Recently, I feel as if my life has been hit by one of those infamous Florida hurricanes.  Work has been chaotic.  We have had 4 people in the last 3 weeks resign…and I don’t think any of them left amicably.  I, however, do wish them all the  best.  However, with their departure, everyone else has to pick up more slack.  Not only that, but I leave in T minus 17 days to go on my vacation to the motherland.  I have not been on a “real” vacation in about 3 years.  I take a Friday or a Monday off and make it a long weekend to go to New York, LA, or Chicago.  But this is a real vacation, where I can sightsee, eat good food, and hang out with family.  All of you don’t fret, I will have ample time to go shopping and restock the Indian wardrobe.  Gees, I must, with all the weddings, engagements, and baby showers that I have been requested to attend in 2005.  I guess I have hit the age, mid 20’s, where youngster—as my father would like to say, have decided to take that step in life and walk around the fire and profess everlasting love.  Anyways, I digress.  The school life is also in full swing.  This is almost the end of the term, which means papers galore, finals around the corner, and a huge end of the term project, which I have not even started.  Oh, and it is not like me to be a procrastinator.  I mean, I wrote all my Christmas cards before Halloween.  So, this weekend will be a buckle down weekend writing project plans for oil companies.  Oh, my Hallburton, here I come.  Then social life.  Everyone has to get married in early December, it is my niece’s birthday today (shot out to Devki) and my bro-in-law needs a bartender at his birthday party—just call me Martini, I like to be shaken and stirred.  I know lame, but leave me a lone.  In addition, it is the firm’s Xmas party on Saturday.  Sorry, let me be PC, the Holiday party.  Then a happy hour for the people leaving.  Then, smart I decided to have a group gift exchange for the people at the office next Friday…also the day of bro-in-law’s birthday.  Then Saturday afternoon it is the Children’s holiday party at the office for the little tikes.  Wow, I am tired just typing all that.  Well, I also have class this weekend and next…and on top of it all I need to pack for India.  Somewhere between buying converters and taking pictures for Santa and Ms. Clause I need to wrap up a SAS70, 2 SOX projects, and a tiny 100 hour audit.

Well, I better get back to work.  However, if I do not post while in India, I may not have connection.  I want to wish everyone a happy holiday season and the best for 2005.  I hope everyone receives success, prosperity, good health, and a little bit of lovin’.

May your Diwali be filled with all the joys of life. May you be blessed with happiness and well being to last throughout the year…

HAPPY DIWALI!

Best Wishes

Avani

Friday. 10-28-04

Tampa, FL @ Home    & nbsp;   &n bsp; 

My friends decided that between my school and work schedule I have become anti-social.  Swati even called me one day worried about me and said I always sound unhappy.  Raks told me that I was a dork.  Gees, an unhappy dork, how much worse can it get.  So, they called all the other girls and an intervention was implemented.  I must say, I am ecstatic.  The weekend is fully planned, from amazing restaurants in the city, swanky clubs, theater tickets to see Bombay Dreams, manicure and pedicures, shopping at Manolo Blahnik and Fendi stores, and last but not least 48 full hours with my favorite girls in the entire universe.  This is a much needed, estrogen weekend.  I even decided that I was going to leave my computer at home and be empty handed, but I quickly resented that thought. I had this dream last night that I was stuck in the big apple for day and without my communication source to the firm network…oh no! I though, was I going to get fired, placed on a crappy project, or maybe even demoted!!!  Son of Mary and Joseph!!!  I immediately woke up in a cold sweat and decided to pack the Evo N600…my tiny little Evo.  Here we come NY…Adieu

