Out of job!

Think I am out of job.
Hate it... cos I knew this would happen before the school closed.
Even asked that it to be confirmed whether I am still able to continue with the special arrangement but was told not to worry.
Was told to remain status quo as the P is ignorant and cannot be bothered with such issue.
Today, I decided to ask and was told that have to confirm with the P again as she is rather...

Hate it because I knew it would happened and was all prepared to look for another homebase job.
An ex-colleague and good friend even called me to tell me that there was an opening in a company which I can give it a try.
However, I could not because I was told to REMAIN STATUS QUO.

Now for the next 6 months, we will be financially challenged!

I hate it!

I wish I can do more to help out Superpig but I can't.

The little hobby business is not doing well as I did not put in a lot of effort and with the two princesses demanding my attention, I have very limited time to run it properly.

GOD HELP ME, HELP US... please....


If anyone is reading this, please leave some encouraging comments as I really need some now.

All about 2007 Christmas

December went past in a whiz with a whirlwind of events.

Drown amongst the many projects to complete for each event, I totally have no idea what actually happened in December.

I know that it is a must to take some Christmas-sy pictures with all the Christmas lightings.

However, that was not done at all as there were the continuous rain and when it did not rain, I was to worn out to get out of the house.

Then there were the presents to prepare as there were some requests...tissue cozies.

Then there were Christmas cookies to bake for Ash's music teachers and abacus teacher but that was not done at all.

Then there was the Christmas log cake to bake for the Christmas get-together that was replaced with a simple cake with Christmas decoration.

Then presents to wrap.

And finally the Christmas get-together.

Now, I am nursing a overtired body, mind and soul.

But before I can really rejuvenate... I need to prepare for Ash's first day in Primary One.

I am an irresponsible mother!

A few more days to Ash's start into Primary One.
All so exciting, so much to do...

and i lost her school exercise books.

Was labelling the books for school and then I realised that there were no exercise books.
I definitely paid for them.
I definitely took them home.
But I just cannot remember where I put them and I searched the whole house and I cannot find them.

Now Superpig got to go all the way back to her school to buy a new set.

What is wrong with me?

Aver's First Birthday Celebration - 16 December 2007

Aver turn one today.
Had a birthday celebration.
A special thank you to Pam (Honeymeow) for taking photographs for us.
Photos can be viewed in Aver's blog...

Here... I am going to talk about this past year.

Birth of Aver was smooth and really quite easy.
Taking care of Aver can be a challenge as she does not really like to take naps.
She was expected to be a big size baby like her sister but she did not live up to the expectation.
People around were always commenting that she is small for her age...but she is healthy and active so who cares what they say.
Then came the rashes... the coming and the going of the rashes really makes me quite upset.
However, with constant prayers and medication, I am very sure that it will be cured.
Aver wears me down with her constant need for my attention but she always made sure that she will give me her sweetest smile when I need it.
Aver loves her sister, Ash.
She follows Ash everywhere she goes and always get excited when we go to school to fetch Ash home.
A year... a very tiring year but yet a very fullfilling year.
A year... I breastfed Aver for a year and am willing to go on.
A year... I promise the next year will be just as fun as this year...

Ash's Birthday - 14 December 2007

The party may be over but that does not mean that we cannot do a family celebration...just the four of us.
Enjoy the slide.

Take about safety

We know that in commercial building, it is essential to keep the emergency exits and stairways clear, without obstruction.

If you stay in a private estate, the estate management will ensure that the emergency exits and stairways are clear.

This is governed by our safety laws to ensure that in times of emergency, everyone has the ability to escape at the fastest speed or for rescue workers to enter.

However, if you are staying in a HDB... what is the rule?

Take a look at the picture below and decide for yourself whether you will be able to escape when there is an emergency?

All the items (except for the red bicycle) belonged to the new neighbour.

We cannot even get to the bicycle... (by the way, the bicycle never had its front wheel sticking out before.)

Anyway, the issue is here is safety...

A few months ago, the lifts broke down (all three of time... what is the chance of that happening?) and I had to use the stairs. Carrying Aver in the sling, I carefully made my way down the stairs.

