Owner: Karma Calling URL:http://thekarmcallingblog.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:05:16 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Witty, funny, sometimes thoughtful take on life as a working mom, toddlerhood and parenting. Site statistics:Click here
Fall Begone 2007-10-05 10:54:00 Where is the fall this year? I am asking. Hell, I think everybody is asking that question around where I live. It’s October already. The time when leaves turn into golden yellows and fiery reds and mellow oranges. There is a nip in the air. Vapor condenses as you chat with your neighbor, wearing a soft fleece jacket. I had these visions last fall. Of me and BigGeek and Chip in Fall of 2007. Raking leaves on the back lawn while Chip dives into them sending them flying everywhere. But of course mommy dear and daddy dearest don’t get all upset simply because an hour or two of hard work is going down the drain (no, that’s wrong. Going up in the air- that sounds better, no?) They join him, in slow motion - Chip, DotMom and BigGeek, arms up in the air, leaves falling by everywhere, wearing turtlenecks and flannel plaids in autumn-y colors, the sun setting on a quiet Saturday evening, mulled cider in steaming cups that stays miraculously warm for hours while we kick up our heels in the
Nothing to fear, but fear 2007-10-04 10:13:00 This is about Chip. It’s been a while since I have done a Chip-exclusive post and this would be a fitting sequel to my other bizarre post. Chip was a colicky, asthmatic baby and he was so hurting most of the time, he did not have any energy to bond with strangers. All that has changed and he is quite the Mr.Friendly to everyone now except a really good friend.Let’s give him an alphabet – S. S is a great guy. Soft spoken, gentle even. Great with kids. S is married to P – a wonderfully sweet and caring woman who also has a great sense of style. S and P are really good friends. But S and Chip don’t get along. Well, if there was an Understatement of the Century Award, this line just won it. Chip is terrified of S. And we don’t know why. If P is visiting alone, he will go to her, talk to her, and show her his toys all the time keeping an eye out for S. If they both or S visits by himself, all hell breaks loose.Last year, BigGeek was recovering from a torn ACL in his knee when S Read more:Nothing
BigGeek Returns 2007-10-03 10:38:00 I am fretting as BigGeek returns to work today. Only for a few hours. He will be driving alone for the first time after his lil adventure and it’s very hard to refrain myself from calling him every 5 minutes. But baby him I shall not. He still has to undergo Cardiac Rehab before he resumes his regular routine. For a man who is used to going at 60mph with his work and school he has been grinding to a near halt the past couple of weeks. This bothers him. He was supposed to go to China later this month for a school trip and he obviously cannot go now (he tried convincing the doctor yesterday, but thank god the doctor was adamant). This bothers him. And I feel his pain. But this too shall pass.On a related note, I just read Cheney’s history of heart troubles. First heart attack at 37, two more and a quadruple bypass before he turned fifty, a stent procedure later. I don’t know if he has a pacemaker. None of this has slowed him down. I sent the link to BigGeek - he has such tremendo Read more:Returns
Tagged 2007-10-01 09:57:00 I have been tagged by Timepass to do a tag to list one fact related to my life for every letter of my middle name. My middle name is my maiden name and I don’t want to give it away and relinquish my semi-anonymous superhero second life. So, I choose BigGeek as my middle name.The three rules to be followed are:a) The rules must be mentioned in the beginning of the tag.b) You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.c) At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.B – BenignTo borrow a term from Douglas Adam’s H2G2 - I am mostly harmless. But try pushing me too hard and too far and you will unleash the unrelenting, sarcastic monster.I – IntrospectiveAnd not in the right doses. It’s good to Read more:Tagged
Maid in India 2007-09-28 09:45:00 Rohini wrote a follow up post today, about maids and such and while I agree with her for most part, I feel coerced to put in my point of view, especially regarding cultural differences. But first to the points I totally agree with. Child labor. These children would have much horrid lives if they did not work. By working, they are getting square meals, a roof over their head, and security. I am sure there are exceptions to this, but by and large the young girls I have seen employed are just that. Playmates to a kid or light housework. They are not expected to do anything more. My mother taught our maid’s two kids and she, not wanting it for free would send them to our house to help out – watering the plants, folding the laundry. The older one (my age) has a degree in Business Management, and the younger one (a girl) works as a technician in a Pathological Lab. I agree with the political incorrectness too. That’s just plain silly. About trusting working moms, on the whole, I do fe Read more:India
