BAH!!!

I have washed my clothes three times…THREE bloody TIMES…because some stupid bird kept shitting on them. The first time, I was retrieving the clothes from the clothesline and I saw some dribbles of greenish yellow stains on my hubby’s white shirt. I told myself, “Okay, it’s normal that pigeons shit on our clothes.” 

So, I took it in and washed it again before I hung it to dry. The second time I took it in yesterday, I saw some similar stains on the sleeves. I can’t believe that these stupid birds would shit on it again!

And so, I washed the shirt again, cursing the birds for having loose stools. 

This morning, it was drizzling and I quickly went to take the clothes in and what did I find???

SLIMY GREEN LIQUID…oozing down the shirt! The same exact white shirt I’d washed for the 3rd time!!!!

ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

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Yeah, that woman is ME

WHY?

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Because I actually combatted with a couple of slugs without shouting the whole house down and waking up the dead.

Photos by Marv Bondarowicz

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Okay, this is not really a big deal for people who has no fear of any slimy creatures but for someone like me, I think this is a HUGE breakthrough

Growing up as a farmer’s daughter and having a sister who’s crazy enough to put snakes on her head and giant millipede on her hand, I was practically a useless scaredy-cat of the family. I was afraid of the dark, afraid of heights, afraid of black stuffs, afraid of creepy crawlies etc. 

So, this morning, while I was merrily washing the water cress I bought last night to boil it into soup, I drenched the whole bundle of veg into the sink. As I plucked the leaves off the stems, I was thinking to myself, “My, what lovely fresh water cress!”. 

Out of a sudden, a tiny movement caught from the corner of my eye. There was this big fat, black SLUG feasting on one of the leaves. Of course, my initial reaction was to fling the slug infested vege out of my hand and into the sink. I did, fling it out, precisely. But, I was unusually calm and recited an encouraging mantra in my head, “I am big and you are small. I won’t harm you and you go your way.” So, with that ounce of courage, I took a pair of chopstick and picked that slimy little thing up while it was squirming. Eeeuuuuww! And I ‘respectfully’ placed it into a plastic bag and hastily put it in the dustbin. Where else can I put it???

So, in the course of plucking and washing the cress, I found 3 more slugs and I disposed them the same way as the first fat slug. WITHOUT. ANY. SCREAMING. OR. SHOUTING.   *clap clap clap*

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Okay, this is DEFINITELY not my usual behaviour. Normally? Normally, I just throw whatever the thing is with the caterpillar or worm and never return to the kitchen till someone comes home. Yeah, me = useless scaredy-cat…hehe! That is why I wanna salute Muks who actually harvests in her garden. 

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Alright, I need to gloat over my victory for the rest of the day. MUAHAHAHA!

I almost couldn’t walk to the washroom!!!

Me and my zits!

Out of desperation, I tried to cut down on coffee and fried food. But I found out, it did not help much. Some told me that my body was trying to detox by itself and some said it could be the cleansers I used. Hmm…that increased my suspicions for a while. I have been cleansing and toning and moisturizing more religiously than I used to but it did not help much until it nagged me that the ingredients in these products may not be suitable for me. I have always heard of the harmful ingredients in cosmetic products and knew a little about it. But as I walked around the pharmacies and browsed at the range of products we have in the market today, how many brands of cosmetics are totally free of these ingredients?

Now, I’ve been reading about some of these ingredients which could be carcinogens, cancer-inducing substances. Some could cause other hazardous effects on other parts of our organs, i.e liver, kidneys, skin etc.

I’m sure by now, many people are aware of SLS (Sodium-Lauryl-Sulphate) and SLES (Sodium-Laureth-Sulphate). It is widely known that this substance is mainly used in shampoos and I could still see that some brands of cleansers still have this in their ingredients. Other than this, the most common ones are Propylene Glycol, Glycerin and fragrance (You can read more from here).

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What I was surprised to read was that some ingredients which are now widely used and advertised in most Beauty Salons and branded cosmetics are also included in this list of harmful ingredients.  We can see these days that new breakthrough technologies for anti-aging, face-lifting, skin-brightening and so on are coming out like hot cakes for women to preserve their youth and beauty. I can’t say that I’m not one of them, but I do want to find out more on what exactly I slap onto my face each morning and night.

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Anti-aging products and facials consist mostly of collagen and elastin (with heavy dosage too). What I found out was that collagen actually is not suitable for our skin and I read somewhere that most collagens are derived from animal skins and chicken feet! So, I don’t exactly know how hygienic these substances are but the sound of it makes me cringe.

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I was quite surprised to find out that AHAs (Alpha-Hydroxy-Acids) are also potentially harmful to our skin. I used to think that AHAs are really good for our skin to breathe and so on.

