Today my M2 turns 16. My goodness! My second born. Sweet 16. Where did time go all these years?
At a loss for words…
Happy birthday my M2, my mini me, my drama queen, my inspiration, my source of story-telling, my joy, my love. May you have a wonderful day and of course, wonderful years ahead as you grow up to be a sensible young adult.
One of my favorite design tool is not the Mac computer but the X-acto knife. I could be called old school but tools like the T-square and triangle rulers are still used by me, more so now because of the carving.
Recently I bought a new blade, an X-acto #16 to replace the #11 and to supplement my other carving tools and I must say, I love it!
The angle and its size is just perfect to etch the tight spots of the balsa wood. Carving just got more fun! Whee….
The weekend getaway was good despite the late start. We played a round of golf and sadly, my tennis elbow suffered a setback. But I didn’t care. We had a good time because the golf course wasn’t crowded. When rain came down unexpectedly with five holes to go, we didn’t care.
We felt at ease and no hurry in the world. So we patiently waited it out. And when the downpour dwindled to a slight drizzle, we continued the remaining holes because there was no siren. By the end of the round, both of us were drenched. Blame it on the rain.
During the stay with hubby’s parents, it was all about eating and sleeping. This is all we do whenever we visit. My bathroom scale hates me every time after such trips.
By Monday, it was time to leave and we started our journey late, at 1.45pm. The initial stretch was not too bad. The paddy fields are always a sight to appreciate as we zoomed along the highway. The rich bright green creates a sense of peace.
Traffic wasn’t as heavy as we feared, however things took a turn for the worse when the rain came down. And it rained all the way home, complete with thunder and lightning. What a light show it was! Horrendous conditions to drive if you asked me. We arrived home after almost eight hours on the road. Blame it on the rain.
But rain or holiday-makers traffic aside, we got home safely and it was indeed a good getaway.
Last week, we intended to leave town on Friday morning but there was a hitch. A big hitch. I had mention we will arrive when we arrive but little did I know it would be 12 hours later that we began our journey…
It all started from that last minute publication design project that I was working on. The original deadline of Monday set by the client was not met (not because of me but them). Then it got pushed to Wednesday but the client still could not finalize the editorial. What happened thereafter was just a designer’s nightmare. It’s been a long time since I have been subjected to such a situation.
After being informed that Wednesday night’s handover to me was good to be worked on, a Friday deadline was given and it couldn’t budge. Not even an inch. So I basically had only a day (Thursday) to work on the new stuff. One day to redesign what I had done earlier because there’s so much more information! The design ended up being revamped and expanded from the initial 60-pager to 80-pages. My team helped wherever possible.
And as if the situation wasn’t stressful enough, things were still under edits that Friday morning and more new materials to include came after the redesign was done! Can you believe it? Leaving town that morning was not an option because I don’t think I can leave with a peace of mind if this wasn’t completed properly. Thank goodness we were driving instead of flying.
To cut a long story short, after a flurry of phone calls on Friday morning, the client came over, at 3.00pm and not earlier unfortunately. They sat with me and together, we finalized all the details of the publication. It was 6.00pm when we eventually completed the task in hand. What a day Friday turned out to be!
Twelve hours later (9.00pm) from our intended time of departure, we started our journey. Traffic was heavy at certain stretches but thankfully not bumper to bumper due to the holiday break and took the usual time because of the distance. It was 2.40am when we finally arrived at the grandparents’ home up north.
Today we head back home and hopefully traffic will be kind. All in all, it was a good break despite the unexpected circumstances to the start of it.
It’s a long weekend ahead because of the Hari Raya holidays and we are off to hubby’s hometown to see the grandparents. We anticipate a long drive ahead, similar to during Chinese New Year when city folks go back to their respective hometowns. Oh well, part and parcel of the festivities and long holidays…
We will get there when we get there. Just drive safe and no hurry, safe travels to all!
Mid-term exam results are slowly coming back. And like every year, it’s a roller coaster as far as results are concerned for M2. Unlike M1 who aces most of the subjects and no surprises from her, it’s different with M2. We are always subjected to surprises and the unexpected. Then again, we shouldn’t expect anything because carrot rewards program does not seem to be effective.
A couple of years back prior to the start of a mid-term exam, M1 had reminded M2 not to come back with ‘C’s and ‘E’s and M2 had the cheek to point out to me, M1 did not mention ‘D’s! Horrors. Does this mean she is contemplating this sort of results?
Well, horror of all horrors! There were a couple of ’D’s then in the mix. You could say I was not happy and termed the ‘D’ a ‘Donkey’ to lessen the horror. This time, again there’s a couple of ‘D’s and the sassy M2 mentioned she thought I said a ‘Diva Donkey’ to lighten the mood and it helped.
Seriously, gone are the days when she used to be remorseful of her results and asked if she could just drop out of school. These days her attitude is far more optimistic. If she can think that the ‘D’ is a ‘Diva Donkey’, maybe there’s hope she will be okay when she’s college-bound.
Otherwise, I can faint… I am sure I will…
A few weeks ago, hubby had a huge and colorful air plant hanging on the frangipani tree in the garden. From that big fella, he harvested many little ones to create interesting displays on driftwood pieces or simply by themselves with just wires that he would bend with a plier. Like me with an activity interspersing painting with carving, he’s into cactus and air plant creations.
I ventured into the garden upon his insistence and lo and behold, a whole lot of them are hanging on the tree! The green fingers in him certainly makes the garden more interesting. And the tiny air plants sitting on wires are just as appealing indoors.
Sometimes games with daily rewards can make one to be obsessed and dedicated beyond reason. I am certainly guilty of this. While I have removed Candy Crush Saga from both my iPhone and iPad, I could not for Candy Crush Soda because of its daily rewards appeal. Unlike other apps that run this on a weekly basis, Soda’s rewards program goes on forever.
So for the last 300 and 100 days, I have been diligently going into the app on both my iPad and iPhone respectively to collect the daily rewards. If I miss a day, I have to start all over again and I just cannot bring myself to break this. Silly.
Sometimes I go in just for this and don’t even play the game! Crazy dedication is what it is.
On the iPhone, it’s Day 100
On the iPad, it’s Day 300!!!
It’s been a busy and stressful week for me. I have been working late the past few nights on a super duper urgent design project. As the deadline looms without negotiation for an extension, it doesn’t help when the client gives the material to me late. I have a responsibility then to do my part.
Because of this, the carving has stop for the time being but last night, I managed to squeeze one in as a stress reliever. The new balsa wood was extremely soft and it was easy to carve.
Citizen #23 was born and now Gigglesville is just so crowded! Pretty soon, the ‘O’mobile cannot be parked in there anymore. When the house is full (I have space for one more), maybe there will be a migration. Some citizens of Gigglesville will leave for adoption and spread their giggles elsewhere on earth.
As for me, working on this project, I draw the giggles and positiveness from the citizens of Gigglesville to stay sane and cool. I can do it.
I should make it a point from now onwards to visit the spa more often for some pampering. After all, a ten month hiatus for a body massage and a two-year gap for a facial is certainly not taking care of myself enough.
The Saturday session worked out some kinks and knots of my tired muscles but the facial treatment could not extract the embedded zit.
I concluded it has become fossilized and only an excavation, not an extraction can do the job! That’s how bad it is if one does not take care.
Angieneering 
Remarks