A little update

Mummy arrived from Mekah on Tuesday and I'm so happy that her haj trip went well. She's still having that awful dry cough though, I hope that one goes off soon too. She really missed her cucus and was a little upset that Mia didn't quite recognize her and started to cry when she carried her. But I guess it's just takes a little time for Mia to familiarize herself to Tokmi again. Imran on the other hand, didn't seem to notice the fact that Tokmi's been gone for over a month, macam biasa je dia dengan Tokmi. He adores his Tokmi who in turn spoils him to bits. Of course Mummy had her own haj stories and adventures to tell and we were all just glued to every bit of detail and I was quite secretly admiring her for toughing up and braving the 3million plus crowd of mostly huge and rough Arabs. She hopes to bring Ayah with her next, InsyaAllah.

It is Christmas eve and office is on halfday today. I think it was a mistake for the company sec to announce the halfday coz I heard the CEO giving her an earful for not getting his consent to declare the falfday, albeit being company tradition to close early on Christmas and New Years's eve :D

So this long weekend's gonna be another round of pottytraining for Imran. He's doing well so far, with no accidents after the first two days. We're still taking him to the toilet every half hourly. Hopefully soon we can extend the time to every hourly. No progress yet on No.2 though :P

I plan to introduce more new foods to Mia too. Maybe rice and chicken with a little veggie. My mum said she gave her a taste of Imran's porridge and she seems to love it! That girl's so gonna outgrow her big brother. This is a recent pic of her:

We'll be taking the children to the Bird Park this weekend, with a couple of friends. Pack some snacks and have a little picnic at the park. Imran loves the outdoors and it's quite a shame that he's been couped up at home most of the school holidays. Hope the weather is good though.

I end this post with some photos taken during our little camwhore-ing session around the Christmas decorations at Gardens. Merry Christmas to those celebrating and God bless.

On cloth diapers and potty training

I've switched Mia's daytime diapers to cloth diapers, bought from one of my closest girlfriends. The brand is Gifts From Heaven and they are truly heaven sent! They are so easy to use, easy to clean and best of all, the fabric is so gentle to her skin, no sign of diaper rash at all. Looks like I can ditch the Drapolene next! Another plus! Here's the girl, rockin' her diapers:

I have to admit that the initial cost is quite high, RM260 for a set of 6, with 12 inserts. But after a few months, I can really appreciate the savings from buying disposables. My only regret is for not starting earlier! And it's also great that the room is now spacious with two less giant disposable diaper packs and the kids' bathroom don't stink of the disposables anymore :P (except when Imran does his business, that is).

Oh yeah, on the boy. We are planning to start the (eek!) toilet training this upcoming long weekend. I've bought a few pairs of kid underwear for starters. If all goes well, I'll take him shopping for some fancy Ben 10 ones later :) I hope he will be pottytrained by the time school starts in January, so it won't be too hard when the teachers take over at school.

Wednesday my in laws will be returning home, and as much as I am GLAD to finally be able to be by myself again, I'm kinda sad thinking of how they will miss the children. I could really see how they have bonded with the two kids and I'm sure they will miss being spoilt by their Tok and Tah too. I'm also worried bout leaving my Dad to be in charge of my charges until Mummy comes back sometime next week. He's not too strong himself and I hope my maid is able to help him sort out de house a bit in time for Mummy's return.

Ok, it's already past 10, I really should start working :). Till later.

Never enough

Am feeling really lousy despite the coming weekend. In fact, i'm sorta dreading going home later, following the events of last nite and this morning. Iskandar told me this morning bout the argument he had with MIL this morning over a stupid thing - how I failed to prepare a proper dinner for the family last nite. I guess he finally came round over how childish and rude he was over the incomplete dinner and was trying to defend himself and me when MIL remarked that she wouldn't serve such lousy dinner to Papa and her sons.

