Sad news and a heavy heart

Today I had a great day and all was well until now. I read some e-mails and came across one from South Africa. It was from a dear family friend and the news in it was not good. I learned that my mother is very ill and is in the ICU in South Africa. My heart immediately started pounding and I frantically reached for the phone to call my brother who is the only sibling I have that my mother lives with. We are about nine hours of them and it was about 8pm here. I could not even think straight never mind do the math to see what time it was there.

I called anyway and it was 5am there. My brother was awake and getting ready for his day and a visit to the hospital. He was unable to give me very many details so I had to call the hospital. I quickly learned that my mother has hypoglycemia and hypothermia. She been insulin dependent for many years now and something went wrong and her sugar levels dropped. This also caused her to have a mild heart attack. My brother discovered her unresponsive in the morning and had to call a friend to take my mom to the hospital. It is so sad to think about as most of us here have not just one car but two. In South Africa there is a whole other economy made up of bartering, trading and exchanging favors. It is fortunate that it is a tight community and my mom was able to get the help she needed.

She is stable for now but I am a wreck. There are so many emotions and mixed feelings. I wish I could be there and there are discussions of me returning home. Not the ideal circumstances but there is this void that nothing and no one can fill. An emptiness and a heaviness that cannot be shaken. I want it all to go away and everything to be right. Now it is 10:45pm the kids are in bed , hubby is asleep and the rest of the U.S is falling asleep yet way on the opposite hemisphere the day is just beginning and there are so many issues to be dealt with and decisions to be made. Maybe that is why I am a night owl. It is a longing to live two lives at the same time and yet it is impossible. I wish I did not have to sleep and I had Dorothy's red shoes to click my heels and be home again. Where is home ? Will South Africa always be my home or is it right here with the my kids , my family ? I love them all but being so far away is so painful.

I will call in a while and hope to have a chance to talk with my mom. I have to think positive and hope she makes it through this. Okay I just called the hospital one more time and had a lovely chat with the nurse. My mom is doing great and is back to her fiesty self. She told the nurses that she has no idea why she was brought to the hospital and that she needed to go home as she had washed a lot of clothes and needed to go home to hang it all up. That brought a smile to my face.My sweet sweet mom washes all the clothes on a wash stone outside . rinses each one and rinses again is fabric softner before she hangs them out to dry and and then has to watch them so it does not get stolen. I wish that I can remember that when I complain about my laundry multiplying. I feel better but I feel like I want to just crawl into a corner and cry. Maybe I will.

Making a list, checking it twice ...

Late last night my buddy Suzanne called and we had a lovely chat. I felt relieved that I finally got all the envelopes together and had all my photos sorted into piles to go to different people. Hey I even finished the thank you cards that were overdue from Priyasha's birthday way back in March.

I was happy to share this feeling with Suzanne and then I found a list I had made a while ago. Usually I am a memory person. I remember everything including every ones phone numbers. I almost never look in the contact list on the phone. I dial from memory. Well someone told me that it helps to make a list and that way you feel less overwhelmed. Well I took the advise and it worked. My stress levels kept going down with everything I struck of my list. As I was checking it again I realized I had a few more things I needed to add to the list. Well somehow my list got bigger and bigger. Someone has got to invent birth control for that and my laundry. My to do list, laundry and dishes just seems to multiply day after day. Maybe it would be better not to make a list as the on going list seems to create a different type of stress for me.

Well all the goodies are in the mail including two packages to my mom in South Africa. I could not believe how expensive it was to mail one box to her. It was about $75. No I did not mail that one. I did send her a smaller one with and that was about $11. So much cheaper as it was 4 pounds versus 22 pounds in the other. Today was a very busy day even though my play date was cancelled. I was relieved when the other mom told me that she could not make it. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Donner Lake. I shopped for food and snacks and toys so we should be all set. Although I continuously whine that I have so much to do today I found myself purchasing fabric to sew pillow cases for my kids. Strawberry shortcake for the girl and transformer for the boy. Why do I create more projects. Well it may have to wait for a week or so before I get to it.

Well I am looking forward to the lake and it would be a much better day if all the smoke in Reno was carried away by the wind. There are over 800 fires int he state of California and since the border is only 45 min's away we seem to be covered in smoke. It is amazing how many 100's of mile that smoke has travelled and seems to be taking a rest in Reno. It is the biggest little city after all.

