Yes I did it!! I cooked lunch for the first time in my whole life!! Becky kinda dictated what I needed to do and soon there was rice, rasam and potato curry at the dining table and both of us were polishing off a seemingly delicious lunch!! Well so much for my first cooked meal. But I am no stranger to the kitchen.  I’ll leave you with a lic of my meal.(There was a major powercut and we took this shot with a mobile cam. Yup…. the whole thing tired me out!)

Another typo blooper I saw at the Kaveri Supermarket today. It was in the deodorant spray section and was meant to discourage people from trying them on simply. Nothing too funny, but I would have expected them to pay a little attention to their spelling!

We’re at Coimbatore today for Josies wedding. The engagement was in the morning and the wedding in the evening. There was about 3 hours inbetween. This time meant different things for each of us.Becky– Get back to the hotel– Change– Wait for Ajju to pick her up– Go to the Beauty Parlor– Hair etc– Change Sari– Wait for car to drop her back at the hotel– Go for the wedding Athai– Help distribute snacks to some people staying at Vijay Paradise Hotel– Decorate the wedding car– Recheck everything with Josies mom– Get dropped back at the hotel– Dress up– Go for the wedding Becker, Mama and me– Get back to the hotel– Crash/Watch TV– Get dressed– Go for the wedding…

Sorry for the bland title – but I couldnt think of anything interesting.1. The day started off with Sruthika – a cute 1 year old girl who was admitted with a severe pneumonia and needed 10 days of expensive antibiotics before she was fit for discharge today. She’s back to her bubbly self today and when I saw her today – there she was with a very macho looking mustache drawn by some nurse. She seemed to be enjoying it and I’m glad she got better. Here’s a pic2. Badminton: Yesterday all of us (Arun, Catherine, Praburam, Rajendran, Becky and I) went crazy and played badminton till it was too dark to see and we decided to make our own…

Its a long story, but Merlin aunty and uncle (Beckys aunt and uncle) usually do a social/charity project every year and they entrust the responsibility with Beckys mom (my Athai). Athai decided this year to spruce up the Paediatric OPD and after loooong hours of making toys etc at Kodaikanal, early in December everything was set up. So here is an album of all the colors, toys, tiles, curtains etc that made the OPD really child friendly!Click here to see the pics of the Pediatric OPD after the transformation

So finally after all the zipping and zooming through air, road and rail I got back to where I started – back to the Doctors Quarters CSI Mission Hospital.I’m just trying to compile the numbers and here is my first shot at it:Trichy – Chennai (Road): 330 KMChennai – Ahmedabad (Air): 1900 KMAhmedabad – Udaipur (Road): 250 KMUdaipur – Jodhpur (Road): 270 KMJodhpur – Jaipur (Road): 340 KMJaipur – Bombay (Air): 1200 KMBombay – Chennai (Air): 1400 KMChennai – Kodai Road (Rail): 460 KMKodai Road – Kodaikanal: (Road): 60 KMKodaikanal – Trichy (Road): 200 KMAnd that does not include all the distances covered inside the cities visiting palaces and forts and shopping areas and malls and friends and lakes…. nor…

Finally we boarded the Indian Airlines flight at Jaipur and bid adieu to all the palaces, forts, architecture and the camels in Jaipur. It was quite a trip and we really enjoyed it. Thank God for safety, fun, excitement, timings, adventure and fellowship. Its a looooong story and you can see the pics in my Rajasthan album to get a whiff of all that happened in Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaipur.

This was Becker’s (aka Peters) first visit to Trichy and the last 2 days we introduced him to Tiruchirapalli (AKA Trichy)… or at least the better parts! Yesterday saw him shopping at the Femina Shopping Mall (mainly for food items etc which Athai was buying!) and then dinner @ Raja Garden (actually in the garden). He also managed to have his eyes checked up by Sandeeps dad.Today he went out and bought the chicken for lunch. And after the prayer meeting at home we chilled out a little and then went to McLawrence (AKA Namma Veedu) for subs/burgers and salads! His mouth dropped when he saw the cheap prices and the great food here – made it easier to polish…

Ooh the sense of humor that makes Trichy so special. Sometimes I feel that the humour was unintentional. Like this shop that we went to toi check out decorations – a stationaries shop.The shops punchline isAll stationaries are stationed here!I couldnt help bursting out when I saw this. Was it intentional or was it supposed to be serious – you decide.

…. and this Christmas is gonna be different for me. The crux is the same, but this year theres gonna be a tree, some decorations, a vacation, new clothes…!The core is the same – its the celebration of Christ who came to save me!!Today Becky and I went and bought the Christmas tree…. marking the beginning of an exciting season. We got a great deal and were soon zooming back home on my Kinetic Honda with the tree tucked between my legs. I logged on to the internet and played some Christmas music and soon we were unpacking the tree. It took more time than expected, but looked awesome. I decided to light it up before we started decorating it…