Giddy Tigers

Photo credits 

A few months ago, my hubby and I decided to pay off our housing loan, thus making our home completely 100% ours.  I can’t describe the feeling of jubilance we felt as we signed the relevant papers and realized that there were no more monthly payments to be made to the bank.  We also had to engage our lawyers for some legal matters pertaining to the settlement and since our strata title was also ready then, we commenced the procedures to get the title too.  Last week, we went to the lawyer’s to collect the strata title, together with all the other documents.  It was a huge step towards being totally debt-free.

…eggstremely sinful cholestrol-laden breakfast…

And today, we took the final step that will make us bask in a state of debt-freeness. I paid off my outstanding car loan and obtained the registration card last week.  However, the registration card still stated the company I work with (I took a company loan) as the owner of the car.  I had to make a trip across the Penang bridge to the Road Transport Department in Seberang Jaya to have the cancellation of ownership done.  Thanks to directions from Susan, hubbs and I tried to make it there as early as possible.  I promptly got a number, but hardly had I warmed my seat, my number was called.  The officer flipped through all my documents, checked my IC, and then chop here chop there…and it was over in a matter of minutes.  There was no super fancy equipment that was used to cancel the ownership though, so I am still rather confused why this could not be done in the JPJ branch on the island.  Hmmmm….seems like a waste to make a trip all the way to the mainland for some manual chops.  Well, in any case, the car’s all MINE now!  All MINE!!!!! How sweet is the feeling….

Oh yeah, on the way to JPJ Seberang Jaya, we stopped by the Touch n Go office at the Penang Bridge to check if my Touch n Go card needed to be upgraded.  I had received an email some moons ago about the need to upgrade the card every 10 years.  It’s a good thing we went there today.  My card was gonna expire in June this year, and the “upgrade” makes mine usable till the year 2018 now.  I say “upgrade”, because I don’t know exactly what they did to the card.  It only took a mere 2 seconds and my card was not even exchanged for a new one.  The old card was just placed on a small black platform device thingy and the lady behind the counter just hit a couple of buttons. Let’s just pray it doesn’t automatically “expire” in June.  hehe… we’ll see.

Anyhow, feeling very accomplished and excited today, I decided to finally file my income tax returns electronically, 6 days shy of the deadline.  Of course, the next step now would be to settle the outstanding tax before April 30 2008.  Boo! Funny how many people like to wait till the last minute to do it, by choice or not, I don’t know.  So far the people I have asked have not filed their returns yet.  Have you?

My blogging life is eluding me.  Gone are the days when I can publish non-stop post after post of interesting topics, gripping even.  Now I have consigned myself to blogging when time permits.  Maybe it is the environment I face every day…or *almost* every day.  Takes every ounce of my energy and faith just to prod myself along.  Sometimes I just want to throw in the towel because I am just too tired to try anymore.I am thankful though, that despite these adversities, I still find solace in the little little things that give me a healthy push in the right direction.  And these are some of the things that I have been doing.  They don’t erase the problem completely, but they do put a smile on my face, in a healthy kind of way.

I used to take evening primrose oil (EPO) capsules on a regular basis, up till the point when I got pregnant.  Then I stopped, because I had read that the oil is touted to make the uterus contract, making it harmful for the unborn child.  I didn’t take it all through pregnancy and breastfeeding since the effects of EPO on babies is still unconfirmed.  Since I stopped taking EPO, my eczema has taken a turn for the worse.  My fingers would crack so bad, it sometimes bled.  It’s painful just to bend ’em fingers sometimes.  Then a few weeks ago, I consulted my Mom and she reminded me of EPO, and how it is useful to cure atopic eczema and psoriasis.  I promptly bought a bottle and have been taking 2 tablets twice daily since.  My eczema has not completely cured, but at least I see some vast improvement in the skin texture.  And I love that my skin is on the way to healing!Last Monday, I indulged in a facial too.  Unwittingly I agreed to have an anti-aging skin renewal facial done (for preventative measures only, what were you thinking??!!), assuming that it was one of the facials I had already signed up and paid for.  The facial was fantastic.  I dunno what they do…they put some vitamin stuff on my face, gave me a head and shoulder massage and I drifted off to sleep, until I was awaken by the therapist.  My skin definitely felt smoother and cleaner and looked brighter than before.  I then discovered I had to pay RM200++ for the facial, but at that time, I was already reeling over how marvelous the facial was, I didn’t mind.  Of course, knowing me, I showed some disdain and remarked that it was a miscommunication in the first place when I thought I had already paid for it.  Anyways…I walked away feeling great.For about three weeks now, I have been taking cold showers in the evenings.  Yeah, you heard me right….COLD showers.  It all started when my hubby told me the story about Ryan Babel remarking that taking cold showers help heal muscle pulls, tears, knocks and bruises faster and eliminates fatigue too.  Well the initial spray of cold water that hits your skin does make you cringe a tad, but after that, it’s really invigorating and I love how my skin feels after the shower.  It’s hard to switch to this routine when we’ve been hot-showering all this while, but I do remember I used to bathe in cold water all day long, when I didn’t have a water heater.  I suppose the cold water constricts and closes the pores making for smoother skin afterward.  Never felt better.  I highly recommend this to everyone.And oh yes, today, I hit the gym!  The one in my apartment, that is.  Been wanting to do so for a long time running, but finally did it today.  It’s not a very good gym, i.e. the treadmills and stepper are all manual (need to use your body weight to move it, no electrical connections wan), so I didn’t touch those.  Instead, I headed straight for the vertical leg lift.  Very good for the abs, arms and butt, aitelyu.  It’s like doing leg curls vertically, you know…so you’ve got the gravity going against you too.  If there is just one gym apparatus in the whole wide world for me, this would be the one.  Ladies, try it and you’ll see what I mean *wink*.  Let’s hope the two vertical toned lines on my abs will be visible soon.  Tee hee!!!  I did some quadricep extensions, lateral raises, tricep curls and some lunges too.  Not bad for a start, eh?But I had this for dinner though….

Can’t be good for those abs of mine, huh?  SIGH… I certainly foresee more left lifting, leg curling, abs tightening and tigressy grimacing to come!