Time to Change the Header and Birthday Eats

Every year around my birthday I tell myself I have to change that darn thing up there with the brief of who and what we are. I think I'm going to do away with the numbers altogether. At this point, it really doesn't matter. 

The updates so far - 

I've decided NOT to buy snacks and cookies for my home this CNY. It's too much money wasted on unhealthy food. I WILL, however, accept gifts of Bak Kwa (sweet bbq pork jerky slices) because that's one of my favourite things. So instead of shopping for myself, last night we bought some CNY treats for a dear dear friend of mine who has recently found herself in the same position I was in when faced with being the sole caregiver of a very elderly and care-needing mum. We dropped the bag off and surprised her with a text to let her know there was a delivery for her out front! 

Healthwise, I am still dealing with that subscapularis tendonitis. But it's less painful and I'm just learning to be patient while it heals. Thankfully the TMJ has been good. No clicks recently. 

In projects, I am on a mission to shamelessly ask for donations so that I can send stuff to the people in the Philippines who were hit by the last typhoon and are still trying to recover from it. My caregiver has a friend who hails from one of the provinces that were devastated by the waters. I'm going to send a box of clothes and sheets and school supplies and whatever else we take for granted on a daily basis to help them get by. (I hope to make this an on-going thing...)

In money, we're looking for opportunities to amass more precious metals to protect ourselves from whatever effects a certain new president's annonucements might have on the world economy when he takes office. I'm shocked at how quickly gold prices are rising. The maple coin we got was almost a hundred bucks cheaper a couple of weeks ago. 80USD up in a fortnight is scary shit. And he hasn't even been sworn in. (I also intend to make gold collection an on-going thing...)

I have begun my CNY lapis baking days. Today was day 1. I have 14 more bake days to go. But I'm taking it easy and doing no more than 1 batch per day (2 cakes per batch) unlike before when I would cram in 6 / 8 cakes per day. I'm not taking any personal days from work to do this, so it'll just be a slow and easy post-work bake until the 3rd of Feb, with some breaks in between.

In dining, we enjoy the snacks at this Vietnamese place near the gold dealer we go to. But the menu IS rather limited if one is not keen on having rice or noodles. We have just about exhausted all our options on the starter / sharing / snack pages now.

We also tried a slightly fancier restaurant last night which had Crab Bee Hoon on their menu! It was pretty good.

Anti clockwise from top left - 

1     Fruit platter sans pineapple
2     Tahu Goreng

(literally fried tofu - beancurd)

3     BUT this one had bits of stewed turnips stuffed into it - 

and I enjoyed it even tho I'm no fan of tofu (bottom right).

4     A variation of the popular Crab Bee Hoon from Singapore

5     And finally, a chef salad.

I might suggest this place to my ex church mates who are planning a meet up next month. 

In birthday news, the feasting has begun. I've met up with a couple of groups to celebrate the January birthdays... and there's one more coming up this Saturday.  This set is from a group that hadn't seen each other (not all 5 of us together anyway) in about 30 years. Of the lot, there was one lady in attendance whom I actually hadn't met in person at all in that entire time! 

There was a lot of meat on the table. This is just a part of it.

I also went for a dim sum dinner last week with another Jan baby and Betty, who bought us both dinner! And then we had waffles. Yum Yum. 

All this eating is dangerous... which is why I'm being very careful NOT to gorge. Just eat what you would usually eat, I keep telling myself, you don't have to EAT MORE just cos you're celebrating. One big feast might be ok. But if one is having a SERIES of birthday dinners... then they'd better just be 'regular' sized dinners. 

With more and more people dying unexpectedly (about 5 last year that I know of) at the not-yet-ripe age of anywhere between 30 and 60, a lot of my friends / groups have been more active in making obvious efforts to organise meet ups that I'm happy to say have actually come to fruition. That and the fact that I am AVAILABLE to go out and meet people (now that I'm not tied down by caregiving responsibilities) is giving my social calendar a right good workout! 

I'm busy! And actually have things to do and places to be on the weekends BESIDES work (which I still do, on Saturdays and some Sundays).

The plan for moving ahead with life is well underway. I am starting the year happy and fulfilled and I hope it's a sign that the rest of the year will be just as full and satisfying! 

(It's not quite my birthday yet but there's no law against starting celebrations early, right?)

Christmas, The Good The Bad and The Ugly

The Good - dinners and lunches and exhibitions with BIKSS over the last couple of weeks - 

Lunch at a newly discovered French-style restaurant.

