Sketches of Life

I can feel the pressures in the office just now. The ISO auditor gave the final warning to my boss about the various non-conforming factors that the company has failed to rectify especially in the area of QC and Production. Well, that is expected because they are so used to doing things the old way. And these are not just for last year but for many years. And because of that final warning, the boss put extra pressures on the employees to ensure that the company conforms to the standards required or else we would lose our ISO accreditation.

I thank God that I would not be long there in the company. Yup, leaving in 2 days time. From the beginning, ISO audit also caused me unnecessary stress and pressure. I am sure that with pressures coming up in the office, I might have to go for values based counseling just to ensure that I do not meltdown. Okay, the work is not as bad as you might think. I had fun working there all these time. But we are human beings and we do feel the pressures at work. Pressures accumulated and unattended to can bring great harm to you.

I received the Gloves In A Bottle shielding lotion more than a month ago. I didn’t really use it because I did not have any problem with my skin then. To know whether this shielding lotion works wonders too, it has to be tested on extreme condition. Not long after that I got skin allergy after going for the fish spa. Both my legs got so itchy. Then I remembered Gloves In A Bottle. I applied it generously on my legs. After 3 days, no more itch! It works!!!

I have a very sensitive facial skin and most moisturizers that I tried will cause breakouts even though they claim it is made for sensitive skin, perfumeless and oil free. Two days ago, my cheek started to itch; reason not known. So I took the risk and apply the Gloves In A Bottle shielding lotion on my face. It felt so nice like there is a light thin layer of mask placed on my face. Within 10 minutes, the itches disappeared! Amazing isn’t it?

Now Gloves In A Bottle will be my trusted moisturizer.

This is how Gloves In A Bottle shielding lotion work:-

It bonds with the outer layer of your skin and helps lock in your natural oils and moisture. Many dermatologists recommend Gloves as an effective dry skin treatment.

Instead of attempting to replace natural oils, Gloves In A Bottle forms a web or bond with the dead skin cells that works like an invisible pair of gloves. This invisible pair of gloves helps reduce the natural oil and moisture loss allowing the skin to heal itself. Gloves In A Bottle helps the outer layer of skin to keep its natural oils and moisturizers that protect the deeper layers of skin, leaving the skin soft and supple.

Gloves In A Bottle keeps the outer layer of skin functioning so well so it can breathe and perspire naturally. Because Gloves In A Bottle becomes part of the outer layer of skin itself, it doesn’t wash off like conventional lotions. It comes off naturally with exfoliating skin cells.

When I was young, while playing in my parent’s room, I found a small bottle with some kind of dried meat nicely wrapped with cotton. I asked my mom about it. She told me that it is my umbilical cord. I asked the purpose of her keeping it. She told me that it might be useful one day if I fall terminally ill. Anyway, I still do not know how is that dried umbilical cord is going to save my life.

Recently thru blogging I heard about Cord Blood Bank where parent will keep the stem cells extracted from their baby umbilical cord which can be used to treat over 70 diseases such as Leukemia, Lymphoma and Immune system disorders.

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Instead of Proton Persona, we terPersona with the LeRun Mountian Bike which does not need petrol to move. Besides saving on petrol we will have nicer butt and legs.

We bought the LeRun Avatar front suspension mountain bike with the petrol rebate that hubby claimed yesterday.

So, follow our footstep. Don’t go joli (spend) the RM625 Petrol Rebate. Go buy bicycle.

I got a call from a church staff asking the reason of me missing church for a few weeks already. Well, I told her that my children is down with Chicken Pox, one after the other. She told me to be extra careful because the Chicken Pox virus can cause Shingles if my immune system is weak. This week, it is 2 against one! After putting down the phone, I quickly pop in the USANA Essential supplement. And will try to remember to take it religiously everyday.

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, a member of the herpes virus family. The same virus also causes herpes zoster, shingles, in adults. After a chickenpox attack, the virus can lie dormant in the body for many years. Once reactivated, the virus quickly travels through nerve cells, causing rash and nerve pain; Shingles. source

Now I wonder whether the Chicken Pox virus is the cause of my neck pain! So far, I don’t see any red spots on my body! I am scared now!!!

