The little red bird is back

I have been listening to its sounds for last few days if not weeks now... Today I spotted it for the first time for this season. The Little Red bird Cardinal.... We have a nice tree line in our backyard and every summer we get delighted to see this cute little red bird. ... It's too feigity though I haven't been able to capture it into good lenses yet...

It's not our pet bird so we don't have him all year long. But we do miss not having him around during those dreary snowy wintry days... My family prefers to see it in its natural habitat.. All we do is add some bird feed here and there...

Thank you little red bird for migrating back... My backyard looks prettier than ever with you around.........

My Home for sale

This morning our house went on market for sale….. We were preparing for this to happen for a while…… But today it seems real….. The guy came and put the sale sign up on the yard… Since this morning I have been feeling somber if not downright sad….We are excited than ever about moving in our new dream home in months ahead…and we have been wanting to do this for a long time now… But, at least today, I am not feeling that thrilled about actually selling my home.. You may think it’s a ranting…..and maybe it slightly is… After all, I am the last person you will find that gets attached to THINGS that easily… I like having things but getting emotionally attached to them is just not my thing… really……... I would rather preserve memories than preserve things …But for the first time I am realizing its little hard to sell something that sort of defines you in many ways… For that matter I don’t think I have sold anything in my life ……sounds funny right? I do have an MBA in marketing so I think I know the knickknacks of selling but in real life I don’t remember going out and selling anything …not even a cookie…….. And now I am ready to sell my home… A house that we made into home for last 7+ years… A home that saw several ups and downs as our family grew… I don’t remember being this emotional about leaving the apartment and moving in here… After all, there was no ownership there… It wasn’t a personal property… but now that I have been preparing this house for sale and trying to go neutral and de-personalize everything to appeal to the potential buyers, its making me realize just how much personal attachment I have here…. Moving on is mantra of my whole life… I will be more than ok tomorrow… after all, I have done this before… just over a decade ago, I left all my personal attachments behind and was headed for something new, exciting yet unknown life here in US and look how wonderful that has turned out to be… Bitter-Sweet? You bet… and certainly this time its not that difficult…. A brand new dream home is getting ready for us and we are more than eager to move in soon… But today, I just want to pause and take my time to cherish the memories I have shared in this home… a beautiful starter home that will be somebody else’s soon…. Leaving it behind is emotionally harder than I ever thought… I guess that’s what a home does to you!!!

The CPI needs revision

All last week the buzzword on the street was drop in CPI... The deflationary pressure on Consumer Price Index. I don't know about you but I am not buying this stuff. I sincerely believe that time has come to change how the CPI is calculated. I know the economics world will have their swords ready to fight it both ways.. but as a consumer on the main street and a law biding taxpayer, I strongly support the idea that the CPI measures need to be changed. The US economy ( for that matter the Global economies) currently is dominated by service sector pricing... Gone are the days when only goods mattered more than services. The price of the goods in general have been pretty much stabilized thanks to cheap labor and ability to transport these goods across the universe ( that explains why American could afford closets filled up with baubles and trinkets...mainly because that got cheaper relative to income) ... But that certainly doesn't apply to services. Service sector ,to a large extent , can not be utilize these resources and thus the demand and supply for the service sector can be artificially manipulated. The spending really grew in service sector and this is where it hurts main street pocket books.. The drop in the CPI hardly matters to your pocket because everything that is service related is going up at the rate of 8-10% and its not counted.. All essential services including health care, education, child care, insurance, ....services that matter as much as goods for your day to day existence...but that are not counted in CPI....And salaries haven't kept up largely due to the wrong measure of CPI...I think there needs to be an Index that measures both goods and services or cost of living in total and the policies should be based on that new Index. To revert, the Great depression of our time, several policy revisions are needed ..I strongly believe that CPI calculations should be one on the top...

I am being loved again

This is the time of the year when I feel like I’m being loved all over again….don’t we all need those reassurances once in a while?...... My birthday and Mothers day usually happens within days apart…… So many of my friends called, e-mailed, buzzed, texted and pinged to wish me a happy day. I am truly thankful to all…. I really have a great sense of appreciation for all those heart felt messages. (Especially me who is terrible at keeping up with the calendars for everyone else… sorry, I really try) Thanks to internet, our social networks are expanding more then ever and its becoming easier to connect…. I am blessed to have a great loving family at home and having great friends is icing on the cake… really ….Its part of me being opinionated and emotional at once…..( TG my hubby has figured that out) And then there comes Mothers Day! To a great extent, on a day to day basis I am not sure I really care to be bragging about being a mother….. Well not today… Today I feel proud to be a mother! My boys are so small and they sometimes need me every second of the day…. really…Some days its tiring, boring, irritating and most definitely doesn’t seem that rewarding….. Not today… Today I feel loved all over again… I feel wonderful to be with them being part of their blossoming life. … Today gives me chance to reflect upon things that are important....even though at times they don’t seem to be so… I don’t have enough words to express how grateful I am towards my mother and my mother in law…. I feel fortunate to have great roll models that helped shape who I am and who I will be for my boys and folks around me……. I like to dream big, dream really big and being loved and appreciated about my own existence is certainly one of them. Thank you all for letting me realize that all over again. It means a lot to me.. Have a great day everyone!

Forces of Nature

I woke up and looked outside the other day and nature had done its wonder all over again. Oh… the spring has finally arrived. Suddenly mind feels fresh, cheery and airy.. for the matter of fact, the weather is still quite lousy with all the clouds, rain and chill...its anything but springy but suddenly trees outside decided that enough was enough.. it was time to change and there they were full of life... Sometime I wonder how do trees go through this cycle of transformation year in year out tirelessly.. Not a long ago, just about month to be exact, this was the backyard scene.... It feels so gloomy, dark and wet….. just two different shades of white... they make such a big difference though......... The days are starting to get longer and longer .... I guess I am feeling the sense of optimism all over again. sure not all spring and summer days will be bright and colorful and not all winter days are boring and dreary.... But nature has its way of rejunvating the mind, body and soul and I am glad to pause for a moment and cherish those ways. On the Earth day, I was trying to figure out how I can contribute to make the earth greener? To a great extent, I am not sure what ever I do will make that much of a difference.. Nature and its forces are so powerful after all.... nothing we do can change that.. My religion believes in worshipping the five elements of the nature. .Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space. The whole concept is based on harnessing the energy of these forces by worshiping and accepting their power for our existence. I am not much of a religious person but I do like this stuff. The sense of ambivalence.. so powerful yet so humble….. the basis of all our existence……I know mood changes are natural...(really) but almighty nature’s mood changes are so intriguing ,amazing , mesmerizing…. Happy Spring!