Feminine Me?

Almost everyone in the blogosphere has done it and I thought it'd be a good way to start my July posts rolling. One common link that I noticed in many blogs is managing finance - be it banks, investments, shares or day-to-day running of the house. And to be honest, I was actually surprised to note so many women manage money. I've seen my mom do it and I do it because I'm interested in it, I like to be in charge. Here goes my list:
- Am not fond of nail varnish. I don't apply it on my fingers or toes. I dont have any either.
- Like DIY and have helped put together many items in the house including our bed frame. We've assembled and disassembled Aditi's cot about a dozen times so far, sometimes I have done it all alone with a toddler by my side.
- Have gone to many strange and new places all alone in a new country. Sometimes with the kiddo too. And never was scared to ask help if I lost my way. Have done in countries where I do not know the local language.
- Admire beauty - look at what clothes other girls wear, their shoes, bags, scarf etc. Sort of the sight adikara types.
- Not a fan of cleaning/washing. I'd love it if the man helped, but have given up on even asking for help.
- Fix bulbs, change fuses, clean the car reguarly, fix the printer, in general I dont wait for him to help me out. Actually I think it's always been the other way around.
- Don't like pointed heels, can't balance myself on them either. Not too fond of fancy clothing too.
- Am the one doing a Master's degree after marriage and child, juggling home, work, family and studies all together.
- Manage the money and keep track of incoming and outgoing funds. The man is content earning it. He thinks its my responsibility to manage it.
- Love all kinds of sports - cricket, tennis, football, Formula 1 and follow them all.

I do love jewellery though, my own special taste, simple yet charming and have trained the husband on what to choose for me too:)

The Weekend

Prashanth's cousin and his family visited us over the weekend. Their little girl was about 5 months younger to Aditi and they both had so much fun together. It was the first time Aditi had someone her age stay with us overnight, so she was hugely thrilled. Her friends usually come over play for a few hours or stay from morning till evening, but never has anyone stayed and slept with us. Saturday was bright and sunny, so they spent playing in the garden and eating on the slide. Prashanth was working nights, so I was in charge of showing them around. We went for a trip on the Wheel of Sheffield, returned home to have lunch and had a long nap. Aditi enjoyed the big wheel and had fun taking pictures from the top of the city. The only thing different in this wheel was photos were taken before we got on the wheel and then printed before we could complete the trip on the wheel. And as with any touristy place, we paid through our nose to get the photo pack which had a few postcards, fridge magnet, bottle opener and some matt-finish photos of us just outside the big wheel.
In the evening, Prashanth left for work, so I was the only driver. In-laws stayed at home while I drove Aditi, P's cousin & his family over to the park. Like typical girls, they giggeled and broke into peals of laughter for nothing. After an energetic 2 hours at the park and drenching themselves with the water works there, we dragged the girls home. They were pretty exhausted, asked for dinner and went straight to bed. The next morning, the first thing Aditi asked when she woke up was - "Where's Pavi?" I confirmed that Pavi was asleep and would wake up shortly. It was pouring outside that day, so we decided to stay at home. After breakfast and lunch, we headed out to Jungle Mania - an indoor soft play area for kids. The girls enjoyed themselves in the ball pit, climbing up and down the slide and jumping on the bouncy castle. After a lovely hour, we headed home and dropped the visitors at the train station. I wasn't planning to go, but just at the last minute we all decided to see them off at the rail station. The girls had so much fun together that Pavi cried loudly when she was carried into the train. Her parents pacified her by saying that we were coming on a different train.
We missed Peppa Pig's stage party in Sheffield, but I think we'll catch it at Wakefield later this month.

Honda and all that jazz

I have been driving this car for about 5 months now. And it took over 2 months for us to zero in on this one. It was a chance conversation on an otherwise normal evening, that led to the decision to own a second car. We began the very long search for that perfect car in early December last year. We decided on an automatic as it was going to be used only for city commuting and we had never owned one before - we had learnt from others how easy it was to drive and found it perfect for Sheffield's numerous hills and valleys. AutoTrader.com was the favorite website of the month and we religiously scanned the website for suitable cars in our area. We shortlisted a few and Prashanth visited the garages, but was not impressed by the ones he saw. We saw various cars ranging from Suzuki Alto to Mitsubishi Colt to Fiat Punto to even the Merc A series. Given our history of car purchases, we thought we'd be done in a few days. But how wrong we were! Our first car was bought after a single trip to a single dealer, our second one was bought after 2 trips, but this one was so different from our earlier experiences. We made a trip to Leeds, but were not happy with the test drives. We made 3 trips to Wakefield and almost finalized a Suzuki Liana, but found it was a Category D - had been involved in an accident. Various cars that we shortlisted were gone even before we could get to the garage. After about a month of not finding that perfect car, I drew up a list of cars that I thought would work for me. Toyota Yaris was my all time favorite, followed by VW Polo and Ford Focus. The jazz was added after checking out the car in London. The only problem with the jazz was the price. It was the most expensive of all as it had the 'Honda' tagged to it. The budget had more than doubled during this time and we were still on the hunt. Sometime in the last week of January, I noticed an ad for the Jazz at a garage near my house. We went to check it out the following saturday and bought it almost instantly. No second thoughts, just a nod from both of us and we signed on the dotted line. We secured it for £300 less than the advertised price and were happy with the bargain. The car was picked up in two days and is now almost always used for city driving. Prashanth loves this one for the auto gear and I like it for its made my life a whole lot convenient. Incidentally I haven't got on a bus in months and it feels wierd to not use public transport!