I accept that perhaps I did blew dinner, but I do believe that she wouldn't say all those things if he didn't make a big fuss of it in front of her in the first place, knowing FOR A FACT how sensitive MIL is when it comes to my shortcomings in caring for her son and grandchildren. I am trying damn hard to come home in time every effing day, through the stupid crazy jams of KL, with a rushed stop at the supermarket to buy things to cook for dinner, and then race home in time to give Mia her last feed, put her down by 7pm and start dinner.

Yesterday was even worse coz I had to drive to Melaka early morning on assignment and was super exhausted after the long drive and longer day on site. Especially hard as I had to tend to Mia when she woke up for a feed at about 3am (Alredi asked a favour from him to handle the night feed since i have to be up really early, but of course he didn't wake up, what was I thinking??). Imagine how insulted and humiliated I felt when he keeps pointing the fact that I blew dinner, right in front of his parents. Now they don't even want to eat at home anymore coz it seems like its too troublesome for me read: I can't cope being a working mum and preparing a complete dinner for the whole family (plus two maids).

I wish he was sensitive to my feelings and respectful enough to not humiliate me like that, but what can I say, things have been said and done. I tried to be thick skinned and just take it calmly last nite but when I found out what MIL thought about it, I just can't hold it in anymore and the tears started to flow. Maybe I'm not a good enough wife and mother, what more daughter in-law. I'm not trying to be perfect, but I'm trying so effing hard to keep everybody happy. Why can't he do the same for me?????

Wish my mum could come back sooner. There's just too many ppl in the house I can't breathe.

Concert time!

Imran's school concert was held on Saturday and we had so much fun watching him! So surreal to see him in his element, singing and dancing for the first time to whole songs and with dance steps! I have to admit that I was half expecting him to screw the whole thing and just go off to do his own dance routine but surprisingly, he followed the routine with the other kids pretty darn good! He was involved in a minor tug-o-war between two girls at one point, so cute to watch them both trying to kiss and hug him :D For his first real concert, and being only 3 years old at that, I'm so SO proud of how he behaved himself and put on a really awesome show!

Anyway, here are some photos to share :)

Doing the Indian dance

The Ketchup Song

Imran n his girl Amelina singing We Are The World

Well done Imran!!

And Reconnect We Did

I've been feeling so demotivated at work and frustrated with career plans that didn't exactly go through that by Thursday I was all set for a major meltdown. It started at breakfast which was meant to be my kickoff point towards a great career, but somehow in a way I could not comprehend went the other direction and I found myself back in the dumps. Had lunch with Iskandar that day after the disastrous revelation and instead of feeling comforted, I got shot down yet another time. I knew that I had to do something about this before I lose my mind and that same afternoon, after confronting the person who sort of was responsible for stalling my plan, I managed to gain perspective of things again. Even if things don't really work out for me I've decided to not dwell on it and move on. I shouldn't keep my hopes up about this anymore. I've set my price and I'll stick with it. Take it or leave it. No more false hopes.

I know Iskandar felt bad for not being able to give me the solution I was hoping for but it was never his problem in the first place. It was all me, and I felt so guilty for putting him in such a predicament. We talked it over later but I've already decided that I'm not gonna let this "issue" bring me down, and worse, affect my personal life. With that, the barriers between us were gone, as I reached out to him for his support which he gave with his whole heart.

Spent the whole of Sunday baking brownies, my other love. My favourite part was licking the bowl afterwards with Imran, both of us covered in yummy chocolate ;-) Perfect! Guess the lesson for me is to take each day as it comes and not to put all your eggs in one basket! :D

Need to reconnect

I have to admit that I have been so caught up with things at home and work that I neglect the most important things and person in my life. It is hard to be a Mummy (albeit being my no.1 most favourite job in the world) and maintain a professional life at the same time, that's a given. These days I've been taking over Mia's night feeds from Iskandar, which is fine by me as I really enjoy the quite times with her. But it's tough to wake up again at 6am, drag myself to work, rush home at 7pm, fetch the kids and prepare Mia for bed (she goes to bed between 7-730pm) that by the time I'm done with the routine, I'll be so dead beat to have a decent meal and conversation with Iskandar. I'll switch straight to "standby mode" on the couch in front of the TV, sometimes I'll remember to go up to bed but there are nights that I wake up in the middle of the night and find myself still on the couch!

