one day my immediate supervisor transferred a call through to me from our new member of staff in our Bendigo office telling her to ring me if she needed any questions answered (ie don't bother her lol)...who would have guessed that we would become such good friends at that time.  Some silly french lady who didn't understand that the term 'silly cow' was a friendly jest!  Since that day this girl became a part of my life. She didn't just help me move house she was a whirlwind of packing frenzy. She stripped wall paper, she ripped up carpets and polished boards. She put up with my 8 month pregnant exhaustion. She helped me through the times when little baby Owen didn't want to sleep...she took me to hospital when I had a gallbladder attack.

I knew that she was moving back home to France. I know she needs to go that she is doing what is best for her and for the kids. And yes I was going to miss her but hey we haven't seen 'that' much of her lately anyway....but you know what...we didn't need to see each other to stay friends. A little dinner and a chat was enough to remind me and you know what I am gunna miss that girl!  She is off soon to the airport....going home  and it is bitter-sweet for her as she goes home to so much but leaves stuff behind too.  Take girl and stay in touch cause I am gunna miss having you here.

The wedding took place in the historic 'Real Basilica Nuestra Senora de Atocha' (Royal Church of Our Lady of Atocha) in central Madrid. In the 11th century this site was home to a modest church dedicated to the image of the Virgin of Atocha, one of the most beloved images in Madrid's culture. It was later redeveloped into a grander building in 1598 by King Filipe II for use in court ceremonies, most notably the wedding of King Alfonso XII. It was last redeveloped in 1901 in the Italian architecture style of the Middle Ages, clean and white and beautiful. There are mausoleums below where many Spanish notables and politicians are interred.

The reception took place at the Westin Palace, Madrid's best hotel, right across from the Prado museum. It was built in 1912 at the direction of King Alfonso XIII to be the most luxurious in Europe at the time. It's a landmark for its classic 20th century Spanish architecture and furnishings, and it was a beautiful place for a party. We had a such great time eating, drinking, and dancing with Marta's family that I forgot to take pictures. Except for a few of Marta, her brother Santi, and his fiance Andrea (the face peeking out from behind).

The other Madrid wedding was for Myriam, a childhood friend of Marta's. Marta was looking particularly beautiful that day in her new blue dress.

The church was in one of the more exclusive suburbs of Mardrid, very pretty with a golden altar.

After the ceremony, we showered the couple with rose petals and rice.

A pair of musicians greeted them. I thought they were Scottish bagpipers, but they're "Gaiteros," traditional musicians from the Asturias region of northern Spain where the groom is from.

The reception was at Castillo de Soto de Vinuelas, one of many castles in the outskirts of Madrid. The main building was founded in the 12th century, but many of its key elements such as the corner towers and Gothic hall were added by the kings and nobles who owned it later on.

It was primarily used as a hunting lodge, perfectly located in the middle of the rolling countryside.

They had a falcon as a symbol of good luck and a long, happy marriage. He was much heavier than I expected.

There was an cool sculpture on the outer wall of the castle, with a cross on top and a skull and bones at the bottom.

We had a lot of fun at the reception, but this time I didn't forget to take a few pictures.

For what feels like forever but is only four years or so, First Draft's been a home base for me, my local, the first link of the day. And I found that place, and kept coming back at first, because of Holden.

Sure gonna miss him.

I don't know how people in Seattle do it.  I mean, really.  There is the whole - never get to wear cute sunglasses issue.  But also the fact that THERE IS NO SUN.  I mean here we are on day like four and I am DYING.  I can sort of see it behind this mess of clouds but I know that it will rain.  If not in 10 minutes then for sure by this afternoon.  Please someone send me some sun. 

I was dreaming of fun things I am going to do one weekend in August when Magoo is at a bachelor party and I couldn't even get to the point where I would lay out because I had a hard time imaging the sun.  As if it was gone for years and not oh say four days.  I swear to you if this is not a sign that I was raised in Florida I don't know what is.

So for sure you know we are honey-mooning in the sun.  And if it does not come out then god bless our newlywedded hearts.  But it is January and we know the sun shines then. 

So we have decided on one week in Mexico - in the Riveria Maya to be exact and then several days in Key West - with the promise that specific details will be provided very, very shortly.  We will be taking just over two weeks off when all is said and done.  And we will be rolling back into town with the rest of the free world - as Superbowl whatever number they are up to is being held in Tampa on February 1. This makes traveling tricky.

