My success journals

Halloween ... Spooktacular!!!!

2011-10-31T00:26:00.010+08:00

30th October, 2011 - At The Masterpiece's Spooktacular Party :

When I Get Creative

2011-10-31T00:13:00.006+08:00

This is what happens ....

Happy Sweet Birthday To Odelia !!!!

2011-10-30T23:54:00.004+08:00

29th June 2011 : My Birthday! :-)

This year, out of the blue ... my mom, brother and family, Bea and Connie, Janet and family called me last minute and said : We are coming over to celebrate your birthday!

Alas, what a great comforting idea, I was beaming with happiness actually.

This faithful day is also the day when a big football match is happening at Bukit Jalil Stadium. The jam was so so bad, vehicles were triple parked along the highway with traffic police all over... it took more than an hour just to clear that part of the road leading to my home.... so much so that my family members couldn't make it and had to U-turn balik rumah ! What a day, just when I was really looking forward to have dinner with them all !

Anyway, it's the thought that counts and I was really touched to know that my family members braved the bad jam to try and make it there to celebrate with me. Even though they did not manage to turn up, me and the kids together with Kenny and his 2 other colleagues came to Rabbit Cafe and brought me a birthday cake :-) The nicest thing was a special home-made birthday card from all the kids ^_^ Happy Birthday To Me !!!! Happy all the way ^_^

OMG! My Gadgets Are Talking To ME!!!!

2011-03-07T21:27:00.003+08:00

Friday, 4th March 2011

Early this morning, my laptop just simply refused to be switched on! Normally, I would panic cos there are so much work stored in there! This round, oh well, I took the cue. I need a break, badly, been too overwhelmed with work, it's time to rejuvenate myself lest I jatuh sakit how???....

Anyway, after a call to the technician, I spent the day enjoying a real good Red Wine massage at AsiaSpa. I think I dozed off ... he he ... could hear my own snorings !!! Even the Bali woman, Endah is her name, mentioned that I must be so so tired cos all my muscles were kind of jammed up. As she rub away the fatiqueness and soften my stiff muscles, I knew I have invested wisely in the package. Once a month pampering session at this place is what I need, forget about being a miser in this aspect ya :-) Okay, okay ...

Next thing I know, I was in bed back home (hmm... wonder how I actually managed to drive back home), talked to a close friend over the phone, promised to call her up after a short nap. That was like 4p.m. A sudden flicker of my bedside lamp light jolted me and I jumped out of bed! It was 7 a.m. the next morning! Wow! slept like a log lehhhh ... Sitting on bed, I wondered who switched on my bedside lamp??? Oh well, another gadget just talked to me liao ... I shuddered and felt thankful, never mind what caused the light to come alive ....

Next, I checked my mobile next to me .... it said : "insert sim card". Oh well, the jinx of gadgets! Even my mobile phone kept quiet and let me sleep in peace, for once ^_^

Merry Christmas Everybody :-)

2010-12-29T23:43:00.006+08:00

Saturday, 25th December, 2010

It's Jenny, Jasmine and Kenny's birthday bash today ! It was a night of laughter with lots of fun and WOUUU... It was full-house!

Makan makan, chit chat, lots of jokes and catching up lerrr.... sambil makan, sambil sembang :-)

Not forgetting .... Christmas gift exchange !!!!!

Next day .... had to seek help at Asia Spa .... went for a 2 hour massage to soothe aching muscles and did a long-time-no-do facial too ... Gosh!

A Valuable Lesson

2010-11-25T00:48:00.003+08:00

About a month ago, I raised a bill for service rendered to a client handled by an associate. The client jumped at the deemed unexpected enormous amount and asked for a discount. A post-mortem helped analysed what and where went wrong and I learnt a few valuable lessons in business :-

1. Always agree on a written Terms Of Reference, never based on verbal agreement;

2. Raise interim progressive bills, not a lump sum at the end of an open-ended project so that clients are not caught off-guard i.e. clients are more willing to pay smaller amounts and not feel the 'pain';

3. What you focus on expands : don't sweat and feel miserable about clients who do not appreciate the value of service rendered; move on and concentrate on clients who do appreciate and who are good paymasters;

4. Do not repeat mistakes made, learn from mistakes and be wiser the next round;

5. Ask for/Accept advance payments especially when offered i.e. money in the bank first is always better; then over-deliver;

Hmm... posting these points down as a reminder :-)

Open My Eyes

2010-11-22T21:55:00.004+08:00

Monday, 22nd November, 2010

This book sat in my cupboard for months. Got it out and started reading (well, it certainly has been a while since I sat down to enjoy reading a good book like this one :-)

Enlightening, makes a good read with its collection of short stories and poems that illuminates the lives of people struggling to make meaningul connections by reaching out with courage and love, the empowering lessons of unconditional love, hope and healing ... a calming balm in the midst of storms.

