15 Marbles

MsAn turned 5 in July..Yes I am still in shock! I am still in denial about the fact that she starts school in 3 months’ time ! My baby is a big girl now..OMG !!

She is obsessed with dogs and the Paw Patrol Show. There was absolutely no confusion about what the theme for her party was going to be .  Once I had her go ahead, I asked two very dear friends for help and we set out to plan the best Paw Patrol party ever. Pinterest came in handy for inspirations . I had so much fun planning this  Party.

One of the things on my list was ‘Marshalpops’ and that called for red edible glitter . I couldn’t find any in the local shops and  didn’t have time to look for it anywhere else. A friend sent me a link to make DIY edible glitter and I tried it.And we had beautiful sparkling marshalpops.

We made signs for the party and MsAn was such a perfect little hostess. She greeted each of her guests at the door and , instructed them to wipe their paws and showed them where the food was.

She also very clearly instructed her friends that the characters on the cake were hers and they were not allowed to touch or EAT them!

 

The cake table was set against the backdrop of her favorite characters from Paw Patrol.

And here’s the cake, a masterpiece by Hannah of KreamCake

 

Our little guests left with these little doggie bags 🙂

All in all, it was a great party and the birthday girl was super impressed ! Her smiles and an offhand comment from MsA( Actually that was a pretty cool party, mum!!) totally made it worth all the effort!

More later,

Love,

Trish

 

 

 

Yes, you read that right! I crib when I eat salad for lunch 3 days in a row, but, to be honest, I actually enjoy this salad.

I love how beautiful it looks 🙂 See for yourself

Yup! That’s my lunch box .

My salad has a generous serve of salad greens – lettuce, rocket,spinach leaves ; red capsicum ; tomato(depending on my mood); cucumber; red onions, avocado( if I have any handy); fresh green coriander and 100 gm Tuna in chili oil . Love love love it! And so I crib and complain, but I love this salad.

My other favorite salad is the coleslaw..I don’t have a photo, sadly, because mostly its my on the go, quick meal. I mix a cup or two of finely shredded coleslaw with ranch dressing, a bit of salt and pepper and my yummy salad is ready 🙂

What are your current favorite salad recipes? Do share 🙂

More later,

Love,

Trish

Day 2 – Here I am.

Its been a weird kind of day – the kind that made me want to not talk about it . Actually, that’s not right. Its been the kind of day, that made me not want to talk at all.

Yeah, its been weird. Its my short day at work. I work around Ms.An’s kinder on Wednesdays – so I can drop and pick her up. Today started as usual with me rushing MsAn to hurry up for Kinder, ended up being 5 mins late for kinder and in turn 5 mins late for work. Somehow, my day at work was good – I don’t even know why but when I walked out of the office building, it was with a smile on my face and unexplained happiness.

Oh! It could have something to do with a colleague commenting that I had lost weight or it could be the general camaraderie in the office, as it’s a short week. Then,SP and I went out for a coffee, before he went to get the girls and I went to see my old trusted Parlour lady – It’s almost shorts season here 🙂 When I came home, after my pampering session, MsAn welcomed me with cuddles and cute talks.

And then, everything went downhill. I don’t know if it was the sight of the remains of all the treats my dad had lovingly sent – Every year my dad sends us a care package with all the home-made Diwali snacks. This year’s parcel came half-damaged, most of the food was turned into crumbs.Totally broke my heart. Or it could have been the fact that we were looking for some forms to send back to school and the fact that I couldn’t find them. I need to de-clutter and de-clutter and then some. Just looking at all the stuff we have, overwhelms me and not finding the time to tend to it, makes me anxious.

It could also have been MsA’s persistent whining. She can be a model child, when she wants to. To her credit, she is a great kid, but then, she is at the age, where, everything is a big deal. I keep telling her, ‘ Don’t sweat the small things’ and try to be patient, but some days, it just pushes the wrong buttons. Today’s argument back-chat was about why I wouldn’t let her go to school with her hair, loose.She has long,thick hair – that’s why! After going back and forth,over and over again, I lost it. I mean, completely lost it and screamed and sent her to bed angry.

It could also have been the prospect of eating another salad for lunch tomorrow, in an attempt to lose weight. Although, to be perfectly honestly, I actually enjoy my Tuna salad on most days.  I still don’t know, what made me so miserable. Why is it that when you are naturally cheerful, sunshiny ( is that even a word?) person, some days just suck your sunshine out?

I didn’t want to write something glum on the second day, but I couldn’t help myself. I am more of an instinctive writer and specially on days like today, fail miserably to ignore my moods. Whoever said writing is therapy, was absolutely correct – I am feeling a little bit better, than I was, when I first started writing this post. On that cheery note, I will stop and say good night!

See you tomorrow 🙂

Love,

Trish

A few days back, I saw a friend’s update on Facebook. It was the lovely Swaram – asking if anyone was game enough to join her  for a month of blogging. I commented,’ I am tempted, but don’t want to fail again’.
Swaru said, ‘ The only way to fail is to not start at all.’

And so…here I am – trying my hand at non-stop blogging for a month, yet again!

So, I thought long and hard, about what writing style I wanted to follow this time – I could pick a theme and follow it through – umm..what theme?? OR I could follow the prompts ( I am sure Google would come handy if I put my mind to it ) OR I could just do what I normally do – unleash the verbal onslaught – as it comes to my mind, and spills on to my screen, unplanned, unedited. I think that suits me the best.

As I am getting older, I am realising, that my self-censor button is always ON. I have lost count of the number of times, that I edit my thoughts, before speaking or don’t say them at all. Sometimes, it’s out of politeness and at other times, just because I can’t be bothered and then, there are times, when the sarcasm is lost to the audience. So, about time that I unleash the verbal onslaught somewhere, and where better, if not here.

After much procastinating all day today, I decided to get cooking out-of-the-way, put on a movie and start typing. After the gluttonous weekend we have had, in the name of Diwali, I chose something simple tonight – My mum’s tomato soup and plain cheese pizza. The soup simmering away, I put the movie on – PINK –  in case you are interested and I was ready to type my ramblings away – only I got distracted – Facebook – need I say more?  The movie was playing, only I hadn’t watched it. So, I started it again, and browsed Facebook again, while the titles rolled and the next thing I know, the movie was back to where I had stopped – yes, I got distracted again. Started the movie again, ignored the computer, started watching the movie and then, started the post. God! I am losing my touch – I used to be the multi-tasking queen.

Anyway, the movie is now paused and I am typing away. By way of conversation, how was your weekend?  We were fortunate enough to get a long weekend this year for Diwali and Halloween – Ms.A’s school had curriculum day and Tuesday was a public holiday. So, we spent most of our time relaxing, enjoying the festivities and bonding over little rituals. SP put up the lights, Ms A and MsAn helped me prepared sweets and savouries, then helped decorate the house. We were chatting, while cooking and I said,’ You know what’s the best part about Diwali?’ and without skipping a beat, MsAn said,’ That we are working as a family.’ That moment there, totally kicked my festive spirits, a whole new notch up!

I leave you with a photo of my favourite moment, as I mentioned above 🙂 and another of my girls dressed up in their finest Indian outfits

If you are game enough join in the fun by writing or leaving a comment on the participating blogs – the complete list can be found here.

See you tomorrow..

Love,

Trish