I am a living robot. I sprain my neck not right after getting up from bed but hours after that. I just put down my son on the chair to take something on the table and suddenly I felt a pull on my nerve at my neck; on the left side. I can’t turn to the left. I dare not push it for the fear that I will be paralyzed! So I just look to my right and walk to my bedroom to look for hubby to give me some massage. It does not help much though. Arrghh! At that point of time I wish I have the free medical blog widget on this blog. I might get the information on how to reduce the pain and what is actually happening to my nerve there.

“This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.”

Every month when our menses comes to visit, we whines, “So messy, stomach cramp, cannot swim, cannot do this and cannot do that etc.” But some would be very happy if you do not want to get pregnant lar; like me! Hahaha.

Today, after what I am going to share, everyone would appreciate their menses. Really!

All this while we see our menses as dirty and useless blood. Do you know that there are stem cells in our menstrual fluid? Research has shown that menstrual fluid contains self-renewing stem cells. These stem cells have many properties and characteristics similar to both bone marrow and embryonic stem cells; they multiply rapidly and can differentiate into many other types of stem cells such as neural, cardiac, bone, fat, cartilage and possibly others.

Stem cells from menstrual blood may potentially be utilized in the future to treat a host of life-threatening and debilitating medical conditions such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis and spinal cord injury etc. You can read them in detail at All About C’elle.

You can get your Celle Order Now or Become C’elle Distributor to make some extra income.

Hubby kept asking me whether I have told my boss that I am resigning end of this month. The answer is NOT YET. I have already tendered my resignation in March. Another resignation letter? No lar. I have already given her the hint that I am finally leaving end of this month and they have already found my replacement.

Due to the reason price increase of everything and shortage of raw materials, things in the office is quite havoc. So, I do not want to add to their distress now. I’ll help to settle things down and then give them my 2 weeks notice. That would be sufficient because my replacement is a very fast learner; she picked up a lot of my job responsibility.

So far, I am only there to reply email, draft letter and pay bills online for the boss. The only reason they need me there is because of English. What happened to graduates that are proficient in English? They stayed put in the big cities I guess, which offers better pay.

I think I’ll give the bosses the kava kava drink to help them reduce stress in my absence.

Getting eaten alive by the Garra Rufa fish during the Fish Spa is nice. And now the aftermath of it.

The parts that the fishes nibbled the most are itching like crazy now; my hands and my legs. It is not only me; hubby also said his body is itchy.

It is either we are allergic to the fish or the water, or the water is dirty. Whatever it is, we do not plan to return there.

Thank God I did not deep my face inside the water if not; I think more pimples will pop out!

A month ago, we decided to wake up early for a jog at the beach. We did but only once. After that, we are too lazy and no will power to get up early because most of the time we will be sleeping late; me with my online work and him with his online game. See the difference? One work, the other play. =P

Now I am consider getting on those retractable treadmills. I can run anytime in the day when the children are sleeping or napping, provided I don’t nap with them lar!

We finally went for our Fish Spa at Dr Fish, Melaka. Brought my girls along but my 2nd girl freaks out even before any fish starts nibbling her tiny feet. She may be the rascal in the family but she chicken out when it comes to “life threatening” event. hehehe

At first hubby and I shared a tank; we went for the smaller fish first. The first 10 minutes, the room was filled with screaming and giggling by yours truly. hehe After that, I went to another tank accompanied by my girl. Had the fishes all to myself.

I love the nibbling sensation. Hmmm…we wondered whether we are allowed to strip naked to allow the fishes to nibble every part of our body. LOL.

7 years ago after our wedding, hubby hibernated during our honeymoon. He sleeps most of the time. 7 years after, it was my turn. I was too exhausted to even update this blog! I slept, nap, slept and nap. Only today, I am myself again. Awake and alive.

Wondering what we did on our wedding anniversary?

We did some banking; investment for the future then buy milk for the children; another form of investment for the future and fetch the children home from my mom’s. Had light lunch then head to Dr Fish, in Melaka Raya.

We took their package of the Fish Spa and Massage. RM80+ for me (Mother’s Day promotion) and RM85+ for hubby. However we went for the massage only because I am having my menses. Don’t wanna change the colour of the water and kill the fishes. Be going again with my children after I’m “clear” because they told us that it is free for our children!

