Friday, January 30, 2009

I'm a Bette!

I love the elegance of old - time actresses! And I think this quiz is very accurate!

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else?

You Are a Bette!

mm.bette_.jpg


You are a Bette -- "I must be strong"


Bettes are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.



How to Get Along with Me

  • * Stand up for yourself... and me.

  • * Be confident, strong, and direct.

  • * Don't gossip about me or betray my trust.

  • * Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender, vulnerable side.

  • * Give me space to be alone.

  • * Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don't flatter me.

  • * I often speak in an assertive way. Don't automatically assume it's a personal attack.

  • * When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that's just the way I am.




What I Like About Being a Bette

  • * being independent and self-reliant

  • * being able to take charge and meet challenges head on

  • * being courageous, straightforward, and honest

  • * getting all the enjoyment I can out of life

  • * supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me

  • * upholding just caItalicuses




What's Hard About Being a Bette

  • * overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don't intend to

  • * being restless and impatient with others' incompetence

  • * sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it

  • * never forgetting injuries or injustices

  • * putting too much pressure on myself

  • * getting high blood pressure when people don't obey the rules or when things don't go right




Bettes as Children Often

  • * are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit

  • * are sometimes loners

  • * seize control so they won't be controlled

  • * figure out others' weaknesses

  • * attack verbally or physically when provoked

  • * take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings




Bettes as Parents

  • * are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted

  • * are sometimes overprotective

  • * can be demanding, controlling, and rigid




Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz
at HelloQuizzy

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

3.5 Years Ago


Me and G. Makes me so nostalgic! 3.5 years ago...in my law school dorm. The furniture was the standard stuff they gave all of the residents. Gray and boring! :-) Also this is about 20 pounds (or more) ago for both of us! LOL. I think we were about to go to see the play Les Miserables in Minneapolis. My roomate took this picture right before we left. The play was wonderful, but we had crappy seats in the balcony that didn't get us a good view. I recall coming back and making shrimp pasta for the first time (for the first time in front of G that is!). We ate it in our pajamas and chatted with my roomate in the living room. I was blissfully happy to spend that weekend with G.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Question for the Desi folks reading this blog

Well this question is for everyone, but I thought the desi (native indian) people may relate a bit more.

Both my mom and mom in law (MIL) have this idea in their head that one must shower first thing in the morning. Even more so my MIL...at first when she would comment/criticize my nightly showering habit, I let it go. But I've heard this comment several times by now, and it's just getting annoying. Today I came back from the gym at 5pm and she went upstairs to do her evening prayer. I was with Om until G came home, then I figured well G's here to take care of the baby I'm going to shower and get my pajamas on. She started a huge speech and rant about what an odd time of day it is to shower!

A while ago, when I asked her what's behind the reasoning, she has nothing to support the argument besides "Beta yehi achha hotha hain tereliye aur tere bache keh liye. " (Daughter this is good for both you and your baby). What, if anything, does that comment mean? If I do happen to shower in the morning, boy do I get a cheery approval, like I've just won the Nobel Prize for cleanliness. It is just hilarious. I enjoy showering whenever I get the chance, whether it is morning or whenever.

Anyway there ends my rant. But maybe the desi folk can help me out with why showering in the morning is so important? Is it a cultural thing or just her?

Tired of

  • Tired Of Studying. With constant interruptions. (can't help that & don't blame anyone...I have a 5 month old)

Oh and I still haven't gotten the letter saying that I am eligible to even sit for the exam. I have a sinking feeling this is going to take a while. In my mind I had a vision of taking the exam before our India trip in May. That's A LONG time away from now and thinking about it is just painful.

I asked a friend how she manages 2 babies while doing graduate school. Her reply? (paraphrased) "My babies just sit there. Alex was such a gentle baby that would watch me for hours while I studied."

My baby? 10 minutes per baby gym, jumperoo, swing, couch, bed. Feels lonely constantly. Sleeps for maybe 45 minutes in a stretch during the day.
  • Tired of my brother causing drama and interfering where he shouldn't.

Long story. Enough said.

