A Shopping Adventure

My body seems to have adjusted as of now to the timings here. Although I did wake up early in the morning at 3 and phone krish
using keerthi's calling card. After that i was awake for quite some time before drifting off to sleep. I managed to watch some
TV and found a tele shop where they were selling houses for 250$. !!!!!!

now in the morning at 8 , snehal woke me up saying "everyone is going shopping for groceries. we need to be ready in 15
mins!!!" Gosh tht was a hurry hurry session. I brushed and freshened up in 5 mins(wow) we prepared tea and Maggi. gobbled tht
and set out. Boy !! was it cold???

The group of 6 of us set off walking towards wht we thoght was the right direction to the supermarket. Sridevi had read tht
it was just 15 mins walk and hence we were all geared up for a walk. We liked the surroundings. The trees were showing FALL
colours. the hues were ranging from yellow to pink to red and i missed having my camera. I ought to buy one sooooooon. The
apartments dissolved into quaint houses. Many of them had signs of Trick O Treating. Seemingly scary hollowed out pumpkins
were seen in most houses while a few more had ghosts and skeletons. i missed my camera again. :-( I hope i get one soon
before ppl clear out there halloween decorations.

My colleagues were not aware of Haloween!!! I was surprised!! I guess I must thank my reading for this knowledge.
Anyways, walking and walking didnt yield to any success. we took many wrong turns and entered and reentered lanes and
eventually managed to come out of our complex. A lady when asked told us that a shoping area was tooooo far to wlk to.
Another lady pointed to another direction and said tht tht would be nearer and why doesnt she drop us there?? How nice of her
to offer to drop a bunch of people to some place pretty far!!! She went home and met us in her car at the entrance of the
complex. It was a Lexus. we trooped in and she took us to this place called "WHOLE MART" and boy we realise dtht it was not
possible to reach here by walk not coz of the distance but also because we would touch the highway and that had no pedestrain
walks!!!!!!

We thanked her profusely and she offered to wait for us!! WOW were we lucky????

So off we entered the supermarket. We entered the veggie and fruits section. I was so overwhelmed by the display of the
veggies and fruits. They looked to inviting!!! every item was sooooooooooo fresh and alluring. I missed my camera again!!!!
The prices were equally high. One cauliflower for 2.99 $ = 150 Rs!!!!!!!!!!!!! tomatoes - 6$ potato -5.99 $ you name it and everything in $$$$ nothing in cents!!!! we bought 2 jugs of milk, 2 boxes of curd, cornflakes, Sunflower Oil - half lt for 4$ i think!!! and lotsaa fresh veggies and fruits. total bill was guess how much 140$ WHOOPS do the maths.

So there we were with three troleys full of stuff and we waited for the good lady who dropped us. we searched the parking lot for her and she was nowheere to be seen. So we booked a cab and went back.

This was our first shopping expedition in the US.

in the evening when prasad called up, i mentione dtht we went shopping to this place WholeMart and he said "thats a premium shopping place" . I thiough no wonder everything was priced soooo high.

Heloooooooooooooooooooo People...

Heloooooooooooooooooo

its me back after a looooooooooooooooooooonggggggggggggg hiatus again.

Yes have been busy now tht i m not just a working woman but a working mom!!

there is no time to blog now...

but heyyyyyy heres some news. I am out to NJ on a work assignment.

My love and my baby are back in India while i sweat it out over here. Wish they were here with me. Anyways... thts just sometime. They willl join me soon once they wind up.

In the meantime, lemme blog this visit to the US...

Read on if interested.......

The Trip..

The Journey has been without any hitches and so far things are good.

