Long time

It's been a while since I wrote on my blog, don't know if anyone missed my whining or not. Anyway I've been busy writing articles online. Too bad I haven't made much money yet. If I don't start making enough money soon may have to look for a real job oh horrors!

Was offered a job in KL but they weren't going to pay me enough, hell what they wanted to pay wouldn't be enough to drive there. Any way with the world wide economic crisis I guess it won't be easy for me to get a job, lets face it the first industries that will be affected is the beauty industry. We don't really need to go to the Spa. That's a luxury. Right.

So I've been getting ready for Christmas most of my gifts are bought, didn't buy much on a budget. Life sucks sometimes. Robyn is working so at least she can go to Aeon everyday and I don't have to give her money Hahahahaha! This week going to get Jordan painting the grills in preparation for Chinese New Year. It's not far off.

Buckling Up

By end of this month Malaysians are expected to buckle up in the back seat. Now I have addressed this issue in the past and seems I was right.

At first people where asking what if I only have three seat belts in the back? Most obvious answer would be to carry only three passengers in the back, right. The government then decided it was ok to have four people in the back seat of the car, three people must buckle up the fourth of course doesn't need to. Then a few days later they said if you get pulled over then the driver will be fined for over loading.

Now does it really make sense, if the fourth person is unbuckled might as well not ask anyone to buckle in the back.

So yesterdays newspaper all those lower income families who can't afford to go and buy a bus to trasport their families around were complaining. I only drive an Iswara, only three seat belts in the back I have four kids, what can I do leave one at home everytime we go out? Another one complained that he had four kids, his wife and mother. So was he expected to leave his mother home with one kid?

So I guess the answer to the question for those people out there who don't have kids yet, stop having so many kids if you can't afford to buy a bus!

Just one or those f***ing days

So have your ever have one of those days when everything that can go wrong did go wrong. Well yesterday was one of those days. I seem to be having a lot of them lately and starting to feel like someone is out to get me.

I bid for an online job only the second one I ever bid on and got. Trouble started when I couldn't open the file. I called Justin he was out of office so he couldn't help me. I forwarded the message to him, and he finally got to check it at around 2 pm he had no trouble opening it so he sent it back to me. Trouble was the electricity in the house went out at 1 pm and didn't come back until 9:30 pm.

It did come back for about 20 mins at around 5 pm but went out again. So at 9:30 pm tried to log on again and the Internet connection was out and didn't come back until this morning around 9 pm. So with all that happening I was out over RM 200.00. NOW DOESN'T THAT JUST SUCK THE BIG ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still can't open the file!!!!!!!!!!

Aging

A lot of Hollywood actesses resort to cosmetic surgery to retain that bloom of youth. Look at Madonna, Jane Fonda, Joan Collins, Elisabeth Taylor to name a few. But when is it time to stop with the face lifts.

The other night I was watching "That Seventies Show" and the latest cast member to join is Mary Tyler Moore. Now I used to watch her in "The Dick Van Dyke Show", then she had her own show called "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" she was also in a few movies one which comes to mind is "Ordinary People". In this movie she still looked ok but the other night when I saw her I just shook my head. While her face looks young no doubt as a result of numerous face lifts, botox and skin peelings she is a character of the woman she used be. She must certainly be in her seventies by now and while she is slim she has the posture of an old lady. She also has the wrinkled neck of an old lady and her hair while died a light redish brown is thinning. I looked at her and just wanted to cry and tell her to give it up.

While Madonna can still get away with it someone of Mary's age should have let things go south, because she does not look attractive at all. She just looks gross, and when she opened her mouth to talk out came the reedy voice of an old woman. I'd just like to say when is enough, enough.

Wow long time

Wow it's really been a long time since I wrote in my blog. I've been busy writing articles and yesterday I made another USD32 for one of my articles. I was so happy. It sure is hard work all this writing though, I work harder at this then I did at my last job.

My writing site has a contest going on and I keep bouncing up and down from 3rd place to 1st place to 5th place to 2nd place, just like a yoyo. So today is the last day and yesterday I was in 3rd place hopefully I can stay there.

I have started my novel hopefullly it goes well and I can publish it after it's done. I'm sure writing this book will pull a gut. Wish me luck.

Plagerism

While writing online it is so difficult to get information with out sounding like someone else. So as I write articles I am terrified of plagiarising some one elses work.

With every topic you research there are at least 5o websites on the topic all pretty much saying the same thing. So it's pretty difficult to put a new slant on it. One the sites I write on we have to do ratings of other peoples articles. While I try not to be to harsh on other people, I know how difficult it is to write, there have been a few articles I have rated and noted they had used someone elses article word for word. I know because doing research I read the same article. I just let it pass though let some other whistle blower do the dirty job of reporting it. After all most of us are just in this for the money Hahahahaha. Since I started writing though I find I have a real passion for it. I work harder at this then I ever did at my last job.

Check Out The Two Silly Dudes

I haven't been entering a blog on a daily basis of late because I have been concentrating on my writing. I have a few sites that I write for and so try to hammer out articles at a rate of 2-3 a day.

Anyway the kids are now on school holidays. Robyn is doing something constructive such as working. Yes she is now working at Aeon her favorite hang out place. Jordan is sitting around bored. He likes to spend the night at friends houses, and what they do I do not know. I do know that they don't actually sleep. Last Friday he came home from his friends house with another friend. The cycled up at 8:30 in the morning and informed me that they hadn't slept the whole night and now wanted to follow Robyn to Aeon. I asked them if didn't need to get some sleep and they said no, they weren't tired. And so this is what happened at Aeon.

There Back!!!!!!

There back, those ugly little things that like to hitch a ride on your dog and suck blood, the disgusting little tick. I hate them with a passion. There have been times when I was working I did not notice until the whole floor was infested with them.

There seem to be three types, the triangular red ones, the little black ones and the big ugly gray ones that get left behind on the floor after your dog has spent time biting and licking themselves. They lay there like some kind of seed with legs. Ugh!!! These ones get special attention from me as I enjoy picking them up in tissue and squashing them making sure it will never suck blood again.

There was the time my poor Great Dane was so infected with them that after giving her a tick bath the poor wee thing lay on her side outside while thousands of them abandoned ship. I was afraid the poor dog was going to or go nuts. Last year I started putting "Tick and Flea collars on all three dogs and it really does keep the tick population from growing. So now I guess it's time to replace the old collars and get new ones. I'll get my son to give them all a tick bath first. Thank god the Great Dane doesn't have them yet.

Mrs. Obama's Dress

So the election is finally over and everyone is happy about Obama winning, but what the hell is the matter with people? Who cares what his wife wore. I actually thought she and the two girls where co-ordinated quite nicely.

To my way of thinking people or women in particular should be more worried about the economy instead of worrying about what the future first lady is wearing. If you compare her to Sarah Palin the one who supposedly spent USD150,000.00 on her wardrobe I'd rather give Mrs. Obama applause for wearing off the rack.

I know the first lady will be in the public eye a lot but with the whole world going through a recession she is taking the lead and proving you don't have to spend a bomb to look nice. I say leadership by example. You Go Girl!

President Obama

Now I am as white as white can be. My mothers family came from England, my mother was born in Canada so she second generation, my dad came from Holland, so what does that make me first generation or third generation? Who cares, as I said my back ground is made up of anal retentive English and drunken dutch.

So why is it that when Barrack Obama became the first ever African American President I cried. Tears of joy that is. I'm not even American for Christ's sake. I don't really follow politics more or less skim the headlines to see what is actually going on in this world. Fact of the matter is I know more about whats going on in America then I know about what's going on in Canada. Off the top of my head I couldn't even tell you who the Canadian Prime Minister is. That's pretty sad. I mean all the news reports online are all about the States and a few other European countries. Canada must be doing pretty good since I don't see anything written about them.

So it seems every one in the world is happy about Obama winning. Even our Malaysian Prime Minister mad a statement. Did your read it? He said even minorities can become leaders of a country. Now that has to be the biggest joke of the century. Do you think a Chinese will become Prime Minister of Malaysia or an Indian Prime Minister. Is that Badawi's prediction for the future.Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't make me laugh!

My House

I love my house and I can sit inside all day vegging out on the sofa watching TV. But I have to tell you the quality of building materials now a days and the quality of work put into the houses SUCKS!!!!!!

Now my father in laws house is around 30 to 40 years old and that house is still standing solid, although it should have fallen down by now with all the bullshit that goes on in that house.

My house on the other hand is only 10 years old. Two years ago I had to have it treated for termites. Now I loath termites after having a bad experience with them. Before we moved here we had lived in my husbands grandfathers house. A week or so after my husband passed, the ceiling in my bedroom dropped down on my bed in the middle of the night. Luckily I had gotten up to wee, and heard the noise while sitting on the toilet. When I went back to my bed it was covered in ceiling and termites. YUCK!!!!!!!!!