Take care !

Traditions

Every year for the kids birthdays I send out a milestone letter as well as a family picture. Yes we do several family pictures a year. One for each of the kids and then one for christmas. My hubby is a sweetheart but he does not like pictures. He aims to please me and I love him for it. Here is the letter for Priyasha.

Dear Friends and Family,

Our little princess is now two going on twenty. This past year has been an amazing one. She is so full of surprises. You just never know what is going to come out of her mouth. In the past year Priyasha has developed into her own little person and now she and her brother still play very well for the most part. She loves her brother very much and it is a delight to watch them be so close. If Priyasha is in trouble and we yell at her she cries and calls out “ bother , bother “ Pravan immediately runs to her and hugs her and calms her down. There has been times when he was the only that can calm her down and stop the tears. Priyasha like any other little girl is a drama queen and she is very much daddy’s little girl and loves to watch basketball, football and Mad money with daddy. If you ask her whose princess she is, she will say “THE PRINCE’S PRINCESS” Isn’t that smart? She calls me the queen and Todd the king and that makes Pravan the prince. He is the very protective brother and we can only hope that never changes.

Priyasha loves little babies and she plays mommy. She takes great care of her baby dolls and pretends to change diapers and feed them and put them to sleep. She is my singer and sings all day long. She has actually learned how to spell the color black by singing it to the tune of Bingo. She almost knows how to spell red as well and Pravan is working on teaching her the other colors. She is very intelligent for her age. She knows all her colors, shapes, ABC’s and animal sounds too. Pravan works hard on learning how to spell words and it seems like he has also been teaching her .She can also spell about. It is a random word and one morning I heard her spell it and my jaw dropped. I could hardly believe my ears. She speaks very clearly and almost anyone can understand her. She has mastered almost all the kids’ songs and also knows the songs from Pravan’s kindergarten class. She is always sassy, simply smart, really silly, sweet, stylish, truly unique, affectionate, an absolute joy to have and completely loved. She is very dramatic and shows it when she gets a surprise or present. Most times she places both her hands on her cheeks and mouth wide open and screams out “oh my goodness “in a very delightful voice. It is the funniest thing and yet so adorable.

She looks up to the older girls and loves to play dress up. Last year she was obsessed with Dora and called herself Dora and even was Dora for Halloween. Well a year later she has moved onto the strawberry shortcake shows and dolls and her collection is growing. She is a very happy girl. She enjoys playing tea party and pretends to cook in her little kitchen. She also loves to play transformers and hot wheels with her brother. She loves the camera and also mommy’s credit cards. At the store she insists on paying by swiping my card. I hope that when she is older and earns her own money the offer will still be there. Her biggest accomplishment is that she has mastered how to use the bathroom and is 100% potty trained right when she turned two. She got to pick out different character panties and is very independent and has to pick out her own clothes in the morning. Todd caught her trying on several different outfits the other day. In the mornings she has her own routine and a beauty regimen. She always tells me “mama booty is painful “She loves to brush her teeth and have Dora Chap Stick and lotion. She calls it lipstick and I hope she does not figure out that it really is Chap Stick. She also likes perfume and has her own baby cologne. She asks to have her eyes painted just like mommy and sometimes I play along. She loves the kid make up but we save that for special dress up time. Like all parents out there with wonderful kids we are very proud of our baby girl and all her accomplishments. Here is a recent picture of Priyasha for you to enjoy.

Proud parents, proud big brother, and sweet /sassy girl,
Todd, Easperee, Pravan and Priyasha

Day one of exercise program

Hello,

The busy weekend is over and my crazy week begins.We went to a cool birthday party yesterday and the kids had a blast. Hubby took the morning off and I had the afternoon to myself. He had several things including working out in his time off. I as you may know spent my time at the scrapbook store as well as Michael's. I got to have the afternoon with Suzanne and we had a great time.Speaking of work outs, last week I purchased a work out DVD from those television ads. It is a beach body workout with 5 ten min workouts. It came with a schedule to do at least 3 ten min workouts a day. I am determined to stick to the schedule. I got in 2o mins for the day already and I have 10 more mins to squeeze in by midnight. I am excited and this is the most fun workout I have ever tried.

