One day it is OZ and then next day...

its Wimbledon??

So on Tuesday when we played tennis, like I said, it was like 100F+ and we were both burned to our bones and on Wednesday when we got to the court it started to drizzle. We decided that we will play and take the risk against lightining. We played a good 20 minutes before the rain beat us out of the court. We got back into the car soaking wet and giggly.

One day we played like the conditions would in Australian Open and the next day it was like Wimbledon...Love Texas and Texan weather...love it!

ART

Tennis!!!

I remember the times clearly. Summer vacations in BHEL Township when I was a little girl. My brothers, dad and I would take our tennis net (ya we owned one) and go to the tennis court. Put up the net and then play tennis for the next few hours. We started at 5 in the morning and went on till my brothers could move no more. My brothers played tennis for the state and they practiced like crazy, dad was their coach and I was their designated ball girl.

We had to buy our own net because BHEL tennis courts would put up the net each day at 3pm or later only, so to practice early mornings with no one else bothering us dad just bought us our very own net. Brothers were ruthless and played with such focus that it was always fun to watch them play. Me on the other hand did sprints, excesises, ball picking and wall practice a lot. I loved it.

When we got back home, mom would have raw eggs ready for us to gulp down before we had our shower and cleaned up for breakfast.

When I was in grade 5 my brothers decided that it was time for me to ball pick for them in the evenings too. I diligently went with them and did the ball girl duty for them until one day few boys wanting to play doubles in one of the courts were short of one person. My older brother told me to

go and join them. I was more than eager and ran and took my place.

Boys are always boys, at first they just used me as a prop until of course I began kicking their ass and then I became a threat. So from then on my brother encouraged me to go and play with everyone so that I can develop a court game. So I had graduated from being a wall practicer to a tennis player. Phew! That felt good.

And again boys will be boys...they ill treated me. They would make me wait till 7 in the night before letting me play a game. Then I took matters into my hand and bought my mother along. Things sorted out and I played when my turn came up and I continued to kick their ass! Jerks.

I had solid foundation. I could (at that time) hit the ball to the wall and back straight without dropping for an hour. The rest of them bought a raquet and thought they could play tennis. Plus I practiced with my brothers too everyday. I mean what were they thinking. Seriously.

So now y'all know why my first love in sports is Tennis.

I played a bit of tennis on and off after coming to US but then again the jerk of male friends I have do not want to play with me because I am a girl. Which probably is true now because I do not drink raw eggs and neither do I work out regularly and I am rusty as a 100 year old nail submerged under the ocean bed.

Last Saturday I was at my BIL's house and we decided to play some tennis and it was so relieving. I felt so happy and I lived through my childhood days all over again. Everytime my family gets together we do a tennis evening when all of us get our raquets and hit the court.

G and I went out and played tennis at 6.30pm last night in 100F heat. We came back home roasted and hot and we could not for the life of us believe how players work under 100F+ temps in Aussie Open. Probably because they practice under similar conditions too.

The bottom line for me is that Tennis Rocks and I love playing the game. I would be so happy if Babs also develops an interest in the game so G, me and Babs can go play and enjoy a sport as a family...lets see how things turn around...

Love

ART

Love Ping Pong too... to play and not to watch though :)

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