My New Etsy Banner

With my very limited Illustrator skills, this is what I whipped up. My new banner for my aruricards@etsy shop.



I drew the birds! Free-hand! Using my MOUSE! CAN! Selamat Hari Raya!

Etsy oh etsy, what can I say about etsy. It changed my life. I'm hooked on it whether I want to or not. It's the greatest online shopping site I've ever found, and now my colleagues are hooked on it too. I spend more money than I make there. Sales have been slow for me these weeks but I still enjoy listing them everyday. It's just too fun.

By the way, hubbie is off golfing, and Daniel is home with TitaJosie! Everything I prayed for is answered, one by one. Next up, is re-introducing him to school. Please no more emotional trauma.

Housechores-Free

Quote of the day:There are two major experiences that change a woman's life; motherhood and getting a good maid.

For the past few mornings, I wake up feeling like I just had a wonderful dream. Then I pinch myself. Ouch. I get out of bed and climb down the stairs. The living room is neat. All his toys that were scattered the night before are now tucked away in his toy corner. The cushions smell fresh. The curtains are tied. The glass door is almost invisible. My dining table is CLEAR. My laundry basket is empty. The clothes are washed and hung. The clean ones are folded. The kitchen is spotless. Food is prepared.

OH MY GODdess of domestic housechores-that-kill-me-sometimes.

Should I go on? The front porch is swept. Today's paper is on the lazy chair. The yesterday's paper is in the recycling basket. Shoes and little bicycles are arranged in a row. Plants are watered. Weeds are pulled.

Some more? My toilets are eye-blindingly sparkling. Mirrors are polished. Sink is WHITE. Everything is arranged. Toilet roll replenished. Bin emptied. Toilet bowl smells like flowers. My fallen hair GONE from the floors. Bathmats dry.

It's surreal. I couldn't believe how much time I have now to actually live my life. I couldn't believe how the chores controlled my life before. They are endless!

The best part of all is coming home to a nice home-cooked dinner.

The only challenge now is getting DC to be willing to stay home with her alone. PC and I are on this mission to lure him hehheh. We are going to get more and more exciting stuff home as a pull factor, and get the maid to 'bodek' him. What to do, he has been the little emperor back at his nanny's place. This deserves a whole story-telling some other time.

PS2 in our living room now. Next, a koochie woochie little puppy!

Old Wood Old Friends

I'm back at work after one year of .... not one year? No? 4 days? Only? Jeesh, it feels like an eternity. That's how long weekends feels to me.

SO, we went back to Seremban. We reached, unpacked, and had to dress up for a wedding reception up in KL, at Banker's Club. Apparently, it is a sophisticated private club primarily for business execs, community leaders and their international associates to meet and entertain in an atmosphere of exclusivity.

If you're getting married and looking a place that spells and smells high-society-serious-business, this is the place. The pink rose petals on the tables didn't help. Nyaha.

It is an elegant traditional English-style setting. Lots of red wood, equestrian oil paintings, chandeliers and professional waiters who dressed better than some of the guests.







And there's my little man who attracted the cameraman throughout the reception, like flies to dirty diaper.
Next up, Josie my new Filipina helper!

Roots and Shoots

I came across this wonderful piece of philosophical analogy of life.

In the life of trees, one key to survival is having more roots than shoots. In his book Oak: The Frame of Civilization,, author William Bryant Logan says, “If a tree puts on a lot of top growth and few roots, it is liable to be weak-wooded and short-lived. . . . If a tree puts down a great deal of roots and adds shoots more slowly, however, it is liable to be long-lived and more resistant to stress and strain.”

People and organizations can be like trees. The rise to prominence is exhilarating, but anything that puts up shoots faster than it puts down roots is fragile and in danger of breaking, falling, or dying.

Start rooting mates.

Yam Sengs and Maam

These days, my mind gets cluttered like Wall-E's collection of garbage. By the way, Wall-E is a must-watch family movie. Any monstrous 3 year-old will sit quietly for the whole 2 hours and laugh. So do any monstrous 30 year-olds.

Pixar, as always, is genius.

This weekend, we'll be in Seremban and KL, and KLIA to pick up our new domestic helper! During the process of hiring her, I've learnt a lot, and faced many hiccups on the way too, up to one point when I almost say "Fuck this, I give up". The Philippines government are really making it difficult for their people to feed their families, aren't they. Everything tax. Everything fees. Even before they can earn their first paycheck, they have to fork out money to get work overseas and be in debt for the first 6 months or so. Poor thing or not.

And 3 weddings to attend this month and next. One same dress. Value for money.


Yaaaaaam Seeennnnggg!

browhaus

Hi, I'm 31 and I had my eyebrow waxed for the first time. Suddenly I feel as beautiful as Monica Belluci.