Vegan kid

The hubby and I knew raising a baby would be hard. That's probably the main reason we waited 5 years before planning a baby. When little miss cookie pie arrived, we knew, we would go to any length to keep her happy and healthy. But, when we found out that she was intolerant to lactose, we were extremely disappointed. Here I was, a chocoholic mother and a cheesy (read cheese loving) father with a baby who could have neither. 

Slowly when it started dawning on me that she wouldn't be able to have anything with even a tad bit of dairy in it, I started panicking. I had always imagined that my baby would love chocolates like me, relish the yummy cheese omelettes her Papa would make, enjoy the curd and chapati combination like her cousins, be an ice-cream lover like her Ajja and give her Ammachan company in eating oats that no one else seemed to like. What other yummy food did that leave, I thought. And then began my hunt for yummy lactose-free food. Cooking for her with items that I knew wouldn't cause her to react was always an option and my mother and I used that option to the maximum. But I also hunted for places where she could eat out without worrying about lactose-free options on the menu. Google has been a blessing and so have some of the blogs that other people have put up.

Here are links to anyone looking for help with lactose free foods.

1. https://www.zomato.com/bangalore/luo-han-hsr/
2. http://www.masonchocolate.com/where-to-buy/
3. https://sharan-india.org/city-directories/bangalore/
4. https://www.amazon.in/Vegan-Bangalore-comprehensive-aspirants-Bangalore-ebook/dp/B00JHNRX1K?_encoding=UTF8&keywords=my%20vegan%20bangalore&qid=1400936286&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
5. http://www.mamamiaindia.com/#experience
6. http://vegan-india.blogspot.in/2012/11/these-are-five-of-my-favorite-vegan_22.html#sthash.sZgb9K18.dpbs
7. http://www.taantraa.in/products?category=almond-flour-cakes
8. http://www.carrots-india.com/speciality-products/
9. https://earthloaf.co.in/

We still hope and pray that she slowly starts showing signs of lactose acceptance. Till then, I'll relax in accepting the fact that this could have been much worse if we had been living someplace with lesser options and that we should be thankful that mini-me has been a good kid and has never said no to any food we chose for her.

The cliche 'Inked'

3 years back, when my sis came to India for her vacation, she had come prepared to get a tattoo or two. I was made to research tattoo artists in Bangalore and book appointments. The hubby and I accompanied her to the tattoo place and sat there for a few hours watching the artist draw a permanent design on my sister's body. I wanted to follow the trend and look cool with a tattoo, but I wasn't ready for it then. When my sister asked for confirmation before leaving the tattoo place, I nodded no, but mentally promised myself I'd be back someday when I was braver and surer.

That time finally came in the first week of this year. S and I planned it over a couple of weeks and finally confirmed our appointments before we lost our guts to go do this.

Although the tattoo artist was a lil bit of an airhead, we enjoyed the experience. The tattoo has been healing for the past month and has been accepted as a part of me :)

And here it is, that permanent mark which I'll proudly show off all my life!

To Dos - 2017

This post is titled To-Dos instead of Resolutions only because of my (non)confidence in myself. I am not good at keeping up my resolve butI'm fairly good at checking things of my To-Do lists. So here's a To-Do list for 2017.

1. Better face, hair and heel care - I'm not resolving to look gorgeous by the end of the year. But, I do want to manage these 3 points of my body better. Essentially, better use of moisturizer and maintain my hair such that it does not remotely resemble a broom.

2. No-tech hour - Sitting in front of a computer every day at work and fiddling with the phone during my travel between home and work is making me a tech-worm (a new word I coined). I'll try and get one zero-tech hour every day, during which I'll put my phone away in silent mode and not touch any other form of technology. 

3. A book a month - I've been reading a lot less for the past few years and I don't like that. So, I'll try and squeeze in one book a month AND make it to the last page, no matter how boring the book is. 

4. Less yelling at J - I am a very loving mom. But I lose my temper with J a lot. I'll try harder to keep in mind that she's barely 2 years old and that I need to lower my expectations of her and be more calm with her.

5. More positivity - Everything that I'm facing is not the end of the world. Things will get better. Just need to look at things more positively.

6. Weekly house cleanup - This's for when we move to the new house. I want to maintain the house like my mom maintains hers. Dust every nook and corner and make it a sparkly-clean house.

7. Use the DSLR more - I've been using my phone camera to do all the clicking and my poor DSLR is just lying idle without any charge left in the battery. I want to go back to my DSLR ways, atleast when we go out or go on vacation.

8. Minimal-ish wardrobe - This one is also mainly for when we move to the new house. I want to maintain a limited wardrobe. This will involve me giving away all the clothes that I've been hoping to fit back into someday and the clothes that I've been promising myself I'll wear but haven't worn in the past 3 months.

9. Anger control - A larger bubble that includes point 4, I'll try and keep my calm during the bad times. I'll give myself some time to bring my anger down before I force my word on others.

That's it. Looks do-able right now, but I think I might have already lost point 9 cos of the whole hubby-being-away scenario. Cheers to a fabulous year ahead and here's hoping there are no more slips.

A proud moment!

We closed a loan. In half the loan period. Super proud of us!

 

A borrowed bucket list

Having a bucket list is not a new trend. I guess when I was younger [notice the "er"? I'm still young.], we would just have a list in our minds about the things we wanted to do in our lives. The trend these days is to jot down that list lest you forget what you've always wanted to do. The mommy amnesia is a real thing that mommies go through, so I'd rather have this list noted down for future reference.

So here goes - an incomplete list that I intend to check each item off of. I call it borrowed cos there are a lot of items here that I have borrowed from my friends' bucket lists.

1. Help someone do something from their bucket list.
2. Buy a villa/independent home.
3. Surprise the hubby once a month for a whole year.
4. Go abroad on a family vacation, with the whole family.
5. Drive and be independent - on a daily basis.
6. Work at a job that I love.
7. Have a fairly regularly updated blog.
8. Get a red rose from the hubby without having to tell him to buy me one.
9. Get a mothers day card.
10. Sponsor a kid's education.
11. Go to a pub and party late.
12. Have a best friend to tell everything to.
13. Learn salsa.
14. Lose weight and fit into the healthy category on the BMI scale.
15. Get a tattoo.
16. Fly first class.
17. Go back to Le Meridian, Mauritius.
18. Name my kid after my best friend.
19. Write a letter to an unknown existing address and see if they respond.
20. Learn to play an instrument.
21. Make a standing payment to a charity.

22. Pay off a loan.

23. Run a marathon, or at least a half one.

24. Have a balcony veggie garden.
25. Do something nice for a stranger.
There. That's the first 25 that have come to mind. I'll keep the list up to date cos my mind is quite a wanderer and I'm sure it'll come up with more than these.