Weekend Updates

Inspired by R’s Mom, here I am with my weekend updates. It’s a long long post, beware folfs!!!

Friday evening Abbas came back early from office and we got picked up in Bulu. Yayay!!! It was pouring horrendously. Made some ultra hot Kancha Lonka Chicken and rice for dinner… Fed kids first and then asked them to do their homework. I prefer them to finish off homework on Friday evenings only,  I sign their diaries and keep in their bags coz I already have a hundred things to do on Monday mornings while I find it hard to move my lazy butt around. They were supposed to write X. Abbas volunteered to sit with them. (RM, are you listening?) They made mistakes and Abbas thought he’ll simply ignore and swore not to touch the eraser. Mannu got into my shoes and began rubbing those ‘dancing’ lines to write better. And guess what? Tammu also recognized her mistakes and was asking Mannu to rub. I sported an evil grin on my face to see an irritated Abbas who obviously thought I had SPOILED his kids. Hehehe…

Saturday morning saw me jumping in joy like a kid on seeing candy. Meena (our domestic help) brought home bride for my Tulsi plant. (It was a small Red Tulsi called Krishna Tulsi, which is placed besides Tulsi during Pujas). When I went to Balcony for planting the new entrant, I saw a rose bloom and a bud in our rose plant. This plant was brought home by Abbas about 4-5 months ago and we never saw a single flower blossom ever since. Ma used to take care of plants when she was here and I hardly visited the balcony. Ever since Ma left, I have taken over watering them. And I used to talk to the rose plant often and tell it that “Show me one flower at least sometime please”. I had read somewhere that plants grow when we talk to them or something on those lines. I guess it worked or may be its seasonal. I have no clue. I called Ma and told and she was elated too.

I told Ma that Mantam’s day care is closed on Monday (Bakr Eid) but both Abbas n I need to go to work. So she asked me to cook some Mutton dish on Sunday night itself as I need to go to work at 7AM in the morning next day. That’s one of the biggest advantage of having a MIL who is/was a working woman. She will never judge you on the compromises you make due to your work demands. She will in fact empathize and share shortcuts, workarounds and tips with you as she has sailed in the same boat decades ago.

Post lunch, Mantam went off for a nap. Abbas and I exchanged roles, he was paying bills online and I lazed in front of the TV. I was watching ‘Jab We Met’ from the scene where Geet was eloping. Aditya tells her that what she was doing was wrong but she says that she wants to be responsible for all that she did in her life. My mind went to flashback when I did the same thing. I knew I was wrong when I thought from my family’s perspective. But I listened to my heart. Lemme digress!

Once Mantam woke up, we went to an Eye Hospital as I had to check my eyes. Lately I have been getting frequent splitting headaches and my eyes feel heavy and strained when I work. We had taken a few biscuits so that Mantam could munch on them in Bulu. Both the brats said they were not hungry and as soon as we took an appointment and waited in the lounge for our turn, Mannu started her fav mantra “Kichu Khabo”… My token number was called out and I went through the preliminary test, I read out alphabets and numbers. They asked me to wait outside. When I came out, a hungry Mannu was at her crankiest best “Mamma…. Kichu Khabo…” My name was called out and I went in yet again to another doc. She saw the test report and said that my eyes seemed normal but they had to do a dilation test which would take an hour’s time. The words “Kichu Khabo” echoed in my ears and I told the doc that I will come some other day. She seemed to be of the opinion that my headaches could be because of some muscular imbalance in the eyes. After the dilation test, they would suggest some exercise which would suffice to treat my ailment. Abbas bought a packet of chips and two tetra packs of LMN for them.

We went to Total Mall for our monthly grocery shopping. Mantam were in fultoo shopping fervor. They picked up anything that caught their fancy and asked me or Abbas – “Eta nebo?” (Shall I take this?”) They loved picking things up and loading our shopping cart. When we finally reached the veggie section, all four of us were distressed and psyched out to say the least. They were pissed off coz most goodies they chose did not get a nod from their parents and we were agitated responding to a million queries. I made the whining twins sit near the billing counter and lectured them on behavioral norms. I went on with my speech for the thumb-sucking audience were patiently listening. Finally Mannu said “Ye chahiye, Wo chahiye bolbo na mamma” and gave me a hug. Tammu also followed suit. Our moods converted from grumpy to peppy.

Before calling it a day, I decorated 4 tiny li’l palms with Mehndi designs that brightened 2 pair of eyes!

Sunday morning after breakfast and preparing lunch, I sat to watch Masterchef India (repeat telecast) and while watching TV, decorated an empty earthen pot with M-seal. I’ll paint it soon. It took me almost an hour to complete. Will paint it soon.

Took a brief nap post lunch. In the evening, made Idli batter, roasted mung Dal, and prepared Biryani…

Concluding the post with a few pics of the roses, Mehndi, pots, and Mantam’s new hairstyle. I have always wanted to grow their hair and I can now tie a small pony. Yipppeee! Dunno till when I’ll have the patience to take care of their hair. As of now I’m loving it 😀

The first rose that blossomed in our balcony

Rose bud

The duo

Two pair of hands. Can you notice that both their left thumbs are bare? That’s coz they suck that thumb while they’re asleep.

M-seal flower

Mannu

Tammu