Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Fitness mania continues

So after all that gym ball disasters and stuff have not dropped the weight since I was not consistent with going for the aerobics class. Now I have got into this yoga mania. Well not that I am dressed to the nines with all the yoga gear and have mastered all the asanas. I am thinking of joining a yoga class. So does anyone know anything for this budding yoga enthusiast? Read that it helps to balance the mind and soul. Loads of help needed in that department. Have found good teachers but need to know for sure from someone’s been there done that. Should I continue with aerobics (which have not sighted in months) or switch to yoga.

This is an emergency situation since the birthday is coming up next month. I have two phases where I go crazily into weight loss regiments. One is for new year, one is for birthday. So any advice on yoga related issues please?

Childs Play

Have been watching different games that kids play in the age range of eight to five year olds. They have these make believe games of playing shop, hide and seek, playing tennis (kid you not this is serious with a sania dress up involved as well), mummy daddy game (this is the innocent one with the teddy bear as the kid). The one that had me in stitches was the four year old speak in sinhala and English all mixed up and giving operation orders for a logistical mess up (he was pretending to be working like me). All the technical jargon had been picked up as well, so that goes to say how careful we have to be when we talk in front of kids. It was the most hilarious insight into how I sound when I try to sort out work issues from home.

Getting married game is another all time favorite where all the eight year olds dress up and play brides. There is also this “life” game which is like a monopoly sort of thing but it has loads of life issues or something I watched the kids play one day. This post is not about the innocent kids play but another serious issue involved with kids playing. We always here of kids being molested by adults (in the line of relatives cousins, friends and what not). The stories I have heard can make a real sordid blog but then I don’t know if half of what I hear is true. What I am going to post here is a true story, the kids’ interest with playing mum and dad sometimes goes onto serious playing where they start molesting smaller kids. This was again related by a friend where a bunch of small kids were usually playing but a little boy used to take one of the little girls and putting in LD’s Words try Hanky Panky with the child. Now general curiosity of little kids is always there, show me your under pants or show me your wee wee blah blah is an issue that comes up at some point or the other. When the child goes to the extend of committing acts on another kid, that’s where we have to be alert on its not innocent child’s play but something more serious where one kids molesting another. The kid must have seen or been subjected to something not right. Addressing issues like this is treading on dangerous grounds where parents don’t want to and don’t know how to react with such things. Seriously this sort of issue needs proper counseling.

When I was single I used to be terrified of the word “rape”. That’s another post altogether. Now that I am a mum I am terrified of the words “child abuse”. Since I am hardly at home but have full time supervision of the kids I still have this un answered fear that what if? Sending kids to play with other kids spend of the days all have to be closely monitored since not only adults but even other kids as small as five years or four can cause harm to others without realizing what they are doing……

Molestation by adults is something we all hear, I remember once I was in a room filled with girls and almost ninety percent of them had one story to relate about how they were molested in their young age. Shocking but true that we live in a sick minded world……

Monday, May 26, 2008

Kids Exams

The kid’s exams are on in a couple of weeks. Gone are the days that the kids don’t do anything but just flip through the books and go off to school (which is what I did). Little D has been driving up the wall saying we have to study mummy and you do it with me. So all evenings are spent revising stuff and she is more organized than I am and has started really early. She has this obsessive competitive streak that I am worried about but have been trying to tell her if you don’t get a prize it doesn’t matter but no she does not even want to hear that.

Drop the kids at school and wander around thinking whether I should buy something from the canteen or not, get hit by the mummy group. After all the hi’s they quickly jump off to exams. One was kind enough to ask if I am taking a month off to teach the kid for the exam, I was like No I don’t get that kind of leave off. Then she asks if I am taking two weeks off, hello I can’t take two days off because of a eight year old kids exams. Gives me a weird look and then they say how they have not done enough revision (alert alert they have been revising for three months). There is this other category of moms who keep running everyday to meet the teacher, corner her and try and get the blooming questions out of the teachers mouth. There is this bitching behind the back about this one goes and meets the teacher blah blah while they are all doing that anyways. One mum said she has gained weight because she has been comfort eating for the exams. Wait what will all these characters do when its time for o’levels I cringe when I wonder about that.

