Days of my life

L (Guy I work with): Hey, you ok?

Me: Ya. Why?
L: Well you've not been bugging me much recently - so I thought you were coming down with something.

Me: .....

*****************************

This is a picture of the box my fries came in at lunch today:

At least now I don't feel so bad about all those carbs.

Love is a girl's word

As soon as he opened his present, we were the coolest aunt and uncle ever. He gave both of us a quick hug and ran off to show his friends what his "cool aunt and uncle" had brought him.
Ten minutes later, he was back and looking quite upset. And with him four other 6 year olds.
The book we gave him had a "With love from" inscription inside.
His friend explained "Love is a girl's word".
I was speechless. I looked around for my husband so he could give them a man-to-man talk about how love is a wonderful thing and so on.
When I couldn't find him, I spotted my sister in law's husband and thought of asking him to do the honours - luckily I didn't. He was busy looking for a piece of cake that didn't have any strawberry cream on it.
"Pink is a girl's colour", his exasperated wife said by way of explanation.

What real men say

I have a horrible one, makes me look fat (about an ID photo)

Do you think my hair's looking a little frizzy?

I "yuvve" you too (well at least he tried)

I think my nose looks better from the side. What do you think?

Which one's better? (looking at two different brands of sunscreen)

Do you think this color's too bright (trying on a red shirt)

Fun Friday

Today turned out to be a nice way to end this week.

At work many of us were "dressed up" for Diwali. Naturally that involved tons of compliments
"I LOVE what you're wearing"
"Ooooh are those diamonds?"
"Your shoes are SO pretty"

From there it was on to lunch - and except for the 20 minute wait to get seated, it was great.

And the way the day ended? A visit to A's place where I was treated to his best behaviour.
"Peesh" (let me play with your phone)
"Thank you" (for letting me play with your phone)
"Thank you" (for letting me take a picture of my mom's carpet)
"Bye" (I'm going to watch a video now)

All in all, a day that has me smiling at the end of it (sigh) Everyone should have more of those.

The Starbucks Story

I read here that Mark Twain once said "I can live for two months on a good compliment" and I was reminded of a story from a long time ago -

There was a Starbucks opposite where I worked, and a guy (G1*) there used to have so much fun trying to get my name right. One time he took my order and started writing my name on the cup for the other guy to make my coffee - and then since he got one letter wrong - he threw that cup away and started afresh.

A few days later, there was a new guy (G2*) who took my order and asked for my name.
I pointed to G1 and said "Maybe you should ask him - I'm sure he knows it by now"
-t0 which G1 replied "Oh, I just call her 'beautiful'"
G2 smiled and said "Ok 'beautiful' it is then!" - and wrote "beautiful" on a cup for my Chai latte.

(After I drank my Chai I rinsed that cup clean and used it as a pen holder for close to 6 months)

* - G1 & G2 - must be all the Math I've been doing.

BFF

A couple of days ago I was telling my husband about an email I’d received from a friend. My reply to his question about which friend started with “my best friend from….”
Only when I saw his puzzled face, I realized I say that about many of my friends – “my best friend from…”. What can I say – I have awesome friends and here are just a few reasons why (in no particular order) -

R – For being my “grown up” friend. You inspire me to be better.
P – For leaving nice comments on my weird pictures. You’re the best at making me feel good about myself.
R – For being way too nice to me.
A – For being the friend who will tell me when those pants make me look fat.
J – For all those afternoons of doing nothing and still doing so much.
P – For letting me play “cops & robbers”.
F – For showing me I could be good at stuff.
K – For showing me one can know how to cook and still be cool.
R – For being happy for me even when you’re sad.
A – For endless cups of coffee and finding friends in unlikely places.
B – For being the closest thing to a sister I could have had.
K – For your uncanny ability to read my mind.
M – For shared dreams, tea parties and “Heidi”.
R – If you weren’t my friend, I’d be jealous of you.
P – You rock. Period.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
~ "You raise me up" by Josh Groban

cant believe u save mail from the previous century!

Scene 1: I’m filling out some form for work. For once I’m prepared with all the information I need. I just check a box here, write a number there, “dum di da di dum” is playing in my head…suddenly I see that the form requires a passport size photograph. I’m stumped. But not for too long – I remember that I had “organized” my things recently. So I head very confidently to the box labeled "R Stuff". And spend the next hour sifting through old letters, postcards, movie ticket stubs (Napoleon Dynamite. Don’t even ask), photos and other "memories" – including my laminated ID card from kindergarten. And the photograph in question? Not a single one in sight...of course! My husband is very supportive (not!), “It is not just about storage. It is about retrieval also”.

Scene 2: I put the box away and start searching my email – somewhere I had an order number that I could use to request reprints. And modern day technology being what it is – all I’d have to do is type the search terms “passport + photograph + order” right? Wrong. Apparently I use a very advanced email filing system – the only thing that turned up was spam from
http://www.your passport to a photographic memory - order today.com
Ok so the search idea wasn’t so great.
I start looking at subject lines of my emails to see if I can find it. I have no luck with “Picture this”, “A thousand words”, “Big picture”, “Portrait or landscape”, “Picture Perfect”, “At first sight”…the list goes on.
More “help” from the husband quarter – “You know, if you just deleted some of the junk in there, you might have more luck finding it”.
My (very mature) response is to make a face and say “Bah!”
Just my luck, the next email we see after that is one he sent me (in 2004) that just says “cant believe u save mail from the previous century!” – in response to a forward I sent him (that I had originally received in 1999).
I quickly close it and hope he hadn’t seen that e-mail. No such luck – he’s busy putting on his “I told you so” face. Game set match K.

Scene 3: About a week later I’m rooting around in my bag for spare cash. And the first thing I find? An envelope containing 20 passport size photos. And no husband around to watch my victory dance. (sigh).

A new year...a new day

New Years Eve…waiting in the lounge for a boarding call…passing time trying to figure out what the other people in the lounge do for a living…watching re-runs of Saddam Hussein’s execution and Gerald Ford’s funeral…filling up on veggie sandwiches and sparkling water...making sure I "shopped" at every store in the vicinity...

New Years Eve…sitting on a plane somewhere over Hong Kong…peering through the window to see if I can actually spot the “International Dateline”…stewardesses passing out glasses of champagne…falling asleep halfway thru a Hindi movie (hmmm…I wonder which girl the guy finally ends up with)

New Years Eve…settling down on the couch…deciding to not watch what’s on TV…playing hangman with the husband…giggling when he isn’t able to guess the word I’m thinking of…insisting I did NOT change the word half-way thru…content :)

2007 is here...wonder what it has in store for me