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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

First sewing project

I have been learning to use the sewing machine which I got from Lars as Christmas present last year. Yeah, I've waited a year before I gathered enough confidence to open the box! That's how much my Home Economics teacher has "scarred" me! I'll talk to my "half-sister" to see if it'll be okay for me to blog about all those horrifying events back in 1989.....


Anyway, after I've succeeded threading the machine and spinning some bobby pins, I pluck up enough courage to shorten a few curtains I have which were too long for the windows. I used to pin the extra fabric up with safety pins but I decided that now is the time to be a grown-up and sew them properly (I know, it's sad).


Curtains seems to turn out alright, although I was already planning to buy new ones after I destroy those! Then I remembered that I have saved one of Angel's favorite jeans because she has grown out of it. Why don't I try to make something out of it? I think Angel will be happy. That is if I'm successful....


And this is the end result. This is the front view.

It's a little crudely made because I didn't use any measure tape or ruler. I was just going at it with my scissor and a lot, and I mean A LOT of estimation and imagination!



Back view:


The accessory used was bought from Singapore when I was home for holiday. And I've stitched the flower pattern in beads. It was from a sketch by Angel and I modified it a little.



Angels is very happy with this bag. (or maybe she's just being nice to mommy?) And I think it turn out quite alright considering that this is my first sewing project.








Friday, November 21, 2008

What the....?!?!

Saw this interesting advertisement on the web... it says "fluffy chinese naked dog". FLUFFY???!!!!



Hilarious!!!!

It's really tricky to stay upbeat and cheerful between the transition period from autumn to winter. It's dark, cold and just plain gloomy....

I think I finally realise why Swedes are such exercise freaks. They really need to keep their endorphine level high constantly to survive 9 months of "sun-less" autumn/winter. For a typical Singaporean (translate: lazy and only wants to eat good food) like me who thinks that writing with a pen is hard labour, my only solution to increase my endorphine level is to EAT CHOCOLATES!!!! (happy food! happy food!) But when I do that, my mind is happy but my body is growing side-way too much - so end up, still not happy...

Anyway, chance upon this hilarious article which I would like to share:

http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html

Sooooo funnnnyyy!!!!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

For One More Day

I was watching the "Oprah Winfrey Show" yesterday and they were promoting the movie "For One More Day". The movie is from a book by Mitch Albom, the author of "Tuesdays with Morris". The story is about a man who gets the chance to spend one more day with his mother, who died 8 years earlier.


In the show, Oprah also talked about the author of the series of books "Don't sweat the small stuffs", Richard Carlson. He was considered to be one of the foremost experts on happiness and stress reduction in the United States and around the world. Richard Carlson died in 2006 of a pulmonary embolism (blockage in one of the main artery) during a flight,while on a promotion tour for his book Don’t Get Scrooged: How to Thrive in a World Full of Obnoxious, Incompetent, Arrogant and Downright Mean-Spirited People (2006). Oprah revealed on her show that Richard wrote hundreds of love letters to his wife and his 2 daughters. "He was an angel," said her daughter, "He was the most loving person and was always there for us. He was my best friend."


My tears was just flowing down my cheeks as I was watching the show, while Ivan was looking at me totally puzzled. So I had to wipe them away fast and smile at him just to assure him that I'm ok.


This show makes me think seriously (which is very rare nowadays.... my life is very peaceful usually ^_^). What will I regret not doing if this is the last day of my life? What will I regret if I know that this will be the last time I see my love ones as I sent them out through the door? These thoughts are horrible and unbearable, but what will I regret?


Coincidentally, I received a love letter from Angel today.
It's in swedish with misspelled words and words which are joined together in the strangest way.
It says,
" This letter is for my daddy and mommy I love you
You will be my parents best
parents for always" (she made a mistake at the end and was trying to show with arrows that the last word is supposed to be after the word before - if that makes sense...)
She gave me this letter in the evening when it was almost time for them to go to bed. After all the nagging, scolding and frustration they got from me, she gave me this letter. I feel so guilty suddenly. Why can't I say more loving words to them more often? Why can't I give them more encouragement when they talk about new skills they have learnt?
After sending kiddos and Lars off in the morning to school and work, I wondered,
"Do they really know how much I love them before they walk out of the door?"

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Angel's song

I have been singing quite a few children's songs to Ivan and I was singing "Popeye the sailor man" to him the other day.

For those who're not sure how it goes:

"I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.
I'm strong to the finich Cause I eats me spinach.
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man."

A few days later, I overhead Angel singing:

"Papaya saves the world, papaya saves the world" with the tune of "Popeye the sailor man". Pleasantly surprised with the creativity of my daughter, I asked,"Have you changed the lyrics?"

Angel: "That's how you sang the other day to Ivan."

Kid's talk

Kiddos were having breakfast in the kitchen this morning. They were chatting as usual and somehow the topic of ghosts came up.

They exchanged a few stories of ghosts and spirits they've heard from someone.

Angel: "You know Tyra's grandmother is dead?"

Jovan: "Yah, is she?"

Angel: "Yah, Tyra told me her grandma had her birthday the other day. But you know, she's still dead."

Kid's talk

Jovan came home one day really excited.

"Mommy, I won the swimming contest when I was in your tummy right?"

"What swimming contest?"

"That's how I become me! There were a lot of us swimming to reach the goal and I won, so I become me!"

"Er.... yeah.... who told you that?"

"Teacher!"

"Well... yeah... she's right. You won the contest!" *praying that it'd be the end of the discussion*

Jovan continued,"I won. Then Angel came second and Ivan is number 3!"

"........."