who i am is who i wanna be...

the year's seen me do some very uncharacteristic things. 

- it's made me live up to my responsibilities. in ways i'd wished i never had to. 

- it's helped me find a friend in someone i'd known for a long time... but never really known. and i'm glad for cliches like "it's never too late". 

- i've made some good friends online. u know who you are - all of u... and i sure will catch y'all online soon! :) 

- two of my now-closest pals have graduated from being blog-pals in this very year. 

galadriel: i know how difficult it is to listen to me crib, whine, rave, rant and still be there for me! :D thanks, babes! MUAH! 

dewdrop: u made london feel like home. fly down SOON! keep meowing! and heyy... get rid of the ramu kaka merchandise ;) 

- i ran off to london. despite having said "never again" last year. fortunately, this time was a lot better! 

- i questioned my own decisions. usually, the doubts are before the decisions are arrived at. not after i've decided and gone ahead. but well, there's always a first time! 

- vin and i have managed to live through a lot of uncertainties. but i'm not sure the worst is past us. but i do know that it doesn't matter. that if we could tide over these two years... we should be able to tide over the next as well. 

- i went ahead and got a tattoo. something i'd been too chicken to do since i was 20. and guess what - it doesn't really hurt!! 

- i've realized who my friends are. and people who have their own motives behind being friends with me. 

- i've begun appreciating my girl friends THAT much more. 

vibs: someday, i'm gonna blog those mails we'd exchanged all those years back. makes me feel real sane today! :D 

suruchi: u're probably THE person i'd turn to if i ever need to talk about anything. miss ya tonnes. and i wish i could come down to bbay. and oh, btw... vin now thinks u're on his side. but he's still scared of u! :D 

- i'm looking forward to the changes anticipated next year. 

on the whole, the year's been an absolute mixed bag. it went from not-so-good to uh-oh to horrible to okay to good to great... all within 12 months! they say all's well that ends well. and we're still here.. living and blogging. and the hope still survives - for a better 2009. and i'm happy with who i am... and the fact that i'm still open to change.. with myself and my life. i love the fact that i've managed to sustain the positivity despite everything that's happened. i am happy and content with the way life is shaping up. and with myself. so i guess it can't be all that bad. 

here's wishing all of u have a better 2009! :)

happy holidays!

ok. i'm home!
so are my bags. finally.

for the record, here's what happened:

flight landed late at boston. bad weather being the reason. at boston airport, i am told that i'd miss my flight if i don't "run across to the other terminal" REALLY?? run across?? in SNOW????

but well.. I had to get home, so i figure that's my problem. so i actually scampered across two terminals. completely failing to notice how pretty everything around was.
THEN, i'm told the flight has been delayed. not by 15 - 20 mins. by TWO hours!!!!

and while looking out at the snowed-in planes, i realize with a sinking feeling. "i'm gonna miss my connecting to houston!" i chk with the airline ppl if i can get on a later flight. wishing my bro would actually fly international routes so i can make the plane wait for me! i am told there's no later flight.

faced with the option of being stuck at dallas, i frantically call vin.
me: where are you??
vin: home. where are YOU?
me: can u come to dallas to pick me up???
vin: hehe. where are you right now?
me: i'm at boston airport. flight's delayed by over 2 hours. and i miss my connecting to houston. can u get to dallas by 8.30??
vin: yeah. of course. i can't dare leave you at dallas, can i? hehee.
me: ok. come on time. LEAVE now!

at dallas. i wait for my bags. no bags. so i run around the airport trying to locate a rep who can tell me where my bags are. *it's late. and it's the holiday season. so few reps at that hour*
at the counter:
me: *explained HOW i'd got there, gave them reqd info etc* could you tell me where my bags are?
her: *grinning at me like a cheshire cat. despite seeing that i wasn't in the mood to comprehend humour!* you'll have to call this number and press 7. they would be able to tell you.
me: you don't think YOU should call them? YOU lost my bags. i'm stranded here coz YOUR flights got delayed. and now you want me to call numbers and HOLD??
her: um.. ma'am, i would have. but it's a "customer" service number. they wouldn't speak to me.

i realized, she was serious about it. she looked a little warily at me, actually. too dumbfounded by her blondness... i DO call the number. the man there thought i'd like to chat. and asked me random details about my flights and my bags. finally, he gives me a "locator number" which i'm supposed to map online. except, they don't update their site.
awesome.

