My Two Cents

Well count down stared. Hmmm so many things to do. But i'm too confused where to start. Kids are excited.
I'm having mixed feelings. not too happy but not feeling bad.Yesterday had a potluck at our friends house. I will be missing them all. Hope everthing goes smooth as planned,and not hoping any adventures in this trip.




 

Different colors








Mount hood view from Rose garden

You know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon...everything's different. Look at your pictures,your kids  ,its all changed. Your bundle of joy , so small ,so much depending on you... changed so much. Now says what color she wants to wear and what she wants to eat ,and reject your authority(?) .
wears those tiny shoes and wants to go to school with her brother.

hmmm anyway, we are also on the way for change. Changing home,changing city ,changing job. I have to get one anyway! wish me luck :)

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
― Dr. Seuss

Nowadays i'm reading lot's of Dr Seuss with my 8 year old  . His teacher wants him to read more of 'scholastic ' series and this guy all on 'wimpy kid dairy' or Dr Seuss or anything on lego's.
I feel good he is reading ,but not so glad as he is not reading what he is supposed to . Anyway something is better than nothing. I feel glad that he is finally into this .

Ok so here's the question - How do you develop reading habit? In a year i saw lot of change.Its the environment. both school and at house. He is reading because his teacher encourages him and his friends also read and they discuss in class.

In his former school in India, he was not that much into books.So if you have same issue try a book club. A book club at school is good idea. form a small group with parents and kids. Get some books(age appropriate books) from library  and choose a book for the week. Discuss on that book and let kids come up with what they feel . Don't just set your books to classic ,allow comics also. Let them enjoy reading first.

Happy reading

'Waiting for something to happen' - is a the most grilling experience. have you ever experienced this -Sometimes there will be lot of uncertainty and nothing will be clear ,but you have a feeling that you don't belong here ,and then you come up with something and turn things upside down. when you feel you are off the edge,suddenly everything settles well,and you feel you are missing that old stuff.

And sometimes you desperately want some change ,what ever you do will not result in any success , that does not happen and then the moment you stop thinking about it and take a plan B .Boom it happens leaving with choices .
Whatever life is like like mountain road full of turns and never gives a hint what it unfolds. I rather like it this way then a straight road. If things go as planned ,there won't be any fun and adventure!

I was watching 'satyameva jayathe'  featuring  Amir khan . This week discusion was on 'Dowry'.  Hmmm thats very sad to watch that.

 In one case it seems parents have given dowry upto Rs 20 -25 lacs ,and that girl has to endure tourture in her in-laws house. Why? why is that so? why she didn't went back to her parents house? what made her endure their behavior?
Is it not a issue with our society ?? . If we empower our girls, instead of raising them like 'marriage is the only destiny for life' this will change. Its raising them  not to tolerate any thing that  rips their self respect.

why do they  need to marry heir daughters off to such money minded people? how can any one be happy with those kind of money minded people who don't have any respect for women? what do their parents think when they marry off their daughters to such people? what else can they expect out of people like that.

I 'm regular on ted talks . watch this Tali sharot's - the optimism bias

you will start debating on this topic. There is a fine difference between optimism and over confidence.

Kids best example of this,  its summer and our apprtment overlooks the pool. My 2 year old see's so many adults in the pool ,swimming. She thinks she can swims,she even shows how they are moving in the pool. what is this? optimism or over confidence?

she is optimistic that she will not get drowned and she is confident that she can swim. Can an adult who does not know swimming feel the same? so is ignorance a bliss and  helps us in being optimistic?

