And it is ended ..

The euphoria of having The Hubby home has gone. Hahaha! Wow .. That took all of one week or so. First weekend he was back .. I was driving us to Vivocity and things were back to normal ie I heard all kinds of "driving advice" while making my way there. Thankfully, while I usually do get fed up, at that point in time, I was still happy he was back and managed to drive merrily there. Bugger man. Bumped into a friend at Vivocity and somehow the topic of cars and driving came up and she said, "Your husband lets you drive?"

Woman .. It's not a matter of him letting me drive. I can drive. My kids know I can drive. My maid knows I can drive. The people who issue driving licenses in Singapore know I can drive. I've been driving for 10 years - accident free. The bugger man just thinks he drives better than me and so therefore, I must take driving instructions from him. And he prefers I drive btw. He just wants to be in charge of HOW I drive. *rolls eyes*

What. The. Hell. Half the time, I'm rolling my eyes upwards while driving cos I hear him telling me to change lane, do this, don't do that. My other friend says I have a lot of patience. It's not actually patience per se. It's more of resignation. If I tick the man off we end up bickering. So usually, 90% of the time, I just ignore him and his doom and gloom sayings like "u drive like that ah, we're going to skid and die" and just try to enjoy the drive. Hard to lar. I am trying very hard most times not to lose my patience. Lol.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Mummy, what is that? ..

It's so not cool to have a hickey at a grand old age of 37.5 (eh, STILL not 38 till the 27th of this month) .. And it doesn't help that it's the size of Texas. I kid u not.

Sigh.

And suddenly I'm bumping into all and sundry at Giant hypermart this afternoon. What. the. hell. And it's hard to have a conversation while trying to angle your body to one side so that the person you're talking to can't see it. Ok, who am I kidding? I was HOPING they wouldn't notice it. Hahaha! All the while I was cursing my husband inwardly.

Yes, I used concealer. Yes, I used calendula cream last night in an effort to get rid of it fast. Doesn't seem to be helping. I am close to just pasting a band aid on it .. A Disney Princess one no less and claim that I er, cut myself shaving? Lol.

And I am hosting a party at my place tomorrow evening! Can u beat that? I thought of wearing a scarf, but really, a scarf? Here?

And yes, of course my girls quizzed me on it .. "what is that, Mummy?" .. *sigh* I had to come up with a NOT x-rated explanation.

Eh. Stop laughing. Lol.

My downfall ..

Ah yes, not one to accept that I cannot wear high heeled shoes cos they basically cause me pain in the form of blisters, I went and bought myself yet another pair of Tommy Hilfiger wedge sandals. What the hell right ? Lol. They're very pretty. And in a nice bronze-y kinda shade.

Come on, I'm sure I'll be able to walk in these. They haven't arrived yet. I got them online. Yes, I have to buy most of my shoes online. The shoes here are Liliputian.

So I'll let you know how it goes. Whether I walk or hobble around in them. Haha!

The Rose Veranda at Shangri-La

Met the girls there again yesterday for lunch/high tea. Man, we do love that place! The food and ambience - really very nice. Service is good too. I detest the parking compound though. It's basement parking .. And it's not connected to the main hotel. I had parked at basement 2 this time, and I had to lug baby, my bags and the stroller up the stairs on my own.

Other than that, I love having meet ups there with my friends. We were there blissfully eating and chatting from 1.30 to 5.30pm. Ah, joy !! Charlotte was with me and man, the little munchkin just couldn't stand all the sitting around. I half regretted bringing the little tyke along with me. I'd say she would be happier at home ... But I'm not sure she would. Not for that long anyway. To be separated from her beloved mummy (lol) .. Ah,  motherhood.

Anyway, I came home later that evening and decided I was gonna skip dinner. Lol.

Foot binding ..

Can one start foot binding at a ripe old age of 37.5 (ok, I'll be 38 at the end of this month) .. ? I think I need to consider it, man. I haven't worked in years. Many years. And so, I hardly wear closed shoes. And my toes know it. They're so used to being splayed and not forced together in closed shoes for so long, that when I tried wearing my Tommy Hilfiger wedges last weekend, I nearly died. I had a big ulcer on my right little toe within an hour of having them on.

Blardy hell.

Thankfully, I had anticipated such a situation and had my regular Ipanema sandals in my car. So I swapped them out after I bid my lunch companions goodbye.

Man, I feel useless. And does it mean I'm forever doomed to wear flip flops and sandals??! Forever? I haven't tried ballet flats. While I don't mind wearing flats or court shoes my whole life, but it would be nice to don high-ish wedges and such SOMETIMES. Especially for nice dinners, you know?

But then how? My toes obviously aren't going to allow me to get away with it. They don't want to be cloistered and squeezed into closed shoes. Or rather high heeled shoes.

I'm going to be a slipper wearing Aunty forever from the looks of it. I just know it. I'll be 65 at our gala wedding anniversary dinner in a gown and wearing flip flops. Die la.

Eye of the tiger

Ok .. Not really. I was thinking of that song by Survivor from the 80s ..

Anyway, I was having lunch today at Samy's .. Indian food of course, with an old friend .. And she ordered fish head curry. Now check out my pic. Firstly, that is NOT a small bowl. The serving was pretty big for 2 people but they told us it was a small fish head. Yeah, riiiiiight.

There was only 2 of us eating. Lol. It was a very filling lunch. We had rice, vegetables, masala chicken and garlic naan. Washed it all down with lime juice. Yummy !! Poor Charlotte only had her baby food and her baby biscuits. I didn't dare give her some papadum cos she's only 10 months old. Lol.

Anyway, look my pic. When I posted it on instagram, my friend thought it looked creepy. Hahaha! Yes, it does! Can u spot the eyeball? It's almost like it was eyeballing us and balefully chiding us for eating it. Hey, man .. (or fish) I wasn't the one who actually killed u. Ate you, yes. So don't be hating.

