Karaoke & Pancakes

Today I went for a girls' day out with my posse. After being so sick for so many weeks, it felt really good to be able to venture outside of the house and meet up with my favorite gals. The event was a special tribute to one of our members, Akish, who was leaving Malaysia to join her hubby in Dubai.

To commemorate our long lasting friendship, we decided to go crazy and spend 3 hours at a karaoke session. I had never been before so I was a bit sceptical at the whole deal. But once I got there, hehehe...let's just say Kelly Clarkson doesn't hold a flame to my singing skills!! We sang song after song after song, most of them from the 80's and 90's, just as a reminder of how long we had been there for each other. In the end, we all had so much fun that 3 hours wasn't nearly enough.

After that, we headed for more food. Lunch had been served at the karaoke place but it wasn't enough for my appetite. Heee. So Noresh suggested we try out the new pancake restaurant since we wanted someplace nice and quiet to fill our tummies and share gossips and stories.

After eating, we all headed back home but not before we bought Akish a nice Coach keychain for her to take to Dubai.

It was a short getogether but eventhough I was dead tired by the time I got home, I look forward to our next outing. Akish, we shall all miss you so much. Keep in touch and take care. Love you and God bless.

Moment of Truth

I was watching this reality show previously when the contestant was asked the following question.

" Do you feel that your mom abandoned you during your pregnancy?"

She answered "Yes" to which the female computer confirmed "That answer is TRUE."






Interesting.

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Last Monday I had my 18th week checkup. 18 weeks!! Still not at the half way line but getting there. Think positive!!

So far, everything looks ok. Baby is doing fine, rather active actually. I can already feel it kicking and somersaulting inside. Because of my previous history, the doctor did thorough scanning and tests. So far, brain, spine, femur, head all look and measure as they should. Can't say I'm not relieved.

I did however complain to my doctor about my insomnia. I told here I had tried various other methods of getting some sleep; hot cocoa, classical music, reading, but nothing seems to work. I hadn't gotten any sleep for 2 weeks and was making me into a basket case. So after much consultation from her other doctor friend, she finally prescribed me a low dosage of Xanax.

I told hubby about this and as expected, he freaked out. Hubby hates me taking any kind of drugs, especially during pregnancy. So for the first night, I once again tried to fall asleep naturally.

12 midnight came and went and I was still awake.

1am came and went and I was still awake, getting restless by the minute.

Finally at 2am, I woke hubby up. "I can't sleep so I'm going to take that d#*m pill." I doubt he even heard me.

And it worked. I don't know if it's more of a physiological effect but I was snoozing within 30 minutes of taking the pill. Unfortunately because I had taken it at such a late time, I was still groggy by morning. So I slept in and arrived at work late.

Last night, I took the pill at 11pm and finally...FINALLY was able to get 7 hours of sleep. Ahhh, heaven.

I Heart Youtube

I upgraded my blog template. The layout looks a bit funny, especially the header but it will have to do for now. Maybe when I’m in the mood, I’ll tweak around with the layout some more. I lost some of the gadgets from my previous template like my Shoutbox and various links. Luckily I saved the old template’s coding so maybe I can still salvage those. Also, since Blogrolling has been down for some time, I decided to just use Bloggers’ bloglist widget. I think I’m still missing a few blogs though. If you find that your blog is no longer on my Blogger’s Delight list, please let me know.

I added a few widgets, like the Follower’s list (baru sorang…hehehehe) and a music playlist. Konon nak bagi nampak funky la tu. Excuse the Mandy Moore song but ever since I watched A Walk To Remember (courtesy of youtube), the song has been playing in my head again and again. I rather like it plus Mandy Moore can actually sing. And actually the movie isn’t all that bad. Kind of predictable (teenage romance and all) but still quite sad at the end.

Speaking of youtube, that site was my salvation during my resting period at home. It’s amazing how many movies I got to watch (for free!!). I was able to watch Misery (finally…I had been trying to see that movie like forever!!), Brokeback Mountain (heh…), all 3 films about Anne of Green Gables, Penelope, Atonement, Suicide Club and a few more I can’t recall.


Misery – fabulous!! Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes is dead on!! Totally Oscar worthy. James Caan’s performance was not too shabby either. I cringed during the infamous “sledgehammer scene”…Oh My God!!! I love Stephen King’s books and I thought this movie was a good representation of it, eventhough they did change a number of scenes to suit movie goers. Go see it!







Brokeback Mountain – ok I admit, I watched it because I was curious about..you know, the whole gay cowboy thingy. Turns out it wasn’t that big of a deal; the “scene” was kind of shot in the dark to begin with and you don’t actually see much. I did think the whole premise of the story, being about forbidden love and all was quite sad. I would say go watch it if you love movies with beautiful scenery and heavy moral issues. Oh, just to entice the guys, you get to see Anne Hathaway topless. Heeee…man, that girl sure “developed” alright.



Anne of Green Gables – this was one of my most favorite films when I was a teenager. Like all the girls my age at that time, I fell in love with Gilbert Blythe. Man, was he good looking! Plus I also loved Anne Shirley and her funny antics. The two follow up films were also very good but showed too little of Gilbert, in my opinion.









Penelope – This movie is rather recent so I was surprised to see it available on youtube. I was interested in it because it had James McAvoy in it. Heee. However, the movie was rather nice too. I thought Christina Ricci looked cute with a pig snout. Haha.








Atonement – again, James McAvoy. And Heather, you were right. The movie was kind of boring but I kind of cried at the ending. I blame my hormones. Hah.









Suicide Club – This is a Japanese Horror that I had heard about a few months back. Even with the subtitles, I didn’t actually understand the whole movie. If anything, just watch it for the gory suicide scenes. And believe me, they are rather gory.

Willing It To Be Better

I took another week off from work on advice from my boss and also my own body. This HG has been so unpredictable lately, I can't tell if I'm going to be ok or not the next day.

But I don't want to write about the misery of pregnancy because reading my past (five? six?) posts, it's like DUDE, WE GET IT. BEING PREGNANT SUCKS!! So instead of going on and on about how tired I am all the time or how my eating habits are based on what tastes good coming back up instead of going down (note: NOTHING tastes good coming back up, except sweet candy), I'm going to write about it for only a few paragraphs. And then that's it. Really. Promise. No more pregnancy rants after this.

Eventhough I've been able to eat every now and then, that constant feeling that I've ate too much is always there. Even after like hours after eating, I feel like nothing actually went down but just stayed in my throat area. Sudden movements by myself or others around me makes me gag. Yawning makes me gag. Sneezing makes me gag. It's only will power and the extreme despair of seeing food go to waste that's keeping me from surrendering and heading for the toilet.

Hubby says it's because I don't eat enough, which maybe true if not for the fact that eating seems to be the major cause for my nauseousness. I feel good during the process of eating but 2 minutes after and I'm like kicking myself for having that slice of bread or drinking that cup of hot cocoa. Does that mean I need to constantly be eating? It's times like this that I envy the cow; able to munch away at grass for hours on end. But then they have four stomachs whereas I only have one. And it's not all that big to begin with either.

