The addictions...

Addiction I

This is what I consider our wedding anniversary present….the Lampe Berger.

If not for my beloved Nazrah, I wouldn’t even know what it was. Sure, sounds french to me. So we bought a full set from eBay to find out if it is as amazing as how my twin had explained.

Here's my verdict after trying it out….WE LOVE IT! Something about how this deodorizer evaporates and permeates the air, it sure removes the pet and cooking odors. My cats, they find it so therapeutic, my kitten would sit on my bed and 'pass out' when the Lampe is burning! And when I move the Lampe to another room, she would quickly get up and be active again.

The half liter bottle of fragrant oil is almost gone, cos we have been burning it a lot yesterday (kemaruk lah katakan). And we're going to get the bigger bottle soon.

If you are not familiar with Lampe Berger, take a look at the website.

************** In the meantime***************

Addiction II

Yes I am having my PMS. The Low Carb Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was soooooooooooo good!!!!!!! Of course, the husband is in Phase one of the diet and did not want to hear me raving about the delicious choc.

Besides craving for them chocs, I have been having a 'taste' for heavy metal. I do love heavy metal but seldom listen to them at work. But not past few days and today, I have the Metal station turned on, turned up and ooooh, I feel the electric guitar consoling my temperamental moods. Ozzy, Metallica, ACDC, Overkill, Pearl Jam…and all the metals groups, they're my heros at this time!!! Rock Rock Rock Rock!!!!

I surpised some of my co workers when they came to use my computer or passed my work station…didn’t know that I am a metal fan…and they showed me the 3 finger metal symbol hahaha. Right on!

My 'high heeled' protected feet wouldn’t stop moving when I listen to the beat. Someone who walks into the office might think that I am having a spasm or something. Watch out…Ely might just start head-banging soon if the songs start getting better!

*While typing this*

Oh oh, I see the Assistant Manager pushing the cart around, with food in it. Yes, we're having Medical Insurance meetings in 4 sessions and she's serving gummy bears and candies…oh and she added some nuts and pistachios for me hehehe. Must love that little lady.

Weighty weighty, saggy saggy...

The boys in my office are having a 'weight challenge' beginning the 30th of this month. They are to reach their ideal BMI by end of the year. The highest BMI among the boys is 35. So this boy named David will have to lose that weight or lose $45. The girls in the office heard the challenge and would like to have their own. The highest BMI among the girls is 40. But I chose not to participate as #1, I am already on the diet and losing #2, I don’t want to have more pressure put on me when I am on a diet.

The husband is going through a shoulder surgery…due in 7 weeks or so and he has been advised by the Dr (and me) to lose that gut. So effective Monday, the husband has been on Phase 1 of the South Beach diet. As usual, like first day of Ramadan, the husband gets a little whiney and grumpy. He said, 'No wonder you guys get skinny on this diet…they starve you to death!'. Well hey, no starving here, just no carbs and no sugar.

Phase 2 of this diet convinced me that I do need them fruits and fiber to lose more. If I stayed on Phase 1, I would not have enough fiber to 'go to the bathroom'. I was caught by surprise when I weighed myself and am another 3 lbs lighter! So I have lost 14 lbs in total!

Today's his 3rd day of the diet. I could see his tummy getting soft (maybe the fluids are draining!). You see, I love seeing the changes…positive changes. I have lost them pounds and I ain't got the mucles…I am getting saggy. Since I can't afford the monthly fees of fitness clubs, I reminded the husband that we need to get dumbells to tone up.

Sags apart, I think now I am in trouble in the clothes department. Work clothes are still OK as they still look good. The jeans have become unwearable to me. When I tighten my belt, the waistline bunches up. When I don’t tighten, the hip hugger turns into a mid butt hugger! Some blouses that are meant to fit me nicely, now make me look stupid in them (that’s why I always prefer knitted top as they fit your body as you go!).

When the kids first found out that their paps was on this diet, they went 'Oh no…another one! Does this mean that we're all on the diet too?'. Of course not! We will still cook some carbs for them as they need the energy to burn during the day. But they can have free access to our sugarless desserts anytime they want!

So far, I have not missed any food yet. I don’t deprive myself totally from carbs. I would have a bite or 2 of that potato and those fries, come on…we all gotta live a good life right?

