Good Bye 2008!

I can’t believe its time to say bye to yet another year…time does fly..I still remember the end of 2007..the hopes n dreams and prayers n wishes we had for 2008..n as I step into 2009 I feel the same way…as if time flew by and as if a year was completed before I could realize…n I’m waiting with great enthusiasm to see wat the New Year holds for us…

As I look back at this year…

I’m glad that

 I had an overall good year
 I visited India
 I got my H1
 I have my job!
 I cut my hair so short [ tho its grown back!]
 Got my Driver’s license
 We went on an awesome vacation
 I don’t have to travel anymore
 There was some “GOOD NEWS” from certain friends and a family member
 Some of my dearest friends got happily married
 I got a new friend who I’m addicted to talking to
 Made a few more good friends
 Obama won the elections
 I got V to shake his leg n that he actually enjoyed it!

N I wish

 There weren’t so many terrorist attacks
 Certain relationships didn’t have to break
 Nature didn’t get so wild n furious n destroy people n things
 The economy didn’t go to the dumps
 I had been a better friend at certain times
 The relationship didn’t get as strained as it did
 A certain health problem didn’t trouble me so much
 I didn’t gain weight so fast!
 We didn’t have to move to VT
 I didn’t have to quit my previous job.

N in the year ahead I hope

 The World remains peaceful and calm
 There are no natural calamities
 There are no terrorist attacks
 The economy improves
 The GOOD NEWS gets BETTER
 We continue to have our jobs
 I learn something new
 Obama meets the world’s expectations of him
 Certain relationships return to what it was n life feels normal.
 We have yet another awesome vacation (so we can make a hat trick!)

What are your memories & thoughts as u look back at the year that was and what do you wish for, in the coming year?

And as I bid Good Bye to 2008…Here’s wishing you and your loved ones a Very Happy, Prosperous n Joyous 2009!

For those of u who enjoy seeing photographs, here are some links I received in an email,
The Year 2008 in Pictures:
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3

B'lated Merry Christmas!

Hello u all....Hope u had a Very Merry Chrismtas!n that u were surprised by gifts and that u got to eat awesome pastries n drink some classy wine!

Well I've been doin great...Sorry I was gone for so long..I was out on a 2-week vacation..I didn't want to talk about it before I left 'coz this year we had planned a vacation on 3 different ocassions and each time it got cancelled.So i was kinda skeptical about it..until we were on the plane!

So where did we go...well I was off to Vegas,LA and San Diego..Enroute we went to the Grand Canyon,Antelope Canyon[Page,AZ], Joshua Tree National Monument, Mojave Deser National Preserve and Palm Springs... These were such beautiful landscapes, the kind we had never seen before.Nature at its best! Gorgeous stuff! Ones got to experience it to believe it.n our love for road-trips has b'com stronger! We hiked some Sand Dunes and it was awesome fun!If only we were taken on school-trips to these places, Geography would have made so much more sense and I might have respected the subject more!!

We did think that we were goin to escape the bitter cold of Vermont but wat are the chances...it was snowin in Vegas after 20-odd years....when we were there!!!!At the Joshua Tree,the Park Rangers told us "Your Lucky, ur here at such a time, it never ever snows at this place!!" oh well....we didn't love the cold...but I'm not complaining..the snow-capped mountains n trees were a treat to the eyes.

This trip was a perfect mix of man-made beauty and nature's beauty..one just can't compare the two. I'll try post some pics soon.

And icing on the cake...I'm happy with the 2-week vacation and ready to get back to work tomorrow[tho I'm not looking forward to wake up early!]

A Prayer

A prayer for the victims…
A prayer for the dead (wo)man’s soul to rest in peace…
A prayer for the safety of those alive…
A prayer for those living to be able to be strong and not lose hope…
A prayer for the Brave men’s efforts to pay off…
A prayer for this not to b’com a Political/Religion/Civil war (’coz there is no time for that)…
A prayer that such attacks should never be repeated, NEVER AGAIN…
A prayer to know the cause…
A prayer to identify the culprits…
A prayer for a solution…
A prayer to induce some sense in the terrorist’s brain…
A prayer for love n warmth to prevail in this world…
A prayer for a Happy Morning…
A prayer for lasting peace…
A prayer for humans to be more humane…
A prayer for a Happy World...

A Prayer ‘coz it seems to be the safest bet! Amen!

