Eid Mubarak '09

How time flies. It's been 3 month since my last post and not only have I not lost any weight, I think I've acquired a few more pounds (I'm so delusional...more like several kilos actually lol) to my ever expanding torso. Well, I'm not really complaining. I have faith in myself, I know I'll shed off the weight when I'm truly ready and determined to do so. I've done it a few times in the past so why should this be any different right? Nothing like being truly optimistic.

So I went back to KL for the summer and you know the saying be careful what you wish for? Well, what I envisioned of an exciting summer didn't quite materialize. Sure, it was superb to get back in touch with my family and friends but the kids were sick most of the time due to the terrible weather and flu pandemic that was hitting the country. The people that mattered to me back home were also quite busy carrying on with their lives and between that and caring for my sick children, I wasn't quite able to hang out and have fun. I was also missing my dear, dear hubby terribly.

So now I'm back in Abu Dhabi and its the fasting month. I came here exactly a year ago during ramadhan '08 and now here I am again in Abu Dhabi for ramadhan '09. Eid is just a day away and this will be my second year in the row celebrating Eid al-Fitr without my family. Last year wasn't so bad as I was occupied with settling myself and the kids here but this year, it's a bit harder. I miss my mom. I miss my sister. I miss my whole clan. What I wouldn't give to be able to be there with them.

I'm on the floor of my kitchen right now cooking 4kg of beef rendang for the big celebration. I had to get a head start as there is no way could I single handedly prepare all the dishes the night before the big celebration. I've invited some friends and neighbours over for the festivities. I want this eid to be special and I'm doing it all for the sake of my children. Eid is about family and relationship, and I want them to experience the magic of Eid. I just hope I'm doing it right. :)

Happy Eid Mubarak all. Lets forgive, forget and be merry! Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin. :D

My Weight Loss Journey

I had celebrated my 32nd birthday. Took care of the laundry the whole day, went out for dinner and later did my grocery shopping. How wild was that? I'm such a party animal even I amaze myself *roll eyes*.

I had decided that it is time to start getting rid of the kilos on my birthday. First day in, had a platter of buffalo wings and indulged myself in this simply amazing chocolate brownies. It had chocolate fudge oozing out of it. Heaven to my taste buds, hell to my thighs. Okay, not a good start but to my defense, it was my birthday!

Second day, made a pot of delicious ayam masak lemak cili api with rice. Couldn't resist a second helping for both lunch and dinner. Treated myself to some chocolates afterwards. Gosh, don't I have any will power whatsoever? I put myself to shame...

So now it's my third day. so far I've only had a piece of wholemeal bread (with a spoonful of nutella but that doesn't count since it balances out the wholemeal! And it was just one measly piece of bread!) and a glass of low fat milk. I'm doing the whole count my calories intake thing. Thinking of exercising as well but heck, its still early and I've got the rest of the day to do it. (Must remind myself to join Procrastinators Ananimous). So far so good...will see how thing goes. I'm making chilli crab and steamed mussels for lunch (please, please god. Provide me the will power to resist) Must resist. Must resist. Must resist. Aaaargh! The temptation!

Thinking about lunch has caused me to start salivating for no apparent reason. Noooooo! It's mind over matter. I think I'll head to bed now, gotta sleep it off. Bye!

KL, here I come...

The summer holidays is approaching and boy am I looking forward to it! We'll be returning to Kuala Lumpur for 2 whole months and I've already planned out my day to day itinerary in my head. However, the fact that I'll be without a maid when I return this time around is a bit daunting. My little sister has hijacked my trustworthy maid off my hands and I don't know how I'll cope with 3 kids back home. Here it is easier as I am not mobile. But in KL, its a whole different ball park.

I've decided to enroll Mika in a play school there to prepare him for school come September. Unlike Sarah, Mika has never gone to school before this (Kinder Music doesn't count because I was present for his lessons) and I worry how he'll cope. He is still such a little baby and the school he will be going to is a very big school. I worry that he will be overwhelmed.

