3 Days Overdue

Dear Bubbly,

What can I say. Only that you are as stubborn as mummy dearest here. Funny how I always frown or pout when anyone says that you will come when you decide to. Well excuse me for wanting control over my own body.  You are now THREE days overdue but it feels like THREE WEEKS. Doesn't help my body has now developed weird sleeping habits and patterns. Waking up at 5am is not my idea of a fun time. 

All I can say is that mummy dearest is really anxious about meeting you in person. Not to mention your grandparents who flew all the way from Singapore hoping to cradle you in their arms and mad spoil you and yet you've made them wait for the last 19 days. 

Think your daddy is getting tired of mummy's whining and complaining about you taking your own sweet time coming out to meet us because he sent a whole text message in caps telling your paternal grandma that mummy is in labour and we were rushing to the hospital. Tsk tsk tsk. I swear if you ever pull something like that on me, mummy dearest here would smack your tooshie. God help me if you take after your daddy in wit and humour! 

Everyone is waiting for you to come out. So ... hurry up won't you? 

Love,
Mummy

40 Weeks. Where Art Thou Bubbly.

Dear Bubbly,

We have been told that today is the day you were going to coming out and meeting us face to face in our arms. However, I am pretty sure that you are more than content in staying in my warm belly till you decide when you would like to meet the world. 

Well young lady, it's time for you to realise that this the last time you choose not to listen to mummy dearest without getting into trouble. 

Time to listen to your mother. You have about 12 hours to come out. I've given you the eviction notice 2 weeks ago. 

Love,
Mummy

The Beginning of our Journey to Parenthood

6 days after my last post, Hubbie and myself found out that we were going to be parents sometime this year. The only reason why I thought I was pregnant wasn't because I had the morning sickness signs or that I missed my period for the last 2 months.

A few days before we did the good old pee test on a stick, Hubbie had made Greek salad for dinner. I like Greek salad but for some reason I took a deep whiff of the salad and immediately pushed it away. At first I thought I was just coming down with something (the usual cold, flu, sore throat) but something told me that it was more than me being sick. I haven't been sleeping well (going to bed at 9.30-10pm and waking up every hour between 2am to 6am) and being turned off by food just by their smell was the big telling sign. I'm a big girl and like my Hubbie likes to tell me, I'm FLUFFY. How did i get FLUFFY? My love for food. I love food. I love that I could enjoy most food and eat them very willingly. So being turned off by the smell of my favourite food set off alarm bells. A few days later I peed on the stick and the little screen showed me the little blue positive sign. Yep, I was pregnant. I walked the stick to Hubbie and showed him the result.

Hubbie : "Well, looks like Wifey is pregnant." 

Me : [long pause] "I don't know how I feel about this."

Hubbie : [laugh] "Looks like the craft room is going to be turned into a Nursery now."

Me : "Erm, shouldn't we wait till we get the official result from the doctor before we make plans like that?"

It Was Good While It Lasted 

The weather that is. We had such a mild Winter up till last weekend that I guess we shouldn't be surprised that it started snowing heavily for a good 10 hours on Saturday. I shouldn't complain about the cold snap since I have not had to wear my black marshmellow or red sleeping bag coat till now. That I've not had to worry about walking in the cold for about 10 minutes and walk into work with frosted strayed hair exposed to the elements. Or that my breath would fog up my glasses making it hard to see and walk safely at the same time, while contact lenses are not much of an alternative because my eyes would get really dry and irritated. Not to mention that it now takes me more than 10 minutes to get nicely bundled up before walking out the door and out to the frosty bite of temperatures -30s with or without the windchill factor. Oh well. It is only supposed to last till this coming weekend but we'll see how it goes. Can't be too sure with Mother Nature. She might decide that we've had enough fun and that she wants to 'torture' us for a little while longer. Either way, bundle up my fellow Edmontonians.

At least everything is now a blanket of white fluffy snow. It feels somewhat comforting to see such a scene for Winter instead of the icy mucky brown that reminded me too much of Spring.

I know Christmas is way over but once I woke to this the next day I couldn't help but hum the tune of "Winter Wonderland". Much to my Hubbie's dismay.

For a brief moment, the sun was shining brightly into the living room. Providing some warmth relief for me, considering that everyone has probably jacked up their heat and now the condo's central heating system is very likely overworked and not working properly. I wasn't the only one who welcomed the sun's rays and wanted to busk in it's glorious warmth.

My baby boy is so adorable.... 

Pineapple Tarts

Before                                                                                                                                                       After

Well, these little nuggets of golden delicious ... Ok they don't look like the most appetising batch of of pineapple tarts .... And well, they aren't. The filling taste good though with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness. The tart's "shell" on the other hand was bland plain and simple. The melt in your mouth texture (which is superb in my mind) did nothing to save it from the world of Blandness. Ugh! This is why I had hesitated in baking up a batch of these little Chinese New Year goodies. Almost four hours slaving in the kitchen only yielded 36 mini bite-sized pineapple tarts (it was a small pineapple so I got a small amount of pineapple filling). 36 measly, bland-tasting... Ugh! Oh well, at least I tried. 

