I get so emotional!

Isabella's fans

2010-04-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

Pepper the faithful dog and guardian. If there is anything wrong with the baby, she knows it and she will tell us.

With the grampa

Her big sister. One word out of Caitlin's mouth and her head turns and she eyes follow Caitlin everywhere.

Chillin with the gammy (nice shirt ma!)

Having a laugh with nanny

Auntie Tuff who she loves to stare at!

The daddy

My 2 girls

2010-04-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

Tried this new app for I phone. I think its pretty cool! These are my favourite photos of the girls. How I love them so!

The Parent Trap

2010-04-22T02:43:00.000-07:00

As a teacher and a parent (I say teacher first because at the moment I have more experience in that department), I am faced with the Singapore education system on a daily basis. I have seen many struggle and fail, many struggle and pass and many who simply breeze through. Comments such as íts too rigid, better to migrate, the system is all about rote learning, doesn't teach our kids to think out of the box and not preparing them for the real world, killing their spirit and much more - I have heard them all.

As a teacher and therefore part of the system, I have to say that I am a firm believer in it. I strongly believe that students who have gone through the rigidity, competition and pressure and the many examinations will come out the better for it. Say what you will about the system but I think most can safely say that if you can survive it in Singapore, you can survive anywhere. I will not get into the intricacies of the many changes being made in our system. Those who live in it on a daily basis can truly understand that we are in the process of combining the strengths of our system with new ideas, projects, expriential learning, ICT and so much more. I feel this pressure for my students but I am extremely thankful for it as well.

As a parent, I am also aware of what Caitlin and Isabella will be experiencing as they go to primary, secondary and tertiary education. As their mother, I will be by their side supporting them but as a teacher, I will also be challenging them, stretching them and pushing them to reach their full potential. Because for me, education is their meal ticket, their rice bowl and their path to a comfortable life where they will never have to worry about money. As I tell my students daily, we do not live on farms where we are self - sufficent. We live in a fiercely competitive world where just simply getting by on mediocrity is no longer accepted; a world where your certificate gets you through the door.

But as a teacher AND a parent, more importantly, I want them to learn the value of hard work and perserverance. Of never giving up and of always giving of one's best in everything that you do but being respectful, caring and kind at the same time. Those are the life values that I want them to learn as well.

So I have become an official Singapore parent. I will never be as crazy as some parents who would move to an estate just to get into a good school. But I will be the parent that will check their books, make sure their homework is always done on a friday not on a sunday, never let them skip school, that they read and read and read, that they love learning, who will talk to their teacher and who will hold their hands during exam and test preparation, who will NOT accept anything less than their best work and effort. It is one of the best gifts I will be able to give them.

Caitlin doing her daily lessons with me. She has been doing this since 9 months of age and I think she's all the better for it! (and yes, she loves it!)

And below is Caitlin helping me with Isabella's lesson

More pictures!

2010-03-31T20:05:00.000-07:00

Wanted her hair straightened for school's Easter Party

Knocked out...nothing could have woken her up.

Olive oil in hair to cure her cradle cap

At Sim's house (in Ozzie's costume!)

Going for party at Sim's house

You must play with me!

Learning how to do chores at home

My two baby girls

A very happy baby

Just before her bath

Going for Disney on ice

Caitlin's faux birthday party for being such a good girl

Our loyal staff nurse, Pepper

Smiling at her daddy

It's been awhile

2010-03-23T01:58:00.000-07:00

I can safely say without a doubt that I am a person who is not good with changes. I have yet to meet someone actually who embraces changes with positivity or even nonchalance. 2009 and 2010 have been a year of great changes that have come my way. Some were good. Some were bad and some were downright scary. Either way, what we got out of it was one Isabella Faith Simon. From being told that it may have been an ectopic pregnancy, 2 months of throwing up the entire day, to the baby having a thick nuchal translucency, to 3 months of torture to fnd out if she had Down's Syndrome and then waiting for her birth to see if she was normal. Everyday for me was a mixture of excitement, trepidation, physical exhaustion and uncertainty. And then there was Caitlin who had been the center of attention for 3 1/2 years. I felt sad because I knew that at least for a certain period of time we could no longer do our daily outings, lessons, conversations and even baths! I was afraid of how she would react and feel about the baby and about us as new parents once again.

Needless to say 2 months in...my fears and my hopes have come true. She is a great big sister coupled with the toddler tantrums and pereira attitude. It has not been an easy adjustment but as the days go by, it is getting better, more fun and definitely interesting.

Our daily storytime on Caitlin's bed

First trip to the playground

At 3 weeks doing what else? Sleeping

1 Day old

Listening to Michael jackson on my Ipod

My darling girl in option 1 dress

Caitlin at 3

2009-06-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

The consumate water baby

Waiting for her turn for face painting (in lovely dress from Laura)

Trying to climb out of the pool after a panic attack

Ryan grimacing - another convent girl (potential) that I have to handle!

This is Caitlin - a frown (Mischa) and a smile (Edward)

Haven't blogged in awhile and I've been getting a scolding from people left and right so here is an update of Caitlin at 3, taken at Kieran O' Rourke's Birthday Party (Ryan and Emily's son). (These photos are courtesy of Emily)

Maybe the old songs....

2009-02-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

Its late on a Saturday night and I'm home reminiscing about so many things that keep going through my mind. For some reason, the last 2 weeks have seen me thinking about old times, missing the old times and wishing I could be back there. I'm happy as happy can be now but I do miss so many things from my past. If only I could snap my fingers and be transported back when:

I was 19 - 24. I really loved that period of my life (university, going out with friends) and I ache for those times.
We would meet at Orchard MRT station every Wed night, take the bus (yes the bus) (no 16) to Zouk at 6pm so we could queue ealy, get stamped, have dinner and go back in for Mambo.
we used to dance all night at the main dance floor of Zouk (the stairs no less), only to leave either to go to the ladies or to get a drink during midnight madness (read - one for one - an essential for those with no jobs).
I could remember the sequence of the songs that were played at Mambo (in fact I can still remember!)
we used to club at Barracuda, Rootz, Kilimajaro and I forget the club at Boat Quay. The antics that we pulled and the amount of alcohol that we drank!
we used to hang out at MTV bar before going down to the main dance floor.
we used to drink our parents alcohol at home because we couldn't afford the drinks outside. Barry and I loading up on mountain dew and bourbon at 4pm will forever be etched in my mind as well as when we used to fill drinks into a soft drink bottle and drink while queing.
I could fit in Urban and Co outfits (XS no less), when I could expose my flat stomach and wear low cut jeans, low cut tops, backless tops - you name it, I had it.
I could still function after 3am, have a Zouk hot dog and Orange juice, then head for supper, sleep for awhile, go to church, have breakfast and then lunch with the same people I went out with the night before (Deb, Ryan and Tuff)
Pile into Sharon's car with the fluffy white furry car seat covers which she proudly bought from Australia and drive around picking people up so that they could skip class and hang out.
I worked at Civil Service Club (the soup and hot bread every morning, the George Michael Listen without Prejudice CD that we played everyday and going out after work)
I could drink 10 tequila shots in a row and it did not even make a dent in my system!
I could go home and see my mum and dad every morning - chatting over breakfast and newspapers, lying on their bed and talking about everything.
My sister was right next door to me.

I feel all grown up now - a mother, a teacher, a wife - as if everything has its place and that's how its going to be for the long run. I have everything that I want and need and I am satisfied with my life. But I do crave for those days when I had no responsibility, when my only worry was what to wear on Wed and Sat nights, when I spent so much time with people who have always known me inside out and genuinely had a good time with, when I never ever worried about money, when all I did was study and go for lectures, come home and relax. I miss the carefree, devil may care take on life that we all had and I miss how we all were at that time. We have changed so much since then.

I guess I just have to close my eyes and all these memories come flooding back to me. But they are what they are - memories - and while I will always hold them dear to me and bring them up once in awile, I will leave them where they are and start making new memories for the next decade of my life.

Caitlin goes horseriding!

2009-02-01T01:19:00.001-08:00

Holidays 2008!

2009-01-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

Even though they're my family, I would never save them from this!

Her happiest time at the zoo!

She figured out how to use the water "blockers"

Trying to get splashed on!

Caitlin in her element!

2009 is in its 3rd week already. Can't believe it! I had a great holiday with Caitlin and family and friends during Christmas.

At 32 years old, I have learnt quite a few things and have made many decisions about other things as well including:

Giving respect to those who are respectful to me as well. I don't care if you're older than me; it just means that you are old enough to know that respect is earned. So if you are on occasion rude to me, in a bad mood like me or just not in the mood to talk, then please do not comment or complain about me being the same way. People in glass houses should not throw stones.

Spending more time doing what makes me happy and not what makes others happy. For goodness sake, people are going through sicknesses, death and war. And here you are complaining and picking on others for small infringes. Get off your high horse and pick on someone else instead. This year I don't give a damn if what I do makes you happy or not - I'm here for me and for my daughter who is too young to know any different.

Not bothering if you are disappointed with me or upset with me over every little thing. As stated in no. 1, I can bet my bottom dollar you have done the same back to me so get over it and find someone else to pick on - I can assure you that there are many others you can find to focus your unhappiness on. I've lost all interest in making you happy or feel good. Its your life - do it yourself.

The many faces of Caitlin Rose

2008-11-27T17:20:00.000-08:00

The hair that never grows

My Favourite Picture of Her

I tried to make her look dainty

Chatting away

Attempting to pose in a shirt given by Pat but looking more like prisoner of war.

Water baby, water baby, water baby.

One of my favourite photos

2008-10-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I love this photo of us (from Deb's facebook album). I have many many photos of us since young and after so many years of going out clubbing, talking, eating and gossiping, this photo shows us as we are today and it amazes me how much we have grown up.

Caitlin and Pepper...life in the day of a toddler and puppy!

2008-10-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Daily stacking of items on our side table.

After a bath, wrapping her hair like her mummy.
Fast asleep in the afternoon
Playing dress up with Pepper looking bewildered!

Her favourite "piano park" and her usual sliding position. Not dainty this one.

It's a dog's life

Daily nap ritual of taking off all her clothes.

In the afternoon, pepper has to sit on my lap and stare at me.

Play time and the assasination of cookie monster and big bird.

Caitlin's Big Day Out!

2008-08-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Caitlin's first excursion was to the Botanic Gardens but from the looks of it, it was more like some concentration camp!

She had a great time though and was rambling on and on about her best friend Anil Patel!

Caitlin at school

2008-08-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

So Caitlin started her new school 2 weeks ago because I just did not find the Kinderland at Safra good enough to warrant me driving her to school in the morning and then taking her home during my free period and then dashing back to school for lessons.

So she has stared at Carpe Diem and she is enjoying it. In fact, she is on a field trip to the botanic gardens today to learn more about vegetables.

A big thank you filled with lots of love

2008-08-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Edward and I went to Bintan over the weekend and on Sunday when we got back it really hit me just how much my family loves us.

My parents are really busy people. My dad drives to Jurong every single day and works hard and my mum who has moved office, is still organising exhibitions successfully and spends her pre exhibition days running around to the early morning even.

Any yet, no matter when I ask for help, they drop everything to do so. Not only did my dad take leave on Friday to prepare for Caitlin coming to stay (so cute my dadums), he took her to the park in the evening to play. Mummy and him then took her to the beach to play and swim on saturday, to the park again in the evening and to Giant supermarket on Sunday which she loves. In between, Caitlin had a ball of a time staying there, rolling on their bed and just talking with them.

To top that all of, my dear family including me ol sis, lied to us on Sunday and said that they were taking her to Labrador Park for the evening. When Edward and I got home in the evening we were expecting an empty house but when I opened the room door, they were all hiding in there and they shouted surprise. It was one of the highlights of my evening. In addition to that, they had driven to Katong first to buy tea for us.

