Sonu and others...

This weekend the entire family decided that it was time to enjoy some Desi music. I motivated few of our friends and off we all went to see Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan perform live in Dallas. And the best part apart from amazing music and entertainment is that the show actually started only a few minutes late.

The first time I ever went for a concert was Rockstars which started and hour and half late and then it was the Strings concert which was also equally late and then almost all other concerts (Other than AR Rehman) started late. Which made me and G loose faith in punctuality and we would just arrive there at whatever time and still be early for the show. How annoying. But Sonu & Co were a treat.

The show starters were good but when Sunidhi came it was brilliant. She is both beautiful and awesomely talented. She had all of us captivated. I was just slightly disappointed with her choice of songs but that is personal and has nothing to do with the quality.

Then of course Sonu sweetheart took us away with his angelic voice and smart alec quips. He was funny, spontaneous and a total entertainer. He connected with the audience more than SC did and he had people dancing. He blended slow songs with 'masti' songs so that no one felt the energy drain out while he showcased his talent.

Oh! then the disappointment...Hard Kaur. She was a bore. She really wasted 40 minutes of my lifetime...

• Karoke (No offense to this style but I would rather enjoy it at my home listening to music off my stereo rather than paying $$$ to watch you bray)
• She brayed
• She sounded like a guy
• She called screaming and yelling rapping
• She was useless
• Annoying
• Non-stop
• Would not shut up
• Threw the F-Bomb in a crowd that had kids and families

But thankfully there was more of SC and SN and a duet from them. I was very upset that I could not hear more duet's from them and more of them and none of Hard Kaur...agh!

But on the whole, I felt that I got my money's worth. Good friends, family and a night out with music. What more can I ask for?

Dinkchak...

ART

Pigeon Toes (Inward Feet)

I am a paranoid mom, for most part. Now which mom is not? I like to be on top of everything that is my daughter's and I do freak out fast when it comes to her. I noticed that Babs was walking funny since she was about 14 months. I waited for her to outgrow it but that never happened. She still walks funny. I say funny because it looks funny and other wise it freaked me out. Her toes point inward and it makes her a little clumsy when she runs or walks.

I contacted our pediatrician and then followed it up with an orthopedic visit. Both of which confirmed what I was thinking - Pigeon Toe. And after multiple reassurance from the orthopedic as well as from family and friends and all the web medical websites I decided that it was indeed normal.

But that did not make me feel better still. I wanted to know what are the chances Babs might have at sports, dance, modelling, etc. should she choose. How much of an inhibitence would this pigeon toeing cause for my daughter? So, once again I set googling...and guess what I found...

• Andre Agassi
• Andy Murray
• Vera Zvonareva
• Zina Garrison
• Bjorn Borg
• Andy Murray
• Jessica Alba
• Elvis Presley
• Paris Hilton
• Kate Moss
• Zenadine Zidane
• Ronaldinho

And the list goes on. For parents who fear that this might look odd. Well fear not. As odd as it looks this very feature of the leg being pigeon toed has made many famous soccer players and tennis players and if you do more research you can see that the in-toeing feature helps promote athletic abilities. As quoted by multiple websites if you try to search for pigeon toe.

Not that I want to force Babs into sports or into modelling or anything like that but what if she is destined to be so and she cannot do it because of this? So now I feel better that this will not be a hinderance to her.

And I chose to write this blog so that if anyone else is looking for information on this they can find all their assurances right here because it did take me a lot of browsing hours to get all this above listed websites.

You can definitely see what my favorite sport is...of course if you are following me...then you know what fascinates me the most when it comes to sports :)

Love

ART

I am so Clumsyyyyyyyyyyy

I drove my car upto the Toyota Service center. I had called earlier that morning to make an appointment to have the light showing up on my dashboard checked. My initial research after reading the manual informed me that my brake fluid was having issues and that I should have it inspected ASAP.