Needless to say (but i'm gonna say it anyway), that my marriage is not doing so great right now. Things sorta became bad almost immediately after our anniversary, we hardly talk about things other than "hey, don't forget to change Mia's diapers" or "hey, we're running out of milk for Imran / Mia, can u get some?" or "hey, I'm gonna have dinner first and go to sleep right after" I think at one point we actually stopped talking to eachother totally and I sorta felt OK with that, wtf, coz some of the conversations can easily turn into arguments which I'm too tired to bother to handle. We've also stopped having our lunch dates.

I'm yawning away as I'm typing this, gosh I really need to do something bout my energy level. He texted me earlier, asking whether I'm free to lunch. Of course I am, always, for him. I just hope I can pull myself together and get over all this stupid exhaustion so that he won't think that I've lost interest in our marriage!

The 6 year mark

We had a rather low-key 6 year wedding anniversary yesterday, low key coz both of us are like dead broke hahaha! Amidst the dead broke situation, we still managed to squeeze out a few ringgits to buy each other his-and-hers perfumes - the new D&G 1 Le Bateleur for him and D&G 3 L'Imperatrice for me. And to our surprise, we got eachother the same cards! now if that's not what you call soulmates, I don't know what is! :)

Truthfully, this year I've got all the things I could only dream of before, for which I am truly, truly grateful to God for giving me this wonderful person as my life partner. Two beautiful children, a perfect home and surrounded by love 24-7, what more can I ask for?

The sacrifices he made for me are something I can never reciprocate, no matter how hard I try.

For our 6th wedding anniversary, there is nothing more that I could possibly want for us other than to stay as strongly committed to eachother, to be eachother's best friend, lover, confidante, partner-in-crime.

I love you Iskandar Putra, thank you for 6 wonderful years, here's to growing old together.

Money money money!

Yesterday was Mia's 4 month checkup and it's great to hear that her development's a little above average. But her paed was concerned bout the eczema just developing on her elbows, an indication of allergy. Given both our families' history with allergies, he advised us to switch to a hypoallergenic type of infant formula instead of the S26 as it's believed that she may be developing an allergy to milk protein. To start her off, we were given a tin of Mamex Gold Hypoallergenic, and I was shocked to find out later that a small 400g tin costs RM32!! and that's not even half a week's supply!! I then decided to table our budget for baby supplies to see if we can actually AFFORD to switch milks, regardless of what the paed thinks! :P

MIA
Mamex: RM32 x 8 = RM256
Mamy Poko: RM32
Drypers: RM25
Injections: RM300
Toilettries etc: RM20
TOTAL: RM633

IMRAN
Dugro: RM23 x 4 = RM92
Mamy Poko: RM45
Drypers: RM25
Toilettries etc: RM20
School Fees: RM200
TOTAL: RM751

Total both kids: RM1,384!!!

Blardy hell! we've never really compromised when it comes to the kids' necessities but now that i've actually wrote them down, its unbelievable the amount of money we spend on these stuff!! And we've only got 2, i wonder how other parents are coping with 3-4 kids, or more!

So i got iskandar to search for alternative milks to give Mia, (read:cheaper) and found out about soy milk. it's supposed to be good for babies who has milk protein allergies, lactose intolerant and other special needs babies. Price is slightly higher than S26 but definitely cheaper than the Mamex Gold. haven't actually tried it on her yet coz there's still some Mamex supply left for at least 2 days more. i hope she takes the new milk well as right now she doesn't seem to enjoy the Mamex milk much. She's only taken 8oz from 7am to 3pm when she's supposed to be taking 12oz by now.

