On wiping the plate clean

There is a banker in Atlas Shrugged, I think his name is Midas??, who does this amazing thing. He decides to close down the bank. wind up affairs. He settles the debit and credit so perfectly that on closing day, the balance is nil. Debit = Credit !!
I have been working towards such a thing in my kitchen... The packers come in 3 days! So today we are on a rava idli and sambar diet.... that way I use up the rava idli mix, the curd, the last bit of sarina pudi and the 3 hirekais, one capsicum and the wimpy half carrot ... and the last cup of tur dal.
tada!

O ho ... I find half a cup of thuppa (ghee) and an opened packet of kadalehittu (besan)... shall I make mysore pak? what say? O for that I will have to open a new packet of sugar.... lets say I make pakodas with the besan and use the ghee??? ... oh! then I have to buy onions.... aaah
how did that guy do it?
Oh I know what I can do. I will pack all the half used packets into a large bag and give them to Moni, my maid. wah. Debit = Credit.
I did it.

Our champion ... the boxer... travels tomorrow. We don't know how lucky we are... the railways and the air travel guys do not ask us to buy the seat. No not book a seat... BUY one.
That's what we are expected to do for our boxer!!
We have actually bought this crate in which he will travel. I mean come on. There must be so many pets travelling by air. Why can't the container be reused? But no. So here we are with a crate that we have no later use for! and zillions of people who are buying it like us for single use. okay not zillions... but still...duh
a good business proposition. What say?

air travel approved crate for pet

And my 30 days of trial are almost done
Afternoon nap? weekends are not counted right? so check
Read Books? I read 2 danielle steeles, one sophie kinsella and one charles dickens and one devadutta pattanaik and one jack canfield. so check
as for 30 pencil/pen trees. Here they are. count all the tiny ones too. ok? so check.

Installation! A kindergarten tree!

The easiest person to lie to... is me-myself. They say...
The most told lies are the ones we tell ourselves
and the most dangerous too?

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Our boxer marks territory

When I walked into home after 4 months I got a rousing welcome from Maximus our brindle boxer.
In four months he has doubled his height, tripled his weight and has gained impressive muscles.
But he is still a pup of 8 months
So in his excitement he makes 360 degree jumps
weaves in and out of our legs rapidly
leaps up and down in place
and yelps in glee

oooo he remembers you amma ... they all rave over his amazing memory

and then....
he sees me cuddling my daughter
he sees me sitting on the sofa with them chatting and laughing
and he feels left out

who's this?
invading my zone? he seems to ponder
nnnn...yuuummm...nnyuuu he wails.... and we say awww and gather him in a tight embrace
that he struggles to escape from!

then he begins to mark his territory
he pees in the hall, he dribbles in the corridor, he pees again and looks at us
as if to say huh?
he ignores his lunch.... he messes with his pillows
we are at our wits end
he never used to do this before amma... my daughter says

well..... he is just fussing ...... let's give him some time
so I play tug-o-war with him ... and win! (gently touch his gums with your fingers amma...he will never bite you)
I play fetch the ball
I give him his lunch
I rub his chest

After 8 days, he has accepted me. I am now part of his pack!
thank you Max
we are friends again.
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Wag, wag, wag and a woof

I was all prepared for it.
Two feet firmly on the ground, a strong wall to lean against, bags discarded on an empty chair
And here he comes
With a woof of delight
With his tails creating gusts of wind
With legs that are quivering in excitement
He comes at me ... Gently ... Giving the warmest welcome a person can receive.
I baby talk him, cuddle his heck and ruffle his back
But he is not done yet
Aithu... I tell him. All done. Let me meet the others too.
But no..... Mowgli the large golden retriever doesnot agree.
I look to my brother for translation of woof-talk. You forgot the belly rub.
Ooooo. I oblige... Sorry mowgli.
A look of tender satisfaction in his eyes, mowgli settles into his favourite sofa.

We have a lot to learn from him.
When he wants to say i love you. When he wants to say i need you. He says it with pride. He says it with confidence.
What makes us so apprehensive? We hide behind corrosive sarcasm or arid apathy.
We take rejection so seriously we do not give acceptance a chance?