The whole process that goes into baking the pineapple tarts is tedious one. First, you take a freshly cut and cleaned whole pineapple, with the core removed, and use some brute force to grate the pulp into a fibrous mush. Next, mash the mush in a strainer to drain almost all of the juice out of it. Once that is done, stir fry (without oil or butter) the pulp in a pan until the pulp is dry (oh don't forget to add rock sugar to taste in the process of frying the pulp). This process took me about 1 1/2 hours and it was only a SMALL pineapple(!!). Now that you have prepared the filling for the tart you move on to the "shell". Yes, i call it a "shell" because I prefer to wrap my dough around filling instead of having the filling sit on top of it. The pineapple filling tends to retain more moisture this way. I've been told that once you have the dough ready it's best to refrigerate it for about 30 minutes before using it. While the dough is cooling, I shaped the pineapple filling into mini columns. As you can tell by now, it takes quite a bit of effort to make my mom's version of the pineapple tarts. 

Baking Goodies, 1.

My baking skills, 0.

All I can do now is wait for Hubbie to get back from work and be my guinea pig. Wifey not happy with her efforts.

Update : My bro and sis read my blog and told my mom. Apparently, when my mom said "a pinch of salt" she meant to say "1/2 teaspoon of salt". *groans* No wonder my "shell" is bland. *groan* Mooooommmmmm..........

Goals I Thought I Wouldn't Set

Yep, I'm still alive. Haven't fallen off the deep end. Life just caught up with me. Plain and simple. The older I get the less I find myself being able to multi-task. Also, I blame myself for letting myself go..... physically. Which contributes heavily to my lack of energy. Yet, I was pretty much set on not making a list of goals or resolutions. Why? Simple.  It is almost the same, right down to the letter, year after year for the last few years. However, I was lying to myself. I HAVE been setting goals for myself even before 2011 came to an end.

#Goal #1 - Speak Up and Have More Guts

I am, and have been, a passive aggressive person. I would like to be more outspoken but not be reckless and cruel with my words. I want to be able to speak up and stand up for myself. So this year I am going to ask myself to gain more of a backbone.

#Goal #2 - Stop and Take That Damn Pic

Tonight, while walking home from City Centre after watching "Hugo", I noticed there were many a times I wanted to stop to grab a quick pic of something on my iPhone but..... I didn't. Why? Was preoccupied with not falling on my ass while walking home. So now I am kicking myself for not stopping, take a moment and just shoot. How difficult was that?? *rolls eyes at myself* Not at all. So yeah. I will say this to myself again ... Stop and Take That Damn Pic! First, make sure it is safe. Heh!

I am pretty sure this list will grow. By how much, I am not sure. So stay tuned.... 

Alexander and Veronica Engagement Shoot

I've been looking forward to today's photo shoot for a while now. It was for Alexander and Veronica's engagement photo shoot. I've known them for the last 2 1/2 years and it was really an honour that they have asked me to shoot their wedding in Mexico at the end of the year. It was a little nerve wrecking for me since this was only my second official engagement photo shoot and I was putting pressure on myself to perform and meet personal expectations. Here's a sneak peak of today's session.

Part-time Student ...again ....

I'm still alive and since my last post, i've add the title of part-time university student to the many hats i'm wearing in life. Although most of the my experiences with the university have been frustrating, i.e. am getting passed around, getting confirmation on credit transfers, essentially anything that has to do with paper and administrative work. But i've met some really nice ladies in my class and as much as i would like to be exempted for most of the classes/courses, i do miss hanging out and getting to know these ladies.

I had my dreads about going back to being a part-time student with a full-time job - the no social life after work, going for classes and missing out on my favourite TV shows, that and coupled with the fears about going back to school as i have never been the academic type. I'm the one who would prefer projects and presentations rather than sitting for days on end trying to churn up a given number of words essay. I've always been an average student. Never one of those straight As or even Bs kinda student. But somehow that motivated me to want to do a lot better than i have ever did before.  The blood, sweat and tears of not having any form of social life for a month for my very first class paid off though - i walked away with an A as my final grade. 

There were a couple of firsts during the process of this new adventure that surprised and shocked me;

1. This is the first time i would be paying for my education on my own without any financial support from Daddy. Yes, it would come to a surprise for a lot of my friends. But i've never had to worry about paying for school and i am really thankful and blessed for that. But yes... am finally learning to stand on my own two feet.
2. My lecturer actually said to me that he really liked my style of writing. Really??? My style of writing??? No lecturer has ever hinted to me that i had some decent writing skills so to me that was a huge compliment and it also made me more confident about my abilities to hand in a good essay.
3. I remember looking at my fellow classmates (You know who you are. ) who camped out in the labs with a certain lecturer trying to get pointers and feedback on their many drafts for their I-Search paper and say to myself - 'I will never be one of those students!'. Guess who found herself doing the same thing with her lecturer these days? Yep, ME! *lol* I will never fully embrace the saying - "Never say never!."
4. I actually stayed awake in class... no goofing around, no dozing off. I actually wanted to be there and not walking in 1hr later. None of that. Amazing! *l* (Hey, told you i was never the academic sort and i was never ever a model student/kid.)  

