How much is a gallon of milk?

2012:
Depends on where you buy it from. At Safeway, it's $6.39 for 2 gallons. At Costco, it's $5.19 for 2 gallons.

What new TV show I refuse to watch?

2012:
What TV show? I don't even have a TV! So, I don't know which TV shows are out there!

2013:
Still don't have TV. However, I do have subscription to Netflix and HuluPlus. But other than watching occasional movie with kids, I don't watch anything on it either.

What would I like to learn more about?

2012:
Considering I spent hours reading about sewing and canning, I do want to get my hands on sewing. I've already been canning my fair share with salsa, punjabi gravy, chhole chana, rajma... I'm doing ok with it. But sewing.. that's another thing. I've watching mom sewing my whole life as I was growing up, but never really took it upon me besides simple repair work. Just like mom, I would love to sew some outfits and home decor pieces.

2013:
While sewing still in my list, I would also like to learn more about home decorating. There are just so many neat projects out there!

Did I pay it forward?

2012:
Not really.. but tried to. I have older version of CS5 that I don't need anymore because I've got CS6 now. I tried to give it away to Darcy, but mine is Mac version and she has PC, so that didn't work. I have offered at lower price to others if anyone wants it.
Update: I did end up giving it away (free) to Darcy's friend that had Mac.

2013:
Now that kids have new phones, their old Android phones are our spare phones in case something happens to their current phones. I'm planning to mail one to Darcy so that she can use it as test phone for her font program.

2018:
It's only 7AM, but I think I've done some bit of it. I'm part of The Miracle Morning FB group and Chaitali was looking for accountability partner to wake up at 4 and I volunteered to check in with her every morning. As I was talking to her this morning, I told me to keep sharing my 'inspiring stories'. It does make you feel good to know you're making a difference in someone's life. I've only known her for a week, but hopefully it will be a lifelong friendship? I'd be honored to provide some kind of mentorship to her. She has young kids of 2.5 and 5 yrs of age.

What is the highest point of my day today?

2012:

Sharing the news with friends and family about Pooja moving to University lofts. It is so much better and upscale compared to her dorm and at almost 1/3 of the dorm price!!!

What can I learn from today?

2012:
Don't push your body. When it asks for rest, listen to it before your body crashes on you.

2013:
:) Your body is capable of doing things way more than you realize. Just with right training and persistence, you can surprise yourself! After 6 of CrossFit training, I was  about to deadlift 115lbs!!! I never in my dream thought that would be possible!!!

Who had the biggest influence on my day?

2012:
Today was Pooja's day. Dropped her off to her dorm and later we visited the apartment/hotel she had mentioned to move into, so rest of the day was taken up touring the place, bringing Pooja there, signing up the lease for next 9 months... It's going to be a huge change for Pooja. I'm happy for her and looking forward to her journey.

2013:
Neil? It was court of honor for his troop. I took masoor pulav for the pot luck, which everyone loved. We were there for about 3-4 hours.

What did I win?

2012:
Anuj's smile when I left iPad at his home for few hours after lunch until I went back after work to pick it up.

2013:
Gratitude from Kari. She's been having troubles lately towards end of the day to focus on work and over the last week, I've helped her out 4-5 times.

2018:
30 minute phone call with Avni!!! I miss that girl so much! I felt so good to talk to her after work! I think I went straight to sleep even without dinner after talking to her!

What did I have to wait for today?

2012:
Nothing really... I did come to work with Pooja, she dropped me off this morning. So, I needed to call her to pick me up. But she did come right away and didn't make me wait at all.

On the bigger scale, I'm just waiting for the miracle to happen! I've been waiting for so long for it that I've already stopped waiting on it.

2013:
Waiting on JK to give us the news that we can officially get the house.. not just the promise, but with the back up of  the funds.

2018:
Waiting for the bed frame for my queen mattress that I just bought. I've had twin mattress that mom gave me when I moved in to apartment. I'm graduating to queen after three years!!!

What was the last healthy thing I did for myself?

2012:
I walked with Kerri for 30 minutes at work yesterday.

2013:
Went to CrossFit training this morning. For warmup, I ran 400 meters, 50 jumping jacks, 1 minute pull-up hang, 15 push-ups  and 20 dumbbell walking lunges. For workout, I did front squat with 73 lbs, and  3 rounds of 22m farmer's carry (w/15 lb dumbbells), 100 jump ropes, 20 knee-to-elbow pull ups and 15 burpees in 21 minutes.

2018:
I've been trying to get better about my workouts. This week, I've gone Monday and Tuesday (my off days). Yesterday I did 10 rounds of 3 power snatch (35#) and 15 Wall balls (12#). Kind of a hybrid of Karen and Isabel - Karabel, in 20 minutes.

