Earth Hour - A novel effort

I truly appreciate the effort by World Wildlife Fund in taking a stand against climate change. The result of this effort is EARTH HOUR . The "earth hour" is between 8 and 9 p.m tonight (Saturday the 29th). Please switch off all lights and your PC's and help save "some" energy and also make a statement against climate change. Turning the lights off for Earth Hour is a great first step, but if you really want to see a difference, then make Earth Hour part of your everyday life. You need not be without lights, but you can contribute by switching off appliances when they are not in use and switching to energy efficient bulbs. This will help reduce the annual emissions. If done worldwide, this will definitely reduce the effect on climate.

I am sure that you are aware of the melting glaciers and water levels increasing around the world. You have also heard of warmer climates and non-monsoonal rains. This is caused by the climate change for which we humans are solely responsible. We might not feel the worst of it now. But imagine our grand children and great-grand children. They have to deal with the worst of the climate effects. So, lets do our bit and ... power off people!!!!!!!

Being a housewife in the U S of A

Recently, I became a full-fledged house wife. I can assure you that it is definitely not the same as being a house wife in India. Being a house wife in India is a much more exciting prospect. (sigh!) I cannot help but feel jealous of my mom. She had and is still having loads of fun in India. Now that her kids are abroad and she is "free" to do whatever she wants, she has a lot of time to do the thing she loves the most...shopping! Needless to say, when one has a visiting relative from US, the shopping spree is like a craze. Oh! did I forget to add the family functions?? Yup! When you have a family as big as mine (on the dads side anyway), you tend to have at least 15 functions in a year. Sadhaabishekam, shastiabdhapoorthi, seemantham, poo chootal, punyojanam, aayush homam.. the list goes on. This April is my nephews (cousin's son) Aayush Homam. My mom and aunt are busy shopping and having fun with the grandchildren in the family.

Being a housewife here means, getting up as late as i want to (the limit is 9.00 a.m!), doing things as I please and when I please, spending a lot of time on the internet, watching tv, reading late into the night, cooking in the evenings. This was relaxing once I quit my job but now, I am becoming a bit bored. Thanks to my hubby's MBA classes twice a week, he comes home at 10.30 pm!! Now, those 2 days are even more excruciating. I thought of going back to work. But it will be the same old story of being busy the whole week and being tired the weekends and home chores piling up! I want to have a balanced work and home life.. (if there exists one). Working part-time is an option, but being immigrants, we need... the wait-till-you-get-frustrated "GREEN CARD". Without that, I am pretty much stuck. I used to go out shopping whenever I wanted groceries or had to pay bills.. but now, the oil prices have sky-rocketed and cut in to my carefree ways. sigh! After grumbling, I take a look at my hubby getting up early to go to work (sometimes as early as 4.30) and then to his MBA classes and I realize that I have no reason to complain. I am happy that my hubby cares so much about me that he wants me to be a housewife and have a relaxed life!!! Love you too, H! :-)

"Austin" powers

This past weekend, I had been to Austin with my hubby. I have been to Austin gazillion times but never went sight-seeing. Even though we went to my hubbys company headquarters for a few hours on Firday, we didn't do much of sight-seeing. We visited just the Capitol.It was gr8. I love the way Americans maintain their heritage buildings. Spic and span. It really captivated me. The major part of our time was spent relaxing. God knows H needed the relaxation. We slept and we slept and we slept.. Before you think "what did you do to become tired?", i was the chauffeur and I had been waking up early the past few days. Hence, the tiredness. We had originally wanted to go tubing in the nearby Guadalupe river but when I called up the tour company, they said "if you donno swimming, dont go" and being the strict follower of safety (read outdoor safety), I decided against tubing. But people are telling me, its actually not necessary to know swimming and you can still go. Maybe next time!!!

Happy :) Sad :( - Performance by Samyu

My niece Samyu has captured all our hearts. She is very cute and also talks a dime to a dozen. She was born here in Houston. I came to live in Houston when she was about a year old. I have been here for her first words (read Ularals) and also when she started talking very well. Now having a break in India before moving to Australia has increased her vocabulary by n times. She talks like a "kezham" now and gives the perfect facial expression too (shes always done that!). I used to have a great time visiting her every weekend. H and I used to visit her every weekend even though we were newlyweds at that time! ;-) H is very attached to Samyu as she is the first kid he has seen grow up from a cute 1 year old to a talkative 3 year old. Here is my favourite video of one of my favourite nieces!!

Building and renting out an apartment... A pain!!!

I never thought that buying a property would entail great many headaches. I was of the opinion that the builders were reasonable, kept their word (including the usual delay in handing over) and did a good job of keeping the house according to the specs. I was proved wrong. Our apartment in India was supposed to be handed over Apr 14th, 2007. It is still undergoing final touches. Thanks in part to our woodwork process...ya.. the builder gave bare rooms with not an inch of wood anywhere..let alone wood work!! When I was in India this past December, I had to decide the colour of the woodwork (we chose rosewood) and also chose the color of the walls to be done by the builder. God knows how the woodwork has turned up but I do know that the builder is painting mt walls off-white...then why the heck did he make me come all the way to select colours!!! I wasted a good 4 hrs of my 15 day trip just traveling to and from my house and breaking my head as to which colour i wanted in which room. Apparently, we have to buy them the paint and then they will go ahead and paint the house. @#$%!

That apart, letting the apartment out for lease is also becoming a headache. I had to prepare the ad to be posted (i thought for the local paper), then my f-i-l posted it in a famile members company board!!! I had to persuade him to publish a shortened version of the ad in "The Hindu" and... no responses!! I have taken up the task of posting the ad online in the various real estate sites. Some are under maintenance and some require an Indian mobile phone number to which a verification number would be sent. Am I to disturb my f-i-l at 12.30 a.m IST and ask him for the verification number just to get my ad published?? I know its necessary to keep a check on bogus ads. But it does irk me!!! Ok.. I really need a cool off now!! What better way than to throw myself in the tub?! ;-)