Niagara Trip

Who says Mummy cannot walk? We saw her walk more than 1.5kms along the Niagara falls this Saturday & that too under stress of a deadline (1hr) to be able to make it in time for the trip on the "Maid of the Mist". Ant/Aay/Ani took turns in propelling her forward while I took pictures ( I always get the easiest jobs). Some people stared at us as "slave drivers " who must have wondered why we did not cater for a wheelchair for mummy. Little did they know that we made a valiant( but failed) attempt in the morning to procure one.

There was an impromptu debate whether the Niagara falls was a "wonder of the World". We never got around to confirming that but the sheer volume of the water that flows through the falls is a wonder by itself

Mummy did well and though exhausted thoroughly enjoyed herself. At the end of it all she echoed what most visitors have to say-- why has God blessed this country with so much while depriving India of the same??!!
Ant drove us back from Niagara , I think his first on a highway at night while I sat behind and caught up with some work.

Cherry Season

Our two Cherry trees have borne us so much fruit this year that it is hard to keep up either in picking or consuming them . I think we over did the fertilizer last year that big dark red cherries now hang waiting to be picked.

All of us have taken turns in picking till we either got bored / tired of picking but there seems to be no end to it. Bowls of Cherries lie around the kitchen and all of us grab a few every time we pass by-- its a healthy life style

Any one reading -- please drop by -- we would love to share a bowl with you ( Dont let Aayush hear of this invitation-- he plans to eat them all by himself)

Antrix's Admission to the Univ of Waterloo

This post is approx a month late but neverthless due ...

Antrix was able to secure a much coveted seat at the Univ of Waterloo , Dept of Architecture at Cambridge, ON. During the "Open House" the director informed us that Antrix is one of the 72 successfull students out of 1600 applicants , 70 % of whom were girls-- I guess that makes us proud parents and Antrix very happy ( all for the right reasons!!)

The Univ is loacted in the city of Galt ( Reminds me of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand) which looked so peaceful and serene when we drove in the last time that it is hard to imagine that the city is home to a substantial amount of young students -- perhaps they make you work so much that it ensure that the city retains its serenity ( Antrix-- its just a deduction!!)

We were able to find Antrix suitable "digs" located minutes away from the campus. Luckily Antrix was able to meet up with Matin , an Iranian co-student who shares similar musical tastes and we (the parents )prompltly found them adjacent rooms in a house shared by four other Chinese girls ( more reason to be happy..)

School Holidays Begin

Last week the schools closed for the summer after the inevitable climax leading upto the final exams. Aayush studied late into the night ( "IB students have a lot to cover "he tells me ) -- I remember I used to do the same to cover up lost ground in the semester. Its been video games and friends ever since for Aayush, but to be fair to him , Aayush has taken the trouble of clearing out his room of all the academic and other clutter that was accumalated over the school term
Antrix has taken it on himself to be regular at the gym and catch up on his guitaring. He is working part time as well. So every evening we find the car disappear as he takes of either on one of his impulsive trips to Long & Mcquade ( the local guitar shop) or to his work or the YMCA

Storm in the GTA ( Greater Toronto Area)

Just as we were packing up at work to head home for the weekend , the skies darkened and a severe squall hit the western GTA. Lightening struck our facility at Brampton and we were left without power ( where is the fabled power stability that we always heard of before we came across to Canada... )

Anyway a far more impacting effect was for Pankaj/Shalini/ Neil/Niki who were travelling to India that evening had their flight cancelled to New York. Pankaj, always a man of action decided to ACT in lieu of lamenting the situation. They rented a car and decided to drive to New York to be in time for their flight connection to India. Pankaj drove while Shalini ( a cell phone addict ) connected to info systems around the country checking on the status of the flight they were trying to reach. Their attitude was great , they joked and laughed through the crumy situation which would possibly make them lose a day of the Indian holiday. I believe they did not make it and spent the day site seeing in New York before they caught the same flight the next day.-- Bon Voyage..