Back to my house, after calling in the termite people and after them drilling holes through the floor all over my house I still have termites so now they have to come in every month to check and spray. Why do I have still have termites, well probably because my neighbour has them and those little bugger walk across the wooden beams that join our houses, their like visitors from hell.

Another thing I noticed recently is my ceiling in the living room is has water spots. My bathroom adjoined to my bedroom is situated in that area. So much for waterproofing. I just hope the water doesn't soak into the light that is there and electrocute us when we switch on the light.

Then there is the tiles in the kitchen buckling off the wall. By the sink. Then the other day I notice a crack along the tiling in my shower so this morning out of curiosity I pushed them and sure enough those too are buckling off the wall. SIGH!!!!!!!!!!

So as I said the quality of workmanship has gone down the tubes and that's why people keep moving cause once their house starts falling apart they sell it off to move into a new house to start the process all over again.

Yoga

Well the other day I read in the paper that now they want to ban Muslims form practicing Yoga. Now I don't know about you, but in an attempt to protect Islam the Malays are being banned from so many things. In my blog I normally stay away from saying anything political but guess this is the last straw.

Yes Yoga stems from Hinduism but frankly speaking the yoga they teach in Yoga Zone is not going to upset any ones religious sensibilities. The Christians are also jumping on the Yoga band wagon as well, with some ministers saying that Christians shouldn't practice Yoga.

Give me a break what harm can a bunch of stretching exercises have on any ones religion. It's just stretching and good for your health. If this keeps going on Malaysia can no longer say that it is a progressive Islamic country that is tolerant.

Poetry

I got this email this morning asking me to try my hand at poetry. Well you know the old saying, "Your a poet but didn't know it." That doesn't apply to me.

There is one poem that sticks in my mind from my childhood days centuries ago, and I have never forgotten it. My grandfathers brother was an artist and his second wife was an artist as well. Whether they made a living from their work I do not know but aunt Eleanor subsidised her earning by giving lessons.

Anyways to get back on track shortly after she married my great uncle we paid them a visit. At that time her mother lived with them as well as her mothers spinster sister who was a retired school teacher. They oohed and ahhed over my sisters and myself and gave us a notebook and pencils. Inside my notebook the school teacher had written this poem which I thought was cute.

I don't like to teeter with Peter
Because he's so heavy and fat
Whenever I teeter with Peter
He bounces me off where I sat
I like better to teeter with Mary or Harry
For they are no fatter then I
We can make the teeter go faster then Peter
And Peter can never see why.

I'm on YouTube

It's really funny the way things go. Last month I applied for a blogging job at a site called 'allwomanstalk'. My article had been 'Do Anti-aging Products Really Work.'

After submitting my article I waited for a reply, and two weeks later one came. They said my article had been accepted. They also sent an online form to fill out asking how many hours a day can you spend on writing and how much you expect to earn in a month. The greedy soul that I am I said I wanted to earn USD500 a month. I sent off the application form, told all my kids and never heard from them again.

Oh well I thought just pursue other avenues. Which I have done. Then yesterday I got an email from them saying that I had been chosen as one of the top 100 American Bloggers. Never mind that I'm not American, I'm Canadian, I guess close enough.

So I opened the YouTube clip and sure enough there is my picture along with 99 others. Unfortunately the picture was taken from this blog site. The one eyed picture, so if you've never read this blog you wouldn't know who it was. That doesn't matter though, what matters is I was selected, I have some mediocre of recognition for the hard work I have been putting into my writing these past few months. It doesn't matter that I didn't get paid what matters most to me is that I have hope, that maybe I can make some money with my articles.

That's all we really need though isn't it.

Happiest Day of My Life Because of Helium

Since losing my job I have gone online in search of ways to make money from home. I've checked all the sites and finally decide to try writing articles.

It started with this blog. I informed my kids to tell all their friends and colleagues to check out my blog site and got favorable feed back. I then found this site called Helium and have been submitting articles there.

Last week they gave me a premiere writer shield, the other day I got a star for one of my articles. So this morning when I opened my email I had another email from Helium informing me that I had sold one of my articles. I have not been wasting my time!!! Which is so good to know. I have found I enjoy writing and when you submit articles for sale it is the greatest feeling in the world to know that your article was good enough, that someone would want to buy.

So now I can keep on writing and hopefully more articles will be sold and all my hard work will pay off. Thanks to my kids for all their support because without them this wouldn't be possible.

Deepavali

Yesterday was Deepavali and so I was invited to my neighbours house. An old friend of mine also called me, we hadn't seen each other for a couple of years. She is Chinese married to a Punjabi and so she invited me to her husbands house.

After I paid a visit to my neighbours I went to visit my friend and you know the beer was flowing. I had good time but left rather late.

That's always a problem with me, Chinese New Year or what ever open house is going on and I'm invited I tend to stay too long. With the beer flowing and catching up on lost time you have a tendency not to realize what time it is and over stay your welcome. Every time I go I tell myself don't burden people by staying too long, trouble is I forget and it happens again. I don't do it to everyone only those I feel comfortable with. She called me this morning, and I apologised and she told me not to worry that she and her husband were happy to see me.

So now she has invited me to her sisters place next Saturday for the nieces' 1st birthday. Hopefully I behave myself and don't over stay.

Agism

Saturday met up with my friend in Bangsar and we had a few beers and had a bitching session. She too is a Beauty Therapist working in that thankless profession, longer then I have been.

She just started a new job and the pay is crap, much too low for her number of years working. The Beauty Industry in Malaysia is basically dominated by the Chinese and the young. When you get to our age its more difficult to get a job especially as a therapist. At our ages we don't want to be therapists, we should be managing, but because we don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese it still makes it difficult to find work. My friend is Punjabi. So she has to settle for crappy jobs with crappy pay.

It's sad really, because if you hire an older person with experience and pay us well, you get a staff that won't run off after a few months because something better has come along, you get a wealth of experience and someone who will treat your business like their own, ensuring that your business runs smoothly and efficiently. Instead you all prefer hire the young ones who will run off as soon as they have gained experience.

Eye Bags

This is how I feel about eye creams.

This morning as I check my email and now at my blog sight I noticed there are a lot of ads and questions asking "What eye cream is the best?" Well I'm here to tell you that there are not many eye creams out there that really work.

If you saw my birthday pictures posted here you can see for yourself, because I've tried them all, and yet I still want to believe. I guess like everyone I'm as gullible. I have been in the beauty industrial for almost 20 years and still I get conned into buying eye creams that ultimately don't work.

When your eye bags look like suitcases it only stands to reason that an eye cream is not going to shrink those puppies. The only hope for people like me with eye bags this big is surgery. Smoking all those years probably didn't help.

Problem is though when ever you check out those sites to actually find out which eye cream is the best they really don't tell you and also inform you to go out and buy every eye cream around, trial and error so to speak. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. I have a drawer full of eye creams which did not work and which I have chucked inside for the next best thing.

So to prevent eye bags, don't smoke, don't drink, get lots of sleep, don't drink a lot of coffee or carbonated drinks, drink plenty of water and eat foods rich in anti oxidants. God what a boring life.

I guess I should be thankful for one thing, over the years I have always worn sunglasses in the shade, used eye cream and stayed out of the sun as much as possible, so a least I don't have noticeable crows feet.

Ugly World

When I turn on my computer everyday it automatically logs in to MSN. I actually use yahoo, but MSN has some pretty good news stories so I start out by reading some.

Today On MSN there is a news story about a TV anchor woman, Anne Pressly, who was almost beaten to death in her apartment. Everyone said she was a nice woman and everyone loved her. There was no evidence of a break in, but she had been robbed. She is a beautiful woman and her career is just starting, so who could have done such a foul, insane thing.

Today the world can be so ugly at times when you are not even safe in your own apartment, never mind out on the streets. There are stories of young girls being kidnapped , beaten, raped and forced into prostitution. Purse snatching is rampant and old ladies can be killed for a lousy few bucks in their pockets or a gold chain around their neck. I fear for my daughters every time they're not at home. The older ones are cautious because they have lived long enough and read too many horror stories. I fear for the youngest one who is so blaze about many things. Every time my son cycles to school I fear for him, because drivers on the road today drive like idiots, and when he's late coming back from school I sit on pins and needles waiting for him to come home.

Kids now a days are spoiled yes, but giving them a hand phone is actually a good thing in this day and age. At least if they are late you can call them or they can call you. Many a time a hand phone has saved someones life. They should be allowed to take them to school provided they do not spend their time smsing their friends when they should be studying.

Yes we live in a scary world, and my kids decide to bless me with grandchildren I will be here to babysit, because sometimes you can't even trust the crazy maids.

Birthday Dinner

Dawn, Justin and mommy ( unfortunatly don't have Pei Shins picture)

Ronald and future mommy

Robyn and mommy (check out the wrinkly arms)

Pretty sure I'm looped

Look at the flames on that cake!

