snagabag

When I left work today it was 105 degrees outside! 105! I mean, come on!

Ok, I just checked on weather.com, it’s 69 in San Francisco.

Remind me again why I moved to Texas?

(Oh yeah, don’t be fooled into thinking my whining is justified. The extent of my outdoor activities pretty much consist of walking from my car to the office and from the office to my car.)

Sandals filed under gadgets? Read on…

Aparna bought me a great pair of sandals for my birthday (believe it or not, Mr. “Hates to Spend Money on Clothes” has a thing for shoes).

Here’s something you never wanted to know about me: I only like sandals that do not have the “toe separator” in them.

ANYWAY (stay with me as there is a point to all this), they were the wrong size so she went out today to exchange them. When she came home she told me she went ahead and bought me an additional pair of sandals.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll immediately notice the problem: they have a “toe separator!” Well, I was all set to let forth one of my famous whine sessions, when Aparna confidently turned them over and pointed out the metal “thing” on the bottom. Can’t tell what it is? Here, take a closer peek:

Your eyes do not deceive you. That is a bottle opener built into the bottom of the sandals! You should have seen Aparna’s grin as my frown turned into a smile when I realized this! This is all it takes to make my day, and this is why Aparna is the coolest wife ever! (in my unbiased opinion of course)

Of course, now Aparna has to put up with me wearing my new “Beer Bottle Sandals” everywhere, and rest assured I will! Toe separator be damned!

Well, I turned 32 about a week ago. And while I didn’t really “feel” thritysomething the first 2 years into my 30’s, I definitely do now. Safe to say it probably has something to do with knowing I’ll be a dad in about a month and my first grey hair making its appearance. I wonder if Amazon sells hair color?

Yeah! Irma and Manish have sent out more photos of Rani!

Click here to see the pictures.

Aparna was in Houston this weekend for the final baby shower being held for our soon-to-be-born daughter. This was a “ladies only” baby shower, so I was able to skip it. Aparna went to Houston on Thursday by hitching a ride with Taruna. Yep, London-based Taruna was paying her friends and family in Texas a visit, and she was nice enough to make a quick pit stop in Austin. I was able to lunch with Tuni and Aparna on Thursday before they took off for H-town. I’m happy to report Taruna does not have a British accent (yet).

So with Aparna out of town I was left to my own devices. As you’ve probably already read, Thursday night involved making rice and eating leftovers, all so Rob could drag me to see Star Wars : Episode III. I wasn’t keen to see it a 3rd time, but once Rob offered to pay… well, there isn’t an easier way to get me to say ‘yes.’ I spent most of Friday evening hanging out with Dimple, Rahul, and almost 6-months old Rohan. You see, I’m finally trying to get in some baby practice as the fact I’m about to be a full-time parent starts to consume my thoughts. Of course, by “baby practice” I mean keeping a baby for 3 minutes after they become fussy with me instead of my normal method of immediately handing the baby off to someone else. Also, lest you think I’m becoming just a little bit responsible (yes, I know you’re not thinking that), I will let it be known that after I quit bothering Dimple, Rahul, and Rohan, I went over to Rob’s to (drum roll) …drink beer and play video games. Ahhh, the life of a teenager thirty-something about to be a dad!

As the plan was for me to drive Aparna back from Houston, I drove down on Saturday (after the baby shower!). I had a great time hanging out with the boys (Debasis and Millan) and girls (everyone else). I hadn’t seen many of them in a long while, and it was nice to catch up. Plus, it’s always good for Aparna’s friends to spend a little time with me every now and then as it reminds them of what poor Aparna has to suffer through everyday! I also had a great time goofing off with Debasis and Roopa’s 2-year old boy Millan. He is so adorable, and he didn’t seem to mind his Uncle Mo (too much).

At some point on Saturday night, we played the Baby Hindustani Hindi DVD. It is an exact copy of the format of a Baby Einstein DVD, except with much lower production quality. Nevertheless, Millan seemed to enjoy the show! I do recommend those of you with little kids (or big kids who are slow to develop) try one out on them.

As you have correctly guessed, photos were taken. I’ve put them online, and you can check them out by clicking on any of the pictures below. Oh, and in case you were wondering, you can leave comments and vote for your favorites.

I must comment on the dog in the last picture. That HUGE, pink dog was given to us courtesy of Munni. It’s 6-foot, stuffed, pink dog. Even if our daughter doesn’t inherit my “fear of dogs” gene (obtained from my mom), our new enormous roommate should do the trick. I’ve already decided the dog is male, and now I just need to come up with a name. Any suggestions?

In the interests of full disclosure…

I called Dimple twice, Aparna twice, and my mom last night because I wasn’t sure how to…

…make rice.

…in a rice cooker.