It took me almost 20 minutes to reach the ground level.

Because the area around the stairs are cluttered with things.

I had to manoeuvre around the things and watch my steps hence the long time needed to reach the ground level.

Raining all the way

If you are in the same land as me, you will know that it had been raining for a few days already.

And many have trouble trying to get the laundry dried as we do not need to indulge in dryers.

In my household, I resorted to have a fan blowing at the clothes so that it will help the drying process.

And then... it decided to stop raining for just one whole day ... 13 December 2007... it was a rather sunny day.



When I opened the window and viewed downwards... clothes are out sucking in the heat from the sun.

Superpig's update

98 kg

I could literally put his jeans down to his knees without unzipping.

And...

He can pull it back up and wear it properly again!

Damn...

I need to lose some weight too.

Going on semi-Atkins, one carbo meal a day (as best as I can).

Ash's birthday party - 09 Dec 2007

Ash's birthday is on 14th December but we decided to hold the celebration on a weekend.

Hence we celebrated it on 9th December, Sunday.

Think you have read enough about me going on and going about the various preparation that went on, so today you will see for yourself the celebration enough.

I prepared the butercream icing the night before but my wonderful Superpig forgot to take a photo of me slogging away.

With the buttercream done, I store them nicely in the fridge and then sit back and think about the next day.

On the 9th itself, I got to kick myself out of the bed early... (okay, 9am is not very early but at least I tried.)

I started to bake the cupcakes, prepared Aver's breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I am glad that I begged my mum to come over and help me take care of Aver while I slogged away in the kitchen.

Once the cupcakes were ready and cooled, the creaming comes next.

After about an hour of creaming the cupcakes, I finally can rest my legs.

While I was in the kitchen, Ash enteratined herself...

I stood from 9 am till 1pm and my heels hurt very badly.

Think I seriously need to wear a pair of well-cushioned shoes at home too.

Once we gobbled down our lunch, it was time to pack all the things in the car and move on down to the venue of the celebration itself.

The rest of the evening, I will leave it to the photos to tell the story.

Enjoy...

Turned 32 - 07 December 2007

When I reached this date, I should be happy as it is my birthday.
However, I did not really feel good about it.

It got nothing with the age and everything to do with what I had accomplished in these 32 years.

I failed in my teaching career, leaving teaching in a very bad mental state.

Till this very day when I pass by the school I last teach, I still shudder in fear and anxiety.

Because of this mental inability to handle the stress I am and still not able to return to teaching full time. (Although it is partially due to childcare issues.)

Due to this, Superpig is put under extreme stress to bring in the dough.

Due to this, Superpig and myself have many squabbles and unhappiness.

I understand his stress but I fear another massive breakdown that will harm everyone in my family if I was to return to teaching full time.

Then there is the issue of my daughters.

I feel that I have not really taught them well.

Due to my constant dipping into depressive mood, I feel that both are badly affected.

So I felt that at age 32, I have achieved nothing and not worth celebrating.

However, as Ash's birthday party is coming up in a few days, I need to get the cupcakes baked the right way plus the icing.

So I kicked myself out of bed and started baking and creamed away.

Once that was done, Superpig suggested that we should go to the zoo since he had specially taken the day off.

So off we went to the zoo, with the rain clouds hovering over us.

Had a nice KFC lunch under the dark clouds and then God sent a little shower to shoo us to find a shelter to eat under.

After lunch, Superpig gave me a chance to do a little shopping at Compass Point.

Then we head on home to rest and watch a rented movie.

And to end it all, we headed to the airport for dinner with a few friends.

At the end ... I think I may have failed in certain areas I am not hopeless.

I look forward to a new day, to a new project, to a new skill that I may pick up and learn...

I am glad that I am still around when I reach the age of 32.

Happy Birthday to Myself.

Superpig's update

98.5 kg

I must say that I am very proud of Superpig and his determination.

Coming home last night, we meet our neighbour on the way.

We chatted and she mentioned that Superpig is slimmer.

