Traveling J

Hello my lovelies! How is the new year treating you so far?

I would like to announce that after 2.5 years of stepping foot into this country, I am finalllly going to visit the other coast! (I know I live in the Midwest and not the East Coast, but then the West Coast is still the other coast, no?) I leave tomorrow afternoon and have stuff to do on Friday. But on Saturday, I will be in LA, living it up Hollywood style. R has told me that I wouldn't really spot any celebrities, which does leave me a little upset. But I do get to go to Universal Studios though! I know people usually complain about going to theme parks, but me I just love them! Love love love. And R has very graciously decided to drive down 7 hours, just to meet moi and S. Is he a friend or what! So this weekend is going to be all about fun.

The next weekend will find me in Toledo, Ohio, where I intend to stay until Tuesday, assuming my manager lets me work from home for 2 days. Keeping fingers crossed! So we are planning to go to Detroit, eat at a "good" Indian restaurant and then watch Aayirathil Oruvan - the good Desis we are :-)

Also we are planning an anniversary trip in March (since Feb will not work for S due to work related reasons) Right now sunny Florida is on our radar. When I visited Daytona Beach a year or 2 ago, I remember seeing this hotel that was right on the beach. Too bad I didn't make note of the name of that place. Anyhoo I would like to stay at someplace where we would get a view of the water from our room and would have to just walk out to step into the water. Hopefully we will find someplace soon.

I guess I have rambled enough about my upcoming travel plans. If you are going to take just one thought away from this post, it should be this - this weekend I am going to be in Sunny California and you aren't! Maybe if you guys behave well enough, I might post some pictures. Keep watching this space.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to all my reader(s)! I hope 2010 brings all your dreams to life.

Personally, 2009 has been hands down the worst year of my life so far! With the the exception of getting married, there has been a dearth of good significant events in my life. And even for the wedding, the days leading to it were horrendous, with everyday being a marathon scream session with my parents. All because of one single person! And that said single person is yet to call/mail or even know if we are still alive after the wedding. But I digress. Now that 2009 is behind me, I would like to think that 2010 has begun on a better note. It is not that, I don't want to face any problems in 2010, but I would like to have some normal problems in 2010. You know, the kinds I see my friends and others complain about!

And yes, I have some resolutions for this year too. The usual ones - a healthier lifestyle and pay down debt. And I would like to have a more positive outlook towards life. People who know me in real life, know that I am pessimist. And S is even more so! My parents feel that this sort negativity might add to our misery and maybe if we wished good things for ourselves instead of wallowing in our self pity, something good might actually happen. So I've decided to be thankful what I actually have and start believing in myself. In that note, I am thankful that we can afford for S to fly down every weekend and I believe that we will be together soon. :-)

So gentle readers, what are you looking forward to the most in 2010?

One of Those Days

I have a lot of things to rant about. Like about how my manager asks a co-worker to go home early coz she's just back from India, but I wasn't even asked how I felt when I came back from India. Or about watched phones never ringing. Or even about about how I spent all my paycheck in just 3 days. But S is here with me and everything is alright with the world. :-)

Happy Festivus, to the rest of us! :-)

Yet Another Sleepy Friday Afternoon

Since this blog has long lost its credibility and well written pieces, I thought I might as well make a bullet list of things on my mind right now.

• People who complain about bad roads in India, should drive in Madison in winter! Seriously, they can now give stiff competition to the mud roads back there. The slush and ice are driving me nuts and I feel like I am traveling on a maatu vandi. Atleast back home, your brakes don't stop working.

• In the same vein, could someone just take all the snow away? I am sick of it already and it's just December. There's about 3 feet of snow sitting pretty on my patio right now. My body is built for Madras - wearing even one sweater is a big deal for me. Oh I wish I lived in Florida.

• I've realized that I wear yellow gold earrings, a white gold diamond ring (thanks S), a platinum ring that somewhat resembles a wedding band (thanks Viji Athai) and a sterling silver chain. Nothing matches! I think I would do well to get a new set of everyday wear jewelery - preferably from Tiffany. Wow this is far cry from the girl I used to be - who hated jewelery of any kind.