The aftermath of the massage; my whole body aches especially my neck and due to it, I was down for 2 days.

I enjoyed my dinner though. I finally found a restaurant that serve beef steak that is thicker than 1cm and it tasted good too! The restaurant is on the 1ts floor of Carrefour called Le Garden. They served buffet Steamboat and BBQ too but we did not try that. I was too hungry to wait till 6.30pm. We were there by 5pm.

 The Sirloin Steak above looks like a piece of fish eh?

After dinner, we went to Tesco to shop for toilet roll! :lol:Then head home to shower and to bed.

We went to visit SIL Yen at Mahkota Medical Centre yesterday. She has her cyst removed; all 3 of them. Before the operation the doctor found only one and told her that will cost her around 5k. After the operation, he told her that there were all 3 of them and the charges would be different. Fuwah! Like that one ah? Like that arh, if he wants to earn more, he can always say he found 5 or more! I wonder how he can prove that there was more than one cyst.

SIL was in pain when we met her, a day after the 4 hours operation. She said there is a lot of wind in her stomach because they pump in oxygen into it before the operation. I do not know what’s the procedure called; they dug 3 hole in her tummy.

She has also canceled her trip to Langkawi with another BIL and MIL at the end of this month. I thought of filling in for her in case the hotel room has been booked but then cannot lar, I have no car and dare not drive all the way to Langkawi as hubby won’t be going. My Johnston and Murphy suitcase shall rest longer in the store.

I slept with a hungry stomach last night. I can. I know some people cannot sleep with an empty stomach.

I was contemplated whether to go for supper or not but since I am not exercising much or even popping any diet pills, I decided to have more self-control and just drink water before sleeping.

Thank God that tiredness and sleepiness override my hunger.

Have you read today’s new in the TheStar newspaper? Plenty of sex but for many, it’s not all the way.

Malaysians are having lots of sex but they just do not seem to be enjoying it all that much…only 44% of Malaysians managed to achieve orgasm every time they have sex…only 25% woman almost always achieving orgasm.

Why not?

Blame the Woman - Too many working women. Bring to bed the work load too. How to relax and concentrate??? SAHM too tired with house chores, cooking and minding the kids and pets by the end of the day. If you can afford it, get a helper then.

Blame the Man - No romance, no foreplay, always wanna quickie, no stamina, cannot “go up” that long. Easy way out is Viagra. There are a lot of Cheap Viagra but please do not abuse it.

Globally, the leaders are the Italians, Spaniards, Mexicans and South Africans who are most likely to climax every time with 66% usually managing to hit the spot.

Oh No! Malaysian can’t find the G-Spot? Seriously! I was one of an all girls forum. One of the topics that we discussed was how to find our G-Spot! I kid you not. =P

Anyone know any blogger from Italy, Spain, Mexico or South Africa? I wanna have a chat with them.

Salt Lamp is known to produce negative ions to neutralize the bad ions that are produced by the computers and other office equipment. We have one in our internet café, a gift from my supplier.

Anyhow, after reading about the benefit of water fountain, it is so much better that the salt lamp. It not only produces negative ions which help to improve our mood and increase alertness but also cools down the room with its flowing water.

Hubby is thinking of adding another unit of air-cond but after I told him about the water fountain, he said that it is a good idea. Besides cooling down the internet cafe, it also gives a nice, refreshing ambiance. It looks stunning too.

I hope when our customers feel more alert and relax in our internet cafe, they will play longer hours and we will earn more! Hubby will also feel more alert and not grumpy to his customer when he has to work there the whole day.

Being a Doctors or Pharmacists is getting easier now. With laptops, they don’t need the thick medical references book to carry around when they do home visit. But that is still not so convenience as laptop is still heavy and bulky. Company like Epocrates, Inc. is smart enough to invent medical PDA software since most doctors have PDA or smartphone. So now they can carry their medical reference in their lab coats. With the Epocrates’ drug guide loaded on their PDA or smartphone, clinicians can immediately access the information needed to make prescribing decisions such as drug dosing, side effects and health plan coverage within seconds.

“This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.”

