Lavender Story - the first 2 sprouts

"Lavender sprouted" daddy told me excitedly over FB. I quickly told him to take some photos.  He told me there are 2 but could only take 1 coz the other one too small to be taken by macro settings.

I can imagine the excitement Little DinoEgg will show when we tell him tonight.  His duty of "talking to the flowers" worked haha~ in a way.

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Wordless Wednesday - Lights Up our New Life

I chose this Dinning Table Lights

New Lights for the new house

New Beginning & New Journeys

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To reach out and touch someone's life

I am so filled with emotions that I have to write it out.

Last month, a fellow SMB member Angeline Foong did a shout out for a mummy in a financial situation and needed some clothes for her 6yrs old & 10yrs old boys.  Sis gave me alot of Farn's preloved clothes for 5-7yrs old but Little DinoEgg is of smaller built; he is 6yrs old but still wearing clothes for 4-5yrs old kids, so I thought to pass them to this mummy who needs them more urgently then me.

It took me almost a month to mail out a handful of pants and few tee shirts to her coz we were in the midst of packing the house for the Big Move.  When she received the clothes today, she expressed her gratitude and that her 6yrs old is very happy with the clothes.  I am glad that I made a little kid happy, though it was not brand new clothes but still look new coz 

Then suddenly it strikes me, I still have a box of plus size clothes sitting at 1 corner waiting for me to bring them out.  These clothes are the stock in brought in not long ago for my online store but that did not work out.  Then my focus shifted and I was caught up with work and family.  Every now and then, from the back of my brain these clothes came popping into my mind then I will think "Oh ya, have to think what to do with these clothes." or "Time to sit down and think of a way to sell them off."  Well, it never really happen.... No Action Think Only - that's me.

So very cautiously I text this mummy, telling her about my stock and asking her if she mind I pass them to her.  I was afraid that she may be offended or take it the wrong way.  Instead she was very happy!  Turned out that she is starting a new job in 2 weeks time and she is troubled about new clothes.  She also text "Now your msg is just like a prayer answered.  I won't mind at all!"  My heart instantly warms up when I read this.  

"Wow I'm really grateful for the clothes.  It really help me a lot.  Words are just not enough to express my thanks!  But still THANKS!!!"

I've never feel so overwhelmed in my life!  

There are also a period after marriage where I was at the lowest point in my life especially, I too needed help from family & friends but I try not to rely them too much.  It was very tough n straining on our marriage.  I'm glad that we are out of the situation few years ago, it was not the best memories of my life but it reminds me constantly to be grateful of things.  I am more willing to help out strangers in terms of necessity stuffs instead of monetary assistance, I never put too much thoughts when I lent a helping hand.

Today's episode affects me the most.  

Frankly, I know nothing about this mummy except that she has 2 boys aged 6yrs old n 10 yrs old, we communicate through sms and its mostly about the clothes that I want to pass to her son.  We did not chat via text or on the phone.  We are still a stranger to each other.  I've never thought that I am the answer to her prayer! 

Life really have a mysterious way of connecting people and making a difference in their life.  I'm grateful that it threw a hard ball at me years ago, changing my attitude on people and things, thus making me a better person.

 

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Flowers Craze - Orange Gerbera

I've always like fresh cut flowers, have always wanted to have them in the house but do not have the opportunity till now.  Daddy bought our 1st bouquet of flowers for the dinning table last week, I thought why not keep it going?  Decided to get some flowers at Thomson Plaza after my chiropractic appointment.  I went to the only florist in the building *spend a bomb* to get 3 gerbera and some other flowers (of names which I do not know).  I choose orange coz its very bright and cheerful, the way I like it.  I even went to the Home-Fix DIY store next door to get a pair of pruning shears (trying to act pro hahaha), time to do justice to our kitchen scissors.  I am still not good at the flower arrangement, who would have thought putting a handful of flowers into a small vase can be so difficult and requires more skill then simply putting them into the vase.

