Hooked to the Tube!

....and why not(Shameless and Jobless, My husband calls me)....am watching my all time fav sitcom 'Friends'as I am typing this. Hooked on is the right word to use as I am hooked on to the show only for a while until something better comes along.

So Im kinda done with my House Obsession for now...moving on....Im waiting to watch the new much talked about comedy series Outsourced on NBC , Thursdays at 9:30 Pacific. This serial features a call center in India. I think im going to love it...watching so many Indians in an American sitcom....the trailers look very promising, hoping the real deal is as good.

The other one is Wipe Out on ABC on Tuesdays at 8:00...infact that starts in another 10 minutes, so I better get done with this blog soon. Its a Game show,Apparently this is the third season, don't know how I missed the first two. Anyways it involves Contestants participating in various hurdles to win a prize money...Don't know if you remember , but it looks like a remake of the popular Japanese game show...don't remember the name, but I was a huge fan of that show.

One of my favorite as a kid was the crystal maze...I loved the four zones and the theme of the game show...I always pictured myself playing all those games...Would love to see it again after all these years....until then, three cheers to the Idiot box and the couch potato in me!

Nandi Yoga

I started my Yoga Practice with them in my Second month and my decision to do so could not have come at a better time.

When going through a list of teachers and institutes for Prenatal Yoga classes, I had one thing on my mind , the place/teacher/institute should not be very commercial and classroom like.....and though there are many places and people that teach Yoga much closer to home, I did my research and chose Nandi in San Mateo. Yoga today is more like a Fashion statement, a couple of my friends think it is 'cool' and done in order to lose weight and stay slim and because of this thought process, Yoga is highly commercialized today. I never looked at Yoga as a slimming mechanism....Yes, it can help you keep fit, as you age, it can help you maintain your flexibility, but more than anything the peace and relaxation helps you focus and stay calm.

When my doctor asked me to describe my lifestyle ,what I said shocked me...." well I love Junk Food, a couch potato who doesn't even step out for a 20-30 minute walk in the day"...the Doc was sure not happy, given my parents physical condition, she wanted me to take my life and health a little seriously and I totally agree with her. So earlier on in my pregnancy I decided to join a Yoga Class, that was the only way I was going to get some form of exercise.

What I like about Nandi is their extremely dedicated and passionate group of teachers and their Yoga-As a way of Life Approach than the routine mechanical exercise Approach. One of my earlier favorites was Talei, who held prenatal classes on Wednesday evenings. She lights four candles on all the four corners, some light music, dims the light and then as she starts her practice...she says 'aaah' loudly every now and then as a way of releasing any built up tension.She made us do the same thing for every exhalation. It felt really good. Talei is however not in town and I might not see her during my term.

My current favorite is Nancy, who amazingly has a blissful look on her face all the time. She makes sure to ask you how you are feeling every time she bumps into you. She starts her practice by reading a verse out of a book...something that she read the other day, had a very strong impact on me...I forgot to ask her about the book and who wrote it...but it goes something like this " when it comes to pain and pleasure, pain teaches you a lot in life which will help you going forward and hence it is your friend"...She was also the other day telling us how she was walking on the sidewalk and tripped, she could have hurt her foot real bad if not for her flexibility which she got from her dedicated yoga practice.

Most of these teachers also believe in old school birthing processes , where birthing is treated as the most natural instinct known to man kind which involves very little medical intervention. Well each delivery is unique and I'm hoping that I can experience it too with as little medical intervention. I might continue my yoga practice with them even after the delivery if I can. Well for now I hope i can keep going until my delivery.

In the beginning I had a hard time with some postures, but today I seem to do them a little less effortlessly and I feel like I have started focusing on my breath which helps me ignore the pain in some poses. The Key is to breath in and out loud and let the movement flow with every breath, which I believe I can do better today. At the end of the class, after all that stretching it feels good to shut my eyes, my senses and go into deep trance' shavasan', when I open my eyes and come back to the mat, I feel very refreshed.

Thank You Nandi!

New Hope!... New Beginning!

