that. I say we because yes I am one of them. I suffer from clinical depression, have been and will be on medications for a long time. And I bet people who read my blog or know me  can’t guess that till I tell them. So be sensitive to people around you. Read up on depression and mental health and please stop using sad and depressed in the same way. One day, one day may be I will be brave enough to share the whole story here. Till such time, I will do with hugs
6. I set myself a 100 book reading challenge for this year. I have read about 36 till now. I know I am behind but the good thing which has happened this year is that most of the books that I have read have been really good. Will list my favorite ones soon. Till then tell me which are the books you have been reading? Which ones did you like? And which ones you hated?
7. The child is growing up fast, he has already joined 1st standard and each time I think of it I wonder wasn’t the day of his birth just yesterday? With him are growing his questions, arguments and logics. This is a strange stage of parenting, I am enjoying it the most but it’s also bringing out the worst in me. Testing my limits, specially the limits of patience. I am loving watching him develop a personality of his own but I am getting scared of the fact that the personality is sometimes looking like a mirror image of me. I love seeing him becoming the independent big boy but each time he does something on his own without even looking at us once, the heart skips a beat and I wonder if the empty nest is not so far away after all. I love his witty answers but hate them when the same are used as smart A&^ replies. Such a strange and lovely stage of parenting this and I am absorbing it all as it comes.
8. I have decided to give this blog a breath, a last hope of survival with the 30 days letter challenge, I saw it first when a friend shared it with me and then I saw Shail doing it and it’s something that excited me after so long. I am itching to write some of the letters, I just don’t want to write some of them. I know some will be intense and will evoke memories, but I have decided to it. Thought long and hard actually and realised some demons needed to be dealt with, some thoughts needed to be written. Hopefully some of them will be funny too 😀 So from Sep 1 for 30 days, hopefully you will have a letter each day to read here. A letter which holds a tiny part of my heart somewhere
9. Some pictures you take make you happy. Make you so happy that you share them everywhere. They might not be the best of the pictures but you like them and they make you happy. The cat stories is one such set for me. I found those cats so so so irresistably adorable that I can’t tell and I am not even a cat person. Go see for yourself
10. And I saved the best for the last, my tattoo 😀 Yes finally after years of planning and thinking and wondering I got a tattoo done. I got an excellent person who heard me out, designed my tattoo and inked it on my patiently. Check out her page here and I strongly reco her if you are in Bangalore. And here is what it looks like

Shifting and the never ending settling

Tags

foodpanda, just like that, online food ordering, personal, random thoughts, This and that

So we moved back to our old house (we know like to call it the new old house) about 1.5 months ago. From some basic interior and painting work starting about 2.5 months, life has been absolutely crazy. From doing a trip to the other part of the city everyday and sometimes even twice a day along with work that was at its peak, I had a crazy crazy time. Initially at the way the work was going, we were in big doubts on how will we ever move back this way but somehow we managed to move back. Painters and Carpenters still working and we moved it. Let me tell you DON’T EVER DO THAT 😉

Phew we came from one disaster to another, the dust, the stress of managing so many people in the house. It was something. Finally those people have moved out of the house too (or so I think since there was a carpenter working in the house yesterday as well and I think a painter coming in today) but if you think my life would be easier now, my dear friends don’t be under an illusion.

Since we have moved back to the house, its been one disaster after another. The UPS stop working, the water motor gave up, the RO system got stuck, the gas hob wouldn’t light, the AC remote got lost and the latest and the biggest “The Water Mystery”

So since past 5 days, we are getting water tankers, pumping it from the sump to the overhand tanker and within about half an hour the tank is empty. Yes we get it indicates leakage somewhere but the issue. We can’t find the F&%*ing leakage. All the taps, bathrooms and other water outlets have been checked. We have even got a plumber who came and checked and said he is as clueless as us on what is happening. There is no seepage anywhere in the house to indicate an internal pipe leakage. Yes it’s a mystery yet to be solved, I just wish I had Cumberbatch to come and solve it for me

And in the midst of all this nonsense, food and cooking is the one which is taking the backseat. If we are getting food on table, I have two people to thank for. One my lovely househelp Sunita who is experimenting with recipes and cooking for us when we are in the middle of all nonsense and second is foodpanda, the online food ordering portal which has made my life easier. Quick and easy ordering which I have tried multiple times only to happy each time. They even have a android and iPhone app which makes the task of ordering even easier. God bless the people who think and come up which such ventures 🙂

So people wish me luck in solving the mystery and send me Cumberbatch if you can 😉

 

 

Weekend with Friends | Post 30

Tags

NaBloPoMo, This and that

Aren’t those weekends the best which are spend with friends, last weekend was one such when Imp’s Mom and Imp came visiting like I said in my previous post.

