First friendship swap

Taking part in my first swap in Singapore. The theme of the swap is "MESS Layering”.

Page size: 2.5 x 2.5 in (any plain cardstock colour)
Common Item : a punch out of 2 ¼ scalloped square in ONLY Kraft cardstock

Here're more sneak peeks of my work in progress....Lots of green, some browns, some teal and baby blue. Used pp, chipboard, stickles, blings, plastic vintage flowers, brads and sheers.

I must finish this weekend so I can send them off mext Tue, when Simon goes to the Post Office.

Mom's progress

After the x-ray results were out on Mon, mom went home for lunch before being warded at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for Tuberculosis. She did further tests and received anti-biotic on drip.

Sis-in-law boiled soup everyday with the packs I bought from a Chinese traditional medicine shop, and my brother will bring it to mom. Thank goodness for both of them, otherwise I will be very bothered if the hospital food would be suitable for her or to her liking.

I spoke with her and she was in a B ward, meaning two beds in a room. But she had the room all to herself and she said she felt that she was on holiday. Haha, holiday coz no need to cook for the family and take care of dad! But there was no TV. Mom said she treated her stay as one to recuperate, so she slept as much as she could.

Today, when bro was going to bring mom her lunch, the nurse called him to say that she could be discharged! Praise God! Doc said that mom made progress and could recover at home. They waited at the TB Centre to see a specialist for the final clearance to discharge. Happy to say that mom put on 1.6kg these 5 days..so now she weighs 34.6kg. A long way to go to her usual 42kg. But I know that my bro and sis-in-law will take good care of her.

Thanks everyone for your concern and prayers!

Last two weekends

Sorry for my absence.

Qiqi's birthday

Two weekends ago, we celebrated cousin Qiqi's birthday. Look how cute she is in her birthday outfit! She must be the cutest fairy ever..yes, biased Aunt here. Check out the cute fondant cake.

Jon had a blast of a time, and Jill was contented to watch the older kids play while in the safety of the play pen. Good thing she didn't mind being there, coz Simon and I could have our dinner. But all too soon, we had to leave coz Jill didn't feel well.

Good thing we brought Jillian home, coz she was not only cranky and sleepy, she was actually not feeling well. Aiyo, cham lah, coz we're flew off last Thur to Singapore to attend my friend's wedding!

So last week was spent nursing Jill, feeding her, helping her sleep despite a horrible and phlegmy cough. She hates taking meds, and I know that's from me. Again, we had a couple of nights and many afternoons of cleaning puke coz her throat was choked with all the phlegm. Sigh...but thankfully she felt better after four dosages of anti-biotic (over 2 days lah) before we flew.

Weekend in Singapore
I was in Singapore last weekend for Gilbert and pamela's wedding. Gilbert's an old friend who didn't exactly believe in marriage while Pamela wasn't the type who would go for someone shorter than her. Well, they ate their words.

Before their wedding, I managed to meet a couple of friends on Fri. But I didn't manage to meet Pooi to grab the scallop square cut outs which she did for me for a friendship swap that she is organising. She was busy with work and was going to go Made with Love after an event on Fri night. But that would mean a super rush for her, and we know how traffic to Orchard Rd can be on Fri and Sat nights...killer! I was at Wheelock Place and decided to go Liane's. Found the Friskar's punch and they had a promotion and I enjoyed a 25% off for every two items! I limited myself to just eight items....yes, I was good and spent under S$100 *pat myself on my back*.

I didn't make many appointments coz it's a weekend trip and I had to take care of tired Jillian who needed her naps and rests while recovering. She slept like a log during her naps, and was so cute when she was awake. Thankfully, she enjoyed being taken care by my sis-in-law and could play with my pri 3 niece, while Simon and I attended wedding of Gilbert and Pamela at Capella. I didn't take photos because I wasn't in the mood to. Why?

Mom's ill....

Coz my mom was so frail and had this chesty cough that has been coming on and off the whole year. She's always been so skinny, but this time when I went back, she was all skin and bones. I asked her to go see the doc. She has been seeing a Chinese doc and taking Chinese traditional meds. But I told her TCM works usually at the beginning stages of an illness or when one needs help at the tail end, the recovery stage.

She came back from the doc, and I asked her what he said. She told me the doc asked her to go to the poly clinic the next day (sat) for further check up. I told her it's very serious and how come she didn't ask more. But you know how old folks are. they don't like to know more, and therefore they don't ask more. Also she sometimes just follows...never questions. She had asked the doc if she could go on a Mon instead of Sat. This doc has great bedside manners and told her nicely that poly clinics are always busy, no matter which day of the week. i told her that's a very nice way to tell her she needs to get a check up done asap, without being forceful or instilling fear in a patient.