Happy mothers day to all those great momies!

no i'm not conspiring anything. I believe in those above lines. we get what we wish for, yes that's true.

most of the time we don't focus of what we want ,instead we keep focusing on what we don't want or what can go wrong. That's it ,we think a lot on that negative side and we get what we focused on.

that's the power of belief. most people  believe in god or gurus or baba etc . when they strongly trust ,they strongly believe that their wishes are going to happen ,without any negative thought,and magically they happen as you get what you wish.


so keep faith ,things will happen!  yes now thats what i  need todo :)



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I often hear my friends wishing they had option of work from home .I used it when my daughter was a small baby. it was my savior those days. I was at home after she was born for 6 months and then took work from home option for another 6 months. if i didn't had that option i would have taken break. for those 6 months ,I still used to go to work place for couple of hours almost everyday .

 I like that flexibility and i have that option ,but i don't like to use it. If i work from home ,i feel more exhausted by end of the day ,oh wait , there is no end of the day.   when we are kids my mom  used to say - relax at office when you go to work  ,and  relax at home when you come back.At that time  I never understood that  , this statement was confusing     but if you are a working mom then you will understand what i'm trying to say.. :)  . now i get it.  relax@office - means forget how many chores are left ,forget dishes in sink or clothes in washer. forget that you need to be on your toes running behind your toddler to feed him. relax@ home  ,moment you step out forget abt your office politics, meetings or todo tasks or status reports.

but whatever -Flexibility is important ,so that we should be able to create and mange our schedule.

I meant it literally. Its been close to year i moved to this rainforest area( ok ,portland) from sunny Hyderabad.
we came here last june ,it was summer at that time ,with long green trails for walk and large trees it looked like a heaven on earth for first 3 months.

After 3 months  ,from start of sept it started raining . rain ,rain everyday! with no glimpses of sun till feb.
from Feb ,its like a peek-a boo game. You see sun sometimes ,you see rain ,some times hail etc.Its getting better now.

But one thing that makes me wonder and also inspire  - rain or shine ,there are people who goes on running outdoors. kudos!

I just came to know that April is Childhood Sexual Awareness month .I don't know that there are so many resources. check out more at http://csaawarenessmonth.com/

Any new school or daycare etc i used to check how secure it is. Are other workers allowed near kids? In school bus is my kid the last drop. How is the driver ,who is the escort etc.

 With bad and dangerous world out there ,i always worry if our safety net we weave around our kids world is strong enough ? not sure.

I recently read this article a Sheryl Sandberg can talk of leaving work at 5.30pm. I consider myself lucky as i did it too except some shabby months.


I have seen some bosses considering the employes who stay 24/7 in office as the best working ones. Some employees waiting till their boss leave even if they don't have work. I also revived some sort of sarcastic remarks that - 'oh she is still here it seems its not yet 5' .

 But now question is  we leave work place ,but do we stop work?  i remember those old days when i didn't have a laptop for work ,when i leave work, thats it no more work till next day.

 But now work is mobile. In a party or in train your smart phone makes sound and you check your mail  and Attending calls  or call people without even checking time. Its like with these laptops,smartphone you work 24hrs. I remember checking the mails in middle of night for some status ,forwarding mails  and replying in some one liners .how much difference it makes  if you leave work by 5.30 to attend work(from home) by 7.30.


Its because of us ,  kids got addicted to these fancy stuff. I have to admit ,and I'm guilty  for giving my  phone to my son sometimes to calm him down if i'm in middle of something.  when i visit temples/malls I see so many kids playing with mobile. Yes we are the cause for that.

Nowadays My little girl is talking nonstop.though she cannot pronounce 'r' ,'ka' ,'ga' , she makes up lot of words.Sometimes its so amazing to see how they think  ,express and do

Like She asks her grandfather to take her out. he says he don't have a car here. then she says i will buy you one ,and asks do you know driving ,you are big ,you should know..

Like when her dad starts ironing  his clothes ,she gets all her tiny
dresses and asks him to do those. he does and giver her ,she says..' no you didn't do it properly do it again ,its not hot' .She make sure he does each one at least 4-5 times :)


when her brother starts playing with his legos, she wants to play.
its funny to see how he says--no its only for kids above 3 ,not for you.but she insists and persistently ask him till he gives some of his big pieces.

the way she switches of lights in all the room if they were on .

the way she says she got stomachache if i ask her to eat or moment she feels full

the when we are searching for something she observers  and then remembers ,goes straight there and gets that

Sometimes those two get along very well. She supports what ever her brother says. Some times they fight like anything.