Like everything else I think my blog needed a new makeover to get me started again. My hubby is like "whatever happened, wheres the blogger? "....Its just that sometimes theres an overflow of thoughts , good and bad and I forget that now I have a place to pen them down. Would I share my deepest of feelings and thoughts on this blog, I don't know, but then I never did have a Diary. My teachers tried hard to get me into the habit of keeping one, but I refused...My life and my feelings have always been like an open book and those closest to me can exactly read what is in it and those who do not like what they read, I truly don't care...and so I decided to blog instead of keep a Diary.

One of the things that I haven't been very open about on the social networking sites is that I am Pregnant, All of 7 months now. I have spoken a lot about it with my close pals but have not written about it yet.

This year started off with the Good news, around Jan 5th or 6th is when I found out I was pregnant , I was about 4 n half weeks then, and there was a life growing within me...may be it is my dad I thought, actually everyone said that. The very first time I saw this life was when I was 6 and half weeks pregnant and later at 8 and half weeks, it was a baby human. When the doctor showed me the heart beat, I kept staring at it wondering at the way of life, the most Crucial Organ in a Human Body... the Heart..With it starts life and with it ends Life....I wondered, one day My dad too came to this world the same way with a beating heart and on October 7th, the same heart stopped beating and took him away from all of us. I looked at the small Baby and thought where one life ends the other begins...then again may be it is the same person, My dad coming back to me...All Over!!!...and I smiled.

My pregnancy so far (touch wood) has been really good. There really hasn't been too much to complain about, Thanks to God. I have eaten whatever I felt like eating , I have done whatever I wanted to do, so I must say I have had a very good time, thanks to a supportive partner.

On my 20th week Ultrasound my Husband and I found out that we are going to have a Baby Girl!!!..We went to the Ultrasound telling ourselves, Boy or Girl, it dint matter, we just want to make sure the Baby is healthy and growing right. My husband already seems very possessive about his daughter...ha ha..."Ask me" I tell him narrating all my stories with Dad.

Well now after finding out the Sex, we have to think of a name. Why?....knowing Sandesh and me, We will sit on it till the end , and later when the Baby is out, we will fight, laugh, fight and land up keeping a name that both of us don't like....that is why , we need to at least think of a few names ahead of time. I, the one with a lot of time at hand, have a small list of names that I like, Sandesh hasn't quite approved of any and so I'm waiting....some of the names that I have liked

Naisha- New Hope, Special

Ela- Earth

Aarna- Goddess Lakshmi

Lakhi- Goddess Laksmi

Aaliya- Highest Social Standing

Well these are just some of the names that I have liked. Now waiting for Sandesh to give me his list.

My due date is on September 12th and both of us and our families are waiting to Welcome this New Member to our Small Family..Sandesh, me, the twin Uncles,the Great Gran mom the Granmas and the Gran Pas in Heaven:)

Colors!

Well the story behinds these set of photos is rather amusing!...

I used Red nail polish...as nail polish does not blend completely with water...some were smudged , but I did get a few that were intact drops in the water. In the other picture, I smeared some blue toothpaste and put a few drops of nail polish on it to give it the contrast.

I am glad I decided to use what I used as these things have a certain consistency , which the normal water colors do not, anyways I could not find my water color set that day.

Paint-a-stic!

Since my husband got a Macro, I have been itching to try such abstract shots...must say this one took quite a while. I still did not manage to get the perfect drop, but am happy with the final result. These photos needed minimum processing, as I wanted the colors and the lighting to stay intact. More time went in deciding what props to use and how to set it up in order to get such shots...I did it the most basic way one can think of, camera in one hand and the paint brush with dripping paint in another. My husbands tripod was in the car and I could not wait till evening to take these shots, so I decided to use my not so steady hands.

The fun part about shooting these pictures more than anything was the use of imagination to get the desired effect, and the use of some really sundry items around the house, no studio type materials,na.

some more in my next blog!!!!

Reaching Out

What I have here is a Shadow reflection of my hand in the water standing on our cemented tiles in the backyard!…the texture of the concrete tiles is what give this picture a distorted appearance.I liked the tree branches popping in on the right but wanted to avoid the water pipe on my left , unfortunately, trying to take a picture of my own reflection without getting the other objects in the frame turned out to be hard. The abstract quality of the picture is what pleased me.