A Bizzare Incident 2007-09-27 14:31:00 Last Friday or should I say early Saturday. I am not quite sure myself. But BigGeek was in his hospital bed, I was trying to sleep on the broken recliner close to him. BigGeek had a temperature that was freaking me out. The nurse came in every two hours to check his vitals, taking care not to disturb his sleep. Another patient down the hall screamed his lungs out. “Help, help. Someone please help me, help help.” I drifted in and out of sleep, not sure if the cry for help was real or imagined. Real because I could hear it loud and clear. Imagined because I could hear the faint chatter of the nurses at the nurses’ station. How could they not hear this man? I thought to myself. Surely they won’t leave him in pain. I remembered how earlier that evening, a nurse had rushed in less than 5 seconds after she heard a crash in our room when BigGeek knocked down a cup. The nurses were attentive. Could they not hear this man?It was close to midnight, I was tired, yet alert, my body must h Read more:Incident
To shave or not to shave 2007-09-26 10:41:00 BigGeek hasn’t shave
d in a week. He has scraggly looking stubble and I can’t say I like it. It makes you look old. I plead. Really? He is truly astonished. It’s not all one color now, you know. I say. I really don’t want to point his attention to the white specks but he just made me. I thought it made me look dignified, he tries to tell me. He is looking in the bathroom mirror, admiring himself. No. I sigh. You only look that way in the mirror. Hmm. He is thinking. Do you mean to say I look the mirror image of dignified? There is no winning with this guy.He rubs his hand over his chin and tells me he thinks he looks like Steve Jobbs. You know, a cool geek not a corporate geek, he has a glint in his eye. I already have the rimless glasses, all I need are a few black turtle necks. (Ah. He conveniently forgets the shrillions!)This post is so bad, that it made me cringe. But I have promised my self to write everyday and so it shall go up. I am trying to get out of my blues, but it
Trial By Fire 2007-09-24 13:08:00 We are not quite out of it yet, but BigGeek is on the mend. He still has some fever (which truth be told is freaking me out a little, but he is on antibiotics) I am so scared that I don’t want to say anything more. BigGeek is a very, very strong guy. This happened so suddenly, that it left me struggling to cope with day-to-day issues like caring for Chip. BigGeek was scheduled for the Cath procedure (angiogram) at 9:00 am Thursday. They were going to transfer him from the local ER to the Cardiac Institute at INOVA, Fairfax at 5:30 am on Thursday. It would have been difficult for me to drive to the hospital 25 miles away in the ugly rush hour, while getting Chip ready for daycare. So I asked a friend to be there before 9.00, to meet with BigGeek and Cardiac surgeon. I really did not want him alone. But they started the procedure at 8:00, so BigGeek was all alone, but look at his indomitable spirit. I would have been shi**ing bricks if I were in his place, but he told the surgeon he w Read more:Trial
Living Nightmare 2007-09-23 09:15:00 BigGeek had a heart attack early Wednesday morning. He is only 33. It was obviously a huge shock and we still think it is unreal. He drove himself to the doctor and was then rushed to the ER. They found a clogged artery and they did a cardiac catheterization procedure and put a stent in him. He was discharged yesterday and is at home now. Read more:Living
, Nightmare
Your loving son, Chip 2007-09-18 09:50:00 Dearest Baba,About time we talked, you know, man-to-man. About stuff. I don’t know what’s wrong with Aie these days. She is just soooo difficult to deal with. Gets angry at the drop of a pin and puts me in a corner for minor offenses. It’s like there is a constant battle between her and me. It’s impossible to talk to her. Just take this incident yesterday. I was examining this bottle of water I found in the (may I say, dusty) laundry room. The bottle is almost full, the cap twisted open. Surely you will agree that such opportunities present themselves rarely. So, I open it, take a swig, replace the cap, go into the kitchen, open the bottle again and am about to take another drink, when I see my red truck. I wasn’t really thirsty so I set down the bottle and decide to ride the truck when Aie who is doing I-don’t-know-what by the counter turns back without looking and topples the bottle. I look at her in utter dismay. Couldn’t she be a wee bit careful? And here is the cli