a day and a half later, no bags.
i call the number again.
i explain what has happened and give her the locator.. so she can check.
she: you came from london?!
me: yes?
she: and you missed your flight from dallas?
me: YES? *this is info i have JUST given her*
she: OMG!!! how did you get home from dallas at that hour???
me: huh? i asked to be picked up.
she: oh. then why did you not pick up your bags at dallas?

stunned silence.
she thinks i abandoned my precious bags at that airport????? do people DO that??? just like that? for FUN???

me: i WOULD have, if i COULD have. but thanks to your amazing service, my bags did NOT reach dallas. neither have they reached houston. YOU. need. to tell me. WHERE. they are! and, NOW.
she: yes ma'am. i'll just check.

ARGHH!!

finally, 4 hours later that day, my bags got home. after of course, i was made to give super-fab directions of how they could reach my house. yeah, i live here. but i can't give directions. i admit giving directions included resorting to the power of the internet! :D

and just for kicks, i checked their site, later in the evng. to realize that it still said : bags not located.

i've received the bags, but the site says they haven't found them. imagine the trauma this conflicting info would have had on me if i were as bright as their customer service rep(s). vin says i should sue them. for emotional distress.

but i'm just gonna say "happy holidays! feels good to be home. with my luggage!"

flying update

yes, i know this space has been neglected. not ony did i miss it myself.. i also got ur mesgs/mails to the effect. and yeah, sorry that u couldn't comment - i couldn't either!
on one hand, i'm really glad u guys miss me... on the other, i WISH i could blog right now. i have posts in my head... but when there's so much going on... all i can hear is white noise! BUT... here's a quick update on things:

first things first - yes, this space has another look. and this one's gonna stay a while. coz i quite love it. and of course, it has been blessed by "the bhai"
thanks lavs! really appreciate the help.
and i hope YOU who read from ur blackberry and other fancy gadgets can read this fine now. gosh! the trouble i go through for u guys...! and no appreciation i hear! hmph!

dewdrop's left. and i'm missing her terribly. but the child's having fun at home. and has assured me she shall try and visit me next year.

i leave in four more days. yes. sunday night i shall step into what i've called home-turf for the past coupla years. thanks to office, i have a lovely half-way across america flight... and given my trysts with folks at airports... i shall keep you updated with airport stories, as always.

highlights of the week:
overheard in a tube - a firang asking an indian "how IS it that all of you know computers? is it like a religion, there?"

the boss called up Vin.
Vin's message to me : "the boss had called. i thought he had a job for ME. :("

a firang client calls and says "kya tum mujhey weekly top 10 send again please?"

okay... that's all.. and since i leave sunday... this also means that i will return the laptop saturday. and will be offline at least till monday.
given these are my last few days... i am kinda drowning in stuff to do before i leave... so will catch up on ur blogs & reply to comments soon as i can!

y'all be good...and in case i don't see you till then... happy holidays!

edited to add: you CAN leave comments now. thanks, lena... really! :)

mind becomes garden garden.

i'm feeling very green.
it's the color i'm in right now. as in... i WANT to buy a green bag, a green jacket, a green hat... i actually eyed a green phone today... u get the picture. and i actually am liking THIS green. the one in the background - and the text.
so i've decided i'm actually fond of this look. as of now. in my sleep-deprived, overworked state.

also, none of u love me. and are not helping me find a nice template. *read - designing/mailing me something that I would fall in love with at first glance and say to you "WTF were you waiting for??"*.

do let me know what u think of the "new look". pls r'ber... when u say, u don't like... keep options ready for me to either like or turn down. if you don't have options, you can always say "hmm..." or some such politically correct thing that would allow me to publish ur comment.

and till any of you actually proves to be of help *vibs???*, this phool-patti shall remain.

p.s.: no prizes for translating the title of this post.

edited to add:
credits: galadriel loves me! or maybe she just couldn't bear the garden that this page had become. so well, she showed me the "green light". and also, very kindly edited the xml after i'd slept. what would i do without u? now go.. link me in some more posts!

other options considered were templates called "chobits", "santa & reindeer", pink diva (which G loved), "vetochick" and "rigid joy".