Cheese plate, smoked duck salad, mushroom and chestnut soup,

turkey breast, grilled (I forget what type of) fish.

Pre-Christmas dinner at a French restaurant before that, a place we have been wanting to try for a while now. So since it was OUR Christmas dinner we decided to go. It was a little underwhelming. A popular spot, it seemed like they were more concerned with just turning tables over as quickly as they could. Probably never again. 

Fish Quenelles, roasted squash w/risotto, b-sprouts and foie gras.

We also had some time to peruse the Banksy exhibition that was in town. Fascinating stuff. We both had a good time looking at the art. 

I really like the rat themed pieces.

The Bad - after church this morning after we had crossed the road, we saw an elderly couple fall while they were crossing. My caregiver went over to help, then turned back to look at me and made the symbol for "telephone". Uh - oh. 

Some other church goers stopped to assist too. But in the end we ascertained that the wife needed medical attention. Thankfully she wasn't the stubborn sort. I think I should go to the emergency room, she suggested, when I asked if she wanted to be taken to the clinic near our homes. As luck would have it, they live near me. A mere 5 minute walk from my flat. 

I called a ride-share and took them both to the hospital's emergency room. Along the way we managed to contact the wife's sister who said she would come straight away. The husband needed some convincing. He was insistent that if I didn't want to be reimbursed for transport, then he would owe me a favour. Right, you can do me the favour of giving me peace of mind by registering yourself at the emergency dept too, I said. Let them look you over cos even tho you don't seem to be bleeding anywhere, you took a fall too. Flat on the wife. Who thankfully just had flesh wounds. He agreed reluctantly. 

After a bit the sister arrived and we took off, but not before speaking to their daughter (who lives an hour away) and son in law. 

I took their numbers and they promised to update me. The daughter just texted to let me know that mum needed stitches on her forehead, she finally got to the hospital and is now with them. 

All good I suppose. I reassured them that they could call me anytime if they needed any help since the sister is 30 mins away and the daughter is far far far away (by our standards). I'm 5 minutes on foot. So yeah. It'll be a lot quicker for me or CG1 to get to them if they need anything. 

The Ugly - I had Christmas eve dinner at my place for my close friends. The people nearest and dearest to me. Betty's birthday is the 24th so I throw her a Christmas cum birthday party here every year. It's not happened in the last 2 years tho since mum wasn't in the best shape to tolerate a huge to-do here. But I resumed my annual tradition this year and Betty's girlfriend was in attendance. And I don't like her. 

Two friends from the freecycle / food rescue group I had gotten closer to were also in attendance. And while one of them is a lovely person, the other, I realised, tends to be the sort that just SAYS what she thinks she ought to to be thought of as a good person. She'll say this and that and then not follow thru. 

And BOTH of them share the same malady of being snobs. They're both very well to do, and I do NOT appreciate the way they speak to or think of or dismiss my caregiver, whom I treat as a sister, a companion and a true friend. They on the other hand think of her as merely THE HELP. But even then, you do NOT get to speak down to her, seeing as she's MY hired help, not YOURS. 

Too many details to get into, but suffice to say I'm done with these two. I'll be cordial, sure. But don't expect me to include them in my inner circle anytime soon (or ever!). 

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For now, Blessed Christmas everybody.

Goodbye Morningstar

Shine brightly in the heavens that all of us who knew you may remember your spark and energy 

We will remember you adventures and your stories and your weekly Sunday Sentiments. 

We will remember how you stood up for your beliefs, how your home projects with the Lil one delighted not only her but us as well. 

We will remember you. And your presence will surely be felt from the heavens.

If I should go tomorrow

It would never be goodbye,

For I have left my heart with you,

So don’t you ever cry.

The love that’s deep within me,

Shall reach you from the stars,

You’ll feel it from the heavens,

And it will heal the scars. 

~ author unknown

More Gifts

Today my colleague handed me a large-ish paper bag - she bought me some gifts from her recent cruise trip as a sort of "souvenirs from my vacation" cum birthday present. 

I was pretty shocked. The box (left) contained two pairs of earrings and a watch with interchangeable strap. She also gave me a large nautical themed tote (top) and a makeup pouch from YSL. Gosh, these must have cost quite a bit. I felt really bad that she had spent so much money getting me these gifts! 

I'm so grateful for the generosity of all my friends. I must say, I've been spoiled rotten this birthday! 

