Last post this year

A bunch of random things..

Kuttipa can dance now. At least it looks like dancing. He stomps his feet continuously as if dancing to the beat of 'thai thai thai thai'.

He has 10 teeth now. Halfway there to a mouthful

He still cannot say any word except 'Amma'. But Amma refers to just about anything, including Me, his father, food etc.

He is running around the house busy with who knows what, as I type this.

He loves playing with wires, garbage, bottles, shoes...Basically anything that he shouldn't play with but he'd rather play with than his 3 boxfuls of toys.

I am reading a book called "From high heels to bunny slippers" written by a psychologist about women needing to stay at home with their kids. It's simplistic and biased and quite interesting (given my current frame of mind).

Another splurge - we paid $90 for a cleaner to come in yesterday and in four hours she managed to get the kitchen and 1.5 bathrooms clean. And we've almost caught up with the backlog of laundry. So feeling pretty good looking at a somewhat cleaner house.

Did I ever mention how grateful I am that I can sing to Kuttipa? Well, I just did.

I just might have the nicest husband. He has gifted me a ticket to go see 'Chicago' this coming Saturday at Jubliee auditorium.

I still haven't started to catch up with my work as I originally intended. Neither has my husband, I think. On the other hand, we borrowed a few movies from the library last week and have caught up with them nicely. :D

We bought cards for the New Year but were too lazy to write and mail them on time. So instead this evening we'll be emailing out ecards (with a photo of Kuttipa attached). I hope.

Whatever your plans for New Year's eve are, hope you have lot of fun! See you next year!

Twitter

I still don't quite get it but it seems like fun. Although, why bother?

Kuttipa through our new camera

Boxing day mania

We got a camera today from Sears! Our previous camera was kind of broken and we've been planning to buy another for a while now. So it's awesome. And we got it for $250 instead of $300. Granted it's not a boxing day bargain like some of the other things but it's a bargain nevertheless. So I was all excited!

And then we saw all these people walking out from Sears carrying big screen flat panel HDTVs.
"How can so many people afford to buy these? And what are we doing wrong?" My husband wondered.
A flat screen HDTV is not high on my wish list anyway but his question made me think.
"Maybe it's because we travel? We went to India this year and usually go someplace or the other every year?"
"On come on! Everyone travels! Our neighbors go to Disneyland every year."

Hmm, that's true. So what WAS it? I wish the answer was that we have investments all over the place and we're saving aggressively. No, the answer is simpler. We bought a house when the prices were at the very peak and we're probably paying a mortgage that's twice as much as our neighbors. And then we had a baby. And then I stopped working (except a few random hours here and there). And that's why our big splurge in 2005 was a trip to Vegas and LA. And our big splurge this year is a digital camera that costs a fraction of the cost of the trip. I gotta wonder what our splurge next year will be?

I am sounding like a spoilt brat eh? I didn't mean to whine. I know my life is abundant with good things and I am really grateful for all of them. Wouldn't trade any of it for a flat panel HDTV even if I could!

Discovering Disney

I borrowed a CD with classic Disney songs from the library to play to my son. As a result, I've become enamoured with 'Colors of the Wind' from Pocohontas. The lyrics are awesome and the singer's voice is so sweet!

'You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew'

It was on a long weekend 6 years ago and I was driving back home to New Haven after visiting a friend. I chanced upon a banner that announced the local K-mart in Derby was closing and decided to check it out. I found a couple of things that I wanted and stood patiently in an impossibly long line. I looked around and the woman behind me in line smiled at me. I smiled back and said something along the lines of how crazy it was.
"Yes, it's sad isn't it? Now there is one less alternative to Walmart around here." She said.
I was a bit puzzled. but I figured she was one of those people who hated big chain stores. But if that was the case, what was she doing here at a K-mart?
"Oh I love Walmart. If these guys couldn't keep up with the competition, they deserve to go!" said another woman in the line.
"Do you know at what price they keep things cheap?" The first woman asked.
The other lady just shrugged and turned away from the conversation.
"No, I don't but if you don't like chain stores, why are you here?" I asked trying to understand.
"Oh, I am just showing some support for the competition when and how I can."
"Why Walmart specifically?"
"Because they're the biggest and the worst."
She sounded so earnest and intelligent about it that I went back home and googled for info on Walmart. And I found plenty. It is so easy to hate Walmart! There are too many reasons and at some point you just realize its easier to hate it rather than go through the entire list. And so I've pretty much stopped going there.

I wish I could tell you I am supporting local business and going to the Farmer's Market for all my weekly grocery needs. Alas and alack - I am but a hypocrite, an armchair activist with great intentions but little action. So I go to the Real Canadian Superstore every week. I'll admit I've no idea how they measure up in different things against Walmart.

I do have a couple of good reasons for liking them though. And I am not talking just about the low prices (who knows at what cost) and their convenient location (4 min drive from my house).
1.) I like their policy on plastic bags. You need to buy them or if you brought your own, you get rewarded with points for groceries. Although, this doesn't really cover those flimsy bags you put bunches of carrots or beans in. So its really only a halfway measure but its something...
2.) I like most of the PC branded food products. They don't seem to have too many preservatives and stuff and actually taste pretty good. I especially love love love their cheesecake...

And I might add a third reason. I kind of like the commercials with Galen Weston Jr even though I think he looks like a dork. But that's just my opinion. Apparently there are a lot of women who find him attractive. He even has a Facebook fan club!

Another link from NY times

I really liked his closing sentence.
"If we had wanted to preserve the Big Three, we would have bought more of their cars."

How true! You can read the entire article here.

And thats the way the cookie crumbles..

The title of this post was inspired by Kuttipa's crumbling of some cookies I baked yesterday. It was cute to watch. I put him in his high chair and put some cookie pieces on the tray while I fixed his lunch. He ate a piece and decided he didn't want to eat the rest. So he systematically crumbled the remaining pieces till all that remained was brown powder.

He has also learnt how to spit mouthfuls of food and takes great delight in doing it. Mealtimes are often a struggle with us scrambling to find some food that he will actually eat. There is no constant. Yogurt may be a hit today and a dismal failure tomorrow. He used to love cheese but not anymore. And so it goes.

"And how are you?" my friend asked since all I talked about was my son. "I am fine." I really am. Lots of work to catch up on - work work and house work. Instead I watch episode after episode of 'Two and a half men' on TV every night. Or spend hours chasing meaningless links online. But I am fine - for now.

Speaking of links, here is one to an interesting OP-ED in NY times about the auto industry.