And miles to go...

Many people find it amazing (in a good way and otherwise) that I became a SAHM, "for" my kids, but I find sometimes find that even if I am technically "at home", I still have so much more I want to do where the kids (and me in a connected way) are concerned! Here are just some of them:

1. Teach D (and eventually S) to cycle - this one has been on my mind a lot lately. To me, cycling is a "must have" skill and though we bought a cycle for D when she was less than 5, somehow her attitude(scared!) and my putting it off haven't helped this enterprise :(. Finally I have resolved on taking off those damned training wheels and giving it one last try, and if that doesn't work this activity is definitely getting palmed off to hubby dearest ;).

2. Less laptop time when the kids/hubby are around - I tend to push the little work that I am doing from home to the last minute and the end of the day is when I'm diligently working at my deliverables :(. Need to plan it better so that I finish most of what I need to do within the first part of the day (which is also when I end up sitting and writing my own blog of course ;)).

3. Accept that I cannot nap any more - Or at least for the next zillion years until both kids start coming back at 3:45 or so. I am a person who needs a LOT of sleep, and needing to wake up early in the morning does not make me happy. I optimistically (that I always am) keep the alarm for 5 am, snooze it about 5 times to finally wake up by 5:45, that too with half closed eyes! Of course no nap means no late nights --> which is basically my big problem.

4. Become super mom - ok ok I just had to add that to the list. This means I actually get around to sending the bestest and most nutritious food (and never chapathi and jam, or curd rice and french fries :O), manage to coach D and S as and when they'll start needing it with school activities, along with still managing to do all my own stuff(gardening, baking, reading) - those are needed for my sanity ;).

Phew! Asking for much?

And let me end by finishing that title phrase from Robert Frost ".. before I sleep" :).

What's on my mind?

When I signed up for Project 52, I thought it would be a breeze after having tried the daily blogathon in December. But no, not really as it seemed I was very badly stuck right in the 2nd week of challenge !!

So I thought the simplest way to break the block is to write about what has been on my mind lately ;).. and that is the last book of the iconic Wheel of Time (WOT) series, entitled "A Memory of Light".

In my usual unobservant style I pre-ordered the Kindle version of the book, only to realize rather late that the ebook version comes out 3 months later than the hardbound. So I made my apologies to the trees and took up a generous offer from Preethi, who had ordered an extra copy by mistake. She was so prompt at sending it to me and the book reached me the next day!

My first impression - Wow it's huge! This being an effect of predominantly using the Kindle except for the occasional paperback. It's been a while since I read a hardbound with nearly a 1000 pages in it. Doesn't deter me though and I'm making steady progress - there used to be a time when I could have finished a book like this in a couple of days but that is close to impossible now. Not even blaming the kids for it, as they know better than to disturb amma when she's reading ;). Just that I don't have the luxury of late nights or all-nighters anymore, and am probably doing a better job of actually reading the book, compared to the speed reading I used to do earlier in my enthusiasm.

With only about a quarter of the book done, I am liking it very much. Brandon Sanderson has written the last 3 books of the series after the author Robert Jordan passed away with the last few unwritten but with a lot of notes written up. In my opinion, he has kept to the essence of the series, while giving it his own style (which is pretty awesome!).

If anyone is interested in the fantasy genre, I would definitely recommend this series, and any other book by Brandon Sanderson (Try Mistborn for a beginning).

Here's to finishing the book before next week's blog ;).

Resolution Time?

The start of a new year.. that always signals resolutions of some sort to me. This year,  I tried avoiding the topic for 3 days but it keeps going around in my head so I thought I might as well write it down. Talking of resolutions,  I loved this post by Jane, wish that would work for me ;). The ones below may be repetitive with my bucket list here and there.. seem to be setting myself a lot of work in 2013!!

1. I will sow something new every month, give away seedlings if I don't have space for them :). This is necessary for me to figure out how many of those zillions of stored up seeds are viable at least!

2. I will bake one batch of something every week, this is due to about to be spending a lot of money on an appliance that I need to justify, you'll understand as you read further down ;).

3. I will wake up half an hour earlier every morning, in the hope of getting stuff ready for D to take to school without needing to go into a panic once or twice a week as I've got up too late for preparing what I wanted to!

4. I will plan at least one complete self-pampering activity every week - may be going for a Hair Spa or even just soaking my feet. Yes, I need to PLAN it or it never happens!!

5. I have recently started "No Laptop" time on request from my kids. This is usually the half hour or so after dinner during which time S and D read to me (how clever of me is that :)?). Definitely have to continue!!

6. Mindful buying - lots and lots of thinking before buying anything new. My cupboards and home are overflowing and I will only buy things that I NEED. Of course this might include a KitchenAid, some of you know how long I've been thinking over that one.

7. I will spend 15 minutes every day cleaning - just cleaning up, just 15 minutes. Flylady says this should slowly bring my home to order, it's time I stopped just reading those mails from the site and actually implemented something :).

We are now done with the marathon blogging in December, and have embarked on Project52 - at least one post a week in 2013, so this is my entry for Week 1.

Happy New Year Everyone!