My chip pic today ~

More Birthday Beef

My gal pals and I went for a free-flow raclette dinner / beef bourguignon face-stuffing at the French restaurant BIKSS took me to some time back where we had the tartines. I mean, 4 months ago I declared on this blog that I was totally gonna go back for the buffet, and tonight, we did. 

So you grab some raclette slices, put it on a melting pan, stick it in that table top oven thing, and wait for a bit. In the meantime, you slice up your potato (no pic cos I was too excited to get started on the food!) and throw some of the meat from the chacuterie board on it. By then the cheese should be ready and you proceed to use the scraper thing to slide it off the pan and onto your plate.

My first serve - it got a lot messier after this.

Slap on one of the many sauces and you're good!

The red pot above is a vat of something, I'm not sure if it was oil, or seasoned oil, or stock, or what, but you stick some wagyu on the end of the skewer and chuck it in the pot. Then after 45-60 seconds, out of the pot to drip dry and then down the hatch! 

Tender, juicy beef, refreshing green salad, crunchy tiny gherkins, cold cuts and raclette... by the end of dinner I was a pro at making cheese - lettuce - ham - cheese sandwiches all melted together in the pan! 

After dinner we took a stroll (because we ate too much!) down to Chinatown which was about 15 mins away, then because it was hot and crowded and we were all itching for some tea, we went into the nearest mall and sought refuge from the sticky humid outdoors in a Starbucks. 

On the way there I had my heart set on a warm mint tea, to help with digestion and what not, but I was too sweaty for hot tea by the time we got there. So I had me an iced peppermint infusion instead! 

And THAT marks the end of the birthday dinners, I think. 

It has been a fun week! The diet starts tomorrow! LOL.

My chip pic today ~

Positivity Pack

My high school buddy whom I see maybe once or twice a year (one of those times being Christmas) sent me a care package / Christmas gift by mail since we won't be meeting this year. Not for our usual Christmas eve soiree anyway. 

I thought it was really sweet of her! The label on the box read "Positivity Pack". We could all do with some of that!

That's a candle, room mist, some stickers, a wick trimmer and a box of extra-large matches! 

I'm feeling loved!

My mood pic today ~ 

BDSM Friend

I found out today that one of my friends (new-ish friend) has a kink. She identifies as Domme and it was so refreshing to have an open non-judgy conversation with her about stuff. 

She was as excited as I was to have someone to talk about this with. I know because she said so. It happened on a group chat with another girl, who admits her sex life is very vanilla, but was happy to learn about all the acronyms that appeared throughout the course of our convo - BDSM, TTWD, D/s, F/m, M/f, etc. 

Only, she has never had a chance to play with someone. Which is sad. Altho she has said that the relationship will come first, the kink, secondary. 

"How will you know how hard to whip then? Practised?" I asked.

"Sadly, no. Never had a chance," was her reply.

"Well, if you ever wanna practise your swing, I'm not averse to pain," I teased. Ok, half teased. I don't think I would mind letting her practise a few swats on my behind.

"Awwww. "

Then a few seconds later she texted again, "I say awwww, you say Owwww!"

LOL

And that was my exciting train ride home after class today. 

My mood pic today is BIKSS' zz plant sprouting a shoot ~ because even in less than favourable conditions life finds a way. 

The Sunday Roundup - Men are Weird, Fruit Cake Bake and Charity Tabs

What else did I do this week? I taught the far-away kids twice this week. They're the boss's kids. Usually when I see them he's still at work (I work half days and come home at lunch, and then on some afternoons, lessons). 

But since I had an extra class with them on a Saturday, he was home and upstairs in his study... halfway thru lessons he traipsed down to to the kitchen so he gave me a "hey" and semi wave as he walked across my line of sight. I gave him only the "hey" arm-raise back as I was mid-sentence, talking to the kid, but figured I would chat with him properly after. 

After lessons I headed up to his study to say Hi, and see to his plants (he wanted plants, I gave him plants, he plonked them in the master bathroom, and then said, come look at your plant babehs so I went and looked at them). Well, I looked at them the week before; the wife didn't have a problem. Admittedly she was out, but I did say when I brought the plants over that the boss said I should check if they needed watering so it's not news to her, I don't think. The littlest boy took me up to where they were, I watered one of them and texted her to let her know that I had done so. I also told her don't worry about the plants cos I would continue to check in on them when I come round for class, and that I was headed out now. She seemed fine. 

Anyway, all this was to say that it was pretty awkward. I don't think my boss knows how to interact with me OUTSIDE of where-we-work. I'm (and BIKSS is too) pretty certain that the wife being present has something to do with it. 