Thursday. 10-21-04

Tampa, FL @ Checkers HQ    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   

I am at the hustle and bustle of the fast food industry today.  Checkers, the home of the…hm, not sure what, but they have some pretty darn good seasoned fries.  We are out here performing some compliance work.  Hopefully the day goes quick, because tonight is the big night to show off my bowling skills.  Promotions were announced a few weeks ago and our group didn’t have a chance to go to the big hooray, so I thought I would put together a fun and exciting happy hour.  I figured bowling would be a nice activity and there is a place called Splitsville right near downtown.  It is an upscale lounge that has about 8 bowling lanes.  Strange concept but it is sure a big hit in Tampa. I called last week to reserve 5 lanes for our group and other firm invitees and they told me it was going to be $750 for 2 games and 3 lanes.  I was astonished. The woman advised that the prices are considered at "premium" because they have so many people who want to reserve lanes that they must charge this amount to accomodate everyone.  I thought it was all a bunch of BS.  In college we would bowl for a quarter and all the beer my little body could fancy.  This price didn’t even include shoes, food, and the best thing of all, liquor!  So, in a panic, I called all the other lanes in the area and I guess Thursday is infamous league night.   The only place open and that could accommodate us at the last minute with a full bar was Regal Lanes.  I looked at the address and this place was in the hood.  I think it is across from the projects.  But desperate times call for desperate measures.  It was either I cancel the entire event, and that would look bad on my social organization track record.  Or we change it to a regular bar and we all just stand around and drink, now that would just be too normal.  Or we all wear our Fubu gear and put our steering wheel locks on and jam to some 70’s music.  Oh, how we went from fancy schmancy, shei shei, to a scene from Friday.  Let’s hope the adage stands up here, “good company makes any situation fun.”

Weekend. 10-15-04 to 10-17-04

UPenn, PA/Orlando, FL

Coming from a die hard football school…I never missed a home football game.  I would paint my face orange and blue and deck out in beads, wearing tiny blue shorts and a bright orange t-shirt screaming the fight song at the top of my lungs.  This weekend I went back to Philly for classes and it was homecoming weekend.  Let’s just say the south knows real college football.  Sorry PENNsters, I respect the school for its remarkable education, but they just ain’t good football players.

Saturday night was the long awaited surprise event for my parents.  My parents sold their drycleaners a few weeks ago and I have been planning a surprise party for them.  My mom always ruins the surprises (must be where I get it from!).  So I was shocked that she had no idea what I had up my sneaky sleeve.  I invited their 45 closest friends, ordered their favorite Indian food, and everyone mingled.  I landed in Tampa at 500pm and had to speed my way to Orlando to arrive before my parents friends started piling into the restaurant.  I changed into an Indian outfit in the car; the people at TGI Friday’s must have gotten themselves a little peep show.  I arrived at 6:45 and luckily nobody was there…figures they are Indian!  I spoke to the owner of Kohinoor (our family’s favorite Indian restaurant) and he assured me all was ready to take the show on the road.  The tables were set, the buffet line was ready, and we had our very own waiter.  The waiter was exhausted by the end of the night.  What can we say, we are all high maintenance. It was a memorable night and my dad even cried.  What will he do when I get married!?

Thursday. 10-14-04

Naples, FL @ Client

Dictionary.com gives the following definitions:

Faux- not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article.

Fake- Having a false or misleading appearance; fraudulent.

When I think of faux or fake, I usually think of designer purses or imposter perfumes.  However, it has brought new meaning to me today. I cannot think of one person who likes fake people.  People believe genuineness is a tough trait or characteristic to find.  However, I disagree.  It is plentiful in the world.  I have always had this theory.  Only 5% of the word is “evil” and then 5% of the world is like “Mother Teresa” then the rest of the 90% is good hearted people who may be overcome by greed and jealously, but at the end they will not do anything to intentionally hurt someone.  They have a conscious, a heart, and emotions.  In Russia when the children at the school were taken hostage and shot in front of their family, that is done by evil individuals.  9/11 was done by evil individuals.  Rapist and murderers are evil.  However, the people who lie to you and cause a break in a friendship, parents who yell because their children misbehaved, people who try drugs for the first time, they are all confused.  They are not out to hurt the world, or to hurt their loved ones, but they are overcome with an emotion that they think is above them.  These types of people you can sit down and explain to them that what they are doing is wrong and if their actions are not changed in the future they will hurt someone.  The murders, the suicide bombers, the rapist…you cannot sit them down and tell them what they did was wrong, they do not have emotions, no sense of human integrity, a lack of understanding the bare human essentials.

