Los Altos Friday Movie Nights | KidMatter | free family movies, family activities bay area

Los Altos Friday Movie Nights | KidMatter | free family movies, family activities bay area

Did life take a full circle ??????

2009 June was a warm & sunny month , though the job weather was cold & cranky !yes layoffs were the order of the day & every day i turned on the news channels i could hear a new list of companies added to the list handing out pink slips! Every time i went to the Indian grocery store , i could hear some one mentioning ," we are moving back to India " . Well in the midst of all this my husband got a job promotion .

Now ,one of his projects were coming to an end & I was not sure what to expect , though i made plans for the summer , at the back of my mind i was preparing my self for an unforeseen move . The apartment lease was up for renual & i had found a new one closer to my son's school & his friends . I was determined to move stay in Seattle & not let worry ruin my plans , everything was falling in place .

One summer evening my husband had a call from his CA office for an interview with a client in CA,i din't think much about it ,because he was already well settled into a project in Seattle . But well, the client wanted him in CA to kick start the project ! I was quite annoyed , but my husband's superiors felt that it justified- at a time when people are loosing jobs , they had an offer for a big project only condition one guy from Seattle has to be in CA .. well its not a big deal for them . So the deal was my husband move to CA for the initial sessions & move back . I was "OK "with that idea .. i can handle things in Seattle for a month or two & then life would be normal again ! Well thats how i thought ...

He moved in ... the same place where we started off in the US . In a month it was decided that he has to spearhead the project so will have to settle in CA for good .. at least until further notice . I was more than upset , how could this have happened , i had a plan .. i had researched& found the ideal location ,best school for my son , my second car , the course i need to join when fall semester starts ,plans to invite my sis over for a white Christmas !!! Everything was down the drain in a day .

The whole night i stay awake wondering how to reboot my self to a new place , change of school , home , weather , doctors , everything i had worked hard to figure out & love has to change ... i dint have any time to research anything ... but there was a sigh of relief ...we have some known faces there .. thats a blessing .I just thought about that & decided to go ahead & pack .. "God has a plan " i though to my self .

I was pleasantly surprised when my son was overjoyed about the move ... he loved California not because he remembered it , its just that he's the No.1 fan of" lightning Mc queen " the cheeky car from the movie "cars" & my son has watched that move a 100 times the least ! He kept mentioning to everyone excitedly he's moving to California where "Mc queen " lives !

Well i'v been here for almost a year now !!! Time flies & dint leave many traces behind ! The winter was unusually cold here in the bay area , the summer not as intense , but the presence of friends sure made a difference . I still miss the white Christmas ,the beautiful fall colors & overgrown trees &all that i had grown to love back in Seattle ... nature is not as beautiful here , but i sure feel blessed to be around friends .

Settling down did take time , but not as much as i thought . I had to change my son's school more than once to get the right fit . Send my husband searching for apartments in different tangents, rearrange my furniture , sell & buy a few ...but thats life & God has been kind enough to teach me " one day at a time " . I dont know what future holds for me .. but let me live my now ...reminds me of the song from my son's favourite moivie " life is a highway "!!!!

Dance India Dance

Being the "desi" that i am @ heart , i love to watch all the India telivision programmes on the net ... what else can a poor stay @ home mom do !!!! Not true really ... i love dance & music & watching all those programmes gives me a lot to discuss with my family back home .. yeh the girls stuff .. i mean debating "who did better " & "who is my favourite " etc .... for some weard reason my sister & I always cheer with dedication totally different people , be it in sports ( Monica Seles & Steffi Graf , movies ( Akshay Kumar & Shahruk Khan ) ( Sridevi & Madhuri Dikshit ) ....& anything & everything ... So what i was saying is for what ever reason , i watch some India programes ...& get excited when my favourite is scoring well ...

The latest that caught my time & excitement was Dance India Dance , its an India version of the american dance show " so u thin u can dance " .... yewh ofcourse with some modification o suit the India audience ... the drama , the crying & prompting to choose the right winner .... Having watched a few seasons of "so u think u can dance " i was not very sure what to expect from Danice India Dance ... i always though Indians dont care much for dance & music ... as a full time career ... its always thought of as stuff for the not so academically inclined & back benchers( sorry thats what i was taught to beleive in my growing up years )
Well i must say i was glad i chose to watch it ... i realized that thereare lots of boys & girls out there who are serious about dance . I would'nt comment on the judgement of the judes or the Mahaguru ... I strongly beleive a mentor & Judge cannot be the same person .. its just puts them in the wrong spot .... but yes i liked the programme minus the drama ... there was a lot of good dancing . As long as u dont get involved with the drama& watch the dance its a gr8 programme .

Well after saying all this i must say i got a little involved with this programme & have a favourite too Jai Kumar Nair... may be because i'v been a shahruk khan fan in my school days & Jai is too or may be because his roots are from Kerala tooo .. well i think not .. he really seems to dance well & soo light on his feet .... but all said & done , i'm not sure who's gonna win... anyways Good luck to him ...