Today is another day
Don't know if it is going to be the same as yesterday
Or is it going to be better?
Wipe your tears and hold your chin up
Don't turn back, just keep walking
Everything will be fine Ely, everything will be fine...

And it is Monday again...

It is beautiful outside. According to the weather, it was suppose to rain! Instead of wearing a dress to work, I ended up wearing long pants, tennis shoes to ward off the wet weather and a leather jacket…grrr! Weathermen could not be trusted…or should I say I should not check the forecast before going to work! That’s OK, I'll save the dress for tomorrow, rain or shine!

Wish I had taken another day off today. I am so hungover from taking 800 mg of motrin last night to treat my headache. This morning I woke up feeling so groggy, feeling very sensitive to noises. Now…this sounds like PMS, yes, I should get the 'monthly friend' next weekend.

The craving has come…again. Chocolates! Cookies! Cakes! Sweets! But I am still on the diet. This morning, I went to Walgreens and got myself a bar of low carb candy bar (with double the price of a normal candy bar!!!) for the sudden cravings…have to prepare mah! What do you eat when you're craving?

*While typing the last paragraph...

Oh oh, I think someone broke the boss' clock. The director came to me and showed me my boss' (the one in the gulf right now!) broken clock and asked me what we should do. Erm, if I were his wife, I would get him another clock. But I suggested to wait for his return in December and let him decide on what to do.

I guess I'd better get back to work.

The 4 year reflection...

So we are back to the real world, after a day of being away from work and spending time with my husband of more than 4 years.

I have the habit of asking my kids, on their birthdays, what they have learned and experienced after 11 (or 12) years being in this world. But this time, at John's Restaurant, when the husband and I were having breakfast, I asked him the same question.

What have you learned and experienced, being married to me for 4 years?

He was single more than 4 years ago. No wife to nag him, no kids to call him every 5 minutes. Just his work, cats and tv (hehehehe sorry dear hubby). When he married me, he took on 3 people in his life...and a cat, the kids and me...and Bella my cat. After being married to me, his life was turned into the different directions. Be a husband, a dad and an owner to yet another cat! He said that the past 4 years has turned him to be unselfish, and that he lives for the kids and me. Amazingly, he is the 'parent point of contact' for the school and the kids' baseball, soccer and whatever teams that they're in as the husband is always available. I think the school teachers know him more than they know me!

As for me, OK OK, I kinda wept when I expressed to him that I have learned and experienced past 4 years being married to him. That whenever we had a fight and showed the worst point of me, he would say 'Well, you're my wife. The bad points make you, you!'...now I told him that I had never EVER heard that from anyone in my life before and I am always touched to the bottom of my heart for having a husband who accepts me for what I am. A person who never ever would change me. And another that I learned, that it is NOT OK to keep showing my bad points eventhough he says that hahahaha! One last thing, that I was given the chance by Allah, to love and be loved again, to restructure my life over again...properly this time.

We had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant. We were holding hands and looking into each other's eyes when all of a sudden, a close co-worker of mine walked in on us accidentally with his wife and son (they're more like a family friend). We ended up at their house soon after. And that was how we spent our Anniversary dinner. Oh well, I was happy, and he was happy, thats all that matters.

Thank you Mardiana and Ayu, for calling and reporting to me about your masakan. You gals are such dolls!

Today is Saturday, family day. Great Mall, here we come!

ps. It is so wonderful being married and happy at the same time!

4 years ago...

Note : We were married in Singapore, so it is already the exact date if I post it now :)

****************************************

My husband...

Remember this song in my blog? This song was sent to me when we were separated after meeting for the first time. This song never stops making me cry like a baby. Tears of joy, tears of love.

It was 5 years ago when we met, something out of the blue. We stumbled upon each other online, something which was very impersonal, very uneventful and something which was ordinary. You thought that I was from Texas cos of my screen name (May Elly).

We didn’t like each other then, I was 'Lil Ms Perfect' and you were 'Mr Obnoxious'. There were times when we argued and didn’t chat for months just because we got tired of each others 'know it all' attitudes. But we were just chat buddies then, little did we know that 12 months later, we met, and fell in love. Something that was very very unexpected, especially with the kids in tow. Little did we know that we were so in love, that we decided that we couldn’t live without each other. So fast, so soon…and we were married in 3 months.