Both babies are napping right now which means it's time to finally sit down and sort out my income tax problem. the whole point of me taking this long leave is to work my taxes and it's already Day 2 and the tax forms are still untouched! :P

Just another Raya post

Raya this year was moderately celebrated this year, at least for us. Had a lovely day in with the family, his and mine, just catching up and having a good time amidst the endless supply of lemang, rendang, ketupat and all sorts of kuih "tunjuk" :) Was a little bit upset on Raya morning coz we were too late to celebrate Raya with my parents and siblings, a family tradition for my side of the family. But I guess this is one of the sacrifices you make when you're married and I soon started to enjoy beraya with my in laws when they finally woke up at 3pm!! :) Imran had the best time I think, playing with the cousins. And Mia was just soaking up all the attention and enjoying the non stop cuddles and kisses from cousins, aunties, grandparents etc.

We went back to Alor Gajah later in the week to ziarah the graves of my late Daddy, Nenek, Mak Ngah, Pak Ngah, Atuk and Abang Lokman. Sitting on the tiled perimeters of Daddy's grave, I missed him even more. One day when the kids are big enough, I will tell them the story of their late Tok Daddy.

It's back to work now and the weather's been pretty gloomy these past few days, usual kinda weather expected during the October - December months. Makes it even harder to wake up in the morning and especially hard to leave my two babies at home :(

But today's a new day. In laws are leaving for Brunei and UK and we'll finally get to put some order into our lives and home. No doubt having the inlaws around are great but there are times when I wished it was just the four of us at home :P

I end this post with our family pic, taken on the first day of Raya.

Some updates

Mia's reaching 3 months pretty soon. It's unbelievable how fast time flies, which really surprises me this time considering it is the fasting month when things are expected to be sllooooowwweerrr than usual. Anyway, this also means that I've almost successfully breastfed Mia for her first 3 months, something that I'm personally quite proud about as it has not been so easy for me. Mia's not really good at direct breastfeeding, she gets easily distracted and pulls away at the earliest sign of milk letdown which is soooo frustrating..all that good stuff wasted away! :( So I've no choice but to pump and feed her with the bottle. Now that I've started work, I have to sneak in a few pumping sessions at where else but in my car! I guess this old building's got a few good things about it such as the extremely private carparks :)

Truthfully, the fasting month has been pretty tough on the milk supply, as I do not have the liberty to drink and eat properly as to observe the fasting period. Not that I'm fasting anyway since I'm breastfeeding, but yea, just to show respect to others who are. I can't wait for Ramadhan to be over, hopefully the supply will return to normal once my mealtimes are more balanced and regulated. I've recently continued taking the Fenugreek pills, but so far I haven't seen any improvement... Too soon to tell maybe. Of course I plan to breastfeed Mia as long as I can, at least longer than Imran which was 4 months before I finally threw in the towel. Fingers crossed!

Raya is coming real soon, like in 3 days time and this year is gonna be pretty much like last year. Except for the new addition to the family! I'm so excited to get her all dressed up in the cute little dress I got from Pumpkin Patch!

In laws are arriving tomorrow and I'm glad that everything's prepared for their stay. Except the computer room which we have temporarily converted to a bedroom for my bro inlaw. Just need to carry the sofabed up two flights of stairs from the basement! No big deal lah, hahaha (pengsan)!

Desperately seeking caffeine

It's back to the daily grind for me..yup, finally have to brace reality and stuff my feet into those black dusty pumps I've abandoned for quite a while. So far it's been really, REALLY slow for me at the office..seems like things haven't changed much since I went on my long leave.

A chance telephone conversation with a client may give me the absolute ultimate opportunity to get out of this soon-to-go-belly-up company. I'm crossing my fingers and praying hard that everything falls through and they are willing to accept me with my credentials. Haven't heard from them for almost a week now and I'm getting really2 nervous. I know that my chance are not that strong as he told me that the company usually tries to fill in the position internally but he'll put in a few good words for me. Aghh...the agony of waiting.

It's gonna be a sad week for me too. My boss is leaving in 2 days' time and I don't know how I'm gonna cope without him. He is by far the best boss I've ever had and I feel that there's still a lot I need to learn from him. We made a great team and it's really sad that he had to leave in the present circumstances, and when I need him most. But I wish him well, and hope that life treats him better on the other side of the fence. I did tell him to keep a lookout for me too if anything good comes up. Can't keep all your eggs in one basket, they say :P

I am meeting the MD of the prospect new company later this morning for another chat. I have to be honest and tell him about the other possible opportunity and that I need more time to contemplate. I just hope that it doesn't put me in a bad light as we have been in talks for almost a month plus now and I still haven't given my decision.