This constant tired feeling I have is the biggest bugger. It sucks when my mind keeps thinking of all the things I need to do and all the people that depend on me but my body can't comply. Luckily the girls have been super understanding, but still I can tell they miss our "adventurous girls" time together. I've been able to interact more with them without getting too tired; previously even smiling for them was such a chore. Now we spend most of our time together in front of the idiot box watching cartoons which maybe not all that great but still at least I can be close to them. Dina loves to say hello to the baby every now and then, which kind of reminds me that I'm pregnant and not just "sick". I'm sick for a reason, WITH a reason so all those negative thoughts I've been thinking for the past nine weeks should cease immediately. I've been through worst and survived.

Having said that, I do not enjoy being pregnant. If a genie suddenly appeared in front of me and granted me one wish, it would be for me to be like J.Lo, Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie and all those other pregnant, happy, fabulous, glowing-with-motherly-aura celebrities I've tortured myself to look at everyday. But alas, I am not one of those people. I cannot connect or relate to a pregnant woman who says she's so happy to be pregnant and being pregnant is the best time of her life and she wishes she was pregnant all the time. I wish I could. Instead I'm the one who gets to relate being pregnant with constant nausea, vomiting, constipation, fainting spells, acne, extra dry skin, cramps, and all the aches and pains you can get while pregnant.

Blaa. This rant has gone on long enough. And while there is so much more I wish to get off my chest, I feel that this is enough for my blog. The last thing I would want is for my future child to read this and come up to me only to ask "So did you even want me?"

So let me state it loud and clear right here. Dear Baby, eventhough I'm going through hell right here and eventhough there are times that I may wish that it was all over, at the end of the day I realise the blessing that has been placed on our family. And eventhough I may not think so now, I know that in the future, I'll look back at this period of my life, then set my eyes on you and know, with all the love in my heart, that it was totally worth it.

Oh No!!

Arghhhh.....I wrote too soon. Today is a total relapse. Vomititis galore!! And I thought the worst was over. Had to log on to let my colleague know because my phone got barred. Grrr...

Now please excuse me while I take a short nap. My head is spinning again...

Better

Heee, I didn’t expect other people to be more pissed off about Anonymous comment than I was. In the years that I’ve been blogging, if there’s one thing I’ve learned is that what I write is what I feel at that time and like any other stuff put out into the public domain, is open to critics and comments. I can’t stop people from saying what they say but I can control how I want to feel about it. I find the best way to handle stuff like that is to take everything with a pinch of humor (as Anonymous should have with my post) and let it roll off my back. The younger-me maybe would have lost sleep over it but the now-me just can’t be bothered. Life is too short to nit and pick at every single bad thing that come my way.

But I really must give a huge shout out to all my friends who did come to my defense via email and YM. In a weird way, I guess I owe thanks to Anonymous too, coz your comment did not hurt me as maybe intended but actually brought out my true friends to my side.

******************************************************
And more good news....I think my MS is started to subside..FINALLY!! Eating is no longer as torturous as it was before, though keeping the food down is still a battle sometimes. I’m no longer nauseous 24/7 (it comes in waves instead of constant all the time) but certain smells and sights do still bring me down. Mornings are still a bit iffy for me but I find once I’ve gotten over the initial fatigue feeling and get my ass moving, I can make it through the day. Fainting spells also haven’t happened since last week so hopefully none of that anymore. I still get tired easily but fortunately my boss has been very lenient on the amount of workload I have.

I still have insomnia which may be the cause for my tiredness in the morning but so far remedies like reading a book, watching TV and drinking hot chocolate hasn’t worked for me. My doctor refuses to give me any sleeping pills seeing how drugged up I already am so bedtime has been a bit frustrating. Now that I’ve started work again, I don’t take any afternoon naps. By right, I SHOULD be tired at night but sometimes I find myself blinking away even at 3am. Hubby says it’s because I’ve been thinking about so many things lately; work, being sick, the kids, etc. I dunno…maybe, but I wish I could sleep better. If anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears (or more eyes in this case).

But overall, I’m doing much better. Not 100% as I would like to be but at least I can function somewhat. Hopefully the time will come when I can truly start to enjoy this pregnancy and not associate it with being sick or HG.

Why I Hate Coming To Work

1. Getting up in the morning is such a battle and going to the toilet always induces a gag fest.

2. The recent fainting spells have me a bit scared, thus driving has to be done slowly.

3. My skin is already paper dry; the aircon in the office isn’t making it any better.

4. EVERYONE WEARS PERFUME!!!

5. When people ask me how I’m feeling, I don’t know whether to puke in front of them, smile or punch them in the face. All 3 choices take too much energy.

6. People talk about what they’re going to have for lunch AN HOUR before lunch time. Even listening make me want to vomit.

7. The ride on the lift is torture, whether or not there are other people in it. Never knew small spaces could hold BO for so long.

8. All the other pregnant women in the office are actually happy and enjoying their pregnancy and their only concern is how much weight they’ve gained. Damn fluffies!!!!

What's It To Ya?

Wow, I really wasn't expecting that last comment on my previous post. A bit harsh, I must say.

Believe me, I've asked that question myself. Why am I pregnant again? I can give 2 good reasons why...my 2 beautiful girls.

I suffered 4 months of chronic MS with Dania and 7 (seven!!) months with Dina. But now, years have gone by and I can tell you all that suffering is a distant memory. Whatever I went through is so worth it.

But you know what, I don't need to justify my condition to anyone, much less Anonymous. So what if I'm going through my own personnel hell right now. So what if my maid is doing all the chores in the house? That's what I'm paying her for!! As for that last comment, maybe Anonymous was talking from experience.

So whatever. Lantak le orang nak cakap apa. I'm just gonna concentrate in getting better.

Resting

I admitted myself to the hospital last Friday because I was getting more dehydrated by the day. Sucking on apples wasn't cutting it; my skin was already paper dry and I even had trouble catching a breath. I decided getting an IV drip would be my best bet, at least it would provide me the fluids I desperately needed.

I managed to drive myself slowly to the hospital because hubby was late coming home. Admission wasn't that hard and the nurses were very nice. They had a problem trying to put in the IV because my veins had shrunk. The doctor had to put the drip on slo-mo because too fast a drip hurt like shit.

All in all, I spent the entire weekend in the hospital and to tell the truth, I'm kind of glad I did. The IV really helped. The food sucked though but with hospital food, you can't expect 5 star hotel cuisine.

So now I'm resting at home. My doctor gave me 2 weeks of MC and eventhough I'm bored out of my mind, I really need this time to rest. I just can't think about anything else right now; not work, not the spa, not hubby, not even the girls.

If there's one thing (or rather person) that's really helping me with everything, it's got to be my new maid. She is just heaven sent!!! Since the first day she arrived, she just bonded with the girls and took over all the chores. Plus she cooks!! I love her.

