Just another post

No blogging this week. Except for this post :) Got back from a hectic but super nice long weekend + one day trip to San Francisco. Was supposed to meet/call DDMom and could not which sucked, but now i have a reason to go back and visit. Will resume blogging on Monday. Check out for these posts (with pictures) next week.

The San Francisco Trip - Chip touched a shark here!

A Tale Of Two Cakes: The Panda bear cake from the bakery vs. the bear cake I make. I bake, you vote. I have NO idea how I am going to accomplish that, the party is on Saturday and I am sleep deprived and still on West Coast time.

The Working Woman's Pregnancy Book

This is one realistic book. That was my first impression upon reading it. Written by Dr.Marjorie Greenfield, The Working Woman’s Pregnancy Book, combines the development of your pregnancy with compelling advice and emotional support. But most importantly, it acknowledges the realities of a pregnant working woman. When to tell you boss you are pregnant, how to handle a change in workplace dynamics, whether to travel or not, how to deal with fatigue and deadlines. Not only does Dr.Greenfield draw from her own experience as a working woman, a mother and Ob-Gyn, but she draws from the experiences of many women as well. The experiences, thoughts and situations these working women went through are interspersed as small comments through out the book – at every stage of pregnancy.

From pre-school teachers, scientists, violinists, policewomen, pilots, lawyers, even a state governor – they all have stories about their own pregnancies as working women to share. Some positive, some not so, but all of them completely in tune with the realities of working women. Yes, it is likely that your boss is going to feel you are choosing family over your job, yes you might get sidelined for important projects, and yes, you might get treated differently now that you are pregnant. A small snippet about a police woman wondering where to position a gun holster brought a smile to my face and a sense of pride too. That she was unwilling to quit her job, instead choosing to take extra training to qualify for a gun she could put in an ankle holster – the only place she could put a gun in her third trimester –is one amazing story.

The book is full of sound advice and the best part was a section dedicated to labor and delivery approaches. It is extremely balanced and non-judgmental. She suggests you select a provider based on your philosophies. This will save a lot of miscommunication later on when you want a natural birth and she is all hi-tech or the other way round. Another thing I found useful is some surprising facts about the FMLA. So, if you are planning on delivering in the USA, I would urge you to look closely at FMLA, I did not know a lot of things about it.

The book is an easy read. Helpful illustrations and sound advice. Not amplifying the risks and problems a pregnancy can run into, but acknowledging them matter-of-factly. But most importantly, Dr.Greenfield writes as an equal. She, is one of the few authors who do regard their target readers as informed and educated. Reading this book is like sitting with a knowledgeable, compassionate friend, a latte in hand, telling you how to plan for and enjoy your pregnancy and the arrival of the baby while being committed to a full time job.

Nice

First, apologies. For not writing about this before. Thank you, Mummyjaan, K3 and I Love Lucy . I am honored. To have people reading your blog is gratifying, but to be thought of nice is uplifting indeed.

This is what they have to say about me. Mummyjaan thinks I am one of the “Lovely and kind people in blog-world”. Mummyjaan, I think is one of the most level headed people I have met. Very balanced and objective. She’s a smart cookie, that one. It’s been a pleasure knowing you. K3 thinks I am “polite and kind” and this is what I have to say to her -woman, you have to meet me while I am driving. I met K-3 while where we planning for the mega baby shower and boy I met such an effusive person and an awesome geek. I mean who titles their posts standard deviation? Full of enthusiasm and warmth and it reflects on her blog. I love lucy thinks I am honest and sophisticated. All I am going to say here is that it takes one to know one J I have been reading I love lucy’s blog for sometime now and have always found her to be no-frills. Very sincere. There is a charming simplicity about her which is such a rare find in this century. We have talked offline too and she always strikes me as someone I could have totally hung out with in college.

And now passing on this award. This is what the creator of the award says about it-

"This award will be awarded to those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!"

