Tough Love

Sometimes...the best advise is not necessarily the nicest-to-hear ones.

In fact, the term best advise = the advise that can really brings you out of your slums..the one that snaps you back to reality...the one that dry up your tears and gets you going again.

A real-life example - from my wise sister, Dodek.

"Why you want to care if you're spending 'enough' time with your children or not? Your children will know which one is their mother...and which one is the maid...you go ask any kids with maid...they all know-lah. All these anak sayang maid is so cerekarama one..."

It sounded a bit harsh when I first heard it. Of course I want to spend 'enough' time with my children!
But after going through a series of different maids...I realise that at the end of the day, my children will still come back to me. I'm not being arrogant about this - instead I'm giving my children (and all the children with working mothers) the credits for knowing that I'm going to work because I have to - because I've to support them, and not because I don't want to spend time with them.

And it irritates the hell out of me when the maids think that my life revolves around them and how my life depends on them.

On the other hand - God shows us the way...but its up to us to choose our directions.

Maybe it was God's way to show the truth about my maid. I can choose to keep her or terminate her. After some thinking...can I still keep her after knowing the things I knew now? Will I be able to live with my conscience if things go wrong later? Na'uzubillah...

So my precious children - Opi and Isya, the only way Mummy can do may not be the best for you...but trust me on this one. I need your support. I miss Husband so much!

We'll go through this together kids...it may be tough but you know very well that I love you with all my heart!

Lifeline

I’ve been caught!

Never thought anyone from Shell…Shell IT Cyberjaya for that matter will actually ‘accidentally’ read my blog… well CY – I do know you but let’s just play this game and not reveal who I am. Mainly because I’ve confessed a lot of unintelligent stuff in my blog – not nice-lah for my rep! Hahahaha….

And there are times when I bitched about this and that…again…not so nice-lah.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The saga of my maid continues…

Background – I have a temporary maid whom I’ve yet to decide if I want to take her as permanent or let her go, and choose a new one. You know how things are in corporate world where we have a probationary period and most of the time, the staff will be in their best behaviour until confirmed, right? So…as long as we are working for someone else – first rule: behave.

After one month with me, she decided to went off (to the nearest shop which is ½ hour walk…did I mention that my house is remote?) on her own and worst, left the front door wide open!

I did some grilling (not literally or you’d seen another Nirmala Bonat on TV yesterday), only to find out that she was using a different name until recently. Thanks to Jim Bob, a check with the immigration revealed that her previous name was listed as a PATI - Pendatang Asing Tanpa Izin (illegal immigrant).

Jim Bob told me I should mandi bunga to cast away all the bad spells I’ve been having with maids. I just need to quit….

All these normally happen when Husband is away on his trips...maybe I should follow him for his next meeting.

What would you do?

When things don't go as planned...

I am stumped…I didn’t know what went wrong…I did everything right…I know (or thought I knew) how the game works…how did this happened?

If you really know me…you’d know that I’m not joking.

How the hell did I get promoted?

I came to Shell to start a new life. I had enough of managerial shit in my previous workplace. Those jokers made me a manager when I was 27, and for a few years I had to bear all the responsibilities, had to attend all those unnecessary meetings, made decisions that had financial impacts and oh…dressed a certain way and had my lunches alone. After a while, the thrill of a huge cubicle and all the other entitlements was no longer there. I want to be…normal again.

Hence the reason why I am where I am now.

So I played the game right (or so I thought). Jeans and t’shirts replace the suits, my hair is often messy, comes in at 830am and leave (promptly) at 515pm. I talk less in a meeting, don’t give out any ideas, and do all the ‘administrative’ works like meeting minutes, data entry so on. I am so not the promotable type….

Shit-lah…

Now they put me in-charge of the whole unit, with 7 staff reporting to me. Most of them have been in Shell longer than I have.

Adooii….kacau lah like this….

I was just beginning to enjoy my evening gardening….

Ramblings of a Sugar-Deprived Mummy!

Pona came back from her lovey-dovey vacation in Dubai yesterday – so radiant, so dreamy, so….so much stuff for me! She handed over loads and loads of baklavas – there are ones with pistachios, ones with almonds…and loads of ghee and honey, too!

