Last day of the year...

Today is 31 Dec, last day of year 2007...

This year's new year eve is slightly different for me, coz the feeling is so different. Usually (at least for the past not sure how many years), I'll be busy helping out at sis' house for a new year eve party. Then the whole family plus some sis & bro-in-law's close friends will have a party and count down together, then ofcoz there will be drinking all night long....

Sis is not having a party this year coz the maid ran away and the new maid just came in & needed some time to settle down....But even if sis is hosting a party like before, hubby & I may not enjoy it as much as last time I guess...Why? I'll leave this to another day's post...

So what's happening tonight? Hubby's auntie is having a party and invited all of us to her house, so we shall be there together with our baby, then most probably leaving early so it wont disturb baby's sleeping time....No count down then? Yeah...most probably just counting down with hubby at home :(

2007 has been an eventful year for me. The year started with me being a new mother, baby was 3 months old in Jan; then I was breastfeeding till about March/April time; then some chemistry between my boss & I broke down & I got really pissed of him and work was just so stressful for me; lucky for me coz I then found some true friends at workplace which helped lighten up my days, then I changed job & went through a really tough learning curve (still goin through it actually); then hubby & I went to Europe for 2 weeks where I achieved my dream to visit Rome...

Besides, 2007 has been a "not-so-happy" and "drawing-away-from-sisters" year too for me....In my whole life I've never felt so distanced from my 3 sisters, especially my elder sister. Due to the many many miscommunications, misunderstanding & all, our relationships are no longer as close as before (at least that's how I felt)...So I really hope this will be improved in the coming 2008!

Nonetheless, I just want to wish everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The True Meaning of Christmas

I'm back from a great Christmas holiday, though not having vacation elsewhere, but the endless Christmas parties & fun in town made it a great break for me & family....

Belated MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you!

Came across this email about the True Meaning of Christmas and thought it serves as a good reminder for me while celebrating Christmas in the years to come, so decided to share this with you too...

Teach the children! Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that nowadays Christmas has forgotten....

FIR TREE - the pure green colour of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, representing the everlasting hope of mankind, all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven.

STAR - the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a Saviour for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of His promise.

CANDLE - symbolises that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of Jesus who fills our lives with light.

WREATH - symbolises the real nature of love. Real love never ceases, like Gods love which has no beginning or end.

SANTA CLAUSE - symbolise the generosity and kindness we feel during the month of December.

HOLLY LEAF - represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Saviour. The red holly represents the blood shed by Him.

GIFT - God so loved the world that HE gave us HIS only SON... We thank God for his very special gift. The wise men bowed before the Holy Baby and gave HIM gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We should always give gifts in the same spirit of the wise men.

CANDY CANE - represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the staff helps to bring back lost sheep to the flock.

ANGEL - it was the angels that announced the glorious news of the Saviour's birth. The angels sang 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men.

BELL - as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring to guide us to God. The bell symbolises guidance and return. It reminds us that we are all precious in the eyes of God.

~ Author Unknown ~

What makes a good lover?

I've always had this question in me, trying to find out what factors will make me a good lover.... So today I'm just gonna write down my 2 cents worth...

Some people say the key to being a good lover is paying attention, and responding to the other’s verbal and non-verbal signals. Some people say man or woman with great personality and socialable usually makes them great lover too...but I dont really agree...Some people, especially women will say, a sensitive, caring and romantic guy makes a good lover...Some people may even think that good lover means skilled in bed!

I believe it's just one simple thing : CHEMISTRY!

It's just the buzz you get from someone when you’re with them. They may have some of the ‘qualities’ that you find attractive, they may have things in common with you and you enjoy their company, but without that fizz - that excitement you feel in their presence going on between you, I think it just wont work out...

A man usually gets sexually aroused by looking at a magazine, an x-rated movie, large breasts or long legs. His response is immediate and his reactions are physical. For most women, sex is not an immediate reaction. It takes at least 30 minutes for her to become aroused. She also needs to feel emotionally connected to respond in a physical way. For a man to become a great lover, he has to be taught sensitivity, tenderness and patience, otherwise there's no way for both to find the magical chemistry between.

