Empty Nest Symdrome

Its a long overdue process, i know.
But the inevitable has happen.

Tonight Nic decides that she does not want to sleep with Daddy and Mummy anymore. She has decided that she wants her own space and have moved out from our bedroom. Yes, we helped her with the shifting, and asked her over and over again if she wants to reconsider her decision. But she was determined that there is no turning back on her decision.

We have been trying to get Nic to sleep n her own room since she was 4. We did up her room nicely, and involved her in many ways in doing up her bedroom. Each time, just before bedtime, we would tuck her in, read her a story, wait till she falls asleep before quietly sneaking out of the bedroom. However, time and time again, she would open her eyes as we made our quiet exit. And the next thing you know, she is back in our room again, sleeping on the mattress beside our bed. We have resigned ourselves to having her as our bedroom companion. Its not too bad afterall. We love having her company, and it helps us save electricity as well since we would be utilising one aircon unit.

Anyway, not too sure what came over her tonight. It is almost out of the blue, as we have not brought up the subject in a long time. Despite our little success, its kind of bittersweet, as it seems our little darling is a baby no more....

My baby will be turning 7 in 10 days time...She is growing up so quickly...Where have all the time been, i wonder...Nonetheless, I am glad I am around to savour the moment

Sixty Uses of Salt

This is one of those forwarded emails that i got from a friend. Thought it is a very useful information so i would like to post it here to share.

“Although you may not realize it, simple table salt has a great number of uses other than simply seasoning your food.

The following list will give you sixty uses of salt, many of which you probably didn’t realize :-

1. If you drop a whole egg on the floor, pour salt all over the egg, let it sit for awhile, then use dustpan, the egg will come right up, without all that mess. Contributed by Ms. Jerry McGinnis.
2. Soak stained hankies in salt water before washing.
3. Sprinkle salt on your shelves to keep ants away.
4. Soak fish in salt water before decaling; the scales will come off easier.
5. Put a few grains of rice in your saltshaker for easier pouring.
6. Add salt to green salads to prevent wilting.
7. Test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water; fresh eggs sink; bad ones float.
8. Add a little salt to your boiling water when cooking eggs; a cracked egg will stay in its shell this way.
9. A tiny pinch of salt with egg whites makes them beat up fluffier.
10. Soak wrinkled apples in a mildly salted water solution to perk them up.
11. Rub salt on your pancake griddle and your flapjacks won’t stick.
12. Soak toothbrushes in salt water before you first use them; they will last longer.
13. Use salt to clean your discolored coffee pot.
14. Mix salt with turpentine to whiten you bathtub and toilet bowl.
15. Soak your nuts in salt brine overnight and they will crack out of their shells whole. Just tap the end of the shell with a hammer to break it open easily.
16. Boil clothes pins in salt water before using them and they will last longer.
17. Clean brass, copper and pewter with paste made of salt and vinegar, thickened with flour
18. Add a little salt to the water your cut flowers will stand in for a longer life.
19. Pour a mound of salt on an ink spot on your carpet; let the salt soak up the stain.
20. Clean your iron by rubbing some salt on the damp cloth on the ironing surface.
21. Adding a little salt to the water when cooking foods in a double boiler will make the food cook faster.
22. Use a mixture of salt and lemon juice to clean piano keys.
23. To fill plaster holes in your walls, use equal parts of salt and starch, with just enough water to make stiff putty.
24. Rinse a sore eye with a little salt water.
25. Mildly salted water makes an effective mouthwash. Use it hot for a sore throat gargle.
26. Dry salt sprinkled on your toothbrush makes a good tooth polisher.
27. Use salt for killing weeds in your lawn.
28. Eliminate excess suds with a sprinkle of salt.
29. A dash of salt in warm milk makes a more relaxing beverage.
30. Before using new glasses, soak them in warm salty water for a while.
31. A dash of salt enhances the taste of tea.
32. Salt improves the taste of cooking apples.
33. Soak your clothesline in salt water to prevent your clothes from freezing to the line; likewise, use salt in your final rinse to prevent the clothes from freezing.
34. Rub any wicker furniture you may have with salt water to prevent yellowing.
35. Freshen sponges by soaking them in salt water.
36. Add raw potatoes to stews and soups that are too salty.
37. Soak enamel pans in salt water overnight and boil salt water in them next day to remove burned-on stains.
38. Clean your greens in salt water for easier removal of dirt.
39. Gelatin sets more quickly when a dash of salt is added.
40. Fruits put in mildly salted water after peeling will not discolor.
41. Fabric colors hold fast in salty water wash.
42. Milk stays fresh longer when a little salt is added.
43. Use equal parts of salt and soda for brushing your teeth.
44. Sprinkle salt in your oven before scrubbing clean.
45. Soaked discolored glass in a salt and vinegar solution to remove stains.
46. Clean greasy pans with a paper towel and salt.
47. Salty water boils faster when cooking eggs.
48. Add a pinch of salt to whipping cream to make it whip more quickly.
49. Sprinkle salt in milk-scorched pans to remove odour.
50. A dash of salt improves the taste of coffee.
51. Boil mismatched hose in salty water and they will come out matched.
52. Salt and soda will sweeten the odor of your refrigerator.
53. Cover wine-stained fabric with salt; rinse in cool water later..
54. Remove offensive odours from stove with salt and cinnamon.
55. A pinch of salt improves the flavor of cocoa.
56. To remove grease stains in clothing, mix one part salt to four parts alcohol.
57. Salt and lemon juice removes mildew.
58. Sprinkle salt between sidewalk bricks where you don’t want grass growing.
59. Polish your old kerosene lamp with salt for a brighter look. Remove odors from sink drainpipes with a strong, hot solution of salt water.
60. If a pie bubbles over in your oven, put a handful of salt on top of the spilled juice. The mess won’t smell and will bake into a dry, light crust which will wipe off easily when the oven has cooled.“

