I've been lucky!

I know I have been a bad, bad blogger. My last post was two months ago! I get really caught up with work and of course those addictive Facebook games. Also, I hate typing!! So my daughter has offered to type while I dictate.
This is just going to be a happy-happy post where I tell you that I won something beautiful! A while ago, Franca over at Oranges and Apples had a giveaway on her blog. The winner got to choose from two beautiful necklaces by Marie Bee (both available in her etsy shop, The Blue Balloon.) Marie is a really talented photographer & her antique jewelry is so pretty. I don't usually enter giveaways but when my daughter showed me this I knew I had to enter. And guess what, I won!
The necklace I won is called Rainbow warrior. It is made from a crystal clear vintage chandelier prism. An antiqued copper filigree cone is fitted over the top, which makes the entire pendant about 3.5 inches tall. The brass chain is 30 inches, and slips over the head.

Rainbow Warrior Necklace

Isn't it gorgeous? Thanks, Franca & Marie. You made my day. I am sure my daughter is going to click a ton of photos & feature it on her style blog the moment it arrives.
Now I am off to spend Christmas & New Year in a beautiful resort in Goa with my husband. So happy holidays everyone. Have fun & take care.

Love,
Sheila

Nest

When I was a small child we lived in a home having trees and a lot of greenery  I was used to seeing a lot of birds flying around. I also used to observe the birds building nests for the eggs that would later hatch into many more little ones flying around in a month or so.

I used to see the male/female of the tit bird and also the weaver bird building their nests that would take care of the eggs and keep them safe from the weather and other predator birds.I also saw the crows picking up all sorts of wires and all sorts of things to make a nest where the cuckoo would also lays its eggs. I always marveled at the energy that the birds had going in search of things and coming back to make the nest a cosy place for the eggs and also for themselves because it was they  who sat on the eggs to give them warmth and helped in the hatching of the eggs.
In a way we too build nests for our small babies as we prepare for their arrival. Most parents will forgo the things they want so that they can give the best to their children.
Hoping and praying that we have the strength to always take care of our nests even when the young ones have flown away.
Happy nesting,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

Mafia Wars

Mafia Wars is a multiplayer browser game created by Zynga. It is available on Facebook.

Addicted to Mafia Wars

I started playing Mafia Wars after I registered on  Facebook in April 2009. My daughter was playing the game and she invited me to join. When we were in Goa I played a little when we went to the cybercafe. After that we went for a three week holiday to Bangkok and when we were not sightseeing or shopping the three of us used to go to the cybercafe at the resort. With the high speed connection at the resort I played a lot and got addicted to Mafia Wars.
After our return to Mumbai in June 2009 I continued playing at home and when Ezy used to see me playing when he was at home he teased me and said that I did all the jobs in Mafia Wars New York such as Mugging, Auto Theft, collect on a loan, bank theft etc. and enjoyed myself.
Right now I am on level 955 and I really do not know when I will be bored and stop playing the game.
Till then I will have fun by robbing and looting in the game.

Take care,
Sheila.

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

Lego

Lego is  a line of construction toys manufactured by a company in Denmark.
I remember the time when Magali and I were sailing on a ship with my husband and I purchased the first Lego bucket for her in Singapore. Some months later we were in a port in Thailand and since it was December 1994,

Some of the minifigures from Magali's lego collection.
Photograph by Magali.

Ezy told me to buy some toys for Magali for Christmas. I went to the toys department and bought lot of mini figures and different sets of Lego. Every morning when Magali woke up I used to give her one box and would love to see the excitement on her face when she opened the box. She was small (about 2 years and 8 months) and thought that Santa was giving her all those gifts.When Ezy  was free all three of us would sit on the deck (floor of a ship) in the cabin and make all the sets and really love to try out different things that could be done. Magali really loved Lego and some were used and thrown out while some are still there and displayed in our show case. Magali was just clicking some photos a few days ago.
I remember those lovely days we spent as a family on a ship and made all different things with Lego.

Love to all,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday

K for Kindness.

Kindness is the act or state of being kind.