I cannot believe how much a stalk can cost so much, will try to look for alternative place at convenient location to buy cheaper flowers to satisfy my flowers "crave".

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Blessing of our new house

Today is an auspicious day for house blessings.  Our Master came to our house at around 520pm with so many stuffs for the ritual.  The ritual takes about an hour with us kneeling down or sitting down till our knee caps are protesting.  Little DinoEgg, as usual, asks alot of questions and daddy has to shushed him many times.  Luckily he eventually quiet down and was able to stay through the ritual without any more out bursts from daddy.

Photo take after the ritual ended

Our Buddha in His new alter

Peony painting

 After the ritual and placing of our fengshui auspicious items, we also put up our Peony painting at a auspicious place.  The living room look instantly different the minute the painting is up.  It gives "live" to the sort of plain area and gives me a cosy and comfortable feeling about the living room.

Little DinoEgg & Buddha

Little DinoEgg insist on taking a photo with our Buddha.  Later, we asked him why and he smile sheepishly not knowing what to say, then he suddenly blurt out "Because I see the banana there, I want to take the banana."  This make me and daddy laugh out so loudly.  We know he is a big fan of bananas but giving us that as a reason is so funny.

Before the ritual starts, Master told us to think of good things that we want to receive in our house.  Daddy & me shared our "visions" when everything's ended.  He saw 弥勒佛 Maitreya Buddha or Happiness Buddha carrying a big bag of gold coming into our house *good sign*.  I saw *giggle* $$ <-- 2 big dollar signs of human size walking happily into our house *super good sign*, the Buddha for a flicker of moment then a smiling 观世音菩萨 Bodhisattva walking into our house with her vase of flower (I googled and it was said that She was suppose to hold in her hand either a willow branch, a vase with water or occasionally a lotus, now where did mine with flowers come from??)

Regardless, we feel at ease n happier with the house blessed.  Looking forward to many years of good fortune and luck, smooth & prosperous work & school life for us.

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Progress in unpacking our stuffs

Its been a week since we moved into our new house.  Lucky daddy is on leave so he is the one doing most of the unpacking.  He did the kitchen all by himself!  Its such a tedious task, carrying & stacking the bowls n plates, pots n pans etc. I'm glad I don't need to do that :P

It still look abit "not there" yet as you can see, especially the study room.  And we need to buy some racks for the store room, a small drawer cabinet, some cabinets (I think) then finally the curtains which will be ready in early June.

At least the living room and dinning area are ok, we can relax to watch tv on the sofa or have a meal or two on the dinning table.  Looking forward to finally settling down with everything all in place.

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Our first home cooked dinner in our new house =)

After unpacking most of the stuffs, the house looks less clutter and we do not feel as stressed up as initially.  Daddy decided to cook dinner since he is on leave and have time to cook.

He whipped up a of mixture of western and eastern dinner -  stir-fried sliced pork, stir-fried choy sum, sesame oil chicken and creamy mushroom soup. The dinner consist of every one's favourite food and its obvious the soup is Little DinoEgg's favourite.

It feels great to sit down and have a hearty home cook meals after all the hassle of moving house, packing, unpacking, work, school.

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Cotton Candy Sky

Its a beautiful day today!  The sky is cloudy but still bright and cheerful.

While traveling on the expressway I saw layered clouds in the sky, looks beautiful!  Took out my Nokia X3 n went snapping away (saw from the corner of my eye taxi uncle is peeping at me through his rear view mirror haha~)

Photos are not great resolution and the tinted window affected a little bit.  Its always times like this that I regret not having either of my Canon with me *sigh*  Regardless, I feel so proud of my Nokia X3 today coz I realized that I managed to capture a BIRD in one of the photo!  Impressive!

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Wordless Wednesday - Lavender Story

My 1st Wordless Wednesday post. It has never cross my mind to do such posts. Have actually wanted to do a post of them planting the seeds but they went ahead w/o me.

