I Am Finally Maid-Less

After having a maid for more than 5 years, I find it really tiring without one now.  Today is Alycia’s first day of school this year.  I woke up early to do some simple house work and to prepare her lunch box.

The 2-hourly temp maids arrived at 10:30am sharp on a motorbike. I had to explain to them what to do and had to climb up and down the stairs more than 20 times as one maid was working upstairs and another maid downstairs.

At 11am, the computer guy came to my house to fix my PC as the Network Card in my CPU was struck by lightning yesterday and I could not access internet since yesterday afternoon. I was running from one place to another – attending to the computer guy, then to the maid who was downstairs, then ran up when the maid upstairs asked me questions. Phew…. luckily my mum is here to entertain Sherilyn.

Being a SAHM to 2 kids without a maid is really a FULL-TIME job without any rest. I hardly have the time to sit in front of the computer. The varicose veins on my legs and pregnancy problems are making me feel more terrible each day. I even have to bring a chair to the sink so that I can sit while I wash the dishes. My big tummy has also been ‘hardening’ quite a bit for the last 2 days… which is not a good sign. I know that if I continue to run around like that, I may even go into pre-term labor as I had this threat when I was carrying Alycia and Sherilyn. Thus, I was put on partial bed-rest when I was carrying Alycia.

When my mum leaves on Friday, I’ll be left alone again. I hope my maid agent is able to send me the live-in temp maid on Sunday as promised, else I will really go bonkers.

No. of times viewed = 385

Our Maid Has Finally Left Us

Warning… long ranting ahead…. 

My maid has finally returned to Indonesia for good yesterday.  The entire morning, my maid was telling Sherilyn how much she would miss her and was teary eyed.  We were still in a jovial mood until the last minute when I paid her all that’s due to her.  She was so disappointed that she did not get the amount of bonus that she was hoping for and cried in front of me and stormed to her room, mumbling away and did not even take the money in the envelope that I had given her.  When I asked her how much bonus she had expected, she said some sarcastic things but did not tell me how much she had wanted.  I was still patient with her but after only getting sarcastic words from her, I just blew up.  I have not been so agitated and irate for the longest time.  I was just yelling at her for being ungrateful, telling her how nice we had treated her, paid over RM300 for her phone bills back to Indon, gave her big ang pows for CNY and her birthday, treated her to expensive lunches and dinners, bought her and her daughter clothes,  etc. etc.  

On Saturday, though hubby was busy, he took the time to bring us all to Mid Valley to treat our maid to a farewell dinner and then bought her and her daughter many things from Mid Valley. I was truly disappointed with her.  No doubt she had worked very hard and well but I was really disappointed that she was so ungrateful and demanded for more money.  She said she wanted RM300 as taxi fare to travel back to her hometown from the Solo airport and kept saying she had worked so hard for 2 years and deserved a bigger bonus. 

I then called hubby to come home to settle the matter.  Hubby who tends to have a bleeding heart gave in to her request.  On top of the bonus that we had already given her, hubby gave her an extra RM500+ after hearing all the sob stories from my maid.   I was still mad at her when she left our house but being a Christian who has to be forgiving, I took a deep breath and ‘salam’ with her.  Also gave her my handphone number.   Till now, I am still very disappointed with her.

For those of you with maids, did you give your maid a ‘BIG’ bonus when she returned home?  ‘Big’ as in four-figure amount.

No. of times viewed = 759

Sherilyn – 8 Months Old vs. 3 Years Old

That’s Sherilyn when she was 8 months old wearing a white tee with a picture of a teddy bear on it.

And this is Sherilyn wearing the same teddy bear tee at 35 months old.  She has outgrown the baby tee but she still loves to wear it and it’s now hanging on her body like Pooh Bear and his baby tee.  Don’t you think she looks hilarious?

No. of times viewed = 197

No Longer Sexy Legs

That’s how ugly my once sexy legs are now. Old wives tale has it that if you’re expecting a girl, the baby girl will steal all your beauty away!

The varicose and spider veins are becoming from bad to worse everyday.

The veins on my left leg have now spread to my foot and ankle. I now look like a diseased person. Maybe I should really consider doing treatment for the varicose and spider veins. I’ve just written a review on this and I am really tempted to do it after delivering my baby.