• A watched phone never rings. You can add this nugget to the treasure chest of wisdom that I have bestowed upon all readers over the years. And also a constantly refreshed mailbox, never gets new mail.

• Despite not being a Christian, I love Christmas (Disclaimer To Appa : Except the Jesus part of it. I still firmly believe in Venkachalapathy) Well decorated trees, beautiful ornaments and gifts! What's not to love about it? I really wanted a tree at home this year, but then no-one visits me. And it would be pretty sad to throw a Christmas party by myself for myself. But I have been playing Secret Santa at work though. It's been a fun week, finding small gifts at my desk each day. And all so beautifully wrapped. All my gifts have been going in store bought gift bags.

• I wanted to write something about Super Mario Galaxy, but people are telling me that there' are too many obscure references to Mario in th blog. So I will refrain from talking about it. Except to say I only have 18 stars left to capture before I finish the game in entirety.

That's all folks. Have a rocking weekend!

Of Rambles and Such

So I am back to the US after an awesome 3 weeks in Madras. Trips going back home are always nice, but when you have to leave it is such a gut wrenching feeling that leaves (or atleast me) questioning why I left in the first place. It was no fun that I had to come back alone, which led to a lot of sobbing on the flight while watching movies that were even a wee bit emotional. Again, my resolve is strengthened about moving back to India in another 4-5 years, when I can finish paying off my education loan.

Madison seems more desolate now than when I left it. Probably due to the sun disappearing at 4pm. Just coming back from India, coupled with winter blues has made for a very depressed Janani. (Yeah go figure, I have even started referring to myself in the third person) And it doesn't help at all that it started snowing today - enough to cover the grass.

What's the point of this post you ask? Just to inform kind, gentle readers that the author of this blog is depressed, restless and lonely. My mother is of the opinion that I should make more friends at the Indian store, temple and so on. So if you see a crazy female at these aforementioned places handing out a flier with name, age, occupation, orkut profile, facebook profile, twitter page etc you know that it's your truly.

Since this whole post it a rambling mess, why don't I just write more to make a huge rambling mess. Like I tweeted (or twittered whichever the right word is) the only thing that was holding my interest was Super Mario Galaxy. But since then I have defeated Bowser and rescued the princess, I am not liking the Purple Coin comets! I want to buy Super Mario Bros, but S has become kanjoos lately and is refusing to buy it for me, nor is he buying it for me (unless it's a secret gift that he is bringing along with him when he coming home tomorrow) S's bro B, has greatly insulted me by laughing outright when I said I like Mario games, but he assuaged my ego by telling me that no-one's Manni plays games on the Wii and so I am redeemed and elevated to starry heights in Mannydom. I told B that maybe if I owned a PS3, I would play games of worthier mention, but like I said before S has become kanjoos and it's become more and more difficult to pry money from him. I suspect his recent konjoosness has stemmed from knowing only now, how much I actually owe in education loans to the bank, my father, Viji Athai, K and the pakkathu veetu nai kutti. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard the total figure I owe and I quickly reminded him that since we were married and half my debt is rightfully his. Add to that 2 car loans and the amount we owe is quite staggering. Hmm, maybe it is time to cut down on the Starbucks lattes and the Wii games I buy and then immediately dislike.

In other news, I have started positively disliking tv since coming back. I do not attribute this to Adithya TV and Sirippoli TV in Madras. All I am saying is that I am bored of watching rererererererereruns of sitcoms. This is also why I need a PS3, so that I could watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia from hulu on TV. Also I am now taking sitcom suggestions from commoners (that you!) If you do recommend a show and I start watching it and like it, you could go down in history as the person who actually recommended something to the sitcom queen (or sitcom junkie, I prefer queen) So suggest away you lesser folk!

Madras Ahoy

Well I started this post as a Toys R Us/toys for kids in general rant. But then I figured I might as well make it a what's-up-in-my-life-now kinda post. I know it's very charitable of me, but I have since learned that I have a few more uncommenting readers and a couple more interested in the joining the Janani-blog-reader bandwagon, provided I get them a laptop from the US, bookmark my blog clearly as "Janani's Blog" in all browsers and leave a prominent link on the desktop. The lengths I go to make people read my blog! Whew!