The end is near..

It's the last few days of my maternity leave and i'm so dreading to go back to work on Monday. Furthermore, fasting month starts tomorrow which i'm guessing will make it even worse as i won't be able to have my usual morning coffee..sigh. what a way to start work after the long break. But mostly, i'm so not ready to leave my two precious babies yet! Since i've started Mia on a regular routine, things have been so much better for my housemates. Mia's been a good night sleeper, which means we've been getting the much needed rest at nite too, yeay! thing is, now she's more wakeful during the daytime with several catnaps between 8am till about 5pm when she gets really tired and ready for bedtime, which is not until 7pm! so it's quite a challenge to keep her awake AFTER 5pm, to give her a bath and last feed before 7pm. hmmm.. i reckon this will be quite a challenge for my Mum who'll be in charge of my charges when i go back to work on Monday. kesian her, dahle our new maid's like not quite learning the ropes as fast as we wish she would. Never mind Imran, she can't even manage the house work well yet. but i persevere, in the hope that one day Imran will accept her and allow her to do basic things like change and feed him. Otherwise, i can't bear to torture my Mum like that and will consider taking another sabbatical or perhaps resign.

Yup, i think i've sort of made my mind up about resigning. thing is, i'm not really sure where i wanna go or what i wanna do yet. Half of me wants to take up the challenge at the new company but the other half yearns to spend more time with my kids at home and bring them both up properly. Every working mum's dilemma i guess. i can't wait till Iskandar's promoted next year hopefully. If the salary increase is sufficient, i really don't mind cutting back on my expenses, downgrading the car, even letting go of the maid, just so I can be a full time Mom. With Mia so young and vulnerable, and Imran so active and curious, it would be a shame to miss all the wonderful discoveries they make and milestones they achieve. Those things money can't buy.

That's it for now. Mia's sound asleep, didn't finish her 7pm feed, as expected, she passed out halfway again. It's Mummy-Imran time now, i.e. dinner with Tigger & Pooh, Animal Mechanicals or whatever else is on Playhouse Disney!

Mia Aleena Putri - born 22nd June 2009

Here's a few snapshots of my precious princess..

Coping

It's been a month plus since the birth and I'm getting used to functioning with 3hrs of sleep (or less). Mia's sleep pattern is still reversed, i.e. she sleeps all day and stays up all nite. My efforts to keep her awake during the day time so that she sleeps at nite has so far been futile. Last weekend had friends over to visit, sisters actually. One of them also has a 3 yr old and an 8 month old. Listening to her story on how she got thru the sleepless nites which seemed endless and frustrations of trying to maintain her sanity between caring for her toddler son and baby girl at the same time sort of made me feel a bit better. She recommends a book on training babies to sleep through the nite, something i would definitely try on Mia once she's ready for it. It worked on both her children, but the thing is she said I need to prepare myself, i.e. be strong for the crying nites for at least a week before the baby learns to sleep through the nite. For now I can say that I'm truly prepared for anything just to get a good nite's sleep!

It's a little less than 3 weeks till i go back to work, something i look forward as well as loathe at the same time. My boss has recommended me to the MD of this company who is looking for an Engineering Unit Head. We had a meeting to discuss the job, salary and stuff and so far he's quite agreeable to my terms. Now the ball's in my court. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to take on such a huge responsibility. Being in the industry for just 5 years, I think there's still a lot more i need to learn and people I need to impress. But my boss told me that he's confident that I can do this, and I know for a fact that he doesn't trust or give his recommendations so easily and for that I'm quite proud of myself and honored too. We've scheduled a lunch together, my boss, the MD and myself. I hope I can give them the answer they and I are looking for.

Mia's still having her nap and Imran is with my Mom, perfect time for me sneak in a quick nap too before the little lady wakes up for her feed. Till then, ....zzzZZZzzzzz..

