Christmas Preparations & Men @ Work

Christmas! A word filled with anticipation for children, a word full of memories for grownups. Was in the festive mood just the other day and decided to be crafty. This white mini tree has been with me for the last 18 years! OMG!

A little homework for my little one but a HUGE project for myself! Decided to do up an advent calendar for N. Essentially to count down to Xmas, there's a riddle to decipher each day. The first alphabet of the word of the day will join together to form a Xmas wish at the end of 25 days. It was insanely tedious to be cutting and pasting onto foam paper to create that 3D look. Somehow, I get overly engrossed with such stuff.


Xmas is not here yet, but someone's already delirious with joy! Sweetie ordered himself so many Nespresso capsules, he can bury himself with them! what about my Xmas present? hehe


Rewinding a little.............Men @ Work. My boys decided to whip up dinner last wkend and I have no part in it, only to EAT! Yeah! For once I'm being "pampered". There's something alluring about men cooking. I think it's simply sexy!

Look at the tantalizing feast! The mash potato sweetie made was particularly tasty!
Big bro is eyeing on the food, wondering when is dinner gonna start!
FINALLY! Everybody tucking into their food!


Inspired by their enthusiasm, I felt like trying out some new recipes too. This month's issue of Simply Her came with a free Xmas recipe book. The pictures looked so good, i simply had the urge to cook. Cook I did, but with little success. Apart from the veg and soup which will never go wrong and are not part of the Xmas recipes, the cereal pork chop (cooked using simply a toaster) is a tat too salty. probably due to the garlic salt I've added. The lemon cheese prawns actually tasted nice, except that it was a tedious chore to be placing sandwich cheese (I should have used grated mozzarella cheese instead) on it and ensuring that it is in place in the midst of cooking in the toaster. Perhaps I'm not used to using a toaster to cook, thus the flop. However, i'm truly impressed with this new way of cooking. Less oil and less washing!

Am having mixed feelings about Xmas. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to our yearly party with friends and am already racking my brains over the menu (totally excited but clueless), but on the other hand, with Xmas coming, it spells a new year which implies the start of my hectic schedule. Shouldn't be complaining in times like these, but am still probably suffering from Bali hangover! That's right, I should focus on positive thoughts. The sense of excitement, dripping excess of adrenaline. It just wipes your brain out of negative thoughts, summoning what you may call insanity!

Screaming surreptitiously

Letting out a silent scream surreptitiously. I feel so small, tiny, puny, minute, minuscule......If you google his name, he's top on the list, holding top position in an MNC. Shows what a high flyer he is. Recently blissfully married to an attractive babe, he used to be the one whom Mom would compare me to. More recently, I learnt that he bought a property at a luxurious precinct of Singapore . We used to "compete" academically though deep down I know he's in a totally different category. The brain just ticks in a different way. I guess my left brain isn't keeping up with his despite Mother's incessant naggings. Over the years, we've grown apart. Reminisce the days when we were in the car and yr mom would be testing you idioms or vocabulary every 5 minutes! Perhaps if mom were to adopt such teaching methods, I would have turned out differently. I would probably not be lamenting and dwelling in my own tiny world. But, there's only admiration and new-found respect for this relative! *salute* Though hardly any interaction, he is like a shining beacon in an unfathomable abyss of darkness.

As a guru once said: If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. EASIER SAID THAN DONE! But indeed, little is needed to make a happy life; it's all within yourself, in your way of thinking. A happy life is one spent in learning (which I did as proven by the DISTINCTION i've attained this year....can't help being overly ecstatic abt it coz it's been a while since such productivity is displayed), earning (wish I can say more abt that, but unfortunately, the economic downturn has hit even me) and yearning (I'm yearning for more day by day!!!)