Me and my chicks ( only one missing)

Dawn and mommy ( half looped by now)

Birthday Girl ( check out the eyebags)

Dawn and mommy

So sunday evening we went out for dinner and all had a good time. Only thing missing was Jade, because she's saving the rest of her leave to come home for christmas. All my working children gave me money and told me I have to blow it all on myself. Trouble is I'm not used to blowing that much money on myself. They gave me some idea's such go to a spa, buy designer sun glasses, I actually need to test my eyes again so maybe I'll get some new eye glasses. I could buy a hand bag or maybe I could get teeth. Mine are sadly lacking at the back of my mouth, on second thought maybe not enough money to get teeth I need so many, Hahaha. Pei Shin gave me a novel, Dean Koontz, my next favorite author after Stephen King. We had a nice dinner and Dawn and Alex brought a nice bottle of vodka. Justin bought the cake. I always tell them no need to buy a cake, they always sing Happy Birthday at the resturant. Nothing like telling everyone your turning 50.

I said in my previous blog that I am not sucessful but when I look at my children I think I'm pretty damn sucessful. I have raised responsible sucessful children.

Only blight of the evening is Justin and I had a disagreement about me having a cigarette. I know, I'm quitting but at the resturant I saw this lady out side smoking and it was driving me nuts, I don't know why and I just had to have one. Of course Justin gave in. Momma's boy LOL.

Happy 50th

Well today is the long dreaded day. The day I was born, 50 years ago. I have been feeling depressed at the thought of turning 5o and so when I woke up this morning it was just another day and nothing has changed. I feel the same and look the same.

Your 50th birthday should be a time of reflection and as I reflected about my life, while hanging the clothes, I have not achieved much in this life. Twenty years down the road I'll still be hanging clothes on the line, I still won't be successful at anything.

The question is do we have to be a great success to give our lives more value, more meaning. No. As long as you go through life and can say you did your best, you are a decent human being, do not intentionally harm others, this does not make your life any less meaningful. You do not have to care what other people think of you, as long as your children think much of you, is enough.

So on this day Robyn and Jordan inform me they didn't buy me a present. I'm not surprised, so I tell them they can cook me breakfast. Robyn tells me she will bring in the clothes and fold them and Jordan can cook me breakfast. So I sit for over an hour waiting for my food, both are watching TV. When I can no longer take the hunger pains I ask where is my breakfast. Robyn tells Jordan to cook my breakfast and he starts arguing with her about who is supposed to cook my breakfast. Typical, so much for Birthday surprises. I mean there's no surprise there, the two of them fighting over what should have been done with love. Robyn finally tells her brother that she is bringing in the clothes and folding them and that is why he is to cook breakfast. I finally got my breakfast cooked by Jordan he even washed the dishes up. At least he didn't leave them for me to wash.

To night the older kids are taking me out for dinner. A nice restaurant in PJ called The Carnival. It is a buffet style dinner and the waiters go around to your table and slice off slabs of meat onto your plate. Side dishes are at the food bar. We went there once before and the food was great and very filling. All you can eat. I'm looking forward to going again.

Writing Articles

I have been submitting articles on line for the past month now. I usually go to Helium or Constant Content. Helium will have a few buyers listed who want articles for certain subject matter and will set price for the article they choose. Can be anywhere from USD24 up to USD32. Not bad if you get chosen. My articles have not been chosen but have been absorbed by Helium.

Now Helium has a ratings system where by other authors on the site evaluate your work. So far I have submitted 4 articles and one article I was rated 14 out of 16 submitted and 1 out of 6 articles that have been submitted. Another article I am the only one who submitted an article so that makes me numero uno. Hahaha. Yesterday I submitted another article so have not checked to see how I was rated.

When your article is used by Helium they have a pay per click system meaning that every time someone reads your article you get 1 cent. So far I have 1 cent.

Now over to Constant Content. I have submitted numerous articles and every time I have been rejected, reason being grammar and punctuation. Now it infuriates me because the articles I have submitted are pretty well written not perfect but certainly better then some of the other crap I see submitted by other people on that sight. Sometimes I feel like going into their forum and screwing them up and down, don't, because I do not want to get kicked out just yet. At least not until I find another good site I can submit my articles to other then Helium.

So I shall go through all my articles, and proof read them again, to see if I can spot the faults. If not I should send them to my daughter Jade who I sent to college to study Mass Com. Maybe she can spot the faults. I shall keep on writing and hope I can make more then 1 cent.

How Green is Too Green

I love making dolls, and at one point I sold my dolls. The problem was, the dolls were all hand knitted and a lot of work. It used to take me about one week to finish one doll, so when you have a deadline for 30 dolls, you end up knitting night and day. My dolls were baby dolls with movable arms and legs and clothing that could be put on or taken off. So lately the doll bug has bitten me but I do not want to knit dolls.

This has taken me to check doll making sites for cloth dolls that can be sewn by machine. Now some of the sites I have gone to, the dolls are fantastic. It's amazing what they can do with cloth.

My blog is not about dolls today, it's actually what I came across when I was surfing the web. Now I noticed that a lot of sights are promoting 'How To Go Green'. Now I'm all for going green, you know saving our resources and recycling, saving our planet, but there is one thing I draw the line at, and that is making your own reusable pads out of cloth. There actually is a site that tells you all about it. Ah ya right.

I've hit menopause now, and don't have to worry about that, but I'm thinking about my daughters and all the other woman out there that still need to use them. So, say you do start using them, what happens when you got to work ,or school, or even shopping. Do wash them out in the sink?, or do you have a special bag you put them in, then throw in your purse and bring them home to wash? That would sure give a purse snatcher a shock when he starts fumbling around in your bag. Maybe it could be a deterrent.

Now don't ya think it would be a bit inconvenient? We just came out of the dark ages why go back. Wouldn't that limit what a woman could do. Now my mother told me once that my grandmother, back in the day, used rags, hence the expression 'on the rag". She can remember my grandmother washing them out and drying them in front of the fire place, in the winter time and out on the clothesline in the summer. Ewwwwwwwwwww! For my grandmother that was ok, because she didn't have a job, so could you imagine having them hanging around (in Malaysia very few people have hot air dryers) and having unexpected guests pop in. I mean nothing like advertising.

As I said I'm all for going green but that's were I draw the line.

Chain Letter

I'm sure many of you out there have received the dreaded chain letter, whereby you have to send out 6 copy's to all your friends, or suffer the dire consequences. So I got this chain letter many years back which I'm writing here for you all to read. It's one of the funniest I've ever gotten.

This letter was started by a woman, like you, in the hope of bringing relief to a tired and discontented wife. Unlike most chain letters , this does not cost anything. Just send a copy of this to five of your friends who are equally tired. Then bundle up your husband and send him to the woman at the top of the list and add your name to the bottom of the list.

When your name comes to the top of the list, you will receive 16,478 men and some of them are bound to be a hell of a lot better than the one you already have.

Do not break this chain----------------------------- have faith!

One woman broke the chain and got her own Son of a Bitch back. At the date of writing, a friend of mine received 183 men. They buried her yesterday but it took three undertakers thirty-six hours to get the smile off her face.

Hot Days

The weather has been really hot this past month, it's enough to make me faint. With no air con in the house it feels even worse. That's the one good thing about working, at least I can sit in air con most of the day and freeze. I don't know if I feel the heat more because of menopause, there may still be some hormonal action left yet.

So it's days like these that I think about home. Canada, in the winter time, spring and autumn. Days where you can put on a sweater and go out for a walk and feel comfortable.

I remember as a kid my mother was very big on throwing us outside everyday for fresh air, whether we wanted to go or not. Wasn't an option. Now I don't know if that is what she really believed, or she just couldn't stand us in the house, while she had her nervous break downs.

My sister and I would play outside for hours. We had a huge tree in the yard were my father had hung an old tire, so my sister and I and some of the neighbourhood kids would play on it for hours. How the old man got it up there without falling, and breaking his neck is beyond me, but some how he did it.

We loved that old tyre and we'd all pretend it was a space ship and we were aliens. We also had an old swing set, but we preferred the old tyre.

In the autumn we'd rake the leaves into a huge pile then run and jump into them. We had a lot of leaves on our property, because we had a lot of trees.

Even in the winter time my mother would throw us outdoors. The only time we could escape being thrown out in the snow, was when the thermometer hit below zero and the dog came in from outside, after her pee, with an icicle hanging from her you know what. When we went to my aunts house my cousin and I would go tobogganing. There was a pretty mean hill near his house, and we would build a bump of snow near the end of the hill, so that when we slid down, we'd hit that bump and go flying through the air. I'm surprised neither of us ended up with a broken arm. I guess with all the winter clothing on we were too well padded to be hurt.

