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| Of hot and cold |
| Friday, May 13, 2011 |
Its almost two weeks since my leave started and parents landed, I thought I would be bored and miss work, but surprised that days have been fairly packed with moments of relaxation, with not much thought about work, except occasional checking emails.
Every time I see my parents which is mostly after more than a year, I find them aging, every time. And my heart aches. I left home when they were in their prime, ten years ago and I am not able to erase that strong independent image of my parents and replace them with aged white haired soon to be grand parents that they are currently.
So all of last week was settling down. I thought CA would have the most ideal weather for parents from hot Chennai, but apparently the balmy beautiful 70s that we have is still cold for veteran Chennaiites. Google told me December the coldest of months in Chennai when my Mom invariably picked up the phone in the mornings when I called with a stuffed nose was a fricking 82F!! So one can imagine how my Mom spends her mornings in the house that is about 65F in the mornings. A small heater that DH used when he was in SF solved their sleep time in the night, and Mom is always in sweater and socks in the AM at home. I dont think I can set up the centralized temperature to 80, I will get roasted. :--( Its amazing how the body gets adjusted to climates. I dont know how I adjusted to cold cold Wisconsin having lived in Chennai before that.
So my Dad waits for the Sun God to come out before he heads out for his walks, which is generally at around 12 noon, when I wouldnt venture out. Of course he got sun burnt and dark within a week, and today I gave them some sunscreen to put on before he headed out. Oh the irony!
And the water from the fridge water dispenser is too cold. So every single time my Dad wants to drink water, which is a LOT of times, he uses the microwave to heat it and THEN drink it. Before eating anything from the fridge it has to be left outside for a minimum of 30mins before they can have it. Initially I was skeptical and made fun of them, but the moment I saw my Mom sneezing from drinking a smoothie which she ordered in a moment of fancy when outside, I realized they are not being too cautious, its just that their system is not used to having things cold.
And this is when Summer is just starting wonder how things will pan out during real CA winter ( I cannot even imagine real US winter ;--) ).
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The other thing that kept me busy was project review at the non-profit org I am part of. I thought since I will be vetti officer anyway I will help out until I can. I had to present a few projects for review which needed preparation and also some other coordination for the yearly conference. It was quite an effort when I just needed to take a break from everything and just be.
Got the Mega Tamil pack to keep parents company, and it has been keeping all of us company while cooking and in the afternoons. My parents never watch TV nor are they fans of movies, but here its a good time pass for them, and for me. Although I am getting quite bored with everything already.
Eating three or four course meals everyday for lunch and variety of tiffins every night, but its mostly healthy and my weight has been in better control for the past two weeks. I still have a list of items I want Mom to make before the baby. After all I will have to go back to dieting and conscious eating soon.
Also spent a lot of time researching and shopping for the sundry other items for the baby. Baby has been good, giving me ample time to get things ready which I had postponed until the last minute. There is still stuff to be done, which I am getting to rather slowly. But now I am afraid she might be fashionably late for her own welcome party. Sigh! |
posted by SK @ 4:50 PM  |
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| 7 Comments: |
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SK, Could relate so much to your parents' transition. You will be laughing to hear 10 yrs here and I still find the fridge water cold to drink. :)
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glad you are not in seattle! :)) Parents in US are the same everywhere though!!!! Total fun! :D
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Enjoy SK enjoy - there is so much we relearn while watching parents. And CA weather has been a bit uncharacteristic for them anyway...
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Soak in everything now. After the baby its usually chaotic for a while. Haha to dieting after baby..don't do it really till you are nursing(if you are choosing that). I miss not having enjoyed the last few weeks of pregnancy and running everywhere to get things done.
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This was so nice to read! Please share pictures of your papa with us :D
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I could've sworn I posted a comment here :-(.
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am confused by the silence.. out of the oven or is it the usual 'frustration' first time moms have waiting?!
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SK, Could relate so much to your parents' transition. You will be laughing to hear 10 yrs here and I still find the fridge water cold to drink. :)