How I spent 2009's Mother's Day

This year's Mother's Day is a little different - I get to be the mother to 2 kids!

We had brunch in a new found vegetarian restaurant in Kelana Jaya and then got home in time for Ryan's bath and nap. The kids were quite hot I think since the sun was shining so so brightly.

Megan was a little agitated by the heat and was fussing quite a bit. Ryan, meanwhile was sweating from his constant move and all his talks. I think it was quite a miracle that we all managed to get through brunch without much tantrums despite the heat.

We spent the whole day at home and in the peak of the heat, I made us all homemade lemonade and had chocolate chip cookies. I also got the kids into the inflatable tub and Ryan went in stark naked. Megan kicked around in the water. By then it was already 5 o'clock. We were expecting my parents over so that we can go grocery shopping - it has been a while since we both got to go grocery shopping together in peace.

After hauling the groceries and dinner up to the house, we finally sat down for dinner at 10.30pm. Gosh, it was really late. We had wine too, which made me really sleepy. Dinner was for both mum and myself. Again, like my birthday, it is a blessing indeed to have all those who matters to us to be near us.

Ryan had made me a nice card at school and came home to present it to me. It was so sweet. I finally slept at about 2am, after tidying and putting Megan back to sleep again.

It was a tiring and hot Mother's Day, but I would not change it to any other way. Looking forward to next year's.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day and I am happy to be celebrating this day for 4 years now. It has been a truly adventurous 4 years and I am looking forward for more to come.

Some people I talk to seems to think that being a mother is difficult while some would think that it is a piece of cake. I think it is a mixture of both, some good times, some bad but usually it is joyful.

I want to thank Ryan for making this possible for me. It was with his arrival did I finally understand how being a mother is like. Hearing about it from my own mum for 31 years somehow cannot match the actual experience. And with little Megan here, it doubles my joy of being a mum more than ever. No, not looking forward to trippling it though I sometimes feel that I am already there with my hubby.

I would also like to say thanks to my mum for being a great mum for all 35 years of my life. I know that no matter how much I complain now, my problems are in no comparison to hers. And for that, I am appreciative of her now more than ever.

To the other mothers out there, have a blast of a day. Remember to celebrate this day as a reminder to ourselves of having done a great job in bearing the kids and having them in our lives.

Happy Mother's Day!

How I celebrated my birthday

Every year on my birthday, I would take leave. I cannot remember how long I have practised this, but for sure, since I had Ryan, I have been doing this. And usually, I would go have my hair cut and changed its style, be it highlighting, colour or perm. This year, I had this done earlier and so, I did not do it yesterday.

This year, I celebrated it differently. I first dropped Ryan off at school and then proceeded to having breakfast at The Curve. I wanted to go get my Ikea catalogue and wanted to stroll around the furniture stores there. I also wanted to go get my Starbucks coffee.

I did all that and then went to pick Ryan from school. I got to tell you, picking the kid up and seeing his bright cheery smile is really priceless. Made my birthday for sure. After packing him off for his nap, I rested for a while with my "Everybody Loves Raymond" comedy.

Hubby came home soon after late in the afternoon and we went to Genting, without the kids. When he first suggested it, I thought he was joking. Turns out, he was not. The drive up was good, except for a slow stretch in the middle. It was quite a refreshing experience when we arrived. Not much traffic and cool crisp air. It was raining a little and we had to wait a while in the car.

Unlike when we went there before Ryan, our trip up there this time was really quite quiet. We did not go for any of the rides, we did not go to the parks, we just walked around and sat outside of Coffee Bean's! We did not even get a drink. We just sat and talked, in peace. No kid to demand attention, no baby to feed, all was quiet.

When we got hungry, we went to look for food. I wanted Western, but then I did not want to pay for things I can cook. So we walked some more and still cannot find vegetarian food. In the end we settled for Pizza Hut. yup, good old Pizza Hut. We ate pretty much in silence, such a change. Ordinarily, I would have complained that we did not talk and we are running out of topics to talk about. But this time, I think we are enjoying it, really.

We walked some more after dinner and even managed some games at the amusement centre, some Initial D race. By the time we got to the car, we were already tired. Age really does damage the system!

The drive down the hill was a little faster, mostly because of the slopes, but also I think we wanted to rush home to the kids. Things are not the same without them. Megan had already gone to sleep and Ryan was excited about cutting my cake. Turns out, we did not have one. So, to make up for it, we cut some jellies, with a candle in it too. We sang the good old birthday song and Ryan blew out my candle. We ate and soon slept.

I had turned 35. What better way to feel than good about it? I have my health, family and tomorrow to look forward to. Looking forward to 36 now ...

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yup, today I celebrate my 35th birthday. 35 years ago, I came to this world screaming and wailing. My mum still has nightmares about my cries. Apparently I was a difficult baby, something I still am I think ; )

This year marks my mid 30s year and I must say I am quite happy about it. As my mum said "Some people don't even get to live up to this age ..." and it's true. We should be thankful that we have past yet another year.

I am looking forward to this year to see what I can accomplish and how I can help shape and change lives. I am not talking about the population and world sorts of things, just how I can help my kids, hubby and the people surrounding me.

For now, I am thankful I have my health, parents, brother, Ryan, Megan, hubby and a bunch of friends who have gotten me to where I am. I am thankful that I wake up each day and I can see the sunshine, feel the rain, the heat, the anger, the happiness, the frustration and all the emotions that run through me, for this shows that I am alive and well.

Happy 35th birthday to me .... may this year be filled with good health, happiness and joy, and um ... hopefully more money too!!

Addicted to the Net

I am dead tired now but cannot resist opening the laptop and switching it on. And I am now stuck with it for about an hour now although I initially wanted to sleep at 12am.

