Cricket Fever

Why somebody would schedule a nail biting game on a weekday is beyond me. I don't work in India, but half the floor in my office building was empty. I don't think I have ever approved more days off, coming in late, doctor's appointments (for falling hair ... can you beat that?), bus delays, early lunches, and everything you can think of in between.
I guess it was all worth it to see India win and get into the finals. Did you watch the game? Don't tell me I was the only one who did not.

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Cedar Hill State Park, Texas

We are used to biking on paved trails and were in for a big surprise when we reached Cedar Hill State Park. It was a mountain bike trail with steep slopes to provide a good adrenalin rush. We (as in kids and I) backed off and Mr. Hubby put his mountain bike to good use. 
The kids and I took the 3 mile hike and stopped numerous times for some good shots. We I was totally unprepared for the hike. First, we did not have locks for the bike, but took a chance any way. Luckily our bikes were there untouched, when we returned from hike. Secondly, I was not wearing my hiking shoes. A good hiking shoes can provide the much needed grip in steep slopes than sneakers. If you are looking for a hiking shoes, I would highly recommend Merrell shoes.

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Lunch With The Girls

The ones who say they are not playing hard ball are most likely to have mastered that art. I can't really blame this fellow, for I went out of my way looking for trouble. It was one of those moments when your head tells you to take that risk at work and not be bothered about how steep the fall is. No matter what, failure sucks big time.
Saturday morning, hubby watched the kids and I worked out. I went though everything that happened in my head. At about the 40th minute of my work out, I was so proud of myself that I tried my best to grab the opportunity that came in my way. A couple of failures are not going to stop me. The graver the failure, the harder I will make my work out in the gym to get it out of my system. That got me thinking. Have you noticed how most of the corporate leaders are toned and fit - its easier to handle stress when you workout.

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Of Bike Rides and Plaids

Have you ever wondered why most of the technology conferences are held in Vegas? I will leave that to your imagination and let me come back to the subject. We were shopping for my husband's conference trip to Vegas(again) and I found a red plaid shirt for myself . ** wink wink ** I have always had a liking to red plaids.
I owned a few of these shirts all though my teens and college years but for some reason loved my brother's shirts even more. You can say flicking his shirts was one of top #3 reasons for our fights. #1 was me annoying him and #2 was him annoying me. Now, we meet once or max twice a year, I wonder if all that sibling rivalry was even worth it.

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Taken For Granted

Freshly squeezed lemonade & BBQ with friends and family to mark the beginning of 80 degree days.
Sign of new life in Spring
The first few rays of Sun.
.... and an email from my daughter's friend who moved to Japan the beginning of this year, saying they were okay. In fact she was back in school the following day after the earth quake. Luckily they are located South of Tokyo where the impact was minimal.

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Caddo Lake, Texas

Its a tradition now in our family to go to a State or National park during Spring break. This year it was the Caddo Lake, Texas's one and only naturally formed lake. After a short three hour drive from Dallas, we reached the marina close to the cabin we stayed in. Started the afternoon with a picnic.
We spotted a trail not too far from where our picnic bench was. It was a short 2 mile easy trail. Pulled my hair up, changed into my hiking shoes, grabbed a couple of water bottles, my camera and we were all set for the hike.

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Flower Power

A couple of days is all I need to rejuvenate if the surroundings are as beautiful as this.
I wonder why yellow flowers are the most common in nature.
Did you notice the honey bee?
I will be back tomorrow to fill you in on where I was.
Do let me know your favorite one.

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Corners Galore

We bought a piano for our daughter a couple of weekends ago and that calls for moving around furniture to make way for the new one. The table that hosted the keyboard is now home to the kids' laptop. The old keyboard is sitting in the storage closet and hopefully will reach craigs list someday.
Also switched the coffee table with the ottoman between the living and family rooms. The ottoman finally found its place in the foyer. Moving around knick-knacks, organizing and re-organizing cabinets is therapy and works way better than the retail one.

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Puzzle 1001

I am on vacation. The pieces of the puzzle I am trying to solve are scattered on my formal dining table after a rigorous sort. The kettle fitted right in with the yellow and blue colors of the fish puzzle (that's the only reason its on this picture). The challenge with this puzzle is that, you do not have the big picture of how the finished puzzle will look like. I love a challenge, more so on a vacation.

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Spring Break

I am looking forward to this weekend and the following week. The kids are out from school for Spring break. We (husband and I) are taking the whole week off. Nothing planned so far and we are hoping to put to use our spontaneity skills to some good use. Don't worry, I will keep you all updated. 
A good friend from work is coming home this Friday to hang out with us and more importantly to taste some black tea (aka Indian Chai).

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Camouflaging Tummy - Baby or No Baby

Last Friday during our girls night out one of the gals suggested I write about how to camouflage baby tummy, wide waist, thick arms, thunder thighs and other lumps and bumps. So here it is, the first one in the series - Mid Section.
You probably figured out -
Not to wear tight pants (creates muffin tops) or tops or dresses that are tight in the mid section area. Avoid horizontal stripes Pencil skirts always work Here are some tips that I use -

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Guest Post

Do check out my guest post at Gagan's 'Of peacocks and paisleys' on a series called 'My Kinda Girl'. I had so much putting it together. Hop on over to P&P for the guest post and let me know your thoughts.
Click on read more to see the link to P&P.

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Girls Night Out

I was looking forward to Friday all week long. A couple of friends from school and I decided to meet up for dinner and a movie. Good Italian food, Tiramisu for dessert, unlimited conversation and a movie is a fool-proof stress buster. Did I forget the pitcher of Sangria?
If you thought you saw it all with heroes fighting bad villains, politicians, rich father in laws and the likes to win lady love, you have not seen enough until you saw Matt Damon fight fate in the movie The Adjustment Bureau. I would have said, watch the movie to see how he does it. But the movie was so bad, I will stay away from recommending it. The only saving grace was the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.

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Band or Choir

A few days ago, I received an email from the middle school my daughter will be attending to see if she is interested in joining their Band. I was super exited. Trust me, its not a big deal. In addition there was an invite to attend one of their performances.
I gave her the news. She showed the least interest and said the middle school Choir wanted her to join their team.

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