It was a boisterous Christmas for the family as all the children are together again, with the second twin finally returning after graduating.
Except for the turkey and rack of lamb, the dinner spread was all homemade, even the cookies.
The family photo session thereafter was hilarious. It was indeed a great time together.
Here’s wishing all my readers, family and friends, a very Merry Christmas!
M1’s SPM exam is finally over. Yesterday was the last of it. Phew! It’s been exactly a month and frankly, I would have died enduring the length of the exam. Thank goodness she prevailed and we all survived. To celebrate the end of it, we are all going away for a much deserved holiday! So the bags are packed, we are ready, come tomorrow, off we go!
I can’t wait. Whee…
Will there be more highlighted countries?
It was exactly a year ago today that I started this. How time flies! I find it astounding that I had so much to write for the past one year. My girls, code named M1 and M2, have been a constant story source—past and present—and it’s amazing what anecdotes I get from them. Then there’s my apps and games in my devices plus my travels, basically my daily life—happy, silly, frustrating, annoying, you name it—that I felt was worth sharing.
Initially I started out with five days of posts for the weekday. Then once I settled into a comfortable routine, I decided to do four, resting on Wednesdays and the weekends. But of course when I travel, the schedule differs.
As today is yet another milestone, I’d like to humbly thank the many viewers/readers/supporters who visited and visits daily; it makes me proud to say, I have more than a hundred bloggers worldwide following me (on top of my Facebook friends), two shy of the 8,000 view mark (today) from readers in 84 countries in the world! Never in my wildest dreams I thought I could reach these figures.
Happy Anniversary me and many more to come!
A break from the pattern, I don’t usually post on Sundays but today’s special. It’s my birthday and I thought I’d share this…
For the pass several birthdays, I have been getting birthday presents relating to my other passion, golf. From a gorilla cover for my driver and Hello Kitty for the putter to golf shoes, it’s all about golf. I even received a Snoopy golf-theme birthday card once.
Every now and then, M1 will tell me, “Mummy, you are 38 years old and will forever be 38 in our eyes!”
“You know, whenever my teacher asks how old my Mummy is, I tell them you’re 38!” M2 added. Chuckle, mind you this would go on for years!
They feel age is not necessary and is just a number, like the house unit. How my heart would flutter and I would break into a silly grin whenever this topic of conversation comes around.
There was one year I did not receive any golf related presents; instead each made me a card. I am still 38 years old in their eyes but the details in which both inked down on their designs, highlighting all my favorite things brought sniffles and tears. It’s so sweet. I basked in their creative efforts for me. Sniffle (again)…
The home-made cards by M1 & M2.
Somehow this year’s birthday, things are a bit different. No golf presents but a three-day celebration with my favorite things! A day before, I had a tremendously good time with all my golfing lady friends at the golf club, followed with drinks and merry-making thereafter; the big day itself precious quiet time with some friends and then with the family and a sumptuous crab dinner; and the day after, a little treat to myself at the spa with a massage and a facial. This is on top of the necessary iPhone5S from hubby dearest.
The salted egg crab dinner!
A red velvet birthday cake.
Thank you from your forever 38 significant other half for the wonderful gift; thank you my M1 and M2 for being wonderful girls that you are and giving me lots of inspiration to write and thank you to all who wished me in one way or another via phone & Facebook, and thank you to all my friends and family for being part of the now good memories forever held in the heart.
I look forward to the year ahead with zest but will stay forever 38!
It was during the family’s triple birthday celebration dinner at a Thai restaurant in early April when Grandma, my mom, commented to my girls about a patron with blue hair.
“Look at that!” she hissed forcefully to get my girls’ attention. Both girls looked.
“How frightening. Almost ghoulish!” Mom shook her head and dramatically shivered to emphasize her point.
It was pretty obvious mom did not think too highly of a blue-headed fashion statement. Later that night, my girls were sharing this with me and we all agreed Grandma was just very opinionated about certain things in life, hair color being one of them. Two weeks passed by and for us, it was quickly forgotten until last week.
I was due for my haircut. Every 6 or 7 weeks, I’d go for a haircut with alternate visits highlighting my hair. So the night before my appointment, I was just mentioning to the girls.
