And · this · is · what · I · have · to · say...

28 years and here's why....
1. My dad telling my teacher 10 years back,while he lay in the ICU unit "I am not worried about her, she is very adaptable, a fighter..she will survive".
2. My mom's expression on seeing me at the airport when I go home.
3. My sister not letting go off my hand at the airport, knowing that I could not come along with her.
4. My nephew telling me " I am grown up now, I am 7 years old", his first sentence when he saw me at the airport after 2 years.
5. Anil's expression when he saw me getting down Half dome..he looked as if he was almost losing his life.
6. My masters degree certificate, not because of the degree but what I did to get it.
7. The map that anil sent of the bay area, which he had used as a wrapping for the pink floyd cd he sent me, he had marked the directions from the airport to his apartment just incase I dropped by. (we were friends then).
8. Him ordering pizza from california while I was in NC, a cold december night.
9.Two of us as friends singing our favourite songs over the phone.
10. My inlaws telling "You have gelled in so well with our family, we are so happy with you".
11. A friend calling to say bye :)
12. A friend telling me that there are very few she calls and I am one of them.
13. The taste of water when I am really thirsty.
14. When I realised he too would love to adopt a child.
15. When he told me I give direction to his life.
16. The first prize I received at my music competition, and the running race at school.
17. My firt bike ride.
18. As a kid I had danced to the song "Mein tho bhul gayi babul ka des piya ka ghar pyara lage" that song says how much she loves her husbands place. Years later when I got married, she (the teacher who taught me to dance to it) hugs me and tells me "when you danced I sincerly wished that would come true".
19. My first pay check, the one I earned making pizza's and mopping floor.
20. My luck when I got a full aid and fee waiver just so because I was standing outside my prof
's door when he opened it.
21. The first time I stood up for someone else.
22. The first time I realised its upto me when I choose to walk away.
23. The first time I realised that I could be wrong, but its worth learning it the hard way.
24. When I realised, I could be mean, I could be bad I could be selfish, I could be plain bore, but I neednt change if I am happy the way I am-- still realising it..in a way.
25. When I realised people are not just black or white, people can be grey too, that implies to opinion and views too.
26. When I realised that I can see "the half empty glass" I am human.
27. When I filed my first tax return :) and I told my dad so.
28. When I meet a friend after 5 years and we still chat like we met yesterday,inspite of us realising that we have definitly gone comple seperate ways.

Taken from notanangel

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Here is my fairy. My neice, this was taken at her first on stage performance, she looks a wee bit upset. But usually she is a bundle of laugher...I miss you my princess

Lesson for the week,

Never ever go to a travel agent what you can do yourself, unfortunatly in my case I could not do it myself and so stuck with an agent who is turning into a major pain in the arse. I was getting all smiley and confomfortable with her and bhoom all of a sudden I realise she has been pushing me around quite a bit.
Yesterday I was pushed around by a couple of people and I was all set to retaliate. And who did I find but the caught unaware agent, she called me I spoke, she spoke, she got my blood to boil, and there I was trying to control my voice cause if not I would be cussing her at the top of my voice that she would probably not need a phone to talk to me, but would hear me without it!
I vented to this person and that and then another and then realised that I must sound such a looser, a whiner!.
One thing I must admit I hate about my mom is that she is a perfectionist, now you decide if thats a good or a bad thing. Well for me being the daughter who was not so perfect it would definitly lead to huge amount of arguments since I would have to mark up to my perfect mother, well she did have expectation from me- like tidy room, choice of clothes,appearence and small things of that sort. Not that she had high expectations, its just that she thought whatever we do we need to do it perfectly. I used to mutter under my breath that I would not turn into a perfectionist, but as I aged I have turned into one, hence the stressing on small things that actually needn't be considered, wastage of time on small things that doesn't need to be discussed.
I woke up with a start today, I hadn't spoken to the XYZ guy at XYZ hotel about kings bed. And we had already signed the contract, all hell broke loose within me and I shouted for him,he pacified me saying they probably will provide it if available at the time of check-in and that I should not be fretting over it. Darn, I should learn to loosen up, and not expect things to go perfectly especially with a group of 50 or more.Now someone talk me into not following in my mom's foot steps!
Loosen up rush!

From yahoo news...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=4&u=/nm/20050425/od_nm/odd_india_sale_dc

=======

Prime Minister's Residence Sold on Web Site

Mon Apr 25, 8:20 AM ET

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's intelligence department is investigating
reports that a fraudster sold an American businessman the prime
minister's residence in the heart of New Delhi recently, a leading
daily reported on Sunday.

The businessman forked out 35 million rupees ($802,600) for the house
that was up for sale on a Web site as a "huge sprawling mansion in the
heart of Lutyen's Delhi with 24x7 running water and electricity," the
Hindustan Times said.

He soon received the title deed for the house and arrived in the
Indian capital late in March to take possession of the house for an
office he planned to set up only to discover he had been cheated.

Its been a lovely two weeks for me, its been so very satisfying.