Living in a kampung (village), my children got themselves dirty from head to toe almost everyday. The tough part is having a girl that sucks her finger! No matter how many times I reminded her to wash her fingers before sucking, she failed to do that. Once she got hold of her smelly pillow (bantal busuk) she will suck away along with the dirts on her finger! That really freaks me out. When she was younger, she often got mouth infection. Now, Praise God, she is immune to them. But that does not mean I ignore teaching them about personal hygiene and cleaning themselves.

Thanks to Huggies® Cleanteam®, cleaning is going to be more fun. Can’t wait to try their cleaning products.

I am crying as I am typing this.

You wanna know why?

Because I am VERY VERY VERY VERY sad.

My 2nd girl will have to start wearing glasses come this Monday.

Her power is over 400 on one side of her eyes! And the right side has Astigmatism as high as 200!

And she is only 3 years and 4 months old.

If only I watch my diet when I was carrying her.

If only I eat!!!

I was so selfish!

It’s all my fault…

I wish I can turn back time. If only…

Mommy is very very very sorry, Clarissa.

I think I am suffering from sinus. Even after I get my menses, my nose still itch and runny. It has been around for quite a while. Never really leave me. I have been breathing through my mouth for months already.

I guess I have to finally listen to hubby (not that I didn’t listen to him before. hehe) and religiously swallow the USANA Essential since it is proven to heal sinus.

Urgh! I hate swallowing pills everyday.

Why Foam Mattress?

I chose foam mattress because it is affordable, comfortable, not as stiff as fibre mattress and cooling too. I myself has been sleeping on foam mattress for years until recently I bought 2 single fibre mattress which is abandon now coz my girls is sleeping in their own room which the existing bed there is queen size.

Read the rest of this entry »

My eldest has been sleeping on an old spring mattress. When I lay down on her bed, I can feel the spring on my body but she did not complaint about the same. Could be that she is lighter. Since we have a few idle mattresses, I placed an old foam mattress on top of the spring mattress to cover up the spring.

To my regret, she woke up scratching her back the next morning. She has been attacked by bed bugs!!! Poor girl. I cannot be a miser anymore; call up the furniture shop and get the boss to send a new 5″ foam mattress the next day. Earlier I wanted to buy the fibre mattress but it is too costly for me since I am only on half pay.

I just transformed the above slimey lil Aloe Vera cubes into this tasty drink.

The recipe is so simple and cost you less than RM3 for a small pot of it provided you grow your own Aloe Vera plant.

Interested to try it out yourself? Get the recipe here - Aloe Vera with Longan Drink.

*****

This morning my lady boss’ maid handed me a long piece of the Aloe Vera and taught me to cook it with longan. I did not accept it though as I can’t imagine eating the slimey Aloe Vera.

Later my colleague told me that she tried and once cooked, no more slime and one of her sons loves it so much.

Since my children loves nata de coco and pudding, so I thought maybe Aloe Vera cubes would be similar. And…since I like longan, I took the Aloe Vera and gave it a try.

I did not regret it.

My son just finished the above bowl of it!

I have a few more assignments to complete but I am so short of time. Didn’t even have time in the afternoon because I was busy napping with my children. A good 2 hours nap. I am not guilty about it like I usually did when I nap more than half and hour because I slept less than 4 hours last night. Not because of assignments but because I slept too much in the afternoon due to my runny nose. Due to it, I finally managed to doze off after 3am after watching Spiderwick and an episode from Heroes then walking up at 6.30am. My body clock is set to 6.30am since my girls started kindy.

So, after work it was assisting my eldest girl with her school work that last until 2pm then they played outdoor while I shower. Then we nap from 3pm till 5pm. Let them have some peaches and my son mess up himself. So I bathe them. By 6pm, I started cooking for them. A quick one; fried rice. After finished feeding them dinner, hubby came home and we went out to Pasar Malam.

Then the rest of the night, it was playing, messing up, drawing, finding bantal busuk, and bedtime.

I managed to write a few post plus this one and then off to bed by 12midnight because we need to wake up by 6am tomorrow to go for a jog because we are so unfit and fat.

Thinking of ripping of your old curtains and replace them with roller shades? I would suggest you to head to Payless Decor for up to 40% discount for all their blinds, shades and rug.

