Ms An turned 7 yesterday!! As I am slacker blogger now, I thought I will share my Facebook post here and save it for when she is older.

Two eyes twinkling with mischief, a mouth that doesn’t stop talking or singing, two ears that have mastered selective hearing, two little legs that can’t sit still and two hands that are most eager to stretch and hug even strangers -Yes, that’s our MsAn!

Although it feels like yesterday that she came into this world, our little baby is 7 ! I was worried if I’d be able to love another baby, as I much as I loved MsA, but MsAn found her way into my heart, almost as soon as I laid my drugged eyes on her.. that first snuggle and she stole my heart, mind and soul.

Here’s wishing my little heart, my firecracker a very happy Birthday.

Dear Ms.An, MsA, Daddy and I love you so much – Your crazy giggles,vile tantrums, constant singing and everything you do , everything that’s you , completes our family in a way only you can.

A quick, wholesome, delicious Thai style chicken curry and jasmine rice- just what we needed last night after the long day.

This week, I set myself two challenges –

1) not spending any money unnecessarily

2) eating home cooked meals and thus sticking to the budget.

I don’t need to track our spendings to know that a big chunk of it is spent in eating out and takeaways. Even though I cook a lot, most nights that we have activities on end up being takeaway nights.

This dish helped me stay on track.

Cooking this dinner must have cost me $10 or $15 at the most. Here’s the breakdown:

Diced chicken- 600 gms – $6.50

Masterfoods Creamy Thai Chicken paste – $2

McCormick Slow cooker mild curry powder – $0( from the pantry – think I paid $1 for it ages ago)

Veggies – from the fridge -$3

Coconut cream can -$1.50

Jasmine rice – $1(?) – from the pantry ( I think it was $12 for a 10 kg bag)

Total cost – 14

We got 6 meals out of this – that’s 6 meals for $2.30 each!!!! Mind-blowing!!!

Best part – the kids loved it too!

The recipe doesn’t get simpler than this .

1. Heat some oil in a pan. Brown the chicken. Put it aside.
2. Fry some slice onions and capsicum in the same pan.
3. Add the Thai paste , the curry powder and the coconut milk, stir well to break lumps.
4. Add the chicken back in the pan & let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.
5. Add Brocollini and cover the pan. Switch off the heat & let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving hot on steamed Jasmine rice.

Sending lots of happy cooking vibes your way ..

❤️

T

It’s been one of those weekends where I woke up happy on Saturday morning and that set the tone for rest of the weekend.

I am writing about this because i was miserable for the last week or two.. so miserable that nothing was cheering me up. Even when I was laughing, there was a niggling feeling that I couldn’t shake. Add to that a headache that just wasn’t going away. I reckon it had to do with my new diet.

Saturday morning started nice and relaxed..after brekky, puppy cuddles and a cuppa, we headed out for MsA’s basketball game.

After basketball, I had a hair appointment. Last year this time, I bit the bullet and got my hair permanently straightened. That decision was one that helped me save time & my sanity. It was time to get the roots done.

While I was waiting for the treatment to work it’s magic, I noticed SP’s missed call on my phone. I called him back and he disconnected. My mind started playing tricks with me..Maybe he was calling me to check if MsAn was with me. Maybe he wasn’t answering my calls now, because she was still lost and he didn’t want to tell me. Mind you, they were just two doors down from where I was . Finally, he answered my call and I was able to relax.

By the way, this is what SP and the girls were working on and that’s why they didn’t answer my calls.

I had bought a new book to read while I was there, but I forgot it at home. So much for planning. Anyway, 3 hours later I was happy with my silky smooth hair. Now, I am stressing about washing it & whether it will still be silky smooth.. fingers crossed.

Hair done, a happy me went shopping for some fish n prawns for dinner and cooked up a storm ( a tiny one! ) for dinner.

Sunday morning was spent on the couch with a cuppa & the cuddly puppy. The rest of the day went by quickly as we watched Peter Rabbit with MsA’s oldest friends . The girls have been friends since they were almost 2. It’s heartening to see how much the girls still adore each other. Their mums were my first friends here – people that I didn’t meet through SP – People that went on to be an important part of my inner circle.

Days like this remind me of all the things that I am thankful for and all the things that make me, me.

This last pic depicts my true state of mind right now – happy & content ❤️

Boy! She can talk – from nineteen to a dozen. “Where do you find all these words from, MsAn?”, I ask her and she just smiles.”My mind tells me to say them!” How do you respond to that ? You just look at her, shake your head and try to make sense of the world through her little mind.

Like the other night, we were on our way home, arguing about whether it was correct to use the word ‘draw’ or ‘tie’ for a match. Suddenly MsAn piped up – “Guys, guys..don’t fight. I can explain- A draw is a draw – you know when you draw a picture. And a tie is tie like you tie your shoe laces, a bow or something like that.” And that was the end of that argument because both SP& I and Ms were gobbsmacked!

When we are trying to tell MsA something good or bad, she has to have an input – so A Aadi, look I didn’t back talk to Mumma so I didn’t get in trouble. Like when Mumma said this you said that and then that- elaborate explanations that annoys Ms A. But this little chatterbox , carries on rallying for her sister, taking her nasty words in her stride.