Well, I’m not saying that all products in the market are not suitable and should be banned for the ingredients they used. Instead, we should have an awareness on the things that is inside the bottles of our cosmetic products. Nowadays, unlike the days of our grandmothers and mothers, whereby a daily face wash was already enough, we think we need more ‘protection‘ from the sun, the dust, the environment. Therefore, before we give in to our own vanity, to make ourselves more beautiful and youthful, I just think that we should have less ignorance on the ‘goo’ that we slap onto our faces. 

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Forget what the beauticians comment about how your acne-scarred face look like and how saggy your cheeks have grown or how dark or freckled your skin is. Before we give in to these degratory-remarks-so-that-they-can-earn-more-money situations, just take some time to learn more about the ingredients used in our cosmetic products. Who knows, it could save you from spending on something that eventually would harm you, am I not correct?

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It is quite true that most beauty salons use  unlabelled bottles to store their cleansers, toners, moisturizers, serums and what-nots. How much do we know what is used on our faces? Are they the same products we buy from the counters after our facials? I don’t know. 

I have many friends who are beauticians themselves and I could say that some of them are able to convince me of their products and some, they just babbled on saying how effective and good the product is but when I asked about the harmful ingredients, they were unable to answer me. So, what do you think about that?

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p.s. I still haven’t found any products totally free of harmful ingredients, so I still use whatever I have bought so far. *sigh!*

White roses on top of two little coffins. I saw your little bodies, charred and burnt beyond recognition. I could see the last struggle you gave before your last breath. It pained my heart so, to see you like this. So small, yet you had to face this kind of suffering.

To KQ and WH, with love from aunt and uncle. We will always love you and remember your smiling faces. You left this world, charred and broken. But your souls remained untainted and pure. As you return to heaven, you have brought the best of yourselves and left behind the best of yourselves too.

We all felt BLESSED in so many ways that God has arranged for us. We know what happened, always happened for the best. I accept this. For us who are still alive and well, we promise you, little ones, that we will cherish every moment we have and make the best of our lives, just like you did in your short time here on earth. You have completed your mission here despite the two years and seven years of your lives. Some take even their whole lifetime without finding the true meaning of life. Thank you for showing us our directions. 

Rest well, dear ones. Your family will miss you always.

I’m devastated. Words can’t express my despair and sadness. 

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Will be out of town for the week. 

Well, many people go through the agony of unbearable pain from headaches, toothaches, back aches alike. And all these can make one person lose their appetite and moods for any enjoyment. 

Last week, I jumped into a spontaneous role of being ‘nurse’ to my hubby. On Monday, he woke up with a consistent pain behind his back, which we suspected was some muscle pain due to excessive badminton that week. However, his back pain did not go away and things got more complicated when he tried to open the door of our room to go out and he felt a stabbing pain on his back. The pain was so unbearable that it caused him to topple to the floor. 

We went to a Sports Backcare Specialist near our place and got his X-Ray and Ultrasound taken. It showed that hubby had slipped disc on his backbone. Apparently, his body was crooked to one side due to this. I was too ignorant to notice this change in him since the badminton two weeks back. *Bangs head on wall*

Lucky for him, this was not really such a serious case. But from the deductions of the chiropractor, this was an old injury and had been quite dormant for the past seven years. As I recalled, hubby had a case like this back before we got married but we did not take proper actions then. What ignorant creatures we are!

Right now, he’s off limits to any types of sports for a whole month and to prevent his ailment from further severity, he’s taking a course for physiotherapy. Today was the fourth session and he’s walking more normal now. Moreover, after a week’s rest at home with ice-pack on his back every day, I guess, he’s feeling much better. 

According to the specialist, slipped discs are often overlooked and unnoticeable. Many times, we will tend to dismiss the back pain with the misunderstood knowledge that it was only some muscle strain and most Chinese people would visit a sensei for some back massage.

After reading a bit from the Internet, I found out that if slipped discs are not treated properly and in prolonged period unattended, it could eventually lead to numbness of the legs or worse paralysis of one or both legs. The chiropractor also advised some simple exercises to loosen up the muscles as well but it seemed that hubby only complied the first day and got lazier the second day and the next day and the next day……

So, if any of you developed some pain after some rounds of exercise, please don’t just ignore it if the pain prolongs. Take immediate action so that you can have a peace of mind.

Have a great day people!

Also, after looking at most of the bloggers’ pictures of their bags, I felt embarrassed with my run-down, trendy tattered ‘handbag’. Monica caught me on a working day. And on working days, I usually grab my trustworthy slingback, a present from the hubby many years back and charge out of the house. Um…you see, I’m a bit apprehensive to pour out the contents from this ‘handbag’ coz there were too many weird stuffs inside.

