Day 94: For the Pursuit of Happyness

Today, I am thankful for…

1. FlogYoBlog Friday hosted by Brenda at Mummy Time that gave me an opportunity to connect with many other bloggers. I discovered quite a few blogs today that I’m hoping to enjoy during the next few decades of my blogging.

2. The immense support that I received from so many blogger friends on the post that I wrote yesterday. Thank you all!! You are wonderful.

3. ‘The Pursuit of Happyness.’ It is such a brilliantly made movie. I had tears in my eyes while I watched it. I have huge respect for Chris Gardner. It takes a lot of courage and perseverance to go from living on the street to have a multi million dollar company. The kid who played Chris Gardner’s son (I think it’s Will Smith’s son) is a terrific actor. It is hard to believe that a child that is just five years old can convey expressions so perfectly that sometimes even adults can’t – even with training. He’s gonna make it big in Hollywood someday.

4. Having that moment today when I realized how wonderful it is to know that you are loved and wanted. It is a blessing to have someone who loves you so deeply. I am grateful to have such a ‘someone’ in my life.

That’s it for today. Didn’t do much except reading loads of blogs! :P

Day 93: For Being Able to Say 'No'

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Discovering that I had so many seasons of so many sitcoms on my HDD. I knew I had them, but discovering exactly what I have was so awesome. To list them, I have

2 and a Half Men – Season 6 (I’m watching season 4 on TV)

Full House – Season 1

How I Met Your Mother – Season 1 (full) and a few episodes of Season 2 & 4

House MD – Seasons 3, 4 & 5

Joey Show – Both Seasons

Prison Break – All four Seasons

Scrubs – Season 1–7

Sienfeld – Season 1-9

That 70s Show – Seasons 1-8

The Wonder Years – Seasons 4-6

Wow! Just Wow!!!!

2. Watching an episode each of Full House, Scrubs, 2 and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother and House MD! Totally worth the time I spent! ;)

3. Sweat dripping dance session we had. Our dance instructors have been changing every class and hopefully the instructors who were there today will stay; but that’s not what I care about. I was glad that we had a great work-out and I sweat like crazy. What better way to get rid of that extra fat and all those calories, than dancing to foot-tapping music???

4. Being able to say no! We had to decide today, what songs we would be dancing to on stage and one of the songs suggested by our instructors (I Know You Want Me by Pitbull) even though a fast number didn’t appeal to me so much that I would want to dance to it on stage. So at the end of the class, I went up to the instructor and asked him if we had a better option and also gave him a suggestion when he asked one (‘Shut Up’ by Black Eyed Peas because that’s the genre that we were looking for) and he said he’ll check and let me know. The good thing is, at least I let him know I wasn’t okay with the choice when he asked us.

5. Still breathing. I am in a phase where I’m feeling stuck and trapped. So yeah, even after all this, that fact that I’m alive, kicking and happier than most people on this earth is a boon and I’m thankful for it!

Day 92: For the High that Chicken gives...

Today, I am thankful for…

1. The morning that I spent lazing around.

2. The wonderful afternoon that I spent watching ‘Lonely Hearts’ on DVD.

3. The evening I spent with Kanchan (we went out for Paani Puri and then had ice-cream – our usual, Mocha Almond) and then at home, listening to music (the birthday mix has become an everyday thing for me!!!) :) 

4. The awesome conversation I had with Sandeep who was sounding like a six year old kid. His excuse was that he was lying down with three pillows under his back (not under his head) and that’s why his voice was sounding different. But I know what the truth is! He was craving chicken for the last soooo many days and he had chicken today for dinner, and I guess that got him high! :P Ever heard of anyone getting high on chicken??? Well, you have to see (or hear) it to believe it!!! :)

5. Even though he may or may not be high, he was laughing like crazy and like a kid at anything that I said and when someone you are talking to you laughs THAT loud and THAT hard, you can’t help but laugh, yourself. So I guess, I am also thankful for the awesome, rib-tickling, childlike laughing session we had today. And guess what?? I recorded the conversation on the phone while we were having it so that I can listen to it again and laugh. Also, I’m expecting his call any minute now. So if the effect of the chicken hasn’t worn out yet, I guess we’ll both be laughing a lot more. Go on, and try laughing for no reason or at absolutely anything at all. It is fun and it is good for health!!! :)

Day 91: For Burning all those Calories

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Being able to watch ‘The Pink Panther 2’ on Star Movies. It was awesome to see Aishwarya Rai make a fool of herself. It was only because Steve Martin’s character was supposed to be silly and stupid that she managed to not look that stupid. It was awesome seeing her fake that accent that she always does – pronouncing the small easy words with an American accent and saying the big difficult words very much like any other Indian!!! My belly almost hurt with laughter!!! Hahahahahaha….

