WowBacon!!

Yeah, I haven't had that (bacon) in a long long time. Ever since Jaya Supermarket announced that they were tearing down the place and all the tenants moved out, including my favourite deli, I haven't had bacon for breakfast in a while now. I'm kind of fussy. The ones sold in Jaya tastes much better than any other I've tasted so far.

Doesn't it look like a regular “electric jar” that you often see in your hotel room? But, its not. Its an all-enclosed microwave bacon cooker cum storage. Instead of lying your bacon flat on the skillet, this device comes with vertical vanes where you would drape your bacon over for cooking in the microwave. Also enables you to cook your bacon with all the convenience but with less mess and allows you to store your bacon in the refrigerator as it is compact and doesn't take up much space. Easy and simple.

The key advantage of using such a unit is that it is totally enclosed. Plus, its healthier as the fat drips down off the bacon. The only advantage for me would be that its an all exclusive in that, its one piece of cooking device for a specific meal. If I want my sausage wrapped with bacon, I won't be able to use it. All in all, its a pretty neat invention and for only USD19.95, its worth a try.

Looking for relaxation

I think, we moms should really give ourselves a treat once in a while. And sometimes we just can't afford the luxury and our hubby doesn't exactly do a good job with a massage. So I was thinking and I have a possible solution. I think that a group of mothers should get together, pull their resources and attend some massage therapy schools and then get together once in a while to give each other massages. Wouldn't that be neat? That way, everyone gets to save money, give themselves and each other a treat. While doing all that, have a mini playgroup together with the kids. Now, wasn't that a great idea? *smile*

All Souls' Day for us

A busy weekend ahead. Starting from today actually. This morning we headed off to my in laws and I am now here with Ash. They have gone for the All Souls' Day prayers. I couldn't go naturally since I will have to care for Ash. I'm just waiting for them to come back with lunch later on..heheh...I am such a glutton.

Another not so good news is that hubby came home last night and told me that we may have to postpone our trip to nearby place next month cos he his scheduled to oversee some projects next month. Oh well, I had more or less expected it to come really. Luckily, I hadn't been making any inquiries or any reservations for a place to stay. And plus have our passports renewed as mine has expired yonks ago and also to make one for Ash. Didn't do all that. But what I however I did come across a thing called Hilton Head rentals. Wonder if it is reasonable?

It was great..

It truly was.

This morning, had a discussion and I had come to a conclusion that I could no longer effectively help Elina with her blog. Although, as a member, I will continue to support and offer any ideas but I can't be on board.

With the home and everything that is going on. I think this is the best. I will definitely miss working with her. She is a lot of fun and full of life. It will be something I will miss most. Wah, sounding so tragic! Its not really. Its just that we won't be working together, thats all. It has been fun, sure. All the fun and great ideas we come up with, its challenging. We have set the pace and more good things will come definitely for BDMM. Without a doubt for sure.

A great invention?

I found this while blog hopping some where. I just had to download the picture to upload it here for all to see.

Its actually very cute and can't help to wonder how it would help me a great deal. I don't have to clean after Ash, she can do it herself...bla bla bla...I am wicked, I know. I am just tired and exhausted. Anything to help alleviate some of the housework, I'll take it, I'll just take it! hehehe...:-P

Ashley's day

This is a backdated post. Been busy doing everything but accomplishing nothing. I don't even know what I do everyday. I seem to be doing plenty as if I have more than 2 arms and legs but yet, I don't seem to see the results of all my work. Maybe they are boring everyday mundane stuff, not like I am cutting a deal or something like that. Its wake up, housework, Ash, blog, sleep and then Ash. Even in my sleep, I dream of her. Yeah I did, last night. I'm going mad.

She celebrated her 1st birthday on the 19th of this month which makes her a Pieces. Whatever the hell that means. She just is one (a Pieces). We celebrated amongst very close relatives and out of goodwill, we invited our neighbours (to keep them happy and to make up for the lack of children).

Promise, no more words, just a couple of pictures. Oh and it won't be in chronological order either..I am just too darn lazy..

Hubby is HOME

With all the whinging and complaining that the hubby hasn't been home, he has not spend quality time with us, he has been...this...been...that...I finally got my wish today. The hubby is home and has been since morning.

