Category Archives: happiness
Seven Times The Fun!
Girls’/ women’s trips are something completely off the charts and unfathomable till a person has experienced them first hand. You not only have a bunch of people who are raring to go, cutting loose from the everyday but wonder of wonders, also clean up after themselves and make sure everyone else is also having a great time.
So picture this-a group of women who randomly came up with the idea of going on a rather short getaway during a run of the mill evening walk. The entire planning process was arduous because it had to get vetted against 7 different personal calendars; getting stymied by the looming specter of PTMs at almost all the schools the respective offsprings attend.
With unforeseen flight cancellations, odd hours of flight reschedulings and painful follow-ups with what can only be emotionally and mentally deficient contact center people; the gang landed up in the one place where fun is guaranteed- GOA!
While people who are part of my social circle know how to count their blessings for all they have, everyday life piles up. Especially when you are a multitasking expert aka A MOM. Add a full-time job to the mix and you’re someone who can’t always count on the number of times unstructured, unscheduled times can be availed. If you can get even 2 days where there are hardly any To-Dos barring exploring a place, having fun (in the sun and out of it), complete with tasty libations, lip-smacking food and dangerously naughty sense of humors- it’s a recipe for laugh-till-you-pee times and something which is usually hard to come by- a group of people who are consistently showing you the mirror about the best part of yourself.
Women like to embrace life and seek out new experiences and often, be bang in the middle of it rather than be spectators from the sidelines. A bit of indulgence goes a long way in making you happy and creating memories to relish when life becomes all about school bus timings, homework, grocery shopping and whatnot.
Here is a quick look at how fun was experienced and why this will be one for the personal history books…Note: we have repurposed the saying about Vegas and now “What happens in Goa, stays in Goa!”
The Mother’s Day Brouhaha
My family lived in the US briefly, many years ago. Prior to that life was smaller in many ways. There were no 75 channels on tv and there certainly was no Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Presidents Day and what have you.
We had Children’s Day where we most certainly did not get to escape from school; were “nudged” into elocution or essay competitions eulogizing the first Prime Minister of India. We had Teacher’s Day where the teachers got a break..sort of. The place I did my middle school from, had the 10th graders dress up in sarees or salwar kameez and the younger classes were allocated to us to manage while the teachers had a break for a day. Lunch was organized for them and there were no classes on that day for anyone. Good times all around. But the concept of Mother’s Day being a thing and a big one at that is something I got to know when I was in 3rd grade. Still a newbie of sorts to American life.
Our teacher who had an unfortunate way of looking strict while she wasn’t too bad in real life had us make little accessories for our mothers. Small pieces of what looks like particle wood to me now were available for us to color on and then a pin would be glued on the back and it would make a lovely brooch for our moms.
In theory so many things sound good. Doable even, but give a bunch of kids glue and craft products especially a goggle-eyed one from India who is new to the concept of pipe cleaners and googly eyes and you get something like this-
My mother in her infinite wisdom *never* wore this except for the time I gave it to her. Given that she had nothing which would offset this and she never went trick or treating either, this brooch was consigned to her drawer of special things, displayed prominently but sensibly not worn.
She preserved this, possibly as a reminder to herself that Art and her daughter were not intended to be friends. Over the years I’ve got a laugh out of jiggling the brooch so the eyes jump up and down but for the most part this work of art remains misunderstood and has more depth than anyone has possibly gauge.
Happy Mother’s Day all!
Switching Things Around
As comforting sameness is; it’s also well…same. A bit of difference in doing things or even contemplating it can give your brain a boost of sorts.
A friend who’s a horror movie afficianado and I decided to watch a movie last night; midweek movies have a fun factor that weekend ones don’t. Our fun was more because it was really comfortable in her house with the squishy couch, big screen tv and the glass of wine. The movie…eh…not so much.
Anyhoo, instead of running down the movie in my usual verbose manner, I decided to try and be a bit more tongue-in-cheek and still get my point across. I pulled out a “scary” template on Canvas and found a font I thought would go well and voila! the first movie review poster was born.
Expect more, many, many more of these Rev-Pos since the idea’s running amok in my head and I’m hiding out from my kid (it’s his holidays…)
Eye Roll Blog Post#1
My kid’s school suddenly announced an earlier closure to the school year due to rising temperatures yesterday. When TO found out about it, the joyous whoop he let out probably was audible a few blocks over.