I have not ever met someone that evil, but I have met someone who I think has the ability to be that evil.  He would purposely say things and do things to hurt people.  He discriminated based on color, gender, socio-economic class.  He was blatantly rude to people and would put them down in front of others.  He would lie and cheat to succeed.  He would intentionally lie about other people and make them suffer. I was shocked to see this type of behavior, because it is not normal.  Then I did some research and found out that he wasn’t raised in a “healthy” household and he had to fend for himself ever since early high school.  This doesn’t make the situation better, but it gives me a perspective on why he may act like this.  However, the past few months I have had the opportunity to meet another person.  The difference between her and the man before is, she is “undercover evil.”  The first time you meet her, you know she is on an ego trip, but that you can handle, in all other essence I thought  she was nice and cordial.  That is an act.  As you spend more time with her and talk to her, the evil begins to seep through.  First it is a comment on money and fame, then it is a comment about how other people are “stupid” or “ugly” and then it is lies about family and friends.  The actions just escalate.  Her attitude, her actions, and her attempts at bringing other people down to make herself feel more superior.  It just doesn’t end.  I give her the benefit of the doubt and next time around it is something else.  Some rude comment or some unneeded action to bring pain upon another human being.  I am not trying to save the world, that is not my job.  I think she is a threat to society in an emotional way; however it isn’t my place to save her and the people around her.  However, here is where the plot thickens with a twist of lime.  She is dating one of my friends, which I love dearly.  He is a good hearted person, who only sees the good in people, and would go, out of his way to help anyone.  You can consider him naive.  He hasn’t ever been in a real relationship.  He works so hard that relationship were always on the back burner and girls didn’t always give him the attention that he wanted.  Then all of a sudden, a decently attractive girl comes into play that showers him with attention.  To him and his family, friends…she is like an angel, but it is a disguise.  I have once voiced my opinions and after that I decided to see how the play unfolds.  I was sure he would see her true colors, they always did on the Disney movies, but he hasn’t and I have a fear he never will.  How come I can see it and my friends and family can see it and he cannot.  So, I feel like he is going to ruin his life and I have the ability to stop it.  However, after talking to numerous people about this, they all tell me people grow and learn from mistakes.  Pain is the foundation of making someone a better person.  You finally know first hand how it is to feel hurt, anger, disappointment.  After feeling these emotions, you never want to inflict that on other people, you become more aware of your surroundings, and learn how to read people better.   I have decided there is nothing I can do to rectify the situation.  I can support him in his choices and care for him if he needs me to.  Regardless, I am going to end this blog with one of my all time favorite quotes. “It's better to lose love, than to love a loser."

Tuesday. 10-12-04

Naples, FL @ Ritz Carlton

I have been talking about marriage a lot lately, to my friends and my family.  Several of my friends and cousins are taking the leap to marital bliss.   Hand full of my friends are eager to take the leap but one or the other is not prepared for the commitment.  Then there are a few who are also anxious to take the plunge, but they haven’t found someone to strap on the life jacket with them.  Lastly, there are other, which is slowly becoming my world, are just too involved with other external forces that they have put the “search” on hold.

I was asking my mom yesterday how it was when she met my dad.  She said, she didn’t have “love at first sight” or she didn’t “just know,” but it was more of a compromise and what she did know was that he could provide her and her family security, safety, and financial stability.  She knew that he was educated, had will power, was motivated, and would take care and love their offspring’s.  She said that is all she needed to know that to reassure her they were a good match.  She complains that young adults these days are putting emphasis on the wrong characteristics.  For instance, when someone asks me what I want in a mate I have a long list, from intelligent and caring to tall with no facial hair.  My mom laughs, but it is one of those, she is disappointed and can’t believe her daughter is so shallow laughs.  But I try to tell her, I have this list in my mind, but it doesn’t mean that if someone doesn’t adhere to each of my qualities he is damned.  Throughout life I have always come prepared for a big project or an important meeting.  When I had to prepare for a presentation at university, I begin by writing down all the topics I can choose from and a blurb about each so I can get a feeling of how I feel when I talk about the topics.  When I prepare for a client meeting, I come with an agenda, answers to questions they might ask, some reading material for the client, and my business cards.  Having a list of characteristics is the same thing.  I am coming prepared to the most important decision I will have to make.  Making a list isn’t being shallow or overly picky; it is just knowing what is wanted and what type of outcome to predict.  I think several young people as myself; don’t know what they want out of life and out of a partner.  It is easy to say, I want someone who is tall, smart, and makes me laugh.  But what about the other things like, will he support me if I want to go back to school, will he take care of my parents if they become sick, will he want to raise our children the same faith as I was raised.    The answers to these questions need to go on the list.  I am not saying don’t put tall, dark, and handsome on there because I surely did.  My #43 is—sings well, so he can serenade me.

