Covid Day - 176

What a stressful day! First day of DRe7 and it did not disappoint!! Just a view of what’s in store for the next 3 weeks! 

I just feel like I’m so stressed out and not dealing with this very well. It shouldn’t be so hard. How is everyone else dealing with this? I feel this stress will eventually impact me, and my loved ones - especially the two boys that are my life. And I understand that’s not good. 

I played for half hour with A today - puzzles. And it felt really good! It really felt good cuz I stopped my kitchen work and actually sat down to play with him. Then I got up to do something and bam - my nemesis - pee pee accident 🤦‍♀️ And I lost it! I showed my frustration on the restroom door and A lost it. He was wailing and acting just like I did! Gosh! Then it occurred to me - that’s what I’m teaching him! That’s what he sees me do and that’s what he will learn. Good lord! I calmed myself down. Didn’t scream or seem angry. I have him a shower and fed him. But I just continue to feel yucky about not giving him as much attention as I give to work! What the fuck is it with me and work? Don’t I just simply understand priorities in my life? Why do I let my work rule my life? Why can’t it be the other way around? This is something I have to fix. If not it’s really going to have a big impact on my life. It’s my life vs work and I have to learn to see the difference. I have to learn to balance them out better. Maybe I need coaching in time management. But whatever it is - I acknowledge that I need to work on this. 

Covid Day - 174!!

Can you imagine! 174 days since we’ve been home! This is just plain ridiculous. What unprecedented times man! Getting close to 180 days - 6 freaking months! 

What happened to the last 174 days, how did they pass, what could have been different, could this have been averted, is this the only way...oh gosh! I guess this is the way of life now-that’s prolly why I haven’t even come to my blog for the last few weeks and I’ve lost the interest to blog everyday. Cuz to be honest, what am I going say anything different?! Same old routine - work, workout, Ari, eat, sleep and that’s it! 

I’ve done a few things differently in the last few months though - started intermittent fasting (14-16 hour fast everyday), started waking up in the morning to finish workouts (yes I am!) and taking more stress at work (cuz I don’t have any better way to handle it!). We got back yday from a gorgeous weekend in Destin (I’ll write a separate post about it) and we had a blast!! Just that I’m super tired and feels like my body is beat down to pulp from all the driving and water activities! Need a vacation from a vacation- so should we even go on a vacation in the first place? 🤔

Curly hair - Attempt 8

What I did differently:

1. Did NOT use gel this time!!! 
2. Same as last week: See notes in attempt 7! 

Results - Definitely less grease!! Will see how this holds up till my next wash day! No impact on curls, they look about the same and are holding up fine. Just like last week.

Curly hair - Attempt 7

What I did differently:

1. Used organic coconut oil instead of vatika hair oil. This one doesn’t have any scent. 
2. No Poo!!! Did not use any shampoo at all! Used baking soda instead - yes you heard me - baking soda to wash my hair!! More details below. 
3. Used Apple cider vinegar to rinse hair after washing with baking soda. Aka ACV rinse. 
4. Same as last week: Applied deep conditioner and left for 15 mins, Used a wide toothed comb after applying conditioner, Used a leave in conditioner after the shower, used curling cream and then applied a lil coconut oil, Emulsified gel with water before applying, dried hair wrapped in a t shirt for an hour, scrunched the crunch after drying. 

Results - WOW!!! Drastically different from my previous attempts, definitely trending in the right direction. Baking soda did an amazing job of preserving oil in my hair and ACV retained the PH balance which was critical to reducing frizz. I felt like ACV added more grease to my already greasy hair and I wasn’t really a fan of all that grease. But the best part was the frizz was under control till my next wash, a week later. I didn’t need to refresh either because my hair retained oil for a lot longer than I expected. Hair looks much healthier and happier! 

Wash day: Bartending of course 😂

Day 1: This look continued for a few days without the need to refresh. 

Covid Day - 101!

Crossed 100 days!! And missed the 100 day mark 🤦‍♀️

Covid Day - 97

What a day! What a fucking day! Where do I start and how do I end? Had a heavy heavy heart the whole day mourning the death of my dear friend A’s mom. Aunty has been hospitalized for the last few months (within two weeks of covid) fir a brain stroke, in the icu, got back home semi recovered but went back into ICU after another stroke. She was in coma for a few weeks and passed away Saturday evening. Uncle, who was with her through the last few months was diagnosed positive with covid and was in isolation when she passed away. His brother, who eventually made it to India was in self quarantine when this happened. A and his sister don’t have an OCI care and they’re struggling to get a stupid visa to go home. 

What the fuck is this dude? How fucking unfair is this situation? How can god, who does everything for a reason, do something like this? What is the greater purpose behind something atrocious like this happening with the sweetest family I’ve known for over a decade? If this kinda shit happens to them, then what about us mere selfish mortals? My brain has been foggy all day, a lot of emotions came gushing out. I feel like a zombie. Cried a bunch of times which was good to let em all out. K was super supportive but I knew he was tense by the end of the day. So was A. He was inexplicably stuck to me today and during wanna let me out of his sight. This is probably the first time he’s seen me cry and must’ve sensed my emotions. Poor guy. He couldn’t even fall sleep very well. 

And I feel so tired, probably  have a low grade fever. And now I’m freaking out. I took 2 Advils. I really hope it’s nothing or I’ll curse myself for the rest of my life for potentially exposing my dear family and friends to covid. I hope it’s all just in my head and it’s nothing by tomorrow. Sleeping in the guest bedroom today. Will pray it’s nothing by tomorrow morning. 

Covid Day - 94

Watched the movie 96. Man! What a movie! Just LOVED it! Simply brilliant! Such a clean movie with intense focus on emotions. It churned my freaking stomach and I couldn’t stop crying in some scenes. I will remember exactly what they are for a long time. The director did a brilliant job portraying the characters in an alternate reality very briefly ya this rhetoric it could have been. But it wasn’t. End of the day you gotta go home. Your life was meant to be on a certain path. That’s your reality. That’s your life. An alternate reality might have been possible but it didn’t happen cuz you’re meant to live this reality. Goes back to my funds about whatever happens always happens for your own good. God! What’s the point in yearning for something they could have been? A great lesson for me today. Not to brood of what could have been and live the life that i have. Love, K, A - none of these could have been if my alternate reality had happened. I love my life as it is now and can’t imagine what it would’ve been if not for this. 

Hmmm enough rambling. You can tell I’m in fetal thoughts! Haha 

Covid Day - 90

Worked out after more than two weeks! Feels so good!!! 

Covid Day - 89

89 days and counting!!! Going strong huh!!! 💪 

Hearing rumors about another lockdown....really! Another one? Whew!! Either I’m losing interest or I just don’t care!!

Curly hair - Attempt 6

What I did differently:

Used very very very less shampoo - less than what I did the last week. 

Used a wide toothed comb after applying conditioner 

Used a leave in conditioner after the shower

Emulsified gel with water before applying

Results - hmmm about the same as last week. Better curls in the front though! I continue to have frizz issues do I have to do more research there. 

What I’ll try next: 

Not dousing my hair in oil, read somewhere that it makes hair frizzy

Use coconut oil instead of vatika Amla hair oil

Using oil after applying curling cream (like A did)

Using oil to scrunch the crunch and wait till my hair is completely dry (today it wasn’t dry in the middle and I still did it)

Look for ideas to reduce frizz 😕

Covid Day 82

Can’t believe I missed blogging for almost two weeks!!! My excuse - work of course!!!

Went back to work 3 days last week. Have yo go for 4 days next week. Dress rehearsal 6 in progress - leading it so gotta be there! I’ve been drowning with work so doing whatever I can to survive and stay afloat!! Part of that is to just rest whenever I can - hence no blogging. 

