Just being Lazy

So, we returned from this vacation in LA ;
Correction..... I returned from LA after our vacation and B flew to Detroit on work from LA, we didn't  fly back together :-(
I got back home late and slept in late until this morning, decided it would continue as my vacation as I was in no mood for work!
As this blissul day continues, I made some lunch which required almost no attention (Lemon rice) and by evening I realised I hadnt unpacked, hadnt done pretty much anything at home......
I have to confess, this happens to me all the time B's travelling for work! I dont exercise, dont watch what I eat, crazy sleep patterns and somehow always skip atleast 1 day of shower :-)
Today, I went ahead and baked myself a cake and ate half of it :-), given the fact that he's returning only on Thursday, I recon the cake will be all gone.....
I still stare at the pile of clothes on the floor and contemplate...It can be done tomorrow, it's just me, I can live with that for a day!

An ode to B'wood

Have you ever observed there are 2 types of people ( ok, ok I'll do it the right way AB )

"Is duniya mein do tarah ke log hote hai"

1. Ones who adore/love/drool/like/whatever  "Shah Rukh khan"(SRK)

2. Ones who  adore/love/drool/like/whatever "Amir Khan"(AK)

I know there are more khans, but to me "Liking" any of the above two  have very much described the type of person I am with!

I was an SRK person. As an awkward teen, I had his postcards (no posters, mom was never to know) 

And I have to say why!

Mom strongly believed that infatuation with stars brought trouble with everything. 

Apparently, she was a Rajesh Khanna person, and was distraught seeing young girls (her friends?) tattoo his name on their hands, commit suicide when he got married and the whole nine yards!! she believed I'd end up in some kind of trouble having SRK posters/magazines cut outs or anything with me for a very long time!

which was until I got caught.

Getting back to the topic, yes his super cute postcards were always in my backpack, admired by co SRK fans in high school. The same thing was parallel with AK fans (how dare they?) and they never understood why we liked SRK, we didn't even bother asking them anything further!

Something like this was happening in our room at home ( shared the room with sis until I moved to Hassan :-P)

She was an AK fan....oh yeah she was, and she loved blue while I was the pink maniac! such opposites under the same roof, so much tension in a 150 sft room??

Well if you ask me how you ever manage? Oh, life was hard...she broke my tooth, I almost cracked her skull, 

But you know what, we are ok now, sometimes we even manage to put the past behind and talk like grownups; Deepika Padukone vs Sonam Kapoor you know, the normal things!

 What kind are you readers??

Issues in general

I read blogs when I get bored of working from home :-)
I know there are many more things, productive things I can work on like wash the dishes or mop the floor or press the clothes in the basket (been there for umm.. 3 months now honey?) but no,
I decide to read random blogs and get inspired for a new fight with B.

I conjure up images of the similarity B has with either the blogger or the blogger's spouse, ONLY similarities that irk me mind it!

I read a blogger complaint about the 'Color identification syndrome' he suffers from, and voila I remember B calling our 'Oh SO green' towel blue!!
I say 'Peacock green' and he says, no it maybe Peacock but 'Peacock Blue'
Oh I know I can let the reader decide the right color it is, but I know I'm right ;-)

Well, I cannot for obvious reasons find the same fault with Moi, I am pretty perfect in my own eyes...sounds familiar?

I do get complimented by B himself that ever since we got married, his wardrobe has a 'Summer', 'Winter' & 'Fall/Spring' collection that is notable!
Also according to him, his tastes have improved and he understands the importance of a 'Sale' or an 'Outlet mall'

I try people, but every once in a while, we have a 'Floral Hawaiian' or a '10 reasons why Beer is better than a woman' find its way into our wardrobes.

I really wouldn't mind it if he wears them with pride, but no.... excuses include 'We will go to Hawaii (1st class) and I'll wear it' or 'My friend's Bachelors party'

What friend? all of them are married, most of them have kids!!

Hawaii??we might as well fly to India with that budget!

I now strongly believe that it is these little things that make us the couple we are,
Now, what that is, I really haven't figured!