Different Facets of Dew Drops

I am very particular about my subject...and hence it is very rarely that you will see me roaming around searching for something to take a picture of...but this morning a casual visit to the backyard helped me meet my subject....it was lying in front of my eyes...waiting to be captured...a beautiful pressed leaf with dew drops sitting on it...as if a few crystal pearls were balancing on the surface just to catch my eyes...I couldn't wait...I ran in to get my hubbys camera and got some pictures!..

Windows Live Writer!...Im lovin it!!

My husbands New Year present turned out pretty good. A lenovo Laptop was not something I had in mind, I mean for that matter I was not expecting anything, May be that is why it turned out this good.....anyways I have been more active on the blogging front now...watching TV, cooking, cleaning and blogging...pheww...multitasking big time!...and I just cant stop admiring this tool Windows 7 has...its called Windows Live Writer...and its amazing how it works...I have configured it to my blog and I type the matter on it and click publish!...Voila!...in a matter of seconds my matter is published on my blog. It not only saves a copy of every blog that I write, it has features to add pictures, videos and links and even photo albums. Best of all it gives you the ability(limited, not like your other photo processing and editing tools) to edit pictures as you insert them, including the ability to watermark them....Cool ha!

Pav Bhaji

The way to man’s heart is through his stomach and that is precisely why I prepare this dish very often. Very popular among Mumbaites, this dish is also a hit with my husband. Growing up in Mumbai, he loved eating dishes like Pav Bhaji, vada pav, bhel etc. Though I am personally not a big fan of this dish, I enjoy it when well made. One of the tricks to making good Pav Bhaji is getting the (masala Pav Bhaji Powder) from Mumbai(ask your friends/relatives who live in Mumbai or are making a visit to the city). I learnt this particular dish from my mother- in-law. She is very good at preparing it, but thanks to her I get one of the best Pav Bhaji Masalas from India. So lets see how this goes…..

Ingredients:

A pack of Pav (Indian Bun)- available at most Indian grocery stores ( breakfast rolls can also be used as a substitute in absence of Pav)

3-4 medium sized potatoes (boiled and mashed)

2-3 tsp cooking oil

2-3 Tomatoes finely chopped

1 big onion finely chopped

2-3 green chilies finely chopped

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp coriander powder

1-2 tsp Pav bhaji Masala( available at most Indian stores)

1/2 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

little coriander leaves for flavor

salt to taste

( can add veggies like carrots, peas and green bell pepper to add more nutritious value to the dish)

Method:

For the Bhaji(Gravy):

Boil the potatoes and mash them well. In another pan, heat some oil. Then add the onions first and sauté them till they turn golden , now add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell of the paste disappears. Now add the tomatoes, green chilies and fry again for some time, till the tomato cooks well and a puree like consistency is formed. You can add some salt at this stage. It will help in cooking the tomatoes much faster. Next Add all the dry spice powder and add some water and cook. Now add the mashed potatoes and try to mash the gravy as you stir, the potatoes and tomatoes should be mashed well by now and should form a think pureed gravy. Add more bhaji masala if needed at this stage. Once it is almost done add some butter and simmer for sometime till the butter melts and blends well with the gravy. Now turn off the heat and add the lemon juice and Coriander leaves and mix.

Pav( Indian Bun):

Take a flat bottomed pan and heat it. Cut the Pav in half, starting from the white sides of the pav any which way you like. Now smear some butter on the pan(or you could just use a few drops of oil) and toast the pav on both the sides. Serve hot pav with some Hot bhaji(gravy/dip).

for some extra flavor sprinkle some finely cut onion and a few drops of lemon juice on top of the Bhaji. Enjoy Mumbai Ishtyle Pav Bhaji!!!!!

Rava (Semolina/Sooji) Vadas

During my college days I hardly entered the Kitchen….it was one of those things….Mom thought that I had to do what I had to do in college , study and hang out with friends.