Btw - thinking about covid - are things slowly getting back to normal? Hmmmm maybe?! For us...yeah! Met friends, S’s 40th bday, GNO....whew! Fingers crossed! 

Curly hair - Attempt 5

Another breakthrough!!

What I did differently- 

Applied oil for a few hours before washing (as opposed to overnight cuz I didn’t get a chance to)

Scrunched my hair in the shower (with Mielle shampoo and conditioner like last week)

Used praying hands method to apply curling cream and scrunched while applying

Used praying hands method to apply gel (used more than last time) and scrunched while applying

Let my hair wrapped up in a t shirt for over an hour 

And the BIGGEST thing I did differently- SCRUNCHED the CRUNCH!!! Voila - hair was all nice and fluffy!!! There’s halo frizz - have to work on that! 

What I did not do:

Curl my hair with fingers like I did last week cuz that really wasn’t my favorite look. 

This is after air drying with a t shirt wrap - notice the crunchy oily gel?

This is after scrunching the crunch 

Curly hair - Attempt 4

What I did differently- 

Applied oil overnight 

Used Mielle shampoo and conditioner - followed instructions and left conditioner in my hair for 15 minutes in a shower cap. Rinsed off with cold water. 

Used raking method to apply lots of curling cream and twirled with a finger while applying

Used raking method to apply gel (used a lot) and twirled with fingers while applying

Let my hair wrapped up in a t shirt for an hour

Result was a bit oily, too twirled hair that I wasn’t a fan of on the wash day. The next day it looked fabulous and I went to work like that!!! BIG deal!!

What I did not do:

Scrunch my hair while applying cream and gel. 

Did not scrunch the crunch

How it fared through the week:

Day1,2,3 were curly. Day 3 in the evening I went to meet friends and I just left my hair - was a bit frizzy but was not bad at all!!

Wash day!

Day 2 - ummm not a fan of the crunchy look. Too crunchy at the root. 

Curly Hair - Attempt 3

What I did differently:

Doused my hair in oil overnight

Used very lil shampoo to wash hair. Washed only once, left most of the oil on my scalp. 

Used cold water to rinse off conditioner 

Used lot of curling cream

Mediocre amount of gel

Left my hair wrapped in a t shirt for more than 45mins (and it still didn’t dry!) 

Here are the results - going in the right direction I think!! 

I messed with my hair a bit today. In an attempt to ‘refresh’ my curls, I mixed water and leave in conditioner in a sort of spray bottle and tried to re curl a few sections. They got more frizzy 🤦‍♀️ 🙄 

Working with water and gel like A recommended last week had better results. Anyhow...I know my culprit sections so I’ll work on them tomorrow and hopefully have better luck. If not, worse case scenario when I have to go to work - use a curling iron on the front three sections. Just cuz I can’t take those three sections, I don’t want to abandon my curly hair - yet! 

Day 1:

Day 2: now that gives me the enthusiasm to keep going with curly hair!! It looks gorgeous 🥰 tooting my own horn here a lil bit. 

Covid day 69 - No work no stress!

Third day being at home, long weekend of course. No work on a weekday, noticeably lesser stress! Sine I had a nice break from work, I had more patience and more energy to play around with him. I feel really bad that I don’t always have this ‘whole’ feeling with him cuz of my stupid monotonous routine. But it feels really good whenever I do have those moments. Goes without saying - work does impact the time I spend with him. Something I have to really think about. Made me really feel I’m capable to have and handle another one emotionally.

Got through All my chores - ticked em off YO! Felt really accomplished! Noodles for him, pasta for us nice nice! Decided not to do dishes and ruin my day. Planning to sleep early and fix my routine a lil bit! 

Overall a nice weekend!!! Thank you god! 

Covid day 68 - Long weekend!

Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend!! Very different from previous ones, staying home in quarantine. Had a relaxed day. Made idli for dinner which sorta turned out like bidli 😛 Then I made custard, ate it with mangoes. That’s it, didn’t cook any lunch or dinner. Washed my hair CG style, put up the blackboard on my pantry door and watched a movie which felt really long!! 

It was Eva’s bday so I got her a cake and a small gift. Went to PetSmart to pick it up. She really enjoyed it. 

Good day so far!!! 

Covid Day 66 - work is super stressful 😕

Haven’t blogged all week cuz Ive been working almost every week night except tonight. It’s just the beginning, more is yet to come! 3-4 more weeks of insane stress and frustration is waiting right ahead of me. Coupled with that, I will go back into the office. I have mixed feelings. I feel it should be safe enough, cuz, you know I trust everything blindly. But what if I feel uncomfortable after going to the office? Talked to my manager and he’s ok with me resuming remote work if need be. Anyway will find out soon next week! I’m excited to get out, nervous to get out and have a terrible feeling that I will miss being around A all day. In fact I will miss being around K all day too! Over the last 2 months I’ve developed a lot more emotional dependency on him! We’ve never spent so much time together - ever - since we’ve known each other! 

Anyway, I’ve been tripping over my fuse for the last few day’s and K has been extremely supportive. I know he’s being very patient with me, so I gotta her my act together. I think my hair is one reason that’s bothering me and my nails are another!! I’m just finding little little things that are triggering my horrible emotional responses. Last night K said ‘dude you need to chill’ and that was it...I lost it! Started an argument but he shut me off and said let’s do this another day. I’m glad he god. It gave me time to cool off and get back to normal after a shower. I’m venting today aren’t I!! 🤷‍♀️

Covid day - BLAH! Never mind! Two months!

It’s been two months since we’ve been working from home! Two months!!! Good lord! Feels like a huge milestone!

Bent social distancing norms and met the scotch n cigar group today 😐 went to Lewisville lake marina park. Man, it felt soooo good to socialize after such a long long time! I realized how much i missed socializing! AND left my hair curly 🥰 big big step for me! I didn’t get adverse reactions like I expected! I guess it’s all in my head! I have a perception of how people perceive me - it’s all in my fucking head!!! Was kinda relieving to realize that today!! 

Curly Hair - Attempt 2

Ok! Had a breakthrough yesterday with styling my curly hair yesterday. 

My friend A came over and helped me last night. Showed me how to apply products and style it. Man such a difference! I think I like it. I have to be patient and keep this going!!! 

First things first: find your curl type! It’s important to understand what your curl type is to understand how your hair behaves and what could work for you. The process I explained below would remain the same but products will change based on your hair type. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.allure.com/gallery/curl-hair-type-guide/amp

Here’s what I did yesterday:

1. Washed my hair with my regular shampoo conditioner. Didn’t shampoo my hair twice like I normally do. That’s to help leave natural oils locked in. 

2. Used my fingers to comb through my hair in the shower and remove tangles. Flipped my hair over with my head down. Also scrunched hair up to form more curls. 

3. As soon as I came out of the shower I could stand my hair with water dripping 😛 so out of my habit I used a thin cotton towel to wrap it. A told me absolutely not to do that again 😬

4. This is where A helped me. First used curling cream on my soaking wet hair when it was still really ver very damp. She used generous amounts of the cream and applied it to sections of my hair while ‘clumping’ several sections together. She went all the way from the top to the absolute bottom of my hair to ensure the product got well applied.  Applying curling cream on damp hair helps lock moisture in the hair which is super critical for healthy curls. This also helps curls to stay in place. She also twirled my hair so curls would form during this step. Picture of the curling cream below. 

5. Next step - apply gel. This helps hold curls after your hair dries. She also applied a lil bit of oil to my hair in the front because it’s especially dry and frizzy. That seems to a common problem for most people. While applying gel twirl your hair around to create curl patterns. 

By this step your hair is still damp but not soaking wet. 