Announcing the new arrival!

Hello blog!It's been bout a month since my last post, ey. and what a month it has been! on june 22nd, at 8:33pm, our babygirl, Mia Aleena Putri was born..a healthy, bouncy 3.41kg tot! she was kept at de hospital for a week tho due to high jaundice but now i can safely say she's out of the woods. Mia's been such a joy to look after. She doesn't cry much, unless she's hungry or crapped herself. She sleeps and feeds well, waking up every 3hrs or so for her meals. Unlike Imran who was quite difficult to settle after feeds. They tell me that babygirls are easier to handle compared to boys and so far it's been quite true when I compare Imran with Mia.

As for me, I'm feeling a lot better after the birth. The wounds healed up pretty fast this time, I think, thanks to my guardian angel, Dr.Alex's ample supply of painkillers! :) As per last time, I'm not into all these pantangs, just obvious things such as avoiding spicy foods as I'm breastfeeding Mia. My goal this time is to breastfeed her until she's at least 6 months old so wish me luck! I have about 5kgs of post baby weight to lose and I'm not really sure if I can get back in shape by de time my leave is over! Mum's been cooking all these yummy foods that it's a challenge to not have an extra serving! Oh another news is that my trusty maid will be leaving us for good today. So I'm guessing that'll help with my losing weight as Mum will surely has her hands full with housework and won't have time to cook, at least for a month until we get our new Cambodian maid...hmm.

All in all, I'm having a pretty good time at home this time round. With all the rubbish happening at work, it's great timing too to be off on a good long break, hopefully the dust had settled by the time I go back to work.

I'll post pictures of Mia up very soon. For now, time to catch a quick snooze before her next feed!

Last checkup!

At my 38wk checkup, I was given the option to induce the labour which I hurriedly accepted with a huge, silly grin! Just the thing I need as these later stages of pregnancy is becoming a real test of patience for me. The rash I had during my first trimester is back. Ooh how it itches.. esp. at nite. And don't even let me get started on the backpain...unbearable! I've been keeping Iskandar up late massaging my back as it's the only way to soothe me to sleep. Some nites I have to sleep sitting up straight which is just "tidur2 ayam" as I keep jolting up soon as I doze off.

So the date's been set, on 22nd June I'll have the labour induction, at about 7am, if all goes well, Dr Alex will break the water bag round 9am and I can have the epidural after that. Then all I hv to do is sit back and wait as labour progresses. Hopefully everythg goes well and I won't be in labour for too long. Must remember to bring some chick lits or trashy mags to keep me company :)

Iskandar told me to think about what I wanna do, things to eat, places to go during my last weekend b4 the big event. So many things to do, so little time! I think I'm just gonna spend all the time with Imran as I think this could be the last few days I can give him my undivided attention. At least for another 6 months or a year. I hope he understands, sigh..

Thirty today

As it is my big 3-0 day today, it's only apt to post something bout it, right? ;-P Woke up and found a bouquet of roses greeting me, the perfect pick-me-up after last nite's long and tiring day! With it is a birthday card from Iskandar and Imran (complete with Imran's drawings of KLCC and KL Tower!). Kisses from the boys and went downstairs to find another surprise, birthday gift from MIL and PIL! Alamak, so embarassing lah, must be Iskandar yg kepoh2 to them bout me turning 30 today :P

Some of the boys at work somehow found out it's my bday today n started to kepoh oso, which was kinda nice considering how little fun we've had at the office eversince the "announcement".

I'm not sure what Iskandar's planning for the rest of the day as he said the flowers are just Part 1 of the day...hmmm..

Anyway, as for me, there's nothing I want more on my birthday than to share it with my two best men..and the little lady in me too, care to join me babygirl? :)


edited - 12/6/2009

Part II of my birthday surprise came in the form of, a super cute, lilac Anya Hindmarch tote! Love it to bits!! oh, and love u too babe!

