At a crossroad... should I stay or go?

Things have come to a point where I might have to make one of the most major decisions in my life.

Depending on the reply that I'm still waiting for, I MIGHT make a VERY drastic move...

You see... I've been offered a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to resolve a problem that has plagued me for decades. It's like a dream come true...

The thing is... this dream is in conflict with my profession as a teacher.

I've even spoken to my boss... (quote and unquote)

"You know the possible repercussions of doing this?"

"There's a conflict in interests..."

"The press might stir it up..."

"Especially THE NEW PAPER... you'd be a hot potato then..."

"We have an image to uphold..."

Well, he took the indirect approach, of course. I must compliment his communication skills. He scores a distinction in that... Of course! How else do you think he can be a leader???

In any case, the underlying message that he conveyed is "NO".

What am I going to do now???

My options are:

1) Give up the opportunity and remain in current job.

The opportunity costs? Live with the problem and try to alleviate it like what I've been doing for the past 6 years (which is time- and money-consuming).

Or fork out money to alleviate this problem on my own (which will never achieve the same outcome).

2) Give up the job (since I'm no longer bonded) to pursue this dream.

Opportunity costs? Look for another job, suffer a pay cut and tighten our belts. It's especially tough now that we have Karyn. More expenses to pay for. Also means I can't go for facials and spa anymore... have to give up scrapbooking (too expensive a hobby)... boohoo...

Oh... what am I going to do???

My new found passion

Yippee!!! I've finally found my hobby!

The last time I was so passionate about something was in 2002, when I started taking salsa lessons. Ever since Hubby and I got together, I stopped going for lessons as he found it too intimate a dance; it requires male and female partnering. He just can't accept me in another man's arms! HAHA!

Ok, so what's this new found passion of mine? It's none other than SCRAPBOOKING!!!

Went for Scrapper ABC class at Julie's place today. Julie is the founder of Scrapbooking Cove, a Singapore scrapbooking material online store.

Take a look at my novice 'masterpiece'.

The class took only 2 hours. But I spent another 2 hours 'shopping' at Julie's home store. She has such a huge variety of materials. And having class at her place entitles us to purchase the materials at 10% discount!

Ecstatically, I started my shopping spree and ended up $300+ poorer... Haha!
There were SO many materials to buy - cardstocks, patterned paper, brads, eyelets, stickers, pens, glue, adhesive tapes, sheet protectors, beads, eyelet setter. And the list goes on.

The materials are so expensive because they are all acid-free and lignin free. In other words, they can be preserved for ages to come.

Last but not least, Julie introduced me to a scrapbook magazine that I just couldn't resist getting.
So... if you see that my blog is not being updated as regularly as before, you'll know why.

I'm busy scrapbooking! Haha!

Family lunch

Ah Yi managed to clinch her job offer and decided to give us a yummy treat at Spagheddies. Haven't met her for a meal in such a long time. She was so anxious at taking picture with who else but ME!


Everyone's taking their own sweet time to place the orders. Actually it's because they're too excited to play with ME and take photos with ME.





Finally, the food arrived and everyone tucked in. Don't know what they ordered but from the sound of it, there seemed to be a lot of crayfish and lobsters!

In any case, I also can't have a share of whatever they're eating... So might as well snooze away!

My "un-glam' baby

Shaggyfish has an "anyhow" baby...

I have an "un-glam" (not glamourous) one. Just look at the positions she can sleep in.

But I guess it's a good thing that Karyn can be so "anyhow" too. It's easier to care for her; we can bring her anywhere, carry her anyhow and she can still enjoy her beauty sleep.



Brought her to school on Wednesday and she was sleeping in the MIM sling, all scrunched up. My colleagues who saw her all asked if she was comfortable sleeping in that position. To a third party, it may seem like she's in a very awkward position. But Karyn's snoring away... Haha!

Such a pity I didn't take any picture that day. But here's a much older picture of her in the sling...

Ah Ma's off day

It was Ah Ma's off day; she had gone for her sisters' gathering - a monthly ritual. Haha!