6. Dry hair. Use an old t shirt to wrap your hair up. Loook it up on YouTube - there’s tons of videos. So you leave your hair like this till it’s about 70-80% dry. This step helps lock moisture in your hair and minimizes fly aways while hair dries. This is key to minimize frizz also. I left it on for 15-20 minutes. And then took it off. 

That was it. My hair was still a lil wet but I eventually let it air dry. 

7. It was time to sleep - so I used a satin pillow case, plopped my hair over my head and got a good night’s sleep while dreaming how gorgeous my hair would be in the morning 😜

8. Woke up in the morning - surprise! Fly aways and frizziness in the front! As expected! But my hair in the back was good, curls were in tact! So I pinned up the front section of my hair and let it be. 

DO

1. Use products generously atleast till you figure out a routine that works for you.  

2. Use both curling cream and gel. Otherwise you will not get desired results. 

3. Use products on wet hair and style. Use tshirt to dry hair.

 DONT

1. Absolutely NO hair dryer or other hot styling products. 

2.  DO NOT use a comb!  Ever!! I know it’s hard but you have 10 fingers so put them to good use 😛

You could use a diffuser, I haven’t tried that yet. 

Next steps for me: 

1. Switch out shampoo and conditioner. I’m considering buying Mielle products. Have to do more research here. 

2. Apply oil before washing hair and leave moisture in. 

3. Fix flyaway hair! Gotta figure this out today since I’m stepping out of the house today. 

Covid day 60 - Curly hair and Tres leches!

Here it is! My curly hair!!!!

My friend A came over and helped me with my hair. Showed me how to apply products and style it. Man such a difference! I think I like it. I have to be patient and keep this going!!!

Made sorakaya curry for lunch and had A help me with tres leches. Interesting method. Turned out great! 

Made aloo cutlet, pav Bhaji for dinner. Ate A LOT of food. Whew. In food coma! 

Covid Day 57 - What a day!

Had a crappy start to my day. Heard the news about working from home till end of August. Done - bummer, lost it, gone! Shared my anxiety with friends who pitched in to help via texts. But I just shut off myself to handle it myself. Refused to workout, instead did nothing. Didn’t have any other way to let my frustration out so obviously showed it on  A - shame on me again. I know it’s my guilt that I’m not giving him my 💯 attention. And work is pummeling me. So I’m trying to survive and stay sane -  not very well though!!! 

Put him to bed early, ate dinner while watching a movie. Feeling much more relaxed now. Planning to sleep early so I can sit down with A for sometime before getting consumed by work! Atleast try to feed him some breakfast. 

Weird day man! 

Just when I thought things were ok - bam! A lizard on my bedroom ceiling 🤯 in case you didn’t know, it’s my arch nemesis! Got K to kill it. Was a lil one 😕 still! Too scary to have it in the house. 

Just not my day! should just sleep and call it done! 

Covid day 55 - Is it still Monday?!!

Had another looong day at work. Followed by a pretty good workout! Attempted my pre-covid routine to drink a smoothie in the morning and eat dinner early - feeling good already 😊

Let’s see if these two changes help with my annoying bloating 😐

Work front - PowerPoint diagrams are sooo hard to manipulate 😡 ughhhhhh

Covid day 54 - Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!! Another celebratory day bites the corona dust 😛

Was like a regular Sunday - cooked, cleaned, napped, visited amma etc. My expectations for surprises on special occasions are down to zero, so no disappointment! Glad I was able to get time to fold loads and loads of laundry 🧺  woohhooo!! Best part of my day was enjoying a wonderful snuggle with A 😊 I just love those moments with him. pure bliss! My best gift ever🤞 No jinxing god please!!!

Covid day 53 - Good day!!

Gosh! It was a loooong day but a good one! Can’t believe I’m saying this but I did really have a very good day! And feeling productive too! 

Had a wonderful day outside. Went to white rock lake, parked and walked on the trail for an hour. Got food from canes (amazing!!), parked in a park’s parking lot and ate in the trunk - aka tailgating! Was soooo different from what we got into the routine of doing everyday that it was really cool! The weather was absolutely fabulous too so a cherry on top!! 

Another victory was making idli today for breakfast, not bidli!! Idli is the doom of my life! And that’s k’s most favorite dish in the world so even more pressure to nail it 😕

I’ve tried idli many times before but it never felt like I really nailed it. So attempted again today. He calls my idli ‘bidli’ cuz it’s not quite idli. Today he said it’s the best bidli I ever made 😱 so that’s great progress!! both my boys ate all of it and asked for more more 🥰 so made a second batch. That’s my accomplishment for today!

And to end the day, I made chicken biryani in instapot. It tastes surprisingly good! Didn’t expect that at all! I can already think of potential improvements to the recipe. But I think it was a success!!

Overall, a great day! Knock on wood!! Had an amazing day with A as well. Muuuaahhh bujji kutti!!!!

Covid day 50!!!! Half a century!!

And happy birthday Nanna! Can’t believe it’s the 6th of May already!! 50 days of working from home and quarantine! Whew! 

Finally loosened up and met Anna vaallu for dinner today. K joined too - met my parents after more than two months!! Celebrated his birthday. Our cousin and Anna’s best buddy HK also came by. Feeling guilty that our quarantine rules were broken a lil bit - but will be careful in the upcoming weeks. Hope things go ok fingers crossed 🤞 

Covid day 49 - looong painful day!!

Woah long long day at work today! The workout was brutal again today. Was pretty bad yesterday too. So I’m really really in pain today 😫

Covid day 48 - Found another show...

...to binge watch. Locke and Key on Netflix. Pretty interesting show. It sorta reminds me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts. I like it so far! But there’s only one season on Netflix though 😐

Had a nice day overall. I was super energetic today, maybe cuz of the long weekend. Just did not want to work out but pushed myself to do it. I was seating like a dog doing push ups even though I was kneeling 😬

A slipped his nap. Played a lot with us. Knock on wood good day! 

Covid day 47 - TikTok debut!

Debuted on TikTok today!!! Wasn’t planning on it but it happened! Was collaborating with cousins to make a TikTok video throwing lipstick and saree (sort of a challenge) and was busy with that almost all week! Went back and forth on what saree I would wear, what saree I would throw etc. and finally finalized on Friday. Explained the concept to Kanth and he was on board! Shot 2 parts yesterday and three parts today. But instead of waiting for my cousins to finish the video, I downloaded TikTok and compiled mine myself! It was an interesting day. Have a weird feeling of accomplishment 😂

But this is taking me back into social media - which I’ve been away from for over 4 years!! I still remember how distracted I would be and how much of time I spent wallowing in that shit. Either trying to get attention, out doing what others were doing, posting every damn update, following what others were up to...whew! Wasn’t the best time of my life. Hope I don’t go down the same path again!  This will be a good test for my self control! Let’s see! 

Covid day 46 - First quarantine drive by!

Was S’s baby shower today so we had a lil drive by party. Pre drive by party was in Ikea parking lot 😊 with M’s family. Kids played around and we drank in the parking lot. Fun part was then the cold drove by. I almost thought they would boot us outta there! Was such a different and sorta fun Saturday! 

I shot two small videos for our cousins group tik tok video. That was a lotta fun too! The boys helped me quite a bit 😊

Can’t wait to shoot another two tomorrow! 

Covid day 44 - Finished another show!

Two nights of binge watching - finished four more shots season 2! Oohhhhhh found a hottie to crush on! Samir Kochhar - played shashank Bose! Wooohoooo! At first I didn’t really liked him but his role kinda grew on me and I really enjoyed him 😋

That apart - i really liked this season more than season 1. The connection among characters was stronger, story writing was better, showed these women as being more powerful than in season 1. Overall loved it! The last episode got back some of my rough memories but I wept and carried on! Can’t believe that happened a few times today! Such shows steal my heart cuz I connect with them. Nice show! Signing off!

