Blessings from Above

first up, is there an avenue i can complain about maid agencies to?? pls email me if there is. forgive my ranting, just have to get these off my chest (you can ignore this post if u don't want to read abt my complains) there has always been a lot of press about employers who treat their maids unfairly/unkindly... but how come i hardly read any about unfair practices to employers? unfair practices include those by the maid agencies and insurance companies - i'm sure i am not the only one putting up with such nonsense. we 'collected' the maid on saturday afternoon so effectively, she has been with us for 2 days. for the first time in my life, i met a filipino with sub-standard english. the agency INSISTED that that was the english standard of ALL filipinos. are you kidding me? my parents have hired filipino domestic helpers for more than 20 years and i have NEVER met one who has such lousy understanding of english (my previous one was also from philippines and sh...

my li'l princess went down for her nap at the right time today - she must know we'll be heading out; going for a complimentary ' positive tots ' trial class with one of her mates later. i expect her to be up in another half hour or so and i'll have plenty of time to give her lunch + get her ready to go out. i even managed to complete filing my taxes (the hard part, i.e. consolidating the receipts for claims, was done early in the week) and had my own lunch. so what else were we up to y'day?? i gave her her first 2-year old haircut! :P how does she look? she has been 'complaining' that she feels hot but refuses to let me tie up her hair. i'd love for her to grow her hair out so she can tie her hair into a nice bun when she starts ballet classes (next year when she turns three) but obviously, this gal thinks otherwise. oh well, anything to make her happy! i also made a call to the agency to get updates on our n...

the maid's gone home - nope, i didn't send her back; she wanted to go back - she SAYS her mom is terribly ill and so she wants to go back and see her. she told us on sunday after she came back from her rest-day, we booked her a ticket on monday and she was off y'day - just like that. that leaves me without a domestic helper until the new one arrives (we went to the agency to pick a new one on tuesday). i've not done the household chores for a while now (since last july when this one arrived) so it took me a while to locate the necessary 'equipment'. i'm glad that li'l one was co-operative and 'allowed' me to go about doing my chores while she 'entertained' herself... i managed to do the laundry, mop the house, change the bedsheets, bathe the dog (i couldn't locate his towels and had to use the rag instead to dry him) and cooked lunch for us (li'l one & me) and dessert for everyone - not bad for someone who is 6 months'...

i had thought long and hard how to celebrate Claire's 2nd birthday : - a small, intimate home party with some close friends? -> then i'll need to prepare food (not sure if i'm up to it in my current state) - book the function room and invite the whole kampong? -> not sure if its a good weekend to have a function since its close to Easter and most pple will probably need to be in church. in the end, i decided to just invite Claire's regular play-date kahkis and some of my colleagues. for the children, i organised for them to spend some time playing at Frisk 'n' Romp (indoor playground with scheduled hourly programme). my next headache - the food! as the party room for Frisk 'n' Romp is only available between 3.30 - 5.30pm (and the food provided is only for the kids), i had to think of alternatives. i enquired at all the food outlets within the complex and finally decided on Starbucks since they had an outdoor dining area on the ...

My li'l baby (yes, she'll always be my baby!) turns TWO today! Happy Birthday sweetheart! May you always be healthy and happy.... Mummy & Daddy LOVES you! party photos coming up soon!

- Opening of Tampines One (3rd shopping mall in Tampines Town) - my wishes came true : i had hoped for a cold storage for groceries & a HSBC bank branch to do my banking! no need to travel to parkway parade anymore! - Screening of 'The Sniper' starts today - starring the 'Nude Photo Scandal' Edison : i think many young gals swooned over THE photos (and wished that they were the ones frolicking with him) - Screening of 'Fast & Furious 4' - once upon a time... I love fast cars and quick action - now that I've become a mother, I have to value my life and consider the risks that I can take! (wished I had sky jumped in uni. days! doubt i'll ever have a chance to do that in this lifetime) Most importantly... my baby turns TWO today!

she loves the barney cake (actually she chose it) with her two cheeky cousins with my sis aka her godma family photo (incomplete) serving cake to her godma since Barney cannot be the main lead in the main party, I decided to order a small cake featuring him and his friends for our family celebration - my sis' two boys are in afternoon session so they all cannot join us on the actual day and thus a separate celebration. it was nothing fanciful, just a simple cake cutting and present opening session at my parents' place... (in case you are wondering, two 'men' are missing - my BIL has evening classes and dh was away for reservist training) anyway, i think kids enjoy their birthdays tremendously since they are in the limelight (okay, maybe not all kids - some are shy by nature and only like to be surrounded by familiar faces) - Claire is definitely one of them. :) she keeps chanting... birthday cake, happy birthday to me, open presents... etc.

preview of our studio photos...

I’m awoken again – this time, by bad stomach cramps. As my eyes slowly get used to the darkness, I search for the numbers on the clock – its 1 am. This is the 2nd time this week that I’m getting the stomach cramps. Is it something I ate today (and that day) that didn’t quite agree with my stomach or that steep flight of stairs I was forced to take during today’s seminar (I felt cramps too while climbing up those steps)? Or worse, a sign of something unfortunate impending? I don’t know. I popped a couple of bismac (hoping that its because of something I ate) but just can’t get back to sleep… so here I am again. Our friend’s 1st IVF procedure was unsuccessful and they are going to try again. Yesterday, another good friend shared about her ‘missed miscarriage'. I feel deeply for them, even though I have never been on such a roller-coaster ride. You and I cannot possibly understand the pain and heartache they are going through because we have simply never been there before (unless yo...