His potbelly has shrunk.

Now, I better do something about myself or he may be snatched away.

There he is gorging down his dinner... but it's all without carbo. (Hope he doesn't scroll down to here or I will be RIP-ing)

Princess Gown (Work in progress...)

Ash's birthday is coming up and we have been planning for two months for her birthday.
It started with the theme - Princess
Then she selected the kind of cake that she wants and most importantly it has to be Mummy Baked.
After that was decided, we had to look for a suitable princess gown.
Well, buying one was an option but I felt that it will be wasting money.
So I decided to make one for her instead.
I worked on it for a few nights and by last night I was able to see a decent dress.

There are more to be done but I am just too proud of it to keep quiet.

The Top

Close-up ... I spent around three nights to get this done.

The whole dress (almost whole....)

The Princess trying on ...

So what do you think? Nice enough? Should I be proud of my own handiwork?

My New Digital Camera

Today went to John Little Mega Sale at Singapore Expo and at the hall right beside it was Sitex Exhibition.
Have been eyeing for a new digital camera which is slim and light.
Not that I do not like my Canon Powershot S40... I love it because of the semi-automatic function but it had been with us for six long years.
So I did asked Superpig whether I can have a new camera as my wedding anniversary, birthday and Christmas present. He initially refused as financially it may be a little difficult. I understand and I did not force him.

I must say that he is the best husband already.
He finally bought a Casio Exlim for me....

YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!


I love my Canon Powershot but I have an EOS for a better control of the function.
I love my Canon Powershot but I now have a slimmer and lighter Casio Exlim.

I just hope that the new camera will be up to my expectation.

THANK YOU Superpig... Muacks!

Superpig's update

99.5kg

Yummy dinner

Sorry ... forgot to take pictures of it.

Have been cracking my head to cook a delicious enough dinner for Superpig since his diet.
He is sick of fish soup, chicken soup and so on.
In order to motivate him to continue with his already succeeding diet, I have to do something real fast before he gives up.

What can you do with mince pork meat and lettuce?
Fried them together? Lettuce will be come limp and lifeless...yuck.
Knowing he must be craving for some kind of burger, I decided to let him have burger then.

Marinated the meat with steak seasoning and sesame oil.
Chop up an onion.
Heat up the wok and oil, throw in lots of garlic, throw in the chopped onion.
Once the garlic and onion "smells" nice, throw in the minced meat.
Fry till meat is cooked.
Prepare your lettuce, peel the leaves off from core, wash and drain.

How to eat?

Get a piece of lettuce, put the meat on it (lots of it, if you like) and then add in mustard.
Wrap the lettuce around the meat and then stuff it into your mouth.
There... he got his burger (without the bread).

His comment.... Good and satisfying.
Let him tell you himself when he gets the time to read this.

Donuts

Superpig had been asking for donuts since the start of donuts craze hit Singapore.

I tried about a month ago with a donut mix and totally failed in that attempt.

Then I chanced upon a baked donut recipe by Peony on a forum(which I will post later once I perfect it ... there are still somethings that need to be done as I changed a little from the original).

They tasted very good...strawberry flavoured.

And the lingering smell after the bake is simply heavenly.

Superpig had a tiny one and commented it was nice (that was all he had...and wanted more actually).

I personally ate two donuts and love it too.

After 8 Years

Thanks Pam for brigthening the photo.

After being married for eight years, the report card for our marriage says:
"Still happily married with equivalent amount of happiness and sadness"

I can only say that I love Superpig very much and no matter how he irritates and piss me off at times, I can never stay angry with him for long. We can get into a super huge (I mean HUGE!) quarrel but in no time I will be laughing again. I just cannot stay angry with him ... and he knows that too.

However, I can speak for him... I think he only hopes that I can be happier and less of an irritant.

Anyway, the actual day of our wedding is 23 November and both of us totally forgot about it when the day came and went. Both of us were quite busy, him with the coordinating of a particular Mr H's new album and me with preparing for the princesses' birthday, crocheting, sewing, housework (which is largely neglected hence the outbreak of rashes on Aver), worries of Aver's rashes and many many more...

