Elusive things

Hi,

I am really very worried and sad today, I am trying to get some thing and it is eluding me. The more I want it, the more it gets away from me. Sometimes it looks as if I am going to get it, and the other second it seems so far.

What that thing is I want to tell you but something stops me from telling, may be the time is not right to tell.

Till when will I have to run for it, the strange thing is the moment I stop thinking about it then something happens that I am forced to think. It's playing hide and seek with me. I am tired now, I can't play any more, but I guess I have no choice.


Will write soon.

Tragic News: Michael Jackson Dead

The great Pop star Michael Jackson died yesterday.

Last night, as I was going to sleep I opened my laptop to check my yahoo mails, then I noticed the headline on yahoo news that Michael Jackson died at the age of 50. I couldn't believe it, and thought it was some kind of a joke. I read the news again and I was really shocked. I told my husband, he was also shocked.

I have been hearing about him since childhood, his songs and dance were really popular in India. Though his life was full of controversies people liked him and most actors try to copy his dancing style.

His death is really a big loss for entire world, he is dead now but he will be always alive in his admirers' hearts.

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You Love me?

Love is an abstract thing, you can feel it but can't see it. I often ask my hubby that "do you love me?" and he says "yes". I know that he loves me but still I want to hear it from his mouth. It makes me happy. yep,I am crazy.

One day I was busy doing my cleaning stuff, then I saw my hubby doing something with magnetic words lying on the bookshelf. I saw him and then I got occupied in my work that I forgot all about it. After an hour when I went to take some milk from the refrigerator then I saw on its door was written " Love you" with those magnetic words. I was really surprised and happy, I couldn't help smiling and giggling. I kissed my hubby and said "thank you".

In the evening I thought this "love you" was so incomplete. I took out those magnetic words and started thinking what will be the complete thing, then luckily I got all the words I wanted and I arranged those words on the refrigerator door. You want to know those words?



Those words were, "We Love Each Other", though these doesn't look as romantic but they express our feelings. My hubby saw those and said, "Where are my words?", but I know he was happy with the changes I made.
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Just Move It

"Just Move It". I am not talking about any song but this was the slogan of the Family fun Walk in which we participated on this Tuesday. As the name suggests we had to walk in order to make ourselves healthy.Just Move it is a physical wellness program for Native Americans.

One of our friends called me and asked 'Are you guys coming for a walk?'.
I had no idea about which walk was he talking. He asked me:'didn't your husband tell you anything?'. I said no and he told me that there was a family fun walk and fun run at Moencopi and the registration will start in few minutes. I told him that I will ask my husband whether we are going for a walk or not. My husband said let's go if you want to go. I said "yeah, we should go. It will be fun."


We went there and filled the registration forms and then we were given T-shirts.




These are the pictures of front and back of T-shirt. We wore the t-shirt on our clothes. There were hundreds of people who were all gathered there for walk and run. There was a 10k Run, 5k run and 3k walk. We chose the 3k walk.

Walk was really fun, it was a different kind of experience walking together with so many people. We had to walk up hill and then on the road and then downhill and then again a little uphill.All the way during the walk there were people telling us "Good work", "keep up". They were taking pics of people, two ladies took my hubby and mine's pic during the walk. I was really tired at the end of the walk. My hubby and I go for a walk daily but I guess the route of the walk made me really tired. After reaching the destination, we were given snacks and water. I ate apple and hubby ate banana.

The walk was really fun and exciting. The weather was also very nice, sometimes it rained. The rain drops were falling on my eyes and cheeks, and it was really very refreshing.

I am ready to go for another walk, I think it's next week.

Decision Time

Hi,

Yesterday we made decisions on some important things.

Firstly, We finally decided that we were not in a position to buy a house in India which we were thinking to buy from a long time. I told my hubby that I don't want us to get involved in something which will become a big burden for us. Hubby agreed to my logic and thinking, but he was sad the whole evening and night. He said," I am sad because I wanted to give that house as a gift to you. You loved it so much." I told him that it was okay, for me people matter more than material things. It was enough for me that we are together.

So, the big decision was made which made us both sad, but my hubby was looking very tired, as if someone has drained all his energy. I am so sorry hubby. I hate seeing you so lost and sad.


Second decision was a good one, we finally decided to go ahead with our TV buying agenda. We will be buying the 52" LCD Sony TV. Hubby was happy but didn't seem too excited because of the earlier decision.

