Of showers, and birds and bees...

Sat was a beautiful day. Made all the more so by the baby shower.
For which a group of women from far corners of B'lore got together and planned and schemed and organised and surprised and DELIVERED!
It was a tough thing suprising this Mamma2B, cos having been part of a couple of recent baby showers, she was naturally expecting us to give her one! But the shower got postponed because of M's trips abroad- we needed a fellow conspirator didn't we? And she almost thought we'd forgotten.

But finally it got underway and the planning express gathered momentum and the excitement built up to its zenith just before Abha was due to enter the house.

M had thoughtfully taken Abha and Cubby out for a romantic drive at 2.30.. LOL! (Kudos on managing her till 5.30, M!)
Usha reached first, and the security guys told her that the houseowners were out and she had to wait!!!
She called us - (DDMom, Monika, Preethi n me) and Monika smsed M and M smsed some others and finally, Usha and Starry managed to get in, somehow and all the rest of us too reached and gathered in the Jain home.
Frantic decorations and setting-up-the-place later, we rushed to hide so that we could SURPRISE!! her.
The door bell rang, all of us hurried to hide, and Rajamma (the maid, who was beside herself at seeing our excitement and preparations)scurried to answer the doorbell, only to find,
first Bangalore Mom!
and then Poppy!!
and then just before Abha was to come in , Art!!! Aaarghhhh!
It all but added to the fun and laughter and bonhomie.

Finally she reached and we screamed and SURPRISED and laughed and hugged and felt so good all around! and then it was time for the games!

For all the worrying in the morning, that the power supply was off, and she couldn't melt the chocolates, Preethi came up with some beautiful chocolate potty in diapers, for the expectant second timers to taste and guess. Ewwwwwwwwwww.....went Abha and ewwwwwww..... went the onlookers.
M duly shared in the diaper tasting and even got the taste correct. Way to go M!
And then , we played Dumb Charades, where we divided ourselves into M's and Abha's teams. We had to guess, of course, stuff related to the baby.
Pictionary followed, which was truly hilarious at times, for what had to be picturised was nursery rhymes. Only Monika knows what she wanted to draw for Wee Willy Winkie! ROFL!
But what makes it even better is that her team managed to guess it!!

we handed Abha the gifts-a lovely lovely booklet, printed with all good wishes from bloggy friends, a gift voucher from CWC, a cute onesie for 2B and also some books and CD's for Cubby.
D and Co had made some Playdoh trinkets for all the kiddies. Its still treasured by Sonny boy, tho' the colours have merged by now.
Usha had brought some beautiful flowers. I had gotten her a teeshirt, which was supposed to have some maternity lines on it, but which, owing to the time lag, was finally convertd to a Frens shirt.

Time for the cake. An awesome one, shaped like a baby rattle, which tasted even better than it looked. But for eats, we also had
DDmom's pasta. With a green sauce and a red sauce, both equally delicious.
Preethi's totally yummilicious muffins, that sadly, she'd made only for the kids. Two were leftover, which the adults shared even more greedily than the kids. Yummm, Preethi, you'll have me visiting quite often now.
Chips- there was an overload of, both Bangalore Mom and me having got them.
MM got the drinks, and there also were some Dharwad pedas, which we found only at the end.

It was also Poppy's B'day and we got out the second cake of the evening.

The assorted kids had a gala time, playing with Cub's toys, and generally having a good time.
Little big sisters (D) told littler big sisters (K) how to raise good younger sisters!
Some of them gathered to feel 2B kicking a greeting.
And all the kids had a lovely time while their mommas had a ball!

The 'official' shower over, no one felt like leaving, which says much for M and Abha's calibre as hosts. Besides, we all wanted to have a look at the booklet to which we had all contributed! And so we chatted and chatted....oooh'ed and aaah'ed
But it was getting late, and all of us had a long drive ahead of us.

