Photoblog updated...check it out :)

Hehehe, had to do a repost, coz I REALLY want you to see these pics I put up today :D

Me wanna be a photographer too!

Love-Link Tag

Tagged by Ceedy
The love-link tag.The Love-link Tag is another of those Linky Love game where you only have to tag 10 person in one post but still there is no actual limit (you can tag more if you want!).

Once tagged, you have to copy paste the link in this post, and make them grow!Do not delete any of the links and be honest to yourself!copy paste the link in this post, and make them grow!

BennyLiew, RamblingMoo, Mum & Kids In Wonderland, Judelittle, Our mini blogsphere, Rooms in My Heart, http://janiceng.blogspot.com/, ChinNee, Jo-N, LadyJava's Lounge, Strange but True, Mariuca's Perfume Gallery,Meet Uncle J-Uncle J, Farah,aNgRiAniWoRLd,How’s Life Bout,The Three Heroes, Ceedy, aneri_masi, you next


I tag:
Cinderella, Sourish, Samby, Anjuli, Neeku

Photoblog updated...check it out :)

Me wanna be a photographer too!

Zucchini Pancakes

Here's the recipe...I got the original recipe from Better Homes And Gardens magazine
The website has a picture of their pancakes, mine looked much better :)

And modified it to suit my desi taste! Its very simple!

Ingredients

• 3 medium zucchini. I suppose you can also use "lauki" or carrots or whatever other vegetable you like! (Ankur, Samby, Sourish, dekh lo zucchini ki photo ---->>)
• salt to taste
• 4 eggs
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch ginger, minced
  
• 2 green chillies, minced
  
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

1.Peel and grate the zucchini. Squeeze out excess water from it.

2. In the large mixing bowl, beat eggs, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Stir in flour, onion, and pepper until just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Stir in shredded zucchini until just combined (mixture will be thick).

3. For each zucchini pancake, spoon a rounded tablespoon of batter onto a hot, lightly oiled griddle or heavy skillet, spreading to form a 3-inch circle. Cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until the pancake is golden brown. (The original recipe said "3-inch circle". I just made whatever size they came out to be ;-)

4. Serve warm. We ate it with Maggi Chilli Garlic Sauce!

This made 10 pancakes.

Now what do I do?

Hmmm....done updating the template (I like it now :)
Nothing exciting happening at the moment, so what do I write about?
Don't feel like writing about life and its issues, I live them, thats enough, don't want to spend time writing about them too.

Hmmm...lets see...did I do anything worth mentioning at all.
I made zucchini pancakes yesterday, those were nice. We went to a granite and rock showroom, nothing to talk about.

Hmm..maybe this I can write about...
I had always thought that I want to volunteer and help seniors and children in some way. I found a website that lists all kinds of volunteer opportunities, lots and lots of them. But some how nothing appealed to me. There was hospice visiting for the seniors, there was teaching reading, working in schools for something (can't remember what it was), driving the food-truck that delivers food to (can't remember where). All these are doable, but not quite appealing :( I wonder why. I think I will teach reading. That I can manage. Lets see...when I can start depends upon a lot of other factors. Our home isn't completely set up yet. Lot of work still pending that definitely needs to be finished up first. Till then I suppose I can decide where I want to work!

Hmmm..nothing more to write today! Off to do some cleaning!

Please help me!

Some one who's used templates from pyzam, please tell me how I can get a new template from there without losing all my links?

UPDATE 1

Am getting the hang of it now, but am hating how the new template looks.
***Off-to-play-some-more***

UPDATE 2

Hmm...ok, atleast I got all my widgets! The butterfly is pretty, but too big I think. Will put up one of my own pics soon!

Yayy! Thanks for the tip Ankur! I copied only the widgets and it worked. Earlier, I guess I was not copying the entire tag properly and was getting messed up. Me happy now! :)

P.E.A.C.E

And am at peace with the world again :)

I don't quite know what that outburst was about, but now the world is beautiful and sun-shiny again!

Hubby's still a little sick and weak, but he's being a champ about it. He actually watched TV yesterday! Got me a bit concerned, he NEVER watches TV, always up to something or the other, but never wastes time watching TV. I guess he needed a bit of down-time too.