So Mummy's home "alone" to take care of Karyn. Well, "alone" because Daddy was actually working from home on that day. But alone in taking care of Karyn 'cos Daddy's always busy at his desk.

During one of Daddy's 5-minute break, he took these photos of Karyn drinking milk.

Irresistably Mine!

Karyn is 11 weeks old now and the last time we weighed her at home, she was approximately 5.5 kg.

She's just SOOooooo irresistable that every time we bring her to Ye Ye and Nai Nai's house, they always can't bear to see her leave.

And each time we bring her to Lao Gou's place, we have such a hard time getting her back. Everyone wants to have 'a piece of Karyn', so as to speak.

In fact, Lao Tionh told Mummy and Daddy to go home and leave Karyn there. Haha!

The other day when Yi Po came, Lin Yi Po said Karyn is, to quote her, "so beautiful!" and has "ren yuan" (that means, lovable/likeable by anyone and everyone who meets her).

Hmmm... I have to admit that is so. Every time we bring Karyn out shopping, she always attracts so many people - young and old, men and women, children and adults alike. We often have strangers lavishing compliments on her - "SO cute!", "SO sweet!", "SO guai (good girl)!" are just the common ones.

In fact, some times they find her so irresistable that they reach out their hands, wanting to caress her!

At such a tender age, she's already such an attention grabber; there are many people who actually have walked past us and still turn their heads round to take a second glance at her.

I thought only celebrities (or real beautiful or scantily-dressed) women get such HEAD-TURNING attention. Never knew babies have such power.

Karyn must be one of the rare few! Haha!

(Oh yes, I've just added another video in a back-dated blog (22 July 2006) titled "Karyn & her teddy bears". Do take a look!)

Sunday frenzy

Went to Lao Gou's house today after visiting Ye Ye and Nai Nai.

Look what Lao Gou bought for me!

Then I was placed in the Bumbo seat.. again...

Wonder why Mummy's SOoooo enthusiastic about the Bumbo today...

And then everyone's laughing away... I see a white light flashing away... What is that???

At last, Mummy rescued me from the hands of these hysterical Lao Gous...

Karyn finally got her Bumbo seat

After much sourcing on the SingaporeMotherhood forum, I finally managed to secure a yellow Bumbo seat from a lady seller by the name of "bargainhunter".

Her son always struggled to get out of the seat when she put him in. He was about 3 months plus at that time. Hence, she gave up using the seat and had kept it inside her store room for months before putting it up for sale.

It was a good bargain; paid $50 for it. The retail price is about $80. The seat is in very good condition, without any stains or marks.

We collected the seat on the way to Ye Ye and Nai Nai's house and immediately let Karyn try it out when we got there.

Her initial response to sitting in the Bumbo wasn't as enthusiastic as I was putting her into it. Haha! It was quite a tight fit initially, maybe 'cos it was her first time.

After squeezing her chunky thighs and heavy Pampers-laden bottom into it, she looked rather awkward. In fact, she looked constipated! Haha!


It took quite a bit of adjusting to make her feel comfortable.
Finally, after several re-adjustments, she seemed happy enough on the Bumbo.

Along the way, Daddy snapped away on his camera...

Right now, she can't sit on it for long as her neck is still not strong enough. So we just put her in the seat for a few minutes each day. Hopefully in another couple of months' time, her neck will strengthen and she can watch tv in it! Heehee...

Karyn goes shopping

Karyn went shopping with Mummy, Daddy and Ah Ma on Saturday. There was a Baby Fair at Takashimaya Square. It was the first time Ah Ma went to the fair so she was busy browsing and looking for things to buy for Karyn. After close to 2 hours, she bought a super sweet pink floral dress and two pairs of bootees. In fact, we got Karyn to try on several pairs before deciding on getting these two!

So fortunate, babies nowadays even get to try on the products before they are bought... haha!

Thumb or pacifier

Mummies on the SingaporeMotherhood forum June MTB thread are discussing whether to let baby suck on thumb or pacifier.

It has been a dilemma for me too. Different people have been giving me different opinions. It wasn't until a few days ago that I finally made up my mind. To use the pacifier.