As you all know, a trip to India is in the offing, and one of the highlights of the trip is that I get to meet my cute nephew/cousin A (Yeah our family relationships are pretty weird) From what I see in the pics, A is the cutest, sweetest, most good looking baby in the world (despite resembling his father! :-)) So I wanted to buy something for him and I headed into Toys R Us. After stopping for awhile in the Wii/Playstation aisle, I figured I would head into the preschool/infant section and be spoiled for choice. Boy was I wrong! What's with the toys for kids these days? Why do all of them have 1000 small loose parts that are definitely going to get lost 5 minutes after opening the toy. And why do all the toys make some sort of noise? My expectations were simple - I wanted to get something for A to play with, something that endures for atleast a month in entirety. There were a lot of walker kind of toys, but I didn't want to get those since his parents might have some definite ideas about that and buy that themselves. And for the same reason, I didn't want to buy any DVDs since his parents may have some rules about the kind of DVDs they want for their child. (Though I was sorely tempted to buy Blues Clues seeing the kind of publicity it gets on TV shows) Ultimately I chose to buy a Leap Frog product that makes a noise, but seems to be reasonable (atleast as per my standards). And also I like the ads on TV for Leap Frog and really think they are edutaining. And while I am at it, what's with all the pink and glitter for girl babies? I dream of having a daughter someday, whom I can dress in a pink frock and a bow, but isn't there something as too much pink? And I was also buying a baby doll for one of my aunt's friends. Most of them were cute and lifelike and said Mama, Papa and giggled to a good effect. And then I saw them. Pooping baby dolls. Ewwwww! Really, do kids like them? And more importantly do you want your kid to play with doll poop? Ewww!

And I was sorely disappointed with the service at Toys R Us. I walked to an employee and asked her for suggestions to get something for a 6 month old boy. Her only remark was to comment that I was in the right aisle before politely walking away. Contrast this with Barnes and Noble where I have been thrice to get books for babies and toddlers. The staff there were very helpful, walking with me across all the aisle and pointing the different kinds of books and what babies might like. And to top all these, I realize that the Leap Frog toy that I bought in Toys R Us is almost $8 cheaper online and in Walmart. Makes me feel silly now, taking the pains to go to Toys R Us. I have half a mind to return the stuff in Toys R Us and buy it from Walmart!!!

Talking about shopping for India, buying something for Appa has been an epic fail! :-( My parents never ask anything for themselves. Don't get me wrong here, they make me buy plenty from here, but everything is for someone else. When it comes them, they don't want me to buy anything that costs more than $1. So I was pleasantly surprised when my Dad, for the first time in his life, asked for something without my begging and cajoling. He said that he wanted a couple of good quality T shirts, which are collared and had a front pocket (for the times when he is in a veshti). So the next time I am in the mall, I figured I would check the out the T shirts and to my horror I found that none of the T shirts had a pocket on them. I became desperate and yesterday when I was in Kohls, I saw collared T shirts with a pocket on them. I called S in glee and discussed which size would fit Appa and then I noticed that they were full arm T shirts! I sorrowfully called home and told him I would buy shirts instead, which he didn't want. To cheer me up, he asked me to get a 2010 diary for him, the only stipulation being each day had 1 page dedicated to it (My father is an avid diary writing for decades now and he needs a lot of space for the kind of details he maintains in his diary) Again, after scouring Barnes & Noble, Borders and the likes I failed to find him one. So finally he asks for the DVD of a movie called "Seven Times Seven" that came in the 60s or for Laurel and Hardy DVDs with some specific episodes. Again, unable to find the movie DVD and the required episodes are spead over multiple DVDs which cost $45 apiece if at all they are available!

