How to get rid of cockroaches.

How do you do it in your home?

In my home, if a roach appears, the kids will stand around and scream: There's a roach!!There's a roach!!

And they will stand on the sofa and watch it. If it stops moving, they will still stand around and scream some more. As if the screaming will kill the roach. No active action to kill it. Not even with bug spray!!

I have observed others spray a whole canister of pesticide at the insect.

From what I know, 2 squirts are actually sufficient to kill the roach.

In my home, how much roach spray I use will depend on how  fast moving the roach is and the size of it. The faster and larger it is, the more I will spray.

Another method commonly used in my home, by yours truly most of the time, is to whack the roach with some old newspapers. That's bound to kill it. This method is used if the roach is fast moving and it will disappear into some corners by the time I get around to getting the bug spray.

But if your aim is not as good, or if you have poor hand-eye co-ordination, I would recommend dropping a pile of newspapers or magazines on the roach. This way, you have a bigger margin of error. But you will also end up with a bigger mass of mess that you have to clear coz by dropping those magazines on the roach, coz you will end up with a roach "penyet". (Penyet means flattened in Malay).

There are of course other ways to kill roaches, like buying commercial roach traps, which lure the roaches and then trap them with an adhesive. You just have to buy them and leave them in places where you normally find them.

There are also numerous homemade roach baits which you can make using boric acid, flour and cocoa.

But the best thing to do is to keep the home clean. Clean up spills and crumbs immediately, keep food away, empty trash frequently, fix leaky faucets (roaches are attracted to water) and leave some naphthalene balls around - roaches hate the smell!!

How are roaches killed in your home?

Sunday Best

Do you dress your best on Sunday? Or are you a dress down be as comfortable as you can on Sunday person?

Well, my hubs dresses formerly for work on weekdays, so when weekends come around, he much prefers to dress casually.

As I do not work but am a full time mum, I like to dress comfortably when ferrying the kids and on my errands. So my preferred dress-code on weekdays is bermudas and tees - ideal to brave the heat in this little red dot!

And on weekends, I dress to match my hubs.

One day, I realised that what I wear on weekends is exactly the same as on weekdays!!!

And I have all these nice clothes just hanging in the cupboards.

With middle-age, I have also noticed my waist line expanding. And some of these gorgeous clothes are being out-grown without being worn much - only on special occasions.

So I have decided to do something about my dressing. I have recently decided that I will wear my Sunday best when I go to church every Sunday. That way, my formal clothes will get some air time! And later in the day, I will change to my usual ensemble.

How do you dress on Sundays?

Blogging

Have you noticed that the posts on blogs are becoming less and less frequent.

Yes, I am referring to not only my blog but others too.

I think it's due to all the other social networking sites that abound nowadays - Facebook, instagram, twitter, etc

On those, we get instantaneous feedback / comments, as people seem to be more connected to those pages as opposed to blogger where many come only when they have more time to spare and want to read something.

But I will still continue blogging, tho not as frequently. I will still blog about those issues which I find less easy to share on the social networking sites, those which I ponder long over, those which I want to keep a record of for my kids to read about later in life, those regarding my daughter's medical condition.

So, do keep coming to visit, and please do leave a comment to encourage me to continue posting!

A big thank you to all who continue visiting this blog daily for updates.

Fear

We had another doctor's appointment just this week.

The other professor who takes care of my daughter's medical condition is back after her long leave of absence.

Somehow when I speak to her, I feel more comforted about what my daughter has to go through.

It may be her excellent bedside manners. Or maybe because she is more convincing and thorough in the way she explains things to me. Maybe she just just knows how to get her point across to this emotional woman! Or maybe I was just in a better frame of mind. 

I asked her one question. Not only did she address that question, she went beyond. She answered all the other questions I hadnt asked yet. She also went on to answer some questions that didn't even cross my mind. She even painted different what if situations. She did not tell me the right course of action to take.  She told me to go home and think about it. 

But given what she has told me, it seems like I have no choice but to go with their recommendations.

At the end of the day, deep down I know they are recommending the best course of action. But there is still that fear.  Fear of the down-time every two months.  Fear of the pain she has to go through. Fear of any complications that may arise. Fear of the side effects. Fear of the astronomical medical bills. Fear of the unknown. And of course, fear that I took too long to make this decision.

But what is fear?

It looks like its time for me to face it and pray that she will rise. I have to remind myself that: fear has a large shadow but is actually very small. 

Keeping your belongings safe

Recently there has been a lot of posts on how thieves break into cars to steal items left unattended in parked cars. There have also been numerous posts on how handbags left on the front passenger seat is targeted even whilst the car is being driven. There are also instances where they fake an accident just to get the drivers to stop and then rob them. Most of these have been incidents in Malaysia.

Due to cameras installed in cars, we can see for ourselves how desperate some of these robbers are. Many of these are uploaded on you-tube and on FB as well to warn us.

Tho' Malaysia is a Causeway away from where I live, I fear the possibility of these people coming across and committing those crimes here. As a result, I have become more conscious of the safety of my personal belongings. I no longer put my handbag on the front passenger seat next to me whilst I am driving. Instead I have it wedged between myself and the car door. Not the most comfortable place to have it, but better than be the subject of these robbers, I thought.

I remind the children not to leave any of their "valuables" in full view in a parked car. You can't go wrong being careful with your belongings.

The other day, my other half left his iPad in the car. I chided him for it, as I was concerned that there was the possibility of the car being broken into and it being stolen. You never know how desperate thieves can get, and yes, I am that paranoid.

But his retort to me was: That's an iPad 1. Even if the car is broken into, they would probably NOT want that OLD iPad!!

National day

It's that time of the year when we start feeling more patriotic than at any other time of the year.

We hear more National Day songs. On the radio, on the TV.

Even the kids are singing or humming them.

Some of these tunes are quite catchy.

Some are favourites from when I was in school.

Some are new.

Some are downright AWFUL!!

But do they have to come up with a new song EVERY YEAR??

I feel that they really don't have to.

With the ones that really hit "home", just use it for a few years, before introducing another.

And please, have a competition to choose the best each time you are introducing a new one.

We have lots of talented song writers out there which you may not be aware of.

Please DON'T just commission some one or group to come up with one, and use it!

And this is the song for this year. Let me know if you like it.

Majulah Singapura!!

On-line shopping

I am not one that enjoys on-line shopping.

I am the sort that needs to feel, touch, try before buying. Especially if it is clothes.

Just the other day, my husband encouraged me to do some on-line clothes shopping.

Why? Because he found really good men bargains on-line.

He was getting designer brand shirts and trousers at a fraction of the price.

And by fraction, I mean a really small fraction of what we would have to pay had he gone to a brick and mortar shop here.

And based on his past experiences, he is now hooked.

As for me, I have bought a pair of shoes once before on-line.

It came from a brand I had bought from during our trip to the US 2 years ago.

However, when the shoes arrived, they felt a size too small. And to return it, would be too much trouble, so I have been wearing a too-tight pair of supposedly comfortable shoes.

Hence my reluctance to shop on-line.

Well, after much bugging by him I succumbed.

As I am not really large, it was easy to get discounted designer clothes.

In fact many of those on sale were my size.

But to be on the safe side, I bought "relaxed fit" tops.

I thought that would provide me with a bigger margin of error.

No body hugging dresses.

Wish me luck.

If they work out well, then I may be more adventurous and shop more on-line in time to come.

Do you do on-line shopping for clothes or shoes? How was your experience?