Same!

BY@2 days old

Biscuit has a name!

Secretly named my handsome newborn nephew "Bing Kang"... meaning 'possession of health'... aka Biscuit. Here's wishing him good health, good fortune and a bright future! Cheers!

Welcoming...陳煒翰

Rumpleous has been murdered! / Pink Muscat

Received a letter from The Book Council in my regular mailbox.

" Thank you for your application to the Media Development Authority (MDA) First Time Writers & Illustrators Publishing Initiative,........after careful review and consideration, we regret to inform you that your submission has not been selected......."

Well well well.... if Laurie Notaro [ I am currently reading her book - I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies) ] which by the way, is a must read if you are thirtysomething ] took 7 years of trying before she manage to sell to the publishing house, then watch the resurrection of Rumpleous in 2014!

*sob sob*

Celebrated nothing with a Stella Bella Pink Muscat (Margaret River) 2006... First sniff yields a very pleasant mood uplifting muscat / floral aroma. Tastes sweet, clean and crisp without any acidic aftertaste. Absolutely delectable. Makes its appearance in a delightful blushing pink color too. Ooooooooh I like it! ...Berry verry nice!

*hic*

The Riverine by the Park

Launching Soon... Project by Wing Tai. District 12. Located next to Kallang MRT / Riverside Park. Freehold. $1,300 - $1,600 psf.

Trilogy

One
Me: We are eating fried rice
BY: F**K rice?
Me: No, FRIED rice.
BY: F**K RICE?
Me: NOT F**K RICE, FRIED RICE!!!
BY: F**K RICE!

Two
At the Better Toy Store in Takashimaya last friday, I accidentally stepped on your middle finger when you stumbled and fell on the floor.

BY: *concentrating on his hurt finger* Look mummy look! *shows me his middle finger*
Me: Ok ok!! * quickly wraps my hand over his*
BY: *why isn't mummy acknowleging my new discovery?* Look mummy look! *Shouting* I can point with this finger!

From the corner of my eyes, I see other mummies covering their kids' eyes. My god! Where can I hide? Maybe in the bookshop downstairs?

Three
In Kinokuniya - the quiet bookshop downstairs.

The boy wants to run the ramp. The mummy is carrying him. The boy struggles to get down. The mummy tightens her hold. Boy tries to push his mummy off with his hands. Fails. Suddenly boy decides to announce. "MUMMY! I PUSHED YOUR NIPPLES!"

He's not yet three! Where are those pills that I was given after childbirth? I need them now!!!!!!

I give up!

After you puked 3 more times today, I gave up. Called the cab, popped a panadol (because my head felt like lead) and bundled you off to the PD.

The nurse convinced me to purchase the nebulizer compressor. Reason she gave? I could have bought 2 or 3 machines already, since I've rented it so many times. So, why not save money and get it for good? So...hanging on to the conviction that you do not have to use it again and again and again is a lost cause huh?

The GST alone today would have paid for 1 visit to the neighbourhood GP.

Notes:
Pulmicort 2ml + Berodual 1ml X 3 nebs/day
Silomat/Mucosolvon 6ml X 3/day
Rhiniramine/Prednisolone 1:1 6ml X 3/day
Klacid Syrup [125mg/5ml] 6 ml X 2/day
Singuliar [5m] 1 tab/day

Him came to pick us up from the PD
ME to HIM: So, do you want 1 more baby?
HIM: YES!
BY: YES! I want 1 more!
ME: WTF???

Living in the real world

Was disconnected from the virtual world for a while - the courier man knocked at our door last week and I surrendered our modem, the last piece of hardware belonging to the my old employers, to him.

Felt a tat lost in the real world, without online capabilities, even if it is just being offline for a couple of days...

I couldn't access my emails;
I couldn't read my friends' blogs;
I couldn't send out my resumes;
I couldn't find information I needed with just a few clicks.

It was frustrating...

Same goes with my mobile phone. My new personal plan had no caller ID service. Called the service providers up to make a fuss. Realised that it's a chargeable service. $5/month. Right, I'm putting my ears back in service. Sorry eyes, you don't get the privilege of seeing who's calling anymore.

But hey, I'm back online! YEAH!
And my ears are still serviceable! YEAH YEAH!

Tai-tai-dom or Die-die-dom?

Let's see... how has my week been thus far? Started pretty well with pancakes on Sunday but went all the way down to the nadir after midnight before slowly creeping up again. Managed to....

- get a free ice-cream from Ben&Jerry during their annual free cone day for myself
- meet C.C for drinks at PS.Cafe @ Harding Road
- see 2 headhunters
- go to the zoo with the cough-syrup (you smell like one anyhow!)
- do laundry
- kill another 4-6 dozen ants getting high on real cough syrup
- visit Christine and her girls with the cough-syrup and watch 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'

Oh, on the way to Christine's, cough-syrup fell asleep and I left him in the car for 2 minutes to grab a cake. 2 minutes! I swear it was not much longer than that! Came out of the shop to see half a dozen people gathered around the car. I PANICKED! Did you wake up? Are you crying hysterically inside? What is happening? RAN to the car to find that you were still asleep and very peacefully at that. Got into the car, which was still cool with the air-conditioning of 2 minutes ago by the way and drove off. Wha piang eh!