Covid day 42 - Four more shots

Season 2 is on prime! Started watching it today. Yet another mind numbing show 😏

Had a weird day today. I had a presentation for a VP, a 10 minute update on something I spearheaded a few weeks ago, which btw was a success, and I got chewed at the end. It was frustrating and my infields reaction to it was tears in my eyes. But I stayed strong and moved on. I know that It was not directed at me but it still stung. I’ll be over it! 

Had hanuman Chalaalisa chanting today for A’s mom. Prayed for her health. I was hoping to lead it but eventually ended up following my mom. I feel I’m always in her shadows and it sometimes feels bad. I got feedback that the chanting session could’ve been better. Yet another disappointment for today. So I think I’m done for now. I’ll WSU’s up tomorrow morning and keep going on cuz that’s what I do!! 

Covid day 40 - There is hope...

....for my hair 😛

I washed my hair and followed the Curly Girl method instructions more carefully. And I think I’m getting the hang of this - really slowly! Well, I took 2-3 years to figure out my straight hair regime, it's unreasonable to expect curly hair regime taking any less! Figuring out that the key is having hydrated hair, and applying gel at the right time when hair is still damp but not soaking wet. I’ll plan this more carefully the next time. It’s about time I start expiring products, change shampoo conditioner etc. 

Overall a good day today. Poori pitla for breakfast, beetroot curry and rasam for lunch, didn’t catch a nap, folded laundry, watched HIT - so far so good! 

Here’s a pic of my hair btw - just to track as a journal 

Covid day 39 - Backyard is clean!

Cleaned up the back yard With the Help of the guys! Washed down outdoor furniture, dusted off pillows, rearranged sofas in the backyard....looks gorgeous now! Had a nice evening sitting outside chatting with hukka drinks and great good. Enjoyable evening. 

Will start working on ari potty training from tomorrow! Feeling guilty he regressed because of us. And we are punishing him instead of being patient. Things gotta change! 

Covid day 38 - happy bday Veena!

Veena’s bday today. Another covid lockdown bday bites the dust without a proper party 😕 had a video chat with girls though! Felt good. 

After an intense workout and seating mike a dog, I finally gave in to my temptation to ‘do my hair’. I used a flat iron on my hair after more than a month! I only ironed the front sections a bit and I felt human again! Ironed and Wore a cotton kurti, had a few glasses of wine and enjoyed my evening/night. 

Work was ughh but who cares now?! 😏

Covid day 37 - Done with Riverdale!!

Oh my god! We are done watching Riverdale! Finally!! It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my brain!! It was such a lame show but for some reason it kept meengaged by throwing tidbits here and there! It was like a breadcrumb trail and I totally fell for it. And binge watched and binge watched and binge watched till my head hurt with the stupidity! Oh well, it’s finally over, so I hope I can sleep in peace now 😊

Good night Riverdale, and sweet dreams! 

Covid day 37 - Boxed in

Today it feels like my head is in a box. It feels heavy and claustrophobic. I think the monotony of this situation is getting to me. Waking up at the same time everyday at 7-7.15, working through the day, working out in the evening, dealing with Ari, feeding him, making him sleep, watching Riverdale, writing the blog. GOD the same things over and over and over again. It feels like there’s no end to this. I just want some quiet time, just not doing or seeing or processing anything! K has an idea - instead of leaving A in Anna’s house, why not I go work from there? Hmmmm interesting idea. I might just take him up on his offer! I even canceled my day off on Friday because I’m not able to get much done at work either. Was a weird day at work too, I couldn’t focus much at work this morning. I was ok in the afternoon but just jumping from meeting to meeting to meeting, context switching over and over and over again is so damn exhausting!! I hope tomorrow is a better day. I really hope it is. 

Covid day 36 - long long day!

Back to back to back to back meetings today! Half hour, one hour, half hour, one hour - soooo much of context switching! Was just really exhausting. Tomorrow looks more of the same. And I do have things to get done but barely any time to do them! 

Had a good workout today too. K and I decided to split up and work out separately. He took A for a walk and I fed him dinner while K worked out. Hopefully we are being more conscious about giving him attention and spending more 1:1 time with him this way. But I do miss the adrenaline rush of working out with K. He really motivates me to push harder and harder. I got through it because it wasn’t too brutal. If it was like yday I would’ve just given up 😐

Another day and Another night bite the dust. When is this going to end?!!!! 

Covid day 35 - Brutal workout

Oh my god, what the hell was that workout! Even looking at it was brutal, forget getting through it! I was really really apprehensive but good lord I got through it. Jeez! The killer was this: 

50-40-30-20-10

Abmat sit-ups

Mountain Climbers

Directly into

5-10-15-25

Kettlebell swings

Medball cleans

Towards the very end I was just dying. K stopped short of the last round cuz A was acting up. Anyway, all in all, it was brutal today. My back pain got worse. And then I cooked 🤦‍♀️ Have nothing around to eat!! Super super lazy right now, trash to crash and burn. Hope I don’t have a bad work day tomorrow - fingers crossed!! 

Covid day 34 - Light at the end of the tunnel...

...or is it a train coming in the opposite direction? Texas governor announced phased reopening of businesses  starting April 24th. Which sounds like a good sign, maybe we are over the hump and the worst is over? Seems like a glimmer of hope. But I’m apprehensive. What if this attempt to phase reopening causes a surge in cases? That would just negate all the sacrifices people did by shutting themselves away for more than a month - thought out the world! Feels unfair in a way. But I do understand why they’re doing this. Knock on wood our jobs are safe so we don’t have to worry about paying our bills. But there’s millions of people who live pay check to paycheck and what if the only earning member of the family lost his/her job? What happens then? I can’t imagine. Can’t imagine anyone living in that fear while we are worried about where to order Sunday night’s dinner from so we end the weekend with a bang. Weird na. 

I just hope, for everyone’s sake, that this phased reopen will continue to keep social distancing measures in place while boosting economy. We can get creative, can’t we? Let’s hope for the best! 

And as far as how my day went - whew felt long!! Had a long long long video chat with my cousins group. I really mean my nieces and nephews 😛. was fun! It was great to have everyone make the effort to show up and participate. We went from house party app back to good ole zoom! Was a lil chaotic, without any agenda of course, but was fun! These video chats are exhausting for some reason. Can’t tell why! And not like I had a glass of wine to give me company 😛

Another weekend went by, just like that! Will eagerly wait for another one!! ✌️ 

Covid day 33 - Panchayat

Interesting show! Kinda slow moving but a feel good show. 

Had an interesting day today. Video chatted with quite a few folks today! Cousins, friends etc. Planning a big group chat with a cousins group tomorrow morning. Should be fun. Looking forward to it! I haven’t met most of them in a while, will be great to catch up! 

Thanks to covid lockdown, getting a chance to catch up family and friends. Didn’t think I’d be able to attribute anything positive to covid, but this is one of those! Bringing family and friends together! 😊

Covid day 32 - A month of staying at home!

Can you believe it’s been a month since this whole ‘stay at home’ thing started? Feels like it’s been waaayyy more than a month now!! That means I’ve been blogging without fail for a month now!! That’s an achievement in itself! Damn sleepy now, the wine went straight to my head - will catch up later. 

Covid day 31 - Still going on!!

31 days into this....and it’s still going on!! Like it’s nobody’s business! How can this even be happening? To the entire world??! It’s mind blowing and shocking! 