Dipali – She is someone I would like to turn into as I grow older. Full of good old fashioned, down to earth wisdom, which she shares freely. A very long time ago she wrote me a warm, thoughtful email when BigGeek was recovering. And we barely knew each other back then. Since then I have enjoyed her blog – especially the bits about NYC and tales from her childhood.

Sue – I see so much of me in her. She always stirs the quiescent bohemian in me. Candid and direct. Artsy. She should have been living in Paris, that one. She has a wonderful sense of style where her writing is concerned and I am always surprised (or may be I should not be) how she manages to pick an arcane reference in a post or an email and go with it.

Rayshma – Last but certainly not the least. I could adopt her. She is so full of joie de vivre. Bubbling, happy, kind, warmhearted. I look forward to her posts because they always manage set me in a positive frame of mind. She believes in herself and can’t help but pass that feeling to those who read her blog. So Rayshma, if you ever have a daughter, I am promising Chip to her (if she wants Chip of course)

Here’s your award, ladies. Enjoy.

The Graduate, the penny and other stories

The Good: BigGeek graduated.
He is officially an MBA now. A hundred years ago, we would be scrambling to go to the sign-maker to get a new name plate for our front door. Now with an MBA added to it. Cap, gown, hood, diploma. The works. Looked handsome indeed. Traditional pictures holding diploma with proud parents and proud (and relieved) wife.

The Bad: It rained on his graduation parade.
Saturday was nice. Monday is nice. Cold, but at least sunny. Sunday- the day of his graduation, was gray and overcast and it rained. On the main parade with about 5000 students. My mother-in-law and father-in-law did not see BigGeek walk the lawn. It was so crowded. People with umbrellas and raincoats standing on chairs. We were prepared for the rain too. But not in a good way. We had no umbrellas and no raincoats so had to stay along the covered porches in the sidelines which were crowded beyond crowded. The smaller ceremony at his B-school where he actually got his diploma had an inclement weather policy in effect. The ceremony was moved indoors adding to the crowds.

The Ugly: Chip swallowed a penny.
Wait there’s more. Chip had a bad cold, asthma and a suspected pink eye. A slight temperature. So Chip and I went to the ceremony but came back to the hotel before it began and stayed there while BigGeek walked the lawn and later got his diploma. At least the mother-in-law and father-in-law were there. I am glad about that. Saturday evening, before the graduation, there was a party BigGeek and I were supposed to go to. My mother-in-law and father-in-law were babysitting Chip. They planned to take him out and let him run. Earlier in the day, I had given Chip a penny to play with. So while BigGeek and I were out meeting his professors and fellow students, Chip put the penny in his mouth. My mother-in-law suspected something was up and suspecting it was the penny, ssked Chip to open his mouth. Chip opened it alright, but swallowed the penny before he did.

Now no account of our adventures is complete with a Chippy anecdote. So here it is.

The anecdote:
BigGeek was giving his parents a tour of his school Saturday afternoon. Chip and I chugged along. Chip was talking loudly, peppering the conversation with wise and astute remarks about poop and lawnmowers. His mother was imploring him to use his inside voice when suddenly a cop appeared. She had a coffee in one hand and while exchanging brief pleasantries with BigGeek, hurried to get out the door behind us. Chip saw the cop and as she walked past us, fixed his gaze on her and said loudly “Excuse us.” She was so taken aback that for a second she did not know what to say. Then she laughed and told Chip, “You are just fine.”

