Oh my goodness, it’s 9 o’clock!

My favorite expression last week has been "Sorry, No time!". Last week felt like a marathon to me.The first half was all upbeat,then energy levels started dropping (unfortunately no "Gu" gel to boost
me up:)) and towards the end, I almost crashed. No first hand experience, in running a marathon, but have seen G take it, and yes, make it!

I felt like racing against time all the way through. Was frustrated, not being able to spend enough time with M. Got irritated with work not going anywhere ..Driving back from work at 9 pm on Friday, tired, I rang up G & M and they were headed to Pasta Market to get Pasta. Was elated to hear that M wanted to wait for Mama to feed him. My spirits rose hearing that. Felt a boost of energy rush in.. Sat next to M and started feeding him, reading "Hally Tossy's dog had a bad breath".

Saturday sailed perfect, with a biking trip to shoreline and eating out. Sunday wasn't bad either, completed all the chores and got ready for the week ahead.

I realize that, I like it this way, to be a busy bee, fully consuming every minute of the day. May be last week, was stretching it a little too much. Reminds me of the cliché "Time is free, but it is priceless". I don't want to waste one of the most expensive resources in life :)

My remarks about time left none in our household untouched, specifically M. My statement "Oh my goodness, it is 9 o'clock" and the way I look at our clock , has (sadly) instilled in M a sense of fear and dislike towards our clock. (Blame it on me, I will be careful next time with these remarks). He told me the other day,
"Mama, I am scared of the clock, I don't like it". I tried to pacify him with, there is nothing to be scared, it is our friend, it helps us keep track of time and the like. No, he, was not convinced. I left it there, even forgot about the whole stuff. Later that night, M found a way to solve his issue. (Now, I know, why Miss R says, M is a very strong willed boy).

He found a party hat which was lying around and he covered the face of our alarm clock with it. Fully satisfied with his gimmick, he came back and told me, "Mama, now I don't have to be scared. See..". M's ways always makes me think out of the box..I need to learn from him.

So, this is our clock's new look. It has been like this for a while now.

M gets very upset, if we remove the party hat, so be it..
These kids..

Rain

It is been rain, rain and more of rain, this week. Unusual for sunny California, but absolutely no complains. We really need it. California is in severe drought!

My perceptions of rain ( oh well, many things ) have changed over time. My earliest memoirs of rain goes back to my childhood days, may be, back when I was 5 or 6. I used to spend my school breaks with my mom’s relatives. It rained very heavily one of those nights. Thunder roared, lighting was in all its fury, and strong winds rocked the trees. I was scared, looked at valyamma(my mom’s cousin sister) and she told me to chant after her a sloka( I have raked my brains for it, but no, I am not getting it. No, it is not “arjunan phalgunan”, it was something else..), and the thunder would go away. Not sure whether the sloka did any tricks to the thunder, but for sure, it did to me.  I used to drift into sleep soon.

Then I grew up, we moved from near my mom’s place, to a middle class neighborhood. My friend circle changed. Summer holidays was fun with Indira Nagar gang. We used to play in the rains, completely drenched, until my friend’s mom shouts at us to come back in. It was fun!!

And now, here I am, sitting in my kitchen gazing at the rain. I am getting used to it, I have started liking it, may be even loving it.  One moment, I felt impelled to  go out in the rain like in the old times, but second thoughts (Oh, how I wish, I could be that 2nd grader again, who never has a second thought…) , I ruled against it. But, yeah, one of these days, I am going to do it (when M is not watching, I know he would be thrilled… but don’t want to get him sick…). Thought, I would settle for a photograph for now. I asked G, if he could get me one. “It is not going to look nice, only professionals can do it.”, G muttered. “That is ok,  I am not worried about the quality, pretty please get me one”.

I am posting that photograph here, I know, you cannot make out that it is raining. But…your imagination sure can see it :)