My Lady of the Lantern

So there are times when I am what I theoretically say that I am not. Like what I would not want to say that I do but I actually do. This relates to a 2 1/2 year old girl I recently met. I had my small bit of contention about the way she was behaving. In one word, she is stubborn. The other thing is that she apparently has a sweet tooth. So her pediatrician asked her parents to take her off sweets, because she was overdoing on sweetmeats. Well, so if you do not give your child items that essentially qualify as desserts, one would have to certainly give items that taste non-sugary right? So, this one day, I looked at all that she had...the one non-sweet thing she had was an egg, but otherwise the little one had let's see, Cashew biscuits, raisins, cake and a mixture of curd and rice. The last item could have been counted non-sweet, but mom dear mixed three teaspoonful of sugar in it! Am I being wrong if I think that her parents are not really helping the 'eating habit'? I als...

I was proofreading a colleague's thesis yesterday. In her acknowledgement, she mentioned her sweet angel, her daughter, and thanked her for being so patient with her mother in all the time she was doing her research. Hmmmm... Nopes, I will have to completely skip that mention. My kids are missing from real life. ^WiseGuy^

I opened my refrigerator to find my stock of the pee-sticks at zero. On 26th, I will buy myself the customary devils, coz I have resolved to test every cycle , no matter how vague my chances are. ************************************ This past week has witnessed me packing like crazy. Neighbours from the previous building popped up at random, enquiring my need to move during those two days of packing/shifting. One of the ladies was asking me about what other homes we had seen through for possible renting. I told her how we were stuck on finding a flat to live in rather than an independent house/bungalow for safety reasons (as DH tends to stay away from the city at sporadic intervals). She nodded in complete agreement at the DH-away angle. “And you don’t even have children, or that would have kept you occupied a bit.” She also wanted to know why we decided to move into a three bedroom apartment. Because I may reproduce. “Oh no other flat was empty, and this location is quite nice.” ( whi...

I promise that my post is not as classy as the brilliant title. I am through with the Wedding 2, and am about to depart tonight for my current-abode city. You know what happens when you are in a swarm of people...close, not-close, too-close, about-to-get-close, were-close, want-to-be-close, not-close-but-prying-close, moles. Oh, so you have been married how many years now? Six? Okay. And any Baba, Baby? *** Oh, so she is your niece. She is your SIL's daughter. Oh, but are you not the No. 2 DIL? Your SIL is No. 3 no? *** What girl? You are not planning or what? Then came another pearl. The next day of the wedding, my eldest BIL was lamenting that none of the brothers get together now like they once used to. With that thought, he said Oh come on, we must planning something soon, before these two (pointing at the newly-weds) get into the queue(i.e. have a baby on the way)... I was sitting there in the group and it struck that I was not counted in the likely soon-visitors of Babyland. ...

First of all, let me tell you that I am feeling nice today - because I feel free! Today is the first day, I am without any sanitary protection after a span of 13 days....Initially, it was precautionary...and then for the actual deed. I am glad its over. For now, atleast. Secondly, today morning, I was ruminating on a particular classmate [and groupmate] X whom I had in school. I was a part of a group of about 8 girls. I was tight knit with another girl, but we 8 hung out together. X got married almost right out of school - she must have been just 18/19 then....obviously she started TTC before the whole lot of us even thought of getting married. And she had a hard time....she changed doctors, she changed cities...finally about 8 years into the struggle she had a baby. I have not been in touch with her at all.....but I kept getting random bits about her through common friends. Once upon a time, I got told about what next she was about to do.... Would I myself have not become the gossip...

Well there had been a meeting in the office on Saturday evening and the Director asked us to submit choices for assignments in the next calendar year by Tuesday. The deal is that we may not get exactly everything of our liking, but allocations are made looking at preferences. If you remember this November post , my extended stay in City I then had caused me to surrender a plum assignment. Well, this time I was openly asked whether I would want to do it this year, and I turned down the offer outright. There is so much commitment (time, efforts and strategizing) involved that if I am planning an IVF/ICSI cycle again, there would be an ill-available me at some key points. Anyways, I spoke to my Director yesterday, (in private, behind closed doors) and I let him know that I am likely to take a month off. (My problem is that I need to travel overnight to a totally different city to meet my RE and there are no appropriate experts available here in G ). For IUI or just timed cycles, medical ...

Possible Answers: a) They could be three and a half by now. b) Oh, in August 2010, they would have been celebrating their first birthday. c) I do not have children. d) My kids are younger than Nadya Suleman's 14. The right answer is 'c'. Applause! A workshop is being conducted in the institute and we have several delegates who have joined us from other places. Last evening, there was an outing to a local amusement park and most of my female colleagues, brought their children along. So one of the delegates was enquiring kid count for all of us, and I was the last one she asked. When I gave my answer, I just moved away a bit. The usual second question after my 'None!' is as to how many years have I been married . And then, some funny advice either comes around or a bland 'huh' happens. Anyways, that delegate spared me the second question. And I am so glad that she did. ^WiseGuy^

This is a collection of kids – recent entrants to my environs. And each one of them is a charmer. Someday, I will post my own success story as well. //Picture removed to protect privacy DJ is a cool guy! (Literally)… he is my cousin’s son and is in the US. By far, I still do not have a one to one interaction with him. //Picture removed to protect privacy She is my sis-in-law’s daughter, and this photo of hers is when she was just a couple of hours old. Now she is almost seven months and has really evolved facial features //Picture removed to protect privacy And this is a favourite snap of a colleague’s son. He has very Pahadi (mountain-dwellers) looks, obvious from his lineage. His mom has posted a lot of snaps of him on Orkut but this is the one I like the best. //Picture removed to protect privacy C is the son of a very close friend. Again, this picture of his is taken when he was a couple of hours old. C is very affable, as reported by my mother who was the doctor who delivered him...

Yeah Yeah.... I have been undergoing the ovulation study for this cycle and will be travelling to City I to see if this one gets fructified. My sonologist is not available tomorrow, so I can't take any chances. The left ovary has one follicle that is at 17...it would supposedly erupt anytime.... I hate this thing. This cycle, an IUI is being planned. So, first the artifical means of getting pregnant and then waiting for the periods and the depression of bleeding through. For me, it is not the possibility of not having children that is scary, but the thought of being incapable of it that is scarier. Will see what comes through....