Birthday Celebrations

DISCLAIMER
On the 1st of June, we tragically lost our gardener Padmasena (most of you guys who live in SL probably remember the dancing gardener we had). He was crossing the street outside my house and got run down by a bus (he was on the zebra crossing). He was hit once, and then the wheel ran over his skull and proceeded to go to Fort. The police later caught the bus in Fort, took the driver and conductor in and got the details down. Apparently they didn't even have a real license to operate the bus - only temporary licenses. Unforunately as things usually happen this way in the Paradise Isle, the bus company managed to bribe the cops and now the police claim that Padmasena died on the way to the hospital (without a proper skull, I don't know how they have that claim) and the bus apparently did stop at the crossing and after the accident, they had proceeded STRAIGHT to the police station... No witnesses will come forward because they are too scared of the cops. Justice, Sri Lanka style.

I am giving this tragic story as a backdrop to something wonderful. My birthday falls on the 6th of June. Now, after this awful accident, none of us at home thought it was right to throw a party for me, because we were all in mourning. Padmasena was a loved member of the family. But what does my husband, his uncle and my dear mother do? They organized a lovely surprise party for me at the Trans Asia hotel. They invited some of my close friends, some close family friends and some family members and we had a small get-together.. I completely did not expect this at all.. Their justification in holding this was simply - "You are turning 1/4 century plus you're going to be a mother soon"... very sweet, I must say. It was so much fun!!


Bappi first had the pre-party celebrations, drinks, cake-cutting, conversation etc. in his suite at the Trans Asia. Then we moved onto the Saffron restaurant - the entire restaurant was blocked off for US!!! can you believe how sweet these people are? When I asked Bappi why did he do this, and take so much trouble, he said, "now you are my duwa (daughter)".. very sweet.. Nisal had organized a lovely BBQ for everyone, and the food was just amazing... both of us gave mini speeches which probably didnt make much sense but i was so happy.. it was so lovely :-)




UPDATE
Its now the 10th of June... we had another false alarm last night, and we rushed over to the maternity home.. but no, no baby YET... so stay tuned!!

37 weeks down... 3 more to go...

Can you believe how fast time flies... its crazy.. i started this blog thinking how long its going to take for me to get through this pregnancy and now - i am practically on the home stretch - with less than a month to go... Am i scared? Damn straight i am... haha i wont lie but i am also looking forward to seeing this "bundle of joy".. make sure the little bugger has all 10 fingers and toes, 2 arms and 2 legs.. as far as the ultrasounds go, my baby does have ONE head.. so i guess i am safe in that corner..

i am constantly amazed on how much of new information i am learning about the pregnancy every day.. my new favorite website is www.babycenter.com - its a good site and gives all kinds of fun information.. i keep sending nisal articles (to read in between his IT stuff) and he says i read too much, and thats probably why i am worried when the doctor says to me "everything is fine".. but come on, sometimes doctors just say that.. just to keep the mother calm and stop her from strangling the doctor.. believe me, with pregnancy horomones, you honestly cannot predict what a woman is capable of.. haha :-) and no, i have not attempted at strangling my doctor..

my new symptoms other than the heartburn (which honestly more irritating than painful - you cannot eat anything!! practically any sri lankan food can cause it - garlic, onions, cup of tea/coffee, chillies ugh!), is the Braxton Hicks contractions.. no, i am not rushing to labor - but these are "fake" contractions.. yes, to add to our lives, we not only have fake orgasms (hehe) but also fake contractions.. these are relatively harmless and just prepare you for the actual labour.. how can u tell these contractions from the REAL deal - well simply, you dont bleed.. comforting i know.. but so far, i have been having these contractions and there's no sign of the baby anywhere.. no arms or legs sticking out from down there, or any other body part.. sorry to be graphic but its true!

the other question i keep hearing is "Am i ready for this new stage in my life?".. for those who have known me over the years probably think no.. haha.. i mean, considering i was such a different person in my teens (man, i sound so old!) - i mean come on, i used to head to White Horse, Cascades, and all those 'hot' spots.. then during my college years - Malibu and coke being my staple and just trying to get through all the studies and guys.. Thanks to Nisal i think i have completely reformed into this woman (dont worry, i havent lost my stubborn side) who can somehow cook a decent meal, and get married.. and now - going to be a mother.. does that answer the question ?! hehe actually yes, i think i am ready to be a mother.. being around nisal and dealing with another person does help you put someone else above yourself.. and motherhood or being a parent is just the next step.. hehe.. i think i will still be a little crazy and my kids probably will get embarrassed of me from time to time ("look at mom, she's wearing a mini skirt... eww mom, why do you have to head to the clubs we are hanging out at..." etc. etc.) but hey, its all part of the fun, right.. hahaha

anyways, will be posting soon - leave comments if you have any and do continue to view my page!!