Before you go “Awww....see, how sweet he is”, forget it! The only reason why he is home is cos he is not feeling well. Splitting headache and stuffy nose. Plus, he has been working on his notebook since this morning. No we didn't do any shopping, going out...oh, ok, we did go out but only to get lunch. Little Ash refused to sleep cos her Daddy's home and its one of those rare occasion where there are more people at home than just me and her. She loves company but him being at home didn't really last for too long cos he just came back from the car workshop. Something wrong with the car radiator. Luckily we do not own a Japanese car, otherwise fixing a Toyota Radiator would cost us a bomb and I don't think even with pp, I'd be able to afford the repair charges..nyek!

It all started today last year..part II

You have to read from this post cos I actually started this series sometime back but didn't continue until now.

I walked up to the labour ward with the hubby in tow. It was surprisingly very quiet with no one screaming or shouting, which I thought, was a good thing for me. One of the midwives who was on duty came to greet me and I told her that I am supposed to 'check in" only at 10pm that night but when I called earlier, the hospital staff told me to come in for a check (I called earlier telling them I had my "show" in the morning). She told me they'd check on me and led me to one of the labour rooms.

I was beginning to get nervous cos it was only my second time visiting the labour room and plus, I didn't have any ante-natal classes prior to this. Hubby found at the corner what he thinks is for the hubby or anyone witnessing the birth - a comfy recliner. He promptly put our things away as I looked around. Just then, one of the nurses came in and asked me to change into the hospital garb. She told me she wanted to check if I had dilated. In my mind, I kept telling myself "Please, let me be at least dilated some centimeters".

I lay on the bed and sure enough, the lady came, checked and said "Nope, you're not dilated at all" (Bummer!). Since we were already there, we asked the nurse if we could stay on since we have to come back later anyway. She said she will give a call to my doctor first before advising me further. We waited for roughly 5 minutes before she came back to say "OK, you no need to stay, you can go home". Knowing my gynea I knew what he would've told the nurse "What? Still not dilated and only show and want to stay in the hospital? No need. Ask them to go home, relax and come back again"

So, we did. We picked up our things and headed home. Actually, we went to my in laws since they live 5 minutes away from the hospital. We went home and like the doctor said "relaxed, watched tv, had dinner and waited". In fact, I wasn't even thinking about the night cos both hubby and I were a little anxious to catch our badminton doubles pair in action that evening. It was supposedly history in the making and we didn't want to miss the show. Furthermore, we were only supposed to check in at 10, we have plenty of time.

It was 10.20pm and we were still waiting for our doubles pair to begin their game. Unfortunately for us, their game was the last to go on. Shoot!!! Reluctantly, both hubby and I, walked slowly to the car while stealing glances at the tv hoping against hope that we may at least catch the first game. "Faster, go already!!" shooed my MIL. OK, quickly quickly we drove and reached the hospital 10 minutes to 11pm.

I knew the drill, quickly changed to my hospital garb, checked by the midwife. Still nothing. She came with some pills on her palm and told me "I'm going to insert this to soften your cervix and you are not supposed to get up for at least an half an hour. In the morning, we will put the drip". OK, whatever that means. After that, I was checked one last time before I got ready for bed. I brushed my teeth while my hubby got ready to get cosy too. He slept almost immediately. I tried to get some sleep but after an hour, I could feel a slight stomach discomfort. Its not pain but it was disturbing enough that I couldn't sleep very well. I tossed and turned. I even went outside and had a chat with the nurse. I told the nurse 'Oh, I feel terrible. How long will this last?". Oh, don't worry, by noon tomorrow, all will be over!!". OMG!! I still have to wait till NOON???

I slowly throttled back to my room to try to get some shut-eye. But I couldn't. Before I knew it, it was 7am. The nurse came back in, and I was dilated 2cm. ONLY??? Things from this period on was a little hazy. I remembered drinking a glass of milo and I think, my ObGy came to check on me before going off. I was left in the hands of the midwives and nurses.

They wasted no time. I was shaved and then, placed on the drips. The nightmare started and from then on, everything moved rather...I don't know. My memory is kind of fuzzy from that period till Ash actually pooped out. All I remembered was, the nurses got me dilated till 9 cm around noon. I remember the whole time, my hubby couldn't get out of the little corner of the labour room as the nurses asked him to stay there and draw the curtains. He couldn't "see" anything but only could hear the nurses.