  • Tired from waking every 2 hours last night to rock Om to sleep. Teething sucks.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Various Om

Santa Claus

Chinese Baby

Indian Lady/Dulhan baby (probably going to hate me later for this)

Cowboy

Preppy Baby


Pink baby (again, he's not going to like this when older)


Christmas Baby


Year of the Rat Baby


:-) More to come...Om's mom cannot resist playing dress up!



Thursday, January 22, 2009

Poetry of a Woman

Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.

If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.

If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.
So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit!
:-)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Happy Inauguration

A day late. Today Om celebrated the new president by having a blow out. Poop blowout, to be more exact. I thoroughly enjoyed cleaning it.
You can get your obamicon (or rather, the red propaganda imagery) at http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/entries/new.html

Mentioned at Sepiamutiny.com, - Obama used the phrase "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers." Regardless of what type of president he will be, I totally dig feeling included for the first time in my life. (I'm somewhere in between Hindu and non-believer).

Saturday, January 17, 2009

5 Months Cuter


Om turned 5 months cute yesterday. He is such an active, expressive baby who feels lonely when we leave him alone (or just the other side of the room) even for a second! He needs stimulation and gets bored very easily!

- He has more than doubled his birth weight, but at the last checkup was only at the 30% of weight.

- His head size is at the 80% ... all that extra brain fat just means smart baby! He wears hats meant for 6 mos or older kids.

- His length was at 75%.

- He cries bloody hell murder and turns bright red that makes your heart drop when he gets his vaccinations. But after we picked him up, was bright and chipper again.

- He is so social with strangers...he chats it up with the pediatrician or the cashier.
- He giggles and laughs out loud when something is funny. He mostly laughs at his Dhadi talking to him, or when we make funny faces or sounds.

- He has now added a jumperoo to his favorite toys of swing and baby gym. He looks so adorable in it, I'll have to take a video of him playing in it!
- He's had a cold for the past couple of days that interferes a bit with is feeding/sleeping. I use the pump and saline drops in his nose before feeding/sleeping, but he cries SO hard when I do that. Not sure why, I don't think the pump actually hurts, maybe it's just annoying?

- He has cut his first tooth a couple weeks back, lower right side. We noticed another one emerging.

- He has discovered his tongue - loves to wiggle it around and out of his mouth. Just means for more drooling and the bibs are becoming even more necessary!

- He loves mashed bananas, and eats his rice cereal with hesitation. Unless, of course, we spike the rice cereal with bananas. Still eats out of his silver dish!
- Om is a screamer. Instead of just babbling or cooing, when excited he mostly tenses up and lets out a nice SCREETCH! This is especially lovely at 430am.
- He loves toys and is fascinated with any object you show him.
- He "officially" rolled over at 4 months. He was rolling over before that, around 3.5 mos, but more slowly and it took some luck, especially with a heavy brace on his feet. Now he can purposefully roll over onto his tummy. When he first discovered rolling over he did it repeatedly and then cried when he was on his tummy. We had to keep turning him over, just to have him repeat the process and then cry!

- He can sit by himself, but only for a few seconds before he leans forward to untie his shoe or grab a toy, resulting in toppling over.
- His routine is bedtime at 8pm with milk and lights out. He gets extremely cranky at 6pm, so for two hours we may give him a mini nap or play with him, but no matter what he needs to sleep at 8pm otherwise very cranky! He gets up at 12am for milk, then the next wake time is very random. At times he will wake up a beautiful 5 hours later, and then sometimes he will wake repeatedly every two hours, it depends on whether he is teething or has gas.

" Just another day swingin' with mah friends"

This is such a wonderful time with babies. When they are newborn they have very little expressions and don't do much, and plus they are a stranger to your family. But by this time they are the typical "baby" and have filled out with chubbiness, sounds, and expressions.

"Oh why did mom dress me up like a girl?"

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Pretty Breakfast


Was going through some photos and found a pic of the New Year's Day breakfast I made. Whole wheat buttermilk pancakes (eggless) with whole cream (from scratch) and blueberry topping. The drink is a home made vanilla cafe latte...it was delicious but fattening and took some time to let the vanilla bean soak into the milk.