I love you B, and the fact that you'll read this and leave no comment...
lets say, Ive made my peace with it :-)

Home science :-)

As I clean my charming little apartment for a 7 month old and his family coming tomorrow, I see in my cupboards loads of leftovers from a 3 year old's visit :-( (the sad face coz I miss my Lolsamma) there are chocolate covered gummy bears, strawberry jam, goldfish and I have no clue what to do with it all!
If you are wondering why I cant finish chocolates or jam, my teeth have pathetic cavities and with my dentist appointment on the 7th, I don't want to take a risk with anything sugary and gold fish gets boring after a cup.
With school done, I'll get to invite more people over and this means regular cleaning, dusting and related activities.
Full time school meant we had very few guests aka
1. Classmates for group projects ; coffee/tea with cookies
2. Close friends ; close enough to not clean up thoroughly or even ask to bring snacks on their way as we only had frozen meals or Parle G at home.
It feels like a new start, this social game of having people over, cooking for large groups.
I love the fact that my fridge is always stuffed, my pantry has everything and my house is always ready for surprise visits. So come on people, pour in and make "Mi casa su casa"

Its summer time here, and I will be having lots of fun in the sun!
Now that school's done,(whoa...wait a minute,the above said rhyme)
I have my Masters, and no job (yet) but a loving hubby and a sister who'll visit...it all screams FUN!

My new neighbour's a desi(Punjabi) and hoping she doesn't get to read this blog, I wish I get a cuppa chole the next time she makes some, for that matter, any yummy dish Punjabi's make would be well appreciated.
And in exchange, I'll promptly share some upma/idlis (yeah Balu cough away, but I will soon make idlis at home). So, now it gives me a total of 3 Indians living very close and yeah, time for chai parties :-)

Well, I did invite the new one home for tea today and there is not a drop of milk at home...I just finished the last drop for my morning coffee and now hate to get dressed to go the the grocer to buy some.
The only way to skip away from this engagement is to go to school to finish my last assignment! ha ha but have to get ready for that too...so here's my evil plan, I'll take the old neighbour to the new one's house, and with that, I don't have to really get ready and get my afternoon tea too :-)

This really happens in my head, I really am this mean and sometimes wonder if anyone else thinks anything as mean as this?

What is it with the train of thoughts, the way one stupid thing leads to about 30 minutes of rubbish in my head?
I see someone wearing SUNGLASSES and I go from
'Oh I need to buy new ones' to 'Maybe I buy it online' to 'Amazon is pretty good' to 'Oh the name Amazon comes from the biggest river Amazon, no wonder' to 'God you took so long to figure it out?' to 'am I that dumb?' to 'Should take an IQ test' to 'What if others see and realize your dumbness?' to 'he he I said dumbness, reminds me of Highness' to ' Your Highness, how do you do?' to (in an English accent)' I am fine, thank you Mademoiselle' to 'Oooooooh I should learn French' to ....I guess you get an idea
This is just a glimpse...
I later waste a whole lot of time trying to figure out what I was thinking about in the first place!!!!!!!!!!

This behaviour of mine is tolerable as long as I am traveling or sitting in a boooooooooring class or watching a game with B but, Heaven forbid it happens again,
it strikes even during exammmmsss....oh yes it does!

I remember, songs from 'Rangeela' were running in my head during my board exams(10th) or a single (don't remember what) sentence kept repeating in many other exams.

When I try to meditate (hoping to get better concentration) I try to blank out my thoughts but my head keeps yelling 'blank, blank, blank, blank, blank'

I have finally given up trying to change, I take this quirk of mine as something cute and live with it, it has to be common,
I hope the comments read, 'Oh don't worry I do it all the time with me'

PS: I hate the fact that my dramatization of words by adding extra m's for the word 'Exam' is considered a spelling error pffft!

My haunted tales!

Very so often, out water closet decides to flush by itself.
Sometimes its the minute I open the locks and get inside and sometimes its midnight, waking a very disturbed me up!
We already have a noisy water heater that clangs its way routinely anyway but now its as if the W.closet is a new addition and the heater wants to hit on the WC, they sometimes clang and flush together!
Not that I believe in ghosts (shit scared of horror movies which I watch very religiously)but there is fun in talking about a hypothetically haunted bathroom!!!

