Tired...tired....

I'M SO TIRED!!!!!

Sleeping almost 12 midnite and waking up at 6 am to prepare dinner and go to work everyday.

So much much things to check and research....but I think it's worth it. If things goes smoothly, I would be a step closer to fulfilling my (and my friend's) dream ;)

Hope all those sleep that I have sacrificed is really worth it....I'm so tired... ;P

I'm finally back!

Flew back from Taipei....throughout the flight, I only have 1 thing in my mind. That is, I want to fly home safely to my kids and family. No H1N1. No airplane crash. No hijackers, etc...... Hahaha....getting very "kiasi" nowadays....for my kids sake :)

When I finally touched down at Changi Airport Terminal 1, it was a great relief to step into Changi Airport. Can't express how grateful and happy I am to God especially when I can hear my kids laughing. They were jumping, laughing and running all over the place when they saw me. Hugged and kissed me and even refused to let go of my hands when we walked.

They realy missed me....as much as I do. And Chanel told me I can't go anywhere alone anymore.

"Mommy, one time only, ok? Next time cannot go, ok?"
I told her if I bring her along? She replied immediately, "Can!"
I asked what about didi? She replied again, "Me, Didi & you, can"
I then asked again...then daddy how? She replied, "Daddy cannot go!"

Sigh....then I wonder if I am the one going on a holiday or their daddy......

When we went for dinner, both didn't want to sit on their chair but climbed and sat on my lap. This is the first time they did not fight over who sits on mommy's lap but sat "harmonously" together :D

Looking at them and their reactions, guess, my next trip would have to be years later....... at least till they are slightly older and more independent?

Clarence has grown

Clarence has definitely grown alot.

He has been wanting to carry his huge bag himself. Everyday when we went to pick him from his childcare centre, he would carry his bag out from his class, take his shoes and walked out of the centre before he passed the bag to us.

Whenever we go marketing at supermarket, he would want to help me carry the basket, regardless of the weight. Hence I couldn't take the trolley whenever I go with him!

Glad that he is getting stronger each day. I hope he'll 'protect' his sister when he grows up. He is definitely a tough guy and more independent as compared to Chanel.

A new beginning.....

I've "re-born" on 25 Jan 09.

I have re-looked at my past and re-adjusted my life to move towards the better. The past few weeks have been a nightmare to me and I almost thought that I have to move into something more drastic then I can ever imagine. Though I have prepared myself for the worst but when the time really comes, I still felt lost and indecisive. I was afraid to think of the impact I would face for the decision I make. Thank god, the worst did not happen.

I hope my efforts would pay off with a life time guarantee.

The episode made me realised how fortunate I am.....having lots of family and friends support.....and also, I am a tougher person than I thought I am. I am now more confident with myself..... I believe I can handle much tougher challenges that I may come across in future.

All the best to myself for this Ox year and many more years to come :)

Episode has not ended...

What I have hoped for did not happen.....

Now I am not sure what kind of ending the episode would have but I still hope things would not turn too bad....

Wish me luck....

A bad start for 2009

The past 1 week has been the most traumatic days in my in life (so far....and I hope it won't happen again).

Though the episode has ended (I hope) but I'm still affected by it. Guess I would need a little bit more time to get over it. The first week of 2009 is terrible and hope it would get better as the years go by.....wish me luck and I need lots of love and support this year.....

My Kids has grown...

I always felt that my kids has grown alot recently as carrying them gets more and more tired...

Today, we brought the kids to airport for breakfast and weighed them on the weighing machine in the airport. To my surprise, Chanel weighs 16.5 kg while Clarence is 14 kg!

Glad that they have put on weight and not the fats as they still looked skinny :)

HFMD cases again....

My kid's childcare has a total of 3 cases now...

The 2 new cases was brought to my attention this afternoon. I was told that the sibling of a affected child came to school today and was sent home b'cos of suspected symptoms. This really pissed me off!

I have highlighted my concerns in the previous outbreak that siblings of affected should refrain from coming to school but the principal says that they cannot enforced such "rules" b'cos MCYS didn't say so...my god!!! They rather let the rest of the parents be kept in suspense wondering who will be affected next then enforce a school rule.

This school may be good but sometimes over "doing it". The parent of the affected child have commented that they have no choice but to send their other child to school and the school also accepts. Why couldn't they be more considerate to the rest of the children and parents. I really don't understand.

Anyway, I have told the school about my disappointment in them over the management of the HFMD. Though I don't think the school would do anything but I still think that I should let them know my views.

I have also conveyed my views to Mindchamps and I hope they would have a better management over such matters since their fees are 3 times much higher than my kid's current childcare....and they better be.....

K1 & N1

My kids are "promoted" to K1 & N1 today!

Wow.....I still can't imagine my baby-lish Clarence going to N1 and Chanel in K1. Time really flies and it's scary......

MindChamps (Tampines Point)

My kids will be going to Mindchamps Pre-school come Feb 09....

I attended the pre-school talk at Mindchamps this evening at their HQ at HDB Hub. Nice, clean environment, good facilities (the new school will have it's own outdoor playground) with impressive curriculum but the fee was pretty high. Considering the fact that we now have to spend about $2k (as compared to $750) every month just to send my 2 kids there......but my hubby insist that it's a good investment and he signed up immediately after the session!

