[smart_soul]

Sharadha, Nice to see you dear...And thanks for telling me that I'm doing a good job.

Amitha, I think you can talk to your DH about not dismissing your ways in front of the kids. Right or wrong - has to be decided without the presence of the kids. And as Sharadha says talk to him that DS thinks all that mommy does is wrong just because daddy said so once.I totally second Latha on that though we are yet to cultivate that habit of not blaming each other in front of V.

Poonam, I've heard this squeezing out of nipple in new borns quite a few times thought I've never done anything like that for V. A friend of mine did it on her sons and said that at birth when all hormones sytart functioning for the baby, so does the one that produces milk and there's a wee bit sitting there and said that they remove it during the bathing sessions.. So I guess it's very common.. It was new/wierd to me too... Even after she told me I didn't attempt it on V.

Ramya, the cause of itch on her is intense eczema....

Aarthi, thanks for the website. I'll have a look at it... And thanks for remembering me on this..

Latha, We are awaiting the pic of finnish pulla now...

Nitha, chill out.. Have fun at the party.. Wear something like a skirt and a fancy top.. Or even a formal pant and anice top to go with it.. You'll be fine dear.. Nitha... How have you influeneced me.. I started checking for a food processor now... LOL.. I was the one who returned one that I got from costco just getting bored of washing so many parts and me again checking for a FP.. funny me...

Ladies, took V to a paed yesterday to check what would be the next step to be taken. He did some blood test to check for Vit D and some other stuff and also has referred us to a paed Dermatologist (Our 5th dermatologist.. ). But these dermatologists are so busy that the first appointment I could get was in August end.. Man.. this sounds crazy....
Anyways.. Planning to spend the 3-day week end constructively and peacefully (evben if it means an isolation from DH).. Some irky comments passed makes me lose my sanity. But I'm trying to be patient ladies...

[Aadhusmom]

Latha - congrats on the pulla!

Nitha - hey, calm down and just have fun! I obviously have no idea about clothes but it doesnt matter all that much what you wear as how you behave/feel; so relax and you'll do great!

SS - have you tried oral steroids for DD? A short course usually helps a lot. If you have and it hasnt helped then perhaps her diagnosis has to be revised and I guess the derm would be the best person for that.

I had a pretty awful evening - had to get my cleaning done at 9 pm thanks to getting called to my ILs earlier. If I'm going there almost every evening we might as well live in the same house! Anyway DH got the worst of my ranting tonight and he tells me to "Just ignore and that its my duty as elder DIL to do these things" - bah!

V.

[aarthi7]

latha,

as soon as i saw ur reply,i checked the site(it was one of my fav sites too,but some ot the recipes seemed too complicated for me).this particular one calles for CHAI SPICE,what is that?is the tea masala

and one more question,from where do u download carnatic songs for your ipod?

nitha,
relax girl..if itsnt a formal party with a dress code,i would even go for ethnic indian wear for both of you..have a nice time and share your experiences..

S-S
have a great weekend.tell me about appointments.we took an appointment for ds with a respiratory specialist in dec and got the date in april..the so called specialist checked V for about 7-8 min max and all his advices were BS..he was more interested in knowing about our indian curry/food rather than my ds's wheezing.LOL

vanathi,
oh,,i can understand how you feel..dh has a (cousin)brother who is yet to married,and my MIL already portrays me as an elder DIL ,all those responsibilities,talks like that..so it must be more tough for you.. .hugs..

tikka
happy shopping.i love this"back to school"shopping.

amitha,
hope you are feeling better now..clashes in parenting styles,remarks about sitting at home happens here too.but lately,i have developed a thick skin,,such talks never bother me..the only thing that puts me off instantly is unreasonable demands by dh,i dont know from where on earth i get so much anger!!!!!!sometimes,i do feel guilty for such behaviour of mine,,but then the reason that triggers me would be quite genuine..
do chill out,now that ur mom is there ,take a break,pamper yourself.cheer up.

[Traveller]

V,

'ignore' i hate that word though i myself tell that often here:( hope you have a relaxing week-end. are there any after-wedding rituals still pending? when are they leaving for HM?

SS,

hmm comments/remarks from DH .. that seems to be the trend now. just now i broke into an argument following an unnecessary comment. and i've made up already. i'm not willing to ruin my week-end over that:)

Nitha,

i'd love to know which recipes didn't work out for you:) yes there are several blogs that i follow religiously and many recipes that fail too. even this one used up more flour than mentioned. but on the hindsight i've read in my bread baking book that it's wise not to half a bread recipe. make 2-3 loaves and freeze. i used my dough-kneading hook partly and partly hand. it was a silken dough so a pleasure. there was once a zebra cake recipe from a blog that was hot in blogosphere. it was a nasty disaster for me:( wonder how others got it right though:(

wear what you're comfortable in. experience speaking... in DH's earlier office we were invited as family for couple of events. since he was in m&a board members came in too. i was new to germany, european culture etc., so i wore western outfits as prescribed by DH and my discomfort was so visible to others. not that i'm not used to western outfits but not the formal ones. then his boss told me that i should simply wear what i'm comfortable with. for the boss' farewell i wore a salwar and very well received.

Amitha,

hope you're doing good today. i re-read my own lecture to you.. hope i haven't given way too many advices. take care...