Looking forward....

Booked a cruise for our family in December...The ship is called "Rhapsody of the Seas", part of the Royal Carribean fleet. Looking forward to it. They even have Supper Buffet. Can you believe that?

Horse Dander

SUNDAY: Breakfast at Macs - Pancakes with sausages, hash brown and coffee. Boy eats 1 pancake, 0.5X sausage, some hash brown and BYO water. I eats the rest....(11:30-1pm) Pinic near Gallop stables @ Pasir Ris Park....followed by a bowl of Shrimp dumpling porridge lunch @ White Sands. Boy eats all the dumplings. I eats the rest. 8pm: Boy starts to cough.......and cough. Dinner is I cooked brown rice, tomato salad & stir-fried pork. Boy coughs......but falls asleep at 8:30pm. 10pm...Boy's ate dinner reappears on the bedroom floor. I cleans. Boy asks for milk......burps, and 240ml of milk reappears on the mattress. I drags a sleepy boy to the shower to clean him up. I cleans up mess on mattress and finishes cleaning after midnight. 2am: Boy asks for milk again. 3am, milk re-appears on the pillow. Boy now cannot stop coughing. I starts praying that boy will not have another attack whilst cleaning. TUESDAY: Somehow we both survived.

Was it the maple syrup, horse dander in the air at the park, preservatives in the shrimp or I cooking? For now, I is putting bets on the horse.

Notes:
Prenisolone 3MG/5ML - 5mlX3
Cough-en Lintus - 3mlX3
Salbutamol 2MG/5ML - 2mlX3
Ketotifen - 1MG/5ML - 3mlX2

Meditation

Today's yoga session special - Heart Chakra Meditation

Sit cross-legged with good posture, spine straight and preferably on a soft pillow else legs will go numb (which mine did). Place palms facing up gently against each knee. Close your eyes and tighten the eyeballs a couple of times for a few seconds to relax them. I was clueless how to do that. Was given a clue: Do the same as what you would do if you saw your enemy. Narrow your eyes and stare!

For 20 minutes, repeat MmmmmmmmmmMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm as loudly as you can with each exhalation and feel the vibrations of the sound travelling between your navel and your head.

Then, for the next 10 minutes, keep quiet and visualise your heart as a white light or lotus flower.

Feel the sadness & fear melt away, replace by peace and compassion........or at least until someone starts snoring. (",)

Bits here and there

6 years 21 days! That's how long I've been using IBM laptops. Now bravely prodding a HP/Compaq nc6230, kindly loaned to me by the fortunate owner of several laptops.

Have been staring at the www.mytax.iras.gov.sg page with a raised eyebrow, occasionally breaking out of the trance to shake my head and reposition my nicely plucked eyebrows. I don't get the "you surf, we serve" slogan. Maybe, if I wait longer and surf more, they'll serve me? Or maybe they can SEE me? Wow. Hey! Can I have a hot latte please? No? Fat hope? Ok... maybe I should stop procrastinating and start filing my taxes.......*sigh*

Oh, we went for a walk after dinner today and walked into a traffic logjam. The cause? The launch of a new condominium. Went closer to take a look. Couldn't resist the herd instincts. Tried to get my hands on a brochure. The doors were closed, and the sign planted outside it said 'Invited Guests Only' plus there was a looooooooooooooooooooooooong queue and crowds milling around. Someone was announcing 1242, 1245, 1246..... Since I have no chance of getting the brochure myself, I asked a middle-aged couple, who was seated like many years away from the door if I could take a look at theirs. You were on my hips. They looked at me like I was going to take their brochure and make a break for it. Ridiculous!

Am sure glad we have a home. Nice neighbours we'd have though.

Ok ok ok... now back to myTax Portal!

Farethewell

Having a writer's block over at the other window in my laptop - my outlook - trying to compose a farewell email to my colleagues at *****. Am thinking I'd fare much better over here because mostly, these entries in the blog are written from the heart. So, should I keep it short, or go on rambling, or not send one at all? I don't know!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear friends,

My last day at ***** would be this friday the 13th. Have known this was coming for a few months now. Towards the end, I couldn't have begged for it to be quicker, since hanging around, not doing much, is never good for myself as I know it.

I've lasted much much longer than I thought I would with this company, since my track record indicated < than 1 year for all the other places I've worked in. If it boils down to just 1 thing that have kept me going, it would be ... the colleagues, especially those who have become my very dear friends over these years, who have watched me grow, celebrated my triumphs and walked with me when I'm down.