I'm praying everyday that my MS goes away soon. I'm sick of feeling sick everyday. I know hubby's sick of it already. I think because when he goes to work, I'm still sleeping and when he gets back, I'm slumped in front of the TV, he thinks I'm having the time of my life. Truth is, half the time, I'm not even watching the TV, more like seeing through it. In my mind is that little voice constantly telling me "do not vomit, do not vomit." Eventhough I tell it to shut up, I just can;t get it out of my head. So I use the TV, the Internet, or even the girls to distract me. Grrrr...

Miserable

Everyday is a daily struggle. Eating is such a chore and trying to keep food down is sometimes a losing battle. Unbelievably keeping down liquids is harder so I’m trying to get my fluids from fruits like apples and such. A glass of juice takes me one hour to finish. I have to sip slowly in order not to have it all come out again.

I think the worst thing out of all of this is the complete loneliness I feel. Nobody understands what I’m going through. Even hubby, who has seen me gone through this stage 5 times already, doesn’t get it when I say I can’t eat or drink. What he hears is that I WON’T eat or drink so if I just toughen up and JUST EAT, everything would be better. My mom hasn’t called me in weeks; I could be in the hospital or dead for all she cares. I had a fight with my partner because I wasn’t able to cover her at the spa.

Sometimes I wish I had a lot of money that I could whisk myself to a highland resort where it would be cool and breezy and there would be nurses and maids to take care of my every need. I would just spend the day lying in bed with a good book or sit out under the shade and appreciate the breeze. No pollution, no funny smells to make me gag. Nobody to bother me about work or family matters. Nobody to make me feel guilty for not pulling my weight.

My nose is hyper sensitive nowadays. I’ve kicked hubby out of bed because his BO offends me so he sleeps on the floor with the girls. Part of me feels guilty but another part of me says if I had to choose between sleeping on the floor and being nauseous all the time, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out which one I would choose. It’s not just hubby; even the girls’ sweet smell is getting to me, especially when they’ve just taken their baths. I can’t remember the last time I hugged or kissed them. And the worst thing is, right now, I don’t really care.

10 Weeks

I had my check up yesterday. So far, everything looks ok, bleeding has become more of a stain nowadays and my doctor gave me some pills for my MS. I’m crossing my fingers that they work. My MS has been rather funny this time around; not funny ha-ha but funny weird. Somedays I vomit 2-3 times a day (extra bad day), other days I vomit once (bad day) and occasionally I just feel nauseous all day (good day?). Whatever it is, I’m into my 10th week already (only!!) so here’s hoping the MS starts to wear off.

One thing that hasn’t let up is my constant feeling of tiredness. Everything I do, I have to pep talk myself into doing it. “Come on Along, just get to the bathroom. OK, now reach for your toothbrush. OK, not so much toothpaste. Yeah, 3 seconds of brushing should be enough.”

So one of the things I’m going to do this time around is to learn my body limits. I think my last 3 miscarriages were partly due to me not listening to my body and just plowing through. This is what my doctor advised anyway; to get a much rest as possible, not to get stressed and to eat something (anything!). Unfortunately it’s a bit hard to do when people are asking you “how you feeling…you look pale, you should rest” but in the very same breath add “by the way, you need to attend this….do that…complete this…prepare that.” Sigh.

This sidenote goes out to a certain someone - I don’t appreciate it you laughing in my face over my MS. I was all ears when you went through your phase; I would think someone who knows the pain of feeling nauseous and vomiting all the time would know better than to make fun of it. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, much more someone I consider a friend. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

Hair-Less

2 days ago I got a hair cut. I got it short, really short. In my mind, I was thinking Posh Spice and her latest pixie cut. I told the hairdresser this, I want Posh Spice’s latest haircut. She looked at me and said “that’s really short.”

Yeah, kind of what I was thinking here. I can’t stand the smell of shampoo anymore so less hair to worry about, the better.

As I got ready to sit in the chair, the lady looked at me again. “Cacak-cacak punya style ah? (Spiky hair style?)”

Huh? Whatever. I just shrugged and tried not to breathe in so much of the chemical fumes of the shop. In other words, I concentrated in trying not to vomit during the hair cutting session.

I probably should have said something when she took out a long razor blade instead of the usual scissors. I probably should have said something when the hairdresser started to chuckle as she shaved my hair off. Instead I kept quiet and just watched the transformation unfold before me.

It was all over in 10 minutes. In 10 minutes, I had turned from lady with long shoulder length hair to boy with spiked hair.

I was Hillary Swank from Boys Don’t Cry. But then I don’t have her sharp features or strong jaw to pull it off.

Then I thought, “Good God, I look like Annie Lennox!!”

Great, I either looked like a lost boy or a 40 year old woman trying to be funky.

When I got home, hubby was already waiting.

“I cut my hair.”

“Oh, really. You’ve been talking about doing that for days.”

“It’s really short. REALLY short.”

“Can’t be that ba….Oh my goodness!”

Truth be told, hubby was rather good natured about the whole thing. The girls, not so much. Dina kept asking me why I now looked like a boy. Even my maid was like, “it’s too short.”

Ah well, what’s done is done. Hair will grow back anyway. Just one less thing to think about in my not-so-good condition nowadays.

Emotional

Yesterday I watched the movie Miss Potter which starred Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson. It was just the type of movie I was looking for; romantic yet still light enough that I didn’t have to think much. It did have an extremely tragic scene which left me sobbing my eyes out. Dania was quite shocked to see me cry especially when I told her it was because of the movie. She proceeded to sit beside me and rub my back to make me feel better.

It’s been a while since I’ve cried because of a movie. I blame the hormones. I also blame the hormones for my state of mind nowadays; I’m constantly tired and nauseous. Luckily vomited is limited to mornings only but getting up is such a hassle. The earliest I can get to work is 930am and even that’s with much force on my part. I wish I could just wake up next morning and suddenly be 9 months pregnant; get this whole thing over and done with.

Explanation

So it's been a while. And while I'm still not in a blogging kind of mood, I thought I might just spare a few minutes to explain what has been going on.

OK, ready? Deep breathe.....









I'm pregnant.

I know, this should be good news, right? I should be over the moon, thankful..yada,yada,yada.

Save your breath. I know all that. It's just, when you've been through what I have the past year, what with 3 miscarriages in a row, being pregnant again is scary stuff.

So far, the pregnancy is ok. When I wrote my last post, I was 5 weeks and had started to bleed. I really thought I was going to lose the baby then. I shut down mentally and physically, because thinking made me sad and angry and helpless.

During my 6 weeks check up the doctor confirmed that I had several blood clots in my womb. So far, still no heartbeat but she told me not to worry and prescribed me hormone pills.

Yeah right, telling me not to worry is like telling Paris Hilton not to dress up like skank. Not going to happen!!

Because of this fact, my raya wasn't all that joyous. Yeah, I did all the things required, visited all the people we had to visit, if only for the girls' sake. My mind just couldn't stop thinking about anything else. Luckily I hadn't told anyone but my mom about my condition, so nobody kept asking me if I was ok all the time.

So now I'm at 8 weeks and still spotting lightly. My appetite has gone down too, though I'm constantly hungry. My MS has reared its ugly head again although rather mild this time. I hope it just doesn't get any worst; I don't even want to remember what I went through last year.