Getting Creative

2010-11-22T21:19:00.006+08:00

Sunday, 20th November, 2010 - bought these 2 paintings last week and well, we actually spent an hour putting them up. The kids and I had a tough time deciding the best positions, after which, I did the marking and Jenny helped to drill the holes and nail them in :-) Brightens up the otherwise bare wall right? Nicely done ... hmmm

The next project : went shopping at the neighbouring landscape nursery and bought this cute little bicycle handmade in Thailand and stuff 8 pots of fresh little yellow flowers into 2 pots. Love the effect ^_^

It's Christmas soon .... saw this plant and fell in love! Just gotta have 3 pots and group them together in a bigger pot, add a ribbon and hey, it made a beautiful centre piece ^_^

For a few days, I scouted the neighbouring area, on the lookout for plants which I can replant at the backyard and ended up with some beautiful abandoned plants, even took some grass from an open field.... hmm... must take some photos when they are steady :-)

Lastly, Ela trimmed a few branches from the backyard and they ended up this way!!!! Wow ...

UPSR results out today !

2010-11-11T22:40:00.002+08:00

Thursday, 11th November 2010 - I guess I was the first parent in school today to request for Jasmine's UPSR results. Jasmine was so anxious that she had a nightmare yesterday about failing her exam!

Her actual results .... 2Bs and 5Cs! No big deal right? Well, it was actually a rather big deal for me. I mean, for a girl who used to fail her Maths and BM literally all these while ... I know it was definitely a great deal for Jasmine. After all the many hours spent at school, afternoon enhancement classes and external tuition centre, it finally paid off ^_^ I am happy for her, she doesn't have to go to remove class, she can enter into Form 1 directly ... phew!!!

Another MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ! YES !!!

My New Maid

2010-10-31T22:17:00.005+08:00

Sunday, 31st Oct 2010

Waited for more than a year

Chosen 3 in all, one after another

First an Indonesian

Didn't work out due to difference in 2 governments

Second one, chosen a Filipino

Phone interview followed by online chat

Also didn't work out, her father fell sick

She had to take care of him ...

Next, chosen a 21 year old Indonesian

No experience at all, much younger

Luckily, she's a fast learner

And well, she smiles ..... :-)

Once I got her flooring wax finish to paint

on a few wooden planks

When I got home later,

Nearly pengsan!

All wooden furniture ... she painted

Haphazardly of course, it takes professionals

to do a good job mah (Sigh)

There goes my kitchen cabinets

My wooden giraffes, benches

My antique chest of drawers too!

Oh well ... gave her a little lecture

She was about to rain

My heart softens

After all, she just wanted to please me

Ended with : I suka kalau u rajin

Tapi lain kali u mesti tanya dulu ya?

Terima kasih banyak banyak lah

I bukan nak marah u, cuma terkejut sahaja

Close both eyes lah, what to do

Thinking back, it pokes a few of my funny bones

HA HA HA ....

Well, well .... at least I get to tell a funny tale!

Wall stickers

2010-10-31T14:58:00.003+08:00

Got these stickere from Ikea some months back. I see this every night as it sits on my bedroom wall. Nice huh? A friend commented : Aiyo, I have never seen a more colourful bedroom! Apple green for the wall, my Gosh! Ha ha ha ... ok lah, nice what ^_^

Pamper Myself

2010-10-31T14:41:00.002+08:00

31st October, 2010

Today was a day of relaxing at home. Running hot water and soaking myself in the bath tub filled with dead sea salt, sipping cups of steaming hot lemon grass tea :-) At the same time, waxed my hair and splashed on a thick layer of Mineral Clay Facial Mask. Sweat it out and had a good time writing down on pieces of paper, my thoughts for the various posts in this blog :-)

Of course, it was also a time of counting my many blessings in life ... life's little luxuries ^_^

Buddha face

2010-10-31T14:24:00.004+08:00

A friend's colleague from Vietnam once gave us a Buddha face as a house-warming gift. I was searching for a concave Buddha face all over the internet when we first moved in. At last this friend's colleague said he can get it made from Vietnam at a fraction of the cost. Oh well, it turned out that the concave concept was reversed! Instead of concave, it was an embossed Buddha face! The cost of shipping it over was much more expensive and my friend had to fork out from his own pocket!

Since it was very heavy and the size was rather small to fit in nicely, a designer friend offered to frame it up and so it stayed with this designer friend for well... more than a year! He just never got down to framing it as he didn't get a chance to find a suitable material for the framing.

Alas ... I went shopping and got just the right material and hey, guess what? It's now hanging quite nicely, don't you think so?

Got Creative

2010-10-31T14:14:00.003+08:00

29th October, 2010

Today, after fetching the kids from the tuition centre, we had 2.5 hours to kill before picking up Jenny from school. So we made our way to Jalan TAR and shopped at Harrisons Textile, in search of some shiny material.

The end product, ta da ..... was a nice neat ribbon-wrap for each of our dining chairs...