Father & Son
Did this together
Will we have lavender on our balcony soon?

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Its YWTL Time

Further to my post My Twisted Spine, I am sharing a simple 4-steps stretching exercise intro to me by my Chiropractor.  

Its call the YWTL -You Will Thrive Longer- (or some call it YTWL) Exercise

Stand with ur feet slightly apart with palm faces up do the following stretches while squeezing your shoulder blades.  Hold for about 5 seconds for each letter.

- Raise your arms to a 45-degree angle with your body to form a "Y"  

- Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle and perform the same arm movement as you did for the "W"

- Extend your arms straight out to the side to form a "T"

- With your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle, rotate your arms up until your forearms are perpendicular to the ground to form a "L"

Photo credits from http://www.swimsmooth.com/injury.php

For a better picture and understanding of this exercise click here for more info.

I did it and my shoulder feels less tense and tight.  Good stretching exercise to do if you spend alot of time in front of the computer which gives you stiff shoulder, shoulder and/or neck ache. 

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A necklace just for me

I am starting to fall in love with Adeline's Loft!  I recently bought a dress from The Wild Flower Shop (TWFS for short) and thought that perhaps a pearl necklace will look great on it.  However I do not want to wear a string of pearls as it may make me look older then my age.  I happen to see Adeline's creation and thought I'll seek her help.  I told her about my dress and my thoughts,  I picked a necklace from her creations and told her I wanted "something like this".  She says she has an idea of what I want.  I told her I'll show her a photo of the dress so that she could see the color and have an idea on the color scheme to match the dress.

Jade color dress from TWFS

Couple of days later, she MMS me this mock creation and I fell in love with it instantly!

The necklace - mock creation

Yesterday she show me this and I wish I could have it in my hands that moment.

The end product

Adeline really knows and understand my requirements.  I gave her a rough or vague idea of my "dream" necklace and she did a wonderful job!  I do not need to explain to her much or describe (or try to describe) the style or design, (I'm not in describing things) she just caught on immediately.  Nothing speaks better then the finished product itself.  I am very satisfied with it, 100%!

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Favourite Mum No More

I received a call from Granny late morning, she says Little DinoEgg has been bugging her to call us since the minute he wakes up.  She was afraid that we are tired with all the unpacking and still sleeping thus only make the call then.

Granny passed the phone to Little DinoEggg, I was expecting the usual "Mummy I miss you!" when he comes to the phone but instead I was thrown "Mummy, can I talk to daddy?"  

*Crow flying across above my head*

"Ok daddy! I'm ready to go home NOW!" he tells daddy eagerly.

http://www.worksheetgenius.com/html/clip_art.php?page=7

And while both of them chatted on the phone, I'm left feeling a pang of sadness.

Being rejected by MY OWN SON! Twice within a short span of 48hours!

The feeling's not good.

I am the one he always runs to for everything; games, fun, food, treats, requests etc.  But not today!  Is it the boy-to-boy or man-to-man thing?  Like girls only confide in girls thing?  

Ok I'm jealous and hurt. 

 BUT don't get me wrong.  Not that I am unhappy that both of them are bonding, I'm far from it.  In fact I am very happy that daddy has taken more interest in his life and getting more involved with him.  He has help taken some pressure & stress in looking after this 6yr old from me.  I can now go out with my girlfriends at least once a month, go for my monthly facial & body massage.  Come to think of it, its not a bad thing to NOT be the favourite Mum any more *chuckles*  Its a win-win situation for ME!  

Time to think of ways to win him back *evil laughter*

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I'll be home soon Daddy

Friday 18 May 2012

Evening

I was on leave to do some more packing.  Fetch Little DinoEgg from school, while on the road I asked him whether he wants to #1 Go over to Granny's house tomorrow morning till evening we fetch him home or #2.Stay to "help out" with the moving.  After thinking for a few seconds, he chose option #1.