My Mom is an amazing cook…during her healthy days, she was known for her cooking skills…You name it and she can make it…her recipe diary is going to be my inheritance from her…she would throw these huge parties for 30-40 people at home…and then plan her menu so delicately keeping in mind every guest…it was just plain fun watching her do all this.Knowing her…everyone wondered what I would do,after marriage…would I turn out to be like her…ha  ha…I still do not know…but from what Iv heard…some of her cooking skills have rubbed off on me…though I consider myself a novice in this area.

I love to cook but more than that I love to experiment and I study my guests well before they come in order to make sure they don't just eat, but enjoy their meal well.

One of my snacks that is always a hit with my guests is the Sooji Vada. I got this recipe from Mom…but when compared I still don't think it turns out as well as hers,but there is no harm in trying , is there?

I have decided to add recipes to my blog, may by be this will be my recipe guide some day .Will also create a new blog for it later on…but for now….lets serve up some hot vadas.Amma this one is for you ;)

 

Ingredients:

Medium Sized Potatoes 4-5

Sooji/ Coarse Semolina  2 cups

Plain yogurt- 1 tbsp

Hing/asafetida- a pinch(optional)

Curry leaves, Coriander/Cilantro leaves, Green chilies- finely chopped

Finely grated coconut- 1 tsp (optional)

Salt to taste

Method:

Boil the potatoes and mash them. Now add the Semolina, remember, the semolina should be equal or more in quantity to the mashed potatoes. Too much potatoes and less semolina can result in the vadas absorbing excessive oil. Now add all the other ingredients and mix to form a batter adding little water, enough for the vadas to take a firm shape. Too much water can lead to two things, one, you will not be able to give the vadas a firm consistency, two, again it will absorb a lot of oil. Keep aside for 20-30 minutes.

Now heat some oil in a pan for frying, when ready fry the vadas till they turn golden brown in color, always fry in medium high heat setting to make sure the vadas get cooked inside as well as outside. If the batter sticks to your hand as you drop it in the hot oil, you can wet your hands very lightly before making balls.

Can enjoy it as is or like I recently learnt that it tastes very good with some green mint chutney too, thanks to Abhi!

Dear Appa

Dear Appa,

I wonder where you are and search for you in vain. I look up at the sky every night to see if I can spot you among the many stars that I see shining in the night sky. I do not believe you are gone as you come and whisper to me in my dreams every night, I wake up in the morning wanting to talk to you more. I know you are resting somewhere peacefully and I will not wake you up.

Right after you were gone...my friend told me that I would now see you more often than when you were alive...and that is so true as I feel your presence all around me all the time and it makes me feel good knowing that you are there with me protecting me and guiding me all the time....then why do I still wonder where you are...

Its that time of the year again, yeah...where one ends and the other year begins and everyone around me is in a festive mood...I do look forward to the next year with a heavy heart, hope we can forget the past and start a new tomorrow...but not the past that hold your memories. This year was undoubtedly my worst as I lost you...my only consolation being in my assumption that you now no longer live in pain.

I remember you holding my tiny hands in your hands so gently and teaching me to take my very first steps...I remember you recording my very first baby talk and hearing it again and again like it were some holy chant, never once bored, a constant smile on your face as though every time was the first time...only a father can do that.

Amma tells me of how you would make me eat my meals...literally put up a dance and music show for me while Amma would quickly stuff the food into my mouth. Never once tired. Always so patient.

Then the endless number of nights you would put me to sleep...my head resting on your shoulder, walking along the length of the room for long hours singing lullabies into my ear and patting my head with your gentle hands, not giving up till I am in slumber land....Amma says it's a special thing..the relationship between a father and a daughter...she says she had read about it in her psychology classes and there is no explanation. Today I see my friend with his daughter and remember you doing the same things for me when I was a small child, it brings tears to my eyes.

My first Bharatnatayam performance, Dashavatar, where I portrayed the characters of Matsya (fish) and Kalki ( the mighty warrior) 2 out of the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu and my Second performance as Sathyabama (Krishna's dominant Wife) where I had a ten minute solo on stage received so many compliments from the chief guests, audience and other parents that made you so proud, it made me take up dance lessons.I know it made you so happy to see me perform on stage everytime. I cannot forget the smile on your face when I won the Miss Mysore runner up title, though you were not totally in favor of me participating in a beauty contest......you were always by my side cheering for me secretly.....Thank you Appa for encouraging me in all my endeavors.