So there I was with a very serious face as if I need the most attention on planet earth mixed with a bit of, "I have read the manual so I know what I am talking about," face while I waited for my turn.

The guy walked up to in an equally "I know it all" expression, and that put me off. I know it too, you know. I had "Ye Dilli hai..." (Dilli 6) playing on the stereo and I put my head out and pointed to the dash and told him, "that light came on."

He snickered and I was like, "WTH?" in my mind of course.

"Ma'm, you can leave your car here and wait in the shade there. This should not take more than a minute."

"Really? I thought it would take more than that. My husband is on his way to pick me up. So what is wrong with the brake fluid?"

"Nothing. That is your tire pressure indicator."

"What? No way."

"Yes ma'm."

"Wait a minute, I read in the manual and it said that this was the brake fluid light."

"No ma'm. It cannot be."

I pull the manual out and quickly get to the page and point it out to him. He looks at me and then at the book and finally at the sign on the dash board.

I follow his eye for most part and then go, "oh!"

"You can leave your car here and either wait over there in the shade or use the waiting room. But this should only take a minute."

"I feel so stupid right now."

"Mistakes happen ma'm."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

I step out of the car, still embarrassed and call G to tell him to go back as I got it all figured out. He could not stop laughing. I ask him not to tell anyone especially Sam, MB, and SD and he only nods his head. Now why would he miss this golden opportunity to make fun of me. So I decided to immortalize it in my blog :)

I am so clumsyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I am so clumsyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

And here is a tune to put to those two lines...Akon.

Love

ART

P-Tagged me...

And since I am a lazy ass, I delayed for the longest time before I responded to it. Sorry P for being so slow to respond to your tag. I wanted time to accumulate the 10 things that really annoy me, ...so here goes whatever I have to say,

10 things that annoy me the most!

• Backstabbers
• People who are nice when they need something and a real B when they are done with you...what do you call them? Opportunitst? Ya them. Hate them.
• People who are plain rude for no reason. At least you are not aware of any reason...
• Oh and those who stay angry with you for more than 20 mins after you have apologized to them. G falls in this category and this by far is the most annoying quality he has...not even his undies on the bathroom floor irritate me as much as this!
• Drama Queens
• I do not like to be compared to others to my face. Do what you want behind me. But then backstabbers also annoy me...so figure it out yourself if you want to be my friend!
• People who claim not to (or never to have) judge others but then do it all the time annoy me. Live up to your word or do not go around spreading false words.
• Those who lay the ground rules but never follow it.
• I do not like people commenting on what I eat. I eat badly, as in I prefer carbs over everything and I am a sugar addict. So be it. I like that I am living my life even if I do not live till 80 with all diseases at least I enjoyed my short term life!
• I have no patience for stupid people. Not the ignorant one's who are willing to learn but the plain useless stupid people.

You know I can write a separate list for people who annoy me when I became a mother. But will save that for another day!

Now to ease it out...I love people...

• Who make my day
• Who put a smile to my face
• Who are there for me when I need them and at all other times. Just like I am there for them.
• Who understand me for who I am and make allowance for me for the ways I annoy them just like I would do to them even if they did a few of the things listed above. That's what friends are for, correct?
• Who back me up when I need it most.
• Who stop me from making mistakes
• Who sit through watching a Tamil/Telugu movie with me just for the sake of company
• Who can keep secrets and share theirs with me
• Who are my friends
• And who's very existence make this world a better place for me.

Thank you all...

And I tag:

Megha

Vimal

Sum

Puja

Shar

And all others who are in a mood to take up the tag...please do not hessitate and do not feel bad that I did not mention your name in particular.

Love

ART

Random Ramblings...

So who is actually teaching whom? I have started wondering offlate. Do we teach Babs or does Babs teach us...

me: Sameer have you eaten mam mam (mam mam = food)

me: G I want to do taati (taati = sleep)

me: G where is wa-wa and La? (wa wa= Sameer; la= Shalini)

G at work: Oops forgot dhudu in my chai (dhudu = milk)

G in car: Hey look aepuchinchi (aepuchinchi = aeroplane)

me: Can I have some odhu (odhu= water)

And we have these words included into our adult vocabulary now!!! :)

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Tried to watch K.Ishq but could not bear to take the torture past 10 minutes!

