15 Marbles

Sooo, we have managed to survive the first half of 2020. The Pandemic has tested us, pushed our boundaries and reminded us of our place in this whole wide world.. hasn’t it?

We know now that the world doesn’t revolve around us and that it’s time for us to take a step back and consider our options and our actions very carefully. The world as we knew it has changed and chances are it will never return to the way it was.

Yesterday, our Premier announced partial lockdown for Victoria and as I heard him rattle off the postcodes of the suburbs affected, my heart started to sink. No, it’s not because we are in one of those suburbs.. it’s the fact that we are going backwards. As the hour progressed, my sense on doom started to grow too and I found myself fighting back tears, just thinking about how the people in those areas must be feeling – the stress,the pressure, the worries of health, work everything.

It’s hard being an empath – it’s hard soaking in everything around you- not only are you dealing with your own worries, you also take in the feelings of others around you. The short days don’t help with the feeling of doom and gloom as well. So, I have decided to consciously change my thoughts about the Environment around me! And the first step to that is to treat the second part of the year as the better half of the year! Almost like willing it to turn out the way, we want it to be – safe and normal.

Being disconnected from the outside world has given me a chance to reconnect with old school friends and one of them asked me if I still write . And I said no. I haven’t written it in a while. And I couldn’t think of a reason why not. I have said it here so many times that writing/ blogging makes me happy , helps me clear my mind – perhaps I should make a conscious effort to do it more often and more regularly.. you know as a self-help medium ..

Sometimes all you need to do is to look out a different window to see that everything is not as dark as it seems inside.Sometimes all you need is a little nudge to look out a different window. So, I am going to make a very serious effort – everyday . I successfully finished the FatMumSlim June Photo challenge – ok there were a few days when I had to play catchup .. but I completed the challenge & have decided to continue it for July too. So on the days that I don’t have any wise words to share, I will share a photo instead.

So, on that note, I will end this post. I don’t think I have any readers left, but if you have accidentally stumbled upon this page, do stop and say hi !

❤️❤️

Trish

First of June marks the official start of winter,Down Under. The days get shorter and nights longer, temperature drops and as the chill creeps into our homes,an unexplained gloom starts to fill our hearts as well. Yes, winter blues are real! The good news is that we can chase these blues away,with small pick-me-ups and sail through the cold weather cheerfully.

The first year,that we moved out of India,we lived in Canada.Our arrival in Toronto was ill-timed as it co-incided with the start of winter.Every evening,as I looked out the window and watched  the sky darken at 4 pm,my heart sinked.10 years,and 3 countries later,I have started to pick up on the warning signs and have mastered the tricks to cheer  myself up.Here are a few of my favorite pick-me-ups:

1) Comfort food: When you are down in the dumps,nothing works,except comfort food.One-pot winter warmers are a win-win.There is something about wolfing down steaming hot food,that warms up your spirits.Hearty soups,Pulavs,Khichdi,Mac anc cheese,casseroles are great options for winter dinners.Baking is a good idea too, as the lovely aroma and heat from the oven,warms up your home too.

2) Vitamin D& C : Yes you read it right. Vitamin D is a natural anti-depressant.So,every opportunity you get rug up , go outside and soak in the sunshine.Additionally,take a Vitamin D supplement and keep up your Vit.D levels. And while you are at it,don’t forget to dose up on some Vit.C as well.Just a glass of Orange juice every day,will boost your immunity and keep the sickness at bay.

3) Rug up: When you are feeling cold,its easy to feel sorry for yourself.Dress up warm,when you are feeling warm and toasty,the world looks a whole lot better.

4) Candles and lights: Light up candles,safely,of course and use dim-lights around the house,so as to not run up the electricity bills but at the same time,the glow of candles and lights makes you feel hopeful.

5) Meet some friends: One of the biggest challenges,I faced in winters was home-sickness and that made me miserable.Make conscious plans to meet friends for a coffee or invite someone over.That way you dress up yourself and the house and instantly your mood uplifts too. In the current COVID climate, when physical meetings are difficult, virtual meetings are the ‘New Normal’

6) Laugh a little: Stock up on comedies and popcorn or hot chocolate.Snuggle up with your kids and/or partner and start a laugh riot. 

7) Pick up a hobby: If you have something to do after dark,you won’t resent it so much.My winter hobby is knitting and I look forward to the time,when dinner is finished,kids are in bed so I can get to my knitting.My husband likes playing games on his PS3.Just pick whatever makes you happy.

8) Excercise: Excercise is a great mood enhancer.Even if you can’t get to the gym,an exercise video or treadmill in front of the TV-just anything to get the adrenalin flowing.

9) And lastly,relax,accept the weather and enjoy it-Our lives are so busy,with work-meeting deadlines,running after the kids,keeping up with all the commitments. Why not just take the colder months,to relax..and rejuvenate yourself,mentally and physically.