While in hostel, we architecture students who were always spread over a large table/drawing board had trouble finding our eraser that just a few seconds back was in plain sight.
After a minimum of 10 minutes search for that, maybe after borrowing our neighbour's eraser, we would come back to find that dammed eraser right under our noses!
This happened primarily to erasers and sometimes to other stationary. We did come up with a theory that we had invisible ghosts/pixies (hopefully friendly) lurking around that loved teasing us and hid our stuff momentarily!
Oh those tales, wise old tales...but come to think of it, I am not ready for any other explanation that can solve the little mystery of escaping erasers :-)

And the best part about the search was that it gave relief from work, gave me an excuse to run to Peelu's room which was conveniently and intentionally right beside mine, have a little gossip, suddenly remember I was there for a reason, run back to mine, find my eraser and run back to return hers!!!!!
lol....miss those frivolous days :-)

This summer is super exhausting! Its not normal to feel super tired in the evening, especially when the day is filled with relaxed gossip with a friend, yummy lunch and sweet Indian tea.
Maybe with a 5 minute walk in blazing hot sun, with temperatures up to 40c, almost nil humidity and being thirsty for an hour can reverse all the exemplary value the day had earlier.
Summing up a mundane day, relaxed mid mornings and debilitated evenings.
.......cant wait to start school again

The intensity of the evening increases with a 4 mile bike ride!

The exaggeration for my coffee affliction has no bounds. I am not sure anymore if I like coffee or like the notion of being called a coffee addict! anyway, this confusion landed me with an espresso machine.

Don't get me wrong, I love this guy, he makes an amazing double shot espresso with steamed milk everyday in the morning for me which stops me from hitting the bed after Bala leaves at 7 in the morning!

Its just that somehow the enthusiasm for a story on coffee yet again does not fascinate me. Maybe, it was getting a little too boring anyway.

So I as of now, will leave my coffee stories alone for a while with a hope for something exciting to come along to replace it!

My vision for a summer semester off was ;

a. A vacation leading to a few extra pounds
b. Never ending cups of coffee so good that getting back to my morning dose here would seem suicidal

The perfect culmination then would be to relax after the vacation, an Espresso machine and a brand new bike : each for their respective obvious purpose.

Everything was going on just fine...Only somehow, everything I visualized fell in place and I
a. Had a vacation, easily gained weight
b. Had the most aromatic, death defyingly good coffee (my love for coffee can create strong adjectives)
c. Also somehow smooth talked Bala into buying bikes for both !

This talk is so special to me that I should make it a series, maybe.

" Solitude "

There's something about Salt Lake downtown that makes me smile even on a cold day!
Today evening, I got off one stop behind and decided to walk the last 2 blocks to our apartment.
There is this beautiful cathedral on the way which has always beckoned me but Id never had this urge to get in though! Today, I decided would be the day to explore this. I walked in with a little ambiguity as I didn't know if they allowed everybody!
Two doors later, just as my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, I found myself in absolute solitude.
Ive always had this complaint that my mind has a hard time to get clear and no matter how peaceful the surrounding, it has some damn thought lurking in the background.
Well, this evening I had no difficulty in achieving that. This cathedral was so captivating with its ambiance and this strange quality that is totally unexplainable that I found myself lost in some spell!
Now on, every time I hear the church bells ring, I'll get to picture that moment of solitude.
This case, its going to be every 15 mins, when in my apartment!

( Will post a picture sometime soon )

Its snowing here...and about time too,
Last few days were nothing but a bad dry spell with yellow haze and dark mist masking the mountains and the valley. This got young moms worried that they would have to bring up their precious lil ones in this grey city!
I was once in B'lore, worried about the same thing; was worried how worse my beautiful city could get before being labeled unfit for living? I now am convinced its the same thing everywhere, as long as there are Hummers and no one pooling their SUVs.
Having taken 2 courses on sustainibility, I have become a little more than conscious about our environment.
I hope everyone makes one effort every single day say, use Public transport or bike to work....public transport is fun, trust me I do it most of my days and it gives me time to think, read my books and observe people!
Id love it if anyone who reads this ( please read me ) drops in a comment on how they, in their own special way help our Earth!

Break time!

Technically, this was my first semester as a full time student!
and boy, was I a full timer or what! the schedule I had was tight and the subjects in hand were phew, tiring...but worth every sweat and tear ( many of the latter)

I kept complaining to Balu how I wanted to quit, how I missed the Law & order marathons, the re-runs of all my favorite sitcoms I had watched a zillion times already! and the non-stop snacking at whatever I laid eyes on!
Well his reaction, as you can imagine was "whats wrong with her?"