All in all, I'm taking things one day at a time. Because of my past history, I find myself unable to attach myself to the child I'm currently carrying. It's like I think if I don't get too attached, then I won't be too depressed when I lose it.

I know, I know...bad thoughts. But I can't help.

Helpless

I don't want to think about it.

I don't want to cry over it.

I just want to lie down and sleep.

I can't function. I have no mood.

There's nothing I can do but wait. Wait and see.

Mickey Has Left The Building

We have caught the mouse!!!

Hubby was late coming home last night so Enon and myself decided to take things into our own hands. Ibu had brought us the mouse trap, complete with some dried fish as bait.

Indeed, after only half an hour of setting the trap, we heard the cage being rattled.

SUCCESS!! Or as Kathy Bates's character in The Waterboy would say, DINNER!!

Both of us were too chicken to actually go and check out the trap so we waited for hubby. When he got home, hubby took to the girls to check out the trap.

"Ibu!! There's a mouse in the cage. It's soooo cute!!!"

Yeah, I don't think so. I crept upstairs to see the mouse myself.

OK, I guess it wasn't as disgusting as I thought it would be. It was rather small and thin and was trying with all its might to bite its way out of the cage.

Then I saw it. The tail. The long, thin, squirming tail. It must have been 700 meters long, I dunno, I might be exaggerating but that's how long it seemed to me.

*shudder*

"Ok, you bring the trap outside while I'll prepare the bucket of water", I told hubby.

Hubby looked at me as if I had grown devil horns.

"You want to kill the mouse?"

"Well, duh. what do you want to do, adopt it? We have to kill it. *whispered* It knows where we live."

Again hubby looked at me like I was crazy. "I'll throw it outside. It won't be back."

Enter unnecessary panic mode. "How do you know it won't be back. It will smell its way back. If you don't want to kill it, then throw it far, far away."

"Ok, fine. Give me my car keys."

Now I don't know if hubby actually drove far away enough or if he just made a turn around the block very slowly but I'm happy to say since this morning, there have been no more mouse sightings.

But we still have the mouse trap set, just in case.

Die Mickey, Die!!

I have a new reason for being happy about our move to the new house. We have an uninvited guest here.

We have a mouse!!

Eeekkk!! Eeekkk!! Eeeekkk!!

I suspected something was up last week when we found some of our green apples with teeth marks on them. At first I pointed the finger at Dina (sian adik) but upon using my forensic CSI skills, I determined the teeth marks to be too small and too deep for a small girl. What's more Dina loves green apples. And more importantly, she knows the wrath of her mother that would descend if she were to ever pull such a stunt.

Until this morning. During sahur. Dania, Enon and myself were having toast when suddenly...

"AHHHHH, IBU!!!! MOUSE!!! ON THE STAIRS!!!"

Mak ai, terkujat aku. My heart dropped several stories down, like an elevator with snapped cables.

I turned around but the mouse was gone. It had gone upstairs, apparently to look for food since the kitchen was clean and there were no leftovers from last night's dinner.

I screamed for hubby. "Please get up and find that mouse!!!"

Hubby came down, sleepy face and all. "Tomorrow la. Don't worry, the mouse is more afraid of you than you are of it."

Grrrr...that's not the point. The point is we have a vermin in the house. One that poops and pisses all over the place. One that may climb onto our beds and run around, spreading its germs and diseases.

*shudder*

Dania quickly got up and went to the phone. "Calling Super Wan, please come here and bring your mouse trap. we have a mouse in the house."

She called three times, in fact; the second time before she went for school and the third time when she got home. "Wan, do you not understand the severity of the situation. The mouse might bite someone. Then who's to blame?"

Hmm...sabar je la.

Whatever it is, I hope we catch that mouse and get rid of it soon. Now, thanks to my wild imagination, I keep seeing little mice noses peeking from under the doors and the tails hanging from the shelves. Ahh, god help me.

Why?

Why haven't I updated my blog in a week? Things haven't been that busy.

Why is the guard announcing the Ramadhan sale downstairs for the umpteenth time? I heard you the first time, and I'm still not going!! Just give it up dude.

Why am I like the only one who has not yet seen The Dark Knight? This totally sucks. I thought someone was going to give me free tickets, alas, that didn't come through. Is the DVD out yet?

Why am I more freaked out about Dania losing another tooth than she is? She's growing up too fast. Someone, make her stop!!

Why does Dina like to sing that "hungry fish" song from Dibo the Gift Dragon? Now it's constantly in my head. Sometimes, I find myself humming it unconsciously. This is so annoying. This happened with that darn Teletubbies song when Dania was little. "Tingky Winky....dipsy....ARGGHHHH!!!!"

Why am I so anxious over the good things that have happened these past few days? It's like I feel I'm not deserving and that God is going to take everything back any second now. I refuse to celebrate because of this feeling.

Why am I looking forward AND dreading to our moving day? I love the fact we're starting anew and the girls are getting their own room and that the neighbourhood and schools would be better (I hope). I hate the fact I have find boxes and pack everything and then find a (reliable) mover and then unpack everything. Life would be so much better if I had magic powers like Samantha from Bewitched or Harry Potter. Maybe not Harry, Hermoine would be a better choice.

Why did management decide to decorate the halls with mega movie posters? Now everytime I come through the door, I'm greeted first by that HUGE face of Mike Myers from Love Guru look. Not really a fun way to start the day. Were there no posters of Edward Norton's The Incredible Hulk?!! Seriously, some people have no taste.

We Are Hiring!

Due to the high demand for our services, IREE Touch is looking to hire!

Join the ladies of IREE Touch and discover an exciting career opportunity! We're in the business of Post Natal Home Care Services, Wellness & Beauty Care and we're always on the look out for promising new talent to join our team.
If you've had experience with any of the following, then you could be the person we are looking for:

* Massage: Ante/Post Natal Massage (Bidan), Traditional Malay Massage (Urut), Reflexology, Relaxation.

* Body Work: Scrubs, Wraps, Masks, Jacuzzi, Slimming...

* Skin Care: Facials, Foot Bath and Scrub, Manicures, Pedicures...

No Experience? Don't worry, if you've got a winning personality, a good attitude, an attractive appearance and physically fit, then we'll provide you with serious training in the skills and techniques you'll need to succeed at IREE Touch.

For all staff, we offer attractive commissions and/or basic salaries, benefits (annual leave, medical care, etc.) and a great incentive scheme based on your success at IREE Touch.

Interested? Then call our center at 03-8063 3603 or email us at iree.touch@gmail.com and we'll contact you for an immediate interview! Kindly provide us with your full name and contact details in your email.

We look forward to welcoming you here at IREE Touch!

Time For Our 7 Year Itch

Last night, as the clock struck midnight, he turned to me and whispered "Anniversary Sayang."

I replied...."YOU REMEMBERED!!!"

7 years as husband and wife.

7 years of living under the same roof.

7 years of driving each other crazy.

7 years of being madly in love.

7 years with our share of ups and downs.

7 years of learning to read each others mind.