For a mad moment(which are far by many these days) I wonder if I am the one whose not panicking so much about D’s Exams and going a bit nuts. I mean yes you want your kids to do well but does it rotate so much that you get stressed and talk about it all the time. Since my mom goes to pick the kids this bug has caught her she keeps calling me many times and driving me nuts that I am not taking it seriously enough…. The joys of parenthood …… so thrilling……

By the way I found out while studying that there is a mountain called mount sugarloaf in Brazil, didn’t know that information in so many years.

Friday, May 23, 2008

A Tree, Car and a Sunny day

Was driving down one of our tree filled neighborhoods last weekend. Suddenly, whoosh I heard something fall on my car and braked and closed my eyes. Immediate assumption was I have knocked something. Heard people screaming in the road looked up and huge branch of a tree has fallen on the car. What are the likelihoods of a big branch of tree falling on a sunny day? I just noticed that the side mirror was broken and hanging. All these people came running and took the branches. Was too scared to get out and check the damages just kept driving (idiotic I know).
Anyways drive quite a bit and get off to look at the damages. I get a mixed feeling of desperation where I am crying and wishing the blooming tree had fallen on me instead. Since I have been in a fairly depressive mood I think just broke down. This is the first sort of accident with the car and that too with a tree dropping its branches out of the blue. Insurance is apparently covered for this sort of thing now I am going to be without a car for a good ten days. Tired of answering people who keep pointing at the dents and asking how did you do that? (feel like answering no I just drove up a tree I mean how would the hood get dented and the sides unless I just did that!)

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Words and their way!

Sometimes I cannot help but wonder why some people don’t understand that words when once said cannot be picked up again. The pain of the words that you so loosely throw is worse and deeper than the cut of a sword. Words that you understand cause you don’t know the meaning and words which don’t make sense cause you don’t know the language.

That was a pretty much negative play of words. The positive part will be posted when in better spirits…….

Ten Random things that make me happy in my life..

I have been tagged by LD and Chaar-max and I must say it’s a good distraction from all my miserable posts. This is the first time I have been tagged so pretty excited I must say

Here goes
The kids- when they give these huge smiles
Reading a book
Rainbows – Rarely see them for some reason
This feeling you get after prayers ( that’s sometimes)
Having a laugh with my best friends in India
Traveling around Sri lanka
Movies – preferable funny ones which will make me laugh
Shopping – finding that ever so perfect pair of shoes
Cooking – that should be cooking up a storm when I am in a good mood
Trading with profits – don’t we all get happy when we make huge profits…..

I am pleased to tag

Dhammika
Angel
Angel Eyes
The kill me romeo project
Bimal

Friday, May 9, 2008

Disaster Management with an astrologer

This is not about the Myanmar disaster relief. Although my problems are no where near what the people in Myanmar are going through right now. We should all help in whatever way possible. In this short span of life I cannot stop but think what would those villagers have been thinking when the cyclone hit them? It’s really sad that such natural disasters do have to occur.

These disasters in my life have taken a greater turn with my mom and sister running into the rescue with an astrologer. (This must be like the 15th that we have seen). So anyways I completely refused to go with them but then in the end with my mom doing what mothers usually do (nagging) had to go with them. The place is really dodgy in a dodgy area the astrologer looked like a normal our neighbor sort of guy.

After looking at the boxes of my times and drawing more and more charts his prediction was that I am in a real disaster and its not going to be better. I love the way how life takes this turn where you go with some sort of hope and then you learn that no shit happens and you just got to live with it. He kept reading and saying different things (not all good stuff either). First I was listening with a smirky smile then of course got a bit engrossed in the stuff he was saying since some of it did make sense. My mom of course could not bear to hear the bad news that life is not going to be all flowers and bonbons but have I considered separation (this was from the astrologer). No mum wants to hear the D word and the Indian mom that is worse than being ousted from your caste and community. My mom was weeping at this total stranger and sister looked shell shocked (clearly). I was of course bit worried that mum might fall into this mans shoulder and weep some more (have no clue why I thought this). So anyways I stopped him and said now tell me is there anything good happening in my life. He was kind enough to put forward that except the personal stuff everything else will be good. Apparently my horoscope is a perfect match to Jacqueline Kennedy. (Right I don’t have her figure but maybe the only similarity might been the love for shoes and bags and clothes). At a logical moment was wondering how he looked at Jackie’s Horoscope (I mean come on what are the chances?)

