The day my heart skipped a beat

NO!! It came out negative..thank goodness. I can't imagine the thought of me being preggar again..gosh..with my two kids alone is enough to drive me up the wall at times so no, i don't think i can handle another screaming baby at the same time. I would want to eventually have a third child but not now. The only reason why i had to take this test was because i was late AND because i have been going to the gym and working out on high intensity exercises, I didn't want to take any chances of any doubt if I were pregnant. So taking the test has eased my anxiety and i am back to my normal daily dose of exercise but i will not forget the day my heart skipped a beat!

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Two breaking news within a week! At least for me it is...two of my friends here will be leaving. Jo who was supposed to be my gym partner was the first to break the news to me that her company has decided to relocate her to Sydney and she was ecstatic cause she needed the change afterall she has been here for 5 years. I still remember how we met here through another mutual friend and there was no turning back ever since. We hang out so often that even my son, lil rascal has a crush on her!! seriously..he would hold a book and cover his whole face when Jo comes and at the corner of his eye try to steal some glances of her..little did he know we were all staring at him so he was caught hands down and then his face turned red. And there are other occasions when he would throw his tantrum refusing to sit in our car but wanting to sit in Jo jie jie's car!! And another time, i was trying to wake him up in the morning to follow me to the gym but he refused to budge and just the mere mention that Jo jie jie is going to meet us in the gym..he immediately woke up as if he saw a huge stack of $100 bill in front of him!! No joking..(Jo, you better not be a cradle snatcher!!) I can't believe how a small kid below 3 years old can develop a crush on a woman ten times his age!!!

Jo..what is my son going to do without you???haha

The second breaking news came just days after Jo told us about her leaving...another friend of ours..Miss Chatterbox is leaving too!! Lil Miss Chatterbox is a final year uni student studying speech pathology and boy can she talk..and i mean seriously if there was ever a competition on who would talk the fastest and longest, she would beat any contestants from any country! I can vouch for that! Just citing an example..we all had dinner with our parish priest, Fr John and he was just asking Ms Chatterbox about her middle name..and to answer that question..she gave quite a lengthy explanation that took...i think 15 mins!! if not longer..i was sitting there looking at my watch and timing her and just seeing her go on and on and on..she obviously stop talking once she saw me looking at my watch! hahah..but that didn't stop her from talking again later throughout the night! hahah..it was just hilarious! but she knows we LOVE her! and my kids too..

Going to miss you both alot and my home is going to be ever soo quiet now!

On another note, during our Body Attack workout, there was this song being played and it is such a beautiful song. I am attaching this link to it and I encourage everyone to hear it and pay attention to the lyrics as it is a very motivating and inspiring song. If you ever need to motivate someone or if you know anyone who is feeling down, let them listen to this song. It is called," Just Stand Up" by Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J Blinge, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow and a few more other female singers who came together to sing this song.

http://aimini.net/view/?fid=Wt16wtuI7HpT8PmS7njI

Ooh my aching butt!

This is officially my first week where I told myself that I am going to sweat in out in the gym 5 times a week. Previously, i have been going 2 -3 times a week and mainly for Body Attack classes. Body Attack is a high intensity workout and involves a series of high energy exercise moves for cardiovascular fitness. I think i am seriously addicted to this because it really makes me sweat. Ok, i have decided to add two more gym classes to my schedule which is Body Pump and RPM.

Body Pump involves weights and i did that once and pulled a ligament on my bicep so that didn't turn out too good for me but i really have to start doing it at least once a week for toning. now, RPM...omigosh!! RPM is basically indoor cycling and gosh..i seriously do NOT know how these people do it! My butt is sooo SORE that it is no joke. I had to practically lie down flat on my tummy on the floor simply because my butt hurts! And my legs..oooh..i can feel my legs almost giving me cramps in the middle of the class..which is NOT good! I borrowed Ironchef's heartrate monitor to see how my heart rate was during RPM and it went up to 180+ and i only burned 303 calories!! 303 calories?? an apple pie from McD is already 293 calories and i didn't have to hurt my butt eating that and it only takes me 5 minutes to finish eating that apple pie but 45 mins to burn it off AND that includes a very sore BUTT and aching legs!!

Oh well, as the saying goes, no pain no gain! Now if you excuse me while i go soothe my aching breaky BUTT!

Impatient brat!

