It's Been A While..

- since I blogged. Reason- Mom and dad were visiting. It was a lovely 6 weeks. A full house, warm laughter, lots of affection and of course loads of amazing food. It is a little pathetic now to return to an empty house in the evening. But I am back to my old routine and keeping busy.

Meanwhile my favorite season -fall, is here. Every where I look, there are vibrant colors. It just makes me feel so happy. A trip to the White Mountains (New Hampshire) is coming up shortly and I should have really pretty pictures to put up.

Also I read the new Dan Brown novel. MIND BLOWING. I liked it so much, that even though I spend most of my time at work, and I am now a huge TV buff, I managed to finish this 504 page book in 3 days! So all you Dan Brown fans out there- get your hands on 'The Lost Symbol'. It;s totally worth it.

Among other things, I have also given up worrying about certain people who do not appreciate or value others. Seems to me that I wasted some very precious time concerned/worried about them. Look at me- all grown up :)

Shopping has been wonderful. My love for sweaters is undying and Fall is the best time for sweater buying. So, although my bank balance does not look so good, I am going slow, but steady.

TV has been a wonderful companion with all of my fav shows back on with their new seasons and of course some new ones too. Now I understand why my Dad always enjoyed watching TV in the evenings after he got back home from work. It is a stress buster :) and no I do not watch any soaps.

Well, now that I look back this post has become a random mish-mash of stuff. But it's alright. I shall be back soon with something that makes much more sense. Till then take care and a very HAPPY DIWALI.

2009 ..So Far...

It's end of July already. 7 months gone, 5 more to go. I just realized there is so much I have done and so much I still need to do as per my 1 year plan. Here goes-

1. Kept Fit - YES!!!! Even ran that 5K, running another 5 K next month. Hey! Hey! Hey! Do not laugh..so what if its not 26 miles or even 13.5 miles. It is something.

2. Attended any friend's wedding- No :(. Disadvantage number one of living in the States. Almost all my best buddies got married or are getting married. Where are the weddings- back in India! And I am sure my employer would start pulling his hair out if I stated making 3-4 trips within one year( not that my bank balance would allow that either)

3. Lived Well- Yes! Very well indeed.

4. Got My Car - No..not yet.Khoj jaari hai.

5. Fell In Love- Yeah atleast 10 times :P

6. Got promoted - Kind of :)

7. Gave up my shopping obsession - No..It gets worse. Now I have moved on to other things (more expensive things - TV for instance) along with clothes.

8. Stopped Being Bitchy - Welllllll...considering the fact that I am mean and bitchy to very few people..I would have to say no.

9. Doubled my bank balance - Kaise!! (refer to 7.)

10. Acted sensibly on a number of occasions - Very proud to say YES. I am growing up , rather I have grown up after all.

And last but not the least -

Kept updating blog regularly- I started on a good note...slowed down..rather work made me slow down..But hey I am back and Here I go. 5 months is good enough time to keep the ball rolling..What Say!

Yet Another One :)

Been arrested? No

Slept in until 5 PM? Yes

Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes

Held a snake? No

Been suspended from school? No...but came close to being thrown out.

Sang karaoke? Yes

Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes

Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes

Flown on a plane? Yes

Been on a cruise? Yes

Have any regrets in life? Yes

Sang in the shower? Yes

Sat on a rooftop? Yes

Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? No

Broken a bone? Yes

Shaved your head? Yes..I was 2 :)

Blacked out from drinking? Yes

Played a prank on someone? Yes

Felt like killing someone? Yes

Been in a band? Yes..Rockband counts..and so does choir at school :)

Shot a gun? No

Donated Blood? Yes

Eaten alligator meat? No

Eaten cheesecake? Yes

Still love someone you shouldn't? Yes

Think about the future? Yes

Believe in love? Yes

Sleep on a certain side of the bed? Yes

S&TC and me..

So I am back from yet another fantastic trip with my boys. It was the best time ever and I am sure to put up a detailed account of what it was like , once I get over my exhaustion from being over worked. In the meantime, it is yet another Friday night. One might wonder what a 26 year old "single" girl does to entertain herself..here is your answer- dressed in my very comfy pajamas, sitting (rather lying) in my very cozy bed, with a large pizza ordered and watching a marathon of Sex And The City...

And yes, let me just add, that this is by choice :)

Will be back very soon...

Changes...

It’s been a wonderful past weekend. The temperate was up in the eighties and I had practically no work to do. Saturday, we decided to hit the casino and had a lot of fun... and well..I just lost 45 bucks..so I am not complaining. Sunday was a whole different story. The entire day was spent just sitting on the back deck with some good food, just chatting, relaxing and all those small little things that good weather brings out in you.