.....goodness, so expensive! I was even reprimanded by my husband for using cost as a decision factor! ......sigh.....forget it. I will just have to cut down expenses on kids' clothing, toys and facial treatments.....

Pinky Computer

Ho..ho..ho....I've finally bought a laptop for myself. Yes, finally a computer all for myself and it's pink!

The whole process only took 30 mins (browsing, getting opinions, deciding and payment). Guess this sets a new record for my shopping experience. Thanks to the sales who rushed to settle my payment and also my friend, who was with me, helped settle the "after-purchase" matter at vivo while I dashed off to pick my kids!

Hahaha...I'm just too happy....Cos besides getting a nice laptop, I didn't hear grumbles from my hubby but only "Oh so nice, mommy" from my girl :)

Booties

I've finally found the "right" pattern for the booties! After many attempts, I've finally completed a pair of booties...yeah!!! Hope this is good enough to be given as a gift ;P

So my next project would be another pair of booties for baby Russell. Hmm..mm...not sure if it's possible to knit a toy car to replace the flowers..... :)

Achievement

Clarence finally took a "major" step and went into the Tsunami Pool in Wild Wild Wet today!!! After strolling round WWW 4 times with Clarence on the stroller, I managed to get him to put his little feet in the pool. The process of coaxing him to go into the pool was very comical. Too bad I couldn't film it.

This is the 2nd time we went to WWW with him. I can still remember, previously, that he did not stop crying until I brought him to the eating area where he can no longer see the pool or hear the splashing sounds of water. So for today, I've already planned to have a stroll with him round WWW since I'm also forbidden to go into the pool for a week after my lasik.

Clarence cried the moment we stepped into WWW. He can recognise the place even though his last visit was in Oct 2007!!! I guess it must have been a really terrifying experience for him....

Anyway, after much hoaxing and coaxing, he finally took that "bold step" into the tsunami pool. It was an area where I had wanted him to start off because the water is "calmer" and there's no waterfall or splashing/dripping of water. He needed quite a fair bit of assurance from me that the pool is safe while he stands in the pool. This reminds me of what my friend told me - boys generally needs more attention and care and are more dependent in nature too. Girls, in contrast, are more independent and daring. This is really the case for my kids.

Chanel, though behaves like a princess, dares to try anything when she's at a young age. While my boyish Clarence, does not like the idea of trying. He needs lots of assurance and coaxing before he attempts something new. He is the type who prefers to monitor and assess first before he jumps in :)

I'm really glad that he finally enjoyed himself today....hope today's experience would "erase" whatever fear he has previously.....but come to think of it, seems more like my achievement than his...hahaha... ;P

All Clear

I went for my 1st review today and the doctor commented that my eyes healed very very well. (Whew!) Now, instead of the hourly eye drop, I've been "promoted" to the 3-hrly routine :)

I was also given an optional 1 week review (if nothing goes wrong, can skip the review) and a final review a month later. Thereafter, I should be able to go swimming. So for now, no jogging or physical activites for the next 1 week.

....as I was on my way home....I have this weird feeling....I have been in specs and lens for more than 20 years and suddenly I'm walking on the road without any! Wonder how long can this perfect eyesight last before my 老花眼 sets in :)

Still can't believe that I'm having perfect eyesight....I can really say bye-bye to my glasses and lenses liao.....wow.....hahaha....

The "Judgement" Day

I had my lasik done on 26 Nov 08 and had opted for the Intralase technique (i.e. blade-free). Can't imagine having a knife on my eyes! All-in-all, I paid $3.7k for the whole surgery including 3 after-ops review and medication.

While waiting for my turn, though feeling scared, it's quite amazing to see patients after patients going into the surgery room with glasses and leaving the clinic wearing sunglasses.....they have all gone through lasik!

When it was finally my turn, I was brought to a room where the medical staff explained the medication to be taken after the lasik. I was then led to another room where the staff dripped 3 different eye drops: antibiotics and to numb my eyes. While waiting, I kept thinking if the medication has taken effect and if my eyes are already numbed....also I could hear wielding-like sounds and heard converstaions between the doc and his patient. Within minutes, his lasik is done!

Next, I could hear hear the patient talking and walking passed my room, then, the doc popped in and talked to me. He assured me that everything would be ok. He told me that there are 2 steps in the procedure: First, is to "slice" the top layer of my cornea (both L & R side); then secondly, the lasik will remove (think it's burning cos I can smell smoke) some layers to flatten my corneas.

I was then led to the ops room. It is a cold room of 20 deg celcius. As I lay on the bed, the staff adjusted my head and made sure I fit well into the head rest. That is to prevent me from moving. Next the doc started the process by placing a round thing (something like manifying glass without the glass) over my right eye. Probably to "pop"my eyes? Solunds scary but no pain but just some pressure. Then the bed turned and I was under a huge equipment. All I have to do is to look at a red light. Anyway, without my glasses, I can't see any thing, even the red light is blur! Didn't feel anything or hear anthing during the process. Just the heard the doc says, "good, well done". Then the bed was turned back to the same place. The round thing was removed and placed over my left eye. The same process was repeated for my left eye.

