Bitten by the bug

Ok, so here I am, at 11.45pm and the kids are snoring.

I am suddenly bitten by the rearrange-my-blog-look bug. So, I have changed it to a darker colour. Hmm ... looks like I need some getting used to. But, if by tomorrow I still can't accept it, I will change it to some bright, colourful template all over again!

Yes, I am a bit mad ... good night!

A happy new year indeed!

Hullo 2013!! It is just great to be able to have another new year. It really is. There is something magical about having a new beginning, a fresh start and a brand new phase.

Every year since the time I can remember, I have always been haunted by making new year resolution lists. I remember I once was asked to do an essay on that in school - yikes! The danger was that nobody told us why we needed one or why it is so important to have one.

Moving ahead to the current year (time flew by!), I do really believe that making a list of new year resolutions will help move us in the direction we want. And if it doesn't, well, heck it, it was fun dreaming right?

My resolutions for 2013 are ...
1) Get fit through more exercises - I have been extremely unfit, LOL!!
2) Get in a slot every other month for a small get away - I think we all need some away time to forget about realities, eh?
3) Monthly trips back to hometown - I have been a horrible daughter last year!
4) Challenge trip achieved by June 2013 - I am in the business where everything is about "show me the numbers!"
5) Pay me first money to be increased - I think I have missed this boat for a very long time. Now, I have to play catch-up.
6) A trip for mum and dad - Parents, first you love them, then you can't stand them, then you can't imagine what life would have been if it were not for them, so this is my little gesture.
7) READ 2 books a month - Ahem, so apart from hoarding them, I'd have to read them too la ... haha!
8) Complete Success Plan - failed to blast off on this plan 2 years ago, gonna start and complete my journey
9) Start and end day with extra hugs and kisses for kids - yeah, I think I am leaving out somebody here ...
10) Practice gratitude giving to people who are in my life - for starters, I thank you for reading my list here!

So there it is, I should have more to add, but let's start with this and see how it goes.

Yes, I know, I am mad.

So far ...

It has been almost a year since I left my job. It was about middle of February last year when I left for my pre delivery leave and since then it has been a whole year of adventure for me.

How do I find it so far? Hmm ... I must say that it is very liberating. Liberating in the sense that I do not have to plan my errands and children around my office hours, nor the official 5 days of the work week. I know that if I have a 3 hour lunch, I can, and nobody is going to give me some sarcastic remark. If I want to cut, dye and highlight my hair, I can do it in the middle of the day when the crowd is lesser and I do not have to leave work early nor steal time away. I can show up at pre views when the doors open and not have to worry about my work, conference calls, meetings, bosses, etc. etc.

However, as with all things, this does not come without any cost. Sometimes, when you have so much flexibility, you inadvertently head towards a lot more tension relieving activities rather than goal achieving ones. Like, you tend to take more naps, watch tv in the middle of the day, go for tea and then shopping ... or you get carried away with the kids, and then there is the meal preparation which takes hours to prepare and minutes to finish!!

But all in all, life has been good. So now, I have to start recording some of it here .... can't believe it has been over a month since I last updated!!

As the year ends ...

Today shall be the last Friday of the year. It has been a really long and eventful year for me. So much has changed and so much has happened. But, for me, the good memories are to be shared, while I wipe out the nasty ones. The positive ones for me (in no particular order) are: 


1) I celebrated one year in my new house. 
2) Dylan was born, safe and healthy.
3) I had a good confinement lady.
4) All my family members are healthy and happy. 
5) I achieved my Hollywood challenge trip for this year.
6) Ryan breezed through his entrance exam for Standard 1 and was accepted. 
7) Ryan completed his kindergarten years.
8) I attended both Megan and Ryan's orientation days, signalling a new phase in both their (and my) life. 
9) My help at home has been good to us.
10) The sales bargains (esp. books) has been awesome this year - we need this from the way the income and expenses has been behaving.
11)  Dylan started teething, sitting, crawling and cruising ... with relatively little pain. 
12) I had 3 months maternity leave, which gave me the opportunity to do the one thing that this year has so far been the best ...
13) I quit employment after 13 years in it! 


