Blog 23 - Last blog of the marathon

Today is the last day to post officially, to keep a commitment to myself to write for the month of June.
Thanks to Preeti by whose blog I was motivated to take this challenge.

Another thanks to Scorpio who visited my blog daily after a certain point of time and left her comments.

I am happy that I have re-started blogging and hope to do so............

Blog 22 - My Proverb

I believe in this particular saying "Whatever happens, happens for the BEST."
I am a strong believer of this, and this is what makes me going in LIFE.

However hurt you maybe at a particular incident or at that time you may feel why me-- always believing that God intended it for a reason helps.

It makes you calm faster. It has always worked for me.

Whenever in life I have been through bad times, things that I think should not have happened to me.......something always happens later which makes me realize that what happened in the past happened for good.

That's my proverb...........what's yours??

Blog 21- Been Tagged finally :)

I went reading Preeti's blog for today and guess what - I was tagged before I reached the end..
Yup yup I decided to take the tag...so here it is.

1. What curse word do you use the most?
Oh Fish........

2. Do you own an iPod?
I gifted my husband one...but that is his to use..so technically I don't own one.


3. What person do you talk to on the phone the most?
Mommy

4. Do you still remember the first person you kissed?
Yup--very much

5. Do you remember where you were on 11/9/01?
Very clearly..Dehuroad, Pune

6. What was the last movie you watched?
Karthik calling Karthik

7. Has anyone ever called you lazy?
Me myself..yeah am big critic of myself

8. Do you ever take medication to help you fall asleep?
Not required till now.

9. Has anyone told you a secret this week?
Sadly No, I miss my friend who would tell things with the first dialogue being.."But dont tell this to anyone, ok" :)

10. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Just a connection that I might feel with them...

11. What are you looking forward to?
Shopping for ongoing trip to LA/LV

12. Do you own any band t-shirts?
None...........

13. What will you be doing in one hour?
Still @work..........documenting work done.

14. Is anyone in love with you?
Yeah....my hubby and baby and parents

15. Last time you cried?
Thu afternoon..lots and lots bcoz I did something really silly, does not look so silly to others

16. Are you on a desktop computer or a laptop?
Desktop Computer--the slowest in the ofc I think :(

17. Are you currently wanting any piercings or tattoos?
Not for me

18. Would you ever date anyone covered in tattoos?
Nope

19. What were you doing before this?
Having lunch

20. When is the last time you slept on the floor?
Sept 2008, EP..when we jsut moved to US and had no beds.

21. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?
Min 8 , Max: infinity :)

22. Do you eat breakfast daily?
Oh Yeah..MY MIL prepares yummy food which just cannot be resisted..really heavy ones too.

Anyone reading this is tagged..especially you Scorpio...waiting to read what you have to say.
I got the tag details at preeti's blog here

Blog 20 - Nursery Rhymes for my baby

Nursery Rhymes are very important for babies to listen too and so is music .(read it somewhere)

so while I am too lazy to open the laptop and out on music I make my own songs for my little baby to put him to sleep.

I knew I should have noted most of them ....

Here is one of them.

My baby boy, I so shy

He does not cry

He wears no tie

He tells no lie

So time to say

Bye- bye

Another one is...

All you people, listen to me

I'll give you a big kick

Bcoz my name is Ritvik

One more

Oh Sleep Fairy come and give my sweetu baby some sleep today

All this I sing with made up music.

Blog 19 - Graduation Party

Today for the first time in US I attended a Graduation party. In India, graduation means whne you are done with your studies, unless you plan to do Post- Graduation.....mostly engg, 3 yr degree college or something like that.but here it is so common, even a kid going from pre-school to school graduates to it and I am not sure if parents have a party for that as well...

Since June first week is when typically school ends here the month of June and July will be full of graduation parties. If you happen to stay at a housing area, you will see lots of garages hosting them.

So since this was the first time I really did not know what to expect, but it was a good experience.