I don't want Sarah to be stuck in front of the TV the whole day either which is why hubby and I have decided to enroll her again in a few enrichment classes. So when I'm in KL, on top of caring for the 3 kids on my own, I'll need to do the whole soccer mom bit as well. I really can't imagine how I'll cope especially with little Hana in tow. But then I keep telling myself, if I aspire to become a super mom, then I'll have to at least try and put myself for the test and juggle it all. This will really put my capabilities to the test. What the heck, I'm up for the challenge! My life has been pretty mundane all this while, so what's a little chaos right? Hehe..:P

One of the challenge is deciding on a school for Mika. I've got my eyes on the Early Learning Program at Kizsports but distance may be a problem. I refuse to get up 3 hours earlier just to get the kids ready to drive them all the way there only to find my self rushing back to pick him up a little over an hour later. I'm looking at the kindies within the neighbourhood but I worry about what the school is like as I want something more similar to the school that Mika will be attending in September in order to ensure a more smoother transition for him. I seriously need to put more thought into this.

On top of her maths class, Sarah has requested for me to find her a speech and drama class. I found one in TTDI, but they haven't replied to my inquiry so I'm yet to decide. Kizsports offers the program so perhaps I could enroll her there and if Mika is there, then it'll be better for me. I could also enroll Hana in their babysigns program. Gosh if all the 3 kids are there, I'll end up hanging out at One Utama every single day. Don't get me wrong, I adore One U, but I'm just afraid I'll end up bankrupt! My will power is close to none. All those nice, clean, bright shops are pretty enticing. :P

So then I'm brought back to the issue of becoming maid-less. The timing of the classes would obviously differ, so while I'm in class with Hana for instance, I'll still need someone to keep an eye on the other two. Aaargh. I could take my ex-maid (now my sister's maid) but that would mean adding another screaming infant on top of my out of control brood. Uh-uh. That's a sure path on the route towards insanity and this wannabe super mom ain't so keen on going there.

Aaargh! Decisions..decisions. I really can't decide. I guess for now, I'll just settle for what I do best. Procrastinate and leave the decision making for tomorrow. :P

Supermom vs Kryptonite

If there is any time for me to start contemplating suicide, I'd say the time is now. I have three children generously contributing to my already messy house with their smelly puke and poo. Both Sarah and Mika had caught some sort of stomach bug which makes them purge and barf continuously. The small cough that baby Hana had has developed into a full scale one with loads of plegm and snot to accompany it. Since she can't spit out her phlegm and blow out her nose, she had chosen the barf out all the gross icky sticky stuff method.

I have done the laundry 3 times today, bath and changed all three children twice, cleaned up vomit from my floor and carpets, wash the powder room of poo and vomit, prepared lunch twice (since the kids puked out the first) and I did it all before noon! If that's not Super Mom, then I don't know what is! Oh, and I'm still in my smelly pajamas which is now covered in food, puke, spit & milk. I'd better lock the doors, I don't wanna risk scaring any visitors if any decided to pop by. (Dear God, please send any visitors away...I'm so not in the mood to entertain!)

The worst part of it all is that hubby is in Toronto and won't be back till Sunday! Hmph, the lucky bugger. Where is the equality? Waaaaaah! I want my mommy! I'd rather go slay some dragon or monster at this rate. They're much easier to handle than 3 sick children. I'm a wannabe super mom and I have found my kryptonite!

Typical Housewife

I've been reading some people's opinions about a typical housewife. Most implied that a typical housewife is a woman who fails to take care of her appearance, watches TV all day, doesn't have many friends, isn't able to hold a decent conversation other than topics regarding their kids and household chores. They've also expressed that housewives tend to be uneducated and lacks intelligence. As a housewife, I find their opinions rather offensive.
However, these people have also written that rather than be a typical housewife, its better to become a stay at home mom instead. What??? Duh. Some people are such idiots. Don't they get it? It's the same bloody thing! Well, that goes to show the power of rebranding.
Well, I must admit that as a stay at home mom, I sometimes do let myself go. Trying to look like a million bucks every single day is hard work. Lounging at home in a pair of old T-shirt and sweat pants is pure bliss and I'd recommend it to everyone. However, I doubt that my favourite uniform will cause anyone to scream and run away in fright by the sight of me. Well, at least my hubby doesn't complain. :P
Anyway, the one thing I would agree with those people that just because you're a housewife and you are stuck at home, it isn't an excuse for you to live in seclusion and not mingle with the outside world. I'm lucky that I have my friends and neighbours from various walks of life to fill me in on whats going out there and enrich my life. Although most of my conversation does revolve around kids and my daily chores, I do talk about other things as well such as religion, society, education and politics although I try to shy away from the latter as much as possible. Politics is just too dirty for this typical housewife's own liking.
Bottom line is, yes, I do tend to talk about my kids and chores a lot, but only because its a topic that I'm passionate about and only to people who enjoy listening about it. People who are in the workforce talk about their work all the time too but I don't hear anyone complaining. I am also interested about various subjects and am also able to talk about other things whenever I choose to. Like I said, my main interests are kids and the home life. I may not be dressed as if I'm going to the Oscars or have a red carpet function everyday, but I think I'm rather presentable enough (well, at least presentable enough to open the front door if someone comes knocking lol) although I may sometimes look a tad disarray. But can you blame me? I'm a mom with 3 kids and a husband who is constantly away plus, I've no domestic help to ease my burden. I do watch TV but I'm limited to watching Barney, Kipper, Hannah Montana and whatever kiddies show there is on TV. Not so much because it is entertaining to me, but because I'd like to be able to keep up with my kids. And although I don't have a gazillion friends, I have a handful of really good friends who truly understands me and and whom are all near and dear to me. So if you want to call me a typical housewife, then so be it. I may not be out there with the rest of the population trying to save the world or whatever, but I'm doing my share for the community by trying to educate and shape my children into responsible and caring individuals. That's a hard job of its own.

