This is my gratitude post for the month of April. April is the month that starts with summer holidays for kids. My last post detailed how our summer vacations were panning out. This is also the month when I take a virtual sabbatical in reading, writing and engagement on social media, doing each of these very sporadically. My younger son was so alarmed that I wasn’t blogging that he even mentioned that my readers will stop reading me since I was not writing regularly. 🙂 Talk about fear strategy. I wrote the last post only to make him happy. As you know, he is my freshly minted avid reader of this blog.
A great new beginning for me this month was the launch of my Youtube channel for my food blog. I wanted to do videos since a long time but never really got around to doing it. Then a couple of months back, I started working on how to create videos. It is really time consuming and the post production work takes up quite some time. I did some online courses to test the waters. And now I have formally launched the channel. If you’ve enjoyed my recipes, you can subscribe to the channel to see how they are made. I promise you that you will enjoy them.
Another lovely thing associated with April is the travel, especially catching up with family. This is the one time when the entire family makes the effort to put their hectic schedules aside and meet. We also had a few milestones to celebrate. That trip to Mumbai flew by in a jiffy. We also managed to sneak in visits to our cherished places like the Marine Drive, Gateway of India, Mahesh Lunch Home etc. The husband and I met for the first time in Mumbai, 17 years ago. So, we do try to trace some of those landmarks. It is fun to share precious memories of the city where I grew up and which pretty much moulded me into the person I am today. I will always love Bombay.
Incidentally, I made another short and hectic trip to Bombay just after the family visit for a brand event. Those of you who follow me on Facebook must be already sick of the updates and pictures from that event. 😉 The best part about the trip for me was that I got to spend time with blogger friends. It was a great getaway. As all moms will agree, we need to do these trips more often. Away from family, this is our me-time when we indulge in chatter with not a care in the world. I am already planning another trip in my head right now. 🙂
Now that I am done with the travel and the ensuing weight gain, it is time to be back to a regular fitness routine. And I am glad that I’ve embarked upon one about a week ago. I aim to shed all the extra indulgences and keep strengthening my bones and toning my muscles. You can follow my fitness updates on my twitter handle.
There is some bad news on the tooth front. I thought I was done with the tooth work but it doesn’t look like it. I had pain in the tooth and the root canal had to be repeated which has not yet resolved the issue. Let’s see what happens next. Just trying my best to stay patient and hopeful. I am grateful for my dentist, who is very calm and has a soothing presence. She is also thorough at her work and of course, my dentist friend who constantly calls and monitors my progress.
Today is May 1 when my youngest son, Coco, turns 6. What can I say about him that I have not said before? He is such a joy in my life who fills me with love, hope and solace just by being around. Since we don’t give him sugar or salt, no made-for-human cakes for him though we try to pamper him through the day giving him the goodies he loves while he is bewildered over the fuss. He came into our lives when he was 6 weeks old and today he is 6 years old. He is growing older and mature too fast. Steady on, young boy.
So, that’s a wrap on April. May is a special month as the teen turns a year older and also starts his academic year as he enters 10th grade.
How was your April?
Join me with Vidya for #GratitudeCircle.
Featured pic courtesy: Alexator on Shutterstock
How nice it would have been if I could meet you guys when you were in Mumbai! Next time, I guess!
Your son seems to be the next blogger in your family from the looks of it,Rachna! He really worries if you lose your readers….that’s one characteristic feature of us bloggers, isn’t it? 😀
A big hug and millions of kisses to Coco for his birthday! May he stay in good health and go woof woof for many many years!
And, lastly, you take care, lady! With your health and esp with your tooth! I know what a pain that can be! I, too, have to fix an appointment with my dentist for my wisdom tooth..I keep putting it off, though! Hehe..
Love n hugs!
Yes, I know. You were in our thoughts for sure, Shilpa. Next time, pucca. I don’t know about blogging but he sure enjoys reading my blog. 🙂 Will convey your hugs and kisses to Coco! Thanks. I hope the teeth issues resolve soon. Get that appointment quickly or things just get worse. Take care and hugs!
Happy Birthday to Coco… Glad to connect with you 🙂 Best of luck for your youtube channel.
It will grow high and you have a great subscriber base in the coming years.
Stay connected.
Thanks, Neha. Lovely connecting with you as well. 🙂
Hey – I need to check your you tube channel. I know about it from the social media updates but haven’t been able to check out. I am sure it’s tedious but should be rewarding. Your recipes are great and good to give that video angle to them. The Mumbai J&J event looked so much fun. Glad you guys had company 🙂
happy Birthday to Coco and that fear strategy is fun 😉 Have a lovely May, Rachna and know I am going to subscribe soon.
Thanks, Parul. I can understand. You had a very busy April. Do let me have your feedback once you check out the channel. Thanks for your encouraging words about my recipes. Have a great May as well, Parul.
Happy Birthday to Coco!:))
You son reads your blog? That is so cool, and the fact that he is worried about your readership!:))
Congratulations on the youtube channel, i need to check it out!