New School, again 2007-09-17 08:01:00 Chip starts his first day at the new school today. He woke up crying he did not want to go there. So, not a good start. I am crossing my fingers, toes and whatever else there is to cross. I am stressed (duh). Don't think there will be much blogging done today. Read more:School
, New School
The Perfect DotMom 2007-09-14 08:37:00 So, after having tried very, v.e.r.y. hard for the past three months, to show my infallible, courageous, near perfect self, I am being tagged by Moppet’s Mom to list my own quirks. This was very difficult, believe me. I could not think of any, so had to email BigGeek who replied with this-You don’t have any. You are perfect. So enjoy your day.So, I slept on it for two days, and finally by divine destiny or heavenly providence, my quirks were revealed to me in a very lucid nightmare last night.Edited to add: Yes, these cartoons are done by me. In Powerpoint. Read more:Perfect
The man of many quirks 2007-09-13 08:37:00 Winkie tagged Chip about his quirks. Chip is a little man but he is a man of many quirks. Some inherited from his Aie, most from his Baba. Here they are in a chronological order.The SneezeThe first thing Chip did after he was born was to sneeze. Tired and amused then, little did I know it would later turn into a habit. After every feed, Chip sneezed. Thrice. Never more, never less. Drink milk. Sneeze. Burp. Hiccup. Repeat.The (cute) Head TiltWhen Chip was about 5-6 months hold, he got into this habit of tilting his head to one side when observing something intently. Nurses, me, the reflection in the mirror.The NoseAround the same it, he developed a strange fascination for noses. People, dolls, the neighbor’s dog. He would try and bite of every nose he could lay his eyes (rather his teeth on). He would hold a stuffed doll-cum-mitt by her nose by his teeth and shake her vigorously like a cat shaking a mouse.The Nose, againHe screws up his button nose when he smiles, especially when he
This be the 50th 2007-09-12 08:36:00 This be the 50th.I can’t believe I wrote 49 posts. I had promised myself I would write something every day. Well, at least 5 times a week, 20 mins. a day (god, this sounds like the gym), and it was made a lot easier by warm comments left by those who stopped by and then stopped by again. Thank you.So I think I deserve a little post-break today. Therefore, instead of writing something of own, I am going to print something written by Marguerite Kelly. Among the many people I admire, as a parent I probably admire her the most. She writes with fortitude and compassion, so unlike other parenting gurus that point a perpetual finger at us, the parents. She also writes with grace and wisdom that is very much in paucity in this day and age. So every time I am weary dealing with the arsenic hour day after day, fighting many battles with Chip and with my own self or get muddled, not knowing which way to go, as a parent, I turn to the Mother’s Prayer.A Mother’s Prayer by Marguerite KellyHelp
Faithless 2007-09-10 14:40:00 I come from a slightly peculiar family. Well, we all do in some way or the other, don’t we? But my family is odder than most. We are quite faithless in matters of religion. By Indian standards anyway. There. It’s out in the open now. We don’t flaunt it, but we don’t hide it either. My grandmother, my father, me and thankfully BigGeek. BigGeek is a self confessed agnostic. My folks and me, we are not quite sure. We are definitely not atheists. We are not agnostic. I don’t think we are religious skeptics (though we do harbor a healthy skepticism for all religions) Heck. There is not even a real term for people like us. Because most terms apply to religions of the book, and also because nobody genuinely inquires into mainstream Hindu practices, no matter how antiquated they maybe.My earliest vivid memories of our unreligious-ness is my grandmother when I was around 3 or so. Bored in the afternoons with nothing to do, I would often ask to bathe and do a pooja of the little idols Read more:Faithless
The Observer 2007-09-07 08:42:00 The Observer