They came on Friday night…. Imp and Ojas bonded like long lost friends after the initial period of shyness they both pretended to have 😛 We went to planetrium, saw Kung Fu Panda 2, fell in love with Po again, eat ice golas, played in the park with the kids, ran after the kids in the mall and later in the night had a drink followed by spicy chicken curry and dosas in a small hole in the wall joint (those are the best meals I tell u) and during all this we chatted and chatted and chatted about everything under the sun… right from discussing blogger and tweeps to shoes and dresses and the kids these days and the some serious heart to heart talks… Its so amazing how relations move from a mere person u read to being such close friends….

We had a nice tweet up for sunday brunch following which they went back and with heavy hearts we said good byes to each other hoping that we would meet again soon :)We loved every minute of the time spend Imp’s Mom and imp 🙂 and yes we loved that anjeer ki barfi that u brought too…. 😛

So tell me how was ur weekend

 

Ten things that make my dil go mmmmm | Post 24

Tags

NaBloPoMo, personal, small joys of life, ten on tuesday, This and that

I absolutely love that song my dil goes mmmmmm mmmm , there is something about that mmmmm that lingers on 🙂

and when Swaram did that post yesterday on Small joys of life thats the song that came to my mind… and also its time to do a ten on tuesday and hence I combined them both 😀

1.  Seeing a flower bloom in small balcony garden early in the morning

2. When you invite someone on lunch and they come armed with a perfect bunch of white and pink lilies

3. When you think you are struggling to swim and the coach comes and tells you madam well done. Your hand work is just perfect and smooth

4. When you come back after spending the day outside for some work and your child runs to you hugs you tight not bothering about the fact that you are really sweaty and smelly. All he cares is for the fact that his mumma is back home

5. When you wake up on a saturday morning with tea and rusks served in bed by your favorite boy yeah the husband 🙂

6. When you think you are missing your mom too much and feel like just hugging her,  just that evening from a faraway land of Singapore your sister uploads snaps of mom

7. When you come home after an hour of swimming and knowing that you will be hungry your maid has kept your favorite poha ready for you

8. When you call a friend only to hear one of your favorite songs as caller tunes and hence you want to keep calling them over and over again

9. When a friend comes back from the US and like an early santa bring these lovely things for you

10. And last but not the least something that happened just now, when you are thinking of making chai and not happy about having it alone. The husband suddenly comes back early with a packet of samosas to relish with the evening tea…

see ya later folks 😀

Lets Talk about FB Baby

Tags

blogging, FB, friends, personal, This and that, twitter

Dear Readers of the blog & Followers in Twitter,

I love you a lot and appreciate the fact that you take time out to read the crap I write, I really do but I have certain requests to make of you when you send me a FB friend request

• Following me on twitter doesn’t I repeat doesn’t qualify as being a FB friend. Similarly your commenting on my blog once or mine on your blog once doesn’t qualify as being a FB friend
• So you have a pseudo name using which you blog, I get it and I respect it but if you create a FB id using that name and want to add me sorry I won’t. If you are not comfortable revealing your identity its only fair that you don’t peek into mine and my friends life isn’t it? If you want your blog to have a FB identity please create a page for yourself and I promise to like it. I promise
• Again for people using pseudo names would you please please identify yourself when you send me a FB request? I mean I really don’t have any magical powers to deduce that a person who has added me is XYZ in blog world. In the first place the only way I get that you are from blogworld is by the fact that we have bloggers as common friend but please please please be kind to me and identify yourself
• Yes we have 25 common friends (may be more) and yes they are all bloggers but do I know you? Do u know me? Can you just for a second think that before adding me? Please it would do save me and you a lot of embarrassment
• And last but not the least if I have ignored you once please sending me a friend request again will not make me accept it, there was a reason I rejected it in the first place anyways right?

Yours Truly,

Monika

Now people don’t get me wrong and label me as a snob after this post, I do understand that people like us who choose to spend their life online have to make some sacrifices somewhere but at the same time I think we are all mature enough to understand the difference between the three mediums – Blog, Twitter and FB. Blog and Twitter are online presence open to all we chose what we put there, its about sharing ones thoughts and opinions whereas FB gets very personal its about sharing your life, the pictures and the lives of your friends.