Korean curry

Tastes pretty much like Japanese curry I found out. Met up w a friend for lunch in town today and we went to this little Korean place to try their food. Not bad I must say. And reasonably priced too. I had a set lunch. Chicken curry rice.

Then we walked around town a bit. It's nice to shop during the Christmas season. I love it.

After coffee at Dome, we headed home. Tired but happy haha!

Decisions ..

Ah yes, I am faced with a life changing question once again .. what a dilemma (lol) !

I have decided that it would be nice if I bought something for myself this year for Christmas. And I was looking to get new day curtains for the hall. A set that I really like is going to set me back for $540. The shop already has my measurements for the hall windows so they know what it would cost. I was in there a few weeks ago looking at nice new day curtains cos mine are looking ratty and not white anymore. Initially, the one I chose which is just a plain chiffon material would cost me $320 but it's plain. And I will have to live with it for the next 5 years at least. My current set has been hanging there for the last 7 years .. Can u beat that?? Anyway, the ones I really like have big flower designs on it .. And it's shiny. and it's $540. Lol. It sounds frightful but it's not ..

So it's either curtains or a new Canon S95. Man, I've been eyeing that cam for awhile now .. It'll be just nice for my handbag. I love my Canon EOS 7D .. but really WHICH Coach bag can stand the weight of that camera PLUS my other assorted rubbish I lug around on a daily basis?The camera is also about $549 ..

So I gotta think hard .. Curtains or cam? What do u think? Ok, I might end up not getting either cos I do have a list of things that need changing in the house ... new sheets, new pillows .. so I might not have the cash to spare in the end ... ah well. Let's see how it goes.

Yay!! Finally!!

I detest queuing for anything. So no way I was going to queue for the iPhone 4S no matter how much I wanted one. And so I waited.

And yesterday, while we were having lunch at Causeway Point, I got my hands on a set !! Yeah!! No queue at all at the Starhub shop. I got a 64gb black set. Awesome !! I love mine to bits. I got a pink case for it too!

Time with friends :)

Dinner at Kenneth and Angie's house this evening. With another family. Had an awesome time. And I love their place. Nice view of the city. And they have a really cool balcony right outside their bedroom !!

Our husbands have been friends since secondary school days (they were in ACS together)

And .. I am going to have a chandelier above my dining table someday. I really liked theirs!

Without fail ..

Every year, around this time, I miss the States. A lot. Not that I lived there half of my life. I didn't. Just a mere 2 years. But man, let me tell you, it was more than enough to make you feel really claustrophobic about living here in Singapore. The crowds, the hot weather, the close quarters everyone is forced to endure just about everywhere. It really gets very trying after a while.

And it's not a case of the the grass being greener on the other side. Cos the grass is greener there. Literally and figuratively. And the weather sure as hell IS better over there. That is the other thing I miss most - living with the 4 seasons. Here it's either hot and sunny. Or hot and rainy. And humid either way. Very humid.

I actually used to sit outside my house doing gardening while Claudia would run and up or cycle or just dig the soil alongside me. Good times. I remember being so thrilled to see my first sunflower grow and bloom right outside my kitchen windows.

Anyway, I just wanted to blog that today. That I miss living in the States.

Sigh.

Did ya hear?

The Duggars are expecting again. Yeap, their 20th child. They have 20 kids .. or they will have 20 kids soon .. now it's 19. Man, how can ONE woman have that many kids in her childbearing years? .. How? And the kids aren't multiples either. All singletons. I would just collapse and die if I had to be pregnant that many times. I had nausea for all of my 5 pregnancies in the first trimester lasting up to the 20th week. Only for Charlotte did my nausea last till the 12th week or so. And it was rather mild. Not like the 4 before that. Man .. I was retching and throwing up so much I felt almost bulimic. I had gotten used to running to the loo to barf it all out. I wasn't even grossed out by it after awhile. LOL.

Anyway, I'm so glad the holidays are starting. I cannot wait. No, we aren't going anywhere this year because The Hubby will be away in the States for almost a month. So he's busy starting from last week clearing stuff at the office before he leaves. I'd have liked to go to Club Med again .. but the timing wasn't right. BUMMER :(

So, back to me being glad the holidays are almost upon us. You can pretty much tell. I have been sending Emily later for school .. and before the smart alec receptionist at the school can make any comment on her late coming, I told her that I am sick and tired of going up an down, and when are the blasted holidays starting?!  LOL.

Not that there are a ton of things to do here. Probably the same old stuff. The zoo, swimming, hanging out with friends. I'd be ecstatic if The Hubby gets an overseas posting. One of my good friends just got the news that they'll be headed to Perth for 2 years next year. Lucky her !!

Well, nothing to do or not .. it sure beats SCHOOL. lol.

14 years ..

The Hubby and I will be celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary in December. Yes, 14 years. That's not counting the 6 years we dated before that. So I've know the man for more than half of my life. Wow. That's a really long time. Lol.

Funnily enough, we still enjoy spending time together and we still have stuff to yabber about .. And he still makes me laugh. Haha! Sure he annoys me when we're in freaking Ikea or any furniture store. And when we discuss anything related to home storage solutions or decor. Of any kind. Like the door thing. So as long as we steer clear of those topics, we're good.

He'll be going to the States for a month or so soon. I always miss him so when he's gone. Wish we could go with him ..

Time with friends

Had high tea at The Rose Verandah at Shangri-La hotel last week. It was fabulous. Of course the company was lovely too! I brought Charlotte with me and we had a wonderful time.

Here are some pics.

Charlotte was unimpressed with the place and preferred napping. Lol !

There are zombies in the house!!