Even my auntie Em had packed food for us (pork chops, Edward's favourite and stew which is mine) as well as whole durian from Les for me. Di also bought Edward doughnuts last week and mothercare stuff for Caitlin. Not forgetting the countless packets of Caitlin's favourite snacks from Em.

I am so grateful to have a family that loves Caitlin so much. Many people over the years have told me that Tuff and I are spoiled. That no matter what, we have our mum and dad and the rest of our family to turn to in times of trouble. I say that I am the better for it. No matter the time of day or how busy or last minute, these people will drop everything for me, Caitlin and Edward. And this is not the first time . From Phuket (when Tuff and I went) , to simple nights out to weekends spent together, my family has always been there for me. The beauty of it is that I never need to ask. They are always free for caitlin, edward and I. So yes, I am glad to be spoiled and I count my blessings everyday. I only wish that I could now be half the parent my parents are or have as much unconditional love that my family has.

Mummy, daddy, tuff.. thanks so much for the weekend. I will never forget what you have done for my little family.

Caitlin the Flower Girl oops Flower Destructor!

2008-07-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well Bear got married on Saturday and caitlin was one of the flower girls. After months of nervous anctipation of whether this small one would successfully make it down the aisle, we were heartened to see that was able to do so at the rehearsel. On the day itself and as Edward would put it, the mothers were more nervous and high strung than the kids were and after much threatening and scolding, my daughter made it down the aisle! She kept turning around to look at Aileen in her white dress and eventually had to be pushed and prodded by the older girl. She held her flowers on her own though and kept the wreath on after a warning that if she took it off she would be going to the naughty corner! Needless to say, I was the most stressed of all!

At the end of service, the wreath was torn off her head and some of the roses in her bouquet were ripped to shreds. Ah Caitlin Rose ... a rose by any name is still a rose...NOT!

For pics of Bear's wedding go to Debbie's Facebook!

Grandmother of Rock and Roll - My Mother!

2008-06-04T18:48:00.001-07:00

Watch this clip. You will not regret it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN ROSE!

2008-05-23T01:25:00.000-07:00

At her baptism

Caitlin and her BFF Pepper

She finally is starting to look a little like me!

At 3 months!

Going to be a year old!

I can't believe Caitlin is 2! This 1 year has flown by really fast but I have to say I'm enjoying every minute of her being a toddler. Now we can talk to each other, dress up, play together and she understands so much now! Many mothers have told me that this age is the most difficult as they are trying to become independent and will become part of the terrible twos club. I suppose so but for me, nothing can be as bad as a glue sniffing teenager who tries to challenge you during lesson time! So Caitlin is a walk in the park! Plus, I made her so I'll take whatever stubborn and naughty streak in my stride!

May's Birthday

2008-05-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

We actually appeared on a website!

Ice Cold Beer for drinks and dinner, Butter Factory for dancing. The crowd was bloody young! 18 years old and we were feeling ancient in there! But the music was great and we revealed our age by screaming and singing along to every "retro" r and b song. This included:

1. Return of the mack (yes from 1997).

2. Getting Jiggy with it.

3. This is how we do it.

4. Back and Forth.

And many more. We were the only ones screaming when the songs came on and the only ones I bet who knew what year it came out and every word of the lyrics.

tumbled home at 230 with May. Gill, Mel and Tuff stayed on to God knows what time. It was a great time!

(Thanks Gill for the photos!)

Goodbye dear Dr. Seng

2008-04-03T00:32:00.000-07:00

The only picture I have of him. Caitlin seemed to know who he was and was very comfortable with him (which is very rare for her.)

It is a sad day for me as my dear gynae passed away suddenly. He had just retired and was telling me a couple of months ago when we met that he was too tired and stressed from having to worry about the safety of 2 people (mother and baby) during delivery so he was passing the baton on to his son.

So sad to know that just as he retired, his life ended. I will always remember him as the calmest person I know. Even when Caitlin was in serious distress during labour or when I almost lost her in the early months, he was always relaxed and his conversations and tone made me feel completely at ease.

Most importantly, I will never forget the most important decision he made for me and edward, which was to get Caitlin out before it was too late. If not for him, who knows what our lives would be like now. It was his years of experience, skill and expertise that saved Caitlin and myself.

He will always be in my heart and thoughts.

Friday Night Lights!

2008-03-24T01:38:00.000-07:00

My poor Tasmanian Devil

2008-03-24T01:06:00.000-07:00

Yup, me ol sis got it right.

Caitlin is the Tasmanian Devil (but a darling one at that) She fractured her wrist last week but this has not stopped her at all. Jumping, climbing, trying to do headstands, climb out of the play pen and lots more. It's not really stopped our schedule and I even took her to school much to the horror of her teacher who was so scared she would fall again. Ironically, she was calmest there and she had a good time as always in school. No fracture is stopping me from taking her to school I said!

Its been 2 trips to the ER and one trip to the ortho at KK and she is now on a temporary cast because I begged the doctors to keep it on her for another week despite the fact that its healing. Why? Because she is the Tasmanian Devil.

(She looks really adorable in the pictures though!)

Songs of the 80s

2008-03-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

I've been religiously watching MTV's VH1 countdown of the top 100 songs of the 80s. And every night at 930pm on MTV they play these great 80s videos for 30 minutes.

The number one song by the way (as voted by Americans) was Living on a prayer by Bon Jovi. I think I can kind of agree with it but to me there is music before thriller and music after thriller and "beat it" only hit the number 6 spot. The number 2 song was pour some sugar on me which I suppose is pretty ok.

Anyway, watched Pat Benatar's video "Love is a battlefield" on one of these days and I forgot just how much I love the words to the song and the dance sequence.

We are young, heartache to heartache we stand
No promises, no demands
Love is a battlefield
We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong
Searchin our hearts for so long, both of us knowing
Love is a battlefield

You're beggin me to go, you're makin me stay
Why do you hurt me so bad?
It would help me to know
Do I stand in your way, or am I the best thing youve had?
Believe me, believe me, I can't tell you why
But I'm trapped by your love, and I'm chained to your side

We are young, heartache to heartache we stand
No promises, no demands
Love is a battlefield

We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong
Searchin our hearts for so long, both of us knowing
Love is a battlefield

Were losing control
Will you turn me away or touch me deep inside?
And before this gets old, will it still feel the same?
Theres no way this will die
But if we get much closer, I could lose control
And if your heart surrenders, youll need me to hold

We are young, heartache to heartache we stand
No promises, no demands
Love is a battlefield

We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong
Searchin our hearts for so long, both of us knowing
Love is a battlefield

We are young, heartache to heartache we stand
No promises, no demands
Love is a battlefield

We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong
Searchin our hearts for so long, both of us knowing
Love is a battlefield

Caitlin updates!

2008-02-23T00:20:00.000-08:00

Caitlin has just joined the toddler group at her weekend school and she is by far the youngest, the most active, the most talkative and the most energetic. She is also the only one who sits on the teacher's lap (teacher florence and whatshername chinese teacher). As a mother, I am proud to see that she is confident, full of energy and not interested in being part of the norm or status quo. As a teacher, I would have punished this type of student about 3oo hundred times already!

This video is of her during her chinese lesson singing some song about butterflies. Miss Caitlin in the end and as usual opted for the more interesting option of putting scarves back into the box.

The other two videos are of her playing the piano. Thanks to the lovely piano Em gave her for her birthday last year and the reject piano from me ol mum, she loves to play. She makes a beeline for this little piano in the park and in true Caitlin fashion has moved from us trying to mould her into Beethoven or even Alicia Keys into more of an Elton John/Liberace/Jerry lee lewis hybrid.

Caitlin and I at the Botanic Gardens!

2008-02-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

What a Chinese New Year weekend it was! Wednesday was half day and then 4 full days of holidays. I think the whole staff room is still recuperating and trying to rise above our depression at being back at work!

On a lighter note, Caitlin and I headed to the botanic gardens early sunday morning and had a great time. I can safely say that I am going to meet my match in the talking department because she was chatting and singing the minute we got into the car till we came home. Running up and down slopes and hills, illegally plucking flowers and falling about 10 times, meeting countless dogs all added up to her saying "I tired, I want to go home."

She is now a big "poser", able to pose and smile for the camera at any angle and at any time! (like mummy and godma)

A lovely saturday

2008-01-20T19:05:00.001-08:00

Saturday saw Laura and I at Seletar hills to celebrate our friend emily's 30th birthday. Ryan (her hubby) was our classmate and partner in crime during our 2 years at CJC and we spent many a day hatching plots to get him to ask Emily out. It was love at first sight the first time he saw her and its been the same till today. He planned the whole surprise party at their new house (with a pool no less!) and it was lovely to see them in action as a family. Now they have 2 beautiful sons - Tiernan and Kieran - and they are just adorable (and very well behaved!)

So it was a great evening with good food and good friends. And it was great catching up with Jamie as well!

Goodbye Holidays Hello 2008!

2008-01-01T19:26:00.001-08:00

What a holiday it has been. As usual Christmas caught up with me and I have had no time to even go through photos for this post. So in my usual fashion, here is how my holiday looks like in my mind! (always words, never pictures)

Bintan with my family. One of the most memorable moments of 2007 and Cailtin had a blast with gammy, grandpa, godma and Jamie. sandcastles were built, lots of food consumed, lots of swimming, massages and fetching of water for Caitlin who was scared of the waves.
Annual shopping trip (which actually lasted 3 full days for me) Half my bonus disappeared but I loved every minute of it. No buyers remorse!
Seafood dinner with the girls at Long Beach. (missed May and Regina though)
Swimming at Changi Beach Club with May, Regina and Amelia. Caitlin loved the beach but hated the pool!
Lunches and shopping with Em and Ross. That was fun too.
Going to the library with Caitlin and Megan. I am so proud that Caitlin has a library card!
Going out with the Machado kids and SIL to this explorer thing at Downtown East.
Celebrating Melissa's birthday at pump room and MOS. I went home sober thank god!
Underwater world and lunch at Vivo City with Tuff and Caitlin.
Making tarts, achar, ikan bilis with the family.
Christmas eve dinner and watching my roast chicken not "laku" again. Nobody eats roast chicken if they have smoked salmon, pie, roast beef, salad, ham and cheese and stuffing. I'm going on strike this year!
all the presents I received - Ipod Dock from honey, bags, shower stuff, a lovely watch, sleeping stuff, earrings, Ipod FM transmitter and lots more!
All the presents Caitlin received (too many to list but this spoiled girl got an average of 3 presents per family!) and watching her say "wowee" everytime she opened one.
Celebrating christmas with my family (singing at Godpa's house, talking and laughing and getting drunk at my place and great food at Em's!)
Seeing Marc after 6 months in Sydney!
Going for walks, going to the park and the beach with my baby girl and hubby. I went almost everyday and it was great.

So 2008 is here and I'm typing this during a free period in school (yelch).

I wondered last night what this year will bring. 2007 pretty much sucked and christmas morning was quiet, sad and so different and artificial without BIL, Aly and the kids. I have decided to live each day as if its my last because you never know what the heck tomorrow will bring. Enough of this work crap, worrying about what others think of me, fighting over stupid and mundane things, spending time with unnecessary people. Life is too damn short!

My mama

2007-12-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

My mama and papa

Today is my mama's death anniversary and looking back, it really seems so long ago.
Yet somehow, she has always been in our hearts, thoughts and conversations. I wonder what she would have thought of me now at 31 years old with a baby girl of my own. I bet she would have spoiled Caitlin rotten and got her hooked on good food that she cooked so painstakingly everyday.