A blind person being helped across the road by a sighted person

We should be kind to people without expecting anything in return. Everyone should make an effort to be kind to  people and even animals so as to make a small little difference in their lives.
I sometimes see a blind person being led by a sighted person on the road and it really makes me  glad.
When I see anybody offering a seat in the bus to an elderly person or a woman in advanced stage of pregnancy it makes me sing. When I  help anyone in their time of need I really feel blessed by the Gods for being given a chance to do good to a human being.
I am also  kind to all the old persons I meet when I go to The Home for the aged because most of them there have been abandoned by their children or relatives.
I have taught my daughter to be kind too and I really love it when she is so kind to the dogs and cats when we visit my Mum in Goa.
My prayer today is that we should  be blessed with kindness in our lives always.
With lots of love,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

J for Joshua

Joshua is my small little nephew who was born on 23rd May 2009. He is a cute little bundle of mischief who is so full of energy that he keeps his parents on their toes all the while. The little rest they get is when he is taking a nap in the daytime and when he sleeps at night. I have taken care of him the few times I have visited their home because they do not live close by and time does not permit me to visit them often , though I speak to them often on the phone. Even when I am talking to his mother he wants to say "Ello" to me when his mother tells him that it is "Aunt Sheila"  she is speaking to. He loves to play with all the pots and pans instead of the lovely toys he has.

I last saw him on 11th June 2010 which happened to be my brothers birthday. I hope and pray that he grows to be a good child to his parents.

Love to all,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday

My New Domain

Hello everybody,
I'd like to tell you that I have a brand new domain- http://www.Chila.in
I chose the name 'chila' because of my daughter Magali who plays with me when she is in a naughty mood & asks me what my name is & I playfully tell her that my name is Chila (pronounced as Cheela... obviously a kiddish way of pronouncing my name Sheila.
When I fianlly decided to get myself a domain, I chose Chila! Also I chose a .in domain because as I mentioned in my last post I am proud to be Indian.
Best wishes to all,
Sheila

PS. Thanks BigRock for the domain.

I for India, Identity, Ice cream

India is the country of my birth.
It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area and  the second-most populous country in the world.
I was born 47 years ago in Mumbai (India) when it was not so crowded as it is today. Even though India is looked down upon by the other countries I would like to say that I love my country.
My husband and I got chances to move to other countries earlier on but my husband never wanted to go to live in another country as he was very happy to be living in India.
There are so many beautiful places to visit in India and I am sorry that I have hardly visited few of those places.
Will definitely try to visit some historical places and learn more about my country.


Identity: Each of us should have our own identity other than being some person's wife, mother, brother, sister, father etc.

We should achieve something in our lives, big or small  that makes us happy and content.Then this world will be a much better place to live in.

Ice cream: I must confess that I love ice cream in all different flavors and can see the end of a pack that is  in the refrigerator very soon. That is a weakness I have and I am trying to stop that. I do not buy ice cream often so that I am not tempted.

Love to all,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

H for Hope

Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life.

Hope is the one thing that we have in our lives that keeps us going when the we are low and want something good to happen in our lives.
When I was working at the hospital I saw too many patients who just gave up and died because they did not have the will to live. The patients should always hope that they will get well but in terminally ill patients it was really sad when the Doctors had to tell the relatives that there was no hope of recovery for the patient.
Many of us nurses used to spend the little free time we had talking to the patients and relatives and trying to make them feel a little better because they came to Mumbai for treatment from all over India and were frightened by the big city and the outcome of the treatment given to the patient.
I hope and pray that all of us have it in us to find Hope in our lives in any circumstance we have to face.

Love to all,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

G for Goa

Goa is the smallest state in India. A native of Goa is called a Goan in English,Goenkar (गोंयकार) in Konkani, Govekar (गोवेकर ) in Marathi.

This collage is made by Magali after our last holiday.

Though my husband and I are born in Mumbai our parents were from the same village in Goa and the families knew one another. When our fathers were old enough to leave Goa they came to Mumbai to make a living because in Goa there was nothing much to do. They earned enough money and later went back to Goa to find Goan wives and brought them back to Mumbai where they started their families.
Goa is visited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year. The beaches of Goa are famous and quite clean. We love Goa but only for a holiday but now with all the drunken driving and drug dealing going on, Goa is not a very safe place and  we are used to the fast pace of  life in Mumbai.
Though we have a holiday home in Goa we visit only once a year in the summer vacations as a family because Ezy is usually home at that time.
We also love to spend time at the resorts in Goa since we have a membership and spend a lot of time on the beach just enjoying the cool breeze and relaxing.
I look forward to our Goa holiday every year and maybe this year we will be visiting Goa in the Diwali or Christmas Vacations.
With lots of love,
Sheila.

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

F for Freedom

Freedom is defined as the condition of being free of restraints, Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression.