I am impatient so let me be...yes, playing the waiting game is driving me up the wall!
I am tired of waiting to loose weight..am tired of waiting to get my full PR benefits..am tired of waiting to get a job..am tired of waiting for my son to wee wee by himself..am tired of waiting for everything to happen.

I just want things to come NOW! NOW! NOW!

sigh..suddenly i feel like my life is static! Nothing is happening. I know I am supposed to be appreciating whatever i have now or else once i start work, i won't be able to spend time with my kids as much as i am now. I know it takes time to loose weight because it took me years to build up fat in my body so i ain't gonna loose them all in one day! I know..i know..but i am an impatient brat!

Maybe i should learn how to play jigsaw puzzles or something..is there like a game that trains patience?? I feel like going on top of a mountain and shout from above..but hang on..there aren't any mountains here in Adelaide..hmm..maybe i should climb on top of my bathtub and do it from there instead without loosing my balance..*ponders*

Potty Training

Sigh..This whole potty training thing is NOT for the faint hearted!! I am in the midst of trying to train lil rascal to wee wee on his potty and it is NOT working! I tried to teach him earlier this year but that attempt failed miserably and so i thought i would wait longer until he is more ready to use his potty.

Well, here i am four months down the line and still not getting anywhere with him! We tried everything..even ironchef had to pull him to the toilet and show him how to wee wee on this little weeman.

This weeman is pretty cool for little boys. So i bought it for him to use when he is ready to go to the toilet. Of course, looking at the situation now, if he is still not ready to use the potty then what are the chances he will be ready to use the weeman?

First attempt was yesterday, I put him on his training pants and put out the potty in the living room. Fifteen minutes later, i turned around and i see my lil racsal taking his potty back to the bathroom, takes out his pants and puts it back in the cupboard and takes out his pampers for me to let him wear. When i refused, he kicked up a STORM!! End of First Attempt!

Second attempt..actually i am in the midst of my second attempt even as i am typing this. He is now walking around the room half naked with his willie sticking out but that is because he refuses to wear his training pants and i have hidden his pampers so he can't find it and is searching the whole house for it! So help me GOD...

Gosh it wasn't that hard training lil tinkerbell but then again i didn't have too..cause my mum did it..oh no..is this RETRIBUTION?? sigh...i can only hope and pray he gets the message by eventually sitting on his potty and not everywhere on the carperts..Oh Nooo..i can't bear to think of the consequences if he does it everywhere!!

Sigh..the ups and downs of being a MUM! Need i say more???

New Obsession

I couldn't resist the temptation of not buying this book : -

For those who don't know her, She is Michelle Bridges and personal trainer for the Australian version of The Biggest Loser. Of late, Ironchef and I got hooked on watching The Biggest Loser and it is just amazing to see those contestants loose so much weight in a short time span. Of course with that there are alot of controversies surrounding this reality show.One such remark heard was that it is not healthy to loose so much weight in that short time. One contestant managed to loose 7 kg in one week!! How do you manage that?? Wow..that is just plain awesome but of course alot of sheer hard work and pain. For me to go to the gym three times a week is enough to kill me but these contestants sweat it out every single day for few hours.

Anyway, this book is great to read cause it has an action plan for 3 months including your diet and if you follow this book religiously, by right you are suppose to be able to loose weight! The only thing which i have yet to grasp is calorie counting. You see being here, you learn that everything you eat has calories. According to the book, for women, our daily calorie quota is only 1350 cals and for men, it is 1600 calorie. So, i should only eat 1350 calories a day..hmm..i seriously do NOT know how to do this..i will try..but Ooo..it is going to be SOO HARD!! I love my food! I guess in Asia, it is easier to loose weight cause we are constantly sweating all the time unlike over here. It is soo dry, you hardly sweat at all! What i like is the template in the book that makes you keep a food diary..YUP..you heard me right! A FOOD DIARY!! I am suppose to write down every single food i consume and the calories with it so at the end of each week, i do a breakdown of how much calories i have ate minus the calories i have burnt doing my exercise. Sounds easy? NOT! but i am determined to loose my post natal weight!! hahah.if you can call it that after 4 years!!

Wish me luck :P

The Crossroad

I hate this feeling of being stuck in a crossroad and i don't mean physically in a crossroad but more emotionally. When i decided to be a stay at home mum, our plan was for me to stop work for one year (at least) and after that, start work again and slowly save up to buy our first house here and also by then, the kids would be more settled in this new environment. With the current economic situation, I thought to myself..hmm..maybe i should work again to help ironchef out so that he wouldn't feel so stressed being the main breadwinner but looking at the job market..one word spells it out - DISASTROUS!