Saturday May 14, 2005

(What happened on Friday May 13, 2005)
3:30 a.m.
DotThoughts wakes up. She feels a slight tightness in her belly. She can’t fall back asleep. After about 10 minutes, it comes again. A slight squeeze of belly muscles. Has it started? It’s 3:45 a.m. She decides to wait and watch before waking up everybody. She notes the time. 8 minutes later, again. Slightly stronger. She counts. Seven minutes this time. She calls out to her mom. Loudly. Her mother rushes in. “The contractions have started.” DotThoughts tell her. They time. Its seven minutes. DotThoughts is excited. Not scared as she thought she would be. But very, very excited. BigGeek is fast asleep, but stirs with the commotion. “What happened? Are you OK?” he asks sleepily. “The contractions have started.” “How do you know?” he asks. “Because we are timing them. Seven minutes apart.” He sits up straight. A little amazed, a little confused. “Let’s pack my hospital bag. You have to still assemble the crib and the swing. We haven’t picked out a name. Now where did I keep that list of names? And you still have to put in the car seat.” DotThoughts is wide awake and planning and doling out instructions. She pulls down a gym tote, puts in her clothes. The grandmother-to-be selects soft clothes for the soon to be arriving grandson. The yellow and white shawl knitted by her, a small sweater sent by DotThoughts’ grand mother, tiny shirts sent by the aunt, a satin blanket sent by her mother-in-law. Everything is packed and ready.

8:00 a.m.
The contractions are coming at 5 minute intervals. DotThoughts is very, very hungry. She knows she won’t get anything to eat once she gets into the hospital. She stuffs her face with a blueberry muffin and drinks a cup of coffee. The contractions have started to slow down her activity level. She has to pause and stop when her stomach squeezes. She calls Dr.V and tells her that labor has commenced, gives her BigGeek’s cell number since she doesn’t plan to carry hers. After a small chat and planning to drive to the hospital when contractions are 1 minute apart, she hangs up. The contractions are stronger now. She and BigGeek walk on the deck enjoying the beautiful sunny Saturday, waiting in breathless anticipation for their son to arrive.

9:30 a.m.
The list of names is no where to be found. BigGeek prints another copy from an old email and they debate on the names. They have been at name logger heads for a while.

10:00 a.m.
Dr.V calls to check on DotThoughts’ status. At 4 minutes now and stronger. She asks DotThoughs if the pain is bad. “No, not really.” replies DotThoughts swinging gently on the deck swing with her mother. “I am just impatient. Can’t wait for the baby.” She confesses.

11:00 a.m.
At 4 minutes. Sometimes at 3 minutes. Sometimes at 2.5 minutes. Stronger.

12:00 noon
DotThoughts is bored. How long will this continue. She asks her mother. “Don’t complain.” She tells DotThoughts. “Women can be in labor for three days. You are already at 3 minutes and progressing.” DotThoughts nods. “And remember what I said. No screaming even if you are in pain. It’s not that bad. And the nurses talk when you scream. So no screaming. OK?” DotThought nods again.

12:30 p.m.
BigGeek calls Dr.V and tells them they are headed to the hospital. The contractions are 2 minutes apart, some are 1.5 minutes apart. He suddenly remembers their lunch date with M & R, their close friends who just had their baby. He calls them. “Hey R we won’t be coming to lunch.” “Whhhyyyyy” comes a piqued voice from the other end. “Because we are headed to the hospital.” BigGeek is grinning. “Oooooh. Let us know if you need anything.” Comes the excited voice at the other end. “We will keep you updated.” BigGeek hangs up.

12:45 p.m.
They arrive at the hospital. BigGeek escorts DotThoughts and her mother to the maternity ward. Despite pre-registration, they need more paperwork, so BigGeek grabs DotThoughts’ wallet and goes to the other wing to finish it. The hospital is not so busy. They ask her if she wants a room with a Jacuzzi. She shakes her head. She plans to take an epidural anyways.

1:00 p.m.
The nurse comes to check in on DotThoughts and says there is no progress. “But the contractions are 1 to 1.5 minutes apart.” DotThoughts is puzzled. The nurse goes to call Dr.V.

1:30 p.m.
Dr.V comes in and examines DotThoughts. “You are fully dilated.” She announces. The nurse is summoned and is given a good talking to about the mistake she made. Dr.V tells DotThoughts that she can get an epidural if she wants. DotThoughts gets up from the bed and goes to the rocking chair and rocks herself gently. She tells her mom and BigGeek to eat lunch and not in her presence please. She is very hungry, carving real food and not just ice chips.