I was reading some forwarded emails and found this interesting para about some pointers for women to remember when judging if your partner is a good lover:

1) A woman gets aroused by words - I don't know any man who goes into a bookstore and buys a gothic novel. Men are much more visual.
2) A man's hormone level is at the highest level in the morning; so many times he wakes up and wants to make love. Her hormone level is highest in the evening and that's why she likes to make love after they've had a lovely evening together.
3) After a couple makes love, a man produces a hormone that puts him to sleep and a woman produces a hormone that makes her wide awake. So she wants to cuddle and there he is snoring! So she thinks, "He's just using me."

The bottom line: we are very different and we need to learn, understand and talk about our differences. IF u cant find the chemistry, then talk about it. You may feel embarrassed the first few times but it's worth it. For a man to become a good lover, it's going to require the woman becoming a good teacher (sometimes vise-versa), then together, find the magical chemistry, and things will work out just fine...

Contentment

Have you ever, at any one time, had the feeling that life is bad, real bad, and you wish you were in another situation? You find life make things difficult for you, work sucks, life sucks, everything seems to go wrong?

After a conversation with one of my friends, he told me despite taking 2 jobs, he brings back barely above 1K per month, he is happy as he is. I wonder how he can be as happy as he is considering he has to skimp his life with the low pay to support a pair of old parents, in-laws, a wife, 2 daughters and the many bills of a household.

He explained that it was through one incident that he saw in India that happened a few years ago when he was really feeling low and touring India after a major setback. He said that right in front of his very eyes he saw an Indian mother chop off her child's right hand with a chopper.
The helplessness in the mother's eyes, the scream of pain from the innocent 4-year-old child haunted him until today....

You may ask why did the mother do so?? Had the child been naughty? Had the child's hand been infected? NO...it was done for two simple words - TO BEG!

The desperate mother deliberately caused the child to be handicapped so that the child could go out to the streets to beg. Taken aback by the scene, he dropped a piece of bread he was eating half-way. And almost instantly, a flock 5 or 6 children swamped towards this small piece of bread which was covered with sand, robbing bits from one another - The natural reaction of hunger!

Stricken by the happenings, he instructed his guide to drive him to the nearest bakery. He arrived at two bakeries and bought every single loaf of bread he found in the bakeries. The owner was dumbfounded but willingly sold everything. He spent less than $100 to obtain about 400 loaves of bread (this is less than $0.25 per loaf) and spent another $100 to get daily ecessities. Off he went in the truck full of bread into the streets. As he distributed the bread and necessities to the children (mostly handicapped) and a few adults, he received cheers and bows from these unfortunate.

For the first time in his life he wondered how people can give up their dignity for a loaf of bread which cost less than $0.25. He began to tell himself how fortunate he is. How fortunate he is to be able to have a complete body, have a job, have a family, have the chance to complain what food is nice and what isn't nice, have the chance to be clothed, have the many things that these people in front of him are deprived of...

Now I begin to think and feel it too after hearing his story. Was my life really bad? Perhaps...no, I should not feel bad at all coz I'm so blessed! What about you?

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, it is the realization of how much you already have.

When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything...they just make the most of everything that comes along their way, I believe...

Warehouse sales

Was talking to a friend who is a fan to all kinds of branded warehouse sales yesterday, and she told me she has been to many of those recently...it's like a warehouse clearance season or something! haha...

Actually I was also one of them too, who went to one of those warehouse sales last week, bought myself some nice Raoul shirts and Raoul ties for my hubby. Plus, I've gotten the Guess watch which I've been wanting to buy...now got it at almost 50-60% off the retail price at the same warehouse sale. Ofcoz I've got some clothes for baby too from Gap kids...

As I was queu-ing for the fitting room, I saw some ladies grabbed like 20 handbags as if they have not bought any handbags in their whole life...some men with some 50 shirts as if they have not worn Raoul shirts before...haha, I just laughed at them....

Well on one side I kept hearing some people saying that our economy is not doing good and economy in this country will soon face its downturn...Yet on the other side, I also kept hearing about how people has been spending hundreds or thousands of dollar in those warehouse sales or stock clearance 'events'....If the country economy is not doing good, I sometimes wonder where do these people get their money from to spend & spend without much consideration?

So, are you one of those who will go to these warehouse sales?

That "something" I would love to do...

If u have been following my blog, u might have realised that I've mentioned about this "something" I would love to do in some of my earlier posts ie. "My Dreams" and the recent one "What is your ultimate end in mind"...

So what is that "something" which I would love to do when I become a part-time housewife?

-> Wedding Planner!