Relationship Questions

Some questions that I’ve been pondering over …thought I’d get different perspectives on them:

-> Isn’t it a pity that CA finally banned the law allowing gay marriages? While most of us would agree to that, (Pls tell me if u don’t, I would love to discuss/argue!) I was thinking should married homosexuals and/or single heterosexuals be allowed to adopt children?
The ideal environment for a child to grow in is with a mother and a father. Of course due to some unavoidable reasons, sometimes this is not possible. But as a law should we allow otherwise?

-> N talking about adoption one of my ex-colleagues and her husband had decided that they would have one biological child and adopt another child. But now, after having had the biological child, her husband argues about whether they will do equal justice to both the children, if they were to adopt a child. He is in doubt. What do you think?

-> Is it always people who are alike that get along very well? A friend recently mentioned about how xcited she was coz she met sumone who was in the same field as her and seemed to think like her and share her interests. Is it such stuff that makes a relationship work? So will my relationship not work coz I dislike sweets and my special someone loves sweets, ‘coz I drink and mine is a teetotaler, ‘coz I love reading books and he doesn’t really enjoy the same, ‘coz I dance and he doesn’t? Is being like-minded a key success-factor for relationships?

-> If a person cheats, lies, fools, gets over the break-up of a certain relationship too fast..for reasons which start looking like mere excuses once u start placing the pieces of the puzzle at the right spot; Does it mean that they might be the same in their future relationships? Must one be weary of such people? Is it hard to trust such a person?

N then I wonder…
-> Who is a good friend? The one who stands up to what she does not support and disagrees with; the one who voices her disagreement and shows her unhappiness over her friends’ unchangeable actions; But at the same time promises to Get over it with time and be Friends Forever OR the one who stands by her friend and nods her head in agreement from Day one, in spite of actually not agreeing…just so that her friend does not hurt?

High Spirits

There are these specific days of the year..when no matter what....but ones spirits remain high..nothing can take the smile off from ones face..the enthusiasm n joy around is so contagious..that everyone has no choice but to be Happy.Diwali is one such day for me. I remain in high spirits weeks before n after the festival. The enthusiasm drops a little only to get perked up again a few weeks before Christmas! Fun n delightful times…this time of the year!

When we were kids Mom, Dad, Sis n me would go shopping about a month in advance. Commercial Street would be more crowded than usual n 2 days or so before Diwali the street would be lit up with lights looking more beautiful than ever. The lights would stay up until New Year..making us want to visit the street n therefore shop for some li’l thing every weekend!

As kids, Sis n I with a few other friends would prepare a dance for the adults. So the rehearsals for that would begin too. My mom would make so many delicacies .It would indeed become busy times with so much to look forward to. Before D-day, we would take out our new clothes, the matching jewellery etc and lay them out ready. We would start decorating the house and when we grew a li’l bigger Sis n I would spend hours drawing the huge Rangoli in front of our home. On D-day we would wake up early morning, have our mom put haldi on our legs n hands, have the special headbath, n try to be the 1st one to burst the cracker. Prats has explained the tradition very well.

As we grew up the dance routines and bursting crackers stopped..but not the enthusiasm for dressing up nor eatin the yummy stuff mom made.

Last year was my first Diwali in the US. Before Diwali I was kind-of worried about not celebratin it the way we did in India. I made sure we got new clothes and I thought why not have some people over for dinner and planned a game-night. That was the first time V n I had more than 3 people come over to our home! We had 8 guests n that nite was a hit! We enjoyed cooking, decorating the house and getting dressed ourselves. We were satisfied! N so I decided to make it a tradition..that every year we’ll host a Diwali party!

In August we moved to Vermont and in a short span of time we have made several friends. As Diwali approached I didn’t want to give up the tradition and so we started making the list for number of invitees. The list had over 30 adults. It made us nervous but we decided that we’ll have a pot-luck n then should be able to work things out. It took us over a week to get our li’l home ready for the party. A tiring but fun week.!n finally last Saturday we did have our Diwali party. We played Bingo n sang some songs. n all turned out well. All our guests seem to have enjoyed n as a host I moved from wearin a salwar to drapin a saree. It was a fun evening…n I feel so confident that I can’t wait until next Diwali to host our next big party

Now u tell me..which time of the year can you not help being in high spirits and u feel like ur in La-La-Land?