I've been out of the house most weekends.

I feel bad sometimes, coz I no longer help around the house as much as I did last time. Like mopping, cleaning, cooking. I may not cook that frequently or well to begin with, but at least cooking on a sunday helps to relieve mak from her kitchen duties.

I suppose all these comes with a package. It's a trade-off, you can't have the best of both worlds. I enjoy the peace & quiet at BB, but at the same time, I'd miss the noise at EU too. I scold myself for being selfish at times, coz I wonder how AH feels, staying away from BB 5 days a week, and missing his cable tv shows (mainly soccer, nothing else). AH, you're so good you know, never complaining. Unlike me. Can't thank you enough.

The only way to make up for the lost duties is for me to get up early enough in the morning to help mak out with the cooking, then catch up with whatever housework that's left. The problem is, I'm quite a sleeper, so getting up in the morning without sleeping again after subuh can take quite a lot of effort. But as that's the only solution I can offer now, I reckon I don't have a choice.

The long weekend's here & there are plenty of sales to go to, but I'm trying to curb my spending for something more important that could be coming our way sometime in Jul 06 (no, we are not expecting a baby in 2 months' time, but it'd be nice though if we have one without having to wait for too long... :p). I'm considering skipping lunch to save $$ but with the lunch kakis I have, that might not be possible. The best is to resort to spending only on NEEDS, no wants. After thinking, I suppose I don't really need a pair of footwear from Charles&Keith. But the discount coupon that comes with May 06's Herworld is too good to resist. Sighs.

Anyway it's late & I'm starting to ramble. AH's out with his friends tonight. I'll sleep, then when I wake up, I look forward to having him beside me. Till then, good night & make the most of the lovely long weekend.

I felt more peaceful today, cos there was minimal bit*hin' abt the boss. I'm not sure if I've promised myself this before, but I think I shall declare Fridays to be No-bit*chin'-abt-who-else-day. Then if I succeed, I shall try my best to extend it to the rest of the days in the week. Then before I know it, I'll be free from all ill-feelings towards her! Yes!

(Yeah right)

(But I *will* try my best!)

Yes, I can do it. All I need is a little self-control.

I used AH's laptop to surf some blogs on Monday ...and got hit by spyware!

:(

Now I feel bad coz AH got really frustrated last night, trying to rid the irritating blinking & browser hijacker from his laptop.

Grateful if anyone can refer me to a reliable programme that'll help me rid of this spyware effectively without having to use any credit payment.

So annoying right, it's just a trap for them to make money out of innocent surfers like us. Urgh, can't believe how these humans can make a living out of cheating people this way. Unscrupulous.

This baby's social skills are getting sharper by the day.

I thought I'd post what she shared with me over the weekend.

Step 1: Feel the face of the person who's carrying me. Look at him or get a whiff of his/her smell.



It's getting dark in here & I can't see him but I think he smells like Uncle Ian...

Step 2: Stare hard at him to make sure he really *is* Uncle Ian.



Step 3: Once confirm it's Uncle Ian, let Aunty Nani take a shot of him & me



Step 4: Decide if I want to let Aunty Nani carry me. Uncle Ian married Aunty Nani, so I suppose she should be a safe bet. I'll allow her to cuddle me a bit.



Somehow she doesn't quite smell like Ibu or Bik, but that's fine. I'll be good today.

Since neither of them have made me cry in anyway, I guess they're nice, harmless people who find me adorable. As a bonus for being my fan, I'll tag along for a nice dinner with them, with Ibu too, of course.

Next day, repeat steps again. It's OK for babies to play a bit hard to get. Coz adults will give us something to play with just to get our attention. That was how I got to play with Aunty Nani's watch this morning.



Doing what I do best, play!

....

Looking at her makes me feel like having one of our own. I thought twice about it when she pooed this morning, but I guess that comes in a package! In a few months' time, AH? Insya-Allah. Let the countdown begin :p

Good food is always fattening! And I love fattening food. Chocolates, pizzas... yum yum!

But I promise that shall be the last pizza I'll be eating till May comes. Can do?

I *just* don't seem to be able to quit eating fattening food. I'll make up for it by eating more vege & fruits lah. Can do? Sure can one! I think!

This shall be my last post for the weekend. There's no internet connection at MIL's, which is why I always bring along a book, or borrow AH's PSP or find something interesting to do (like real shopping at the nearby mall) such as sleeping. But then again, shouldn't I be something even more constructive, such as bonding with MIL? Oh yes I do that, especially in the mornings (before erm...I sambung my sleep again.) This Sunday I promise I won't wake up at noon okie? Reputation mesti mau maintain, babe!

OK, central aircon baru off. Can hear the almost deafening silence. Time for us to leave & head for the weekend!

Alhamdulillah, I only have half of a Saturday afternoon more to work, before I can go off & rest this weekend! I have to work for about 2 hrs on my Monday off..but I suppose that's OK lah. After that I shall go & do my own things!

