A pressie

My girl has caught the reading bug. I used to have to force her to read. She only wanted to buy many books and store them on the bookshelf. She used to read, but stopped for quite some time. Suddenly, in the middle of her exam period, she sought out her books again. She was reading pretty ferociously. In between doing lots of assessments in preparation for her exams, she would ask for a rest and turn to her reading. I didn't stop her, as I felt she needed a diversion from all that concentration.

I couldn't wait for exams to be over so she could indulge in her current passion, thus I decided to get her an 'end of exam' pressie consisting of books, meringue, and a painting kit. I stumbled upon the 'Ramona' series by Beverly Cleary and she loves them. We're only short of 2 books to complete the series.

Home visits

My social calendar since the last exam paper has been unreal. Since last Friday, I've had guests every day to my home, minus the weekend though. This week alone has seen three days of impromptu visits. One from mum, another one from aunt & uncle, and another aunt and family will visit tonight. A friend commented that I'm celebrating Deepavali, and it almost feels like it. Haha. On a good note, my house hasn't been so clean over a period of a week. It's usually in a mess and it does feel good to have squeaky clean floors, an empty dining table as well as a coffee table not stacked with loads of junk.

We were out with aunt and uncle on Tuesday and since the girl had been bugging for a steamboat dinner, I had to get that out of the way, so after seeing her off in the school bus that morning, I made a trip to the wet market and bought whatever stuff my hands could carry for the dinner that night. I decided to invite aunt and uncle over for dinner as it's more fun to have steamboat with a group of people. They were thrilled to be invited and that made me really happy to have made that decision to include them. They enjoyed dinner very much and it's been a long time since I had seen them eat so much. They have been ill and haven't had much of an appetite. It felt good that I was able to do something for them.

We came home last that afternoon so I had to set about getting dinner ready. It couldn't have happened if I had done it all by myself. Thankfully I had my girl who was ever ready to help out. She made the wantons all by herself. Don't you think she did a great job? I think she did them so beautifully.

We had a simple dinner, but it was the company that made it all special. I wish I could invite them over for dinner more often. We have already made plans. Next on the menu is chicken rice. :D

Cuppies for a special friend and updates

Hello everyone, I'm back! Not sure how long I will stay, though. Over the past month, it's been crazy preparing for Princess' final year exams. I'm glad it's all over, a weight has been lifted off my mind and shoulders. I'm happy that the hard work paid off, and she improved in her weakest subject. I'm glad that I made the right decision in sending her for enrichment class after her dismal results at mid year.

In between exams, I took time out to make some cuppies for a good friend of mine for her birthday. I'm happy that she liked them. There were a few more that I made, but I need to find the photos for them.

I also stopped making bentos. Just lost the interest for making them. Hope to regain it again soon. I did make a simple one for school one morning. In the bento was a ham and cheese sandwich, some homemade croutons, a box of Smarties, cubed dragonfruit and a cherry tomato.

Broken Mirror

Friendship is like a mirror... once broken, cannot be repaired. Sad, but such is life.

Morning time

Good morning all, before I begin, I would like to inform you that I have updated my lor mai gai post with the recipe. Do check it out and give it a try.

This morning began on a high note... literally. When the bus pulled up to our block, I saw these few girls in the school bus 'playing' or so I assumed. And was going 'tsk tsk' no seat belt on, not in their seats. These same girls usually are asleep or resting in there. When the bus door opened, I heard shrieks. Guess who the culprit was? A tiny roach probably less than 2cm. Curious me went aboard the bus as we hadn't yet known what was the cause of their screaming. I suspected it was a roach and was asking what it was but everyone was busy screaming and finally one girl said yes. Bus driver had to get off his seat to catch this tiny thing, but so funny it was as after that, no one wanted to sit in the 1st 2 rows. One girl was telling them not to scream and the older girls sitting at the back of the bus weren't even bothered or interested. I think they were just probably annoyed by these screaming monsters who were disrupting their sleep. So there begins a whole exciting day for some. :)

I hope to hear from the teacher today and fingers crossed they find the bag. I still can't figure out who would want to steal a lunch bag, it being bulky and all. My guess is that it is a prank or misplaced. Oh well, let's see what the teacher says.

I am really enjoying this morning session school more than I thought I would. I find that I have more time to do things. Getting her out of the way in the mornings has afforded me more time to spend on cleaning the home, getting meals ready, etc. When she was in the afternoon session, I woke up later in the morning, then I had to get ready her bento, get her ready for school etc and by the time she left for school, I was too tired to do anything else. If I went out, then I would be too tired to cook dinner after.

I love waking up early now, in the peace and quiet of the morning, start my washing load, prepare breakfast and do whatever I need to do. I even feel like mopping the house more often. I try to vacuum the floor in the evening and mop it in the morning, sometimes before the girl is awake. There's a feeling of liberation and a sense of accomplishment to complete my tasks before most people are awake. On most days, I start my slow cooker right after I prepare the food for school, and leave the soup to cook on its own. Very happy that I am now on a routine which hasn't yet turned monotonous.