Lately, The Hubby has gotten back into the habit of talking to me. In the mornings. When I'm still asleep. What the hell, right? He can have whole conversations with me and I know I answer him rather coherently at the time. And I make sense at the time. But that's just it. It's AT THE TIME. When I actually wake up some few hours later, I have NO idea at all what was said.or what on earth I agreed to. Blardy hell. So I have to text him to find out.

Eh, I don't understand. Is it anything important? Anything short of "Honey, there are zombies/vampires/werewolves in the house .. Get up now!!!" or "we won $5 million bucks!! Let's buy 2 Ferraris NOW!" Ah, THEN u can talk to me while I'm asleep .. I'll happily be jolted awake. Other than that, please leave me alone. I want to sleep. Not hear u tell me not to forget to call the air con company for an appt (which he already told me the night before) .. And before u think, ah, Sam must be irresponsible and that's why her husband has to do that. Nooooooo, the man is just like that. And that's why I don't screech at him in the mornings when he yabbers to me or tries to give me instructions. I apparently nod and agree and even muster up an "ok" just so he'll move on and leave me alone to sleep.

I've told him nicely already not to do that. He'll stop awhile then it goes back to square one. *sigh*

It's primarily because he is generally a morning person while I'm a night owl. Over the many years of marriage, we have adapted to each other. I don't bug the man to stay up beyond 9pm. And in turn .. He doesn't wake me up at the freaking crack of dawn on the weekends (except on Sundays when we have to go to church).

I think I need to wear earplugs. Lol.

Should I lose weight? Nah ...

Lauren had her very first Sports Day in school last week. And she requested that I be there to my horror. Well, u know me, it's not that I don't love and support my child, but can I not do that under the sun perspiring? The day they hold the Sports Day in an air conditioned hall with nice plush seats .. Ah, that WILL be the day I will be right there being all loving and supportive of my child running or whatever it is they're supposed to do. Yes, I am the model parent .. I know.

So as the day came closer, I had asked Lauren on a few separate occasions whether I really needed to attend the event. And she kept insisting that I be there. DARN.

I read the stupid invite they had sent back with the kids and was slightly mollified to read that it would be held in the school hall. Ok, so it's NOT air conditioned, but at least I won't have to slather on sun block had it been on the field somewhere.

It was a Sports Day for the lower primary students so only a few classes were involved - the first 3 levels. And they all did variations of the same thing. Some hop and skip run thing. They were in teams.

I was there with Charlotte (in her sling) as well Emily and Calista. I knew they'd want to see Lauren participating.

Of course the event was as expected, not very exciting. I had parked my Odyssey illegally in front of the school, so when Lauren's race ended, we rushed off.

Lauren came home much later and her team had apparently won first place overall. Lol. Oh well - I was there for the race, ok?! It was the prize giving that I had missed. Haha!

Anyway, Lauren came to tell me that 2 of her classmates had told her that her mummy was fat and she had complained about it to her teacher. I laughed and asked her WHY she did that. I told her that it's ok - I know I'm erm, not skinny. Lol!

I told the Hubby and he said I should lose weight cos I'm shaming the kids.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Bugger man.

Can u believe it?

It's October already! In just 2.5 months or so, it'll be Christmas then a brand new year !! This year just flew by for me.

I had Charlotte in January and now she's already 8.5 months old! All I have to do is scroll through my gazillion iphone photos to see my girls growing up.

And I can't believe it's already been 4 months since I've spoken to her. From being the best of friends, we are now total strangers.

And I love Christmas. And I love the holidays. Can't wait to spend more time w the girls, my beloved hubby and my good friends.

The only question now on my mind is whether I should get the new iPhone 4S at the end of October.

Lovely song to share :p

This is the latest single from Bruno Mars "It will rain" and it's the first track from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

It is a WONDERFUL song .. have a listen to it. I have it playing on repeat on my iPhone in the car :p
Here are the lyrics.

Bruno Mars - It Will Rain

If you ever leave me, baby,
Leave some morphine at my door
Cause it would take a whole lot of medication
To realize what we used to have,
We don't have it anymore.

There's no religion that could save me
No matter how long my knees are on the floor, oh
So keep in mind all the sacrifices I'm making
Will keep you by my side
Will keep you from walking out the door.

Cause there'll be no sunlight
if I lose you, baby
There'll be no clear skies
if I lose you, baby
Just like the clouds,
my eyes will do the same if you walk away
Everyday, it will rain,
rain, rain

I'll never be your mother's favorite
Your daddy can't even look me in the eye
Oooh if I was in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing
Saying there goes my little girl
walking with that troublesome guy
But they're just afraid of something they can't understand
Oooh well little darling watch me change their minds
Yea for you I'll try, I'll try, I'll try
I'll pick up these broken pieces 'til I'm bleeding
If that'll make you mine

Cause there'll be no sunlight
if I lose you, baby
There'll be no clear skies
if I lose you, baby
Just like the clouds,
my eyes will do the same if you walk away
Everyday, it will rain,
rain, rain

Ooooh Don't you say
goodbye, don't just say, goodbye
I'll pick up these broken pieces 'til I'm bleeding
If that'll make it right

Cause there'll be no sunlight
if I lose you, baby
There'll be no clear skies
if I lose you, baby
Just like the clouds,
my eyes will do the same if you walk away
Everyday, it will rain,
rain, rain...

Insomnia Part 2

Man, sometimes I think my body is operating in a different timezone. Here I am at freaking 4.16am in the morning awake. Luckily, there was a decent movie to watch on cable tv. Well, that movie has just ended and I'm still not sleepy. It has started to rain outside. I should go and make sure the windows at the utility room are closed .. But nah, I ain't going outta my room at this time. Thank goodness my bathroom is en suite. If not, I'd seriously consider having a chamber pot in my room. Hahaha!