Oh come out already

I think i've passed the anxiety of giving birth and now just hoping that labour would start sooner than later! The backpains and sciatica are getting just too unbearable. With me still working full time just makes it worse I guess. It's like clockwork, the pain starts to creep from 9pm and gets worse by the minute. Can't even manage a step without cringing or howling in pain. Bedtimes are the worst now. Lying down flat or on any side is painful so some nights I end up falling asleep while sitting up straight. They say that once the backpain stops, labour would soon start but judging from how I'm feeling these days I don't think its happening anytime soon :(

Papa's surgery went well, according to Iskandar. They are still in Korea for the post op recovery and should be home on Saturday as scheduled. Hopefully the surgery's cured the numbness of his hand. We are all optimistic that one day he'll be free of the pain altogether.

Last nite Iskandar took us out to KLCC to cheer me up. And cheered up I did, as I discovered that my fave shop, Accesorize has finally made it to KL! I almost died of happiness upon stepping into the shop :D Scored a lovely satin cream purse to wear for Jaja's engagement on Saturday...and a few more gorgeous stuff hehe.

Dinner was at California Pizza Kitchen, my favourite restaurant. yums.

The minute we arrived home, the dreaded backpain started! Argh! but I didn't suffer too long as I fell asleep soonafter brushing my teeth and making Imran's last bottle of milk. Thanks to the soothing backrub from Iskandar!

The dilemma

Our office has recently been taken over by another VC, who coincidentally owns one of our competitors. Needless to say, it has upped our profile as the No.1 agency in Malaysia, possibly the world too. The competitor company, in Malaysia at least, is, unfortunately well known for its cut-throat policies, resulting in much dispopularity within the industry, peers and clients alike. Our company, on the other hand, did tremendously well in previous years, quite popular in the industry and one of the bigger players in town. Safe to say that the new owners are lucky that they are acquiring a profitable company, not a losing one.

Which is to our huge disappointment that the owner has appointed the CEO of the loser company to head the new, merged companies. Only reason for this, I hear is because our own CEO had passed away earlier this year and there is no one else befitting our CEO's chair since. With this new incoming, big changes are being implemented, particularly upsetting us is in the amendments of employee benefits and new bonus (bogus) scheme.

Together, a group of us shortchanged staff are putting together a memo to the new management, protesting the changes. It is hard not to get emotional as this is our livelihood that's on the line. We have all been working our assess off for the company, generating decent bonuses in the course and enjoying the wonderful working environment that's been the envy of our competitors. With the new cutbacks on benefits and impossible bonus scheme, all we have left is our monthly salary, which is peanuts, to get through the day to day. Previously, we are ok with the low salary coz we know that we would be rewarded with good bonuses provided we reach the fee target set by the company. And a handsome extra if we exceed the targets. That is why I love this company and stayed for the past 5 yrs, regardless of the low salary. I work hard every year for that big fat bonus cheque.

I have to approach this issue carefully as I'll be going off on maternity leave soon and I don't want this to have any repercussions upon my return. But on the other hand, I have to support my colleagues in this fight without appearing too unreasonable and rebellious. What a pickle!

Imran at school

We've been sending Imran to his play school for almost a week now and boy, don't he just love it! Of course during the first day he was clingy towards me and shy to mix around with the other kids. He didn't even touch the Koko Krunch snack the school served, his favourite! But by the second day, I could see that he's started to join in the group circle, singing songs, playing at the playground and doing arts and craft with the teacher. I'm so glad that the kids all seem to adore him too, always inviting him to join the playgroup and helping him with his snack bowl and drink. The kids are the sweetest things, I tell ya! I have half a mind of quitting my current job and joining the school to be with the kids...hmm.. maybe someday..

The trial period ends tomorrow after which we'll be enrolling him into the school's Montessori program proper. I hope the new school uniforms will encourage him to go even more. As it is, the kids are always asking me; Aunty, where's Imran's uniform? Need to get a small schoolbag for Imran's things, water bottles and more socks too!

I'm so happy to see Imran enjoying his time at school. He's making friends easily and I truly believe I made the right choice with this school. But I can't help feeling a wee bit emotional too, seeing how fast he's growing!