He wanted to play make-believe yesterday. And made me a Japanese chef called "Kashi-mura", who made him soup and noodles. And then gave him a bill with cookies (like in Chinese restaurants! Just that we had some Britannia Good-Day cookies, not fortune cookies!) What a cartoon he is!

I woke up quite early today, watched a little red bird pecking away at some weeds. It was really tiny and pretty. And I took some pictures of the roses on our new bushes. With my Nikon D200. (Yeah, -xh-, finally!!! :) The morning sun was too much though, so the pics didn't come out so good. Will take a shot at it again in the evening! Here's what I got this morning.

This white one is my peace offering...for being so nasty in the previous post :)

Don't talk to me, I'll bite your head off!

Am in a terrible terrible terrible mood.

I have just ONE dream in my life...to travel, and I see that going down the drain :(
I feel stuck. Day in and day out, doing the same old stupid living.
Wake up, get dressed, go to work, come home, water the stupid plants, cook the same old rotis and sabzis with onions and garlic, and sleep.
Weekday or weekend, doesn't matter. Stay within the same walls of the house. Yeah, its a pretty house. So? Yeah, the flowers make me feel happy, so I should take care of them, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But SO??? SO WHAT??? I wanna go OUT! AWAY! To a new place!
I HATE THIS MONOTONY! I feel like screaming my head off...at no one in particular.

Yeah, yeah, there are others less fortunate than me, so? Just coz I have almost everything a person could ever want, doesn't mean, I still can't dream, and hope to fulfill it and all.

Don't bother with comments, people, I am not going to reply to any of them.
Don't bother asking my why, I won't reply, am in no mood to talk, or vent, or anything.
Just want to be left alone today. Wish I could just disappear...into thin air...just like that...
pooofffff......

Don't try to find me, I'll come back when I feel like!


Well...there was this other thing...I am sponsoring two girls through Asha...
One of 'em got 75% in her 4th semester in engineering. That's more than I ever got!
Good job, MichaelRani :)

And the other one is in the 10th class. She got marks like 11/100, 24/100. Oh well, she must have some other problems going on. I won't judge her! She's going to school and thats more than I can ask for! Good job, Mubeena :)

Ok, talking about the two kids makes me a feel a little bit better. But just a little bit, so don't try to talk to me. Not yet!

I'll come back when I feel nice again!

UPDATE:
Ok, now you can comment, but can ask only about the two girls I am sponsoring.

TAGGED - 30 QUESTIONS

Tagged by Ankur...

1) LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATRE?
Jodhaa-Akbar. I loved it all, the romance, the sets, the costumes, the animals, everything!

2) WHAT BOOK ARE U READING??
Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul.

3) FAVOURITE BOARD GAME?
Scrabble!

4) FAVOURITE MAGAZINE?
No favorites as such. I like going over Shape, Sunset and Via (the AAA travel magazine)

5) FAVOURITE SMELLS?

1. Bheeni mitti ki khusboo...the smell of the first raindrops hitting the baked earth!
2. Coffee
3. Smell of onions and garlic cooking in mustard oil!

Am allergic to any artificial smells (scented candles, etc)

6)FAVOURITE SOUNDS?

1. Sound of silence! Really, I hate noise. Other than that...
2. chirping of the birds in the morning
3. sound of crashing waves
4. flute

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
Feeling alone and uncared for.

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE?
Groaannn...do I HAVE to get up? How much snooze time can I get...

9) FAVOURITE FASTFOOD PLACE?
Don't like fast food!

10) FUTURE CHILDS NAME?
Don't want kids, so no names! Galati se, by mistake ho gaya, to Emma for a girl.
Boy will be called, "abey oye"

11)FINISH THIS STATEMENT---'IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I'D'
Dunno, I do have a lot of money (I think!)

12)DO U DRIVE FAST?
Sometimes. I raced a Corvette today, went up to 70 in a 45 mph zone :)

13) DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
No, he's all skin and bones ;-)

14) STORMS--COOL OR SCARY?
Nasty...think Katrina!

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
Honda CR-V

16) FAVOURITE DRINK?
1) Short, double-shot cappuccino
2) OJ

17)FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD...
travel the world

18)DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
Dunno, I guess if I eat the broccoli, I wouldn't mind the stem!

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
Brown. I've been a red-head once.

