Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Had a wonderful weekend with Pramod, the kids & my mother! We left (no stress departure - the best!) around 7:30 pm on Friday night for Harrisburg. Stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn. After a good night's rest and a very nice breakfast watched the kids & Pramod swim. Pramod's greatest achievement this spring would have to be teaching Rohun to swim. The scaredy cat used to be so afraid to swim after a false start & that it had us all wondering if he will turn out just like me & never learn to swim. He was having a blast!
Then we had a pleasant drive to Happy Valley. It had been 11 years since I last visited State College - was pregnant with Rutha then & we had visited the Gill's at their lovely huge house in SC.
So much had changed in Penn State in terms of new state of the art buildings, new roads & road closures but yet some things were so unchanged. The memories for one had not changed & surfaced right up as we drove through the areas where we lived, watched people get on & off the CATA buses. We ate spinach stuffed white pizza at Hiway Pizza - still the best! Clicked pictures at the Nittany Lion Shrine where Rutha wanted to know if they "worshipped" the lion since it was called a shrine! The ear that was glued back is still the same as are the awesome paws at the entrance to the museum. Pattee Library is now Pattee & Paterno Library. The Creamery is now Berkey Creamery & has a new home in a spanking new location which is huge & has a gift/convenience store/restaurant-like feel to it - its no longer in Borland Bldg. Had to have the icecream - same size (1 size = 3 scoops) at $2.75 a pop. I remember the days when a $1 icecream was our lunch!
Classroom Bldg had just become Joab L. Thomas Bldg right around the time I left PSU. The road in front of it is a brick walkway with a raised lush lawn. Then off we went to College Ave - to replenish our PSU logo stock of paraphernalia!
College Ave is svelter than what I remembered - stores with designer goods, a fancy cupcake place etc. Didn't have time to stop at the Diner but picked up some stickie buns at the creamery.
The visit was much too short but long enough to make us long to come back again!!
From there we went to Pittsburgh - a short 2.5 hour drive - to see our friend Chopra! We had promised Anu & his wife Shivani a visit for a long time & were so very glad to see them again. Shivani & Anu are wonderful hosts - along with their very adorable sons - Arjun & Arush we had a great relaxing time! They have a beautiful home in the hills - I mean literally their back yard is valley & as you look up the hill there are beautiful homes all having a dramatic drop-down end to their backyards! Its really like being in a hill station - as one of their relatives aptly described & we couldn't agree more it was like being in Nainital. We enjoyed the wonderful company & the delicious food at every meal (along with the recipes) on Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon.
Anu, my mother & I had a very enjoyable trip to the local nursery for plants & pots - indulged by our spouses who stayed home with the kids & let us enjoy our passion for plants uninterrupted!!
We drove back to NJ & reached home around midnight. Poor Rohun had a terrible cough for 2 days & finally threw up in the car 20 mins from home. I suspect he has allergies or some kind of post-nasal buildup.
Memorial Day 2010 - was a proud day for us. This year the 4th grade girl scouts had the honor of picking 2 scouts to represent all of Cranbury's Girl Scout population. Rutha was selected as one of them. She had a great record as a scout this year & really enjoys it! 2 girls & 2 boys had the honor of being the color guard to lay the wreath & raise the flag at the Cranbury War Memorial. Our town, as you may know, is actually a historic village. The neighboring towns join our parade & the parade has several bands, highland pipes, scouts, twirlers, veterans, old cars & historic floats in it. Rutha did a good job at the ceremony I was a bit worried that it was too hot & humid at the practice held this morning & the kids seemed quite tired around the "stand-at-ease", "attention", marching & saluting. Congressman Rush Holt, Rep Linda Greenstein, a couple more politicians, Mayor Stout, the Lions Club President spoke - short & very effective speeches!
Rest of the day was spent racing through chores, gardening & enjoying the scent of my lovely pink Sarah Bernhardt peonies! Rutha also baked her first banana bread from scratch all by herself. The banana bread was delicious despite the fact that she used chapati flour instead of the all purpose kind!!
Ro's cough is still bothering him - he worked with his Dad on his science fair project & as if knowing that there is safety in numbers had his Dad & Rutha working on it for him!! :-)
He also was not pleased that I called his teacher "stupid" & told me a couple of times that he will tell his teacher what I said. When I tried to reason that he should not tell her since I did not mean it - he calmly says "OK I will never tell her but you know I can tell her if I want to"!! My husband quietly perceived the inner fear of mortification that I was threatened to experience by a 5 year-old & said aloud "She does not fear her husband or her father but does fear her son"!!!

Rohun the sword-dangler!

Have any of you ever felt threatened by your own child??!! At some point in time I must have in my frustration called Rohun's teacher stupid - thats it! The kid picked that up & has reminded me twice this weekend that I called his teacher stupid & he is going to tell her about it! I have a terrible feeling he just might.... The funny thing is he does not mean it a vengeful way - he just didn't think it was the right thing for me to say as he does not think his teacher is stupid.

Mother's Day at Rohun's Montessori

Today Ro had his mother's day event & I nearly missed it. Forgot to put it on my calendar. Rutha called yesterday at 5 pm saying "Mom Rohun is really worried that you will not come to his school tomorrow - he kept talking about it all the time - so just wanted to warn you - he seems worried he will be the only kid without his mother there".
I avoided a response but finally told him I may not be able to make it since I had a meeting that would be hard to change. He was crying softly - copious tears at bed time & wouldn't tell me why for a while - then said its because I cannot come to his mother's day event at school - so I told him I will check my meeting time & let you know. By the time I logged on & checked the agenda & found out that my part only began at 11 & I can make it he was fast asleep. When I told him this am - in his half sleepy state he had a big smile on his face. Glad I went though - it was very nice & he was clearly v happy that I was there. The kids sang a song, then each one read what they wrote on a cloth napkin & gave it with a beautiful rose to their moms - brought tears to my eyes! There was a prettily decorated table with bagels & fruit & a lovely card. Could not wait for the play but that was OK.
I am so thankful that I did not miss it!! Among the saddest things about kids growing up are the tender stages they leave behind, never to return. I made his day today & he made mine!!

Our natural inclinations

A thought... excerpted from Purpose Driven Life's daily devotion for the day. To me being a Christian is not about surrendering your natural inclination once & for all, because that is not reality, its about surrendering your natural inclinations many many times a day!

We are, by nature, self-centered. When hurt by someone, your natural inclination is to hurt back. It is natural to hoard money instead of generously sharing it, to defend yourself when criticized, to hide your mistakes instead of confessing them, and to try to impress others. You can usually figure out what will please God by doing the opposite of your natural inclination.