something which i got to share with you guys,  absolutely hilarious!

yes, you do look super gay!!

as you can probably tell, the lack of updates by hana is a sign of profound malaise. clearly, the switch to non-sahm mode has not been the most joyful of event for her.

which made her question as to who in heck created the work week to stretch for five days and not contain it to just, say, four, or maybe three days?

to which she received a reply from her ever-sensible husband that it was all in the name of a healthy economy and The Big Picture. longer weekends mean longer downtimes, he says. less productivity and lower standards of living. worse still, he came up with the ‘less effective gahmen’ trump card. and in his usual gadget-centric logic, if his handphone is spoilt and requires servicing, a longer weekend would mean a longer time to get it repaired. hmph, the consumerist.

so apparently, long long ago, people, especially in the industrial era, used to work really long hours with really poor working conditions (boo hoo). then in the 1800s, some fella began demanding for shorter work hours, starting some kind of workers’ union, and went around with a catchy phrase, “Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest”. that took quite a while to catch on, but it eventually did for most parts of the world, and May Day or Labour Day had something to do with that, you know, to commemorate the achievement of the labour movement, yadda yadda.

ok, so what’s the point of all this again?

ahh right, i’m *supposed* to be thankful that the work week has been greatly reduced from ancient times when workers were greatly exploited, especially women. but it’s hard to console myself when the fact is that most of the “eight hours of recreation” and “eight hours of rest” is sapped up by the demands of motherhood, leaving little for the self. (yes, i am after all part of Generation Me.)

labour is indeed a great pain for many women - the one experienced in the hospital to expel their offsprings from their wombs, and the one that takes them away from those offsprings eight hours a day, five times a week. the latter being more prolonged and painful for some, like me.

our respite - the forty-eight hours called The Weekend. where family, friends and food are the bonus and remuneration. <3

ok, digressing a little, i cheated (as usual) for the potluck picnic and bought a tray of shepherd’s pie from The Shepherd’s Pie, located at the second floor of Bedok Market Place, just next to our ever-favourite makan haunt, simpang bedok. we could have had it delivered for free, but since we were there for dinner the night before, we dropped by to pick up a frozen tray so we could bake it ourselves on the morning of the picnic.

what can i say, everyone approved, even the husband, the foodie! needless to say, the whole tray was polished off within minutes (as you can see in the picture). definitely tasty, with just the right amount of meat and potatoes. yes, i’m a carb person, i am. i love my potatoes. next time we’ll try the spicier stuff, ok idayana!

the two G.I. janes, aka botak janes. “kakak mia, don’t pull my hair!”

happy 30th! omg we’re old. hurhur.

and that reminds me - aniq’s birthday is coming, AGAIN! ha ha. of course there’s the question of should there or should there not be yet another party this time round.

to which the reply is that it would greatly depend on the economy. namely, the mother and father’s. which means, mummy would have to keep working to sustain that economy, baby. just so you can keep enjoying your birthdays.

crap.

aunty farah, can you save those three candles for him?

maybe i’ll just order a shepherd’s pie and plonk them on it.

i got a brand new set of vodafone 720 for sale. got it after i recontract my m1 plan.

features are as follows

• stylish clamshell design
• 2.0 inch tft 176 x 220 main display with 262.144 colours
• 128 x 64 monochrome OLED external display
• 1.3 Megapixel and VGA Camera
• Video Telephony
• Micro SD Card Slot
• Media & Music Player
• 3G
• A2DP (Stereo) Bluetooth V1.2
• SMS/MMS/Email

Good buy for those looking for a backup phone, very slim and stylish. Plus 1 year warranty.

BTW, M1 is selling it for $288 without line. And i’m selling it at almost half price - $160!

Those interested please email me at izadd77@gmail.com. Thanks!

“hi, the guitar hero super bundle will arrive tomorrow afternoon. would you like us to do delivery….” as my sms beeped to inform me. finally after 3 months of wait, the guitar hero is finally here!! I was really hooked to the first version of guitar hero that i played at my dad’s house that i told myself if i got a ps3, guitar hero would be the first game i purchase. great timing it was that the latest version with drums will be coming out soon!

forward to friday 7 november, 6pm, as i await patiently for the delivery, 2 guys from the game shop arrived as expected with a very huge box!! yes, finally i could relive my childhood dream to be a drummer, haha!!

anyway, i’ve shot the unboxing of the guitar hero super bundle and did a short drumming session to show you what a great piece of gaming this is. so if you guys are up for a jamming session, you know where to come.

Unboxing Of Guitar Hero World Tour from izadnhana on Vimeo.

ok, a few more hours before my time is up. (macam kena recall masok jail, or worse, kena execution gitu eh? :p)

am still feeling queasy, lethargic, a little achy and chilly from the leftover viral flu which i’d contracted on friday out of the blue, like what bad timing huh?

and nevermind that i had over six months (technically, is apr 3 to nov 3 considered seven months?) to get ‘things’ done, it’s simply… not enough!!

i’ve been trying to come up with a list of ‘accomplishments’, kinda like your half-yearly work appraisal thing you know. erm, so far, i think, not so impressive.