How full is my fridge today?

2012:
We just got home after being gone for over 10 days, so it was VERY empty this morning.

2013:
There is leftover masoor pulav from yesterday and few other things. I just did the grocery shopping 2 days ago, so  as far as produce and milk, cheese go, it's well supplied.

2018:
Pretty empty as far as fresh produce and milk goes. But we have way too much leftovers. I have to keep telling JK that we need to finish up leftovers before we cook fresh food. But it just doesn't work out that way.

What was my first full thought this morning?

2012:
Considering that I needed to get to airport in the afternoon and I wanted to cover my 8 working hours, my first thought as soon as I woke up was to get the internet working on my laptop, so that I can get to work as soon as possible.

2013:
Woke up at 5 to go to CrossFit training and looked forward to see what's the workout of the day is. I've never been excited about the exercise, but I'm really enjoying this training and challenging myself everyday!

2018:
It's my last day off by myself before in-laws come back home from their Europe trip. I better make the most of it while I can!

What's my biggest phobia?

2012:
None! I haven't run into anything so far that I have fear of or scared from.

2013:
None!

2018:
Still none!

Who was the first person I saw today?

2012:
I believe it was Hiteshbhai that came to pick us up from Comfort inn at 9-9:30...

2013:
None other than JK... I didn't go anywhere outside of home (besides driving over to potential property), I didn't see anyone outside of family.

2018:
Nobody at home was awake by the time I left for work at 5 AM. Can't remember who I saw first at work.

How many miles did I drive/ride today?

2012:
About 30? We were staying at Comfort Inn about 10 miles from Shirley Motel. I was picked up in the evening for the Mehndi (henna) night and we went back there later at night.

2013:
It's Saturday, but I didn't get out of home at all! Finished lunch early and then, started cleaning out/packing from Neil's room. Kids went to Kohls with JK in the evening, but I didn't go with them.

I hope no one was looking when I

2012:
was reading smut book!

2013:
my eyes started to get heavy at work.. and maybe nodded off for a bit!

What was the worst thing I ate today?

2012:
No such thing as bad food today! We had pasta for brunch. They were really good! For dinner, we stopped by at Chipotle and had burrito bowl. It was yummy! Once we got home, we all digged in to Carlo's bakery of Cake Boss treats! Canolli, cupcake, biscotti, brownie, lobster tail(croissant shaped pastry with cream filling in it). It couldn't get any better!!!

2013:
It was Thursday, so no chance of eating any junk food! :)

What is my own favortie physical feature?

2012:
I've got many compliments about my eyes, however, recently I come to appreciate my arms. For years and years, I've had very skinny arms. Finally, after gaining some weight in last few years, I have them just the way I like them. Not skinny, not fat and flabby.. they're just perfect!

2013:
 I don't pay much attention, so it's kind of hard, but I do love my thick hair. They're not as thick as they used to be when I was young, but it's still not that bad.

Do I owe anyone money?

2012:
Nope. Not that I know of.

2013:
Nope. Not a habit I like to get into

What did the last text message I received say?

2012:
Considering it was Sunday, all of us were together, I didn't recieve any text messages today.

2013:
nothing on 8/12.. but on 13th.. message from Tina showing off her new rug and one from Kalpu to let me know that their flight from Alaska is on time.

On a scale of 1-10, my day was a...

2012:
2 until about 8. Everything that could go wrong, did. We were to go to NJ from NY for wedding garba and had no ride. No one to pick us up from the train station that we were promised. No room at the hotel to change that we were promised... We overcame all of the hurdle under greeted teeth.

Once we went to the garba with high head, kids had fun, I had fun. I even restricted myself from saying a word about our disappointments and moved on as if we weren't hurt about the treatment we got.

2013:
I would say 8 or 9. I made rava pakora for lunch. It was a new recipe I was trying and turned out great! Even Avni took seconds and thirds even though it had chopped onions in it! Then, we went to check out some houses. We ended up looking at 4 houses. If things don't work out with Sannita house, we might be picking one from these. One was almost perfect except having master bed on floor level. I'm not fond of that. Another was we saw was a bit bigger than Sannita and overly decorated for my taste. I can strip out all of that, but it seemed like there wasn't enough direct sunlight in the living areas. I might need to revisit once more if needed and look at it with fresh eyes (and when there aren't 30 more visitors). Made pizza for dinner from frozen leftover pizza dough.

Who do I look up to?

2012:
Would it be ignorant if I say no one in particular. I believe that there is something in everyone that is worth looking up to.

2013:
Really.. I think I need to get out more and meet more people to even know who should I look up to. Right now, my life is just too restricted. But, I really like to look up to each person's specific quality than worship the person.

What made me compromise?

