Old ends and New Begins

I hope everyone has cheered the new year 2017 in,  and I know I am a few days late, but better late than never, right?

The last post I remember was just before Christmas and after that was family time for us at home.  Celebrations, Choirs, get to-gether's, dinners, partying, gifts, surprises what not.  I actually felt the need for a couple of days of holidays after the last week of the year, ( in which I was officially on leave).

Starting with the fun of a dear friend from a different city listening in  to the Christmas Choir which came home, to the huge  surprise of Joe dropping in home 12 hours early driving through the night from Cochin, packing gifts for family to the Christmas Mass where the priest almost called everyone's name during sermon and asked individual questions embarrassing most parishioners, getting together as a family where we siblings and our spouses having a whale of time partying together,  the holidays just vanished in a jiffy. Left with the feeling that we didn't get enough time with each other.

And suddenly you know, it was time to start a whole year anew and to trust in the magic of beginnings.

New year as usual was at Church.  We, as a family have been at church every new year, since I remember, a practice our parents have got us into, thanking the Lord for every blessing bestowed in the year gone by and entrusting the new year into his safe custody.  This year we were part of the New Year mass of the most famous Edapally church at Cochin.

So, here's wishing all of you, an awesome year than all the years before.  God bless.

And before I leave here is a picture of three of us taken during the Christmas holidays.

Its Christmas Time

Chirstmas is the season of Love, Joy and Happiness.  This is also the time when we decorate our house, put up stars, lights  and a Christmas tree to bring in festive mood and cheer.

I love putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it, and as a ritual we have been doing it regularly at home. Usually put up during the Advent season, the first sunday of  December, I manage to get the men at home join me in this endeavour. Advent season Focuses on expectation and it serves as an anticipation of Christ's birth in the season leading up to Christmas.

When Dennu was small, he was all enthusiastic about these stuff and now he is kind of aloof.  I still managed to get him into this tradition.  To a comment on FB where my niece asked my son, if he helped in the decorations at home, he has replied stating, If you can consider watching someone do it, I have done lots of help.

So, I thought I will share the pictures of my Christmas tree that we have put up this year.  I had lost our 10 year old tree to the floods last year, so this is a new one, though most of the ornaments on the tree are the ones that i have collected over a period of time.  some are even 20 years old. Wow right?

First stage of assembling christmas tree.

The Ornaments and the silk skirt for the tree.  Most of them are from my collection over several years, packed and stashed away carefully.

Almost done with the help of the two men in the house

There we go with the lights on..

The Advent wreath on the front door

Decorations on the altar

A close up shot of the tree and decorations

Christmas tree at a different angle

Yes, Christmas Joy is spreading and to me this is absolutely amazing.  

May the Peace, Joy and Love of this season be with you all.  Merry Christmas Folks. 

Coffee Conversations

My blog friend Rekha who blogs at Soul Searching days  had done a blog marathon recently and she had done a post which is titled “ If I were having coffee with you…”

It looked like a nice idea to steal and here I go with her permission. :-) 

• After all the mental turmoil and misunderstanding, my friend and I had a nice long chat.  We, okay I, started off very defensively, but we graciously accepted our mistakes and that in itself brought in a lot of sanity.  Most importantly we were willing to listen to each other. When something as precious as Trust breaks, it is difficult to put it all back together all over again  but I guess we both after a long after thought and a month of pain and agony,  took a first step in healing.  World looks much better now.
• The advent season has started – this is the season to have fun and be Jolly.   Holidays are coming up and I will get to see family.
• Due to the demise of our Chief Minister Dr.JJ, famously portrayed as Iron lady, our Marathon has been postponed. I was so eagerly waiting for it, this is a real dampener, but on the other side, we get more time to practice and improve our time.
• That brings me to a change in perspective that I am noticing right now about our late Chief Minister.  The world( including me)  that painted her as someone who was Greedy, arrogant and narcissistic now writes a Hagiography in her memory.  Reverence for the Dead ?
• There is something that I wanted to write, but somehow could not bring myself to put down in so much words.  J has moved to Cochin, on an assignment from his organisation for the next two years, the brunt of which I bear on my lone weak shoulders.  While it is challenging to live apart after all these years, it is a difficult way to realize the value the other person added in your life, which we probably had got used to, over a period of time.  Distance makes the heart go fonder. Yeah.
• Usually the first Sunday of Advent is when we put up our Christmas tree, but since the head of the house, has to come in and join the ritual, I have postponed it to this weekend and hooray this week, when J comes over,  the tree will be up, wreaths will adorn the door and the stars will announce the season.  The hubby is not very interested in the ritual, but family traditions need to be sustained right?
• While everyone is worried about the drought and the lack of rains, the pitter patter of the little rains that we have received so far does bring in a painful memory of the past and it does remind me of the last year's deluge when we had around 10 feet of water “INSIDE” our home.
•  A friend of yore, and someone who had started off with me as a Fresher in the early 90’s, now settled in Trump land, is in town.  We have been in touch with each other all this while and we will all get to see him this weekend at home.  Isn’t that nice?
• The “No shave November” is over.  So, I asked my Sonny boy, Would you please care to shave and look civilized? And his reply was this, Ma, this is “Don’t Care December".