At home, while getting ready to go over to Granny's, I think back the last time we moved house, he was being a "nuisance" to every one, especially the movers, asking what are they doing (when they are wrapping the plastics over the furniture etc), getting into every one's way, got scolded by us...  I don't want that to happened again this time.  So I asked him again, this time with new options; #1 to stay over at Granny's tonight and we fetch him home tmr evening or #2 just go over for dinner today then go over again tomorrow morning.

His answer.... "Go over today, stay till Sunday." *surprise surprise*

And we packed a little sleepover bag for him.

While on the out of the house Little DinoEgg becomes manja, keeps hugging us and say "aww~ I'm going to miss you daddy, mummy."  All the way to Granny's house, he keeps saying that, till we left Granny house, not before we gave him some basic instructions like "listen to Granny, Er-jiu & Er-jiu ma, don't bully Cousin Yuan..." 

Saturday 19 May 2012

Evening

We were done moving, rest and going to call Granny to check on the little fella.  Daddy says he wants to fetch him home as he misses him. 

The phone rings for a while and Granny picks it up.  I told her that we want to fetch Little DinoEgg back home as his daddy misses him, she says ok then says he is in the toilet "making cake" and passes the phone to him *stink*

"Baby, mummy fetch u home tonight ok?"

"huh? WHY~~~ I wanna stay here till Sunday."

"Daddy misses you very much."

"oh... but I want to stay here till Sunday then go to Tai-ma's house."

"But you are not at home how to bring u over tomorrow morning?"

*thinking thinking*

"Mummy can I talk to daddy pls."

*passes phone to daddy*

"Daddy, you did not see me for 2 days and you miss me?  Don't miss me ok?  You'll see me tomorrow morning when I'm home."

Daddy speechless... Instead of us comforting him about not able to be with us, its the other way. Aye, when did my little boy grow up?

So he is still at Granny house.

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A little Sunshine came-a-knocking

In the midst of unpacking our stuffs, something cheerful & sunshine came out way.

Daddy was trying to fixed up the SCV setup box, internet connections etc while I steal some shut eye.  

While in my dreamland, I heard the door bell, thought I'm dreaming till daddy came into the room few seconds later waking me up saying "Dear, wake up, some one send you something."  Feeling drowsy I headed out and saw this lovely bouquet on the table!  I was instantly awake!!!

Took a look at the card and couldn't help but smile. 

This pretty flower is from Chin.  Cheeky Chin, we were talking about the Big Move and she asked about my address.  I gave to her, thinking that she want to keep it so the next time when she is in Singapore she can pop by for a visit.

A little about Chin.  She is from Malaysia, we are FB game friends about 2years ago through Jenny Leong, they are long time good childhood friends.  Yupe, another friend we got to know while playing FB games.  We seldom talk and when we really do, its all about the game.  We never chit chat until recently then we share abit of our personal live with each other.

Never did it cross my mind that she will send this little sunshine our way.  It really brightens up our mood cause we were over tired from lack of sleep and the physical toil of packing.  It also brightens up the living room which is cluttered with boxes and stuffs all over the floor.

This is what she say when I told her that I received the bouquet;

"hope you like it Jenn, its a flower with apples Looks great when i chosen fr the album and i tot that cake display might can be reuse."

How thoughtful!  I mentioned to the game gang that I've got a new oven in the new house and will try my hands on baking.  I can use this cake display for the cakes that I bake in *hopefully* near future.

Thanks Chin! 

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The power of blogging

On the note of blogging, it leads me to think of something else.

Regardless of your mother tongue that you use to write your blog, don't you feel that blogging improves your language, vocabulary, spelling (proper spelling, not those "short-cut" ones), use of words, sentence construction; just to name a few?  My English was not great but it was good enough, but working in a Chinese company for 5 years, really took a toll on my English.  The only comfort I have is my Chinese language scored sky high!  I speaks with proper pronunciation, using Chinese idioms almost daily (some which I did not even heard of), it was so "good" that people starts to think that I am from China.

