My name is HA HA HA

My little Precious has a 3-syllable name, it goes _A_A_A. (No, I'm not going to mention any names here. Call me superstitious but I know of people who turned into vampires the night they mentioned names on blogs).
Anyway, we now ask our daughter 'what's your name?' and she replies with all the enthusiasm and energy she can muster - 'HA HA HA'. Of course we're terribly proud and clap away chanting 'good job pattani kutti' (little pea in Tamil...the translation isn't as endearing!)
Best part is...when I put her in her crib for her afternoon nap today, she buried her head into her blanket and started practicing her new vocabulary. It was adorable.
Um-mah, Ppppaahhh and HAHAHA. The three words that make a happy family indeed. I feel all old and grown up and very motherly listening to her babble away.

The Q5 rap

STOP! Go ahead only if you can read aloud like a cool, mean rapper:

Oh my dear big black Audi
I'm certainly no p-diddy
Sitting in you makes me go so giddy
That I want to rap for you and be all rowdy

Am falling deep in love with you
Not driving you makes me feel so blue
It doesn't matter where I'm driving to
(That anyway I usually haven't a clue ;-))

This was not love at first sight
I tried to buy a Mini Cooper, with all my might
I said 'I need a petite car' and got into a fight
but strong-willed A told me to go fly a kite

I once thought you were huge for me
a small lady needs a big car, now I see
A challenged me - 'drive in the snowstorm, Dee'
and now I happily declare that you are perfect for me,
my darling SUV.

When you cry, you cry alone

It's fun to be fun. It attracts people, your laughter is infectious, you exude positive energy, it's great. I'm usually an enthusiastic, warm and happy person.

Today is a little different.

I'm feeling a little blue right now, for no particular reason. Just one of those days. And I'm glad you're out there reading this. Makes me feel like you all understand.

Thanks for stopping by and reading. It's a privilege and very humbling to have people read my silly little blog, even though most are silent readers who don't talk back to me. Thank you for taking the time :-)

Beware, people on the streets of Illinois!

for I have my driver's license in hand.

Eeyahahahhahaha! I passed the written test with flying colors. The people before and after me in line failed - I think they had English comprehension issues because they struggled to speak the language. I feel bad for them- am sure they are way better drivers than I am.

The stern black woman behind the exam counter looked me in the eye and said 'you didn't miss any'. HA! Cracked another relatively useless exam in life.

I did get a couple of warnings, though, in the more important driving test. I was worried that I might drive too slowly, too cautiously and ended up doing just the opposite. My errors were speeding and stopping beyond the stop sign line.

Drivers, watch out!

It's official. We are um-bah and abbba

She said it! Over and over again. My Precious is clearly enunciating the words for mom and dad- amma and appa.

She's been trying for over a month now and called me (or so the proud mommy in me likes to think) umm-bah. She perfected her new skill today. I was just done nursing her...she looked me in the eye, smiled and said umm-mah and then very quickly proceeded to call me abbba too.

Then later this evening, she kept saying abbba when she was splashing about in her bathtub. Fully excited, I told proud daddy A to come on in and watch his creation talk. At which point of course, our Precious promptly and intelligently started saying 'pfffffffffft! thhhhhhhffffft! kkkrrrrrr!' as though she was going to spit out some paan (betel nut leaf) like some roadside vagrant (albeit an adorable one!) and proceeded to drink up her bath water. :-)

Snowstorm versus blizzard challenge

I really must learn how to insert a picture in the right spot on my blog posts. Meanwhile, here is a question for you to ponder about. Do you prefer a snowstorm or a blizzard? While you go about wondering (i.e. googling) what the exact difference between the two is, go ahead and enjoy this pic of the view outside my window right now. It snowed last night and we are waiting with bated breath for a snowstorm to advance upon us. Once we are covered in snow, I'll take my Precious one to the balcony and we'll roll in the snow and giggle hysterically. Because we have nothing better to do.

I am SO going to flunk the driver test tomorrow. This blog is a big distraction. My biggest weakness is that I love to talk.

I.must.learn.the.rules.of.the.road.
Go away, all of you. Shoo!

