Catching up with old friends

Lately with managing a full time job, looking after S, and also being pregnant (and putting on too much weight which means I get much more tired more easily, and it takes me 5 mins to do what I could earlier do in a minute) I’ve been getting the feeling that it’s the same old routine on the weekdays and rest/doctors visit over the weekend and no time to meet friends, have a night out and generally see what the world is upto.
With my mom coming over for two weeks (due to a maid exigency, I fired one of the baby maids in a sudden burst of irritation- she had come on and off for the last 1 week, after taking a 10 day holiday, and was acting pretty strange saying she’s unwell and cant tell when she can come to work, though she seemed perfectly fine on the days she did come) I took full advantage of having a grandparent at home and finally managed to catch up with some old friends and we also managed to fit in a movie.

Friday night was dinner with old colleagues, some of whom I had not met for more than 2 years. Good fun cribbing about old bosses and catching up with what people are doing now. Our old team in office used to be quite close knit, we used to step in for each other quite a bit, and go out quite often. The team was a new one, and I guess we were all learning together. We went to Da Vincis which is an Italian place and has excellent pizzas! Only thing is that it doesn’t serve liquor, and while I did not mind, the other people in the group has second thoughts about leaving and going to another place!

Saturday night was a bachelors party for a friend who is getting married next month. It was largely college friends, and some people from my friend’s workplace. We met at Hard Rock Café and for once I found myself in the funny position of being the only person in the group not drinking. And the funniest thing is- most of these people either never used to drink at campus, or used to have just the token drink. And frankly Hard Rock Café is not the place to be if you are not drinking, because the music is really loud and you cant have a conversation, and the food is not great either. But the music was nice and a couple of our college friends had landed up early and requested for some old college classics such as November Rain, Dire Straits etc. We also quizzed the to be couple about each others favourite things and managed to pull my friend’s leg quite a bit. Though we couldn’t complete it since the music was so loud we could hardly hear each other. I had to leave early around 11, since I was tired. Somehow the travel to the place, the loud music and the chairs made me feel quite uncomfortable and by around 11 I was really tired and ready to drop. Hope this is only a pregnancy thing and not a sign of me growing old! I have never usually been the first to leave a party, especially with college friends!

The next weekend, I met up with colleagues from my old workplace for lunch. We went to this really nice Italian place called Café Mangi. I’ve been meaning to try out these new places for some time, but my hubby is not one to experiment with new places, and usually waits for others to go and then recommend them. I strongly recommend this place- both the pastas and pizzas are amazing, only thing is that the restaurant is small and the seating is slightly cramped. The last time I met these ex colleagues was 2 years ago and then I was carrying S- they must be thinking I’m constantly pregnant. They were quite disappointed that I had not got S along- but it was her nap time and she had not been sleeping properly the whole week so I thought better if she gets a good nap at home, and I would also not be rushed to finish early. There was another girl of about 4- the parents are now based in Dubai, and the lunch was actually to meet them on their annual holiday from Dubai; she was quite disappointed at having no company and spent the afternoon going under the table from one parent to the other. But was otherwise extremely well behaved, no running around the place, tantrums etc. Wonder whether S would sit so still when she is older!
Anyway in Dubai, I believe that they make kids take written entrance exams to join nursery there! Quite a strain for the parents (in teaching the child) and the child- in taking an entrance exam so early in life! I think the purpose of such a thing is quite silly- the school is supposed to educate you, if you are already supposed to know stuff when you join, then what is the purpose of sending the children to school? Towards the end of the lunch another colleague landed up with his 14 month old son. What a cutie, and he actually ate mashed potatoes that his parents ordered for him. Till date S has never eaten anything which has been ordered for her in restaurants, except the odd French fries which also she gets bored of within 10 mins. Was chatting with the mother who said she’d just finishing her one year sabbatical from work and would be resuming work in January. One year sabbatical sounds good- her son is not so dependent on her anymore and she also is keen on getting back to work. She plans to drop of her son and maid to her uncle’s house everyday, and then pick them up on the way back. Sounds like my busy schedule- drop S of at school, rush to work, then pick S up from school and drop her home, then rush back to work, then home for lunch and then back to work, and finally wind up by 6:30 – 7 and go home and meet S in the park. Why is it that the women only have to adjust their work timings to look after the kids, I wonder. …

Finally the hubby and I managed to catch a late night movie- Kurban. I don’t particularly like either of the main actors, and agreed to go along just because we hadn’t seen a movie for some time, but was pleasantly surprised with the acting and the plot. It is a similar terrorist husband plot to New York, but is much more realistic and facts are not glossed over like in New York. It comes as a real shock to the wife when she realizes that her husband is a terrorist and only married her for a visa to enter the USA Quite different from New York where the wife pretends she doesn’t know her husband is a terrorist. Hello- surely you would notice if your husband disappeared at all weird hours of the day and seemed secretive about his activities. Anyway this will probably be our last midnight movie with S in tow- she woke up around 12:30 and refused to go back to sleep. She ended up watching the bomb sequence and kept saying bad man/policeman/bomb etc. She still remembers it and says” That day, bomb, bad man” so I don’t think it’s a very good experience/influence on her which should be repeated.

The pregnancy is getting quite tiring now that I’ve entered the third trimester and also put on tons of weight. I have another month or so in office and then I plan to take my maternity leave and prepare for the next baby- more like I will need some rest as I cannot imagine working and looking after S in the 9 month! Last time I worked till the last day, but this time I feel I am getting very tired already- by the evening my stomach and back are both out!