Wandering the many parks and malls,City streets and its hallsThe curious watcher looks aroundIs there no more excitement to be found?The lights and sounds are not so new,Extraordinary sights so far and fewLaments the watcher with a sighAs the evening slowly draws to nigh.Green and checkered, with frills and bows,An infant snug in halcyon reposeA baby carriage passes by,Not missing this curious watcher’s eye.A look of joy draws upon his faceAt last! Something worthy of a chaseUpon his visage a look of prideHe follows with a resolute stride.Enraptured by the face so sweetOh! Charming baby he must meetThus the watcher sets his mind,But the carriage leaves him far behind.Crestfallen he turns awayNot knowing how or what to sayA wail is heard by the passers byTaken aback by his plaintive cry.To the scene a lady rushes,Holding the watcher she gently hushes.Yet, with a pout he flings his shoeFor the watcher is no more than two.This is for Chip, who resolutely follows strollers an
Home again 2007-09-06 08:12:00 Chip is most unwell. The pooy guy threw up several times last night, has abdominal cramps.. and I have no idea why. He is usually like that when he suffers from an egg allergy. But no accidental egg ingestion yesterday. I am worried about his fluid levels, since he can't even seem to keep water in.
To the Y Chromosome 2007-09-05 07:58:00 Even as a baby Chip never was never still. A very wiggly baby, he managed to shake his head in protest at the age of 8 days and slither down because he hated the rolled up blankets his grandmother put to support his head (as a result his head always flopped to one side and has a flat spot). While I enviously saw other babies sit happily in their baby bjorns, Chip would tug at the snaps, kick in our groins and flail his arms, until we took him out and carried him in our arms where he had better access to everything around him. He wasn’t very happy with the stroller either (thank god we did not buy the pricey-fancy travel system). He would kick and whine until we took him out and later when he was a little older, would simply slither down a bit and hold the wheel by placing his foot on it. He learnt to come down the stairs using his famous tummy slide even before he learnt to crawl. He would climb on the sofa and crawl on the wide ledge of the living-room picture window before he cou
Back to the square one 2007-09-03 15:27:00 The last two days have been not-so-good. BigGeek was away at school and Friday evening, Chip’s teacher told me Chip refuses to sit in one place wants to do things on his own, is defiant. Well, he is two, I wanted to tell her. Instead I asked her what she would suggest. She just shrugged her shoulders. I was upset, instead I said I will tell him to be a bit more obedient and told her to be firm with him. But honestly, this has left a bad taste in my mouth. Not because it is an isolated incident, but it is the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. There had been the allergy incident. Then there had been a time when I went to pick up Chip and he was burning with fever (102F) and the teacher had no idea. A couple of weeks ago, when I was picking up Chip, his room smelt of a cleaner/solvent. When I asked the teacher if it was safe for the kids to be around such a smell, she just shrugged. I asked the vice principal and she said it was fine. The smell was pretty strong and with t
Tryst with the Breastfeeding Nazis 2007-08-31 08:40:00 You can never really be prepared for things like this. 3rd day after Chip was born, BigGeek and I were required to take a class about taking care of new babies before they allowed me to go home that afternoon. As I sat on my donut cushion, surveying the windowless hospital room full of tired looking moms and dads not really wanting to sit through an hour of wisdom aimed at the slightly dense – always hold your baby while giving her a bath, lest she slip and drown. Or don’t shake your baby or drop it on its head (really, I am not making this up), don’t drink because you will be breastfeeding (what you can’t feed a good single malt to the baby? There go our plans) and suchlike. The Euro-looking instructor was a registered nurse and a certified lactation consultant and most importantly a mother herself. She dourly introduced herself as such from the head of the conference table and handed us thick folders filled with information. After the presentation, she asked if anybody had an Read more:Nazis
BigGeek and DotMom - The Movie II 2007-10-17 14:23:00 Recap YetToBeDotMomHi. This is YetToBeDotMom.BigGeekSorry to keep you waiting. I was in the middle of something. Well, actually I was in the bathroomYetToBeDotMom VoiceoverHehehehe. What did I say. Well. He should know I did not call him.YetToBeDotMomNo worries. You aunt called me. I really hate to intrude on a family Thanksgiving.BigGeekNot at all. Its just a lot of good food and drink and talk and good arguments. Did you have a good Thanksgiving?YetToBeDotMomNot too shabby. My cousin was visiting from California and we went to New York and watched a broadway show yesterday.BigGeekWhat did you see?YetToBeDotMomLe MiserablesBigGeekI have seen Annie Get Your Gun. I would love to see the Phantom.YetToBeDotMomMe too! I booked these tickets two months ago and Phantom was still sold out. Can you believe it? Even the matinee.Montage: BigGeek and YetToBeDotMom talking. Clock shows time.YetToBeDotMom VoiceoverAnd so it started. He was so easy to talk to. He asked me what I was reading and I to