1. I have a group of newbie runners,two of them being an obese couple,I  know I sholdn't be referring to them like that-let me call them the MS couple. What I normally do on the run back to the start point is run with the faster runner, slow down and catch up with the slower runners, but this couple are pretty slow so I turn around and go back and run along with them till they finish the designated milage. Its a pleasure to see their smiles and thank yous. I am so touched. But it got me worried too, coz I so don't want to mother them, so I was upfront and asked them. She said "No, please don't stop --right when I think I can't do it I see you come over and address my question". That makes me want to do so much more for them. Being a mentor is very satisfying. I need to find a job at councelling or something.I can only wonder how a doc could feel, infact now I think I completly understand what my mom means when she says she loves her job, because its so satisfying,it must be making her feel so complete-darn why did I choose engineering!.

2. Its been a hectic week otherwise, closed the deal with the agents for the maui marathon, we are getting it at a steal.-prices which will be disclosed later ;)

3. I have met some nice new people, I know I am beginning to develop a relationship with them. My fav are the MS couple, they are so nice.....mainly what makes me like them is that they know they are slower than the lot, they need to put that extra effort but I am truely amazed by their determination and dicipline. They are so puntual at their stretches and stregthening excersises. It puts me to shame.

4.I am enjoying my work as a travel co-ord, mentor at the moment. I love meeting people and that is exactly what I have been doing the past weeks.

5. My last swimming class is today but I will not be able to attend it. I haven't been swimming since the past week. I should make it a point to go swimming once every week.

6. Interior designing is lost in all this--God I need to get to it and fast.

 

The wow news : Our coach finished Boston marathon today in 3:21. We are so damn proud of him, though  I know he will be a disspointed man..he was hoping for 2:45 and within. He is awesome, he rocks!

5k	10k	15k	20k	Half	25k	30k	35k	40k
0:20:34	0:40:37	1:01:11	1:23:15	1:28:12	1:46:54	2:13:35	2:40:25	3:08:19
Finish		Start Time Offset	Pace	Projected Time	Official Time	Net Time	Overall	Gender	Division
		00:47	0:07:41		3:22:00	3:21:13	xxxx	xxxx	xxx

 

And now for the bah news:-

"Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong announces his retirement and says this year's tour will be his last race".I hadn't  had my fill of him yet.I will miss him -- he is so frekkingly handsome!

 

Why you ask me?. why I ask myself today. Why do I want to run a marathon again?.

I am not a fast runner, I just run, run as fast or as slow as I can. Run against the wind, fight it, or surrender at times. Run when I know my legs can't take it anymore--is it just so I can lie down in bed and sleep like there is no tomorrow?.

Do I run because I am so thankful of what I am today and feel a wee bit guilty for having so much?. Run because I know I am what I am today because of the education I received yesterday. -Run coz I know I can raise funds for that little boy's education who I met in india?.for that little girl who had so much enthusiasm to absorb the world in, so much to live for...I guess I want to run for that hope and expectation she has off me

Maybe its the heavy breathing and the faster heart beat  that goes thump thump thump that  makes me run.Is it that fascination to see the bulge of my muscle on my legs(something I thought I didn't have) when I tip toe? Or maybe its that feeling when my body doesn't want to budge an inch when every muscle (even the one's I didn't know I had)is aching so bad, when my knees feel as though its been replaced by some mechanical ball, that I need to touch them to know they still belong, it is definitely that point in time when my mind say I can go on,that I will see the finish line today..it is definetly that moment in time that makes running a marathon worth while.

Running a marathon has taught me so much about myself, its not easy to put it down in words. Its taught me that I can , that my mind is so much stronger than my body, that the body is my slave, that can do anything at my command.That the body is a masterpiece, push it and it will break limits. That helping someone soothes my soul, makes my living worthwhile. I have learnt to respect myself more, respect myself for what I can do,respect myself for the change I can get in somone's life.

Running is like an investment for me, a passport to healthy living, a guarantee that I might postpone my heart attack, my diabetes and my arthritis.Running will be an inspiration for my kids, to stay active...running has become my life. And I so love doing it.

This is what triggered my post today. If he can do it why can't I? Go run..all you need is your shoes.

There will be days when I don't know if I can run a Marathon. There will be a lifetime knowing that I have! - Author unknown

I remember sundays when I was a kid we used to have regular visits to the swimming pool, both myself and my sis in red swim suits and orange swim caps (my mom always liked dressing us up in bright clothes). I was damn scared of the water when mom insisted that I learn to swim rebellious that I was, retorted back and asked her if she knew to swim,if she didn't then asked her not to bother me . As an answer my poor mom who was on the obese side then got into the pool with a tshirt and swim suit on, I am sure she would have had a few eyebrows raised, but my mom being my mom showed them that she could pick up swimming in a few days. (yup, thats my mom for you). I still was very wary of the water..weeks rolled by,I did pick up swimming (yeah right, I tried once again and I clung on to my mom and I almost drowned her in the lake). I remained the screaming child clinging to the bars, the one who was every ready to jump out of the pool and run to the icecream  man, when my sister (who used to swim ever so gracefully I must add) and my mom were done. Weeks turned to months and then years and I soon out grew my red swimming suit which is still lying in one of the cupboards!

