Party People, it's Friday (Saturday) Night

I am late to the party. As usual. But better late than never, right? I hope so. My name is Annie and I am your ordinary gal.

Thank you for coming to my party. You might want to check out the Even More Things About Me in the sidebar. It was written a while ago, but I don't think a whole lot has changed.

Here is a recipe for my apparently world famous tuna cutlet. And when I say world famous, I do not mean it lightly. It is the one thing that gets me most hits. That and how to take dye off clothes and how to wash a comforter. Those are questions I asked fellow bloggers who then responded. So seems like even people who come to my blog, read only the comments and not the content. It makes me wonder what that says about my blog.

Hubby and I went to Greece on our first wedding anniversary. I wrote an epistle on that. You might need two hours before you settle down to read that. I disliked dogs, then got one, loved one and lost one. I wrote about that here.

Thank you for visiting me. Hope you come back. And don't forget to go to the carnival hub. You won't regret it.

These Red Shoes

I own these red shoes. I think they are pretty. It matches a cute red outfit I own. Other than that they waste space in my cupboard. I cannot wear it as they have high heels and I cannot walk more than 2 minutes in them.

I was walking on my way somewhere and I saw it in the store. It looked pretty, I tried it on, and it fit. I forgot that I am not supposed to wear high heels because of my ankle problem. I forgot that my husband prefers that I don't wear high heels. And I forgot that I absolutely had no need to buy them as I own about 10 pairs of shoes in different colors and styles. And that is not including flip-flops. Yet, I did. I wore it once for a fancy dinner out with my husband. Red dress, red shoes and a red necklace.

I did look cute.

For about 15 minutes until after I got there.

After that all I could think of were my pinching legs and constant fear that I would turn my ankle. It was a dinner show presentation and there was some walking around to do. I was miserable when I got back home and I wrapped up my pretty red shoes and kept it away.

These are the lessons I learned from the pretty red shoes.

1. It might look good, seem to fit, but does not mean it is the right choice for you.

2. Know and appreciate your uniqueness as a person before you invest in something.

3. If you are married and your husband has an opinion on something, it is usually a good idea to give heed to him, especially if he is older and knows you very well.

Replace shoes with any of the new theories, isms, doctrines and whathaveyou and there is a good lesson to remember.

And as far as material things are concerned, it reminds me to be careful in what I am buying, storing up treasures this side where moth, and rust and thieves destroy.

Because I am too lazy to do a real post

I had a lot of ideas for posts in the past few days, but I never got around to writing any of it. It is just that things get so busy and it is hard to find time for blog upkeep. Anyway, this was not one of my original post ideas, but Thursdays Child tagged me for this and I decided to do it today.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was preparing for an entrance exam that would get me into engineering school. I eventually cleared it and made it there. There as in the particular school I wanted to be. Or the one my parents wanted me to be. I honestly didn't care that much. I Just barely made it though. That is one tough exam and the competition is enough to kill you or if you manage to survive - give you nightmares for the rest of your earthly pilgrimage. Yes, I still get nightmares about that exam.

5 Things on my to-do list:

I will cheat a little and put one on the list that I already did. I just want to feel a little good about myself. I am known to actually put stuff I already did on my to do list so I can cross it off.

• Draft a work email which actually should have been sent Friday (done, YAAY)
• Deweed the vegetable garden
• Prepare for Sunday school lesson for tomorrow
• Clear out closet and donate items
• Put recycling out

Snacks I enjoy

Tuna Cutlet, Dahi Vada, Gobi Manjurian, Beef Samosa, Chicken Puffs

What would I do if I were a billionaire?

That one is easy. We would pack up, go to India, start a school for underprivileged kids and I would also rent a summer cottage at PEI and go there every year.

Places I have lived

• India (same place first 23 years of my life)
• Ohio
• Oregon (on and off)
• Florida

Jobs I've Had

• Cashier at an AVI restaurant
• Teaching Assistant
• Math Tutor
• Environmental Engineer
• Assistant Project Manager

5 people I'm tagging

Kyla

Amy

Anne Marie

Hope

USA

Happy Birthday America

It is 232 years since America got Independence. I have been only here 5 years. Wasn't it Joseph Cermak who said "It is true I didn't come in the Mayflower, but I came as soon as I could." Today, I want to express my appreciation for my home for the last 5 years by writing this post to say what I like about here. So here it is-from the perspective of an outsider.

1. The People: How can you not like the people here? I have yet to see more generous people. When I first came here for grad school, they provided me with such a lot of stuff to make my stay comfortable like bed, mattress, couch, table, chair. It was and is just amazing to me how much people here are willing to give away. With very few exceptions, the people have always been warm and friendly and it was manna to my weary soul especially during the first few months I was here. And the way people come together to help people affected by natural disasters is just awesome.

2. Customer Service: I am generally using the term customer service. What I really want to highlight is restaurants and returns. Once when we were at Olive Garden, I ordered their minestrone soup and I felt it was a little peppery. It wasn't anything worth complaining about, but I had only a quarter of it. The manager walked by, and asked if I didn't like my soup. I mentioned that it was just a litlle peppery. When we got the bill, we found it was taken off. I do not know anyone who had a similar experience in India. As far as returning merchandise goes, that is not appreciated at all in India. We buy, then it is pretty much final in all cases. Here I think I have returned more than I have bought. Well, that is not true but you get what I mean. I can't help but remember an incident that took place in a Christian bookstore when I visited India last time. I had bought a bunch of stuff and when she was entering it in her computer, I suddenly realized that I did not want one of the items. I let her know and she said that she could not void it since it was already in the system. The same bookstore sold us a defective cassette and would not refund us money or excahnge it for another.

3. Libraries: All of the above pales in comparison with this one when I talk about my love for America. The libraries. Oh. My. Word. I can get books delivered to my door free of charge and there is no library membership fee. This is how libraries work in India. You pay a membership fee. Then you pay 10% of the price of the book for borrowing it. And you get to keep it for 2 weeks. The maximum number of books you can check out is 5. Considering that I spent the majority of my pocket money growing up paying libraries, I feel I am in book heaven. Despite the cost, I finished reading all the books in one of the libraries in my hometown (Granted, it was not a huge library). This for me is the single best reason for my love for my adopted country.

4. Work Environment: Hubby summed it up the best. They treat you as who you could be, not as who you are. I could not agree more. When I was doing my thesis and had some questions about the simulation model I was using, I called the person who had created the model. He was the director of a huge, well known organization at the time and I called him and left a message never expecting to hear back from him. He called me back and asked me if it was a good time to talk. Heck, he could have called at 2 am and it would have been a great time. He spent 40 minutes of his valuable time helping me out and clearing away my cobwebs. I was blown away. I still am amazed at the people at the top of the career ladder here who treat their juniors and cluless grad students with dignity and respect. I am not going to talk about how bosses treat their subordinates in India. It is not good for my blood pressure.

5. Miscellaneous: I am not even going to touch on how anyone can turn their life around here if they are determined and enterprising. And the freedom of expression, the freedom to worship and the list goes on.

There are definitely things I do not like about here, but I am not touching on those today. The first 2 years here for me was pretty tough. There is no downplaying that. But a line I read a while back comes to my mind.

It is a tough life to be sure my friend, but it is a free life.

- Alien