I know there is a long, long, long road ahead of me still to where i want to and where i need to be academically in Canada. Doesn't help that i've had to gone through hoops and loops and what not to prove that my previous academic achievements and experiences are as good as the ones offered by the instituitions here. I'm trying to juggle building a career, getting the neccessary academic achievements to support this growing career path, and planning and wanting to start on the life long journey of motherhood. Trust me it's not an easy task and i salute and admire all the mothers out there who balance the many roles they play in their own lives. I guess i have to breathe and take it one step at a time no matter how much i want to just do everything at once and get it over and done with ASAP.

Oh... and it does help that i have a very supportive husband by my side in my life.

World Wide Photowalk

I know Scott Kelby's 3rd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk took place more than a month ago (24th July) but i thought i would sit down and write about how i felt about the challenge i gave myself for the day.

This year i signed up to participate with the group that was led by Bruce Clark and the general area we would be doing our walkabout was the campus grounds of University of Alberta. I've never really walked around the university before so this was a good opportunity to explore the campus grounds. Not too long after i had put my name and signed on for this photo walk, i looked through my photos on my Flickr account and thought to myself - "Hey, I don't really do well with shots of buildings do i? All my shots seem to be inspired by people and nature." So i issued a challenge to myself, that on the day of the photo walk i will NOT take photos of people and nature. I will take photos of the buildings and architecture. Ohhhh .... i was immediately beginning to regret this decision as i really do not get inspired by erm... buildings.... I can admire the design but they don't really translate when i point my camera at them and shoot.

So the day came and honestly i was REALLY excited to be part of this photo walk. It was nice to see familiar faces as well as meet new ones. Bruce gave a short introduction and after a group photo with everyone, we set off in different directions. I found myself walking alone for most of the time, bumping into some of the photographers every now and then. As the walk progressed, i found myself getting more and more frustrated that i couldn't seem to get inspired by my surroundings and that i was really tempted to go back to my comfort zone of shooting nature and people. I kept saying to myself over and over again - "Just shoot, you never know what you will end up with." So i kept on shooting. The good thing that came out of this 'just keep shooting' attitude saw me playing and fiddling around with different angles and manually zooming in and out while the shot was being taken. Figured if i didn't get any decent shots it was still good practice for me.

I bumped into Sarah (Bruce's wife) a couple of times too and on the 3rd time she asked if i had found the old Arts buildings and of course no i haven't because i had gotten lost. So once i got pointed in the right direction, i high tailed over to the old Arts building as i was told it had some really nice architecture. At this point, i was close to giving up and feeling really dejected that i was probably going to end up with nothing i feel i could show for. But i was going to give the buildings one last try before i call it a day.

When i finally found the old Arts building, i could see why it would serve for some inspiring shots. I set about taking some window shots of some of the offices that had flower pots on their window sills, the intricate design on the top of the building, the creeping vines, etc. Then i sat down on a bench in the shade to get a breather as well as look through the hundreds of shots that i had taken so far and did a quick review of which ones get tossed and which ones get to stay. When i had gone through my photos i looked up to survey the area around me one more time to make sure that i am not missing anything of interest before i was going to walk back to the meeting spot. Suddenly, this red balloon at the end of the steps into the building caught my eye. Instantly i thought 'I'll take one of those self portraits of myself in the balloon taking a photo of me taking a photo of the reflection of myself!' Heh. Of course the wind had picked up the moment i had walked over to the balloon and pointed the camera at it. Great just my luck. Not going to get a good shot but oh well, lets try. I snapped. I reviewed the photos. I snapped again. I reviewed the photos again. As i looked at one of the photos... WHAM!... Inspiration! Why not try and capture the reflection of the old Arts building on the red balloon! So for the next 5 minutes i stood patiently under the hot sun clicking every chance i got trying to capture the reflection of the old Arts building as the balloon was blown around. Finally after about 100 shots of the red balloon, i walked away grinning from ear to ear. I said to myself 'That's it! My favourite shot of the day! Am done!'. I was feeling rather pleased with myself for taking a shot that i like.

And you know what ... that shot of the old Arts building's reflection on the red balloon....

was chosen as the winning shot of the group's photo walk. *grin* A little personal best and achievement.

Guess the moral of this story to myself - Never give up. Keep trudging on. Or 'Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.'

Childhood Toy

We finally got the AC serviced today. Even though it didn't make much of a difference to the amount of cool air blowing through the vents (think 1970s central cooling system design... a 3 bedroom condo air-conditioning unit powered by just two fans). The technicians needed to get to the fans without risking any damage to any of our property, so they had us remove anything that was on the top shelf of our walk-in wardrobe. So while i was wiping the dust of the many Royal Dalton figurines before Hubbie placed them back on the shelf, he pulled out this lil wooden container of children play blocks.

The story behind these blocks - they were a gift to Hubbie by my FIL. He had painstakingly cut these blocks one by one from 2x4s, sanded, painted and lettered each block by hand. Wow! Hubbie hopes to pass this toy onto our children and if they don't take care of this precious toy that their grandfather had lovingly made for their father i'm going to whip their lil tooshies.