The Wonder Years

Kids today have a lot don't they?

Parties don't mean pin the tail on the donkey anymore. It's pottery, glass painting, swimming pools. They're so fast and smart and 'switched on' at the tender age of 7.

It made me think of my childhood. And my heart smiled.

When I was a kid, we did the simple things.

Going on holiday to Bombay meant leaving all my toys back home, save one Barbie who roamed the world in my backpack. I missed them and Bombay in July (read as 'monsoons') wasn't that much fun.

Then Dad made me a dolls house from a cardboard box. He cut out windows on either side with a blade. He colored in doors with a black marker. Mum gave me lovely hankys to use as beds and sheets and curtains for my newest toy. It was a lovely holiday!

I'm an only child. Weekends were at home, with my folks and family. They were the best times ever. One uncle would get me a book every weekend, without fail. The adults played cards and I read, blissfully happy! As I grew older, I never really got the hang of cards, but there some games I loved - Yahtzee, Canasta, Scrabble.

I smile as I type, even now, so many years later :)

We used to do puzzles together. By 'we' I mean the whole family. We had one puzzle, about 1000 or 2000 pieces, of bread.

Different types of bread - loaves, slices, with nuts, in baskets on plates, you name it and it was on the puzzle! It took us about a month to complete it, during which time it totally occupied our dining table. Every Thursday night (our weekend), we'd sit up late, piecing together baguettes, ryes, multigrains and fruit breads.

When we completed it, we were all thrilled. We looked at it happily for another week. Then we messed it up and put it back in the box. *grin* We had our fill of bread memories.

In the evening when homework was done, our house was always a fun place to be. Mum taught me to scrapbook and we'd spend hours on it together. We'd hold up the bubble blowing thingy in front of the air conditioner and the bubbles would race out at top speed! Dad taught me how to dance. (At this point, even a smiley doesn't do enough justice)

I'd sit with mum in the kitchen and talk to her as she cooked. On occasion, I'd stand on a stool and wash the dishes as delicately as I though possible. Needless to say, mum watched as I broke a few over the years. She never shouted at me, God bless her!

Dad taught me to make banana milk shakes with ice-cream. And limbu (fresh lime) soda in an iced up glass, with the top lined in salt. sugar and a dash of pepper.

YUM! I'll make it sometime soon and post a picture.

In the middle of all these times, when I was all of 11 years old, my godchild was born.

*smiles*

But that's another post all together.

The simple things were the best things, weren't they? I'm sure you've got some 'simple' memories. Share them if you like. It makes the heart smile. :)

Simply coz..

Dude's team lost the finals. :(

Yeah, it was sad, but the boys fought the good fight and they had proud supporters by the end of it, lost by 11 points. There were a lot of things that didn't go in their favor, but there is no place for injustice to be mentioned on my blog, it's being discussed more than enough the world over.

I don't really have anything in particular to blog about today. But I'm happy about a lot of stuff.

It's been a real smiley day. Hope you had one too.

I call this one 'Perception'.

My Hustler

So my dude plays basketball. He loves it with a passion.

He's part of a team called 'The Hustlers' and they play in several tournaments during the year. They're REALLY good. They play ball every week, but in season, they practice thrice a week and then, play their normal weekly game.

Yes, sometimes it's an overdose, but he loves it so much, I have no choice but to love it with him. *sigh* The things you do for love.

To be fair, they all love the game, some more than others. I've watched them this season, play their worst and their best. I've been watching them for years now and I totally enjoy it. This season started a bit rough, though they won all their games. But in the last 2, the boys have picked up pace, brought their games and totally kicked ass. Nope, there's no polite way to say it. *grin*

Tomorrow, they play the finals. They've worked so hard for this over the last 6 months - they can each almost taste it. They want it. They own it. And they deserve it.

As for dude, well I can see what he does for the love of basketball. I've seen him mature so much as a player over the last few years. And you know the stuff you watch in all those sports movies? The pep talks that the coaches give, the lessons you're supposed to learn on court and all that?

It's real.

He forgets his worries on court. His moves are all a part of him, there is no defining line. It's all so fluid - his pace, his move, the ball, the speed...it all merges into one, near effortless motion. It's amazing to watch.

I've seen him overcome his differences with one or two other, rougher teams and I've watched him 'be the bigger man'. I've seen him harness his temper and direct that energy towards going for a shot and making it. I've seen him swallow his pride and take a hit, sometimes deserved, sometimes faulted.

I've seen my college boy become a man on court.

Any of you who have sports jocks in your lives, will know how much this influences their normal behaviour and how much it means to see them succeed. It's your victory as much as theirs. His excitement when he tells me about the game, his moves, the plays, the team - it's the same joy I experience when I write a good piece, take a good picture, read a good book. It's a special feeling that makes you happy and proud and joyful all at the same time - and he shares it with me.

Basketball is a big part of who he is. It's amazing to watch him play. This is one of my best shots of him. (Dude's the guy with the ball) I'm rooting for dude and the Hustlers tomorrow. Do say a prayer for our boys.

I'll let you know what happens!!

Poohs Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

May you be blessed with the opportunity to hold

all of lifes treasures in the palm of your hand - today and always.

Bridge over troubled waters

Today's been one of 'those' days.
I was down today, quite low in fact. Lower than a potato spud buried deep in the ground.
I HATE days like today. With a passion.

