How did she do it?

I asked Lil D whether her Grandma had finished breakfast, as we were going to send her to school before we went to the supermarket.

She told me: Grandma is having a GIANT croissant for breakfast.

She then peeped into the kitchen,a nd said: Yes, she has finished. I dont know how she finished that BIG croissant so fast. I guess she has a BIG mouth!! But dont tell her I said that.



I know its not friday, but I thot we should all still have a laugh!

No more the bad one

Yes , I don't want to be the bad one any more!!

You know how there is always a good guy and a bad one at home? Usually the mum is the bad one, and I am definitely the one in my home. The disciplinarian! As a result the kids HATE me.

So, from now on I will be the good guy. Everything will be "ok". I won't discipline. I won't break bad news. I won't withdraw privileges. I won't call for lights out at bedtime. I won't force them to eat their vegetables.I won't remind them to do their homework nor study nor practise their piano. I won't nag them to drink their water. I won't scold them even if they leave trash in the fridge.

I won't , I won't, I won't.

Don't know how long I can tahan tho'. Wish me luck!

What?!? You didnt win?

That was how my daughter greeted her Dad when he came home from a golf tournament last evening.

But I got some free golf balls, and a cap - he went.

Well, I didnt expect him to win anything, since he is no Tiger Woods (and Boy! am I glad he is no Tiger Woods) nor a Jack Nicklaus or a Nick Faldo. Also, since he only plays golf like once or twice a year, and only at Invitational Tournaments, I wasnt expecting anything.

But just before he left in the morning, I had teased him about scoring that hole-in-one for a new car I needed. And the kids were like - Yes! win that new car, PLEASEEEEE!!

And I guess, they were just giving him some of what he gives them when they go for chess tournaments ... expecting them to come back with a prize.

I guess what goes around comes around!!

And there was no room

...at the hospital!

My SIL's lung collapsed and she had an ambulance (sent by her doctor) waiting for her at her apartment block to pick her to the hospital.

However, not long after she got there, they sent her home, because there was no room available!! Terrible isnt it? How can they do such a thing?? What if something adverse happens when she is alone at home?

What's she to do? My BIL was in Singapore at that time on business, and she was in Perth with her teenage daughter, with no other family to help out. But still she had to go home.

Fortunately BIL managed to beg for a seat on the next available flight back there to see to matters!

I sure hope we never have to face that kind of situation again!

Banks cause ulcers

Why do I always have to get an ulcer from doing a banking transaction?

Or do they not train them in English anymore?

You may have read in one of my previous posts about the problems I had when doing a simple transaction - remitting money via tt - and that has happened, again, and again, and again.

When a new relationship manager took over my account, I highlighted to her the problems I had been facing, and she told me to let her know every time I did such a transaction, and she would follow up on her end. So I thought that would have been the end of my problems. Everything went smoothly for a while.

Just this morning, I did another transaction - two in fact.

I messaged her to let her know, followed by copies of my original fax so that she knew exactly what the other department was supposed to do.

Her reply to me was: U did an FX deal? Can you email a copy across?

D'uh - my message to her said: One of the TTs was from the proceeds of my forex deal done this morning. So why the need to ask that question. AND I had already faxed a copy across, so she had one which had my authorised signature on it ... so what email did she want now? Emails dont have signatures on it, and the banks wont accept it!!

Looks like I have to load up on my Vitamin Cs everytime before I do a banking transaction, or an ulcer is bound to result!!
(or have I become less patient? - what do you think?)

Men and coins

My husband comes home with a pocket of coins everyday. Yes, everyday. And he will leave it on the dresser, and it stays there FOREVER .... until I clear them (or someone pinches them).

He always gets coins as change when he goes out ... whether from the hawker when be buys his lunch, or when he buys some mint, or for his cup of coffee at the coffee joint ... BUT he never spends them. He just brings them home and leaves them on the dresser.

This has been happening for years. I remember when we were living in NY, and he used to do it. I started off with a little empty "flower pot" on my countertop in which he would put his coins at the end of each day. At the end of each week, when I counted my loot, I would have collected as much as $10!! At the end of our stay in NY, I had 3, yes 3, flowerpots of coins on my kitchen counter!

I dont clear his coins on a daily basis. Usually just before I leave for swim class with Lil D, I would take enough coins for our admission fees. If the children need some additional money, I would get them some from the top of the dresser. Also, when I find that my purse is running low on coins, I will top it up with some of his :) I seem to need coins all the time. I like to pay hawkers the exact amount if I have enough, or sometimes I need it for the supermarket trolley. BUT my husband doesnt seem to need to use coins at all.

However, every time before we go on vacation, I would take a plastic bag and clear away all the coins. Now I have quite a few number of little bags of coins in my locked drawer, and I can assure you it adds up to more than $50! Guess that is my only source of income!

I am not sure if this only happens in my family or is it universal. (MIL tells me that FIL does the same thing, and so does my BIL). So tell me: Why do men not use their coins??


Footnote:
Not sure if it happens in my home but the man from the neighbourhood shop tells us that every week, some maids would come by to his shop with plastic bags full of coins (in all denominations) for him to exchange to notes. No guessing where they amassed the coins from, coz they go by with such regularity and huge amounts!! So if you have the habit of leaving coins around the house, BEWARE!

Spelling and the English Language

There was a contest on the radio channel we were listening to. It highlighted commonly misspelt words, and the person who could spell the word "manoeuvre" would win a prize. After attempts by various listeners, the correct answer was given, as there were no winners.

I was discussing it with my daughter,and commented that I would have spelt it wrong too, as I would have left out the middle "e". She commented that she thought it ended with a "ver".

I then went on to explain to her the differences between the American and British way of spelling - in many cases, the Americans left out the letter "u" like in "labour" and "harbour". As Singapore was once under the British rule, our spelling followed the British way of spelling. I then highlighted to her the spelling of "centre" and how the American spelt it "center".

Her response to me was: All along I thought it was spelt "S-A-N-T-A".
@_@!!!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

.. or is it "Out of sight, out of mind"?

Well, the two older children had a busy weekend, it was the weekend of a major tournament on the local chess calendar .... so naturally they had to play in it.

Lil D was of course disappointed that it meant "no family time together". She looks forwards to spending weekends with her siblings as she doesnt get to spend much time with them during the week due to their long school days.

I was wondering what to do with her, as I didnt have to report for duty (read: Hubby was going to be with the older ones at the tournament). On Saturday, we caught a movie: Toy Story 3. It was an enjoyable movie, as it also taught values : what real friends are. I totally enjoyed the show, and so did Lil D. On the Sunday, after church, we had a lazy morning at home, with me on the PC, and she on the ipad. She seemed to have enjoyed playing her games with no interruptions. Maybe it was great for her coz there was no one fighting with her for the "toy". Later that afternoon, we went shopping!! We were looking for a gift for her classmate who will be celebrating her birthday in 2 weeks time. She liked that I consulted her on what to get and she got to choose. Throughout the weekend, she never asked for nor about her siblings at all (which is quite unusual). Was it a case of "out of sight, out of mind"?

Finally on Sunday evening, we made our way to the chess tournament venue for the prize-giving. Whilst waiting for it to commence, she was so busy hugging her sister (and vice versa) that it really made my day! Usually towards the end of most weekends, they would be at each others throats - arguing, or just irritating each other. BUT yesterday was different. I was really happy. So maybe it really is:

Absence makes the heart grow fonder!!