9 1/2 months and counting

Hey-o,

Ya, I know its been a long time. Broken my own resolution of writing at least 1 blog a month. But that's me all shits and farts (oops, I meant fits and starts). But I mean to take fooltoo advantage of being preggers. It has been a roller coaster ride so far...

From da day I got a positive test result.....(hubby's reaction- "no problem"), to raging hormones, crankiness, backaches........and other little stuff I don't want to bore anyone with.

Right now I'm what I call "very pregnant". Yes, folks!!! Get this, there are stages of being pregnant. There's da "little bit pregnant", where u spend da whole day getting intimate with da inner workings of da toilet bowl. Where the slightest smell sends u into a tizzy, and pea green is da colour of the day. Then there's the definitely pregnant. Where u show, and supposedly u glow.(Why does that never happen with me. When I think I'm glowing, I get told "go powder ur nose, it's oily!"). Me, I'm now what u call the very very pregnant.

When I was pregnant with my son, I was light and graceful as a ballerina. I could sit on da floor and get up easily. This time people on da road look at me as if to say "Are u STILL pregnant"? The tummy makes an entrance 10 minutes before me. I can't see my toes. And I catch any able bodied volunteer to fasten the Velcro on my floaters.

But wait a minute, there is definitely an upside to all of this, is there not? Consider.....the BEST for all its little faults, makes an allowance for me to climb from the front door........I get asked "do u crave anything?" and if I do, things appear like magic in front of me....(courtesy my dear hubby, fantastic mom, and fabbity fab friends)........my son is more aware about playing rough in the house......my friends always save me a seat in the choir loft, no matter how crowded the church is.......and best of all MY SURPRISE BABY SHOWER/........

Yes my dear readers........how lucky am I................ I knew about Rochelle calling Andrew(hubby) a couple of times........but honestly, I never did connect the two.............when ur back is stiff as a poker stick it's difficult to think about anything but "the end is near". After cleaning the house like a dervish all morning, the hubby all but orders me to put on my best (and only) maternity dress and "come away with me". Anywhere "out", is a vacation for me, so I don't object. We go to the mall, get a Mcgrill with diet coke......and chill for some time. Then head home. By this time I really have to pee........but acc to the hubby, "You can hold it". Hell hath no fury than a very pregnant woman denied her right to pee. (Trivia: In the UK it is perfectly legal for a pregnant woman to pee in a policeman's hat, in the absence of a convenient loo....how cool is that!)

Finally, we head home. He gives me da keys saying he's gotta tie his laces up...........how stupid can I get.......does any one tie their laces at their own front door instead of unlacing them??

Imagine my shock when I open the door and from the darkness, there's a shout of "SURPRISE!!!!" It was the bestest thing ever. All my friends from the choir had got together and organized this. It was the most touching thing. They decorated my home with pink and blue balloons and pics of cute babies on da wall........there was a cake 1/2 iced in blue saying "boy" and 1/2 iced in pink saying "girl". They had arranged for games and a lovely baby hamper for me.......there was dinner too......and the lovely things had even arranged for disposable cutlery and plates so that there would be no hassle of washing up.............there was dancing and singing....It was a super duper thing to do. So thank you Rochelle, Brynelle, Yoko, Savio, Allwyn, Lloyd, Swati, Peter and Richie.....Thank you also to absent friends Lynette and Ashok....I missed you there......... It's been 3 days since and I'm still going to bed with a smile on my face!