Weekend 10-08-04 to 10-10-04

Tampa, FL @ Home

Work has decided to put us on “mandatory” 50 hour work weeks.  You all have heard me whine about the hours I have been working.  The irony in this is, we all work more than 50 hours but when they add another 10 hours to the schedule, in reality they are adding 20 more hours to our already 65 hour work week.  They think that making it a game will make us all forget how much we are working.  They implemented this “raffle” every pay cycle.  If you work the 100 hours in the 2 weeks your name is inputted into a drawing and whoever wins received a $500 standing ovation check.  Keep in mind this is taxed.  Between work, school, and recruiting, I have had no time for myself.  Well, this weekend, I decided to call Neha and do a nice girl weekend.  Friday night, I went to happy hour with some of my co-workers and then headed over to see my sister.  She was cooking this feast for a dinner party.  I did the “Eat n’ Run” technique, pretty sneaky if I must say.  The kids were all tired, so I ate some scrumptious Indian food and drove home.  The week was very tiring.  The night out in Gainesville, wore me out.  So I decided to stay in a read this new book I picked up at Borders.  It is called “The Namesake,” seems pretty good.  Saturday I went to look at some houses and did some much needed maintenance on the car and myself.  I finally got an oil change, tires rotated, the back break lamp replaced, car washed and waxed, and wiper blades replaced.  Then onto me, I got my eyebrows done, manicure, pedicure, and a facial.  I then came home and did some work until dinner time.  Neha and I went to this fabulous new restaurant in Channelside called Signature Room.  They have one in Chicago. I was very pleased with the food and the ambience.  I give it 4 stars.  We then headed over to Splitsville for a few drinks and ended the night at Whiskey Park.  Sunday was the day we both were anxiously looking forward too.  I made 2 appointments for Swedish massages at the Marriott Waterside on Harbor Island. We were in heaven.  The massages felt fabulous and it was nice just laying the table for an hour and not have a worry in the world.  We then had lunch at the café at the hotel.  The weather was perfect.  There was a slight overcast so the sun wasn’t beating down on us.  We ate outside by the marina and just chatted.  We both decided, this must become a monthly ritual. 

10-06-04

Tampa, FL @ Office

I read on a website:

We realize that your dreams are unique. No other individual can have your background, your emotions, or your experiences. Every dream is connected with your own "reality". Thus, in interpreting your dreams, it is important to draw from your personal life and experiences. Remember that a dream unifies the body, mind, and spirit. It provides you with insight into us and a means for self-exploration. In understanding your dreams, you will have a better understanding and discovery of your true self. 

When I awake in the middle of the night I know exactly what I dreamt about and I laugh, or I am scared.  I have had 2 reoccurring dreams.  The first, which I haven’t had in the last 2 or so months, but it was an everyday dream for about 3 years.  I would be at dinner or hanging out with friends, on a normal Saturday night.  I would eat something and I then would notice my tooth was loose.  I would wiggle it around and then I noticed a few of my teeth were very loose and ready to fall out.  They never fell out though, but I recall how scared I was.  It would always be a weekend of the middle of the night and I would frantically look up a dentists number.  All of a sudden I would wake up in a sweat.  Of course the first thing I would do was check my teeth and the pearly whites were a-ok.  So, I did some research and this is what they tell me:

Dreams about teeth and losing teeth are common. Often the dream is troubling, although it does not contain the same fear or anxiety as a nightmare. In the dream, the teeth often are a concern only to the dreamer. Other characters in the dream either do not notice, or do not care, about the loose teeth. Dreams of losing teeth are often dreams of embarrassment or potentially embarrassing situations. The parallel waking experience could be summed up in the phrase "losing face" publicly.  Other possible teeth-loss dreams may come from physical sensations such as grinding your teeth or having particularly sensitive teeth.

The reoccurring dream lately is I am back in college and it is the end of the semester and I realized that I didn’t attend an entire semester of one of my classes.  It is the last week or the last day and I realized that I missed a few exams, large projects, and a majority of the homework assignments.  I start asking people next to me nonchalantly, how many assignments we had.  I remember the dream from earlier in the week was, I was in a high school English class and I didn’t read the last book assigned.  We had to do all these projects and an entire test on it and I was lost.