Here's a comparison chart that I've come up with for the mummies on SingaporeMotherhood forum. Hope it helps! :)

	Thumb	Pacifier/Soother
Recommended by GP / paediatrician	Yes; Individual’s opinion	Yes; Individual’s opinion
Hygiene	Highly unhygienic esp. when baby learns to sit and crawl, swipes dirt off surfaces & puts into mouth!	Not as unhygienic; Can be washed when dropped
Convenience	Highly convenient; Easy access as thumb is on baby’s hand, she can put into her mouth whenever and wherever	Not so convenient; Going out - if left at home, very troublesome to deal with agitated baby; Solution – buy a few (leave 1 at home, 1 at parents’/in-laws’ place, 1 in diaper bag)
Difficulty in weaning	Difficult when baby is addicted; See Convenience; Solution – apply bitter cream/gel (supposedly available from pharmacies) on thumb before baby zzz	Difficult when baby is addicted; Solution – naturally solved when baby is older and afraid of embarrassment; use ‘shame shame’ technique to discourage
Affects oral development	Yes, definitely if thumb sucking is prolonged (i.e. after 4 - 5 years old); see Difficulty in weaning	Can be prevented by using good pacifiers that promote good oral development e.g. NUK soothers

Internet articles:

www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/pacifiers_thumb_sucking.html

www.keepkidshealthy.com/toddler/pacifier.html

health.yahoo.com/topic/parenting/behavior/article/healthwise/hw170185

www.daycareindex.com/thumb_sucking.asp

More pictures of Karyn

Such a coincidence that there was a belly dance performance at the Marina Square atrium. I had just started one session of belly dance class at Amore Fitness.

So we stopped to watch the performance. Hubby was bored. Hence, he started taking pictures of Karyn.

I want to sleep...

Take photo? Again?

I don't want to take anymore photos...

What's that on the ceiling?

Sofa advertisement?

Just look at this photo that Daddy had taken.

Doesn't it remind you of an advertisement for sofas? Hmmm... so is it Courts, Novena Furniture, or the high-end leather HTL?

Karyn is 2 months old!

Karyn is exactly 2 months old on the day this picture was taken - at the new Japanese restaurant in Marina Square, on Saturday, 5 Aug. Forgot the name of the restaurant already. Just remember the second word is "Sabo". The food's quite delectable. Shared a hamburger curry with rice, unagi bento and tempura masai with Hubby.

Went shopping after lunch.

Was tremendously disappointed after going into two shops that supposedly sell large sizes - Miss Selfridge & Topshop.

Found that I could fit into the tops but not the bottoms.

Used to be able to fit into a size 12.

Now, I can't even fit my elephant thigh into a size 14.

Size 16 pants can be put on but cannot be zipped up.

What have I got myself into?!?!?!

"Pregnancy has permanently deformed me..." I whined to Hubby.

"Come back 2 months later, darling," Hubby attempted to console me.

"Today's shopping trip is extra motivation for you to push yourself at the gym and your fitness classes."

Yah right, some consolation... Doesn't erase the fact that I've been deformed.

Gained a baby... lost my figure! SOB!

Finally, after much persistence, I managed to find a pair of jeans and a pair of black pants at Dorothy Perkins - size 18! Gosh!!!

Just look at my chubby cheeks in the picture... Sigh...

Gotta work triply hard at the gym now...

Grandparents' birthdays

Went to Noble House Tung Lok Restaurant for Ye Ye and Nai Nai's birthday celebration. Both of their birthdays fall in the month of August - Ye Ye's on 9 Aug (yes, same birthday as Singapore) and Nai Nai's on 4 Aug.

Karyn & her fishes

Karyn's favourite toy is the Fisher Price cot mobile which has 3 fishes suspended above her head when she sleeps in her cot.

Daddy has named two of the fishes Andy and Lisa and Mummy has named the third one Kelvin.

Karyn is so mesmerised by the fishes and simply adores talking to them.

Just watch the video (taken on 4 Aug 2006).