not a Cheerio

it wasn't a fruit loop or a cheerio this time around.

instead this was beaming at me..

when he went on one knee and all..

all i could say was 'yes'

and

I love you!

Bakeroo Attempts - banana bread

Now that I figured how to substitute baking powder for baking soda, I tried Elise's Banana Bread with the almost overripe bananas I had put in the fridge last night.  My pan was a tiny bit bigger than what she had recommended but it came out alrightt.  Ohh I added a handful of chopped walnuts in to the batter and sprinkled some on top just before I put it in the oven.  easy breakfast or snack!  Imma go pack up some for work buddies..

Bakerooo Attempts I

I love to cook but never been much of a baker.  After a horridly failed cheesecake, I concluded that baking wasn't my forte.  Didn't even bake cookies as a teenager mind you, the only thing even close was mixing batter when mom made butter cake.  I think the one reason is I don't have the patience to measure the 'exacts', mix in certain ways, and have all ingredients at hand (that's more like three reasons, oh well).

Recently while looking for a recipe I stumbled upon Simple Recipes run by Elise.  These cupcakes looked yummy and I tried my hand at baking (yet again).  My mom had bought me a 6-tin muffin tray, so I halved the recipe and made 6 chocolate cupcakes. Bought cupcake liners and all, didn't have baking soda, but used baking powder instead.  At the time of making the cupcakes I hadn't checked the substitution ratios (1:2 ish), so the cupcakes didn't rise as much as it should have.  Below is how they came out.  Didn't have the ingredients for frosting so passed on that.  The taste wasn't actually that bad, was better with a cup of tea of coffee.  Had a hint of Kawum taste in it for some odd reason.  

No wonder they say baking is a science while cooking is an art.

tip toe on ice

trust

disappointments

lies

words

ignore.. avoid..

these all fall in a fine line, better yet, a very very thin piece of ice.

fix you

Addiction is a disease..
cry for help, it's out there.
when beaten, could sound something wonderful like this. good luck to him.





btw awesome lyrics by coldplay

The Help

Couple of weeks ago I read Kathryn Stockett's 'The Help' and watched the movie soon after.  Quite the hype the movie's gotten, so I had to wait in line couple of weeks before I was able to loan the book from the library.  Seeing how long the wait was I checked the closest bookstore which was 'out'.

It was an easy read once you get the hang of the slang-ish dialect Stockett uses for one of the maids.  Very interesting book about the 60s colored help in the US, the southern states to be specific, and the white families they work for.  Movie was alright too, but quite a bit of the book was condensed to make the movie for a two and a half hours (almost as long as a Hindi movie - sheesh!).  Didn't feel it was that long mind you I got enough grunts and grumbles from the partner in crime for not informing the movie is this long before agreeing to see it.

I'm not sure how different it is in Sri Lanka (where I grew up) when it comes to domestic help.  Even now. Many of us, including my family, had help growing up.  Either in the form of baby sitter/nanny, kitchen help, house cleaner, gardener, or a combination of all.  I'm sure many of us treated our maids like family, with the exception of a few.  But they often had a washroom made for them outside or at the back of the house, even the apartment complexes that's being built smack in the middle of colombo has separate maid's bedroom and washroom.

This was definitely true during the 90s and the early 2000's and to this date perhaps?

where do we stand.. or is it just job creation in countries like ours (edit: Sri Lanka).

wordplay

who woulda thought that

 'wrench' and 'lubricant'

could get one banned from entering their land..

bits and pieces

busy few months it's been leading up to the Summer;

- road trip down to the little wine country. amazing food, and company. driving through the vineyards. a carefree and a happy place

- few wine tastings. quite the drinker I am, Not! but one such facility ID-ed me :S. quite embarrassing that was.

- felt almost like we weren't gonna have a summer at all, coz you see we didn't really have a spring. bluaergh! whoever is controlling the weather out there sucks balls.

- bought my own little place, that I can call home. yay me!

- busy trying to make it pretty, and find the pieces that I love, and will love for years to come. it's so difficult I tell you. I just want to close my eyes and open to an apartment that's fully furnished and deco'ed to my taste. gah! they say that's the fun. weekend after weekend walking through home deco/furniture stores looking for items.

- squeezed in a trip to the island. a short but an efficient (interesting choice of word there) one at that. met a few old friends. catching up over lunch, dinner, drinks.