I think if there's anything more precious than loved ones in this world, it's time.
And to think I waste so much time doing useless things, like blogging..hehe.

My appointment is here, they're an hour early! My lunch break is not even over and I need a breather from completing a 3 hr programme barely 30 minutes ago. So I'll stick to the appointment time and only see them then. I think that should be the way!

Or at least what I went through since I became a blogger member :p

Learning stage
You start off with the simplest blogger template. You type multiple blog entries in a day and think that blogging is the most wonderful thing that has happened to you since the mIRC.

Then you discover you can actually customise yr template, and you find out how you can add songs, photos & other miscellaneous junk along the way.

Enthusiastic stage
You aspire to acquire as many links as possible. You derive pleasure from replying to tags in both yr own and other blogger's sites. You put a counter to track the amount of visitors to your blog.

You post huge pictures of yourself grinning with newly found blogmates. You want the whole world to know how interesting your normal life is. It gives you a sense of satisfaction.

Mellowed stage
You update less often, and bloghop less often. You consider deleting yr blog, all of it, but stop yrself from doing so cos a part of you still wants to blog.

Some of yr blogger friends have long stopped updating their blogs by this stage and you wonder if they've been caught up with happenings in their real life.

Introverted stage
You decide that you want to blog, but want to do it in private. You tinker with password protection but in the end, give up as it's too cumbersome. You want someone to read yr blog; only yr closest ones; not just anyone.

So, you do a clean up on yr links-list and keep only those you think are worth keeping.

Feel-more at ease blogging stage
With only those close to you reading yr blog (or so you want to believe), you feel more relaxed, that yr blog-crowd is now under control. You blog more freely; you post less photos that enable people to identify you. You just wanna write.

No prizes for guessing the stage I'm at now :)

clue: NOT the enthuasiastic stage

I woke up at 6 n dint sleep again. By 9 am i felt sleepy n napped. I woke up at 12! The thing is, i am at MIL's this weekend! Argh. What a wonderful daughter in law.

I cleared out a few bags of junk from the computer area, and later from the cabinets in the living room. I can't believe how we've been able to live amidst all that dust & unwanted stuff!

I did laundry too, and at the end of it, I saw Bapak's caltexcard & some silver lucky-draw looking coupon. I kept the card but threw the coupon away.

Shortly, I found out that the silver card I found, actually contained over 3000 redeemable points !!! That would've come in really handy for diesel-buyer Bapak.

Ooopsss...

Sorry. That's all I can say :(

Who says impulse buying is bad?


Calculated and delayed buys are equally bad!


I don't usually hit the malls on payday but today was an exception. It just so happened that the mobile phone I was getting was in stock today.


For almost 2 hours, I forgot about the pile of work I've conveniently left behind in the office. Such is the pleasure of retail therapy. Sometimes I think retail therapy can be demonic at times.


And just for the record, the shot was taken with
a very carefully-thought-of buy.

I woke up yesterday convinced that it was Saturday. Then I closed my eyes to sleep again before waking up with a jolt after remembering I've got a case to present yesterday morning. And of course, 3 reports to clear after I've made 2 home visits; 1 in the east, the other in the west.

It's Wednesday. I've done the home visits, but I still have 2 reports to type. All due this evening.

Thank God for the Good Friday PH. I can almost imagine what I'll be doing that day.

I know this may sound evil, but the boss is on 2-days MC & it's gonna be quite blissful. It sucks coz there'll be no one to vet my report....but then again, I really should count my blessings :p

For the past few days, AH, Nana & myself have been hooked to the game (got it thru yahoo.com.sg auctions last Saturday). Of course, I'm the weakest link in the trio, with the least logic skills to get around in the game.


Even then, I think the game has affected the way I think lately. I keep thinking we're all characters out of the game. I imagine God looking down on us as if we're all little characters, being placed randomly; points added and subtracted according to how well we've done in the game. That's so real!


Yesterday, we went out with some friends & chatted at LPS still around midnight. I looked around that place, and saw so many people having late night suppers. They were eating, laughing....all playing the social game. It reminded me again about how we were all like characters out of the sims game.


My character died a few times in the games, and got resurrected with a fee. That's the only part of the game that is not the same with how we live life around here.


Oh, and so far, I don't think there's a marriage component in the game too :p


Anyway I attended another wedding today. She was my pri & sec schoolmate and she looked really happy to see me. Such expressions make me feel happy about attending weddings. I don't quite like attending those where I don't even get to meet the bride/groom and I don't know a single soul in the function save for the one I came with.


Games aside now, it's bedtime for real now.

Reading this brought tears in my eyes, and I've not even finished reading the whole article. I've decided to save the read for later. There are others out there who experience such hardships and emotional pains. And then there are people who'll go out of their way to make the last days of a person, who could be anyone, like you and me, meaningful and as painless as possible.


