Unloading my think tank...

I've moved to a new team for a different project, and so far, its been good. I've been trying to re-learn about the product, since its been more than a year. This time around, I hope to do well.

We are going to meet my sister this weekend. She's got a little sweet monster cutie who'll turn 1 soon. That, is the interesting part! I'm gonna teach her how to make nasty faces when my sister calls her, or how to poop on the couch so that my sister freaks out, and also how to demand for motorcycles. Ok that can wait, since she's only 1.

Then later last week, I'd gone to the nth beauty shop to get me Oil of Olay Night cream. Thats the only cream I use, and I stick to only scrubs (apricot, walnut) and multaani mitti with rose water. The sales girl takes me to this counter, and hands me the night cream all right, but an anti-wrinkle with leave-on-all-night kind! I looked at her and showed the cream saying this is anti wrinkle. She replies yes, but its night cream, and that's what you asked. Smartass. I said do you honestly think I need an anti wrinkle night cream? What do young people like me use? I want a simple night cream. She goes, to my horror, and hands me a moisturising cream. No night cream madam without anti-wrinkle feature. Now who's heard of a moisturising cream as being fit to replace a night cream!?!?!?!?! I woke up my bitchy self, took the anti wrinkle cream, handed it to her and said, you need this since you seem to be getting old, else why'd you hand me moisturising cream when I didn't ask you to. She wore a smug look. I. Couldn't. Care. Less.

Mom is leaving this weekend, and I don't like it. She's so much fun! She and hubby tease each other and one tries to out do the other in masti. I love her. She is so funny, down-to-earth, her advices are always right, she knows exactly what to do when, and how to do it, she's clear in her head, she's calm in responding to curt people, and she laughs a lot. My mommy.

Oh I got my new salwar kameez stitched from a yet-another-new tailor. And thankfully, he's done a good job! Whenever I get something I like, then I make sure I appreciate the person who helped me. It makes them enthusiastic and happy. I did the same with the tailor and said its really stitched well. In fact, I was so happy that I bought myself a Good Housekeeping magazine! Spoil me silly!

Today is my 3rd wedding anniversary, and I've been married only a year. Hows that then, you ask? Well, I got married according to two traditions (hubby's and mine) on 2 different dates. So that's 2 wedding anniversaries. Since the Hindu calendar is different from English calendar, I get 2 more anniversaries for each of the wedding anniversaries. Confusing? Ok its like this - I got married on 10th Sept* acc. to hubby's tradition, and then again on 26th Sept* acc. to my tradition. These are English calendar dates. My mom insists on celebrating anything (birthdays, anniversaries) acc. to Hindu calendar. Since these 2 calendars NEVER match, I get two more dates, acc. to Hindu calendar, when 10th Sept corresponds to some date in Hindu cal and 27th Sept corresponds to another date. Phew. But as long as I get niceties** who am I or anyone else to complain?


* - Fictitious dates, of course. Not my anniversary.
** - Oh that explains the pearl earrings and pearl pendant I'm wearing today! ;)

This weekend went by pretty neat. I cooked, I cleaned, I relaxed. Spent it all at hiome, which is surprising given that I am hardly home during weekends. I usually go watch a movie, go to the beach, or some other outdoor activity. This weekend, our maid-cum-cook (we call her Aunty) took off for 3 days to go to a pilgrimage. Previously, I used to groan. Now, I didnt mind it. I was excited actually, and that I could cook whatever I want, however I want these 3 days!


(Believe me, cooking is theraupetic, sometimes.)




So I cooked an array of dishes from poori-bhaji to pav bhaji and even gajar ka halwa, which was a hit with everyone. I also made soya nuggets with peas curry. Hubby loved it. Also, apparently, I can cook lunch for 4 in an hour! Not bad considering my past history when I couldnt even prepare lunch for myself.

On saturday, hubby went to have guys' time at his friend's place. I was invited, but didnt want to go cuz it was an all-guys thing, and I didnt wanna intrude in their "fun". It was 12 AM and he still wasnt home. I went up to A's room and started crying (A is my bro-in-law). He cheered me up, and we decided to teach my hubby a lesson. We made a poster that said "NO ENTRY" and drew a goofy guy wearing a Vodafone tee and holding a hockey stick, with "Hic Hic" written all around the cartoon. Obvious reference to hubby :-| And we stuck this on our bedroom door. He came home at 1 AM and it was fun to see him asking me to let him in. Hahaha!

I am reading The Maximum City by Suketu Mehta these days. Makes me miss the city all the more. Great, just great :-|

... err... not so much fun as I thought it would be. I was just speaking to a dear friend today, and we were discussing some serious issues like money management and handling responsibility.

She has just moved into a new place, smaller than her earlier one, and was wondering if she would fit all her things in there. Not that she's short on cash or anything, the earlier place was too big for 2 people (she and her husband), and this is just about right, almost. Another thing she was telling was that how her husband is quitting his regular 9-6 job and joining a friend's startup where he'll be getting less than what he's currently being paid at the 9-6 job. Both are okay with it, and she says that she will now have to cut down on extra expenses as mush as possible and save. Her mom too, is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, so that expense is also there. He will, it seems, also do part-time teaching on weekends at a business school, so that will add up too.