Adi speak

On our way back from Wales, my phone gave up its life. I have had it for over 4 years - a flip hpone from LG, which has been my good companion for a very long time. And I would have continued to live with it, until the husband got me a HTC. Back to the phone story, we had just left the cottage and I was texting a thank you message to the owner. A sudden brake, a crack on the phone and seconds later I realized the phone was broken. I still managed to use the phone successfully until we got home and my little girl tried to fix it. After about 5 minutes of fiddling with the phone, she declared -"Appa, I cant believe that Mummy broke the phone..." And before we could realize what she said, she came back with "I dont know HOW Mummy managed to break this phone...", stressing just right on where it mattered.
Aditi has been speaking full sentences for a while now, but never did we expect her to give us such blows - one after the other. She's been chatting a lot to almost everybody, but is most comfortable with people her own age. Yesterday she enjoyed with one of Prashant's friend's daughter, who had come a very long way, just to meet her. They played in the garden, on the slide, football, tennis and finally settled for painting. The girls were so absorbed in their activities that they did not want to part company. They've promised to meet each other soon.
One of Prashanth's cousin and his family are visting us this weekend and Aditi is looking forward to playing with her little cousin.

Convocation, grandparents visit etc...

The grandparents are here. They arrived over a week ago to attend Prashanth's convocation and will be here for the next 2 months. The convocation was a grand event and we made a short day trip to London. Aditi enjoyed the trip as usual and had good fun. While the grandparents and ad were off to attend the ceremony, Aditi and I went over to Kensington gardens and played in the park, fed the birds and saw the Kensington Palace from outside. To be honest, it was not inviting at all, with too much rubble all around, otherwise I would have paid the exhorbitant entry fees and gone in. We went back to the town hall where the function was taking place, and joined dad for tea. We took lots of pictures as it was the first convocation I attended and Aditi's first too.

Aditi is warming up to her grandparents. She was shy initially, but has been extremely friendly with her thatha. She's a bit J of her pati, especially because Pati showers too much attention on her dad, but I'm sure she'll be fine in a bit. She does not run to me all the time, but is happy to be chatting and playing with her grandparents and dad and loves to show them around. She's doing a lot more pooja and pretends to imitate her Pati all the time. I wish she learns more slokas as the only one she knows is Mooshika Vahana. She's talking a lot more and clearly and g'parents can now understand her - almost. The peppa pig addiction had decreased a bit, but is showing no signs of going away.

The nursery is teaching them culture and identity and she's absorbing bits and pieces of it and relaying them back to me at home. Her friends circle has grown by leaps and bounds. She's been out playing in the sun and enjoying the summer. We are expected to have a very good summer this year. Lets hope that the prediction comes true.

Latest addiction

Aditi's latest addiction is Peppa Pig.or people who dont know Peepa, she's a loveable little piggy and her everyday incidents are aired as 5 minute episodes on Channel5. My job every morning is to record them and play them for her when she's having breakfast. She's so attached to it that anything Peppa on the shelves of stores should be bought. And shops add to my trauma as they place character toys and accessories at eye level of the child and it leads to long arguments in the shop. She whines, grumbles and begs me with such pleading eyes that its so difficult to say 'No'. I admit I have given in sometimes and bought a few items Peppa, but largely managed to stay away. We also bought a few DVDs that keep her occupied when I'm away on weekends. I understand that the Peppa phase will go away on its own to be replaced by some other character, but its so terrible sometimes that I no longer fell comfortable to take her shopping to any supermarkets. Or I try to stay away from those shelves.
On another note, I have a new car all to myself and an automatic one too. For a second car, we decided to go for an automatic and its been a good decision. One of the main reasons to buy a car was to minimize the travel effort and make our journeys comfortable and it serves that purpose to a T.There is only one disadvantage from my view point - its not as economical as the manual one, but its perfect for me as we only do city trips on this one. Its a smaller car than the BMW, but boasts of a much larger boot space. Overall a great buy which has prompted others in our friends circle to consider buying a second car.

Back to blogging

I have had a big break, and am back after a very long time. Most of it I'll blame on new responsibilities and the additional work involved. But I'm enjoying being busy and loving this phase of Aditi where she makes proper adult like conversations. And her actions are only too good to be described. She's in this phase where she's addicted to everything Peppa Pig, so shopping with her over the last few months have been very difficult. Any tips from experienced parents are most welcome. How do you say no to a child without worrying about her repeated requests?

Summer has started early in this part of the world and the longer days and sunshine means we go out often and Aditi is back cycling inside our estate. She's got older girls as friends and absolutely adores their company. She can talk to them unlike last year where it was mostly through me. She's also being a perfect older sister to other little children from our estate. Incidentally there are four other kids who go to the same nursery as her and she loves to visit them in the baby room from time-to-time.

I'll hope to be more regular in my posting. More news including my new car in the next post.

And here's a picture of Aditi' with her ears pierced - a few weeks before her third birthday.