I am sure there are plenty more but this is what I have at one sitting. 


Here's to 2012!! 

I am lost without my kids

So today, my older 2 decided that they wanted to spend time with their grandma and off they went back to PD. Hmm ... 


While I think it is healthy to have them going off once in a while to be with their grandparents, I cannot help but feel a little lost without them, like part of me is missing. 


It is now 7pm, usually it will be the time they get back from the park, all sweaty and dirty and screaming for food ... but now, it is all quiet.


And so I feel terrible ... cause I have nobody to cook for!! The father said he is eating out tonight since he is gonna be late ... looks like I am going to be eating simple sandwich today. 


Such is life ... when you have kids, you live so much for them that when they are away even for a few days, you feel lost. So in preparation for the days when they finally leave the nest, looks like I am gonna have to make lots of friends and indulge in many hobbies. 


Argh!! Can't wait for Saturday to come! 

Tech and us today

Technology today has such a tremendous influence on our lives, it is absolutely amazing.

I have friends whose kids are below 5 and they already have an ipod for their favourite songs and ipad for their kiddie books. While I am happy that songs and books are part of the package, I still believe that it is too much, too soon. Whatever happen to flipping (and occasionally tearing) pages of books and CDs blasting for all in the family to sing along?

My kids are still relatively less exposed to all the fast moving tech. The most is Ryan having our iphones for limited time to play some (monitored) games and the TV. Internet is allowed for playhousedisney.com, and it is also monitored with limited time. He has learned that once the time is up, there is no further discussion on it.

Megan is sometimes on the iphone, but usually she will throw it away when it is not responding to the way she wants it. Her big tech thing is the TV which plays Barnie and Elmo for her.

I remember when I had to apply for jobs fresh out of university, I had to type and print and then buy stamps and envelopes to send it. Now, it is on the website. For example, peoplesearch.com and other sites where you can go check out what they want and how to apply for it.

I remember too when I was small, having a pen pall was a big thing and I used to write to a friend in the UK and would wait weeks for a reply. Now, finding old friends is so easy through Facebook. No more waiting for weeks and no more limitation of space.

Ah yes, the wonders of tech. I think it is very much like fire - when tech is your servant, it is really wonderful, but when tech becomes the master, we are doomed.

Have you ever wondered ...

Some little girls used to grow up wondering when they will meet their Prince Charming and get whisked off to a happily ever after life in an awesome castle somewhere. But I don't think I grew up with this dream, I basically grew up wondering where I can find the next boy to whack and how I was going to be No. 1 in class.

Fast forward to some 10 years plus ago when I decided that my then boyfriend was the one I will spend my life with. And now, we have 3 kids.

And I have to admit, it is not always a bed of roses. Of course the good outweigh the bad times, but still sometimes I find myself wondering if it was all worth fighting for.

And sometimes, when I am up in the quiet of the night nursing, I wonder, if it was meant to be ...

Threatened!!

So, we were talking over a late tea on Friday.

SL said that she has resorted to remove blogs which are inactive from her blog roll. And then she said to me "Your is about to be removed, so long never update".

So here I am, well past midnight, putting up a post so that SL will not remove me from her blog roll. Have mercy! I have kids to run after!!

Have a good week everyone!

Best ideas for raising kids ...

I was going through some notes on success principles and came across the following:

According to Zig Ziglar, the best idea for raising kids is to "Love them unconditionally. Begin and end each day properly."

Isn't that well said? I must remember to end the day right with them. Too often we get so caught up with ourselves that we lose sight of what is important to us, too often we get so caught up with petty things that we lose sight of those little ones which holds us dear. Too often .. 

And as Joseph Campbell says ... "To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might just be the whole world." 

Please God, help me have the strength to be the kind of mum my kids deserve and the kind you want me to be - kind, loving and patient. 

My backdated post ...

