Twelve years later

Traditionally south Indian brahmins do three things when the kid turns one.

1. Tonsure kids head

2. Pierce ears

3. A ceremony to pray for the kids long life that coincides with both.

When Jr. turned one, we had a cermony at home to pray for her long life. It was a quiet ceremony as it was done in the US with a priest and close relatives only.. on a weekday morning. Well, that last part explains everything else. 

We were told by the local barber shop that "tonsuring" was not legal in the US for one year olds, so we did the tonsuring two months early in India. The ceremony happened on her birthday per the Tamil calendar and that left the ear piercing. It was again a muted affair at the local Claire's in Vallco mall at almost mall closing time. It wasn't all that muted because Jr. let out a scream that could have registered a 2.2 on the Richter scale. A few minutes later, she was her usual self.. 

It was not easy digging up those old pictures. They were in a Maxtor drive that could be opened with an "old PC".. Spent an hour just to get the pics with some bigtime help from Jr.

Today, 12 1/2 years later, we went to another Claire's at another mall to get her a second set of earrings. Given mommy has three in each ear, Jr. has been clamoring for another set since she was ten. We told her she can get it when she turns thirteen. That was many months ago, but we kept pushing it back for no big reason.

Unlike the first one, this was a two minute deal ! The collage says it all...

Apparently that bear is called the Claire-bear.. we don't remember having access to that thing 12 years ago!

Jr. is happy camper for now.

The third set of earrings will have to wait...

Another backyard visitor

Our backyard has seen a lot of different creatures over the years... deers, racoons, bobcat, possums, foxes and a lot of birds.. 

Yesterday we were visited by a turkey! Have no idea where it came from. Landed in our backyard.. spent a few minutes.. and took off!

Did not have enough time to go grab the lens as I was jet lagged.. so a grainy iPhone photo is all we got. 

The backyard animal collection continues to grow..

What a massage..

One of my former colleagues whose was not used to English typed an email to the whole group with the subject "Happy to give you all a massage".. we figured out later he wanted to give us the good news. 

This post is about a "massage". 

On the recent Asia trip, finally got a "cup" massage. This is the thing where they light little fires and place cups on top of the fires. The smoke sucks up the skin into the cup and removes excess moisture locally. It also stretches the skin and the cups do an auto balancing act over 10 minutes.

Just to be on the safe side I asked my friend to translate. The lady said "There will be a lot of pain for a very short time.. if your friend can handle the pain, then he will ike the end result. It will take 15 mintues total and cost you ~10 USD". 

When we went up to the room, she gave me another option. To speed things up she can use "gas directly into the cups instead of using flame.. safer and faster". So went with the direct gas option.

It was an offer I could not refuse. There are very few places that do this massage in the US and it costs a lot more. Given my experience with Bikram Yoga where we go through short term torture for long term gains, told the lady "mei wen ti" and next thing I know..

As advertised there was an intense pain once she put all the cups. Once I "let it go" they stretched my skin as far as possible and there was a deep calm. After 10 minutes she released the gas and the cups came off.

Then she announces "skip showering".. that can be tricky on a business trip.Apparently the darker the circle, more issues and stress in that area. Shoulders and waist are an issue. No surprises there. 

The kids freaked out when I showed them a back full of red circles after coming back. 

Good news is they are disappearing fast!