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Two Weeks Break

6 Jun

M2 is having her school holiday break for two weeks. And like the first break, we are staying put. She is having her big important exam this year so we feel any trips taken will only be after the exams.

So far, she has been good at it – going to the mall only once with friends. The other days are spent studying during the daytime but mixing in some pleasure on her iPad or chatting with friends on WhatsApp or with M1 on Skype. A week has passed and another to go. Pretty soon it will be back to school. Can’t believe we are halfway through the year already.

Pretty soon the big exam crunch time will be here! I hope she will be ready for it by then.

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Comfort Food

3 Jun

I don’t profess to be a good chef but sometimes when the mood hits, I can proudly say I can cook up a storm. It was exam week last week and M2 was stressing and studying like a possessed being. So I try to play my part and help her by making comfort food over the weekend before exams started.

Initially I thought I would try the bacon cheese sandwich recipe that was shared on Facebook but she said bacon is bad and one would die from eating it. She couldn’t be more direct on this matter. So rather than insisting and stressing her out even more, I asked what would she like and she requested for the potato pizza that I had made before.

But this time, I used baby spinach with ham. The first time being prosciutto garnishing the usual cheeses, fresh mushrooms and baby tomatoes, while the second was with tuna and romaine lettuce. The outcome? Just as good as the previous attempts!

You can check out the original recipe at www.tastemade.com/videos/bismarck-potato-pizza

  

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Exam Fever

20 May

It’s obvious that exam days are ahead as M2 has her stress mode kicked in, aches and pain plus a slight flu and fever. I don’t recall I was ever like that when I was facing exams especially during my high school days. But I do remember my panic mode with acid churning in my tummy when I was grasping at straws to complete an assignment to meet a submission deadline, be it an art project or paper to write, during my college years. I am still like this when it comes to work especially when there is a presentation deadline looming. People don’t change I guess.

I hope she will manage her stress well and plan her study schedule to keep up the good results that she achieved in the previous exam. Next week, study police duties will kick in to give her the necessary moral support.

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Playing in Wonky Weather

12 May

When I was in school dinosaur years ago, the choices we had for games were rather limited in an all-girls’ school. Besides track and field, which I was hopeless at, there was netball, table tennis, basketball and softball. 

And somehow in those days, rain or shine, we enjoyed our games. I don’t recall ever complaining about playing in unfavorable conditions nor do I remember falling sick. Weather back then was more mild compared to the weather now. My friends and I had even walked home on several occasions after school in the rain, something we don’t allow our children to do today. Ahh… those were the days.

A couple of years back, during a sports activity at school, M1 lamented that the sports teacher made them play netball in the rain after school, just like my good old days. But these girls besides fearing all sorts of disaster, groaned and worried about getting soaked and being tired out from playing three continuous matches. It didn’t help the team spirit that M1 told them that they would all die from the rain. Rain? Really… you mean lightning, falling structures or trees?

While I rolled my eyes when I heard my brilliant child commented on dying from rain, inwardly, I was glad no major mishap occurred from that outing save for a few bruises and scratches.

Nonetheless, we must be mindful of the lightning charge in the air before being too gung-ho about it. Maybe on that netball game day, it was just rain, no charge in the air so it was deemed safe to continue.

While playing in the rain is not something we would do or encourage due to the lightning charge factor especially, the weather these days compared to the good old days have changed for the worse. And I find that one falls sick easily if exposed to too much sun or soaked by a little rain. Global warming?

It has been reported our hot oven days will soon be over but not for the better unfortunately. The conditions are predicted to be replaced by rain and flash floods followed by haze soon after. One woe to another and then another! My goodness. For now, almost every afternoon without fail, it has been raining and this will worsen. 

Sigh… looks like no afternoon netball or golf until this spell clears. But when it does, the haze will swoop in. Yay. Great.

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Feeling Lost

25 Apr

M2 went off for camp on Friday and both of us felt lost. We weren’t quite sure what to do! It has been routine so far with her weekly night tuition classes but last Friday, she had to give it a miss and go off for a school-organized 3 day, 2 night camp.

And what’s with camp for schools nowadays? When I was in school, there were no such things as camp, let alone overnight excursions. I don’t remember. Then again times have changed…

So there we were, the two of us, indecisive on what to do, what to eat and where to go for the weekend. We ended up wandering aimlessly in six different malls over two days, not because we wanted to, it was more to kill time and anyway, it was too hazy to be outdoors for golf.