Which is why I find it very hard to sleep when my hubby is away. Man, those nights are hard on me. Yes, I have the girls with me .. But I'm so used to having him next to me .. It makes it very hard to sleep without him.

Anyway, I managed to catch the trailer for Season 2 of "The Walking Dead" premiering on cable tv at the end of the month. And u know me and zombie movies/shows. It's like a moth drawn to a flame, man.

No one can understand my morbid fascination with the whole thing. Hey, neither can I. I'm scared shitless but I still watch. Man, you'll never know how long it took me to get over "I am Legend" - now those zombies were lethal man. Fast and strong. Not at all like most other zombie flicks where they sort of shuffle along and most anyone can outrun them.

Ok ok I shall stop my zombie chatter .. Lol. Season 2 of The Vampire Diaries started on tv last night. Man, there are way too many good looking people in that show. And I think Ian Somerhalder is CUTE btw.

Ok, I SHOULD try to sleep. Ttyl :p

hehe .. this was the 80s .. lol

Katy Perry's latest single, Last Friday Night, is a really catchy and radio friendly song. And the video is quite cute to watch too. See who you can spot in it .. Kenny G doesn't count .. who on this planet doesn't know he is a saxophone player? LOL :p

Waiting ..

U know, having an iPhone is a lifesaver. I don't play games on it but I love doing everything else .. Blogging, Facebook-ing, Instagramming & surfing. It keeps me sane cos now I don't have to be bored while waiting somewhere or when I'm breastfeeding.

I was at the doctor's clinic yesterday waiting for him to review my blood pressure which has been on the high side. I walked in alone and was pleased to find the clinic empty of any other waiting patients. Yay for me!

After registering, I sat down and started fiddling w my iPhone. I could hear that there was someone in there with the doctor. No matter I thought - after all, I would be the next one in to see him. How long could this patient take? The minutes went by. I looked up from my iPhone and asked the nurse. Is he in there with a patient? Cos I was feeling a bit pissed by then. I could hear laughing and chatting happening from the office. Blardy hell. How cheerful could a really sick person be, dammit.

The clinic assistant at the counter looked at me and told me that it was a sales rep that was in there. I knew it. No sick and dying person could possible be THAT chirpy. And I've never heard my doctor so HAPPY. I was suspicious.

True enough, when Miss Sales Rep came out of his office 10 minutes later, I knew why I had to wait damn long for my turn. Blardy hell. She was tall and slim, wearing a pencil think black skirt with a chiffony blouse and high heels and her wavy brown hair was artfully piled on her head. She also had lots of makeup on.

Gee, men are such suckers. It didn't look as if she was a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company, man (which is what she was apparently) .. I can think of something else she'd be selling and it won't be medicine. And get your mind out out of the gutter. I was thinking perfume or makeup. Lol.

Anyway, when I walked into his office, stupid man was still beaming from ear to ear. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. He may be a qualified DOCTOR but he is still just a man. Aw come on, DUDE!! - I wanted to say - She wanted to make a sale, u nitwit. Why do u think she was so nice? .. Cos, unfortunately, my doctor isn't what I'd define as good looking. On. any. planet.

So I had to keep my cool btw .. Cos I was there for a blood pressure review. No point getting exasperated just cos I waited close to half hour for the silly silly man.

My reading was high but it seemed to have gone down from the week before so I'm back to monitoring ... No medication. He feels it may be a post natal thing.

Next time, I'm not waiting around for him - high blood pressure or not. I have better things to do.

Tech issues

Man, I hate PC problems. Our current PC which we put together ourselves has been working beautifully for the last 1.5 years or so, I kid u not. No problems at all. Nothing. Nada. And it's super fast too. And it doesn't hang despite it being PC and not a Mac.

That is of course until 2 nights ago. Man, I felt like strangling the darn thing. And before, like just a couple of years back, this would have intrigued me enough to want to solve the problem myself - I'd stay up all night just to figure it out and fix it - now, I can't be bothered. I got frustrated, shut it down and promptly started surfing on my trusty iPhone.

Man, gotta love the iPhone. My iPhone 3GS has been working perfectly from Day 1.

*sigh* stupid PC.

Anyway, the Hubby thought he had fixed it yesterday but he was sadly mistaken methinks. The problem started up again today.

And now here I am once again on my lovely iPhone. I swear I'm gonna kick my PC soon.

Sleepy Monday

Mondays are such a drag. From when I was a student, I've felt that way. It's the first day after the weekend and it's the first day of the rest of the week. Monday truly is the suckiest day of the week. Even when u send something for repair on a Thursday or Friday, they are likely to tell u that they can't get to it until Monday.

Mondays are a drag.

And now that I'm a mom. That hasn't changed. I'm the most tired on Mondays. My body is attuned to a 3 day weekend when it's only 2. Damn. So as I stare at Charlotte asleep in my arms now, I'm slowly dozing off myself. Lol. But damn, holding a baby in your arms sitting on the sofa and dozing off such gives me neck aches. Haha! And I can hear blardy Dora on tv as I drift off to catch a quick nap. Damn Dora.

Hurrah!

Yeah! Sold off my last bulky baby item today. The Mothercare Cosatto Baby Changer with bathtub. It's barely a year old.

I bought it just before I had Charlotte and now that she can sit up and even pull herself up to stand, it was time to let it go. Sold it off at a decent price too. Much better than leaving it around the house till it looks just too shabby to sell or even give away.

I've been taking really good care of it and it looks excellent. No defects at all. And it's wiped down regularly too. So glad I sold it off easily.

I'll wait till Charlotte is a year old to sell of my infant car seat - the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix :)

Insomnia ..

Heh. I'm not getting enough sleep. I think this past 2 weeks I've averaged 6 hours or so a night and finally early this week, I had a massive headache that lasted a whole day then was on and off for the next.