There is one incident that sticks out in my mind about those days. I come from a family of 4 daughters , no sons and I am the eldest. My second sister and I were very close so when my third sister was born we were not close to her. Probably because when she was young she was very sickly and so my parents were more protective of her. My sister Cathy and I were jealous, so as she grew older we were mean to her and wouldn't let her play. Of course my mother never let us hear the end of that. Anyways on my third sisters birthday my parents bought her a new swing set. Cathy and I had taken over the old tyre. I think it must have been her 4 th birthday, so all the aunts and uncles and cousins were invited for the birthday party. My father had gone out, and set up the swing set for her, and once done we all went outside so Angela could have her first swing on her new swing set. She sat on the swing and started to swing and as she pumped higher and higher the swing set fell over, Angela ended up on the ground crying and Cathy and I were laughing like hell. My mom didn't think it was very funny and I can still feel the swat on my ass, that we both got, from mom for laughing.

How to Kill a South Dakota Eel

I'm posting this joke which was sent to me many years back by my mother. Enjoy.

Little Johnny was 12 years old and like all other boys his age, rather curious. He had been hearing quite a lot about 'courting' from the older boys, and he wondered what it was, and how it was done. One day he took his question to his mother, who became rather flustered. Instead of explaining things to Johnny , she told him to hide behind the curtain one night and watch his older sister and her boyfriend. This he did. The following morning, Johnny described everything to his mother.

Sis and her boyfriend sat and talked for a while, then he turned off most of the lights. Then he started kissing and hugging her. I figured Sis must be getting sick because he put his hand inside her blouse to feel her heart, just like the doctor would, except he's not as smart as the doctor because he seemed to have trouble finding her heart.

I guess he was getting sick too because soon both of them started panting and getting all out of breath. His other hand must have been cold, because he put it under her skirt. About this time Sis got worse, and began to moan and sigh and squirm around and slide down to the end of the couch. That was when the fever started. I knew it was fever, because she told him she felt hot.

Finally, I found out what was making them sick. A big eel had got inside him somehow. It just jumped out of his pants and stood there, about 10 inches long. Honest! Anyway, he grabbed it in one hand to keep it from getting away.

When Sis saw it she got really scared, her eyes got big and her mouth fell open, and she started calling to God and stuff like that. She said it was the biggest one she's ever seen. (I should tell her about the ones down at the lake.) Anyway, Sis got brave and tried to kill it, the eel, by biting it's head off. All of a sudden she made a noise and let the eel go and I guess it bit her back. When she grabbed it with both hands and held it tight while he took a muzzle out of his pocket and slipped it over the eel's head to keep it from biting again.

Sis lay back and spread her legs so she could get a scissor-lock on it and he helped by laying on top of the eel. The eel put up one hell of a fight! Sis started groaning and squealing and her boyfriend almost upset the couch. I guess they wanted to kill the eel by squashing it between them.

After a while they both quit moving and gave a great sigh. Her boyfriend got up and sure enough they had killed the eel. I know it was dead, because it just hung there limp and some of it's insides were hanging out.

Sis and her boyfriend were a little tired from the battle, but they went back to 'courting' anyway. He started hugging and kissing her again. By golly, the eel wasn't dead. It jumped straight up and started to fight again. I guess all eels are like cats, they have nine lives or something.

This time Sis jumped up and tried to kill the eel by sitting on it. After a 35 minute struggle, they finally killed the eel. I know it was dead because I saw Sis's boyfriend peel its skin off and flush it down the toilet!

Johnny's mother fainted..........

Changes

The other day I was watching a comedy show. The wife and kids as well as the wife's brother and sister where waiting for the husband to come home. It was his birthday and they were waiting to surprise him with a cake and presents. Of course the husband knew but acted surprised anyways. His brother in law gave him tickets to a baseball game, his sister in law gave him a beer magazine subscription, his son gave him hand lotion, his two daughters gave him a knitted vest and his wife gave him a oil paint set.

He was happy with his in laws gifts, because he had told them what to buy for him, as for his wife and kids' gifts he pretended to like them but in fact did not. At night before bed the wife had set up his easel and paints and had wanted him to paint. He instead wanted to read his beer magazine.

The next day after work his small son who is only about 5 years of age, comes up to him and tells him he has another birthday present for daddy, that he had not picked out the hand cream, mommy had chosen the first gift. To which the father exclaims "my young son let me see it!", and so the boy pulls out a long stick with a bow attached, which he has found outside. Now the father loved this stick and carried it around with him everyday, which of course totally pisses off his wife, as he has not bothered about the other gifts. Finally she can take it no more and confronts him about the stick. "What is so great about that stick!" "What is wrong with the other gifts?" He then proceeds to tell her that the other gifts given to him and no doubt picked out by her, where her way of trying to change him, whereas the simple gift of the stick from his son did not require him to change and his son did not expect him to change. Of course in the end she finally gets it.

Now most of us at some point in our lives have tried to change the people we love. A wife will often try to change her husband, into the ideal man she wants, and when the man won't change trouble begins. You see people can change, but only if they want to. If you truly love a person you must except them for who they are, and not try and change them into someone you want them to be.

I leave off with a poem I read many years ago. I do not know who the author is, but I have always liked it.

Woman
was created from the rib of man
she was not made from his head
to top him
nor his feet
to be trampled on
She was made from his side
to be equal to him
from under his arm
to be protected by him
from near his heart
to be loved by him

Working Online

In my never ending quest to find online jobs I run into more scams then actual jobs. Just now as I was reading other peoples blogs I came across one guys blog whereby he was bragging he got a S250.00 cheque form adsense. He paid USD9.90 for the book now the writer was giving it away for free. So I checked out the site and yes you get the book for free and he also wants to give another report for free a few other things for free. So went to sign up he also wanted my credit card number because one of the free things was for one month only after which I'd have to pay. I closed the window.

There are many people out there who want to work from home, the more you explore the Internet the more people you see who want to work from home. Not all of these people are lazy and want something for nothing. A lot of people want legitimate jobs they can do at home. Women who want to stay at home with their kids, handicapped and students all trying to earn a living. We are not expecting to become millionaires like a lot of these adds promise you. Data entry jobs are a lie and I came across a new one yesterday called Rebate Processing. Sounded good so of course I checked it out for scams. I do that now so I won't be cheated. Well low and behold another scam. A whole list of people were complaining about this site because they got scammed.

Lucky I didn't sign up. Data Entry sights are just another way for you to be conned into signing on for something else. As Justin said "who the hell is going to pay you USD25.00 to fill in one lousy form with a few lines. Point taken.

Weight Loss

In the mornings, I usually buy a newspaper to catch up on whats going on in Malaysia today. It's always good to know whats happening in case I need to pack up and leave. Hahaha!

Usually the paper is full of adds which I dutifully read, and usually there are adds from the Weight loss specialists such as Marie France, MayFair, Terrime. Slim World to name a few.

I have worked in the Beauty Industry for many years and at some point during my career I have worked in a few slimming centres. I have seen over weight women, and women who think they are fat plonk down thousands of dollars to lose weight.

When the slimming salon sensation became popular in Malaysia back in the late eighties and early nineties women were willing to fork out thousands to lose weight. I had a friend who worked as a consultant for Marie France for 16 years and her sales target every month was RM200,000.00. Now that's individual sales, not group sales. She told me they would do anything to get these woman to sign up for a course. Every month she was stressed, so stressed that her hair started falling out. She was one of their number one sales people and one month had a pay check for around 18,000.00. That pay check is based mostly on commissions as the basic pay in these places is extremely low, so you can imagine the pressure on the consultant not to mention the dupe who walked into your salon just to inquire. If they didn't sign you that day, they would call and hound you until you did. Once you decided to sign up and said you had to go to your ATM to withdraw money, said consultant would follow you to the ATM to make sure you came back. The problem is, once you forked out RM40,000.00 for treatments most woman did not lose weight, yet time and again they would resign until reality hit them in the face like a stinking fish.

Now a days slimming treatments have become cheaper because of competition. The low prices I see in the newspaper are not really as cheap as they seem. As I mentioned I have worked in slimming salons so I know why they can seem to offer such low prices, but that's beside the point. The point I'm trying to make is that most of the time slimming treatments do not work.

In our society now, woman have no time to exercise or eat healthy and so they want to rely on slimming treatments. They want to believe. Now I ask you do you think you can lose weight by going for your treatment twice a week and still carry on eating your high calorie food and not exercising??? Slimming salons are now becoming smarter wherein they will advise you on food intake and ask you to exercise just to cover their asses when a client comes in and complains they have not lost weight. I have faced many clients, trying to explain to them why they are not losing the pounds. Its not a pretty sight and who can blame them. They think because they paid you all that money the weight should just drop off.