Just to share, a poem I keep close to my heart.

If I had my child to raise over again
I'd fingerpaint more and point the finger less
I'd do less correcting and more connecting
I'd take my eyes off the watch, and watch with my eyes
I would care to know less and know to care more
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites
I'd stop playing serious and seriously play
I'd run through more fields and gaze at more stars
I'd do more hugging and less tugging
I would be firm less often and affirm much more
I'd build self esteem first and the house later
I'd teach less about the love of power and more about the power of love
~Diane Loomans

Picking Favourites

I've always known at the back of my mind that I am not my mother's favourite child. Maybe when I was younger, I had felt a bit disgruntled over it and became quite rebellious but overtime as I get older, I'm more accepting and understand that just because I'm not her favourite doesn't mean she loves me less.
My mother has always been more affectionate with my little sister. I've always wondered why. I've been told that I wasn't an easy baby nor was I an easy child. My mother was depressed due to some unfortunate circumstance while she was pregnant with me and I came out into the world underweight and angry which would naturally make my mother feel anxious and exhausted taking care of me.
As a middle child, it wasn't easy to compete for my mother's attention against an older brother who is the only boy, and a younger sister who is the baby of the house. However, I had never felt the need to compete for my father's attention because with him, I had always felt equal. I guess my father had that special natural ability to make everyone feel special and inspire to be able to be like him.
While I was in KL, I brought up this topic with my girlfriends. Most of them admitted that although they love their kids to death, they can't help but to show preference to one child over the other. That got me thinking. Do I have a favourite? I am after all only human.
I have three kids and honestly, I'm not sure if there is any particular one that I prefer over the others. I fell heads over heels in love with each one the moment I first laid eyes on them. All three are special and dear to me but in very different and distinctive way.
My eldest Sarah will be 6 years old in less then a month. I have such high hopes for her and am delighted with every little achievement and progress that she has made. Everything about her just fills me with pride and joy. My second is Mika. So far he is the only boy. He is such a cheeky little fellow and never fails to entertain me and lifts me up with his little antics and adorable charm. The youngest is darling little Hana and although she is still a little to young for me to judge, my darling little baby is very easy to care and she delights me with her tenderness. She just takes my breath away with her little smile and coos.
All three of them are very special and dear to me. It amazes me how I feel so much love for them yet my love for each one is absolutely unique.
I can't wait to see them all grown up and become wonderful individuals. Although I adore children, I think the dinamic of my three kids are already perfect. Sarah will always be my favourite because she is my firstborn. Mika will always be my favourite because he is the only boy and hana will always be my favourite because she is the baby. I just hope that they'll grow up knowing just that.

Hana's First Milestone

Hana is 4 months old and has reached her first milestone. She can now roll over on her own. She's done it 4 times so far and I had missed it all. It seems like she'll only roll over whenever I'm not around. After the second roll, I kept my eyes on her for a whole hour but nothing. She only kept rolling from side to side. Then I had to take Mika to the loo and when I came back, there she was on her tummy again. Hmph. I've equip myself with my trusty camera just waiting and waiting to take that photo of her rolling over but little baby seems shy to show this mommy her newfound skill. The waiting is getting a bit ridiculous and at this rate, I've almost given up. I can't just sit here and stare at her the whole day waiting to see her roll over. I've got two other kids to attend to so I'll just settle for a picture of her on her Bumbo seat instead. :)