2. Burning sooooo many calories at dance class today. Finally we have a stable instructor at dance class and she is awesome because she makes us practice till perfection and I like that! At Elementary level, we are supposed to do exercise that is more rigorous as compared to Beginners. At the previous level we did one bar each (one bar is eight counts) of each of the four types of stomach crunches, i.e., normal, piano, cross and the one with the legs straight up in the air (don’t remember the name of the last type) which means we did 8x4 = 32 crunches in all. Today we did, thirty in normal; then had a ten second breathing break and then thirty in piano. That is sixty crunches! Awesome… Looks like a flat toned tummy is not far away! ;)

3. The songs that I heard today; from the awesome mix CD that I got as my birthday gift! Beautiful songs…

4. The support of my mom and Sandeep for the huge career decision (or rather decision for change in career) that I have taken.

5. ‘Shantaram’ – the book that I’m reading. Even though it started of (and still is) a little slow, it is getting interesting with every page I turn. I think I’m going to like this one! :)

Day 90: For Reminiscing

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Having my friends at home when I woke up. They were here in Nerul yesterday to watch the IPL finals and couldn’t get a bus or train back home so late in the night. So they stayed back at my place. We had a fun time last night talking, laughing and making jokes!!!

2. For having awesome music to listen to (from the CD I got for my birthday!)  I was doing the dishes and sweeping the house in the evening since our maid is on leave. I enjoyed doing these things, because there was nice music playing in the background. :)

3. Old memories! My phone has a huge memory and I have the habit of saving anything and everything that has any sentimental value attached to it. This has resulted in me saving wrapping papers from gifts, old tickets, restaurant bills, tissue papers with messages written on them and emails and SMSs (with a separate folder for every individual person.)

So I was going through the old messages exchanged between Sandeep and me (I have both sent and received messages saved!) there was this one message that we had both laughed over; and I laughed just as hard when I read that message today and forwarded it to him! That was a good feeling!!! :) :) :)

4. Being happy the last few days! Life’s been treating me well. I have excellent people around me - in the real and blog world; and I’m loving it!! Parapapapapa… ;)

Day 89: For a Lazy Sunday

Today, I am thankful for…

1. The typical Sunday that we had at home. Aaloo Parathas for brunch; pasta and noodles for snacks in the evening; and Idli & Gotsu for dinner. Paradise!

2. The informative chat conversation that I had with my new blogger friend Ratz and her sister. Thanks a lot both of you!!!! You were a great help today.

3. Being able to do the research I wanted to for such a long time. I can now safely say that I have the next two years of my career planned and I’m going to have fun doing what I’m doing. Not this boring CA stuff… no offence to those who are still doing it!!!

4. Having a plan; the enthusiasm and will to put it through!!

That’s it for today. As I said, till the time I don’t start getting out of the house much, it is a miracle that I have even 3 things to be thankful for each day. ;)

Day 88: For the Pleasures of Shopping...

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Being able to relieve the stress by shopping! Ah… it feels wonderful to go to a shop and buy something for yourself; especially when you are upset. And I didn’t shop for random stuff. I bought something that I needed. My purse was almost tearing up and it was embarrassing to get it out in any shop when I had to pay for something. So I bought a new purse. It is as long as a clutch. I also bought two huge rings. Okay I didn’t need them but they were available at such a low price, almost dirt cheap. So I bought them! Here’s the picture.

I guess the rings can’t be seen properly. So here’s another picture.

2. The coffee shop that has opened in Nerul – Sea Woods actually. We have our own Café Coffee Day now. We don’t need to go all the way to Vashi just to hang out and have a cup of coffee! :) 

3. For having a very strong support system in Sandeep – who stands by me through thick and thin, who makes me feel on top of the world when it is required, and also ensures that my feet are grounded firmly at other times. Isn’t that the perfect amount of balance?

4. The evening that I was able to spend with Malika and Kanchan; and the laughter we all shared. I think the three of us met together today after a gap of more than two months. I needed that meeting, especially today! :)

5. This exercise that makes and keeps me happy even on the shittiest of days!

Day 87: For the Music

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Middle of the night awesome text messages. You know that yesterday I was in bed by ten and I guess I fell asleep the minute I pulled the sheet over me. I woke up somewhere around two in the morning to go to the bathroom, when I saw there was a text message. It was Sandeep’s response to yesterday’s blog post. He had sent it around eleven in the night but I saw it only at two in the morning. But I was happy to wake up and feel so good about something even when I was in half consciousness!

2. The wonderful songs that I found. My dance classes have resumed and at Elementary level, we have style based work-outs; which means that if we are learning a particular dance style, our work-out medley will have songs from the same genre and out work out steps will also match. At this level we have started with Hip Hop first and therefore the songs played during work-out are also Hip Hop songs and I loved them when I heard them! I downloaded most of them today. If you’re interested, here are the names of the songs and their artists.