Today was sort of a crazy day - got busy all of a sudden. A found a blue pen and scribbled all over the sofa, K used a disinfecting wipe and made the sofa look even worse 🤦‍♀️ AND best of all things, I did not get angry and lose my cool! Pretty brilliant huh! I’m proud of myself!!! 

More Riverdale binge watching going on. I’ve been hearing the word Eldervir throughout the last few episodes and JUST realized today that it’s an anagram for Riverdale!!! Anyway, that’s all I have for now. Chao, see ya later!! 

Covid day 30 - Booboo

A got booboo today 😕 

We bought him the ‘let’s go fishing’ game which is battery operated. He was playing it well, asked me to play with him and then he figured how to manipulate it! He would stick his finger in the fish’s mouth, try to keep it open and then fish 😊 smart huh! But then he put his finger in an empty hole without a fish and that it - his finger got dammed stuck in there!! It was stuck!!! I stopped it from rotating and yanked his finger out. Ouchyyy poor baby!! I almost screamed for help because I thought I would really hurt his finger. And K came walking in as though he heard me! We pulled his finger out, had a cut 😕 wiped it off and put a band aid on. He was screaming, must have pained a lot. He’s sleeping now hope he feels better tomorrow. 

Binge watching more and more of Riverdale though we thought we would sleep early. Gosh! We are getting sucked into this deeper and deeper like the cast does in the G&G game! It’s like we are living in an alternate reality!!! Well, we forced ourselves to stop watching after 3 episodes. So good night and sweet dreams!!! 

Covid day 29 - Great workout!

Great workout - CrossFit Luna style!!!

K and I’ve been working out at home soon after the lock down started. We started off with walks everyday and slowly transitioned to CrossFit style workouts at home. K has been cooking up his own WODs for a few weeks now, good lord! He actually did pretty well to keep up the workout tempo! 

K told me D and his team at CrossFit Luna are publishing WODs daily with videos! Voila! We started following them since yesterday but today was a phenomenal workout - reminded us of good old CrossFit Luna days! Well, not so long ago but it feels so! And waiting for body pains to hit us with a Big Bang tomorrow. 

There’s something about working out like this. I had so much energy later in the night that I did dishes and cleaned up too! That’s what I’m talking about! More CrossFit, more adrenaline and more energy! Can’t wait to get back to working out with the CrossFit family in person! 

Covid day 28 - No season 3?!!

Am I done with Pushpavalli?! There’s no season 3 yet?! Really?! I thought there was! I didn’t think it would end today boohooo 😥

This reminds me of how I felt when Dexter ended! I was sooo confident there was another season that I watched the finale like everything would be alright at the end of the episode, or would get fixed in the next season....until kanth told me it was the finale! I remember just sobbing that the show would be over. Pretty stupid of me but I was just soooo smitten by that show and so connected to Dexter that I just didn’t want it to end!! Especially a show that I despised in the first attempt and almost threw up while watching 😐

Pushpavalli isn’t quite at Dexter’s level for me but is pretty good. I enjoyed the way comedy was interspersed with dark psychotic behavior. Pretty creepy, like a creeper - Pushpavalli!

Until next time Le! 

Covid day 27 - not feeling ok?!

I feel like I’m coming down with something. Good lord I’m freaking out now 😕

I started coughing, feeling like I’m going to get temperature god please no! Please don’t let it be that 😥

I hope I feel ok by tomorrow 

Covid day 26 - Aparna’s bday!

Finally met another family. Yes, despite social distancing norms! Met Aparna and Unni today for dinner. We sat pretty far away from each other but enjoyed each other’s company. I cooked quite a bit today - veg puffs, egg biryani, shrimp curry, raita and Kanth made chicken. Overall it was a good night! 

Had a WhatsApp video call with Kanna, Bannu, Manju. Felt so good talking to them and ‘virtually’ meeting them after soooo long! I haven’t met Bannu in person in almost 11 years since my wedding!! Also looped Ravi into the call. Was interesting 🧐 

Overall, a good long day! Fingers crossed. Hope this break doesn’t cost us 😐

Covid day 25 - Rummikub

And guess what! I won!!! Wooohooooo!!! For the first time since we started playing this game two weeks ago, I WON! I beat the boys!!!! Can you imagine!! It’s been a complex game for me, kinda like understanding the movie Inception 😛 I’m usually in level 1 or 2 at the most and the boys are in level 5 🤦‍♀️ Today I beat them. Sheer luck maybe 😊

Long day, but a good day today. I woke up at 10am 🙄 dropped off A with amma Bapu, made gulab jamun, met my friends (stood 6 feet apart n chatted!) 

Dropping off A with amma Bapu reminded me of his first day drop off in day care 😕 K and I were so apprehensive and we really did miss him. He spent a good day with my parents but apparently started asking for me after a few hours. He refused to go back inside the house anta after amma told him I was coming. As soon as he saw me, he came dashing to me and gave me a huugeee hug! Awwww that was sooo absolutely adorable my love 😍 K missed him a lot too. Made an Amazing memory today 😊😊

Covid day 24 - Pushpavalli!

Found another tv show! Just for me to watch myself! It’s an indian comedy on amazon prime. Pretty funny with a creepy story line. Interesting combination! Binge watched today - all of season 1 and a few episodes in season 2. Tired now 😕

Was a long day again today. But hit five and tomorrow is a day off yayyy!!! I really needed some silence today. 

 My head was exploding between my non stop calls, K’s non stop calls, A’s tv/iPad sound, and him saying mommy mommy.....whew 🤯 Went for over a mile walk/run for 20 mins. No phone no music. Whew felt good! K ordered food again so ate fried rice and had a glass of wine. I would say a good evening. Topped off by binge watching! Happy long weekend!!!! 😊

Covid day 23 - time is stalling

It’s still Wednesday?! Really?! Feels like it should be Thursday or even Friday 😕 

This week feels soooo loooong and boring. I just want it to be over. And to top this off, Riverdale has turned into such a boring show now - I have no clue where this story is going and at this point I’m so so mad at each and every character! My brain doesn’t have any power left to deal with this stupidity anymore!!! Good lord. I think I’m just going to stop watching from tomorrow unless something drastically changes!!! Literally, what the hell is going on 😱🤦‍♀️

Covid day 22 - Hair Type 2B?!

So, just learnt something new....about hair types! Didn’t know there was such a thing! As I posted a few days ago about leaving my hair Au Naturel, I shared it with my girls gang and they asked for a pic. I mustered all my courage and sent them one and was surprised by the comments I got. Beach wavy! Never thought of my hair that way at all! Never ever! 

Growing up since I was a kid, I always hated my hair’s texture. My hair was always healthy and super long but it was so frizzy that for the most part I would have oil in my hair, braided. I always felt jealous looking at other kids in school who had soft silky hair and I always wanted my hair to be like that. Of course amma never let me do anything with it, let some cutting it! It was so long that st one point it grew up to my knees and with a folded braid it would come all the way to my waist! My hair was my mom’s pet project. Never used shampoo till I was 15-16! She always used soap nut mixed with hibiscus leaves. Sunday, the only holiday of the week, was filled with my hair activities. Washing it, drying it, applying oil etc! It’s a ritual I continue on till now. Taking care of my hair is one of my, if not my biggest passions. 

Very soon after  moving to the US, I went for a haircut in a high-end salon and they blow dried my hair. Guess what happened....the inevitable....I loved how my hair and I looked and that was it!!! Almost 15 years now, I wash my hair and suppress my frizz, natural waves under the weight of a hot flat iron! Until now! I’m starting to feel my hair is thinning and I wonder maybe cuz of the way I’ve been treating it! Now I see my close friends with beautiful curls and I feel I can brave it and maybe attempt the same?! 