Anyway, that's beside the point.

I started blogging after I left the Chinese company, had a difficult time adjusting to an English speaking office environment.  In a way, blogging helps me to get acquainted with English again.  I'm still not as good as I want to.  With the birth of my son, my memory is not as good as before, I can be thinking about something/words n the next second my mind is a complete blank.  I become unsure of myself, relying on online dictionary to confirm the word(s) or idioms that I want to use, to check the spelling of particular word(s).  I become long winded, I feel that I could have written in a better way but just could not do it.  Maybe I set a too high expectation on myself.  It sadden me when I read other bloggers' post and see how well they have written.  When reading the same topics we touched on, I chided myself that I could have expressed myself that way or that is what I meant but just couldn't find words for it.

I stopped blogging in October 2011 because I have lost my interest, my busy schedule made it impossible to keep up blogging on Little DinoEgg's growing up, our family progress and the things that we do together.  I think the main issue is I left a group of friends and suddenly I feel that no one will be interested in reading my blog.  I mean, that the purpose of blogging right?  You blog for others to read, if there are no readers, what for blog?

Then in March 2012, I found a group of blogging enthusiastic from Singapore Mom Bloggers.

They got me into writing again.  My language may not be good, words may not be as colorful, thoughts may not be blogged down to express myself clearly but I'm getting there.  Give me time and I know I will show some improvements.

Three Cheers for Blogging!!!

Three Cheers for SMB!!!

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Are your Blogging in Freedom?

I was in Kinokuniya during lunch time to try to search for a cookbook for my aussie friend.  Was walking towards the door when this book caught my eye.

Freedom is Blogging in Your Underpants

Here is the introduction of the book;

This is a book about freedom. Specifically the personal freedom I discovered from the wonderful world of blogging, the freedom I hope everybody will eventually discover for themselves. The freedom that, I believe, will permanently and irrevocably change the world for the better.

Having a blog, a voice, having my own media, utterly changed my life. Suddenly my career as a cartoonist wasn’t dependent on other people: “The Gatekeepers”—publishers, editors, Hollywood executives, etc., etc. Sud­denly I had direct contact with my audience. They had direct contact with me. I could just do my thing, without having to wait for some­body else to give me the “green light.” I didn’t have to wait around for somebody else to deem me “worthy.”

This was the freedom I spent most of my adult life searching for, the same freedom I believe we’re ALL searching for, in one way or another. Careerwise, blogging gave me everything. Even in the early days, the ben­efits of blogging were so glaringly obvious to me, I couldn’t understand why more people weren’t doing it. Ten years later, I still can’t. So I decided to write a book about it; maybe I can help other people find this freedom, too.

—Hugh

I cannot help but to pick up this book and could not help smiling at the same time flipping through it.  I couldn't agree more with these 2 particular pages;

Many a times we hear people saying they do not know what to write in their blog, they are not writers (pls, who are born writers anyway?), do not know how to find their own writing style or voice thus they do not want (or do not dare to) start blogging.  Or they are afraid that their blog post may offend family/people/society/country (maybe the world??), therefore they always have some reservations when voicing their views.  

Well there you have it!  The author, Hugh Macleod has the answer!  All points are Starting Points.  Have a thought, spur or moment thinking, an idea, a rant or whatever, blog it down!

I always tell my friends, your blog belongs to you.  You say whatever you want in it.  Of course you must have some blog etiquette & alot of common sense (logical right?).  If you feel strongly about a certain issue against your family member/the society/the nation/the world, write discretely.  Use the appropriate words, do not just pin point a person or an issue and hammer mindlessly on that, you'll die an ugly death and I guarantee you that you probably don't know what hit you.