7 years of laughter, tears, hugs and kisses.

7 years...and here's hoping to many more. 

Happy 7th anniversary sayang. Thanks for being the best husband in the world. Words can't express how much I love you. You are my rock and my source of comfort. You always bring out the best in me even when I'm feeling my lowest. Thank you for loving me like no other and for making our fairy tale come true.

"Love is just more than walking into each other's life....it's about walking together in the same direction."

Further Proof Of How Unspectacular I Am

Heather tagged me. And when Heather does that, you better find the time to answer her call. Because she is one baddass chick. And I say that with all the love in the world.

Here be the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. I can't stand/eat instant noodles. Even if I eat it accidentally (what? it's happened before), I immediately throw up. I think this is due to the fact that when I was growing up, my parents were really poor. Everyday before going to work, my dad would give my mom 50 cents (or less to buy food. The cheapest thing around back then (and even now I think) was instant noodles. You know, Maggee Mee. Everyday my mom would feed me that while she ate sugar cane. Yes, sugar cane. So now, all that ajinomoto has caused me to become sensitive to even the smell of instant noodles.

2. I wear clothes that I've had since my school days. To work. These are clothes that are 16 years old. They're not even torn so I always tell myself why spend money on clothes when I have lots that still fit. My mom nags me about this all the time. She thinks I shouldn't wear clothes that are so outdated. Daaahh! Nobody's hassled me about it at work but my officemates do notice it when I wear something new.

3. I don't like wearing jewellery. The only ones I wear are my wedding ring, my anniversary ring, my very thin anniversary necklace (which I never take off) and my tiny earrings. I don't wear bracelets or bangles. I don't have any other rings and the only other necklace I have is something my mom passed down to me, which I wear only for functions and during raya. I would hardly even spend money to buy jewellery for myself. Yet another thing my mom bugs me about.

4. I don't like to cook (hate is too strong a word because sometimes when I'm in the mood, I can cook up a storm) but I love to bake. During my Uni days, my idea of getting rid of stress would be to bake a cake. Any cake, it didn't matter. Then I would call the guys to help eat it.

5. I love travelling but I hate the journey getting there. It's not so bad when we're travelling by car (flat butt syndrome) but it's pretty bad when we have to fly somewhere. When you've seen one cloud, you've seen them all. This is probably one reason why I'll never set foot in the USA again (other than since 9-11, it's really hard getting a visa) coz I would just go crazy, sitting in a plane for 30 hours or so. I'll go maybe when they've invented the teleport machine. Travel in 2 seconds or less.

6. I get bored easily. I'm already bored doing this meme. Hehe. It takes a lot to maintain my interest in anything, which is why hubby is such an extraordinary guy. Hah!!

ok, next step...tag 6 other people to do the same meme. It's already 630pm, just 1 more hour till break fast. So I'm going to randomly point my finger at links on my blogroll.

1. AJ
2. Famil
3. Halwafy
4. Noresh
5. DottyBaby
6. Arina

So, you guys can do the meme...or not. No pressure, I won't kill you. Unlike Heather.

Mee Bandung Success

Today was yet another tired day at the office. Add to the fact that we all didn't wake up for sahur, the office was freezing. REALLY FREEZING!! I felt my veins shrinking. Is that possible? Tomorrow I'm bring socks. And maybe my gloves if I can find them. How hard is it to type with gloves on your hands? It's the raining season, for crying out loud, do they really have to put the aircon on full blast?!! Grrr...

Today I cooked for our break fast. I COOKED!! Hah, that's been a while. Yet another miracle during this holy month. Since hubby and I had promised each other not to visit the Pasar Ramadhan, I decided to check the trusty mesra.net website for recipes.

It's not that I don't like cooking, it's just that I don't like having to think about what to cook.

After browsing for a few minutes, I decided today I would cook Mee Bandung. Yummy!!
I knew the kids would love it because they love any kind of mee. I called home to ask Enon to defrost the chicken and bought the rest of the stuff at the grocery store on the way home.

Since both Enon and I were first timers at cooking mee bandung from scratch, we followed the recipe closely. Since we were both fasting, we couldn't really taste the soup until it was time to break fast.

And it was delicious!! If I must say so myself. [smug look]. Even hubby (who was kind of sceptical when I told him I was going to cook for break fast) loved it. Yeah for me!!

*picture taken from EatingAsia

Movie Review - Wall-E

I had to wait until hubby was home to see this movie because the girls wanted to watch it as a whole family. Fortunately it was still showing in the theaters. Eventhough it was quite last minute, we managed to get tickets at Pyramid, only because they weren't showing it anymore at IOI (our usual movie lurking ground).

Now I realise why we love IOI so much and not the other "premium" places; the ticket prices. RM10 for an adult and Rm8 for a child. Fortunately Dina entered free but then she demanded popcorn so it all added up. But yes, the seats were much nicer (and cleaner) and eventhough we were quite up front (Row C), we didn't experience any of that "mega TV" effect; you know where you have to scan the screen left to right to see the whole scene because you're too up front.

The kids had seen the previews so they basically knew part of the storyline. They loved Wall-E and laughed at all the funny antics. When Eva landed, Dania asked "is that Wall-E's girlfriend?" Heee...apparently yes.

What do I think of this movie? I loved it and more importantly, the girls loved it too. I think Pixar did another excellent job. The animation was flawless (I loved the part where Wall-E brushes his hand against the Milky Way on the way to the Axiom) and the storyline had a simple yet deep meaning. Even the kids understood; if you don't take care of your home (Earth) one day we'll all have to live in space.

I loved all the characters especially M-O, that dude robot that kept cleaning everything. He was hilarious! I also loved the fact that the hero of the movie was a dudette, Eva. I mean I know the movie is about Wall-E but it is Eva who saves him and is the ultimate "Jack Bauer" of the movie. Other than "directive" I was half expecting her to say "Yippee Kaiyeah M*****F*****!!". Hahaha...Eva is Baddass!! Me likey.

Though I did think the movie dragged on a bit at the end, I loved the way it ended. If you see this, make sure you stay until the credits. The graphics and storyline give you hope.

Because if anything, Wall-E is also about hope. In our darkest hour, when everyone else has given up, if we believe in ourselves and have hope....anything is possible.

Verdict: 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Happy Fasting!

Ramadhan is upon us again. Syukur, we get to enjoy fasting during this holy month. Alhamdulillah, panjang umur.


Dania is fasting this year for the first time. On the first day, she fasted until 2pm. Then because her sister karate-chopped her stomach, she ate a little to ease the pain and continued fasting. Those were her exact words. Whether or not that actually happened, I have no idea since I was out with my mom at the time.


Today Dania fasted until 5pm. An improvement!! I'm just really happy she's excited about Ramadhan and really wants to try fasting. Fortunately it's really easy to wake her up for sahur.


I still need to get into the fasting groove. Working in a freezer-like office is double whammy; I'm sleepy, hungry and freezing. Make that a triple whammy!!