The whole time, I was told to push, deep breath, don't force, push like how you would do when you are doing your big business. For the record, I didn't attend any ante-natal classes. I simply didn't see the need to and if you asked me, I think I made the right choice. OK, where was I? Yes, noon. So, they told my hubby "Soon, soon...in a while"..That "soon soon..in a while" took another 5 hours. From 9 to 10 took 5 friggin hours. NO epidural. The pain was excruciating and I was exhausted. I really was. I only had the gas and oxygen intermittently. I also remembered that half-way my water broke, and I thought it was just blood. And then, the nurses came in with a something, I don't know what it was but it was used to monitor the baby's heart beat. She was in there a little too long. But my doctor was calm. He came in to check on me twice during the whole process and then went down to work. But he did call up off and on check on things. No C-Section, he was that adamant. I didn't want it either if I could helped it.

I was finally dilated to 10cm and the doctor came in. As soon as he came in, the nurses backed off. Oh did I also mention to you that the nurses are all afraid of my doctor? Yeah, they are. At that point, I was too cos he looked mean and so was my hubby cos he wanted to take some pictures also he didn't dare, afraid he might get told to leave the room..heheh...so, he did his thing, Ash came out with 2 big push (I think). Again, I was still feeling dizzy. I heard her cry. I remember telling my hubby "Go go...follow the nurse. Go see where they are taking her". Oh before that, they tied a number to Ash and I and then brought her to me "Nah, nah..see ar, girl" while she flashed her privates to me so I can confirm that she's a girl. Thinking back, that was so hilarious but not at that time, I merely nodded. Even if they had gotten it wrong I would've also nodded. I was super duper tired.

All this time, I was being pressed (to dispel the placenta), being "sewed" up and sponged before they wheeled me to my room. Baby came to my room much later, so did everyone :-)

Its truly amazing to be able to have that gift of giving birth. Its not the most pleasant feeling on earth. Pain like hell but ask most mothers, they are always willing to go through all of that again regardless. I know I would and again, if I can help it, no Epidural and no C-section.

Bankers Club

Psst...my cousin will be having her wedding dinner at the Bankers Club end of this year. I've had lunch there but not dinner but let me tell you that based on my personal experience, the food is pretty ordinary. Nothing to shout about.

That's the thing isn't it? When you are looking for good food, they are almost always not found in nice posh sounding restaurants. You find them at a hawker stall in some back alley with lots of rodents and rubbish lying around instead. I am not joking. I have had some of my best meals in those. Maybe not in the back alley but definitely no air conditioning or nice napkins that you feel like not using them. Of course, for a wedding dinner, its something else. I'm just thinking (or worried) about the food. What a glutton I am!! I wonder what other Wedding Ideas she has. Photos will only be taken in May so I'd only get to see them after that. Guess I'd just have to wait, won't I? *taps fingers*

How do you like it?

The new and improved (at least I hope so) Momsie's blog. Got a very nice, patient and lovely gal to help design the entire template for me. Heather was very accommodating during the entire designing process. All in all, it took us about a week and a half from when I first inquired about her services till this morning, when she uploaded the template for me.

If you like what you see , you can check out Heather's design website under the Credit section on my right side-bar. Her fees are reasonable. Let me warn you though that she only takes in limited customers per month due to her busy schedule.

OK, will have to play around with my new template for now. Still have a few things to tweak here and there.

I got another award!!

Forgip me la. I don't get many awards you know, so every one I get must show off a bit lar...nyek!! :-P. OK lah, I'm pathetic, humour me lar...

Anyway, this very popular and talented mommy has just moved into her new "home" and she is having a small housewarming party. And I was invited (yay!!) and also received a 'door gift'. Joanne is a very gracious and generous host. Do visit her blog and you will see for yourself and also to check out my award on the blog hall of fame :-) *shameless*

Still using the credit card

You know sometime late last year, there was this good news to us Malaysians with Paypal accounts that now, we can directly withdraw our "hard" earned $$ to our Credit Card or debit card? Many applied for debit card naturally and I was supposed to join the gang.

