15 Marbles

Moments.Musings.Memories. ❤️Gathering little marbles from ordinary days and keeping them for our memory jar. ❤️

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  • Grand Canyon Trip

    We went to Grand Canyon on Saturday.It was a great trip.One of those last minute trips. DH called up on Friday around lunch time,asking me if I want to go that night or the next morning. We decided on next morning because on the weather. We woke up,got dressed ,just in time for Aadya to wake up for her morning feed. After her breakfast and shower,we were ready to hit the road.We grabbed some food from the nearest Burger King drive thru to save time..They made us wait 15 minutes at the window! some DRIVE-THRU!And the food was horrible.
    Note to self-Never go to through the drive-thru during busy hours!
    Anyway,we were on our way and had a tiff..both of us sulked for more than half an hour. Well,I sulked-he drove in silence. What was the tiff about?I cant remember it,no matter how hard I try! Then Aadya woke up and needed a diaper change.One major change in our life since Aadya came along is the end of never-ending sulking sessions.We cant be mad at each other for too long-either we start talking because she needs something or because she gets upset looking at our contorted angry faces and so we have to stop arguing!
    Anyway,not to digress..we reached Flagstaff around lunch time and still had about 70 miles to go.Flagstaff is a cute,cozy historic town and there was just this warm welcome feeling in the air there.We stopped and had lunch at this little cafe called “Late for the train” They serve the most amazing hot chocolate and beautiful Caesar wraps.I say beautiful,because they looked as good as they tasted.
    After lunch we continued towards Grand Canyon National Park.Reached around 3-3.30 and then parked the car and walked along the south RIM of the Grand canyon for around 3 hours.The view was magnificent.



    When we got that tired but happy feeling,we stopped,got into the car and drove around in the park for some more time,stopping in between to look at different stops.Finally we drove off to the east rim and I liked the view there even better than the much talked about south rim. We couldn’t linger around much because we wanted to get back the same day.
    So, just before sunset,we started on our way back.And LO! It started thundering and there was lightning.Arizona is notoriously famous for lightning,and now we know why. This was scary. For 3 straight hours,we saw flashes of lightning in the desert.There was no street light and so the lightning had an even spookier effect.We stopped at a gas station,to fill up the tank..S didn’t want to stop in between,unless we had for Aadya.Just as we were pulling out of the gas station,the sign for low tyre pressure started flashing.After a frantic search for the air pump,we finally remembered seeing a Garage at one of the pumps a little distance away.We went back there.And the guy there was nice enough to check all our tyres after DH filled air,said he couldn’t let us go out in that weather,without double-checking.I thought that was very sweet.We were on our way again..Well almost..Aadya started crying..diaper change.I was changing her diaper and she peed all over herself.LOL! change of clothes was in order,followed by another nursing session.By then it was almost 3 hours since we started.It was already 9.30 and we had a 3 and a half hour drive ahead of us. Finally, we were on our way. We would have probably driven less than 10 minutes and Aadya started crying again.May be she was scared of the constant light flashes or she was just tired.By then it had started to rain along with thunder and lightning and it was a single lane drive,no place to pull over! I tried to calm her..but to no avail.I gave up,and pulled her out of the car seat.She clung to me as if her life depended on it. OH my God! There was no way I could put this child back in that car seat! she cried,complained,talked,cooed,cried some more and finally drifted off to sleep. but since I was holding her DH had to drive real slow.So,I tried to put her back in the car seat..and succeeded after 3 attempts.Rest of the journey was uneventful and Aadya slept peacefully through out the drive.We managed to reach back in a record time of 3 and a half hours .And here’s some Sunshine for you from Grand Canyon

  • Judge-Mental???