Talking about curtains, I think I have not washed the curtain in my room for months already. No wonder I am still sneezy even after I got my maid to dust my room. I shall and must wash the curtain by tomorrow. If I am still sneezy, maybe I am having a sinus! No more blaming the dust or the weather.

Would you like to try the natural and organic way of de-stressing yourself? Try kava kava. It is the National Drink of Fiji. I am guessing that the Fijians are the more relax people in the world. hehe.

I read that kava is reported to reduce anxiety, relax muscle tension, produce analgesic effects, act as a local anesthetic, and have a potential antibacterial benefit. Kava kava has been used for more than a century as a treatment for gonorrhea, vaginitis, leucorrhoea, nocturnal incontinence and other aliments of the genitourinary tract. Kava kava also is said to be a diuretic, useful in the treatment of gout, bronchial congestion and rheumatism.

However Kava means bitter. Hmmm…better drink seems to always be known good for health. Anyone dare to try?

Do you have a proper Wound Care product in your first aid kit? Those that are children friendly? Meaning those that do not sting when you apply the product to their wound.

In mine, I only that the yellow solution and the blue solution. Never ever use the blue solution on your children. It stings. The yellow solution is ok. Best if you have the Gamat Oil. It does not sting at all and it stops the blood and helps close the wound very fast too.

I used that to apply on my stitches after birth; normal delivery and the wound heal in no time.

My sister in law (hubby’s sister) is living in UK (not Ulu Klang eh, United Kingdom). She is suffering from breast cancer now. I guess in UK, medical bills are all free but they have others expenses to pay.

I am not so sure what the husband does but all I know that he will only get paid when he lectures. It’s like he is working on contract basis. So, there is no stable and consistent income for the family.

SIL is a nurse but due to her health condition, she is not allowed to work anymore. That really adds to the family financial burden. They have 2 lovely children, Emma and Elliot. I can’t remember how old they are; both are under 15yo I guess.

As a family we have given as much as we could but that is still not sufficient for them because our RM value is so small to them.

I understand from hubby that they need another £10k which is about RM65k for us! We are not from rich family, so that amount is a huge amount to us.

Paid post is not helping me much, just sufficient for my own expenses as I am only working half day with half pay now. Maybe I could buy lottery ticket or 4D. Cannot lar, later Jesus get angry at me.

So, I am pleading you generous people out there. If you can afford to part some of your hard earn money to help my SIL, please drop me a note in my comment and I will reply via email my paypal id or you can email me at cencalukbelacan@gmail.com. Thank You so much from the bottom of my heart.

All donations will go to her, none will go into my pocket, I promised.

I tried placing the Paypal Donate button but I kept getting error message.

To those who can’t afford to donate, please pray with me that God will heal her completely in no time so that she can care for her children and her family.

Sekian, terima kasih.

p/s: how to make this post a sticky post without me needing to alter the timestamp everyday?

Do you know that in Genting Highland movie theater, they have special front row seat?

Besides the theme park, my ex-colleague suggested that I go for a movie there. They have special seat on the front row; massage chair. I think, I will fall asleep on the massage chair rather than enjoying the movie.

If you want to fall asleep watching movie in the comfort of your own home theater, why not get a massage chair since you can afford a home theater. I would if I have extra income.

If you wanna get the Shiatsu Massage Chairs at the lowest prices, personalized customer service throughout your purchase and into the future, No Tax, No added shipping fees and 30 days trial, be sure to get it from Working-Well.com. They offer the best Shiatsu Massage Chairs from top name brands such as Premier Health Products, Sanyo and Panasonic massage chairs.

Here are better reasons to get a Daily Massage other than sleeping while watching movie!

Reduce your tension
Relieve your back pain
Increase mobility
Increase your circulation and oxygen flow
Improve your alertness
Aid in the removal of impurities from your blood stream
Speed the recovery of your injured joints

So, wanna get one???

One of the things I did just now at the internet cafe was lifting up and pushing the computer table. Right after we are done with 4 6′ tables, my breast started to ache and it is still aching now.

If you follow my children’s blog then you will know that I have a minor surgery one of my breasts due to breast infection; it was 20 mths ago. Since then, any stress on that part of the body will cause that breast to ache.

I really thank God that I did not have to go through any C-sec for the delivery of my children. If not, I don’t think I can carry my own children without feeling the pain.