20)NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN?
Mumbai, Ahmednagar, Pune, Kansas City, Chicago, San Jose/Santa Clara

21)FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
None

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
He's very sensible, and can lift my spirits :)

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED?
Clothes in a box, a cutting mat for my sewing projects.

24)WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN??
Sure!

25)MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Night owl

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP?
I think I am over easy.

27)FAVOURITE PLACE TO RELAX?
By the beach, with a book

28)FAVOURITE PIE?
Einhh..boring

29)FAVOURITE ICECREAM FLAVOUR?
mint chocolate chip

30)OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
Ain't tagging anyone.

The Idiot A.K.A येडा

I finally got frustrated watching him, shut the bedroom door and walked away.
I went to where my husband was sitting, told him, I have shut the idiot up in the bedroom, its driving me nuts trying to figure out what he's up to. I'll get me some coffee and go back to see if he's done any damage.

Husband was all confused. What happened, he asked.

Well, he got under the bed, doing some crazy dance, got entangled in the cables and everything. He was out of there, but he's really driving me mad. Husband was concerned about the cables, but I assured him I had disentangled them and put them out of his reach.

I got my coffee, went back to the bedroom. I had to shift around a few things for him, and I sat down to watch him again.

Husband comes in and exclaims, "बाबा रे, what have you done? Why is the bed skirt up like this"?

"Well, so that he could get out from under the bed"

"And why is this box in front of my nightstand"

"Because he wanted to go play under the nightstand"

"And why is the rug so far from the doorway"

"All for him, dear", I said, as I proceeded to grab his slippers to put them away.

Hubby was exasperated, "Put my slippers back, no, he won't do anything to them, put them back".

So we both watch him for some more time, and now he is stuck under a chair. I try getting up to rescue him, hubby holds me back, "Don't worry, he'll come out on his own".

After a few attempts, he couldn't manage it, so I bailed him out, and the minute I rescued him, he headed back for the chair!

"Don't even think about it", I glowered at him, and somehow, this time he listened to me, and walked off elsewhere.

"I am going to go get a shower, you watch him", I say to hubby and off I go.

I come back after half an hour, everything's quiet, I look around, and find the idiot in one corner. I walked to him, to see what he was upto. Hubby asked me if he was sleeping.

I said, "no, he's feeding. Did you put him there, or did he go on his own?"

"I didn't do anything. He went on his own, but he did fling away one of my slippers in that corner. Can you bring it back?" I did. The idiot is now asleep after feeding.

Any guesses to who this idiot is? Please do put in your comment on who you think this is before checking out his picture...he's a very cool wedding gift! I love him!

The Idiot

:-)

Happy Birthday to Me :)

My perfectly miserable week ended perfectly...with the perfect birthday bash thrown for me by my dear hubby :)

So here's how the week went...

Monday: I woke up, was all whiny by the time I got ready to go to work that some thing doesn't feel right. Hubby wasn't too concerned at the time (I am quite the whiner!) By evening I was complaining of "tickling in my lungs" (Congestion!)

Tuesday: Was well documented in my previous post :)

Wednesday: Worst day of all. Hubby left me curled up in front of my laptop, with a phone in front of me on speaker and mute. I could barely comprehend anything. He got back, I was still there, very weak, barely able to talk. He made me soup, I couldn't even hold the spoon, he somehow managed to feed me the whole bowl.

Thursday: Similar to Wednesday, marginally better. I did manage to get a lot of office work done, whew! He brought me biryani because I didn't want any roti. He also got me some dessert which he gave to me at 12:00 with a "Happy Birthday"!

Friday: He stayed home with me! He confessed that he was planning a surprise which is not possible anymore. He was going to pretend to go to work as usual. But instead he was gonna go grocery shopping, and come right back and cook me a grand feast. And hide it all by the time I got home from work. But now I was at home, so no surprise :( But would I still like it if he cooked that feast. I said sure, just don't make it too elaborate, don't know how much I can eat :(

So he went grocery shopping, worked ALL day, coming in every once in a while to check on me. Then at 9:30 he walked in with a box, a gift for me :) It was a pretty pretty dress! He said dinner's almost done, you get ready, come out only when I call you.