Oh and vanilla beans are SO expensive! The cheapest I found was at Whole Foods (surprisingly, since they are so pricey for everything else). This will be a rare thing, because I refuse to buy this spice again unless necessary. I can invest in a bottle of vanilla coffee syrup instead. :-)
Other list of things I find ridiculously overpriced:
- Baby Corn (love adding this to everything)
- chopped nuts, i.e. pine nuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds.
- coconut milk (oh and why don't they make it in half can size? when will we ever use a whole can of it?)
- baby formula - the cheapo formula does not suit Om well...so we are buying the expensive stuff. I wonder what makes the difference in digestion?


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Some Help

I want to possibly:

1. Change this blog from 2 column to a 3 column format; and

2. Make my new header image fit to size. I have a header image but when I upload it it looks really funky....off to one side and the title is not centered.

Any suggestions?

Movie List

Movies G and I have seen since becoming new parents. There may be a few missing. In lieu of my usual reading list...I don't read novels anymore! :( I enjoy watching DVDs in wide screen HDTV. Now when I watch regular television in the gym or otherwise, it just doesn't hit the spot. And I don't really miss going to the theater since lying on the couch cuddled up with Om sleeping on a Saturday night is a nice break.

I'm not going to rate these because, well...that's too much work. :-)

Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda
Corporate
Amelie
Traffic Signal
The Wire: Season 1
300
Khosla Ka Ghosla
WALL-E
Bad Santa
Mystic River
Napoleon Dynamite
Happy Feet
Aaja Nachle
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
Tropic Thunder
Namastey London
Affliction
Persepolis
Kung Fu Panda
Syriana
Enchanted
Love on a Diet
Jaan-E-Mann
Spellbound
The Lives of Others
Driving Miss Daisy
Salaam-E-Ishq
Pan's Labyrinth
Ab Tak Chhappan
3:10 to Yuma
Amores Perros
Earth
Hanuman
Unforgiven
Over the Hedge
The Pursuit of Happyness
Johnny Gaddaar
Parineeta
Guru
There Will Be Blood
Salaam Bombay!
City of God
The Office: Season 4
The Office: Season 3
The Office: Season 2
The Office: Season 1
Super High Me
Sex and Lucia
Dan in Real Life
Outsourced
Ali G Indahouse
The Professional


Monday, January 12, 2009

Happy Feet



The jumperoo never looked so GOOD.


The wooden tables and floor are saved.


No more questioning stares from people in public.


Today Om had his follow-up appointment at Children's Hospital in Seattle. First the orthotics team took a look at Om's feet. They were very pleased! Then Dr. Mosca checked his feet and reduced the hours Om has to wear brace. I can't tell you how amazing that is...now Om can be a normal baby for 12 hours of the day! The orthotist said that in his many years of practice he has not seen such improvement in club feet! The dorsiflexion is great, with a 40 degree angle, which is what NORMAL babies have! Usually club foot babies do not achieve that degree of flexibility.

Either Om is just lucky, or the constant massages, stretching, and bi-weekly visits to a physical therapist are really working.

Om got a new pair of Markel shoes one size up, but the bar is the same size and will be changed in another 3 months. Markell shoes are stiff and leathery and require some breaking in to adjust to the child's feet. I asked the orthotics folks if we could get the Mitchell shoes and bar, but they recommended against it, stating that why change something that is working so well. Also, according to the orthotist Mitchell shoes are geared more towards babies who have problems (constant blisters, feet slipping out of shoes, etc). He said that the Markell shoes are stiffer for a reason - they really work when used properly and if there are no slippage problems, the chances for success are greater. So I did not press the issue, because anyway now we only have to put the shoes on Om when he sleeps.

I just pray and hope that he doesn't relapse. You never know with club foot. Nazar nah lage (Antijinx on this post! Jinx monstor be gone!)




Saturday, January 10, 2009

Tips for Teething

Today I stuck my finger in Om's mouth (I'm such a weirdo Mom!) and discovered what only can be early signs of a tooth emerging from his lower gums. Will try to get a picture of it, but I highly doubt he'll open his mouth for that long.

Any tips from fellow Mommy bloggers?

Friday, January 9, 2009

Patent Bar Exam Study Schedule


Also known as the I AM SO BORED OUT OF MY MIND WOULD RATHER CLEAN Studying Schedule. Hehe.

According to my calculations, I should be done by mid - February. After that it is just reviewing practice problems and practice exams. I'm waiting for my undegraduate and law school to send me transcripts so I can actually APPLY for the test...then after the government does its checks I'll be given a three month period to take the exam. Most likely, I'll take the exam as soon as I get approval and not wait the 3 months since I've already been studying.