Our marriage is very unique, we always speak the same words at the same time almost everyday, we always agree on many things without having to argue too much, we are best friends, never separated. That's us, David and Ely, Ely and David, 2 bullish people :)

4 years...thank you for being such a wonderful stepfather to the kids. Thank you for being my closest friend ever, and thank you for always being there for me when I need you.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DAVID

I love you, and always will. Now and forever...
September 23rd

*****************************************************

Maybe I'm Amazed

Baby I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time
And maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time
You hung me on the line
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

Baby I'm a man, maybe I'm a lonely man
Who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand
Baby I'm a man, and maybe you're the only woman
Who could ever help me
Baby won't you help me to understand?
Ooh

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh

Baby I'm a man, maybe I'm a lonely man
Who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand
Baby I'm a man, and maybe you're the only woman
Who could ever help me
Baby won't you help me to understand?
Ooh

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I'm wrong
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, hey, hey, hey
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, uh, uh, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah
Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, oh

Ayu & me...

It sure is nice to suddenly have another sister that I never had. Ayu flew into San Francisco on Friday night, close to midnight.

Saturday was a good 'delivery' and meeting session. We just sat down for lunch, indian food on our mouths and started talking about anything and everything. We didn’t have to plan or think of what to talk about, and didn’t have to keep prodding each other for conversation. We just went with the flow.

Let's skip Sunday as I've already blogged about it.

Currently, we're car hunting 'together'. Ayu does the initial selection and the husband will go with her to look at the car. It can be hard when 'this person' sleeps till 4pm, so we had to wake her up to start the day at 9am hehehehe. Jangan marah Ayu!

Hopefully, we should find her a car soon. She says that she might be too afraid to be driving in California. But I told her, I could drive the car for her and watch me turn into a monster when I drive hahaha. But I know that Ayu is a brave girl and since she has travelled this far to get her PHD (or Permanent Head Damage I call it), driving here will be a piece of cake!

I am happy that Ayu is here. She is one nice, polite and considerate lady. She also fills the emptiness of me missing my sister back home. And she is always welcome to hop by our house anytime she wants as my house is on her way to the campus. Rest assured, we will see each other more often than we might expect.

Phase II

This is my fourth week of the South Beach Diet. In Phase 1, I lost 10 lbs in two and a half weeks. So I thought to myself, maybe I should stick to Phase 1, but the one extra week of going into Phase 1 started to show the 'not so positive' effect on me and I don't seem to be losing as quickly as the last 2 weeks. Firstly, that’s when I started to get bored and craved for more variety of food (like carbs and fruits!) and I thought I'd better start on Phase II before I start cheating!

So I have started the Phase II today. Nice old style (not the instant one) oatmeal for breakfast. I still am taking cheese and celery for morning snack if I need to and maybe more salad and fruits for lunch.

I know that this phase will actually help to maintain the weight that I have lost and losing weight at a slower pace, like 1 lb a week which is OK, as long as I don’t gain the weight back. I guess this will be my lifestyle until I reach my weight goal (or if I will ever reach it!).

My verdict on this South Beach Diet, try it! This diet does not make you feel hungry or deprived (except for the 1st few days) and makes you think first before you eat anything, between bad carbs and good carbs, sugar or without sugar. Another thing also, of course its easier to work this diet when I am away from home cos I don’t think I would be able to resist the nasi lemak and nasi padang at the hawker stalls hahaha.

Ely's Not in...

To all my blog friends who will be waiting for me to turn up at the Kedai Kopi, just wanted to let you know that I shall be out of my Kedai Kopi today, returning your tomorrow morning or California time, Monday evening. Eh...macam automatic email 'out of office' reply eh?

We are going out in a bit to meet up with Lilac and family and again...Ayu!!! The dinner was initially to meet up with Lilac as we have not seen them in a long time and thought we would meet up before Ramadan (puasa lain cerita, another makan2 also)...we invited Ayu so that she could meet up with Lilac and family.

The meeting with Ayu yesterday was nice and simple. Had 8 boxes of hers delivered to her apartment and I brought her lunch, enough for 4! Alah sapa lagi nak manjakan Ayu kalau tak Ely kan? We talked for almost 3 hours...fun fun!

I have to put on my socks and shoes now...gotta go...LOVE YOU ALL!

ps..nazrah, I am ok!

*Pictures to come soon!

UPDATE........

The meeting with Ayu again and Lilac and family was great! Food food food...thats all I can say without elaborating!

