Blessings from Above

i seriously need to stop waking up at unearthly hour like 2, 3am in the mornings - i mean, i will probably to do lots of that when #2 is out but for now, what i really need is good sleep. i've been running on overdrive the past few weeks - first, with the two darlings at home falling sick, then with me realising that i am seriously running out of time to clear my work for the year. i end each day exhausted - either because 1) i've been training the maid 2) i've been spending heaps of time with #1 (and in my current state, it just totally tires me out) or 3) i've been seeing clients/running to the office to sort out my admin work. i collapse on the bed and just zone out in front of the tv, doze off and get woken up abruptly (either because i need to pee real badly or due to dh's snoring) at approximately the same time (almost) every night - 2am to 3am. then i am unable to fall back asleep - talking about vicious cycles! you would probably suggest that i nap when ...

I’ve always enjoyed writing – it serves as an outlet for me to express my thoughts and more importantly to record my memories; very important if you have a goldfish memory like me. I’m one of those who have cluttered thoughts almost all the time – too many random thoughts and by writing them down, I somehow get organized. This also applies to my work – I have to write down the things that I have to do all the time, otherwise they just get ‘forgotten’ amongst the clutter in my brain. Yes, I am a product of the multi-tasking generation… Of late though, I find myself suffering from writer’s block – I just don’t know where to start. It doesn’t help that there’s not a lot going on in my life – with the latest H1N1 virus going around (& school holiday crowd everywhere), we’ve been staying home most of the time. At my present state, I fall into the ‘high-risk’ category, together with dd, and really, it is the last thing that we want to get infected with. At the same time, my two b...

if i've been quiet the past couple of weeks, its largely because i dun have time to post - the hired help is hardly any help - you can't imagine how glad i am that today will be her last day with us. i really pray and hope that the next one will be a genuine help instead of a burden like this one! some of her nonsense that i had to put up for the past few weeks: - her 'attempts to get lost' - she was day-dreaming and did not get off the train when i did. i had to get the help of the station control staff to locate her (i was late for my meeting as a result!). they sent a message to all the stations to look out for her and fortunately, we found her! apparently, it did not scare her at all as she happily 'shopped' when i shopped - she was busy looking at the items on display and price tags instead of following me closely at the crowded malls. in a similar incident, she took an hour to get home from my mom's place when it should only take 30 mins max because...

some of u will probably think i'm very elitist for writing such an entry... i apologise... but i can't help it. to me, people like my current domestic helper (imbeciles, i'd call them), are total waste of space, air, water, food and whatever else you can think of (resources, if i have to choose one word). seriously, why do such people exist in the world to compete with the rest of us with the limited resources that's available? like a robot, she moves (i'd hardly consider her working) non-stop, from the moment she wakes till the time she goes to sleep at night. to the average person, she would appear to be very hardworking, cleaning all the time but is she really? my floors - still sticky after she finishes mopping... the crockery in the kitchen - still stained and dirty after she washes them... there is still dust in my room after she has finished sweeping and mopping! i seriously feel that she is wasting my water and detergent since she is unable to perform h...

warning: extremely long entry I bought the local papers this afternoon and read the article "My Maids of Horror – The New Paper” with great interest as it was definitely a topic that I can relate to (while mine is not as dramatic as the story reported). It has been two years since we employed our first domestic helper and we are already on our search for the fourth one. Before you ‘accuse’ us of being fastidious employers, please read on. The Job Scope for our domestic helper: - Cleaning/up-keeping our slightly-bigger-than-1,000 sq ft apartment - minimal cooking (mainly for herself) - caring for our 2 year old when we are busy (i.e. a couple of hours per day when I am at work); feeding, changing diapers/toileting and playing with her. - caring for our small house dog (walking him once a day, ensuring he has his meals & water and bathing him twice a week) - laundry and ironing - washing the car once or twice a week (depending on her workload for the week) She...

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'...

well, not for me at least... its someone else's department from now on. thankfully... god answered my prayers and we managed to find a new domestic helper. we picked up her y'day from the agency. i'm glad that i can now find time to eat, bathe and do my own things when claire takes her nap, rather than rush to mop the floor, do the laundry or cook claire's lunch/dinner. let's hope she turns out to be of a much better help compared to the previous one! and guess what? we'll be on the plane tomorrow night for our family vacation! i'm so looking forward to it!

sorry i need 'release' my frustrations once more... about my domestic helper (NOT!!) i teach her to make spring roll and wantons; she makes spring roll with my wanton fillings i teach her to cook chicken curry and lontong (vegetable curry); she throws carrot into the chicken curry i teach her to make english and chinese tea; she puts SUGAR into the chinese tea i ask her to cook proper food to eat; she 'steals' cheezels and eat with her kopi! i say 'steal' not because i don't allow her to eat but because she had 'GUILTY' written all over her face when i came home one day and 'caught' her snacking on cheezels...

we've had our domestic helper around for more than six months now... and unfortunately, most of the time, she's not much help. she's more of a domestic cleaner to me and i personally think we are better off just hiring a part-time cleaner coming in once or twice a week. i'm sure its hard to imagine how 'unhappy' i am to have help at home since domestic helpers have been living with me ever since i was a little gal (i was brought up by the likes of them) and i have been 'the maid' at home for my dh for the past four years. on most days, our helper makes my blood boil, especially when i have to give her instructions to do something... let me give you some examples. "Sri, cook rice" - she prepares fried rice "What would you like to drink, Sir?", Sir says packet drink: green color - she takes the yellow one. "Steam fish" - she cuts the pomfret vertically and makes soup "Sri, take out the pot" - she takes o...