You know what else makes traveling tricky? The hella ridiculous cost of airline travel. Holy wow.

I love all my friends who have e-mailed me and reported they have already bought tickets to come to Florida in January - because they plan ahead and are trying not to let this turn into the most expensive vacation ever (which I would feel so so so horrible about).  I seriously heart them and if it wasn't for that I am not sure I would make it the next six months (from today. WHAT?!?!?!).

Of course the honeymoon (or sunny-moon as I prefer to call it) is high on that list too.

Work has ben stressful. It does not take long hours but it does sucks out the energy so much that the ideas don't really get materialized into posts. So there has been a lot of inconsistencies in the frequency of the posts. The number of posts per month has gone down. Nothing new happening in life except the fights at work which are obviously not worth writing here. As I sit everyday before the laptop trying to write that oh-so-brilliant post, I can't seem to focus on the words. I guess this is what every one calls a writer's block. But then I am not a writer. Just lazy

Last week the family came to visit Shirdi and I went to Shirdi on the luxury Volvo bus. Long journey's on public transport really tense me out. I stop drinking water way before the journey. The bus does not makes that many stops. I have been in situation when I had to hold my bladder till it was on the verge of bursting.

It was nice meeting the family after a long time even though it was a very small meet. Another one and half month and I will be completing a year since I came from Amsterdam. A year has passed and I am still in Amsterdam's hangover. Maybe one day I will be returning back just for the heck of it.

The trip to Shirdi itself was a short one but the route has turned green. Green mountains and green everywhere. The rains have really changed the landscape. I think a trip to the mountains has become a necessity now. I am imagining the wonderful pictures my camera would take.

But then the weekends are spent at home doing nothing. Especially after 5-6 days in office where I am talking for almost 8 hours, the weekends are spent quietly. The days are occupied by office talk and hardly anything happening in life. On the worse side, I am finding myself losing control in office. I do understand that not everything in office goes as per plan and when that doesn't happen, I find myself shouting. Its a good thing that I sit with my team which does not include any women and we do have a closed room

Like a few weeks back, I had a heated discussion on the phone with a colleague. The situation got so bad that I was using the choicest of cuss words. By the time I finished and looked back, everyone in the room was looking at me and I realized that I had crossed the decency limit. We do cross that limit frequently and its not an unnatural event in the room but that day I did shout a lot.

With so much shouting, its hardly a surprise that I prefer to keep quite when I come home. Atleast I don't carry the mood home so its still under control but I guess I need to take care of my anger more. On weekend's I prefer to keep quite rather than discussing office with anyone and neither do I do something interesting in the whole week although I do a lot of routine things. I guess I have to find another passion besides work. Work is getting too routine.

Its true, I do lead a boring life!

I may know all your crushes right from the first to the last crush
But then, I will never be one of them

I know what you like to eat
But then we have never eaten together

I know the first time he asked you
But then I will be there just to see your stupid smile

I know every fight you had with him
And I have seen the tears

You have told me a lot about your friends
But they know nothing about me

You tell me about your fun weekends
And I have seen you only on weekdays

In crisis you knew you could call me
But then you never wondered why I never called you during mine

I think I know your every secret
But you don't know my one secret that I want you to know

I like to let go the 6:05 PM train for you
But maybe you don't know that the next one comes 25 minutes later

I know your favorite song
And I will never sing it for you

Today we can talk about everything
Tomorrow I will be just a person you knew in the past

Its hard to explain but not impossible to understand

.... and still she asks me........Why?

============================================

Ramblings based on a conversation with a friend when she asked me why the girls I knew never fall in love with me. Its not poetry, just rambling

Happy 50th (Fiftieth!!) year to Jeff B, Paul S, Dave K, Jim S, Kim P, and (tacky or not), me DVE.

Most of the channels are Dutch and they do dub the program in Dutch. When programs are not dubbed, Dutch subtitles are always present. Finding an English program in between all this was a big task. It took us quite a while but we did mark our channels. We learned to look at programs on the Internet. Many Dutch channels had English movie around 8:30 - 9:00 PM and that was our biggest source of entertainment and of course "Friends" at 6:00 PM-6:30 PM.