When I walked out, the corridor was dark...I found my way to the living room...all lit up with candles, then to the dining room, more candles...




and the first course...
Samosa chaat :)


The main course...chicken curry and tomato chutney :)



And finally, there was orange souffle with orange sauce!!


He MADE all of this!!!! I had an absolutely wonderful birthday, am feeling well again.

BUT :(((( He woke up today with a fever :((( Hope he gets better soon. He is very stubborn and won't take medicines until HE thinks he should, and will only take what HE thinks he should.

So...I do hope to post soon again that he's all shiny and new like me too!

Thanks everyone who kept tabs on me, and asked how I was feeling everyday. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and much loved :)

Thanks Ankur and Sourish for the birthday wishes :)

Pickle, pickle, pickle...

How's ...aaaachhhhhhoooooooooo....everyo .....chhhhhhooooooooooo..... everyone doing?

I have been really sick (by my standards, no doctor visit or hospitalization needed yet :p ) these last couple days. I had been sniffling and sneezing the whole week, but the spring cleaning created complete havoc. I am allergic to all types of trees, grass, weeds, and pollen. And...we cut down 3 trees, I dragged them through a huge patch of 4 feet tall weeds and threw them out on the street.
My system did not like that. At all.

Yesterday was the worst. I sneezed ALL DAY. My husband was totally enthralled, that someone can sneeze so much! He was a complete sweetheart, made me juice and dinner and everything. Whenever I have a problem, I expect him to solve it for me. So I said...

M(e): Do something!
H(im): Huh? Do what??
M: Stop my sneezing!

He gave me some incredulous looks (***Huh, me? What can I do to stop it?***)
Then he dragged my laptop closer to him and said
H: Ok, lets google for how to stop a sneeze...

A few seconds later he had this funny look on his face...
H: "according to The Guinness Book of World Records, had a sneezing fit for 977 days, and produced more than a million sneezes"...
M: Wow, that's, like, almost 3 years!!!
H: Yeah, you wanna break his record?
M: Noooo, thank you.

So he surfed some more...
H: You should never try to suppress a sneeze, it can cause pressure and brain haemorrhage!
H: A sneeze can travel at the rate of 100mph!
M: See...thats why!
H: You should look at a bright light and stop breathing.
H: You should look at a dark spot and stop breathing!

Finally, he found this video, which had text scrolling....
Don't do anything stupid like holding your breath!
Just say "pickle" 3 times under your breath, or out loud, whichever way.
This is guaranteed to work.

H: Try it, try it :-)
M: No! Its so stupid.
H: Still!
M: Ok, pickle, pickle, acccchhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooooo, pickle!

Then he found some more interesting videos on that website, and quit his search for a solution to my sneezing. Every time I sneezed, he did ask me to stare at the light and quit breathing!

Kicked-up Deviled Eggs

No time to write up the entire story.
Its Spring Cleaning Week, and am dead tired :( If I don't show up here for the next few days, its because of Spring Cleaning :(

So here's some pictures of what we made for the egg-cookoff

Its an Indianized version of Deviled Eggs. Yummmmmy!

Here's the team

We even had a mascot!

World's shortest fairy tale!

This just got forwarded :-)

==================================================================

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl 'Will you marry me?' The girl said: 'NO!'

And the girl lived happily ever after and went shopping, dancing, camping, drank martinis, always had a clean house, never had to cook, did whatever the hell she wanted, never argued, didn't get fat, traveled more, had many lovers, didn't save money, and had all the hot water to herself. She went to the theater, never watched sports, never wore friggin' lacy lingerie that went up her ass, had high self esteem, never cried or yelled, felt and looked fabulous in sweat pants and was pleasant all the time.

The End

Woooohooooooo!!! We won!!!

There was an egg-cookoff at work today, and

WE WON!!!

Will post pictures and story tomorrow!

A Happy Ending :-)

To my anger management story from the previous post! :-)

I had mentioned that the guys and I had peacefully co-existed in the gym before, right?
Earlier, there used to be this one guy that I kinda know (hi-hello types), he was not there on the day of my outburst.

But, the very next day, he came to talk to me, and said, first of all, let me apologize.
Second, lets see what we can do about the situation. As you know, the space is too small.
Do you think we could adjust timings or any other suggestion you might have?

I told him I did not mind sharing the space. Not at all. Just that I was concerned of sustaining some injury if I had to constantly "brake" like that.