Today Pravan was at a friends house for the morning and I had Priyasha and Keara. We hung out and blew bubbles before lunch and now they are both napping. Pravan is back and he is playing water guns with himself in the backyard. I have a long night with Keara maybe until 11pm. I look forward to taking her back to her house around 8pm as I have peace and quite and a break from my kids. I am almost done with getting together all the stuff I need to mail out to family and friends. Priyasha's two year letter and Pravan's graduation announcements. I hope to get them in the mail tomorrow. I will then post them on the blog.

Take care !

Slip and slide party

Today Pravan was invited to a slip and slide party at Finn's house. Mrs Brown, Finn's mom had told me that no girls were invited. I then asked Suzanne to watch Priyasha. Since we were at Suzanne's house I took some pictures of Pravan climbing the tree in her front yard. I joined him and decided to be a kid too. I will post pictures later. When I got to Finn's house his mom asked me about Priyasha and told me that I could go and get her if I wanted. I thought that was so sweet. She meant no girls from the kindergarten class. I drove all the way back to Suzanne's and got Priyasha. She loved playing in the water and hanging out with the boys.

Finn is a very lucky boy as he has the best backyard any boy could ask for. They have a huge blue fill up pool and a tree house where the boys can hide out. They have a rope to swing and splash into the pool. If I were to be a kid again I would love to spend my childhood in this backyard. It is so beautiful and it makes you feel like you are hidden in a secret garden away from the rest of the busy crazy world. Thanks Terri for giving us a chance to play in your lovely backyard and home.

After that party Pravan went to Alan's house. He is a social butterfly just like his mother and I am so exhausted keeping up with all these play dates. There are days when I think I would get more rest if I worked a job that paid me money instead of being a domestic engineer and get paid with hugs and kisses. I do love being home and I just need to slow down. Next week is a crazy week so I am not sure when things will calm down. Priyasha is asleep and I am finally done preparing for my class tonight. Last night I was up until midnight working on it and a short while ago the lady at the store called to tell me that there was one more for the class. I scrammed and made another kit.

When the princess awakes I need to go and get the boy and then hopefully my husband will be home on time so I can get to class. The weekend is almost here and I am lookign forward to it. I will post some pics this weekend.

Happy creations to you all.

Thank you Tracey

A big thank you to Tracey who taught me how to add a personal signature. I love visiting her blog. She is so creative and talented. Her blog is http://tj-runningwithscissors.blogspot.com/. Be sure to check it out. Tracey your directions worked. I appreciate the tips.

out to lunch

Hello,

Today I visited a dear friend Suzanne. We met almost three years ago at 2am. Yes 2am. No we were not bar hopping.I was about six months pregnant with Priyasha and we met the morning after Thanksgiving in line outside the scrapbook store. We are scrapping buddies and I am so blessed to have her as a friend. She drives me nuts at times but my scrapping world will not be the same without her. She is a sweetheart and made me a delicious lunch. Not sure what it was called but it was baked chicken with curry powder , honey and yellow mustard. It was delicious and Priyasha loved it too.

She watched my kids while I ran off to the scrapbook store. I have a class to teach on Friday night and I needed to gather my supplies to put the kits together. This is a crazy week and I am so thankful she did me that favor as I could not fit that must do item of my daily chore list any other time. Well I have 3 people signed up and I am so excited to teach this awesome class on two mini books. Tomorrow is another crazy day and I feel like my juggling skills are being sharpened this week. The house is clean and I am ready to entertain some friends and their 5 year old boys as well. I will also have Suzanne's kids and still babysit Keara. Tomorrow will be a zoo in my house but the trampoline will tire them all out , or so I hope.

Today Priyasha wore a cute dress with POKA BOKS as she calls the polka dots. It is the cutest thing from her mouth. I took some pics again. These dresses are so cute I cannot resist. Well all these photo shoots of Priyasha has left Pravan feeling left out. I promised him that I will take some pictures of him climbing a tree or something. Well it is almost 10pm my dear husband is at a late night meeting. Sex and the City is about to begin and a martini with my name and a salty snack awaits me. Tonight I am just exhausted so I will chill for a while and if I get a second wind at 11pm I will start on the kits for class. Well hubby just called to say he is going to grab a bite to eat with some colleagues so it will be another two hours before he gets home. I just love all this peace and quiet and time to myself. Too bad I do not get this earlier in the day or all day.I look forward to this time of day every night. I will post some pics when i get a chance later this week. Take care !