2004 was also the year of Euro 2004, when the whole of Europe was caught in a football frenzy. The main reason was of course was Netherlands was a strong team and a contender for the cup. So me and my room mate would prepare our dinner and sit in front of TV with chips and cold drinks.

India is not a football playing nation although we do have a lot of local teams. Football/soccer cups always happen in other countries and at times when India is sleeping. The last time I had watched a football world cup was during Italia 90. The reason was because of this Italia T-shirt I had won in some competition or maybe got by collecting some Pepsi caps or something. It was most probably Pepsi caps because I have never won any competition.

So although India was not a part of Euro 2004, we were gripped by Football fever. when we roamed the streets of Amsterdam, we would see football crazy people dancing and jumping around, especially when Netherlands won. In 2004 Netherlands was almost eliminated in the qualifying rounds, winning 1 match, losing 1 and drawing 1. They did manage to reach semi-finals.

Coming back to us, we did enjoy the match and the next day we would discuss them with our Dutch colleagues. May 2004 was a start of the project and the team was a mix of Indians and Dutch and discussing football meant that we shared a common interest. In a team where team members came for a diverse cultural background, It was a surprising team building activity.

My colleague Rajesh was in Copenhagen, Denmark on a different project. He wanted to see Amsterdam and I was his host. By the time he came, Euro 2004 was already in the last stage. The championship had thrown surprise contenders for the cup. Strong teams like France and Netherlands were out. Germany did not even make it to Quarters.

The final was played on 4th July 2004. Greece was considered an outsider and hardly a challenge to the championship. It was supposed to be just one of the team that played the tournament. With no known players, it never had a chance. However as the tournament advanced, they played as a team and looked as a serious contender for the cup. They made to the quarters, then defeated another good team, the Czech Republic and finally stood in the finals facing Portugal.

Portugal, the host had lost their first opening round match to Greece and that was the last defeat till they reached the Finals. They had looked quite comfortable winning match after match. The final was a revenge match for Portugal.

Rajesh and I had already decided that we are not going to miss the match for anything. So after showing him most of Amsterdam, we returned back to our home. I had just bought a camcorder and I was shooting every event in Amsterdam. It took me almost 15 minutes to walk from the metro station to my home. Rajesh decided to shoot my interview during this long walk. I still have that interview and I can't believe that I had blabbered so much that day. I had predicted that Greece would win just because they were the underdogs. I had no idea about the strength and weakness of both teams.

The finals was evenly fought before Greece scored the only goal of the match. The host, as the history said never won the cup and Greece, the underdog became the European football champions.

Today is the final of Euro 2008. This time around, the venue is almost 3 hours behind India. I was not able to see many matches but I did catch the quarters and semis. I do miss the craziness which is associated with such a big championship. By the time the finals starts, it would be past midnight in India. I have office tomorrow but I will be seeing the match.

The three months of 2004 has a big significance in my life. It was a time when I started living independently, away from my family. Sure I had been to an earlier project for 17 days but this was much longer time. I was not sure if I was coming back and I made the most of it. It was a time when I had lot of time with me and lots of memories came back. I took to writing more. It was a time of change, a change that changed a lot of me as a person and triggered many events after that, events that changed my life and me.

Call it destiny, but the project had come by chance. Maybe it was destiny that led to a lot of events after that. 4 years later, I look back at myself and think how was I four years back.

In 2004, Greece was never expected to reach the finals. In 2004, I was not supposed to be in Europe. Now four years later, Spain is back in finals after a gap of 24 years, Germany is back after 12 years. Which team will be destined to win the Euro 2008? Today's final will decide that!

As for me, I wait for destiny to take its course, again!

I might even get to spend some time with my mom, which is not ALWAYS pleasant, but always required. She's pretty blown away by her latest eye doctor's visit. No chance of her driving any significant distance now or in the future. She never really ENJOYED driving, but she was always able to make it to the mall when there was a sale (smirk). Completely out of the question now.

The girls have big doings for July 4th and I mostly find the fireworks and always-rainy weather an imposition more than anything else. Perhaps my large-breasticled nursie friend and I will find some time to spend together doing the yearly wenchfest. Perhaps I will close my doors and talk dirty to SD. One just never knows. I tend not to plan that far in advance--the best laid plans of mice and men...yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. This little bit of "freedom," however, is going to be just what I needed. I love my girls; that's not the issue. But, I am the 24/7, 365-days-a-year caregiver, counselor, referee, chauffeur, nurse, ad infinitum; not that I am unique in my plight, just that it's always there.

