Shalini's Sewing Space

TGIF DH took me out to lunch today. That's the benefit of working within 10 minutes of each other. We went to Olive Garden . That's a bit of a drive, but it was a slow day at work. I must have gone there after about 2 years! I used to work in the complex where this restaurant is located and would go there often for lunch, but ever since leaving that company, I haven't been back for some reason. It was nice to go back. Two of my friends came home in the evening and while we were chatting, DH made us some potato-tikki sandwiches. He rarely cooks so it really nice gesture on his part. The tikkis were pre-made frozen ones but still. Tomorrow, I am going with them to Diwali Festival. Should be fun! I haven't been to one of those in years. I am looking forward to the chaat (snacks)! And the dresses too. Why is this post all about food? Moving on to some other topic - Mehul is doing well now. That cough was hard to hear! It sounded much worse than it actually felt (as it says...

July? Gone? When did that happen? Slow down, summer! So I finished the scarf I was knitting. I had to make a restart when I made a mistake and couldn't fix. I mulled over it for *2 entire days*. Could have finished it 2 days sooner. It was so quick. I initially started it at the stitching GTG last Saturday. I was happy with the restart because in the beginning my tension wasn't even, so the scarf had taken a weird shape. I restarted it with the new Bamboo needles I got from AC Moore. So much lighter than the long steel needles I was using! I'll have a picture up here soon. Mehul loves the new scarf and can name all the colors in it :) Now I need to get new yarn for another scarf. This one might be for me or my younger sister. In other news, my parents are (finally) coming to visit! They are arriving in 12 days from today. I'm so excited. This will be their first visit to the US. I have planned all these trips for the 2 months they'll be spending with us here. I ask...

Snowed/Iced in Daycare was closed today, DH and I worked from home. Mehul and I went outside for a little bit to have fun. The snow was hard as there was a layer of ice over it. M was able to walk on it and I kept breaking it LOL! He wanted to play ball, I took the ball outside but it was a bit windy so the wind blew it away. I wasn't able to catch it walking ever so slowly :( We still had fun trekking, slipping and sliding. I made carrot cake. Yumm. We don't have much planned for tonight. We usually go out for V. Day dinner but tonight we might just stay inside, warm and safe. I might do some shopping tonight. There are a lot of sales in the Digi world. I have already bought some goodies from Scrapbook Graphics. ScrapArtist has a 25% sale too. Speaking of which, I asked Michelle if she'd scrapped the card herself, and she said she did! It's so cool to get this beauty from her! I see a layout coming.. Happy Valentine's Day!

Tangles in the Floss Don't you hate it when the floss you were working with just fine becomes a tangled mess sometimes. I hate sorting through the tangles. I think of just throwning away the tangles and starting fresh. But with a little perseverance and a little patience, it starts to get untangled. One strand at a time. And then it becomes all straight like it never happened. Life is like that. One day everything is fine and all of a sudden the tangles start forming. At first, the more you sort, the more it seems to get worse. And then you think of leaving the mess and focus elsewhere. But unlike the floss, you can't just throw away your worries or problems and start fresh. You sort through them. One issue at a time. Most of these things don't matter in the long run anyway. It's just a matter of time and sometimes a change in perspective does wonders. If you're wondering what prompted me to write this, it's a bunch of different things and nothing in particular....

Happy New Year - 2007 Sorry for remaining absent for the entire week! A lot has been accomplished in that one week! I am preparing for a demo on the 8th, and I'm very busy with that. With the holidays, it was very difficult to hunt people down. The demo is coming along, it's but not there yet. I also managed to pass 2 certification exams for work. One with 100% and another with 95% score. Yay! I had a cookathon over this weekend. There is very little space left in the freezer. Lots of soup, soup stock, curries, beans, and pilaf! M & M came over on New Year eve. Lots of eating was done. I was officially responsible for blowing their diets the last day of the year. LOL. Thanks for the comments on my MBR entry. We bought the mirror at BB&B, it was too close to the paint color so returned it, promptly found another one. All is well. Almost. DH is concerned that the mirror is too heavy for the drywall to support. He has to find the studs in the wall. Here's hoping there ...