Sometimes we have to take decisions which are not easy for us to take, but are good for us in the long run. I hope our decisions turn out good for us.

Dreams - Do they mean anything

Hi,

I am talking about the dreams which we see while sleeping. I am just curious to know whether they signify anything, have any meaning or what? I am saying all this because yesterday I saw a dream that was very sad. The dream was related to my hubby.

In the dream I saw that my hubby was going to India alone. I was packing his luggage and keeping all things. He was going just to visit our families in India. I was quite busy taking care of all his things and his tickets and reminding him not to forget this and that. Then our friends here in Arizona, came to meet him as he was going for a while. They were laughing and joking. Even my husband's boss also came to meet him.

After few hours, I guess, my husband left. I was talking to my sisters about something, then suddenly I realized that my hubby was going, he was going so far away and alone. I thought what will I do without him, I freaked out, I started to look for him everywhere, somebody told me that he has gone. My eyes were filled with tears now. I went to a pay phone and started dialling his phone number, but it was not working, then ran to another pay phone and dialled a number I heard his voice but then the connection broke.

I went to the airport searching frantically for him and there saw hm standing silently. I ran to him and kissed him and he hugged me. Seeing him there all my panic went away, my tears dried up and I felt warm and comfortable and I realized it's okay, now I have seen him I can wait for him for few days.

While I was caught in this emotional moment in my sleep, my hubby said "wake up, it's already nine in the morning". I got up and held him in my arms and told him he should never leave me alone. He said, " I can never leave you alone. What will I do without you? And now get up and make me some breakfast, I am famished." He kissed me and smiled.

It's TV time now.

Hi,

You all must be aware that on this friday the digital TV transition was completed. So, this is the time TV companies decided to offer huge discounts on TVs to lure people to buy one.

My Hubby and I have been thinking to buy a TV from a long time. My Hubby wanted to buy a big television more than 40 inches. Initially I was against his idea, I said we should buy a TV of $200-$400 range. I would like to tell you that I don't enjoy watching TV a lot, even when I was in India I easily got bored of watching it. So, my reason to buy a small television was that,"I am not interested in watching television and in few months you will also get bored watching it, then why should we waste so much money."

My hubby said "okay", but I knew that he hadn't bought my argument.

After passing of few weeks, I saw how much my hubby wanted to buy a big TV, I gave up my resistance and agreed with him that let's buy a big 40"-52" television.


So, this friday on seeing lots of discount offers by the stores, we went to BestBuy store, and there we browsed different sized LCD, Plasma and LED televisions. We finally settled for a 52" LCD Sony Television, but didn't buy it instantly.

We came back and yesterday we devoted our time researching on different brands and different series of Televisions. After much research we agreed on the TV we saw in the BestBuy store.

Everything is decided, but there are some finance concerns, that we will discuss and if everything will be settled then we will buy our Television online may be from Amazon.com or BestBuy.com.

Will keep you posted.

Fascinating Cars

Yesterday my hubby and I had a small conflict on cars. Nowadays we are looking at cars and spending our time researching about the best car for us. It's not that we are planning to buy a new car immediately, but my hubby says that we will need a new car, since I have learnt driving.

The conflict was on Honda CRV and Nissan's Xterra. My husband and I want to buy a SUV,that is decided, so the question is which one. I told my husband that if you want to buy a SUV then it should look like one. It should have dynamic looks and macho style. CRV is good but its looks are not good.

My husband said that but mileage of Xterra is not good. He also likes Xterra but its mileage upsets him.So, we had a disagreement.

After few hours when we were walking in our colony, we saw a Toyota's RAV4 parked in a parking lot, its looks were good and hubby said its mileage was better, so we both said "Let's buy it", and this time there was no disagreement.

I don't know when we will buy a new car but I guess it will not be any of the three, because I know our choices keep changing.

Spicy Mashed Potato

Spicy mashed potato is a new name given by me to an old recipe. In India we call it by two different names, 'aloo ka bharta' and 'aloo ka chokha'. I knew it as ' aloo ka bharta' till I got married, but when I came to my husband's parents' house, I came to know that it is also called 'chokha'.

Few weeks ago, while I was making this dish, I thought how would I introduce this dish in English to my friends in United States. That's when I came up with the name 'Spicy mashed potato'.



It is a very simple and easy to make. You need to boil the potatoes, then peel them while they are mildly hot, and then mash them with a potato masher. After mashing you mix some salt, red pepper powder and some crushed red pepper (optional). You can eat it like this or mix small onion pieces to it which will make it more tasty.