If you ask anybody, they will tell you that I am a really really laid back mum.

I was cleaning up my hotmail's inbox and noticed that I had a post in there which I wrote but never got to put it on the blog!! It was on Megan's Week 15 milestone and so, I finally put it up here, almost 2 years later. Sigh, I am a terrible mum.

And as I look back to more photos etc, I think there will be more backdated posts to come.

Meanwhile, I will blog about current events while backdating at the same time.

Have a good day!

I lost track of time

...which is the only reason I can think of for not putting something here for so long.

Well, that is about to change. I will start updating for the next 3 weeks ... since I am stuck at home and all.

Till tomorrow then ...

Contrary to what you may think ..

I have not stopped blogging. I just have loads to do and the internet connection at home is limiting my time even more!!

Anyway, I have decided to resume putting down my thoughts and following what my kids are up to.

Plenty have happened and I will try to remember as much and put them down before they outgrow the stage and this poor old lady is left wondering where the time has gone!

For now, let's take a day at a time and hope you are having a ball of a time!

I am 36

To many females, age is not something to be revealed.

For me, I am proud to declare my age because to me, it means I have another year to enjoy my kids and my family. It also means I have another year to work on my future.

I think, ageing is great, although I can do with more stamina and less wrinkles!

Have a great birthday to me!

How my kids delight me

In one of those horrible tired days, my kids delight me in so many ways. Amongst them ...

RYAN: Mum, let's play hide and seek.
ME: No, of course not.
RYAN: Why?
ME: Cause I am too big and I have no where to hide.
RYAN: Aiya, you just hide somewhere lo, your stomach is so soft, people will think it is a pillow!
ME: *not sure I should cry or laugh*

But I should go to the gym more often!

In another, I was on the floor lazing around when Megan came to me grinning away and then proceeded to SIT on my tummy. Then, she decided it was more fun to bounce up and down on me!

Now, she is not exactly light and my tummy is not exactly toned, and so, the pain is truly felt! When I push her off, she comes right back at me, grinning. On top of that, she has discovered that it is more fun to poke my navel than hers!

Her ko-ko is of course finding this all amusing and is rolling off the bed laughing!

Me learning phonics

For the life of me, I cannot remember learning any phonics in school. Most of my English is learnt through my reading habits. The foundation came from my mum who was adamant that I should learn my tenses and verbs and past/ present participles - I still don't know all this theory till today.

I usually just speak and write according to what seems right grammatically and if all else fails, there is always spell check!

So when Ryan came back one day and showed me a list of words I was supposed to practise with him - I was dumbfounded. It was a list of phonics which we had to practised on the sounds and the emphasis etc.

To him, it was almost easy since they converse this way - they actually have a ABC song sang to the phonics way. Can you believe that? And I had to struggle to say it out. Finally, I owned up and said that I will ask his teacher to go through with me before we learn together - I don't want to say the wrong thing and be laughed at, you know.

Yesterday, his teacher finally sat me down and went through with me. Imagine, he was running around while the teacher and I sat on the small little chairs and went through EACH word and then she told me to think of a begin sound and see how it linked up. Thank goodness the teacher is older than I, else it will be utterly embarrassing!

Can you imagine next time he goes to primary school and I had to go back to his teacher to learn how to do maths and such? I think I had better go do some work books before he reaches there!

How many books did you read in 2009?

I wonder if there is such a thing as addiction to buying books? If there is, I wonder if my behaviour qualifies. Every time I am near a book store, chances are I will go in and come out with a couple of hundreds worth of books, magazines, etc.

However, I must admit though, I usually read about 1 out of the stash that I bought at one time and the rest will sit on my shelves till I am ready to read them.

Last year, I read a total of 11 books, I had set my goal at 13 books. This year, I am going to stretch myself a little and will aim for 16 books. And it does not include my kids' books which I also read to them.