BigGeek and DotMom - The Movie 2007-10-16 15:10:00 The wonderful noon after having written a beautiful recount of her own engagement has tagged me to do the same. So here goes. It's a movie, mind y'all.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. EXT. Opening Montage. Opening credits roll in unobtrusive plain text bottom right of screen.YetToBeDotMom at her University. Its autumn. Windy. General shots of campus, students. YetToBeDotMom walking to her class, sitting in class, chatting with classmates, walking home late in the evening to her crummy apartment, cooking for herself and settling down with her pile of reading. The camera pans across the room, boxes and crates are half packed with apartment stuff.YetToBeDotMom Voice OverIt all began in my 26th year of single hood. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I had packed most of my stuff to go to India for an almost 2 month long break and to write my comprehensive exams. In a week I would be gone to a warmer place, my stuff stas
Helping Hand 2007-10-15 12:10:00 For all the jokes about one’s neighbor, we have been fortunate. Not that our neighbors don’t have a have a sense of humor, most do, but we feel blessed to be living in a home surrounded by great neighbors. Choose your neighbor before you choose your home, so goes an Arabic saying and I am glad we did exactly that. When BigGeek and I were looking at houses, the agent showed us this one. The house was smaller than what we wanted, had no garage which again we wanted, but I was happy to see neighbors chatting and kids playing in the cul de sac. It was an older tree lined neighborhood that did not have that impersonal look of newer developments. One got the feeling one could ask a neighbor for a cup of sugar or call on them in an emergency when in these days and times most of us hardly even know who we live next to. And I am glad we moved here.Small things. In February while BigGeek was away at school, my car got stuck in 2ft of ice (not snow) because the stupid ploughs piled up the sno Read more:Helping
, Helping Hand
And again 2007-10-15 11:51:00 Timepass has decided I have the power to schmooze. Thanks for the award and the nice words Timepass. I don't know if I have the power to schmooze. Truth be told, I am not a big fan of the word. The word in its conventional meaning conjures up slick and may I say slimey car dealers who talk only to make a sale. Am I really like that? I hope not. I enjoy blogging and I have met some wonderful bloggers (and more through them) who make me laugh, inspire me to think, share their woes and I am mighty glad for that. BigGeek teases me this is my second life and sometimes I wonder if it is. I know a few fellow bloggers on social networking sites, but the majority of you are nameless.Other bloggers who recieved this award have chosen to accept it in a different spirit. More like a community involment award. Most of them like me, are not quite sure what it means. So, I am going to let go at that and stop this award chain here.Timepass, I hope you don't take this personally. I have no doubt you
Pay it forward 2007-10-18 13:53:00 So, in all my excitement yesterday, I forgot to pass on noon's engagement stories tag. Noon has tagged a lot of you so I am going to tag the remainder. And I will give you the third degree if you do not comply and tell us all your engagement stories. We all love mush. So here goes.UshaCee KayParulUtbt - no, you cannot escape. I saw your comment on kodi's mom's blog.Moppet's momItchingToWriteJust Like ThatSuechoxbox
/home 2007-10-25 14:42:00 You know you dwell in the virtual more than the real when today happens. There was a time when a power outage meant all life stood to a standstill. Or at least we thought so. But times have changed and we are now in the 21st century and so network outage is the new power outage. We had a complete network blackout at work today. No access to any servers, email, the net. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. So, with literally *nothing* to do for almost an hour and a half, I decided to make a trip to the restrooms. As I stepped into the stall and I will spare you kind readers the details of the trip, a thought crept into the aging mind. With the complete network outage, how will the flush work?Joy.