2012:
I just got tired of holding the grudges and figured I want to make the best of my life and this was not the way to do it. I can have a bigger heart.

2013:
Ugh.. life's too short. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow.

What is the last risk I took?

2012:
Lately, my life have been full of risk taking. Sending Neil for water sports, Pooja to Reno for political campaign, sending kids to NY on their own, letting them stay in apartment on their own and tour NY in train... Luckily, last two things took care of itself, when mama asked to have kids stay with him and take them around with him.

Another BIG risk is the financial risk, which will speak for its own when the time comes.

2013:
Along the same lines as last year, Neil went to Washington DC, then Seabase Florida with boy scouts for a week, where they lived on a survivor island for a week, and now, he's in Alaska with Dharmesh and Kalpu. At least fort his one, he's with family.

For financial... last month, I just wrote $10,000 check to lock the offer for a house, leaving less than $100 in my account!  It would've been just fine, if even after a month, we weren't in a limbo if we're getting that house or not!

What memories did I think of today?

2012:
Today is Kalpu's 40th birthday, so that reminded me of my surprised 40th birthday party at CheeseCake Factory.

Another thing... Union of AT&T went on 2-day strike today, which reminded me of April '09 when we were working 90+ hours/wk to meet the deadline to be prepared for the strike and union ended up not going on the strike. Took another 3 years for me to see this day! ;)

2013:
Oh.. I was talking to Pinal and we were talking about our homes in India (conversation started with her not remembering my friend Pinika). we had a good laugh over the 'water' we spilled over our neighbor's head!!!!! I couldn't believe that she remembered that episode too!

What did I create today?

2012:
Unfortunately, nothing! I think I did write a blog post earlier. I actually did try to upgrade the memory on my iMac, but that didn't work out well. At first, we couldn't unscrew the middle screw, broke the panel, then, when we installed the new memory, iMac wouldn't restart. So, we had to reinstall the old memory back. :(

2013:
Nothing! I meant to work on Project Life, but after dropping off everyone (Neil, Kalpu and all) to airport for  their Alaska trip, I went to visit Bindu. She's here to check out colleges for her son. After I got home, I hung out with girls at dinner table for over an hour. By the time, I was done with everything, it was too late to get on computer to scrap. But I definitely had a great day!

Last time I exercised

2012:
Was about a week ago. I really mean to exercise everyday, but it just haven't happened. :(

2013:
This morning! I just joined CrossFit last month and I've been exercising like never before! Taking a 30 minutes walk is for birds!

2018:
on Wednesday, 4 days ago. However, I've been doing 10 negative push-ups everyday. Trying to get strong everyday.

What was the last gift I gave?

2012:
Backpack and laptop bags to Pooja/Avni (actually from Neil for Raksha bandhan) and Trashpack to Anuj. Anuj had been BEGGING for the Trashpacks since his birthday. I finally got around to go to Target and look for them. I wonder how long he'll be interested in playing with them! ;)

2013:
Asmita  (Pinika's friend) and Pinika both liked my sprouts, so, I plan to order the seeds for them today and ship them to Pinika's brother in TX. This way, they'll get it before living from US.

2018:
Well, to Sanam for her wedding - $201. But other than that... I did get Crave cereal for Anuj for his birthday, because that's what he wanted.

What is the one thing I want to accomplish tomorrow?

2012:
Kids are going to NY tomorrow, so it's more than just one thing I need to accomplish tomorrow. But First thing I NEED to do it transfer some money in their account so that they have enough spending money there. Another thing that Avni wants is that she want me to take her to get her eyebrows done (and of course, Pooja too!). I need to go to Costco to buy AA batteries for Avni's digital camera.

Other than that, just make sure that everything gets packed and they don't forget anything.

2013:
Just spend last few quality hours with Pinika and get home safe and sound. Go to Best Buy to upgrade Neil and Pooja's cell phones. Mission accomplished on both counts!

2018:
Get my room decluttered. I'm planning on taking a day off tomorrow (more like not volunteering for extra overtime) just so I can spend some time at home to get things done. Maybe cook some things for freezer. 8/5/18

What did I let go of?

2012:
Anger. I was at the point of fuming, but I let go of it and kept calm and didn't say a single word.

2013:
Anger in general. Not just for one or two incidents. I guess practice makes perfect and I've been really good at letting things go and keep on moving.

2018:
grudge. I'm trying to make things better with JK. It's hard, but I'm giving it another chance and see where it takes us.

What did I have for lunch today?

2012:
'Pizza pockets' from home. I made those on Sunday and still had some leftovers. They're just pizza with another crust sealed on top of it.

2013:
Since it's Thursday.. nothing really. Been munching on dates (Khajoor).

2018:
Upma at mom's home!