As an Indian woman I have seen and heard of many cases where women do not have the freedom to choose their career, life partner and anything what so ever. They are controlled by their fathers before marriage and then the husband tells them what to do or not to do after marriage.
When I was young I always wanted to be a nurse. My father was against the idea of me making a career out of nursing. But I was adamant and got my way by agreeing to do my graduation in Arts before I joined the nursing course. I completed my nursing and really enjoyed myself. I made so many new friends and am in touch with two of them even though they are in New Zealand. My father was also particular that we siblings married a Goan Brahmin and he was lucky that all of us managed to find suitable spouses even though three of us had arranged marriages. For me it was not so bad as far as freedom was concerned.
After I got engaged to Ezy he told me that he wanted me to leave my job as he wanted me to sail with him after we got married. So I left my job just before I got married.
After that when little Magali came into our lives I had all the time in the world to look after her and I enjoyed myself. I am lucky that I married Ezy because he has given me  lot of FREEDOM. I do not work but I have enough of money to spend lavishly. I spend about 5 hours each day /three times a week at the Home for the aged. I help out many people in many ways I can and i am happy that I have a family that allows me to do what I want.
Thank you Ezy for giving me my freedom and I love my life the way it is.

Love you both.
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

E for English

English is the language that was spoken by the British & since the British colonized India for a long time, they started schools & colleges that taught the language. Every state in India has it's own language & since I live in Maharashtra, the language spoken by the locals here is Marathi along with Hindi (Our national language) & a few people speak English.

My daughter Magali is in first year of her Bachelor of Arts degree & she has joined the English literature association, she has been assigned to teach English to anyone who does not know the language.
She went to her school to try to help poor students but the timings for the extra classes were clashing with her college timings.. She was looking out for somebody & suddenly we came across this mother & daughter who are interested in learning English. The mother is not illiterate, she has done twelve years of schooling but with Marathi as the language of teaching.The daughter is in Kindergarten & studying in a convent school. So Magali & me will be teaching the mother & daughter to speak and write English . We hope we will be able to help them learn the language
Love,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

D for daughter

Today I dedicate my post to my daughter Magali.

My daughter Magali when she was a baby.

I do not know when and how it all started but I have seen it in many families that the parents always favor the sons. I do not know the reason for that behavior but it really irritates me when the daughter is completely ignored and made use of in all ways while the son is the Lord and Master in the house. Maybe it has to do with the dowry system here in India that parents find that the daughters are a burden on their finances.
My parents too were always partial to my brothers and quite ignored my sister and me. It really hurts that now when the brothers are married and all the assets are taken over by the brothers their wives want nothing to do with the Mother because she is old and not useful to babysit and now that the children are grown up they do not need the unpaid maid servant (the Grandmother).
When I was pregnant my husband always wanted a girl but I told him that we should be happy with either a girl or a boy but  my only prayer was that I should have a normal delivery and a normal child. God granted me my prayers and I am thankful that I  have a daughter.
My daughter is 18 years old and a blessing to me and my husband. Though she may pester me for many things that she wants she is a good and loving daughter who is kind to all and loves animals. I am really happy that I have a daughter and do not wish for anything else in this world.
Dearest Magali, Dad and I love you and want you to continue being  a good person that you are.
May God bless you and keep you safe always.

Love,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

C for Captain

This post is dedicated to my husband Captain E Vaz and all the Captains in the Merchant Navy.

Our family on the ship.

Most sailors are away from their families for at least 4 months when they are out at sea sailing from port to port and have wives in every port.... that is only true for the unfaithful kind.
It is really good  that the contracts for higher ranking officers are  not more than 4 months so they can be home more often. I remember the time when Magali and I were sailing with  Ezy for 18 months at a stretch. Magali had forgotten our home in Mumbai and for her the ship was home and when I came home when the ship was in Mumbai port she was crying to go back home (the ship). We really enjoyed the time spent together as we got to visit a lot of Asian ports though Magali does not remember much because she was between 18 months and 36 months of age.
So for  all the Captain's I pray that you all have calm seas and following winds always.
Since you are in charge of the ship and all the lives on board may you always have God's blessings and guidance.
Take care,
Sheila.

This post is a part of ABC Wednesday.