So, to help everyone who's fasting (including me) to forget about hunger pangs and concentrate on the real reason for Ramadhan, here's a visual aid for assistance.


ps: NSFW. Scroll down at your own risk. Do not look for more than 2 seconds. Heeeee...

pps: Happy fasting everyone!!

Modern Day Scrooge

I'm not really the type to socialise with my neighbors. Most of our daily contact revolves around us saying good morning when I go to work and good evening when I come back. We don't exchange recipes or child rearing tips. Once in a while we would give each other fruits brought back from kampung. But that's it.

I would however like to think my relationship with my neighbors are a bit more friendlier than this guy. I don't think he's into sharing recipes either.

Chocolate Makes Everything Seem Better

Hubby is home!! YEAH!!!

Dania got consolation prize for her efforts in the colouring competition. Her teacher said she (Dania) was rather sad. Even more so since her best friend got third place in the reading competition.

But it didn't take much for us to comfort her. Hubby bought lots of chocolate from Switzerland. LOTS!! Me likey!! Especially the dark chocolate...yummy...almost as good as sex. Almost. Heee.

I told hubby about planning for our international trip and he seems to be on board. Good thing Ramadhan is coming up next week, hopefully we can start saving more for the trip. Dania will be trying to fast this year. She seems rather excited.

It seems that our new maid might only arrive after raya. Just what I expected. What to do, thank god ibu has allowed us to borrow her maid for the weekdays. I just hope the wait will be worth while. Letih la asyik kena tipu agen jer..

Tomorrow's Friday. Yeah. I need to remember to submit Dania's registration forms at her school tomorrow. I'm rather excited about moving to the new house, now that it's almost done. I just don't want to think about how much hubby spent for all the renovations. Hmm...moga berbahagia dan bertambah rezeki la di rumah baru nanti. Amiiiiin.

Colour Me Feel Good

Only 9 more hours til hubby is home. Yeah!!

Tomorrow Dania will be representing her school for a colouring contest. Hehe. Her teacher called me yesterday to give the details. Apparently the winner of the competition will be representing the state for the national competition. Wow!! I always knew my girl was destined for big things but I never thought the day would come so soon. Even if she doesn't win, I'm still so proud of her.

I'm trying to plan for a family trip for the year end school holidays. It's been a while since our last international holiday (4 years actually) so I thought maybe this year would be nice to go somewhere far. The girls are at that age where they are pretty much independent and aren't fussy about what to eat. Money is rather tight this year, what with the spa and the house renovations but I think both hubby and I deserve this.

Speaking of house renovation, it's pretty much 80% complete. All the extensions have been completed and the walls have all been painted, just need to call Fl00r Dep0t to install the floor boards and get the contractor to put in all the sink fixtures, lights and aircon. I'm still looking around for the kitchen and bedroom cabinets. We won't be buying anymore furniture, just bring what we have here. We might buy a new dining table though, since they one we have was a gift from our parents and is over 10 years old. Not that it's not nice or anything but I've been eyeing a round dining table with a lazy susan in the middle.

8 hours and 30 minutes until hubby is home. Heeeeeeeee.....

Holiday's Over

Sorry for the hiatus. Been on holiday with the girls since it was the school holidays. I had promised them my full attention so they made me promise "Ibu, no computer ok?!!". Argh...I did suffer from www-withdrawal but it also did feel good not having to think about work for a change.

My parents had invited us to join them for a 5 day stay at the Country Villa Kajang. My first question was, got swimming pool or not? The girls were excited about going swimming and I was excited about being able to sleep in until noon. The apartment my dad got had an extra room so we invited Ida and her family to join us. Initially they were to stay for only one night but the kids had so much fun playing together, that they stayed for 2 nights. We introduced them to the Idris family game of Jinrummy and we also beat their asses at Scrabble. Hahahah...Fakhri (Ida's hubby) was so peeved he asked for a rematch. Only after he had studied the dictionary. Heeee...

On the last day we were there, my mom and I rented some bikes and took a morning ride to see all the banglows there. They were spectacular..worthy of being called mansions. Ok, maybe smaller than the ones you might find in Hollywood but still. Ibu wanted to see as many banglows as possible but after only 20 minutes of riding, dah pancit!! Heeee...

Hubby called once from London. It seems that everyone in his group loves London because you can find halal food everywhere. Hubby is so sick of eating bread and seafood only.

I miss him so much. Only 4 more days to go until he's back.

*Sigh*

I have to go back to work tomorrow but not to the office. I have a 2-day course at IOI resort which is FAB because that of course means...FREE LUNCH!! Hahaha...hotel style some more.

Reflection

6 hours and 11 minutes until hubby comes home from Aussie.

OK, so he'll be here for only 18 hours and 20 minutes until his next trip to Europe but seeing him after 7 days apart even if for only a few hours will be like heaven.

Yes, I miss my husband madly. I mean, what wife (in a normal loving relationship) wouldn't, right?

I've always thought myself as a self sufficient kind of woman. I take pride that I have a good education, have a career, have my own money. I don't need a man to take care of myself financially.

I know how to change a car tyre. I know how to pump petrol into my car. I know when to fill up the tyres with air. I know how to work with a screwdriver. I can do basic maintenance around the house (the fact that I don't have the time is another matter).

I have a great family (well, some of them are ok...the rest, eh...material for another blog entry). I don't have a lot of friends but the ones that I'm close with (real and virtual) are awesome.

Yes, that would mean you...and you.

If push came to shove, I could probably live a good life, just me and the girls.

But it would be lonely. Really lonely.

I wouldn't have someone to discuss the girls with. Someone to help discipline them. Someone to help sooth their tears. Someone to watch them grow up with.

I wouldn't have someone to tell my plans, my goals, my dreams, my fears. Someone to hold when words aren't sufficient or needed. Someone to plan holidays with and someone to blame when things don't go according to plan (heee).

I would still be me, just not so whole.

I'm a "single mother" for only 3 weeks. That's 3 weeks to long for me.

So this post goes out to all the single moms in the world. I salute you for your strength and perseverance.

*Just saw this documentary about this single mom with 4 kids, two of them are mentally disabled and she likes has to work 3 (three!!) jobs just to put food on the table. Meleleh jugak air mata aku menengoknya. Aku Alhamdullilah, anak2 aku semua sihat mental dan fizikal. Itupun kekadang aku pening dan malas jugak nak jaga dan layan. Lepas ni kena taubat, have to be a better mom.

**Why the topic Reflection? Because of what I saw and what I've observed from other people, I always have to pause and reflect on my life...and realise that I have it really good...even, make that, especially when I feel like whining about stupid things.

She Makes Me Proud

I need to find or buy a new battery charger for my camera because I'm missing out on a lot of photo opportunities.


Take for example, Dania's Sports Day last week. It was hot and humid and everywhere you turned, the smell of twenty sweaty kids packed in a sardine tin tickled your nose.


But it was also a great day for my little (not so anymore) girl.


She got first place in the colouring competition. Her teacher asked whether they could keep the art work to hang it in the classroom. Since my fridge was already plastered with so many handiwork, we gave the winning piece to the teacher to share with her friends.