I think the bottom line is he is willing to go to extra lengths / make concessions for me (that's a story for another time) which he might not do for just anyone else. And I think he thinks if he were to be too friendly his wife might raise an eyebrow. 

And now I'm wondering if she's thinking "Who's this person who buys him supplements (he asks me to - I don't just feed him with pills or nothing) and has managed to worm herself into our home where she's earned the trust of our children, and is now privy to my bathroom and everything in it because my idiot husband has given her access so she can check on the / "her" plants?"

BIKSS says probably not. But who knows right? Men think funny. And overcompensate. And then they start looking suspicious. Which is funny cos that's what they wanted to avoid in the first place innit? 

Anyway. I'm probably NEVER going to go over on a Saturday again. I think it's just better for everyone all round. 

--------

I started baking my fruit cakes today. And aside from the lowcarb / keto versions I want to try, I'm actually already done with all the regular sugar ones. 

I was pleasantly surprised when I ripped open the foil loaf tins and found that a pack contained not 5 but 10 pieces. Guess the sales guy got that mixed up. So now I had 30 instead of 15. LOL. I only needed 10 but got an extra pack just in case. 

Then I realised that I had almost a full packet of brown sugar in my larder, which meant I now had extra sugar too, as I bought what I would need for the bake based on having zero existing stock. Hm. I might be able to bake more cakes without having to buy too much more stuff, what with the extra loaf tins. 

Now usually the batter I get at the end of a mix fills 3 tins, but for some reason today's mix gave me 4! Hah. So now I'm going to end up with extra loaves anyway, and won't need to go out and buy more stuff to bake extra cakes. 

I felt like I was on that hill where the 5 loaves and 2 fish ended up feeding the thousands. 

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I discovered a website called Tab for a Cause as I was listening to an old episode of Dear Hank and John (you can find it on most platforms where you get your others podcasts) which I find absolutely hilarious.

And yes, it does really give money to charities. It's all legit. And it costs you absolutely nothing. If you have the extension on your browser, each time you open a new tab you collect a heart. And then when you've got a good number of them, you can send your hearts to a charity and they get money from it. It really is that easy. 

You can read about its legitimacy on this reddit page. 

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And I think that's pretty much all the rest-of-the-news from this side of the world. 

Have a good week ahead everyone. It's December. The year's almost over. And Covid is STILL raging on. Argh. For now we're still Omicron-free. But who knows how long THAT will last. We're supposed to be re-opening, slowly and cautiously, with groups of 5 being allowed to dine together (up from 2) but the PM has now announced that they're watching this stupid variant closely and further easing of restrictions may be delayed. Pfft. 

My mood pic today ~  (they sell these ornaments on Amazon, fyi)

LoL Day Number 16

I will be coming up to my 10th year of blogging soon and in all that time the one thing that has kept me coming back each time I've taken a break is the kindness of the people in Blogland. 

The people who understand me, not just the spanko bits or the DDlg or D/s bits, but me - the regular person with regular problems who's navigating life as best she can, with a side of kink, preferably! 

For all of you I am grateful. 

For those of you who comment and write to me and share your private lives with me, I am honoured. 

For those of you who read but don't comment, I thank you for stopping by and I hope what I write makes you feel not-so-alone, comforted, encouraged, commiserated with, or even fill you with a touch of Schadenfreude if that's what you need at that moment! 

I write because of all of you, and most of all I couldn't do it without BIKSS' encouragement and support. 

I daresay he's my number one fan. 

While we haven't had a lot of playtime in recent months / years, we're glad for the lessons of the early years - communication, patience, respect, etc etc. You know the list right? 

These are things that have kept us able to stay sane during this strange time of upheavals in my life. 

So here I am. Because of all of you. 

Thank you for loving us! Happy Lol Day everyone!

(Thanks to Hermione for hosting!)

The Sunday Round Up - Pink Pots, Platters, Mum's Medical Matters

The people at mum's rehab centre are doing an awful job at communication. With the restrictions being super tight, no visitors allowed and all that, it would be fair to assume that they'll have figured by now how important it is to give timely updates to family members of patients. 

But NOOOOO. They call multiple times to tell me stuff I already know and then promptly fail to tell me that mum's liver enzymes were elevated, that she had her catheter taken out, or that they'd agreed to (and successfully did) administer her booster shot. I mean, I don't need a call confirming that they managed to get catering to change her diet to soft foods, nor did I need a third person to ring me and let me know they moved her to another bed. I swear they have serious communication issues. 