1:40 p.m.
BigGeek and DotThoughts’ mom are out getting lunch. A nurse comes in asks DotThoughts if she want an epidural. DotThoughts shakes her head. Not yet.

2:10 p.m.
BigGeek and DotThoughts’ mother get back from lunch. The nurse comes in to examine DotThoughts who is still rocking herself on the rocking chair. The contractions are stronger now and she thinks they are about 30 secs apart now. BigGeek asks if DotThoughts wants an epidural. She hems and haws, asks her mother how bad the actual delivery is and in the end decides to get one.

2:30 p.m.
Epidural. DotThoughts sleeps. BigGeek sleeps. DotThoughts’ mom sleeps.

3:00 p.m.
Nurse comes in to check. Doing nicely. Dr. V arrives to check in. She tells DotThoughts that she needs to do an emergency C-section at 5:00 or so and someone else might have to deliver DotThoughts’ baby. It is unlikely that DotThoughts will deliver by 5:00pm. There is a good chance she will, but there is a good chance she won’t. DotThoughts wants Dr.V to deliver the baby. She likes Dr.V and trusts her. She tells so to Dr.V. “I cannot postpone the other c-section. The baby there is in distress. We are trying for things to progress naturally there and I have given her two hours, so I have to be out of here by 5:00. How do you feel about a small oxytocin drip to speed things along?” asks Dr.V. DotThoughts is absolutely fine with it. The oxytocin is put in. We all drift back to sleep in the cool, dark room.

3:30 p.m.
Nurse comes in to check. Everything looks good. Textbook.

4:00 p.m.
Nurse comes in to check. She turns on the light and announces. “Come on mommy, its time. Come on Daddy, come on grandma, baby is going to be here soon. DotThoughts looks with fascination as two more nurses come in and set up a small cart with necessary implements. Another small cart with a steel tray and a warming light on top of it. They ask her if she wants a mirror. DotThoughts shakes her head. No thankyouverymuch. Dr V. arrives and the final phase begins.

4:15 p.m.
DotThoughts is joking away telling them this is easy and she totally does not need 6 weeks to recover and she could be at work on Monday. They all laugh and the nurse tells DotThoughts to concentrate on getting the baby out first.

4:20 p.m.
DotThoughts finally get the hang of it. It’s an a-ha moment for her. The baby will be out in 15 minutes she tells her doctor and the nurses with confidence. Dr.V laughs and tells DotThoughts that she has managed to deliver a lot of hair so far.

4:25 p.m.
The baby has a lot of hair. Wow. That’s what everybody is talking about. DotThoughts’ mother who has been holding her hand peeks over to see the progress. BigGeek who is by DotThoughts’ head also walk around to see the progress. They are both totally awed.

4:35 p.m.
DotThoughts and BigGeek’s son gets his first shampoo when Dr.V slathers his crown with tear free baby shampoo.

4:40 p.m.
Head is out. The cord is wrapped around the neck. Dr.V expertly untangles it and pulls out Chip. He lets out a deep, loud, throaty cry. They cut the cord, and put the shivering little newborn on DotThoughts’ bare bosom. DotThoughts has become a mother. BigGeek has become a father. DotThoughts’ mother has become a grandmother and half the way across the globe another grandmother, two grand fathers, one great grandfather, two great grand mothers, two uncles and an aunt are born as they sleep in the still of the night.


Happy Birthday Dearest Chip. May you be showered with health, happiness, wisdom as you step into your fourth year.

Friday May 13, 2005

5:30 p.m.
DotThoughts is very exhausted. And huge. And tired of people asking her if she is having twins. She comes home from work, vowing to go back for half a day on Monday, shut down everything and tell her bossman she is going to work from home or not work atall until the baby arrives. The baby, a son who has yet no name, is due to arrive on May 21.