as you may have noticed, i have added this silly little statistics thing onto my blog... yes, i am curious how many people actually read my little diary.. honestly, i know its not the most exciting thing in the world.. but its just my way of recording what i do from time to time..

i rather not get too political or recite social commentary.. occasionally, and probably later on, i might get into that stuff but i feel there's enough of that already out there.. and i really dont have much to add to it.. but i just put these thoughts up there just to say what i am upto.. for those who want to read it :)

i mean, i am just a normal 24 year old, who happens to have got married early and planning on having a baby quite soon.. nothing too crazy or unusual.. maybe i could talk about what its like being relatively young and pregnant.. but i doubt i have anything spectacularly revealing to say.. i am sure many pregnant women feel quite fat and huge and nothing fits them anymore.. or their feet swell and their lovely shoes cant fit anymore.. and the horrendous stretch marks that 'tattoo' their bellies make them feel very self-conscious.. i could go on about my heartburn but i fear i will sound like a little old lady, complaining about every ailment i have as if its going to kill me but really its not like that at all... its quite a normal thing really...

i guess i could go on and on about my lovely husband but i really not bore you guys with that stuff... although he is quite lovely and sweet and i honestly feel very lucky to have him... and i treasure every moment i spend with him.. hehe sorry for being all gushy..

so again, to all those who just happen to glance through my site, do stay and read what i have to say... it might not be too unusual but i do try to make it interesting when i can..

i probably have more to say when the baby does come out.. right now though, i am just obsessed in getting the nursery all done.. i am setting up one of the bedrooms downstairs as my room/nursery.. i want to have the cot with me and my mom is helping me do a cute mosquito net for the cot.. along with the sheets.. i have already finished the nappies and washed a few of the baby shirts so nisal and i can start organizing the hospital bag... and i am on the search for a nice rocking chair.. does anybody out there know of a place i can get a decent one.. preferably wood, i dont mind cane furniture but i like a nice wooden one more...

thats all i am really doing with myself, other than running around at work with my two jobs.. hehe so do feel free to stop by and comment when u like :)

Back in warm weather...

Hi everyone,
this New Year season (yes, we Sri Lankans have yet another excuse to holiday - Sinhalese and Tamil New year falls between 13th and 15th April) Nisal, myself and mom went to our house in Nuwara Eliya to relax and just enjoy the holiday.. and enjoy we did..

Highlights included :-
* Total sense of relaxation - sleeping until 12 in the afternoon - no cooking or cleaning
* Complete lack of careful dieting -
* Attempted to regain somewhat of my pool skills but failing miserably since Nisal kicked my butt many many times
* Caught up with some films - finally watched Pirates of the Caribean (i cant spell it) II - and was completely disappointed... oh well, there's always part III to look forward to, I guess.. and finished season 3 (the first part) of Battlestar Gallactica (stop rolling your eyes, people...)
* Met some weird lady at Hill Club, while we were browsing the Hill Club collection of DVDs, she comes up to us and tells us she has some films in her room and whether we would like to watch them with her... can you say DODGY??!!
* The World Cup for Cricket has began and I started out being a very cynical fan BUT i actually managed to watch some of the games and have regained a sense of patriotism for our team.. we are making it to the FINALS!!! YAY!!
* went to see Bappi's school - St. Thomas's in Guruthalawala (that i cant spell either) and we were all saddened at the state of the school.. it used to be run by the British and now it is in serious need of repair.. and repaint.. it looks so run down, Bappi was so sad.. the pool was full of algae..
* went to Hagala gardens with mom, Nisal and Kumari.. that was fun and the flowers are just so gorgeous there..

At Humbugs we ate so many strawberries, Nisal got sick and actually had his acid headaches for 2 days.. but i am sure he would be the first one to admit it was worth every bit
* my cousins also came up so we met them for dinner for an evening...
* most significant highlight - see below

That was really it but believe me.. so relaxing... now back at work and in the heat of Colombo.. sweating constantly.. ugh...

In terms of the pregnancy -
1. Have to do some blood tests this week along with an urine test
2. Check blood pressure twice a week - today it was 100/70 - totally normal
3. Have to meet doc and hopefully will do a scan (stay tuned)
4. I CAN SEE THE BABY MOVE.. no, i dont have eyes that are like the ultrasound, but when the baby moves in the womb, i can actually see my belly moving.. it even has reflexes.. i could poke my tummy a little, and it moves to another location!! haha its crazy... its such a weird feeling but it makes you feel so much closer to the baby... and it is quite cool.. however, today i have not seen anything.. maybe because i am so tired...

i have a few articles to finish off for Lanka Woman, so hopefully by Wed/Thursday i can finish them off.. then i should be able to relax for the rest of this week, wish me luck!