I've always been wanting to be a freelance wedding planner, where I can help the couple in planning, organizing, coordinating and executing a stress-free wedding. As the wedding planner, I'll help the couple in selecting the wedding theme, source for suppliers, advise on venue, prepare timeline & budgeting, plan the entire wedding reception and coordinate the actual wedding day itenary....wow! sounds so challenging!

I fell in love with wedding planning when I started planning for my own about 3 years ago. Plenty of ideas on wedding decoration, wedding flower, wedding cake, invitation, favor, etc...but I could only choose one of each for my own wedding...what a waste!

Last time, people used to think that hiring a wedding planner will be costly, but this is no longer true. This is largely due to the fact that many soon-to-be-wed couples have begun to appreciate the services offered by wedding planners. More importantly, they have realised that by appointing a wedding planner, they will be relieved of a tremendous amount of stress and therefore will be able to better enjoy the months of preparation leading up to that very special day. The list of things-to-do can be overwhelming. This together with the well-meaning but perhaps unsolicited opinions and comments from family and relatives can very possibly drive couples up the wall...This is where a wedding planner can come to the rescue.

Perhaps the most important criteria in selecting a wedding planner would be ‘chemistry’. Being comfortable enough with the planner to have open, honest discussions and to be able to deal with the inevitable bickering every now and then is crucial in order to ensure that the planning process is smooth and to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

Well I do hope my last dream can come true one day, where I can be a part-time housewife while becoming a freelance wedding planner...

The nightmare is not over...

Today is the follow-up appointment for mum to see the doctor again...Since I have some work to do, sis sent mum to the hospital this morning.

At 11.30am, I called mum to check if it was done, and so happened they just came out from the doctor's room...

Mum said :"Doc told us the blowing test is still showing existence of bacteria in my stomuch. Then the blood test is showing even higher tumor-marking reading compared to the first blood test done last month. But since I'm not experiencing anymore pain, there's no need for any medication for now. Doc said just monitor the situation and come back if there's any unusual pain. Otherwise just need to go back in 2 months time to do another blowing test & blood test. If by then the tumor-marking is still high, then need to do another 'scope'."

Well I dont quite understand why were the tests results like this and even doctor couldnt really explain it...on the other hand, we can do absolutely nothing about it, except praying for mum...

I went to see mum after work and I can see the worry in her eyes. All I could tell her is not to worry coz nothing bad is happening and I'll pray for her...I guess that's probably the least I could do. I really hope she wont think too much about it...

What's your ultimate end in mind?

Lately I've been getting many calls from different head-hunters, asking me for different jobs in the MNCs of the industry I'm currently in. So I've been meeting up with these head-hunters to further discuss these opportunities...hough I'm not really looking for a job...

Well, some of them I was pretty interested and therefore went to the interviews with hiring managers, but then no news came back. Some others I thought the job was not as interesting or the offer was not attractive, therefore did not proceed with them...

Last night I was telling hubby that coming Monday I'll be home slightly late coz I have another interview downtown. He wasnt really too happy about it.

Hubby said :"Let me ask u this, are you looking for a job now?"

I said :"Not really, but since the opportunity came, no harm trying right?"

Hubby said :"I see that u've been meeting up with recruiters and having few interviews, but they all didnt work out right?"

I said :"Yeah...but I told u why each of them didnt work out whut! I'm really interested at this one which i'm going for interview on Monday."

Hubby said :"My dear, what is your ultimate end in mind? Didnt you tell me that all u want to achieve is to be a part-time housewife, where u can spend time with the kids & meanwhile do that something which u've always wanted to do without worrying about income? Arent we planning for another baby next year? So you are soon gonna be pregnant right? You wanna join a new company & have all those work-stress while u'r pregnant? Dont you like your new job now anymore?"

I said :"But u know what? I think with my capabilities, I can go further than where I am today. Besides, this is an Asia Pacific job and the package will be very attractive I believe."

Hubby said :"So is climbing up the corporate ladder your dream now? Do we need that few thousand dollars to support the family? Shouldnt I be the one worrying about our family financials and do all I can to support the family? I'm the man in this house, so let me do that, will ya?"

I thought for a while and realised : It's true! Why should I always think this new job I'm doing now is keeping me under-utilized? This job drives me crazy when there's project going on, and when there's none, I can work from home & live a stress-free life and spend some quality time with my baby! Yes...less pay, less challenging, but so what?

I'm sure many a times when we face the cross-road, not sure which way to go, we would appreciate someone to remind us of our priorities & dreams....
THANX HONEY!