Usually when we have these dreams we are nervous about completing some task in our present lives. The reason why these dreams locate us back in time - to our high school or college math class, for example - is because emotionally we have the same feelings as we did back then, when we were nervous before a big test. The feelings we are experiencing in the present remind us of the feelings we used to have in the past. When you have a dream like this, try to locate what it is in your current life that has you running nervous - and wondering if you are going to be able to “pass the test.” With practice, you soon will be able to locate the cause of these dreams. You may be worried about getting a work project completed on time, or perhaps you simply are concerned about completing all your errands tomorrow. Your dreams reflect some momentary self-doubts, but actually can serve as timely reminders to identify the next challenge, and to begin making preparations now - which will put your nerves to rest at the same time

Interesting….

Tuesday, 10-06-04

Tampa, FL @ Office

After a long week of trying to locate a manager or partner in the southeast to attend my alma mater to interview our leaders of tomorrow, I was exhausted and had no more resources to tap.  Either they already had a prior client commitment, or they were going to training, or they were just too busy—like the rest of us.  A little story about work.  Work has been coming out of all of our ears lately.  We are severely understaffed, hence we need to find someone to interview on campus, and clients just want us to do more work in less time.  I am not complaining, ok well a little…but I know it is great for the economy and for staff like me.  It leads to quicker promotions, more pay, and most importantly never ending experience.  Well, what I am trying to get at is, we found nobody to go to the campus to recruit for our specific group.  So, HR then told me that we might have to cancel the interviews and reschedule.  First of all, that would make our firm look really bad and unprepared, second, the rest of the firm groups were going to be there, except ours.  So, then they asked if I would interview.  ME….are they talking about Avani?  I was in shock.  I have only been around a little over 2 years, and what do I know about interviewing.  I can easily talk to the kids and tell them about the life at a big 4 firm.  But do I have the ability to hire.  Gees, I can’t even decide on wear the entire group should eat lunch.  Anxiety began to kick in, HR was on the other line and there was complete and utter silence.  I said “uh, sure.”  And I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach and in the background I hear a field of applause.  HR was thrilled….and I though I was just killed.  All I could think about was, most of these kids are all older than me and they will look at me and know I have no idea what is going on.  I am like an open book when it comes to reading emotions.  I have this knack of not being able to hide, excitement, disappointed, annoyance, and fear.   HR assured me that they would give me a crash course on what to ask and what not to ask.  I feel like they have dropped me in a sea of gator infested water and told me to do the backstroke.  Well, I have no choice, they all seem to have faith in my, I need to start having faith in myself.  But will the students have faith in me?  We will surely find out.  I head over to the college campus tonight and interviews all day tomorrow, 8:30AM-3:45PM.  There will be a total of 9 students.  GO GATORS!

Weekend, 10-02-04 to 10-03-04

Tampa, FL @ My House

The house hunting continues.  I found 2 really nice places.  They have all of Miss Avani’s wants; the hardwood, the granite, the size is over 2,000 square feet, and the backyard has a nice enclosed area for a Jacuzzi and a grill.  Oh, Hugh Heffner would be a little jealous!  The area is considered South Tampa (the area to be in), however, where these houses are, isn’t very how can I say it…well safe.  I know the area will turn over in about 3 years and if I had some extra cash, I would love to buy a few places here and let the area flourish and make a nice capital gain on the investment.  Well, lets see, I don’t have the extra cash and I am pretty sure the parents would laugh at me.  You know how Indian parents are.  They would see the run down RV’s and the old pops sitting outside on the lawn playing domino’s and they would immediately lock their car doors and stare.  The interesting thing about the area is, that the streets have about 20-25 houses.  Currently there are about 5 houses being built and then there are about 7 or so houses that have been built in the last 14 months and are occupied.  So you see the nice 3-series bmw alongside the Caprice Classic that is lowered with the spinning wheels.  I think if I was living with a guy or was a guy, I would feel better about living in this area.  However, for now, I would be scared coming home at night and to leave in the morning.  I have the freedom of safety on Harbor Island.  I can go out and check my mail at 3am, come home at 4am and not worry about walking up the stairwell, and most importantly, go for a nice job at 6am and see other fellow joggers trying to wash away the stress of the upcoming day.  I wouldn’t have that luxury if I decided to live by the Port.  Oh, also, I failed to mention these houses are dirt cheap.  Anyways, today another meeting with Scott, the realator to look at a place in Hyde Park.  Beautiful, hip, safe, and trendy place to live.  The price sure shows that.  Only problem is, the place is 3 bd, 2.5 bath, 3 story townhome, but it is only 1100 square feet.  I wonder how they pack all that in.  I will surely tell you.