Dark days...

There are some days i just wish would end, and then there are days that i wish would never end... yesterday was a good day - i cooked (woohoo) some pasta with alfredo sauce, attempted at some roast chicken and had brownies and had some friends over for a good old fashioned lunch.. yes, i know it was Easter but i really didn't have the Easter theme going on.. next year, people!! haha but we played Settlers for about 6 hours straight.. my butt can vouch for that! and my sore back.. haha that sounds so wrong...

then we have a day like today.. it starts out like a pretty normal day - considering i have only 9 weeks to go with my pregnancy.. my back is sore, i had to pee pretty much the whole night (so not much sleep), tired, grumpy - but still i managed to be ready for work earlier than usual.. i get in, and i start working on getting a hotel room for Bappi because he wants to come to NE for New Year... which is ok, but considering its height of the season and to run around for the rooms NOW, is somewhat tough.. but of course, Amrita to the rescue.. and yes, yours truly manages to get not just one room, but THREE for him! (apparently now he needs only one).. grrrrr.. anyways, my talents were well-utilized.. plus, i finished most of the tasks on my list today...

what has to spoil my mood... i brought in some brownies to work.. they were good - friends and Nisal will testify to that.. and my stupid cousin comes in and eats a bunch and gets together with my mom and completely insults them.. its one thing to insult for a min or two, but its quite another when you keep going and going and going until you get a reaction and thats what they did.. in the end, i got really pissed off because only i know the shit i went through this weekend plus last weekend (those who know, know...).. its like if i went to my mom's place in NE and insulted all her hardwork decorating the place.. knowing the trouble it went through to create it, i wouldnt insult it.. thats just me.. i guess thats the Hapu way of toughening you up... but honestly, does it help bugging a pregnant girl? seriously.. GROW UP! anyways, i got pissed, walked out of the room. and my mom stopped talking to me... when she did start talking, she basically said i was over-reacting blah blah blah.. and then later told me and nisal that we wouldnt be joining her in NE, if we wanted we could come seperately because dealing with MY issues (i.e. me getting upset for the "slightest" things - her words, not mine) would not be good for her or our relationship with her..

anyways, maybe this is a good thing.. we can take off somewhere down south, spend some time near the beach, relax... i do want some time off before the baby comes, because i know once the baby comes, i probably be more sensitive.. ugh.. talk about post-natal depression.. i really dont want to go through stuff like that..

all i want is to be happy.. just have my own little niche in the world, to share with my lovely husband and myself, decorate it the way i want, spend time with the people who i love and just enjoy life.. thats all.. i wish things were that simple though..

we wanted to get our own place, but that is proving to be impossible with the cost of living in this country.. banks wont loan us the money - they would but the interest rate is sky-high.. nisal's uncle is trying to help us out but its like we are begging off him.. my mom's company isnt doing too well so i cant ask for a loan like that.. nisal's parents are busy with their house to help us.. so i am basically broke.. ugh.. so much for independant living huh...

on the bright side, since its just after Easter/Good Friday - i do have things to be grateful for (so dont think i am a complete spoilt brat)
1. I have a wonderful loving husband :-) which i love completely and totally and cant imagine life without
2. I am about to have a baby who will love me unconditionally too (before he/she becomes a teenager)
3. I have great in-laws - Nisal's uncle and parents who are just too amazing and kind.. i have been blessed
4. Good friends who have stuck by me over the years - thank you
5. Decent family (other than that stupid cousin of mine)
6. My mother's place where we are staying now - at least we have a roof over our heads and food on the table (granted i do get some of the food that comes into the house, but still...)
7. Relatively free will...
8. My Lanka Woman job which lets me get away from the more 'stressful' times in my day... i can just go into my literary world..

So i am happy - to an extent.. till the next time - happy Sinhalese and Tamil New Year!

Nisal's birthday - 29th March 2007

Actually, i should mention we have had two birthdays this month.. Nisal's mother's was on the 20th of March and Nisal's is on the 29th.. We had Nisal's mother's birthday at our place on Thurstan Road, and invited some friends and relatives to the function... it was fun and everyone really had a good time!!

Nisal's birthday was more of a surprise.. we intially wanted to have a surprise party for him on the 31st but lots of people couldnt make it because it is a long weekend (surprise surprise in Sri Lanka, right...) so we decided [initially] to have a small party for just his parents, Bappi, my mom and me.. then eventually we started adding people and the list came up to 25! but of course, in true surprise style, Nisal didnt have a clue.. he thought we were all going out for dinner at Il Ponte or somethihng.. i managed to invite some friends (Matt, Sanjay, Sabs, Samantha).. and yes, Nisal was surprised when he came home.. although, he did notice all the cars outside... but i think he didnt expect THAT many people at home...

anyways, it was a fun night.. everyone got along with everyone else.. Swara was on top form and was dancing around the whole night.. and it was very casual.. my mom played "happy birthday" on the piano quite a few times because people forgot to sing and she made a few mistakes.. but it all added to the happy casual atmosphere at home.. and as usual, Kumari and Dilruk did an amazing job in cooking and cleaning.. it was just lovely.. and i am so happy!!