6:00 p.m.
DotThoughts’ mother makes her some tea and the duo head to Costco to buy some cereal and rice and other things. A woman by the jewelry counter asks when DotThoughts is due. In a week, replies DotThoughts. “I think you will take longer than that.” The woman says surveying DotThoughts’ belly. DotThoughts’ mother restrains DotThoughts as she tries to harm the said lady. The lady doesn’t back down. “I have 8 kids.” She says. “Let me tell you a trick. You walk for three hours and rest for three hours. Repeat until you go in labor.” Okaaaay. DotThoughts is ready to try anything at this point.

7:00 p.m.
A proper dinner can actually be cooked today. No more microwaved TV dinners. The kitchen, which was being renovated, has been sorta completed. Finally. After 2.5 months. The sink is connected and everything is running well. No tiled backsplash yet, but we can cook at least. DotThoughts’ mother asks her what she feels like eating for dinner. Varan-Bhaat and Bhaji (plain dal, rice and pakora). The house fills with fragrant basmati and ghee and crisp kanda-batata bhaji being fried. The meal is eaten with great gusto.

8:00 p.m.
Everybody is watching TV. DotThoughts is slumped in a bean bag, tired, telling BigGeek about the woman in Costco and her labor-inducing tricks. She is doing all that walking tomorrow, she announces. “What about the acupressure thingy you have been doing?” he asks. The acupressure trick is to press the base of your left thumb to go into labor. “I have been doing that since yesterday. Every 10 minutes.” She massages the sore spot under her left thumb. “It hurts now. My hand is sore. And Dr. V thinks I won’t be early when she examined me yesterday. I need a new trick.”

10:00 p.m.
Everybody is in bed. DotThoughts can’t sleep. Not because of the excitement of impending mother hood (even though it is just a week away) but because she can find no position that comes close to comfortable. BigGeek is lying next to her, snoring. In the room across the hall, she can hear the faint sound of the TV in her mother’s room. She thinks about joining her mother but getting up without help is a problem.

10:30 p.m.
Boredom takes over. After several minutes involving balancing acts, sheer will power and mind-boggling logistics, she decides to head to her mother’s room. The two watch TV for some time. But 40 minutes later, DotThoughts’ mother is feeling sleepy. “I am going to keep the door to my room open.” She says. “You do the same, so I can hear you if you need anything.” DotThoughts nods and decides to go to bed.

11:30 p.m.
DotThoughts is back in her room. Her mother is fast asleep. DotThoughts can’t sleep. She is very squeamish. After another round of balancing acts, logistics and the like, she heads in to the bathroom, bends over the toilet bowl and throws up. “BigGeek, BigGeek” she calls faintly to her snoring husband. “I am throwing up. I need help. I can’t get up.” She is greeted by louder snores. Wondering how to get up, she calls out again and again. She is so exhausted, he voice is so faint, she wonders if she must crawl out of the bathroom. Suddenly by the door her mother appears. She helps DotThoughts get up and wash and to bed. BigGeek is still snoring. DotThoughts is very angry. “Come sleep in my room.” Her mother tells her. DotThoughts shakes her head. Her mother is a BIG snorer. Sleeping in three feet vicinity of her means no sleep. “You snore a lot.” She tells her mother. “I am sleeping here.” “Okay. Let’s keep the doors open, so I can hear you.” DotThoughts’ mother goes back to bed. DotThoughts is very angry at BigGeek. She pokes him in the belly. Hard. He doesn’t wake up. She shakes him. “What??” he wakes up. “I threw up just now.” She tells him accusingly as if that was his fault. “When?” asks BigGeek. “Just now. I called you so many times. Even Aie heard it in her room” DotThoughts is angry. “I was asleep.” BigGeek tells her. “Okay let’s go to bed now.” DotMom is feeling a little vindicated after having woken up BigGeek and she is feeling infinitely better after the puke session. She falls into a light sleep.

Continued...