The weekend was the normal studying, working, and not having a social life.  Didn’t have a chance to party it up with my fellow Philadelphians this weekend.  However, Saturday night social life took a turn.  The full moon brought me out and I was ready to prowl.  I met up with Angel and Jason at Maggiano’s for dinner in Tampa.  I think it was homecoming for the high schools.  There were a plethora of teenage girls in dresses that showed too much skin and boys in tuxs that tried to eat spaghetti.  Lets just say Mr. Formal gets to keep their deposit.  We then headed to Whiskey Park for a few drinks.  However that turned into a hay day of playing darts.  A little background about Angel and myself.  We do not have very good hand eye coordination.  So, the first few dart throwing attempts may have very well taken out a poor bystander’s eye.  Actually my first few throws didn’t even hit the board.  I felt like it was going to be a long, gruesome night.  However, the girls’ fate had turned in an instant.  Angel was hitting the bulls eye like it was going out of style.  I think her luck was rubbing off on me because this little Indian girl could have been a hustler.  Poor, poor Jason, he was getting beat by 2 Prada wearing, Louis Vuitton carrying girls.  Misery I must say.

Weekend 9-24-04 to 9-26-04

Tampa, FL @ My House

Once again, I do not learn from my past mistakes.  I once heard a saying, “You do something once and you can constitute it as a mistake and you do it twice, then you are just plain dumb.”  Ok, I may not be quoting it verbatim, but you all get the point.  I am just a bad bad blogger.  I am not in denial, I have no excuse, I am just bad!

However here is re-cap on my life.  Once again, my poor Sunshine State was hit by another “weather incident.”  They have stopped calling them hurricanes here because it causes an increase in anxiety levels.  Here are some surprising statistics that blew my mind.

·    & nbsp;   &n bsp; 50% of homes in Florida have been affected in some way by the hurricanes

·    & nbsp;   &n bsp; 25% of children under the age of 6 have felt adjustment disorder

·    & nbsp;   &n bsp; 80% of Floridians say they are fatigued from the hurricanes

Can you believe this?  This is truly sad.  Everyone has been affected one way or another.  In addition, tourism in the state has decreased substantially, real estate value on the beaches is plummeting, and as a whole--Florida is getting terrible PR.

On a more positive note.  I have decided to enter the world of home ownership.  No more one bedroom condo for this bachelorette, it is time to start investing in a phat pad.  Realistically though it is time to start receiving a tax break and acting like an adult.  But the phat pad sounds more hip and happening. This is what I just put an offer on, however, the rejected the offer. http://tampabay.mlxchange.com/EmailView.asp?r=1271246744&" title="http://tampabay.mlxchange.com/EmailView.asp?r=1271246744&" target="_blank"http://tampabay.mlxchange.com...;s=TPA&t=TPA. 

It is ok; this is a part of life.  Well, at least that is what my real estate agent tells me.  I will admit, I was very upset when Scott, the realtor, called and told me someone put an offer for the asking price.  First of all, who gives the asking price?  It is no longer a sellers market, or at least less of a sellers market.  So, somebody must have fallen in love with it.  Regardless, there still should be a little back and forth offer/bidding game.  Anyways, when I went into this town home and I didn’t immediately fall in love.  I wish it had more upgrades, the countertops were Formica and I am looking for granite, the cabinets were not good wood, and I would like hardwood in the living and dining rooms.  However, when I looked around and opened each closet, I knew this one had potential.  It had the baseline.  It was 3 stories, new, shingle roof, in an up and coming area, gated, and nice neighbors.  These are the characteristics you cannot change, nor would I compromise on.  The granite…well, that can be installed in a year and the hardwood; well I can be a carpenter for the weekend.  Well, no need to talk about the past.  I am going to see 2 more places on Sunday night.  I decided not to get emotionally attached anymore.  Gees, it sounds like I lost the man of my dreams, not a single family home in the burbs.

Ok, I promised AK that I would mention some more good news on my blog.  I have entered the world of seniorhood.  AKA, I got promoted!  Yay!  I think it means…more responsibility and not enough pay-would you concur AK?  It is actually a great day.  The hard work has paid off, I have more responsibility, and another chapter in the book of professional growth.  So next time I am in town with any of you…drinks on me.