So he suggested, how about we bring 4-5 balls, and if one of them gets near you, you don't stop, and we'll not come to retrieve it. We'll just use another ball.

Works perfectly well for me :o) And am happy this thing got resolved nicely!

Yayyy!

How I managed my anger today!

After a very long time, I lost my temper with people I did not even know. I think I handled it well though.

For the last few weeks, I have started using the sorry excuse of a gym that my office has. I call it "sorry excuse for a gym" because it really is like that. There are about 4-5 exercise machines (as opposed to 10 of each kind in my previous office!), and a ping-pong table! Fine, whatever, it has an elliptical and thats all I need. Don't really need to get judgmental about the equipment, right?

So what happened today will be narrated in my typical style here...

I got home, hubby was already home, he asked me about my day...

M(e): लड़ाई कर के आई मैं आज (I had a fight)

H(im): Yayyy! (Thats his typical response to me getting upset :)

M: Ok, नहीं बताती, जाओ! (Won't tell you now, hmmph!)
H: अरे बताओ, बताओ. (Do tell)
M(wide eyes, and mysterious tone and all!): चार लड़के थे! (There were four guys)

H: Yayyy!

M(ignoring the yayys now): So, I went to the gym today, right. There's a ping-pong table there too. And there's this group of guys who's always playing when I go after work. Usually they are playing araam se, sometimes the ball comes my way, and I kinda slow down on my machine, they apologize and try not to do it. Today, they were playing quite rough, and within 10 minutes, the ball was under my machine at least 6 times! No apologies, nothing.

H: So who asked you to stop? If they're not courteous enough, screw them, you continue with your agenda.

M: Yeah, but its just instinct, right? You see something coming at you, and someone following it, brake to lagegi na, automatic. I don't mind sharing the space, but if I have to suddenly stop like this, with the speed I am going at, I am most probably going to injure my knees or something!

H: Yeah, I guess.

M: So then, I got frustrated and told them that I have only 10 more minutes on my program, can they play nice and easy. No response, other than the ball coming right at me again! One of them finally spoke and said, "this is our last game". Dude, nobody's asking you to stop, just be nice, will you? That bloody little ball can get right in my eye, and all you'll say is last game?! (Nah, I am too nice, I didn't say all that) I got really mad, didn't really want to scream, so I decided to just stop and leave. I stood there for a couple seconds to get back my breath, and asked them if they played everyday. No response, ufff! And then one of em decided to say, "Yep, everyday, same time!"

H: Next time, pick up the ball, put it in your pocket, and forget about them :-)

End of that conversation...am glad he didn't yayyyy again !!!

I was fuming on my way home...wondering what I should do! I don't want to stop using the gym, I don't want to change my timing, I don't mind sharing the space. So should I complain and have the table moved away?

Or should I just pocket the ball, bat my long, long lashes, give 'em a wicked smile and go back to my routine? :)

What is it with men and balls...er...I mean, men and sports anyway!!!

.

Risk

Dug up this "speech" I had done as a Toastmaster's assignment some time last year. I kinda like what I wrote, and my audience loved it too :) so thought I'd share it here....
This is the exact speech I had prepared...it had to be 3-4 minutes long, I think.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RISK
How many of you drive above the speed limit, and risk getting a speeding ticket?
How many of you invest in stocks, and risk losing some of your hard-earned money?
And how many of you try to stay clear of the stock market, NOT wanting to risk losing your hard-earned money?

Finally, has anyone guessed what the topic of my speech is?

Today, I will talk about RISK. It is something we do everyday, be it consciously or unconsciously.

What is risk? The dictionary says: It is the possibility of suffering harm or loss.
There are two key things to focus on in this definition. One is positive, one is negative.
Lets look at the negative first, since that is what first comes to mind when we hear risk.
Can anyone tell me what this negative aspect is?

It is the bit about suffering harm or loss! There are all kinds of risks, and we stand to suffer all kinds of losses. There can be loss of money, loss of work, if we get too adventurous, then loss of an arm or a leg! We are not afraid of just real, physical losses, some times we are simply afraid of failure, of disappointment, of losing face among our peers.