But, I didn't. Here is my reasoning - seeing as how I do not earn heaps of cash from this blogging business, merely some pocket money, I decided to withdraw my small amount to my credit card instead. It made sense, I figured, since I do not have to go apply for a debit card and wait endless months to get it (referring to a certain local bank) and it saves me the hassle of making payment when payment is due anticipating that my bills will be squeeky clean (assuming I transfer my money every month).

The perfect solution, so I thought. After 2 months of doing so, I discovered that my rewards points were being deducted. How can that be? I made purchases and did not cancel them. I don't shop online, no funny transactions surfaced. How how how????

I called the bank up (many many times) and after explaining to them how this Paypal thing works, this is what they told me. Apparently, the channel which Paypal chose to allow withdrawal to the customer's credit card, is the same channel as the ones used by merchants to refund payment to their customers' credit card. This is automatically captured by the bank as such. So, each time I transfer funds from my Paypal account to my credit card, the bank will automatically read as a refund from a merchant and my reward points deducted according to the amount transferred.

To correct this, as I was told, the officers at the bank will have to do a manual calculation based on my statements and return my points to me. Isn't it a hassle? To think, I had the perfect solution to solve my credit card woes, I created another problem. It really didn't make sense to me to go through all that hassle of applying for a debit card and then withdrawing from it, bla bla bla...as usually, my "income" goes off in a flash since I use it to pay off the utilities and stuff (I am such a good wife *big self praise grin*). Of course, after purchasing my undies and what not...kidding la...kidding la...:-P

Conclusion - actually, there is none. I haven't decided what I should do. Of course the immediate action that comes to mind was (and still is) spend them all online...muahahahha....that is like really very tempting. It kills the drag and offer some therapy. The only problem is finding stores that ship outside of the USA *rolls eyes*. Think think think...

EEeeeee...spooky!!!

Been reading some spooky feng shui stories lately courtesy of one mamma and one more mama. The worst thing was (or for some, the best) I read these at night. More like, at the stroke of midnight *gasp*. So, you can imagine...heheh...OK, you can go have fun, read the posts...

Fortunately for us, we did have someone to come look at the feng shui of our place and there wasn't anything of this sort, but there were other things. Other boring things that you'd probably not want to hear. Also, the feng shui master didn't perform any rituals so I don't know. And if you asked me if whether we did as we're told? Only 50% and things are still pretty much the same. Let us complete the change and I'll let you know if it works.

For now, I have to go scout for rooms, check our passport (expire already), complete my Ash story, check for tickets availability which I think shouldn't be much of a problem considering where we are going. Possibly even consider a travel health insurance for each of us. So many things isn't it? And who knows, the trip may even be canceled at the last minute.

Slightly better mood

I am in a much better mood today despite the hubs trotting back to work this afternoon. Why? He accompanied Ashley and I to the paed to get her MMR jab. See, I'm easy to please.

OK lah, the real reason is the hubs said that work will get a little better in April and he wants to take some time off. He suggested a, barring any unforeseen circumstances, family holiday to a nearby crowded and very 'kiasu' island. Of course, I am not, as how Randy Jackson would say "Jumping up and down" as yet cos well anything can happen between now and April. At the moment, I'm reserving my energy for then. For now though, the news is enough to put a smile on my face.

Since I am smiling and in a relatively good mood (by the way, Ash went to bed early), I have decided to share something with you.



Just look at my 2 sisters, riding Ash's present?? Its ok, you can laugh and comment, I have their permission to publish this photo. Luckily, they are super skinny and the presents are still in tact. And no, they are not on some kind of weight loss pills, its genetic.

This post has no subject matter

I was writing the continuation of Ash's story but I couldn't continue cos I'm feeling kind of in the dumps. I don't want to play cool that it doesn't hurt me, it does.

For as long as I can remember, ever since Ash was born, it was a mark of hubby being away from the family. He worked late and coming home everyday close to 9pm. Before you know it, he will be too tired and will soon go off to bed at 10:30pm. During the weekends, he would scoot off to work in the afternoon. Often times, coming home only in the evening and then we are off to the in laws place for dinner.

