Thanksgiving weekend

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend with one of our close friends(S & S) coming in from New Jersey for the weekend. Their son V is 3 months elder than Nikki and this is the first time Nikki had an opportunity to spend time with somebody around his age for longer than 2-3 hours. All of us had a very good time, eating, talking and having fun with the kids. The first day, he did not seem to notice V at all and was interacting only with the elders. From the second day, he was going wherever V was going, wanting to play with the same toys that V was playing with, trying to pull his hair, poke his eyes, put fingers into his mouth, both of them talking to each other in their own language, it was real fun watching them interact.

Coming to what the elders did: eat good food, chat, shop and watch movies
Here is the menu on Thanksgiving:

Breakfast:
Idli, Onion Uthappam, coconut chutney, kaara chutney

Lunch:
Veg noodles (Chinese), Gobi-manchurian, Rice, Murungakka sambar, Avarakaai poriyal, Thakkali rasam, Curd rice, Potato fry and Mango milkshake.
(everything cooked from scratch other than the milkshake. I used store bought mango pulp to make it)

We watched Devar Magan(one of my all time favs) in the evening munching the murukkus made by my mom earlier that week.

Dinner:
Paav Bhaji and Idli uppuma (made from the leftover ones from the breakfast)

Other than that, the day was spent chatting, browsing online and checking the flyers for deals. I had zeroed in on a Corningware Bakeware set on sale at Macys for 19.99, some toys and some more kitchen stuff(chopper, handmixer etc.) and DH had lot of electronic items on his list.

Black Friday

The plan was that DH and Mr.S will head out early in the morning for LCD TVs and the like and I, Mrs.S and V will start around 7.30 AM after feeding our kids. I had informed DH to take the old car(his and not used frequently these days because he is taking public transport for work) and leave mine to me. He promptly forgot(I have a strong suspicion that he did it intentionally to stop me from shopping) and took the new one. The old car does not have the car seat base, so I was stranded home. From 8 AM, I called him up every 30 mins asking him to rush home, but he came home only around 12 PM. By the time we reached Macys it was 12.30 and since Corningware was a doorbuster, I did not get it. Bought a stainless steel set instead. Took a portrait with the 2 kids at the Picture People at the Mall. Shopped for winter clothes for Nikki at the Children’s place and picked some clothes for the adults at Eddie Bauer. Had lunch at the food court in the mall and headed to Kohls. Just when another friend P called us and said she would like to drop in to see us that evening because it had been long time since we met, I asked her to stay around for dinner. We were tired by the shopping anyway, so hurriedly bought some toys, some more dresses and reached home by 7 PM. Saturday was Mr.S’s birthday, we had planned to throw him a surprise Bday party, I & DH headed out for shopping again under the pretext of grocery shopping. Went to BJ’s, bought a cake, dresses for the S family, milk and fruits(we had to buy grocery). Came home by 8 PM, mom and Mrs.S had made Arisi-paruppu sadham(rice cooked with dhal and spices), I made some uthappams with coconut chutney. P left around 9.30 PM and then we all sat down on the floor in the living room chatting and opening up the purchases we made that day (I love this part more than the shopping experience itself). Every cell in my body was aching, but we were determined to stay up unitl 12 AM to celebrate S’s bday. We sent S to bed around 11 PM, got the cake from the car and took it to the attic, found the candles and had everything ready to go by 12 PM. S was really surprised and happy, he told us this is the first time ever he is blowing candles and cutting cake for his birthday. Wow! and it was us who made him do it! After having cakes and another little chat, all of us went to bed by 12.45 AM.

Woke up late on Saturday morning. Mom prepared semiya payasam and medhu vadai and I made rava kichadi(Uppuma made in biriyani style) for breakfast. That afternoon S threw his birthday party at a wonderful Punjabi restaurant at Cambridge, all of us had a sumptuous meal. Bhel puri, Bhindi masala and Tandoori roti were ultimate. Saturday evening was spent chatting. S family left for NJ early on Sunday morning. I & DH had our breakfasts earlier than usual on Sunday morning and joined Nikki for his early afternoon nap. Woke up refreshed after 2 hours, did some cleaning around the house and by evening Monday blues started kicking in. Do I really hate work that much?