Overbooking our weekends That's what we do a lot. And we shouldn't. Take this weekend, for example. Saturday night, we are either going to the Christmas Party at a friends place, or hosting it. We'll finalize that with them soon. If we do host it, there goes my relaxation plan for Friday. I have taken Friday off after a long time. There is a parent-teacher Conference at the daycare on Friday, too. Yes, they do this. And I want to formally talk about his progress, not just 5 minutes here or there while picking him up. So far, Friday morning and Saturday night are busy. If we host, all the time inbetween goes in cooking and cleaning. Sunday, DH's colleague is having a Birthday party for his son. Do we really have to go? We have been thinking of calling them to our place as Girish and the guy have become good friends. G thinks we should go. I dunno. If we go, there goes Sunday afternoon. Morning and evening we'll be placing calls back home, which I don't mind at al...

Quick post I have a meeting in 5 minutes. Just a few quick things - The party at work went well. Mehul was really cooperative (except when he was caught mid-picking_his_nose while I was introducing him to someone. LOL.) Painting is well underway. My arms are very sore. Still need to do the last coat in MBR. Erin, I got your gift!! How very sweet. The Elmo book was a hit! Did 2 Layouts and the December ATC's this weekend. Will share the LOs a little later!

Christmas Party tonight At work. My coworkers that I associate with are coming alone or with kids, no hubbies, so DH is not coming either. The party is AT office, after work. I don't really feel like going, but will go for an hour or so. I'm going to get Mehul from the daycare, and change his dress here. I hope he isn't cranky. Coming straight from the daycare, you just never know! I haven't scrapped or stitched in days. It doesn't feel right LOL. There's a lot going on at work and at home. I'm getting home later than usual, and then there's a lot of stuff to do at home. We're cleaning out the garage and putting stuff in the basement. We haven't started painting the MBR, but we're almost finished taping it. Yesterday was Grey's Anatomy night, so I had to watch. This is the one show I LOVE so I don't mind the re-runs. I have also started watching Ugly Betty. I like that they aren't showing Betty secretly in love with her boss (what...

Happy Feet (No spoilers..) This movie is awesome. I mean it. Those with little kids, go watch the movie in the theatre. Mehul enjoyed it so much. I'm so glad we didn't decide to do a babysitter, and took him with us. I had kinda hoped before going that he would sleep after watching a little bit, but he was had so much fun! There are a lot of singing and dancing penguins, and Mehul was showing off his moves (from my lap). There are a few very scary scenes, though, with the seal and the whales, but I held him facing the other way. In one scene, when a penguin is sad and crying, he said "Are you okay, Pen-gin". Another time, he said "It's okay" when the said Penguin was sad! He can really understand emotions now. The movie overall is a lot of fun. Most of the kids were in 4 yrs and up, though. Must buy on DVD. It was so funny, right after the credits started rolling, I asked M to sleep, and he did. Just like that, he closed his eyes and dozed off. He was *s...

Raining hard here.. We are under a Tornado Watch until 6PM . I forgot my lunch at home today and had to go out to get Subway. It was raining so hard! It's still dark outside. I hope the traffic isn't too bad tonight. Although, this is DC I'm talking about. LOL. We are having some potty training success, although his teacher isn't reporting any. They probably just take them in for a couple of minutes every time. Mehul takes his own sweet time and sits for a good 15 minutes before doing anything at home. He doesn't complain as long as he is kept busy talking. I watched Da Vinci Code last night with DH after Mehul dozed off. It is ok, I like the novel better. Plans for my Birthday tomorrow, this time we actually have plans :) DH is taking me and Mehul to watch "Happy Feet" which is releasing tomorrow itself. It will be past M's bedtime so he will hopefully either be sleepy or sleep through the movie. We plan on arriving early and planting our butts near t...