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Maximus and fashion designing

Maximus has changed the way I dress!
I am as usual in a chiffon saree, the pallu flowing and the pleats gathered midway and tucked into the waist while I carry a bucket of water to the balcony to water plants.
and Maximus comes romping
wah he thinks...so cool... a moving toy just waiting to be mouthed
and attacks my swaying pallu with gusto.
hey maxi I say, stop that...stop
and he promptly lets go
good boy Maxi
and before I can complete that he has rolled himself into the pleats of my saree
I bend low to free his paws from the thin chiffon material
and he is snapping at my long plait
hey Maxi ... stop that
and he looks at me with large liquid eyes
you have so many toys and you dont want me to play ... he says
and hides under his sofa
and sulks up at me from the corner of his eyes

so now chiffons are out and cottons are in
with the pallu tucked firmly into the waist
and the hair is in a staid knot.
all safe ...

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Maximus - The sprinter

Our boxer has a sprint-route. He begins from under the sofa, races between the two layers of the centre table, skids to a halt, turns and races around the table, sprints between the legs of a three seater, and curves into the starting position ... under the single sofa.
He does this is a tearing hurry ... like something's on fire!
He does this route again and again...'and everyone please move out of the sprint route for he is going to knock you down!'
And no amount of Stop it Maxi is effective. For when he is so excited .... He cannot hear me at all!!
Perhaps you young moms out there can sympathize with me?

He looks like a deer when he runs.
His back arches up and the two front and hind legs meet. Then the front legs reach out to a great distance with the hind legs quickly catching up. So he arches and straightens and arches and straightens
He looks so beautiful.

We took him to Lodhi Garden. The large green, the strange smells, the birds, and the large plastic ball
Oh he had a happy sprinting time there!
er ... WE had a happy Maximus sprinting time!

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Brackets

Our Boxer - The Ugly Pugli

That is true.
Our Maximus is ugly and a little pugli...crazy too. When we brought him home he was a dark tiny thing. And looked like a huge rat! A very dark face, dark brown body with deep black lines and just a hint of white socks. He doesn't look like that anymore. More a cross between a reptile and a monkey.

When he was 6 weeks and stronger we took him down for a walk in the apartment. Yayy we have joined the elite crowd that holds a leash and a green bag to pick poop. And a kid and then a man who walked into the lift ask .. yeh kya hai? What is this... !!! oops a pup hey!

We have a long mirror as a decor in a passage. One brave day he ventured into this space. And he saw himself in the mirror. He froze. Whaaaat? he seemed to ponder. His reflection so petrified him...off he ran!! Save me...save me

He is almost house trained but he has emergencies! So when he pees in the hall he approaches cautiously and sniffs it. Then you should see him recoiling and backing away! yooaawah! it's hilarious.

We have a single sofa kept in a corner of the hall. He thinks this is a fort. And specifically the place under the sofa is inaccessible to all. So when he steals a newspaper sheet, or pushes the remote off the table or gets a strange sniff he runs into this safe haven. "I am under the sofa. You can't see me."

He has big flappy ears. And they go flap flop when he runs, moves, jumps... Very often one or the other ear has turned up exposing a pink inner ear. Our Flappy-Ear looks funny with a black nose, brown face and one pink ear!

I sing to him. He looks up at me, dips his head one one side, and then dips his head on the other side. His eyes are wide pools. He gives a sudden frightened yelp and runs to his safe have under the sofa.
Told you
Ugly pugli boxer.