When I was getting married, I saw you constantly wiping your tears...at first I pretended not to see it ...but could not hold it for too long. It made me realise how dear and close I was to you that you were finding it hard to let go off me.

March 16th 2009 was the last day I saw you when you came to see me off at the airport and I even remember my exact words" Appa I will see you, please take good care of your health, good bye"...I did not know then that, that would be my last good bye to you....I did not know then that , that would be the last time I was seeing you...if only I did........

On October 9th 2009, I put you to rest for the very first time...after all you did to put me to sleep every night as a child...what an irony Appa, that we had to put you to rest in the end.

I wait for tonight again like I do every other night...so that I can see you in my dreams....where ever you are I hope that you read this and I shall wait for your whispers at night.......Love you and Miss You a Lot Appa...as the year ends I wanted to say good bye just one more time....one last time...

Miss you so much,

Peshu

The Power Outage Poem

We had a short power outage yesterday or rather today morning in the early hours...I composed this poem when I was struggling with my sleep...its funny how I could do it with such ease in my semi-conscious state of mind, but here it is.....I have used full poetic license, so don't go chasing me on the grammar or practicality.

There comes a moment in Everyone's Life;
When all you want is Peace and Quiet
At a time when confusion and stress is rife;
Yesterday night was my Night

There was no power in my house;
There was no power in my neighbourhood
No TV,no Fan nor Computer to Browse;
Or stove to cook any Food

No,I will not crib,No,I will not complain;
My husband, no choice he had but to spend time with me
Oh, It was all my Gain,my Gain,my Gain;
Oh peaceful night when again will come thee

There comes a moment in Everyone's life
When All you want is Peace and Quiet
At a time when confusion and stress is rife;
Yesterday night was my Night

-Peshla

TLC Sept 14th

Today I took a good 15 minutes just deciding whom to take out. Most of the dogs are new...n my old friends are all gone..as in, they found a home :).....Finally I decided to take Barb a 10 year old Female Pit Bull...she is huge...but damn gorgeous. She kinda reminds me of Spike in Tom n Jerry...he he...she looks intimidating because of her frame , but she is a such a gentle dog. Loves attention and wants you to pet her every two minutes...she doesn't really play much.Only likes to chase running people and then jump on them for treats. She finished all the treats I had in my pouch and shamelessly kept asking me for more. She does obey some commands like sit and stay hence she was easy to handle, except when she was on the leash, where you have to use all your strength to walk her. Very affectionate,gentle and patient, Barb was my dog of the day!

The story of a puddle

These are some of the very first pictures I shot using my husband's Nikon D90.I have been looking for them for a while now and was disappointed thinking I lost them...today a 2 hour rummaging through all the files helped me find them. While taking the D90 for some practise shots I came across this small water puddle behind our car in the parking lot...and what can be better,it had rained the previous day and there was water dropping into the puddle creating small bubbles. This puddle might have been a small and insignificant one but it sure was worth taking pictures of.Well I tried to capture the Life cycle of this Bubble. Water has always fascinated me, whether it be in the form of an ocean, in a glass,in the form of rain or then again like this in the form of a puddle. The Piscean in me thinks it is one of the most beautiful elements of nature.

Once again people....Miss Rai!

Sandesh and me saw this on one of those MTV top 100 sexiest celebs list on TV may be about an year ago or so...the list had most of our favourite Hollywood actors/models/sports people etc...but we were not expecting to see miss Rai in the top ten(sexiest celebs,watch the video)...as always I say she is truly one of the most popular stars in India and for the very first time there is an actress who is bigger than the Khans and the Bachchans of the Industry...though technically she is a Bachchan herself today....