But, being the good sport that I am, I think to myself, “What the heck!”. So, here goes.

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The rules:

Find a safe quiet place free of significant others, nosey meme makers, priests, nuns, all things religious and men in general. (If you’re a guy just reverse this process to male and tell us about your wallet, tool box, briefcase or metro sexual accessory.)

1. Dump the contents of your handbag in a pile.

2. Take a photo of your handbag and the contents.

3. Be brave and ‘splain to your fellow bloggers what lurks inside the handbag.

4. Tag others who might want to embarrass themselves.

5. Answer these questions:

Describe the contents of your handbag.

My tattered purse, Marie Keyholder with whole set of house keys, my trusty half-filled bottle of water, a Nivea Whitening Body Lotion (I want to be fairer…too tanned for my own taste), my pink bluetooth handsfree earphone, hubby’s car keys (hey, where’s my car key?). These are from the main compartment. The side compartments are filled with other non-related, emergency or useless stuffs i.e. an almost empty bottle of blue ink refill for markers (I’m working with kids, after all…I need this to refill my marker pens..hehe), a very blunt pencil, two fancy clothes pegs (I have no idea why they’re in here!), an expired pack of Fisherman’s Friend drops, a few sticks of Starbucks Brown Sugar (my niece gave them to me one day), a stick of Coffee Mate (no idea why it’s there), a hankerchief from a funeral I went a couple of months ago (Chinese funerals give away towels and hankerchief to guests) and a silk pendant I got from visiting a Silk Factory in Chiang Mai (it’s been there since April). All weird stuffs but where’s my handphone???  o_O

What’s the most important thing in your handbag?

My house keys!

What’s the most embarrassing thing in your handbag?

Starbucks Brown Sugar (this looks like I collect them for fun!) I don’t, okay.

What’s the smallest thing in your handbag?

Little specks of brown sugar leaked out from torn Starbuck’s sugar stick

Is there anything illegal in your handbag?

Does a safety pin count? It was attached together with the silk pendant.

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There. This feels good. LOL! And now, by tradition, let me tag a few other fellow bloggers.

1. Superb Jess

2. Sporty Joanne

3. Atai

Get your camera ready!!!

Below is a story which had me in stitches within seconds. Read it with mirth but do take caution that this story, by no means, does not have any particular snide remarks about any religion. Everything spoken just came out of the mouths of innocent five-year-olds.

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There was once my SIL muttered a loud “Oh My God!” in front of her class consisting of two rambunctious, cherubic five-year-olds.

One of the kid, a smart girl, immediately looked up at her with a face of seriousness. “Teacher M, you cannot say Oh My God wan.”

Puzzled, my SIL asked her why.

The kid answered with a solemn look on her face, “Because only people who go to church can say Oh My God. Like Yuan Yuan. He goes to church to pray.”

My SIL inquire further,”If I cannot say Oh My God, then what can I say?”

The girl grinned earnestly and replied,”You pai xin (pai xin in Hokkien means pray / Buddhist)?” Her hands clasped together, making motions of praying.

My SIL anwered, “Er…I guess so.”

“Then, you can only say Oh My Buddha!” said the girl, smiling brightly.

SIL : o_O”

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LOL! Kids say the darnest things, don’t they? Hahahahahahahaha!

And so, with this award, comes the conditions :

1. The winner may put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

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Blusher, the winner of the Kreative Blogger....hehehe

Next, I would like to pass this award to……hmmm….Actually, in my mind, I think only this person deserves this award the most.

1. Forever Tulip

2. Forever Tulip

3. Forever Tulip

4. Forever Tulip

5. Forever Tulip

Haha! Who says I can’t give it to the same one person and back to the person who gave it to me? And, Cindy, I really think your blog is the most Kreativ. I’d loved it from the start! CONGRATULATIONS!

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Now, for the next award I received, also from Cindy was this :

Am I brillante or what?

I have no idea what brillante means so I went to check it out. I guess, it kinda mean ‘brilliant’?

Anyway, thanks so much again for this and I didn’t think I’d get it as well. Awww! You just made my day brighter Cindy!

The tradition again, so that I don’t break the rules. Here goes :

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog

Ladies and gentlemen, the Brillante Weblog Award goes to:

1. Turn-U-Off

2. Anything Goes

3. My Sweet Escape

4. www.adriantai.com

5. Papayas and dog vegetables

6. Once Upon A Time

7. Kay Stanford Jr.

CONGRATS guys and gals!!! Continue the good effort