This one's for Erin She has found a deer in the city she lives in. Reminded me of the excitement I had over 5 years ago, when I first spotted a Deer family standing on the side of the road. See, I'm from Delhi. I am used to seeing cows and buffaloes on the roadside, not deer! So, I screamed with excitement. Now, living on the outskirts of DC for more than 5 years, I am used to seeing them and do not scream. But, it's still exciting to this day. Oh yes, you can spot Deer Crossing signs all over here. And sadly, you can also see dead deer on the roadside sometimes. They usually come out in the night when the traffic slows down, and I have been told that they appear out of nowhere. All you see are two brightly reflecting eyes. I took this picture from my kitchen sliding door. The driveway you see in the picture is our next door neighbor's. They (The Deer. Neighbors haven't moved in yet) visit us everyday. I'm feeling really crummy about a situation. I can't he...

First Time Today is the first time M p-peed in the toilet. I wasn't there though DH was. Should we have been video taping? I'm kidding! LOL. I have to talk about Grocery Stores. Why is it that we all are so attached to our grocery stores? You know, you always go to the same store to get the things you can get literally anywhere! This morning I was talking to one of my coworkers who has moved into our city. He asked me about the store we go to. I told him our favorite stores are Wegmans and Harris Teeter . He said he always goes to Giants, a store we Hate. Giants was the nearest store to our previous house, but we wouldn't go there if we could help it. I don't know if it's the prices, the quality, or the cleanliness. I am very particular about the store I go to. And everyone else seems to be whenever the topic comes up. No one has ever said, I'm not particular, I just go to the nearest one or whatever. Why is that?

Nice weekend Taneya came to visit us Saturday evening. We had a really nice time getting to know her. This is the first time I have *properly* met an online friend in real life. I have been to Hershey CATS show once, but that was a quick hello with a couple of people (including The Queen of Blended Threads herself). I really enjoyed spending some time with her. We went out to dinner and then came back home for chatting some more. We talked about everything from Kaleya and Mehul's development (they are about 15 days apart!), to jobs, homes, stitching and scrapping (she is a cross-stitcher and digi-scrapper too), etc. I showed her my progress on Angel of Love, which she happens to have as a WIP too. I also brought out my Scrapbook_In_Progress. She had a lovely Native American design she's stitching with her. Overall, it was a great evening :) Oh, and she has further confirmed my resolve to visit the Biltmore Estate. She has visited twice and said that I would *love* it, looking ...

Wish I had my stitching with me My Hair appointment is at 7PM, I have about 2 hours (minus 30 minutes driving). I don't want to go back home and get out again. I guess I could browse at the mall. I had asked DH to meet me there after picking Mehul but he got out early so he went home straight. I'll just go to Macy's (the Salon is at the mall itself).

Some days, I wish DH knew me a little bit better. Other days, I think he knows me way too well. Case in point - Saturday afternoon. We were just sitting around, not doing much. I had already cleaned the topstairs, did 2 loads of laundry, and dusted the downstairs. I also did a LO (which will follow this post). Wasn't feeling like stitching. So, I was getting bored. DH was watching random stuff on TV. I told him like 100th time that I was bored. Hey, let's go out. He said "Uh hum" and continued to watch TV. Sigh. He noticed after some time and said, "We have to go to Indian store to return a DVD, so let's go there in the evening and you can also get Baja Fresh for you while returning." I sorta rolled my eyes and didn't show much excitement. He said "Okay, Baja Fresh is for *afterwards* We should do something before then. Something that involves shopping." Um, Yeah. That is EXACTLY what I was thinking. LOL. So, we went to the Mall and shoppe...

