Running on the home stretch

Posted on July 14, 2009 by The Giddy Tigress

While busy occupying myself with packing and shipping stuff, I’m glad I found time to simulate the packing of my expressed breast milk (EBM) before the actual day we are leaving.

I got a 9qt Coleman cooler and placed the Avent VIA cups of frozen EBM at the bottom and then put as much Techni-Ice as possible on top.

See?  There’s still some space between the cups of EBM, which is a no-no for transporting them.  I want them to not move around as much as possible.  So I prepared more Techni-Ice to place in between the cups.

I know what you’re thinking…why go to all that trouble to take just a few cups of EBM back, right?  I don’t have a lot because I breastfeed Hannah directly, and so I only expressed milk the few times when she overslept or if I felt engorgement.  So I only have 5 cups of about 4-5oz each.  All breastfeeding moms are kiasu creatures, so I take back whatever liquid gold I have, never mind that the cooler will take up a considerable amount of space in my check-in luggage.

Oh yeah… did I mention I am checking in the EBM?  I’m praying the lots and lots of Techni-Ice I am using to keep the frozen EBM frozen will do its job beautifully.

Sigh…can’t believe that we will be leaving in THREE days’ time!

Tomorrow, the movers will be coming over to pack and ship most of our stuff back in containers.  I am still in the process of finalizing the shipping list, … can’t believe how much we have accumulated over a span of just nine months! 

Tonight the PC will be packed up.  That means no more internet access for about 2 weeks, and no more blogging until then.

Although we are heading home, I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness leaving this apartment that has been our home for nine months.  It was here that I had suffered labor pains while carrying Hannah and gave birth hours later.  We had arrived in the US a family of three but we are leaving as a family of four.

It was also here that through God’s will, I realized my dream of becoming a SAHM.  I will forever remember this place because I started my SAHM journey here. 

This place holds special memories for me, from my Californian driving test to my countless kitchen experiments, and oh yes, I will definitely remember the shopping, both online and off.  I will absolutely MISS shopping here.

But…

I guess we had to leave someday.

I’m sad but at the same time excited.  Looking forward to coming home, but not relishing the fact that it will be scorching hot back in Malaysia.  Looking forward to all the food we missed back home, but knowing in my heart that I will also miss California.

Bittersweet nonetheless… Catch up with y’all in a few weeks’ time, alright?

Posted in Breastfeeding, Close to Heart & Home, Thoughts & Scribblings | 13 Comments

(Hopefully NOT) Hair Gone!

Posted on July 9, 2009 by The Giddy Tigress

This is what I feed my hair every day, but it doesn’t matter because the inevitable has begun.

I am officially losing my hair.  Literally.

It happened about 3 years ago too, when Ethan was about 4 or 5 months, and now that Hannah jus turned 4 months, I find stray strands of long hair all over the place.  It’s all part of the childbirth and motherhood process really.

As if it wasn’t enough that my hair is already very little and fine as it is, this hair-losing streak will cause me more worries.  Does not help that my kids love pulling my hair!

Does anyone have any advice and/or solution for hair nourishment?  By the way, I don’t like using hair tonic, so strike that off the list, please!

Posted in The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings | 8 Comments

A celebration of his life

Posted on July 8, 2009 by The Giddy Tigress

 
Photo credits

I watched it live on TV yesterday.  The tribute, the songs, the crowds, the memories.

Even though it all happened about five hours away from where I was, it felt as though I was there.

And I drank it all in, while my tears fell freely.

I saw him as a brother when Jermaine Jackson sang “Smile” with so much love and devotion.

I saw him as a friend and confidant when Brooke Shields related how they both shared happy moments together.

I saw him as a real, ordinary person when Magic Johson revealed how they had enjoyed a bucket of KFC together.

I saw him as an icon as Usher poured out his emotions in the song “Gone Too Soon”.

I saw him as a father when his daughter Paris wept as she told the world that he was the best father you can ever imagine.

And I saw the impact he made on the world with all of his efforts, his works and his music.

He is indeed a legend.  May he rest in peace.

Posted in Thoughts & Scribblings | 3 Comments

2 still-goin’-strong months

Posted on July 7, 2009 by The Giddy Tigress

Not that I have been keeping count… 😛

It just occurred to me that it has been just over two months that I had assumed the role of SAHM, Home Project Manager, if you may.  Not an easy task, mind you, and absolutely nothing to do with the kind of project management work I used to do when I was working, multi-tasking aside.

I realize how quickly time flies when I am kept busy.  In fact, I had hardly noticed it, but it will soon be time for us to leave this place in San Jose we had called home for the past 9 months.

I have been asked many questions, all of which I will attempt to answer now, in an FAQ kind of manner 🙂

Aren’t you bored, staying at home all day?
How can I be, when I have so MANY things to do?  Hannah keeps me occupied most of the time, then I have to plan what to cook, and how to cook it.  I have to clean and of course, for entertainment, I watch TV and/or surf the internet.  And for the past month or so, I have busied myself with packing lists and stuff related to packing.  So no, I am definitely not bored.  In fact, I can go take a walk in the park outside too, if I had wanted to.

You really look happier nowadays.  Why?
Cuz I am happier.  And I am happy that it shows.  It really means a lot to me that what I do keeps me sane and happy.  And I am happy to share my joy with all my loved ones.

No ridiculous pressures from work, I am faced with just the adorable giggles and lovely squeals from an innocent baby, the cheeky antics from a toddler and all the support from the man I love.  What’s there not to be happy about?

What do you do at home?
See #1.

Don’t you run out of things to cook?
Oh yeah I do.  But I see it as a way I can create new recipes with the stuff I have.  Some concoctions I have made up actually go down really well with my kid.  Nothing makes me happier than to see joyful hungry faces wolfing down food I have cooked with love and care.

What are your plans when you get back home to Penang?
My family is the most important thing to me.  I will be focusing on them first and foremost, especially finding a good daycare for Ethan.  And then I will need to settle into a workable routine that allows me to care for them in the best way possible.

Posted in Parenting & Motherhood, Thoughts & Scribblings | 4 Comments

The crawfish extravaganza

Posted on June 23, 2009 by The Giddy Tigress

 

Hubbs and I went for a splendid lunch buffet last week, where I tasted crawfish for the very first time!  They look like prawns, don’t they?  Tastewise, it’s somewhere between that of a prawn and a crab.

This is how people eat crawfish:

  • Remove the head of the crawfish.
  • Press gently on its body through the shell and massage it, to ensure the meat is dislodged from it’s hard exterior.
  • Bite on a small portion of the body, and with one swift deft motion, slide the meat out from its shell with your teeth.

And this is how I did it:

  • Remove the head of the crawfish.
  • Take apart part of the head still stuck on the body.
  • Proceed to massage the body as instructed,
  • Bite a small portion, and pull gently.
  • When the meat did not budge, massage a little bit more.  Hands are all dripping with the juice of the crawfish now.
  • Try biting and pulling again.  Didn’t work.
  • Use fingers to peel off the shell from the body.
  • Remove the piece of crawfish meat and put into mouth.
  • Wipe fingers clean.

Anyway, why is a crawfish called a crawfish?  It’s not a fish…

Why don’t they call it a crawshrimp or crawprawn?  Eh?

Posted in Drooling & Cooking | 6 Comments