I've done this

Graduated high school.
Kissed someone.
Smoked a cigarette.
Got so drunk you passed out.
Rode every ride at an amusement park.
Collected something stupid.
Gone to a rock concert.
Helped someone.
Gone fishing.
Watched four movies in one night.
Lied to someone.
Snorted cocaine.
Smoked weed.
Failed a subject.
Been in a car accident. (was knocked down by a car and have been in minor motorcycle accidents when I used to go out with my Dad, He had a Royal Enfield)
Been in a tornado.
Watched someone die.
Been to a funeral.
Burned yourself.
Run a marathon.
Cried yourself to sleep.
Spent over 10,000 bucks in one day.
Flown on an aeroplane.
Cheated on someone.
Been cheated on.
Written a 10 page letter.
Gone skiing.
Been sailing.
Cut yourself.
Had a best friend.
Lose someone you loved.
Got into trouble for something you didn't do.
Stolen a book from the library.
Gone to a different country.
Watched the Harry Potter movies.
Had an online diary.
Fired a gun.
Gambled in a casino.
Been in a school play.
Been fired from a job.
Taken a lie detector test.
Swam with dolphins.
Votes for someone on a reality TV show.
Written poetry.
Read more than 20 books a year.
Gone to Europe.
Loved someone you shouldn't have.
Used a colouring book over age 12.
Had a surgery.
Had stitches.
Taken a Taxi.
Had more than 5 IM conversations going on at once.
Been in a fist fight.
Suffered any form of abuse.
Had a pet.
Petted a wild animal.
Had your own credit card.
Dyed your hair.
Got a tattoo.
Had something pierced.
Got straight As.
Known someone personally with HIV or AIDS.
Taken pictures with a webcam.

That was an easy one. Finished it in 2 minutes.Really fast.
Thank you Magali for the tag.

Take care,
Sheila.

B for Blessings

Blessings are there is every persons life. But we fail to recognize them and thank God for them.
I thank God for my parents. My father passed away 12 years ago and my mother lives alone in Goa out of choice.

I thank God for my three siblings though I may have many problems with them.
I thank god for all my relatives, friends, good and bad.
I thank God for everyone who has come into my life and I have not really appreciated them.
And last of all I thank God for my lovely family.
My husband who has been a good person, worked hard for his family before marriage and now works hard for Magali and me, and gives us a very comfortable life.I  have not been a working woman since over 20 years and I have had a lovely life so far though I may grumble sometimes.
I thank God for our daughter Magali who was a surprise for us. She knows why I am saying that.
So thank you God for all the Blessings given to me .
With love,
Sheila

This post was a part of ABC Wednesday.

A is for Andheri

For those of you who don't know, Andheri is a suburb of Mumbai. read more about it here.

Taken from here.

This is the place where I have spent 44 years of my life, the first half in Andheri (West) and after marriage in Andheri (East). It has changed a lot since we first came here so long ago. It was deserted, & a lot of it actually had forest cover. Now it is becoming pretty crowded. I have fond memories of the cottages and time when I used to play chor-police with my friends. It is basically one of the largest suburbs of Mumbai & I love living here.

This post is part of ABC Wednesday, I have been convinced by my daughter to start the ABC Wednesday challenge so I can post regularly on this blog! She is taking it too!

Have fun,
Sheila

Being lazy and not blogging

Hello everybody,

It has been a very long time since my last blog post and though my daughter Magali has been after me since a long time to write a blog post, I have been very very lazy.

After my husband arrived on 11th April from Brazil we packed our bags and left for Goa the same afternoon.

The time we spent in Goa really flew fast and we enjoyed our stay there especially at Haathi mahal at Mobor.

After coming back to Mumbai we spent 5 days at a resort here and I was in no mood to blog even though the internet was not disconnected at home.The little time I was at the computer was spent reading the newspapers and doing other things like checking mail and replying back.

We left for Kovalam Kerala with high hopes, because until this holiday we were lucky to have really great holidays in India and abroad. But I was really sorry that I had booked into a resort where the people as well as place was not really to our liking. Everyone in Kerala was out to take us for a ride and to add to it was the weather with Thunderstorms and heavy rain which forced us to spend our time in our room . We did not even have cable TV for 10 out of 14 days we were there at Kovalam. The only saving grace of the place was the scenic beauty.

Life is busy now as my husband is at home and is hungry all the while.So I spend time making some different things for him to eat. Even Magali has cooked a lot of food for him and he jokingly tells me not to get her married soon as she has to cook for him when he comes home. And sometimes when he is angry with her he tells her now that she is 18 years she can get married and go live separately.

Will try to take a tag a few days later.

Take care,

Sheila.

Happy Birthday Magali

Today my daughter Magali is 18 years old.

I still very clearly remember 9th April 1992 when I was all alone at home and waiting for some news about the return of my husband Ezy from Gibraltar.