But now, having done with them all, and when I get my marathons and reruns for as long as I want....all I can say is "I am loving it"
I love getting up as late as I want, eat anything for breakfast, for as long as I want, not having to cook lunch, eat leftovers ( Oh that's another long topic to discuss) junk, junk and more junk...and hot tea on a snowy afternoon with Parle-G. I hope I dont get used to this for long for my next semester starts in 2 weeks!

Diamonds are not always girls best friends!

Just so that my clothes fit me when Im back from a 2 month vacation to India, I decided firmly to forgo the most important element of my meal......BREAD.
A huge (understatement) fan/devout/consumer of this simple thing, a fetish of mine for ages, and I stopped having bread for about a month just to help my so called diet go full swing.
The results, yes it did help but that is not the point!
Today, on his way back from work, Balu stopped by the bank for some official work and my fav Great harvest bakery is right beside. He got a whiff of freshly baked bread and without thinking twice, paid a prompt visit that was due for so long!
He surprised me with 2 loaves of bread!!!!
To me its like getting home a hand crafted Birkin bag or a pair of red hot Jimmy Choos.....well, Id like the latter too, but this gesture gave me such joy that I had to be extra sweet to him.

ps;People who find this silly have NO idea how much I like bread........and I'll finally get to see my niece come Wednesday!

My mad hatter!

This is the only reason why I tolerate Balu singing
"Dont you wish your husband were a cook like me?"
(sigh, like the Pussy cat dolls themselves!!!!!!)

Yes, all the potrayed dishes are his experiments in the kitchen & freakishly delectable!!

A case of mistaken WHAT ?

The idea of pregnancy is scary but pregnant women are adorable! It is the last thing they want to be told...besides the fact that people go ahead feeling her womb, unannounced!Well, anyone would gloat and bask happily in the attention they get...but well, there is a limit to that! First of all its the hormones giving you the angry bursts, to top it the questions...."Oh are you pregnant? how cute...."

I am such a wrong person to talk about this...but have seen people complaint about this and have managed to stop myself from asking these questions to people I suspect are pregnant!

Coming to this, it once did happen that I met this girl at a gathering and she introduced herself, said she's been married for over 3 years and only had her hubby accompanying her. She did sport a slight paunch and dont blame me for assuming that she might have been carrying. She sported no signs of being fat, no place but for the paunch! at least I didnt go on to pop that question! but did make her conscious by constantly looking at her ahem...

Hey, couldnt help...I had to know, wanted to congratulate her; that is if she were pregnant! so I went over to Balu and confessed my doubts only to be pushed away and silenced instantly....bah!as if he could stop my mind from working away!

I tried to pry on every conversation she was having ( I was seated right next to her so thats not evesdropping ) and no one seemed to have my doubts. This meant only one thing...either they all knew that she WAS indeed pregnant or otherwise!That was all I left with that day, the whole even seemed unfruitful because of what I call my "Reasonable doubts".

As for you all, my doubts were needless, she wasnt pregnant & I could find that out only after a couple of weeks at another gathering where she was present too, in a different attire ( after a lot of gym sessions I presumed ) where she was obviously NOT pregnant!

Boring became a thing of my past...I remember my 2007 and will cherish that year to be the only one where I did almost NOTHING! well, actually I did improve on my culinary skills and got used to the everchanging climate here in Utah!

2008, right from the start became an interesting one ; for starters I am back to school! yep complete with a backpack ( waterbottle, tiffins inclusive and a coffee flask as the only upgrade )
while we are reminiscing the typical school days of 80's, 90's...let me tell you, I also have bus-pass provided by my University!

The last time I got to have a first day in school/college was way back in 98' so what do I have to say now that Im doing it all over again?
-------------"Im loving it"

TRUST ME, THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN MAKE YOU MORE HAPPY THAN....

1. LISTENING TO "KEH DOON TUMHE" (original or remixed) IN A UNIVERSITY LAB AMIDST UN-SUSPECTING LOCAL STUDENTS ( I obviously mean Goras & head phns on )
2. CHAIN MAILING YOUR BELOVED HUBBY IN AN EXTREMELY DRAGGY SEMINAR/LECTURE.
3. A NICE REFILL OF HOT COFFEE/CHOCOLATE FROM THE CAFETARIA ( refills are a buck cheaper ) BEFORE GETTING TO A MORNING CLASS! MOREOVER, EVERY 10TH ONE IS FREE!!!
Update;To hell with the free coffee, the management removed that system with the free 10th one crap!
More to come soon on this list.......