And what a drive it was!
At the fag end of it, Sonny boy suddenly had a doubt.
"Amma, how do babies get inside the stomach?????"
Not satisfied with being airily told that when Acha and Amma had been in love with each other for some time, a baby would come into the stomach, he still wanted to know, "HOWWWW?????? "

LOL! This's the third baby shower he's been attending and Sonny boy is getting curiouser and curiouser. 2B's kicks were the ultimate for him!
It will be a pleasure to introduce 2B when he/she finally pops out, as the owner of those kicks.
Happy Delivering, Abha and M! Three cheers for Cubby n 2B!

Odds and ends

The other day, I brought my lunch back un-eaten from office.
While I was putting it away to give the hungriest member of the family (the dog, who else?)the husband saw me and frowned at my skipping lunch.

Before I could tell him that I'd had a late breakfast and other stuff from office, a pair of ears perked up and up piped the little preacher.

"Amma, you should not waste food."

"If you don't eat it, you will not grow up. You won't grow old and you won't die."

"And when I have children, my children won't have a grandmother. You will still be my mother only." *accusing look*


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These days Sonny boy drives us both up the wall with his dawdling and dreaming in front of his food. The once-upon-a-time-patient Acha has also lost it.

Yesterday was a particularly bad food-and-drink day. Where he had to be yelled at for every dratted sip of his milk and then later on for every darned bit of his idlis. The school bus was already on its way, and Sonny boy was still chewing as peacably as a cow. At the end of his tether, the Acha lost his temper and shouted extra loud at him.
An equally fed-up Sonny boy, mutinously: One day I will eat the whole house! And then I will stay out!


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His upper left tooth is also out. It came out after much hopping-on-toes-in-excitement, hugging-self-around-stomach-in-anticipation, face-splitting-grins-in- expectation and last but not least, grimaces. It made us both laugh to see his antics and to go over it all once again.


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No offence to dear Valmikiji. But why o whyyyy should schools have a holiday for Valmiki Jayanti?? And if schools have it, why o whyyyyy not offices??
Its just not fair!

Long time no see....

Have been away from the blog for quite a while, being caught up with work and holidays and conjunctivitis, not necessarily in that order.
Last week, I'd seen a post from Monika on FB, saying there was a contest on Womens' Web. On the heroine that you liked the most. And that took me back to something I'd written a few years back. After I wrote this, a whole host of other heroines crossed my life. But still Jennifer holds a special place in my heart.

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This was back in my teens- when it was the INnest thing to be reading a Sidney Sheldon...I just wanted to see what was so great about him and so started off with Rage of Angels which was my intro to Sheldon.
I just LOVED Jennifer.

Vulnerable, yet strong, stupid and naive to begin with, going on to heights of brilliance in her career as an attorney, Jennifer had all a lady needs- beauty, brains, power, men to love her and a man to love and have a child with...

The novel starts with a young Jennifer just out of law school, with dreams in her eyes, dreams that are shattered when just hours after her entry into a promising career in law, she is booted out on her backside after she becomes a victim of a trick.
But Jennifer evolves... from a young , gullible, naive fresher to a poised, sharp, extremely brilliant attorney, pitting her wits against the DA and winning all the way, almost...

In between exciting courtroom battles, Jennifer finds time to fall in love. With Adam, who loves her back, but who also, unfortunately, happens to be married. On the threshold of becoming a Senator, Adam has to choose between a bright career with a wife he does not love and Jennifer whom he loves more than anything. Jennifer makes the choice for him.

With the fading out of Adam, comes Michael into her life. Michael, whom she has to thank for the sabotage of her career and also, for the life of the most precious thing in her life- her son, Joshua. And thus begins a relationship born out of strife, but which endures and emerges a winner, until.. Adam comes back into prominence in Jennifer’s life.

From the right side of the law to the wrong, from Adam to Michael, the narrative goes without losing steam, building up to a climax where Jennifer has Adam and Michael and she again has to choose....

The novel is all about the choices Jennifer is forced to make, its about loss and gain, about pain and joy, about victory and defeat, about togetherness and sheer loneliness. You can laugh with her, love with her, celebrate with her and weep with her.

A mix of Grisham and Steele, with the best of both, the book is classic Sidney Sheldon with his motif of a strong, feminine WOMAN. Racy in its narrative, leading from one thing to another, it leaves you wanting to know more about what happened to one gutsy lady.