 I’m getting a lot of support that I didn’t have ever before so I’m getting excited about this! Maybe it’s time I change my hair ritual and embrace my natural hair! 

So, I got to know about hair types today - mine apparently is a Type 2B. I started researching how to care for my hair. Hopefully there will be more blog posts on this topic!!

Covid day 21 - now it’s borderline boring!

Work has been crazy for the last two weeks or so. I spent most of last week and today almost working 10-11 hours a day, on Saturday and on Sunday. Today I just couldn’t get myself out of bed. It was so so hard to wake up! A woke up in the middle of the night around 3am, wet his bed so K changed his clothes, sheets etc. When my alarm went off at 6.30, which is super duper early for me, I thought it was 3.30! My brain was so foggy that it took me another two rounds of alarm snoozing to come to my senses. And the looong work day began at 7.30, went on till 6. Whew. I have one more day ahead, hope it won’t be that long. Fingers crossed for the activity tomorrow!!

It’s KV’s 40th birthday today! Big milestone! The guys planned a surprise trip to San Diego but obviously the plan fell apart. I wanted to do a drive by with banners but given my crazy day at work I decided to just video chat. Since it’s N’s bday also, three families got on a WhatsApp video call for half hour. For some reason, I feel very distant from them. Especially K and S. We haven’t been hanging out much at all in the recent past. I haven’t even seen S’s tummy yet and she’s 30 weeks along! It was good to catch up though. Hope we get to spend more time in the years to come!! Happy birthday my buddies!!! Lots of love ❤️ 

Covid day 20

Day 20 already! Another milestone in the corona virus ‘stay-at-home’ fun. Was a pretty good day. A had a cute conversation with me today about how he’s happy that he’s with mommy and Nani at home! He’s barely 3.5 and says such stuff - no one will even believe he said that! It was fun and super adorable hearing that. Cooked lunch, worked for sometime, opened one of my boxes to get my old kurtas out - all in all a positive day. Have a long week ahead starting at 7.30 am!! Better gear up for it! Nighty night. 

Covid day 18 and 19 - Really!!

What the hell is going on?! I’m suddenly feeling really low. 

Work has been crazy. Dallas county ‘stay at home’ order extended till May 30th. Our next door chaat place closed 😕

Very grim!! I’m on the verge of crying given a gentle nudge. Last two days have not been my favorite days. Finally I broke through my guilt, went to see amma Bapu. I made gulab jamun yesterday and was feeling really bad I wasn’t sharing with them. So I went over and gave them cake, gulab jamun. Amma gave me two pickles. Though I didn’t go into Anna’s house, it was good to see them. But what a fucked up situation man, not being able to spend time with my own parents! Maybe I’m over analyzing, and maybe it’s ok for me to go over. But I dunno. On my way back from Anna’s house, I drove around for sometime. I drove past a patch of blue bonnets. And drove through a beautiful neighborhood with lots of trees, fountains etc. Loved the view. I saw a huge stork and was so pleased by it. Was wondering how much joy little things give us in this difficult time. It was great to roll the window down and let fresh air in. Didn’t mind though it was drizzling cuz who cares about my hair now? No one, not even me! 😂

Played a game called Ruumikub with S and K. Intense game. My score after 5 rounds was -99 🤪 yes that’s a real score! Not gonna play it no more!!! 

Cucumber Chutney Sandwich

For 1 bottle of mayo (do not use miracle whip, doesn’t taste the same)

Half bunch of cilantro

4-6  green chiles

2-3 cloves of garlic

Grind the garlic, chiles and cilantro to make paste

Add to mayo

Add a pinch of salt, 2 tablespoon of oil (EVOO)

Slice cucumbers (1-2 cucumbers)

Use 1 and a half loaves of bread (regular white bread is good)

Slap and mayo mix  on both sides and put 5-6 slices of cucumbers on each sandwich, cut the edges and there you have it.

Creamy Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

One yellow pepper

One orange pepper

mushrooms - chopped

sage leaves

one shallot - chopped

2 garlic cloves

heavy cream (around two cups)

Half box of farfalle (or any other pasta)

Veg or chicken broth one cup (optional)

Pasta: Boil with a little olive oil and salt. You can make it al dente or fully cooked

In a pan put olive oil, chopped shallots and garlic and fry for a minute. Then add chopped peppers and mushrooms, add a little salt pepper and fry. then add cream, chopped sage leaves. boil till sauce thickens and reduces to 3/4 the original amount. add pasta to thickened sauce and mix well. If sauce gets too tick or there isn't enough to mix pasta in, add broth. 

Gulab Jamun

What is it about these sweet brown syrupy balls from heaven that I can't stop enjoying them? Hey, hey hold on....I'm talking about Gulab Jamun of course 😜
This popular Indian sweet dish has been my favorite since childhood. Every time mom would make them, that would be the only thing I'd eat for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Was never such a big fan of sweets, this was an exception! After moving to the US, I attempted to eat them at multiple Indian restaurants including anna's - but never liked them anywhere. They were either too hard, not soft enough or too spongy! I tried making them at home with MTR Gulab Jamun mix - nah, the goodness was till missing. I almost gave up hope of eating yummy GJ 😔Until.....I visited by BFF and her friend's husband made them while we were chatting. First of all it was surprising that he made them in the time that it took the girls to chat, and second of all they were DELICIOUS!! I mean REALLY DELICIOUS! That was it, my hope came rushing back and I got the recipe from them. And the end result - sweet brown syrupy balls from heaven!!! Here's the recipe - super simple and easy to make. Results are always consistent.

Ingredients

Sugar 3 cups
Water 3 cups

Milk powder 1 cup
Evaporated milk or  heavy cream 1 cup
All purpose flour 1 cup (you can use Maida flour instead)
Baking powder 1 tea spoon
Oil for deep fry

Preparation

Sugar syrup: Boil sugar and water for about 5 mins till the sugar is dissolved. Get it cooled to room temperature.

Mix flour, milk powder, baking powder, and cream together into a smooth dough . Don't add milk or water, cream is enough to mix properly. Make this dough into small balls.
Heat oil for deep fry and fry these balls to golden brown color. Soak these fried balls in sugar syrup till they are soft and absorb the syrup completely. 

I make small balls so they completely absorb the sugar syrup. For the quantity of ingredients above I get about 30-40 Gulab Jamuns. Enjoy!!!! 

Covid day 16 and 17 - missed a day of blogging!

Covid day 16 and 17 - missed a day!

Missed blogging last night, I just totally forgot 🤦‍♀️

Well, I blogged continuously for 14 days so that’s a win! 

Yesterday was a long long day at work. But it was great because it was my first day playing a QB role in the ITL activity. I think I did a good job. I felt like I controlled everything well. Ended it with a nice update to leaders. I got a kick tail, and an on the spot also wooohoooo! My boss told me I’m doing great as well! So I’m on cloud 900 😜

S came home with Eva, got Cane Russo pizza for dinner. Sooooo yummmm!!! Good day overall! 

Today was a long day at work too. Not as exciting as yesterday because I was kinda passive, not really driving. Gosh that made me go insane today. I was totally bored. Bored out my head. So was A! He tore his coloring book and started eating paper 🤦‍♀️ Must have been his way to get my attention. I spent most of the day around A. After logging off we worked out. A was still acting crazy I’m the evening. Fed him, made him sleep and sat down eating food, watching TV. Riverdale took a turn for the better - badass. Interesting!!

I’ll try to spend more time with A tomorrow 😊 cutie pie. Sorry baby! Love you, muuuahhhhhh!!! 

Covid day 15 - Ummmm

March 31st Day 15

Well, ummmmm, today was pretty much the same as yesterday! Work, workout, pig out and Riverdale. Couldn’t even come up with an interesting title for today’s blog! Am I loosing interest? I stuck to it for so long (yes, blogging everyday for 15 days is long!) - am I doing this today just to keep going? Maybe yes! And I will!