The party was arranged in the front yard and very informal. Lots of food was laid out with lots of sweet dishes too but we really could not eat all that.

All in all a fun event.

Blog 18 - Holiday Inn

Today I went to Holiday Inn, there was a company meeting hosted there. The sole purpose for me to go there was to check out the hotel, I had no interest whatsoever in the company meeting and in office there was not much work...

I have already been to Westin and Sheraton, so time to check out a new place.

It was not like the Holiday Inn in India and outside it looked like any Motel 8, with just 2 floors of accommodation I believe....

On entering in one has to cross the indoor pool to reach the hall that we were seated in. Quite a nice thing they had done with the pool with sculptures around it and tables arranged by the side for lunch.

The session had the usual breakfast with bagels, muffins, coffee.................

Lunch was a really good affair with Pasta, Salad, Chicken breast and soup..All the items tasted delicious...I should have put it in their feed back form but left a little early so as to not hit peak traffic.

So in all it turned out a good event, well the session was not 2 bad either :)

Blog 17- What do you do when you realize you are the "guilty"

All the while when he was not talking, you thought it is his problem. You analyzed and reanalyzed the past days and knew you had done no wrong.

You were wondering why he was behaving so childish.

Wasn't he mature enough to realize he should keep his feelings to himself?

Why trouble you and others?

And then out of the blue it comes, the reason for all his behavior is YOU.

When he pours it out, the realization hits you like lightening.

It is you who caused him all this trouble.

It was you whom he was trying to protect all this time

You were the sole reason for all the pain.....and what do you do when you know it hurts so bad , even saying SORRY a thousand times will not erase the pain.

Blog 16 - My current read

Today I chanced upon Chetan Bhagat's new novel - 2 State. The Story of my Marriage.

Started to read and I am already hooked, quite hilarious too, tickles the funny bone.

I have read his past books- Five Point Someone, One Night at a Call Center, 3 Mistakes of my Life...........................

Lets see how this ends for me?

Blog 15 - Why are we affected by other's moods?

Strange as it may seem - as humans we are very much affected by not only our mood, but also the mood of our loved ones.

Even though we know it is entirely up to them how they want to behave and no fault of ours we still our depressed when people we love the most our depressed.

Why cant people just keep their grumpy moods to themselves and show only their best side...

Why don't they realize that their being in a bad mood will only spoil others mood too.

Why don't they understand that the are hurting people who care for them, where as those who don't care are really not bothered.

Am sure anyone reading this will also be depressed.

Be happy as life is too precious too waste over silly things.

Blog 14 - Cornbread@Redstone

Today I tried some cornbread & maple Syrup from Redstone which a colleague had left at office and it was simply delicious.
Initially I did not want to try it but after taking one bite-- it was 2 delicious to resist.
They have the recipe on the website but I cannot bake & eat my own..prefer to get it ready-made.
Wish I had my camera to take the pic

Blog 13- Sunday shopping dissapointment

Sunday I decided to get out and do some long awaiting shopping, gathered some friends and decided to go to a outlet mall. GPS could not give correct address , so after hunting for an hour, decided to ditch that plan and go to another mall nearby.....Went to 3- different shops but did not find anything that fit me :(...I have to seriously decrease some weight.

Came back with nothing-- will have to do some shopping over the week-days

Blog 12 - boring Saturday

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz me & Ritz slept from 11 - 2pm, that actually sums my Saturday.

Blog 11- Hurray - tis Friday

Long time now today we have a good summer weather for Friday and expectations are that weather is good for the week-end tow. In fact today evening there were no kids outside, everyone must have gone out..sad bcoz we were the only ones outside with 2-3 little ones.Played some throw ball & spent time with Ritvik as usual :) baby kutti needs mamma's attention big time now.

Luv u my sweetu pie......

Blog 10 - Lunch & a celebration

Today we had lunch outside sort of a celebration for a project we just completed...We went to Big Bowl on France Avenue-- that seems to be the place we go for celebrations.