Now lets look at the positive aspect. This is the part that says that there is a "possiblity" of loss. I feel the dictionary definition of this word is incomplete.
It speaks of only one possibility. It does not talk about the other possibility...that of success! It does not talk about the glory we may achieve by taking the risk.

Now that we are done with the "complete" definition of the word, lets move on to recognizing
and analyzing risks. When do we take a risk, and when do we not.

Some times, the decision is very obvious. I am afraid of water, and I don't know how to swim. It is a life-saving skill, but I feel I might die just trying to learn how to swim. I see all of you smiling, of course, this is an easy decision, I should go take lessons. Minimum chance of loss, maximum chance of benefit.

Another example of an obvious decision is, I don't know swimming, should I go on that rafting trip with my friends? Again, very obvious answer, of course not! This is the case of maximum chance of loss and minimum chance of benefit.

Then there are medium risks...the in-betweens. I don't know swimming, should I go snorkeling? People say I don't need to know swimming, but is it really worth the "risk"? These choices are a bit more difficult to make because we stand to gain just a little, and maybe if we lose, we lose just a little. Very often, we decide not to take the risk since the gain is so small.

Finally there are the big ones...with either maximum benefit or maximum loss! These are even
more difficult to make because the stakes are higher! We really need think hard before deciding about taking these or not. These are the ones that will make or break a person.

At this point I would like to steer this discussion back to the medium risks. These medium risks are quite interesting. They certainly have short term benefits...

1) More often than not, we will achieve what we are set to achieve.
2) The exhilarating feeling that comes with these small victories is just as big as it is with bigger victories!
3) If we do lose, then it is usually something we can easily take under our wing, and move on.

What is more important is the benefits that are persistent...we gain more confidence in ourselves. It helps us expand our horizons. We succeed with one low-benefit, medium risk, and we are ready to take on something slightly bigger. And then when we succeed with that, we move on to something a little more challenging. What we are seeing is steady growth in small steps!

Getting out of our comfort zone takes some risk, but the risk can be well worth it. Moving out of the comfort zone can increase the size of the comfort zone!!! The familiar may be safe and warm, but staying there too long could be to our detriment. We need to risk some uncertainty and move out of our comfort zone!!!

So the next time you encounter something that you would rather not do for fear of failure, or you think you don't have much to gain by doing it, go ahead and give yourself that chance to take a small step towards something bigger. Take that risk! Even if you don't succeed the very first time, I am sure you would have made it atleast half way to your goal.

And this first step will give you confidence to try again, and reach your goal!

Take Care Of Her, OK?

The last post got a little too serious. I need to live up to my reputation and make my readers laugh.
This one's on special request by Veens :)

So, most of you have already seen my beautiful Dhanno. This story is about her, and how she got me out of trouble, just by being herself!
If you haven't met her, go to this post: http://anerimasissoapbox.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-beautiful-baby.html and come back here!

It was one of those busy days at work where nothing really seems to go right (hmmm...that sounds more like EVERYDAY!) I got off from work, had to do a bit of shopping at the Walmart. So set off in its direction. Here's what the road looked like:



I needed to turn on Road B, but instead turned on Road A. I realized it as soon as I got on A. Ok, no problem, I can turn right back and be on my way. The signal was red at intersection C. So I stopped, noticed the "No U-Turn" sign and made a mental note. NO U-TURN. So I was waiting for the light to turn green, and chanting, no u-turn, no u-turn, no u-turn. Light turns green. I instinctively take a U-turn!

Shit!

Not just shit, Holy crap, as well! There's a cop at the intersection, right by the entrance to the gas station. I am kind of in the middle of the road, cop looks at me, I look at him. I haven't yet completed the turn, and am wondering whether I can change this u-turn into a left-turn. I try, and OH BOY, looks like I am heading straight for the cop! Cop looks totally terrified. I stop, let everyone else clear out of my way, move out of the intersection and go stop on the side. The scared cop is right beside me with a very genuine question:

C(op): Where did you want to go?

M(e): Umm..to the gas station, I was taking a left turn, I saw you, got scared and then confused, and then, you know (***now that is brilliant, girl, blame it aaaaall on him***)
Its your fault! (***Yep, I actually said that to him, don't ask me what I was thinking, coz, well, I guess I was NOT thinking!)

