All in a Day!!

You know you have gained weight when your panties( Victoria secret) rips on the side. I blamed it all on quality of VS coming down and not me adding couple of pounds around the hips.

I wore a sweater and formal pants to work,come back home,change into jeans,still have the sweater on,make a quick trip to pee ,come out and my kiddos are back from school. Next stop,grabs some snack for them to eat on the way and drive to son's Occupational therapy in Bloomington. While I am there, a mom looks at me and remarks,you have the sweater inside out..I am like really and I have had this the whole day like this.

In my defense it looks the same inside and out except the tag by the neck and pockets and its a mix of grey and white so the seams are not really noticeable. Ok One embarrassment done and I turn around to sit on chair when daughter comes and whispers"mom your fly is open" Phew atleast that's been only since  the bathroom few mins ago and boy was I glad I remembered to change the ripped underwear!!

Does things like this happen to you or is it me just growing really old

Happy Thursday all!!

Home is where the heart is..ode to my Fav fruit

Its amazing how biting into something is capable of transporting you across time and distance!!

While rummaging through my pantry today I came across a forgotten can of jack fruit (chakka) .I eagerly opened it and ate its contends slowly biting into the yellow flesh and enjoying every bit of it. My mind flew back to some 25 years ago to a scene in my grandparents home in Mallussery a small green village near Angamaly where I spend 2 month of summer vacation every year. Our Tharavadu,ancestral home was almost 100 years old when it was demolished 3 years ago and was surrounded by trees of all kinds,with abundance of fruits every year . Favorites among them were Jackfruit ,cocoa and guava to eat the fruits off and Coffee and cashew trees to climb and play on.


Next to my grandma's kitchen is a sort of work area which comes with traditional mortar and pestal that have been instrumental in many a delicious chutneys and curries and an wood burning stove mainly used to boil water.There were steps that led to a small vegetable garden area set up next to a big well. The area in between all this structures was where we cousins and uncles ,aunties gathered with the chakka ready to cut into. Some days we had varieties of jackfruits all equally tasty. Big knives would dig into the flesh of the jackfruit, exposing the yellow interiors with a sticky white sap.This white stuff needed to be removed using something rough like a husk of a coconut or back of hard coconut shell. Then the halves were sectored and elders shared to extract indivudal fruit from its loose encasement of white fibers. The seeds were collected in a seperate bowl to be dried and used in curries. As little kids we would jump at the fruit bowl and the big Jackfruit will be gone in minutes. The last clean up ritual was using cocnut oil to remove any sticky residue that got to our fingers.
After this almost daily mid afternoon snack we would be back playing outside,only to return whenit got too dark to play outside,and grandma and aunties run back to kitchen to work on dinner.

Today when I went back to that scene, I smiled that I atleast have some fond memories of my childhood which was so devoid of processed food or stress of day to day activities as I do now that unfortunatley is rubbing on my kids as well.No ipads,playstation,day camps,cellphones,texts..life just was beautifull.


Felt so nostalgic thiinking of years gone by and what I would not give to go back to one more day at my Grandparents home with beautiful courtyard(nadu mittam) that drained in rain water, a tiny dark room to house brined mango and pickles ,smokey black kitchen, rooms all around that were bedrooms for all of us,a water tank on the roof that we kids would wait to get filled and get drenched before someone ran to turn off the motor and so manymany things that summers so special.

Oh I miss home

Her first love!!

My kids now sleep in their own rooms(finally!!) and even though my son stays thoughout in his ,my daughter finds many excuses to come to our room or have us sleep with her.
With her cute smile and sweetness its often tough not to indulge her for a little while.
So everyday we cuddle together and read a book until she is ready to doze off. Even when there are days when I am tired and just want to sleep ,I cherish these little mommy daughter moments we share. I ask her how the day went in her daycare and she goes on and on what she played and who played with her and who did not etc.
Last night I was saying how her brother is going to be 5 in July and then he will go to school. So she asks mummy I am three now so I will 5 next year.
I correct her saying she will 4 this year and 5 next year and then go to school.
She is excited"yeah i can go in a school bus to school..." then falls silent for a moment and slowly asks "can I go to Texas school?"
Surprised , I asked her Why texas?who is there?

And she smiles saying Kyan,my friend is in kindercare in Texas...

Kyan and my daughter were best buddies in 2- year old class at daycare and this year when she returns there he and his family moved to warmer climates of Texas from Minnesota.
My daughter has no clue where Texas is until I tell her we need to fly to get there and its far far away. We need money to buy tickets..

She ponders on that for some time as I hope she gets some sleep. Finally declares-"when I grow up ,I will make lot of money and go to Texas".
Ok Sweety-thats fine with me and she is all relived now that she has my permission. and ready to sleep.

As she drifted into dreamland,I smiled to myself and thought I had to write this down and some 20 years later show her and maybe ask her if she still wants to go to Texas and look for her first love:-)

Jobtitle: Mom,Homemaker

I came across this interesting article on Salary.com and prompted me to pen down my thoughts.