Sweet tragedy

Balu is a foodie and surprising him with special dishes is something I love to do. A little difficult considering his ever vivacious intrest in exploring every kitchen cabinet, every evening!

This is our first Diwali together and I planned on spicing it up with suprises and infact tried real hard in succesfully hiding an instant jamun packet from his exploring eyes for 2 weeks. Today morning after confirming the final tips from my mom, I started making the jamuns & everything went on fine ;

Perfect sugar syrup...TICK
Proportionate dough...TICK
Golden fried balls....TICK
And to add to perfection, a dash of saffron and cardomom to the syrum...TICK

It really looked so good, a little too much for my first attempt, I anyway patted my back and let them cool patiently (Pretty difficult task for someone who considers jamun as a fav sweet)

Remember it all was meant to be a surprise! so I managed to drown the unmistakable heavy smell that engulfed the whole house by spraying FEBREZE all over. I then picked a neat box to stash away the jamuns, this is when my heart stopped...the jamuns were breaking, I picked one and realised they were gooey inside! hadnt cooked a bit and was now tasting bitter...they were repulsive and I, heart broken!

Dejected and all sorrowful, I called my mom and lamented. She then asked if I had fried them on a low flame...well, how was I to know? Medium here is pretty much fine for frying and I took that for granted! Such a disaster.

Bah, so much for my surprise, This afternoon Balu gets to eat with a dose of the saying..."Dont judge a book by its cover" Feel like the wicked witch from fairy tales now!!

Hopefully I cook something good tomorrow and make it a happy Diwali indeed.....

Our Fridays

There is this cozy bakery with a cafe on 25th street in our town Ogden ( a historic avenue with beautiful family owned bistros and boutiques).
They offer a wide variety of oven fresh breads besides various other muffins and cookies. We hit this place every friday, pick coffee and atleast two varieties of bread samplers.....Pumpkin chocolate spice, cinnamon raisin etc....and add on a cookie or two as we play chess for hours! They have this novel idea, provide a variety of intresting board games, intresting coffee table books and lure in customers and keep them coming for good..:-D well, it did work with us. We love the time we spend there, our constant coffee refills and we even talk of opening one such place ourselves. We fancy starting a little restaurant which serves pizzas on weekdays and authentic Indian dishes over the weekend .....sigh wonder when!

A platter of emotions

I have always wondered what to answer when Im asked " Do you miss home? " of course I do, what do they expect me to say ? ' I love this place so much, every street reminds me of Bangalore, every person reminds me of my friends, every new made to order dish ( after repeating NO MEAT, NO FISH ) reminds me of bhel puri!!! who am I kidding? I miss home every single day, who doesnt? Actually its the independence I had and felt cognizant of that I fail to invoke here that makes me feel alien.
The other day while on a local bus, there was this annoying co-passenger who persistently picked all the calls he got and was needlessly loud. People didnt seem to be bothered or irritated, which seriously made me wonder! That was when I missed being in a BMTC, Id yell my head off or frown furiously at any such geek!
There were times when the guy filling petrol into my Kine never seemed to make it to 100, he somehow managed to stop the metre at 99.78 or some odd number. Not that the money bothered me, it was the attitude those guys showed that pushed me to ask them to complete a 100! Then they would make a face, grin and make it 100.some odd again, I didnt ask for extra, just do what I ask for please!
All these old memories that flooded me on that bus surely had some impact. The same day I was happily walking down a street in SLC and at a crossing, pressed the button that would later flash the green light for the pedestrian. It was a busy afternoon and the traffic was pretty heavy and so the lights didnt come on for a long time. This is when a bespectacled lady behind me grew impatient and yelled..." Press the button DUM DUM " was she talking to me? I looked around and realised yes as we were the only two souls there! That was it, couldnt let some moron call me that, did she say that just because I am coloured? wow, this was when the tigress in me pounced and irately yelled back "You DUM DUM a pity your glasses didnt tell you Id pressed it already"
oops!! was that me? I was red with anger, frustration and yes relief!!! must have been a spectacle coz she just backed out, walked away and well, I didnt care anymore it was a new me, a happier and more confident me! Odd that it felt so after such an episode. Nevertheless, life has been great after that and all thanks to that scum bag!