Snow Walk

Sitting in a couch with a hot cup of coffee and gazing outside the window as the rain makes the place more green and clean - what a sight :) That too when your home juz has more windows facing the road than Wall :)) I was rejoicing this sight for the last few months. But now...its more pleasant and fun. Why pleasant - because its this white beauty snow and why fun because its the same white beauty slightly crystalizing and making even normal roads as skate grounds :)

Gazing is fine and fun, but when you really have to make your ride from home to Gym in this slippery snow it becomes a nightmare. I pay 350 NOK every month for my gymming, its the cheese thing on top to keep you warm for winter - now do I have any excuse to skip Gym? No Chance!!!! and Oh yeah I forgot my sturdy long Winter Shoes that I bought :) They are amazing!!!!!

So now I am getting ready for this snow walk and here comes my Lecturer (no credits for guessing ;))) Advise No 1: Cover yourself fully and properly, dont expose yourself to these sub zero temp you might get knee pain later. Anu: OK Boss. Advise No 2: Do not put your hands into your coat pocket, you might not get balance. Anu: OK Boss. Advise No 3: Bend forward and walk, you get more balance. Anu: OK Boss. Advise No 4: Walk along the path where they have more gravel, it wont slip. Anu: OK Boss. Advise No 6: Walk properly seeing what is down, dont go and stumble upon something (this is a general one for the last 3 years).Anu: OK Boss.

NOw its already late and I just have another 20 minutes to reach my Gym. It generally takes 15 mins. But with this snow walk thing and 5-10 mins set aside in the changing room, the rubber gets ready to hit the road :)

The fun started right outside my doors. I guess that was the worst slippery area of all. With great concentration and balance, managed it. No iPod yesterday'ah, as I had to do this concentration thing :)) But still your mind starts to wander slowly "They hype so much about Neil Armstrong's moon walk, ask him to come and do this slippery snow walk, I vouche - he would say moon walk was cat walk", "Well, its not all that difficult I guess, it juz needs some more concentration and balance, its fun and I am good so far", "Oh god!!! here comes the scariest part, I should cross this successfully",(I am taking the slide near the new Asia Shop, parallel to where your bear statue sits and laughs everytime people fall on its feet ;) ) "Let me not take the road less travelled, I might need some resuce force if I fall down", "snow separately is fun, rain separately is fun, but why does it rain when it is snowing - is it double beauty or double jeopardy??", "I did it, just few meters" - with all these thoughts I finally reached my destination :)

75 minutes of workout - physically - nah!!! It was mentally - how do I do the same thing back home successfully!!!!

Return journey was more challenging as I had to do some grocery shopping and I am weighing few kilos extra now with my backpack loaded with Milk,Curd,Vegetables etc....But I pat my back myself with all positive thoughts and inspiration and the ride starts.

Kids does this snow walk like walking or rather running on normal road (they are kids and they just weigh like feathers), teens are having fun, they are purpose fully running and sliding (well they are born and brought up here, so its ok),middle age crowd does that sturdy walking (they gym,cycle,swim,skii,walk,run and hike okie) the old goldies are the one really having fun, they have this sleigh like board which just goes whooooooooooo....they cross like wind (neccessity is the mother of invention) So you can guess how I would have felt walking infront of all these pros :(( but as long as I was managing without falling,  I too felt like an Indian pro :)) and became a great example for the saying "slow and steady wins the race". Had this step before step walking(what we call adipradhakshanam) been in some Indian temple, I would have got all the favors that i could wish for :)

Now that I have finished my journey, should I say "I am good at my balance and concentration" or "it was just another lucky day"!!!!!

Another year passed by!!!

It just look like yesterday :) thats what we keep saying as we age every year. As one of my cousin rightly said, Birthday comes with no surprise or delay. Every year means something special to us. Good and bad memories comes in bundle every year. Well, last year was more of fun I should say, I was a busy Mom for my dear Shravan, I have spent all 11 months with him and mostly with him only. Going for a stroll, Watching cartoons, Playing with toys, Reading books, Littering the house with food items, Cleaning and Cooking is what all we did - Werent we busy ? :))

With Shravan's arrival I became a responsible mom and that to after moving to Norway I became/had to become more responsible. With all the three meals to be cooked at home (I hate Norway for this - No restaurant at all, except for Pizzas) I became a better cook. The luxury of Maids!!!! is gone. I still laugh at my India maid's concern on the first call I made "enna ma...vettu velai ku aalu kedaichitangala?" I loved her concern :) But yes I did find one, or found one within me :((. So what more can you ask from a typical home-maker...Baby sitting, cooking and cleaning is most of our routines.

"Let me do something useful", "Let me try my hand at this",etc...I guess this keeps ringing in all the idle minds at home and so did this in 10A Bussedalan as well (Thats my house address ;) ). I have started to explore few of my interests now. Every time I google to learn more about one thing, I start getting interest on something else new. I started to google Origami, I ended up loving Quilling. I wanted to paint - now I am doing on Glass, fabric and also with coffee :). The love for making my own jewelery and just keep making to gift my sister is another new passion. I have started balloon sculpting for shravan. Vegetable Carving is something I am still in gazing youtube stage. Knitting and Threading is always there on the list. Lets see how much of quality time I spend on these in the years to come :)

The long pending trip to Paris happened this year :). It was on the big list of 2008 Europe tour. Our very sorry story of losing our passports in Italy needs a mention here as well. What we planned as a honeymoon trip happened atlast as Shravan's second birthday treat :). My sister's trip here to Norway again was another "always cherished days".

Oh yeah!!! I am a software engineer, I keep telling myself this once in a while so that I dont forget the SDLC, meetings, onsite calls, deliverables, quality, status report (Oh god!!! I am not getting any other terms). I will be starting my work in the third quarter, but PMP before that :). This blog has become more like my yearly appriasal with future goals. I guess indeed it is!!! This is a good exercise to refresh my appraisal writting skill :). So how is going to review my appriasal, ofcourse its YOU!!!!

So If I continue blogging regularly, you can soon see a post next year with more updates from my personal, professionals and passional life.

P.S Forgot to mention, the much awaited snow showed up finally on my birthday. There is a saying right - It rains in the land where good people are born, I guess for Norway, Its snow in the land when good people are born :)