Situation is kinda similar at my place too. I think twice before spending money waywardly, something I used to do early on in my career (the wayward spending). I used to splurge money every weekend on clothes n eating out and buying stuff for my cousins. Every. Single. Weekend. I saved very little. In my defense, it was my first job and my college-going cousins were really excited everytime I bought them stuff. Then my mom retired and moved in with me, and thats when reality dawned on me. I HAD TO save for paying the bills, groceries, house rent and all those expenses. Suddenly, earning money wasnt that fantastic a deal. I had a lot to deal with, at home and at my workplace. No nothing emotionally bad, just the responsibilities seemed too overwhelming to me at times. I started thinking twice about splurging money, something I never did before. And also I signed up for insurance and other investment crap (blast the govt for its stinky tax) which brought with it the premium payment and all that shit. My mom used to offer help, but I refused saying I need to learn and be mature and all that. Wonder which part of my brain did the lightening hit :-)

Now, it really doesnt excite me to be grown up. I'd rather be a free spirited girl unmindful of green worries. Like I can just not show up at work one day and show my boss note from my mom, and get away with it. Like I can take off biking to the mountains and enjoy the scenery without worrying about the deadlines. Like I can care a hoot about what am I going to do with my future and enjoy cross country backpacking. And it'll be lovely if I could hitch hike the ride. Like I dont have to think about taxes and only about relaxing, painting and learning new languages, meeting new people and have a blast.

Now too, I am having a blast with my life, only that I am actually working my ass off towards it. I'm enjoying it, but I also want to see me doing all that I mentioned above :-) ummm... I dont know, maybe being a grown up is not that bad after all??

Just maybe :-) well, until next time the green worries hit me at least!

I got off work early yesterday thanks to my running nose. Its so ironic - you "catch" a cold and your nose starts "running". The deal is, I thought I'll go home to get some much needed rest *cough*stitch*cough*. So I got home, took a glass of warm milk with Ensure, applied Vicks and went to slumberland.

The cook rang the doorbell and woke me up at 5 PM, and I had some watery-noodles. Watched the one-thousand-hundred-billionth rerun of FRIENDS and Full House back to back (yea how sloppy, I know :D ), then E! News (I'm a sucker for Hollywood gossip!) and welcomed hubby at 8 PM. We had our dinner real quick and went to watch 300! I wasnt upto the mark to watch a movie, but the tickets were booked early this week, so we couldnt cancel.


(Image courtesy - Wikipedia)

And boy, I'm glad we didnt. The movie is amazing. Gory yes, but amazing too. Its a story about 300 brave Spartans led by their king Leonidas, taking on a giant army of Persians, because the Spartans do not kneel down to slavery. Its about The Battle of Thermopylae fought in 480 BC. I was left gaping at their bravery, their dastardly acts to kill the enemy on the battlefield (I almost threw up once). When the Persian king Xerxes (who, in the movie, looked absolutely gay with his eyebrows drawn with a thick eyeliner pencil) asks Leonidas and his men to surrender their arms, he replies, "Come and get them." My, thats brave! Its a must-watch movie!

About the cold, its gettin better. Not the cold, I mean me. Common cold, I read on Wiki, is caused by a variety of viruses. And there's no proven cure for it. My, for something thats "common", there's no cure in the world!

I am here at my desk, with a pile of work waiting for me. Well, it can keep waiting. Sometimes I don't just feel like working. It seems like what you would term as "repulsive". Usually happens when I get to some point and then am stuck. I try and I try, and if it is to no avail, I start procrastinating. And start my spree of nonstop chatter, reading gossip, and sometimes news. Oh yea, blog too.

And why is it that I feel tired these days? Try as much as I do, to cook, work in office, read, watch TV, catch up on news, I end up feeling really tired. A little bit of extra somethings added to everyday life and I get the feeling. Wonder why. There was a time I would wake up at 6.30 AM, bathe, eat, go to office, come by 8 PM, dinner, TV, listen to radio, and was a voracious reader. What happened to that girl? Where's she gone? Bring her back please.

Then again, sometimes, I think its all just in here *points to her head* I need to be composed and stop worrying my little head over trivial matters. I sometimes worry so much that I think my head will just explode. Of course, I tend to, how the English might put it, go overboard with my emotions. But mind is a hard thing to control you see. Sages go to Himalayas to do that.

Focused. I need to be more focused. And *brrrrrrraaahhh* shake up and loosen a bit. Amen to that.

I noticed something. I havent made an entry in my other blog for a long long time. Thats good. It means time away from re-living all the not-so-good things happening in my (personal) life, and now it also means less of those unpleasant things. Good.

Well, for now, its back to barracks :)

... I dont know what to write. Work's been keeping me busy, and work at home too aint like having a scented bath (ah that would be so good right now). I am in by 9 AM and leave by 7 PM and then its sleep time in a wink and wake up again. Its like I never slept! Results - author now feeling zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

But no! Sleep I shalnt my comrades! Work beckons me, and when duty calls, beauty (ahem) should be there!

I saw Hotel Rwanda. Hutus want to take revenge on Tutsis (hope I got both tribe names right) and go on a massacre; a million killed in under 6 weeks. A kind Hutu man bribes the militia and saves few Tutsies. So in a way, it was like Schindler's List. Which, by the way, was a very very good movie. Touching to say the least.

I also saw The Pursuit of Happyness.


Oh man what a movie! Had me in tears. How inspiring! Dealing with homelessness, struggling to make end meet, raising your child while juggling multiple jobs - its inspirational. I would recommend that movie to everyone - please watch it. Will Smith is a treat (he's matured from his MIB days) and the movie is inspired by a true story. Chris Gardner of Gardner Rich.


Yes, thats right. Here, go to this link for more on him and the movie.

I am planning to buy some knitting yarn and get somewhere with that knitting dream of mine. For now, its programming that I should get back to - it makes sure I get bread home daily. (Boy I am so melodramatic at times :D )