Is there anything such as "too much excitement"?

Okay! So I am very excited, very very excited about two things.
I am looking forward to one - start painting and two - going to the Strand Monsoon book festival (They have an up to-80% sale).

I am all set with materials needed to paint - pencil, eraser, sharpener, drawing paper, brushes, water colours and oil pastels. This sudden desire for painting was a result of trying to find a new hobby and lack of good paintings for my new apartment. So maybe I can create something that I like and put it up.
Ah! Now you might be thinking "she must be a very talented painter". Not exactly! I am an amateur. But I do have a lot of passion and ideas. And I did go to a few hobby drawing classes when I was in school.

And my other latest passion is collecting books for my home library. So the Strand book sale is going to be an awesome opportunity.
Plus I will be going there with a friend whose company I really enjoy, so that's a double bonus!
And I would love to pick up some good books for N. I am reaching that stage where I could close my eyes and read out all his books.

Thinking about going there is already giving me a high, wonder what'll happen once I get there!

Play Doh fun!

Sunday being a holiday S decided to spend some "quality" time with N.
N took out his latest favourite playing object *Play Doh* and set it in front of S.
S was very amused at the sight of colourful clay and with child-like enthusiasm started playing with it.
I left the 2 of them to take care of the day's breakfast (which by the way was Aaloo Poori).
When  I got back this is what I saw -

This was described to me as a yellow man sitting on a green chair (a chair with no legs to be precise). There is a red table on a white carpet (with carpet like texture) in front of him. 

And here is the table with a cup of tea on it - 

The tea cup was not a regular (read boring) cup like the ones in my kitchen. It was designer as you can see with blue polka dots et all. The cup was made by my sister who was the guest artist.
Another orange man joined the first man for tea but he was soon transformed into a ball to play catch -

I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the creativity!

Sleeping with Minnie

Last night N slept through the night in his room.

Today morning, at around 7 he tiptoed into our room and then climbed up into our bed.

I asked him a very rhetorical question "Did my pumpkin sleep in his room last night?"

"Yesssssss" said N.

"Was it fun?"

"Yessssss. Nini Minnie" ('Nini' means sleep in N's language).

"Who's Minnie?" said S.

N went into his room and brought back a pink-dress-wearing Minnie mouse toy with him (Minnie mouse as in Mickey mouse's companion).

S and I looked at each other and exchanged a glance which felt like "If that's what it takes to get you to sleep through the night in your room, we don't mind you sleeping with Minnie."

Lady like.... maybe not!

I am a fairly new blogger and so when Arundhati of Arundhati's blog tagged me it took me some time to figure out what that meant.  So I visited IHM's blog who initiated the tag and gained more gyaan about the tagging business. This tag is called 'My sins against gender-stereotypes'.

I loved both their posts - Arundhati's and IHM's!  

My first tag and here is my list - 

1. I have a very visible tattoo on my left shoulder - much to the chagrin of orthodox and conservative family walas both mine and the in-laws.

2. I chose whom I wanted to marry and have no regrets about that- defied a couple of social norms and ended up creating a big drama too!

3. I love cameras and taking pictures - much more than my better other half!

4. I like driving and am confident about driving on Indian roads. Driving makes me feel in control of my life!

5. I DON'T like chick flicks or mush mush movies. I would rather watch a "Dark Knight" or a "Shawshank Redemption" than a "Pretty Woman".

6. I can cook for survival BUT beyond that its a pain. I am not a fan of cooking everyday & every meal, but love doing it once in a while and for parties.

7. I like my financial independence and love working - am on a break right now.

8. I have tried all possible kinds of alcoholic beverages and love my poisons - vodka and rum. I am more of a rum and coke person than a wine lady!

9. I have trekked mountains and rappelled down them with great ease; to the surprise of my male counterparts.

10. I like taking charge and getting things done quick - don't have patience for the slow & lazy race of human beings.

11. I have travelled across 3 continents by myself. Taken a 3 day train journey sitting on suitcases and bags with 27 boys and no girl. Taken a 1 & 1/2 year old on a 14 hour flight and survived it.

12. I have a great sense of direction and a pictographic memory when it comes to roads - that combined with my driving can take me to places I have been to years ago just based on my memory map.

There is girly stuff that I love - maybe I should write another blog for that. OR wait for someone to start a tag about girly stuff that we do :)

And since I am relatively new to the blogging world so can't tag people yet. But I don't mind the blue pants curse - I can add that to this list! 

Aaloo tikki, Wii Sports and a sick child

Thanks to the All-India bandh the 2 day weekend converted into a long weekend!

S being a work-a-holic was all set to go to work today. He had a bath and was getting ready, when after being pestered by me for the zillionth time he called up a colleague. And got to know that the official holiday was declared 2 nights back - he missed getting an email! So the pleasure of an unexpected day off was very visible on S's face. I took complete credit for it!

N's playschool was closed too. The skies were cloudy with a little smattering of rain so I decided to make some Aaloo tikkis for a hearty breakfast; not exactly very healthy though. I did not deep fry them to balance the health factor. Just shallow fried them on a tawa.
My sister made some fresh and yummy coriander & mint chutney (she is here to spend some time with N). I toasted some bread and voila!!

One more picture from another angle.

Sadly N wasn't allowed the ketchup or too much of the tikki. He started the day with a running nose and some fever. The poor kid's voice was all nasal and he was cranky for most part of the time that he was awake :(  So after a dose of medicine he decided to take a nap.

S meanwhile decided to open up his birthday gift and get some action. He got a Wii Sports from me. It includes tennis, baseball, bowling, boxing and golf. It is one of those games where you imitate the actual action of the sport. Say, if you are bowling you have to mimic throwing of the ball with the Wii remote tied to your hand. It gives you some exercise, if not too much.  

S played it non stop for an hour and by the end of it there were beads of sweat on his forehead. He looked at me accusingly and said "Now I know why you gave me this!"

My secret mission was to make sure he exercised a little; especially since he was too lazy to go the gym ;)