Anyway, she has now been working on lifting her feet up and over small curbs, and will hopefully be home later this week. It's amazing how quickly a month flies by. She will be able to use a quad stick (see pic) walking around the house, which isn't too bad considering she had a walking stick in the past, and as long as someone walks with her she's stable enough to resume her regular day to day activities. Which, really, just consists of walking around the house and watching TV or listening to Eddie Arnold songs on Youtube.  

This is a quad stick.

Her liver function test results got them a bit worried so she had an ultrasound done, and the results show some cirrhosis. But according to my boss's gastro friend, since her protein / bilirubin levels are well in the normal range, there isn't much to worry about. Just don't drink and don't take fatty foods. That was the advice. Great. At least that's something I don't have to stress out over. 

Last Wednesday I taught a couple of new students. One of them is a little 5 year old boy and he's adorable. I haven't had a tiny tot to teach in about 5 years, so it was quite refreshing. 

After that BIKSS got me and we had dinner at one of our regular quiet places.

Spinach and asparagus salad, Chicken quesadillas

A sharing platter because we were hungry!

Crab cakes (that were more like sea shantys), jalapeno cheese poppers, chicken wings, chimichanga

It was delicious. I'm sorry about the lighting I realise it doesn't look so great, but trust me, it was. 

In plant updates - This freshly potted bunch of ZZ twigs and leaves is a total of 5 cuttings that have been rooting for a while, and some of them have even begun producing rhizomes. I'm hopeful that even if a couple of them don't make it, there'll at least be enough life in the pot to produce new shoots. Once I see any new growth the pot will be moved to its new home which is BIKSS' office table. 

Surprise number 1 : My boss saw this and liked it and asked if he could have a pot for the corner of his bathroom. Me. Ex-killer of plants. Hell yeah! I told him I had some cuttings sitting in water at the moment and the next batch of rooted twigs and leaves that appear will be his.

Next, meet my big-ass overgrown peace lily. The pot is way too crowded, there's no space for new leaves or flowers to poke through, and it was in serious need of help.

So I divided it and managed to extract two very decent looking plants to give to friends. What's left of the big-ass plant is in the pot on the extreme left of the pic below (it's looking more manageable now but I suspect I'll have to divide it again before too long). 

Surprise number 2 : Plant-mama saw my post on FB where I mentioned that I had two new pots of peace lilies to give away and she asked if she could have one the next time one became available. Me. I say again, ex-killer of plants. Getting asked by plant-mama if she could have my plant. Does that make us plant-y friends? LOL. 

So yes. One of the new pots - 2nd from left - is going to plant-mama, and the other - extreme right - is for my colleague who brought me a couple of cuttings last Friday! Pot number 3 is the other one of our original plants. It was gifted by the sister but it really is taking its own sweet time as there haven't been many new leaves nor any spathes! I'm hoping it's a slow starter but will become a prolific producer once it gets going!

 

This is the baby devil's backbone that my colleague brought to work for me (left). It's already got a decent root on it, as it wasn't a cutting but a new plant that appeared beside her main plant - which is HUGE (right). You can grow these from cuttings, or you can just wait for them to self-sow. Like Mother of Thousands, these plants (also called zig-zag plants) will occasionally show up in a nearby pot! 

She also brought a long golden pothos (money-plant) vine for me with tons of aerial roots so I just cut it up into 5 smaller sections and stuck them in a pot. I left it to settle by the kitchen window, and planned to add it to the rest of my hanging plants. 

But about that. I have a story to tell. I've always said I was a bit obsessive, and while never clinically diagnosed with OCPD, I definitely show a lot of the signs. So I got the vines into a pot on Friday afternoon, a blue one. I suspected it would annoy me at some point cos the 3 hanging pots I had now were pink. Problem was I didn't have any free pink pots available. I mean, I had 1 more but it was housing a Mother of Thousands teenager. And I didn't want to mess with it cos it took a while to get it to show signs of growth and fudging with a plant unnecessarily isn't the greatest idea. "It's just a pot, don't be ridiculous, the colour doesn't matter, don't go fudging around with it just cos you're being obsessive about it." ( ← internal monologue.)

Fine. I put it in a blue pot. Watered the thing. And left it by the kitchen window to settle.

Saturday morning - I chucked out a dead mexican heather, emptied out the brown pot and freed up the hanger that I intended to use for my new pothos (in the blue pot... how will I get through this day?). 

I put up the blue pot. 

I took down the blue pot. 