Wake up call ladies, if you want to lose weight and you have no under lying medical condition that causes you to gain weight, the best way to lose is to cut down on those calories and try to get some exercise. Also a good detox twice a month will help to clean out your sluggish system. Another thing don't lie to yourself that you are cutting down on calories because at the end of the day, you may be able to lie to friends and family, but ultimately you can't lie to yourself.

One Week of Hell

So it's already one week since I decided to give up smoking. Oh it's hell. I haven't been totally smoke free but at least I'm down to a few a day. Give me time folks I'm trying I really am.

I was thinking I should try the patch, but I don't think it would work. The thing that gets my motor racing is that first drag when you inhale all the nicotine and carcinogens wow nothing like that feeling. So that's why I don't think the patch would help.

Sure the patch is supposed to help get rid of the cravings but what about the smoke itself? HUH! What about the fact that your holding that butt between your fingers.

My brother in law tried using Xanex and he managed to quit. He said it was actually an anti depressant that has the side effect that you no longer feel like smoking. He told me that 10 years ago when I was in Canada, and I don't know if they have the pill here in Malaysia. I should check it out.

It's times like this I wished I never started in the first place. I have been so focused on quitting that I didn't even realize it has been one week since I entered anything into my blog. Well I've made it this far I'll just have to try harder. Really try for that smoke free day.

I was actually thinking, they should have rehab centres for smokers. What they could do is admit you knock you out for a month, give you a feeding tube so you won't starve and leave you there. Then hopefully once you woke up the craving would be gone. Wouldn't that be nice!!!

There is at least one upside to not smoking (so much) at least I can breath easier and I'm not hacking myself to death at night. I'm even having these weird thoughts of exercise! Horrors! God it's just too healthy for me to think about! I must be hallucinating now.

This Is Hell

So the other day I got to thinking ( I think I shouldn't think too much) that I will be turning 50 this month. Another 20 years from now I will be 70.

Now when your young 20 years seems far away but when you hit 50 , twenty years is not that far off at all. So this means my life is more then half over. So I got to thinking that if I continue to smoke I may not have another 20 years left at all.

Well in my new found wisdom I have decided to quit smoking!!! What my family might say, our mother the die hard smoker, the one who has smoked for 35 years of her life. Yes me and I have to tell you this is HELL!!!!!

I tried cold turkey and its killing me. So even though I have not bought any cigs for the past few days I do have a couple of packs of extra lights from Singapore that Jade brought last time she came home. They are soooo light every time you light it up you just want to throw it away because it really sucks. It's like sucking on air.

I decided on Tuesday to quit so I finished off the ciggies I had left over, the good ones, so that day I smoked 10 cigarettes. Yesterday I smoked 5 of the crapy ones and today who knows. Although I did sneak one of Justin's this morning. I just can't seem to kick the first thing in the morning cigarette. It is the most difficult. Frankly speaking I feel crappy, depressed and I also feel like going out and buying a pack and smoking myself to death right now! No need to wait 20 years to die. I'd happily go now for a decent smoke. Maybe I should try the patch or take a pill . Hopefully as each day goes by it will become easier. I hope so!!!!!

Gas Prices

I saw in yesterdays paper that the price of gas has gone down by 10 cents a litre in preparation for the Raya balik kumpung.

Saturday several gas stations had run out of gas because they didn't stock pile for the Raya rush.
Reason given was that if they stock piled they would lose money. Now I can't in all honesty blame them. With the governments decision to lower and raise the petrol prices at whim we the consumer benefit but what about the petrol kiosk owners.

Is it fair to them that they are the ones who should have to take a fall, and once Raya is over will the price of gas go back up again. Most kiosk owners are just like you and I trying to get by in these uncertain times. The problem though even though the price of gas goes down nothing else does. Public transport remains the same , food prices remain the same as does the price of eating out. Our salaries remain the same. With prices going up most people have had to cut back drastically, because salaries do not increase. Hell your lucky if your boss doesn't ask you to take a pay cut because the company is not earning as much, because of the raise in prices.

Now I don't know about you but I think most businesses should start reviewing employees salaries and start giving everyone an increase. It's got to the point that you can't even count on your bonus anymore.

Just One Of Those Days

I'm feeling kinda out of it today, you know just one of those days. I don't know why, as I went to bed at a ll pm and got up this morning at 7am. Can't sleep too late even though the kids are on Raya leave this week. Justin still has to go to work so I get up to make sure he gets up. He still needs his mama.

This morning I woke up in pain and so, as I usually do every morning, I couldn't bounce out of bed, but had to roll over onto my side and push myself up with my hands. Just going to turn 50 but feel like 80.

Finally managed to get to the loo, sit on toilet and when finished I almost couldn't get up. After that, brush the teeth, glance in the mirror and whoa!!! swollen eye. Seems my stye's not fully gone yet. So you can imagine the sight that greats me this morning, swollen eye and hair standing up. I know, I know I usually spike my hair but I don't flatten it out on the sides so I look like I have a Mohawk.

Whole morning just dragging my butt around. Get the chores done and clean my room. I hate cleaning my room, but I hate it even more if I don't.

So now I'm sitting at the computer with brain drain cause I sure as hell can't think of much to write. Just goes to show you how boring my life has become and how crappy I feel. Dawn thinks I should take up yoga, maybe I should but with the way I feel I'd probably sprain something.

Somethings Wrong Here

After writing my blog and pinging it I like to check out some of the other blogs to see what other people are writing about.

I can't remember who the blogger was but his blog site had a YouTube segment about a 15 year old girl in the states who claims that she has had sex 300 times with 15 guys and wants to get pregnant. The poor mother has caught her daughter in her bed with some guy 3 times. The stupid kid (and that's what she is a kid) has even bought baby toys, clothes, bottles and pacifiers in preparation for that time.

Now somethings wrong here when a 15 year olds sole mission in life is to get laid and get pregnant. She even claims that she will prostitute herself to support the baby. Well I guess she's getting some pretty good practice in now isn't she. The mother seemed like a decent woman worried about her daughter but the question has to be asked "How the Hell did you raise that girl?"

A 15 year old girls only responsibility should be to study hard and try to get good grades and hopefully go on to college and eventually get a good job. Not to put a notch on her bed post every time she scores. A girl of that age is not emotionally equipped to be a mother.

In the US, Canada, Britain, Europe the lack of discipline in the house hold is turning our children into monsters. Even in Asia the trend is catching on. Is it because parents are afraid of being accused of child abuse, because their kid can go to the cops and report them if you whacked their little fannies. The experts on parenting tell you to talk to your kids or reason with them but how do you reason with a 3 or 4 year old throwing a temper tantrum in the shopping mall because you wouldn't buy them what ever the hell they wanted.

Or maybe the problem in this case is the girl didn't get enough love at home. I don't know but I think if she were my kid I'd lock her up in the house until she was 21.

Morons on Motorbikes

Yesterday when I took Robyn to tuition there was a jam on Tepi Sungai. As we crawled along we finally got to the point not far from our house to the spot that was causing the jam. Seems there had been a show down between a big four wheel drive and a motorbike and the the four wheel drive won. As we drove past we noticed that the motorbike was lodged under the front of the truck.

You know how it is thought you hate to see the blood and gore but you look anyways and shudder afterwards. Thankfully the bike rider was not hurt. I didn't stop so I don't know whose fault it was, but I don' t doubt it was the motorbike rider.

I actually think once they get that bike between their legs all their brains go to their asses, because they sure aren't using them. They drive around thinking their invincible bombing up and down the road weaving in and out of traffic. Your trying to change lanes on a busy highway you finally get a chance and then before you know some idiot on a bike comes up behind you . At the traffic light your all stopped for the red light and you have motorbikes surrounding you and before the light even turns green their off faster then the speed of light. Or how about the slow ones just cruising down the road going 15 miles an hour but he's smack in the middle of the road. You want to over take the A-hole and just flip him a bird but can't because there's too much traffic coming on the other side of the road.

But this has got to be my ultimate favorite. I live on Tepi Sungai which is still pretty much a kampung area, and I swear to god sometimes I think they all interbreed, because some of those dudes just don't seem to have their god given brains. You'll be driving along and all of a sudden you'll see two boys on a bike, no helmet and the driver decides to pull a wheely. I guess his pillion rider must trust him a lot not kill them both. You even have the dudetts getting in on the action now a days. Used to be you didn't see many women driving motorbikes, but times have changed. The best part is though if you hit one of them it's your fault cause you weren't paying attention. Never mind that you just came up on my blind side or your tailing a car so close that no one can see you.

So when my youngest son sits in the car tells me when he gets a job he's going to save up and buy himself a motorbike. I just look at him and tell him "Not in this life time little dude." "Over my dead body."

Grocery Shopping

Yesterday I did my grocery shopping and what a nightmare shopping has become. To start with I always shop at the same place because I know where everything is.

Well the Tesco I shop at has started changing things around and I am the type of person who hates change. I live by schedules and that is how I raised my kids when they were babies. I always had a schedule and if anything came up to wreck havoc with my schedule my whole day would be screwed.