I remember the months that we stayed at Em's house. Not a day went by without her walking to the market (swollen feet, bad cough and all) to buy prata for our breakfast (every single day), or the tea of cream puffs, epok epok and more. What about her marvellous cooking (her prawn and potato, rebong soup, curry nanas and so much more) and her scrabble playing, phone conversations to her sisters and rushing at a moments notice to change so that she could follow us on a trip out. Its funny but her voice, her expressions and the way she spoke, her kebayas, handkerchiefs and her eau de cologne and tiger balm and powder smell are still so firmly etched in my mind. It would be nice though to be able to meet her now and show her my baby proudly and hear her voice again just for while.

So here is to my mama whom i miss a lot. I hope that she is at peace and is contented, watching us live our lives the way she dreamed for us.

Our baby girl at 18 months

2007-11-30T01:28:00.000-08:00

At 18 months

At 2 months!

It's the last day of November! I can hardly believe how fast the year has gone by. Caitlin is now 18 months and looking at her now, its hard to believe that she looked completely different when she was born. Her character is shining through now and I can see glimpses of what she will be when she grows up - independent, impatient, short tempered, voracious reader, loves to learn new things, talkative, loves to dance, very curious, energetic, unable to keep still, short attention span and loving. Sounds familiar doesn't it? She is truly a combination of Edward and I and we love her more than anything in the world (and pepper too!)

Gill's happy ending

2007-11-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Gill recently got married and now she is mrs gillian kim woodruff. I think that she has married a really wonderful guy who loves her passionately. Throughout the whole wedding, they only had eyes for each other, laughing and talking and sooo excited. (although she could not resist dancing with us once or twice) I am so happy for my friend whom I have known since I was six years old. Sometimes fairy tales do come true. Congrats Gill!

I did it again for my birthday

2007-10-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

It may seem that when I'm out with the girls, copious amounts of alcohol seem to be used. As I remarked to May when I went to pick her up for Gill's wedding that I actually had to think of which car park to turn in as I have never been to her house in the day.
But its all good and my birthday was no exception. What started out as an innocent cocktail mix of margaritas at my place (which came out rather well for my first time) became a complete chaos of a night that saw us going from cafe iguana, to MOS, to pump room and back to MOS and ended up with me stumbling home at 500 am and suffering from the worse hangover ever on my birthday. And yes, it happened last year too. Next year, I'm driving.

The Girls and Bintan

2007-10-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

I'll let the pictures do the talking. Needless to say, many bottles of champagne were bought, vodka was sneaked into the pool area in mineral water bottles, Melissa ate as if there was no tomorrow while managing to stay out of the sun the whole time, the whole lot of them suffered after their massages from headaches (could it have been the alcohol, dehydration and the sun?), I had my usual allergy attack, seafood dinner and we all slept at 11 pm. All this in 2 days.

A typical night out with the girls

2007-10-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

After decades (yes almost 2 decades) of knowing each other, I can safely say that these girls are truly my best friends. At this stage of our friendship, we have an almost innate ability to understand each other. I look forward to Friday or Saturday nights religiously now because it seems that we seem to be having more and more fun as each year goes by. They always make me laugh and smile... I can most certainly be myself and I always have the greatest time be it eating, talking, dancing, laughing or complaining about our growing number of ailments. Together with my ol sis who is almost my carbon copy in character, we are an unstoppable force. My colleague once asked me when she saw their many photos on my desk who these girls were and without even thinking, I said, they are my family.

The working mother paradox

2007-09-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how my mother or Em did it.

If you have been wondering why I have not updated my blog in ages, it lies in one reason and one reason only - the days are getting longer and the nights shorter.

The last month has been a whilrwind of trying to juggle work with being a good mother to Caitlin. Things have been thrown at me from left, right and front at work that I don't even have time to eat lunch or breakfast anymore. Its just some biscuits and then off to class, CCA, remedials, meetings (oh god the meetings) or to prepare for some event that is always taking place in school. It does not help that as middle managers were are expected to be both teachers and inspiring leaders to our teachers and that while we are juggling these many roles, we are still expected to prepare "engaging lessons" that are aligned to the school's strategic plan (which took us 8 days to create in the first place) and mark 7 classes of paper 1 and 2 English! Coupled with the fact that we have a new VP (which makes it 2 VPs), we are all floundering. This is made worse by the massive guilt I feel for leaving Caitlin at home with Leni (even though Leni is great) and just the wish that I could go home earlier to play with her.

After the long meetings, I finally make it home to have just 2 - 3 hours with Caitlin before she is off to bed at 730pm. So its bringing her to the beach or the park, bathing her, playing with her, reading to her. Its a nice tired because she is just so darn cute but by 8pm, I am already falling asleep, only to have to get up at 530 am to start the process again.

I get it that everyone's job is demanding but the amount of multi tasking a teacher, subject head and a mother does is amazing and sometimes overwhelming.

So the working mother paradox lies in my realisation that it is not for the faint hearted.

And the next time someone tells me that teachers have good lives because they can go home early and they have long holidays, I'm going to give one good slap.

15 months have gone by in a flash

2007-08-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

23 August saw Caitlin turning 15 months. Sometimes when I look at her I still cannot believe that she was once just a tiny little thing in me and now she is walking, jumping, talking, smiling and laughing. Her character is emerging and it is amazing to watch on a daily basis.

She is in the arms of Dr. Seng who was the first person to hold her when she was born. Mummy, Caitlin and I went to see him and he was walking out of his office when he saw this little girl run toward him carrying a rose. When he looked at my mother and I, it registered who she was and he carried her. He was so happy and excited to see her. And Caitlin, for some odd reason, went straight to him and handed him the flower.

I think in some inate way she could sense exactly who he was.

I did it!

2007-08-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

So after 6 months of hard work, I received my diploma in departmental management and am now on my way to being a Head of Department (if I want to). It was a great experience with new things to learn, plenty of books to read, assignments to do and lectures and tutorials to attend. It made me wish I was back in university again. On to my masters!

For our BIL

2007-06-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

So many thoughts, pictures and moments captured have been engulfing my mind for the last 2 weeks so i think that I shall put them to words.

For our Bro In Law

Always smiling and joking with the occasional fight between us and some sort hired help at a place that we are eating.
Always ready to jump up in a minutes notice to go out gallivanting.

Phuket, Sim Siang Choon, tile shop, flower shop, botanic gardens, zoo, zoo and zoo, lagoon, seafood, Kingfisher, the beach, the park, pet stores, pasir ris pet farm, mum's place, your place, our place.
Scrabble, scrabble and more scrabble, you almost always came out tops in that race.

The buffet breakfasts, thai food, BBQs and steaks, Christmas brunch, Steamboat dinners at your place, peaches and nestle cream for dessert, durians, cheesecake, so much food that we have enjoyed.
And what about all the things together we have bought.
The many handphones, the cameras and even the dogs.

Your big heartedness and your generosity no one can ever surpass
You took me in your new car when I was in labour no questions asked.
Always there for Edward and I no matter what time of the day.
You were the go to guy in times of need as Edward would always say.

So many things for your god daughter you have generously bought.
For Caitlin, no matter where you were in Singapore or overseas you always gave a thought.
And while she may not remember the times that you had spent with her.
Rest assured that we will tell her everyday that she had the greatest godfather.

We will miss the "Hey there sis in law" "Hello auntie Mischa" and "Edwardee and "Is there a wall" more than words can say.
The sitting down and gossiping, relaxing and talking and your friendship of the everyday.

We are going to miss you terribly and will think about you as each day goes past.
And to heaven who holds you now, this we ask,

That you have all the buffet breakfasts, cameras, formula 1, salt fish with vinegar, cheesecake, steaks, peaches and nestle cream that finally satisfies our high standards.
That just like on earth with your family, you will always feel safe and warm, comforted, happy and contented.

I realise now that as I am writing this poem I am celebrating your life not your passing.
And that is how we will always remember you Bro In Law, joking and laughing.

So as we struggle to be brave and come to terms with this senseless madness, move on and make a new start
We promise you that every new memory created will be made with you always in our hearts.

My Caitlin before a year old

2007-05-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

In less than 2 weeks, my baby girl will be a year old and I find myself looking at her in amazement at how fast she has grown. She is on the verge of talking, she is walking like a pro and she has become the loveliest baby to hug, kiss and play with all day long. I cannot wait to rush home everyday to play with her and her many toys, read her favorite books and watch videos with her.

I find myself a little sad that months have passed by and I will never again see her as the little baby that she was. Each day sees her changing so much and I try my best to stop time and treasure each moment that I am with her but it just seems to be speeding by every time she takes a step further than the day before and every time she tries to say a new word. Tomorrow being my first mother's day has made me come to the realization that while my whole life has changed since the day she came home, I have never loved anything or anyone more.

Caitlin and "NO!"

2007-04-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

Caitlin's understanding of the word "no"

1. Head in the direction of the thing that you are not supposed to head for (the bar)
2. Mummy says "No" loudly and vehemently.
3. Stops short, sits and looks at mummy.
4. Claps and pretends to not have heard.
5. Tries to distract mummy by heading in another direction and attempting a new
achievement like standing on her own.
5. During mummy's excitement, head in that direction again.
6. Process repeated all over again.

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Easter Weekend!

2007-04-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

Thursday
Dinner at a roy thai (yet again) with Em, Marc, Ross, Tuff and Edward. We had the works! That yummy steamed fish with lemongrass gravy, minced pork with chili and basil, tom yum goong, beef green curry, fishcakes for all, the special flat pancake x2, the spicy minced chicken and prawn tanghoon salad, the special lettuce salad, drinks and red rubies for dessert. Thanks Em once again, it was fantastic!

Friday

Did a spot of shopping at wonderful far east with me ol sis. We went into practically every shop and had long john silvers for lunch because our beloved beef noodles at scotts is gone.

Surprised mummy with dinner at Black Canyon at Katong. (Yes Thai food once again - I can eat it everyday!) For what we ate, see above! Mummy stayed over as daddy was doing the F1 with Godpa at Sepang. We watched TV, had numerous misadventures and prata for breakfast the next day. Brought Cate to the beach where she finally sat in the sand and played willingly. Came home burnt and all!

Saturday
MOS!!!
May who is the busiest person I know always calls us when she is finally free. So we planned a great dinner at cafe iguana with Mel and Regina and then suitably shiok on margaritas, we walked down to MOS early to get in free (yes we are old and don't want to stand in any q) and danced and drank as if tomorrow we did not have to get up for easter mass! Regina and I (the mothers) gave ourselves a time of 1230am to leave. That soon became 130, 230 and 3am. We literally stumbled to the taxi stand, and I could not make it for the early mass! (sorry honey!). The music was fantastic and the crowd was fun!

Sunday
Lunch at Machados
Poor BIL had to work so it was just us for lunch. We had turkey, mash, homemade ham, cabbage, beetroot and lots more. Played the game of life with Megan and Baba. Michael was my partner but he abandoned me to create a camp like fortress at the door. Caitlin was thrilled to play with her cousins and pepper was reunited with her brother zorro and sis in law zoe.

Tea at Em's
Popiah(homemade by Em) otak, lots of peranakan cakes that I can't spell, ice cream, sausages, bread and even fresh pomelo for dessert. Caitlin became miss pales and was most annoying with her whining and crying even though my aunties had been waiting so long to play with her. Other than that we had a great time as usual!

And Yet, not a single photo was taken!!!

Saturday!

2007-04-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

The morning:
Family day out at the new Giant supermarket. Caitlin got a new bike with the handle thing to push for parents, Edward got this monstrosity of an akira fan than makes pepper's fly backwards and I got bathroom mats. (how times have changed)

The afternoon:
Edward got recalled and drove him to maju camp and waited but was told he would be in there till the evening so left to take Cate to gymboree.

