my friend, Kiut..

has given birth on Nov 11th.. at 1215am.. readers can now click on the link on my right menu ("Babies Age") to know the age of babies in my this circle of old friends.. :D

my mom complained abt my maid ytd, the day before ytd..

and will continue tmr if possible.. to me, my maid is OK.. nothing fanstastic cos i hv low expectations.. as long as hse is clean, we hv food on the table, our clothes are washed, nothing broken, i'm fine.. but not for my mom

scenario: coming home from work, thinking to myself, "what time issit now? shd i pump my milk now or after dinner? or do i hv time to shower first? wenn need to b'f now?".. while thinking all the above, i gotta transfer the milk i pumped in office to my fridge at the same time doing the mixing and matching, ie.. ensure all the milk is in 4 oz.. the amt i pump varies, so, the need to mix and match.. and the rule of the thumb is to add newer or fresher milk to older milk.. and at the same time, commanding my dear hubby to setup my pump.. i think no one can understand the gan-cheong-ness of a pumping mom except maybe another pumping mom.. if i dun do all these as fast as i can, wenn may start wanting to b'f and end up i no time to shower, to eat, to surf.. heh.. okie, why so gan cheong.. just give bottle.. the thing is i am not a good pumper.. so, whenever i'm with bb, i prefer to b'f directly rather than reach for the bottle in the fridge and making me more stress to pump that amt he has drunk.. anyway, too technical liao for those who not pumping.. and i've digress..

while all the above happens, my mom will tell me (read COMPLAINS), "eh, your maid today, did not wipe my side of the dining table".. i was like, "huh? again? i dun understand".. i mean no big deal? i look at the table, clean what?.. my mom continued, "and, she did not wash the cover for the milk bottle that wenn drink".. and there i was again trapped between my mom and maid.. i told my mom countless time, if she wants maid to do something, just tell the maid.. do not expect the maid to be on auto-mode.. to my mom, if she told one time liao, the maid hv to do each time.. to me, depends on how important the thing is.. small matters like this, if maid oversee, just tell her.. to my mom, maid hv to be auto and sharp.. and SHARP is my mom..

my mom is a perfectionist where house chore is concern.. when we are schooling and living under her "throne", we (the sibblings, brothers and sisters all included) are expected to complete our designated tasks on time.. and no excuse.. and all tasks are delegated such that everyone has something to do.. e.g. monday, i keep clothes, my sister will fold, i will keep to the wardrobes.. then tues, my sis and i will swapped duties.. and the clothes must be kept by certain time, 5pm.. and if the sky got dark, we must auto realise and dash to keep before the rain starts.. if too late, cham.. good days will be a reprimand, bad days will be endless nagging.. it does not matter if at that time you are so engrossed in solving the add math question that you can't quite figure out earlier and suddenly u know how to solve it and wants to solve it before u forget.. it does not matter if you are studying hard for your test tomorrow (one shd be revising days ahead and not the day before).. you hv to keep the clothes by 5pm!! at 5:05 pm, she will peeped from the kitchen to see if the tasks are done.. (clothes are hang outside the home)..

if she is so strict with us, her children, even during tests or exams we are not exempted from our hse chores, what more of a maid.. sigh.. really tough to be in between.. my mom sounds unreasonable, ya? but she is not.. becos of her, i'm rather discipline on certain things.. becos i know i can't escape from chores, i make sure i plan my studies and homework.. but once when i was free from her "throne" at age 17, i got lost.. but this will be a story for another time..

gee.. i'm going to hv a new PC.. i hope..

mien: "check this promo out".. *scroll down a bit*.. "FREE Compaq Presario 64-bit Desktop"..
biow: "wow.. free Notebook" *eyeing the picture on the right instead*..
"UPGRADE Compaq Presario Notebook at just $299 (w/GST)"
mien: "but that you have to pay" *now busy surfing the specifications*
biow: "but a notebook"
mien: "notebook no use one.. see this Desktop, so powerful.. AMD Athlon 64.."
biow: *switches off*.. "but a notebook!"
mien: "when our contract ends? can we upgrade for this promo?"
biow: "notebook wor.. can use on the bed.. can surf on the bed.."
mien: "arrggghhh.. how to surf? wireless?!? not safe!!!!!" *still reading the specification..*
biow: *looking thru my bill*.. "stupid starhub why never indicate when contract end on the bill?".. *grumbles*
*dial the call center.. put on speaker*.. "stupid starhub.. shd hv a phone option to check if our contracts end like M1?!"

*after waiting like an eternity*

call center(man): "hello, how may i help you?"

biow: *ohh.. handsome voice.. how come these days, call center ppl sound so pleasant?*.. proceed to ask if my contract ended and if i'm eligible to upgrade.. blah.. *yay.. can*.. *still thinking of notebook*

biow: "are u sure we do not need the notebook?"
mien: "notebook no use one, wait one pixel on the screen spoil, sian liao"
biow: *what the heck abt a pixel?!*
mien: "now u can hv a powerful PC for ur photoshop.. it will be faster.. faster than my PC.."
*can see EM almost licking the PC*
biow: "ok.. whatever.." (afterall, we hv agreed that EM will hv the last say on any electrical appliances for our home).. :D..

but, but, but.. i still hv one day to "convince" him for a notebook.. heh..

wenn LO: b for bliss..

A forummer in m4m gave me the idea to create an a-z scrapbook for wenn.. and i thot perhaps i can do an alphabet for each mth for wenn.. so for his 2nd mth, i did "bliss"

click here for "a is for awesome"

Reference:
Threading an Eyelet
Make a Metal Heart with Photoshop
Torn Edges in Photoshop

happy birthday, mom!

shine..

"Shine", said ken.. when he saw the shirt i placed on my bed this morning.. my shirt has some glittering-looking studs (dunno what u call them) in the shape of a dragonfly.. i'm so proud of him to be able to say the word "shine" cos it do look shiny, those stuff.. i guess i'm still amazed at the words he has learned/know.. i mean, i dun even recall where or when did we teach him.. more example, yesterday while surfing the Kraft website, there's this rather small Oreo logo on one corner.. and ken pointed, signed and at the same time said, "cookie".. signed as in signing the ASL (America Sign Language).. ahh, and once i thot he's non-verbal.. guess he will learn one day at his pace.. when he's ready, he will "talk"..

my mom casually mentioned that may be i let him see the "Signing Time" dvds that is why he can't talk "much".. but i dun think so.. it is thru those Signing Time dvds that he learned colors!.. after watch a few times, he knows how to say the colors of objects.. i guess, we working moms sometimes let the TV becomes "nanny".. at least they learn something from watching.. and talking abt Signing Times, i really can't praise enough abt the creator (Rachel Coleman) .. click here for their story.. i think she's such a strong woman.. and do watch "Meet The Fockers".. there are some signing in there.. hilarious..

below pic is one of the lyrics that touch me a lot.. whenever i hear the song, i feel like crying.. imagine us mommies with "normal" children alreadie feel so anxious to see our kiddo meet any "milestone".. be it the first step, the first word, etc.. guess for Rachel's children, it will be more challenging..