So again, yesterday was Ash's birthday and I remember him emailing me (yes, we resort to emails now cos he is too busy to even pick up the phone to talk to me) yesterday to tell me that he will be home early so we could go out for dinner to have a little celebration and to spend some quality family time. In his email, he also told me that tomorrow (today) is a public holiday. I was thinking "Geez, it wouldn't make any difference cos he would have to scoot off to work anyway". I know, we already had the party for her on Sunday but did you also know that he went back to work after that? He rushed off immediately after everyone had gone home and only came home after dark.

True enough, last night, he only reached home at 8pm and was pouring rain. By which time it was already Ash's bedtime and the minute we gave her the bottle, she slept. But she didn't have a peaceful sleep since she woke up about an hour later, cranky, wanting to sleep but couldn't. He did his best to put her back to sleep. By then I was tired having to entertain her the entire afternoon and only had my dinner at 9pm.

If my guesses were as accurate as this, every time, I entered a contest, I would've been rich by now. The hubs was off to work by 8am this morning and I think it'd be a whole day affair. I don't like to compare but I have plans. When my plans don't work out and when I see other people living or seem to be living out my plans, I feel hurt and jealous that I want my plans to work out too.

It all started today last year..part 1

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this up today or tomorrow. But then, looking at how my mind is functioning these days, I thought I'd better get it up.

I'm going to share about something I've never shared before - my labour story :-) (hey, what are you thinking? *wink*).

Roughly 2 weeks before the 19th, I went for my 2nd last ObGy appointment. Although he has been telling me from the very beginning that Ash will be 'late', I didn't believe him. He told me again after "checking" and asked me to choose a date anywhere between 19th till 30th to get induced but "no weekends" he said. I asked "why?"..His reply was "Oh, because all doctors very lazy so no one to come in during weekends" (???). So, I went home. I actually didn't discuss it with my hubby, I just told him "I'll choose 19th lor since earlier the better cos already passed my EDD?" He just nodded. Dunno whether he was able to comprehend what I had told him or not.

The following week was my last and final check up before the 'bomb' date. I told my ObGy confidently the date I wanted and he wrote it down on my card that I had to 'check in' to the labour room on the 18th at 10pm. I will then be given some pills to be inserted to soften my Va j j (got this word from Mott). Sometimes, contractions will even start to kick in about an hour after that. His parting words were "If between, now and then, you feel any pain, call or come to the hospital".

I went home, sat down and just dawned on me that, this is it. Time for the big bomb. I've heard many versions of how painful contractions can be. I was scared at first but at that time, all I wanted was to get the whole process over and done with. At that stage, I hadn't even decide whether I wanted an epidural or not. I remember I was telling my good friend how I felt and she was so kind to offer me her prayers that I'd have a smooth delivery.

Days passed with no signs of contractions or anything which made me concede that I have to indeed get myself induced just like how my ObGy predicted. I didn't want to of course cos I had read that the contractions are more painful than natural ones. But I couldn't do anything if Ash decides to want to stay in a little longer.

Then, the day came. On the 18th, I woke up. Had a little "show" but no contractions. I called my mom and she told me to immediately go to the hospital. She's very "kan cheong". My hubby told me to relax and go only after lunch. I went to sleep. Hubby was busy cleaning the house, checked that I have everything in my hospital bag and woke me up to shower. I went to shower and what will be my last :-(. Scrubbed myself from head to toe.

After that, I went to my mom's place for lunch and she was shocked why I wasn't at the hospital yet. I told her "its ok, the nurse said to relax and come later". I ate, what seemed like my last meal and rested before heading over to the hospital around 2 pm...

Love - Hate

I love having parties - big or small, they sure rock my boat. The one thing that I really really...x1 gazillions hate is the after party time. The cleaning up, the mess...I shudder to even think about it. I won't. Also, I received a call last night from my insurance agent that he'd wanna come over this afternoon to "discuss" about what we talked about weeks ago. Gosh, I just hope he doesn't drop by in the middle of the party and start discussing auto insurance quote with my guests. *fingers and toes and whatever crossable, crossed*.

It's party time

My little one has done me proud. She has accomplished so much this past year. Either that or this mommy is quite useless and easily satisfied. Her birthday is next week but we have decided to celebrate it a little earlier - like tomorrow!