Thoughts on motherhood Pt1

As I enter my 34th week of pregnancy, I cant help but have a lot of conflicting thoughts. The last trimester is when there is most of baby's brain development. Am I doing the right things to helpthat? Does baby actually like the food that I eat now? Does the fact that I have resumed having cravings mean anything?? How about the fact that just today I crammed nearly half a jar of Nutella without even realising what I was doing? Crazy thoughts like that.
Then there are other thoughts. Being at home for my son, Siddhant since the 6th month of his conception was a carefully thought out and rational decision. But that did not mean that I never missed out on all the things a "working" woman did. I missed petty inter office rivalries. I missed the heavy gossip sessions with my colleagues. I missed that thrill of having a looming deadline and achieving targets. I missed just getting out of the house and meeting adults. But if u ask me,"would I choose that instead of being with my child during his formative years", the answer would be a resounding NO.
Would I miss the fact that even though I had a bad case of the "baby blues"(post partum depression, if u want to get technical about it), my baby's face would light up the moment he caught my eye? Would I miss the fact that he had reserved his first smiles for me? Would I miss the almost telepathic knowledge of what he was doing in the next room gained from 24/7 being with him? Would I miss the fact, that though he treats his dada like Santa Claus,he comes to me when he feels low?
Yes, I am a "stay-at-home" mom. But I get really irritated when people ask me "but what do you do for a living?".
Look, I am a homemaker. That does not mean that I am just "sitting at home". When I remark about this to my hubby, he says, "Vrin, I see you nagging, shouting, dusting, sweeping, swabbing, cutting, cooking, cleaning, washing, phoning, ironing,....but very rarely do I see you just SITTING".
If you ask me, "don't I miss being independent, having my own dough to spend.....things like that?", I would say "yes". But again, that is a small price to pay.

Appearances

Hi
The other day I happened to go to my local lending library (FYI I can't go through the day without reading something new). It happens to be situated opposite a bank. I saw a havaldar go into the library. I assumed that he had gone in to get some change or directions. Wrong assumption. He happened to be returning a book written by Taslima Nasrin, in English. On looking at the book, I further assumed that he must have gotten it for his superiors, (next time, vrinda, never assume). No, he wasn't. He was browsing around for more of the same in the library and was asking very knowingly for more writings by the same author and also some more by other authors.

Now the first thing that comes to mind when u think of Bombay police is pot bellied, uncouth, semi literate roughnecks. But this havaldar was pretty articulate and knew exactly what he was doing. He was not potbellied, but looked very fit. He wasn't uncouth. On the contrary, he was very soft spoken and well mannered. And he certainly wasn't semi literate. He wasn't even reading the regular guy fiction of Alistair Maclean, Dick Francis and the like, but the very feminist works of Taslima Nasrin.
It certainly made me pause and think. Of the many times we categorize people and pigeon hole them.
That old man, leaning on a stick and wandering aimlessly on the road in the evening, might have a fascinating life as a........secret agent maybe.
That young student who the teachers label "slow learner", may be a genius, not really interested in book learning but might be creating incredible poetry when the rest of the class is learning boring logarithms.
That young man/woman, whom we look at as the "life of the party", may be having a not so very "happy-happy" life at home......

Just a thought................

Last evening at choir practice, Rochelle and I were deciding on our funeral masses......Rochelle would like the choir to sing "God will make a way where there seems to be no way"....Sorry Roche....I hardly think God needs to make a way for you when u r already @ da pearly gates (Catty, I know). Me, well......for the entrance hymn....Amazing Grace....final hymn - Softly and tenderly hopefully no one sings "Come back to me" for communion or they would so have me haunting them......that would be fun (for the haunter, not the haunted).
Yes, there would be a dress code.....black tie for men and pretty sarees and dresses for women.....I would want a professional to dress me up.....with makeup. I would expect my friends to shed at least 2 tears each for me.......or else look up the last para on hauntings........ No serving Papa Joe's pattieces.....sendme away elegantly.......serve stuff on a toothpick....cheese and olives etc.......then maybe a lovely wine.....
Speaking of arranging funerals, I really think the time has come for all brides in India to submit a wedding gift list with the wedding cards.......I mean....wouldn't a girl like to receive what she really wants instead of being stuck with a dozen flasks (recycled from previous gifts received).....I got 3 for my wedding....(also dry fruit trays...cheapskates had already finished off the dry fruits)..We Indians are known for pinching a rupee till it bleeds, but this is just cheap kanjoosi......
Ok.....so if we can arrange our own funerals and ask what we really want for our weddings,...then shouldn't baby showers come in the same category (hint, hint).