This is best exercise that ever invented. Seriously i never believed that a set of 12 poses can make such difference. This  gives awesome results.

I was reading  a book by name -- in Defense of food . Its a good read.

Healthy eating helps in faster recovery! I strongly believe in this. Now adays is more instant  and more and more additives in our food . Fresh Milk ,most of us who had a chance of having fresh from cow know will be good only for one or maximum 2 days if boiled. But now the containers we purchase can stay till 15-20 days. how is that possible without any additives. Vegetables or fruits  like Apples i buy from costco will stay firm for a 15-20 days even outside fridge.  Without any chemical coatings how is that possible.

And  then come much hyped Magic foods  like some berries or seeds?  Earlier our grandparents they know what they are eating. whats in their food. Our parents generation is a messed up one.

I think moderation is key in eating. not exactly counting calories ,but healthy

1. Oils : prefer ghee instead of oils. Olive oil is good for salads ,but not for heating esp the way we cook Indian food. Its good to limit consumption of oils. Think how many fried food were  available to your grand parents generation. Its only once in while for festive foods.

2. Plate with lot of colors : See how many colors of foods you are having per meal. Not the artificial ones ,but the colors imparted to your dishes by vegetables/greens and colors of the fruits you eat.  try to consume atleast 5 differnt colors each time or per day .

3.Limit grains: limit ,don't eliminate completely .I cannot eliminate completely as i cannot stick to that in long term.

4. No processed foods : even the colorfully packed cereals, no processed foods at all. no Chips.no proetin/energy bars, no bakery stuff. If you ever carve them ,prepare on your own .

5.Sugar : do you know sugar accelerates skin's aging process.  limit if possible eliminate completely,you can see for your self.

6. Drinks : i bottle of that orange juice adds 150-300 calories depending on sugar added. eliminate soft drinks completely. They are of no use to you.


7.Eating out : try to not to eat out. You don't know what all added to your food .Limit eating outs for like once in a month etc. If eating out check out healthy options.try new recipes and prepare at home.

Diet should be life style change not a temporary. So don't  starve yourself with fancy diets.

Create and stick to a plan that's practical to you and you can live with for years.

Its been long since i posted any update on this site. Its so crazy at work and inlaws visiting us.
lot of new lessons for me.  One this i learned is some people don't deserve to get help.

why people act so foolishly  .  There was an incident  i helped one female say M  for getting job .i helped her with interview , with reference. I hooked her with another neighbor(S) to baby sit her kid.

S looked her kid hoping that she will drop her once she lands in a job. M got job . Both M and S are not in agreement with daycare charge. So M joined her kid in a different daycare. But she didn't say that to S ,and told S that she will drop once they buy a car.

Now since its me who introduced M to S ,she was saying that she was not payed for those 10/12 hours that she baby sit M's kid.

next day i spoke with M and said its better to pay off . thats the last thing i know i spoke to her on this subject.

this all happened 6-7 months ago. Recently i came to know that M said S that i discouraged her not to join her kid .

 I felt bad,I never thought abt these kind of petty things earlier. But what makes me angry is why can't she say her own reason or whatever. she don't have to join her kid there ,its her kid and its her decision to hire someone who can take care at a less cost .She should say that without any issues . why for small petty things like this people lie? and how can other people believe this,as S did. what happen to commonsense?
 whatever its  a good lesson for me. Some people do not deserve help.

I was in process of making changes to diet. I'm a believer of age old ways of eating. i don't believe in these fab diets. So whats a healthy diet? only mantra i believe is 'moderation and natural' there are no super foods and no to processed food.

i'm now gone to size 4 from size 6.... :)
my workout is working.. :) ;)