Our flight from Bangalore to Brussels started on time at 1:30 am on Nov1, Indian Time(IST). The flight was mostly empty
especially in the economy area. The business area too looked empty when i entered the plane but then, that was in the front
of the plane and I didnt have much view to it once i was seated. BTW the checkin was with no problem. Although my cabin bag
was weighing 10 kg when we checked outside, they never weighed it!!!! or atleast i never saw them. so i sat in the flight
with my 10 kg bad and laptop bag tucked in the hold.
I was waiting for goodies and great food. But was dissapointed. First they gave us socks and brush+paste.after waiting a
lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time they brought us some breakfast -> Upma(not good) + Vada(tasted of preservatives) +tea+ juice.
there was inflight movies. I watched Ugly and Pugli. The movie is good.
I slept for a while and kept looking at the watch. It was showing indian time and i spent much time wondering what you guys
muct be doing. The lunch/dinner(??) came after much waiting by which time my hunger was gone. It was Kerala Paratha and
Babycorn vegetable.I liked them.

We reached Brussels at 7:15 am Nov 1 (Brussels time) which is 11:45 am IST Nov1 in India. It was raining and the temp was 6
deg. The Airport was huge I guess twice the size of Bangalore Airport. We waited in a queue for the security check. They made
me remove my watch,coat and open the laptop bag and thankfully i didnt have to open the cabin bag. one of my colleagues was
made to open all her bags!!! she was carrying some pastes,liquids and metal spoons in her cabin baggage!!!! and these things
are not allowed so she had to open and show them. they took away the paste and threw the water bottle.

After that it was a wait for 2 hours for the next flight. The waiting lounge was mostly filled with indians. It was Jet
airways again, but a different plane . This was sort off full. considering that most of the people were indians from
different jet airways flights. This flight was also not uneventful. They didnt give us socks; food was also given very
sparingly. We waited and waited and hunger died and then came the food. it was not so good either and hence i dnt even
remember it!!!

I started watching Mere Baap Pehle AAp but unfortuntely couldnt complete it. But the movie seemed good.but we landed before
it finished. I landed here at newark airport at 12 am nov 2 IST which is 2:30 pm here. I had a long wait in the immigration
check it was a long queue. But once i came in front of the officer, it was fast. He asked me to be back to india by Jan
30th,(my visa is b1 and tht is the duration you are allow ed in US for tht ie 3 months). From there i proceeded to collect my
bags. I had to pay 3 dollars for the trolley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Thus i spent my first dollars, on a stupid
luggage troley!! my mind was saying "150 rs" for a trolley!!!! anyways there was no other check now and we came out of the
airport to colect a taxi. 3 of us got into a taxi .

We gave the taxiwala the printout with directions and even though he had GPS on, he couldnt locate the place that well.
instead we ended up in the wrong colony and passed the same set of houses for 4-5 times before he actually could get out and
off to the right road. We finally reached at 5:30 pm. the taxi bill was 95 $ (basic)+ 2.4 $(toll fee) + luggage + tip = 110 $

Thus we reached the apartment.

My apartment is on the third floor. no lifts and tht sthe last floor.
Its very posh and a 2BHK. My colleague Snehal is sharing it with me. Its fully furnished with quessn beds, sofa, dining set, study table, phone, modem. The kitchen has Blender(mixer), coffee maker, toaster, plates, spoons,bowls, pans, knives, microvave, 4 burner electriv stove, dishwasher. The taps have hot water also. They have provided towels, toileteries,blankets. its great.

hello allllllll

yes i m back after a looooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnng hiatus....

but then i m vry busy...

earlier i was only a working woman, but now i am a working mother.

blogging is not easy anymore. :-)

But now currently i m in NJ while my hubby and baby are in India...

But they will be joining me soon. Waiting eagerly for both to join me.

til then i will blog my stay in NJ.

read on......

Its A BOY

I am pleased to announce that Me and my Hubby have been blessed with a bonny baby boy.

HE was born premature by 1 and 1/2 months pm April 23, 2007

But now all's well. Today he is a healthy 9 month old.

hence forth you will see many posts on him.


(BTW does this explain the 1 year hiatus I was on. :-)

Yippeeeee! An Award for Me!!!!

Yeah all, congratulate me!!!!!!!!!!!

