Archive for March, 2008
I’ve just finished mending my duvet cover which was badly torn. At first it had a little tear, then little curious fingers made it worse. Finally, hubby reminded me to sew it before it became worse. I finally did it. I finally did. After that was done, I took out the matching pillow case but that was irreparable now. It was torn beyond repair. It had a little tear in it as well but I just left it and I never handwashed it because I never had the time. I just did what I could. I threw it in the washing machine again and again and with each wash the tear just got bigger and bigger and bigger and now its beyond repair. 
“Just do whatever you can” my hubby is always telling me. I am glad that he is so understanding and not demanding in getting good meals and making sure that the house is clean. He knows that my priority is the kids and housework is second. So he doesn’t mind if the house is not spick and span.
He would gently remind me if he notices that the dust is 2 inches deep on the shelves or the toilet is beginning to look like a public toilet. Apart from that he never pressures me to make sure that the house is clean or to have good meals waiting for him and the kids. He does not mind that I sometimes ask him to “tapau” after a hard day’s work instead of coming home to piping hot home cooked food.
He would rather I spend time playing with the kids than to see me sweating it out in front of the ironing board. So he never complains if his shirts is less than perfectly ironed with not a single crease.
Thats how I survive. I just do whatever I can. Having an understanding husband helps A LOT or else I would go mad. Hahahaha.
This post is to answer some readers who asked the question: “How do you manage?”
Coming up next: How to be the Perfect Wife
Each night before I sleep I have to make milk for the two kids and a hot drink for the big kid. Then I have to get the two little kids to brush their teeth, go to toilet, change and sometimes read them a book or chat with them. Sometimes I have to massage the big kid’s feet. And then….. I can go to sleep.
Sometimes I wish that I could just jump into bed right away without all of these “responsibilities/duties”. It would be just lovely to just jump into bed right away, switch off the lights and zzzzzzzzzzz.
One fine night when I was ultra lazeeeee, I tried to do just that. As a result the two small kids, cried themselves to sleep and the big kid grumbled, dropped the biscuit can and crumbs on the floor when he tried to give the kids some food (since they complained they were hungry - I knew that they were not because they had a full dinner, they were just crying for my attention) and broke the alarm clock in his confusion. (Because he had just woken up from sleep to the sound of two bawling kids.) Kahkahkahkahkah.
It was so noisy and everyone was so unhappy I could not get the sleep which I wanted. Hmm…. looks like I have to go back to my nightly duties again in order to get some peaceful sleep.
Speaking of laziness, these days I am in a rut. I just feel so lazy to do anything….lazy to cook, lazy to do the laundry, washing and ironing, lazy to do any housekeeping especially washing the toilet, sweeping, mopping, lazy to blog, lazy to play with the kids, lazy to exercise, lazy to do anything and everything. Help!
I don’t think anyone forsaw or expected the historical election results. Not the voters, not the BN government and not even the opposition. No one did. But now that we’re here, what now? Whats going to happen next? I see many voters in euphoria but after the euphoria is gone, reality sets in. The stock market is down sharply today for example.
Updated: The stock market hit limit down 10% during the day and had to be shut down for an hour due to automatic suspension under the stock exchange rules to prevent panic selling.
Most Malaysians who voted, voted for change. They did not vote for the candidate or the party. They voted for change. But will change come? That remains to be seen. And like any change, change is stressful sometimes even if the change is good. And changes cannot happen overnight even though you may wish it does so one must be patient. And with change comes uncertainty and perhaps a short term instability.
I forsee lots of internal bickering and power struggles and fights on both sides. It will not be easy for the opposition coalition made up of a multiracial party, a largely Chinese one and an Islamic one to work together on issues of National interest. Not easy at all. Not with their different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
It is not easy to manage a country with diverse racial and religious backgrounds like ours. It is not easy to keep everyone happy, to make everyone feel that they are having a fair share of the pie. Even at the start the difficulty has begun. Now that the Indians have turned their support away from the MIC having cast out most of the leaders, they must still get enough voice in parliament as before or there will be unhappiness. Will the Chinese understand why the CM of Perak is not a DAP candidate even though DAP won largely in that state (if that happens). But then most of them do not know that there is a law that the CMs must be Malay in states where there is a Sultan. (or so I heard). If this is true than this should be properly explained to everyone or it could lead to a lot of unhappiness. These are really sensitive issues that must be handled with care less they escalate into unhappiness among the races. Actually the best man should be picked but I think we are still not mature enough politically to rise above racial politics.
Updated: “The state constitution rules that the menteri besar has to be a Malay Muslim, but Section 12(2) provides the sultan the discretion to waive the requirement.” sourced from NST Perak to get coalition govt, sultan to pick MB
Will the Malays in the states now ruled by PAS question any double standards if any for example if they disallow certain non-Islamic activities in Kelantan but not in the other states they govern? They have said that they will continue to allow those to go on because they have to respect the rights of their coalition partners. Malaysia’s opposition Islamic party pledges to respect minority rights.