So this brings us back to shopping. I hate grocery shopping!! Especially now with food prices going up. Not that I buy a whole hell of a lot of food mostly crap for the kids. Veggies never enter my cart cause we don't like them, but in the past month I have cut down drastically on the crap for the kids. My son usually works late or comes back late so I don't have to cook for him. I now only cook for myself and the 2 youngest ones, which is a pain because the youngest one is picky.

Back to shopping again. The reason it was a nightmare is, I had wanted to go shopping and race around Tesco and get out of there within an hour. Unfortunately with things being changed around I now have to hunt for the things I want. Why the hell do they have to change everything. Did they do some kind of anal study and decided that the chips weren't placed in the right spot? A spot for maximum exposure or do the companies come in and check around and say "Hey I don't want my stuff here people won't be able to find it!" Don't worry we will find your crap. We go up and down every isle to make sure we find your crap.

The other thing that pissed me off yesterday was the price of chicken. Now I have never spent more the six or seven ringgit on a chicken. Yesterday I nonchalantly picked a chicken and gave it to the guy to be weighed and cut. I didn't really pay much attention so when he gave me back my chicken I almost shit my pants because the chicken was RM20.10. One lousy chicken and since it had already been cut I just took it anyways, and what about cheese! HUH ! I like to make mac and cheese once in a while but the cost of Kraft Cheddar brick has gone up to over RM9.00. Did they start putting gold in the cheese or something? Another thing we like to eat a certain brand of margarine and for the past month they have not had one tub available. Why! I had settle for some other crappy ass margarine. It better taste good.

When I finally made to the cashier and everything had been tallied the bill came to almost RM300!!!! Even after drastically cutting back. Hell if I cut back any more we'll be eating grass. I don't want to eat grass we hate veggies!!

Make Lemonade

When I first started my blog I seemed to have a lot to say, but there are those times I can't think of much to write hence yesterdays blog on Curse Words and today's blog.

I salute those television writers who day after day must come up with fresh dialogue to write. Since I have decided to stay home and try to work I have gone to writing sites where you can post your written word and have people pay you. A lot of people out there are making money this way, it's free to sign on and most of it seems to be scam free.

Now since I have decided to do this I have suddenly become blank. I came across this sight that will pay you USD48 for your article and commit you to another 11 if they choose you. Not bad for an article once a month and after the exchange rate it comes to almost RM150. The article is to be about being 50 and how fabulous it is. Now I will turn 50 next month and this should be easy peasy but I just can't for the life of me think about anything that is great about being 50.

At 50 I am jobless and still have two kids to put through school. The beauty industry doesn't want me anymore because I am too old and I refuse to travel. Just think about all the trouble darling Robyn would get into if I'm not around. Now a nice office job would be good but without the experience they would only pay me RM1,200 a month. With the cost of gas, toll and parking I'd be working just to pay for going to work. Just doesn't make sense.

So now I have started searching the writing sites. There is a lot out there and if you can sell a few articles a month you wouldn't have to worry too much. I really want that writing gig about turning 50 though, so hopefully something will pop into my head before the deadline. Maybe I can find a site that will pay for articles on beauty as that was my chosen career.

So as for now I'm muddling around trying to find the perfect writing gigs for me. After all you don't live to be 50 without learning a thing or two and as the saying goes "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

Curse Words

The other night at Dawn's condo we were talking about the classes she was taking and during the course of the conversation she had said "Why is the word Fuck considered a curse word?" She went on to mention that it was only a word and only became a curse word depending on the connotation you put on it. Who was the one who came up with the word fuck and who said it was a curse word. This word has a multitude of meanings depending on how you use it in a sentence. When I was growing up we were not allowed to utter such words and yet today my children fling it around with abandon as do I on some occasions, especially when I want to get my point across.

You can say fuck you, fuck me, mother fucker, your a fucker, what the fuck, fucking A, fucking rocks and so on. Another word that is very functional would be that good old word shit. Now shit is a small word seemingly harmless but we all know what the meaning is. This word can also be used in many ways such good shit, bad shit, he's full of shit, your shitting me, when the shit hits the fan, bullshit, tastes like shit, looks like shit and so on.

Now Jesus Christ! and Goddamn you, are considered curse words for the very reason you are taking the lords name in vain, but what about hell or goddamn it why are they considered curses or ass, asshole, ass wipe. These words are considered curse words with out rhyme or reason.

When I was in the fourth grade I had just started into a new school and so I was in the process of trying to make new friends. There had been a girl in my class whom during recess had called another girl a Prick. Now seems she had a much older brother and this is where she probably learned it from. I had never heard the word before and so that night I had gone home and called my sister a Prick. Unfortunately my sister went and told my mom and after that well you know what happened . I couldn't sit down for a week.

So why in this day and age are they even considered curse words when every where you go people throw them around with such abandon to add color to the English language? I don't know, all I know is that in my day any body who used such words were considered ill mannered and low life's. Oh well what the hell who gives a shit anyways.

Monday Morning Meetings Part 2

I have previously written about my last job and our Monday Morning Meetings and what a farce they were. Now correct me if I'm wrong but I always thought that company meetings were for 1. Brainstorming and 2. Bringing up matters concerning the day to day operations. Not so in that company.

The company is a family business run by a husband and wife team along with their eldest son. They meeting was always chaired by the wife with the son sitting shot gun. At the start of every meeting the mother would go around to each of us and ask if anyone had anything to contribute, so as she asked each one, each one would reply no nothing to contribute. This took all of 5 minutes and the reason no one wanted to say anything is because nothing ever got done and somehow or other if you said something they didn't like it would eventually come back and bite you in the ass.

This went on month after month and the Matriarch started getting royally pissed that no one contributed and that she was the only one who had anything to say. Her son eventually didn't bother to attend meetings.

One day during one of the meetings she went around and asked all of us if we read books. What this has to do with company business I do not know. She also asked what do we read. I already know what is going through her mind I had her pegged, so I said I was presently reading 'The Secret' and it was about the power of positive thinking and how it can change your life. This greatly excited her as this is the type thing she likes to hear. I mean this lady always likes to bring god into her meetings and as far as I'm concerned god has no place in our meetings.

A few months later she brought in some books and passed them out to all the staff and asked us to read the books. The book was entitled "How To Be Happy'. Of course we all glanced at each other and rolled our eyes. Now if you expect your staff to read a book don't you think they should be able to read on company time.

The following week she asked if any one had read the book and of course everyone said no. I decided I better start reading so that evening I went home and started reading. The book had been written by some guy who had had a six figure income who gave it all up in the pursuit of happiness. The book was boring and so I managed to finish only half of it. The following week she asked again and this time only two of us admitted to reading the book. This went on for a few more weeks when she finally got the message and gave up on everyone and stopped asking.

Reading the book was absolute bullshit as she, her husband and son all have a business so they can earn money. Don't expect your staff to read such drivel when you yourself are pursuing the almighty dollar. If you didn't want to be rich why have a business in the first place and hound your sales staff into selling more. Don't tell your staff to think of themselves as being part of a family. If we were part of your family wouldn't we be getting shares.

Now I am an avid reader but I like to choose what I want to read not something my boss forces me to read and stop bringing god to the meetings. Your staff are not all Christians. They are made up of Chinese, Indians and Malays with different religious beliefs.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

When I was growing up in Canada my parents had always celebrated our birthday. So the festivity was celebrated with a birthday party and we could invite a few of our friends and of course our cousins. The party was always held on Saturday and if our birthday happened to fall on a weekday my parents would give us their gifts, to us, on that special day. The food served at the party would always be hotdogs with the birthday cake and ice cream for desert. That was because it was the easiest to make.

When my kids were born I too made it a practice to celebrate their birthdays. When we were in Canada it was fine but once we came to Malaysia things just weren't the same. I lived with my in laws for 11 years and the only birthdays celebrated in that house were my father in laws and my mother in laws so I made it a point to celebrate my children's birthday on my own. Every year they would get presents and also a birthday cake to mark their special day.

To this day I still celebrate my children's birthday with a present and a cake. Since Dawn's birthday was on a Tuesday this year we managed to celebrate it last night. Alex had smsed us that he had wanted to take us all out for dinner along with his dad.

Saturday morning he messaged me to come around 5 o'clock so we could have a couple of beers before going off to dinner. Of course, as usual we were late. My first born son was dragging his ass and when I bitched at him about it he told me to chill. "Can't we ever be on time for anything?" I had whined. "Christ we were late for your sisters wedding." He replies "Since we were late for her wedding I don't think it matters if we are late going to her condo." With that I turned to Pei Shin, his girlfriend and said ,"This guy will be late for his own wedding!" "Probably"
he says.

