Change Of Colour

Hubby and I have decided to repaint all the window and door frames in our home. The original colour is blue. Actually almost everything in my house is blue...I like that colour...it has a calming effect on me. My roof tiles are blue (well, they've turned gray through the years), my exterior walls are blue, my gate is blue, my kitchen tiles are blue, and the list goes on...and I've decorated my house with white and blue furniture. I even wanted blue kitchen cabinets but the contractor gave me a strange look...which made me change my mind and opt for a redwood kind of colour instead.

Through the years we've started getting rid of the blue, little by little...maybe it's age catching up...the blue which we initially loved is beginning to seem a little too cartoon-like, so a few years ago I repainted the staircase bannister a warm brown colour. We gave away our white display cabinets and bought solemn-looking wood-colour bookcases.

Now our wooden windows are starting to give way and we need to change them to aluminium ones, so we thought that this would be a good time to change the colour of the window frames as well.

I like the reddish kind of brown and hubby had to go to the hardware shop 3 times before he finally got the correct kind of paint and colour, fussy me!

Tried painting the store room door frame first. Here is the repainted door frame:


This is the original blue colour:


I will miss my blue frames...but it's time for a change. So there's lots of painting to be done in the next few days.

So Imaginative!

A friend of mine emailed me these photos...you'll never look at fruits and vegetables in the same way again...






















This one is my favourite - cauliflower sheep!


pic source unknown

Project For Kid Or Parent?

Miss PreTeen brought home a small packet of tiny electronic parts and told me that she had to assemble a light switch with buzzer for her school Kemahiran Hidup project. She had no idea how to do it. I took a look, had no clue where to start (scratch head) and the instructions given were not very clear, so I told her to get dad to fix it (how convenient!).

Hubby came home, took a look and decided to put his skills to the test. He had just about completed it when he discovered that there was a missing part...and it was the teeny-tiny resistor. Dad and daughter searched everywhere...and finally gave up. Miss PreTeen was worried...the teacher told them that they would get a D minus if the switch didn't work! And she didn't dare ask her teacher for another set.

We even got the address and phone number of the company from the internet, but no one answered our calls and the address given was actually a house, not a shop! (yes, we went all the way to the other side of town just to see if we could purchase another set...the things we do for our kids!) Anyway, no one was home.

A few days later I was vacuuming Miss PreTeen's room and I noticed this strange little metal bit on the floor, but before I could pick it up my vacuum hose swallowed it! So I had to open up the dust container, rummage through the dirt and get it. Could this be the missing piece? I actually didn't know what the missing bit looked like, so I waited till Miss PreTeen came home from tuition class.

Yup...it was! Hallelujah!


Dad fitted in the missing piece, turned on the switch...and guess what....

There was sound, but no light! If he reversed it, there was light but no sound....aaargh!!!

I'm beginning to wonder whether this is a project for the parent or for the kid...how could an 11 year-old assemble something that even an adult can't?!

Mr CoolTeen's Birthday

Celebrated Mr CoolTeen's birthday with my in-laws at Roadhouse Grill in Jalan Ampang.


I told my kids that this is one place where they could eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor, but they thought that I was just kidding them. I suppose all the years of teaching them to be clean and tidy paid off...they refused to throw the shells on the floor even after I repeatedly urged them to try.

Halfway through the dinner the waiters and waitresses came with a cupcake and sang a birthday song for Mr CoolTeen while he, not wanting all the attention, turned red from embarassment and wished that they would just hurry up and get it over with!


Miss PreTeen ordered the Hawaiian Pizza


I had the Lamb Shank with mint sauce


The birthday boy had his favourite Grilled Lamb with mushroom sauce

The food is here is quite pricey but the portions are big, and we had a satisfying meal.



After dinner, we adjourned to my parents-in-law's place to take proper birthday shots with a proper birthday cake and sing the proper birthday song...well, maybe not...because we added in the verse about the zoo and monkeys and donkeys....

TGISH-Thank God It's School Holidays

I thought I'd never ever say this but here goes..."I'm so glad the school holidays are here!"

Usually I dread the school holidays because the kids will be home and I would have to put up with them arguing with each other, hogging the TV or asking to go out (and guess who will have to chaffeur them around?!)

But I have had close to 3 months of waking up at 5.40 am on school days and braving the traffic in the early hours of the morning, so this is a welcome break...sleeping in, going for breakfast with Miss PreTeen at our favourite mamak shop, not having to go out in the scorching heat to fetch my kids from school...wish it could go on for another week...

Fruit Enzyme, Garbage Enzyme

I have been experimenting...making my own fruit enzyme drink. I've been told that it's good for health. My favourite is the pineapple enzyme drink - I usually wake up in the mornings with stiff knees and whenever I drink it before going to bed, the stiffness is gone the next morning!


I was chatting with my friend the other day and she wondered if all the sugar in the enzyme drink is actually good for us...hmm, maybe I've been adding too much sugar...


But it's fun making the enzyme drink - all I need is fruit (any kind), lemons and rock/slice sugar. Then layer them in a large dry bottle, put on an airtight seal, and wait 2 weeks...voila! It tastes like wine...yup, it's an alcoholic beverage. Hubby is wondering whether there'll be more alcoholic housewives nowadays, with so many of us making enzyme drinks!

I'm also trying to make garbage enzyme - used for cleaning purposes. I just combine fruit peel (leftover from making fruit enzyme), brown sugar and water. I was told that the ratio is 3:1:1...that is, 300g peel to 100g sugar to 1 liter of water. Pop all of this into a plastic container, cover and keep for 3 months, stirring occasionally. I have a bottle of garbage enzyme dated June '09...so it's another 2 months before I can use it and perhaps blog about whether it's an effective cleaner.

Motherhood...Greatest Job In the World

I just realised that I haven't been blogging for the whole week...because it's my kids' exam week and this year I made them sit down with me and study, or else they would rather just vegetate in front of the TV or chit-chat on the phone with friends. I suppose I can add that to my ever growing job description list - tuition teacher.

Whenever I mention that I am a stay at home mom, people tend to get the impression that I have such a good life just being with the kids and not having to work, but I think I am even more busy running the household than I was when I used to go to work.

I got this from a friend through email quite some time ago - a humorous way of looking at the job of a mom.

POSITION: Mother, Mom, Mama

JOB DESCRIPTION: Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.

Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed.

Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.

Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 100km/h in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.

Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers.

Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects.

Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.

Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next.

Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.

Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION: Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION: Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent.

When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS: While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.
How true, how true...

A Tale Of Two Brains

Ever wondered why men and women are so different? Watch this....

New Stuff For The Bed

Hubby complained that his pillow was getting soft and he was frequently waking up with a neckache. So we went shopping for a new pillow at Jusco. We looked at a number of pillows (Miss PreTeen said that looking at all those comfy pillows made her sleepy!) and after choosing one with neck support, something like a contour pillow, I decided to get one for myself too.

There's something about being among shelves and shelves of fluffy pillows, silky bedsheets and comforters...I feel like buying them all!

We also decided to change our queen-size comforter, which we bought before our wedding, to a king-sized one...since hubby and I have grown a little rounder through all these years of marriage and it's quite annoying to have the whole comforter disappear from me whenever hubby rolls over in bed! Comforters are pretty pricey nowadays...around RM700 for a decent one...managed to get one with a 70% discount.


So, a new comforter (which comes with a matching bedsheet) and 2 new pillows...I couldn't wait to go to bed! Next on the list...a new bed perhaps? XD

Next morning, I wake up with an ache...I think the new pillow is too high...I must have twisted a neck muscle while sleeping...ouch!