I removed the Mother of Thousands from the pink pot and put it in the brown now ex-mexican heather pot, and then moved the pothos into the freed up pink pot. 

TA DA!

If I was uncertain before, or in denial about this OCPD thing, I think we can all agree now that there is no more doubt. 

My mood pic today is the view of my pretty pink pots ~

Friends

English is supposed to be the first language in schools here. Sadly a lot of people don't speak it properly. Recently a student of mine grumbled that her teacher says "Corright?" (instead of 'correct'), and I overheard a conversation BIKSS was having with his colleague (he was on speaker cos BIKSS was driving) and at one point the guy said "I don't know whether did he tell him or not." 

I couldn't take it. I almost died. BIKSS is immune to bad sentence structure. I. Am. Not. My brain short circuited and I proceeded to make up sentence after sentence in that funny incorrect way. 

Do you know whether did I have breakfast today? 

Have you asked whether did they go there? 

Ugh. I had a bit of fun. But not REAL fun. Like, roll-eyeball fun. Go on, I'll wait. You try a sentence or two. It's so painful it gets your synapses firing for sure! 

Anyway recently I've been chatting with a few more people from the food-rescue group and two in particular have been really nice and I suspect we've become friends! FRIENDS! Imagine that. LOL. 

I was pretty pleased with myself when I announced it to BIKSS last night. "I think I made two new friends!" 

He was glad for me. I mean, genuinely glad. Cos I'm so damned finicky about friend-making. 

BIKSS - Well, it's about time. I'm glad for you!

Me - It's not MY fault. It's really hard finding people who can actually speak proper English. (Insert eye roll here.)

BIKSS - This is true. I'm glad you found some new people! 

Me - At least I *think* we're friends. One of them shared an intimate story about her and her husband and you know, stuff. The other one, just today, sent me a random text about how a brick fell on her and she hurt herself. I guess if she didn't think I was a friend she wouldn't tell me right? 

BIKSS - Yup. I should think that counts as being friends. 