Around 7 am I started feeling restless and a few minutes later I felt the first contraction. Actually the due date for the arrival of my baby was 21st April but after all the football playing and kicks that I got, I was very sure that this baby would be wanting to see the world earlier than the date he/she was supposed to arrive. Having been a nurse I knew that her father would never make it for the arrival of his child because he had told the Doctor that he wanted to be in the labor room when the baby was making his/her entry into the world.

I ran up to my Aunt's house to call my sister since at that time we did not have a phone at home.

MTNL connections were being given after 2-3 years and we were staying in that house for only about 10 months. My sister and her husband came and picked me up and took me to the hospital.

By then the contractions were more frequent and painful but naughty Magali was not coming out. I had to wait till 8 40 pm before she decided that she had put me through enough of pain and with the help of forceps she made her entry into the world. A few seconds later I heard a loud angry cry and saw a red angry baby yelling. She looked so cute like a small chimp.

After that ordeal the only thing I wanted to do was to eat something since I was very hungry as I was not given anything to eat because the Doctor thought that if a Cesarean section had to be done then it was better that I should be (nil by mouth) hungry. An Intravenous drip was started in the morning itself so as such my baby was getting nutrition through that.

My sister and brother then went out and got me some hot food which I ate and fell off to sleep completely exhausted.

The next day onwards till to date I have been taking care of her single handedly with no help whatsoever.

The years have gone by really fast and I thank God for all my blessings.

Ezy will be coming home tomorrow and then we are off to Goa .

Summer Holidays begin.

Lots of love,

Sheila

Egg sandwiches and college days

Yesterday began as any other day since Magali was sleeping late and being a Sunday I too did not have to go out in the morning. At around noon time I received a call on my cell phone from a number I did not recognize and a female person asked me to guess as to who she was. I thought of a different friend from college who is settled in Mangalore but the voice did not match.

Sitting on the steps with my friends in
Lonavala. Can you spot the 17-year-old me?

She reminded me of our degree college days when we used to play Table Tennis and bunk college to go for movies. Now I somewhat guessed that she was one of the five friends from my group because she mentioned 'egg sandwiches'. Those were the days when we were allowed to carry whatever we pleased into a cinema hall and our group always planned as to what each one of us would bring for all to eat during the intermission. The menu for the four of them used to change but I invariably had to make egg sandwiches for all of us because all of them loved the sandwiches and so did I. I had finished college and gone to Bombay Hospital to do my Registered Nursing while the others did what they planned to take up as a career. Two of the friends got married and are homemakers and two are single and career women. While two are in Karnataka state (one in Udupi and one in Mangalore) three of us are in Mumbai itself.

Us again! (left to right): Sujata, Neeti, Eleanor & Me!

The best thing that happened was I got hold of all their telephone numbers and spoke to all of them. So yesterday I got in touch with four friends whom I had not met or spoken to in years. We are planning a get together either here in Mumbai or in Mangalore.

A holiday together would be great fun. We had gone on a holiday together in December 1980 to Khandala and I happened to have 2 photos which Magali has managed to capture with her camera as we are too lazy to use the scanner.

With love,
Sheila

Hello everybody

My husband Ezy in his uniform
feeling very bored.

Hello. My name is Sheila Araujo Vaz. I am born and brought up in Mumbai and I do not think I will be happy in any other place. I am a homemaker though I trained to be a nurse before I got married in the year 1990. My husband Ezy is a Captain in the Merchant Navy and I have spent many years sailing with him and though I had terrible bouts of sea sickness in the beginning I later became 'a sailor's wife' according to Ezy because after 2 months the sea sickness flew out of the porthole (that's sailor lingo for window).

My daughter Magali pretending to
steer the ship.

My daughter Magali is going to be eighteen very soon. How the days have gone by. I remember holding her as a baby the day after she was born and her father was speaking to me on the phone from the port of Gibraltar and feeling very sad that he could not be with us at once. He came 10 days later. Now she is a childlike mature girl who still wants to play silly games with me and I sometimes wonder how the years have flown by. She herself has been a blogger since a long time & introduced me forced me to blog.

Ezy & Me on the ship.

Though I had not started blogging I have been reading a lot of blogs and I really do not know how often I will blog because I am not much of a writer. That is Magali's forté. I will write as and when I am in a mood, and I should warn you all that I am a pretty moody person as I am a Cancerian.
My free time is spent as a Volunteer at The Home for the Aged close to home. I have been going there for nearly seven years.
This is all I can think of for my first post. Will post sometime soon.

Take care,
Sheila

*all three pictures in this post were taken during our trip sailing with Ezy in the year 2008.