It has been a thrill working here and I have the giddyness of someone who is just about to step off the best roller-coaster ride of her life. I have had it all - the nice and the nots, the highs and the lows, the fun and the angst. It would be interesting now to watch from the sides and you bet I will most definitely be watching!

Last but not least, I take away with me, something which I believe in with all my heart - that of connecting people. So here's wishing you guys nothing but the best and do stay in touch, because friendship crosses both time and space (and we all have that not one thing but many in our pockets to help us).

Best wishes,
Carrie

Full-time job($)

Feel I have several full-time jobs now. Just to list a few:

(1) Full time job at N*K*A...(although not for long)
(2) Full time job hunter... ( I have been sending out an average of 3 resumes per week)
(3) Full time mother ... (since Aug 2004)
(4) Full time housekeeper ... (since moving into our new place)
(5) Full time investor ... (since catching the property fever)
(6) Full time wife ... (almost forgot this one! [",] )

Read a funny book called Anthropology by Dan Rhodes last night. Here's an excerpt that cracked me up: "My girlfriend started charging me for sex. She said she had to think of her future, and anyway her friends did it so why shouldn't she? I didn't mind too much because her basic rates were very reasonable, although she always expected tips for extras..."

Sorry for being loopy. I'm just wondering... If I end job (1), get stuck in (2) without much progress, with (3) being self-fulfilling and therefore not quantifiable in terms of dollars and cents, (4) sadly at a remuneration = to nothing and (5) being risky, therefore, following the example from Anthropology, will being a (6) pay?

Qing Ming

Snapped - a pau chomping moment amongst 2 cousins - during the annual visit to your paternal grandmother & great-grandmother's resting place to remember and honour them. You guys bantered incessantly and it was amusing to watch and listen to the both of you talk about things from air-con to sprite to somersauts to automatic doors to cold noodles to 'the-computer-that-one' (mouse) to who should sit on the 'baby chair'.

Thank you!

-Thank you all for coming to our Easter Egg Hunt party!
--Thank you Aunty V for helping mummy with the ribbons;
---Thank you Aunty K for making the curry chicken;
----Thank you Aunty M for the plasters;
----- Thank you Uncle L for the cake and jellies;
------Thank you Uncle E & Aunty H for the beer! *hic* ;
-------Thank you Aunty C for the books; &
--------Last but not least, (before I get an Oscar) thank you for not falling into the pool or going missing during the hunt. Cheers and we hope to see you all again soon!

(Will post more pictures later)

Underwater World Singapore

Went to the Underwater World & the Dolphin Lagoon at Sentosa this morning. It's been more than 6 years since I have been there. At one point in my life, I was visiting this place, an average of two times a week - it was one of my accounts when I was working with the agency.

I think we did have quite a bit of fun together today. Mostly, you enjoyed touching the rays at the interactive pool. I was pretty surprised by these animals. They seemed to like being touched and kept swimming close to the edges for you to stroke them. Don't touch their fins though because they can get really tickly there. You did and ended up being sprayed which, added a few notches to your fun quotient.

Prenatal Class

Sis-in-law showed me her schedules for her prenatal classes. I took one look and exclaimed "USELESS ONE LARH!" Oh dear oh dear... not being very sensitive here. It's not that her classes are useless. I remember attending mine religiously before. It's just that on hindsight, I find them useless because...

(1) Bathing with a doll is NOT representative of how you would eventually bathe a baby.

(2) The breathing exercise, when not explained properly, causes one to hyperventilate instead.

(3) Watching a groaning naked woman give birth on video is no ideal way to introduce oneself into the terror of giving birth (especially if one has not done it before). Shall digress a little here. Recently read in the papers that they introduced a male Panda to a "Panda Sex" video in an attempt to interest him in the act. Wondering if they have a "Panda Birth" video for the lady in question. I bet you she's sure to keep herself celibate for life after watching it!

(4) It makes you quarrel with the baby care-giver. i.e No one who has looked after babies before will subscribe to leveling the milk powder off the scoop with a knife after each and every scoop.

(5) It does not teach you how to wake up every 2/3 hours round the clock to feed the baby for however many weeks/months it takes. Better still, breast milk is promoted as the best milk on earth for your little one and if you are wired up by nature to give your little one the best, then seriously, you'd find yourself alone in a daze with your lactating mamaries and no one else can really help you in this aspect, definitely not the non-lactating members of the tribe.

Therefore, Prenatal class = Useless

Q.E.D

Between him and me

Scenario [Me carrying sleeping boy in my arms in the backseat/ Him driving]
Context [Him and Me trying for the past 6 hours to make boy take a nap]

The conversation:

Me > I can't wait until I'm 45!
Him > WHY?
Me > Then he will be 16 and out of my way!
Him > *HehhehheeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhahaaaheheA!!!!*