In any case, I also needed to get my blood pressure checked so off I went to my doc. He gave me meds to help w the headache and told me it was either stress or tiredness that caused it. Nothing to do with blood pressure. Oh well ..

That's not to say my blood pressure was and is ok. It's not. My mother and grandmother both have high blood pressure. And I had an elevated blood pressure for my last 3 pregnancies so my doc had previously told me that it's likely I will develop high blood pressure somewhere along the way .. And I am 37 (going on to 38 this Dec)

So I'm been monitoring my bp with my home bp monitor. Handy thing it is. He told me to moderate my consumption of salt which isn't so much of a problem for us since we don't add salt to our food at home AT ALL. I haven't been using salt for years. Once in a very very long while IF the dish is really tasteless .. But usually, no. No salt, no pepper and no msg added. And we refrain from deep frying. Usually, I opt for soups. And we have fish at least once a week. And fruits everyday. Of course, my lifestyle while hectic, is rather sedentary .. I don't exercise like I should ..

I'm fine if I have to take high bp pills btw. I'd rather that than get a stroke and die. I want to be around for my girls :)

SOLD!

So happy. I've sold most of my bulky baby gear. I'm just left w the baby bath/changer unit.

Spongebob on your sandwich, anyone?

The Hubby was saying that I'm forever complaining about him on my blog, Facebook etc. Lol :p that's so not true, ok?! Yes, the man drives me bonkers sometimes but whose hubby doesn't? Other than that, he's the best Hubby in the world (Are you reading this, u bugger man?!) This weekend, we were at Causeway Point mall having lunch at this Japanese restaurant and then we walked around the mall a bit. The mall has been undergoing extensive renovation and while they aren't totally done yet, it is shaping up to be quite a nice makeover I do admit. Really quite thrilled to have a nice spanking mall.

Anyway, we came across some kitchen appliances on sale. And The Hubby thought it would be nice for the girls to have this Spongebob Squarepants sandwich maker. Aww, isn't that sweet of the man? So he went ahead and got this for them. Mind u, we ALREADY have one of these things in the cupboard. A regular non-cartoon imprinting one so I was kinda surprised he wanted to get this one for them. Cos now it means we have TWO of the darn things in my kitchen. Lol :p

Liar, liar .. Pants on fire ..

Today, The Hubby was home till about 12. And yes, whaddaya know .. The girls were absolute angels. Not that they're devils on any other day .. But yes, there are days that I think I'm just gonna dump them all at home with my maid and go for a nice tea at Dempsey Dome BY MYSELF (with bb Charlotte - no choice must bring her) lol.

Those are the days when Calista is cranky and difficult and Emily and Lauren seem to be bickering about everything.

Man, that so wasn't today.

Today, they were angels. Calista didn't fuss and cry and refuse to bathe (she's been doing recently) and Lauren and Emily played nice .. and were promptly dressed for school nice and early.

Coincidentally, Charlotte napped at the right time .. So I could actually sit and have a nice lunch instead of holding her on my lap and just gobbling my food down in a rush. Then she woke up just as I was done and ate her cereal really quickly.

Man, the house was nice and quiet .. No tears, no crying, no yelling (that's me yelling at them when needed) ..

And so, once again, I looked like a liar to the Hubby. Lol !! eh, come on man .. them behaving perfectly like angels doesn't happen every single day. But of course, it did happen today and so that picture I had painted to my Hubby via SMS (yes, I send him SMS-es complaining about my life when there are bad days) looked totally untrue.

My bugger kids set me up. I know it !!

And the selling actually begins ..

From the time I SAID I would start selling my stuff till about 3 days ago, I was kinda reluctant to let them go .. But it's still clutter and as of yesterday, I've sold the Fisher-Price Papasan chair and the Mothercare swinging crib. Oh yes, I sold off my Quinny Buzz too *sobs* I'm now left with the Cosatto Bath/Diaper changing station from Mothercare and the Graco swing. *sigh* will put both up for sale soon. Not like I'm going to have any more babies. Lol :p

Funny text convo w The Hubby

So, last night .. I boiled barley for The Hubby. He's having a really bad sore throat. First night he was back from the States, and I felt like strangling the man as he lay sleeping. Hahaha! His coughing kept jolting the poor baby awake.

Anyway, so in a bid to stop his coughing .. I also forced medication on him on Sunday and boiled the barley for him. Little did I know it was EXPIRED. lol.

Words with Friends

Well, I'm kinda hooked on the game. Of cos I don't win ALL the time. It's really challenging and I like playing when I have the time. And it's played on the iPhone. How convenient is that?

This is a nicely played game. Everything spaced out quite evenly all over the board. I like! I don't enjoy beating a friend per se. I enjoy the game. Really. To be fair, this game played with my friend - It's only her 2nd game ever. So gotta give her a break. Anyway, I could see as we went on in the game, she was improving. Awesome ! :p

So if you have time to spare on your iPhone, do check out Words with Friends, and go out there and play a game or 2 with your friends. You'll learn new words !

Yay!

So the man has just left in a cab for the airport to fly off to Phoenix, Arizona. He left with 2 less than half filled Samsonite suitcases. And my trusty list of what to buy for the girls and me.

The man wants me to be precise. So he told me to make sure I give him all the girls' dress sizes for the different stores I usually shop at like Gap and such. He'll be going to 2 major shopping areas, Scottsdale Fashion Square and Arizona Mills which is a factory outlet. Love those outlets. Just love em to death. When we lived in the States, we used to plan our holidays around factory outlet locations.

Man, these places have all the major brands in the US like Coach, Gap, Ralph Lauren etc. And before u think these places sell stock over runs or defective goods that didn't pass QC, well .. you'd be dead wrong. Often, these stores just sell stuff that's just from a past season ie they're not old old .. Just a season before. And they'd be sold at a much cheaper price than full retail.