Anita makes a Real Estate Sale

This weekend was very lucky. Anita made a SALE for her clients , Mukesh & Sanchita . The property at 547 Galaxy Court, Missisauga was finalised today for a closing on Jul 25.

I guess we will be having dinner out today.. thanks to the new deal. I am so happy for her as she really worked very hard to bring this to a close.

The pic shows her returning immediately after the deal was closed. It took three trips today to clinch it. Who said Realting is easy !!!

Jun 09-10-- Mummy is here

The main attraction this week was the arrival of my Mother-in-law on Fri Jun 08.

The aircraft was 1 hr late and that sent Anita into a frenzy. Rajni was tracking the Air India flt from Delhi and Anita from Toronto. If the CIA/FBI had been tracking the number of hits on the Air India website they would probaly have thought it to be a possible "you know what" . Before I forget -- the late arrival was due to two Indian politicians who could not make it to the airport in time and held up the entire flight. Our country never changes....

Anyway Mummy arrived in good shape. Thanks to all the help from Bina bhabhi & Ajit bhai . Ajit bhai recieved her inside the aircraft ( just shows we are getting to be "some one" in Toronto :)) and brought her out.Her inability to converse in English was responsible to propel her through the customs.. so the next time you need to smuggle in that new iPhone/ some such device-- just follow Mummy's example & say " NO English" . BTW Mummy did manage to smuggle in her bottle of "achar"-- much to the happiness of Aayush & Antariksh-- ( happy mathi eating)

Mummy has taken the jet lag well -- (just a few snores through her TV serials and conversations)and we have been making her walk as much as possible without turning into slave drivers.

Weekend of Jun 02, 2007

Life in Canada is centered around weekends when one can take a breather ( read that as catch up with what you could not do during the week)

This weekend ( Jun 01-03)

Friday:
There was a major activity scheduled from my work for this weekend. Coordinating that required me to spend a few additioanl hours & eventually managed to reach home around 7pm

Anita went off to do some Realting work ( & forgot her house keys) & Aayush with his dear friend Young to play b'ball.

Antrix and me suddenly realized we were free to go off for Squash at the local YMCA. Antrix wanted to do weights and I did not ( after all I do not want to stop my growth in my formative years) so I opted to go for a swim
The game went well ( Antrix has really come up very well in squash)and just as we were on our way to the weights/ pool respectively-- Anita rang up to say that she was locked out. I sped back to resuce the "maiden" while Antrix opted to do some weights

The evening was spent catching up with my work while Anita did her work. There is another pressure for me currently. I need to deliver a lecture for PMI ( Project Mgmt Institute) to keep my certification current-- they dont pay you but give you points for certification continuity--- smart move eh!!

( The Squash player & the currently blistered Tennis pro)

Saturday:
Aayush & me played some great Tennis at the McKenkie Community center. I am really fortunate that Antrix plays squash & Aayush plays tennis ( both my favourite games) Unfortunately Aayush developed a blister on his right hand which gradually and reluctantly brought the game to a stop .

Tennis was followed by a great b'fast of Sewian sprinled with Dhaniya and Orange juice. After that Aayush headed out to do some "work" - He had a contract to mow a neighbours lawn for 30 bucks. Took him a bit longer than expected but he did it

Anita was out again at 12 noon showing property again. This time to a young Romanian couple. ( The wife is ver good looking she has told me a few times) -- I am hoping I can accompany her to assist in some vauge manner in the future

We watched "Oceans 12" in the evening with the customary Pizza

Sunday:
Aayush's blister and a nagging cold from the day before precluded any Tennis today. I went for a run instead. This was followed by 2 hrs of mowing our own lawn and some weeding. To my horror I discovered that our Cherry tree has got infected with aphids

In the post lunch period we did the customary round of Costco & home depot ( for some inscecticide for the cherry tree

As Sunday draws to a close the normal work stresses start to surface- -I will have to start re checking my emails and priming myself for the week ahead