I have be awarded the "EXTRA MILE AWARD"


now thats a motivation and appreciation for all the grind I went through for successful delivery of my module.


Thanks Chitra, coz I know that you are instrumental in pushing for this award.

This is Week 12....

Its a long time since we wrote anything here.

We are now in our 12th week. See the tracker above. We are now coming to the end of the first trimester. But are still not out of the danger zone.

Our fingers are crossed. Wish us luck to pull through this important week on this trimester.

We want twins... :-)

Yes friends we would love to have twins. I had set my heart on that .

But the scan has confirmed that there is only one heart beating. That means only one baby. So that does rule out identical twins.

Then what about fraternal twins? Well no the doc has confirmed that there are no twins at all.

Its just one healthy baby.

Hey! thats cool. We will love our dear little baby. He/She will get more love and care.

Welcome baby. We are eagerly waiting for you.

Have we thought of the names yet?

You Bet!!!!

We have thought of them ..

for that matter we had decided them longgggggggggg back

we know what we will name our baby girl or boy or boys or girls :-)

Yeah having twins will be lovely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Confirmed or Not?????

Ah thats a question..

yesterday Doc said that since the tests showed positive results, we are pregnant.

But, she said, We will confirm the validity only after the 7th week when we do a full fetal scan.

This scan will reveal whether the baby is forming, whether there is a fetal heartbeat and whether there are multiple babies :-)

So , we are now eagerly waiting for these two weeks to pass....

BTW we told our parents and siblings these good news. And As we mentioned before their happiness was unbounded.

It feels very nice to see that something that they wanted very eagerly is being given by us.

After all they did wait with us patiently..

Patience has its rewards...

Is this a Secret?

Oh No, Not at all!!!!

How can such a great news like this be a secret at all!!!! No ways !!!
We are gonna let every one who matters know this superb news.

But we are waiting for a firm confirmation from our doc.

Only when she examines Shraddha and tells us that our symptoms are in "the " direction , will we speak to our near and dear ones..

Who all will we tell first?

Shraddha's Parents - They will hit the roof . After all we will be giving them their first grandchild.

Krishna's Parents- Oh Yeah, they will be very very much overjoyed.

Shraddha's Sis and Krishna's Sis.

The others will be given the news after completion of 3 months.

So now tell us, Is this a secret?

In anticipation of our first visit

Today is our first visit to the doc.

The first after seeing the positive sign in the Home test kit

This will visit will actually confirm whether we are really pregnant and are healthy.

Golly , we are having many butterflies in our tummy.

Hope all the symptoms are right.

Hope everything is fine.

Our fingers are crossed.

And ........... We are Pregnant!!!!

Yes the Home test showed two lines!!! that means the test is positive!!!!!

Congratulate us Friendssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Are we ....??

Says Shraddha:-

OK, I think i am pregnant....

I feel it....

SO i googled the symptoms and found this list
1.Your period stops or becomes very light.
2.You may feel nausea or queasiness. Some women vomit. ("Morning sickness" can happen any time of day -- it may help to eat small meals throughout the day, snack on crackers or toast, or drink juice or lemonade.)
3.Your breasts swell and may be tender.
4.Your nipples and the area around the nipples (areola) get darker and broader.
5.You have to urinate more often.
6.You feel tired.
7.You may become constipated and have heartburn (Tums may help).
8.You may have headaches.
9.You experience mood swings -- feel angry, sad, or happy for no reason.

Nowwwwwwwwwww, lemme see
I have
Symptom 1 -- But then i can never rely on this.
Symptom 3 -- they have not swollen but they do feel tender
Symptom 4 -- HMMM.. gotta check
Symptom 5 -- Now , do i drink too much water?
Symptom 6 -- But I dont feel much about my stamina
Symptom 7 -- This first thing is much in vogue nowadayssssssssssss. Whats a heartburn?
Symptom 9 -- Now whats new here? I m prone to mood swings ....

SO i have tried my best to refute the "symptoms"
But now need to bell the cat.
Will Buy a preg test today while going home.
My fingers are crossed....