‘Tik Tok’ by Kesha

‘Down’ by Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne

‘Rude Boy’ by Rihanna feat Cassidy & Jag

‘Love Sex Magic’ by Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake

‘Imma Be’ by Black Eyed Peas

3. The entire evening that Natasha and I spent listening to these wonderful songs and a few more that we already had! It was almost like a party!!!

I don’t have a #4 and #5 today since I didn’t get out of the house at all. But I am happy and that’s all that matters!! Who cares whether it was five things or just one that made me happy, when their objective and the end result is the same??? I don’t!

Day 86: For the Day that was...

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Being able to pray two times – one, when I went to the temple in the morning; and two, when we pray before starting the session during every dance class.

2. The fact that the electricity got cut during our dance class. I was very sleepy from having slept for only two hours the past night and I didn’t seem to have the strength to dance. All I wanted to do was come back home and crash into bed (which I will do as soon as I post this. I’m turning in very early today!)

3. Having an awesome, wonderful and LOVEly morning and early afternoon. I went on an unplanned pseudo date after such a long time. I’m sooooo doing this the right way (by that I mean going on a proper and planned date with Sandeep) once exams are over.

4. Something that Sandeep said to me today while we were in the temple. We were sitting there for sometime when we started talking about something and suddenly he says to me, “Main Bhagwaan ko saakshi maan kar tujhe yeh vachan deta hoon ki main hamesha tujhe pyaar karoonga” translated as “With God as witness before us, I promise you that I’ll love you forever!” I didn’t know how to react or what to say. I guess my expression said it all. My cheeks went the deepest red!

5. The long and deep sleep that I know I am going to have because I didn’t sleep much last night. I’m sooooo looking forward to it! :)

Day 85: For Renewed 'Friendships' and 'Romance'

Today, I am thankful for…

1. The lovely breeze that blew all over my body and my face when I drove out in the evening.

2. Being able to overcome and forget the misunderstandings and renewing old bonds with close friends.

3. The beautiful evening that I spent with Kanchan as a result of the renewal of the above mentioned bond. (Why does it sound like I’m framing some statute??? :P)

4. The wonderful belated birthday gift that I received from Kanchan. I am going to wear it tomorrow. So will upload pictures tomorrow. :)

5. (Finally, how can a post go by without mentioning Sandeep???) The things he said today. To use his exact words, he was missing me so much today; it was as if he’d just fallen in love with me! I couldn’t help smiling the rest of the day!!!! :) :) :)

Day 84: For Realizing the Secret to Happiness

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Realizing how much of happiness I had been missing out on, just because I wasn’t focusing on the happy things for quite sometime. Now that I know (and we’ve established this before) that the secret to being happy is thinking happy, I’m going to continue this exercise no matter how hectic the schedule, or tired my mind, or little the available time; I am going to do this EVERYday!!!

2. The dance class that begun today. I am now a part of SDIPA’s Summer Funk 2010! I’m glad to be able to stretch my muscles and do some dancing after a gap of almost a month and a week. And to know that just for the dance class I’ll be getting out of the house three days a week which means loads of fresh air on a regular basis that I had been missing.

3. Finally being able to write (a part of) the story that I had planned on finishing about eight to ten months ago and that plan had gone down the drain. The idea for the story has been contributed by my cousin Kritika and she’s been living with us the past few days. Yesterday night she mentioned to me that she’s been here for almost five days and I haven’t even started the story. So I thought why procrastinate further. I started writing the story. It turned out to be longer than I expected so I’ll be writing it in two parts. I’ve completed the first part and it’s already on my other blog. So that’s one thing I’m happy about today. :)

4. The weekend that went by. I had my birthday this weekend and I have to say I had the most awesome time! And I got wonderful presents which I did not even expect!!! I got loads of surprises too… For someone who had been telling me to not expect any presents this year, I got not only one, but THREE presents!!!!

A compilation of awesome Alternative Rock songs in a CD…

A picture frame that contained a collage of all my favorite pictures…

And… A cute top!

Thank you Sandeep!!!

I also got these from my school friends!!!

5. The novel reading score that I have been able to already achieve (can’t say the same about my study books though… but they were never meant to be interesting!!!) For the score, check the sidebar out!!!

A Little Change in Plans

For the past so many weeks that I haven't been posting here (because I thought it would be a distraction from studies) I have noticed one thing - the tremendous change in my mood and generally in the way that I am feeling. By taking a break from posting here, I have only done more harm than good. I should have realized that, thinking of 5 things that made me happy was needed during these days when I would be mentally stressed out.

But I guess its never later. I am ready to make amends. I will now post 'My Happy 5' for each day before the end of the day starting tonight. And I hope it has the desired effect, because I can't take the lousy and sullen mood anymore! :)