Late afternoon:
Caitlin's first gymboree class! She had the time of her life and crawled all over the place! She was more interested in socialising and making friends than listening to the instructor but I was so proud of her as the instructor said she was so independent as she did not cling to me once! Next stop Kindermusik!

Evening:
Dinner with Verena at pasta fresca. We talked so much that we were the last ones left in the restaurant. Stopped by her house first and was amazed to realise that all of us now have kids!

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Friday!

2007-04-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

So we get fridays free and the minute I got up, Caitlin and I headed for the zoo. It was really the perfect day with my daughter. She was thrilled to see all the animals that she has learned and watched on her DVDs, stories and flashcards. We went to every exhibit, read every piece of information about the animals, took a lovely tea break and then headed home, happy. I really enjoyed my day with my baby girl.

The evening was spent with my cousins - Bear, Aileen, Marc, Gina, Ross and my beloved hubby, Edward! It was great time with dinner, drinks and conversation. Actually I realised age had caught up because we spent most time eating instead of drinking!

Caitlin and pepper

2007-03-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

Lennon and McCartney, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Remington Steele and Laura Holt, Sonny and Cher, Brad and Angelina and now Pepper and Caitlin!

These 2 have become best of friends despite Caitlin's constant abuse and pepper trying to mount her! (its all about dominance I think). Everytime pepper runs after a toy caitlin tries her darnedest to catch up but our four legged friend is just too fast!

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Back from the far east!

2007-03-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

So it's been an eventful 3 weeks needless to say, what with Caitlin falling sick 3 times in 2 weeks, me heading off to China with fellow HODs to learn about the school system there, falling sick and having to stay at my parents place so that I would not affect Caitlin again. I'm finally back home and able to blog about my experiences in China!

1. It was damn bloody cold! 7 degrees with rain that never stopped and made me all the more sick! We had to stand in the rain most of the time as these gracious teachers brought us around their schools. I know its hard to believe even for me but I had a cold for an entire week. It never left me and I felt like dying!

2.People in China are warm, inviting, polite and nice! Not a single person spitting and the toilets weren't that bad save for the rural areas where there were no doors!

3. The schools were great - students so disciplined that they don't need teachers for morning assembly, computers and the internet used for study and computer games are frowned upon, reading culture is prevalent among all students, all students in the class are sitting upright - engaged and interested and NONE of these new rich educated parents that complain all the time like we have in Singapore. The students love learning and it shows.

4. If you thought Italian drivers were bad, the Chinese are just reckless. They go past red lights (in the crowded shopping areas) and don't give a damn if you are crossing and have the right of way.

5. Li May and her mama were so hospitable! Took me out for dinner, brought me home to rest when I was sick and let me stay in their beautiful (yes gorgeous) apartment. Her driver took us everywhere we wanted to go, I bought lovely stuff from her shop and we had nice dinners! Thanks Loo Li!

I'm glad to be back home with Caitlin who is growing so fast and is now very naughty! Soon have to buy the rotan I think!

put your mouse over the photo to read the caption and then away for the next slide.

The nightmare week

2007-03-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

2 weeks ago, I was sitting down after dinner feeling decidedly sorry for myself. I was tired and broke and thinking..at least for this week, things could not get any worse but it did.

Last week Caitlin was so sick from a virus that she had to be warded in hospital for 4 arduous and heartbreaking days. Her lungs and windpipe were inflammed, her nose was blocked, she had phlegm all over the place, her cough seemed to rack her body. Worst of all was the fever. I have never met any other person who has had a fever constantly for 48 hours. A fever of 38.5 - 39 degrees that refused to leave her body. All they could do was give her fever medicine, sponge her down, take her blood, take an xray and give her cough mixture. There was no way to explain all this to a 9 month old and she was left traumatised after each prodding and poking. Finally the damn doctors decided that she had a secondary bacteria infection and gave her the anti biotics and her fever came down almost immediately. But the anti biotics were so strong that till today she is having diarrhoea and keeps crying when we wipe her because its so sore and red. She refuses to eat and is still not herself, always whimpering and crying.

The medication needs an actual schedule because of the different times and the range. She now hates taking medicine (last time she loved it) and we have to force it in her mouth while she kicks and screams and then we have to hold her nose as she will store it all in her mouth and spit it out later.

Edward, Leni and I have all caught this stubborn virus. We are walking around the house with masks so she does not catch it again, trying to rest while keeping her spirits up. Needless to say, we are all exhausted and sad to see our baby in so much discomfort and pain. If I could, I would grab that damn virus, pull it out of her and scream at it to leave her alone forever.

So yes, things did get worse but thankfully she is on the mend and in the greater scheme of things, after looking at all the sick children and babies in KK, hers was not too bad after all.

So its a new week and we are back to work (although I have no idea how I am going to physically get myself to Boon Lay)and we are hoping that things will slowly get better and that she will EAT!

On hindsight, I have also decided to be that evil person who will tell people who are not well or who have come into contact with sick people to stay at home and not come over as my poor baby cannot go through this nightmare again.

9 months today!

2007-02-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that Caitlin is 9 months today. Every 23rd that goes by sees this baby grow up faster than ever before our very eyes. One day she is pushing herself to move, literally the next day she is on all fours and the day after, she is crawling almost as fast as pepper. She can say daddy and half of "pepper" and she understands us when we say no, can clap her hands when "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands" comes on and is now standing and holding on to any piece of furniture possible.

I think depsite all the backaches, not properly sleeping through the nights, diaper changes, the amount of money spent on milk and doctors, it is this baby (and pepper) that brings us the greatest joy.

I'm just glad that I have captured on video her first attempt at crawling, how much she loves pepper and how naughty she looks and can be!

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2007-02-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

I must say that the Chinese New Year holidays were one long stretch of fun! So much so that Caitlin now refuses to be left alone in her play pen because of the many people who kept carrying her and playing with her! To these people I say, damn you!

1. Our lovely traditional steamboat held in the newly renovated house of SIL and BIL. Lovely food, drinks and conversation. (The soup and fish was all too yummy!)
2. Ice cream aand dessert at Di's house.
3. Yearly family picnic at Safra (see mummy's blog)
4. My friends who invited themselves over to see Caitlin! We ended up half drunk on red and white wine after a heavy brunch of bacon, italian omelette, sausages, ham, cheese and beans that we suspected was not Heinz!
5. Di's birthday tea party with so much food including yummy pork sausages, salami, hong kong mee, assortment of cheese, warm buttered rolls, avacado and a scrumptious cake bought by bear and aileen.

What day of the week am I?

2007-01-31T20:55:00.000-08:00

The management course that I have been attending is a very reflective one. It is forcing very busy HODs to take a step back and reflect not only what they have done for the department but also in their lives. This one particular charismatic lecturer flashed a slide and asked us what day of the week we belonged to. Meaning that 10 years old meant monday and 70 and above meant sunday.

I am therefore at Wednesday morning because I have just turned 30. The more important question she asked though was "Taking into account the day you are in, what have you done with your life?"

That question is loaded with meaning. And I asked myself many questions and came to the realisation about many things in the process of reflecting deeply about this question.

I am a mother but am I a good mother? Will I challenge my daughter to greater heights while loving her unconditionally. Will I teach her values of independence, self sufficiency, problem solving and higher order thinking skills so that she will not be a spoiled little brat who can't do anything for herself?

Will I teach her to love and love well - people who are fortunate, unfortunate, handicapped and different?

Will I empower her with self esteem so she does not have to make fun of people, make comments about others or put people down so that she can feel better about herself?

Other observations

All change is constant - it may not be good all the time - but it is experience that helps you grow. Staying stuck in the same mundane routine year in and year out is equivalent to a death sentence for me. I think that when you get used to something it becomes a bad habit, you label it a tradition and get bitter at anyone who does not want to partake in these traditions and habits.
Travel, new friends, new hobbies, new books, new ways of looking at things - that is the way I want my life to be. Being obsessed with the same circle of people and never expanding your horizons means that you become clingy and that becomes a self - fulfilling prophecy as no one can stand a clingy person who is bitter and eventually you will be all alone.
making it a point to do something different every week. To spend time with my family because I adore them but to also move out of one's comfort zone so that i can teach my daughter the importance of being happy for yourself and not relying on anyone else to do so.

It's a new year

2007-01-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

My last blog was eons ago! Thanks to our internet being down, being on holiday and christmas, I have not even looked at the computer! But its a new year (2007!), I'm back at school and was thinking about my new year resolutions. Contrary to popular belief that we never stick to what we promise, I am proud to say that I always do. Last year I promised to save money every month which I did. Unfortunately I blew it all away on shopping in December!

Here are my resolutions for the year:

1. Be the best momma possible to my baby girls caitlin and pepper!

2. Chucking out negative people from my life.

3. Chucking out sly and selfish people from my life who:

a. Wait for you to plan everything and never take the first step to do anything.

b. Never call you unless you call them first.

c. Never invite you to their parties unless you invite them first.

d. Pretend to be all chummy and friendly but who actually have low self esteem and no confidence so they sneak glances at you, the relationships that you have with the people around you and are secretly jealous of your life.

e. Treat my parents with disrespect by ignoring how kind and inviting they have been to them over the years. (that is the ultimate deal breaker for me)

f. Who latch on to your friends because they can't keep their own.

g. Who have not enough work to do and spend their time obsessing about other people. I mean really.. get a life already! No one cares and we are all laughing at you when we do find the 1 minute of our time to make fun of you.

So thats it! 2007 is going to be a "clean" year for me. And for those who think I should not have written this as I have my own faults as well, to you I say...I have my husband, my daughter, my family and my job so I don't give a damn what you think! (I really don't)

A new skill

2006-11-20T18:47:00.000-08:00

I have just finished a full day course on Adobe photoshop and I have to say I am very proud to have created the few pieces that you see above (thanks to moo for the photos). The poor guy was bombarded with questions left and right, rendering the saying true that the hardest learners are teachers! We expected clear and concise english (we did not get that), step by step notes to every single process (we did not get that either) and a guide by our side continuously (the poor facilitator was on the verge of exhaustion). Finally, in between us going out for lessons, department and planning meetings, secretly checking our email (and potential bridesmaid dresses) and answering the phone, we managed to let some iota of knowledge trickle into our subconcious!

Today is video editing!

2006-11-17T01:10:00.000-08:00

Sunday saw the Pereiras over for a popiah party and tea. True to form, no one came empty handed and the list was as follows:

Delicious cookies and cream ice cream cake (Barry, Aileen, Godpa and Auntie Jack), Osh Kosh clothes from Em, Marks and Spencer snacks from Di and a book for Caitlin, Tim Tam from Tuff and Jamoo and Mummy and daddy with a variety of stuff that for the life of me I can't remember except for the lapchong (read taiwanese sausage) that daddy had been obsessing over for weeks! The popiah was a hit because by the end of the evening, there were only 2 tablespoons of tehi (read turnip ) left. Marc and Jamie were not left out and in a matter of minutes (yes minutes), there was nothing left of the sausages, bread and ham that I had bought!

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I think it did the job of thanking them all for everything they have done for our little family, especially Miss center of attention, Caitlin Rose!

p.s The man behind the mask was Edward who was sick!

The hardest thing that I have to do

2006-11-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

Well its official. I will be returning to work on Friday. After 5 months of a roller coaster ride with Caitlin, I can safely say that I will miss my baby girl more than words can say. We have spent almost every minute of everyday with each other, we have gone out everyday - shopping, driving, walking around, we have read together, played together, watched tv together and laughed together. She has changed so much in these 5 months that it crushes me to think of what I will miss when I am work when I have been part of so much. I know that it has to be done, I know that I love the adrenaline rush of my job but tomorrow when I walk out the door and leave her in the arms of a stranger, I know my heart will break into tiny pieces as I mentally say sorry to this unassuming innocent baby for leaving her, even if its only for a couple of hours. I know that I will be worrying every single minute if she is safe, if she is happy and if she is contented. I wonder if she will recognise me when I come home, whether she will love leni more than I or whether she will learn to crawl, speak or even hold her spoon all while I am busy moulding, developing and teaching other people's children. The irony of it all really makes me smile.

