2011 - Here I come!

wooo hoooo - a long hiatus from blogging. have missed it more than my fan following (read family) might have missed my random musings! So decided to get back to it in the new year - hopefully a bit more regularly. Though it's been a while that the new year began, I wanted my first blog to be about things I am grateful for in the year that went by:

- time with my family living far far away and connecting in different ways
- seeing my relationship with the not-so-little one change and still enjoying every minute with her
- discovering the excitement and skill in cooking
- experimenting with new way of working with kids and seeing it work in small ways
- connecting with some of my women friends with whom i was missing some 'we' time
- connecting with myself in more intimate ways
- finding a dream home
- making peace with some of the relationships that I value but didn't seem to work well
- actually getting a home loan despite the odds
- putting on weight over the year and actually being ok about it
- finally finally getting the name change in my PAN card!
- seeing some shifts and miracles at work
- confronting some old fears and taking tiny tiny steps in making peace with them

A rather cryptic blog I can see - ah well- writing just for myself to begin with - a good start indeed!

There's magic in the air!

There is something truly magical about this time of the year. The colours, sounds and smells of Christmas followed closely by the festivities of the New Year.  It's not like i really celebrate this festival with my family, but it does feel like a time to celebrate. Me thinks its more to do with an old year ending and a new year starting. And as 2008 comes to an end - i do have a lot of things that i am proud of having done in the last twelve months. Things i want to celebrate about the year:

- Surviving working with 350 children over the year  

- Reading some amazing books (Women who run with the Wolves, Cuckold & Kite Runner tops my list)

- Trying out Bollywood dancing (phew! that's one item i can forever erase from my things-to-do list)

- Making some amazing connections with some women in my life (this is for you my PACT gang!)

- Learning how to swim and getting better (i like to think of my breast strokes as simply poetry in motion!)

- Meeting several inspiring people doing great work (Lalita from CFL, SST in Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh and Daily dump in Bangalore comes to mind here)

- Surviving cold-cough attacks purely with herbal remedies (thank you philo and aikya!)

- A great holiday in Coorg with my women friends and their daughters

- Welcoming two little girls into this world (amrita, anagha - can't wait for you to get to know me better!)

- Karaoke singing with my family in Seattle (mera kuch saaaaaamaan....)

- Seeing, touching snow 

- Getting over my chai-addiction (thank you leavenworth & ankur!) 

- Continuing to explore my creative self (creating Warli art using PowerPoint - true brilliance!) 

- Losing and managing weight better (finally managed to do that for myself after 8 years of wanting to!)

- Getting over my fear of insects (well almost!)

- Discovering the world's best pedicurist close to home (thank you sumati!)

- Every moment i spent with nia (excluding the times that involved brushing teeth, getting ready for school and refusing her chocolates) 

- Getting my daughter's school principal to see that i am actually a really nice person (can safely put this here, coz i am sure she will never visit this blog!) 

- And of course starting my own blog (inspired and motivated by my sis)!

Wow! it was quite a year for me. And i still have a week left to pack all left over action i had planned or not planned! Got to go - so little time, so much to do!