September Braindump

There are two reasons why I love the last week of the month:

  1. We both get paid.

  2. I get to do my monthly braindump.

YAY! It's that time of the month again!

via GIPHY

I wonder if I'm the only female out there to say that sentence with so much enthusiasm.

This month has been a very special month for us here at 22 Nelson Street. We got to celebrate this blog baby's first birthday and we somehow managed to bring our second baby into this world. And while I'm excited about our expanding family, I'm even more thrilled to see that this month, many more of you have joined us here at 22 Nelson Street. As of 12 p.m today, the 29th of September 2016, the number of you guys hanging out with us and giggling about poop, has literally doubled in comparison to last month. So dear new readers, welcome to the family!

Speaking of family, my dad turned 59 this month and my parents have been having a blast back home. His birthday celebration still seems to be in progress. When I was growing up, I'd always hear my parents say things like, "I'll start going on morning walks once you pass out of school and don't need to be dropped off to tuitions early in the morning" or that " I'll do that one thing I've always wanted to do once I make sure you're well settled and happy" and I always thought to myself that these were mere excuses. That if you put your mind to it, you can do everything you want to do now. And while I still live by that principle, when I see my parents doing things they always wanted to do, now that I'm finally out of the way, I can't help but feel like I may have been a "kebab main haddi" (bone in the kebab) all my life. Good going, mum and dad!

I'm serious. There's not a single movie they don't go out to watch. My mother goes to Yoga classes everyday (like, whaaaaaa-?)! They sometimes wake up in the morning and think, "Meh, we'll go shopping today" and do just that. They eat out more often than we did as a family and they're a way more compatible team at this stage of their lives. And while this makes me happy at some level, imma gonna shout out to all the other kebab main haddis out there! I feel ya!

Speaking of parents, last night, I heard the funniest parent story from Meenal (remember Meenal?) and literally fell on the side of my couch laughing. I'd like to share it here with the same effect but I'm already pretty sure that I'm going to destroy it. So here goes:

Meenal was raised in Gibraltar with a slightly strict set of parents. They groomed her really well in terms of encouraging her in her studies and sports. But like most Indian parents, they were a tad bit protective about her whereabouts, especially in comparison to most European parents in their circles. This was slightly disconcerting to her because she would see other kids having an easy time getting permission from their parents to go on a boat (for example). No. Not for example. For real. This is going to be a big ol' boat story y'all!

So up until the age of 19, I picture a golden haired Meenal looking out of the only window on her lonely tower, watching the other kids play in the distance. Just kidding. But our story is of a 19 year old Meenal.

So our 19 year old Meenal goes up to her mother and asks if she can go on a Banana Boat with her friends. Now those of you who aren't familiar with the concept of banana boats, it's basically a water sport where a group of people sit on a banana-shaped inflated balloon like structure with legs on either side of the balloon. This balloon thing is then connected to a speed boat which takes you into the ocean and swiftly turns to one side without a warning, thus making the balloon topple with the people mounted on it. It's all for the rush you get when you're suddenly plummeted into the ocean without a warning. Fortunately for 19 year old Meenal, her mother wasn't familiar with the concept.

"What's a banana boat?", she asked.

"Oh, it's just a boat that you go on to eat bananas with your friends.", joked Meenal.

"Meh, do whatever you want.", said Meenal's mother.

And as she was leaving the house to go meet her friends at the beach, her mother returned from the market with two bunches of bananas (TWO BUNCHES!) and said, "There you go. Don't go empty handed. Share this with your friends".

You think that's the end of the story?

OH HELL NO!

Our 19 year old Meenal actually took those two bunches of bananas to the beach with her that day. Yeah, she was that girl at a party. The girl who brought the bananas. And I couldn't be more proud to be co-hosting a podcast with The Banana Girl.

Speaking of Meenal and the podcast, thank you guys, for being so nice to her! For accepting her into your hearts the way you accepted me when I started writing this blog. I felt so proud introducing her to our community. I discuss in Episode 1 (which by the way, went up today) how my parents were nice to The Husband the first time I introduced them to him. And I just wanted to share that I felt the same way with you guys when I suddenly brought Meenal into your lives. Thank you for that.

We still need your support to get this podcast out there, so do share it with your friends and family, do like our Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram. It would mean a lot if you could give us a nice and shiny 5 star review on iTunes, so that we could somehow get into the 'New and Noteworthy' section on iTunes. I'd kind of mentioned this week that I would stop smothering you guys by burdening you with my gratitude but I can't help it. I have to say thanks because the love you have shown us is that incredible. But since we're greedy people, we'd like some more of that please :)

Happy Thursday, everyone!

P.S. Thursday is slowly turning into my favourite day of the week because we release an episode every Thursday and get to read all your comments and messages on this day! Thank you!