Give yourself or your partner that foot rub that’s long overdue, read that book that you’ve been wanting to read forever, create some winter rituals-when I was growing up,one of our favorite activity was shelling the peas, sitting around the dining table,as a family,with everyone talking about their day. My kids look forward to their cup of hot cocoa after school,when we sit around the table, drink our cocoa and share the tales from the day.

And when all else fails,try to remember that day in the summer,when it was scorching hot and all you wished for was for it to be winter soon.. Good luck on beating those blues.

Hi everyone,

How are you holding up? How are you adjusting to the ‘New Normal’ ? It’s strange, isn’t it? Who would’ve thought 3- 4 months back that things would get so out of hand ? I keep asking myself the same thing again and again.

Our little household is doing ok – actually we are doing pretty alright – we have a home to stay safe in. SP & I are working from home & the girls have been homeschooling after the Easter break. Their school holidays were brought forward by a week and we had made the decision to keep them home since the week before. So, we have been at home for the last 8 weeks, going out only for solitary walks or essential shopping every two weeks , sometime every 3 or 4 weeks.

Mr Mowgli is loving the extra attention and long walks. Although I have to say, that when we first started staying home, he seemed a little confused.. like he didn’t know what was going on. First few days he was happy, then he started acting nervous, whether he was picking up on our anxiety or reacting to the changed conditions, I’ll never know. Although when we went to the vets for his yearly checkup & shots, the vet told us that a lot of dogs were feeling anxious at the moment.

He has calmed down now & looks forward to his walks. He knows that we finish work around 4:30-5:00 and he starts pacing around us, as if reminding us that it’s time for a walk.

I asked Ms An what her most favourite part of the isolation was and she said spending more time with Mowgli- they are literally inseparable. Her least favourite part of isolation is being separated from her class and teacher and understandably so. MsA’s coping mechanism is watching Harry Potter movies over and over again, night after night over the holidays and now that school’s on , over the weekends. That and FaceTime with her friends . I swear, it’s almost like we have another teen living in our house. Sometimes I join in their conversations 😀 other times they roll their eyes at me . Whatever work, yeah?

SP copes by playing his games on the iPad and talking to friends and me ? I cook – cooking is my stress buster or and have Zoom calls with my friends every now and again. All we have to do is get through each day, One day at a time and before we know it, this will be over.. maybe we will go back to what it was, may be this new normal will be the normal. Who knows? We just have to wait and watch.

More later,

❤️ Trish

999 pieces 😀 I completed this 1000 piece puzzle but managed to lose one piece 😥 but that’s ok.

I think this puzzle is much like our lives right now.. we have everything, yet something is missing.

We are safe in our homes, with our little families, but miss our extended families. I love staying home but miss the rush of going out; I miss people – my friends, coworkers, other familiar faces.

I also miss emotionally blackmailing my dad to come visit me because it’s been so long since his last visit – I don’t know when he will be able to visit next 🙁 Yes, this is a sooky post & I am going to share it – because – it’s ok to not be ok.

I miss the conversations – you know the ones you have with the barista while you wait for your coffee or the checkout staff while you pay for your groceries, the quick chat with a friend in aisle 6 of the supermarket or dropping in at a friend’s after a crappy day and asking that she make chai .. that’s what I miss..

This week has been a hard one – both with work and homeschooling. I have to say that the kids’ school is fantastic and have made the whole remote learning so much easier for us,but still as a parent, you can’t not feel the pressure.

I feel like I am currently trying to balance three jobs – my own full-time job-currently working from home, homeschooling MsAn ( keeping up with her timetable, coaxing her give things a go, coming up with fun things to keep her engaged) & housekeeping . When I was working out of home & came home after a 10 hour day , the things on my agenda were after school activities, dinner, homework, quick tidy up & bed. Oh! And I used to cook only once each day, at night – enough food for dinner & leftovers for lunch.

Now with work from home, we are eating all three meals at home – cooking three times , even if it’s 2 minute noodles or fried eggs for some meals. The house and the laundry keeps staring at me, as if accusing me of not doing enough.

This constant pressure, this mental load was starting to bog me down. It felt like I had an elastic band around my head that was getting tighter and tighter. So, I decided to give myself a break today. My company has recently started the concept of well-being leave ( 3 days in a year for your wellbeing) . Today I used one of my well-being days. I slept in, woke the kids up for their classes, still had to remind MsAn about her classes, but if she didn’t want to do anything, I asked her to give it a go once & left it at that.

She had to do an exercise video & she refused to do it as it’s not fun for her. I didn’t push it, but she asked me if we could go for a walk instead. So, that’s what we did. We went for a long walk- exploring our neighbourhood, admiring flowers in the front yards, talking about life, skip counting and discovering that all the house numbers on one side of the street are odd numbers and on the other side are even numbers! She didn’t complain even once and before we knew it 40 minutes had passed.

The week has ended and hopefully the next week will be kinder to us .. but to everyone out there, hang in there.. this too shall pass.. I started writing this post feeling so sad and miserable, but I am feeling a little bit better after writing here. I hope reading this helps you feel a little better too, because, we are in this together!!

Thanks for reading !

❤️ Trish