I had the usual from the Stir Fry bar-- wanted to eat shrimps from a long time so ordered shrimps as the protein, but disappointed as very few pieces of shrimp was present.

Normally after eating this I am so full I cant touch another morsel but somehow this time I managed a full filling desert as well.. chocolate brownie with coconut ice-cream...so much calories at once.....and also checked my weight today..was 148 lbs... need to decrease....

Blog 9 - Vision Exam & a hectic day

For the past 1 week I have been having a bad eye pain- head pain...not sure if my number has changed or is it just the weather...but don't feel like doing anything with this nagging pain...
So anyways yesterday I decided to go for a eye-checkup-- so here in US you have to first make you go to someone who is covered under your Insurance Plan..so having taken an appointment I called my Insurance twice to confirm my plan and also whether the doctor was covered. They said the doc was In-network and also I was covered 100% after the co-pay.
Evening 5 pm I went for my appt and when they called my insurance to verify, they said they could not pull my records. Phew!!
The doctor called them and spoke and after dilly-dallying for 30 minutes they could not find anything. I had to return without my eye-check up done.
Now I think it might be just a dry eye and will put some drops in my eyes and go to bed.
So much for being in US and having insurance.

Blog 8 - Day to day activities

Thinking again on a writing prompt for today --let me put out my day to day activities as is today.

6:30 am - Ritvik kept tossing this way and that, had to keep one eyes open to see he was awake, eventually he slept of, but I woke up-- got some work done till 7:30 am.

Baby boy got up at 7:30 am...played till 8..fed him, changed him and then went to get ready for ofc.

9-had breakfast--fed Ritvik again and left at 9:45 to office.

till 5 @ofc..

back @5:30 - play with Ritvik.

@6- Ritvik goes out with grand-parents, me go to play volleyball or throwball.

@7 Ritvik is back - need to feed him his fruits

15 mins of play again outside--if the weather is good- take Ritz also,

@8 back to home--play with Ritz, @9 give him his bath, feed him and he sleeps by 9:45 - 10 pm

@laptop for some time and sleep by 11:30 pm

Goodnite--satisfied day...

Blog 7 - What are the five best bands you've seen play live?

Today's writing prompt at NaBlopomo was

What are the five best bands you've seen play live?

Well - this was a easy one-- I have never seen any band live--there ends my blog ..:)

Actually having a bad headache today- I think my eyes needs a check-up and had to write for the blog--so decided to pick whatever writing prompt was there on the website and jot down..luckily for me --today's wa sa easy one.

Let's see what tomorrow has in store?

Blog 6 - Minnesota Zoo

Today's blog is today's outing that we had to Minnesota Zoo... Weather had rain predictions but still we decided to go out to the Minnesota Zoo as we had already got 2 free passes from our local library. At 11:30 after lunch we left and reached the zoo at 12:00.

Immediately on entering one can notice the large area of land that has been utilized for building the zoo.almost like a mini-forest... Ritvik was asleep in the car, on entering the zoo we woke him up as we wanted him to see the various animals. We followed the Grizzly bear trail where we saw various different animals like leopard, Cheetah, Deer, Snow Monkeys, Leopard, Otter, Wild Boar, Caribou...most of them were just lazing around........................ Then we went on the Northern Trail where we saw Camel, Wild Horse, Bison, Moose, Tiger,Prairie Dog, Takin

After this we went to the Tropical Zone which had may tropical birds, Coral Reef and reptiles zone.

At 3:00 there was a Kayate Bird Show which was pretty impressive, they spoke about conservation and how we can help....

Returned home by 4 pm....

Blog 5 - What is Ritvik doing today?

June 12th 2010:- Today my baby completed 7 months and is starting his 8th month. He can crawl on all 4 around the house, he can blabber non-stop...he has started eating solid foods.... when he is tired or sleepy he will cryyyyyy--amma.....amma...........