The varicose veins are slowly but surely attacking my right leg now.

I am really hoping that these varicose and spider veins will subside after I have delivered my baby.

No. of times viewed = 426

Trusting My Guts Feelings

My guts feelings have been right most times.  Even though I had gotten a verbal confirmation from this maid agency that supplies temp maids that he can provide me with a temp live-in maid for one month starting this Sunday, somehow, I just had a feeling that the maid will never arrive.  True enough, my fears and worries were founded this morning.  I am now back to square one and will be maid-less after my maid returns to Indonesia for good on Sunday.  Read more about the story here.  

Starting from Sunday, I will be one busy and heavily pregnant full-time SAHM to 2 high-demands toddlers without a maid.  OMG, I am so used to having a maid that the thought of not having one terrifies me and gives me nightmares.  I always tell myself that if my good friend Theimperfectmom can do it, so can I.  She is living in Seattle with 2 toddlers and without a maid and coping on with life so well.  At least I still have part-time maids who will be coming to help me every other day for 2 hours a day.

I won’t have time to blog hop and visit your blog that frequently until my new permanent maid arrives and God knows when she will ever arrive. Wish me luck.

No. of times viewed = 181

I Want To Be Kelly

Alycia and Sherilyn love watching the Australian kids’ educational VCDs Hi-5 and they have certainly learnt a lot of good things (vocab, grammar, phonics, body parts, shapes, colors, cause and effect and much more) from these VCDs.  At times they even speak in Aussie slang and jargon.

For the past few days, Sherilyn the drama queen seems to want to be a Kelly wannabe.  Kelly is one of the casts of Hi-5.  In one of the VCDs, Kelly was wearing a one-sided bare-shouldered top.   The next morning after her bath, Sherilyn pulled down her singlet and said “I am Kelly”!  And she has been doing this for 3 days straight.

Don’t you think Sherilyn looked ridiculously hilarious in her make-believe Kelly’s outfit?  But I have to give her credit for being creative and imaginative!

No. of times viewed = 446

Sherilyn Loves Her Baby Sister

Sherilyn loves to call her unborn baby sister ‘baby’.  Everyday, she will hug my tummy and kiss it.  She will also remind me to pray for baby twice a day – before our afternoon nap and before going to bed at night.

Though she’s starting to display a little jealousy streak in her over her baby sister, she still loves to ‘greet’ baby, hug and kiss my belly everyday.

No. of times viewed = 294

Scrumptious Waffles With Delectable Honey

One of the highlights at the breakfast buffet at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel coffee house was the range of honey available for the scrumptious waffles.

This is the first time I had eaten honey straight from the bee hives. Notice the honey dripping down from the bee hives through the wooden funnel into a bowl? Very unique display at a buffet spread and it’s also the first time I’d seen this at a hotel.


The hotel was so generous with Manuka honey and there were so many types of Manuka honey that I tried a little bit of every flavor from orange blossom Manuka honey to Aloe  Manuka honey, organic Manuka honey, Manuka syrup and much more. 

The mouth-watering scrumptious waffle with delectable Manuka honey, honey straight from the bee hives any strawberry sauce.  Sooooo yummy!  No wonder my weight keeps increasing!

No. of times viewed = 404

Alycia’s Not Getting Any Better

Alycia’s cough is still not getting any better.  The phlegm has  increased and she kept vomitting the phlegm out each time she coughed.  This morning after drinking milk, she lay on the couch, then coughed and coughed and puked everything out.  Later during breakfast, she vomitted again, including the medicine that I had just fed her. She has also not poo pooed for 3 days as she has been eating very little.  Daddy will be bringing her to see the paed again later.

No. of times viewed = 272

One More Week To Go

This week will be my maid’s last week with us.  Can’t imagine life without her.  Though she’s got her weaknesses, she has nevertheless been quite a good and efficient maid.  I can leave many things to her like handling the kids and cooking and that has given me some time to do my own work.  With a new temp maid coming,  I know I won’t trust her with the kids and cooking.  I guess I’ll just have to close one eye to the new temp maid’s inefficiency and not stress myself up.  As long as the house and toilets are fairly clean, laundry done daily and dishes washed up, I can’t ask for more… though she’s going to cost us a bomb at RM1,200 per month!