MsA doesn’t like bread, so If I offer bread for breakfast,MsAn speaks on her sister’s behalf. ” Mumma, you know Aadi doesn’t like bread. She likes other things for breakfast but not bread!” Gosh! She doesn’t get tired of talking.

A friend lost his dad recently and MsAn was worried about his son, losing his grandfather. Then as if to cheer herself up, she said, “at least my grandma is there in heaven, surely she knows that we are family friends, so she will help his grandpa”.I didn’t know whether to look at her in wonder or to hug her tight .. I did both in the end.

And finally a funny one – wherever we go, MsAn has to go visit the toilet. I always ask her, ” do you want to go wees or Poos?” Lol! What is a mom blog without mentioning these things.. so anyway, her response to my question was – ‘ I don’t know, Mumma.. it’s always a mystery, till I don’t go to the toilet.. you’ll just have to wait to find out!’ 😳 I just brought her home after that!

I’ll have to come back with the story about the tooth fairy.

More soon

Xx

Trish

My favourite moment of the day, today!

Fun facts about this photos :

1) I saw MsA & MsAn walking like this. By the time, I got my phone out of my bag, they had started walking in different directions so I made them do it again, to save the moment for posterity! Thankfully they obliged!

2)I realised later that they were wearing matching outfits, just in a different order!

The school holidays are on and the last couple of weeks have been really tiring . Going to work, then trying to do something fun with the kids after work, SP working long hours, add constantly bickering kids to that and I am ready to throw in the towel and run for the mountains.

They go back to school next week and hopefully that will ease up my mummy guilt. I have big plans of being organised this year.. hopefully that works out. Only time will tell.

I had to write this post because for one I want to keep it real and two just because seeing them like this makes me happy! It’s moments like this that make it all worthwhile.

As tiring as motherhood is, I think the reason I was put on this earth was to be a mom to these two 💕

First post of 2018, I hope the new year has been kinder to you so far.

Love,

T

Joys of complimentary wifi – blogging while I can 🙂

Unwinding after a long day

Ms An is sick this weekend, so we are staying in. We have had a long week and so this break is just what we need.

SP and I are watching movies, Mr.Mowgli is curled up on my feet.

The girls are knocking themselves out making play dough pizzas and will watching a movie later.

Hope you are having a good weekend too. I am going to go back to vegetating.

Xoxo

Trish

Happy Diwali from our home to yours 😊

This is not a random picture . It signifies a lot of things –

First, my favourite puppy in the whole wide world cuddling with me, makes me happy. Everyday when I come home from work, this is how we sit, snuggled up next to each other.. content in each Other’s company, until he decides that he needs to show his affection by almost biting off my hand.

Secondly, wearing these pants makes me happier.. It was love at first sight for me with these trousers. I mean what’s not to like – the burst of colours made my Bohemian heart sing with joy and my soul dance like mad. It instantly took me to my happy place. But, I tried them on and they didn’t fit and my heart broke a little. So, I did the next best thing, I bought them for MsA . She seemed excited to buy it but didn’t really wear it. Fast forward to today, they fit me now!!! Yayyy!!

I have to digress here and tell you that I bought these from Anjuna Market in Goa, in Jan 2016 and tried them on behind a thick sheet that the shopkeeper held. The thing about this shopkeeper was that she had never attended school and had taught herself to read and write. Not only that she also spoke English, French and Spanish along with Hindi and Marathi. If that isn’t awesome, I don’t know what is!

And lastly, this photo depicts my state of mind right now – a lazy, relaxed and laid back- it is the long weekend!

Hope you have a nice relaxing weekend 🙂

Xoxo

Trish

 

Even though I am love living in the suburbs, I love love love going to the city. There is something about the fast paced life there, that perks me up instantly.

We had to go to the city for an appointment at lunchtime, the other day and even though we were just in the car, I loved people watching – all those smartly dressed people laughing, talking, rushing through lunch hour.

After the appointment we stopped to have lunch at a small sushi place. SP was talking and I was people watching. He got a little annoyed, about how I was more interested in looking at random strangers than listening to him.  B.U.T. I LOVE people watching and imagining their conversations, their stories.

I watched a beautiful pregnant woman share her meal with a man – husband or partner perhaps and I was so tempted to tell her how beautiful she looked, in her maternal bloom.

I watched a group of young professional come in to pick up Sushi. The men stayed under cover and the girls stuck their hands out in the rain and laughed happily. That made me smile 🙂

We passed a bagel and coffee shop and I had to duck in. A little side story – When I was pregnant with MsA, our neighbour was an old lady, called Angela. She and her sister Sandy, had all but adopted me as their own. The day after they found out that I was pregnant, they came over with half a dozen bagels. I protested – its just the two of us and we  won’t be able to eat all those bagels and they argued and told me to put it in the freezer.  The bagels were so fresh, we finished them in 4 days. The next Sunday, they knocked on the door with more bagels. They catered for their local church and every Sunday, saved a small stack for me.

Obviously, I couldn’t walk past the bagel shop without stopping to grab a bagel.

This is for old times sake and for my beautiful angels Angela and Sandy. I wish there was some way to get in touch with them now. Just thinking about them makes me feel so emotional.

I am so grateful for people like those two and so many others, that helped me, just by being in my life at the time, when I just needed someone to make me smile and feel loved. Someone I love is up in heaven and she is sending these angels my way..

More later,

♥♥
Trish