1,2,3,4

Draw Circles!

***Post written back in January that I never got around to posting***

The weather has been a complete crap ball this winter. There's lots of days and nights where we are cooped at home and Isabel is slowly but surely turning into a glazed-eyed TV zombie.

To spice things up a little, I've been trying to include her in the kitchen, i.e. when I'm baking.

She'll hold the cups and spoons for me as I measure out the ingredients, and most importantly, she has the task of mixing. I tell her to "draw circles" in the batter.

I need to bake more.

A Taste of KL Life

More food-related stuff -- night markets are AWESOME.

Designated streets will be closed off to traffic and vendors will fill their vans and lorries (trucks) with their wares and set up stalls to sell their goods - ranges from fresh food (fish, vegetables, fruit, etc)...

To prepared food (either precooked or they'll cook it right there and then) to stuff like clothes, shoes, even windshield wipers!

Mmmmm....appam...and appung...and another appam thinge. I really have no idea what their names really are...when I was growing up, they were known to me as the 20 cent thing, 30 cent thing and the 50 cent thing (my fave was the 50 cent one)

 Although now, the prices are very much more inflated --- it's more like the 50 cent thing, 90 cent thing and the $1 thing. 

Isabel with her goodies.

The Tale of the Potties...

Looks like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. Except it's Isabel and the 3 Potties.

Who's the third and smallest one for?

Her dolly...

Mmmmm.....

I'm going to put on my Ms I-Hua hat for awhile and talk about food.

It's been a long draught for me in terms of local Malaysian/SEA fruits. For the durian, it's been 5 years (or more)

A different take on the king of fruits: A Chocolate Durian cake!! Very highly recommended by my friends, so I gotta try it.

Look at all the yummy, gooey durian!!!

The smell that wafted up when we cut into it....yum!!!!

Although someone wasn't quite a fan of it...

Slippers

I say that she's Malaysian-ized

Kids Say The Darnest Things

Last night, when Izzy just finished her bath and had her towel wrapped around her

Izzy (patting herself on the chest): "Izzy's dress!!"
Momma: "Yes, Izzy's dress"
Izzy (pointing at me): "Momma's dress!"
Momma: "Yes, momma's dress"
Izzy (jabbing her finger on my chest): "Nock kers"
Momma: "..................excuse me??"
Izzy: "Nock kers"
Momma (furiously thinking of who I'm going to strangle at daycare): ".......................did you say knockers??"
Izzy: "Yeah!!"

A few seconds past....

Momma: "Did you mean necklace?"
Izzy: "Yeah! Momma's nock kers!"
Momma: "Say Neck-lace"
Izzy: "Nock kers"

Soon - Like, 6 Days "Soon"

 -

Cousins

Isabel and her cousins - taken over last Christmas, I think.

I love this picture, even though it looks like a "Where's Waldo?" game--- she looks odd in a sea of blondies!! 

They are all around the same age, give or take some years. It's a huge pity that they don't live close enough to grow up together. 

Thanks for sending, MK.

 

Happy Year of the Rabbit!

I'm so far removed that I didn't even realize that it was Chinese New Year.

Anyway, Gong Xi Fatt Chai!!

Isabel will be back soon, so get those ang pows ready!!!

Kaplooey

Read a somewhat depressing (perhaps depressing is too strong a word...relevant perhaps?) book that represented my thoughts more succinctly:

"I'm embarrassed to say this, but divorce embarrasses me. It's like telling everyone you've failed, each time you announce your marital status. I never thought of myself as someone who was proud, you know, of any kind of status. But I guess being married did mean something to me, being a husband. Well, it felt like something of my own. We were married before anyone else in our circle. Married, in graduate school, everything seemed to be going according to plan. And then...."



"Kaplooey?" she supplied.


"Kaplooey."

- Rebecca Flowers, Nice To Come Home To

MORE?????

Seriously?

All I heard on the weather forecast last night was snow, snow, snow and more snow. COME ON!!!! I thought hell was suppose to be hot. Or has it really frozen over?

Rabbit and I are enjoying some hot chocolate - not much of a fan of this stuff, but it sounded good...