Next, the doc started taping my right eye and asked me to focus on a red light again. (I think) He then flipped my top cornea layer, as the red dot became even blurer, and the lasik starts. I could hear wielding sound and smelt smoke. The process probably took about 1-2 mins. After that, the cornea flap was placed back (the red dots looks clearer) and lots of eye drops was applied. I could see a brush brushing across my eyes!

The same process was repeated for my left eye and then it was done! The staff then helped me up and, WOW, I could see the doc and the staff quite well!!! Amazing!!! Vision is clear except that it's quite hazy...like walking in between clouds. The doc explains that it's because of the "halo" effect.

The process is really very fast. I had my appointment at 1230 hrs and I was discharge at 1415 hrs!

My eyes started to tear and sore 20 mins after the numbness medication wears off. I can't really open my eyes and was "crying" for about 5 hours. The only thing I could do is to lay on bed, forcing myself to open my eyes to drip the eye drops every hour. The soreness finally went off around 2030 hrs.

I was really very glad that my hubby supported my decision by sending and fetching me after the surgery. He took care of the kids that night and kept telling the kids that mommy needs to sleep, don't disturb, etc..... :)

Lasik

The word "lasik" sounds scary to me. I have been toying with the idea of going for lasik for years but it's always my fear who won the battle.

Last Sunday, when I went to stock up my softlens dailies, the optician checked my eyes and commented that my eyes are very stressed due to my long-wearing of soft lens. I wore them between 12 - 16 hrs everyday, 7 days a week. So not so healthy for my eyes.

I remembered that I got the same comment last year when I went to make a new pair of spectacles at another optical shop.

The word "lasik" popped up in my mind again. I finally decided to go for an eye evaluation...

The results showed that my cornea thickness is normal (>500 microns), degree is considered relatively high (625 & 725) and a slightly bigger pupil (7.0 mm). The doctor explained that though my degree is considered relatively high (very high ones are those more than 1000) but I have good cornea thickness. The only thing is that I may experience halo after lasik when looking at lights because of my pupil diameter and high degree but that effect is only temporary. He says after removing a thin layer of my cornea to correct my vision, i still have "enough thickness" for a normal cornea. He also assured that I have 98% chance of having a perfect eyesight. He emphasized that after care is very important and I must follow very strictly. He hopes I won't be the one to break his clean record :D

Black Toe again

I got a scare yesterday when Clarence's Teacher called to say he was very quiet in class, sitting in a corner reading books, when he woke up from his nap, he was very cranky and kept crying and lips a little purple......

I rushed back to realised that he is probably in pain because of his black toe. According to my hubby, he played with one of the speakers and accidentally dropped on his toe (ouch!). He is probably feeling the pain as when I saw him around 4pm, his toe is still red and swollen.

This is the 3RD TIME he got his toes black! Wonder when will he ever learn his lesson....

He is also having diarrhoea yesterday. Not sure if that is one of the reason why he was very quiet in class...anyway, it's a "happy-ending" to this episode, at least to me.....

His daddy brought him to KKH today and he came back with a big bandage that looks scary.

From this incident, Clarence learnt a new term...."big Toe".... :)

Prospect Son-in-law?

Chanel: Mommy, you know, Colin very naughty.
Mommy: Why is Colin naughty?
Chanel: He didn't listen to teacher and when we queue up, he jump queue.
Mommy: So what happen then?
Chanel: Then I suddenly come out and just scold him. I told him I don't friend him any more because he naughty and I will not marry him?
Mommy: ??? Marry him? Then who you want to marry?
Chanel: Yes, I want to marry Caden. Because Caden not naughty.
Mommy: Did Caden say he wants to marry you too?
Chanel: Yes!

Oh dear....it's finally my turn now to hear such things from my 4-yr old. Something I used to hear it from my friends. Soon I'll have to talk about the birds and the bees? Oh dear....too soon..too soon....

St. Nicholas Alumni

I've applied to join St. Nics Alumni for the sake of my daughter.

Come to think of it, I'm really kiasu. Though I've already got confirmation that Chanel will be able to enrol for Pri 1 under Phase 2A2, yet I'm still worried that she can't get in. With the Alumini status, she will be in the Phase 2A1 during the enrolment excercise in 2011. Should be quite safe then :)

Anyway, my hubby says that the $300 joining fees is far more cheaper than others who shifted their house in order to get their kids into this school.

So now that Chanel's school is confirmed, I have to start worrying about Clarence's....no school in mind yet since his daddy's school no longer exist....

My 1st Project

I'm recently going crazy over knitting. A hobby I have "forsake" for 10 years.

It was "rekindled" by 2 of my friends who will be giving birth soon. I was thinking hard about what what gifts to give them an then decided to try knitting a bootie for them.

Of course my first attempt failed ;( .... so I decided to do something else to boost up my confident and completed my 1st project :D

It took me 3 weeks (actual effort is about a week) to conceptualise and knit.

Now, I'll try the bootie again and hope I'll succeed this time.