Anyway, we managed to take only 2 pictures of Ayu, Alya and me.

Special thank you to Lilac and Sam for your beautiful anniversary and my birthday (3 weeks early) presents. Such great time with you guys, always!!!!!! Thank you to Ayu for making time in seeing us again in barely 24 hours!

The Jewish Wedding - Part 2

The wedding is only 5 months away. The last time I blogged about it, I did not even know what to wear…dress or baju kurung.

The search for THE baju kebaya was hard, especially when I had to call mak and tell her what color and style I wanted. When she came here with the kebaya, I was so relieved! It is the kebaya I wanted…nyonya style. But she could not find the kain batik that has been stitched up with zippers. So she asked me to ‘ikat’ my own kain batik. Well mak, I don’t think that will happen cos I will look like I am 5 months pregnant! So I have 2 choices, to wait for mak to come again in December (if she comes) with the sewn kain batik or wear the kebaya with pants. AND…I am also considering about ordering a dress from Newport News.

The wedding will be on February 4th…which is a Saturday. Luckily, we have enough frequent flyer miles so that the dad in law wouldn’t have to pay for our flights as he is already paying for our 3 night stay at a hotel in Miami and most probably a rental car too.

A jewish wedding…I am still trying to imagine how it is going to be. I am very intrigued by the jewish tradition. Besides looking forward to the 'glass breaking' after the vows are exchanged and the dance to the 'hava nagila' music, I also know that I am going to see the in laws for the second time, hang out with my sister in law and her husband, with the granny and grandpa and other relatives whom I have not met. To think that the kids and I are the only Asians in the family, it gives me a thrill. I know that they will ask me a lot about my culture and tradition, without being judgemental or preach Judaism. I know that I will feel the love and warmth, just like when I met the grannies (grandpa owned a bakery supply company and grandma, a sweet housewife), the uncle (who used to work at the jewish temple but now an attorney) and his wife (who is a devout jew) for the first time.

Now I am thinking…what do I get as their wedding present? A Lampe Berger? A crystal vase? Or another cat? Hahaha…

Am I Malay?

Reading OODy's blog reminded me so much about myself. Sometimes I wonder, if this indentity crisis 'friend' will ever stop bugging me.

When I was in primary school, I have to confess, that I never fit in. I only loved chinese girls and boys and played with them. It wasn’t that I didn’t have any malay friends, I did, I played with them a bunch but then most of the time, I would stray away and play with them chinese girls. I did have best friends here and there…they're malays. Loved them to death!

Then went to secondary school. The identity crisis got stronger for me. Since it was a mission school, you could count the malays with just your 2 hands. So I had tonnes of chinese friends, loved them all! But then came the problem of 'forgetting' to mix with the malays. OK OK, I did not forget, I chose not to hang out with them as they had the minah rock attire with 2 braids on their heads, long socks that I called stockings and ultra short skirts. Errrr…that sure did not sound like Ely! I was the new wavey hairdo, fashion and loved roller skating at the noon disco where all the Ah Bengs hung out. Oh how I loved that moment! The malays started to call me 'belacan terselit', eksen bagus, tak mengaku melayu. But but but (Ely stammering)…Ely doesn’t like looking like a malay red indian either! But the crisis went on. Me and my ah mois and the malays jeering at me.
Note : Never got invited to any beach parties of bbq's by the malays…they said I am too kental. But that's OK, I was busy burying my nose in the books and learning to speak mandarin!

To make the story short, I had the worst indentity crisis when I moved to San Francisco where 51% are asians. Since we live in Daly City, the statistics change…I can say that it is 75% filipino. At work, customers speak to me in Spanish, when I was learning to drive, my driving instructor spoke to me in Tagalog (turn left? Hallo? Why I turned right?), some said Aloha to me. One day, I went home and asked the husband, 'When you looked at me for the first time, do I look hispanic, filipino or hawaiian?'. The husband went,'Are you having an identity crisis?'. Took me a moment to answer him but yeah! I AM HAVING AN IDENTITY CRISIS…can someone help me? If I colored my hair very light, I would look like hawaiian and if I colored my hair very dark, I become hispanic. How about green? Then I'll turn into a gothicky white gurl hahaha.