My friends and me have been having this discussion of late...what is so different about Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai, both of them won international titles the same year, ofcourse on the looks department Aishwarya was always the winner and Sushmita sen was the intelligent one, ...and this is all I can think of...Sushmita Sen may be the Intelligent one but Aishwarya Rai is the 'Smart' one and that makes a lot of difference. ....her latest issue of Verve says it all.....it is said that some people cant accept her beauty,they cant stand the perfection, they think it is not possible for someone to look so beautiful without some 'nip' n 'tuck'...but the truth is god made her so perfect, forget going under the knife she doesn't even need make up to look at that gorgeous....Way to go Aishwarya

Gowri Ganesha Habba!

Its that time of the year and I cant help but wonder how everyone back home must be busy with preparations. What I enjoyed most about growing up in Mysore is it's old world charm, very prominent in areas like, jayalaksmipuram, krishnamurthypuram , Chamundipuram,Agrahara considered to be Parts of Old Mysore.

My Granny's place(The Ballal House) is located in Krsihnamurthypuram which is like a retired man's colony today where every one from a retired T.T. ,retired post master to an Ex Tashildar all live in the same neighbourhood and have been living for the past 50 years or so in such harmony....that one wonders why is it that our generation can't have a neighbour/friend for more than 5-10 years...we are like nomads, living out of suitcases if you think about it. Krishnamurthy Puram might now have a Nilgiris,big bazaar,Fabmall, Tata showroom in it's vicinity but you will still find the oldies hanging around a small coffee stall in the corner of a road that serves some piping hot coffee, nipattu and kara mixture...such is the beauty and tale of this place.

The festival of gowri and Ganesha was always celebrated with so much grandness, that is until one of my grandad's brother and then my grandad passed away...the joint family was incomplete, but I would like to remember the good times

There were a lot of things that needed to be taken care of and we kids loved all the responsibility that was given to us...it made us feel like grown ups ;).....This is what I remember of it though.
I was specifically assigned the task of helping my aunt with the beautiful spread of colorful Rangoli...though I am not an expert, I would just help her by filling the colours and later guard the rangoli from all the bratty kids who would come to see Ganesha, which in most case did not work, the kids would stamp on it and mess it up, I would be so furious and upset and would try to correct it immediately.

Next, how can I forget the delicacies....Sihi(Sweet) Kadabu and Kara(Spicy)Kadabu...the kitchen was busy with all the women of the house cooking and we kids and the Ballal houses' numerous dogs and cats trying to help by being the official tasters ultimately getting kicked out. I don't have a sweet tooth, but I love spicy food and Hence the Kara kadabu was my favourite....Hmmmm....my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Half the excitement was and is always the food he he....

Ok, so now Ganesha had to be placed in a mantapa ( a small stage like object) and the mantapa had to be decorated with everything from garlanded flowers, baaleyele(banana Leaf), silver coins , lamps and flashing light garlands. It sounds simple , but this would take atleast an hour or two as nothing is spared in making Ganesha look his best on this day. Our job here was to help cut the leaves and wash them, cut flowers and make sure the diyas(Oil lamps) stayed lit all the time.

Now that every other thing was taken care of, we would get dressed in our best attire and become the official candy distributors...yes, starting 4:00 in the evening kids and adults from all over the neighbourhood, some known faces some total strangers would pour in to see Ganesha and worship....how would we know....they would come calling...."Ganapathi Kursidhira"...Do you have Ganapathi at home....and we would nod and welcome them...then started our duty of making sure they did not mess the rangoli, offer the ladies KumKuma(kum kum) and flowers and then before they leave the kids get a candy each, ....just for this one candy these kids would come...ha ha...amazing those times....now comes the funny part...we would sometimes catch the same kid come in 3 times, each time with a different shirt or with a different group of kids.....again for one peppermint. This out of all would make us terribly upset and angry....Yes, we were like detectives trying to identify every face...and then...boom...punha barthayidya, ninge chocolate illa hogu(Are you coming the second time, no chocolate for you)....Oh God, those were the days...and why would we do this, so that we would have some candies left at the end of the day to share among ourselves.

Sometimes these memories bring tears to my eyes and I wish I could go back in time and relive these moments,,but alas I have to move on and look forward to tomorrow. So many things have changed since then, so many things are changing now...but the memories are strongly buried in my heart.

last heard, Ganesha is now wearing a face mask to protect himself from the much talked about Swine Flu....what is the world coming to....anyways wish you all a very Happy Ganesh Chathurthi and I am leaving you with this article from TOI about the clay artisans of mysore...and also this famous Kannada song...