$53,585

That’s what salary.com puts me in for my Mommy job. For all the trouble I take, I expected 6 figures, but no. Oh well. At least Chip and BigGeek think I am priceless.

We don’t have anything special planned this mother’s day. I already got my PS3 and Rockband as a mother’ day + upcoming birthday gift all rolled into one. My in laws are visiting and they arrived yesterday. When I told my mother-in-law last night that Sunday is mother’s day, she said “Aila, you all celebrate mother’s day?” Happily ofcourse. I told her to name what she wanted and she said she wanted a new Glucometer. I shook my head. “That’s not an indulgence. We are getting a new Glucometer anyway.” I think I will take my mom-in-law out for a movie or to the salon or shopping – whatever she wants to do. I told BigGeek that he should be doing something special for his mom, but he has happily delegated the task to me. And truth be told, I am happy about it. My mom-in-law and I always enjoy our shopping trips sans her kid and mine. They both whine the minute they see stores that don’t sell computer parts or electronics. So she and I are both guaranteed to have a whale of a time by ourselves. Ever since Chip was born, my mom had always been here for mother’s day. The first year I was a week away from delivering, so we just took her out to dinner. The next year, we shopped, last year we saw Ratatouille, which was lots of fun. This year it’s the mother-in-law. So the mother’s day party continues.

It’s also my father-in-law’s 70th birthday tomorrow. I plan to bake a cake of course. A chocolate-orange bundt. Fat-free and Egg-free. We also leave for Connecticut/NYC tomorrow morning. I am crossing my fingers it doesn’t rain too much. Or rather it rains back home, so GND won’t have to water my garden and doesnot rain where we are headed.

So on that note, adios and Happy Mother’s day to all you hard-working moms. Oh, and what plans have your SOs and kids made for you? Tell me, I am listening.

And then there were two

Just as I was getting dressed, BigGeek got out of bed in the morning scratching his head and uttered these words. “I think the orange platy fish is dead.” He hadn’t even been downstairs to the fish tank. Why did he think the fish was dead? Maybe BigGeek was turning yogic. “How do you know it is dead? You haven’t even been downstairs to look at the fish tank yet.” I mumbled carefully applying my eye shadow.
“Well, I think it was dead last night.” BigGeek said.
“Last night?”
“Well, I thought it was sleeping. I didn’t think it was dead.”
“Was it breathing?”
“No.”
“Then it’s dead.”
“That what I thought. It might be dead.”
“Oh no! the fish was lying dead in the fish tank. That might have contaminated the water.”
“Will you please, please take it out? Please?”

Fun, anyone?

It all started two weeks ago. We had been meeting up with some friends for dinner, and later went to their house to play Guitar Hero 3 on their new Wii. I had played Guitar Hero 2 some months ago at BigGeek’s aunt’s house. I was no match for BigGeek’s teenaged cousin and I was boo-ed off the stage every time. For AC/DC numbers. Played at easy level. It was no different at our friend’s house but I managed to play one song entirely and not get kicked out. And it was such an adrenaline rush. I had not had so much fun since a really long time.

My first video game was, when I was, I think 11 or 12. It was one of those hand held ones. I forgot its name, but it was the type you shoot down airplanes and ships and even subs. It was most addictive. And not just to me. My brother and even my mom. We would fight all the time to play that game. Then came Pac man and Space invaders when we acquired a PC. Then when Windows came out, it was minesweeper all the way. I was so addicted to the game. We never had an Atari or Sega- my father would have thrown us out of the house had we asked for one. Then came Prince of Persia and we spent many hours in the computer labs in college playing that. Anybody remember Prince? In the end, somebody managed to get cheat codes and saved the princess and that was the end of that. I think that was probably the first game with nice looking graphics. Nice looking for the 90s anyway. And SimCity – I played that briefly, never did get addicted to it though. Then came Wolfenstein. 3-D graphics, but it was a first person shooter type game – never did enjoy those. Like Warcraft (which my brother loved) but I didn’t. I played it a couple of times, but never got addicted to it. I stuck to the likes of Atomica, freely available online.