Somebody please tell me what this is

Wha...? Just saw this near my home in Lincoln Park.

Someone- help me here. What the heck is a 'men's residence'? This area seems very random for a guys-only hostel.

Thoughts?

Cramming n driving

Am cramming for my drivers license test- for the third time in 5 years!!! My first license expired and I never got around to actually taking my driver test the second time around though I crammed for the written test.

Now I better get the test out of the way when I have the luxury of in-laws staying with me i.e. luxury of having family take care of my Precious for a couple of hours.

This is what I'm cramming:


Oh! And it tells me I should slow down and look in both directions on a railroad track for oncoming trains before I attempt to cross. Hahaha!!! (Damn I just made fun of the book and probably jinxed my chances of passing the stupid (not) test!)

Butternut squash farfalle

Just got done with my Pilates class and dying to go eat the awesome pasta I cooked last night. I added dill, pesto and some pecorini cheese and my Believe it or not, I cooked in advance but did not eat it!c.a.n.n.o.t. w.a.i.t.  Yumyumyum. 

Ok. Ate it. Liked it. Tummy happy.

A new wave from my babe

I vividly recall the famous Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen 'hi' and 'bye' waves of yesteryears. Cupped palms and a quick left-right left-right wave was the thing to do.
Today my Precious little one started waving and it's the cutest thing ever. She is still perfecting her new skill and will willingly oblige with a wave as soon as anyone says a Hi or a Bye. Am still not sure whether to laugh or cry about this one- she wakes up in the middle of the night, cries out for me and then when I show up... Yes, you guessed it- starts waving at me!!! Cutie patooti!

Keep to the right

There is this unwritten law about how people should walk on the pavements in Chicago. A local instantly knows whether someone is a tourist or not. You will bump into a tourist because...DUH...he has no clue that he needs to keep to the right. 
Anyway, a snobbish local myself, I get irritated when it's snowing hard and I scurry along the sidewalk only to bump into someone who is on google maps on her smartphone, wondering whether her street name is Halsted or Halstead and whether google will spot the difference.
You know that thing about pride coming before a blah blah thingie-something? HAH! I was doing my usual scurry-along in downtown Chicago, my thoughts constantly interrupted by the time and how my Precious would probably be getting hungry/sleepy/poopy when SLAM KERBLAM! I bumped into this tall geeky-looking guy who for some reason missed seeing me in the dark. 
Sheesh! I turned beetroot in the face when I realized that he was not on the wrong side of the sidewalk. :-)
It's called mommy brain, I'm told. Changes things you take for granted about yourself.

I am a basic need...what?!

So- the funniest thing happened yesterday. A is traveling right now. Which is what inspired me to start this blog - cos I am missing him terribly. Ok so back to the funny part of this story - he called yesterday from Spain and after saying the usual 
'Hi, how are things', he proceeded to inform me that he had had this nagging feeling he had to do something and he assumed that it was probably to call me. He realized mid sentence that he had wanted to go to the loo!!! (Restroom, for the Americans out there.If anyone's reading this blog...come on over...make yourself at home...I love people who talk to me...stalk me...) Anyway, my jaw dropped when he said that...so he calls me instead of going to the loo? Well...in my usual chin up-stay-cheery-till-everyone's-sick-of-the-happy-person-spirit, I decided it was an honor to be considered tantamount to a basic need for my husband. 

So- I win! (I guess?)

Decisions, decisions

Here I am- ta dah!!! Desi, a new mom and an idealist on the MBTI test. That's Myers Briggs type and temperament test, for all those who live in a normal world. The last year's been a whirlwind of activity- I had my Precious baby S, went back to work at 16 weeks, worked my ass off for 3 months, agonized about leaving S at home and then finally quit - to be home with my Precious. Yup- after collecting a fancy double masters from prestigious, geeky universities and bagging the funnest job in advertising in Chicago, I QUIT to do the hardest job of all... Be a full-time mom Be a work-from-home mom. :-)

It's been the best decision of my life. Oh... Apart from marrying A. That was the best decision, actually. Or was it... deciding to have a baby??? Whew! Glad I have options to choose from.