So please folks lets understand these differences and respect them

Flying Colors

Tags

blog, Na, NaBloPoMo, Ojas, This and that, travel

So I completed my marathon and I am feeling elated that I passed with flying colors…

Ok I did one filler post but other than I managed well 😀 and thanks to all u guys who encouraged

Take a bow

And I have also managed to move my other blogs to WP

Guys be kind and keep reading them too 😀

Ojas Blog

Travel Blog I so wish to increase the frequency at which I post here but for that I need to travel more 😀

PS: have not been able to reply to all comments offlate will do that sooooooooooooon

fishing

Tags

This and that

for compliments… Sunday afternoon we were having lunch when N commented that I am always fishing for compliments… I so admit that 🙂 specially when I have cooked something special or I have cooked something for the first time or I have dressed up for some special occasion or I am wearing a new dress or I am wearing something I dont everyday like a saree… ok ok I got it covers pretty much everything I do 🙂

I love compliments and was wondering if there is any female who doesn’t for that matter which human doesn’t? some are good with receiving them some get too embarrassed to react but surely everyone loves them…

Me I am all too happy if I get one and give a biggest possible smile, whats ur style?

Back to Work

Tags

This and that

So the vacations are over 😦 and I didnt even realise where did they vanish… why dont working days go like that

On the whole they were good, just lazed around at home… partied with friends… spend a lot of time with Ojas, did a lot of cooking, all in all had a good time… these kinds of break should happen every once in a while totally energize u for work again…

And on that note I got an award again… it seems to be my period of fame…

Hip Hop Gradmom bestowed me with the Premio Dardos and I feel honored to say the least… Thanks HHG…

I will do my passing later as its time to get back to some work….

Selfish World

Tags

This and that

What does one do when all that everyone around wants is their comfort… I am abs irritated since I lost my phone. It was on Friday just the day my maid went for her vacations and today is Wednesday that means 6 days without… Its been 6 days and I havent been able to buy one yet… reason simple I am the only one responsible for Ojas currently and he is not well enough to be taken for shopping…

And no one cares… Can N not take couple of hours off and ask me to go and get one. infact all he has is ideas, we cant afford this but u should not be buying it and then finally its ur phone its ur call…. excuse what is the call left here now????

And then there is my dear sis, who is currently using my standby handset and when I told her that I was thinking that I will use this for a while she is telling ok go buy one more standby and I’ll pay for it… goddamit if I had the time to go buy why would I use the standby???

Why cant people think of others at times and it hurts even more when the person doing this is someone close…

Warning: This post is about taking out my frustrations… May be i mean or dont mean what i am writing but its coming to my mind and hence i want to take it out and just after writing this I am already feeling better

Omchilla, Vahan Yatra and more

Tags

This and that

Typically in the weekend on of the days is a egg breakfast day… N loves his eggs and in the weekdays the breakfast is usually some bread jam or stuff like that which can be eaten while driving 🙂 so we make sure we get our dose of eggs in the weekend… usually its is the bulls eyes or the omelet or sometimes the french toast, scrambled eggs but N decided to innovate couple of weeks back and came up with something called a “Omchilla” wondering what it is its a cross between an omelet and a chilla… i am thinking of copy writing the term

so here is how he made it:
Ingredients
1 egg
1 tsp gram flour
1 chopped onion
1 tsp milk
1 chopped green chilli
1 chopped tomato

Method
Mix all the ingredients together and beat well..
Pour on the tawa and cook on both sides and enjoy with some crisps toasts…

I got inspired by him too and tried my hands on Stuffed Omelet and here is how I made it 🙂
Ingredients
1 cup chopped mix veggies (any vegies of ur choice)
4-5 jalapenos slices
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp vinegar
2-3 drops of tabasco
1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs (thyme, oregano and parsely is what i used)
and ofcourse 2 eggs 🙂

Method
heat the oil in a flat pan
put all vegies and stir fry for 3-4 minutes… they should not be raw but still should be crisp
add all sauces and fry for abt 1 min
make two thin plain omelets
in the center of the omelet put some veggies and then fold from both the sides
repeat for the second one and enjoy

We had a satisfying eggy meal 🙂

We also went to Vahan Yatra the same weekend… Both of us being driving fans and N being a total fan of anything that has wheels it was just so natural of us to go… Now I have gone to Auto Expo which happens in Pragati Madian number of times and in my mind was expecting something atleast closer to that if not that… but man the vahan yatra was a sad story… very disappointing… it was just in a closed stadium with some normal cars on display… I think it was more from the point of view encouraging the car sales that anything else… The only positive point I got to see Fiat’s 500 lovely car… but crazy price…

Attached to the Vahan yatra was also a furniture show and that was pretty decent… some nice and innovative stuff was there… N likes to see furniture a lot even he goes to Lifestyle etc furniture section is first section he visits… and ya I saw full capsicum pakoras for the first time in my life… its liked small capsicums dipped in besan and fried… pretty good I liked it actually

PS: I had this post in the drafts for some 3 weeks and posting it now only…