Guess whats different today?

You -- wearing a new dress today?

Me -- Wrong, I am wearing a wonderful skirt one one called Chalte Chalte Skirt. But then thats not new.

You -- New Sandals ??

Me -- MMMMMMmmmmmm.. NO they are not new.

You -- Ofcourse new Earrings!!!

Me -- Nanannanannanana instead I am wearing the very firt earring set that Krish gave me for Our first ever Valentines Day.

You -- Ok I give up. I Give up, Now tell me... plss pretty pretty plsss

Me -- Okkkkkkkk.. I am sporting a new Hair Style.

Ok not New Per se. Its Back to my good Ol Blunt Cut. SO my shoulder length tresses are now gone and in their place are the earlength curls.

I love this style. Why? Coz

1: It makes me feel youngerrrrr
2: its low maintenence (?????)

SO what comments did i get?

Comment 1: Are you now sad to see you long hair gone??? ( This from the lady who cut my hair!!)

Comment 2: Why did you cut your hair ????

Comment 3: GOsh You ,look like a school Girl !!

Comment 4: What back to Old days?

Comment 5: Balonkaa kyaa kiya? What did u do to your hair?

COmment 6 (the Best of All) : You look too good to eat (Of course from KRISH)

And again I am singing
"I feel Pretty, O so pretty..."

Congratulationssssssssssss to meeeeee

YIpeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,

CONGRATULATE ME GUYS

my PM today conveyed to me that I have been officialy made a TEAM LEAD!!!!!!!

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

For the past 6 months my role was that of a TL but officially my designation was SSE.

From today onwards I am a proper TL and welllll what else can I say but that How Happy Am I..

Its a major step for me in the carrer ladder.

BUt yeah I have to learn a lot yet.
The past 6 months has taught me lots already but I know that I am no where in the skilled level as far as management is concerned.

I am going to learn friends.

Those of you who know me, Do let me know your comments.

YIPEEEEEEEE once again.

Me, the Food Nazi? You are nuts then... :)

I have been reading some food blogs lately.

Oooo lalallaa what mouth watering recipes...

When I read them , ofcourse i get all charged up to cook them.. But well since I am usually at work and home is a good 20 kms away, i cant rush...

BUt hey you must be thinking that i am an avid lover of cooking. Instead I am not!!!

I love food , yeah I do.

I dont love cooking though. at least not like my hubby. He is forever trying out stuff.

Actually you should see my recipe collection. I must be having atleast a million recipes in print and byte format. ;-)
But have i tried all of them? honestly no.

My hubby calls me "Sukhi Jeevi" . I just wanna enjoy and my luck is such that I need to be worried about coooking much.

But hey that doesnt mean that what i cook is a disaster!!! Naa never. When i cook , the dishes do turn out great. Yup my hubby smacking his lips and licking his fingers is proof enough. But yeah i do lack that zest to try new stuff often. I am very moodyyyyyyyyyyy.


and hey on that note, must tell you that My hubby is starting a food blog....

Nowwwwwwwww dont say "What???? one more Blog"!!!!!!

Dont you dare.. grrrrrrrrrrrr

Krish is going to put up Konkani recipes mostly.. but yeah he is gonna dabble in other stuff.
wanna read? goto http://thecookinghabit.blogger.com

I feel pretty, O so Pretty..

Yeah I am crooning this song today
I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and gay
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me today
(You want the full lyrics? Go here -> http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/West-Side-Story/I-Feel-Pretty.html)
And hey why am I so jovial today.
Coz I am wearing a stunning dress today.
Yeah , I waxed my legs over the weekend.
and hence could wear any thing that could show off my legs ;-)
My friend Geena SMSed me yesterday saying tht she wanted to wear a skirt she just bought and could I give her company. And yeah its like requesting a bear to drink honey !!!! I JUMPED TO it.
I had recently purchased some superb skirts
a Fishtail skirt, a Kneelegth umbrella skirt, a jeans skirt (yeah all that cost me 3 grand!!!)