Eventually the whole thing finished around 2am (tomorrow work, people!!) - and by the time Nisal and I went to bed, it was around 4am.. Birthday boy was quite talkative and we ended up chatting the whole night (get your minds out of the gutter!!)..

i managed to get up for breakfast around 730am and then trotted off to bed again and slept till midday - when nisal and i both woke up...

Now its Friday, 30th March - 245pm and I am still at home.. we plan on heading into work soon and sending cake to everyone and dropping by and seeing Nisal's aunt and heading home shortly.. But you never know...

Just Thoughts
Next year around this time, our baby will be 9 months old.. and Nisal and I have been married less than a year.. how time flies.. I know, deep in my heart, everything is going to go wonderfully.. I honestly feel blessed I have a mother who loves me and loves my husband unconditionally.. and my in-laws - Bhadrika and Douglas and not forgetting Bappi who continously make me feel so welcome in their families... I truly feel lucky.. I know I have never really been a religious person, I like to consider myself spiritual, but still i must have done something good somewhere sometime to get myself in this situation... I hope this lucky streak continues.. Love you all!

Long-awaited London Pictures...

Hi everyone,
thank goodness the SLT/Metropolitan mess is finally over and Nisal, being the darling he is, fixed my hard-drive so finally i can upload pics from our trip to London...

the main reason we went to London was two things, one was for baby items.. Sri Lanka does sell most of the stuff you can buy there, such as Avent stuff but you can never really truly be sure of the quality plus the price is cheaper there.. believe it or not.. and the second reason is, Nisal had some work to do there...

Our first week was moreorless trudging up and down Oxford Street, sightseeing at Mothercare!! haha my credit card company must be thrilled with the extra business.. but we bought a lot of interesting stuff and believe me - i never thought babies need so much stuff... haha and this is just for the 1st year :-) crazy... we also met up with some old friends - Eunice (who i havent met in ages... i think we havent seen each other in 2 years), Rajat (same as Eunice) and we met some of Nisal's friends, who i hadnt met before - Priyesh Patel (who is getting married in June, we also met his fiancee) and Stuart Barnaby - both really nice people.. of course, we met up with Hassan and his delightful parents.. They hosted us an amazing spread - roast chicken, lasanga, salads, even curry.. it was just divine...

we also caught up with some films - Hot Fuzz (done by the same guys as Shawn of the Dead) and Blood Diamond.. we also went to a play with Clayton, another friend - Dancing in the Streets.. i highly recommend it - esp. if you love 60s Motown classics like Nisal and i do :-)

We did a lot of work during the two weeks we were there - Nisal and i also maintained a small flat when we were there.. and i discovered to my surprise, Nisal can cook curry!! haha it was yummy too.. hehe we feasted!!

However, we did miss out on seeing our friends Priyanga and Christoph who just recently had a baby girl, and we missed out on seeing my friend Sonali, whose number i got literally two days before we flew back..

in terms of the pregnancy - i think i am finally settling into some sort of size now so i dont feel as big as i did the previous months.. plus my food cravings have died down.. apparently you are supposed to put on, as asians, a total of 15 kgs MAX and me - haha - dont even ask.. basically the doctor told me i have enough weight for 5 babies.. i think he was exaggerating and i told him i was overweight before the baby too.. and he was like then u are definitely too high...haha but thank God, i dont have diabetes (u apparently can get that if u are overweight/pregnant) and my blood pressure is low.. so he is puzzled but happy.. end of the month, i am doing another scan so i will post pics... promise... what else is going on in my pregnancy - oh, we joined a prenatal class which is fun.. a bunch of preggy women and their husbands and we basically discuss with a midwife what goes on in the pregnancy, how to push, how to breathe, relaxation techniques, whether to do a c-section or a natural, pain relief (yes!!!) how to take care of the baby etc. it is quite interesting and the midwife knows a lot of stuff... we also visited the hospital (joseph fraizer) i want to have our baby and it is so nice.. its like a colonial hospital and the rooms are massive.. plus the nurses who were there were so friendly.. nisal actually got scared i wanted to stay on there.. hahaha but honestly, i was happy... and the birthing room didnt look as scary as i thought it would be... and yes, i am feeling more kicking now.. haha its not painful as some people say but its quite gentle... the baby responds to music too - like if i play 60s music, baby gets all excited but i was told play more classical music because it improves the baby's brain!!!

thats all for now :-) will post when i get new scanned pics