No Trick or Treating Mehul's daycare called DH yesterday around 4PM. They said he had a fever of over 101 and we had to get him immediately. When I reached home, he looked so tired and down. His cough has been going on for about a week, but it sounded much worse. He kept getting the fever off and on the whole night. DH is home today and has made a sick appointment with the Ped. Poor little guy. He couldn't sleep all night due to coughing and stuffed up nose. It seemed his throat hurts when he coughs, making it all the more worse :( So, yeah, no trick or treating. Good thing his daycare had the Halloween Celebrations for infants, toddlers and 2 year olds the day before yesterday. I got some pictures of my pumpkin. The first photo is in the breakfast area, looking into the Family Room. The second is in his Computer lab at the daycare. I have cropped out other kids but you can see the back of one, and the tail of another one under the table. I didn't realize she was under the...

Nice, Relaxing, Short Weekend Nothing major to report. I stitched a lot on the Angel of Love . There is a lot of beading in this one, but I just love how pretty it looks. Beading takes longer than just plain stitching. I remember when I started this angel, I was beading with the long beading needle. It was going painfully slow. I had asked on my stitching board, and got a suggetion to use small quilting needles. They work so much better. But the needles are tiny so I have to be very careful with them around Mehul. Didn't get any scrapping done due to the lack of reliable internet. I had to download new goodies as I've scrapped with pretty much all the kits that called to me :) I have some more now. I love this part about being on a CT, all the new kits that the designer puts out are free! I can even ask for an old kit, if I want to scrap with it. The only requirement is that I have to use the kits I download and show off my LOs in the required # of galleries. Who doesn't lo...

Just Random Stuff The outside temperature this morning, 38F. Thirty Eight. That is 3C. That is how cold it EVER gets in Delhi! Froze my butt off. Have I mentioned that all my warm jackets are still packed away in a box in the garage somewhere. I wore my jeans jacket today. Brrr. Mehul is fully transitioned now. He is handling it really well. And me too! I haven't cried even one time! We left him at his new class today. They have rotating schedule for the 2 year olds. Left him at the Computer Lab and he instantly got busy puttering away. Who's child is he afterall! LOL. This Sunday is our monthly potluck. I offered to make Aloo Gobhi (Cauliflower & Potato side dish). My Pindi De Chole (Chickpeas) last time was a hit. Got a reputation to keep! We have a lot of unpacking to do this weekend. Apart from Sunday afternoon, we're pretty much free all weekend. There is no Cable or Internet yet, guess we don't have an excuse. LOL

Hindi Movies, Haircut and Layouts It was a nice, relaxing weekend. We watched Phir Hera Pheri and Fanaa . I loved Fanaa . Have to buy the DVD as I *will* be watching this one again. It has been a while since I watched a Hindi movie, let alone two in one weekend! Nice change of pace for us. Mehul laughed with us while watching Phir Hera Pheri It's hilarious, but in some parts it seems like a repitition of the first in the sequel Hera Pheri I got a haircut yesterday. I love how my hair is all straight and nice! I didn't even wash it today LOL I also managed to do two layouts. Only have one handy at the moment. I used Jen Caputo's sketch in this one (Thanks, Erin, for the directions). Mehul is 2.5 months old in this one! This was his first experince in snow..well not much of an experience as we took him inside quickly after taking the photos. He had much more fun in snow this year! I have to scrap those too. Credits: Jen Caputo's sketch. My first ever! 3 Diamonds, Heart,...

Spider in my car! This morning, we all overslept. Woke up 1 hour late that usual and did everything in a hurry and out the door. DH went to work a few minutes before me. I have to take DS to the daycare and he picks him up in the evening. I strap him in his seat, sit on my seat and adjust the rear-view mirror. To my horror, there was a spider in sight. Near the back windsheid, sitting on the break light! I initially thought that it was outside, but went to check. Yep, it was inside and had made a huge web too! Ofcourse, I am extremely afraid of spiders. They are my biggest fobia right up there with cockroaches. And it was a giant one too. Atleast 1 cm torso and 2.5" total length! I had limited supply of 'tools' to get him out of there. There was one of DS's artwork sheets from the daycare, so I poked it with that. It landed on it and went right back to the light. I poked twice again, with my shaking hands, but it went right back. I screamed everytime it moved. There wa...