Many Masters 2007-10-24 13:18:00 “I thought about you as I read these pages today.” My mother-in-law said smilingly as I stepped out onto the deck yesterday. I had just got home, given Chip his milk, peanuts, raisins, apple, milk again, juice (grape not apple), peanuts again. Finally getting tired of the game, I had given Chip an ultimatum, poured myself a glass of juice, helped myself to the Chivda the MIL had made and stepped out on the deck. The MIL was reading, or rather re-reading after a decade, Many Masters
Many Lives, sitting on the swing, a cup of coffee in hand.The MIL and I have many things in common and over the years have bonded over it. Astrology (I never cease to amaze, do I), spirituality, classical music, cooking, gardening, metaphysical phenomena. Which is not to say we are similar in personality. She is garrulous, I am the quiet sort. She thinks too much about what the extended family will think and say, me not at all, partly because I live half a globe from all that. She has tremendous amount o
Not Again 2007-10-23 09:23:00 And just when you think you have fallen into a routine, providence strikes back again. We must have been awfully bad in our past lives. And no matter how much good we try to do here in this life is not enough and we must pay our pound of flesh. Or so it seems.BigGeek had mild shoulder pain. Ordinarily it would not be something he would even give a second thought to. But of course since his heart attack which did not have your run of the mill symptoms (he had shoulder and back pain radiating to his arms, zero chest pain), every back and shoulder pain has the potential to be not what it seems. So off he went to the cardiologist with his mom, I met him there. The Nurse there did not think it was a cardiac issue, said to go to his GP incase it was muscular. So off we went to his GP who did an EKG.While we waited for the doctor to return back.BigGeek: the last time I was here when they did an EKG, all hell broke loose in 30 secs. One nurse put me on Oxygen, the other was calling 911.Me: Yea Read more:Again
Babel On 2007-10-29 10:59:00 So yesterday, BigGeek, the MIL, Chip and the exalted self were getting a family oil change. The cars. Not us. The onboard computer showed 5% oil life (isn’t this like a video game?), so a magic potion had to be sought with haste before we could reach the next level and beat all the bad devils of chores and get the reward – a nice Sunday afternoon spent napping. So at noon, feeling victorious after completing round one of errands, the foursome piled into a nearby Merchant’s armed with a coupon and what not, battled our way as the slick manager tried to sell us a $150 fantastic-new-service-without-which-your-car-will-not-make-another-mile.And so it began. Not a big fan of oil changes, the MIL and self were trying to sneak out by ourselves to buy some tablecloths and other boring household items, leaving Chip with his dad and a store full of tires and extraordinary auto-equipment. But BigGeek would not hear about it. So while we fought over the merits of me taking Chip to a home sto Read more:Babel
Spell Bound 2007-11-02 10:02:00 Halloween has come and gone, a great deal of posts written about it, and most, much to my surprise not quite pro-Halloween. And the reasons range from candy excess to the will-be-worn-only-once costume expense, knocking on people's doors, even the odd post how the modern day Halloween has strayed away from its original intentions. All quite valid concerns, but in my opinion, very much misplaced. Let's take them one by one.Candy Excess: This also falls under childhood obesity, tooth problems. But it doesn't have to be too much candy. When Chip went trick or treating this year, I told him he could get only one candy from each house. As soon as the door opened, he would say "Trick or Treat" or "Happy Halloween" and caution the gentleman/lady with an "Only one candy" when they offered him the bowl. I saw many kids grab candy by the handfuls while their parents watched on and didn't say a word. The parents can set limits and should. And more importantly, if sweet things Read more:Bound
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