Due to this, I am sure I won't be able to make it as a medical social worker. Not having the qualifications for it is one thing, not being able to take the emotional stress is the other sure thing.


The article bits that made me sad most, were reading about how fast the illnesses claim their lives; alive today, passed on the next week. Such is the fragility of life. It's true, we all grow closer to death with each passing moment.

I had murtabak for dinner, 3 big fat slices. It wasn't from Zam Zam, but it was yummy anyway.

This afternoon for lunch, I had mee soto. I bought a bowl of warm cheng teng too, to soothe my throat.

This morning for breakfast, I had bread & eggs.

Egad, when I start documenting what I eat, I realise that I've been having such a rich diet. No good at all.

Maybe to balance it all out, I should add, that I'll be having 2 slices of papaya in a minute. That should help a bit.

On Tuesday, we went to Mak's place with another couple friend. I had some chinese fried rice I couldn't even pronounce (tapi halal!). We had other fattening food, which I'm too embarrased to mention here.

Then I wondered how it'd be like, if there was only ONE type of food for us to eat in this world. My girlfriend added, "Yeah, like grass."

Yeah, or like, only plain rice for the rest of our lives.

After all, our guyfriend also correctly pointed out, that no matter what type of food we ate, we still become full.

So, even if we stuff ourselves silly with a kilo of prawns, or buffet spread, or a whole chicken, or lots of plain porridge, or nothing but plain potato, we'll still be full. Then wouldn't we have met our target of eating to obtain energy?

Of course it's not so simple, and it doesn't take a dietician to figure out why we have a variety of food to choose from. So we can get the necessary nutrients from the different food sources.

*dreamy sighs*

Such nikmat. We've been granted with so many many blessings. One of my favourites, is to be able to eat. Yum yum (greedy me).

This weekend, ada jemputan. Nasi briyani lagi lah nampaknya.

I'll stuff myself with papayas now, to make up for the lack of roughage & Vit A in my body.

And another nikmat I'll never be tired of...will be the nikmat of not having to go to work over the weekend. Ultimate bliss. Syukur!

I can't believe it's already Thursday!

I'm experiencing the ups & downs at work again. Today I realised I made another boo boo! And to think I actually took steps to prevent that! But I'm human after all, and human errors are inevitable. I guess I should be forgiven this time, as long as I don't do it too often.

Speaking of being human, I've been guilty of bitching about my boss too much lately. I can't help it. Coz I really can't stand her. Why did my ex-boss have to quit the job? WHY?! Before I start sinning too much, I think I'm going to declare tomorrow as No-Gossip-About-Who-Else day. Each time I feel the temptation to tell my buddy about work, I shall give myself an imaginary pinch. If that doesn't work, I'll give myself a real one.

...

AH is still not back yet. AH ni boleh tahan jugak. I think he'll make a good counsellor. Coz he's able to tolerate listening to a counsellor who is sometimes in need of counselling (ME!).

Anyway, for the past few days, I noticed something about people talking on their mobile phones. They listen to the person they're on the phone with, then quickly take the phone of their ears and place the mouthpiece nearer to their mouth, before placing the phone back on their ears. Are mobile phones getting smaller and smaller these days, sampaikan people don't feel confident what they said would be heard? Maybe I am privileged, coz I use a flip phone, so when flipped, the phone is long enough, so I've never given much thought about whether the person I'm talking to can hear me.

I'm planning to get a new phone soon. Actually sometimes I wonder why I should get one, coz I still have an irrational fear of answering calls from numbers I don't recognise. Both on the office phone, and on my own mobile phone. Thank goodness my fear hasn't been extended when the home phone rings, else, I think I might just need to undergo a psychological assessment myself.

We last had them about 7 months ago, at our wedding. Today, alhamdulillah, we got a chance to savour the briyani dam from Hassan Rabit, yum yum.

A briyani fanatic I am not, but when the craving comes, I sometimes wished that there was a Hassan Rabit (HR) briyani stall somewhere so we could pop by once in a blue moon.

And each time I talk about this briyani to AH, I'll never fail to repeat the story of the HR briyani dam & my colleagues. Like once, how I saw one of my male good buddy at work that we were going to engage HR, and I saw him swallow his saliva, while telling me he was looking forward to attend the wedding. Hehe. And then after the wedding, another female colleague said she enjoyed the briyani so much, that she wanted second helpings but was too shy to ask and that she was so relieved when another guest asked for seconds so she could ride on that request.

Worried we were at first about the lack of variety offered by HR. I mean, other caterers had so many interesting little pastries & other dishes to offer. But after hearing the guests' satisfaction, alhamdulillah, we've made the right choice after all.

After today, we'll wait around and see if anyone engages them for their wedding next time. If not, we'll depend on Madrasah Wak Tanjong to have one of their nasi briyani amal events again :)