No. of times viewed = 223

They Love Their Electronic Toothbrush

It’s been more than 2 months since daddy got Alycia and Sherilyn a battery-operated toothbrush and they are still very much fascinated with the gadget.  They do not seem to get bored brushing their teeth with the electronic toothbrush….. and it’s good news to health freak mommy coz she brushes their teeth after every meal or at least 3 times a day.  I’m really obsessed with brushing their teeth and cleaning their tongue…. and  I am even more obsessed with brushing and flossing my own teeth!

No. of times viewed = 253

My Sunday

Today has been a quite a dull Sunday for me.  Alycia is still feeling very listless as a result of the medication for her throat infection.  She has been sleeping almost the entire day, which is very unusual of her.  Sherilyn has also caught the virus from Alycia and daddy but she’s still very active and eating well.  Praying hard that she will not get a full-blown flu. 

At noon, I saw some rare offers from a few advertising networks but luck wasn’t with me and I didn’t manage to get any.  Was really disappointed.  I had already clicked on the ‘accept’ tab for a task from this network but somehow, a ‘duplicate key’ error message appeared after a 10-minute heart-wrecking moment waiting for the system to confirm my acceptance but alas the USD10 offer was gone….. again….. twice in 3 days…. how very frustrating!

God must have known I was very disappointed with a fruitless harvest and he sent me a bunch of offers from my favorite network.  Offers have been really very scarce these days after the big G smackdown and getting a bunch of offers today has really brought back some hope and joy to me.

Gotta put the gals to bed now. I hope the new week ahead will be more fruitful and not so heart breaking and heart wrecking!

No. of times viewed = 203

New Year Resolutions Or Not Meme

This tag from Slave Mom  happens to be my first tag for this year.  Ok, to begin with, I don’t normally have new year resolutions coz I don’t want to feel pressured to achieve them.  Since I’m given this tag, I guess I’ll have to come up with one. Here it goes :

 *Start Copy Here*
When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions we seem to fall into four categories: 1) quite serious about them, 2) be flippant about them, 3) do it because we feel pressured to, or 4) do not do them.

So, the purpose of this little game is to let us know which category you are in. Copy from “*Start Copy Here*” through “*End Copy Here*” and post it. Before “*End Copy Here*” tell us who you are, your site(s) (with link) and your New Year’s Resolution, or not.

Then tag as many others as you like, from one to your entire blogroll, your choice. If you like, create an intro paragraph to your post that also acknowledges who tagged you.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS:
Juliana – Juliana’s Site – My New Year’s resolutions are looking for a part time job, keep blogging, and learn to cook and bake.

Michelle – Rusin Roundup – 1. Learn to be happier and accept myself for who I am, 2. Is to lose about 25 lbs., and 3. Is to stop smoking.

Karen – Grow Rich Along With Me – My resolution for next year is to achieve $3K per month passive income by the end of 2008.

Mel – Attitude, the Ultimate Power & Complain Complain Complain – “I don’t need no stinking resolutions.” I never hold to them anyway so why frustrate myself by starting them now.

Sandee – Comedy Plus – I don’t need no stinking resolutions either. Years and years ago I did them because everyone else did, but not once did I follow through. Why set yourself up for failure?

Lynda – lynda’s loft – My resolution is to see resolve to that which needs resolution. Like Mel and Sandee, I feel that resolutions give us more stress, however, being a person who sets goals each year, isn’t that the same thing as a resolution??? Goals vs. resolutions? Goals are more general and allow for more time to complete them, a resolution requires a mind-set and immediate action, which is not always feasible… Well, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it…

Amelia – Amel’s Realm – This is a list of my New Year’s Resolution:1. Health: Continue exercising twice a week, eat enough veggies and fruit, have enough rest, take vitamin C regularly and women’s multivitamin during my period.2. Spiritual: Improve my Daily Bread reading routine and my prayer life and learn more from God’s Word.3. Financial: Continue to make money online (my goal is getting €100 per month at least), be more creative in writing posts, and save most of the money.4. General Life: Continue to learn Finnish AND practice it as best and often as I can, try out more baking and cooking recipes, continue to maintain and share positive thoughts, continue to learn to control my thoughts, continue to learn to catch myself before I start complaining and count my blessings instead, continue to stop and cherish all the little moments in life that oftentimes go unnoticed, and continue to feed my inner child and last but not least, continue to ENJOY my life thoroughly.