Hello all,

Was just in bed when something struck me. And so, not to disappoint my adoring public, here’s the next installment of mon gr8 crzy thoughts.

I went to a cousin’s house today. Got to see some photos she clicked. Nearly 70% of the snappies were of flowers and birds and plants………..

Now do not get me wrong, mes amis. I’m as fond of nature as u all are. I’ve done my sorting rubbish bit (2 bins for my kachra. One for wet waste and one for dry waste). I try not to waste any more water than I possibly can. I turn off da tap when I brush my teeth. As far as possible I refuse plastic bags when I go to the market.

But Mon Dieu, this is getting a little too much. To waste 70% of hard disk space on nature alone???Quelle silliosity, mes amis. Even if I went to National park, I would want to be in da snappies myself. What narcissism, you might say…….but my fellow thought sharer’s……..c’est moi all da way!!!

Talking about snappies, I’ll let u in on a little family secret…… It’s about mon mari…..he cant snap for nuts (no ashok, not his own). His snaps have heads cut off, and various other unmentionables. And siddhu, his favourite pose is…………..hold your breath……….bums!!!!!!!!! Ya, all his photos happen to be from that height so poor bugger gets a bad name for clicking bums/bottoms/butts…..

As for me, I prefer to use the old fashioned “khachak” camera to the new digital ones. I prefer holding hard copies in my hand to the software….(ok ok ashok…..enough with the silly grin).

Another thought,………..more poo and pee for the next 2-2 ½ yrs…..so gotta enjoy the next poo free weeks………..before I start buying up shares in Pampers.

But for all my bitching, I wouldn’t give up my days of bliss when siddhu was little for anything in the world. Now that he’s growing up, I sometimes long for the little peanut that he was…….now I’m gonna get a second installment……..now I’m not the kind of girl who goes gaga over babies in general…..but mine are kind of special………… Yess they are…..

deep thoughts

I went to church today feeling a bit uneasy......difficult to xplain I know, couldn't put a finger on it......

Most of the hymns we sang for mass were a bit of a s@#t. And these were hymns we had been singing for quite sometime. The good news was that the sermon by Fr. Frank was truly thought provoking. We do find things difficult to forgive sometimes, don't we? I do that. There is a person whose attitude really gets to me. I mean this person is 50yrs old and behaves like a 2yr old. And this kind of open overt rudeness is crazy. Life's too short. Were it up to me, I would elect never to encounter this miserable person again. But because of who this person is, I gotta meet this person at least 7-8 times a year. Believe u me, time never seems to crawl slower than this......What do u say to that, Fr. Frank?

Mum just called........some goons bearing trishuls and saffron flags have attacked churches in Mangalore and Udupi. The violence in orissa felt nauseating but still, at a distance, things don't feel real. But when things happen in my own backyard........... It is really difficult to forgive, Fr. Frank.

Reading in the newspapers about bombs going off in Delhi........apparently as revenge for things that have happened nearly 15yrs ago...............any ideas now, Fr. Frank?

Why me and why life

Hi. It's been a long time since I've actually put thoughts on paper (virtually speaking).

It's been a crazy week. Mixed feelings all around. First the sure knowledge that there's gonna be no "open house" @ my son's school.........(oh crap! how'm I ever gonna know what the heck he's done, after all the nagging, yelling, screaming, tearing of hair, gnashing of teeth), etc.......you get the picture.

Then for the first time I see my unborn move.....from the outside of my tummy..
I have to say......looked really weird.....like something from "aliens". Gotta sleep on my side...........or else I get the freakiest of nightmares..............Like Pamela Anderson chasing me in the vegetable market...(not a pretty sight).

Going to choir practice has gotta be the highlight of the week ((so far)). Siddhu broke his tooth.........(the best excuse for ice cream). Thinking up crazy rhymes to beat Rochelle, singing off key for some hymns,,,...........giggling like a loony bird........and a gold medal ribbon cone to liven things up..........MAN....thats the life/..