Intuitions

I am not the person who does the back office kind of work. That might leave you wondering as to what i am hinting. I meant that i never ever get to stuff like transferring the digital pics and uploading the same or compiling the camcorder video to mpeg and burn it on to a DVD or VCD.All that was DH's work and he loves doing/re-doing it. I did not bother doing this anytime in the span of six years that we owned a digital cam.

A week and a half back, one night when the kids were off to sleep, I had to attend a meeting from 10 pm which i knew would never end up before 12 midnight. So I connected the camera and transferred the snaps to the laptop while i was attending the meeting. The transfer kept me up half an hour more after the meeting.

A week later, I was planning to go on a short vacation to Mysore to meet my cousins. The previous night i charged the battery and kept the camera along with the other stuff that needed to be taken. All i remember is just that. I lost the camera not to find it anywhere in the bag nor the suitcase. I did not even board a crowded bus or anything of that sort. It remains a mystery as to how i lost the camera. I am only glad and happy that i moved all the pictures to the laptop before loosing it.

DH was at Sydney on an official trip and wanted to know if we needed anything from there. Quickly sent him an email, where the last line quoted the missing camera mystery.I was expecting a fiery reply. He says we are good competitors no doubt. The reason was DH lost a video ipod couple of months back in a crowded bus.

All that is left is a camcorder which is on house arrest for right now.

A Perfect Day

A tag by Suma to describe my kind of day. Now this makes a lot of sense to me. Having always stayed in Karnataka, where the weather is never extreme but always kind enough to soothe the soul, it was never a concern or a restriction to do anything. I did travel quite a bit through North and south of India during childhood and school days but that would be again when the weather in the visiting place is favourable. Thus had never experienced extremities and probably weather god was mighty pleased ;). It was only after i landed in the USA and all the more in Chicago (called the windy city) during the onstart of serious winter what with 14 inches of snow around, reality dawned on me. The first few days to work, i would always curse the hubby as to why would any sane person land here to fight this kind of face biting cold at -31 degree Fahrenheit, walk to the train station as there was no parking for the car .But then i was convinced and filled with hope that summers are going to be bright and dry and started looking forward to it. But after being back here, i feel the weather here is ultimate with only a slight temperature increase, blame it all on the global warming.

I would always love a working day filled with bright sunshine and not so that makes one perspire. I am so not used to carrying the handkerchief girl. I feel the brightness of the sun keeps one up and going thru the day. I like the late night rains which cools down the weather, so that all you need for a good night sleep is a comforter with windows open and the curtains partially on with a small bedlight on. Rains accompanied with light thunder and lightning is welcome, so that i can coupe up all the dark forest stories with little bear who gets lost only to find Barney later - which can just put the kids off to sleep.

Anybody who like to describe their favourite times and weathers please take it on.

Mystery, Humor, Mischief, truth and much more

It has been long that i really held a book in my hand especially a novel from the past four years. Different genres of books amaze the soul. Couple of weeks back, a visit to the library to get some panchatantra tales for Tiny, tempted me to pick up the book Indian -Insight into Self management by O.P.Sharma. One friday night i sat to read that and the kids were still playing. Tiny gets a book "David and Goliath" and sits next to me with the comforter pulled on her leg and trying to imitate. Little comes down sees the two of us and runs to get a magazine from nowhere, holds it upside down and fights for the same comforter which his sister does not want to share with him. And that is the end of reading these days.
Suma had tagged me a long long while ago. Bear with me Suma, as the target of this month was to complete this tag before any other post. The gist of the tag is a mention of top ten literary characters. So here it goes:

1.Swami and Friends by R.K.Narayan :- Swami a small town boy who is known to play mischief with all humour.
2.Yajnaseni by Pratibha Roy :- Character of Draupadi bought out by the author and how she voices her opinions.
3.Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens :- Oliver with his trembling hands in great fear asks for more reveals his boldness to speak up for himself.
4.Fifty Famous people by James Baldwin:-All the fifty short stories had some interesting personalities.
5.Ulysses Cyclops by James Joyce:-Ulysses who is the hero with a magical power in him, fights against all odds
6.The Little Mermaid by Hans Anderson :- Little mermaid saves the prince's life from the storm and never waits for him to thank her back though she was in love with the prince. Attitude of doing things with a sense of duty and not obsession.
7.Avarna by Byrappa:- Kannada novel which means act of hiding the truth. The character of Lakshmi who is the daughter of a landlord is very well visualized.
8.Blow your House Down by Pat Barker :- Jean who takes intelligently takes revenge of the serial killer.
9.Five on a Treasure Island from the Famous Five by Enid Blyton
10.That Long Silence by Shashi Deshpande:- A dutiful wife questioning her own identity.