A. Work achievement/progress

Project I: Baby A

i) Gave birth to Baby. (with least possible incurrence of additional hospitalisation costs.)
Progress: Completed

ii) Placed Baby to sleep in own room and through the night by eight weeks.
Progress: Completed

iii) Provided complete nourishment for Baby 0-6months, direct from source. (with no supplementary requirements.)
Progress: On-going

iv) Provided basic care to Baby. (including clothing, bathing, diapering, minyak-telon-ing, urang-aring-ing, etc.)
Progress: On-going

v) Provided stimulation to Baby to best of ability. (ie. verbal, visual, social, emotional.)
Progress: On-going

vi) Ensured proper immunisation of Baby and post-immunisation care. (6-in-1 package)
Progress: Completed

vii) Providing homemade first foods to Baby.
Progress: On-going

viii) Weaning Baby on to bottled teats.
Progress: On-going

ix) Captured Baby’s photographic moments and physical milestones.
Progress: On-going

x) ??

Project II: Elder Child A

i) Ensured smooth transition from single child to elder child and prevented any possibilities of sibling jealousy.
Progress: Completed

ii) Developing verbal skills, physical abilities, emotional well-being, and setting of ‘moral compass’.
Progress: On-going

iii) Successful toilet training to underpants in daytime, with increasingly lesser assistance.
Progress: Almost completed (night training still on-going)

iv) Ensured smooth transition from three-hourly daily playgroup to full-day centre-based care.
Progress: Completed

v) Weathered through various strains of ‘The Terrible Twos’ syndrome with minimum repercussions.
Progress: Good (behaviour still under monitor)

vi) ??

Project: Housework

Progress: ON-GOING
(*note: employed services of new helper, forecast looks promising.)

Project: Social & Love Life

Progress: Minimal. Positively dismal.

B. Training and Development Plans

Nil to date.

C. Career plans/ possible posting

i) Child-bearing career: Retired.

ii) Mothering career: On-going (end date: most likely on deathbed.)

iii) Wifely career: Endeavouring for a raise and better remuneration.

iv) Professional career: To be reviewed…

and in order to ensure that C.(iv) gets to see the light of day, i will need to log off this instance and literally wake up in the first light of day. (note to self: do not forget to bring the ‘espresso machine’ and all its parts, unlike the last first-day-of-work!)

wish me luck, people! (and good luck to you too, kiddos, ha ha.)

last day of ‘freedom’, on the sg flyer

===

mummy to aniq: aniq, daddy go to work, mummy go to work, aniq go to school, ok?
aniq: noo, aniq go to work also!
mummy: you want to go to work? where?
aniq: prison!

===

we got our first draw of the season, 2-2 against the NIE PE department. playing against a much fitter and well-organised team, we were really made to run especially in the first half. they had more than a dozen chance to bury us in the first half, but with resolute defending by the footsie players and plenty of good luck, we managed to restrict them to just 1 goal.

we started the second half with renewed spirit with our stopper nazfarah who rushed down from work to take over the defensive duties. we got a really fast first goal courtesy of a defensive blunder which nazrini converted easily. we were really on the offensive after the first goal. we had a couple of clear cut chances to take the lead, if not for the acrobatic antics of the goalie, we would be at least 2 goals up.

in the 70th minute, NIE managed to steal a goal back after one of our offside trap didn’t materialise. i say steal because two of their players strayed offside, but according to the referee, they were not interfering with the play. since there were no assistant referees or linesmen for a second opinion, we really got no case. but in the 82th minute, we equalised through a superb freekick by rendra, the ball just sailed towards the top right hand corner. although the keeper managed to get a hand to the ball, nazrini was there to “confirm” the ball crossed the line.

we erupted with joy when the referee blew the finally whistle signalling the end of the match. franking, i was half expecting a thrashing from the NIE trainees, but sometimes we surprised even ourselves, bring on street 51!

Team Footsie with NIE PE Department. Notice the latest footsie signing from Dubai

so i did finally find time to break out the new food processor, a hand-held one, which is so, erm, nice to hold, long and firm, with strong vibrations and all… err…

anyway, this baby food-making thing is kinda deja vu for me (the entry of oni’s demo still resides at aniq’s old blog), and like the last time, i’m holding out on the heinz/gerber-made purees because… well, i did it for the firstborn, so mommy has to be fair, right? and i still have a week left before relinquishing my sahm status, so i might as well do the homemade stuff like a good supermommy would (yeeaaah right, lol!). and, hmm, two babies on and i’m still a little suspicious of shelf-food (and beverage) for babies. (hey, you’ll never know what’s been melamine-infused! :p)

steamed japanese sweet potato

(i know others create lovely entries on cooking, especially exotic food, but this is as far as hana goes with so-called ‘culinary adventures’, bah.

oh, and let me tell you, i did this in mum’s kitchen, and she took one look at me and went, “you hold the baby, let me do that instead” which made me fume and start nagging at how she ALWAYS did that, from when i was young till now that i’m an adult, and this was why i never learnt anything in the kitchen, bla bla bla, afterwhich she smirked, and continued holding the baby while i daintily scooped out the contents of my lovingly-made mush.)

this time round, inspired by Fiona Miles’ ‘Fresh Milk: The Secret Life of Breasts’ (great read! it even has a breastmilk ice-cream recipe, if anyone’s interested… and stories on lactation p*rn*, ho ho), i did something which i unfortunately didn’t try the last time. and my favourite part of the whole process too, actually!

i bent over, and squirted milk into the bowl, straight from the source. mix, squirt, mix, squirt… until i got the consistency just right.

not gross, very nutritious, confirm no melamine. ha ha.

so far, so good. she’s learnt to open her mouth wider instead of ’sipping’ from the spoon. but mess is mess, for sure!