Got a letter from A’s school that they will be closed till end of April! Gosh! It finally dawned on me that there’s no option but for us to stay home with him all day. Weekdays and weekends 😂

M asked if we wanted to meet up over the weekend and celebrate N’s bday early. First time in ages, I didn’t blink for a second before thinking and saying no. It’s a no. Because I’m not comfortable. Cuz I don’t want to betray S’s trust - he’s the only person we’ve been meeting and I don’t want to jeopardize that. We have nice ‘quarantined family’ thing going so I don’t want to mess with that. I’m not even meeting my parents for god’s sake! Anyway, I’ll call M tomorrow and talk in person. I’m sure he will understand. 

Covid day 14 - Great workout

March 30th day 14 - Great workout

Had a long long long day work. Was on the phone almost ALL day. Whew. It’s hard dealing with people who don’t communicate effectively. Had a huge dose of that today. I got off work at 6pm and K logged off at 6.30pm!! Well, after that K found another home workout for arms. It was a crazy workout, totally sweat it out! I recorded a short video of K, A and me working out. Had a nice dinner, I pigged out and binge watching Riverdale. We are soooo bored of the show but we are so lazy that we don’t want to look for another show 😂

Covid day 13 - Au Naturel!

March 29th covid day 13th - Au Naturel! 

Spent more than an hour folding laundry today. Jeez all the clothes! So so many clothes! Big and small and short and tall....all kinds! Been leaving my laundry lying around for more than two weeks, finally got to it. Had a nice day. Cooked, cleaned up, folded laundry and ate chicken potstickers for dinner. Love them! Ty to K for making them for me! 

And another big accomplishment, washed my hair and left it au naturel! Wohhooo that feels liberating! Let’s see how long I leave my hair that way. It’s a big deal for me to do that. Doesn’t make any sense doing my hair since I’m not going anywhere. I might as well just let it be! If I’m comfortable then I might just let it be after quarantine ends! 

Covid day 12 - Another weekend

March 28th - day 12!! Yet another Weeknd! 

Cooked and cooked and cooked - breakfast, lunch and dinner!! I get instant gratification with cooking of course, that’s one of the reasons why I do it. Very satisfying to eat and get compliments on food. Tried out egg biryani in instapot. Came out well! Make chocolate cake from boxed batter. Upma tasted yum too. Inka done cooking for now 😬

Ari and I had a nice long nap - almost 2.5 hours! Gotta fold laundry, ughhhhh. One of the things I hate hate the most 😕

Tried to have a game night but it didn’t go the way we expected it to - bummer. Played a card game called ‘Go Fish’ pretty interesting. Will be more fun when more drunk 😊

Will wait for next Weekend  - S will bring board games from his house. 

Heard a story about a nurse in NY, someone S knows. Her sister sent a message saying there aren’t enough ventilators or masks or treatment for covid. So patients are being given sleep meds and just waiting for them to die. Felt a crunch in my stomach when I heard that. That’s insane. That too in the US. That’s pretty rough. Took me back to kavithas hospice days. Was a bad phase of life. I hope this covid thing just goes away without taking too many lives. Because each life matters. No matter how small or big. God help and save us all. It’s been hard coming to terms with grim reality. God please take care of the ones that need to be taken care of. Give them and their families strength to get through this rough time. 

Covid day 11 - Virtual GNO!

March 27th - day 11 

Had a ‘virtual’ GNO with the Scotch and Cigar girls gang! What an experience! Never did anything like this before. Really creative and fun. The boys crashed for half hour or so, kids raided it for half hour or so but overall it was super fun! Will definitely recommend to other girl groups. 

Had a super long day at work. That was going to be the title of my post today, till the gno happened. Exhausted talking all day 😕  Glad I got through my status report so I don’t have to log back in over the weekend. Next two weekends will be brutal, but I will sail through it! 

Just keep going!!

Covid Day 10 - Riverdale

March 26th Day 10 Riverdale

Another day of lockdown. Day 10. Unbelievable! Things only seem to be getting worse. No good news yet. Ari’s school is also closed from tomorrow for 10 days, so I won’t feel guilty about not sending him to school. Had a nice day at work, and with Ari. Really had a great time playing with Ari today, running around, falling over and running again! Kanth and I did a CrossFit style workout at home in the evening. 25 minutes of good workout. It felt good! Ari was working out alongside us too. Fun lil thing 😊

Started watching Riverdale on Netflix today. It’s ok so far. Not super super interesting but watchable. Reminds me of vampire diaries, small bills etc. will see how long I’ll stay hooked on!! 

Covid Day 9

March 25th - Day 9 BBW!

Finally ordered a bunch of hand soaps, candles and wall flowers from Bath and Body Works. Wooohooo! I don’t have to use the shitty soft soap in the guest bath! Small things bringing happiness 😊

Was an ok day overall. Ari was a bit disruptive today. He really rested my patience while I was on conference calls. I did lose my temper once too but made up to him. I don’t feel angry angry like I used to with him anymore, I’m more of a softie now maybe cuz I’ve been spending so much time with him. 

S came over. Ordered food, had a drink and a nice chat. Watched world war z 🤦‍♀️ Love it but a Scary movie. I was really getting scared that one day we wake up and there will be zombies around. When we watched contagion a few years ago, it was a far fetched idea to have a pandemic and see where we are now! Is it zombies or an alien invasion next? 🧐

Coping with Covid

March 2020 - will be remembered in history as the year of the Coronavirus! Novel Covid-19 spreading across the globe like wildfire. China, Italy, Iran on lockdown. Eventually spread to the US causing school, restaurant, work shut downs in an attempt at social distancing. People stocking up and freaking out. The only topic all over the news and social media. Lotsa memes and lotsa panic at the same time. 

In a time like this wherever I turn my head and whoever I talk to, it’s all I hear about! It’s all people want to talk about. I’m obsessing over it and freaking myself out. Another three weeks of this, and I gotta survive it! Decided to start chronicling this unique situation as a keepsake memory! And it would help get my attention away from whoring over news channels and social media. A let out I guess! 

March 17th - Day 1!!!!!

Our company asked employees to work remotely starting today for the next three weeks. So I was at home today with A, didn’t send him to school though it’s open. K came back home from work in the afternoon. A and I ate maggi for lunch, yummy yummy in my tummy! Threw in some carrots and green peas to satisfy myself 😊

Was a relatively low key day at work also. Played with A between meetings and pampered him a lot! Logged off at 5pm sharp and went out for a walk with the boys. Got home and cooked dinner, cleaned up and ready to crash! Whew a busy day!!

What did I learn out of it today? Well, routine keeps me sane! I proved it to myself again! My plan to survive for the next few weeks - have a routine and stick to it as much as I can! I’m the kinda person who freaks out of something doesn’t go as planned, but that’s exactly the situation across the world that everybody is grappling with! So what the hell! Things will NOT go as planned, you just have to find the best way you can to deal with it! That’s my gyan for today. Dinner time! And time for another episode of ‘Story of God’ intense stuff!!

March 18th Day 2

Had a morning devoid of meetings. Used that opportunity to bond with A. Played with him around the house, ‘catch me’, hide and seek etc. Breakfast was egg sandwich for adults and of course he snatched my sandwich and ate it 🙄

Feels like A is getting very clingy to me. Of course, since I’m spending so much time with him! One on one, fully focused. It will be really hard for me to let him go back to school. And it will be equally hard on him too. Downside of this attachment, he doesn’t let K have daddy time. Got K to make A sleep in the afternoon so he doesn’t forget there’s another adult in the house he should spend time with. I feel it’s unfair for K to miss out all the love and cuteness A gives.  Went for a walk in the evening, A on his scooter. Came back home, K cooked dinner and had a good evening. Pretty close to what Day 1 was! I like it so far! 