Imagine this was only a three day absence and we were like this. I dread the day when M2 goes off to college. 

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Spring Break

24 Mar

M1 is having her Spring Break now and has gone off skiing at the mountains with her friends. How fun! During my college days, I had the San Francisco Peaks and Arizona Snowbowl in my backyard but never once had I tried skiing the three years I was in Flagstaff. I did take the ski lifts though but it was during Fall and there wasn’t any snow yet! Does it count?

Then I moved to New York City. Together with hubby (who was boyfriend status then) and a group of friends, we took the opportunity and headed for Upstate New York to go skiing. I must say I did not enjoy it at all even though my experience was not on the slopes.

It was cold, I couldn’t balance and was afraid of the downhill speed if you can even call it speed on the bunny hill. Yes, bunny hill. The point being, I fell quite a bit, got bruised and felt pained all over. Ouch.

Well I hope M1’s experience will be better than mine.

But I like Spring Break. My first break, I flew to sunny California and hung out with a friend in Annaheim. We visited Disneyland and I did Knott’s Berry Farm when she was still having classes. And when we didn’t do the theme parks, we just hung out with her friends and enjoyed the Fullerton area. I think something like this is more fun than falling on my butt half the time and being chilled to the bones.

M1 returns to campus today.

 

“Mom! Lookie me!”

  

Beanie for warmth and helmet for safety

  

Is this how you do it?

  

And off they went!

   

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March Madness

21 Mar

I find it amazing that I am following the college basketball NCAA Tournament for the first time this year. Maybe because M1’s university qualified for it. What’s even more amazing is that M1 has also picked up interest for the game, having not shown any inkling of interest in it prior. You can say she’s addicted to the point of getting the autographs of the team players on her tickets, her cap and T-shirt.

When I was younger, I was quite a basketball fan and player. Dad was very involved in the game, being a coach and it was only natural that my sibling and I played too, representing our schools respectively. I even went for basketball camp at the National level.

But when I got to college, the NAU Lumberjacks were sadly not that impressive and over the years, my interest in the game waned until recently. It picked up again with renewed support for the game and the Women’s team of M1’s university. They have had a very impressive record this year, coming out tops in their division and qualifying for the NCAA Championship March Madness.

Today as they battle to get into the third round, I find myself following the game nervously. 

Go gals!

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Staying Put

11 Mar

How fast time flies as we head into the end of the first quarter of the year! The school holidays start next week but it’s only a week long. We are staying put because M2 has to study for her exams, which will begin soon after the week long break is over. With her sports out of the way, studying and exams are the next focus.

Then again, we can’t expect her to be constantly at her books, so there will be trips to the mall for a breather; I will have to adjust my work schedule.

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Good Job

7 Mar

M2’s tiring schedule has finally come to an end. All that stay-back after school effort culminated in a final appearance on Sports Day on Saturday. She was involved in a sprint event, the team marching and cheer team’s performance. She did good and I am glad. Good job M2!

With this finally over, I am relieved and her spirits were high and happy. We go back to the normal school routine now. Phew.

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Chat

Busy Nights Ahead

5 Feb

This year, it’s an important exam year for M2 and she has taken the initiative by enrolling for extra tuition classes. And when I say extra, it certainly is. What this actually means is hubby and I will have to dutifully play chauffeur to send and pick her up from these weekday night classes, and it has been three days in a row starting this week!

As a result of this new schedule, my Wednesday gym session was cancelled and shifted to a new slot, Monday, the only tuition-free night. On top of this, there will also be a Friday night class and this will commence after Chinese New Year. Dang… It makes me feel like it’s a marathon studying period and we are part of it as well.

It has been hectic for M2 lately because everyday she finishes school at 5.30pm having to stay back for games and sports practice. This is how the routine has been the past few weeks, coming back later than usual after school. Add in the new extra classes… Tiring. And it will be like this until Sports Day in March. After that, school hours are back to normal but tuition hours continue.

Well, it’s for a good cause and we have to do what is necessary to ensure she is well prepared for the big exam.

Thank goodness, next week is Chinese New Year and we look forward to the week long break. But once the festivity holiday is over, the hectic schedule resumes with the busy nights ahead.

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