C: Ummm..ok (***maybe he does get blamed a lot, who knows!***). You know, you should be more careful. This is a busy intersection, you could get into an accident (***awww...the cute cop cares about me***).
You have a really nice car here, you could damage it you know! (***WHAT! Cute cop cares about Dhanno, not me***)

Well, that kind of pissed me off, I mean, how can he care more about a car than a person, right?
In the meantime, another cute cop has joined him, and they're both silently admiring Dhanno,even whispering something about her to each other.So what do y'all think I told him?

M: What? You care about the car, and not me? I mean I could get hurt in the accident, and lose a leg or something? The car can get fixed, what about me if I get hurt?

C: Ummm..yeah, that too. But you know, take care of her, ok?


Better sense prevailed, and I did not argue with him. He booked me for a very minimal offense, circled around Dhanno once more, and let me go.

How can I not love my baby? After all, "the law" asked me to take care of her :o>

NOTE: Comments about "women drivers" will not be published, so don't waste your time posting any!

Should they be allowed to get married?

This is a hot topic of discussion every now and then around the lunch table at work.

There was going to be a ruling whether California will allow gay marriages or not.
Lots of opinions were given about why they want to get married, and why the government might deny. All these were technical reasons. No one really expressed their personal opinion about the issue.

So well, I will express mine. I don't mind! Go for it, I say!

They are not freaks of nature. There have been references to homosexuals throughout history, so nothing new. Sure, they are minority, but not uncommon. Earlier it was taboo, I suppose because they were the minority and looked down upon. Even now, people are afraid to "come out of the closet" because society is not very accepting of them. Some people are so hateful towards them, that there have been incidents where a gay person was beaten to death. Someone might say, so why now? They lived in their closet so far, stay there. Well, there are women's rights, animal rights, so why should they not have rights that a "normal" couple has?

People want to marry for all kinds of reasons.

• They have religious reasons, they want to live together, but do not want to "live in sin".
• Their family wants them to get married (otherwise they are not "settled" enough, they say, rolling my eyes at that, stomping my foot and all)
• They want to have a family, and want to be married for that reason.
• They want to have the legal benefits that married couples have
• They want that sense of security and commitment that marriage brings.
  

Whatever it might be, all these reasons apply to gays as well as to straights.

One person here said that they want to get married so that they can adopt kids. I pointed out that being married is not a pre-requisite to having kids, adopted or not. He said, nah, not allowed. I presented him with the case of Brangelina, who have quite an international team building up there. (And I love that they love the kids so much!). In fact Angelina was single when she adopted the first couple kids.

So then he countered with, wellll....you know, I wonder whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt/have kids or not. The kid will have so much trouble growing up. Kids in school will laugh at them, they will not be able to understand the situation, etc. My response to this was, so you think all these kids that do end up messed up have had gay parents? Straight folks can mess up a child's life just as much! So many straight folks have "accidental" children when they have no clue what to do with the child. At least in this case, the parents are fully aware of what they are doing, why they are doing it, its quite a painful process for them to get pregnant or adopt. They do it because they "really want to", not simply because their kid is "भगवान् की देन" or "उपरवाले की इच्छा"!

I agree that the kids of gay parents will have more than their fair share of ridiculing while growing up, but it is up to the parents to teach them and prepare them for such behavior। They will need to make them aware of the possible hostility they will face, but if the parents love their child, raise him to be a good, responsible person, the kid will love them regardless of their orientation.

I personally know of two such couples. One of the couples tried to have a baby (IVF, I suppose), when that didn't work out, they are going for adoption. They so desperately want a child, I hope they can adopt soon.

The way I look at it, there are two people who want to spend their lives together, set up a nice home and raise a family. They live very normal lives, do normal jobs, eat and sleep like we do, are exceptionally creative (you gotta see their Halloween Parade, man, they are AWESOME!), they do not bother us "straights" in any way, they are not denying us anything, not stopping us from doing anything. Most are very peaceful people, so why are we interfering in their lives? Who are we to judge what they can or cannot do.

And they are living together, raising kids, all of that anyway, so why not let them get married? Makes no sense to me *scratching-my-head*. क्या फ़र्क पड़ेगा? Just let them sign that piece of paper!

I don't know what the ruling of the case was. Must have been denied, else there would have been quite an uproar about it. I do hope they win at some point!

They are just people, you know, just like you and me!