But it has to be done and with a heavy heart I have packed my bag, my computer and taken out my work clothes and I will be counting every single minute until I can get into my car, drive home and carry her in my arms again.

Our baby girl at 4 months

2006-10-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Another milestone in Caitlin's life! After much calling ( and I mean a lot of calling!) to sis in law for help, 2 books bought (one including the idiots guide to making baby food) and internet research, Caitlin has finally embarked on solids! It was so thrilling to see her take her bite of food (banana puree) which she took in willingly, grimaced and then swallowed. After that, she would grimace even before the spoon hit her lips, anticipating the sourness of the banana. So far she has tried :

1. Banana which she hates.
2. Apple sauce which she loves.
3. Plain rice cereal which she adores.
4. Plain rice cereal and carrot puree which she laps up.

Next week on the menu:
1. Cereal and brocoli
2. Avacado .

Need I say more?

2006-10-11T02:48:00.000-07:00

2006-10-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

There is an ongoing discussion on me mummy's blog as to who Caitlin looks like more - tuffy or I when we were young and this was the photo referred to. After looking at it, me thinks its tuff because of them curls! Those god forsaken - I'll grow in any direction I damn please uncontrollable mass of curls!

Lunch with the Pereiras, dinner with the Machados

2006-10-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

What a lovely sunday it was. Daddy being true to form had bought from his beloved meat man of Geylang market about 10 kg of steaks for 3 houses. So Edward and I decided to cook the steaks at our place and invite them over. So the pereiras (and 1 Telford) came to spend time with the baby, watch tv and stuff themselves, bearing a multitude of gifts which I shall list and show as representations of them!

1. Daddy with 4 big tins of Similac Infant formula.
2. Mummy with unidentified tendon and muscle plaster for my wrist, begging strips for pepper and an assortment of tupperware which I suspect they did not want and a calender with a picture of caitlin with us AND a dvd movie of pepper and Dolce. (damn free ma!)
3. Tuff with Heinz food for the baby and Tim Tam biscuits for me, a roast chicken and a mango sorbet ice cream.
4. Jamie with an ipod earphone gift for tuff and pretty much nothing else for us!

In the evening we shamelessly joined BIL and SIL and their kids for dinner at A roy thai. It was a lovely dinner filled with laughter and tears (yes, tears from the adults reminiscing over how fast Baba has grown) and an attempted drive to get cheesecake which was abandoned in favour of the kids sleeping early. After 9 months of being of thai food, I could not get enough of the Tom Yam Goong and green curry. Thanks guys, it was great!

An ode to mummy and daddy

2006-09-29T00:39:00.000-07:00

Last night my mum and dad came over for dinner and to play with their granddaughter. It was so exciting to see just how a smile from her made them so thrilled and enamoured. Caitlin however was not in the best of moods and was packed off early to bed!

I got to thinking however about just what great parents I have. When I say they are always there for me, I mean it in the complete sense. I think tuff and I cannot find a single moment when we needed help and they were not there. Its as if they have this inate sense of when we need help and there they are with food, milk, diapers, dinners out, massages and bibs! My mum and dad will still drive after a hard day's work to buy kway teow because I was visiting and they wanted me to have some! Only my dad will go to Ikea and buy paper napkins for me. And only my mum will still come with a treat for pepper and books for the baby. I love spending time with them, going over, gossiping on the bed, laughing and making fun of each other, flicking my dad's ears, trying to pull my mum's shorts down, eating with them and just being with them.

Because of them I have this enormous sense of warmth and security and it is so amazing to see that they still have more to give to caitlin, edward, jamie and even our puppies. So mummy and daddy if you are reading this, I know that as much as I will try, I will never be able to repay you for all the love that you have given but thank you so much for everything that you have done for me.

23 September 2006

2006-09-26T03:12:00.000-07:00

The day I turned 30 and the day our baby girl turned 4 months! I still can't believe the odds of edward, myself and caitlin being born on the 23rd. So it was an extra special saturday save for the fact that the poor baby had a fever from a jab. So we spent the day at home (read - me too hungover to step out into the sun) and then met moo, doo, toofoo and jamoo for dinner. It was a lovely surprise that daddy could hardly keep in. I was told to dress casual and meet at one fullerton where we had scrumptious seafood at palm beach.

Caitlin at 4 months is growing so fast that I find myself conciously trying to take note of all the changes that she is going through which are plenty. She is now reaching and grabbing for anything to hold and put in her mouth, she recognises faces, smiles heck of a lot, is trying to sit up, is trying to turn, talks and yells the whole day and can hold her own bottle briefly! I am a proud mama!

Ministry of Bad Behaviour!

2006-09-26T01:14:00.000-07:00

Its official ... I have ended my favourite decade! I loved being in my twenties but time marches on and I am glad to say I heralded in the new decade with my favourite music and my favourite pastime! It was certainly a night to remember, coupled with the good and bad. And here it is:

The good:
1. Took an mrt to raffles place and paid only 2.50 instead of the blessed $15 I would have had to pay if I took a cab. Walked automatically towards boat quay (after not taking a train for 6 years) thanks to the multitude of times walking to Riverbank, then kilimanjaro, then rootz and who can forget bloody shah alam for midnight nasi goreng mata lembu.

2. Lovely dinner of pizza and pasta with the girls - gossiping, recalling, reliving and remembering.
3. My fat top borrowed from tuff after driving to the west to get it!
4. Cover charge of only 12 into MOS...we were all so happy. I thought as we got older we would have more money?
5. The drinks - cosmos, sex on the beach shots, champagne and a much needed coke thanks to laura!
6. The MUSIC - 70s and 80s! That DJ played non stop fantastic music. Tuff and I could not leave the dance floor and the DJ kept shaking his head in awe at us for knowing the words to every song that came on!When he played Electric dreams we all almost died!
7. The dancing! Dancing with tuff, deb, laura, mel, gill and regina made me feel like I always do! 18 years old!

The BAD

1.Dear Edward stayed at home to take care of caitlin who had a fever.
2.May was missing! She was doing a Donna Summer and working hard for the money!
3. The bloody awful hangover that lasted for 2 days. I was tired, sleepy, legs ached, bad headache and queasy stomach, no voice. No more champagne for me! I have never taken so much panadol in my life!

So its quite obvious the good outweighed the bad and I loved it! Thanks girls!

Our favourite girls!

2006-09-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Well its official, Caitlin has discovered poor pepper! Now our days are filled with poor pepper's fur being pulled on numerous occasions. But true to form, our darling pepper is as gentle as can be. She gives Caitlin's little toes a lick every morning as if to say " I am here, don't worry". Cailtin is no longer a novelty for pepper, she now knows who the baby is and is very protective over her! When caitlin is complaining, there is not a single bark from pepper, but when caitlin is really crying and hungry, pepper will stand next to her and howl until I come to feed or carry Caitlin. Pepper has become our own warning system, able to differentiate between caitlin's cries of play, complaining and of hunger. And when caitlin sees pepper, she gives this huge smile and her eyes follow where pepper walks. So all is well in our household with our 2 girls!

The Westenders!

2006-09-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

well its official - Tuffy, Jamie and Dolce have become westenders. While she will claim that she lives in the high class bukit timah area, she actually lives on the clementi side! Apartment is nice and spacious and we had a fun time helping them to move in while mummy watched the baby at my place. Now some may have questioned what edward and myself did on the moving day but i think the pictures will prove that we did hell of a lot!

My baby girl at 3 months

2006-08-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

On August 23, Caitlin will be 3 months. Time has really flown and we have watched her change in front of our eyes daily.

1. She smiles every time she gets up from a nap.
2. She has stopped frowning as much as she used to.
3. Her mobile and play gym have become her best friends.
4. She can turn to her side and front
5. She can lie on her tummy and hold her head up for the longest time!
6. She sits in her bath, plays and laughs.
7. She loves to read.
8. She loves to listen to Indonesian (courtesy of our new maid Leni) and Malay radio channels.
9. She loves to listen to any kind of music.
10. She loves to dance.
11. Her drinking habits have become fussy.
12. She loves to watch tv.
13. She loves her walks in the evening.
14. She can recognise pepper and laughs when pepper comes near her.
15. She can't fit in many of her new born clothes.

What has stayed the same :

1. My gosh darned tummy that refuses to go down. Damn you slow metabolism. I should have had a child at 24!
2. The rubbish that I keep watching every day on the Bold and the Beautiful.
3. Seinfeld still makes me hysterical.
4. She still screams when her head gets wet.
5. She still screams when she sits in her car seat.
6. Everyone stranger that sees her still thinks she is a boy!

It looked like it was going to be a fiasco!

2006-08-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

National day holiday.
Beach bill (aka daddy) suggests sentosa.
All agree
Nasi Lemak for breakfast.
Raining cats and dogs in the morning.
Phone call no 1 to our house - "Don't come, its raining."
Edward and Mischa relax.
Phone call no 2 - " Passing showers its bright and sunny!"
Edward and Mischa gets everyone ready
Baby bag - milk, diapers, change of clothes, wet wipes
Pepper's bag - ball, wet wipes, newspaper, water.
Edwards bag - Camera, change of clothes, towel.
Raining in Tampines.
2 umbrellas needed.
Baby and dog shuttled to car.
Pram forgotten.
Edward retrieves pram.
Baby car seat, baby quiet, honey on pacifier.
Phone call no 3 - "Its turned cloudy again"
Too late we are on the way.
Drizzles and drops down the ECP and Telok Blangah.
Rain stops at Sentosa.
Baby out, dog out, 3 bags, pram head for the beach.
Baby swims, my baby swims! bravery, courage, ignorance is bliss, bathwater perhaps?
Dog swims, edward swims.
Baby sleeps, dog shivers, adults talk and laugh.
Head to 728 - 3 bags, dog, baby, pram, umbrellas.
Jago close, yummy prata, mutton curry, salt fish, left over crabs.
Fiasco of a day?
I think not
Best day of the month.

Like mother, Like daughter!

2006-08-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well its official! Caitlin has discovered the wonders of television. The colours, the movement and the sounds! She has watched her first documentary on animal planet, on discovery channel about Japan and the pacific war, some cartoons on the central channel, Seinfeld and yes, i will admit it, the bold and the beautiful (but only a bit because me being hooked on it is apocalyptic enough). I have never loved TV so much like I do now but just in case anyone was wondering if its an all the day thing, rest assured it is not! She and I are in the middle of to kill a mockingbird as well!

Who cares about Edward and Mischa when we have Caitlin!!

2006-07-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks, there has been a steady stream of visitors coming to our place not to see us but to see Caitlin! From Debbie to Laura, Bel and Andre and Verena, Jason and Joshua, it has been busy on the weekends! Dinner was great on sat with appetisers brought by bel and dre (high class type - salad and artichokes), dinner of macaroni pie and dessert of chocolate cake (from Verena and Jason). It has been great despite the fact that by the time they all come, Miss I refuse to sleep the whole day insomniac and rather drive my mother crazy Caitlin is fussy, tired and ready for bed. So for anyone else interested, come in the morning!

Life is Good!