We finally got to the condo had a beer then went off for dinner. Before we left we all needed to visit the loo which is in Dawns room. Now apparently there is something wrong with her ceiling fan so they cannot switch it off. Justin didn't know so when he came out of the room he switched it off because I taught them to conserve electricity. Luckily Dawn and Alex informed us yes the fan will start up again on its own but it takes time, so before we left she opened her bedroom window to let some air in.

We went off for dinner and forgot to bring the birthday cake, so we decided to go back to their place and sing happy birthday there. As we waited for Pei Shin to come (she'd gone for her grandfathers birthday dinner) we talked, I drank beer and the rest of my kids disturbed the cats and watched a DVD. After the DVD and Pei Shin was there we sang happy birthday.

When I want to smoke I usually out to Dawn's laundry area to smoke and so towards the end of the evening I heard a cat meowing, after which we discovered two cats were missing. It seems the two had pushed open the bedroom window and had escaped. Dawn had forgotten about the window and the cats had discovered that their mom had forgotten and made their escape. They managed to get one cat back, but when we left one was still MIA. This morning she told me they finally got the cat back it took them until 2 o'clock in the morning and her shower is working.

Last night as we were driving off she had called her brother and asked if anyone had been pissing around in the shower, seems there was no water coming out. Just a series of unfortunate events.

My Fourth Child

Before I start writing my blog, I like to check to see how much traffic I'm getting and to see if there are any comments. Well this morning I noticed there was 1 comment posted on my blog Premature Alzheimer's.

Of course I have to check the comment to whether they are favorable or not, this comment it seems was sent from Robyn my fourth child. She wrote "You bitch about me too much on your blog." Yes she does seem to be my favorite topic and I do mention her a lot.

She is 16 going on 30 and she really does provide with a lot to write about. She is a good girl but she is a typical teenager and in the mind set of me me me. Some of the things she does I just have to comment about and because she and I spend a lot of time together well you know how it is. She is the one suffering the most because of my unemployed situation. I have to cut back on expenses so that means I am not able to give her the same amount of money I used to give her and also I have curtailed her jaunts to Aeon.

Robyn is like her older sister. Also a very head strong girl so she and I get into it a lot. We say nasty things to each other when we are pissed but the one thing about Robyn is she gets over it easily. She doesn't carry a grudge. She is funny and can come up with some really good lines and in this way she is like her older brother. She knows when to draw the line because she knows once I get really pissed it's time to call it a day so she can live to fight another day. We have had our ups and downs and at present my on going nagging at her is about her studies. She is not stupid but very lazy when it comes to studying and with exams coming up well my whole time is spent nagging and threatening. I usually end up telling her if she doesn't want to study then quit school and get a goddamn job and make my life easier. Of course the good mother I try to be I would not like to see her do that and spend the rest of her life working in Aeon.

I do love this girl dearly and hate to think how boring my life would be if she were not in it. I have given into her many more times then the others, which they always remind me about. I can't help it she's Robyn my fourth child.

The Power Of Positive Thinking

Last year my daughter lent me a book called 'The Secret. I'm sure a lot of people out there have read the book. I am an avid reader but I did not finish the book because frankly it bored me. I did read some of the book and from what I gather the book is saying that if you use the power of positive thinking you can be successful in life.

Now basically I can be a bit sarcastic and I have a dry sense of humour. Humour is what keeps me going through life. Hey if I didn't laugh I'd sure as hell be crying all the time.

Going through life I have found that the power of negative thinking is more powerful then positive thinking. When I was working, the drive to and from work was spent alone and so this is the time when my mind would start working. Lots of things would pop into my head, most of it not good. For a while I'd be thinking what would happen if I got a flat tire. Once that popped into my head I'd think of nothing else everyday until one day it did happen. There I was stuck on the side of the road at 2 o'clock in the afternoon in the blazing hot sun with a flat tire. No one stopped and I didn't have any numbers in my hand phone of any one that I could call to help me. So I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to change it myself. I did manage to change it after a lot of sweating, grunting and cursing. At least there was a positive side to this situation I wasn't wearing a short skirt that day and the spare tire had air in it. At some point the idea popped into my head that my speedometer might stop working and sure enough it did. On days when I got up on the wrong side of the bed I'd drive to work thinking that someday I would get fired and sure enough it happened. So all through my life I have found that the negative thoughts always happen more often then positive thoughts.

Now that I am into the second month of unemployment I have been trying to think positively. Every day I go online and search for jobs that can be done at home. I day dream of finding a job that will enable me to work from home so I do not have to sit in traffic jams, spend huge amounts of money on gas, toll and parking, and not have to put up with idiot bosses. If I am at home I can keep an eye on my two teenagers making sure they study, don't skip school or mix with bad company.

With my new found power of positive thinking I am hoping that I will find that job and that's what keeps me going. Unfortunately most of the jobs online that I have come across are mostly big scams and promise you, that you can earn thousands of dollars, but hey I keep hoping.

I Have A Stye In My Eye

I have a stye in my eye and it hurts like hell. You know those little pimples that develop in your eyelash. It developed a few weeks ago and when it came to a head I pinched it, and so I thought it would go away.

Well the little bugger is still there, and it hurts. Not only are stye's painful but once they swell up they continually rub on your eye ball causing your eye to water and eventually to swell. Now I already have huge eye bags, they look like I am carrying a set of luggage under my eyes, so when they swell, well my eye bags get eye bags. Not a pretty sight. I look like I have a lizard eye. I wake up in the morning with crust in my eyelashes from my eye watering at night.

At least I can console myself that it is not as bad as last year when I got red eye. My youngest son came home from school complaining that his eye was sore. I didn't think much about it until the next morning he woke up with red eye and dutifully told me that his two friends have red eye and had passed it along to the rest of their families. Nothing like sharing I say. I let him stay home from school so he wouldn't spread it around to his classmates and I went off to work. Once reaching work my eye felt funny and started to get itchy.

By the end of the day my eye was red , watery and itchy which was unfortunate as I had to work late. I was supposed to go to one of our Day Spas and show prospective franchises around the spa, so at eight o'clock at night I was walking around Ikano Power House wearing my sunglasses so as not to scare off the potentials and spread the cheer to the therapists.

That night I got home and thanked my son for sharing. The next morning I got up and my eye was swollen shut. When I finally managed to pry my eye open my eye bags had eye bags on top of my eye bags not to mention I looked like I was bleeding from my eye. Needles to say I called in sick and my son and I went off to visit the doctor. The next day it had spread to my other eye but not as severe. After about five days it cleared up and luckily didn't spread to the rest of the family.

So I guess a little stye in my eye is nothing compared to red eye. I'll live to tell the tale but it sure does hurt like a bitch.

Pre-Mature Alzheimers

Yesterday evening as I usually do, I sat down to watch the telly. My programs are all picked out for the whole week so I tune in everyday. I do love to watch TV, hell I could be a real couch potato if given the chance.

So 7 pm, Hallmark, The Nanny. I have seen most of the shows before but the last shows of the series I missed so I tune in every evening to watch. Robyn was watching TV with me because I wouldn't let her go to Aeon, her second home, if I allowed it. Obviously she was pissed at me and so in a fit of prissiness she fell asleep on the couch. HAHAHAHA! When she's asleep I don't have to listen to her whine anymore about going to Aeon.

She woke up after they had shown both shows and so she asked me what had happened on the show and I could not remember. I had only just watched both shows and for the life of me I could not remember what the hell the two shows had been about.

Now this is not the first time this has happened to me. There are times when I get up and go to the kitchen or up to my bedroom and once there forgot why I had gone. I stop to think about it and sometimes it comes to me most times not.

There are times when Robyn tells me that I said she could go out somewhere and I turn to look at her tell her I did no such thing. So I ask her "When did I say that?" " Last week you told me I can go." "No I didn't!" " Yes you did!" So that is usually how it goes. So I usually end up letting her go to where ever she wants to go, and of course have to suffer the pissy look she gives.

This happens most days and so I think I am suffering from pre-mature Alzheimer's. This is good for Robyn as she can bullshit me all the time, but hey I'm not worried cause I'm the mother here and I can still turn around and say no! And when she asks why not I can say "Because I said so!"

A Birthday Letter To My Daughter

To day is your birthday and on this special day I am writing you a letter. You were born 32 years ago today and I can remember that day as if it were yesterday. Which is pretty amazing as now a days I sometimes can't remember what happened an hour ago.

I was very young, too young to be a mother really, when you came into this world screaming at the top of your lungs. There you were a little red thing with a huge lump on your head. I was worried but the doctor assured me that it would disappear by the time you were 6 weeks old, and sure enough it did go away and you were left with a perfectly formed, round little head which was full of black hair. Your grandfather John had called you Willy numb nut because of that lump. It was said with deep affection because he had loved you dearly as did your grandmother.