I would like to pass it on to Adorable Pancreas, IHM, Mnamma and Monika. Never mind if you guys have already completed the tag.

Edited to Add:

All blogs i read and follow daily like a ritual and get hooked onto are really brilliant. Each of them inspire and add a way of thinking to my uni directional mind. Saying that this gets tough as to whose way i should be sending this award. Most of them would have received it already. I would like to send it across to

Kowsalya, Twisted DNA, Usha

All of THREE going to be FOUR

There are a lot of things we teach our kids about mannerisms, academics, food and all the rest. Some things are not really taught, but they are just personality i think. I might be wrong, but this one instance made me realise. My parents who stay in the very next suburb are kind of at a walkable distance from my place. My mom was out of town for a week. One of the days dad calls up in the evening when Tiny was doing her homework. Here is the conversation between dad and Tiny
Tiny: Thatha(granddad), where is pati(grandmom), I would like to talk to her.
Dad: She is in Mysore
Tiny: Why are you staying alone, thatha, you come here. (Even before thatha replies) Did you eat your mommu(Food)?
There are certain stuff that I will have to tell her everyday to get it done, but these spontaneous talks surprised me.

a MeMe TaG

Usha tagged me this time and i did quite enjoy revealing myself. This was pending from sometime, so here it is:

I am: a challenged mother of 2 little kiddos.
I think: parents mean a whole world to me.
I know:life is short and should be making the best use of time.
I want: a more responsible me
I have: the best i could get
I wish: i could take the kids out to some fun place every weekend
I hate: having to argue, shout or bargain
I miss: the huge parking lots in the US
I fear: bad addictions
I feel: sad seeing little kids suffering from fatal diseases
I hear: "Come come" which my 1.2 year old son repeats as he wakes up in the early morning and drags his bedspread out of the room.
I smell: burnt or slightly spoilt food from far far away.
I crave: juices, milkshakes anytime during the year.
I search: for all gossipy stuff in magazines and newspapers.
I wonder: how to control the tongue's mind as it goes in the proverb "Tongue has a mind of its own"
I regret: not knowing all the options to be choosing from.
I love: walking, exercising
I ache: when I get stressed
I care: for my friends
I am not: extravagant
I believe: in the almighty power
I dance: when i have the right company
I sing: for and with the kids.
I cry : when i am hurt badly
I don’t always : do what i think.
I fight : with none other then DH as we both do not have siblings.
I write: less blogs but read more of my fellow bloggers. Lazy Me.
I win: when i am not pressurised.
I lose: many a times but do not take it seriously
I never: keep a routine, every day is different
I always: make it a point to calm down and take a deep breath
I confuse: myself with assumptions
I listen: to all types of music except rock
I can usually be found: surfing channels on the TV
I am scared: of heights
I need: to aim before i hit the target
I am happy about: what life has offered me this far.

Anyone who wishes to please pick this tag and leave a comment, so i get to read yours.

Suggestions are not welcome

We are in the age of ATM, Easy Cash, what not..I always hoped and expected that it would always be that easy to get cash when you want it.
A visit to the beauty parlor to get pedicure and manicure done relaxed all the nerves and their endings. I then realised, i need to get train reservations done for my parents as they were to travel by a night train the following week. I hit the ATM to remove some cash. I could have used the debit card and get charged a little more extra per ticket, but then i chose to go to the ATM to draw some money. No Not prudency but a little more walk and exercise to the body. I normally bank with Bank A and there was not one ATM of the same nearby. So decided to go to Bank B. This was supposed to be a new bank and in a very crowded hangout area of the city. The banker from Bank A told me that i can withdraw from Bank B and will be charged a little extra but will be refunded after forty five days. Oh not a problem. I went to insert the card inside, the card was not recognised. I then requested the security guy to find what the issue was. There was a long line at the ATM and so i thought, i should do it quick. The security fellow then asked the next person in line to give his debit card. I was surprised. Using the other person's debit card he tried to push my card in the ATM so much that the card would not pop out. The Teller machine then says that "Card will be retained by the machine and transaction will not be completed". To my shock and surprise, i did not react. Perhaps the relaxing procedures at the beauty parlor did their job. I then called up Bank A to block my card. The security told me that the card will not be given back at all. I said fine keep it. ATM becomes an Automatic Eater Machine. Very next day, i tried calling the Bank B where i lost my card to an ATM and told them about the same.