Aarthi,

i ground together couple of cardamoms+cloves and then added in 1/4 tsp each of ginger and cinnamon powder for the 'chai' effect. also added raisins and topped with sugar:) yes some of her recipes are complex because of the daring baker challenge. i love the orange-olive oil loaf cake. i have made it so many times. it's damn good. we don't download carnatic songs aarthi. we buy CDs, copy them to ipod and give away the cds to my parents or DH's. they don't buy otherwise. now my father's tv time has come down a bit due to this idea. i'm still eyeing to download some old tamil movie songs from raga but it seems pretty expensive. for that we can go to any cassette shop in chennai and ask them to compile.

this is the last week-end before DH's exams. atleast this time he's finished reading all the books and now need to revise. next week is going to be super-tense. i better keep my mouth shut for anything and everything.

any idea how Anitha is? she's been missing since over a month. Shanthi is busy with Veda in town:)

[Nitha J]

Latha; I bake Zebra cake from this site AZ Cookbook - Food From Azerbaijan & Beyond Zebra Cake . It came out very pretty . If you are using extra dark cocoa powder; add more sugar than suggested.

S-s; jay is also suggesting skirt; but I feel I will look more like the "kerala dance form" (kathakali) in hip area :)

Vanathi Arathi; Thanks for the vote of confidence. I badly need it now.

Amitha; I am feeling a littl jittery so I cannot focus and make any sggns. But I would say that do make sure that your Dh spends atleast one hour per week with your kids without you around. Ask him to take them to park or give them tennis lessons or teach them to ride cycle or library or mall.(I do not mean trip to hair salons:) Such private will b good for you and your kids too. Also your DH will understand managing two kids are not easy as he percieves.

-Nitha

[aarthi7]

nitha

did i read it right,,fp for 5 dollars,great deal!!does it have all the blades and attachments..so,welcome to the world of fp..

i have bookmarked the link to the zebra cake..will try it sometime.\


latha,
thnx for the info.would love to see the photo of your pulla..

[aarthi7]

[
S-s; jay is also suggesting skirt; but I feel I will look more like the "kerala dance form" (kathakali) in hip area :)

,,nitha,you have a great sense of humour...sorry,but i was laughing aloud readingthis..

[smart_soul]

Nitha, Had a hearty laugh imagining a kathakali bommai.. Don't get me wrong.. I had a hearty laugh reading your comment...
I feel usually kinda mid-length skirts offset the hip area...

And ladies, you guys are baking left and right and me getting a inferiority complex... Thats kind of a motivation too....

Vanathi, Is oral steroid safe? The ped also said "You can take that route.. But I see you being skeptical". We are skeptical because we heard
1. It has long-term side effects on immune system and growth
2. When the effect of the steroid wears off, the inherent issue usually comes out with more vigour than now. One of our friends has psoriasis and he said he went through such an experience.
Please let me know your thoughts on this...

Ladies I'm hooked on to this passionateaboutbaking and am drooling over every single piece there....

Latha, where do you post your experiment pics? Would love to see that...

[Traveller]

SS,

it's been quite long since i posted my experiment pics. it's always on virtual feast thread. will let you all know here when i do that. right now gave up searching for the camera cable:( i read your trouble with sticky rice in chithramma's thread. i make set dosa from sailusfood quite regularly. that recipe is awesome. i grind the dough as given by her and make like oothapams (she suggests closing and cooking only one side). DS is addicted to my dosa;)

no don't get a complex. we all have our own strengths, passions and better stick to that:)

Aarthi,

have been wanting to ask you this - are you teaching DS to write tamil? looks like my project to make sand paper alphabets will never happen. i'm unable to find the right sand paper here. i taught him to write on slate and he can now manage 'a' but says when i teach it's boring:( what's the best way to teach writing?

Nitha,

it's the same zebra cake that i tried not once but twice and failed miserably. may be there's some jinx to me:(

DD is suddenly blabbering a lot. she's trying so hard to say many many things. today she came and complained rather elaborately how her brother hit her 'anna ka(i) (hand) acchi (beat), amma anna ka(i) (hand) acchi..vaa (come)' anna beat on my hands now you come and beat on his hands - how about that? funny thing she does is when i ask her to show her popo she shows mine:(

DS' question for the day to which i gave no answer so expected to be tortured week-end : amma why are you wearing the chain (mangalsutra) all the time? why other mommies are not wearing? is it because you're indian? like how you wear the dot on nose? (nose stud).. if i tell him marriage then a torrent of questions will follow.. arrghhh

[charuchitthra]

Latha, Amitha

me too having teh same issues with DH rigth now and Iam still thinking of a way . but his remarks on my parenting styles sure do hurt me.

V,

Doing elder DIL duties? Am an elder dil too and am scared if my mil uses that. I had to listen to and bear with lots of hulla bulla from SIL s inlaws during her marriage jus because am elder dil. My sil is 5 year elder to me.

SS,

Hugs to you. i had one r two sessions with oral steroids for A and that sure showed relief. U can try.

Raj,

I like teh positive outlook u ve and is not compliNING bt the long aroad trip. Yay to riya for being a good travel compNION.

K,
U got the bad end of bargain. cooking lunch is way easier than managing all other jobs.

Arthi,
Iam hoping u ll inspire me too with u following vrats. I dont follow anything regularly and i really want to. And yes we really saw so much snakes.

latha,
we r too much alike in many things. Wish u lived closer so we can meet and chat up often.

Nitha,

Don worry . u ll feel betetr once u go there. the uncertainity now is teh bugging stuff.

Gals,

Lil A s last day of school today. next year i ve registered her with another school which is far and is not giving me time to come back home n go back to pick her up. The prsent one was close to home and she enjoyed it. Its cheaper too than teh new school. But i somehow felt she might like teh new school at teh time of registration. but now am having second thoughts abt y i shud uproot her when she is so well setlled here. u know it s stressing me out and it feels like a big decission to make. lol. Iam thinking let her go to new school for MONTH or two and if she doesnt setlle tehn change. my DH says if u wanna change change now.

Am going crazy.

Regards,
Cc