Even though I was very young I managed to muddle through somehow and raised you to be the out standing daughter you are today. Those were trying times because at a very young age you were head strong and as you grew into your teenage years and adult hood you have always been head strong. You and I have not always seen eye to eye but some how or other we managed to stay close and managed not to inflict too much damage on each other, but for the most part I encouraged you to remain that way.

You are my first born and so are extra special to me for you are the one who taught me how to be a mother. You exceeded all my hopes ,dreams and expectations I have had for you, and so my Darling Daughter I wish you Happy Birthday and hope you will always get what you want out of life.

Love you always
Mom

PS

Christ I'm bawling like a baby now. I'm such a wus.

Zingers (No not the KFC burger)

My kids and I have a pretty open relationship so every once in a while we let fly zingers at each other. Zingers as in thinly veiled criticisms or insults and I as the mother, get zinged once in a while.

Now the two youngest in my family are 16 and 13 years of age and you would think for their age that they wouldn't have fine tuned their zinging capabilities, but let me tell you every once in a while they can come up with a good one.

For instance last night. We went for our Sunday family dinner. My eldest daughter and her husband did not come down last night so it was just me, the two younger kids, my eldest son and his girlfriend who had just gotten back from Hong Kong. Lovely girl that she is, she bought me a humongous bottle of Absolute Vodka my absolute favorite. Hopefully I can make it last for more then one week. I love my vodka and my kids and their significant others know I love my vodka and this is what I usually get zinged about. LOL!

Nothing much happened at dinner and so after finishing we made our way home and were there before 9pm. We watched the movie "Are We Done Yet!" which finished around 10:30 pm. Now earlier my eldest son had wanted to watch the DVD "White Chicks" which is a pretty funny movie but we've all seen about 20 times before. He said there was a scene in the movie he had wanted to watch again. His girlfriend finally persuaded him to watch "Are We Done Yet" but once it had finished he told his baby brother to put on "White Chicks."

So this is how it started. Jordan " No need to watch ah koh you'll probably fall asleep before you get to see that part in the show." Justin " Don't mouth off to me boy just put it on!" Jordan " I'm not mouthing off I'm just predicting the future." ZINGER! Off course Justin had nothing to reply and I of course broke out in peels of laughter which under minded Justins authority, but hey I just couldn't help myself. It was pretty funny.

We watched "White Chicks" and Justin of course did fall asleep as he usually does, so you see Jordan can predict the future. Only this time he was a bit off, because Jordan whispered to me as he was putting the DVD into the player "He'll probably fall asleep during the opening credits."

Bloody Computers

It now seems in this day and age we cannot live without the computer. Mine has been a source of comfort to me since I have been unemployed, and so when my son tried to turn it on yesterday it would not go on, instead it kept making a beeping sound.

I ranted and raved because I would not be able to go onto my computer to write my blog. Now you might say so what, but to me my blog is were I hone my writing skills for when I decide to write my novel. LOL.

No seriously I have always wanted to write a novel. Just never had the chance or the time.

Now back to my computer. My computer is not yet 3 months old and already there is something wrong with it. We are still paying for it as we bought it on time payments at 0 percent interest for 12 months. Luckily we paid extra so it would have a 3 year warranty. Trouble is since it disappointed me on a Saturday we have to wait until Monday to call the service centre. Two whole days of bloody waiting.

This morning I could stand it no longer and begged my son to let me use his laptop. He did so reluctantly as his laptop has all his work on it from his job, so he is always fear full that I will accidentally delete something. Don't worry son so far so good everything is still intact.

Hopefully when my son calls the service centre they will come tomorrow and fix it. I usually don't spend much time on the computer on Mondays as I clean the inner sanctum I call my bedroom. I love my bedroom it is so cool to sleep in at night not to mention the big king size bed.
Unfortunately it is hellish hot during the day. I don't have aircon in my house and so we rely on the ceiling fans.

So when my son calls them tomorrow I hope they get their hinies here so they can fix it straight away or I will be hopping up and down screaming and pulling my thinning hair out. I need to continue my search for free online jobs that I can do at home. I need to make myself busy or I will be wallowing on the couch in self pity. I have already gotten one invite to a blogspot that pays you money, so I don't want to delay when they give the final approval. There are many more blog sites out there that I can apply to which I have not had the chance to do yet so please get my puter fixed.

My Immortality

When my daughters mother in law passed away she had called me to give me the details of where she would be laid out and when the funeral will be. She mentioned they had had a hard time finding a suitable picture to be displayed. That night I went for one of the services.

After the service was over and we were all seated at the tables for drinks I turned to my two oldest and said " You all better get a good picture taken of me now so you won't have a problem later". My sons reply was his usual" MUM!" plus his frown and my daughters reply was to slap me on the arm.

Here in Asia especially amongst the Chinese race the subject of death is taboo. Mention it to my mother in law and she will phi phi phi you up and down. It is a subject not to be talked about especially if it is about someone still alive. Now I am a practical person and also a free thinker. I do not follow any religion even though I had been baptised an Anglican. My family was never big on religion and my father had given up on it a long time ago, so it was not really practiced in my house. I went to Sunday school as a child the first time, when I was very small. My mother had sent me. I do not know why as they never went to church themselves, only for weddings, and funerals. After a while I think my mother got tired of sending me. The second time I went was when I was around 10 or 11 years old.

We had an aunt from my fathers side of the family who used to pass down all her daughters old clothes to me and my sister. So one day she passed us a box of stuff that had contained 4 or 5 hats. The type of hat only to be worn to church, so me and my sister, (and we also managed to rope in one of our female cousins), had decided to go to Sunday school so we could wear the hats. Of course it didn't last long because we were too lazy to go to church on Sunday.

My husbands family are Taoists. So my children have been brought up mainly with that religion. As they have gotten older in one way or another they have all decided what religion they wish to follow although my hubsands family pushes Taoism down their throats and mine. I have stood steadfastly and still remain a free thinker.

After the kids father died he was buried at Fairy Park. It is a double plot and there is a place for me to go when I pass. I tell my kids not to spend a lot of money on my funeral as we all know Chinese funerals cost a bomb, and as my son puts it the Chinese are the only people who can make a profit out of death. Every once in a while when the subject is brought up (usually by me) I tell the kids that when I die they should just throw me in a cardboard box and bury me in the back yard. This always warrants a MUM! from my son and the look of distaste from my daughters.

So now the subject of the picture has come up. I have decided I do not want a picture of myself looking old and haggy. I want a picture of myself looking young and fresh. When I asked my kids what kind of ceremony would they have for me, my son said MUM! and my daughter said "Ma we'll bury you Chinese style ok". It's ok with me I'm not particular. Hell for all I care they could have me embalmed sit me in a corner with a beer in one hand and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth.

Grandma

When my husband passed away I was only 39 and the two youngest of my troupe were 5 and 3 years old. At that time I had told my eldest daughter not to make me a young grandmother. I had made my mother a grandmother at the age of 36 and so I was not ready to go down that path at the age of 39. Now I will be turning 50 next month, it is time. I want a grandchild. The feeling started to come over me when I had turned 46 and much to my dismay my daughter for once in her life listened to me and so I am still waiting.

It wouldn't be so bad except my niece who married almost three years ago now has 2 children. She is 28 years old now, the same age as my eldest son, (he's not even married yet!), and so it has become a bone of contention with me. Now I am not one of those nagging mothers some even say I am quite cool for a mom, but this is one thing I find myself nagging about is the lack of grandchildren. It doesn't help matters that when I visit my in laws or call them for anything they always slip in the same question "Is Dawn pregnant yet?" They know I badly want a grandchild and that I am green with envy that my sister in law now has two.

Now my daughter and her husband lived together before they got married, and a few months before that big day she stopped using birth control. So she has had ample time to get pregnant. When she told me, I had asked her what would happen if she got pregnant before the wedding. Her dress was quite fitted and I was worried about an expanding waist line. "Don't worry ma" she said "the back of the dress is laced up so it can be loosened. "Ok " I'd said and waited.

Now most Sundays we go out for our family dinner. I insist on it as that is the only time we spend any time together as a family. It has been years since we have all sat down to dinner together. With the kids working and one working in Singapore we don't spend much time together and so that is why I want my family dinners. Now our family dinner is the time were we catch up on what is happening in our lives, we laugh, we fight, we talk cock, and so, at one of our dinners a few weeks ago the topic got around to grandchildren. That week her husband couldn't make it for dinner so I asked her why she's not pregnant yet. "Are you trying." I'd asked her. "I mean I want to be a grandmother before I die." " Well mom" she says since "Alex is working so hard and most of the time, by the time he gets home I'm asleep." "Oh" I said "in that case I have a solution." "Book lunch." "HUH" she said. "Yeah, make a lunch time appointment with each other, rush back to the condo get the job done then go back to work." She just gave me one of her withering looks slapped herself on the forehead and shook her head. Well I thought it was a good idea. A little afternoon delight.