My mom wanted me to use the microwave, but that wasn’t an option because I had already gone through the trouble of getting the rice cooker out of the cabinet, so I had to use it. Dimple and Aparna were smart enough not to pick up when they saw my number on their caller ID.

I finally just threw some rice in the cooker, added some water, pushed the button, and whaddya know …cooked rice!

Ok, now the really sad part is this was all done for Rob. I guess I was happy that I was going to see my hardest to spot friend. If you’ve seen trailers for the new movie Fantastic Four, he’s sorta like the Invisibile Woman, except he can’t turn invisible.

Aparna & I were in Corpus Christi this past weekend for Baby Shower #3. Aparna’s dad, Swarna, and Anila hosted the event, and it was fantastic! We had a great time! A number of Aparna’s relatives came, and I always have a great time hanging out with her family. Sure they are bitterly disappointed she married me, but there are some lighthearted moments. Anila was too much fun, and I love the fact she’s sooooo into Star Wars. I was also a rabid Star Wars fan when I was 6, but something tells me she’ll “grow out of it.” (Unlike your friendly blogger.)

As is my normal modus operandi, I have put photos of the weekend up on my Gallery. Check ‘em out by clicking on any of the photos below:

…and of course, you are invited to leave comments and vote for your favorites. Finally, click slideshow in the upper right corner to see the photos automatically, or just click here.

It was my final baby shower, but Aparna has one more to go. She’s off to Houston this weekend to spend time with her girlfriends. I’m going to be by myself in Austin, and “by myself” I mean I’ll be bothering my friends all weekend.

We were fortunate enough to visit my only niece this past weekend. We finally paid a visit to Irma and Manish’s (& Rani’s!) house in Atlanta. It had been too long since we had been out there. First off, Irma and Manish have an awesome house. I really like it, and I really like the neighborhood they live in.

More importantly, Rani was there and she was PERFECT. Ok, so there might be moments when her parents might not think that, but I got to hand her off if she got too fussy. I figured my time is fast approaching where I’ll be the one having a baby handed to me to “take care of.”

Really though, Rani is absolutely adorable. Of course, I’m still trying to get my head around the fact my sister is a mom. I think I finally have a little bit of appreciation for the struggle everyone else is going through trying to imagine me as a dad.

I took a bunch of photos this weekend, and I’ve already put them on line. You can view them by clicking here or on any of the pictures below.

We had soooooo much fun hanging out with everyone this past weekend. In addition to Rani, we were able to spend time with the rest of my family in Atlanta, my pal Shilpi and her husband Raja, and Anu (whom I’ve known forever, and hadn’t seen in almost as long!). Family is great. Not only did Tina have to give us a ride to the airport, but Manik let me borrow his Xbox. For those who don’t know, Shilpi is due the day before Aparna! Their dueling pregnancies led to this great photo of the ladies comparing bellies.

The one thing that finally became crystal clear to me this weekend is having a baby is A LOT of work. I was overwhelmed from just being around a newborn! I can officially declare that I am in WAY over my head with this whole baby thing. Trial by fire indeed… what else can I say except… I CAN’T WAIT! :grin::grin:

You owe it to yourself to check out the photos. Also, usually before zonking out Rani would move all of her limbs every which way. It was too funny… so I videotaped it. So be sure to click on the video clip at the end! Here’s a few more teasers:

You’ve heard this before: feel free to leave comments and vote for your favorites!

Well, if the title didn’t scare you off, I’ll ease your worries. I’ve posted photos of Aparna and myself at baby showers held for us. I mentioned our first one in Dallas earlier. The Lakhanpals hosted it, and we had a great time. More recently, Dimple, Rahul, Amy and Garrett hosted a baby shower for us here in Austin. As is always the case when we get together with our “Austin crew,” it was a ton of fun. We even got to see Dimple’s mom, as well as Aparna’s cousin Rupa and her two adorable daughters. It was great to spend time with everyone, including the elusive “Rob.” Nothing too outrageous happened, unless you consider me not knowing how to react to a bunch of gifts for a baby girl outrageous. Oh yeah, on an unrelated note, Dimple’s sister Tina totally schooled me in basketball. I should stick to playing against Rahul.

Click to see pictures from the Dallas baby shower

Click to see pictures from the Austin baby shower

As always, click on “slideshow” in the upper left if you prefer to view the photos via that method, and feel free to leave comments and vote for your favorites!

Ok, so she’s not writing a blog (yet), but her dad has started one and she’s featured! You can find Manish’s blog here. He has a fantastic entry about being a part of Rani’s birth.

Also, please click here to see some great pictures of Rani. Here’s a teaser:

Okay, I’ll include one more picture. My mom describes this as Maneesh and Rani looking “peaceful.” While I agree Rani looks very peaceful, Maneesh is simply being LAZY. This boy sleeps more than anyone I know! And really, why is he sleeping? What grueling work did he have to do while Irma gave birth?