My bro and I brought mom to the poly clinic last Sat, while Simon stayed home with Jillian. I wasn't sure if Simon would cope and even thought of going back to check on the sick but recovering girl, and then return (since we estimated it may take 2+hrs to get to see the doc). Thankfully, I trusted Simon and waited with my mom.

Talk about efficiency, Singapore style, coz we registered at 9.30am, saw the doc at 10.40am, went to do x-ray at 11am and collected meds at 11.15am. The x-ray would have been ready in 45mins and mom could have gone back to see doc, but there was a long queue of patients, so doc had already told mom to return on Mon.

We bought lunch and were back home by 12pm. Had a quick bite, and when Jillian woke up, we went to United Square to buy some stuff for the kids, esp for growing Jon who needed new PJs. Simon had a craving for Subway, which we gamely stuffed ourselves before heading back home to prepare to go for the wedding dinner.

Thanks to my sis-in-law, I left the feeding and bathing of Jill to her. She had to trick and bring Jill away, my niece helped to entertain Jill, so we could shower and change. I enjoyed catching up with old friends and the groom at the wedding...but I didn't have the mood to take photos. I didn't even bring my camera, which Simon noticed. Guess my heart was heavy knowing that we're flying off on Sun, while mom's x-ray results would only be avail on Mon.

I managed to wake up earlier and had a chat with mom on Sun, while Simon and Jill slept. I told her with her frail health, the nasty chesty cough, and family history of cancer (her bro passed away due to cancer), there were a few possibilities. From the best to the worse, which is the dreaded C. We chatted, and I told her I would pray for her. I told her 67 years is not too old, but she is not exactly young and strong. But she can take care of her health so she can come stay in my new home (ready next year), see the grand children grow, tour a few more countries (intending to bring her to Taiwan), etc.

After the chat, Simon and Jillian woke up around 9am. which was great coz we had to leave soon to be at the airport at 11+am for our 1.30pm flight. If Jill had woke up earlier, she would have needed a nap, and I would have to interrupt her sleep. Quickly fed Jill and gave her her meds and bathed her, did last packing and my whole family saw us off in the cab.

I was also grateful that two of my closest pals, one from college and the other a very good friend and ex-colleague, came to the airport to see us off. We had a craving for Burger King and thankfully there was an outlet at Terminal Two.

Jill who was awake the whole morning, had her milk and slept the entire 2hr flight! Yay, coz she is a handful the last three flights (last trip plus this trip back), and would climb all over us, and I had to walk her up and down the aisles. We felt a relief when we got back home in Miri. Hmmmm, Miri is becoming more of a home to me now, huh?

Jon's ill

Poor boy had been this throaty cough with loads of phlegm two weeks ago, although it happens only in the afternoon when he naps and at night when he sleeps. Then on Mon and Tue, he kept saying he was "hot". While his body felt warm, the temperature didn't go higher than 38 degrees. But he kept asking for water, and MIL said that fever is eminent. True enough, Jon came back from nursery on Wed with a nasty sore throat and fever. With a greenish phlegm, it's anti-biotic for sure.

Ok, this will be gross.....Doc said that there's mucus at his sinus area. When Jon lies down to sleep, it's all stuck there, and it has dribbled down his throat, so that explains the phlegm. Poor boy had thrown up his lunch when he napped in the afternoon, and his night milk feed at night coz of the stooopid phlegm blocking his airways. Thankfully, he didn't throw up last night and let's hope tonight too.

This morning, MIL boiled two eggs and wrapped them up with red onions in a cloth to make a pouch. She rubbed it all over Jon's back in a downward motion, and over his stomach too. Almost immediately, Jon passed out gas! She said after giving him his meds, he should be better. But the poor boy threw up his lunch and promptly didn't want to take his nap.

Now, after more than a week of phlegmy cough, it's a cold with lots of mucus! I hope he gets better...coz there's Cavan's birthday lunch tom and cousin Qiqi's birthday celebrations in the evening. And Cavan's also down with same symptoms as Jon.....

New home - update

The footing, also known as foundation for the house has been completed.

While the civil works for the house is ongoing, we bought our first batch of items for the home, and they include four toilet bowls, kitchen sinks and rainforest showers for the master bedroom and children's room. There was a shop having up to 25% sale in Aug, and we figured we might as well buy the items since the discount was quite substantial.

Now the thing is that we had the items sent to our current home (in-law's place) and they are stored in the garage. Why didn't we let the shop keep them in their store? Well, there have been many cases where the items sent eventually didn't match the items purchased, coz the staff didn't know the items have been sold and "accidentally" sold them to another customer. And what would one do then? Most prob, one would have to accept whatever model the shop sends over...or you can ask for your money back? But you would have to shop again and you may not find stuff that you like.

We bought all local brands. I would love to have Toto, or Hensley or Whirlpool, but they're very expensive and I thought buying local would reduce the carbon footprint.