- Galle Face. sea breeze. Isso wadeyyy!

- this time I felt how it feels to see a friend leave.  I was always the leaver, but was never the one to stay behind. the roles were reversed for once. and it 'felt'.

- last couple weeks of Summer. Sun.

'til next time.

summer anthem

Makes me smile.. whistle.. and almost honk!

over the rainbow

it's been nine years since I moved from home. over a third of my life was spent here where I would call my second home. feels almost like home.. but every trip back keeps me reminded that sri lanka is still home..

flashbacks of bits and pieces of life here...

long walks, tears, laughs, snowy nights, food, friends, scorching summers...

hurdles jumped, bridges crossed, scared shitless..

years had gone by, feels long, but I can almost remember it like yesterday

 the teenager I was and the woman I've become..

sexting

Since I moved (yes, again) now I have a longer commute to work.  Don't ask me why I make such decisions, bluaergh! so anyway this longer commute result in more radio time to and from work. and i frequently listen to this one breakfast radio show - pretteeh interesting stuff.

one day last week they ended up talking about senator Weiner story, about texting or tweeting pictures of his wiener to women and little girls. this discussion turned in to about taking naked pictures of ones self and texting them to their bf/gf (i.e. sexting). the hosts invited the listeners to call in and fess up if they have any naked pictures floating around and if they send/receive sext.  many called, and pretty much they all admitted to either or both.

this 47 yr old mother of two calls in.. 'i'm on my way out to drop my kids at school, but just wanted to call in.. I do get sexts from my bfs'.. hosts ask how old are your boy friends.. 'the youngest one was 22, and it's kinda cute when they do that.. i'm a cougar'!!

un-freaking-believable!

Parting.. yet again..

it feels like i've known you longer
a best friend.. or more like
a sister was what you were
honest and rare..

today you leave, not seas away..
it's hard.. hard to leave
harder to see a loved one leave
but we both know, it's a plane ride away..
i know we promised, to call and text
but distance scares me, it parts friends..
and makes one learn to live without them

as tears roll down my cheek
with memories kept close..
i wish you success, in everything you do
you will be missed.. dearly..
come back soon!

and we Roar

quite the exciting game! phew I almost had a heart attach there..

couldn't really watch the NZ innings as much, but I heard it through the grapevine that we kicked some sweet kiwi ass. and Murali, what a treat =)
btw, what were the kiwis mumbling in our players' ears while they bat? 
and man do I miss the excitement at the stadium.

we need this confidence for the finals! go boys!

just a short one, this March is really kicking my ass.

Jerk off

prof: i'll post the marks online tonight (smirk). you know, I actually don't jerk off while grading your exams you know.. (meant to say 'jerk around'?)

just before the end of a class, an actual professor's slip of the tongue, about marking exams.. leaves the whole class hysterical as they call it a night. and a round of applause from the male students.

The Shopaholic in me

me: Hi everyone, my name is crystal! i'm a shopaholic.

SA group: Hi crystal flame!

SA office: what made you attend the shopaholics anonymous group today crystal?

me: *starts sobbing* I had a no-shopping-February policy. But ended up slipping today. I need Mall-Repellent?

*********

That's how it'd go if I ended up attending an SA meeting.  At times I wonder if I really should get my butt one of those. do they really exist?

In my defense, the boots were end of season, and I'm really saving money for the next Fall/Winter. quite the savings there. and the other was because it's almost Spring, and they were cute and comfy, andddd practical! yes!  well, there's more items, in this mini-spree, that I right now don't feel like justifying for. blueargh!

*********

Me on February 1st

Me two weeks after

no more until the end of March! weehhh!




*image credit: google images

All the pain of yesterday

miles away..

Sixteen Again

Okay this is so my month!

this month, not one, but two men said I look 16 (yes sixteen, not sixty)..

and one I'm pretty sure didn't want to impress me or get in to my pants, but the other doubtful.. especially since it happened in the hot tub jeez, what was I doing in the hot tub with a forty year old man.. let me explain here okay, I went for a swim and then jumped in the hot tub to relax and rewind, when the subject, a father of two (yes, I talk to strangers, sigh!), chatted me up... long story short (which was about 6-10 mins), by the time I got out of the tub, he's invited me to shop at his store, with discount!

so should that be called a hot tub time machine?