Weekend 9-16-04 to 9-19-04

Philadelphia @ Inn at Penn

My trip to Philadelphia this weekend was much more interesting than my previous trips.  I had a chance to see the town and experience the wonderful nightlife.  Unlike my usual weekend stays in the room, doing microeconomic case studies and reading articles about managing people in the workplace.  Glamorous eh?

Friday night we grabbed drinks at Smith & Wollensky’s, a highly renowned steak restaurant in Center City.  Then we went to a bar/lounge/Indian restaurant, Café Spice.  That is tradition for me!  We met some NYers there for drinks and stuck around until after midnight. Then we pranced over to a place called Dolce, and all I could think of was Dolce and Gabbana, and they their beautiful fall collection. If anyone is interested, check out their gloves and scarves, to die for! Then we were on our merry way to this swanky joint called Paradigm.  I had a great time, met lots of new people, which is much needed because I usually become a recluse! 

I was very proud that I made it to class early in Saturday morning. I woke up at 6:30 and the last thing I wanted to do was to listen to the VP of Operations at GE tell me how to increase profit and concurrently make employees happy.  Gees, I can tell you the answer to that secret.  Give them more time off, increase salaries, and throw an extravagant Christmas party.  I wonder if they are recruiting for another VP?!  Well, I did make it and I was definitely not bright eyed nor was I bushy tailed, just very hungover.  However, Rinku guilted me into making it to class on time because the professors try so hard to think of innovative things for students—and I felt bad (she is a professor!). 

Saturday night, we headed to an Italian place called Angelino’s for drinks and then a club called Tragos.  There was an UPenn medical school party there.  Again, lots of fun.  The interesting point of this weekend was the people I met.  I went out to dinner with a friend of a friend from Tampa (Rinku).  I had never met her before, but the people we knew in common was unfathomable.  We knew the same people at the same times and were even in the same places.  To make the situation even more ironic, when we went out at night, I would talk to random people and after minutes of conversation we knew someone or they were even part of my distant family.  This brings an entire new meaning to ‘it’s a small world after all’!

Labor Day Weekend  9-1-05  to 9-5-04

Tampa, FL @ Home Sweet Home

Once again the beasts of the sea decided to torment our sunshine state.  I was working in Naples at a client for the week.  The beginning of the week was wonderful.  I had a chance to leave work at a decent time, head to the beach and run along the shore for an hour and then walk back barefoot in the water.  It was very relaxing, beautiful, and much needed after a hectic or sometimes mundane day at work.  However, I thought my life was beginning to spiral downward (it was) Wednesday night.  I came back to the hotel and decided to do some work.  I turn on my computer and I receive a blue screen telling me my physical memory is being dumped.  I call some of my IT gurus (thanks KB!) and nobody had a solution.  My computer was dead!  I had to head back to Tampa to fix it…however, my parents told me not to drive so late and just relax.  I didn’t know what to do without my computer…I was a lost child.  I woke up bright and early and headed to the office to revive my baby.  Well, it took almost 8 hours to fix the computer.  Once again, I didn’t know what to do with myself.  I even thought about going home and taking a nap…but how would that look.  So, I walked around, collected supplies to take to the client, bothered the admins, and then put together work paper binders.

Thursday was a better computer day, however the Hurricane Center said Frances was heading our way.  The direct hit would be Vero Beach, go through Orlando, and exit in the bay area, well this was all based on the “cone of uncertainty”…I like to call it the “cone of insecurity.” Oh joy!  Another one!  We all left work early on Friday and stocked up on candles and water.  The grocery store by my house and office was crawling with panicking Tamponians…and sure thing I was one of them.  I cleared the snack food isle.  I passed the low carb, low fat, items…if I was going to be whisked away by a storm; I am going to go happy and chunky chunky.  I decided, low carb, low fat food when prince charming decides to whisk me away.  Which won’t be a problem because he doesn’t exist…Miss Cleo advised he was hit by a truck.  Sorry for the bitterness!

Well, I stayed in and all weekend I didn’t change out of my pj’s, except once to have lunch with the sis.  It was a great feeling.  I caught up on work paper binders, Wharton homework, cleaned the house (it looks immaculate) and watched a bunch of movies (while the power was still on).   Sorry NavP for not hanging out, I owe you big time! The blackout was sort of romantic and soothing moment.  I sat around with aromatherapy candles, drinking wine, and eating cold macaroni and cheese.  It may not sound very passionate, but how much passion to you expect, it was only me, homework, and work paper binders!

