Bumper

In the midst of losing my balance in one lucky moment, I accidentally knocked my head against an advertisement board in T Mall. Loud bang, real hard, mega ouch. Piece of sh*t. Immediately this huge bump rose on my right forehead next to my Harry Potter alike scar and slightly grazed.

I told my dad about it and he said he will have someone remove the board. Haha.

Thankfully the size of the bump is significantly reduced and I am not experiencing nausea, migraine or fainting spells... short of occasional dull headache, and so I guess I do not need to scan for concussion. Test my quotients, reflexes or memory, someone?

What goes in... and out

I realize after I hit the big three, some things have changed and they aren't really intentional.

Within my circle of influence, I am the so-called pharmacist for head, nose, throat, stomach-related symptoms because I self-medicate, and because I hate seeing doctors except for that sheet of paper they sign on when I badly need it.

After getting acquainted with my new gal friend V, I now pill pop even more. Seven is the numero.

For the lack of nutrients in my diet especially if I eat out more than I stay home for mom's cooking, supplements is the way to go for a maturing, aging, health freak, whatever you would like to call me. But little do I know that "heatiness" (Chinese calls it) created by the supplements in my body accounts for my easy irritability, higher body temperature for the past two months, and the erratic climate makes it worse!

Good and bad cholesterol run high in my system and so I have to reduce my intake of my typical favorites like prawns, chicken rice, cheesecake. Ugh! Having said that, I am also known to be the one taking "rabbit food" (raw carrots, celery, capsicum, lettuce) and being a water freak - I drink a minimal of two daily liters of H20 and I get cursed at when I nag at people to do the same. Oh, and I drink lotsa milk too.

Idea for breakfast: Mix raw rolled oats and Anlene milk powder together... That's probably a way I could get my mom to increase her intake of calcium, fiber with a whole load of goodness. How cool's that? For variety, you can keep the high sodium content cornflakes or opt for bran that is lower in Glycemic Index (GI).

Next step: I have to convince myself and decide what kind of exercise I should be regularly embark on. I am a yoga backslider but my love for it has never died. Short of attending regular classes, I still pull and stretch whenever my body is idle for strength and posture. Alright, I know yoga ain't really consider exercise... Hmmmm, maybe I should just start brisk walking for now?

Bake to de-stress

Today's total production (using the new oven TY and I recently bought for mom): over four dozens of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and walnut chocolate chip cookies, eight huge blueberry muffins and an eight-inch quick bread. Not from scratch, certainly. Call me a phony baker - I am no Martha Stewart or Ms K K Tan - but I seriously don't mind spending a bit more money and a little less time on a nice-to-taste and easy-to-make fix.

Eons ago when I saw the need to feed my fellow ushers, I bought Betty Crocker's ready mixes to bake for various occasions. Subsequent years later I still do the same, just for different people in my life...

I figured it is because I could use some simple efforts (in shopping the simple ingredients and putting them together), put in some sunshine (while thinking of the faces that are going to enjoy them), literally see my product grow into edible form (in the oven), and watch people I love eat them. Plus the cleaning up and washing, I probably flushed some of my negative energy down the sink.

I could SEE the benefits. I needed that! The business that I do takes a long time to harvest. Guess I am feeling slightly discouraged from that for the moment... It is no wonder I can bake to de-stress.

Yet I am glad I baked today because people I love are hungry for what I made.

Simple bliss II

True friends are indeed hard to come by. People ask how I got to know this gang, I can only say he's or she's a friend's friend; a combination of new and old friends... The key is, we get along well, spend a lot of time together, and it's just affinity that we cross one another's paths just some recent months ago.

We really care for one another, went through a wee bit of tough times so far and a good deal of positive things came out of it... Coupled with lotsa fun and laughter, we share books, share learning experiences, poke one another, better one another, walk through and overcome our individual fears together...

It sounds like we are back to school days but I honestly don't remember enjoying myself this much and connecting this much when I was younger. We are truly happy being blessings to one another in this season of our lives, and hopefully this season will be as long as it can be.

Becoming more like a friend to TY and my parents is a happy step too... (;

All that said, I have not forgotten my good old friends and sisters who are ever patient and accepting of me especially during stressful times like now. You know who you are and remember that Jan loves you still and too.

Afterall, friends are relatives you make for yourself!

Simple bliss I

It's a pure joy to watch her... make some noise, play, do her new little "spin spin" dance, sway around, giggle, flip her dress, infamously suck her left thumb...

Whenever she says something close to the sound of "Yi", I'll take any opportunity to affirm her and say, "喔, 乖..." *grins* Doses of her are always be in drips and drapes from Sunday to Sunday, but ever sufficient to make me miss her even more and beam whenever I think of her.