This got me thinking how much I love the change of seasons. I live in Boston, the city of a long harsh winter every year, but then seriously I just love it. I don’t think I would like to live in a place with the same weather the year round. I need change. Although I admit that a shorter winter wouldn’t hurt. Then again, the coming of spring makes me so happy. I like to see the winter give away to greenery, and lots of colors. Then comes the summer. Believe me, I haven’t seen a more gorgeous city in the summer. The summer months are such that every weekend brings with it some thing new to do, whether it’s going to the beach, canoeing, hiking and what not. It’s a lovely feeling to put the clothes away and get into shorts/skirts everyday. Fall never fails to disappoint me. Cool breezy days, beautiful colors which just make you happy and long drives…It’s a complete package. And then we are back to winter, and yes, I always love the first snow. There is no doubt about it. It makes me very happy and gets me all excited. Even the long harsh winter is something that I embrace and try to make the most of (all the hot soup, spicy food).
I think of places where its summer all year round, or just winter all year round and I am more and more sure of the fact that although they may be great places, they are really not for me. I need change. The changing seasons just make me appreciate the next one.

Soup Nazi!

What is the one place where you do not want to have rude/mean people around? Think! It is a food place like a restaurant or a cafeteria. I certainly want friendly welcoming faces to greet me when I am buying food to eat. But no! It's me right, so something has to happen.

My office has a very good cafeteria with a vast variety of food to pick from.There are stations all across the cafe each serving different kind of food- salad bar, deli, grill, soup etc. There is also one station which serves the entree of the day. Now some of the entrees that the cafeteria has are simply delicious and I make sure I get them, like the burrito, noodle bowl and the taco salad. Also I like my burrito without the outer cover, my noodle bowl extra spicy and my taco salad without the outside shell (I simply cannot eat the whole shell and end up wasting it-something I hate to do). Anyways so there is this one man who is always there at the entree station who is in simple words- loud and angry! And poor me, everytime my turn comes up, I get this fellow to put together my entree. So when I try to tell him my selection, the man either does not hear, or hears incorrectly , or even if he hears, he decides to do what he wants leaving me no other choice than to correct him and then you should see his face! Its like a red tomato with irritation written all over it. A while back I used to be scared to go get my order if he was the server, but now its just a laughing matter. So now whenever I go up to the counter, before he can open his mouth, I almost yell out my order to him and repeat is atleast 2 times to make sure he knows. I guess this has worked well, because I haven't been yelled at much lately. This is not only my story but alot of people go through the same thing. The crabby old man - aptly named by my colleagues- is something else. If you are not careful, he just might take the pleasure of eating good food away from you.

But this is not it. After getting the food, we need to go to the counter to pay for it. That is where the real monster is! This old woman, who is so mean that she would put Cinderella's step mother to shame. She is just loud and rude, and if you miss out ontelling her that you got cheese added to your burger, then you are better dead, than in front of her. She will tell you that you have to inform her what you get correctly in such a way, that it will look like you were purposely trying to pay less for your food. I avoid her most of the times and go to some other counter with some other cashier. But today was heights. There was a single line at the counter and she was the only cashier. I had no other choice and there were a bunch of people behind me too. Here is my conversation-

Mean Old Witch - What do you have in there?

Poor Little Me- Taco salad

MOW - Open the box *as if I am trying to steal food*

I opened the box.

MOW- You are goign to eat all of that *with a super shocked expression*

Poor Lil Me- Yes, I am very hungry!

MOW - OH MY GOD! *so loudly that all the people turned around to look*

Trust me , it was so embarassing! I did not knwo what to do. If it was not work my reply would have been - " Yeah , I eat that much, maybe you eat half as much, but even then how are you double in size than me!!!"

There are a ton of other classic stories about this lady. If I start off with those, this post will go on endlessly. But in short, see the kind of samples I have to deal with! That too when I am getting my food-my love.

Anxiety..

I am anxious, worried, nervous and all such things. I have been meaning to do this for a long time and never really had the guts to go ahead with it. I have done more scary and daring things in the past and compared to those, this one seems trivial, but then what can I say! I am very very scared.

I need someone to tell me it will all be ok. I need someone to stand by my side while I go through with this. I need someone to be there who I can look up to when this is not going as planned.

The day is going to be sometime this week , when I take upon myself this task that I am dreading-

Cooking Ginger Chicken :)