Oh my, you can shop till you drop. Literally. I love factory outlet shopping. Who cares if the handbag design is from the previous season's collection? Not me. I ain't a supermodel or a Hollywood celebrity. Ain't no one looking at my bag and snapping a photo. Hell, I think most people don't care.

So back to my list. I have all sorts of stuff there. Mainly stuff for the girls. And I did ask for a Coach handbag and gave him a few options to look out for. Let's hope he manages to score ONE for me.
I kinda like this one.

Conversations with The Hub

Eh, don't forget to pass me your fuel card before u go off to Phoenix on Saturday, I tell The Hubby last night.

Ok, I intend to top up the gas for you on Friday night so it should last - I'll only be gone for 8 days, he says.

SILENCE.

Ok, what if I go out to the pub or some night spot every night .. then I'll need to top up the gas what, I reply.

The Hubby looks at me. Then looks at the baby who's chewing on her toy sitting on my lap on the bed.

Ok, go la, he says.

HAHAHAHA. Go where .. ? HOW? With a small baby in tow .. Sometimes, I wonder why I say these things. Not as if I can and want to go ANYWAY. Man, I'd be happy just going out for DINNER at a nice restaurant with Haslynda, my gal pal. We seldom get to meet for lunch or tea UNLESS she's on leave from work. Dinner, we haven't done in a while. I thought we'd go and catch a movie too this time .. yes, with baby Charlotte too, of course. What choice do I have? (LOL) .. Anyway, it won't be the first time for Charlotte. I think we just might catch "Cowboys and Aliens" .. Olivia WIlde looks fabulous in it !!

Nostalgia ..

I get nostalgic looking at photos of my 2 years in the States .. from Sept 2002 to Oct 2004, hubby, myself and Claudia had the wonderful opportunity to live on an air force base in the States. It was AWESOME. Those 2 years went by so quickly! We managed to make roadtrips almost every other month initially, then after I got pregnant, we slowed down.

Anyway, we were at Suntec City last weekend and guess what we stumbled upon?

Yes!! .. My favourite place in the States to buy CHEAP shoes. Man, they did the place up EXACTLY as their stores in the States. I used to walk in often cos they had a store at the mall in town near where the air base was (it was a 25 minute drive .. ) and I was often in there whenever I was at the mall .. The shoes were cheap and of decent quality AND the best thing was, they had my size.

Yeap, I have BIG feet .. ok ok, I am generally big all around, but man, buying shoes here in my size .. which is a 10 .. is a real pain. Ok, admittedly it's now easier .. but still, I can't walk into Bata or any of the local shoe shops and expect to find shoes in my size. Even my flip flops are from Ipanema and cost me 40 bucks. *sigh* I saw them in my size at the sporting shop .. and grabbed them.

I've found some stores which stock shoes from Europe or the States .. they will have shoes and sandals in my size. Ok, I can probably find Crocs in my size .. but ugh. Not for me. I can't seem to find the material comfy. At all.

Anyway, back to Payless .. I walked in the store here and found 2 pairs I could wear .. and they were 40 bucks each .. and high-heeled too. Too high. I'm quite likely to fall and kill someone with my size and weight, wearing shoes like that. OR .. I could hit someone with my car wearing those shoes .. cos I cannot seem to drive with high heels .. lol !

I hope they bring in more of the bigger sizes soon .. and please let them have sandals or at least kitten heeled shoes.

I'm glad

Back in October 2009, I wrote a short letter to The Straits Times newspaper to complain about the senselessness of scheduling school holidays like Children's Day right smack in the middle of the week (depending on the day Oct 1st fell on) .. voila, the Ministry of Education AGREED with me ..

My letter and their reply :)

Am so glad that this year, both Children's Day and Teacher's Day is now a long weekend instead of a weekday right smack in the centre of the week.

Scheduled school holidays for 2011 :)

ok, ok .. I'm sure it's not solely cos of my letter .. and truthfully, it's not like I moved mountains. But it's nice to know that finally, they're doing SOMETHING about it. I'm sure I wasn't the ONLY one who complained.

Idiosyncrasies

We all have them. Some have stranger ones than others. And it's nice to know that my hubby and I seem to share a couple of them. One of them is over parking.

Specifically, in my basement carpark of my condo. We have a favorite parking lot we like to park our Odyssey in. If course, it's a single lot and it's right next to the exit door leading to our lift lobby. And obviously, it's not just OUR favorite lot.A few of the other car owners seem to favour that lot too. For obvious reasons.

Dammit.

My direct neighbour who lives in the opposite apartment has chosen to be nice enough to always leave that lot empty for me. Cos he's retired and his car, just like mine, is mostly parked in the carpark most of the time. I appreciate it. I really do. He goes out to buy lunch etc and when he come back, he's never parked in MY lot. Can't say the same for the other neighbours of mine who compete with me over that blardy lot everyday.

It's basically a case of who gets home the earliest, gets the lot. Now for me, I'm always up and down ferrying the girls all over the over the place at all times of the day. And so while I'm parking in that lot most of the DAY .. Whether I get that lot OVERNIGHT is another story. It's largely dependent on which of my girls have whatever class on whatever day. I think currently, I'm losing my special lot every Thursday. Cos for sure, one of my other competitors arrive home while I'm gone. Man, I should CANCEL that class of Claudia's .. LOL. Or if I choose to meet a friend for tea .. and I arrive home after 5.30 .. there goes my lot. It doesn't stop me from going out and living my life, but I get mildly annoyed whenever I drive in and see MY lot occupied. And nowadays, it's this blue metallic BMW. Damn his soul to hell lor.