Fast Car Ain't Gonna impress Nic

Who would think, a car like this is not gonna impress my little Nic

We had just parked our car at the carpark, and were making our way to the shopping mall, when we pass a beautiful shiny silver car parked in one of the lots. She remarked: " Mummy, Look! This car must be for short people, the car is so small!"

I gasped" did you know how expensive this car is?"
"No, but the car is so small, how can it be expensive?" Hmmm

I guess it will take a couple more years before she truely appreciates and understand the value of a shiny silver porsche.

IZ - Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World

Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwoʻole (May 20, 1959 – June 26, 1997)

I love this version of the song. Listening to it gives me a sense of calm, and a sese of hope that everything will be ok, and things will be well tomorrow.

Due for my routine jab tomorrow. Its amazing how time flies. Days seems to melt into months, and very soon months into years. Another year is drawing to an end pretty soon. With the current economic turmoil, I do hope that the coming year will bring more cheer.

Documentary - In the Face of Death

A blogger whose blog i have been following closely, will be featured in a documentry "In the Face of Death" tonight at 10.30pm on Channel 8 here in singapore. It will be about her battle with cancer.

Do drop by her blog. She is an inspiration to me, and I believe many who follows her blog as well.

Victim of Domestic Violence :(

The poor hammie has died

And I am a little affected by its death. Yes, its a rodent, a mouse, whatever, but I am kind of affected, having to witness how the little hamster slowly whittle away, and breathing its last breath. I saw how the hammie being tired and lethargic at first, refusing food, and preferring to be curled up in a corner. Than i saw it sleeping more and more throughout the day, and not eating at all. And this afternoon, I saw it lying on its side, with heavy laboured breathing. Shortly after, poor hammie died

Is this the process of dying? I shudder to think...

Domestic Violence at Home

Nic had the unfortunate experience of having to witness domestic violence right under our humble roof. Yes, the cutie pie hamsters, one male and one female had a rather violent fight, which ended with one of the hammies having a little wound on the back, and some of its furs on its leg being chomp off. Its quite a pitiful sight. The wounded party has been awfully quiet, and sleeping quite a bit, while the other hammie is nonchalent, and have been rather active going about its regular activities. i am not too sure what to do with them. i have since separated them, one is living in the cage, while the wounded hammie is now recovering in an empty ice-cream tub. Gonna pop by the pet shop tomorrow to see what i can get for the wounded hammie.

Oh, and did I mention that the wounded hammie is the male. And as they say...the female of the species is more deadlier than the male

Our New Family Members

We have gotten 2 new family members...Mike and I are no big fans of keeping pets. Not that we are unaffectionate beings. Just that, on the practical side, its having to clean up after another member of the troop. Nic had wanted so much to have a dog. i was totally against the idea, when i realise that eventually, walking the dog, toilet training, and cleaning up dog poop will eventaully be added to my chore list. So what have we gotten her? We got her not one, but 2 hamsters :)

Thats not too bad, considering I just need to change the water and feed daily, give them sand bath on alternate days and changing their bedding weekly. Anyway, the little hammies are rather cute.... so no complaints.

Under the Weather

I had monthly jab quarterly Zoladex jab on Monday, and am having some of its side effects now. Feeling feverish right now, and my bones are aching so much i just want to nuah in my bed all day. Sigh... And the weather is helping either. Its kind of cloudy and overcast.

On a lighter note, the results for my sugar and chorestrol level turn out good, according to Doc. I decided not to be an ostrich and went for my chorestrol and blood sugar test. Kidney and Liver function is doing ok too. This calls for a little celebration. Gonna be binging soon. haha.