Dania also got first place in one of the events; I think it was the "Big Shoe" event. Her team got second in all the rest of the events.


But the best thing about the whole deal...the one that made me super proud of being her mom, was hearing her teacher tell me "Dania's such a great sports person. Very dedicated. And she's really good at encouraging her team mates. Even when they don't get 1st place, she rounds up her friends for a group hug. She'll make a fine leader one day."

THAT'S my girl.














*Old photo

We Are Sick

Hubby is away for 3 weeks.

While he is jetsetting around the world (Australia, London, Italy, France, Switzerland), the girls and myself have been coughing, sniffling and drowning ourselves in all types of medication in a bid to get ourselves out of this sick swamp of phlegm and snot.

Graphic enough for ya?

It's bad enough I caught the flu from the girls but it [the flu bug] seems to be making it rounds in circles and has reattacked Dina. Reattacked? Is that right? I can't think of a better word...actually I can't think at all. The medication has me drowsy which called for a miracle that I could actually drive myself to work this morning, without crashing into anyone or anything. When they say DO NOT OPERATE HEAVY MACHINERY WHEN TAKING THIS MEDICINE, they meant small cars too, I suppose. Now how the hell am I suppose to drive myself back later?

I really should have taken today off also (I took MC yesterday....and slept for like 8 hours after taking the medication...it's THAT drowsy) but I felt guilty about missing work. That's me, the work douchbag sometimes. Now that I'm here, I realise no one really misses me here. In fact my officemates are probably more irritated that I AM at work, thus spreading my germs with every hacking cough I take.

Sorry guys. But it is my nature to share...:D

So anyway, here's my post...something to put up till I'm more sober and can think straight. I dunno who to blame for all this sickness anymore; Mother Nature? processed food? my parents for not having "Eric Banner-like" genes to withstand all these germs and viruses? Whatever it is, I hope it all goes away soon, especially for the girls' sake. It's not nice cleaning up vomit and phlegm, even when it's coming out of someone as cute as my girls.

Because Spastic Love Knows No Boundaries

Calling Rina Samsudin who has buried herself in Africa!!

Dudette, if you consider yourself a part of the baby seal pact team, you shall rise from the dead and email me!!

The sexy walrus has spoken.

That is all. Carry on.

Concrete Head

"No comment. I am an ordinary person. It's unfair for me to make comments when there is already a minister."

BLOODY HELL!!!

People are asking how come this thing happened AGAIN when the highway was supposed to be repaired during the time YOU were the Works Minister. What the fuck do you mean when you say you have "no comments"? Concrete is falling from the sky onto the roads and people's cars and you just shrug your shoulders and point at someone else?!!!!

Stop hiding and lying, you no-balls, hideous-toupee wearing, bad breath SOB and tell us which of your cronies got this tender and how many percent went into your Bahamas account?

Roller Coaster

You know that wheel of life? It had me going up and down so many times since my last post, that I'm ready to throw up from it all.

DOWN
Last Thursday, I had a really bad heartburn/gastric attack. I guess all that eating lunch at 4pm and running all around caught up with me. I was suffering the whole morning until I dragged myself to the clinic. The doctor gave me 3 types of pills and some liquids to keep my stomach acid down. Since it was even hard for me to breath, much less function at work, I took MC and spent the day eating and sleeping. Still the pain persisted at times.

UP
Luckily I had Friday off. Girls day out with my pals, Liza, Noresh, Lin, Zai and Akish. Lunch was at Ittallianes, which was marred by "hair in our pizza" incident. Yuck!!

It had been ages since all of us had been together so of course there was a lot of catching up to do. Among the topics discussed/gossiped about:
1. Latest make up trends - again complete with make up sharing session
2. Reminiscing about our "lost" youth and ways to get our groove back.
3. Hairs on various parts of our body - complete with Show n Tell session (heee!) 4. Ways to get rid of the abovementioned hairs - lots of sharing experiences
I'm pretty sure we talked about a whole lot of important issues but I was too drunk from lemon tea to remember. Oya, since I still can't find my camera charger, no pictures either. Girls, email me the pictures. Especially the ones where I look fab!!

DOWN

My maid...is sick. The kicker is...she's been sick for quite some time. Since before she came to our house. Her illness - Hepatitis B!!!

Of course eventhough she's been with us FOR A YEAR now, we only just found out. No point in talking to the agent and trying to get our money back. The only thing to do is to send her back and hope that none of us caught the bloody thing.

So yesterday I had to take a day off and run to the Immigration to cancel her working visa. Then I had to take the kids to do their blood tests. Then we had to send the maid to the airport for her flight home.

So now I'm maidless and angry and tired. Fuck it!!

UP

I found 20 cents on the sidewalk today.

Upside Down

Because that's how I feel right now. Upside down. Topsy Turvy. Hurricane in my head and all around me.

You know how people always say "Life is like a wheel; one day you're up, the next you're down?" That is SO TRUE!!

Last week I was walking on sunshine. New promotion, spa doing well, kids being adorable, house renovation on warp speed, hubby all romantic. Nothing could touch me, I was invincible.

This week?! Huh, let me tell you about this week.

1. My exec is on mc for 2 weeks, my boss is still on maternity leave and my bigger boss is on a 2 weeks course. That leaves ME to handle all the issues, meetings, presentations, training sessions, and everything in between. For days now I've been eating lunch at my desk because there's too much paperwork to do and one hour of eating outside is such a luxury.

2. My brother might have dengue and is still pending results from the hospital. Seeing how my office is near his college, I had to skip lunch, take him to the hospital, get him registered and then call my mom to see the doctor with him. I really hope he'll be fine.

3. The girls are sick. Coughing and coughing like there's a frog stuck in their throats. Dina has it bad. It usually gets worst at night, OF COURSE when everyone needs to get some sleep. Hopefully they're much better today. How I wish I could take a day off and take care of them. Dina cries everytime I go out for work that it KILLS me. Sob...

4. One of my spa staff...well, let's just put it this way. Some people, you help them and bend over backwards for them and instead of thanking you and counting their blessings, they find a way to fuck you 4 ways from Sunday. To make a loooooonnngg story short, GOOD RIDDANCE!! Luckily we may have 2 more new staff coming in, so there's a silver lining there.

So, this week I'm really tired. Going to Penang tomorrow for a training session, flight @ 6.55am!!! Uwwaaaaaa!!! Can't wait for Friday for my girls day out with my girlfriends. I haven't taken a day off in 2 months!!

ps: I'm writing this at the office, while photostating some forms I need to bring to Penang. Murphy's Law applies, the more tired you are and the more you really want to go home, the more shit happens. The photostate machine just went on a craze rant and messed up my forms so now I have to START ALL OVER AGAIN. I wasted 100 pieces of paper that can not be recycled (Al Gore, don't kill me!).

Golden Horses - Pictures

OK, so Blogger is showing me some love tonight and letting me upload the pictures from our mini vacation at the GH. Please bear in mind most of the pictures were actually taken by the girls, so excuse the lack of focus.