Things get more exciting on Friday. Cos for us, we usually don't go out till Sundays for church so it is nice if we had that lot for the 2 nights. Last Saturday, I had a sudden desire to eat pratas for breakfast and rushed out to go buy some .. Upon reaching the carpark, I saw that my Odyssey was parked in my favourite lot .. and so trudged back home .. sans prata of course. I had FORGOTTEN that I had managed to get my fav lot the night before .. I thought I was parked elsewhere. But seeing my car there in my fav lot .. well, then breakfast doesn't seem all that important ..

Eh, you wouldn't think it's sad if you were in this situation, man. My friend is experiencing the same thing in her condo carpark. Haha! So it's not just us. She told me that her hubby and her lugged 4 kids up the bus to a nearby mall on a Saturday .. Just to retain her favourite parking space. I was shrieking with laughter. I would have chosen to forgo the outing altogether. You won't see me on the bus with 5 kids man.

Ever.

Sent from Sam's iPhone :p

Bleah

My lovely blue Ted Baker frames were destroyed when SOMEONE (probably Calista) stepped on them while it was under my pillow. I'm so bummed. I really liked those. And my optician doesn't have that one anymore. Instead, I opted to save money and buy this brandless pair. Shucks, it still cost me $99 !! Mind you, I reused my lens .. so $99 is just for the ugly plastic frame

O Happy Day!

Man, I am about to die. Met up w an old friend for lunch at a Jap restaurant. Had lunch and chatted awhile then as I left to pick Emily up, we decided to meet up again in a few hours to have "tea".
Yeah, right, tea. Lol !
We had Indian rojak .. And it was a big mountain. Seriously, I had my doubts we could finish it but finish it we did. Then we proceeded to order another item from the stall. "Coin" prata set. It was quite yummy - we shared one set. We wiped that out in minutes then we decided to have dessert. We ordered "pulut hitam" ... I think the Indian stall owner and his stall assistants must've been thinking we were gluttons. Probably saying "man, it's no wonder those 2 ladies aren't slim with all the food they consumed" .. Lol !
The old lady who cleared out dishes .. She asked me whether I was still gonna have dinner after what seemed like a heavy meal. I smiled broadly and told her quite convincingly that of course I was gonna skip dinner that night!!

HAHAHAHAHA!

De-cluttering is hard to do ..

What is that saying again? .. Ah yes, one man's trash is another man's gold. HUH. You know who says that? .. People who HOARD. Or just dislike THROWING things away. The Hubby comes from parents who are hoarders. Not the horrible ones you see on "Renovaid" .. but close enough. When I moved into their place after getting married, they must have cursed me to high heaven. I, of course, didn't see it that way. I thought I was saving them from themselves. Their apartment was like a dumpster and I took it upon myself to get the whole place cleared out.  That, and I refused to live in such filth and clutter. It was an absolute nightmare getting the place cleared up and getting them to agree to throw stuff away.

Anyway, the bottom line is I like to clear out clutter. And I was doing that today. With the girls' wardrobe .. managed to get 3 bags of clothes to be chucked out.

Before I could instruct my maid to bring the bags downstairs to be thrown away, the man comes home.

First thing he says .. "oh, you're throwing these stuff away?"

Man, I had to STRUGGLE not to roll my eyes cos I KNEW what was coming. And mentally kicking myself HARD for not throwing the stuff away earlier OR at least hiding the bags in the store room so my maid could clear it later.

Of course, after that ONE question, things went downhill from there .. LOL !

He basically said I was ruining our retirement plans with my spending *me rolling eyes here* and please could I not buy things so much only to throw them away *me rolling my eyes again* -- ok I was a bit annoyed by that .. lol.

HAIYA, of course I was throwing away things that needed to be thrown away for various reasons .. it's really hard to de-clutter with The Husband around. The man feels as if I'm throwing his money down the drain. He thinks things have to be kept FOREVER and used FOREVER once they're BOUGHT with HIS money.

lol :p

Anyway, how did our bickering end you ask? ... well, I basically said that I should've cleared the stuff before he came home .. (lol) ... and he called me stubborn .. cos of the whole spending thing. Then our argument ended.


I for one, think the man is infinitely lucky that I

a) don't hanker over and buy luxury designer handbags like Chanel ..
b) don't buy expensive jewellery too
c) don't really shop for clothes and shoes for myself every month .. it's more on a need-to basis. If I run out of clothes or my clothes start to look shabby THEN I go out and buy.
d) don't insist that we have super expensive furniture or that our apt look like it came straight out of a home interior design magazine. We have 5 kids .. that ship has sailed long ago, man.

Tomorrow is another day ... onto yet another closet !!! .. A cluttered home is a messy one (duh).

Men are indeed from another planet ...

No, scratch that. They are from another solar system ...

For the last 10 years, I've been telling The Hubby that I was of the opinion that the door of the toilet in the utility room should be changed to a sliding door. Of course, the man was adamant that the door be NOT changed. He said the door was fine, nothing wrong with it, why should we throw out a perfectly working door and put in a sliding one or a bi-fold one? Plus he would have to PAY for a new one *eyes rolling here*

Of course, I had a good reason for suggesting that.

A damn good reason.

When the idiot people designed the apartments at my condo .. at least the ones with my apartment layout, the door from my kitchen to the utility room and the toilet door IN the utility room .. well, the doors are perpendicular to each other when closed .. that means simply that at any one time, only ONE door can stay open since the hinges are on the same side for both .. and most of the time, the kitchen door has to stay open .. especially since the kitchen would have no ventilation otherwise. So the toilet door has to remain closed 90% of the time. The toilet is tiny by the way. Just the toilet bowl unit and a small sink. Of course, it has a light installed in the ceiling but it's irritating that the toilet has to be dark and closed all the time.

And it's just awkward to have 2 doors back to back if I were to leave BOTH open .. the doors would be open just halfway .. the design was just really plain ol' DUMB. I mean, if they really had no choice, why on earth did the developer NOT just install a folding door for that toilet to begin with ??!!

