Archive for the 'Health' Category

All work and no play makes kids extremely restless. The kids had a week off from school but I had to make sure they did lots of work. They had been sick a lot recently and missed a lot of lessons. The boy especially. It is no joke learning 3 languages in school. We speak English at home and he reads a lot of story books so he can get by. They teach him a lot of Chinese at school so he can get by. However, the standard of Malay is rather high and with little emphasis in school and at home he is swimming in a deep blue sea on his own. So he has a lot of catching up to do, especially in his Malay vocabulary.

As for the girl, she hardly has any time to do revision during school days with the amount of homework she has to do. We have to consider the homework as revision. So it was time for work for both of them on their one week off from school. The previous week off was mostly spent in bed and taking medicine as they were both sick. So, this week off, they had to do a lot of studies.

Studies aside, they still managed to …

• play with candles and lanterns on Mooncake Festival Day
• watch several dvds for shows they had missed out on when they were sick
• plant their brocolli and asparagus (I wonder how those will turn out!)
• bake their bat shaped cookies and other shaped cookies
• play monopoly
• play computer games
• start on a manuscript for a book by typing it out (the girl dreams of writing a Chinese storybook)
• read several storybooks and comics
• play card games
• learn to play a duet on piano
• make ice lollies and eat them too

I’ve been really busy trying to make sure I get all of the above done in addition to helping them with their homework and studies I hardly have the time to be online. So, now it is time for me to play catch up with my blogs.

I am on a low carb diet most of the time especially when I eat in. Well, it is not exactly a low carb diet. It is just that I eat less rice overall and opt for more vegetables and fruits. I used to eat a full plate of rice with vegetables as a side dish. Now I eat it the other way around. My vegetables are my main meal and my rice is my side dish. It helps. It helped me lose my postpartum weight. I lost close to 20 pounds that way. However, I haven’t been able to extend this low carb diet to the times when I eat out.

So what happens is each week, I would lose my weight all week and by weekend when I eat out, I would regain all the weight I lost. Such a pity. I think I may have to lurk around a low carb forum and learn some new tricks. However, more than new tricks, I think the key thing is will power. I just have to improve my will power for the times when I am eating out or not eat out at all!

I have been sick for almost a month and lost weight as a result. Weight which I quickly regained in less than a week since I recovered. Ouch! Why is it so hard to lose but so easy to gain? I wish it were that way with money! Hard to lose but easy to gain.

I stopped exercising when I was sick and lost my momentum. I’ve got to start my exercise regime again soon. Exercise takes will power too, perhaps even more than dieting depending on the individual.

Where can I buy Massimo Bread?

No worries, it will hit your regular bread vendors very soon. I got mine at my usual newspaper vendor who sells bread as well. You will probably have seen the advertisements for Massimo Bread in the local newspapers. So what is the big deal?

Well, to me the big deal is, at last we have got more competition within the bread industry. Yahoo! Previously whenever Gardenia raised bread prices, I had to swallow my complaints along with my bread because there weren’t many other brands out there accept for High 5 bread.

How does Massimo bread compare to Gardenia bread in taste?

What about taste? How does the Massimo Bread taste like? To me, the Massimo bread wheatgerm variety (in green packaging) which was priced at RM2.50 during the introductory period (till end July if I am not mistaken) loses out to the Gardenia wholemeal which seems more wholesome although the Massimo probably turned out better in terms of taste.

Both are the same height but one is cut into 12 pieces the other into 14 pieces

As for the Massimo white bread which is in a blue packaging, I think it tastes better than the Gardenia white bread. The price is the same. RM2.40. Massimo bread tastes better because it is more fluffy and fuller in taste. I don’t think the fact that the white loaf is cut into 12 pieces while the Gardenia one is cut into 14 pieces has anything to do with it either. They’re both of the same height and size exactly apart from the different number of pieces. So you essentially get the same amount, just different number of slices. Unfortunately you can’t see that in my picture as I forgot to take it before we ate some.

Which bread will I buy?

Massimo or Gardenia or High 5? I’ve never gotten used to High 5 since it has always been Gardenia for me. I guess I will buy both Massimo and Gardenia now that I have a choice. Each week we eat about 3 loaves of bread. 1 long loaf and 2 small loaves. I’m just happy that now I have more choices.

Father has a private nurse looking after him to take care of his personal hygiene needs, changing his stoma bag etc. She also helps to make sure that he does his physio daily. She has a truly wonderful personalilty. So warm and caring. She really takes care of father very well. The way she talks and jokes with him and how she persuades and coax him is truly wonderful. Father even called  her “anak angkat” one day.

She is strong too and carries father to and from the wheelchair with professional ease. She is professional yet much more than that with her warm personality. Sometimes there are other trainee nurses who come along daily or there is a replacement for a day or two but none of them are the same. They are carrying out the job of a nurse and nothing more. No jokes. No banter. Just  sitting there with father.

We are truly fortunate to have her looking after father.

I think the biggest difference between a mundane worker and one that does a job extremely well is passion, love, commitment and believe for it. This nurse has it. Just like my kids’ paeditrician. She has it. Sometimes she does not charge me. At times she even calls me up to ask about the kids if they are very sick. One gynaecologist I saw before has it. She uses two offices and runs from one to another, busy like a bee but always with a smile on her face. I asked her how she manages to smile when she is so busy. She simply says “I love my job.” My neurologist has it. No matter how busy, he somehow manages to look relax and entertains most of my questions. These are very busy specialists indeed but I still see their humane side. Some specialists just go through the motions. In fact, I feel that they just can’t wait to get their patients out of the door so that they can see the next and the next. Understandably, they are very busy but then so are the rest.

The job that I love the most is the job of a mother. Yet, I think most of the time, I am like the second batch of specialists. The kind that just go through the motions and can’t wait for the patients to go out the door. I rush around with a frown most of the time. The little one will come and press my forehead to make the wrinkles go away and the big one will ask me to “Stop frowning mummy. Don’t frown. Smile.” I must make a more concious effort to be like the nurse who is more than a nurse. Smile more. Frown less. Love more. Slow down. Be happy at the job which I claim to be the happiest at. I surely don’t look it!

They say that money is the root of all evil and one should not wish for more money. We must be happy and content with what we have. However, I do wish for more money. Money can certainly do a lot… especially when you are old and ill. The standard of care you can get if you have money is so different.

Dad had a stroke last year which resulted in him being hospitalized for 2 months last year. He was unable to eat normally but had to have milk poured in directly to his stomach every few hours. He also had a colostomy which now requires him to carry his fecal matter in a bag. He can’t walk or bathe on his own so he has to use adult diapers.

Dad is much better now. He can eat almost anything now but he still requires help with bath and changing of his stoma bag etc. The five of us, his kids, shares the amount required to take care of dad. This includes a maid and a nurse not to mention his very expensive medication and payments for physiotherapy etc. The nurse is very good and has a wonderful personality to match. Unfortunately she is very very expensive. I am afraid we can’t continue to keep using her for long hours and daily as we are now. Slowly we are reducing her time.

Now, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a lot of money so that we do not even have to calculate or even think of it or blink an eyelid when providing quality nursing care for dad? Yes, it is at times like this that I wish I have a lot of money. Anyway, whatever it is, I am really thankful that dad is much better now. Dad was even back in Penang with everyone to celebrate the Chinese New Year recently and that is truly a wonderful thing indeed.