An annoying, persistent cough didn't help.
A bad nights sleep didn't help.
A tough day at work didn't help.
Colleagues who wanted to give me a hard time at work didn't help.
Unusual repeated power cuts at work didn't help.
(notice how many times that dratted 'W' word pops up?)
Bad traffic on the way home didn't help.
A bit of a doozy at home didn't help.

But thanks to the miracle that is the world wide web, I got to chat with mum.
And man, did that help.


As I was typing, a song popped into my head. Funny how the brain chooses to rest on songs from your past that are somehow so relevant in the current moment.

Here you go. I sang the Nana Mouskouri version in my last year at school. Who knew it'd come back today.
May the lyrics come back to you too someday - just when you need it the most...and encourage you to reach out to the one person who can make it all ok.

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side, when times get rough
And friends just cant be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

When you're down and out, when you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you.
Ill take your part.
When darkness comes and pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

Sail on silver girl, Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine, all your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine. If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind.

If you'd like to hear it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91FSASEJlU

Thank you Ma.
Love you.

Checkmate

Chess has always been a game I never really understood.

Don't get me wrong, I did try. Dad loved the game and though I eventually caught on, unlike several of my friends, me and the checkered board - just didn't get along.

I looked at it as though it were a giant crossword puzzle. And there were many, many times, more than I can remember, when I scratched my head and looked at Dad, wondering HOW he could possibly like this game.

I saw this lovely chess board at a friends place recently. It brought back memories of Dad explaining the game to me - the plays, the intricacies, the plots. I don't remember any of that though.

But I DO remember sitting with Dad. And to me, that's what chess means.

Something Dad loved and wanted to share with me.

So, I still don't like chess. But I do intend on getting a nice pretty board like this one.
If nothing else, for the memories.

Pooh Girl

I have a friends 20th birthday coming up.

Let's call her Pooh. She's not yet legal at clubs, but is really cute when she gets tipsy. She was under my wing at the New Years party and I couldn't help but be amused at her shenanigans.

(I was mighty stern the next day though, she didn't remember a thing - naughty, naughty)

We met about 2 years ago and hit it off like a house on fire.
She sat 2 seats away from me at work and soon became my breakfast buddy, lunch buddy, tea-time buddy, the buddy of Buddies. She'd call me on the phone and yell my name in her Mexican accent, as softly as she could, simply coz it made me laugh - Rosssaaaaayyy!! She drew a smiley on the bottom of my office coffee mug, how cute is that?
We talked through my romance with dude, her college flings, friendships gone sour, bad days at work, home woes, you name it. Over a period of only a few months, we became very close, she was the sister I never had.
When Dude and I decided to get married and I told her about it at work the next day - her joy and excitement for us lit up her eyes and warmed my heart. When I asked her to be one of my bridesmaids, she totally lost the plot and went quite mad!

Oh and the lists that followed. Goodness me.

She had a list of what she 'thought' she wanted to carry, what she was 'sure' she wanted to carry, what she could 'maybe' put in my bag (yeah right), what she 'wanted' to buy, what she 'had' to buy.......apart from planning my wedding, for the next few months, I reviewed her lists and constantly convinced her that she wouldn't need that and this and the next thing and that I didn't live in some sort of jungle tree house community.

The reason my Pooh went so barmy - it was the first time she ever got on a plane in her life. And it was for a wedding. Where she was going to be a bridesmaid.
There you go, I knew you'd catch on eventually :)

The youngest of my bridesmaids, Pooh was a great strength during the lead-up to my Big Day. Like any normal bride (she said, defying someone to disagree), I was running from pillar to post, convinced that everything that could go wrong, would go wrong.

Pooh travelled with me everywhere and kept me sane, laughing at the silliest things. She convinced me to sit down in the middle of an empty road and take a photograph, simply coz, in her words, 'it's such a pretty road!!'

She didn't let me get upset or overwhelmed. A lot of amazing people contributed to our lovely wedding, but I will never forget Pooh under the layers of my taffeta dress, desperately trying to smoothen stubborn taffeta wrinkles, which no one could see, but I could feel.

That's a special bond you forge, when you've been under a girls bridal gown. Believe you me.

It's been almost a year since then. She's since shifted offices, completed her second year at college, has lots of new friends and has had a roller coaster of a 2009 so far. But we're still right where we were then, just as close. We may not talk for weeks, but we know exactly what's going on in each others lives, down to the fact that she had soup for lunch yesterday (work e-mail is but a brilliant thing).

I've got a few ideas on what to do for her birthday. Amongst others, I want to gift wrap a tin of cheese and put a pretty gift tag on it saying, 'You're cheesy, but I luv ya anyway!'

She's mad on cheese. Eggs, pasta, corned beef - all incomplete without cheese. Psycho.

You know what's funny? In college, I loved (don't judge me) Winnie the Pooh. So much so my number is saved on several peoples cell as 'Pooh girl'. What a coinky dinky huh?!

She's very important to me, is my Pooh. I think my post conveyed how close we are - I'd love a few gift ideas, for her 20th birthday. It could be girly, silly, funny, corny, anything.
She's my favorite oddball.

Oh and that picture I mentioned, the one on the 'pretty road'?

The bottom half of it is my blog title pic.

4 days before my wedding, that's what she had me doing.

I couldn't love her more!!