Yesterday was my first swimming class, as you can all imagine I was so apprehensive. A my husband was swimming well, he just had to get his breathing technique right. As for me I was contended with the thought that I would cling on to the instructor or the float and splash my legs-and ofcourse try and not drown. I got into the pool, the instructor asked me to splash my legs and hold on to the float.I did, and I did well I covered the entire breadth of the pool. She then said I was doing well and taught me the hand movement and by the time I know she was teaching me to breathe. She said I could swim (can you believe it?).  Well I could not and still made use of the float, then it happened  I don't know what came over me I let go of the float and yes I started to drown(not that I could even if I wanted to, the water was just 4 feet deep). Gulp, gasp, I was up again. I held tight to the float and splashed and did my breathing and let go once again..and guess what I was swimming!. I swam quit a bit then the excitement of doing it caught me, I stopped and looked behind for some sort of confirmation I guess and yes the instructor was cheering me on!. I just can't believe it..I had so much fun yesterday, it was a total new me.It must have taken me 20 minutes to get a hang on it and then the other 45 minutes or so to work on my technique!!And this time I guess Anil had to drag me out of the water..what would my mom say if she saw me?! "All that trouble for nothing?"

Did I tell you guys that we are planning on back packing the  grand canyon this June?. A rim to rim, we plan on starting from the south rim..end on the north rim, and camp in the canyon.Two whole days there and a evening in ooo- la -la las vegas. Put together we are eight of us--two of us gals and the rest are the junglee's.

I was talking to ramya about the weight of the back packs,our need to carry deo sticks and how much its going to be hard, the 100 F heat would make it harder.That reminded me that I needed to use my sun protection lotion liberally this year, coz last year I had grown 10 shades darker while I was training for the marathon.And also emphasised on the fact that we need to look pretty and that it was even more important now--I mean someone has to carry our back packs right?!!

Anil my hubby says " no way--don't think I am going to carry your bag" and I say "I wasn't talking about you"! .Cheeky me . And ramya adds "Carry two get one free in the month of june". Well its nice being born a gal..what say my girl friends? :)

As I sit here and go pitter patter on my keyboard, I have grown so used to peeking out into the outside world. I know exactly when the man rushes to work,ahh he was slightly late today! When the two women wearing their sports clothes go out for a jog.Or when the tired women rushes back with kid in tow cause she has to get the dinner ready.

I have in a very weired sense grown found of this place of mine, no one notices me since this hiding place of mine is behind these growth of leaves.Its a spot where I can peek into people lives when they briefly pass by.

The best by far that I have had a peek into were two kids playing "housie housie"..the little chinese boy being the  dad and the cute little indian girl the mom.

What does it look like outside your window?

 

I so want to start growing my petunia's, dahlia's and sunflowers...but these showers are driving me crazy. Just the day before I walked out and noticed these beautiful white flowers swaying in the breeze, I rushed in to get my camera...before I could go click click they were all down on the ground crushed by the rains :(  .Today I woke up warmed by the sunlight streaming in through my blinds I rushed and threw open my doors and windows and in no time it was chilly and rainy again :( GAH GAH and more GAH's.

 

I will be substituting wine this friday night with other healthier drinks and also to make things better I will also be up by 7.00 AM on saturday and you will find me dressed up in my running clothes at 8.00 AM on stanford tracks, ready to go for a 3 miles run which will then be followed by stretching and strengthening exercises with the other runners who will turn up at 9.00 AM!.

Ask me why and I will tell you...I have signed up as a mentor(why oh why!), which means that I will have to behave responsibly and to make things happier more disciplined when it comes to running/exercising and food etc --thats going to be REAl hard for me!.I had mentioned in my entry somewhere last week that I have signed up for the chicago marathon in oct, why you ask me--maybe I am just plain NUTS-or maybe its true when they say marathons are addictive. BTW I also have my swimming classes starting on monday---praise the lord!.

All this does not seem crazy if you see this from Dean Karnezes  point of view. Where he ran 252 miles non-stop!. Well he must have one solid reason to run like the way he does. Now 26.2 miles...yes I understand.Its a challenge --a challenge the mind takes up against your body. But 252 Miles?!

Coming to the movie suggestions as you can see how my plans have taken a total 180 degree turn, I still went out and looked for those movies...but since the blockbuster guys are a plain pain in the *** they refuse to keep the good one's and instead have movies like asoka, escape from Taliban, and other "oh please don't watch them" titles so I went ahead and picked  two movies that I kinda vaguely remember hearing about, Six degrees of separation and Things you can tell by just looking at her(well Ok I'll admit that was a wild pick!--the story sounded all girly types!).

So you guys have fun over your long weekend while I go for a run!

Found this on an entry on mizarable 's LJ ..thanks!

Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America.....do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

EVER WONDER ...

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

My hubby is going off for the weekend, I am looking out for movie suggestions, any movie that is not scary or does not have violence --mushy movies, girly movies,thoughtful movies all welcome--sporty things kinda not welcome...c'mon people flood me with your fav movies!

--looking forward to suggestions--meanwhile let me go heat up my grill that will be churning out tandoori chicken and check on my wine stock! :)