So this is Day One of summer break 2022 and Mr.Zombie-During-School-Days got up on his own before 6 am, bathed, brushed, wore clean clothes, combed his hair, had his chocolate milk and is languidly spread out on the bed catching up on his Netflix To-Do list. He has an almost beatific look on his face and very graciously informed me I needn’t keep the morning alarm on for the next two months since he’ll be getting up when he wants to…Watch this space for more of his shenanigans and my frequent eyerolls…
Let’s Catch Up
It has been a while since I wrote. Been a while since I even thought of writing, to be honest. In the words of John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” and it it holds true even now, decades after he said it.
I turned a year older recently. Had my peeps around for a bite of birthday cake while TO manned or should I say preteened a live sundae counter. Kids were happy, dentists will be made happier still somewhere down the line.
The year started off well enough but came with a few hard knocks rather soon into the first week of January with us losing a loved family member and in March me losing someone very dear to me. My process of grieving is usually to write about my feelings or the person who has gone and pay them a tribute in some way but this time around it’s been rather hard and the words don’t want to come forth.
Apart from giving it time, I suppose there’s not much one can do but not everyone’s life is one we can celebrate in toto once they pass. Some lives you look back at and hope for all the turmoil they were in or caused, they gained a modicum of peace somewhere and didn’t feel agony or fear in their last moments. I find it a crushing thought to even imagine anyone I’ve cared about experiencing pain in their final moments. But one must try to accept what life throws their way, however jarring to the senses and move forward. I read an article sometime back about moving on vs moving forward; found it made sense. Posting it here for those who don’t mind a bit of gyaan but not an avalanche of it.
This morning when I started off with my morning routine of Wordle and a quick crossword, I realized how much TO’s influenced my life. The child isn’t a Ross Geller in the making from what I have understood. He can love dinosaurs and other buried prehistoric creatures without wanting to devote time in academia to truly enjoy it. The reptiles he loves have become integrated into our lives and our minds. One of the clues this morning in the New York Times Quick Crossword was Spitting _________ (a five lettter word) and I automatically filled in cobra. Once the crossword was filled, I found it was a different word entirely. Once upon a time I’d have been able to lead with the other word more easily but now life has a place which is dedicated to animal quizzes on road trips and amorphous plans around the world to see dangerous creatures or the slithering ones.
With summer break on the horizon along with exams, our days are busy and minds busier still. Hopefully the writing bug bites me again and I reenter the blogosphere properly and soon!
Ciao.
Reunited…
Once there was a little necklace. It was very happy and bright. It had rounded beads and was liked by everyone who saw it. It was a very happy little necklace indeed!
One day came the Little Grabby Fingered Imp. The Imp grabbed and pulled the necklace towards himself but the necklace didn’t want to go with an Imp. It wanted to stay with the girl whose neck he had made his home.
But the Imp kept grabbing and pulling and grabbing some more till the necklace broke and the beads danced away into the shadows. The Imp didn’t want the it anymore because it was broken now. The necklace was sad. The girl was sadder still.
After many, many years the girl was getting her toes painted and without knowing it, she chose the colors of the necklace…it was time again to make the necklace whole. She would do it very soon indeed!
Coorg Au Naturalé
A long winding road that always leads somewhere interesting…
It’s a jungle out there…isn’t that fantastic!
Serpentine and yet completely harmless..
Star and moon gazing through a Dobsonian telescope.
Road Trip: Day Three
We took in the sights around Mysore a bit and then drove to Madikeri in Coorg. Less pictures from the drive this time around since TO was in a *major* snit from being denied a Choco Shot at a place we stopped to refuel ourselves and get some caffeine. Apparently if you deny a child his chocolate, the world explodes in lava and misery and there’s no kernel of joy and hope left anywhere. *rolls eyes*
Take a look at the grandeur of the Mysuru Royal Palace.
Road Trip: Day Two
After spending a fairly cozy night in Bangalore ( I have to remind myself to say Bengaluru; it doesn’t come easy) we started out for Mysore this morning and the road was fantastic! While Google was showing us a shorter option, Red did his due diligence and found a route that was slightly longer but the roads were FAB!
Most of us, me included, usually talk about corruption in governments or wonder where our tax payer monies are going but once you start traveling by road you’ll see how beautifully the infrastructure has and is coming along across the country.
With plenty of good clean places to eat in along the way, this route is one that has fairly heavy traffic even for a Sunday but given the wide lanes, it’s no difficulty to drive here.
Random. Structured. Haphazard. All Me. 