Monthly Archives: January 2010

For her.

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Getting good at playing while sitting up!

Yesterday was one of those god-awful crappy days where I question my decision to be a stay-at-home mum with precious little income.

At times, I feel like I’m in school all over again, trying to stretch RM50 for 30 days and even resorting to things like digging out coins to buy lunch. Then with Eva whining and crying in the MRT and bus, people staring at me like I’m torturing her (why can’t I say that it’s actually the other way around?), I was seriously reaching my limit.

Then I took a look at this picture; just before that, Nil gently reminded me about the decision we made as a family unit. The picture made it even clearer.

For her.

I’m doing this for her. WE are doing this for her.

The budget cuts, the lack of expensive meals, the “diets”, the “thinking of new ways to cut cost”, the constant worrying about money, the lack of social independence, the change in our lifestyles…we are doing it for someone else and not just anyone but OUR little one.

Suddenly, everything looked right again.

Today…

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…was really one of those crappy, “I really hate my life” days.

I’m currently trying to get better from a stupid flu/cold I caught from dirty people here, but because I’m only sleeping around 5 hours a day (no naps) and juggling not only the housechores (cooking, laundry, picking up after messes, washing the toilet, mopping the floor, general cleaning), the grocery shopping AND my shop, I have to contend as well with a pre-teething baby – which means that she is awfully babbling, whiny and cranky to boot. I don’t even have the time to look into franchise opportunities for the shop or some products that I was thinking of bringing in! Gah!

Just to give you an idea of what my day has been like…

I’m up at 7am and busy keeping the laundry, boiling the water, moping the floor, clearing the kitchen and some of the stuff in the sink.

I go online to check my mails and do the usual and she starts babbling on the top of her voice, asking to be out. This is at 9am.

After a feed, I try to get her to play on her own. No way in hell. She babbles, whines and cries – carrying her is the only way to shut her up. So we left for some window shopping at 10am. She falls asleep on the bus but wakes up halfway, sometime around 1130am.

I decide to make the trip back and we arrive home at around 1230 noon after doing some shopping for lunch and dinner. After her lunch, a bath and a change, she is napping at 130pm in her room. I have my lunch and then set about preparing for tonight’s dinner. By the time I’m done, it’s 2pm. I work on an order, hoping to get a snooze around 230pm but by the time I want to get to it, she’s already up.

It’s 3pm and after some playing, it’s time for the next feed at nearly 4pm. After that, she just babbles and whines non-stop. The swing doesn’t help. Playing only works for a few minutes. I tell her to go sleep and what-not, and she bursts out into tears. So off we went into the crib and I turn on the aircon. Doesn’t really work…she’s still babbling and whining.

It’s 5:30pm and I decided that I just had about enough, so off we went again for some window shopping. She nearly falls asleep on the bus but didn’t. I met up with Nil at around 7pm at the shopping mall and we arrived home at around 8pm. After her dinner, and a quick wipe down, she’s in her crib and snoozing away.

Me? I’m still up and having to work on dinner and then an order plus this entry. I won’t go to bed until it’s nearly midnight.

So really, whoever thought that I live an easy, carefree life should switch shoes with me. And honestly, I do NOT appreciate remarks like how I should do more to keep my house clean so that my hubby comes home to a clean and comfy home. If he wants that, he should get a maid. I’m already doing more than my fair share.

Disgusting people.

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Yesterday, during our bus ride, there was this guy sitting in the seats meant for people with children, the elderly, those who are pregnant and disabled. What peeved me off was that he was occupying TWO seats – yes, he basically spread his butt cheeks across two seats.

Never mind. I prefer to stand since Eva likes looking out the windows and such. Then about five stops later, he started coughing and without closing his mouth. I could see saliva flying everywhere! As if that wasn’t disgusting enough, he then proceeded to clear his throat on the top of his voice and spat right into a roll of toilet paper that he pulled out from his pocket. Once he was done, he stuffed the paper back into his pocket and cleared his throat over and over again.

The people beside me were all disgusted by this man – it was obvious on their faces. Some even quickly moved to the back of the bus and the ladies standing beside me hurriedly turned to face the window.