Thanks Mayuri. Oh yes, the elder one was reading it since many years. The younger one got hooked on recently. I take their feedback very seriously and also any inputs especially on parenting posts. They should feel comfortable with what I share about them. Yes, do check out the Youtube channel and I look forward to your feedback. 🙂 Thanks for reading, Mayuri.
Wow you started your food channel… I gotta check that out ? and so much travelling packed in one month. You are one busy lady. Happy Birthday to Coco. He is absolutely adorable. Wish you fun filled May too. Take care of your tooth.
You must have been busy with A to Z. Do check it out and any feedback is welcome. Thanks for all your wishes.
Hey Rachna, congrats on the foodchannel, I will look it up. Your Mumbai trip and places you visited makes me so nostalgic. Saw pics of the bloggers meet and nice to see some of my fav bloggers together. Happy Birthday to Coco. Good luck on the tooth front, wish you a happy month of May.
Thanks, Vibha. Yes, Mumbai trips were great. Thanks for the lovely wishes. Wish you a wonderful May as well.
Wishing dear Coco a very happy birthday, Rachna.
I completely enjoyed out trip to Mumbai and found it such a refreshing break from the way 2017 panned out initially. No regrets whatsoever. As for the readers who’d stop reading you, tell G not to worry. His mom is an ace blogger who need never get concerned about that.
Hoping the tooth problems get resolved ASAP and you’re back to great joy on the teeth front. Fingers crossed for you. I’ve begun on two of my 12 goals in earnest and am keeping a daily log so will update the status on June 1st.
Thank you so much, Shy. Coco, I believe, had a lovely day yesterday. Oh yes, our trip was such good fun. Hopefully, we will make more such trips. It was so nice spending more time with you.
Awww you are so kind. I found it so cute that he refreshed the blog everyday and commented — why aren’t you writing? And I thought I already spoke so much at home that he must be tired of my thoughts. 😉 Fingers crossed for the tooth issues. So glad to hear about your goals. Would be nice to read an update a month later. You know I will keep pinging you on the fitness front. 🙂
Happy Belated Birthday to Coco 🙂
It’s always good to spend time with family. Glad you had a wonderful April with family & friends. I got to spend some time with Mom and Dad this April and I loved every moment of it. Apart from that, April was hectic in terms of work but I’m happy. Stayed away from social media too a great deal so that was a plus. May is slotted to be hectic from what I see. Hopefully, things will turn out fine.
Take care 🙂
My best wishes for the little one Rachna ji…
Elder being into his 10th need more of your time and care now, may he gets what he is looking for…
well for me April this is year has been good in a way that I am back to blogging after about 4 long years….
finally best of luck for youtube channel…
and btw take good care of your teeth…. 🙂
How wonderful that you are enjoying family time and relazing .Vacations are the best . Congratulations on your youtube channel.
It was nice to read your post, so many things happened in April, glad to hear about your channel. Wish your little bundle happy birthday and good to hear about your trips to Mumbai, and so thoughtful of you to connect with the bloggers.. looks like you had a great time..
A very very happy belated birthday and a big fat hug to Coco.
I just subscribed to your channel and I know I’ll keep waiting for new recipes 🙂
Good luck with the video channel, Rachna and I’m so glad you had a fun April.
Sorry for not visiting regularly, but with A to Z going on I barely had time for anything else. But now, I’m back 🙂
I love the fact that your son reads your blog. It’s adorable that he thinks your readers will desert you if you don’t blog often enough. That’s cute.
I loved your YouTube channel. Like I said already I appreciate the fact that you continuously upgrade your skills. I recently switched to self-hosting and am still not happy with the way my blog looks. I’ve spent endless hours going through wordpress help and made little progress. So I can well-understand how much hard work goes into starting something new. You’re inspiring.
Sounds like a wonderful April. Yay on the Youtube channel…it’s a great avenue for food and beauty bloggers I reckon. Root canal stuff is never good. I haven’t had to do it yet and I dread if I ever have to. Happy Birthday to Coco! 🙂 My kitties turn 6 this year too 🙂
Congrats on the YouTube Channel, Rachna (I just subscribed!). And I can completely relate to the behind the scenes effort.
I have been procrastinating my own food blog for ages, mostly because the pictures intimidate me. So even the thought of video editing freaks me out.
But like you, I have decided to take one step at a time. I have postponed the channel for now, and have started to focus on getting the photos right. Fingers crossed it all works out.
Hope your dental issues get resolved soon, and Happy Birthday to Coco. 🙂
Very sweet of your son to read your blog and also worry about posting! 🙂 Congratulations on your YouTube channel! Videos are pretty hard work! Vacation downtime is always up time – travel almost always makes up for it! Dental work–I’ve been making a few visits too and grateful for mine. All the best to your sons for the new academic year! Quite an eventful April, no? Thank you so much for joining me this month. Love the image you posted!