You can blog just about anything, like me, I started to blog on the growing up of Little DinoEgg then it branches out to include the Family.  Take some time to think about it, find out what are your passion, how you want the world to see your blog.  Find your niche in the blogging world.  You'll be surprise how you are able to discover yourself along the way.

And eventually you'll be blogging away and finding that Freedom is really Blogging in Your Underpants.... ok ok, maybe minus the underpants part.

Happy Blogging Everyone!!!

**Oh 1 last note... I did not get this book coz *smack myself* I forgot to bring my Kino card which gives me a 20% discount during their current Grand Summer Sale (17 - 20 May 2012).  I'm NOT cheapo!  I just like to put my membership card into GOOD USE.**

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A Turquoise Ring for me

I've always like accessories but did not really get my hands on them because I wasn't really into dressing myself up and think that buying such things are a waste of money.  Since last year I have been starting to take care of myself, my dressing etc I have acquired a few pieces of accessories.  Most of them are silver or antique with chunky n exaggerating design.  However when I saw this cute little turquoise rose ring at Adeline's Loft I admit its a little bit girly but its so sweet that I just tell myself that I gotta have it NOW!

The Package

Top view

Side view

The ring came in a small container so no fear of it getting crushed (Yeah, our Postmasters can be very rough sometimes) or damaged while it make its way to you.

I love the vintage ring (very me, can) plus its adjustable so I can choose which fingers to put this cute little ring on according to my mood on that day.  Today I put on a sheer top with blue jeans & high heel, pop this turquoise ring on my right middle finger n instantly I feel cheerful. I am glad that I took the step to try something new *pats own shoulder* its never too late (or too old) to do that.

If you like this ring, hop off to Adeline's Loft, she has many handmade jeweleries for you to get your hands on.  She has some unique and limited edition designs which I am sure will charm its way to your wardrobe (see, I got charmed ^^)

PS : I took picture of the ring on my left hand coz there is an ugly scar on my right middle finger :(

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Singapore Mom Bloggers May 2012 Gathering

I was unable to join SMB April 2012 gathering, so I made it a point to join it this time.  We have it at Marché® branch in 313@Somerset again as its a centralized venue, easy for us to meet and rush back to office after lunch.

I am meeting these wonderful mummies for the 1st time but we chatted almost every day on the net.  Seems like we've known each other for so long.  Well, no awkward moments for us, perhaps for me coz I still can't link their face to their name :P  I'm bad in this area I admit.  It takes us a few minutes to get acquainted and then head off to hunt for some food.

We chatted, joked, exchanged ideas, discuss and even draw disapproving looks from a particular lady *chuckles*  Adora lay her little princess on an empty table next to ours, place a few props around her and then camera clicking away.  The lady must have thought was Adora trying to do with a new born baby.  Its not as if little princess will roll off the table or Adora is abusing her.

We've Mother's Day gift!  This lovely hand made handphone charm from Adeline.  She is head over heels over handmade accessories and I have fallen in love with her designs almost immediately. Head over to Adeline's Loft for some ready made accessories, she does customized designs too, just drop her an email with your inquiries.

We also have some cookies from Dominique and muffins from Pc Lee.  Haven't have a chance to eat them coz saving them for Little DinoEgg who loves them.

We decided to leave Marché® coz its a warm place, too warm for comfort.  Some of us have to go back to the office and the rest of us heads off to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® at Orchard Central.

Wonder what's the topic that gives every one a serious look

More chatting and discussions at coffee bean, seems that we never run out of topics =)

And while the mummies are busy with each other, over at the other side 2 little kids are having a great time, immerse in each other's company, a green balloon and a pool of water with a few small fountains.

Aren't they cute~  U should meet them, a boy with gorgeous eyes & long eye lashes, a girl with the most sweet smile and a contagious laughter.  We finally parted ways at around 4.15pm.  I had a great time with these mummies.  Hope I can rope in daddy for our future gatherings where daddies are included.

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