I remembered it only yesterday while on MSN chat with Pam and totally felt like hitting myself real hard for totally forgetting about it.

So we headed of to Tampines Mall's Fish and Co. for our favourite Swordfish Collar. Since Superpig is on the Atkins diet, I get all the chips... (which I did not finish and I better not. Look at the picture below and you will know why.)

We could not get a decent picture of just the two of us cos Ash kept insisting that she wants to be in the picture.

Do I not look pregnant? And no... I AM NOT!

So after eight years, from two of us to now four ... Superpig, Super Mum, Super Gal and Super Babe.

There... our household of Supers.

And there is Little Puffer saying goodbye.

No more nuts!

I am officially not allowed to eat peanuts from now onwards.
I had mentioned in earlier post that Aver's rashes were healing with the California Baby cream however, a few days ago the rashes came back.
The rashes were red and it looked infected.
Went back to the doctor and was given 3 days of oral antibiotics and also a stronger steroid cream.
I was kind of upset as he finally with this third visit confirmed that Aver has eczema.
On the brighter side, he said that he had seen cases with worse condition on the baby's face but as the baby grow, the condition improve. (Quite assuring ...)
However, being a pessimistic idiot, I came home feeling kind of down and thought real hard what could have triggered the rashes.
Then it dawned on me... PEANUTS!
Not that Aver were fed with peanuts, I ate them and I nurse her.
So it got into the milk which got into her body.
Hence the rash....

So all peanuts has been cleared from the house...given to my mum (another nut addict!)

I have been tagged (My first...)

I am so honoured to be tagged by Pam of Dreaming Reality.
Then I am suppose to tag another five people... which can be kind of a challenge because I do not know who is reading my blog.
Anyway, I will answer the questions first then I will try to get five fellow bloggers.


W H O . W A S . T H E. L A S T . P E R S O N
1. You hung out with?: Superpig and princesses
2. Saw you cry: Superpig (he was the one who made me cry... boo hoo hoo... but made it up with baking supplies)
3. Went to the movies with you?: Superpig and Princess Ash (think it was "Open Season" before Princess Aver was born)
4. You went to the mall with?: Superpig and Princesses
5. You went to dinner with?: Superpig and Princesses (We just went a few hours ago)
6. You talked on the phone to?: Superpig (I asked him whether we should bring Princess Aver to the Paed as her rashes came back with a vengeance)
7. Said ‘I love you’ to you and really meant it?: Superpig
8. Made you laugh?: Princess Aver (was playing with her "Snappity Snap" with my hands in the car on the way home two hours ago)

W O U L D . Y O U . R A T H E R?
1. Pierce your nose or tongue? Nose (but it will never happen... I am still plucking up courage to get another pair of ear holes pierced)
2. Be serious or be funny? Funny
3. Drink whole or skim milk? Whole (actually, I would rather not drink any... not much of a milk person)
4. Spend time with your parents or enemies? Parents or actually parent, my mom... (sorry, dad... I will spend my time with you when my time here is over)

D O . Y O U . P R E F E R.
1. Flowers or candy? Flowers (Daisy, my favourite)
2. Gray or black? Black
3. Color or Black and white photos? Colour
4. Lust or love? Love
5. Sunrise or sunset? Sunset (Could be due to my pessimistic nature... Sunset = end of the day, start of darkness...)
6. M and Ms or Skittles? M and Ms (I prefer chocolate than sweets)
8. Staying up late or waking up early? Staying up late.