He's not the only talented guy out there for sure ...a few of my favourites are here ....
Mayuresh's acrobatic act .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rojD2iIZpR8thast the 1st time i watched it on Indian telivision
Alisha's locking & poppinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNIH9UJowPE i love this girls attitude on the dance floor , Salman's & Alisha's Cuban salsa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr1uSDNbr7I, Salman & Kushboo'shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg9Iq9hthsU , salman lloks best with a partner ,Vrushali's expressions, Siddesh's bollywood acts especially the kuch khaas hai with sunita http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taRrK77Nq9E... well each of them had something that set them apart ....
The mentors are good too Geeta gives the ample amount of bollywood drama & dance . Terrence with his search for perfomance & focus on dance & Remo with his dedication to stand by his contestants in every act .... I would love to watch a 2nd season of this show . The only change i would like is a little less of politics if any ... i know its unavoidable espicially if the mentors of one group have to judge the others aswell .... I guess so far Terrence is the only one who has been able to do that well ... but may be that's a drawback aswell , cause he never dose a coverup for his team & they unfortunately land in trouble ( the reality telivision angle always goes by what is being portrayed & not what it actully is !!!! )
Anyways all in all a good show ..... & it sure is one of the best dance shows , other than boogie woogie ...

"Sleepless in Seattle "

Living in the bay area , i always thought that its a gr8 place to live .. loads of sunny days & open land ,parks , museums & lots of Indians & Indian restaurants too .I loved it there .Then when my husband was offered a job in Seattle , i was wondering what now ??? I've heard about the Space needle & Microsoft HQ & that it rains quite a bit ! I was wondering how life would change if at all ..... It had taken me sometime to settle in the bayarea living all my life in India .

Living in Kerala for the most of my life , rain was the least of my challenges .I love the rain & has spend a number of rainy days playing in the rain , making mud piles & splashing dirt with my sister . Building paper boats, floating it in streams of rainwater & we even had boat races with our paper boats . I love the rain & it would be a good idea to let my son grow up & enjoy the rain aswell , I was eager to checkout the positives of moving to Seattle . I did a lot of research & found that its a gr8 place to settle with a family , gr8 education system , better housing costs than the bay area ( no surprises there !!) wonderful parks & loads of activities for kids & grownups , absence of state tax ,Wow! so we decided to move to Seattle ,especially after the hot & long summer in the bayarea , It was hotter than back in India .

We finally moved to Seattle the last day of October ( yeah on Halloween's ) , it was still sunny & warm in the bayarea & i had been preparing myself to get ready for the not so warm Seattle ! At the airport i found all the passengers headed Seattle had a warm winter coat handy .Ii had mine too ( the one i had used in Tahoe in winter ) & every time i tried it @ home i would pacify myself saying "its not gonna be that cold , its just rainy in Seattle " i landed at the Sea-Tac airport & a gush of cold breeze flew by & i felt really cold , but that was just the beginning . The journey from the airport to our temporary apartment ( my husband's office arranged it ) was pleasant , the roadside views were totally different ;the difference between a dessert & a forest !!!! In the bayarea every time we drove you could always find the road stretch miles ahead of us & empty or almost empty land on either sides of the freeway , but here in Seattle i felt as if i was on a Safari ( a little exaggerated expression , but that's exactly what i felt then ) The roads were twirly & huge trees on both sides of the freeway , any vacant space had breathtaking views of beautiful lakes , blue clouds touching the water's edge , beautiful fall foliage .That the first time i had ever seen it other than in photographs . It was beautiful . Settling down took more than a week .. the morning mist & clouds & huge trees let almost no light in through my window ... & i felt miserable , like a traped rat ... & dint know what to do .... but i was determined to make it work & everyday evening i took my son out for a stroll as we used to do in CA , but alas i never found anyother family around & i was wondering why !!! In CA strolls to the park in the morning & evening were the best way to bond with other parents & kids . Well i got the answer in les than a week , i was down with a flu & so was my son ....& we even had to use heaters in the house in October !!!! So gradualy i realized life is gonna be a bit different here in the Northwest .. being a beach bum o@ the arabian sea coast with warm water & moderate climate all my life , i had no idea how strong climate would impact my lifestyle . I found it vey hard for the whole of October & November ...i would desperately watch the weather channel , waiting for a sunny patch & i could run out without all the gear !!!! My son felt out of place , loosing all his friends back in CA & not able to meet anyone here ... by December i managed to get a hold over how things happen here ..... Slowly but steadily i discovered indoor activities for the winter & none was hapier than my son .
Christmas came & i was thrilled .. i'v seen snow once before in Tahoe & that was it , i'v heard someone tell me it might snow maybe a couple of times in winter . I loved it in Tahoe & was looking foward to it in Seattle ... well i was not dissapointed on this one ... It snowed on christmas day .. well that was the best part of Christmas for me that year ... That was the first time i had experienced a white christmas .... atleast thats a consolation of having to celebrate Christmas away from all our families back in India . I miss my family & especially so for my son , not being able to spend time with his grandparents , aunts & uncles & cousins . But the white Chrsitmas did heal my heart & give me a wonderful feeling & i felt @ home right here in Seattle .
Christmas was over , but the rain & cold remained , by now though i had realized that its better not to wait for a sunny day ....my son was so very upset of being alone i realized its best for him to attend day care for a few hours each day ... that was one of the best decisions we made ... he was more than happy & made friends & ate food all by himself & sang his ABC's all befor he was two .
Seattle has been home for us for two years now & we still have lots of places to discover ... & inspite of all the rain & cloudy days that drives me to depression , i love it more than CA.
Each season has its own colour & beauty , nature is @ its best here . Lots of activities for each season , waterfalls , trecking , hiking , parasailing , ice skating ,tubing , bicycling , wildlife , natural wonders all of it is less than an hour drive .
for anyone who wants to make it home , its an awsome place , just tolerate the cloudy days with a pinch of salt ... but its a good deal .... U'll never go sleepless in seattle wondering what to do next ....