So here i am, still a stay at home mum and worried about the future. What if after one year, i am ready to go back to the Corporate World again and NO company would want to hire me? Afterall, i would have been so left out from the working world by then..i would have to compete with younger wannabies just to prove that i am worth two cents..and to make things worse..i don't know if i will be ready to start all over again. Lately, what has been bugging me more is my notion of moving. To move or not to move is a question I have been pondering on eversince I came two years ago! I need to move to a bigger state if i want a decent job and when i mean decent job..i mean decent jobs like a Marketing Job..or Corporate Communications job..basically a job which i use my brains alot..not like my last job here. I would encapsulate my last job as a no brainer. It was still a decent admin role but lacking in brain skills for me.

I am dying to move..BUT..and there is always a BUT! Ironchef is happy, contented with his present job here and i dont blame him. Where else can you get such a good job with good perks? So for him to give it all up would mean again to him..DISASTROUS! Hmm.i have been using this word like twice in my post already..but it is true..Damn if you do and damn if you don't! I wish there was a sign for me..if i stay, then it would mean me sacrificing getting a decent job..probability higher that i get another no brainer job resulting in me being upset, moody and angry. If i do move, i might get a decent job..something which i love doing..but it might mean..Ironchef starting all over again and he might in turn be moody and upset.

I hate being in a crossroad..how do you know which path to choose in life? I wish life was much simplier with instructions on a sheet of paper telling you where to go and when and how. I wish there were signs to tell you that you are doing the right thing.

This is one crossroad i hope there is a GPS or a Navman to tell me where to go!

Autumn is finally here!!

I am so relieved that this heat is finally OVER!! Autumn is finally here..and soon enough winter will follow. It has been hard getting out of bed in the morning lately because of the nice cool weather. 20 degrees on an average day now is just great! No more creepy crawlies in my house..i HATE Spiders! Snakes! and all sorts of insects that goes along with Summer. The amount of cob webs we had to clean in our garden was just disgusting. This year, Summer we had a different kind of insect that came into the house ---TWICE!!

I had to get this picture from Google cause for obvious reason, when i saw this i FREAKED out and Ironchef had to SORT IT OUT! We were told that this insect is called an Earwig and we were told that these kinds of insects will crawl into your ears and lay eggs in your canal..and to think all that time, the whole family was camping outside in the lounge because of the heatwave. What if one of those things crawled up our ears?? ARGHHHH!!! Anyways, i did a google search..(i still can't believe i did a search on this)but this whole crawling up the ears bit is a fallacy. Still I am freaked out about this and we have NO idea where it came from and we had not see this before in our whole entire LIFE!! These insects only came out during the warmer season like all other creepy insects!

SO conclusion is --- i am just so HAPPY Autumn is finally here!! BRING IT ON!!

All set to go away!!

Yes! I almost completed making all the necessary reservations for our accommodation and we decided to rent a car while we are there as well. Works out to be cheaper in the long run AND we get to go to more places by driving than relying on public transport. Ironchef has a GPS Navman (it was his bday present from me) so that should come in handy now!

So we will be staying at the Capital Executive Apartment Hotel and we have booked in a Family Room Spa Suite for 3 nights. OK, i couldn't help booking ourselves at the Spa Suite instead of the normal standard room but hear me out, they were having this promotion going on and for a limited time only, rooms are now $145. Standard rooms are already $125 so hello?? $20 extra only...(ok, you can hit me now..i know i know..i am suppose to be saving money instead of splurging..but but...i can' help it!!) Told you in the beginning I am not your typical housewife!

Anyways, back to the room..the spa suite has a spa bath/jacuzzi..see below!!

and the rooms look like this :-

Pictures look decent enough so i hope it really is as nice as the pictures shown. Only time will tell..There is a Queen bed in the bedroom & king single bed & bunk bed in the lounge room so this room can actually sleep 5 people!! Don't ask me why i need such a big room..cause i haven't quite figured it out yet..

And the car we will be renting is :-

Maybe not such a new model as this shown but it will be definately be a Hyundai Elantra, auto, sedan for the 4 days we are there from Budget Rent a Car.