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What next

Our boxer is a thinker

Our Brindle Boxer is a CEO.
We offer our boxer pup an old plank, a wooden stool and guaranteed-to-work "teething toys". Huh! He gives them all a royal ignore. And goes with marked determination to the carved legs of the ANTIQUE STUFFED CHAIR. Noooo Maxi... Not thaaat one.
Come here Maxi
Any important issue at hand and he SINKS HIS TEETH into it. Nothing can tear him away from today's newspaper till he has it all under his jaws. Hey take the newspaper off the sofa..
.he is coming...he is coming.
Our Maxi is good at MULTI-TASKING. He has just begun attacking the pink furry chicken when a green ball rolls into view. In  flash he races to the green ball. But the pink chicken beckons too. So he darts back again. oooh
how much can a man possibly do...
He reads the mind of the OPPONENT. I play catch the paper ball with him. I trick him by pretending to fling it without actually doing so. He falls for the trick twice. Soon he catches on. Now he waits till the paper ball is actually flying through the air!
But I think he is often late to an important DISCUSSION TABLE. For we see him racing down the hallway and the passage twice before settling into the glass centre table. The centre table is made of two glass sheets and he likes to curl up between them.
At 12 noon he sits up where he is and raises his eyes at me. IS MY LUNCH READY? Yes sir, I say and give him his lunch. Our Brindle Boxer is not the one to rush in and topple over the lunch bowl. He waits sedately till the bowl is in place and walks up to it regally. Looks around and has his meal in peace.
It's mine...so what's the rush...
Our Brindle Boxer pup is our Cute Energetic Obsession.

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Our boxer's eyes

Our BOXER wears a coat of dark brown with open lapels, a spotless white shirt underneath and matching white socks.
He sits with his head up, his large brown eyes look back into mine. His eyes glow in complete faith ...it's almost spiritual! Makes me feel ... er ... Hello..I am not thaaat good.
I am on the sofa with a book and I see a wicked glint in his eyes. Before I can react he has an edge of my sari in a tight jaw-clench. He gives it a hard tug ... and I go No maxiii no ... trying desperately to be stern.
He has a favourite toy. Our boy ignores the squeaky ducks and chicks and goes ardently at the cardboard roll from a used tissue pack.
I play peek-a-boo with the cardboard and his eyes dart here and there. Waiting to pounce on it.
And when I finally throw it at a distance, his eyes sparkle as he races towards it.
The cardboard rolls away at a mere touch. Our boy thinks the cardboard-roll attacks! So he retreats, crouches low, narrows his eyes and aims at it.... A surprise pounce-attack! ... and this time the cardboard cannot get away. It is held in a firm grip between the paws!
To tease him S makes the growling noises of an adult dog. Poor Maxi is petrified. His eyes cloud and he seeks refuge behind S's legs.
His green ball is under the low glass table. He pounces on to the table but cannot get the ball! The look of confusion in his eyes is so hilarious.

But today I don't see any of this. His gums are hurting. He is teething. His eyes have an empty look. He prefers to sleep quietly in his space. The vet says he will be fine. Just allow him to sleep.


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Our boxer - first impression

Yesterday we brought home a 2 month brindle boxer, to be a member of our household. We ooohed and aaahed around him. Clicked a lot of pictures and clucked at his antics.
And reeled at his first smelly outburst.
The hard reality of having to potty train him hit us. We stay on the 14th floor of an apartment complex. So picture this: we are carrying him waiting for the lift, then we are holding him in the lift as it trundles to level-0, then we take him to the safe potty area.... accident can happen at any moment!! We are pondering over this situation and ...

Our stud yelps at us.
Oh! so cute. He wants attention... we drool.
So we sit on the floor with him and pass to&fro a paper ball that he chases with frenzy.

Again he yelps.
Now what? you are thirsty? we offer him more water
He laps it up and jumps around the hall. We laugh and clown around with him.

The guy yelps again.
We say okay. Cool off ... and the guy goes into a stance and relieves himself in a dark pile ... on the hall floor.

Yeow!... hey bhagwan! How do we potty train him? How will we know? We make a frantic phone call to the Pet Shop where we got the boxer. Kya saab. He says. You made him go in the house? Just take him out twice a day after his meal. He is potty trained. ...!!!

All the time our Maximus was thinking: Woof take me out. Oh you want to play? Okay. Woof take me out. Oh you are busy? Okay. Woof take me out. Well! never mind. Hall is OK if you insist. duh, funny people.

our brindle boxer pup

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I was never a fan of even a neighbour's pup. And today I have a pup at home!
Now that I am drenched I have no fear of rain. Where is the poop bag?