Sigh…4 years later, I learned to deal with this crisis thingy. I learned to get use to saying 'No habla espanol', 'not a filipino but close' and 'aloha (as in bye bye) back to you'! And when someone asked me what I am? I would say 'Whatever you want me to be as long as you don’t make me speakah your language!'

Bitching session...

Have you ever gotten the hunch if someone does not like you for some reason and is not subtle about it? What would you do? Would you race to cure the situation and ask that individual why he/she doesn’t like you or would you just let it go and let he/she deal with his/her dislikes about you?

I think this is going to be one heck of a 'bitching session' posting today. If you feel like listening to a gossip, please read on, sesiapa yang tengah bayar hutang puasa tuh, read at your own pahala risk ok!

I have worked for this company for 3 years (hurrah hurrah!). Believe it or not, I only started to love my job when I was moved to work directly with my supervisor and the management team of the District Office. Why did I not like my job when I was an underwriter? I mean, I loved being an underwriter, I love my co workers BUT, there is just one person who does not like me. She is one of my team leads.

She does not like me since I started working here. Come on, I get along with EVERYBODY in this world (except my ex husband and the husband's ex girlfriend) but she just does not like me for whatever reason that I will never know. She hates how I dress, she hates my 'cooperativeness' in the section, she would always make a hard time for me to take time off work and many others. Some say that she's always so jealous about me and loves to 'tattle tale' on me to my supervisor (cos some overheard the conversations).

OK I have to admit, being new in this country, at that time, I took her 'bully treatment' which made me feel so miserable. I so wanted to leave my job and go somewhere else. I guess Allah made me stay as I did not get any job offers from other companies…and I am not am impulsive person, to quit just for one person? Nahhhh!!!

So one day, when the boss called me into the office and suggested that I be his assistant, I thought that it would be a good breakthrough for me. Number 1, to be away from her (the boss' office is on the other side of the floor) and number 2, I would not have to report to her.

Today, she just came back from a 6 month sick aka maternity aka 'milking the sickness' leave. The last 6 months without her being around was such pleasure, such serene office and it seemed like noone missed her at all (she was always on sick leave even when she wasn’t sick anyway!).

I said hello to her this morning 'just because' I was walking to my co workers desk. She did not even look up at me but just said hi and fine thanks. And what did I do? Before she could finish saying 'fine thanks' I was already talking to my co worker loudly which meant 'I really don’t care if you don’t answer anyway B***CH!'.

I think really do not want to know WHY she doesn't like me. Since I am working for my boss now and am totally detached from her, I really don’t care. The more she doesn’t like me, the more I am going to prance around her and make her oooooooooh so hateful of me. Well, I don't kiss a*s to be well liked. They either like me for what I am or I am just going to stay happy and work 'around' them whether they like it or not.

Phew…Ely's done with her bitching session. For those who have known me, I am a very easy person to get along with…but I can't make everybody happy just because I am being Ely right?

Ps. The husband would love to call this drama 'Battle of the Bitches!'

ALERT : New e-store/catalogue found!

Yup and the season is changing again. Which means that I would have to add some to my wardrobe and resurface fall clothes again.

Last week, a co worker came to work with a brand new catalogue from Newport News which made everyone in the office go gaga. They’re cheap and they have awesome collections. Since this would be our first time ordering, we have decided to order just a few pieces of clothes/shoes each. If the quality is good, you know where my favorite shopping place will be!

Here’s what I ordered...

In black...just $25!!!

What I already have but not from this catalogue

Tweed Jacket in black background and white details, same design

What I really want!

Need more of such!

The 'belt tightening'...

Breakfast
2 scrambled eggs or an omelete fried with onions, very little oil

Mid morning snack
Laughing cow light cheese and celery (if you wish)

Lunch
Chicken or Steak Salad and sugarless Jello

Mid noon snack
15 almonds or cashews or 30 pistachios

Dinner
Grilled or Chicken or Steak
Skimmed Mozarella string cheese

That’s how my menu looks like everyday for the past 8 days. Today’s my 12th day of phase one. Like I told 2 of the GI Janes here, I have lost 9.5 lbs as of Thursday.

I guess everything has been so far so good eh? Its all self control, yoga-like concentration from bad food. Why did I mention yoga-like? Because I love food and I admit that most of the ‘junk in my trunk’ was due to the uncontrollable compulsive sweet tooth of mine who loves to devour cookies, Krispie Kreme donuts, See’s candies and whatever sweet goodness I could find here in California. And don’t forget my beloved mommy who did not have to twist our arm to make us eat her oh so delicious food!