Not sure if my body has adjusted, but waking up at 5.30am has been ok for me so far. I cooked more rice last evening for our dinner and left a portion so I could steam it to put into her bento. Upon waking, (for example this morning) I always start with steaming food. I need to get it done and cooled down before packing it into her box. I next plopped the seaweed chicken into the oven before putting a pot of water to the boil for the sausages. Next is to get the washing machine going. I love the whirring of the machine in the stillness of the morning.

I have also been blogging more these days. It's helped by a couple of factors, namely, a few blogger friends have come back to blogging (you know who you are. :P); there's some traffic on my blog as I have been visited by some people I have not 'met' before. I know there are many more silent ones who just want to remain that way. Thanks all, for stopping by. I have more time and things to blog about, and seeing these few friends update their blogs so frequently has motivated me and spurred me on. It's boring when you are the only one blogging, so keep up your blog posts, and so will I. ;)

What happened?

The day started very well, with Princess waking up just after 8am and as we continued sleeping, she busied herself with her craft work outside and did some reading. I got up a half hour later and gave her some cereal.

So, as we got ready for church, she was all excited, looking forward to meeting her godparents and brothers in our church. I mean how often do they travel so far, over an hour on a Sunday morning, just to attend mass? It was really sweet of Al when he called last evening to say they will join us, even though he was only due for the baptism mass at 12pm. Naturally we were all excited. Princess was the first to be ready in her pretty dress and packed her bag with her drawing stuff and sketch pad. I make it a habit to take them along when we go out as it serves to occupy her while we are say, in the bus, or waiting for our food to be served, as kids being kids, they don't like waiting. It helps that she loves to draw.

Just before we stepped out the door, she mentioned that she should have covered her tummy when she was sleeping at night as she was having a tummy ache. So we didn't think much of it as she didn't make a big fuss. We even planned to go for Jap lunch after mass, at her favourite restaurant.

In the first part of the mass (she requested not to attend cathechism so that she could see her godbrothers), she was well and happy but halfway through, she suddenly told daddy that her tummy was hurting again and she looked miserable. I checked to make sure she didn't feel like throwing up. She assured me she wasn't. I mean the last thing I want is for her to throw up in church, with no plastic bag on hand. Tears started streaming down her cheeks at a certain point and I guess she wasn't well at all. Poor child. Once mass was over, we went home. I rubbed some oil on her belly and she said that her tummy was aching like the last time, a couple of months back when she had the same thing. I remembered that I still have the Colimix from the last visit to paed and gave her some of that. At the same time, I took her temperature and realised she was running a slight fever. She's having a nap now so hope she feels better tomorrow.

Kids are really unpredictable, one minute they are well and happy and the next minute, they are suddenly struck down by a bug.

But all in, I'm really happy to have my best friend beside me in church today, as well as her entire family. It felt good, and it brought me back to our younger days when we would occasionally go for evening mass together, seated side by side. Today being 'All Souls' Day', I know who was on your mind throughout, and I'm sure she was smiling down from Heaven and feeling so proud of you for the great mum and wife you've become, dearest Miss K. Know that you are very much loved by friends and family, and in all that you do, you are never alone. Thanks for visiting, my dear friend. And glad you appreciated the 'modern gadgets' of my church hehe. :) God bless.

Fridays

Myspace Friends Comments & Graphics

I love Fridays. It's not because it's the last day of a work week, since homemakers/mothers/wives typically do not have any rest day... they are on call 24/7. I don't know about you out there, but I know I am. What makes me look forward to this particular day of the week, is that I get to meet up with some good friend mums from school. After the kids are off to school, we sneak in a breakfast meeting to just spend time together, complain about school/teachers etc.

Now don't call me a tai tai, as I am far from one. It just pisses me off when people assume that if you don't work and stay home to take care of kids, you are a tai tai. That is so totally untrue and something which most homemakers like me will totally protest against. Well, if I were a tai tai, where would I have the time to be sitting here and blogging, and not to mention cooking, and cleaning house, etc? I'd be out shopping and having high teas or organising some charity do. And since I do not have maids or fancy cars (well, not even a broken second hand car), how do I qualify as one? I'm sure you can tell that someone stepped on my toes with that comment.

Now, back to the topic at hand. I do treasure the few hours on Fridays, be it for breakfast or lunch and I know it's very quickly coming to a halt once our kids start school. Two mums would leave our area to start new homes in other parts of Singapore and two will remain, although one will migrate soon to Oz, and one has a new baby to mind. Well, what say you mums, that we might still occasionally meet up on Friday for lunch when kids have left for school? I know it's not easy. But I'm sure we will find a way. The friendship with these mums sure is precious to me and I do thank God for them all, for He has blessed me with such caring and reliable friends who live so close by, and to whom I can turn in times of trouble, and bless J, who so kindly offered to take care of my girl while I was planning a last minute trip to China with hubby. However, the trip on my part has been cancelled so there is no need to bother her with that now. But it touched me that she said 'my doors are always open to you'. KY offered to mind princess too, but unfortunately she lives too far away and I would have liked her to continue to go to school while I was away. But thanks so much for offering, KY, and for being such a wonderful godma. :)