2006-07-26T00:41:00.000-07:00

Its usually Edward who blogs about our baby girl but for the past few days, she has become so cute that I cannot resist! These are my favourite pictures, of our baby with her favourite man (her daddy), her new found passion for her cot mobile friends (otherwise known as John, paul, george and ringo), her many toys given by people who love her and her smile every morning when she wakes us up! And not forgetting our gorgeous pepper who at the moment is sporting an all 80s flock of seagulls hairdo and fringe.

Life is good!

Through the years!

2006-07-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, a video was created for my auntie's 25 wedding anniversary. In the process of rifling through tons of photographs, I uncovered some of my sister and I when we were young along with my cousins marc and ross. Many were taken at my aunt's place where most holidays were spent - some sleepovers lasted up to 2 weeks! I remember being embarrased of these photos and looking at them now, I know why! Those glasses were the bane of my existence until contact lenses were permitted into my life. Things were never the same after that! What about the tucked in shirts, the dangling earrings and those "plastic smiles" (read - actually not in the mood to smile but will do so only for camera and photographic opportunities), the hair, oh the god forsaken hair of unruly curls, frizz at the side and on top, waves and bangs, , the braces and the oversized shirts that belonged to my mother or borrowed from em because we had no more clothes and wanted to stay some more!

Looking at them now, I also wonder what my daughter will look like - her face has already changed about 5 times in the last 2 months. Will she look like me, edward, our siblings, our parents, a mix or will she have the her own uniqueness and originality? Only time witll tell but as god is my witness, I make this promise to her and to all of you - she can rebond her hair anytime she wants.

KC comes to Tampines!

2006-07-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a great night! My best friends from KC came by to visit the baby and indulge in food that we have eaten over and over again over the years - spaghetti! We actually call it the spaghetti from the Bedok Days (when Shirley our maid used to make it for us when they came over) It was the fastest and easiest thing I could cook with the fidgety and easily bored daughter of mine! It was great laughing and catching up as usual. Caitlin was not too interested and the baby of the night was actually regina's daughter Amelia who has grown up so fast! As usual only bloody May and Melissa used make up as usual even though they live down the road!

All in all it was a great weekend - had lunch with Li may and laura, a wonderful high chair and rocker was delivered to our house courtesy of the Machados (caitlin loves it!) , edward had a nice break and day out and pepper had a little wash!

On to this week!

The Silence is Deafening

2006-06-22T02:39:00.000-07:00

Its been 2 weeks since my dear nan passed away and the silence is deafening. The almost daily calls have stopped, her familiar strict tone asking me what I am having for dinner is no more, our once a week arguments over maids and her gargantuan knowledge of food and recipes is something that I will never hear again.

I have been on a great journey with the lady - she has lived with us, she helped to bring us up, she made our dog a smoker, she commented on everything but she was always generous about everything even to the point of keeping one piece of chocolate for me, tightly wrapped in reynolds wrap and a plastic bag.

I keep expecting her to call. I keep thinking that she is still at home trying to figure out the remote control, watching cooking shows on suria, copying everything down and locking them away. I keep thinking that my phone will ring and I will hear another complaint or another "What did you have for dinner." I keep thinking that the phone will ring with countless advice on how to take care of Caitlin whom she never met but I can safely say will always be watching over her.

I will miss my nan terribly. I will miss her christmas madness of achar, curry powder and her harrasing baca (her curry powder man). I will miss her food, her recipes, her ideas. Most of all I will miss the most distinctive part of her - her voice and her heart.

But despite feeling sad, I looked around my uncles and cousins and I realise that she will never be truly gone because we all have something of her. My mother and I put our hands on our chin when we are thinking just like her, roger and cliff are just as fussy as her, Kristen I think has the same strong character as her and we ALL know how to make her achar.

So this blog is for my dear nan - one helluva woman who lived a roller coaster ride of a life - which is just the way it should be.

A BIG THANK YOU!

2006-06-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

The last time I blogged was 23 May 2006! To think that it was the day that our gorgeous baby girl Caitlin was born. Edward has already blogged on everything related to her birth and her stay in her new home so I thought that this blog would be to express our overwhelming gratitude at the swarm of help, advice, food, presents and visits that are coming our way.

My dear moo for staying with me, advising me and forcing me to drink that damn brands essence of chicken and milk with glucose! Also for all the night feeds and most importantly the company and reassurance! Can you stay forever?

My dear doo for being mr. logistics! Support staff of the century has to go to my dad who has shuttled food and atun almost everyday so that Edward and I have nutritious meals and the house is cleaned. Who can forget the 1 kg of beef stew and the massive pot of chicken stew? We were eating it for days!

My dear mother in law who made my favourite dish bee hoon for me - one big pot of it as well as roast for her son which we have also been eating for days! Added with it her visits that also gave me reassurance especially from such an expert!

Ally who has graciously entertained all my calls and sms for help and advice! Another expert! I have no idea what I would do without her calm and positive attitude! All I can say is thank god for that steriliser she gave us! Its life saving!

BIL who sent us to the hospital calmly all the way asking if I was experiencing contractions yet! And for the lovely tea of apple strudel, eclairs and cheesecake!

Me ol sis who spends her free time here helping me to bathe and clean (yes clean) the baby, all the while screaming "oh my god thats disgusting how did it get on her feet!"
And Jamie and Dolce for being so gracious about the amout of time she spends here!

My aunties Em and Di! As usual, they were the most excited and always so generous! I have been fed with everything from chicken rice (the chilli cuka brought on my labour!), to biscuits and soup from marks and spencer, all kinds of fruit, clothes and accesories for the baby, visits and a lot of gossip which always makes for a good day!

My Godpa and auntie jack who made for me kiam chye soup and chilli pork and asam pedas, plus gave a block of cheese to Edward (his favourite - the blue box kraft), visited us along with barry and eileen and a marvellous dessert called baked alaska!

Fiona, Cliff and Jasmine and their lovely gifts from Bonds and the always needed pampers!

Debbie for the lovely rose bath from marks and spencer and body shop. It was the first thing I used when I got home to bathe! Then accompanied with the rose powder, I felt as good as new after 3 horrendous days of not bloody bathing!

And of course all the phone calls from my in laws - Pat (who always makes me laugh because she was busy talking about her trip to south dakota, dogs and kids), Jocelyn and Andrew.

But I think the greatest thank you would have to go to my dear husband who has been the most supportive person ever! He is extremely patient with all my emotional outbursts, the late night feedings so I can sleep, and his always optimistic self that perks up my day and makes me very happy especially his jokes!

Thats all I can think of at the moment and I will continue tommorrow!

The funniest photo ever!

2006-05-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

This photo when I found it, made me laugh and laugh and laugh. It was some dinner and dance that my mother went to and she used our old KC uniform! It was taken in 1990 so it has to be mine because I was in Sec. 2 at that time. The unbelievable thing is that my moo could fit in it! Thinking about that darn uniform makes me shudder - the inner blouse, the stupid belt and the various ways that we desperately tried to make our skirts shorter!

Its the final countdown!

2006-05-17T04:25:00.000-07:00

Well its been a long time since I lasted posted a blog but its been a really busy time and I am also getting very lazy! So much as happened and as I type, Edward and I are getting closer to the date when the bundle of fatty joy will be arriving.

So for the last 2 weeks we have been using our days to prepare for the arrival. With the help of Jamie and Daddy, our room was painted, re painted and then finally done up. Lots of food was consumed and beer was guzzled by the cans but they did a wonderful job. We also had the help of Glen who used his MPV to help carry the cot for us, mummy who lay about 2 sheets of newspaper on the floor and then abandoned the project and atun who is always ready for any general cleaning.

It is now a cosy little nest for the baby. The baby clothes have been washed and kept in her new ikea chest of drawers and the bedsheets and quilts are ready thanks to my sister and brother in law who passed up the most beautiful things including some beautiful outfits recently purchased.

So here are the photos of the 2 weekends and I will continue to update on the baby countdown!

Some things change, some stay the same

2006-04-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well its the start of a new week again albeit much shorter as Bedok View is a holding school for elections so they are forcing us out on Wednesday and Thursday which is bad timing as we are rushing through revision for exams.

The weekend was hectic and I find myself becoming slower and easily tired which I hate as I am always on the go. Edward and I bought almost everything that our little girl will need and its hitting me that my life will never be the same again. I can never come home, have a great long shower and plonk myself in front of my tv for the evening for a long long time to come.

Yet when I enter the house and see that bags and bags of clothes, bottles, quilts and cupboards, cot and pram, I realise that life is constant change and this has to be one of the most positive in our lives. So I will embrace it, I will stumble along the way but I will learn.

Its nice to know however that somethings never change. My students. They just finished big projects for my classes and these kids - usually so unmotivated and bored with life produced great work and attitude and I am so proud of all of them! I am so strict with them and they are punished all the time but I know they love my lessons and they will do their best.

So enjoy the pictures of my classes - English and History. I spent the most time with them in the entire week and I can safely say that every single day is different.

It runs in the family!

2006-04-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Was just thinking about how genes run in the family. Are we truly original people like we think we are or in the end are will we turn out like our parents and grandparents - mannerisms, habits, states of mind, the people that we marry...the list goes on. I shake my legs exactly like my dad, talk loudly like my dad, shop like my dad, worry like my mum, shop like my mum and I married a guy just like my dad!

Here are pictures of my nan and my grandpa when they were young and the many offspring that have emerged from that! Those two small rascals are Roger and my mother!

Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives!

2006-04-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

All right it has been a really long time since my last post but I am glad that it generated so much conversation from the old girls of Opera Estate Convent (no pun intended!)

The week is going by like crazy and I can't believe that its already wednesday! With the growing heaviness, I am encountering backaches, foot cramps and swelling of feet. All I want to do is sleep but I seem to be having difficulty sleeping at night. My days are filled with students, students and more students, lesson planning, meetings, courses, CCA, remedials, setting of exams and registering the whole school for O levels! If this baby is not as on the go as I am, I am going to be very surprised!

The weekend was no different - Em, Di, Marc and Ross came over for dinner and we had a wonderful time chatting and laughing. The dessert has to be mentioned because my simple request for my aunties to bring dessert became a generous helping of cream caramel, 4 tubs of ben and jerry's ice cream - chocolate, strawberry, strawberry cheesecake and vanilla, accompanied with butterscotch dressing, cherries, chocolate rice, whipped cream and fresh bananas. It was just the kind of thing that I knew they would do and it was wonderful!

Jamie (me lil sis boyfriend) also came down this weekend ready to start his new life at Ngee Ann Poly. So we met up with him, had steaks and mash at my parents place and was presented with a surprise from him and tuff! A baby traveller bag that can take diapers, bottles, towels and even a place to change the baby! In all the compartments there were also clothes for the baby. I was so touched because we told tuff not to buy it but she did anyway! Thanks tuff!

A walk down memory lane

2006-03-27T00:21:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, Edward and I decided to go for a drive around the Opera Estate area. He wanted to show me his old house and I wanted to see what my primary school looked like now. Driving up that hill toward the school brought back so many memories and standing in front of it, I realise now just how small we were and how big we taught it was. All in all, it took us about 10 steps to walk down the corridor and back. All I know was that it was as if someone had taken me, made me 7 years old again and put me back there. Nothing has changed and for those who were to CHIJ Opera Estate I hope this brings back countless memories.

Do you remember:
1. The coloured stones outside the office that we used to play while we waited for our bus? Big yellow, small green...

2. Do you remember our assembly ground that could fit a whole session?
3. Do you remember the steps leading to the field that we used to play "the alphabet game" on and jump to the alphabet announced?
4. the mother hen and chicks game we used to play - making nests out of the grass that had been mowed.
5. The toilets at the end of the corridor and the little library outside each class?
6. The canteen - Auntie Mary, Ethel, fish cake soup and the drinks that were always full of bees?
7. The steps leading to the assembly ground where we took our class photo?
8. The rabbit cage on the field?
9. The drain by the assembly ground where we had to brush our teeth?
10. The packet milk that we had to drink everyday?
11. Bus no 20 white and 20 green that took us to Bedok Interchange?
12. The music room on the 3rd floor that everyone said was haunted?

