Change

Finally I did it. I joined a new company after having served almost 10 years in the previous one.

I do miss my colleagues since the workplace had turned out to be like a second home to me.

But working too long in a company which has no appraisal systems gives you no returns. You end up being taken for granted. They keep you going with promises but with no intentions of doing so. They think that if she has worked so long in this company why should she think of moving out now? And yes, one feels very comfortable and the thought of moving on keeps you awake at night. You have hundreds of doubts and questions.

When one has worked too long in one position, the job becomes a routine and everything is just too easy for you. This means that one who sees you feel that you are not doing much. But this ease of job comes with experience. I also found out that one should come up with more problems so that your Boss can solve them. It makes them think that you are working! Well this goes for Gulf. We had one colleague who thinks he is indispensable to the organization and kept reminding the same through emails and conversations. He is the only one who regularly got increments and promotions. Every morning one gets to read minimum 5 emails, send with time and date stamp including holidays and ungodly hours. He will describe various problems with work and colleagues while pretending to solve them. But for some firms these characters are essential.

I started looking out a while ago, mainly since I wanted to know if my CV was still acceptable! I got to attend a couple of interviews and got to know my options. Finally, by the grace of God, I found one which was good for me. There is no mess like the previous one ( I had started enjoying the mess and even got addicted to them!).

I guess for everyone, even if they enjoy their current jobs, it is good to look out and if possible attend a few interviews. Keeps you updated with the current market demands and you never feel insecure.

Good bye my feathery friend..

Yesterday our white Love bird died. It was the most active and we had a special love towards it.

We have been rearing Love Birds since some years and several have died since then. Since both myself and hubby grew up with pets, we thought the kids should have at least the pleasure of seeing a few love birds. For the kids only the initial excitement was there. They lost interest since Love Birds don’t need special attention like a dog and they are not friendly too.

We were surprised when one of the birds started laying eggs and then sitting on it. We never expected anything to come out of it since we saw the same at our friend’s place. But one day we were surprised to hear small chirps and yes they had hatched! They looked like fishes since they did not have any feathers on them. But their growth was very fast, before a week they were covered with feathers. Unfortunately the mother died and it was up to the father bird to feed them. I think it fed them for a while since 2 of them died. The third was very friendly and used to hop on our hands as soon we put our hands inside. I believed that the Father was feeding it, but one day when I came back from work I saw the little one lying down. The minute it saw me, it stretched out and died. I was heart broken. It looked as though it waited for me. I think the Father had stopped feeding it and I had no idea how to feed such a small thing. Then we decided not to have any more Love Birds. That is when Hubby’s friend asked us to look after his Love Birds since it was getting too hot in his flat. And then the cage was full again. And with this batch came our white one.

From the beginning he was special. He did not have a pair and maybe since he was still too young. All the rest were in pairs. And it is always a pleasure to see them preening each other and no wonder they are called Love Birds! Whenever I stand near the cage, the White one will start pecking my clothes.

It was before our trip to India that he injured his legs. We left them with our friend and hoped it would heal. But it was still the same when we returned , but yet he was managing. But 2 days back I saw blood in the cage. We don’t know what happened and how it injured his legs again. Maybe a fight with his partner? Yesterday, he couldn’t climb even to the perch and I took him out and he did not protest at all. We thought it will recover but it was too weak and it died after sometime.

And now we have just one left and I am sure she will die of loneliness since we don’t plan to buy any more Love Birds!

Without the kids

The kids are missing us and we are missing them. But still we are making use of this time to ourselves to the maximum. On Thursday we went to Ceasers Restaurant straight from job before we started the shopping. Had a very nice meal. It is been a long time since we did this.. just both of us. But when we mentioned this to our kids, they called us "naughty"! LOL

Shopping..

Today I shall be doing what I like the most... shopping! (hope Hubby reads this after the shopping!)

Even if it is window shopping I dont mind. But I am matured shopper now. I always check if I can do without a particular item before buying it. Discovered that Carrefour is best as far as pricing is concerened, but we shall be visiting the rest of the malls too. It is vacation time and we have to buy something.