So somewhere along the way, after a sufficient time had passed by (a few years), I broached the topic again .. cos I didn't argue over the door issue for the whole 10 years ...

The man says NO. A flat no.

What the ...

And now, 10 years have gone by and I'm still living with that stupid door situation. TEN YEARS. I kid you not. My maid has to manouver around a small space with the 2 doors .. to hang clothes up, get at the washer and dryer, get into the store room .. it's just a nuisance having the doors like that.

2 weeks ago, I call up the folks at PD Door, they send their guy over to take measurements and give me a quote and today it's been installed. YES, I have a new swing and slide door !!! Ok, this was taken off of their website and it ISN'T MY door. But this is what it looks like !!

And it may just be a door, but man, once that original toilet door was taken out, and the new pd door installed, the area actually looked more spacious !! Of cos - with one less door naturally the area looks less cluttered!! I am PLEASED with the results. And I love that unlike traditional folding doors which have that UGLY track at the bottom, pd doors DON'T !! So happy with how it turned out!!

Ok, so back to my point here .. men are indeed a strange breed. I know what The Hubby was thinking .. or at least I think I do. He didn't want to waste money changing out the door (when we first bought our apartment) cos it just seemed like a waste of money. The fact that the door placement was not thought out well was secondary to him. He paid for the apartment (and that included the door) .. so he felt that we might as well use it. Till it's spoilt or we died or moved. Whichever came first. And come on, doors don't get spoilt ! .. How?? Unless it's your front door and you get paint splashed on it by loansharks .. doors are pretty hardy things that almost never need replacing. DAMMIT.

TEN YEARS, TEN WHOLE YEARS. Are u getting a sense of my bitteness here yet??! lol :p

By the way, in case you haven't guessed .. I paid for the stinking new door. LOL. Oh well, it's HIS money anyway. I'm just so happy with how it turned out, I told my maid if I really ran out of money, we're all eating plain old rice and fried anchovies for dinner.

HUH. I'll be happily sitting in my teeny toilet staring at my new door !!

Lunches and teas with girlfriends

Ok no pics .. A lot of the time, I'm too busy eating to take photos. Lol. Last week, I went to Marmalade Pantry with a group of gals .. We had a nice time chatting.

Today, I met up with an old friend while her boy was in Chinese class. We were neighbors back on Canon AFB in 2002.

We had food at this prata shop in United Square. I had thosai masala. I love Indian food btw.

Me time

With 5 kids, "me" time has to be carefully planned. Lol. I seldom have the time to do just anything everyday. I have stuff that I currently need doing which I have yet to do, like going for a facial (can't do that yet - still nursing Charlotte), rebonding my hair (same thing .. Can't leave Charlotte for so long) and a pedicure.

Last week, I managed to go for a lovely tea with my girlfriends at Marmalade Pantry at ION Orchard. We had fun chatting and eating :) Unfortunately, I didn't take a single photo of us at tea.

This pic was taken awhile back. I was with Charlotte who was happily in her sling staring at me gobbling down my so-late-breakfast-it-was-almost-lunch meal.

Ok, I cannot, for the life of me, get up early. With good reason might I add .. I sleep at about 2.30am everyday. How to wake up at 7am? I usually get up at 9. So I have all these grand plans for breakfast which never materialize cos by the time I'm all bathed and dressed .. Charlotte too, it's already freaking lunch time. Dammit !!

My shoe collection

I have a confession. See my new shoes? You'd think I'd be dying to wear them out ya? I haven't. And I won't. I like them too much to wear them I tell myself. Or, it's hard to drive with them .. Or, I just go up and down ferrying the girls to school and classes, why do I need to wear my "nice" shoes/ sandals. Ah yes, all the excuses. So I end up just storing them in the cupboard.

And so it turns out my collection is growing and I have yet to wear my newer pairs. Darn.

Ok, back to the pictures. The shoes are nice, aren't they ??

Family

Had a grand reunion with my extended family. My cousin, Whitney graduated and is now Dr Whitney D'Cotta!

Awesome! We're all proud of her. Her parents threw her a dinner celebration at the Guild House in Bukit Timah and The Hubby and I were invited. Here is a photo of me and another of my cousins, Geraldine. She's a banker :)

DNA testing ..

Had a funny thought the other day.

Charlotte is our last baby cos The Hubby has gone for a vasectomy .. But I just thought I'd ASK. Lol.

"hey, so does this mean that if I do fall pregnant sometime in the future, you'll make me go for a DNA test to prove the baby is yours?" I asked The Hubby.

"Of course! That goes without saying!" Bugger had the cheek to say.

Instead of feeling indignant, I hooted with laughter. Eh, it's kinda funny and he's right. Trust or no trust, I'd go anyway just to make him happy.

Green grass

Is the grass greener on the other side of the pasture? Come on, just look at the pic below. It's taken by a friend of mine currently residing in Mountain Home, Idaho. That's her dog, MacKenzie. Just stare at the picture for all of 10 seconds and tell me you don't think the grass is greener over there. Hell, yeah it is. I had the wonderful opportunity to live in Clovis, NM for 2 years on an air force base, Canon AFB. It was the best 2 years of my life. Not only was the grass really greener, the air was fresher, the weather was a hellava lot better .. But the space was awesome. Wide, open spaces of just sky and land. NM is relatively flat but the other states .. We had long road trips whenever we could and it was truly breathtaking looking at the scenery. Mountains, lakes, valleys and gorges .. They are truly awesome. And visiting the Grand Canyon remains one of the best surprises Hubby ever gave us.

A last look

This is my Graco Silhoutte swing .. I love it. If I were having any more babies, there is no doubt I'd keep the swing. But I am not. Only Charlotte got to enjoy this swing btw. I haven't had it that long. lol :p

Lastly here is a shot of Charlotte napping in it :)