Birthday week, trees, reunions and hamsters!

Wow. This has been an amazing two weeks. I have some of the most amazing friends ever. I had an amazing time as I turned the dreaded 23 and realised it wasn't so bad, until I discovered my first white hair. This is when I curse being born a brunette. If I were blonde, I wouldn't even have noticed. Oh well.

I met some classmates, some of whom I hadn't seen in 13 years! I left that school in 6th grade. It was super fun to see what people were doing. I was shocked to know that a classmate worked with another friend at KPMG! Two of them are doctors now (it's so unreal cause I still remember the 10 year old them!) It was cool that i could recognise them, though they looked a little different.

What was funny was that apparently, some people who had seen me through the years at various places had said that I was really tall. The organiser asked if I was as tall as him, he is 6'3". I said no (horrified that someone thought I was that tall! If I was, I'd have packed my bags ages ago to live with Norse people who descend from the Vikings!)

The thing that rankled me a little were comments about me being skinny. I'll say it one last time - I have never been remotely not skinny for the last 23 years, and from the looks of it, I will be this way for the next 23 years. GET OVER IT! And done.

My birthday week was everything it promised. It started on Saturday, the 27th of Feb, with a nice lunch at the Leela (Citrus) and 12 kinds of dessert. I had to forgo dinner that day. So freaking full! Monday was super busy at work, so that went by quickly. I also donated my birthday clothes money to charity, which made me feel good. I was a little upset that I didn't have new clothes on the day, but I got over it. Maybe cause it was a human charity :P Tuesday was again semi busy and was filled with anticipation for Wednesday which was "The Day". Wednesday dawned early, at 12:30am to be exact with a call from my best friend. I caught snatches of sleep but was too hyped up to actually fall back asleep. I ended up playing with my doggie for a couple hours which was perfect.

I went to my gran's place for breakfast, which was awesome cause I got 3 flower arrangements! All purple flowers which kicked ass! Then I headed out to visit the Air Force (HAL) museum with Vishwa, which totally rocked. Let's just say, Freud would LOVE me and my fascinations with airplanes! At work I was given presents which were ALL purple! It was awesome! I was even wearing purple! I also took my mum and my bestie (Swathi) to dinner at a new restaurant called Fireflies. Didn't realise it was a seafood and grill. Fun when all three of us are vegetarian.

My TV obsession has been recognised by whatever force it is that runs the universe! Wednesday (India time) was the premiere of Parenthood, Lauren Graham's TV serial, Thursday was Matthew Gray Gubler's Criminal Mind's directorial debut ad Friday was the release of Kate Walsh's movie, Legion. Like really, all this is too cool to be just a coincidence!

If you believe that if you fall on your birthday, you will fall for the rest of the year, then you will agree with me that I made sure that the klutz events will continue this year as well. I had to run to catch a bus to the museum, so while running, I tripped and smacked my entire left side into a tree!!! A freaking TREE! Can I say OW? The only good thing about that was being able to call people back and say "Oh I'm sorry I didn't answer your call, I was too busy running into a tree."

With animal adventures, these two weeks have been cow-less. My hamster, Addison Lorelai, though has made it her mission to wake me up for the last 3 days at 3am!!!! How? First she climbs to the top of the cage and falls down with a thump, then runs on the wheel, then rips up the newspaper on the bottom, then chews on the bars of her cage, making twanging noises!!!!! This all after buying her various hamster teething toys so that she can stop chewing on those bars!!! all this starts exactly at 2:30am and I'm up at 3!

My life is definitely interesting. I can say that.

Ten things that you do to cause you pain and embarrassment.

1) Push your roley chair too far back so that when you sit, you end up sitting on the floor. This - while you are on the phone with your boss. It's entertainment for the rest of the office.

2) Walk on the elevated footpath, with a gutter next to you and think to yourself "I must avoid the gutter" and then walk off the footpath unconsciously (because you are walking away from the gutter) and end up on the ground in a heap of limbs. Yoga helps when you untangle yourself.

3) Walk into so many table corners, that they now fit perfectly into your hip. Like your body made the space for the table corner. It's a medical marvel I tell you.

4) Choose to subdue hiccups with coke, swallow it while hiccupping and have it gush out your nose. Classy I say. Boys will be lining up outside your door. If done at work, you will be the most popular person there.

5) Convince your half asleep self, that there is room on the other side and turn - off the bed. Then, be too sleepy to get back up, so sleep on the stone floor and crib about aches, cricks and bruises the next morning. Always a crowd pleaser.

6) Walk into a wall. This, especially done when not texting, not on the phone, not talking to anyone else, basically giving the wall your undivided attention, is always guaranteed to cause the most amount of embarrassment. But be aware that this must not be done on purpose.

7) Pick up a sleeping hamster. Make sure that the said hamster is fast asleep, wake it up, then put your hand in the cage to agitate it some more. Then when the hamster is clinging on to the pad of your hand, shake the hand violently so that the puncture wound rips further. Then be puzzled as to why your hamster bit you and why it's bleeding so much. Oh yes, one must not forget to faint and hit your very bony joints hard on the floor.

8) Trip. While walking, make sure you choose the uneven bit of the concrete ground, carry your 14 kilo dog and then tip forward. When falling, avoid injuring the dog by falling on your elbows. This will make sure that the dog escapes unharmed, but will leave you with bloody, bruised elbows. Movies must be made of this techniques. I do not volunteer.

9) In a bus, sit on a seat that has no handles on either side, almost like a cushioned stool nailed to the floor. Then be so focused on your Ipod that you do not notice the bus's movements on the road. When the bus breaks, follow Newton's first Law of Motion and fall on the floor. Then laugh so loud at yourself that your neighbour asks another person if you're mentally retarded. And is serious.

10) Now the last point - When talking to a cow, be sure to look it straight in the eye and smile. This will make the cow chase you and tell all the other cows about you so that they too will chase you upon sight. If you are not fast enough running away, make sure you have padding on your back because you will be butt.

All these methods have been tried and tested. But make sure you understand the repercussions and the ramifications of the above actions.

Note: No animals were harmed in the activities mentioned above.