Two bites of extremely sweet baklava and two gulps of teh tarik…repeat that…two bites of baklava and another big gulp of sweet teh tarik…what a life!

“Eh…ada untuk Bang long and Bang Jai ke?”
“Ada…one pack for one family…”

Ok…at least I asked.

Dodek…you missed out on the best baklava..but Pona will always have something for you when you come back for Chinese New Year Hols…err…Dodek…you still remember to buy me those yummy bonbons from Marks & Spencers, right?

Oooo….how-lah to diet?

I just started (today) on Biodex diet, courtesy of too much time surfing the Net under “diet Malaysia” and stumbled upon this forum of makciks who ranted on and on about biodex diet. How they lost 5 kgs in two weeks bla bla. Anyway, I’m always a sucker for all these sales gimmicks…so after paying $240 for three boxes of yucky tasting sachets of I-fell-full-all-the-time, here I am…munching away Jacob’s Sunlife breakfast biscuits because I’m so goddamn hungry!!!

I need to lose all these flabs…I need to be the hip mum that Opi always hinted for. Last Friday, I picked Opi up from school, and I waved and waved at him but somehow, he didn’t (couldn’t??) see me. I playfully asked him later,”how come Opi tak nampak? Mummy dok lambai-lambai kat Opi..”

His answer was simple “Ramai sangat mummies…Opi tak perasan…”

Somehow, I felt a bit offended – you mean, I’m not outstanding? How can I not be visible? Argh….Is this a sign of aging?

Last Thursday, my self-appointed personal trainer drained the life out of me. She’s one sweet lady who turns into a drill sergeant when it comes to exercise. We did circuit training – alternating between aerobics and weights.

“You got rhythm, girl..let’s go…burn those kilos…”

Of course I got rhythm! All those years of boogying at Face2, 11LA and Scandals have got to leave some grooves in me…

I’ve 10 kilos to lose to be happy. If I lose 20 kilos…I’ll register myself at a casting agent…hahaha….

Somebody offered me to join their blog…maybe I’ll write a post or two…

Food for Thought

Over a good lunch at Alamanda, I overheard a man saying to his lady companion
“…you have to be smarter than this, why do you always have to be this dumb..?”

And she answered, in a very clam manner “Dear…God created Einstein to figure out all the formula…so that people like me can enjoy life..”

I almost gave her a standing ovation!

Hellooooo people......

Sigh.

Mak is still feeling under the weather, so she's not as chatty as normal when I call her. Husband is away in Hamburg (again!), Dodek is in London, Pona in la-la land, Jim Bob is around but he's pretty busy with his work.

Mak's house is a mess with the renovation. Dodek and Pona's rooms are torn apart from floor to the roof. The doors are nailed shut. Mak still has to cook at the front porch as the kitchen still doesn't look like one.

Now Aidil Adha is coming soon. Jim Bob is going back to Melaka, I heard.

With no one around and no Mak's house to go to...guess I've to make my own rendang, then.

Anyone coming?

Just...come again another day...

*sniff*
*snort*
*cough*

I’m starting 2005 with a bad bout of flu, cough and a slight fever.

In my castle in the sky:
I’m snuggling with an all downs duvet, which smells sweetly of lavender. The chiffon drapes sway gently to the breeze of the night as I doze in and out of my slumber. The maid prepares me a delicious, steaming hot ‘sup kambing’ to reduce my blocked nose. Isya will be playing her Barbie doll quietly and Opi will be reading Harry Potter in his room. Life will be bliss….

But in all hard reality:
I couldn’t even sit down longer than 5 minutes, much less to take a nap! The two kids were down with flu themselves and needed constant attention – some more milk, rub my back, massage my head, where’s the Vicks, where’s the remote, hungry-lah, sakit itu…sakit ini. Then the maid is totally hopeless when it comes to cooking, even when complete direction written for her. So I had to cook dinner, despite having pounding headaches.

And people wonder why I still come to work with blocked nose and a bad cough??

Then again – this is my life.