Thursday, January 8, 2009

Review of Resolutions from 2007

In January of 2007, I posted the following resolution list in my previous blog which is no longer updated. In bold I'm commenting on whether any of those resolutions were kept.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't believe in resolutions, because they usually just fail anyhow.But here are some "goals" to aim for in 2007:

1. Pass the Washington winter bar exam. (DONE!!!)

2. Lose at least 15 lbs before my wedding in November. (I know I should be more specific with this goal, but whatever) (I lost about 10 lbs, and was firmer and more fit, and was very happy with how I looked on my wedding day and honeymoon)

3. Get married (I added this because the wedding date keeps getting postponed...) (DONE LOL)

4. Love EVERYONE more. Forgive more. Forget more. (I'm not sure, but I hope so)

5. To not be such a freaking elephant in terms of memory & sensitivity. I can't seem to remember law terminology, but I sure can remember mean words and neglect from my loved ones. (Totally failed in this resolution. After pregnancy and a new baby, I've gone through major mood overhauls and minor depression).

6. SHOW more love, whether in words or affection. (I think I do this more)

7. Get a physical, including cholesteral and thyroid checks. (Done. Actually, it took me getting pregnant for the smartest OBGYN (he's really experienced) to discover that I had a "hidden" thyroid issue that didn't show up on the first glance of my hormone levels. It required more probing into my antibody levels. I instinctively always knew I had a thyroid issue, this just confirmed it)

8. Pay off my car. (DONE Yaaaay)

9. Remind mom about her health and excercise more often. (Total failure)

10. Stop clicking my nails. I get 'em long, and then I do this clicking thing that I'm sure annoys everyone around me (especially G, hehe). (Oh boy, anyone can attest that I still do this)

11. Get a family potrait (everyone in my fam, including G the next time he visits and Jackie, our dog) done. (Done, but with G, Om and MIL, not my parents. That will have to be done some other time when we are all in Minnesota again).

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Minnesota Trip

Om went on an airplane for the first time in early December. Silly me of course did not take pictures on the plane, but there wasn't much excitment since Om was in deep sleep for the entire 3 hour flight. AWESOME doesn't even begin to describe it...but he did manage to do potty on the plane, which was a tad bit annoying. On the way to Minnesota the flight was empty so Om and I got 3 seats to ourselves to spread out. The extra seats were helpful during takeoff and landing to set Om down, but otherwise he remained in my lap (he refused to sleep on the seat). On the return flight we were upgraded to business class so we had ample room to adjust. Om also fell asleep for the duration of the flight. Fellow travelers around me were amazed that I had such a peaceful baby. (They do not know him very well hehe).

We spent a week at Nana and Nani's house. They were ecstatic to see Om, especially my Dad because he had not yet met Om. I didn't study the entire time in Minnesota and I also ate too much and did not go to the gym. Both my parents work so I was with Om 24/7 except for little bits here and there when my Mom took Om while I had a nap. Om also got his first kitchen sink bath. My brother cautiously picked up a baby for perhaps the first time in his life.




I cleaned out the closet in my parents house. Om enjoyed watching me sort out items to give to charity. Somewhere among all those bags is a baby. :-) Some are bigger than him.

Kitchen sink. He looks so much like G in this pic!

My handsome boyfriend in a Santa suit. All that is missing is his bag of toys and a hat. :-)

Cracking up at some joke with Nani.


Jackie was always nearby Om. It was the first time in Jackie's 11 years to meet a baby. He probably was wondering what the hell is this thing that totally ignores me! He was also confused because we all speak in high -pitched "baby talk" to Om, which Jackie is used to, so he would always rush over thinking we were talking to him!


Jackie jumping up while Om is in Nana's arms.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

To Do List

Because I plan on writing about things and then they leave my mind...

  • Om Updates, in particular 4.5 month post
  • Weight loss update (haha whatever)
  • Holidays etc.
  • Studying updates (just for my peace of mind...too boring)
  • TV shows I have discovered I enjoy watching
  • Movie list (in lieu of the reading list)
  • Review of resolutions from the past year and new resolutions for 2009.