I am happy to report, all my friends and family made is safely through the storm with very little damage.

Also, I want to congratulate Deepa and Ritesh on their wedding.  Sorry I couldn’t make it due to the storm and she had to cut the wedding short because of nature…but I have no doubt her and Ritesh will have a wonderful, stress free, hurricane free life in Chicago.  A toast to the happy couple!

Thursday 8-24-04

Naples, FL @client site

This weekend was hectic- the end of the school term, catching up on past work projects, cleaning the filthy house, and a family havan in Orlando on Sunday.   Not only did I have all that, but the weekend ended with driving 4.5 hours Sunday evening to arrive at the client so I can began this vicious workweek cycle all over again.  Yippee!  I am finally feeling the pressure of work and school…didn’t take too long.  Work seems to be piling up with all this Sarbanes-Oxley drudgery knocking on our door and the professors don’t seem to care.  Both of these stresses, along with trying to have a social life (anyone care to help?) and see the family, are giving me wrinkles and I am aging rapidly like a canine.  Woof woof-

Classes and exams went well.  I will know for sure this coming week when I get my “report card.”  It’s been ages since I received a report card; it is strange to fall back into that school cycle.  And of course my parents want me to bring it home so they can either scold me or decorate the refrigerator and gloat to all their friends who really don’t care.  I am shooting for the gloating!  There is no need to go into detail about school, same old: listened to lectures, took an exam, studied until the wee hours of the morning for another exam, took that exam, handed in my term research project (on Sarbanes Oxley, who would of guessed), got onto a plane to come back to Tampa.  THE END…until September 13^th.

Sunday was wonderful.  I drove to Orlando super early in the morning, making a pit stop in Lakeland to pick up Bhumi U’s father-in-law.  He was up all night playing bridge with the Patel Mafia (as he calls his buddies from Zambia)…but they assured me no exchange of money occurred…yea sure!  I am going to beg to differ, Lakeland is a sleepy town and it is more interesting to say there is a Patel Gambling Ring -makes Polk County sound dangerous and mysterious…ok maybe not, but lets just humor me.  I reached home, quickly dressed into an Indian outfit and got the kids ready in their garb.  They looked absolutely precious.  We headed to the havan, a religious ceremony that is performed for good luck and thanking god for the blessings that the family has recently experienced.   I have noted, most people have havan’s after they buy a new house, have a child or grandchild, or overcome an illness.  It was nostalgic to see the entire M family there.  All my aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins’ children were in one place.  I am still amazed that we have over 90 people in our immediate family--it is mind-boggling.  There were a few funny moments.  My dad’s younger brother and his wife sponsored this event.  So they were sitting in the havan and performing the religious ceremony, while the rest of us sat and listened to gain knowledge and be blessed by their actions.  Only in this age would the person participating in the ceremony receive cell phone calls and answer them.  My aunt must have received at least 15 calls in a one-hour time span, and each time you would hear the “It’s a Small World” tune and then a quick low toned “hello.”  The call topics ranged from “I need directions” to “What are you serving for lunch, I’m famished!”  It was amusing to say the least.

In addition, at events such as this, you have to do something to keep the kids entertained.  Rena and Devan were amused listening to our uncle talk about religious stories.  They also enjoyed striking a pose when the cameras snapped pics of them.  However, after 15 minutes, the exhilaration went missing.  They began to run around the mandir (temple) screaming, “you’re it,” or “you can’t catch me, nana nana boo boo.”  Bhumi U a little flustered took control of the situation and set up bingo for the kids…and of course I participated.  I am all about a little game of B-I-N-G-O.  The crowd must have been a little confused, first they hear “It’s a Small World” then screams of “Bingo” and then subsequently after the bingo scream, they hear “Noooooo, I want to win, why does he have to win, he cheated…I hate this game, I am not playing, you are mean…I want to go home….why are we here, I am hungry, I need to go to the bathroom.” You know the usual Hindu ceremony chatter. 

The ceremony lasted about 3 hours and then it was food time.  The food was spectacular…once again I received my fix of Indian food.   I left early and went home to re-pack and leave for Naples.  I was exhausted, due to the lack of sleep and I didn’t want to risk a 4.5-hour drive.  I followed my sis to her house, she is the half way mark, took a 45 minute nap in the kids room, woke up, and ate pizza and salad.  I was refreshed and ready to head to Naples. 

Naples has been a so-so