Seeing as how she still prefers crawling to walking..babbling to talking, we thought it'd be best to just have the simplest party for her. Without the kids, games and noise. There will be more adults than children for sure as we have only invited our close relatives and immediate neighbors (so that they would not curse us for making their place smell like burnt meat - we are having a bbq type of lunch).

Tomorrow will be more symbolic than a celebration. A day to document Ash achieving that year old milestone and me, for having kept her intact. Phew!! I went and bought little party packs for the total of 6 kids who are going to be around. Sure saved me some $$....nyek! Other than that, nothing much. I was looking at some party hats that were in gold and silver colors but I ended up not getting any as I couldn't decide. I'd probably give it another go at shopping a little later on when the hubs is back from work.

In Ash's history books

I better write this down before I forget - today Ash said her first word! Yay!!

I bet that even if I'd give away 50 bucks to the first person who can guess what her first word was, I'd still have my 50..LOL...Am I the only one laughing at my jokes? Oh well, nevermind. You'd never guess what it was in the first place *snigger*.



It all happened this afternoon when she looked drowsy and I was having my lunch. She looked as if she was gonna fall off her high chair so I quickly carried her upstairs. The whole time as I was walking up the stairs, I was telling her "Ashley, doo doo ok" "Be good girl and doo doo". As I was about to put her down in her cot, I told her one more time "Now Ashley doo doo, ok". Then, she repeated after me "doo doo" in the cutest little voice ever. Crisp and clear. I was stunned. So I asked her to repeat it again "Ashley, say doo doo". "Doo doo..." in that cute little voice again. I clapped my hands and screamed...YAY!!!..So, mmmmaaaaaaaayyyyybbbbbeeee, I didn't exactly scream but I did feel like it.

You're probably wondering what the heck is "Doo doo"? LOL...Told ya you wouldn't have guessed it. Its a word invented by my mom (I am only guessing that its my mom who came up with the word cos I've always known it but never really asked where it originated from) which means "sleep". Even my 90 year old grandma uses it. Now, even my hubby uses it whenever he tells Ash to go sleep. Think she's been hearing it way too often since we're always telling her "Ash, go to sleep" "Ash, faster doo doo" "Ash, quickly doo doo" "Ash, daddy and mommy doo doo, everybody doo doo" "Ash..."

Update : Hey peeps, the bed Ashley's sitting on isn't our bed..LOL..Though I too wish that it was. The picture was taken during our CNY trip to Sepang Gold Coast. I didn't put the pictures up earlier cos my Dig camera went bonkers. Now, we managed to retrieve those pics. Maybe will post them up later. A nice place indeed but well...in another post :-)

What are tissues used for?

They are used for :

Decorating the kitchen floor

as carpets for the living room floor

The talented and precocious lil "Decorator"

Essentials

I'm just wondering, we SAHMs have a lot to deal with at home. I remembered someone once told me that (this was before I had Ash) "once the window (period) is gone, ITS GONE!!" And I actually said "Why not have some kind of schedule or something?". Come to think of it, at that time, I don't think I know what was gonna hit me. We can plan, plan and plan but at the end of the day, I just feel that we'd end up back to square one - back to nothing virtually.

On top of that, most of us SAHMs are pretty industrious in that on top of blogging, we found a way to get that extra $$$ to fund our shopping needs . This kinda adds on to the pile of work we have to do all day. Again, I'm wondering, if we are or can be considered as WAHM? A full-fledged WAHM.

If we are considered as a full-fledged WAHMs, what would we need apart from our notebook? Probably a work/home schedule. Maybe sitting down and setting up one is not so difficult as having to stick to it, like a school time-table or something. Since we are going to be working, we also need to 'feel' like we are in a work environment, don't we? Otherwise with the messy living room with our notebook, it can easily be a de-motivating factor.

The tricky part comes down to clothes. When we are working, we may want to dress the part too. Most of us are not appropriately dressed when we are at home anyways. When I say that, I

meant we are usually with a simple T and shorts if we are not out. But then, how do we dress for "work" then? I can't be wearing my suit and heels when giving Ash a bath, isn't it?

So, I have narrowed down to :

1. A practical work/home schedule

2. Office Furniture

3. Work clothes. Although, this is quite optional.

As for me, I haven't got any of the above. Nothing even remotely close. Most of my clothes and heels are now with my sister. If you are a WAHM or consider yourself one, do you have them?

