july 4th weekend…part 1

Had an awesome time with my sister’s family over. 5 kids at home, with 3 of them under the age of 3 was quite a handful, but there was so much of excitement and sound going around. Loved it.

So what did we do?
Monday was fun. She and me decided to go have lunch at this lady’s place. She was doing a Ganesh Homam and invited me and family. Now, the interesting part is I hardly knew this lady, met her just once at a friend’s, and was quite surprised when I got the call. So I think ok, so she’s invited the whole “ladies nite-out” group, happily ask my other friend M – so I will see you on Modnay for lunch rt?
M says “what lunch? I am at work that day”

How on earth do u get out of such inherently embrarrassing situation – but that topic is for another day and another blog.

So, there are a couple of females there who could be potentially labeled ‘vixens’ so enticed my sister to let’s go ‘check em out’ 😉 So there we are convincing our husbands to look after the kids, left the littler ones in charge of the bigger ones, debated and changed twice our saris election and off we went searching for this house. Just as we come close [made a couple of U-turns, lost and went the wrong way, as my GPS in the car decided to ask for a pin which frankly doesn’t exist!] and looking for parking in the wretched townhomes, the car runs over something which to me looked like a pothole. Since then every turn I make, there is this annoyingly grating sound which sounded extremely loud in the quiet neighborhood. That upsets me enough to double-park, and my sister whom her husband has fondly labeled ‘mechanic mary’, bunches her sari up, and falls flat on the hot concrete road to check out what was making that noise, under the car, as I am torn between laughing at her and hoping no one is doing the same from one of those numerous windows. We were such a sight! Desi dressed in hot noon sun, and parading ourselves!

I am a little worried, mainly coz I seem to be cursed with car-trouble whenever i ‘borrow’ the car. I am actually literally beginning to hate it. 🙁

So MM [mechanic mary] decides that she sees nothing, and we are safe to drive again. At this point in time I decide that it doesn’t feel right to walk in with nothing, so we debate between going into Wegman’s or not. That’s the only store close by, so eventually etiquette wins and I drive slowly into their parking lot. Parking in the underground lot was close to trying to park in the airport! Tons of signs, which don’t make much sense, and not an empty spot. So round and round I go, till I squeeze myself between a mercedes and a big fat truck.
I get down, and don’t see my sister. I hurry to the other side, and there she is flat on the ground, peeking in the dark under the car, coz as we went round the lot, we could hear the grating once again. My biggest concern was that I shouldn’t start a fire!

So, I yank her off and we walk into Wegman’s. This store is plain fantastic, and though we went all over the store in search of the florist, thankfully I didnt find too many people staring at us jingling and shimmering our way through them. As an aside, Wegman’s is an entertainment for a boring Sunday afternoon if you so please. The products, the ambience, and then the customers. Truly enetrtaining.

So, okay, we pick up an anthurium and hurry back almost tripping over our saris. Little consolation was that the colors were mellow and no jhakaas reds and yellows.
We drive back gingerly and park near the playground and walk into this friend’s home. I walk in and am seeing one lady who I know for a fact is one Rekha’s mom. Rekha is a friend of a friend from dance class. That’s a whole new group of friends and a circle I couldn’t relate to with this host! I turn and look at my sister and say “I donno whose house we are in!” She is giving me the killer look!

So up we go, and greet the host, and my sister finally reaches her goal of seeing all the ladies I talk about, does her usual ha-ha ho-ho with everyone, giggles perfectly, and yaps in tamil and we eat some sweet pongal, vadai and bid our goodbyes and run out.

So again, my car starts grating, and now MM has had enough of my whining. So down she goes again, and yanks this piece of curvy metal from under teh wheel. I am shocked. What if this metal is what holds the whele to the base of the car, I am having visions of me driving with the wheel taking a curve all by itself – just like in the movies. I definitely didn’t want us sisters landing in the hospital together!!
MM convinces me it’s safe, and we drive home to our husbands who are alternatively mad, angry, hungry and upset with all 5 kids with them! Poor things.

Later on, as an afterthought, after a few days of driving around, with no mishaps whatsoever I am now forced to consider that the curvy metal is what we picked up along the way and not something that originally belonged in a car! Thank God, my hsuband didndt have to know about the whole episode…

More in part 2.