Then today, as I was heading to my regular window-shopping spot, this young man walking ahead of me started spitting onto the pavement!!! So what if it was raining and the spot he spat on was wet with rain? It’s still disgusting nonetheless. As if once wasn’t good enough, he did it THREE times! I started scolding him in French as I headed past him; I doubt he even heard me though.

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people – young and old – spit everywhere and cough/sneeze with their mouths open, both in Singapore and Malaysia, but I hardly come across this in Australia, France and Switzerland. Is it an Asian habit?

But really, what’s wrong with these people? Don’t they realize that it’s not just rude and disgusting but it’s also inconsiderate and dirty? Dirty because you spread your germs around and inconsiderate because your bodily fluids end up all over the place (and onto people). If you must clear your throat, swallow back your spit or go to a toilet. If you must cough or sneeze, cover up!

Now I’ve the beginnings of the flu and I’m quite sure I caught it from buggers like these dirty people! =.=

Six months old today!

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Getting all distracted from properly lifting herself by the wind chime.

Someone turns six month old today and how did we celebrate (well, we are sort of still celebrating!)?

She loves going out for walks, bus rides and such so we headed off in search of some keropok lekor and playmats in the township nearby. No luck finding either one, but Eva did get all pretty excited from the bus rides and staring at people.

Then we came back in time for lunch and today’s new food is broccoli so it was some barley mixed in with broccoli and plum purée for her, and nasi padang for me. As disgusting as the mixture sounds, she enjoyed it and finished the whole bowl. It was then bath time and a nice finish to the morning/afternoon came in the form of her usual afternoon nap.

After a look at some tretinoin gel reviews and a short nap for myself, I woke up to find her in the above position about two and a half hours later. She was busy staring at the wind chime hanging from her room window. How time flies…

* Cross-posted on the baby blog *

A simple fare…

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Simple & Easy Beehoon

…is always good when you’ve had a long day of having to juggle a sticky baby, cleaning, and ideas (not to mention orders) for the shop. It is at times like this that I love the fact that I can walk to the fridge, dig out a bunch of things and cook up some simple yet yummylicious food that Nil and I can enjoy.

Of course, I wish I was as adventurous as I was back in Switzerland; perhaps when Eva is older, I’ll be able to get back a good portion of my cooking mojo. Right now, I’m facing a sewing slump and have been trying awfully hard to get back into it – I really need a kick!

But otherwise, here is to a good day (relatively – Eva was going out of her usual routine a bit but what’s new these days; and I’m getting awfully weird assignments regarding treatment of eczema) and hopefully, a good week!

Happy to report…

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…that I’m down by a pant size!

Well, actually I have been down by a pant size since I got back from Bali and I suspect that it is because of a few things, namely yoga and cutting back on my usual portion of rice. I’m also eating more vegetables and fruits, as well as napping less although there are some days where I just feel like vegging out on the sofa while Eva is snoozing away.

While progress is slow, I’m quite pleased with the fact that it’s all au naturel and without the use of aids (diet supplement reviews, anyone?). I’m hoping that things will continue to look good as I keep up my twice-a-week yoga despite a strained ankle and the Chinese New Year break.

So yes, lets hope it’ll be more good news over the course of the following months!

Ideas, ideas, ideas.

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I swear, amidst worries about Eva’s pooping habits, her being more sticky and not wanting to nap like she used to (well, she’s older and prefers to stay awake longer so nothing much I can do there), I still have the time and inclination to scout around for new patterns for the store – it would appear that the new booties are awfully popular here so have decided to add in some variation in terms of designs.

Trouble with the new patterns is that I need to source around for new yarns – still am on that 100% cotton though; none of that cheap, horrible acrylic! – and that requires some time and well, window shopping. I’ll probably end up in Chinatown tomorrow to check out a yarn store there and if I have the time, I might pop by Spotlight. In the worse case scenario, I’ll continue to use my current supplier but use a different colour chart for the new designs.

In the meantime, I’ve realized that I’m starting to experience mild (is there such a thing?) adult acne, especially around the jawline. It’s not a lot but it’s still enough to be annoying. Hai.