Update

First item of business: New restaurant
Last night, Aaron and I went to the new Collierville Indo-Pak (read Indian/Pakistani) restaurant. Name: Ashiyana. Distance from our house: 3 miles and approximately 7 minutes. The server reminded us so much of Suparna Gosch, a good college friend of ours. Aaron ordered the chicken makhni and I ordered the palak gosht because I was curious to see how their goat was. We also had the veg samosas for appetizers and faloodas for dessert (Aaron got chocolate; I got mango). I also ordered the masala chai. It's currently too early in the morning for me to adequately gush over how much we loved the food... suffice to say that I wanted to hug the chefs and our server before we left. The entrees were delicious, although I was up to my elbows in the palak sauce due to the mutton bones. The samosas were, as Redblur described, melt-in-your-mouth.
But the pièces de résistance were the faloodas and the masala chai. First, let me start with the tea. Here's a brief description of masala chai and customs surrounding it, plus several recipes toward the bottom. I adore hot tea, but I had never tasted anything so good as this concoction. It is, without hesitation, divine.

The faloodas were only the width of a goat hair away from being as good as my masala chai. But to say anything is as good as that chai is to be borderline sacrilegious. Anyhoo, wikipedia haves a very short but apt entry on faloodas. Ours had a hint of rose, and although I don't think there was any Tutti Frutti, there were small bits of Jello, which was just surprising. My mango falooda was so delicious that by the time Aaron and I left, I was on a completely different realm of giddiness - that realm where Mum always used to chastise me to "calm down, Erin, and stop acting so silly." Without a doubt, Aaron and I will be frequent customers. I can't wait until the third chef arrives and they determine what their specialties will be!

Second order of business: O-ren's name
Firstly, let us review O-ren's full name: O-ren Ishii Ashenafi PooPoo Kitty Buck. (although Mum adds Werner Buck) :) O-ren Ishii, played by Lucy Liu, is the yakuza boss in Kill Bill, Vol I. Ashenafi was an Ethiopean student of mine during my student teaching; technically, it's a boy's name. And PooPoo Kitty Buck is a three-prong throwback to O-ren's poopooing all over our bed when we first got her, to the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Now that we have reviewed O-ren's current name, let me say that I am contemplating changing her name by replacing Ashenafi to Ashiyana because it's such a beautiful word and because it reflects Aaron's and my college memories with Suparna, Rakesh, and Waseem. This would make her full name: O-ren Ishii Ashiyana PooPoo Kitty Buck. What do you think?


Third and last order of business: O-ren's morning shower.
This morning, at the end of my shower, I opened the door to reach for the towel. O-ren lost no time to waltz into the wet shower with me. She then commenced to saunter about the place, checking out the corners, the water going down the drain, and my extra bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the corner. Only when Chyna headed our way to join in the inspection and, as O-rem saw it, to encroach upon her space, did O-ren finally step onto the bath mat, daintily shake her paws dry, and chase Chyna away.