the final 5

the race is on for the final 5.5kg. i can't believe that just 3+ months ago, i was lugging around 16kg of unnecessary blubber.

i'm still dealing with the realisation of my new and improved size and how healthy i feel. how i've taken for granted all the daily basics like feeling comfortable when squatting down or crossing my legs. even playing with the kids it's so much fun coz i can totally engage with them physically.

but enuf abt me ... these are some of the most common questions i've had thrown my way

friend : wow, you're smaller
me : yeah
friend : has the sex improved
me : yo ... i've lost weight ... it's not like i'm now getting it on with wentworth miller!! *no disregard babes, you know you rock my boat*

friend : wow, you're smaller
me : yeah
friend : no i mean it, you dun have no boobs or ass no more
me : no worries, i'm liking the new perks (clever pun right?)

moonshine

it's time .... it's now. do you sense it. the house feels strong ... my little den has found new confidence as we bask in scorpio-dom.

bu turns 3 tomorrow and hubs turns 37, 3 days after. AG turns 8 on the 10th and i turn 36 also 3 days later. it's a re-run experience for me this year as hubs leaves for vietnam before my bday. at least i've had practice ... bah!

yup, do you sense it. the reflection, the depression, the silent strength, the new found self, the rebirth.

reunited ... coz it feels so good

i received an email some 4 weeks ago to go to a school reunion. it's the 20th anniversary since graduation and some girls had hooked up on facebook and wanted to meet up.

my first instinct was to not go - right off the bat, i could've have thought of a gazillion excuses to give for not making the date. aside to the fact that i'm not into social gatherings, i really didn't want to deal with the expectations and perceptions of how the bunch of us turned out. i didn't want to deal with the sizing up. i know i am not the same person i was in school or that the girls remember. okay, so i still am grouchy ... some things never change.

but when i received the follow-up email (closer to the date) with a list of names whom i would have otherwise forgotten abt, i was excited to go. these were people i'd known for 14 years some 20 years ago. the unsocial butterfly actually wanted to flutter her wings! so i took on the half chicken strategy and brought AG to the reunion. she was my (e)scape goat should things head down south.

but you know, it didn't. everyone was so nice and chatty and were not really interested in the present. instead, we sat in pockets and caught up and reminisced about the past and laughed at old photos. i really didn't want to leave but i did anyways after an hour and a half - which was already a stretch by my record. we exchanged numbers and email addys then set-up our own reunion page on facebook. it's all good.

my team rocks!

i received my first Boss's Day pressie this year and it made me feel elated. to have hand-picked a team and see them work so well together. to see their learning curve steepen, to feel the commadarie, to see their initiative. to guide and advise. simply amazing.

then to have this team appreciate me back. thats almost as cool as having kids! i couldn't have asked for a better team :)

exam fever 2 - miss arty farty

Mom has not been very effective with getting AG to revise her school work while I am at the office. She told me the other night that the girl just wants to watch TV and draw all day long.

so, to inspire AG to want to score well for her coming exams, i showed her my primary 2 report card. i'm no brainiac but back in the day, primary 2 was a walk in a the park. my reports read As & Bs for english, math and science. i thought i would excite the competitive demon in her to want to out-do the mother.

miss th-ang grabbed the report from me as she was eager to see how i performed. unimpressed ... and totally missing the point ... she said, "how come you did so badly in art? you only got a C."

exam fever

the stress is on at home as exam season sneaks in. i've taken away all tv priviledges for 2 weeks in the hopes of creating a more condusive environment. but i'm not a witch, she gets to watch tv when her brothers come home in the evening and on weekends ... but restricted nonetheless.

unfortunately, my first born is not what you'd call exam-savvy. what she is tho, is street smart.

i told her in the morning to complete a math assessment paper yesterday. in the afternoon she called me :

AG : mom, it's not that i don't want to do my math assessment paper ah, but i've found an assessment book you bought earlier this year, can i do that instead?
me : why, the paper is easier to do, besides i went thru it this morning.
AG : but mom, it's not that i don't want to do the math paper, but the book looks more interesting.
me : ok ok, as long as you do a chapter. do you know what a chapter looks like?
AG : a chapter has numbers right? ... i really want you to know that it's not that i don't want to do my math paper ok ... it's just that the book looks fun. can i pls do the book.
me : ok honey (actually happy that she thinks homework can be fun)

when i got home, i found that she did only 4 sums on 2 pages. she spent the rest of the day drawing pictures and napping. grrrrr

YES, IT'S A BIG DEAL!

last week i wore a jacket for a meeting.YES, IT'S A BIG DEAL coz i'm never in a jacket, i prefer them long sleeved shirts. i hardly ever put a jacket on coz i always feel they don't sit properly on me.

well, that's partly my fault coz 1) i never bought them the right size ... coz i was in denial that i wore a size 16 - so i'd buy the 14 and never be able to button it. 2) i could never comfortably fold my arms coz the sleeves were too tight 3) coz of point 1, i always felt that jackets made me look inflated. nonetheless, i keep a black jacket in the office in case of "incasements".

and so ... an "incasement" came up ... and i HAD to put on a jacket for a high profile meeting. i was just sooo pleasantly surprised that not only could i button the jacket with inches to spare BUT i could also push back the sleeves! YES, IT'S A BIG DEAL! i could push the sleeves all the way up to my elbows ala some bad 80's show ... like, like crokett and tubbs from the old miami vice!

of course i got bored at the meeting *blah-blah-policies-blah-blah-statistics-blah-blah-KPIs" so i went to the toilet and took these pics. DG thinks i look hawt in this one ... *rolls eyes* ... it's an elbow for crying out loud woman! this one looks freaky. like there is someone posing behind me. i dunno how i managed to get that shot.
yessss ... i eventually went back to the meeting after that. geez, there's just no escaping these life sucking meetings.