This spicy mashed potato can be eaten with bread, or you can use it as a sandwich filling. You can also stuff it in tortillas. We normally eat it with rice and Indian Dal.

So, it is very useful and tasty. I grew up eating spicy mashed potatoes sandwiches. I really like such sandwich better than an egg or meat sandwich.


So, if you want to try something different go for it.

Can I touch Clouds?

Hi,

Clouds are fascinating for most people and I am one of them. I like clouds, I love to look at them. I know how they are formed and their types, etc. ( I read that in Geography classes in my school days), but what I think on seeing clouds is that they are so pure, so near to God.

While I was in India, clouds seemed so far away, I wondered about a way of reaching and touching them.





When I came to Arizona, US last year I noticed how close to clouds I was. Clouds seem so near to us. It's really very interesting.Why is it so? Is it because we are living at high altitude areas, in mountainous area.



Whatever the reason I keep admiring them and feel good that I am so near to clouds, though I can't touch them even now.

Avi is not well

Avi, my nephew, my older sister's son, who is 2 1/2 yrs. old, is not well, he is suffering from typhoid. He lives in India and I miss him a lot. Last I saw him was a year ago when I went to India, he was very cute then.

My sister called few days ago and told me that Avi was suffering with fever from past 10 days and she doesn't know what's the problem with him. My sis is a doctor herself (microbiologist) and she was treating him for usual fever. I suggested her to visit a Pediatrics and get him checked.

Today when I called back my sister to know how Avi is doing, she told me that he is suffering with typhoid,doctor had diagnosed it and it will take a long time for him to get well. She also told me that his caretaker and his friend both are suffering from same disease so he must have caught the disease from any of them. She was really very worried for him, he is not eating anything, only having little milk. He is not taking glucose, juice or anything. If you try to insist and put into his mouth he spits that out.



This is a picture of Avi taken last year. I am very worried for him and pray to God to make him healthy soon.

Get well soon Avi.

Where are the Keys?

This weekend something interesting happened. My Hubby and I went to Flagstaff on Saturday, as I had to take a test. We reached there on time. We were sitting in the car waiting for other people to get inside the examination hall as the doors were closed at that time and there was a long line.

At 8:00 a.m. the door of the examination hall opened and the people started to go inside and when there was no line, we decided to get out of our car. I said, "Let's go ", my hubby said, "Okay", and both of us got out of the car at the same time, and I locked the door before getting out and shut the door, the moment my door had reached its proper place my hubby shouted, "O! my keys".

Did you guess what happened, yeah you are right, we locked our car while the keys were inside the car. Now what to do. Usually I keep one spare key in my purse, but since I was going to take the test, I had left my purse in the car. I was very worried, we tried to open the door, but it didn't move at all. I was getting late for the test, so my hubby said, " You go inside, I will find some way out. Don't worry."

When my hubby says I will find some way out, then it means he will. I have a great confidence in him. Still, I was worried during my exam a bit about what will he do , and because of our carelessness, this thing happened. When I got out of my exam hall, my hubby said it opened, I asked how, he said it's a long story. First relax a bit then I will tell.

What he told me was, that after I left he met a colleague of his, who told his boss was also in Flagstaff, so my hubby called his boss and told him his problem. His boss is really a kind and compassionate person. He told him to look into a directory and find a number of a locksmith and call him. My hubby found the number and called a locksmith who was AAA certified. Locksmith opened the car in few seconds, and he asked for $40 as his fees. My hubby was about to pay the bill, then he remembered that he was a member of AAA, so he asked the guy that are you AAA certified and he said,"yes, Are you a member of AAA?", then my hubby said yes and showed him the membership card and so he said he will charge his fees from AAA and my hubby doesn't have to pay anything.

AAA is a really good company and I would like to add that few days ago I had renewed the membership of AAA, in spite of my husband's statement, that don't waste money on it , we never use it. So, my husband was thankful to me that I didn't listen to him and did what was right.


I don't know why such things keep happening to us. It's really strange.

Indian Food is so Good

Indian food is spicy, colorful, and tasty. I love Indian food. I prepare meals at home, but whenever I go out of town, I never miss the chance of eating in a nice Indian restaurant, specially I like if they are offering you Buffet, as you get to eat a variety of food dishes, which you can't prepare at home all together.