Signing off for now. Going to nuah for the rest of the day till my achy breaky bones are not so achy

Dying to be Heard - by Sharon Robbins

October - The month for pretty pink ribbon pins. Flip through the newspapers, and you can see that there are many events, talks, symposiums organised over the weekends focusing on early detection of breast cancer, treatment options and reconstructive surgeries. While it is an excellent message to bring attention to the members of the public on issues about getting regular mamograms and not to ignore suspicious lumps, what seems to be lacking is the message that you are never too young to get breast cancer. I was diagnosed at age 30. I had met a lady, diagnosed with the disease, right after she graduated from university. You are just never too young to get breast cancer.

Now that the disease has progressed to Stage 4, it does seems to me that we are case studies that will never be discussed in such talks and symposiums. Who wants to hear about how the disease has progressed despite treatments? There's a need to paint a rosy picture that the disease is "curable" if detected in its early stages. Not true, I don't think I will be a good candidate to put on the stage for such talks, i probably scare everyone with the true reality of the disease.

Anyway, I found the message in this article that is just so amazingly true

Dying to Be Heard
by Sharon Robbins

In Memorium

October 10, 2003

During the month of October we are bombarded with the message that early detection of breast cancer equals cure...that anyone surviving five years from diagnosis is, indeed "cured". This year, I have decided to speak out. Like many other women, I believed that when my breast cancer was detected early and I had the most aggressive treatment available, I had done my job and could look forward to the rest of my life.

I believed the early detection message. I was 45 years old. I was even pronounced "cured" by the doctor who was my oncologist at that time.But like so many others...thousands of others every year...I was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer after celebrating that five year anniversary.

After the initial shock, I was certain that I would be dead within eighteen months. That's what every article I could find on the internet said. That was over two years ago. I am one of the lucky ones. Up to this point, my cancer has responded well to treatment. I was even one of the ones who went into remission due to new drugs and therapies. But what about tomorrow? Like thousands of others, I will never be "cured". Because, you see, cancer that has metastasized is not only deadly; it is a very crafty foe. It can mutate and learn how to get around the roadblocks that any given treatment throws in its path. Today it may be in your liver, tomorrow your spine.

Like thousands of others, my only hope of continued survival is to have new drugs developed and new treatments that can stay one step ahead of my cancer. It doesn't have to be a death sentence. We CAN continue to live productive lives, but only if the research is there. When survivors are discussed, no one ever hears about us. They don't want to hear about us. We are the hidden survivors. We are your wives, your mothers, your daughters. We are you. today or tomorrow. We are dying to be heard.

If breast cancer can truly now be considered a chronic illness, why are we still dying at a rate of more than 43,000 every year? It is a deadly disease, and a pretty pink ribbon cannot make it go away. We are in that "success statistic" if we have survived for five years. Some days we don't feel very successful.

We live with breast cancer every day of our uncertain lives until it finally takes us from our families and loved ones. If we are one of the "lucky" ones, that is often after years of debilitating treatment that makes the phrase "quality of life" absolutely ridiculous and has drained our families of any financial security they may have had. If we are fortunate enough to survive until we are eligible for Medicare, we face the knowledge that our prescription drug bill will be astronomical and we will no longer have medical insurance that covers it. If, and when, a new drug is finally approved by the FDA, it can be six months or more before Medicare will pay for it.

How many women die in that six months because they can't afford the treatment? We are dying to be heard.It is time to see more funding and emphasis for both first line and metastatic treatment, not just for awareness. There are now more graves from women who have died since 1991 from breast cancer than the total graves in Arlington Cemetery.

Our doctors tell us that we don't have to worry about breast cancer until we are older. Is it acceptable to die just because we are over 50? I don't think so. I am not ready to die. As I write this, I am awaiting the arrival of my first grandchild. I would like to be here for her. But age isn't even the true story. Tell that story to the young woman who was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer when breastfeeding her first child. Tell that to my stepdaughter who, at 33, and about to have her first child, looks at the future with fear because her grandmother, mother, and now her stepmother have all had stage IV breast cancer..each at a much younger age. I am the only one still here. Tell that to a husband who is now raising his two children alone, getting them ready to start first and third grade. They are dying to be heard.43,000 of us dead every year. That is half the population of Henderson County.each year.every year. Imagine losing every single person in this county, in the space of two years.

That is what breast cancer can do, and will continue to do until we look for answers. Not just slogans, real answers. We are dying for them to be found.Please help speak for us.

Contact your Senators and Congressmen. We need funding for breast cancer research, not just awareness campaigns. We are dying.http://www.cancerlynx.com/grave.html