Me - HURRAY! I made friends! 

~~~~~~~~~~~

And on the topic of friendships, blessings and everything related, a girlfriend transferred some money into my bank account today cos she felt prompted. I understand what she means. This is how I felt when I agreed to take on two new students at month's end - halfway across town. It would take me over an hour to travel there, but for some reason I felt called to do it. So I made the arrangements and it's all set! 

Oh, back to the friend. So she asked a few days ago if I needed any (financial) help and I said no, I have it covered, cos even tho I lost a student last month (she graduated...  she didn't die or anything like that, knock on wood!) I would be picking up two new ones soon so I'm going to be ok. 

And still she dropped the cash. I told her I appreciated it and it would help with the current situation but once I'm able to I'm going to drop it back into her account and in the meantime I cleared some bills with it. 

Look at me, growing. Learning to be grateful and accept blessings graciously. 

My colleague also had her son drop off a banana loaf for me today cos her sister baked some. And an ex-colleague called round with three bags of mooncakes for me and my boss and my colleague.  They come in a fancy big ass tin complete with a two-tier serving tray inside!

I've just been swamped with gifts and I'm so so grateful for these friendships. I really needed the feel-good vibes today!

My mood pic today ~ 

The Foot is Fine

Kinda. 

I mentioned in the last post that I might have to get an X-Ray. Turns out the doc went fiddling about on my foot and found the tendon that was the cause of the pain. 

So, extensor tendonitis it is. 

No x-ray needed. Hurray. That saves me a couple of hours and a lot of travelling at least. 

When I was talking to my financially savvy friend about it the other day she asked with a cheeky look on her face "Are you sure it's not just over-stretched cos you know, when you, erm, orgasm, you know, how most of us tend to point our feet?" 

LOL. No, I reassured her. It is definitely NOT the result of an overly-pointed-foot-while-cumming situation. 

It's just so weird tho that despite how close we are, we don't talk about these things. Perhaps its the whole conservative Asian thing after all.  

Today's mood pic - cos I wish I could hop hop hop non-stop - 

Day Trip and The Hospital

I took the day off on Friday to take mum to the zoo. Yup. I'd been to the then newly opened rivers of the world park once with BIKSS and since it was pretty easy walking and wouldn't be TOO tiring to push the mother's wheelchair around, we decided to make a sort of family trip of it, with the sis and brother in law coming along to spend the day with mum. 

She had a good time looking at the river exhibits and spotting the eels and alligators etc... but when it came time to leave the park she started to complain of a slight breathlessness. 

We went straight to the emergency room and they did tests. 

Her heart is fine. Her lungs are fine. Her kidney function is stable (she's a CKD patient) and they don't seem to be able to figure out what's wrong. 

There was some fluid in her lungs, but the MO and registrar don't think it's significant enough to be the cause of said breathlessness. Still, they gave her a diuretic and are confident whatever excess water she's retaining will be flushed out. They decided to admit her to keep an eye on all her levels just in case. 

I eventually crawled into bed at 4am and woke up at 8 the next morning to send some stuff over to her in the hospital so she could feel more comfortable. (Right now I'm feeling extremely zombified LOL.)

When I spoke to the registrar on call Saturday morning he was very interested to hear about the change in mum's personality so I laid it on thick, as per my boss's advice - "If she's been admitted tell them all about it so they can get the geri team to see her as an inpatient, and hopefully be able to do a scan while she's there instead of waiting another 2 weeks for her scheduled appointment."

So I did. After he left, the senior consultant on call came by and it turns out he was classmates with the boss-doctor-man. Brilliant. So he saw the memo my boss wrote for the geri clinic and he decided to call for a brain scan pronto. 

Especially since they had already ruled out all the other possible cardiopulmonary causes. 

The suspicion now is that she might be hyper emotional and working herself up into a fear or anxiety induced panic attack that's showing up as breathlessness. That is, once they've ruled out any bleeding or micro-stroke. 

She has had the scan but at the time of writing this I still haven't heard back from the doctor. Which could also be a good sign - NO phone call means NO immediate action needed. And if there is a subdural bleed with built-up pressure then there would definitely be a phone call. 

One other possible option is that she might have dementia but again we're all not convinced cos she's not presenting with the classic symptoms.

In any case, the bottom line is that her life is not in any immediate danger, her vitals are very stable, and for now, we've gotten the scan that we wanted done. 

If nothing else pops up she'll be able to come home soon and then we'll wait for the follow up to the geri clinic on her appointed date in two weeks' time. We got an appointment for the 14th of May, which is rather quick-ish, so I'm pretty relieved about that. 

*I'd also just like to say a quick thank-you to all of you for the support and good wishes... it really means a lot to me!*

Meanwhile 2 of my besties came over for dinner and I was really glad for the company and the distraction for a few hours. 

I also set up a monthly recurring investment account thing, thanks to one of the girls who is a bit of a finance / money guru. She has more money than she knows what to do with, so we sat in the kitchen and fiddled with our mobile banking apps at the same time and she guided me thru the steps. And just like that, we set up an investment-savings account that, hopefully, will earn us both something like 10% p.a. over the next few years. 

And then we wondered why we didn't start doing this sooner, instead of sitting around and talking about the latest gadgets, the latest make up and the latest whatevers that we've been spending all our money on for the last 2 decades! "Because they didn't have mobile banking apps 20 years ago!" I said. 

My mood pic today ~ 

Old Friends and New

As I was reading through some of my old posts and comments, reminiscing, I suppose, I came across a comment that June (of Ward & June) left one one of my posts, Secretes of the Sub Sisterhood mentioning that she had added the link to her favourite posts page on her own blog. 