I still can't believe that I can remember all this. It only means that those were damn good days!

Weekend at Bernies!

2006-03-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Pepper (aka chesty La Rue) and Zorro

Can you spot the difference?

Birthday Season Part 3

On Friday evening after work, we headed over to the Machados for a birthday BBQ for little Mikey who is now 3 years old. We were instructed to buy him a Barney stuffed toy and stickers and he was thrilled by them especially the stickers considering that he had the same exact stuff toy! Dinner was great - BBQ Machado style - with wings, steaks, potato salad, baked beans, corn on the cob and lots of coke with ice! I especially enjoyed the birthday cake which was chocolate with some kind of biscuit (much like kit kat) Needless to say I stuffed my face and could barely walk after that.

Saturday, Edward and I started out hunting for a baby expo (yes Mischa actually said the words "baby expo") but as many of you from the east know, Singapore Expo was one big awful mess of cars and people who were flocking to a Watsons sale. We never found the baby expo so we decided to head to Pasta Fresca at Siglap only to find it under renovation. What are the damn odds!! We then drove to pasta fresca east coast, discovered we were the only asians there among the whites, suffered through a one man singing show of mispronounced words and off tune melodies and then headed home.

Sunday was a great day. Thanks to my steamboat craving, I decided to have a steamboat lunch for two of my best gals - Regina and May - whom I have known forever!! They came after mass, we sat down and ate from 145 pm to 445 pm, cooked everything and ate everything that was made and then settled down for dessert which May brought - ice cream, peaches and chocolate sauce. We talked and talked and laughed and I just love being with them any time!They went home at 7pm and Edward and i brought our fatty for a walk.

Birthday season Part 2

2006-03-01T18:54:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a sad week for Edward and his family as they have lost someone special. So I contemplated for a long time if I should post this blog. Then I got to thinking that the reason why they are so sad and why we are sad when someone leaves us is because most of us are part of very close knit families. I have met many colleagues who only meet their families during reunion dinner or christmas. Some only see their children on the weekend as they are too busy over the week to take them home. So personally I am glad and eternally grateful to be part of not 1 but 3 families that love me, pamper me and take care of me, make me laugh everytime we meet and probably is the most important catalyst to my being happy on a daily basis.

So what you see here is my Oliveiro side - my mother's side - Nicole's and my nan's birthday.

We always laugh when we meet and we have great conversations about anything under the sun! Nicole's party was filled with noisy convent girls (aren't we familiar with that), two lurking boys who probably wanted to tangkap one of them, good food, one very fat but tame cat and one oversized and not so tame golden retriever.

The man of the match so to speak had to be Corey. At 17, this young man greeted every single person at the door, served and topped up drinks for everyone the entire night, checked that everyone had water at dinner, made sure we were comfortable and still had time in the afternoon to take his sister to the Esplanade for a treat at the chocolate bar. And he could keep up intelligently with all our conversations that ranged from ancient history to books. I was in complete awe watching him!

My nan's party was filled with yummy hawker food bought by my parents and fiona, coffee birthday cake brought by Edward and myself, beer - brought by Roger (albeit very late) and dessert brought by auntie Asiah. We ate, we talked some more, became confused at nan's packing of food techniques and logic and then we all dispersed.

Family time at the zoo!

2006-02-24T17:55:00.000-08:00

As you can clearly see, the animals were the not the focus of the day! All three of them are what we would call "Tamak" (read must have the biggest sized camera and must take the best shots!) They were actually glancing jealously at other tamak people with their cameras! The only person missing from this group is bro in law Phillip!

Birthday Season Part 1!

2006-02-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well it was an eventful weekend last week and since then I have not found one iota of time to blog! On Friday night, edward and I brought pepper to Katong Dog Park at Meyer Road only to be told that she could not enter because her temperament had to be tested first. Damn those upper class dogs running around inside, turning up their noses at her. So the three of us, bag packs and all crept away and went to the beach instead, stopping first at macs drive through for double cheeseburgers. It was a great evening.

Saturday night was di's birthday and was there a spread to eat - mutton curry, bread, rice, roast chicken (made for the future grand niece who does not like curry and was kicking in protest), assorted pickles, rasam which I slurped greedily, all kinds of fruit for dessert and delicious Marks and Spencer chocolate cookies. All this was followed with a coffee ice cream cake and conversation that ranged from Godpa's horrific MRI experience (told in dramatic bollywood manner), coverage of various news events, upcoming elections, the budget and American Idol. I went home full, with bags of more food to eat.

Sunday was a quiet day spent at the zoo with Edward, moo and doo. It was a spur of the moment and we were there bright and early. The 3 photographers were taking pictures but I decided to concentrate on exhibiting their true passion for the captured image. The highlight of the day was a rescue that moo, edward and I performed - we carried a kid (read baby goat) who had escaped and put her back with her mother before the crowd attacked her. The low point was the damn prata and curry which was like air longkang. I almost slapped the man! We finished off our day with lunch at lagoon and went home to prepare for the massacre that was to be - the following work week!

This weekend we are going Oliveiro style!

Its just another day in paradise!

2006-02-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

Well Valentine's day has come and gone and in our little house, it went by without much of a fuss! Edward bought me some lovely mangoes which I have been craving for and we sat down to a home cooked meal. I think its the conversation that does the trick and we talk all the time, everyday, so Valentine's is pretty much a non entity in our house. I will however buy him a lovely bar of cadbury's fruit and nut for him to enjoy! Our evenings are basically filled with cooking dinner, talking while we prepare the food, talking while we set the table, talking while we eat and talking while we wash up and as everyone knows, if there has ever been 2 talktative people its the both of us! So these photos are of Edward making dinner (mash potatoes and minced meat - a pseudo sheperd's pie) and with our fatty, pepper, always in the midst! Plus she also had a special meal of chicken and rice over the weekend! And that to me is Valentine's Day...everyday.

What will we do baby, without us!

2006-02-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, I could not get the family ties song out of my mind! So I started thinking about all the comedies that we watched in the 80s usually with the whole family because programmes were so limited and we only had one tv! I remember having a mad crush over Alex P keaton and Mike Seaver and how I always wished I could live in the Cosby house! I remembered Dwayne Wayne and Whitney from a different world and how we all wished we had VICI to be our slave! Those were good times and these were really my favourite!

Of prawn noodles, roast beef, viruses and pepper the destroyer!

2006-02-06T01:55:00.000-08:00

It has been a hectic week filled with so much change and uncertainty! I had to move back to my parents place because Edward had caught a mumps like bug. So I came home on thursday, packed my bag and walked away from Edward and pepper who were standing at the gate saying goodbye. It was really sad!

On the bright side, I had really good prawns chilli garam (chilli prawns), kway chap, thosai and roast Chicken at the folks who as usual dropped everything and pampered me and all the cravings I had. (still owe you for the gummy bears moo!) Daddy taught mummy and I how to play some Chinese gambling game and mummy and I had a date to charlies on Friday night only to find him closed! So we settled for seafood at the hawker centre. Went home on Sunday morning and was greeted by my family who I was so glad to see!

Lunch was excellent because my bro in law drove all the way to Katong to buy the famous prawn noodles. Each prawn was the size of a baby's fist and with the chilli powder in the gravy, it was damn shiok! I was really touched that he and edward drove all the way there and I was so ravenous that I did not even take a picture for the blog!

Dinner was lovely roast beef marinated and made by my doo, we also made mash potatoes and baked beans and sat down, the 3 of us, played cards and chatted away!

In the midst, was a ball that I bought for pepper which made her so excited that she was yelping the entire time because she could not get her teeth into it! When she finally did, it burst and she spent an hour quietly chewing away at the plastic until I caught her, gave her a tap on her bum and threw the whole carcass away.

Today am home from work as I caught the flu virus so am resting, marking and listening to Club 977. com - its bon jovi's bad medicine! (oh the irony!)

Chinese New Year Part 2 - Survivor Calcutta!

2006-01-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

Edward blogged this day as survivor Safra but we were all calling it survivor calcutta because there were just so many Indians among us! It was a nice day from the start although our usual spot at Safra Tampines had been completely torn down. We decided to head to the beach and make our picnic spot there which was a great idea!

Em made nasi lemak (delicious as usual), daddy and mummy brought the chicken wings, spam, bread and daddy's surprise (frozen longans which Godpa claimed was actually his idea from years back), Godpa, Auntie Jack and Bear brought the drinks and we made do with the lack of cups by drinking water from bowls. (all because uncle from safra has been moved!), Edward and I brought the cucumber (which I assigned daddy to buy and cut hee hee) and Di paid for our additional drinks and brought other tidbits (and 2 lovely nightgowns for me and a mango top from Em). Plus, Les and Auntie Jack gave the baby some hongbaos (which we will keep for her hee hee again!)

We set up camp, wolfed down the food, gossiped and gambled, slept, I marked, edward and mummy took photo after photo, auntie jack killed a few grasshoppers and the boys swam. Then in the evening, we all took a walk on the sand bank where we had some lovely group shots because of the lighting.

So the photos you see are of our great day (with all the men except for marc and ross sucking in their stomachs for all their worth the whole day!) There is also many of several bungalow bills using nature for hanging things, laying things down and making our lives there enjoyable (hence survivor calcutta although we all agreed that poor daddy would be the first one voted out even though he claimed he would have been the fire starter and fish catcher. The 2nd would be Godpa - I have no idea why that all turned against him after that.)

Chinese New Year was great! And so were auntie Charlottes cornflake cookies!

Chinese New Year Part 1 - Zoe comes for a visit!

2006-01-30T23:17:00.000-08:00

So it was a lovely friday night dinner with the Machados. Ally made her famous steamboat (the beef and prawns were excellent!) and we were all sitting around enjoying ourselves. (see allison's and phillip's blog for pictures). The Machados were about the embark on a family trip to Mayang Sari Bintan but the kids did not know it yet and there were all depressed especially little Megan who was practically in tears the whole night thinking that only her parents were going. So in the spirit of things, I offered to baby sit (or is it puppy sit) little zoe so that our fatty, pepper, could have a friend for the weekend. Little did I know that our little fatty, the nervous jumpy one, would turn out to be the monster of the weekend! It was her territory and she let zoe know that! She did not leave dear zoe alone for a minute expecting her to play and jump around. It got to the extent that we had to separate the 2 of them for the night and zoe slept with me in the TV room. To her credit, she was the gentlest doggie ever - no snapping, barking or retorting. She just did not give a damn about pepper climbing all over her and tugging at her and she had a wonderful sleep the whole night. The next day, we met mummy and daddy at the beach where the dogs had a wonderful run. Then zoe was sent to Karen's house where I am sure she had a more peaceful time! All is back to normal with fatty the queen of the household again!

The photos

2006-01-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

For some reason my photos can't be uploaded on the same blog so here it is.

Pepper the Destroyer!

2006-01-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

Well another week has passed by and last weekend was completely filled up with activities. On Friday evening, we bought fatty pepper this plastic chewable banana which had the most adorable face painted on it. I was only $1.20 and we thought fatty would love it. And my god she did! She pounced and flung her body on it like a lion to a hyena in enemy territory and in a matter of 2 hours tore it apart! We had to hide it from her but she just kept going round and round the house looking for it. Edward then hid it in the bar and the next morning, after a sleepless night (for pepper who was lovelorn for the damn banana), she dashed out of the room, headed straight for the bar and sat, tail wagging, in front of the drawer that Edward had put the banana in, bearing in mind that she had not seen Edward do that. So we gave up and today, the banana still has his smiley face but his entire crown has been ripped off.

