Dhikchik

No words for this... 

other than dhik-chik

Pay It Forward

Bobby's and his neighborhood "Bro" Ryan have been playing together all weekend. All day today they were in and out of our house. Riding their bikes or scooter in the garage lane and then coming back inside to grab a snack (multiple batches of air fryer French fries!) and then running back outside. Ryan's mom says he prefers eating at our house better than his own! And in fact for weekend lunch, he's becoming a regular at the dining table. 

I remember growing up, I had a seemingly lifelong friend Anusha Mani. We used to hang out together in the weekday evenings and weekends. During summer break her grandmother used to be around and much of my summer breaks used to be spent at her place. Her grandma used to cook, and specially keep things for me. Food at her place was very different from mine cause their family was originally from a different part of India (tamilnadu) and so, their meals looked and tasted nothing like ours'. I remember fondly her place and her grandma! So when Ryan eats with us, it feels like nice :)! Is this what paying it forward means?

Nothing Is Still There

Little miss Haana and I were cuddling together, chilling for a few minutes after dinner yesterday. I had put mascara on my eyelashes that morning. 

A couple months back little miss Haana and I had gone to one of her favorite stores nearby that has cosmetics. We bought a mascara for each of us. But after I tried it, I didn't think it worked great. So I got another one for myself, that I liked much better. Little miss Haana still liked the one she got from her favorite store. Mostly because it was from her favorite store, I think!

She asked me which mascara I used. I told her it was the one I bought later. 

She said mine has a more voluminous effect. But hers' lasts longer and doesn't clump up. Even at the end of a long day and even if she's rubbed her eyes during the day, it just doesn't smudge at all. 

I should've not said anything at all after that. But then I said, "You know what else stays on forever? What gives a not- even-there effect and stays on for the longest without clumping or smudging?". "What?". "Nothing! Nothing stays on n on, and doesn't even wash off! No smudging. And its completely waterproof! See it's still there, even after washing! After the whole day and washing n rubbing. Nothing is there!". We laughed and laughed, and then she said "You're such a meanie mumma!". When all I said was the truth!

Bro Gang

Bobby boy now has some friends in the neighborhood. A couple houses down one way is Ryan, and a couple houses down the other way is Zuhair. They call each other Bro. So they are the Bro gang. 

Zuhair is in Bobby's school too (but not in the same class). Today coming back from school Bobby boy told me he and Zuhair met at recess and decided they will play at his house after school. I nodded, but then I protested, "I was not consulted when this program was being made". So Bobby boy smoothly reminded me, I was not actually invited (since I'm not in the Bro gang)! Because I'm not a boy! (Eye roll)

Not A Snow Day, It Was A Snow Week

Last week was momentous here. Last Friday night a cold weather system was going to take the temperatures to a deep dive. There was a significant chance of freezing rain and snow flurries on Saturday. Chance of snow is music to my ears! 

It rained sleet all day Saturday.  But no snow. Then late night on Saturday and then Sunday, there was finally some snow. Everything was white outside. It was bitter cold. Dulce was the first to explore but then after a couple minutes came running back home. I wondered if Dulce remembers last year. 

Last year it snowed several inches. There were snow ball fights. Bad people (Bobby, Haana) had ganged up together to get me with snowballs! Their alliance feel apart when i responded with vengeance and snowball prowess! Then we all snowballed Dulce doggo together. But he put his long legs to good use and was able to dodge most and take off galloping. Only to return with full speed and wagging trail. Nana (maternal grandpa) came out to play in the snow too! Later, Raj, Bobby boy and little miss Haana tried to put together a snowman. But Dulce, in his excitement jumped on it and that was the end of that snowman. Later we all built another one in our backyard. A bigger better one. And this one had a cap, a scarf and a carrot nose. Only, Dulce doggy took off with much of his nose soon. Nana and nani took pictures with our snowman, as did we all!