Astrologer was a bit worried with the mother weeping non stop and going on to talk about what a bright good child I was in my childhood and some sin she committed has put me in this situation. Clearly this is having a cuckoo effect on mom. Stopped her again and asked what the solution. It was simple enough he told me to pray. As if I have not done enough of that already. But he kept saying no I am serious you have to pray. So today morning woke up to break that new resolution of not praying and made it to temple to do some serious talks with the gods. I don’t know if they are hearing what I have been saying. I can’t believe that I am paying for some Karmas of my last birth. I really hope I am not born again into this world to keep paying for sins that I might have committed in this birth…

Well with that officially the blog is going to be anonymous for the rest of its life….. (except for the handful who know me J )

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

God and I

So god appeared in full glory in front of me and said
”What would be your three wishes whatever granted”
Me being the Good person I am said “ World Peace, Food for the poor , Happier Sri lanka”
Well that was an attempt at a dry joke.

I have just stopped praying for the fourth day in a row. I don’t think Hinduism does say you have to pray everyday. But I was praying everyday and visiting temples like no tomorrow. Due to misery in my personal life in general I had to blame it on someone. First thought was my parents who brought me into this world but then again poor souls how were they suppose to predict that my life was going to be one big carnival (Not). Then I realized I had to blame it on someone else so its god. I tried having an annoyed conversation with God but stopped since I might look like a mental talking to oneself. I don’t know how long I am going to continue this, but then again could things get worse that it is already if I don’t pray. Hemmm that’s a thought to think about for now.

Friday, May 2, 2008

What you see and what you want to see!

I was wandering around Odel one weekend, passing delifrance I saw a good friends husband reading the papers with a cup of coffee. So decided to bug him and went up and teased him that was he hiding here from the wife on weekends. He burst out laughing and told me to sit and have a coffee.

So I joined him was joking with him while looking at the mirror in front of me (I was people watching ok). If you sit at Delifrance in Odel facing the restaurant there is a big mirror where u can watch other people walking around. I spotted this lady (L) who we both knew and I saw her looking at friends husband then at me and quickly making two n two that this was not the wife he was sitting with. Watching her facial expression was classic and she kept walking this way and that way looking over at him. She could see my back but did not have the brains to look into the mirror to see my face. I told my friend this and he started laughing and trying to put his head down and keep the paper in the side and have conversation with me.

Now L who was trotting here and there quickly had one of those tube light moments where she rushed into the restaurant to get a table right behind us so that she could see who I was. But before rushing to her table she said hi to the friend’s husband but did not still look at me and ran to the table. She sits down to look at me (I was with a big friendly smile in my face). Her face literally froze (ok it was already frozen with the entire pancake and stuff that she had put on her face but froze a bit more). Then fake laugh (I hear load of that here for some reason) how are u dear and where is your husband and where is your wife? To the point or what! By this time my friend comes rushing in with a load of clothes and joins us. When I told her what this woman had been up to later she said I should have texted her she would have come up and burst out crying….. Maybe I’ll do that next time to make L’s Day…

I feel sorry for L because she has the biggest womanizer in town as her husband. She painstakingly goes into every gory detail about him to everyone she knows. So much that my mom has been updated about L”s husband and that too she met my mom maybe once.

Customer Care at Banks

After the disastrous Bank affairs in India which I posted last week, this week I had to visit two Banks in Colombo. I must hand it out but the girl handling the account was very helpful and friendly. This particular bank earlier a couple of times I have had some nasty experiences. So it was even more impressing to me the way the girl was very attentive and actually made a difference in the banking experience. I was being my usual serious self (which is work mode when I am the B from hell). End of us going through accounts non stop she was really trying to be friendly. In the end cracked a few jokes and wrapped up happily.

After than proceeded to another bank (again no names mentioned). This guy was on the mobile I was getting calls non stop as well. The meeting which should have been finished in 10 mins was dragging on forever since we both could not concentrate. At one point I was on the phone and suddenly had this eerie feeling. I looked out of the corner of my eye this guy was just staring quietly. Quickly cut the call short and said sorry and started talking. He was still staring and by this point I was not feeling comfortable at all. The thing is I do slightly know him outside our work affairs as well and he was behaving quite strangely. Well maybe he was having a horrid day as well. Or he just realized that I had two horns growing out of my head.