Got a couple of new "things" for the castle which, or course, necessitate the moving of the furniture. In another lifetime, I will get a job for Atlas Van Lines because I have gotten pretty damn good at moving...both from place to place and within the confines of said places. I finally have a bookshelf for the boudoir. We have another in the LR, but that ends up being the catch-all for movies and whatever else the girls find to store on the limited shelves. The bookshelf in question spans a fairly large amount of wall space, but it is solid wood and very nice, and it was free, which is even better. Thanks, mom.

When the girls return home, it is a sure bet that the castle will have changed significantly. They roll their eyes and tolerate my OCD relative to moving, rearranging, rejuvenating the digs. Sometimes they even help with the tasks but not without a lot of noise..."you're rearranging AGAIN?" I get incredibly bored with the same thing all the time. There are probably LOTS of psych implications to that particular glitch and it may even go way deeper than furniture moving, but I'll think about that another day. Today is the first day of complete freedom and solitude and I don't want to spoil it with negativity.

Wench out.

Ok, quick recap for the uninitiated. My friend from America is tired of searching for her Mr. Right and wants to settle for an arranged marriage, which according to her is so hassle free. Well, more blah blah blah..blah blah blah later, somehow I was entrusted with the all important task of giving her 10 reasons as to why she should go for an arranged marriage and 10 reasons why it should be a love marriage. The arranged marriage bit has already been done with, which thanks to your generous contribution of ideas, just did not go beyond 6 reasons. Grrrr... Somehow, I still havn't come to terms with the fact that I, who belong to a country where arranged marriage is a way of life, couldnt even come up with 10 reasons supporting it. :(

Anyways, now presenting **Drumroll** 10 reasons as to why, a love marriage is the way to go.

1) Well, the most simplest reason will have to be that, you know who you are getting married to..and better still you are actually in love with him. You are attracted to him and you don't have to spend nights praying to God that you hope you are attracted to him. Don't raise your eyebrows, I know of people, ok relatives, who have gotten married without having even spoken to their partner even once. Yup, one look at the photograph somehow sufficed. So ya, in a love marriage, you know the guy and what greater joy than getting married to the man you love.

2) Physical compatibility. Oh yes, no unwanted surprises on the first night. You know he/she will turn you on. Imagine, getting married and realising that he does nothing to stir you. Forget the fire in your loins. There is not even a spark there..**Shudder**

3) You know for a fact that he/she is straight. Dont, gimme that look. You think I'm exaggerating? Really people, this finding out that the only thing straight about your partner is his hair, is becoming more common everyday. I personally know somebody who strongly suspects that her partner is gay. You know how we deal with homosexuality in India right?. Besides being a punishable offense, its not really something that happens to us, its exclusive to the west and if it does happen, then its definitely curable. The cure? Marriage of course, after a while they will outgrow their 'weirdness'. Hang on, this is not me talking, I'm merely echoing the mentality of the average Indian parents. So ya, in a love marriage, atleast you are sure he is straight.

4) You will forever be the symbol of romance to the breed of 12-14 olds in the family. This might just be exclusive to India. You will be the embodiment of romance to them. I stll remember how when one of my friend's sister had a love marriage, all of us were secretly thrilled. We were all fresh from watching Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge and her insistence to get married to her lover was complete WOW material for us. We've spent many evenings thinking if we will ever find our man and when we do, if we will ever dare disobey our parents and walk out with him. Though, my secret desire always always has been the climax of DDLJ. Aah!! Ive replayed that more than a million times in my lil head.

Oh well, thats how far I got with my list. Not that I couldn't think of more, but all of them seemed extremely exclusive to India and I dint see the point in giving those reason to my AF ( American friend). Well anyways, she liked both the lists, though it did nothing to clear her confusion. She is as muddled as ever and has almost given up hope of ever being married. Last heard, she was looking for a tall, educated, well earning Italian to take sperm samples from. :|

PS: Hey there, tall, educated, well earning Italian..Are you listening?

PPS: Is it just me, or does the new series of Airtel ads featuring Vidya Balan and Madhavan give you a warm fuzzy feeling in the tummy?