This year was different though. It was more sleet than snow, so it wasn't snow-fight-worthy! But Bobby boy's friend Ryan's mom came by and offered to take them sledging in a small sledge she had! The boys played outside, sliding their bikes and scooters on the ice! Bobby even tried to fall so he could slip and slide on the ice! I wasn't so hot with the prospect of slipping or sliding, thank you very much! 

Little miss Haana was getting a bit stir crazy by Sunday, so proposed we walk to a Boba tea place around the corner. Usually just a 5 minute walk from our place. But i wondered if it will be open in such a weather. She insisted she's already checked online. So off we bundled up and went. Later Raj and Dulce doggo joined too. Doggo enjoying running around as always and ferreting bunnies in the grass wherever we went (he catches none). It took us a good 20 minutes to reach the Boba place in the snow and ice. And that's when we found the place was closed!! Ha ha, no surprise there! We then turned around and started our trek back home. 

The ice stayed around for several days and in fact still lurks around on walkway corners. The school was closed from Monday through Thursday! Both Bobby boy and especially little miss Haana have never smiled so broadly in the evenings everytime we got notified 'school is closed tomorrow'! I stayed home and worked from home which seemed extra busy! I might need a recovery day on Friday after this week! But we parents congratulated each other on school reopening on Friday! It really was a fri-yay! 

Not the usual snow day of this year, but a fun week nevertheless. Of course immensely grateful for power,  heat and water at home. 

The Very First Interview

Yesterday little miss Haana had the very first interview of her life! She has auditioned before, but this was the first interview, really. 20 minutes. 

On the previous night we talked at the dinner table about what kind of questions she can expect and what she wants to talk about during the interview. I expected to eavesdrop during the interview obviously. I even knew where i wanted to position myself during the interview so i can hear everything but I'm not on the camera. A fly on the wall location. I will be sitting on the chair next to little miss Haana's table in her room.

The next morning it had snowed slightly and Bobby's friend showed up wanting to play outside. I was helping Bobby put on his snow pants, then snow jacket, then socks, shoes, gloves before he steps outside. But by the time i was done with him and headed upstairs, the interview had already begun and I wasn't in my eavesdrop location!!

The door to her room was almost shut but just a slightly ajar. I decided the camera must be on her, so I will be able to quietly sneak in and go along the far wall of the room to sit on the chair without being visible on camera. I got down on my hands and knees just to be safe. Surely the camera is focusing higher on her face and the wall behind her. But just as I was creeping through the door on my hands n knees (mortified to even write this, but in reality not at all out of character for me at home), little miss Haana laughs during the interview and says "Hello mother!". I knew I had been made. It probably didn't help that i was wearing a bright red jacket that could be used to stop 4 way traffic!. So i got up on my feet and waved a hello (and goodbye) and got out of the room and moved the door to close (but still slightly ajar as before). I sat outside the door on the stair leading up to her room, listening in to the interview. After a few minutes Raj hissed at me from downstairs, asking me what am I doing sitting there. I gesticulated I'm listening to her. He shook his head and disappeared, only to come back in a couple minutes with a cup of chai for me to sip sitting on the stairs.

Soon it was over and miss Haana came outside giggling. She said she knew I was right there cause she could hear my chai cup from inside. We started talking about the interview but Raj called out that he wants in on all the scoop too. So we headed downstairs. Little miss Haana couldn't stop laughing as she started to tell Raj how mom was caught on camera during the interview crawling into her room, and how the interviewer could see mom crawling in too! And how hilarious it was!! They all laughed. We all laughed. In fact the image of seeing someone crawling in to the room, on hands and knees, during a meeting is hard to shake off!! Can you imagine?! I'm part mortified and part can't stop laughing at that picture! She says she'll never let me forget it.. (groan!)

Doggy Play Date

Most days nowadays Bobby boy plays with Dulce after dinner. They play tag. Sometimes they run behind the same toy. Dulce lets Bobby grab the toy from him and run away, and then he runs behind Bobby wagging his tail in excitement! Sometimes when Bobby grabs holds of a toy and refuses to play with him, Dulce barks. His friendly bark. "Come on, throw it now!", he seems to be saying. 

Dulce is a good dog!