Among the books I read last year are:
How to make HOT cold calls
Positive Discipline for Pre schoolers
Twelve Pillars
Problogger
Secrets of A Millionaire Mind
Things I Want My Daughters To Know
Seven Years to Seven Figures
Dated Jekyll, Married Hyde
Confessions of a bad mother
Secrets of Happily Married Women
What to expect when you are expecting

I must say it is a pretty good list of parenting, fiction and business books there. And I think that is important to keep the interest alive.

I am currently reading several at one go - Psychology of selling, The art of closing the sale, Positive Discipline for 1-3 years, The toddler years and Think and grow rich.

So what are you reading now?

Chinese New Year once again

The year has flown by very quickly.

And while many may sigh, I choose to think it is because we are healthy and therefore, time moves quickly for us. And that is a good sign.

So many changes happened in the Year of the Ox - Megan came into the family, we bought a landed house for the growing kids, financials have been in place, I chose a new route for my destination and I an very happy with the way things worked out.

Sure, there were challenges and there were problems and tears. Throughout the year, laughter has managed to tame many unpleasant situations.

I have been unable to keep up with the many events that has been happening but I am thinking of blogging it over the next one week or so and back date it to the days when it happened. I know, I know, I am cheating, but really, I wish I had 34 hours a day you know.

For now, at this hour, I am attempting to clear some of my mails etc. ... it is really a daunting act.

And tomorrow, I have many many errands to run. Looking forward to it though.

Have a blast!

I am suddenly blank

Must be the new year and the challenges I have formed in my mind, but I am suddenly blank, really blank, don't know what to write and don't know how long it will take to recover.

Have not been updating as regularly as I wanted to. My kids are growing by leaps and bounds, but I am blank.

Let's see how tomorrow.

Making my first dream board for 2010

This is my dream board. And this is the first time that I am doing something like this. It details 5 broad areas of my life which I want to focus on in 2010.

From the top left, there is a financial challenge which I want to fulfil. Once it is achieved, I will get a chance to visit the country where the Maori dancers live. And so the hunt begins ...

In the top middle is a place where I hold dear - my family. The words clearly tell how I feel and the kitchen tells the story of where I believe a family is united after a day's, week's of hard work. And so they become my garden of inspiration ...

Towards the bottom left talks about social responsibility. I feel that this is a very important area for everyone especially us parents who inspire to leave the world a better place for our future generations. For this area, my 2 key focus is to be more environmentally friendly - recycle! and also to adopt a child a year. By the time I reach my retirement age, I would have 20 kids!

Bottom centre talks about eating healthy, delicious food and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. More trips to the gym, daily walks around the block in my new place. More spiritual awareness, maintaining balance and harmony in life.

I have allocated the entire right space to things that I want to have for my family and myself - good things. Things which I can have without having to sacrifice our retirement and education funds. Luxury is never an option ...

When I was putting this together, Ryan was busy trying to help and was curious about what I was doing. I told him that this is a dream board which will help realise our goals. His association was immediately with MONEY, hehe. Great start eh?

Here's to a great 2010!

I am not sure how I feel now ...

Today Ryan went back with my mum to PD. And I cannot describe how I feel now. Strange. I thought I should feel relieved, because there was a lot of stress in the last 1 week. Ryan got sick, work was a little stressed, then Ryan went into a relapsed, then I was told by the eye doctor that he possibly needed glasses, hubby was edgy as well, men, then Megan got sick last night. Sigh, the whole week has been a non-stop drama.

When my mum said she wants the kids, I was like "Woo hoo!" Freedom for a week. I was to go back this Friday to fetch them back. At least a few nights on my own, to do my thing.

And then, today, we decided that Megan stays behind with us while Ryan goes home with my mum. I was told that as soon as we were out of sight, he started to cry all the way to PD. He had wanted my dad to turn around and he said he misses us and wants to come home. My heart broke.

What I thought would be a few funs nights now feels like something I do not need after all. I would much prefer that the nights that Ryan was around adding to the fun and flavour with Megan's constant laughter.

I will be going to fetch him this Friday with Megan. Can't wait to see him.