So for dinner we ate at the hotel because my parents were too lazy to drive out and find food. We ate at the Carousel Cafe, hence the carousel horses all over the place. Of course, the girls wanted to climb and get on top of the horses but seeing how they were mounted on a 2 meter ledge, yeah, I think the hotel management would have frowned on that.

Oya, they not only had carousel horses but also carousel bears. There's a picture of my little bear, acting and posing like a bear, in front of the mounted carousel bear.

They even had carousel emus!! Like how crazy is that? Yeah..not so much actually. Dania took this shot (and the ones above). She couldn't understand my directions to hold the camera vertically. I don't know why; the lady at the far end of the restaurant heard my instructions pretty clear.

That's me writing in the comments card. Decor = eh. Atmosphere = ok. Food = nice but too little a portion. Damn, I was still hungry after my meal (3 very tiny lamb chops with french fries), that I finished off not only the girl's dinners but also my mom's too. And the prices weren't actually cheap either.

Also, to add to the "festivity" of the place, there was a large group of 20 people there celebrating someone's b'day. If I wanted to eat dinner and listen to people sing drunken versions of happy birthday and then get my ears blown off by loud crackers, I would have gone to TGIF.

Some final pictures of the girls in front of the hotel. They sure loved the horses.

ps: No pictures of us at the pool because..well, I was busy getting my groove there too. I conquered that slides like nobody's business..Hahahaha..

Horses, Tooth and Pregnant Women

So many things have happened in the last week, I don't know where to begin. So Heather, this may not be much of an update but I'll try to please your royal arse because I'm full of love like that.

1. I still owe the rundown on our stay at The Golden Horses 2 (nearly 3!!) weeks ago. I have some pictures of the girls but everytime I try to upload, Blogger refuses to show me some love. So in a nutshell, hotel so-so, architecture = nice, rooms = ok, hallways = musky smell, pool = FABULOUS!!, food = too small a portion + expensive. Grade 2.5 stars (out of 5). Thank god it was free (thanks ayah!!)

2. Oh, Dania had her first tooth out last Monday. Yeah!! Apparently her baby teeth are extra strong but because one of her bottom front permanent tooth had started to come out , we had to go to the dentist to yank the baby tooth and make way. She was such a trooper!! Even when the dentist put that HUGE needle to her mouth, she didn't flinch (unlike her squeamish mother). So now Dania's going around the neighborhood, showing off the gap in her smile.

The dentist was really nice and did a lot to sooth Dania's fears (or rather, her mother's). She explained everything to Dania and praised her when the job was over. I was so happy with the results that I decided to get some professional cleaning on my own teeth. All in all, we were both done in 20 minutes and it only cost us RM100.

Info on the dentist: Klink Pergigian Nurul, No 24-1, Jalan Puteri 4/2, Bandar Puteri Puchong. Tel: 03-8061 6184 (appointments may be required)

ps: I wanted to take pictures of Dania but the battery in my camera is dead and I can't seem to find the charger. Grrrr....

3. Business at the spa has been good. I mean, REALLY GOOD!! Ever since Ida and I started our aggressive marketing (spamming friends and chasing pregnant women in shopping malls with our flyers) and we got into all those magazines (yes, more than one!!), people have been walking into the center EVERYDAY!! Who thought there were so many pregnant women around our area in search of post natal care?!! Heeee. So on an upside, business has been coming in steadily and the staff are all excited. On the downside, Ida and I found out that we need more staff. And soon. We're looking to interview and hire some this week or the next. Also, with all the running around, I haven't had much of a weekend with the family of lately, something the girls have grumbled about since recently.

But it's all good. Work has been good, in fact I was promoted as of last week. Which was kind of expected and definitely hoped for but then I've learned not to put too much hope into anything when it comes to work rewards. But my bosses were angels and really helped push me for the position, so now I'm like bonded to them for life!! Hah!!

So, yeah, it's been good and busy and that's why I haven't been updating which is kind of lame because I want to write all this down and be able to remember how it was and what it felt like, so Heather, thanks for the push.

Dania's 6th Birthday Party - Pictures

Thanks to my brother, I FINALLY have the pictures from Dania's birthday party.

Which was held in May. 2 whole months ago!!

Since I've already blogged about the event, here are just some of the pictures that captured the mood.

Dania, Dina with their Pakngah (my bro) and Naqib (hubby's nephew)

Great! All my balloons are popping!! Don't blow them so big!!

All the kids decided to stay outside and colour. The parents thanked me for this coz for once they got to stuff their faces in peace. Heh..
Man, this party is soooo chick-infested!!

Dina showing off her masterpiece. With IT the Clown sucking up space behind her.
There were pictures to colour and crowns to decorate. So yeah, I guess the kids had a nice time.
Dania and her masterpiece. AGAIN with IT entering frame.
Dania and her birthday cake. Both look magnificent!!

The girls playing "Statue". Don't they all look adorable?

My favorite picture of the girls. Sometimes I wish I could just keep them like this forever.
Dina celebrating...Woohoo, it's time to open the presents!! Look ibu, I have my very own Princess coin box. Yeah!!
Hubby: But the coin box is pink and pink is Dina's favorite color. So this belongs to Dina.
Dania: Huhhhhh?!!!

Hubby: That present also belongs to Abah. Your friend gave it to me.
Dania: Buuuttt......uhuk..
It's my party but my father is taking all of my presents.
Dania happy again because her father got his ass kicked by me and had now been banned from the gift unwrapping ceremony.
Dania's first and only doll. Which now sits in a box in the spare room. What can I say, my kids are not "doll" fans. (But still, thank you to whoever got her that doll. She really did like it. When the kids get their own room, I will make sure the doll gets lots of playtime)
Dania's a rock star, thanks to her Pakngah!!
Last but not least, a present from the Queen Mom!!
Dina doing her best Avril punk pose.
All in all, it was a great day, just fit for a Princess.

Anwar - Shabery Debate

Last night hubby took control of the TV (very rare occasion) and made me watch the live debate between PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and Information Minister Shabery Cheek.

OK, let me get this out in the open. I hate politics. I hate politics in the government and I hate it in the office. I hate all the cronyism, back stabbing, ass kissing that is involved. I hate all the scandals, conspiracies, cheats and lies that people do just to stay in power. I know it's a necessary evil thing but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

So last night, begrudgingly, I watched the debate with hubby.

And boy was it fun!!

I can't give you a rundown of what was debated because as usual, my many voices in my head were interfering with my concentration, but in a nutshell the guys debated about the recent fuel hike.

Snippets of what I heard (do not confuse with understand).

.....Semangat 46...

....Norway...higher capita income...

....Petronas...funds misused...

....new government today, price down by 50 cents tomorrow....

Add to the confusion, hubby was yelling at the TV, stupid minister, answer the question lah...

I dunno who won the debate but I think Anwar had more solid facts to back up his arguments. Shabery looked kind of lost on stage and whenever he couldn't find anything to support his arguments, he turned and personally attacked Anwar for past stuff. Huh.

This guy did a better job at summarizes the whole thing.

http://www.thekualalumpurtraveler.com/anwar-shabery-debate-my-two-cents/

image taken from Malaysiakini