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Gum kala kala kala kala kala

Gum kala kala kala kala kala

uuuh aah

uuh aah

if you from T.Nadu you will know what this means. This is Babs favorite chant when she is walking around.

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I started playing rummy last year and this year I am finally kicking ass!

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Went for my eye exam yesterday and thank god my power has not changed :)

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I tired Babs out at the mall last night and she went to sleep at 9.30pm. Did not know what to do with all the extra time.

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Wear seatbelts while driving. It would have saved my friend.

Love

ART

oooohhhh Shadow...

Last night as usual I took Babs into the bedroom with a bottle full of milk and her favorite turtle. I turned the lights off so she could enjoy the stars on the ceiling and just left the nightlamp on. We sang twinkle twinkle and many other rhymes together before Babs almost dozed off on my shoulder. The turtle had turned off.

The nightlamp was casting a shadow of the table lamp on the ceiling and it looked like a big head of a dog (it really did). Babs woke up and asked me, "Amma, who this?"

"It is a shadow jaanu. Go back to sleep."

"Ok."

Then again she woke up and asked me, "Amma, what this?" Same response and she dozed off...

Once again she woke up and asked me, "Amma, ye kasa le?" in Konkani, same response and same reaction...

The once more..."Amma, nooo...no shadow." And she clung to me. I got up and turned on a table lamp so that the shadow would go away and came back to bed.

Babs looks at me and tells, "Amma, shadow gone, ba, good girl, brave." To translate it, "Amma, the shadow has gone because I beat it (ba) and I am a good and brave girl."

So for the first time in my life I think I told someone, "Don't worry Babs, Amma is right here next to you and nothing will come to hurt you."

To which she said, "Good girl, Brave." Before she slept peacefully.

She did wake up around 3 and look up at the ceiling as her first reaction but G and I hid her vision to the dog like shadow.

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On a completely un related note, I-phone 3Gs kicks any other copy cat's ass royally. There are phones and then there are i-phones...they are cool. I love the apps and love the way that it can excite me as much today as it did two weeks ago. All other phones I had kept me interested in them for exactly 24 hours, later they just became a phone, but I cannot say that about my I-Phone...please please get one...I strongly recommend it.

Honestly no offense to those who do not have it. I waited two years before I changed over because of lack of funds but I am glad that I made the switch.

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Hate the 100+ degree evenings. Summer is annoying as much as winter is. Maybe I am just a fall person as spring has way too much allergies. Dang it. That gives me about 2-3 months of fun weather out of 12 months! Bah!

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The level of comfort you feel for your own baby will never be the same when you hold someone else's. There is always the awkward feeling. I can never forget the way Babs just blended into me. I want that feeling back....wahhhhhhhhhhh

Everyone I know, those with or without kids advise me to have a second one. But me? I am not sure I can do it all over again and I am actually feeling terrible about it. Bad Anu Bad Anu.

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Ok Thas enough of randomness for one post!

Love

ART

Skylink

I think Dallas airport makes passengers take off from one terminal and lands them at another so that they can put their skylink to use. Argh.

Now at 10.30pm I have to take 10 mintrain ride to my car!!! Aaahhhhhh...

Tweeting...er blogging from my I phone...just loving it!!!

So I am wandering around USC campus...and I look everywhere and see very few Indians. I am really surprised because all my desi friends have told me so much about the school that it is so odd not to see anyone around. Well that of course changes when I first enter the cafeteria. A few desi's are there, afterall food is important for us.

Then I find the whole khazana...of course anyone will know better than to look for desi's in arts colleges! They were all hiding at the engineering department and I was roaming around in the arts colleges.