Bank B: Madam I have never seen such incidents and nobody has reported of the same.
Me: Will i be able to get my card back?
Bank B: No Madam. We cannot give it back since when this happens with our customers who use their debit cards in other banks, they do not return the cards back to us. So why should we return your card?? So We destroy the card ourselves.
Me: (What an explanation, so that is proved that this happens atleast)Well Sir, i think the ATM needs to be maintained well or you should change that old machine who is eating the cards away. Since it was at 7pm in the evening and incase a person is in need of cash at the moment, when all the banks are closed, what should he be doing?
Bank B:No Madam Our ATM works just fine and we have never had complaints. If you want i can give you a helpdesk number.

Spreading the chain of love

This time a tag from Suma to extend affection and love to all the wonderful people in blogdom. All you blogger friends, who make every day interesting with new ideas, thoughts, emotions, experiences, stories, poems and what not, I extend this chain of love only to spread more and more.

Once tagged, you have to copy paste the link in this post, add your name 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, Lady Java's Lounge, Strange but True,Mariuca's Perfume Gallery, Meet Uncle J-Uncle J,Farah, aNgRiAniWoRLd, How's Life bout, The Three Heroes, Ceedy, Veena, Suma, Sumana

I now tag Akshatha, Chitra, Kowsalya, Noon, Poppin,

Talk about myself, here it is

It was long break that i had after the move across continents. But i did make all efforts to read others blogs in the meanwhile before updating mine. Well i call myself only partially addicted to blogdom. No i do like to write, but a little lazy there. My dear friend J, tags me now and this i cannot escape.

Last Movie You Saw In A Theater:
Casino Royale and was worth it

What Book Are You Reading:
Yet to start reading The Outsourced Indian

Favorite Board Game:
Ludo, Chinese checkers, Carrom and Monopoly

Favorite Magazine:
Women's era, stardust, cineblitz anything gossipy

Favorite Smells:
Smell of mint, fennel leaves

Favorite Sound:
sound of flowing water

Worst Feeling In The World:
When there are no alternatives

What Is The First Thing You Think Of When You Wake? :
Kids sleep for a little more

Favorite Fast Food Place:
Cool Joint

Future Child's Name:
I already have 2 driving all the nuts out. Good lord!!!

Finish This Statement. "If I Had A Lot Of Money I'd...”:
Do something off the routine everyday and ofcourse be of help to mankind in all forms.

Do You Drive Fast? :
Perhaps just once, got pulled over by a cop before leaving the US and ended up with a warning.


Do You Sleep With A Stuffed Animal?:
No

Storms-Cool Or Scary? :
Inbetween cool and scary

What Was Your First Car?:
Honda civic

Favourite drink:
Mango/ chiku shake

Finish This Statement, "If I Had The Time I Would .....” :
die of boredom

Do You Eat The Stems On Broccoli?:
I might depends on the taste

If You Could Dye Your Hair Any Color, What Would Be Your Choice? :
Leave it natural

Name All The Different Cities/Towns You Have Lived In
Dandeli,Raichur,Shimoga,Belgaum,Mysore,Bangalore, Chicago

Favorite Sports To Watch:
Basketball, ping pong, lawn tennis, Relay

One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You:
A multi talented person who talks less of herself and more of others

What's Under Your Bed?:
Toys that my daughter hides from her little brother

Would You Like To Be Born As Yourself Again?
No major cribs

Morning Person Or Night Owl?:
Morning person anytime

Over Easy Or Sunny Side Up?:
Over easy

Favorite Place To Relax:
timeout with friends, movies

Favorite Pie:
Don't like any

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:
Vanilla

Of All The People You Tagged This To, Who's Most Likely To Respond First?
Oh no I do not tag any, since by then almost everyone i know in blogdom might have completed the tag. Anyone interested might pick it up.

Object of my Affection

Thanks Joy for tagging me this time. This is one such tag, which gets a lot of ideas to the silly mind. Though it was all composed long before, it just took this long to come out.
The object of my affection is our car. She was hubby's first and was taken care off like a princess. I took my driving lessons with her. She accompanied me to interviews when i was jobless. She took me to work and back home. Be it the rainy, windy, snowy chicago she withstood them all. Every doctor visit be it ultrasound or just checkup was with her. She kept telling me all will be well. She took the pride of getting our first baby home. She with utmost happiness gave her princess crown to the little new comer then. She took her to the best of places and gave her the best of times to see the little giggle and smile on her face. She with all smiles brought the second baby home and tried to calm the quarrels. She meant so much more and today when attaching a price tag to her i felt bad. She is priceless and our very first princess. She is changing owners today and i just wish her luck....Here she is with pride

She is just going to be eight years old this september and her achievements are huge.
And now i tag a few more to express their affections and that will be :
Akshatha Kamath,
Poppins mom,
BangaloreMom
and anybody who likes to do one.