Guilty Pleasures

It's been more than15 days since I last posted.

I feel terribly guilty for neglecting the blog but a tiny corner of my mind is celebrating this utter laziness. The blog can wait, my laziness can't.

Actually there are quite a few things that are making me feel guilty. Like how happy I am now that my mother in law is not in town. She is a sweet lady and is pretty easy going and she brings a sense of discipline to our house. There are set meal times in the house when she is at home.The laundry gets folded at the right time, the kids drink their milk right on time. The maid comes early, the chores get done right on the dot.With her away, things are extremely slack around the house.And I am loving every moment of it. We have been eating a lot of stuff she considers inedible. Sandwiches, spaghetti, pasta, soups...my kids think they have died and gone to heaven. I am just relieved the food takes less than an hour to cook. That gives me more time to indulge in my strongest passion, reading.

I have been reading a lot of Nora Roberts lately. She is entertaining and funny and I immensely enjoy all her books. The last book of hers that I read was called The Search. Both my daughter Ishita and I loved it. My friends deride me for reading such junk but I refuse to feel guilty about my reading habits. Whatever gives me pleasure, right? So what if they are chick flicks? So what if they do not make me enlightened and spiritually elevated? They make me want to stay all day in my pajamas, curled up reading. For company,I generally have a bag of chips. One hundred percent pure guilt Hence the pleasure I get from her books is usually doubled.

The other thing that is making me feel guilty these days is my lack of exercise. My yoga teacher is on a holiday. So no twisting of my body at awkward angles, no I-can-touch-my-nose-with-my toes moves and no fire breathing, hell burning, soul purifying breathing exercises. I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. I have noticed that happiness has an adverse effect on my weight.But I have decided to look away from the mirror to assuage my guilt. I do go for walks, but that is purely for pleasure and has nothing to do with guilt.

So what else has me feeling guilty lately? A big box of finest Swiss chocolates that's sitting in my fridge. Someone gave it to us and I've been raiding the fridge at midnight quite often. Experts however say that I have nothing to feel guilty about. Dark chocolates apparently improve the function of blood vessels. Cocoa elevates mood and preliminary research suggests that chocolates boost one's memory and concentration span. What's more, it is hundred percent vegetarian and does not give you a hangover.Or make you pregnant.

So there. Now that I've vented my feelings, I am feeling less guilty about my inactive lifestyle. With Blogger around, who needs a shrink. And who needs guilt...it is such a wasted emotion anyway.