    I have been tagged by Ceekay,Mad Momma and Swati to do this tag.. and me the tag-sucker has to take it up!
    So, here’s my list of things that I am judgemental about-
    1. I judge people with double standards.They irk me to no end with their attitude-those who lead their life the way they want to.. but criticize others for doing the same..
    Those with double standards for boys and girls!
    Those with double standards for their kids and others kids.
    2. I judge those women/men,who are great and experienced cooks but fish for compliments by asking innocently-“Ohh,I dunno how it turned out..Hope its edible!”
    3.I judge those people who start talking in their language the moment they meet someone who speaks it,ignoring the big multilingual group they are part of.I find it very annoying and not because I dont like talking to others in Marathi..but because I find it rude to carry on conversation in a language which everyone in the group doesnt understand.
    4. I judge people who are too sugar-coated-the syrup dripping variety.I am so wary of them.Its like they spell trouble.
    5.I judge people who donot take the trouble to look up the correct pronounciation of words.I judge those who confuse their “there and their”,”live and leave” and the likes.
    6.I judge people who fake a foreign accent in an attempt to look cool.
    7.I judge those Indians who go back to India for a vacation,and crib about every single thing starting from the traffic to water to heat to pollution. They who would drink water straight from the tap ,while in US but will not drink anything which is not bottled when back home.(heat and pollution bother me too.. but its not as if the heat here doesnt bother me..and as for pollution,heck its a part of bombay and I love it!)
    8. I judge those women who seem to talk ONLY about how great their husband or kids are! how everything and everyone in their famly is perfect.Come on! everyone has flaws..No offense to anyone,here we are all blogging mostly about our families.. but I mean the real extreme cases we all come across some time or the other,who seem to think that their husbands are GODs and their babies Super-babies!(though I do think my baby is a superbaby so I judge myself too!:)9.I judge those who claim to have no time to read anything other than Parenting MAgazines.
    10.I judge those skinny girls,who are forever on a diet and fretting about how much weight they have to lose. I mean be realistic.I am by no means a skinny girl..if anything,I am a fat cow!! But I dont about it all the time! I am watch my diet,excercise to my best ability and am slowly losing the weight.But that doesnt mean that when I occasionally go out for a party,I just graze at the salad bar!
    11.I judge those people who cannot mind their kids in a public place.Its not always possible to make kids sit quietly or behave like angels( trust me I know-My little brat throws a tantrum everytime i am in the middle of an interesting/important conversation)But atleast make an effort to mind them!
    And lastly.. CLOTHES-
    I judge those who turn up at Indian weddings wearing jeans!I mean come on! I was so mad when a family friend from DH’s side, turned up for my wedding wearing a white cotton salwar kameez,though neatly ironed.. but come on!! and had the nerve to sit on the stage,talking to DH!!!!!GRRR!
    I also judge those who wear clothes that are not befitting to their body type.I mean its one thing not caring about your clothes and being casual but atleast look into the mirror,before you terrorise others with your freakshow!
    And what do you say to those who go around announcing how they detest indian clothes be it a saree or a kurta..I am comfortable in a jeans but I am also equally comfortable in a saree.You dont wear it ok.but dont look down upon it.Its a part of our heritage!
    I think I should stop here,even if my list doesnt end.. I am suddenly feeling so evil..after reading this post. But I am not going to delete anything..HEck thats what this tag is.. being honestly judgemental!
    This tag is open to anyone and everyone who would like to take it up!

  • A brilliant piece of Art!

    I finished reading the latest and the final book in the Harry Potter Series 2 days back.And I am still in the world of Wizards and magic.
    The book is absolutely “unputdownable”.It is so fast paced,sometimes I felt that if i dont hurry I will never catch up! And the times that I did have to put the book down to look after Aadya or take care of other stuff..My mind was forever filled with thoughts of what was going on with Harry! At one time I even wished for a wand to take care of the rest of the chores!
    After Dumbledore died in “half Blood Prince” I was sad..so sad But I kept hoping He would talk to Harry..just like I kept Hoping his Parents would or Sirius would.That was another thing that kept me turning pages..(like you need anything else to keep turning the pages.)
    All I can say is “Its a brilliant Piece of Art” and I wish it didnt have to end here.Its like watching your dear friend move away.
    Here’s To Ms.Rowling for giving us Harry,Ron and Hermione and Professor Dumbledore,everyone’s favorite headmaster and the Weasleys,the family next door and Sirius ,Mad-eye,Lupin and Tonks and last but not the least,Voldemort(yes, we all hate him but Harry Potter wouldnt have been the same without him)
    Its like being transported to the world of Wizards!And I just dont want to leave.
    Looking forward to more such great books…
    And I would love to discuss more about the book and the end of the series..anyone game? mail me at menmysunshine@gmail.com
    Hope to hear from you

  • Harry Potter

    I just bought my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
    But I haven’t started reading it yet…Mainly because I wanted to write this post.
    I saw a friend obsess over Harry in my final year of college..I borrowed the book and started to read. To be honest,I didn’t even finish it.I thought – Oh just another book. and left it at that.
    About 2-3 years later,I was browsing a bookstore in Toronto and found it again.And Remembered how I had left it unfinished.And I have this rule about never leaving a book unfinished..And so I started reading it..I finished that and promptly went and bought the next one in the series. And since then I am hooked..Then I rented the movie and watched it again!
    I remember fervently finishing all the previous 5 books in a quick succession,just so I can read the 6th one thus completing the whole series.And now finally the wait for the 7th one is over.
    I am waiting to see if Dumbledore is really dead and if Snape killed him out of spite or mercy.
    Is Harry going to be as angry as the last time? Well he is a teenager!
    Does Ron Finally get the nerve to ask Hermione out? With Sirius and dumbledore gone,who does Harry turn to for comfort?
    And lastly ,what happens to Harry? Why is this the last book?
    I certainly didn’t want any spoilers and so haven’t clicked on any links about Harry Potter..DH did spoil a little something..but i am just going to ignore that..(Yes, I yelled at him for telling me! and refused to listen to anything else-With a stern..Stop it..Mujhe mat batao!)hahha
    So,now if I can get the baby to sleep… Harry Potter..here I come!
    Ohhh That reminds me..the books stores are flooded with Harry Potter stuff.Barnes and Nobles has the entire 6 book series for $50,which is a good price considering individual books are being sold for $10-12 each.
    More later!