Gratitudes

July has been a hectic month but more so a fun month, a happy month.

The last weeks of July were spent sunning in the long stretched beach of Fort Lauderdale with my little family and cousins I hadn’t seen in a year or so. I finally got to meet their baby girl who is a year old already. While we watched our little girls bond and play in the sand, time went by all too quickly. I am thankful to have close relatives in this far away home who can make me miss my family in India a little less for a moment. It was all going well until my old laptop decided to call it quits. That meant my plan to do my very first blog post from ‘away’ wasn’t going to happen, leaving me disgruntled. ( I did manage to capture some food inspirations that I will blog about soon.) It put me in a panic about all the photos and documents that I never got into the habit of backing up. Internet access without my own computer was extremely limited. Needless to say, the situation was creating a bit of an anxiety. It’s funny how ‘things’ we don’t have overshadow what we already do.

This whole blogging thing is an addiction which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who blogs.  Then came my first blog award from Lilly Sue of Lilly Sue’s Bites and Brews and three days later another one from Dr. Dan of Mon Food Blog. I was ready to forgive my fate.  It is quite exciting being recognized by fellow bloggers and I want to extend my hearty gratitude to Lilly Sue and Dr. Dan. I now have the responsibility of passing on this recognition by nominating other bloggers. What I intend to do is take the next month or so to discover blogs that are truly versatile and nominate them for their inspirational work. The blogging community is a wonderful space and I have found beautiful blogs by beautiful individuals; hopefully, this is a nice way of giving back. A toddler glued to my hips means limited time and opportunity to explore other blogs as much as I would like to. This opportunity will surely extend my horizon.

I have been back on home turf for a week.  It already feels like I have been hit by a bus. Saira turned two a day after we got back to Newfoundland and there had to be a little cake, a little birthday party and a whole lot of preparation. Thought I’d give gum paste another go and make a few bears for her cake. Glad I tried!  I have also acquired a new laptop, although I am missing my old one where my photos and blog stuff are still trapped. I am trying to get used to this new machine. However, I have been able to download my winnings:  a Lightroom 4 by ADOBE. About two months back a hunt for an artichoke recipe ended up at the blog page of We Are Never Full and a giveaway. Thank you folks from We Are Never Full for choosing me as a winner. Lightroom is intimidating me quite a bit, I must admit. I haven’t given up trusty Picasa…I like old things, I like the known. Although, Lightroom, hold on honey, here I come.

Summer so far has been unusually hot, with places to go and lots to do. At the end of the day, what matters is that we are all happy and I am grateful for that. What I am most grateful for now is that summer isn’t quite over yet!

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