Staycation

I am taking couple of days off from work this week. Nothing special. I haven't had a proper vacation since Dec 2007, I didn't get to take a proper break between finishing my PhD and starting my postdoc, and I didn't take any days off since then either. I had to work from home even during the mandatory winter break. So I am really exhausted. I would like to take a month off and go home, but can't do that because of visa issues :( I wanted to go for a vacation within US, but J can't take time off right now. This week things were little less hectic at work. So I decided to take it easy and use couple of my earned leave days that will become invalid in 2 months and just do nothing :D My labmate told me that it's called staycation :)

So for the past 2 days I am having a perfect staycation. I am getting up late, sitting on my couch most of the day, checking my work mail only twice a day and responding to only urgent stuff, doing very little work related stuff, watching lots of TV, surfing the net all day with no particular goal, and even taking afternoon nap :D

I am really bored now and want to do something more productive. I hope I can do something fun over the weekend. For now, I'll start with doing a loooooong tag that has been making rounds on facebook and blogger :)

1. Last beverage – Thai Iced tea – last night with dinner. I don’t usually drink morning coffee or tea.

2. Last phone call- Mom
- again last night

3. Last text message – Can’t remember. I rarely use text messaging



4. Last song you listened to – Bruises-by Chairlift



5. Last time you cried – Around two weeks ago. I cry all the time :)

HAVE YOU EVER.



6. Dated someone twice? – No



7. Been cheated on? – I hope not.


8. Cried yourself to sleep? – Many times. Told you, I am a cry baby :)

9. Lost someone special? – Yes.

10. Been depressed? – Not seriously depressed, just the regular sad phases that most people go through at some or other points in their lives. I bounce back pretty quick though.

11. Seen ghosts – No :)

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS.



12. Black


13. Grey


14. Blue




(yeah I’m quite boring)

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU.



15. Made new friends – It takes me a long time to call anyone ‘friend’ but yes, I made new acquaintances. 


16. Fallen out of love – No and hope I don’t :)

17. Laughed until you cried – Not really :)



18. Met someone who changed you – It’s impossible to change a perfect person :p

19. Found out who your true friends were – I think I already know.

20. Found out someone was talking about you – Yes, but nothing bad. Just two common friends talking about others in the group.



21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list – Yeah. My boyfriend is on my friends’ list you see.



22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life – I don’t add strangers, although there are few people whom I haven’t met in person, like J’s family members and some friends’ friends whom I have some good reason to interact with.

23. How many kids do you want to have – Maximum one. The world population is too high already. Besides, I am too lazy to take care of anyone. Taking proper care and giving right guidance to even one kid sounds like a huge responsibility to me!

24. Do you have any pets – No. As I said, I’m too lazy and afraid of taking responsibility of another life. I can’t even keep all my plants alive!

25. Do you want to change your name – Not really. I will loose my identity if I do so now. Besides, it’s pretty uncommon, which I like and it has a nice sentimental story attached. But if I can go back in time when my dad chose my name, I would ask him to think of a shorter and universal name :)

26. What did you do for your last birthday – Went to work. No one at work knew it was my birthday as I had joined 2 weeks ago and I don’t like to announce my own birthday. Evening was good as J brought me flowers (for the first time!!..faintly hoping not for the last time) and a chocolate cake and then took me out for dinner.

27. What time did you wake up today – 9.30 am. As I mentioned I am taking the day off from work. So there was no need to get up early :)

28. What were you doing at midnight last night – Watching Jay Leno.

29. Name something you CANNOT wait for – Get my new visa and go home. Haven’t gone home for 3 years and haven’t seen my parents for 1.5 years!!!

30. Last time you saw your father – Nov 8^th 2007, when my parents were going back to India after spending two wonderful months with me.

31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life – I think I am quite fortunate for having a pretty decent life. The only thing that will make it perfect is if I had control over each and every aspect of it :)

32. What are you listening to right now – Sound of the ticking wall clock.

33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom – I can think of two right now.

34. What's getting on your nerves right now? Waiting for my new visa.

36. Whats your real name – Can’t tell here :)

37. Relationship Status – In a relationship.


38. Zodiac sign – Leo.

39. Male or female – Female



40. Natural Hair color? – Black.

41. Hair color now – I don’t color my hair. Main reason, I am usually too lazy to spend time on looking good. Secondly, the amount of ammonia and peroxide in those colors make me very nervous.

42. Pet Peeve – Irresponsible people, ever-complaining-ever-unhappy people.

43. Need Glasses- Surprisingly no, even after spending most of my open-eye times reading, or peeping through microscope lenses in dark rooms or staring at a computer or TV screen :)

44. Long or short – I need a more specific question than that.

45. Height – 5’ 3”



46. Do you have a crush on someone – I think I am too old to have romantic crushes. Now I only admire fine men if I rarely see one :)

47. What do you like about yourself? – Hmmm where do I start…

48. Piercings – Ears..that’s it.


49. Tattoos – No thank you.

50. Righty or lefty – Righty.

FIRSTS.