If you've read there before you might have seen it already. But for some reason I only saw it for the first time today. 

So if you're interested in what some of their favourite posts were around blogland, have a look at THIS PAGE which contains a short description and links to the actual posts. Mind you this was a long time ago, in blogland terms anyway, so some of the links might not take you anywhere at all. But it's worth checking out, especially if you're new to DD / Ds / TTWD etc. 

And I just wanted to take the time to say how much I appreciate my early blogging friends, Conina, Kitty, Faerie, who were the first few to reach out and say "you're not alone and you're not weird"... 

Also, Emen, Bas, Jake, Spanky (and the CWS members) , Del Fonte, Geekie Kitty, Master's Piece, Aisha, Renee Rose, SNP, Ami, Dragon's Rose, and slightly more recently, Lil, Pygar & Abby (I do miss you). 

I'm sure there are more but it would take too long to go thru all my comments and list them all! Because yes, I have forgotten some of the names, but I will never forget that they all (like you) made me feel welcome at a time when I really needed to find some people who were like me. They uplifted, supported, encouraged, challenged, and celebrated me and each other. And I am so glad that the same spirit continues on in blogland today, even tho' individual bloggers may come and go. 

(Some of you are still here  - or I've recently found you again *looks at Bleue and DV* - so I shan't add you to that list! LOL)

Thank you for being my people!

My mood pic today ~

SHEIN code and Meeting Old Friends

BIKSS and I seldom do social things with other people. In the first place cos not many people know we're seeing each other but also because our timing's sometimes difficult to work out in advance, what with my mum's sometimes last minute things, and his sometimes last minute things... and also cos when we DO get a chance to meet we more often than not WANT to spend that time alone! 

But we did make a trip to a friend's neighbourhood to have dinner and pass them (him and his wife) some stuff from my rescue/freecycle thing.

We tried to recreate a picture we 'd taken 9 years ago and it was nice that we'd all lost weight since then. It's pretty motivating! 

Once in a while it's nice to hang out with people together. 

Also, if you haven't already heard of this "trick", for those of you who shop online, sometimes it's good to leave the stuff in your 'basket' and leave the site for a bit. Often the website will send you a reminder via email, and sometimes even a discount code. 

I usually get it in my local currency but for some reason I got one from SHEIN today that's in USD. 

So if you're interested, here it is. The catch is that it's only valid for the next 7 days. 

And it doesn't seem to be a dedicated code, but until we know for sure one way or the other, no harm trying right? 

Enjoy! 

 

My mood pic today ~ 

Guess What Day it Is

The boss's wife asked him what I like. 

Chocolate? 

Too common. 

Cheesecake? 

Nope, she doesn't like cheesecake.

Matcha?

Nah, not a fan of green tea.

Tiramisu?
She doesn't like Tiramisu.

What then?
She likes Bak Kwa. 

And I ended up with a 'savoury' chiffon cake scattered with sweet BBQ pork jerky. IT WAS SUPER DUPER YUMS!

That's me holding up a piece of bak kwa - at the office after we closed for the day, cos we always have a little celebration when it's someone's birthday, even tho it's just the 3 of us.

The other colleague got me a cake too, it was delicious - from a pretty popular Japanese style confectionary, as well as some crunchy biscuits (below) which look almost too cute to eat. But I did. I had a squirrel for breakfast.

I wanted to just pack up the cake and leave it in the fridge but mum insisted we blow a candle and sing a song. And I said, well it's just you and me, who's going to sing? "I'll sing!" She pronounced! 

Turns out my tenant was home so she came out to the dining table to join us and we had another 3-person candle-blowing cake-cutting mini-party.

Since I do so every year on my birthday so I don't lose track of when I'm due for my annual labs, I did my usual fast overnight and got my blood drawn this morning. It's a little bit more than I normally do, as the boss wants to include cancer markers for liver, ovarian and colon cancer. And a Vit D check. Ok then, whatever you say! 

What would have cost me $210 got heavily discounted to $83. Plus I get an $80 subsidy from the government under a health assist programme, so I ended up paying $3 for it. 

I'm lucky! 

I'm also so very grateful for all the texts and greetings that have flooded my phone today, and am feeling tremendously loved. 

So here's a big THANK YOU  to all of you in Blogland too who have dropped me birthday greetings on FB and email! 

My mood pic today ~

A Slow Start to 2021

9am - Wake up and drag my aching self to the kitchen to get coffee. Along the way I see that mum has just showered and is getting ready to head down to the coffee shops to meet her pals for breakfast. It's late for her, she's usually out the door by 8. Might have something to do with the rain and late bedtime last night. 

1030am - Friend arrives to pick up a lapis cake I baked for her. She had placed an order but couldn't find a good time to pick it up because our end of year schedules just didn't match up. Glad that we didn't force it, cos we managed to sit around and have a good half hour chat over home made coffee (ie not the store bought type with all the added crap by way of creamers and sugars) and she brought along a pair of runners for me that were too small for her. Hurray for free shoes!

12noon - Start taking apart the Christmas things. I have to rearrange the living room and make some space for the reactivation of the sofa bed as my niece has gotten another job posting near me and has asked if she can bunk here for the month of January. 

130pm - Sort out leftovers, zap food in the microwave, decide what needs finishing and what can get chucked back in the fridge. LUNCH!

2pm - Put away Christmas things - the boxes, now filled up with ornaments and other trimmings, are ready to go back into the store room and on top of cupboards for another year.

230pm till NOW - Sit on my ass watching Black Sails. 

710pm - Write this post, then shower and head out to a fellow-freecycler's place to pick up some stuff. Hoping to walk over if the rain has slowed a little... or else I'll just hop into a bus. Not gonna let a tiny downpour stop me!

Slow days are rather enjoyable. I only wish I didn't have this nasty backache which I suspect is a result of yesterday's flu jab. 

My mood pic today -