Petrichor

I always believe that something started well will end well too! I wanted 2006 to start off in a serene, quiet atmosphere. We made it possible..2006 dawned for us at Anza Borrego desert State Park camground. It was special! Lots of camping trips followed: Morro Bay, Oregon coast, couple of SF trips, Lassen National Park, Catalina Island & of course, the highlight- a week trip to Hawaii! I started writing since May 2006- still on with my travelblog & blog. Pursuing my interests in photography; Accomplished my first backpacking trip to Grand Canyon(thanks to my hubby) & worked my way out in a kayak in the Pacific Ocean! Life was very patient with me in teaching its lessons. Met Swamiji in person for the 1st time & got the privilege in joining him for a hike; Successfully completed my Tai Chi course & got my yellow belt in Karate(my childhood dream), in the process learnt a lot of things. Trying to leave my anger behind & see the positive side of life. Becoming a l...

Me & my hubby were out camping at Catalina island last weekend. We went to watch a late night movie and it was a long cold walk back to our campground. But there were this two people, whom we did not know, probably were on a fri date, I do not know, who stopped on seeing us walk all the way. They offered to give us a ride back to our campground informing us that it was a long way. We were hesitant, but finally took the ride on their golf cart. If not, we would have reached there 30-40 min later. It matters if it was 10.00 pm at night. This is the second time; Earlier, we got lost while hiking in Henry Cowell State park. It was almost dark and we had at least 5 miles to go, all uphill. From nowhere, this couple met us & offered us a ride to our car. Only we know what it meant to us that day! All of this reminds me of the movie " Pay it forward". One of the sweetest movie I'd seen. The logic is, if I do a good to you, you do good to 3 other people, not to the person...

The past couple weeks have been all very happy. We threw a surprise baby shower for a friend, a family friend delivered a baby boy, got in touch with a lot of my school friends, mom's busy with her music concerts, falling in love all over again with my hubby, an amazing weather, beautiful fall colours(even now), not too much rain, did not come across too many accidents, learnt my share of new things & not to mention that we are packing off for a small weekend getaway... Let's see! Apart from the fear of global warming, there is a lot to be thankful for. Isn't that what Christmas is all about? Merry Christmas!

One of the very few poems that was not a part of my English syllabus at school, but made me go out of my way to read it while still at school!(my eleventh grade to be exact) If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, ...

My husband took me to this authentic restaurant on our 3rd anniversary. My first try at Greek cuisine. I am not a big fan of trying new cuisines, but this place is good . We tried the Veg stuff: I had a moussaka & my hubby had a garden salata. Moussaka comes in with greek fries(no french, people!) & the Garden Salata comes with warm pita wedges, French bread & Dip of the Day. Out of the world! It is not very expensive and leaves you with a satisfied heart & stomach.

I am currently reading Robin Sharma's "The Monk who sold his Ferrari". Interesting book! I was just reading the part where Julian talks about fear and how to overcome it. He says, for a person who has the fear of public speaking, to sign up for 20 classes of public speaking. ie., he says, face fear in the eye and do often what you fear the most. This way works for me, for sometimes, that is my only way out. But is this feasible at all times? At some point, are not all of us scared of being intimidated? But fear drains our energy. I've heard it before too! We have to let fear pack its bags. We hardly have time to lead a happy life, why let fear take a part of it? There was this other thing I really loved from the book: There are no mistakes; only lessons, in life! All these lessons should be oppurtunities to create milestones. There are so many things(like this book) to make our lives so easy. Wish I could set my hands on everything and make my life more worthwhile!

Saturday, 2nd Dec 2006! One of my most tensed days! My Yellow belt test day! I am not a white belt anymore. I really learnt a lot in this fall semester! Got to know so many new people. Learnt a lot about life! I am indebted to my Sensei(Japanese for teacher)for having faith and trust in me. I can never thank my mom and husband enough for backing me up all the while through this semester, listening to all that happened at class & of course medicining my wounds anytime I got hurt in the day's work. Karate had been my childhood dream and Swamiji(Swami Sukhabodhananda) inspired me to go ahead, despite my age. Never too late to learn anything! Swamiji is a brown belt now and started music classes at the age of 44. Maybe I will learn music some day! A day well ended! As my Sensei says, there are always people below us, but also above us too; I would always remember that and want to be thankful & grateful for where I am today. One of those days, when I feel really blessed and happ...