My flower garden

My husband loves to garden and he bought some pretty flowers for the front of the house. My favorite flower is the dahlia and my husband bought me some. The kids love to water the flowers. It is so adorable to watch my budding gardeners. Take care ! Free Spirit !

Dangles

As some of you might know I have a ton of bangles and it is a very Indian tradition. Well being in America was not going to change that for my daughter. A short trip to Sacramento to the Indian stores and getting some hand me downs from another mom who is from Pakistan Priyasha now has dangles as she calls it in all colors to match every outfit. She and I can now wear similar bangles. I just love that the kids can have some of the Indian traditions and culture. Here are some cute pics of her showing off.

Miss Independent

The other day Priyasha wanted soem water and I was in the middle of loading the dryer. Pravan was busy watching Scooby Doo and little missy took it upon herself to get water. I walked into the kitchen and caught her helping herself. She is just too smart for her own good. I could not get mad as she did not make a mess. It was just so cute to watch. Here are some pictures.

Happy father's day

My sweet sweet husband puts up with me and my photo shoots. Here are some shots I got with him and the kids.

Graduation

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry I have not been around for a while. Life is just crazy. All of a sudden I am getting calls to set up play dates. If my son is not at someone else's house then I have other kids here. This week he went to a friends house yesterday and I had the girls. Priyasha and sweet Keara the baby I babysit. It was nice just having the babies. Today we went to story time and having three kids seems to be getting easier. Keara loved the songs and Priyasha and Pravan seem to be so independent and sat up front with the storyteller. Today I am cooking a delicious dinner in the crock pot. Short ribs with veggies and nutty rice. I love watching the food network when I get a chance. I saw this the other day and I am giving it a try. It smells so good.Try it out. Let me know what you think. It was quick and easy to throw together this morning. Smoke House Short Ribs Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee, 2008 2 tablespoons olive oil 8 short ribs Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large onion, thickly sliced 1 (12-ounce) bag baby carrots 1 cup celery, thickly sliced, about 2 stalks 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 2 teaspoons smoked ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose seasoning salt 1 cup red wine 1 (10.5-ounce) can beef stock Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Season short ribs with, salt and pepper. Sear the short ribs on all side until brown and caramelized. In the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker place the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Then add smoked paprika, smoked ground black pepper, and all-purpose seasoning salt. Pour in wine and beef stock. Place short ribs, meat side up, on top of vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 8 hours. Strain and defat the cooking liquid. Serve as sauce on the side. Recipe Summary Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 3 minutes Cook Time: 8 hours Yield: 4 servings Tomorrow I have a play date schedule at a friends house. Thursday I have company and Friday night I am teaching a class at www.scrapbooksatelier.com It is a class on spring books. Check out the link to see some pictures. I have some new pictures on http://www.flickr.com/photos/sausa. Go ahead and check them out. I will try to make some slides for the blog. I have many many other things to get done and I honestly feel like the kids secretary. Hopefully next week won't be so overwhelming. Have a great day and stay cool ! Free Spirit !

I'm Back

Wow ! Life got in the way of my blogging. No seriously, I have been busy, busy being a mom, wife, teacher and everything else in between. Pravan graduated kindergarten and we are very proud of him. I have taken a million pictures and need to upload them for you all to see. I successfully taught my beach album. It is still at Treasured memories on display. http://www.tmtreno.com/ I promise to post tons of pictures for you to enjoy. I have a long list of Need to Do's. Every year I send out a letter talking about the kids accomplishments along with their picture and now I am late in getting out Priyasha's and she turned two in March. I am working on sending thank you cards and graduation announcements. Going to birthday parties and rescheduling play dates.Yes rescheduling so i can keep up with laundry that somehow seems to multiply every night. There are days when I feel I need a secretary. When I am on the phone and have someone on hold and then my cell phone rings and another person on hold. Four lines now going and the doorbell rings while my two year old screams that she has to go pee. SSHHHH!!! Way too crazy to deal with.I am crazy busy with planning several classes at two different stores. I am also now babysitting a cute six month old baby on Mondays and Tuesdays. You think life can get any crazier ? Well I would not have it any other way. My phone is not on overtime everyday but today boy was life crazy ? That's it for now. I will post some pictures soon. Free Spirit