Because they eat bananas...

Anyone watches Channel 703 on Astro? You know the Asian Food Channel (AFC). Anyways, I was watching it last night at the in laws and this particular episode of Dish with Vivien (a Singaporean production), it was bbq at the beach. So Vivien had to whip up some and prepare some of the kebabs, sausages, etc...in advance for the next day's outing with her best friend, Marie and god-daughter.

So, yadda yadda...preparation and preparation and the next scene, there she was at the beach. As she was at the bbq pit, her friend, Marie came to help out. "Oh, this is hot" said Marie (duh?? Its a bbq pit my dear, it has to be hot!). OK so this Marie is a little off.

After that, they were all eating happily with the kids and all. They were talking about kids not liking salads, fruits or bananas. This "Marie" so proudly remarked "You know how I get my kids to eat their bananas? I tell them that if they want to have perfect eyesight, they have to eat all their bananas. They clean up their plates".

OK. That's not the worst part. Then, the following scene showed Vivien and Marie at the bbq pit with their umbrellas cos it was raining (???). This Marie (again) told Vivien a joke "Why don't monkeys ever wear glasses?". Stunned Vivien with blinking eyes, humoured Marie and asked "Why?". "Cos they eat bananas" said Marie whilst laughing (???). Yup, she was the ONLY one laughing...

p.s : Anyone knows what a Hella is?

All things purtty

I had my coffee much earlier but looks like I need another one -sigh-...I am so addicted to them.

Its a good thing Ash is asleep now and I am trying, furiously, to type as fast as I can so that I could get this post out of the way before she wakes up. Its a common fear amongst mothers with babies or even toddlers isn't it? Afraid that their "adult" stuff won't get done before their babies' wake up.

Anyways, I was shopping for shoes for my baby. OK, please don't ask and yes, my baby hasn't worn a shoe ever since she was born and struts around barefoot all the time at home. Blame it on the cultural thing - for some reason, we Chinese (or maybe its only my family) that babies aren't allowed to wear shoes until they turn 1. Like I said "Don't ask" cos I have no clue as to the rationale. Since Ash will be celebrating her 1st birthday next week, I wanted to get her a nice looking pair of shoes. Didn't I tell you that with a baby girl, its really fun?? *smile*

So, I went shopping on Saturday evening and spotted one really cute. I asked the salesperson to get me the pair. He asked me "What size?"...*gulp*. Great!! I DO NOT KNOW what size my daughter wears cos she wasn't with me and even if she was, I wouldn't have known cos I've never bought any shoes for her before. I don't know what shoe size baby shoes begins with. I told him "Err...shoe size for a 1 year old baby". And he looked at me and ok, I felt dumb but I felt that he was even dumb-er cos he didn't even know and went looking for the same size as the one on the rack which even my 18 year old sis could tell that that was way too big for a 1 year old baby. I went measuring the other shoes against the size of our palm to gauge the size for Ash. We told him to search for the shoe size that we wanted but he came back to say there weren't any left. Bummer... I still have the entire week to shop for one. This time, I'd bring her along or at least, measure her feet first..:-P

CompUPlus

The Internet has certainly come a long way. From merely browsing for information to shopping online which incidentally has grown in leaps and bounds. One of the biggest advantage I find shopping online are customer feedbacks on a certain product. Be it a positive or a negative review, at least the reviews allows me to to make an informed decision before placing my purchase.

For example, if I am looking for computer hardware to household goods, all I have to do is type up the keywords on the internet and I am given plenty of choices of merchants where I can purchase these things. I have since found Compuplus, a web-store started since 1993 selling exactly what I have mentioned. They pride themselves in providing excellence in product quality and customer service. Now, that in itself, got me pretty much interested.

Upon browsing further, CompUPlus, offers a 30 day money back guarantee with no re-stocking fee for most of their products and all of their products come with a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. They went on to explain that this simply means customer service issues are taken care of by a trained customer service representative. Looks like these guys have it all figured out. No wonder I am was taken in.

Great news..