This time when I went to Scottsdale, we searched beforehand for Indian restaurants in Scottsdale, we got the directions for the restaurant "Tandoori Times" from the Google, but when we went to our hotel, on our way we found another Restaurant named 'Indian Delhi Palace'. I was excited that now I have two places to eat Indian food.

On Friday, the day we went, after our visit to the Hindu Temple, we went to few places and then we decided to head for the restaurant "Tandoori Times", it was located in a very nice place, we liked the locality, it was so green unlike the mountains of Arizona, We liked that place very much,there was a park "Chapparal Park" there. In fact, we thought of finding a home to settle there.



The restaurant was good, it is basically good for Non Vegetarians, as most of the items were of chicken, lamb ,etc. We ordered some items, including our favorite 'Chicken Biryani', while we were enjoying there, then there came a dancer dancing to the tunes of music played in the restaurant, she was dressed to attract the males, then the restaurant manager, came and attached some dollars to her skirt, so that the customers know what this whole thing was for. It was very uncomfortable for me, I had never experienced anything like that, and I felt like I am in any bar , not in any restaurant. My hubby and I both felt bad. After dancing for a long time and collecting money, she went back. While she was dancing, our dinner came and it was really delicious and we loved the food, but decided to never go back to that place because of its cheap tactics. I have seen girls dancing in Las Vegas, but they dance in casinos and not in any family restaurants.


The next day we were looking for any Indian store to buy Indian spices and other stuff, but the two stores which I had noted down were not available, one was no where, I mean there was no store for the address given, and the other store for which we went 12 miles driving, was closed and not open. We waited for some time for it to open, but when we got tired we decided to leave it and eat our lunch at 'Indian Delhi Palace'.






As soon as we entered the place, we saw that it had an Indian store too for buying Indian stuff, we were relaxed and then headed for lunch. There was a buffet there which made me happy, there were lots of good Indian food dishes there, we both ate a lot and enjoyed our lunch, it was peaceful, a good music was playing, just music no songs, we liked the music, atmosphere and food and would recommend it to anyone wanting to try Indian Food.



After eating, we bought the Indian stuff we needed and headed back to our destination.

Hindu Temple

Hi,

I am continuing my last post. I was telling you about my visit to Scottsdale. After reaching our inn, we relaxed for couple of hours and then decided to go to the temple first. A temple is a place of worship for Hindus. The timing for the temple was 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., so in order to not be late we left our room at 5:00 p.m.

Following the directions we had downloaded from the Google Maps, we reached the Hindu Temple Of Arizona, which is located at N Hayden Road, Scottsdale. On seeing from Outside we were doubtful as to whether this is a real temple or not, but as there is a saying that 'do not judge a book by its cover', so it turned out that our suspicions were wrong.



It was a Real Temple and there were two priests, the idols of Gods were very beautiful. I took the pictures of them. We both prayed to Gods and offered coconut, and then after our pictures and prayers I took some more pictures, the main purpose of taking pictures was to show our families in India that there really is a Hindu Temple in US. I know there are lots of temples in US, but our families doesn't know that.


This was about our visit to temple, more in next posts.

Visit to Scottsdale, AZ

Hi Friends,

This weekend was really fun. We went to Scottsdale. It is 222 miles from our place. It took almost approx. 4 hours to reach there. Scottsdale is 20 miles from Phoenix.It was hot there, 100 degrees Farenheit. We went there driving in our own car. I drove the car till Gray Mountain, which is 35 miles from my place. I drove at the speed of 55 mph, which is very slow as compared to the speed limits, but it was too much for me. We started our journey on Friday at 9 o clock in the morning and reached our destination at 1 p.m. I had made (lots of ) sandwiches in the morning, which we ate during our journey.

We stayed at Best Western Inn, which is a really good place, the room was clean, we had refrigerator, coffee maker and hair dryer in the room. There were bath robes for us and service was good too.

We stayed there for one night and went to lots of places. The day we went,that is Friday we went to Hindu Temple of Arizona, Tandoori Times Indian Restaurant and Chapparal Park. On the next day we went to Bombay Bazaar, Delhi Palace Indian Restaurant, and Old town Scottsdale. I have lot to tell about each of the places I visited in Scottsdale, and that I intend to do in the next few days.

One thing I want to say is that going to Scottsdale was very rejuvenating for us, we went to lots of places there and enjoyed a lot, we liked the town very much. It was hot but very green.

I will tell you about exciting events of my journey in my next posts, so keep checking.

Take Care