However, something tells me that Isabel likes it...

And if we even think of venturing outside...well...lets just say "fashion statement" we are not...perhaps a fashion don't. Especially with that face that she's making

The Witchin' Hour...

Work, work, work...My eyes hurt.

Random bits and bobs to let my mind settle after a whole bunch of copy control data transfer routine mumbo jumbo. Some IT people are just way too technical.


- It's been bitterly cold today. The car registered the outside temp as 0 Fahrenheit.
- I ran for a solid 15 minutes today. Not bad, considering the last time I tried, I had to wave a white flag after 2 1/2 minutes. Props to Zumba and kickboxing! ;)
- My throat hurts and my nose is running
- Yay for homemade cinnamon roll bread and a hot cup of green tea
- I'm lusting after a scarf
- Isabel has been bottle free for about a week now. Props to her!
- I am feeling pretty content.

Back to VBAK, VBKD and VBPA.

Back In The Game

I received a sewing book called "Making Children's Clothes" by Emma Hardy from my sister-in-law for Christmas. (Actually, I received a lot of goodies from my in-laws via mail during Christmas last year. Thanks to all for thinking of me)

I intend to try every single pattern in the book.

First up is a sleeveless top that'll be perfect for hot summer days.
Or hot KL days (less than a month! Woot!!)

The instructions for that particular pattern were not 100% accurate, and sometimes, veer towards being a little confusing. It's definitely not for someone who has absolutely zero knowledge of sewing -- I made some notes for adjustments in case I make another version of the top.

Sizing is pretty true - Isabel is wearing the 2-3T version.

Izzy Is Rocking It...

She's such a ham

Working

We are both hard at work.

It was suppose to be a snow day today, but nothing much came down...feel quite pathetic staying home actually. But ah well...

Resolution

It's a beautiful night out...The temperature is hovering at the perfect chill and the moon is shining. Brightly.

Very brightly.

I was sitting around, wondering what on earth did I do in my past life to be so friggin "lucky" to deserve such a snivelling twit. But when I stepped outside into the crisp night, and took a deep breath of cold air, I realize that there's absolutely NO way that I'm going to let ONE ahole ruin my life for me. I'm built tougher than that. And I sure as hell deserve better. As does my daughter

Life is full of moments. And one will never get it back. I'm not wasting another moment.

It's Potty Time!

When the new year started, I got it in my head that Isabel will be potty-trained before she turns 3. Isabel was right on board, thanks to countless screenings of Elmo's Potty Time.

She was so eager, in fact, that she started pulling her pants down the moment the potty was out of the box

So there she sat, in the middle of the living room...

Potty time is always quite a production...A book is necessary

Or she has to have her croonies with her

We've had two success stories so far, where she pee-peed into the potty (complete flukes though) but it's a start.

Another One....

Yet ANOTHER snowstorm

So I gathered my supplies....

And had chocolate fondue. Yum

Gotta gain back the calories I lost from shoveling somehow! 

Well...

2011 is finally here.

Actually, it's already a good 2 weeks under way. Thank God for that.

2010 has been.....challenging. A true soul- searcher. A real reevaluation of expectations. A real stomp-my-feet and saying "NO! That is NOT right, and I won't stand for it". A reconfirmation of the importance of independence, self-value, self-confidence and a good old dose of "chin up"-ness (best advice I got, actually)

Regardless, however bad it was....guess what? I'm still standing.

I'm still smiling.

I'm still laughing.

And most importantly, I still believe in love. Love for my baby. Love for my family. Love for friends. There IS a future out there. And I will keep working towards it.

And I thank each and every person who has comforted me, prayed for me, thought of me, and kept me going in their own way. Even though it may not have been the method I would have preferred, one comes to realize that expectations cannot be held against someone else. Only towards one's own self. And the offspring, I suppose, since you gave LIFE to that particular being, surely SOME expectations should be allowed? Although that would go against my previous observation...so it cancels itself out again. A moot point...sorry...I digress...(I tend to try and talk philosophically to myself sometimes. The arguements can get quite humorous)

2011 is a year of moving forward. Officially.