We managed to salvage some pictures from the memory card of my Dig camera..here's a sneak preview..No explanation at the moment cos been a busy day and I will be off in a jiffy. More later OK. And Sting, I do remember your tag. Will do it tonight ya..:-)

Presumed busy-ness

Sure feels like it when I was at home for most part of the day yesterday and not having done much apart from staring at my laptop. There are sales going on at Ikea and I don't seem to be bothered at all. On the contrary, that isn't true. Its just that I have been bogged down with matters at home since the hubs' routine for the past week has been just - home, dinner, newspaper, bed. My only reprieve was yesterday but I still had to cook and well, attend to the occasional "Mommy...mommy...mommy" every 10 minutes. No its not Ash calling out, its the hubs whenever he's giving her a bath, feeding her, cleaning her poo...that sort of thing.

I started on me com-pu-tar early yesterday morning and only ended close to dinner time. Busy working on BDMM as more projects are beginning to roll in and numerous requests to join. More on that later but thank you to all for your congratulatory and welcome messages, I really do appreciate it.

Since Ash's schedule was heavily interrupted yesterday i.e she napped only at 5pm, we decided to go ahead with our initial plan to MPH. We went around 8 last night. Scout for some more baby books for Ash. Its awfully difficult trying to keep her interested in the same book or anything for that matter, more than 15 minutes. Tryind to keep up with her demands is like trying to keep up with the 'ups and downs' of penny stocks. Tough but someone's gotta do it.

Early morning rant

I am sorry. Its raining, wet, no where to go and on top of that, I received a call from my insurance agent asking us whether we have decided on an insurance package he recommended for our little Ash.

First of all, he already spent the entire night explaining, more like pestering, to us the various options we have with regards to insurance for kids last Wednesday. And, he wants to call us some more on a Saturday morning!! Imagine, there I was having just given a cranky Ash a sponge bath and wanting to put her to bed, the door bell rang. It was our insurance man smiling at me at the door, at 8pm. The hubby hasn't return home yet and with a cranky lil baby, I was just not in the mood to listen to potential investment options. But, he waited around for my hubby while in the meantime, exchanging small talk with me. I found that to be utterly annoying cos I was in the middle of watching American Idol!!

Luckily, the hubby came home about 20 minutes later and I promptly went upstairs with the cranky one hoping she would sleep. That was about 9pm and our agent remarked "Ha, so early you want to put her to bed, she might wake up again later in the night". The nerve!! Man, I wish I could just tell him "Look, mister, if I don't put her to bed right now, I will be one to wake up later in the night to haunt you!". Did I? No, I have changed and I merely smiled, nodded my head and went on my way.

I tried to put her to sleep but she didn't want to sleep. I tried for a while. Put her down, she cried. Cradled her, she cried. I gave up. I took her downstairs to her father. There she sat playing while we listened to boring stories. The guy spoke so loud, I couldn't even hear what Simon Cowell had to say. Geezzzz...

After about 20 minutes, the cranky one became...even more CRANKY. A clear indication of her wanting to go to bed but didn't want to since she knew or assumed that we were all having fun without her and if she were to go to bed, she would miss out on all the fun?? Well, how I wish I could be her and go to bed instead of listening to the same thing over and over and over...

It was almost 10pm and I quickly made her some milk while she cried and cried again (thinking she was missing the fun) in her cot. Hubby had to excuse himself so he could pacify Ash. I made the milk as quickly as I could, ran upstairs, took over from the hubby (like a tag team and all) and he went down to continue being tortured.

She slept within minutes of drinking her milk. Thank God for that. I went downstairs, they were still talking. OMG...the guy just doesn't get the hint does he??? He went on and on again about unit trusts investments, mortgage life insurance, home loan (??). Gosh, he persisted even after seeing us being obviously inconvenient by his presence or maybe, he really wasn't aware of that fact. And you know what else? He continued even after the entire American Idol is over and only left quarter to 11pm!! *gasp*. Let me tell you, I was utterly exhausted just listening to him and yawned like a thousand times as if I was pregnant or something.

By the time we sent him off, it was way past our dinner time and we still had to finish our dinner!! Its either you have to take your hats off to these people for being so utterly thick skinned or simply DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR for them the next time they decide to pop in at un-godly hours!! The thing is, when you have kids, 8pm is the new 3am..

Bah! Don't mind me. Have a good weekend folks!!