51. First surgery – None so far, thankfully.


52. First piercing – Ears. I must be 2-3 years old. I hardly remember anything about it.

53. First tattoo – Never.

54. First best friend – I don’t remember. We moved from one place to another too often when I was a kid and I can’t remember the friends I made between ages 1-5. The only friend from that age who is still a very good friend is a guy who lived next door to my grandma’s house.

55. First sport you joined – I was never too fond of sports. My earliest memory of being part of any sports would be playing cricket and badminton in the colony when I was 6-8 years old.

56. First pet – I got two gold fishes as gift once. Do they count as pet?

57. First vacation – That would be a trip to parts of Tamil Nadu when I was about a year old. No, I do not have any memories of that vacation. I know because my parents have an album full of photographs from the trip and my mom still tells stories about what I was doing when we went to so and so places :)

59. First crush- S. Age 13. I think I mentioned about him in a earlier tag.

60. First alcoholic drink – I think it was Irish-cream.

RIGHT NOW.



61. Eating – Nothing.



62. Wearing – Navy blue gym pants and sky-blue t-shirt with my grad school’s name on it.

63. I'm about to – Eat lunch.



64. Speaking to – No one. I am alone at home.

65. Waiting to – Nothing. I have no rush, no plans today. Perfect staycation day :)



YOUR FUTURE.



66. Want kids? – I thought I wanted to, but I am getting unsure the more I think about it. Out of 4 of my closest girl-friends, N and L are single, D is married but fighting with parents and in-laws about why they don't want kids anytime soon, and M, who is married with a kid tells me never to get married and have kids because she feels trapped! Having such friends don’t help much :)

67. Want to get married? – I think so. Even though I keep getting cold-feet every now and then, I guess I want our families to be more comfortable with our relationship.

68. Careers in mind? – I already have a career. Now the only choice left is Academics or Industry.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?



69. Lips or eyes – Eyes


70. Hugs or kisses – Hugs

71. Shorter or taller- Taller
than me, but not so tall that I feel like a dwarf next to him.

72. Older or Younger – Older


73. Romantic or spontaneous – Spontaneous


74. Nice stomach or nice arms – Nice stomach.

75. Tattoos or piercings- Preferably none. A tiny ear stud at max, if someone can carry it properly.

76. Sensitive or loud- Sensitive.

77. Hook-up or relationship – Relationship.

78. Trouble maker or hesitant- Trouble maker.




HAVE YOU EVER.



79. Kissed a stranger – No.

80. Drank hard liquor - Yes


81. Lost glasses/contacts – I don’t have any to loose. I almost lost my sun-glass few weeks ago in a fitting room. Fortunately remembered about it before leaving the store, and the dressing room lady still had them. From the look on her face, it looked like she was hoping to keep it for herself and was sad that I came back for it. The fact that she never made a lost-and-found announcement for half an hour supports my belief.

82. Sex on first date – No


83. Broken someones heart – I have said no to few guys. They seemed sad at that time, but don’t think anyone was seriously heart-broken. Most of them are married now and still friends, except one guy. He stopped all communication with me once he decided to get married. Most kiddish for a 28 year old, won’t you say?

84. Had your own heart broken – No, unless you count teenage crushes that never became anything more :)

85. Been arrested?- No.


86. Turned someone down – Yes.

87. Cried when someone died – Yes.

88. Got someone into trouble intentionally – No.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN.



89. Yourself – Very much, but not unrealistically. I am mostly aware of my capabilities and incapabilities.

90. Miracles – Not really. I believe what we call as a miracle is just an event that has low statistical possibility of happening. But if it happens, then there must be a logical explanation to it. Maybe we still don’t have all the tools to explain it yet, but there has to be a reason.

91. Love at first sight – Surely not for me. It might work for others.


92. Heaven – No.

93. Santa Claus – No :)


94. Kissing on the first date? - No


95. Angels – No. Selfless social workers come pretty close.




ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.



96. Is there one person you want to be with right now? – I am actually enjoying my rare day alone. But yes, it would be great if I could be at home with my parents now.

97. Had more than one boyfriend/ girlfriend at one time? – No



98. Do you believe its possible to remain faithful forever? – I think so. You can’t feel happily in love everyday of your life, but that doesn’t mean you have to find comfort in other people whenever you are unhappy with your current partner. Commitment and being faithful needs much more determination that being in love.

99. What's the one thing you cannot live without? – Oxygen :p

100. Posting this as 100 truths? - No.