SSo folks, whats news at your end?  Enjoying the festive / holiday season?

Quirkiness Quotient

Christmas Eve 2015.

Beaten black and blue by the floods that hit my part of the city, Chennai, just 20 days back, I was trying to cope with lot of losses, one of which was, my positive spirit.

Our original plan was to invite my entire family that includes my parents, my brothers’ family from Hyderabad and sisters’ family from Bangalore to our place for Christmas celebrations.  The house had become unhostable after the floods and hence we were travelling to my parents place to celebrate Christmas. Though my parents live in the same city as mine, we were to cover 30 plus kilometers.

The mood was sober in the car and somewhere we realized we haven’t picked up cakes and pastries.  By the time we realized this, we had crossed almost all the best bakeries in town.

There were three pairs of eyes looking out for the next decent bakery and all of us sighted the best one in town.  The only problem was we were on the opposite side of the road where the bakery was.  Reaching the bakery in the car would mean going to the other side travelling another 10 minutes and crossing a bridge, taking a U turn and then travelling back again.  And the traffic was unforgiving  that day especially, making it look like everyone in town was planning to celebrate Christmas.

As usual J had a solution.  Dennu and I will cross that mad road and pick up what we needed and come back.  Meanwhile J will try holding back the car in the space ( on a really busy road), we managed to park temporarily.

Dennu was happy about  being the man of the moment.  There was maddening traffic and I saw my son guiding me across the road till we reached the median  and in one jump he got onto the median.  The median, was about 3 to 3 and a half feet and there was no way I could climb on top of it.

Dennu was encouraging me saying that I can do it, but I was sure I couldn’t make it, but still I gave it a couple of un lady-like tries.  And remember I was in the middle of the road where traffic was zipping by  - two wheelers and car drivers giving me that irritated look, some of them even slowing down to gape at the acrobatics.

That’s when it happened.

A car was slowing down near us.  A silver colored sedan.  Didn’t notice the make.  It stopped next to me.  Window glasses  were already  lowered and the drivers head was out. He had a warm smile. He looked at me and kept his palms on the windows of this car and told me “ put your legs here and climb on to the median”. I couldn’t believe it. I heard myself saying “Sorry that would spoil your car”.  His smile got friendlier and he insisted on me stepping on the window and climbing up the median.  I refused again, he looked at me and said Come on, I will help you.  Here, hold my hand and by then Dennu from up the median said I will hold your other hand ma.  And there I went stepping on his car’s tyre first then on the window, with him and Dennu boy helping me. 

He waited until I got on, and Dennu was as excited as I was, waving him a big thank you and wishing him Merry Christmas.

Quirky Fellow – Why else would he allow anyone to step on his Cars window?

But I got back my spirit, my cheer and faith in human kind.  The Christmas spirit of Joy and love filled all of us, and back in the car, recounting this, we could forget all we went through a few days back.

Santa Claus does exist and he may not come dressed in red and white with a long white beard on a reindeer, he could come like an ordinary man in  a car with a big warm smile.  Don’t you agree?

Christmas Season... a few notes and snapshots

Mood is upbeat, life looks promising and am all set for a week long vacation with J's family.  Looking forward to the long road trip thorugh Mysore coorg and the forests of veerarajapet and Sulthan Batheri. 

At home, the christmas tree is up, my handmade christmas wreath  has a prime place and the jingle bells adorn the door.  For the first time, we are travelling on Christmas day to be with family atleast in the evening and we do not know where we will attend the christmas mass.  adventurous - hope it all ends well.  Will miss dressing up in finery for christmas ( wiping of the imaginery tears...) am planning to make it up during the engagement in Kerala. ( Joe's sister's daughter is getting engaged end of this month)

so here are some xmas snapshots around our home this christmas season.

Chrstimas Tree

A christmas gift from a friend, which comes out
 every xmas season along with other decorations

the tree top

Lovely !!!  ( self praise)



hand made christmas wreath - almost 8 years old.
 I keep the base intact and keep changing decorations.

And you know what? I tried my hand at baking this time..made a choclate cake (self taguht through the net)and surprisingly it came out well. this is just a trailer am planning to do more in 2012. wish me luck.. wont you? and all of you out there, greetings of the season and may you be blessed with Joy and peace this Christmas !!

 

Winding up with a picture of my first cake!