YES...YES…YES…I miss them good food. People around me laugh when they see me counting the pistachios to 30 and the almonds to 15…they say that I was nuts. The kids laugh at me when they see me snack on Laughing Cow Light Cheese. They said,’There she goes with her diet again. How long are you going to be like this ibu?’. My response, ‘2 more weeks, babe’. Maybe I guess they have lost their ‘all you can eat’ kind of mother.

Mentally, it has disciplined me. To check on every packaging of foods for sugar. To know which food I have to avoid for the first 14 days and then reintroduce the fruits (that I can’t wait!) and good carbs until I reach my weight goal.

Again, I repeat, my weight goal is not ala Cindy Crawford or Pamela Anderson Lee of below 100 lbs, but enough to make me feel fit and not as bulky. To those who are concerned if I am obsessed with this diet, don’t worry, I am on track, I am eating as I am supposed to and I am not starving myself, I promise.

To my rah rah supporter, my dearest Karmaalmitra aka Intan, again like I said, if not cos of you, memang lah benda nih suma tak jadi. You changed my mind from backing out of this diet and your support will always be greatly appreciated. That’s one thing that I love about you. Endless support!!!!!!!!

And to other GI Janes, don’t diet unless you’re ready. If you want to try my style, get the book and let’s get going babes!

ps When you are having that ‘time of the month’ don’t you just feel that you’re 10 lbs heavier?

Dear Blog...

Dear Blog,

How does it feel like starting work at 7:30 am in the morning, an hour earlier than the usual start time? A drag! It is 9 am now and I am still hyped from the morning coffee before the 7:30 am meeting. Working life can 'not' be as complicating as it already is for me. I am given more tasks to do with lesser deadlines every week.

Am I whining again? Yes I guess, I am whining to myself, at your expense. This is the greatness of having you, blog. You are like an imaginary friend for me to relate to and pen my thoughts for the day…as my banner for you says, 'My say for the day'.

Right now, I wish there's sun in this beautiful city of San Francisco. The sun has been hiding the past few days and has been blowing nasty winds. Skirts and tank tops are not the 'in' summer clothing in San Francisco, thick cardigans and jackets are the 'essential' clothing now, whether we like it or not.

So I am singing 'Here comes the sun' by he Beatles, hoping that the sun would really shine on me at 12pm today.

What I was like

20 years ago : 1985 (I was 12)
Sheesh, thanks to Nadya, now I feel old. I was in Primary 6 in Thomson Primary School in Singapore. I had a year long rift with my classmate who sat next to me. Memang dosa tak tegur nih sampai satu tahun. But at the end of the year, I mintak maaf and we were friends again.

10 years ago : 1995 (I was 22)
Haha, now I feel young! I married when I was 18 (first marriage, stupid and senile me!) and at 22, I gave birth to my second baby, Masturah. 7.9 lbs, 51 cm. Tembam sekali, and she never stopped growing! I was still working for Prudential Singapore, had to be a part-timer after Mas was born, no regrets.

5 years ago : 2000 (I was 27)
Gosh, kena pulak marking nih ngam ngam time my life history. Nasty divorce (meleret for 13 mths)! I just moved to another apartment, with the kids, very close to my sister and parents. I got to know David in June 2000, we were friends, hated him! Hehehe.

3 years ago : 2002 (I was 29)
I just moved to San Francisco, by myself without the kids in 2001. So in August 2002, the kids came to stay for good! My sadness were cured instanly! My babies!


This year : 2005 (I am 32 turning 33 this October, waaaah!)
Our 4th wedding anniversary on the 23rd! Time flies when we’re having fun!

Still working for the same company. My career made a turnaround for the better this year.

Next year : 2006 (I will be …must I say it? OK OK, 33 going on 34)
To own a house. San Francisco is the most expensive area in America to own a house. If we can’t afford to buy an $800k house with a $4,000 monthly mortgage, then we would rent a bigger house. Maybe have a baby on the way.

10 years from now : 2015 (I will be 43 going on 44, InsyaAllah)
Too far to think about it. But I should still be happily married with my beloved husband, if we had a kid, then the kid should be 9 years old. Abdul Mathein would be 24 and Masturah, 22. They better have graduated and have good jobs!