Trinity – Rooms of My Heart : My New Year’s resolutions in simple and fast way will be blog less and spend more time with my children and read more good books. I want to start studying about global warming and blog it…

Max – MAX – My New Year’s resolutions are to dedicate more time to my friends; to finally be able to read “Der Spiegel” in German; to be calm when organizing my marriage; to go one last time to my favourite club and dance the night away; and continue to be happy!

Eric – Speedcat Hollydale – I love chicken. Problem is that I really never get to have enough chicken! My New Year’s resolution is to enact “Chicken Tuesday”. On this day I will eat only chicken, blog about chicken, and promote chickens all over the world. (hormone free) Join me, won’t you?

Marzie – Mariuca & Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery – My resolution for 2008 is to enjoy a healthier lifestyle and to expand my Perfume Collection.

Sindi- Life Is A Roller Coaster – My resolution is to complain less, pray more and be a little more thankful for what I have.

Judy – Sugar Queen’s Dream – My New Year’s resolution is:To take better care of my health.To eat better, well at least 3 meals a day, I’m lucky these days if I stop for one meal a day….To help make the world a better place to live, I love the human race, but think there’s always room for change.To be generous until it hurts.To live each day as if it’s my last.To make a book of our personal family recipes and traditions for each of my 3 my children, so that the traditions and family cooking can be passed on in my family line long after I’m gone and finally…….To help more with the local Human society, Animals like little kids can not fend for themselves so it’s up to each of us to take care of our pets and to step in and care for all animals…..I hope that through me I can encourage my Children to be better adults and in turn to raise the Children they have or will have, to be good people with good, sound & solid values…. Peace!

Adrian – First Time Dad – My New Year’s Resolution for 2008 is to be a better father…now I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions because I never keep them but this one I better keep! Happy New Year to one and all!

Colin – Life – New Years Resolution? No way…Better to achieve more throughout the year rather than pander to the whims of a one day ‘wishful thought’

Mauro – 1 Million Love Messages – My resolution for next year are: 1. Change my job (maybe work online). I’m really unhappy in the actual one. 2. Dedicate more time to my family and girlfriend… maybe start to get ready for our wedding 3. Work hard in 1 Million Love Messages and reach 2500 Love messages (or more) in the end of 2008.

MidgetManOfSteel – Mental Poo – To get out of dealing with people who I have no desire in helping at the job I’m doing…catch the eye of someone who can see that I can write and be funny…and get my own ticket to happiness from my humor….and a Ferrari. While I’m doing this, I resolve to get a Ferrari.

Stacy – My Thoughts – My New Year’s Resolution for 2008 – Is to be more understanding to my children and to other people, Not to curse at others while I am driving, try to eat right and exercise, try to volunteer in my community, and to believe more in my spiritual side.

Jason – DatCurious.com & DatMoney.com – Although, I normally don’t do New Year’s Resolutions (because I find it as an excuse to actually do something I should’ve already been doing), this year I will plan on giving back to the blogging community, especially my audience. I’m not sure how I will do it yet, but I definitely will.

Kesa – Little Aussie Cynic – My New Years Resolution is the standard….. to finally get off the smokes and to loose 8kg…. both which are possible just difficult…..Happy New Year to you and yours….Aussie

Ann – A Nice Place in the Sun – “To let the rest of my life begin as soon as possible.”

Wen – Little Paces – I want to sleep early to reduce my haggard and tired complexion. To blog better than last year and hopefully can save money from paid post so that we can immigrate to Australia. To spend more time with my children. To be able to bake.

Slavemom – Slavery Bliss – I’d like to have better control of my temper, be more organised and maintain my exercise regime.

Shireen – Health Freak Mommy –  To be more patient with my kids and spend more quality time with them.  Also, I wish I could shed all the weight that I will be gaining during this pregnancy by end of this year.

*End Copy Here*

What are your new year resolutions? Care to share with us?

1)  Cooking Momster

2)  Annie Q

3)  Hui Sia

4)  Barb

5)  Chin Nee

No. of times viewed = 307

HEALTH FREAK MOMMY