Darn, got to stop being so addicted to the Net.

Now, really have to sleep. Hubby is wondering why I keep yawning and yet, I still keep typing.

Good night folks.

Blogging for money, anyone?

If you know me, you know I love money. But then again, who does not right?

Apart from that, I also love to write. Write about things that happened to me, my kids, the man I married, my country, my money thoughts etc. It is just great to be able to document memories for later reading pleasure. This is especially true for my kids.

Lately, I have also ventured into setting up my own paid domains on financial thoughts and reviews and playing with the settings etc. I learned about pings, paid ads, blog advertising, SEO, widgets, AdSense, Paypal and so much more. Penny has been great in helping with this.

Now, what is better than being able to combine my love to write with the ability to also earn in the process? Some friends of mine seem to think that this will take the passion out of blogging which is supposed to be fun. But I disagree, if at all, I think blogging for money actually enhances the passion even more.

What about you? Are you blogging for fun or are you blogging for money?

Week 15 and more ...

Yay! 

Megan has already passed her Week 15 and below is apparently what she is experiencing 
- Preferences for colours, textures and sights will change from more basic black and white to multi-coloured, multi-textured, noise-making machines! 

I think Megan has already reached this stage as seen when she is attracted to the colourful musical mobile we got her as well as the TV and computer we have around her. She started to turn her head towards the TV and computer and would stare at it for a long while when they are switched on. 

And then there is the curious case of why Megan takes exceptionally well in sucking her fingers and hands. Apparently it is because it is for comfort and and to cope with stress until her motor skills improve and she can manipulate other items into her mouth. And I am to expect she will pick up everything and head it straight into her mouth for the next several months. 

What a wonderful time it is for her ... and I. 

Me and my books

I am a confirmed book addict. I buy books with the intention to read it, every time. Trouble is, I do not read them fast enough compared to the rate I buy them. And so, I now have shelves full of books but do not have enough eyes to read them.

All my books are overflowing and there are still some which I have not bought, but am eyeing on, in case there are sales on them. My bookshelves are already showing signs of overloading - they are bending, next time must buy stronger ones.

Anyway, last Labour Day, I went to the MPH warehouse sale with Ryan and between the 2 of us, we managed to cart off more books to the car. Think the books we bought were heavier than Ryan! As usual, I bought more books for Ryan than for myself. And the only reason for that was because the kids' books were darn cheap, and plenty!!

I managed to get Dora activity books for RM6, also managed to get some Charlotte Web activiy books for RM3!! I also got a children's illustrated bible book for RM25, this was a little pricey cause I got one for myself (adult's version for only RM20. I even got one for my mum for Mother's Day present.

I started reading it to Ryan because I really wanted him to know that there is a divine power working above us. Hopefully he will get it and appreciate life and things given to him more. Plan to also impart this onto Megan. Yeah, me and my ideals.

Prior to this sale, I also went to Border's and Kinokuniya to buy some parenting books. And I have not started to read them yet. Sigh, I really have to stop buying.

Last year, I set myself a target to complete 1 book a month. I fell short by 1 book by the time 2008 closed. This year, the target is 13 books. I only have completed 3, and in April, did not complete any although I am half way on several. So now, I have to shut down this laptop and start to read, really. Else, I will feel really guilty about buying and spending all the money and not reading them.

Have you bought a new book lately? Have you read a book lately? Please share!

Government doctors and hospitals

Now, before I go on, I just want to say that I have the highest respect for the medical profession. I think that they are just God sent, seeing that they are performing miracles everyday in trying to cure and treat us ordinary humans.

However, there are some doctors who are really bad apples and they have caused the entire profession to be a mockery.

Just read here, where the government doctor had prescribed paracetamol in excess and resulted in the death of a 7 year old boy. Come one, two 500mg of paracetamol 4 times a day? Why, that is what I am taking! But for a 7 year old boy? Come on! I bet you the government fellas will come out to say that there were no mistakes made. For sure.

Just as what our dear Health Minister also said when doctors as a government hospital were said to be doing their own thing. Apparently these doctors were actually performing their tasks up to mark and were not lacking in professionalism. Sigh, dear Health Minister, you really have to go pay the hospitals a visit. You need to know how the ground people are operating la dei.

And you know what the joke was? He said this "the waiting period to see a doctor at the non-critical zone was less than 15 minutes." 15 minutes my foot la. Ok, so maybe University Hospital and Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia is not fully government, but it sure as hell does not take 15 minutes to clear. I should know, hubby is always here with his parents, and it bloody takes like hours and hours to clear the poor guy.

Sigh, the medical profession has long been thought of as a niche profession. In Malaysia, it is a joke. Which is why I would not encourage my kids to be a doctor, especially in Malaysia. And they were talking about how to attract the Malaysian doctors abroad to come home ... what a joke.

Pet Day in school

Tuesday and Thursday were Pet Day in school. The children were given a list of animals which were allowed on the respective days. The animals in the list included fish, puppies, cats, rabbits, hamsters, but we did not have any of these.

And so, we brought our turtle on Tuesday. It was too big to be put into a small toy pail and was in the end, transported to school using a small washing pail.

Ryan proudly brought it to school and showed it off to his school mates. Everyone gathered round an exclaimed at the size of it. It was quite a commotion seeing the poor turtle who was a little traumatized.

On the day we brought our pet, there was also puppy, hamsters and a parrot. On thursday, there were many small aquariums, a cat and a rabbit. These too cause excitement for the little ones.

I think the school is great in doing this, it helps the children to cultivate a sense of caring for their animals as well as some exposure given.

Hmm ... I do not remember having a Pet Day in school when I was in kindie. Perhaps if there was, I would have brought a frog there, just to scare everyone else ... hehe.