'Thanks MOM'!

Fri, 11 Jan

I met my mom & sister over lunch. My sister has lost some weight and looking good (she just delivered her second child couple of months back). To her I said, "Hey, you lost weight, looking good!"

I was sincere about this compliment.

My mom went... "no lah, she never lost any weight...since I met her last week"

Part 2 of the weight saga continued... While browsing in the store, SHE suddenly came up to me, out of nowhere, said "I think you put on weight hor..."

I rolled my eyes. I really wish to say "Thanks Mom!"
I know I'm sagging a bit, my tyre is indeed a bit rounder. Prob 1kg-2kg up the scale but I wonder how come she never has nice remarks for us.

Triple Infections???!??

7 Jan - 12 Jan 08

I felt sick this week. I had a bad stomach and a burning sensation. I knew in my heart that I'm having an infection. I dragged till Thursday to see the company's doctor. I was hoping that some medication would help ease the pain and discomfort. Unfortunately, the doctor didn't seem confident about treating me (perhaps after my arthritis diagnosis). He wanted me to do some much tests before he could dispense the medication. I went home feeling down and without the right medication.

The pain appeared more severe on Friday and Saturday despite consuming a set of basic medication. I knew I have to return to the "expert". My gynae (who also delivered my girl nearly 4 years back). I managed to obtain an appointment the same morning. Upon examination, he notified me that I had three forms of infections - being uti, vaginal & womb infections. He had my IUD removed at the same time as well. I burst into tears at his clinic. Not that he's a monster but out of desperation, frustration and pain. My gynae has always been sympathetic towards me and so is the Chinese Physician. They have been so patient, listening and understanding my condition. I wish more doctors have these attributes. I found that most are concern about earning their bucks instead of being genuinely concern for their patients.

I returned home with 2 weeks of medication and subject for a pap smear review 6-months later.
The bill today S$450!!! See what I mean by intangible benefits. If I'm not employed, I wouldn't be able to claim this amount from the company. I will be paying this from my old, tired wallet.

Maybe, it's best for me to have a follow up session with the Chinese physician tomorrow. I found that acupuncture and Chinese herbs did treat me of the joint pains. The only issue left is the pain on the soles of my feet. But according to the Chinese physician, if a person has bad blood circulation in the body, it can cause depression, ibs, uti, joint pains.

Ahem... according to my horoscope, it says that I will not have new health issues this year but an old issue might go away... I hope so too, Mr Horoscope.

Make Hay While The Sun Shines

Since I returned to work on 2 Jan 08, a question has been hanging on my mind. Should I continue working full-time or should I take a break from work to work part-time?

I was so troubled by this matter. Finally, I decided to speak to my panel of girlfriends and seeked MOTH's opinion on this matter as well. The final verdict...

... is that I should continue with my full-time position and make hay while the sun shines. Though it's extremely tempting to have time off work in the afternoons, I need to consider about building our savings together with MOTH and enjoying the intangible benefits of a full-time employee (eg: annual leave, childcare leave, medical bills, CPF contributions, etc).

Well, if I don't work hard while I'm young, I will waste my energy and my youth. I certainly do not wish to have to slog in my old age.

I feel guilty about leaving the nearly 4 year old with May all day long. But I tried my best in balancing work life, family life and personal fulfillment.

Ps. Thanks to all my gfs for listening (you know who you're!). And thank you to a friend who reminded me to remain confident in my working capabilities instead of worrying about losing my standing to a newcomer.

My Brinjals Plants

I planted the seeds of my brinjal plants in Aug 07.
They started out being so teeny-weeny...


When we returned home from our vacation, a FLOWER had bloomed. This is the first time of my life coming up, close and personal with brinjal plants. I never knew its flowers were purple and that it had huge leaves. I enjoy touching its leaves, it's not smooth but a bit furry but soft to touch (resembles touching a soft toy).

Now more flowers have bloomed. I am hoping that it will bear the brinjal soon. I am excited to try cooking our home-grown brinjal! : )

Book Review - Yours, Faithfully

I never enjoyed much of Sheila O'Flanagan's novels. But this novel was different. I enjoyed the twist of events and guessing what would happen next.

The story evolves around 2 women. Both happily married... but guess what, TO THE SAME MAN! They had no clue that the MAN was leading double family life. They had no idea of each other's existence. It was only when the MAN met with a serious accident, leaving him in coma, that the women learnt of each other.

Just when I thought the MAN was going to recover and get up from his coma, he passed away, leaving his two wives...

An excellent story, definitely worth reading!

Postcards from Bali - Souvenirs, Souvenirs

Fishing cat (my last minute purchase from the airport). Beside the cat, a traditional Balinese cermonial offering basket...

little cats resting on the Amed's beach black sand

ladies in yoga postures. hopefully one day, I will be so elegant and graceful like them when practising my yoga postures too.

beautiful Balinese art

I was happy to see so many shops at the Denpasar International Airport. I didn't get to do much shopping during this vacation. Like a deprived typical woman, so off I went, scotting round the shops doing last minute shopping. I confiscated most of MOTH's US Dollars for shopping. Too bad, MOTH... it's your duty to provide for your wife.

I made a resolution. For my next holiday, I will drop the idea of bringing May along. It seems strange to spend all that money on the holiday and feel so uncomfortable hanging out with her. I suppose she's a stranger afterall. We are still not family and eventually when her contract ends with us next Jan, she would move on with her life and we would have to move on with ours.

Last words... The Balinese are really nice people and they love children. They always expressed concern for our child and have a nice smile for her. Back at the resort, they were even willingly to prepare special food for her just so she could eat something (unfortunately, our child doesn't eat much when we go away). In one of the restaurants, when the waitress saw that our child was not eating anything solid except for some rambutans and banana, she immediately went to grab more fruits for her and told us to bring it back so the child could eat. Such kind actions! At the 3Monkey's cafe, they gave her fish feed so that she could amuse herself by feeding the kois.

Postcards from Bali - 29 Dec 07

on the beach

we were hit by strong waves... this was a perfect pix (if May wasn't in it)...

George erased May from the background (hehe, I'm damn wicked)

the 3.5 year old pretending to be a new born baby

Our last day in Bali. We were blessed with a sunny day. Thank God for that. We managed to convince our little one to spend the day on the black beach. She had so much fun digging up the black sand and even getting splashed by the huge waves. (I was irritated when May kept discouraging her to go to the beach. Damn it, woman! Even if you don't like the beach, please keep your comments to yourself. I am not raising my little girl to be a whiner!).

The 3.5 year old even brought home some of the Amed's beach sand as a souvenir. It's now being placed in our living room.

We tried our luck with snorkeling. Though we did see some corals and reef fishes, it was tremendous effort swimming past the huge crashing waves. I was swept away over and over again. I even brushed past the corals and had slight cuts near my knee caps and legs.

The past 8 days passed by so quickly. I spent most days feeling stressed due to the lack of sleep and spent the final days feeling more relaxed.

Frankly, I am not that generous. I felt that having May around the past days was kinda an intrusion into our family life. She seems to be around everywhere. There're couple of nice pictures of the 3.5yr old and me together but May also appeared in those pictures. I grumbled a bit to MOTH. So he kindly "erased her" from one of our pictures with photoshop. Ah... wonders of technology!