On the subject of buying things for India, I am really at a loss for what to get for everyone. I think people who lived in the US a decade ago had it easy, coz these days anything I mention has people going "Oh we get these in India now." Well, I am giving up on buying anything for anyone this time, due to the lack of time and monies. It makes me feel a little sad because I used to love getting stuff from V Mama when I was a kid. But then, you people get everything in India now right? :-)

Ok I have to sign off. Gotta go and buy random crap to take home :-)

My Life is a Set of Bullet Points

Yeah it's easier to write longer version tweets than writing stories and then thinking of appropriate endings :-)

• I have become so much more lazier in the last few weeks! Seriously. All I seem to want to do is sit/lie on the couch and read/watch TV/play on the Wii. The apartment cleaning has dropped to half of what I used to and I haven't stepped foot into a grocery store the last 3 weeks. I think it had a lot to do with S staying home. Either his laziness is rubbing onto me or he is spoiling me to bits :-) And the gym that I was so regular in going to - I haven't set foot in it for the last 2 weeks. Since S is now off to Ohio, I have decided it's time for a change and I started cleaning the apartment yesterday. I have also packed my gym stuff in the car so that I can drive right upto the gym after work. Now that it's all written in black and white, I am now accountable to the blog (and the few readers stringing along for the ride)

• In contrary to the above point, my hobbies and activities has increased tremendously. I take French lessons every week and I can feel my French improving considerably. I am able to make up simple sentences and starting to grasp the complex grammar. I need to ramp up on the studying at home though. Apart from that, S & I are taking swimming lessons every Saturday. I had a sort of breakthrough this weekend and I was able to swim 1 whole lap. I am really really pleased with that. My endurance is pretty bad though and I am exhausted after the 1 hour lesson. Anyhow, the fact that I can now swim for however long my hands and legs keep up and tread water shows that I am making good progress. Again need to get into the pool more often. Usually S and I just stay longer after every class and practice, but I think I need to go in once more each week. If this weren't enough, I decided to take art lessons from a local artist. I don't know why, but I have always had the itch to sketch, but I never do anything about it! I have just had one lesson, but I am enjoying working on my homework. Time will tell if I continue with this or just quit. (S nearly had a heart attack when he saw how expensive sketch books and the umpteen pencils that I bought cost. So he might force me to continue lessons till he sees some return from the investment. And S, FYI I am buying an easel too. :-))

• Appa is mighty skeptical about all these and feels that the money spent on all these would be better off sitting in the bank. Well I don't blame him, I have always quit on everything that I begin. The tennis classes in my 3rd and 4th standard, carnatic music lessons that I took for more than 5 years, multiple crafts and embroidery classes during the summer holidays, glass painting that I took up in Hyderabad, the tennis classes that I took last summer in Madison and so on. So I really need to not quit and show him. (I know I really have a great attitude :-))
  

• You know the JC Penney Salon that I used to heart? Well I am over them now. On Saturday I decided that I absolutely needed to get my eyebrows waxed and called them to get an appointment. I usually get my pedicure at this small place nails place in the mall. They are really good, but I was getting grossed out by the napkins they used. So I thought I would try JCP and took an appointment for a pedicure too. When my eyebrows were done, the pedicure person was guiding me to her station, when this rude person at the billing told me I would have to pay now for both services. I agreed and I was whipping out my card when she told me the amount due. I staggered visibly because it was way more than what I had expected. I berated myself for not checking the cost of a pedicure before making the appointment and swiped the card. And then she asked me if I wanted to leave a tip, in front of the person who was going to do my pedicure! Tell me if I am wrong gentle readers, but isn't a tip something we leave after the service is done depending on how well it is done? I had no choice but to give her a good tip and hope she was worth it. To break any suspense, she was worth the tip, but the pedicure very blah for the price I was paying. So all woman readers of my blog, avoid pedicures at JCP like the plague.

• On other note, my love affair with McCafe Iced Latte is ending since I have found out iced Filter Kaapi tastes much better. Of all the pots and pans that I dragged all the way from India, I am most thankful to the filter. Now if only I could get Coffee Day coffee podi in Madison.

• While I am at it, what's it with people who describe themselves with their sun signs? "I am a typical Scorpio" blah blah. So now apart from listening to their rambles, I need to look up Scorpio or Taurus or whatever too? Or do they think I am as jobless as them to know Linda Goodman from cover to cover. (You didn't think I would have a post without a single judgy, condescending sentence did you? :-))
  

Now I am done :-)