Happy Birthday

To our dearest daughter..

A few years ago this day God gave a precious gift to us.
You came as an answer to our fervent prayers.
You were so beautiful but very serious.
You wanted to be as independent as you could be even when you were a little baby.

We hope the very best for you our daughter.
And although you have grown tall.. in our hearts you still remain the little baby that you were.

We may worry and fret over you.. bear with us.

May this world be kind to you as you are kind to others.
May this world be considerate to you as you are considerate to others.
May this world be a happy place to you as you try to make this place happier.
May you face the challenges that this world throws with courage and fortitude.
May you have more patience dear daughter.. the world will wait for you.

Above all.. may your faith in our Almighty grow leap by leap each year.

Kittens and Cats

I have always loved kittens and we had plenty of them while growing up.. and not all of them stayed with us to grow up into cats.. but we had them in many colors, full white, yellow, black and white etc. etc.

My sister used to have her own.. and she was very possessive of it. A very proud male cat and he used to love lying on my Father while he reclined on his easy chair.
Their ability to reproduce was tremendous. The female will start looking for “Delivery room” well in advance and would even spend some time to see the comfort and security. Since we used to have dogs too she had to be careful. Normally she will end up in our cupboards among our clothes! But more than one has changed the place at the last moment and felt safe to deliver next to my mom’s legs on her bed at night! My mother used to be very tolerant of them and hence will not disturb them until she is ready to shift her little one, even though she made the bed messy. And then we siblings will wait for the mother to go for her food to take a peek at the little ones, with their eyes closed. Normally it takes a week for their eyes to open and they say the mother will move them around seven times (locations) before their eyes are opened. Soon they will venture out in the open and that is when my mom will start shooing the away.

God!

Does God need an introduction.. no..
Does God need any stamp of approval.. no
Does God need to be proved.. in my opinion.. no..

Then why am I writing this?

One of my blog friend has prompted me to write.

Do I believe in God.. oh YES…

I have experienced His love, care, warnings.. everything…

I cannot put down everything in writing.. but…some things never leave your mind.. specially when there was no one else to help u.

Both involved our kids…

My son decided to be a breach baby at the last moment.. during the last sonar.. this gave me warning bells and I asked the duty nurse if there would be any problem.. she tried to explain in her own way and that is when the Chief Gnec happened to pass by.. don’t know what prompted him to check.. but he asked the nurse what I was blabbering.. I took this opportunity to ask him if there is any problem.. he said there is no problem for the mother.. but a breach baby is always at risk.. I knew this for a fact since my cousin sister lost her baby thus.. during the last moments of delivery the umbilical code went around the baby’s neck and even though it was a reputed hospital with exp doctors none could save the life of the baby. After 2 girls one couldnt blame if she was waiting eagerly for a boy.. nd it was a baby boy.
Anyway after hearing me, this Doc said.. don’t worry I shall be there. I was returned to the delivery room and after some time this doctor did come. If anyone know how the govt hospitals are in the Gulf they know what I am talking about. There is no special doctor or nurse to take care of u..during the delivery a nurse will be in attendance and only in case of emergency will a doctor be summoned. And if the emergency happens to be at night.. u r doomed.
Anyway this doctor was quite old and experienced.. he just rubbed my tummy and turned our little brat around! He said now u go ahead and deliver. To me this was the answer to the prayers of my parents and Hubby’ since they couldn’t be at our side.

The second incident was the adenoid operation of our daughter. She was having a slight fever but since the date was fixed with great difficulty and our contact (a doctor) said it is difficult to get another.. he asked us to give her antibiotics.. but maybe because of the infection she started bleeding profusely after the operation.. she was whisked off immediately back to the operation table and they fixed a few gauze etc in her mouth and the end of it was attached to her cheek. I was with her all the time.. then suddenly I realized that she had chewed the thread holding the gauze.. I immediately ran to the nurse’s room and they had the nerve to tell me that there was no such packing. I was shocked and started crying.. only then they realized that it was serious. Unfortunately it was the time the doctors change duty but only by God’s grace they were able to catch a doctor. They put her on the nurse’s table itself and using forceps manage to pull the gauze out before it choked her! Now this was a miracle to me!
Oh.. there r many more incidents but it is too personal for the blog to handle!