Ganesha bandha, kaayi kadubu tindha
Chikka kereli biddha, dodda kereli eddha.

TLC August 19th- Interesting but weird day!

I don't know if it is my magic touch or something like that but 2 other dogs that I took out in my previous sessions have been adopted, Betty a pit bull mix and Luther the German Shorthaired Pointer both have been adopted. Big Boy and Crocs as mentioned in my previous post have also been adopted, essentially every dog that I have taken out so far has been adopted.

I don't know whether what happened today was just the trend or something weird but it started like this. After having made 2 rounds of both the kennels I decided to take Tessa Out...Tessa is a Pit Bull Mix, Tessa did not have a Kennel Mate, so all I had to worry about is Tessa trying to sneak out....very very carefully I went into the kennel after distracting her with a treat, leashed her and brought her out of the kennel, literally patting myself in the back for doing it without goofing up. As I was about to take her out, a man walked up to me and said that he had signed the papers and had come to take Tessa.....I was like damn, so disappointed but anyways happy Tessa found a home...so I had to put Tessa back into her Kennel, Poor Tessa was disappointed too, for a minute she looked like she was all ready to hit the playground only to be put back into her Kennel.

Then I gave one look at the Tessa's neighbouring Kennel with 5 small dogs....now small dogs are even harder, coz they are very enthusiastic and because they are small and so many,its harder to enter the kennel without one of them trying to sneak out....so I stood there and played with the partition door for a while, until I had just one dog on my side. The Lucky one was Pickles, a 2 year old white Terrier Mix. Keeping the partition door closed I went and got a size appropriate leash and collar for Pickles and took her out to the small dog park...Pickles is a funny dog, she does not enjoy treats, din' eat any in the 30 mins I spent with her, but she loves playing with the ball, especially the red tennis ball, she fetches it and keeps it in front of me and starts wagging her tail asking me to throw it again....she was so in love with the red ball,,,that she was carrying it with her when we had to leave , then I had to forcefully pull it away from her. I was about to put her back into her Kennel, when a lady came asking about her, she later said that she wanted take Pickles home and took her info packet to the front desk....hmmm...I thought to myself , second one for me today, but at least I got to take her out.

I had one more hour so I decided to take out Luther's room mate Jessie...the one that got away last time. Since Luther has been adopted there was another kennel mate who was sitting on the other side of the partition door, so all I had to do was to shut the door and I had Jessie on my side. Today I realised, that Jessie is a very smart dog...and no wonder he sneaked out last time...he has you figured out from the time you stand in front of the padlock trying to unlock , he tries very hard to sneak out by putting out his nose even before you have opened the door.Other dogs are equally excited and like to jump, but all jessie wants to do is get out and he is very persistent. he is very focused and cant even be distracted with treats.Anyways when trying to open the door he jumped on me once, I took that opportunity and grabbed his front legs in my hand and pushed him back and let myself into the kennel. Even when putting his collar and leash he kept trying to sneak out but the door was closed, so finally I leashed him and brought him out, guess what, a customer service rep walked up to me and told me that she had to take jessie out for a showing...and I had to give him to the rep...damn....what was wrong.....3 dogs in a row.....so I could not take jessie out, later found out that the people who had come to see him,were going to take him home....good for jessie....

I don't know if this is Co-incidence or just that there were a lot more people walking in to adopt today, either ways Good for the dogs!!!!! and thanks to my magic touch:)...looks like every dog I take out or try to gets adopted...he he....what an eventful day!

TLC August 5th and August 13th 2009

I have decided to make a note of all my TLC sessions or atleast most of them, not for my reading pleasure but to remember the names of all the dogs that I spend time with at the shelter...and I must say I am getting good at this...I can remember and identify the dogs that I have worked with.

On a Happy Note.....two of the Dogs that I took out on my previous sessions have been adopted...hurray!!!!!.....Yes, Big Boy has been adopted, did not think this would happen as he is already very old....Well so much for going steady with him:(.now am on a quest to find another date..he he...atleast he has a home now...lucky boy. The other lucky one is Crocs a Chihuahua that I will be talking about in my next few lines.