So, everything looks all ready. Now, i need to do a search on what we can do while we are there. We don't have much days cause our main aim to renew Ironchef's passport and for us to get our Msian Police Clearance done up as well so we are trying to fit in whatever we can in between. So far, we have decided to at least spend one day at the National Zoo and Aquarium just for the kids. The rest we will try and figure out as we go along..hehe..omigosh..i am SOO excited!

A day full of Events!

So much has happened yesterday! I don't know where to even begin...ok...I shall start with what happened to my lil rascal. My poor boy is 2.5 years old and yesterday early morning, he woke up and vomitted his dinner from the other day which was really strange cause normally the food he eats would have been digested already by then so anyways, Ironchef and i had to clean him and change the bed sheets. Come breakfast, he wouldn't touch his bread which was strange and 20 mins later, he vomitted again! This time, i panicked abit cause he is not the type who vomits twice in a row and not touch food! We decided to monitor him further and come lunch, he still wouldn't touch his food and he was just so restless! Ironchef suggested we take him to the doctor's if his condition worsens. And then i remembered...i had a 1800 number fridge magnet. This 1800 number is a 24 hours health direct number where you can ring up and you are connected to a registered nurse on the other line who will advice you in the event of uncertainty in a medical condition so i decided to give it a try and i was so glad i did! The nurse picked up and asked a few questions about my boy's condition and gave the diagnosis. It was a stomach bug but reassured me that normally bugs like this will go away after 24 hours which means he should be feeling better today. I was not only taught what to look out for but also on what i should give my boy and advice on how to care for him. Now, if i brought lil rascal to the doctors, i would have gotten the same piece of advice and PAY (not that i mind paying for it)for it but by ringing the 1800 number, i got the advice FOC and they were very professional about it too. Teaching me what signs to look out for and reassuring this panicking mother not to be alarmed as well!

1800 Health Direct..you are a LIFE SAVER!!

You are SOOOO stuck on my fridge now!

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Next event of the day was:- WE are going to CANBERRA!!! WOOHOO!!!! Ironchef has to renew his passport because it expires in June this year and we were informed that we are not allowed to post our passports there for renewal but we have to be there in person. I was upset with Ironchef initially because Tiger Airways was having this promotion earlier and airfares to Canberra was so much cheaper. It would have only cost us $122 for all 4 of us but NO!! He had to dilly dally and only decided to book the tickets now and we had to pay $504!!!! NOT HAPPY!!
I am still in the midst of finding accomodation cause i want somewhere convenient where i can take the kids too while he goes to the Msian High Commission so hmmm...It is going to be a 4 days/3 nights trip which should be good, i hope. Besides, i have to go too cause Ironchef and I both need to apply for our Msian Police Check from the High Commission for our PR submission in two months time so yes..no time to waste..I haven't been to Canberra before so i hope this would be an eye opener for us afterall it is the CAPITAL CITY of Australia!

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My third and last event is about my lil tinkerbell. I am soo proud of her because yesterday night was the first time she didn't wear her pampers to bed at night and she slept through and woke up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night all by herself. She is not only sleeping by herself in her room now but also independent enough to go to the toilet by herself now! She told me she has been going to the toilet at night before this but i still had her wear her pampers in case of an emergency and i wouldn't like the idea of waking up in the middle of the night to change her bed sheets but she was determined to wear her undies instead of her pampers so we decided to give it a try and it worked! I know there might be accidents here and there in the future but hey, i trust her and I am indeed one proud parent now..as this is a milestone for us all.

0.9kg in one week!

Sniff! Sniff! 0.9 kg in 1 week..Not FAIR!! My weight increased by that in one week and i did NOT eat excessively at all during that one week. In fact, i increased the intensity of my workout to going 4 times a week to the gym instead of twice a week!! so WHY? WHY? WHY?

Ironchef says i should be recovering more because that is the time when my body will actually loose weight than exerting myself at the gym. I have had more injuries added to my wound and my latest one is my calf injury.

1) Bruised and swollen ankle

2) Torn a ligument in my biceps

3) Calf injury

Not FAIR!! Sigh...maybe it is fated for me to FAT! Maybe God says, i will look cuter being FAT! Cute = Ugly but adorable!! ARGHHHHHH....I Need a MIRACLE NOW!!! Someone..please...

Anyway, besides all the mourning..my weekend was quite good. I watched two good movies yesterday..a MUST WATCH.

1) 27 Dresses

2) The Last King of Scotland