Weekend and a cup of Mugicha

Random Question - Have you ever wondered what $30 can buy you? Here is a sneak peak at one of my $30 spends this week, I dare say well-spent….

Groceries $24
(a) 8 bottles of Perrier (Pink Grapefruit)
(b) 1 500 ml Seville Olive Oil
(c) 1 Stainless Steel Water Bottle with flip top (For K2)
(d) 2 Ian’s Organic Go-Bars (Apple Pie)
(e) 2 Godiva – Milk Chocolate Pearls with Cafe Latte
(f) 1 Pringles Mini – Sour Cream and Onions
(g) 2 Pringles Select – Bold South Western
(h) 1 Nescafe Clasico Instant Coffee
(i) 1 Casbah Organic Couscous Pilaf
(j) 1 Sonoma Soap Company – Lavender Reserve Hand Soap
(k) 1 Nature's Gate Sun Block Sunscreen Lotion, Tropical Scent, SPF 30

Farmer’s Market $4
2 Boxes 7 Oz Shelled Walnuts

Restaurant $2
1 Piping Hot Cheese and Loroco Pupusa

Summary : I am a careful shopper who tries to go Organic and Natural but don’t believe you have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Friday was a very relaxed day…we ordered Greek Take-Out of healthy chicken and lamb Gyros and greasy but yummy French fries. A trip to Whole Foods – some fresh produce, an amazing deal on Santa Cruz Lemonades, some Habenaro Cheese, some beer and 3 bags of Terra Chips later….we trooped over to the bakery section where the super excited K2 got to pick out a cookie of his choice (a blue star shaped sugar cookie)…we went home and relaxed to some TV. Saturday I gave K1, some down time and took K2 to the library for a puppet show about the “Princess Mermaid”…it was lovely. We hung out in the library for a while and then went over to an Asian Grocery Store for a couple bento boxes for the lil’ guy. We picked up a couple boxes and my eyes fell on this barley tea …Mugicha …I picked up a bag. I also picked up a bag of instant cereal with 36 black grains for the little guy. He ate a bowl of the cereal for lunch yesterday and dinner tonight (along with a Mooli Parathas).…we spent a fun Saturday evening with N1, N2 and B over for dinner…A1, R1, A2 & R2 came over later in the night and K2 and A2 had a lot of fun playing together (they go to pre-school together).

Father’s day was relaxed – a relaxed lunch at Whispers Café ( I had my Huevos Rancheros, K1 had a typical American breakfast (eggs, links & pancakes) and K2 went French with a sweet crepe with bananas, strawberries & Nutella)…we did our trip to the Farmer’s Market (for a change both K1 and K2 were with me)…we got red onions, green garlic, a cauliflower head, blackberries, strawberries and some sweet potatoes.K1 and I went for the evening Yoga class and now after a relaxed dinner with the “Next Food Network Star”, I think these weekend warriors are ready to conquer this week…

How was your weekend?

A Day in my Life

We are settling down to the maxim “The only thing that is constant is change”…the past month has been hectic to say the least. K2 has been in school fulltime and from constant lunch box planning, to taking K2 multiple times to the pediatrician (ear infection, throat infection, antibiotic course, allergies to antibiotics…don’t ask and I won’t tell more) …to keeping my family fed, to grocery shopping, to fixing errant tires on my Prius, to attending 5.00 AM calls, cranking out complex spreadsheets and 4 hour long work meetings in the morning…I wish I was Jeannie (remember the old show) and get things accomplished with a blink of the eye. Yet, I wouldn’t trade my chaos for peace and quiet…as with this chaos comes an added comfort that “Life Happens”…when I get thrown curve balls; I am learning to deal with them.

Blogging got lost somewhere along the way. Yesterday, I was thinking where the hours went and realized that some of them did go in doing things that were important to me -we try and eat dinner together every day, occasional walks down the beautiful trails by the house, library visits, K2 and I going to the farmer’s market together, a couple hours of reading or TV snatched in between the laundry and the meeting marathons…and those are the things that have helped me keep a positive perspective.

K1 took K2 to Oakland Zoo for 4 long hours on Saturday, hours that I got to myself doing nothing. I turned off the ringer on the home phone, turned on the fan and took a 2 hour nap, after which I had a date for an hour with a book by Nani Power “Ginger & Ganesh” and then I sat and watched a re-run of “Medium” and ate half a pint of ice cream (ok fat free sorbet…if we are checking)… it was a satisfying experience. We went and pigged on Chaat on Saturday evening (Pav Bhaji, Bhel Puri, Sev Puri) and then came back home at 9.30 PM and went out for a 40 minute walk…On Sunday, K1 and I went for a Yoga class together, between the excruciating Warrior Poses and the complex Wheels, I rediscovered the fact that I missed the regularity of the body challenging Yoga classes that had been a part of my routine.
I took K2 to the library where he picked up Jurassic Park and he loves the “scary dinosaur movie” and yes I have been a lax parent ignoring the PG warning on the cover…I did watch the movie with him and close his eyes at the appropriate times. K2 and I also went to the Farmer’s Market – Radishes, Tomatoes, Squash, Red Onions, Baby Potatoes, Asparagus, Broccoli, Peach, Plums and Oranges were among the produce we picked up. We also got a dozen Organic brown Eggs from Olivera Egg Ranch (K2 wanted the purple Barney Eggs but I convinced him Salted Duck Eggs weren’t my thing :)). Our last stop in the Farmer’s Market was Beckmann’s … where we picked up Asiago Cheese and Jalapeno Sourdough Loaf, Asiago Cheese Foccacia , Double Chocolate Cookies, Coconut and Almond Cookies and Pumpkin Bread. Dinner on Sunday night was Pav Bhaji (Bell Peppers, Green Beans, Potatoes, Carrots, Green Peas and Cauliflower), the above mentioned Jalapeno Bread and Jicama Salad washed down with Perrier.

Yes, Monday was back to the jungles again with the routine, yet there is an anticipation that I am getting a handle on doing this with K1 and K2. There is a hope that K2 will build up his immunity and not fall sick as often and the net of it is – there is no one else I would rather be…thinking of scenarios and situations that are not to be…I like my life exactly the way it is and am grateful for being given the option to experience it…So a day in my life – ain’t that rough a deal folks !!!
And what do you know, by the time I blog about last weekend…its already time for the next weekend…Hello Friday Night…here I come!

P.S - All the pictures are pictures of my neighborhood, captured with my trusty E72 and mailed to self via MFE (mail for exchange). Do you see the lone heron (eastern great egret) in one of the pictures waiting patiently for supper.
P.P.S - Did you know that a Heron in mythology teaches humans the value of watching and waiting in order to get what you need. In other words, heron teaches us the value of patience. It is not a passive patience, but an active one. We wait in our lives to grab opportunity when it arises, it is not a passive patience waiting for life to happen to us...interesting perspective ain't it.

P.P.P.S - Ovi Mail – 10 million and counting - http://bit.ly/9MWmtt