On Wednesday the Aug 5th I went TLCing with another Volunteer named Stacey. I took out Luther that day and she took out Jupiter. Luther is a German Shorthaired Pointer( I have also made it a point to come back and read a little about the Dog I take out). Must say he is a very handsome dog...he has beautiful eyes.Luther is a friendly,affectionate dog , likes to chase anything that moves.The session went well with him and Jupiter both kennelmates getting to share the playground as well....not sure if luther was happy with this as he kept pushing the overly excited Jupiter away. The next Dog I took out was Crocs, A Chihuahua, though small in size, crocs is a high energy dog.When I put Crocs back in his Kennel, someone came asking for him, May be the same person took him home.

August 13th, did not turn out the way I wanted it too. I lured Sudhi away from his work into joining me for the TLC session, but we were late and the front doors were closed , which meant we could come out but not get in. Sudhi could not use the big playground to take his Yellow dogs, so he landed up helping me take a dog out, which I should say on that day was like a blessing as I let 2 dogs escape from their Kennel. This is what I was afraid of from day one and it happened....I played smart by entering the Kennel without trying to separate the dogs...I thought I was in successfully when I realised the latch of the kennel was pulling my shirt, to release my shirt I pushed open the door a wee bit wide and hence landed up keeping the door open too long. Before I knew it Luther's Kennel mate was out, I was so shocked that I forgot that there was another dog (Luther) in the Kennel too which could escape and so it happened, Next Luther wandered off. I unsuccessfully tried to hold on to him.While I was all worked up and tensed, Sudhi was calm and waiting to see what the dogs do next..(or may be he was having a good time seeing my reaction)..later with the help of the collar in my hand I dragged Luther back and Sudhi caught hold of his kennel mate. In the process I broke a finger nail and started bleeding pretty badly, But I was so occupied in getting the dogs back that I did not realise it until I saw the blood.I am really upset with what happened, but I learnt my lesson, try to separate the dogs before you open the door. Thanks Sudhi for saving the day ,could not have put the dogs back into their kennel on my own.I feel sorry as Sudhi always lands up helping me instead of spending some time with his yellow dogs.

TLC-Sunday 2nd August

This Sunday I went TLCing at the Shelter with Sudhi, a good friend. It was a lot of fun. I needed some help with the collars,leash and getting in and out of the kennel and he was very helpful, also he was great company. It's better to hook up with someone you know and connect with than someone you don't, as that makes the whole process a lot more fun and easy.So we decided to take out one dog at a time. He usually takes the Yellow dogs and I am currently only taking out Green. So, first it was my turn to take out Betty....She is big but not a very high energy dog, she did not really play much, only ate...she has this absolutely adorable sad looking face, that wants to make you love her. Next it was Sudhi's turn and he took Freckles out, He definitely is a high energy dog, all he wanted to do was run from one end to the other in the park. He was pretty distracted by some dog that was being walked outside...we were wondering if the other one outside was a female friend..he he..silly Freckles. This guy though liked playing Tug with my friend. It was a great TLC session with the dogs and Thanks to my friend for making it all the more enjoyable!

My Date(shadow) with 'Big Boy'

Just Completed my Shadow with my Mentor and another Volunteer at the Animal shelter. Today was fun as the coach ran us through all the procedures and guided us through the facility. We also got to take out a Green Dog,( a color code for easy to handle dogs). Our training dog was poor old' Big Boy'...well quite contrary to his name, he is a small dog, a black brown Shih Tzu. 'Big Boy' was a good start as he is 15 years old and doesn't like to walk fast....this old guy is a slow walker, very timid and calm...all he did in the park was to explore every corner of the playground...was not very keen on playing and running, may be coz of his age....he just wants someone for company.After 20 minutes of strolling around the playground...we put him back in his kennel and called it a day. I am happy we got to take this guy out as I know that not many people would want to take a dog that is not so active out, but given his age, we need to slow down for him. Who knows, this old guy might be my new boyfriend;).