Next, batch of stuff I bought were these lovely prints from Helen Dardik.

Love Garden

Awesome

Dardik is an illustrator, designer and a mother of 3 little girls based in Canada and I found out about her when I bought her scrapbooking papers in 2008.

Grow

Tea

Yes, I bought the lovely prints even though our home would be ready a whole year later. They help keep my sanity after asking the kitchen supplier to come up with the fourth version after much consultations, working on design of the helper's room (didn't thought we need one when working on the design with the architect, and now we have to see where we can build that), and how to incoporate safety grills without making our place look like a prison.

And guess what? Cellini opened their outlet in Miri last Sat! We popped by the showroom last Sun to check out their offerings and saw a sofa set that we liked. They weren't supposed to be open on Sunday, but they had clients coming in so they opened especially for them, and we happened to drive by. What's more, they're offering a 30% discount for orders in the first week! We told them we will not need the furniture till next year, they said no problem. We had to pay 50% first, then we have to inform them two months before we need the furniture, and pay the remaining 50% upon delivery.

Again the trust issue came up...what happens if they close the shop before delivery of our items. or worse, they don't carry the model we want. But we reached a compromise, and we paid 30% first. Then another 20% when we tell them to start manufacturing our sofa, and final 50% upon delivery. I like shopping like that, spreading out the payments, otherwise very shiong

We're currently working on design and quotation of kitchen. Soon, we will have to seach for tiles and colour for the exterior of the home. Aiyoh, tiles....headache!

Playdates

Sorry for the absence. I've been so tired that when Jon wants me to go to bed with him at 9pm, I gladly obliged. Even if I asked him to go to bed first with daddy, and I went to take a shower, Jon would sometimes stay awake waiting for me to join them in bed. And although I would wake up at 11pm for Jillian's night feed, chances are that I would quickly read my emails and go back to bed asap.

This school week has been all right. Jon was OK about wearing his nursery T-shirt. And he would fluctuate between "I like school" and "I don't like school".

On Saturday, Jon went for a playdate at Ciaran's home. Ciaran's his schoolmate and came over the week before. This week, Ciaran's mom hosted us. Jon kept saying on the car, "No school, ah? We go Ciaran's house, ah?" When we reached Ciaran's home, Jon dashed into the house while I parked the car.

Ciaran has two older sisters, Faryl and Enya and a younger brother Joel. Ciaran's the same age as Jon while Joel is the same age as Jillian. Funny thing is when Jon got inside the home they all played by themselves, until Ciaran's mom asked her children to play with Jon. Jon had a ball of a time as there were many toys in their house (4kids). There was this home theatre but it was filled with toys. It was like a toy store to Jon.

But the super energetic boy decided to take the toys to the living room and they included a tool desk and the kitchen set. When he wanted to play on the grand piano, Aunty Kay brought out a toy piano. Luckily Jon was willing to sit down to have his mee sua lunch. After feeding him, I sat down for less than 10mins and had to go watch him as he climbed to get yet another toy he fancied. I gobbled down my lunch and decided it was time to bring him home. Coz it's past his nap time, and the warning signal was him screaming. Thankfully, we got home quickly and I changed him and gave him his milk before he knocked out for a 3hour nap.

Thankfully, the Tiong kids liked Jon, despite his spiritful nature, and Jon liked them too. Therefore Aunty Kay said there will be a next time. She said the playdate was a good opportunity for her children to socialise and for them to learn to play with other kids other than their own siblings. I am just happy we're welcome back into their home!

Today was Mason's birthday. After church, we went home to wake and change Jillian. Jon took a toilet break and loaded up on milk and biscuits. We got to the Wong's home at nearly twelve. Then we found out it was just their family celebration, and Jon and Jill were the only other kids. They had already eaten and cut the cake, so Jon and Mason played first before having lunch at twelve some. Then they played some more till half past one.

As the Wong's have two boys, they know how rowdy boys can get and I could feed Jillian in peace, while Jon played and Simon ate his lunch. Then Mabel offered to feed Jillian while I ate. Mason was such a sweet boy and didn't mind Jon taking his laser guns. and their beautiful long-haired cats didn't mind Jon stalking and playing with them. Mabel said the cats didn't used to be like that, but since they had two children and didn't have much time for the cats, the animals welcome anyone to touch them.

Jillian was just a darling and smiled and let Mason's grandma and aunty carry her. She's such a sweetie and she's the reason why I am actually considering having #3.

I scrapped a little this week, making these three flower hangings for three girls. Faryl and Enya are Ciaran's sisters, while Chloe is Cavan's sister. And Cavan's birthday is next Sun. Notice I made only for the girls, don't think the boys will like them. Well, until I figure how to make a robot one.