Often at social gathering ,interacting with less familiar people,I am often asked if I am working for which I always answer with a smile that I stay at home and take care of my little kids. To which I get the "look " from them.

By look I mean its either a look of disdain- assuming I am not educated enough to find a job. If they do know that I have a PG degree, its a look of pity- assuming I am lazy and not smart enough to do something better than stay at home.

In my mom's days, people always related to a homemaker in a positive way,but these days if you are educated and still are a stay at home mom-then there is something terribly wrong with you.
I was thankful for having my mom at home always ready with yummy food, never too busy to listen how my day went,always keeping the home clean and helping us out with everything.

Who the hell thinks being a mom is easy???
In my working days before I had kids, I used to think being a "full time" mom was easy.But later when I became a mom of 1 and very soon 2 kids,I realised this maybe probably the toughest job on earth. Here is hysterical way of describing the job of mom.

POSITION :Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Momma, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION:Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT &PROMOTION:Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you .

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.
BENEFITS :While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.


So to all my working mom friends-hats off to you managing corporate world and world at home. For my stay at home mom friends-Always feel its the best job in the world.

"You don't love me"

"!@## %^ love me"-mumbled my talkative daughter.
I said "what?" and my 3 year old repeats sadly" you don't love me mummy".

That day I was busy with long overdue housecleaning,laundry ,cooking, juggling between my part time job and kids...its always a long list for us moms.
My little one has this habit of interrupting anything I do with questions, or saying she wants to help,or asking me to help out with an activity after 5 seconds into doing it.
So after a couple of these,I say try to do it yourself or go find something to do while I got back to the chores. Eventually I reach a point where I choose to pay attention to only the most dire situations.All others manage to get a "uh ah" or "yes" or "no".

I didn't realise I had been ignoring her so much until she made the statement-"You are not talking to me. You don't love me..." That instant I left everything I was doing,picked her up and tried my best to console her.
Like all little kids she felt better and forgot the whole thing instantly and went back to her computer game.

But I could not help but wonder how many times like this have I ignored my children,considering household duties more important than them.
I am sure not too far away are the days when they become teenagers and don't want to spend even a little time talking to us, may even be embarrassed when we hug or kiss them in public or even say "I love you".
At least till things get more complicated, let me try to take life slow and enjoy every day in their carefree innocent life.

Masala Idli

I was inspired to start blogging from a good friend JZ,who has an absolutely beautiful blog where she puts up her culinary experiments and recipes.She always encouraged me to start one myself. Not a great cook and no good at researching cooking related stuff,I thought I will stick to a journal kind.
Today I tried a little recipe at home and thought will post it here as a dedication to my friend.
Idlis are a staple at my home,but I often end up with left over idlis-4-5 of them which none in family wants to eat a day later.I came across this idea from recipe for masala idlis which is essentially made from leftover idlis. Gave it a few twists like adding more vegetables and I must say the result was pretty good.

Idlis-5 cut into cubes
Tomato-1 big,chopped
Onion- 1 medium,chopped
green chilly-sliced lengthwise-2
Coriander leaves-for garnish
ginger-finely chopped-1/2 tbsp
Carrot-grated( optional-I used 1 carrot)

In a pan,heat oil and season with mustard,urud dal and curry leaves.
Add onion and saute till its a little brown,then add ginger,green chilli and tomato and grated carrot. Add salt,chill powder,turmeric powder(according to amount of spiciness needed-I used very little)After 2 mins,Add 1/2 glass of water. Put in the idlis and heat till all water is absorbed.
Remove from fire and garnish with coriander leaves and a pinch of garam masala( I omitted garam masala)

Spring is here!!

Minneapolis has been home for me since Dec 2001 and every winter since then I wonder what I am doing here. We have almost 6 months of cold weather negative temps,snow,sleet,hail and everything. As I sit staring at the snow,my mind often go to the greenery of Kerala,my home state back in India .

Take my word for it-Snow all around everyday is not anywhere as romantic as they look in hindi movies. Its really funny when you see the songs with actresses in skimpy outfits dancing in the snow while the macho hero is all suited up.( Check out the song from movie Pukar where Madhuri dixit wears a blue chiffon saree and is swaying away to a song pictured on floating ice with Anil Kapoor in full suit)
no wonder they demand so much money...
Even though being so used to this climate,I cannot get out without atleast a sweater and jacket.

So where was I??

Oh Ok..in spite of the long winter here..come April-May,we have the best season of the year-SPRING.
The grass begins to turn green,trees start showing signs of life with tiny green stubs popping on the branches,flowers bloom .I often think we should have a video camera focused on trees that can capture the growth ever second. Every day there is so much change. Well since that doesn't seem possible,this year I am taking a picture of a tree in our front yard since the snow melted every week,just to capture the changes that happen so fast. Attaching pictures taken yesterday and last Sunday..will keep updating every week . Even while I envy people who live in warmer,friendlier, almost constant weather,weathering a long winter and seeing spring eventually does make me appreciate it a lot more and motivate me to make good use of the few precious beautiful days untill October:-)