On another note, had a lovely dinner with my mother in law and Edward because I was craving laksa. The laksa however, turned out to be NN (not nice). we then drove to Swensens tampines and met the lovely Machado family and stuffed our faces with ice cream. I had a chocolate crunch which is my favourite, Megs and MIL had vanilla, Baba had sticky chewy, Bro in Law had a sundae and Edward had some banana thing. I also had to buy a red top for Chinese New Year Celebration so I went to trusty BEGA and got an XL top which you can see. (made my colleague take a photo of me)

Today we are off for an in depth scan of the baby and yummy steamboat at the Machados. Thanks Ally!

So have a great Chinese New Year weekend! I know I will!

She works hard for the money! So hard for the money!

2006-01-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well I am swamped with work. Not the its such a hectic day and I can't wait for it to be over swamped but a day by day, week by week swamped with work. I really look forward to the weekends although the mornings are now spent creating and preparing lessons for week. We are up to our ears that I have not been able to mark anything and my students are hounding me for their test results!

So in the spirit of work, here are some pictures of my best colleagues at work and of my desk. Believe it or not, my desk is one of the neatest in the staff room. The rest are piled high with papers and some can't even sit at their desk so they mark their stuff in the work room! Nevertheless, its these guys that keep my sanity around here! We are the most muti racial of the room and we gossip and bitch and complain all the time! I love it!

I have no idea how to put captions as many of you know I am technologically challenged although I can work all aspects of power point and publisher with my eyes closed! So I will give a no and description to my friends at work!

1. Guy in checked shirt is Shah - happily married, wife looks like bollywood actresss, great to talk to and has a gorgeous 6 month year old son.

2. Guy in blue shirt is Tafran - drives a subaru WRX, always joking, from St. Pats so talks like a eurasian and is great fun.

3. Lady in white is Christina - fellow complainer, gossiper and a great help for wrapping and designing anything pretty.

4. Lady in red is theng theng - in charge of time tabling (a meticulous hell of a job as there are 90 teachers with different schedules), has a baby girl and is very caring and kind.

So thats it for my week. Looking forward to a laksa dinner with hubby tonight, doing some investigation tomorrow concerning our obstetrician needs and making chicken chilli garam and a lovely soup for the weekend (thanks to edward whose new love is the vegetables uncle at our market.)

Oh the holidays are over!

2006-01-05T01:37:00.000-08:00

Well! The last time I wrote anything was exactly a month ago and I was just wondering where all the time has gone. Christmas and its preparation I tell you!
Within a month, my sister came home, we went to Bintan, shopped my guts out, made achar, ikan bilis and tarts, put up the tree, shopped some more, wrapped presents, met my sister in law and brother in law who came down, shopped some more again, cleaned the house about 5,000 times, spent hours playing scrabble with in laws, met the same people everyday in the span of 7 days over christmas, celebrated new years in style and went back to work.

It was a blast! So if my words did not do much, I'll let the pictures do the talking! But before that, here is a recap of all the fabulous gifts I got!

From honey - Passion fruit shower gel, scrub and body butter and a lovely green mango handbag.
Moo/doo - maternity shorts, badedas shower gel (which I have coming out of my ears) and a lovely black top.
tuff and jamie - a lovely 3 way dress. Its a skirt, a tube or a halter! Far East is the best!
Machados - maternity cream for stretch marks (much needed!)
Dyers - a candle set
Em and Les - pedal pushers for preggers!
Di - $50 robinsons voucher (very much needed)
Godpa, auntie jack - corelle pots
deb - Perlinni bag which I just used to work today. Which girl can resist a bag?

I loved christmas!

My sista! My sista is coming home!

2005-12-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

I am so excited as this saturday noelle lynn aka tuff, tuffy, tuffles and her boyfriend Jamie will be back in Singapore!

After the countless phone conversations, emails, smses, movie quips and challenges, bitching and gossiping, she will be home so we can do exactly what we have been doing for the last year but face to face! She will be here for a month but will officially be home by next June! So its going to be a great christmas especially with her "special" friend Jamie (pronounced the mexican way) who we all can't wait to meet because after a year with her he is now a sambal belachan fanatic and as well all know, for a white boy, that is no mere feat as the smell of it burning is good enough to knock out a horse.

She will be just in time for the lovely (read sarcastic) christmas traditions of cutting and pickling vergetables, sugee cake, tarts and jam and her famous speciality - ikan bilis! So any orders please place them in the comments!

Its all about the money!

2005-12-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Well I have not posted a blog in eons! I have had an extremely full week culminating in a three aside scrabble game with my in laws that left us laughing, accusing, thinking and in my case, not winning! Who would have thought that the biggest complainer there turned out to be the king of scrabble and could make words left, right and centre!

Saturday was our first shopping marathon trip of the Christmas season, starting with a trip to my cousin's new house in Kallang which is really nice! After that we were actually standing outside Takashimaya with the security guard waiting for the doors to open! We looked at shoes, maternity clothes, tops, met laura and her cousin Yien Li for tea and more shopping and even took a bus back down to tangs as we were too tired to walk! I actually had to ask the bus uncle "Tangs how much?" because I have not sat in a bus in 5 years! The shopping continued on tuesday with Ally and Megan (the girls) at the revamped parkway parade, where the ladies patiently waited for me to try on every possible maternity jeans that ever existed and even gave me constructive comments! I had a great time on both days!

So what you see on this blog is my first maternity outfit as for all those who know me, my normal clothes are so binding that the baby was probably pales (read grumpy) with me! So I threw on this top that Laura gave me, used the pants with the button open and voila! I must say I was extremely comfortable about letting it all hang out and stuffing my face at the same time!

Its the Holiday Season!

2005-11-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the excitement that I am feeling this year about Christmas! So with that spirit I actually took some photos of us setting up our tree!
Here is our christmas ritual...
1. The ritual that all men are familiar with - the testing of the lights! Yes, the laying all the light bulbs in a row, checking to see that all are working, changing bulbs that are not, connecting 500 lights to one master switch...you all know that ritual!
2. Panicking when the lights don't work.
3. Stepping accidently on light bulbs and smashing them to smithereens and then replacing them again.
4. Joining the trunk of a 6 foot tree and spreading out the branches.
5. Stepping over an unperturbed puppy who has decided at that moment to chew a bone that she rediscovered after we moved the furniture.
6. Putting up the lights by making numerous rounds around the tree.
7. Testing the lights to see which area is bare.
8. Panicking again when 1 god forsaken entire row does not work and has to be removed slowly, changed and tested again.
9. Finally putting up decorations - all the reds first, then the golds, then the mixture of colours.
10. Taking the ladder up to put the angel on the top which till today is balancing precariously with her pretty little dress.
11. Switching on the lights and smiling!
12. Puppy still not perturbed.
13. Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Carpenters, The Osmonds all playing in the background for the last 4 hours.
14. Sweeping the floor of the countless needles that have fallen from the tree.

So...Christmas has begun and I am excited! What's everyone else's ritual? Comment!

They do not love that do not show their love

2005-11-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

Well its another rainy day and today my blog will be centered around Shakespeare's famous quote and my beloved hubby Edward! He has been taking great care of me - coming home at 6, going to the super market and then coming up to make whatever I fancy for the night which at the moment I can tell you is extremely difficult. He also bought me this lovely flower and a dozen roses for our anniversary last week, tickles my foot when I want and washes up - all this after a hard day of work! All I can say is I am glad that I have a home with him!

But what about the rest? So many people have dropped everything to take care of me! Here is the list peppered with one word thanks!
1. Moo and Doo - Loving, funny, doting, encouragement, food, laughter...this can't end!
2. Tuff - 80s movies, Jamie / Edward conversations, sms, laughter, gossiping.
3. Em - Fish head Kiam Chye (specially delivered!) Need I say more! A lot more!
4. Godpa/A Jack - Milk, presents, conversations, encouragement.
5. Deb - visit, sms, conversations, wedding plans!
6. Ally - conversation, encouragement, stoicism, strength, gossip!
7. Pat - Conversation, her puppies and her laugh!
8. Nan - Aruda (some white flower), food advice (that I have never heard of)
Pantang! (Superstitious to the European eye)
9. Cliff/Jas - Emails, encouragement, advice!
10. Phillip, Little Phillip, Megan, Michael - smiles, conversation, performances, trips!
11. My MIL - warm, motherly, advice and love.

I am typing this on a whim so if I forgot anyone, blame the hormones! I will update!

I get so emotional!

2005-11-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

So this is my first time and I am creating this at a blogger IT Fest that we are learning to teach our students. I am very excited especially as so many people that I know have blogs already! My husband Edward, cousin Deb, god daughter Shauna, cousins Nicole and Corey, Kyle and so many more! So I have decided to join everyone in Cyberspace!

Today I entitled my blog so emotional because I think that that is my essence! Emotion, emotion, emotion - a tempest and a storm! It has been a whirlwind of a day - got up early, had a nutella sandwich and watched friends at 7am. Then showered and realised that I could fit in absolutly nothing because I am 12 weeks preggie and my stomach and womb is ballooning out of control I tried 5 different pants and countless tops but as everyone knows, my clothes are so binding that I look like someone from Ehthiopia - thin stick legs, gaunt face and a protruding stomach. So after screaming, flinging clothes on the bed and ransacking my wardrobe, I settled on a loose skirt (yes skirt for the once commonly known spotty leg pereira) and a white loose top so I let it hang! Then I said goodbye to my hubby, puppy and now am here!

So that is me for the moment - Wife, puppy mummy, mum to be, daughter, sister, aunt, godmother, sister in law, cousin, friend and teacher! Overwhelming but wonderful!

I get so emotional!

Isabella's fans

My 2 girls

The Parent Trap

More pictures!

It's been awhile

Caitlin at 3

Maybe the old songs....

Caitlin goes horseriding!

Holidays 2008!

The many faces of Caitlin Rose

One of my favourite photos

Caitlin and Pepper...life in the day of a toddler and puppy!

Caitlin's Big Day Out!

Caitlin at school

A big thank you filled with lots of love

Caitlin the Flower Girl oops Flower Destructor!

Grandmother of Rock and Roll - My Mother!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN ROSE!

May's Birthday

Goodbye dear Dr. Seng

Friday Night Lights!

My poor Tasmanian Devil

Songs of the 80s

Caitlin updates!

Caitlin and I at the Botanic Gardens!

A lovely saturday

Goodbye Holidays Hello 2008!

My mama

Our baby girl at 18 months

Gill's happy ending

I did it again for my birthday

The Girls and Bintan

A typical night out with the girls

The working mother paradox

15 months have gone by in a flash

I did it!

For our BIL

My Caitlin before a year old

Caitlin and "NO!"

Easter Weekend!

Saturday!

Friday!

Caitlin and pepper

Back from the far east!

The nightmare week

More photos and videos of the little minx!

9 months today!

What day of the week am I?

It's a new year

A new skill

The hardest thing that I have to do

Our baby girl at 4 months

Need I say more?

Lunch with the Pereiras, dinner with the Machados

An ode to mummy and daddy

23 September 2006

Ministry of Bad Behaviour!

Our favourite girls!

The Westenders!

My baby girl at 3 months

It looked like it was going to be a fiasco!

Like mother, Like daughter!

Who cares about Edward and Mischa when we have Caitlin!!

Life is Good!

Through the years!

KC comes to Tampines!

The Silence is Deafening

A BIG THANK YOU!

The funniest photo ever!

Its the final countdown!

Some things change, some stay the same

It runs in the family!

Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives!

A walk down memory lane

Weekend at Bernies!

Birthday season Part 2

Family time at the zoo!

Birthday Season Part 1!

Its just another day in paradise!