And what about the candidates. Most of them are new and inexperienced. Most of them won because they were simply carried along with the wave of change. Some against better more experienced MPs who had been serving well. It will be no mean task for them to pick up the pieces or the shreds and give the rakyat the change that they crave. How do you change in 5 years what has existed for 50 years?
To me, the first thing that should go is corruption. It is because of corruption that we have potholes in our roads, schools that need to be demolished after they are built because they are not fit for use, buildings that collapse, bus drivers that continue to be on the road despite the fact that they have so many summonses, escalating crime rates etc. I think that these are the basic things that should be tackled first. Then there are the price hikes that cause unhappiness and there are projects that need to go on. Gosh! There is lots to do and very little time to do it. They should prove themselves before the next election. Look at what happened to Pak Lah. He promised changes but he did not deliver.
But tackling them will be an uphill task. I just hope that the candidates that were carried along with the tsunami of change and appointed along with it will deliver and deliver fast. But it will not be easy. Not with the internal bickering and power fights that is bound to happen within BN (now that some of its pillars are out) as well as within the opposition coalition that is so new. Its just a political baby without the years of working together as a coalition as the BN has. Will they be able to work together? Well, I hope so for the sakes of all Malaysians.
It will be interesting to watch the new faces of Parliament next.
Some of my blog visitors are rather confused about my blogs so I am going to attempt a brief explanation here.
I only have 3 main blogs. This is how they differ….
1. Mumsgather - This blog. Its about me, I and myself, mostly. I should have given it another heading but when I first bought my own domain, I just used my old blog name which was more “famous”. Its my erm.. trademark name, if I can call it that. Lol!
2. Parenting Times - This is the old “Mumsgather” blog and its mostly about my children, my interactions with them, the funny things they say and the crafts we do together plus any useful children’s links I come across.
3. Mothering Times - This is my Mother’s only blog. Its about stuff that only mothers would care about. Its about the “technical” aspect of being a mother like toilet training, breastfeeding etc. Unless you are a mother, you would find this blog incredibly boring. The most searched words that bring visitors to the blog are things like “chemical pregnancy”. “falls during pregnancy”, “the best breast pump”. “confinement lady”. Those deal with the “early” parts of being a mother but I hope that the blog will grow along with me as I grow as a mother.
Still confused? Nevermind. Feel free to ask me anything you want, anytime and on any blog. 
During my pap smear at the end of last year my gynae told me that there was a lump in my left breast and she told me to monitor it myself. Well, I can’t really find the lump myself but its been giving me pain so I’ve scheduled another appointment. Anyway she did tell me to go back for a follow-up to check on those ovarian cysts she saw so I am due for another check-up. Aaarrgh I hate all these doctor visits. I’m scared of the results and of course I hate the waiting but mostly I am afraid of what the doc will say and I hate the anxiety of doing diagnostic tests.
My sister says she’ll probably ask me to do a mammogram. Sis tells me that the mammogram is very painful and uncomfortable. I can’t imagine how its like. I just visualise that it must be like having your breast photostated or something. I searched around and saw this mammogram video on YouTube. Gosh! It looks terribly painful, to have your breast squashed and pressed together till its flat and round like a pancake. Now, I’m even more scared. Shouldn’t have searched around! But looks like I can’t escape it. I’m over 40 and haven’t done my first mammogram yet and with a family history of cancer….
Anyway, I should stop this worrying and just get on with it. I will write an update after my doctor visit. In the meantime, below is the video for those who are wondering how a mammogram is like. And here is a good article about what is a mammogram, when and how often you should do a mammogram and a description of a mammography.
To me a mailbox can serve both the functions of beauty and security at the same time. Beauty because a mailbox is the first thing that greets the visitors to your home. A worn out, drab looking or rusted old mailbox tells me that your home is not very well kept inside. That may not be the case, I know, but it gives me that impression.On the other hand a classy or pretty looking mailbox is like a welcome mat, a well thought of little detail, that gives that extra touch to a house deco. It may not be a very fansy looking mailbox, just a plain one will do but it should be classy and elegant.
Having said that however, I must stress that looks are not all that I would want from a mailbox. Security comes first. The mailbox must be tamper proof and your mail should be protected from theft. A good investment in a locking mailbox or a locking insert used to convert a formerly non-locking mailbox to a locking mailbox should be good for security purposes. I hate to deal with missing letters especially important documents so security is a must when shopping for mailboxes.
Another thing to consider is the type of material used. It should be hardy enough to withstand sun and rain especially if its an outdoor curbside mailbox. So when choosing mailboxes to me the three most important things are security, durability and appearance, in that order. Happy Choosing.
