You make me smile

Aww Jenni gave me this -


And I give it to these fabulous blogs who manage to brighten my day.
Sene
Melissa
Erin
Christine
Susan
Jenni
Karin
and a few Digiscrappers
Buddhini
Michelle Coleman
I would add Gina Miller here but her blog is no more :( Bad guys got to her and she shut it down.

HomeOffice Makeover Photos

Before


After





I think I'm in love with the wallpaper. I love the look and putting it up wasn't too bad either. Current plan is to do it in Mehul's room, Dining room and possibly, Powder Room. It depends on finding the right paper. If nothing inspires me then we're going with paint.

TGIF

DH took me out to lunch today. That's the benefit of working within 10 minutes of each other. We went to Olive Garden. That's a bit of a drive, but it was a slow day at work. I must have gone there after about 2 years! I used to work in the complex where this restaurant is located and would go there often for lunch, but ever since leaving that company, I haven't been back for some reason. It was nice to go back.

Two of my friends came home in the evening and while we were chatting, DH made us some potato-tikki sandwiches. He rarely cooks so it really nice gesture on his part. The tikkis were pre-made frozen ones but still.
Tomorrow, I am going with them to Diwali Festival. Should be fun! I haven't been to one of those in years. I am looking forward to the chaat (snacks)! And the dresses too.

Why is this post all about food? Moving on to some other topic -
Mehul is doing well now. That cough was hard to hear! It sounded much worse than it actually felt (as it says online). He was back in daycare in time for the Halloween Parade at school. We went Trick-or-treating in the evening. Here he is in his Horse Rider dress (picture taken earlier last month). Those are my parents in the background. I promise to put some nice pictures of them up here.


That's all I got. I'll be back with Library makeover pictures. Wallpaper and paint are done, now we just need to hang the curtains and move the furniture back in.

Yes, it is Croup. The pediatrician said we were already doing what she was going to suggest - give him steam, keep the humidifier going to help with the symptoms. We gave a treatment or two of Xopenex via nebulizer to help open up his airways. It's mainly used for lungs but does help with the throat in a pinch. He had immediate relief from the treatment. Thankfully, we already had some Xopenex at home. She wrote another prescription as well. He is doing better today but I kept him home for another day.

Karwachowth yesterday was awesome (except the headache from dehydration and caffeine withdrawal LOL!) The three of us (neighbors) who are really close wore saris and did evening puja together. Then we hung around in Monika's place until moon-rise and meanwhile put our husbands and kids on Spot_The_Moon duty. Moonrise was at 8:55 PM yesterday but we didn't see it until 9:30. We cooked together and had tea (an exception I made due to the headache. I normally don't have anything until after moonrise). I spotted the moon from the Kitchen window through the blinds. We are supposed to see the moon for the first time through a sieve and it was funny how I spotted it through the blinds. After performing the rites, we all had dinner together and left around 10:30.

Few picture DH took at home. There are some in Ira's camera but I don't have them yet.

Croup? and KarwaChowth

Mehul had a low grade fever and trouble breathing last night. His voice became horse and his cough sounded very strange. My instant thought was croup. After some reading this morning, it's almost confirmed. We will take him to the doctor tomorrow as our pediatricians office is closed today. Sadly, there isn't much we can do about it other than try to fix the symptoms. We tried giving him steam but that didn't go very well. He is acting fine and eating well so it can wait till tomorrow.
I wasn't well yesterday either. The house is a mess. I don't need anymore illnesses around here, please!

Tomorrow is my day-long fast of KarwaChowth. I blogged about this last year. This time there are many Indian neighbors who will be keeping the fast as well, so this should be fun! Last year, when DH took me out looking for the moon, an oncoming car killed a Skunk right in front of us! Please, no smelly killings this time around!

Blog Musings

It's all her fault :) She asked me to look over her new blog before the debut. I had been contemplating a blog re-do for my best friend Sene but just didn't hadn't sat down to do it. Well, after looking over Erin's Awesome Blog, I started searching for a new template for Sene. Have you looked recently? OMG! There are so many cool new templates for Blogger available now that weren't when I last looked. I just finished Sene's blog update - take a look at the result if you would like. She asked for pink and she sure got it LOL! Hope you like it, Sene!

And I have also started a new Food blog - Ginger and Garlic Blog. Why Ginger and Garlic? Because I don't know how to cook without them LOL. It's going to be my daily kitchen diary. Hope I will be able to keep up with the 2 blogs. I like the simple template for that. The template is in Spanish (which I don't know at all). Regardless of the strangers sometimes trying to talk to *me* in Spanish. So I can't customize it much. The Search feature is really cool, though.

I want to thank my readers and those who comment. It brightens up my day to get a comment, and I don't say thanks always so I wanted to take a moment. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

Pictures!

Let's get right to it.

You've already seen my first scarf ever.

My second scarf. Look how messy my edges are. They are improving now :)

Pattern:
Knit 4 rows
K3 *(K2tog Yo K) repeat from * K3

Mom made this one. It's plain garter stitch.


Same pattern as the one above. Only wider.
The picture in the background is a Paint-by-Number done by my sister!


I like this one the most. This is in Mehul's school colors and my most recent finish. Love it. Excuse the pillow fibers please! They shed more than my hair. LOL!

Pattern:
K3 *(K2P1) repeat K3
Knit next row

The bootie! A bit tight for Mehul but I love it. I'll be making the other one soon. Ran out of the gray yarn.

Pattern : here (pdf). I didn't add the straps because I am having issues with doing them. Still need to make the other one.

Dishcloths. Both started by me and finished by Mom. LOL! I don't like the cotton yarn much.

Pattern: Feather and Fan.


Can't remember what this pattern is called.

I started the Black and White striped scarf today after much frustration yesterday with it. I got some wonderful advice on the Wagon. It's looking nice:)