Computer Geek

The other day I realized that my son is a hopeless computer geek.

I was about to bake a cake and had just put the dough into the oven. He looked inside hungrily and asked me ...

"How long will it take to LOAD"?

Geek..

but it was nothing like the question that he asked me (nothing to do with the computers though) while studying about fishes. He read to me that fishes lay thousands of eggs.

"Amma, why dint you make thousand babies?" Gulp! imagine!

Along the Memory lanes..Coonoor

The FM is playing George Micheal’s song and it transports me to Coonoor and for a minute…. The sun is shining and I am on my bed with my favourite Reader's Digest. The window is open and the sun is streaming in. The rose flower under the window is slowly changing its color, I remember the pink color when I opened the window but now it would be yellow! We are going out to the town and I look forward to the shopping and the Chinese lunch afterwards. The town is always busy with a variety of faces, mostly honey-mooners. The botanical garden is also full. My sister's daughter is with us and she is naughty sometimes.

How I miss those beautiful places and those times. In fact every time I left the place after my holidays, in the car, I used to take a good look at the place and in my mind say good bye wondering whether I will ever see the place again. Even when I was young when the beauty of the hill station where I used to live overwhelm me, I used to think that God would put me in a desert for the rest of my life and it has come true. I had no other choice though I never wanted to come to this desert. But life is like that!

How I miss the cats and dogs that we used to have in our home. They are truly man’s best friend. A human friend may never offer ny consolation but animals do. Just take a look at the brown and loving eyes of your dog! How faithful he is. For him you are his everything and your happiness means to him a lot. He is not selfish but very magnanimus. Can a human friend be such. I wonder. And cats... they have a perosnality of their own...

School Carnival

Yesterday it was the kid's school carnival. They had a very nice time. They played all the games, won a few prizes but spent all the money on games and nothing on food!

Raft Around the corner..(from Chicken soup for the soul)

This is an extract from a real story of a man who found himself floating down the rapids in a river at the bottom of a canyon, miles from anywhere, in the middle of a wilderness area with his ankle broken in half.Having been trained on how to get out of the rapids, he determined that he would get to the shore, and he did.Not having been trained in what to do with a broken ankle in the bottom of a canyon...he determined that he would walk out of the canyon and up the steep, rocky path just as he had come down.So he decided to think of every possible solution and to choose the best one.From helicopters to climbing teams, he imagined every possible means to get out of the canyon that was miles from anywhere, in the middle of a wilderness area-with his ankle broken in half.But while he was thinking, a raft came around the corner.Which was particularly interesting, because the man with the broken ankle didn't know there was such a thing as a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician and he certainly didn't expect one to be on a raft that he hadn't even thought of.No matter what life is throwing at us, there us a raft around the corner that we cannot see.Don't look for it; it cannot be seen.Don't predict when it will appear; it's not on your timetable.Don't doubt that it exists, for doubts will cloud your eyes and cause you to give up before it arrives.Don't give up; give in.Give in to the idea that positive events are in your future, even if you can't see them.Give in to the idea that positive events are in your future, even if you can't imagine what they could possibly be.There's a raft around the corner.

We have seen this raft around our the corner a couple of times in our lives too.. The most crucial one being 2 years back. The company Hubby was working had problems- Salary not being paid in time, License not renewed etc. etc. And this was the time my Hubby was trying to transfer his residence too but couldn’t due to the License problem. We went through hell during the 3 months since his residence expired and there was fine to be paid and the previous sponsor was busy taking advantage of the situation, as usual. During those times, we wanted only the residence and a better job was too much to ask for. My Hubby went for work one full month with an expired residence, and being the first time since more than 15 years of Gulf life with its stringent rules was truly exhausting. And that was when the raft came around the corner in the form of a great job beyond our dreams and without we ever looking for it! His ways are always full of mystery!