*why couldn't it have been a hot guy*

Sri Lanka Highlighted

the absence for a month or so meant going on vacation. yes to Sri Lanka! this is so I'd reminisce throughout the year...

- It all started with the most amazing dumplings in singapore. thanks shorty!

- the initial gush of hot air and the feeling of being boiled and overflowing in my skinny jeans, right when you exit the flight

- just hanging out with parents, and doing whatever they wanted to, going wherever they wanted to take you - seeing the smiles in their face.. happiness!

- home cooked food

- surprisingly, just the few times of shopping.. and mom swiping the plastic. yay me!

- impressive selection of coffee joints in and around colombo, rather Tea joints in my case. and dude the coffee places amaze the balls out of me.. a coffee was more expensive that a starbucks frap. jeez!

- great lunch and quiet dinner dates with N, K, and S (separately duh!).. catching up on each other's lives.

- many coffee dates with friends.. and feeling rather godey not knowing where the watchamacallit veranda or the mews is..

- meeting B after years.. i will visit you there, i promise!

- random meet ups and interesting conversations with friends, regardless of the place and time... when I felt like i could bitch slap Timing and continents!

- thanks for the beach fix even if it was rather short

- quite interesting revelations by a close friend.. felt much closer after. thank you and i miss you!

- brought me a smile when people still had my phone number even after so many years and knew the call was from me. felt special!

- Another's engagement..

- When bestie came to see me just coz I have the flu, and the many long chats, even if there was nothing to talk.. it just felt good!

- the Acupuncture and ayurveda.. gah the sciatica!

- Night outs with different and random lots.. letting lose on the dance floor, I still got the crazy in me.

- Seeing the expression on her face when I said I don't really drink, and needn't drink to have a good time.. she was speechless, literally! and was she ever glad i didn't drink after the one night we had..

- driving for the first time in colombo, full throttle! exhausting..

- smiles, and the laughter over drinks and appies.. of old, real, genuine friends..

- most of all, I miss Amma~

May be the one time I felt I should move back, for good.  Feel like I'm missing out a lot, especially with family, as the parents get older.

'til next time..

bitch'n babies

So the first comes in the morning, talks about her two kids.. how the weekend went, how their sports and other activities went, who scored and who didn't.. dinner table talk, or one kid trying on mascara because of the fancy new mascara commercial on tv. etc etc. okay this is all fine dandy... until the next mom walks in, and bitches about her little daughter.. how she has started to show her personality, taking her (the mom) for a ride, and demanding certain things at the ripe age of 2.. to which C responds how her two kids act and how she'd try to discipline them. mind you discipline here would be "[insert child's name] go to your room and think about what you just did" or they'd have a consequence like "you won't be able to have your daily tv time or wii time" or whatever.. Who am I to be criticizing the discipline methods, I don't even have a kid.  okay back to baby bitching.. and then second walks away to do her business.. in walks a third, another mom of two.. hello first mom how was your weekend, what are your kids gonna be for Halloween.. take them to X park for the Halloween train ride, we did that last year and my kids luuurrrvved it.. goes on how cute the little one was in his pumpkin outfit or whatever it was etc etc.  or they'd go awh when they sleep how cute they are, I can just keep watching them all night long, my little darling angels..!!! 


mind you, now all this is happening while I sit there trying to work, pretending that it's not bothering me, while the proud moms chit chat about their bratty (or angelic) kids. 


now i'm sure my mother dearest would talk about me endlessly to her friends too!? eek.. and I don't think that stops even when the kids grow up now does it.. shudders! 

It's one thing to have kids, but another to talk about them constantly.  I know I wouldn't understand how and what you feel when you have kids.. your whole world would revolve around them, but others' doesn't. and please program it in your tiny little head there, that every time you meet a fellow mom or a mom-to-be, you needn't talk about your kids and terrorize the poor pregnant woman how many sleepless nights you had because the baby was crying, hungry, or sick.. I mean it's better than talking about politics but hey..


don't get me wrong, I love little bundles of joy.. squeezy mushy things.. but I pray to whatever and whoever's out there, that I never turn out to be a mom like this (if I ever become one).. ever..

Circumstances

as the sun sets
through the drizzle they sat
drinking and sinking in the horizon
full of circumstances


meaningless words...

melted at his fingertips
leaving goosebumps

silently they said goodbyes
parted..
wishing things were different..
they will never be...
for there will always be
circumstances..