I gave BigGeek an Xbox for his birthday a few years ago and a car racing game with it. I never did get into racing. Or MechAssult. Just not my type. I like my aliens only in movies, thankyouverymuch. The Xbox and the games lay abandoned for most part. The Xbox was eventually hacked by BigGeek and he converted it to be a media hub and it has been proving to be most useful as that. I stuck to Atomica and Hangman. I introduced my mother to Atomica and it gave her a welcome break from playing solitaire online. I think their old monitor died from excess game playing! I kept cribbing that no games ever come out for women – they are all so testosterone laced. Guns and bombs and Armageddon.

But that changed when I saw Guitar Hero. Now, there was a game I could totally enjoy and two weeks ago with Chip in bed, at our friends’ home, I finally got the hold of it. “I have to have one.” I told BigGeek. “Can I get a Wii and Guitar Hero for my birthday?” He was surprised. I thought he would be happy, I mean he was, but he just wasn’t thinking of buying Guitar Hero or a new gaming console. But this weekend we made the trip to Best Buy to buy a TV (BigGeek’s graduation gift – a 52” LCD) and he picked up the PlayStation 3 and RockBand. Not Guitar Hero, but the WHOLE Rock band. With a guitar and drums and a mike for sing along. BigGeek connected the system and the new TV and we sat down to, ostensibly test it – the family room was a mess with boxes and BigGeek’s suitcases lying around from his 2 week business trip from which he got back on Friday. Five minutes later, but we were glued. There we were crating avtars and playing songs – I finally got to be Nancy Wilson (I want to be her in my next life) atleast on play station. Chip was napping and we had such a BLAST playing R.EM. and Nirvana. Just like two teens. We took a break in the evening to run errands and came back home, made a quick dinner of sandwiches and played again. Chip played too. He got his own toy guitar and sat next to his Aie and Baba playing it – Jimi Hendrix style – strumming with his left hand and telling his Baba appreciatively “Changla vajavtois (you are playing really well)”. That lil guy likes his hard rock, let me tell you. I played the drums and realized for the first time that Nirvana, who I think is nursery rhymes for grown ups in terms of musical complexity - has umm… difficult time signatures and I had a hard time playing drums to it. That’s only more excuse to practice more, huh!

And so, the bottom line is this. I am addicted to it. On my drive to work this morning, I tuned to my usual rock station and saw all those tracks coming like they do in play station. And I haven’t been able to get them out of my head. And I can’t wait to go home and play. But we have to stow away boxes and suitcases, make dinner, feed Chip, play with him, and read to him and then maybe. No, I think, and then, definitely.

The artist formerly known as DotMom

One morning as DotMom was waking up from anxious dreams, she discovered in bed she had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug. She lay on her armor-hard back and saw, as she lifted her head up a little, her brown arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow – like sections. From this height the blanket, just about ready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in place. Her numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the rest of her circumference, flickered helplessly before her eyes.

“What’s happened to me”, she thought. It was no dream.


OK. I better stop before I get sued. So I have metamorphosized to a new moniker. And like the paragraph above it too is plagiarized borrowed. When I started this blog, it was a device to coerce me to write regularly. To polish my craft. To bore you. Chip and BigGeek were was my muses and still are. But I am more than a wife and a mother. My blog is more than a mother-and-wife blog, or I so I hope. And thus, the moniker follows suit. The moniker is a hand-me-down. It was BigGeek’s a very long time ago. And he graciously allowed me to take it. I wish he were that way with his T-shirts too. (I borrow them anyway and cook in em and stain them with curries and he has given up).

I think I am going to miss my old moniker though. For a few days anyway. It was such a tacky pun, but I liked it. But I like the new one too. Sorta cool, a lil pretentious. Very 90’s. Hope you all like it too!

(And a thousand, no million apologies to Kafka.)