D O . Y O U . P R E F E R.
1. Sun or moon? Moon (The Sun is too hot for me... I will melt)
2. Winter or Fall? Winter (I like it cold so that I can snuggle up to my love one... that is you, Superpig...hint hint...)
3. Left or right?: Right
4. 10 acquaintances or having two best friends?: Two best friends (I am at this point where I realised that my "friends" are causing me some heart pain but I am glad that I have met a new friend, Pam)
5. Sunny or rainy?: Rainy (I love to run out into the rain. Used to do that when staying my mother-in-law's place (a landed property) and no one can understand why)
6. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream: Chocolate ice cream


A B O U T . Y O U
1. What time is it?: 11.23 pm
2. Nickname(s): honey pudding, ling ling (to Superpig)
3. What is your birth date?: 7 Dec
4. What do you want?: Just want to be happy
5. Where do you want to live? Where my Superpig and Princesses are (I don't care where as long as I have them with me)
6. How many kids do you want?: 4 (Yes, I am crazy... I am not giving up on the number just need to work on the finances and time)
7. You want to get married? Of course... already am married to my biggest love


U N I Q U E
1. Nervous habit: Talking non-stop but not making any sense
2. Are you double jointed?: No
3. Can you roll your tongue?: No
4. Can you raise one eyebrow?: Yes (with much difficulty)
5. Can you cross your eyes?: Oh yes... I do that a lot to Princess Ash and Superpig
6. Do you make your bed daily?: No (If I do, I will not bear to sleep in it and I will end up in the living on the floor)
7. Can you draw? Yes (refer to previous posts of my drawing of butterflies)

R A N D O M
1. Which shoe goes on first? Right
2. Ever thrown a shoe at someone? No
3. What is your craziest experience ever? Tried to kill myself (yup... depression...don't worry about me now. I am seeing life in a different light and also have found ways to make myself happy)


F O O D
1. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Cut
2. Have you ever eaten spam? Yes (an ex-colleague shared her spam sandwich)
3. Favorite ice cream: Chocolate Ice cream by Walls (I think)
4. How many kinds of cereal are in your cabinet? Cheerios, conrflakes, Cocco Crunch, Honey Stars... okay, 4
5. What’s your favorite beverage? Milo ... thick thick (oh... I so need one now)
6. Do you cook? Yes (So far have not managed to poison anyone yet... that is an achievement already)

IN . T H E . L A S T . M O N T H . H A V E . Y O U ?
1. Bought something: Yes (quite a lot of things, to be exact)
2. Sang: Jesus Love You (Lullaby to Princess Aver)
3. Been hugged: Yes
4. Felt stupid: Definitely (banging head kind of stupid)
5. Missed someone: Yes
6. Danced crazy: Yes (swung my arms and legs ridiculously to tease my princesses)
7. Gotten your hair cut: No
8. Cried: Yes
9. Lied: Yes (not to Superpig...can't seems to lie or keep anything from him at all)

Okay... I have completed mine.

Now five other bloggers:
Ellena of "Cuisine Paradise"
Jean of "Rice and Soup"
Tracy of "A Beautiful Life"
Jessie Chua of "Jessie Culinary"
Mel of "Once Upon A Time"

So copy the questions and answer away....

Diaper bag with changing mat

I had sewn this for a friend whose birthday just passed.

And I totally love it...I love it more that the first diaper bag I made for myself (blah!).

I am and will be making more of it.

It opens up with a changing mat.

Best ... the whole thing can be washed.

Edited : I notice many visitors coming to this page but have no idea where you are coming from and sadly everyone left without leaving a note. I hope someone will enlighten me and let me know who you are so that we can share our interests? (05 March 2008)

Ash's acheivement

It started out with a simple goal...not allowing ourselves to use the fact that Ash is a year end baby as an excuse.

So, we will always set aside time to teach her academically. I started with flashcards then proceeded to reading, learning through play, lots and loys of reading. When she started K1, I tried to teach her what the school taught till now preparing for primary one.

People deemed us as academically driven parents but we are not as she has many activities on weekends which do not invovle academics.

We believe only in on thing, if she can then we should not let it to waste.

Since the school holidays has started and I need to keep her occupied, Ash has academic work to do and also fun activities lined up.

Gave her an English and Maths SA1 papers from a top girl school and we were totally blown off with what she produced.

The Mathematics Paper

The English Paper

Okay, we are really proud of her but yet again what we are not so sure she will do as well when she goes primary one next year. She is a very easily distracted gal and that is the one weakness that will cause her downfall.