“I’m off to cut my hair tomorrow! And what color should I highlight my hair this time?” I asked.
“Blue!” suggested M1 playfully.
“Orange!” was M2’s choice.
“Blue! Are you sure? Grandma would disown me! But I don’t think I should go orange either,” I chuckled as we all remembered the triple birthday celebration incident.
M1 asked, “If Grandma disowned you, does this mean she disowns us too?”
Gosh. That’s deep and profound.
“Let’s not have it come to this. Let’s stick to the usual safe brown, ok?” I reassured her in the end.
So no funny colors, just the usual cut and rich mahogany highlights.
M1 has never ceased to amaze me as far as school is concerned. I just don’t know where she inherits her brains. As expected, my firstborn achieved pole position in her class! But as I have said before, my two girls are both different in their own way, therefore hubby and I cannot be comparing their ability. So, while M1 may have achieved number one and being a tough act to follow, M2 achieving the double digit of 11, I termed M2’s achievement as two ones to boost her morale in comparison to her sibling.
In a twisted way, two ones can be looked at as better than a single one! We had a little dinner celebration to commemorate both their achievements and also to spur M2 especially to do better, for M1 cannot do any better than what she has already done.
Keep it up, girls!
When I was young, I had only 4 important dates to remember: my birthday, mom’s, dad’s and my only elder sibling. Mom, Dad and me are April babies while my only sibling, January. It used to be then one celebration in January for him and a combined one for the three of us.
Fast forward to the present. Both my sibling and I are married and separately, each with a family of our own. I now have the hubby, M1 and M2’s birthdays, spread across the calendar. And him, with his wife and children, the calendar is filled with even more dates to remember. In the family, April by far has the most number of family members having their birthdays. And combined birthday celebrations are done occasionally (especially when the children were younger) but the bigger picture being several birthday dinners and cakes in the year beyond January and April.
This year, we decided to do the combined celebration for the April babies again although Dad is no longer with us. One half of the twins is back from college and the April month is back to its three person requirement.
So happy birthday mom, my niece and me!
As you know, I started this blog in June last year and have been diligently writing everyday except Wednesdays and weekends. I am quite proud to say that angieneering.wordpress.com has been read by people from 72 countries in this world! Thank you all for your support. This makes me known to more than one third of the United Nations member states (193 being the official number). Wow.
And every time I hit a thousand, the family gets treated to dinner. So on the last day of February 2014, I crossed the 6,000 view mark (the last 5,000 milestone was at the turn of the new year), so we celebrated last night.
There has been an increase of fireworks display in our housing estate within a span of 16 days. From the eve of the Lunar New Year, the 9th Day (commemorating the belief that the Jade Emperor protected Hokkien ancestors from being caught) to the 15th Day, Chap Goh Meh, the family has had to endure loud crackling noises and explosions; yet at the same time, admire in awe the beauty and colors of these generous private fireworks by our neighbors.
Every evening Rooney comes out to the garden at the back to play. However, on these particular nights, my poor Roo is scared senseless and barks non-stop as if pleading, “I wanna go home!” and wants us to accompany him back to the kitchen. Poor fella. He may be a fierce looking pooch but he’s such a baby when it comes to simple things like being independent or going back on his own.
Well, the Lunar New Year is officially over and peace will prevail again in the skies and neighborhood until another festive occasion comes around.
These past few days and the next few, it seems that all we do and think about is eating and eating well. Perhaps it is still the festive Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year that is in the air that we are making the extra effort to meet up with friends (and family) for the must-have Yee Sang for good luck along with hearty sumptuous Chinese meals.
We’ve been calling Chinese restaurants all over town to book tables only to be turned away as they have been fully booked. It looks like we are not the only ones with this eating mission in mind during this festive period. After all, Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days and there’s still a week to go.
Despite the set back from the more renowned restaurants, we managed. Today, I am booked for lunch with a girlfriend and later, dinner with friends and their children. Then the gastronomic adventure continues, with hubby and the girls, with dinners on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights with different groups of friends, culminating with a family dinner on Chap Goh Meh, the 15th and final day of the Lunar New Year on Friday!
Angieneering 
Remarks