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Finding Me Time

My throat’s dry from reading out for hours on end — not the short two page stories but ones that stretch over 200 pages, my eyes are drooping from lack of sleep, my ears are ringing with the sound of the nebulizer switched on every few hours while my mind buzzes with the list of medicines.. this for him, this for her.The kids have been unwell :-(. H with his wheeze, N with a stomach infection one reason why I haven’t been blogging as fequently as I like to.

They are much better now. With N at school, H settled down for some TV and I scooted off to the computer for a post on ‘Me time’.. how appropriate.

There was a time when “me time” meant simply curling up and going off to sleep. A nuclear family and The Husband busy warding off a bunch of workaholic Koreans at his new job, meant the kids’ responsibility was all mine, despite a battery of maids.

As they started sleeping through the night, sanity returned. However, they remained a handful (still are!). But I managed to squeeze in some time for my favourite activities. It wasn’t easy always… but I did. Look how determined I am …

That’s me in the green T reading my book while the kids keep
themselves busy.

 

N has decided to sit on me while H piles up all the sheets
and pillows he can find. I persevere with my book 🙂

 

A bit dark in there, but I can still read.

The wierd part is, for the life of me, I can’t remember what I was reading.

Anyway, by the time they turned two, things were looking up even more. Their post bath nap time became ‘me time’ spent at the gym. The mid-morning slot is still my gym time. I fought hard to get them to bed early.. first 9.30 and then when they gave up their siesta, 9 pm. 9-11 continue to be my happy hours for blogging or, guiltily enough, watching mindless television.

I try to squeeze in at least one of my favourite activities every day — reading, writing or gymming – and my day is complete. It also saves me from drowning in self pity and getting cranky.

Now that the kids have started full day school it’s becoming easier to find time for myself. The trouble is there are just too many things I like to do. Other than the three favourites, I enjoy crafting with the kids or pottering about in the kitchen, rearranging the house, meeting friends, long walks, carrom with the kids…

Too much to do, too little time!

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Men on My Mind – Book Review

Men on my Mind

By Radha Thomas
Price: 195/-
 
I love
debut novels. They’re special. They have to be. After all they’ve remained in
the author’s mind long enough and persistently enough to egg her/him to get
down to writing them, right? Of course there have been times when I’ve got stuck
with really bad apples – incorrect English, the hugest turn off, or amateur
writing.. but the risk is worth taking.
 

That was
what made me want to read this one and I’m glad I did.
 

‘Men on my
Mind’ is nothing if not true to its name. The book traces the adventures of an
Indian girl who grows up with… well …. men on her mind since the tender age of 7. From
a dreamy pre-teen inspired by M&Bs struggling with her first crush, she grows
into a self assured woman gamely trying out all kinds of men for size. She makes her way
from Mumbai to Panchagani, Delhi and New York with bits of New Zealand, Fiji
and China thrown in for good measure. On she soldiers, always with a BFF by her
side for where’s the fun if you don’t have a girl friend to share stories of your sexapades
with?
 

She juggles more than one relationship at a time and takes on one night
stands without a scruple. As she says.. ‘What’s the bloody problem anyway?
Conscience-shmonscience.’ There really are plenty of men around and ‘I’ve never been
able to turn down handsome and rich men’, is her candid confession.
 

However, ‘The
One’ remains elusive. The perfect hunk has a squeaky voice, the perfect boyfreind’s
a pathetic kisser, the urbane older man turns out to be a lech, the dapper
gentleman has a pigsty of a home, the sexy biker’s an anger maniac, the soulful
pianist ends up two-timing her,… sigh! Students,
lawyers, violin players, prospective Nobel laureates,
photographers, restaurateurs, bar tenders, she tries them all only to
discover that it really isn’t easy to find the man of her dreams.

The book is
a hilarious take on men and relationships. Here’s a heroine who turns the
male-female stereotype on its head. She treats her encounters with men with the flamboyance and casualness generally attributed to men in their dealings with
women. Oh she wants true love but she’s fine occupying herself while The One comes
along.

The book certainly is a pacey, well written read peppered with hilarious situations and diversely interesting characters.
 

However, my problem with it is that there are just too many men. Towards the
end it gets a bit tiresome and the end itself is a tiny bit of a letdown. I
spotted a few editing errors too. Also, there were some sequences that didn’t
seem to go anywhere (like the plain
Jane episode). Of course since I read there’s a trilogy in the offing, we can
hope it will come together and maybe the end is not ‘The End’.

Other than
that ‘Men on my mind’ delivers all what it promises. It’s gutsy, sexy, provocative
and very very funny. If you’re looking for something light and fun, this is the
book to pick up.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.
Participate now to get free books.

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5 lessons I learnt at the gym

That’s me exercising
Picture courtesy: H

1.Patience patience patience…
…while you wait for your ten minutes at the cycle which is now occupied by a terribly overweight woman who cycles for 40 minutes at level 1 while reading the latest issue of Femina. Patience.

2. Stop being judgemental
‘Overweight’, did you say? Well check out yourself in the mirror first. Besides, that woman at the cycle is 60 years old. That other one who who’s been at the gym for years without losing a gram and who you’ve been sniggering at, has a thyroid problem. So there!

3. Persistence pays
Yes it does, always. Keep at your fitness programme long enough (2 months at least) necessarily coupled with a careful diet and there’s no way you won’t lose weight. And it’s no use not being regular or doing one and skipping the other. It’s no use. That’s something I so need to remember. I’ve had a bit of a depression creeping in since the weighing machine’s been refusing to cooperate of late.

4. Be optimistic
One day I WILL lose weight. That’s what every weight watcher firmly believes. That I’ve kept going back to the gym over the past many many years is proof enough. It’s the optimism that keeps you going.

And most importantly

5. Believe in miracles
Even if I ate like a you-know-what yesterday and even though I haven’t been to the gym in ages I would have lost weight. I believe in that every Monday morning, post every vacation, after each festival break… always… even though I know it’s just not possible, even though it’s never ever happened. But then that’s the thing with miracles they defy logic.. right? So one day it will happen. Meanwhile nos 3 and 4 will have to do.

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