I am tagging OOD cos she hasn't done it yet!

What we did this weekend...

It’s the Labor Day weekend. Yesterday, we decided to go to Santa Cruz Boardwalk via Highway 1 Pacifica. We have never driven on Highway 1 as far as more than 50 miles south but this time, we took our time driving and found some neat places for future visits.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

See if you can spot me on the roller coaster

We're going to Chinatown today. Sorry, no pictures but I could take pictures of what I would be buying hehehel

You've Got Mail...

Have you ever watched a movie and it relates back to your own real life?

It was a quiet Saturday evening and I was watching this movie called ‘You’ve Got Mail’. It was not the first time that I watched this movie….a dozen times. But when I watched it last night, it just relived the experiences that I had with the husband.

The way Joe and Kathleen were communicating with each other via email just relived my experiences with the husband. Of course, the movie scenes differ as Kathleen and Joe lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same stores whereas the husband and I were miles apart.

I like the scene when Joe was trying to ignore Kathleen’s emails. He loitered around the room but ended up staring at his laptop. This scene reminded me of when I was having an argument with the husband and we stopped chatting for months.

The last scene about Kathleen and Joe meeting at the park with Brinkly the dog was the most touching. Kathleen said ‘I was hoping that it was you’. Now that struck the bell when I first met the husband…we were mutual friends but I longed to be with someone with a perfect smile and a warm personality. After meeting him for the first time, he was the one whom I was hoping for but never expected to be. The 12 months of us chatting made us feel as though we were not strangers to each other.

Our internet friendship was a very weird one. We were mere friends and nothing more than that. We bickered a lot online and then stopped chatting for months but got back online again and continued chatting, from where we left behind. My vacation to San Francisco was not to see him exclusively. I just happened to pick the city that he lives in so…what the heck…we met but little did we expect that we would fall in love in a second (like wham bam ala kazaam!).

Here’s the synopsis of the movie if you do not know what I am talking about :)


You’ve Got Mail

Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly live and work blocks from each other on New York City's Upper West Side. Their lives are practically intertwined. They both shop at the same place, frequent the same coffee shop, and even own competing bookstores on the same street. They also both have significant others of their own. Joe has the overly hyper book editor Patricia Eden (Parker Posey), while Kathleen lives with the scholarly newspaper columnist Frank Navasky (Greg Kinnear). Then they meet in a chat room. Though they keep their identities secret (they're known only by screen names NY152 and Shopgirl), they tell each other everything about their lives, including their private feelings, which slowly turn into affection for each other. When Joe decides to expand his "Foxbooks" bookstore into a superchain, Kathleen, with her "Shop Around the Corner," is doomed. Surely her boutique business will be lost to the conglomerate with a built-in newsstand and coffee bar. When Kathleen confides her work woes to her e-mail buddy, Joe puts two-and-two together. How can he reveal himself to her now, knowing that he is the cause of her misery? Hopefully, love will conquer all

'Seasoning' transition...

It is Friday, for those who are working would be jumping for joy as it’s the last work week of the day PLUS…Labor Day long weekend for the ones in the US. But today, I am not as happy as I should be. Or should I say that I am not physically happy. Nothing to do with the South Beach Diet (let's talk about something else, nanti orang bosan pulak!), but the weather is changing, summer to fall (autumn as some call it)…the allergies have attacked again!

My first bout was yesterday, in the office and I could not stop sneezing. I thought it was dust at first…but hey…the sneeze just didn’t stop at 2! So I knew right away that the allergies are starting to attack me again.

This is a 'twice a year' occasion for me, one in early spring and one in early fall. The eyes start to water, the nose starts to itch and gets watery hence, the sneeze…half a dozen times every morning.

Some will tell to to just stay home and recover. Errr, no, it gets worse at home cos I will be surrounded by more pollens. With the cats rolling in the backyard, it gets worse when my Pinky comes to sleep right in my face (cos she turns grey whenever she comes back from romping outside).

The only thing I could do is to take the allergy pill called Allegra and wait for the amazing drug to take the symptoms away. But today, its worse than before. Took Allegra 2 hours ago and my eyes still water. My head is heavy and hurting. I might have to take Ibuprofen to kill the pain in my head so that I could look at the computer screen longer and work (or pretend to work hah).

Happy Friday everyone, or happy Saturday to those who are on the other side of the world.