He giggles non-stop when he sees his Dad, he will play and laugh at ppl he recognizes but mind you in a set of strangers, not one word from him...

When mommy is at home he needs mommy's attention non-stop...

Come a long way from the tiny baby we bought home from the hospital...

Blog 4 - June11th:Thinking of topic for today

Yesterday onwards for a week we have a 1 week training on BIDS-Business Intelligence Development Studio, this is the new BI tool (new for me) from Microsoft.

So many tools and so less time- Already 2 days into the training I learnt Analytical Services and Dashboard Designer--pretty impressive huh!!, if nothing else, I can mouth these huge words :)

Teaches you only one thing--Can never leave education behind.

Blog 3 - June10th:Always be grounded

Today was hectic mentally not physically--just because there was a major issue @ work.....I goofed up just beacuse of my carelessness...makes you realize not to be over-confident in anything and keeps your gounded.

Was a well learnt lesson.............

Everything at work was going gr8 and was too proud of myself..needed this jolt :)

Believe int he saying--Al's well that ends well.

Blog 2 - Boooooooks -June9th 2010

June9th 2010- Blog 2
Again inspired by preeti's post I have t note down my obsession with books. Right from childhood I love books.....Fortunately we had a good library near to where we stayed and I always made it a point to take books from there..so initially I started reading Noddy books...whenever we went to kerala on vacations we always brought books at Pune stand which would include Amar chitra katha, jakata tales, panchantantra and twinkle magazines.....we also happened to subscribe to fortnightly Reader's Digest magazines.
In middle school I got interested in Archie comics, nancy drew, hardy boys and oh of course EnidBlyton books, I can go on reading it forever.
Famous Five, Malory Towers, St Clares..also at school when we got 1st rank we were awarded in annual functions and they always gave books as prizes...so that added to my treasure.
In high school or rather during my 10th std board exams study leave was when i read my first Sidney Sheldon- BloodLine--felt so much in love with it that after that I read the entire Sidney collection.. Reading Jeffrey Archer's The Prodigal daughter was an experience in itself, that lead me going through all of his books...then I read Micheal Crichton novels and many many others........
I started writing this because I also have to go to the library to get baby books for my son .....I hope he gets to be a good book reader as mommy.

Blog 1 - Week-end Outing

Well, it's been quite some time now that I have been neglecting my blogging skills- in fact I don't even realize that I have a blog account.

Well here I am actually inspired by Preeti (author of Just a mother of two) who has started this blog marathon for the month of July and I thought to myself, if she can do it at least I can try to do it 2 :)

So anyway - though I am starting a week late- will try to pen something for the whole month.

So today I am going to write about the Weekend outing that we had........to Minnehaha park and Crystal Caves.

Sunday morning or noon rather we all left in 2 separate cars. 1 car with 5 of us- in-laws , my sweetu and me and hubby and another one with Dev,Renu,Neha & Subash.. reached Minnehaha park by 1:00 pm. Luckily for us it had rained the previous nite and so we could get to see the falls.

After taking a lot of pics we decided to head back to the vehicle where as the others took a stroll by the park and joined us a few minutes back. Now my baby is quite well behaved in the car these days...he sleeps as soon as we drive..... :)

From here we headed for Crystal Caves which is at WI..mid-way we stopped at Subway for some lunch and reached the caves at 3:30 pm. The next tour of the caves was not until 4:10pm , so after buying tickets we pretty much lazed around and clicked away some pics......

Finally the tour started at 4:10..We had a tour guide who pretty much told us the story behind the caves formation and also all the different minerals you could find there. Ritvik got restless after sometime, I showed him the camera to distract him, but he took it and while taking it back from him, it fell down..so my camera which I had got when my baby was born is damaged and hence no more pictures till hubby decides to get another camera for me ......


The caves were not as I expected and bit of a disappointment. We reached home by 7 pm, a good game of volleyball followed with dinner at friends place to end the week-end.