SO here was a chance to flaunt the skirts.

I wore the Black Kneelegth umbrella skirt and teamed it with a pretty red top with an almost plunging neckline.
Yeah I wore this on a non casual working day.. :)

Krish was like OOOOOOOOOOOOOOo la laaaaaaaaaaaa.. Your look too good to eattttttttttttttt.
(blush blush)

and I did get a lot of stares.... (blush blush again)

and my colleagues(read male colleagues) were like Hey shraddha you look different today.. (guess thats a near compliment that a boy can hazard now that I am married :) )

My Day was great!!! I was veryyyyy much on the cloud nine. I was just happy with myself. you know that feeling :-)

The only dampner was that I Couldnt click a snap :(

Will do so soon..

Height of Stupidity -> Embarrassment

So my cousin's (K) hubby (H) had come down from the States and we were out shopping with him.

We went to this two storeyed shop specialising in garments.. As i got busy trying to pick out good stuff for his duaghter N, he and kris wer busy

searching for good Tshirts for H. After sometime Bil went upstairs and came back empty handed. I had already picked up a few pieces for N . i

couldnt take the apathy of not finding anything for H so I asked him, presuming that he was out searching for Tshirts...

Me: Oh , Didnt you get anything upstairs?

H: No...(a bit shy look) they didnt have my brand..

Me(puzzled) : They didnt is it? What brand is it?

H(hesitating) : Crystal...

I was puzzled, Crystal? I never heard of Crystal T Shirts!!! Now...

After we had finished the billling, Kris who has heard this conversation asked me once home

Kris: What do u think Crystal is?

Me: Obviously a Tshirt Brand thta i hadnt heard about!! I thot i knew them all!!

Kris (grinning) : Actually the Upstairs section is a innerwear section...

Me : WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Now that was embarrassing!! in my want to help H in his shopping i didnt realise that he was out looking for innerwear apart from T shirts, and

there i was discussing his "brand" !!!!

LOL

I am lucky.. O so Lucky..

Yes I am a very lucky person. Everything and everybody who matters in my life are because I am lucky.

So What all am I lucky in?

No 1: Family
The most important thing in a person's life is her family. I have been blessed with two wonderful parents, a wonder ful sister and now a wonderful husband.

My childhood was very happy. There have been ups and downs as are there in any families, but nothing that should be considered degrading or totally destabilising. My parents loved me and my sis immensely. They never pampered us but we never lacked anything. My mom was a house wife till we reached a manageable age. She took up teaching because It was a half-a-day job and she could be home to look after us when we are back from school. My father though his looks stern was never a tyrant. Mom would scold us when we were naughty but Papa never did. We were a loving family . We adored and in turn were adored by our parents.

My sis, though younger to me has always been a friend, confidant and at times a pillar.

My Hubby is a darling. He is what every girl wants in Mr. Right.

No 2: School
I studied in a convent school. It was great!! A very healthy Co-ed school with the right mixture of people. The teachers were good . It instiled a strict dicsipline in us but we still had the freedom we required. We were encouraged in our extra cirricular activities as well as academics. Of couse I had a few bad experiences with two wicked teachers. But apart from them School was great.

No 3: Friends
I had good friends. Of course i had my share of "friends" who turned our to be foes hurting my feelings, backstabing and whatever else. But I weigh it this way.. I today have more good friends whom I remember and feel good about.

No 4: Work
Every place I worked, I had a good rapport with my peers and superiors. I learnt many things and am happy I was able to contribute to their progress.

Other significant things in my life are really significant because they have all affected me in the positive.
When I wake up everyday, I realise that I am going to start a happy day.
And when i Go to bed every night, I know that the day was a special and happy day.

Yeah this doesnt mean that I do not have my tensions, worries, sad moments and stuff. Its just that when I look around and see people's lives, I cannot help but accept that I am LUCKY.

I am Lucky and God I Thank you for this lovely life.