Love the fact that I’m enjoying A’s company so much. It’s amazing to see him in his element and get to experience it. I was awestruck when A changed the song ‘no more monkeys jumping on the bed’ to suit the situation of him jumping on the stairs! Super creative. I know he’s my baby so I’ll feel all the love in the world. But this time around I’m feeling emotions that I thought I should feel for him. Feels good! 

Wondering if lack of work stress brings about these emotions in me. Seems possible. I’m much more relaxed, energetic without taking multi vitamins and cheerful with A. That’s a change! 

March 19th - Day 3 panic mode!!!

Wrote such a long post and it didn’t get saved 😭

Don’t know if I have the same level of emotions to write it all over again!!!! Gonna try!!

Day 3, panic set in around afternoon. Was reading my close friend’s post about how they’re practicing social distancing. I was like, Really?! Wow! Should I be panicking more? Am I prepared enough? Etc etc! Started questioning whether or not to go to my friend’s house tomorrow for his daughter’s bday party - was going to be a big group but it’s just them and us for now. 

Went to the chiro’s office. My back has been hurting so started seeing a Chiro a week ago. Three sessions so far. I’m feeling worse than before.  Got an x ray and found that my L5 is getting compressed. Spent more than an hour n half in the Chiro’s office today. Got myself more anxious with the decompression machine, x ray etc.. So was a lil upset with that. And already being freaked out with social distancing on WhatsApp, totally freaked out in the office with other people around 🤦‍♀️  Deciding not to go back there till this whole pandemic craze settles down. Just to be safe. First time that I felt like I had to be more careful and not be exposed to other people. Came home with a grim face so K gave me a glass of wine. Cooked, cleaned up, and ate pani puri for dinner. A blissful way to end an anxiety filled day. A did ok, was a lil clingy in the afternoon. Didn’t get a chance to spend much time with him cuz of my crazy meeting schedule. Hoping to spend more time with him tomorrow. Kinda missed being with him today. I’m realizing that anxiety just makes me a not-so-happy person! Let’s see how the days ahead go!! 

March 20th Day 4 - Broke Social distancing rules. Uh oh!!

Dinner at M’s home to celebrate D’s bday. Bday was yday but the original plan was to meet today since it’s Friday. Of course covid-19 put a damper on the plan, not complaining, but we decided to meet with a smaller group. Them, us, S. 9 people - one less than the recommended number of people 😛

Obviously our conversations were all centered around covid-19 and the current state of things around the world. Discussed about why this turned into such a big deal freaking out millions of people across the whole globe!! Good conversation, great company. But somewhere I was guilty that I stepped out of the house and didn’t stick to social distancing rules. At least I know I was with people who are equally, or if not more, cautious about this whole thing. Had a nice conversation with K on our way to M’s house. Was a good night. Fingers crossed, hope it doesn’t lead to something!

March 21st - day 5 (first Saturday in quarantine!)

Spent time cooking and decompressing today. Went to meet amma vaallu, they’re doing ok. A lil guilty to go see them since I really don’t wanna give them anything! S came over with Eva, fun time for A!!! Ended up eating swadeshi egg fried rice for dinner - amazing!!!!!

March 22nd - Day 6

Feels like it’s been a long long time, just 5 days so far 😏

Today it was announced that Dallas county should ‘shelter-in-place’. Goes into effect Tuesday night. Next level of quarantine for us! Things are getting more and more real here. Seriousness is increasing. Which is unnerving. Watched the movie ‘Contagion’ today with K and S. Man, what a movie!! Released almost 9 years ago, it’s such an accurate depiction of how things would happen in the event of a viral outbreak. All the situations, dialogues in that movie are like they were taken out of today’s media! It’s almost like someone knew how things would go down if something like this ever happened! Very freaky. Contributed to me feeling more anxious that things are getting more serious! S left today, Anna spent sometime with us. Wonder if this level of interaction will also fade away. My feeling is that things are going to get more and more worse. Seems like this could go on till End of April and worst case scenario till end of May. How long will this last? When will it end? How will we go back to normalcy, back to trusting people and living your life? All big troubling questions. 

Anyway, will take one day at a time. Decided to take a shower and get ready for virtual presence at work. Hoping it will give me an additional feeling of normalcy during this time. We all gotta survive another few weeks at home. Fingers crossed! 

March 23rd - day 7 Mixed feelings

I’ve been using a Mac for almost 6-8 months now. I was skeptical about using it that I didn’t even set it up the first 6 months that I had it. After setting it up I had some usability issues, the most painful ones being lack of OneNote/OneDrive and Webex plugin for Mac outlook which caused me lots and lots of pain! So I went back to my manager and asked for a windows machine, which I got 3 weeks ago. I was lazy to set it up so I didn’t. And this whole thing happened. I never thought I would say this, but I am, ‘Thanks’ to Covid and work from home mandates - our company expedited rolling out Microsoft Teams to all of Technology, which gave me OneDrive and eventually the most awaited OneNote! I realized today that the Webex Mac plugin is also resolved and now I have that too!! Which means I can keep my Mac woohoooo!!!! Now I can fully and thoroughly enjoy my Mac 😊

What positivity during these tough times!!

And then, on the flip side - went to India bazar to pick up something quick. And it wasn’t a pleasant experience, in my head at least 😏 people were standing a few feet apart from each other in the line but just look in g at other people around me I freaked out. I bought just a few things but had to get through the line and then realized there was an express checkout counter 🤦‍♀️ Doh 🙄 

Anyway, got out of there and went to drop stuff off at Amma’s home. Didn’t stay very long at all, didn’t even sit down. Bapu was waiting for me so he could have a drink and I said I had to leave. Felt bad to rush out of there like not knowing when I would see them again. I know that sounds too scary but I’m being realistic now. It’s for their own good that we stay away from them. Bothering bothering me. It’s barely been a week at home but I already feel like it’s been sooooo long! When is this going to end? When will we get normalcy back in life? What is normal even going to feel like? Ughhhhhh

March 24th - Day 8 Happy Gugaadi!! 

Ugaadi today! Start of a new year for Telugu people. Name of the year is Sārvari. Apparently it’s Supposed to be the most auspicious year! Let’s see what’s in store for all of us! The beginning hasn’t been particularly auspicious 😂

Had a fun fun fun day with Ari. He participated in the pooja like a good good boy. Lots of love to him muuahhhhh 😘

He also touched my feet for blessings 😊 adorable! It’s wonderful to see him show interest in such rituals. Reminds me of myself when I was a kid. Thank you god for this! I asked him to say Ugaadi and he said gugaadi 🤦‍♀️ Hence the title of my blog today. 

Had a long long day at work, spent 7 hours on a call just listening and not actively contributing. Sorry for those who were driving it, but great job on getting through it! I cooked and got ready in the meanwhile. Wanted to go meet amma vallu but decided against it, in the interest of not risking them. Ento, let’s wait and see what happens in the next coming few weeks. Will try to keep spirits up and going!!!! Woohoooo!!! 

Another comeback?!

Happy new year!!! A new decade!! Can’t believe how years n years are simply passing by! 

Life has been so hectic with work, my 3 year old, social life etc. Felt like I needed a distraction, something I need to do when I’m looking for something to do. And I remembered the blog! Looked it up, still there! Too lazy to open my laptop and blog, figured there would be an app for that - found it! 

Looking at the trend, seems like I miss blogging once every 3-4 years 😂 

Won’t promise I’m here to stay!!