Oh well, for just RM19.75, added some interesting colour and perspective to our dining hall ^_^

A Bali Gift

2010-10-31T14:03:00.002+08:00

31st August 2010

A good friend has been referring clients to me since I started building my own business. One day, I helped to do up this friend's accounts and ended up doing some audit reviews as well, as a way of saying thank you for the referrals.

Guess what? This friend's partner offered me a free trip to Bali in return, in conjunction with their company's annual trip. Wow! Nice to have these kind of freebies ya ^_^ So, we had a jolly good time in Bali :-)

Question 2

2010-10-31T13:57:00.002+08:00

Question 2

Dash : Mommy, can we have our own rooms? 1 person 1 room? It would be nice

Mommy : Okay... then we need to move to a bigger house. How about we move into a BIG bungalow?

All the Children : Yes, yes

Mommy : But then when you all grow up already, Mommy would be staying all alone in such a big house, how?

Dash : No no, we will also stay with you when we grow up. Ah Ku and Ah Kin also stay with Ah Mah after they got married mah

Mommy : Then, if you and your wife quarrel, Mommy will hear then how?

Dash : No lah Mommy, we will never quarrel one ^_^

Questions Children Ask

2010-10-31T13:41:00.004+08:00

QUESTION 1

A few days back, Bob asked out of the blue :

Bob : Mommy, when I grow up, if I give you RM2,000 a month, enough or not?

Mommy : RM2,000 a month, Mommy will still have to work lah

Bob : One month, how much do you make, Mommy?

Mommy : About RMxx,000 a month ... So, if I have RMxx,000 per month, I don't have to work

Bob : Okay loh, I give you RMxx,000 a month, okay mah?

Mommy "smiled'

Bob : If I give you more leh?

Mommy : If I got more money then I can go travel and do what I want to do ah. So, how are you going to give me RMxx,000 per month?

Bob : My friends and I have discussed about this. We are going to buy a tall building, about 40-50 stories high. Then, we stay on the top floors and sell things in the other floors. My friends are going to open shops and I will operate a restaurant like the big hotel. I will buy many workers to help to cook and I will be the cashier, collect money. Then, Mommy, you can come and eat for free, ok mah?

A request for prayers

2010-10-07T23:49:00.006+08:00

Tuesday, 4th September 2010

Today mom is scheduled to undergo a neck operation. She has been suffering from pain in the joints especially her hands for many months.

I recall mom being a tough lady who has very high tolerant level when it comes to enduring pain. It was the day when she said she wish she could chop off her hands to stop the pain that we realise that mom must have suffered a lot, more than I could imagine.

Alas, my big sister brought mom to Gleneagles to check it out after hearing similar stories from friends who had the same symptoms and is now healed after undergoing surgery.

I had wanted mom to go for a second opinion but she seem to have full confidence with the doc, I guess that's what matters most : her own strong willpower.

I didn't know what else I could do other than to send messages to my friends to help and pray for my mom's successful operation and a speedy recovery. So, that's what I did! Most of them responded and well ... a few even text me back and ask : Who are u? Ha ha ha ... Oh well, I guess I have not been keeping in touch with quite a number of my friends! Despite the many different religions and beliefs, my friends responded and said their prayers.

One particular respond was really touching, it says :

Dear Odelia, sorry to hear of ur mum's surgery. 1 thing u did was very right. U know how 2 ask God 2 intervene n move d hands of His drs 2 do a successful operation. Yes, I will definitely remember her in my prayer. Dont worry, what man deem impossible, God will make it possible. In God v trust. He said, "I love u 4 being a loving daughter."

Secrets of Internet Business

2010-08-22T21:30:00.005+08:00

Sunday, 22th August, 2010

It was a blast! Learnt so much, till I got giddy.... Ha ha ha ... it's called information overload! Normally, I learn quick and this time around, there is so much more to apply and explore. So many forms to fill up and so many tips to digest oh ... Gosh! All participants were quite hyped up and well, it's especially challenging when you find yourself sitting in a classroom of 100s, mostly quite well-versed serious learners.

The first day was great, cos I did some homework. Today, OMG! I realised I am not too sure coz it's been .... Wow! go at a slower pace please, Ewen Chia, Andy .... Oh yes, just too much for the time being. Now, gotta do a lot of practice and more homework lor :-)

Just Enjoying The Bliss

2010-07-13T01:13:00.006+08:00

Monday 13th July, 2010

It's way past midnite.

At this very moment, feels empty,

no thougths, no feel, no desire,

only nothingness.

A blissful quiet nite,

Only the sound of the moving fan,

of the boiling hot water,

and of me banging on the keyboard ...

Been a while,

After the laser surgery on my eye,

It's been a wonderful feeling,

to wake up without fear...

Fear of ripping my cornea,

Fear of agonising pain,

Fear of tearing uncontrollably,

Fear of not being able to drive my kids to school on time!!!

Gosh! Alas! I am able to type away,

To write and rant to whatever

that comes to my mind

It's a great feeling, yes!!!

Blessed feeling came flooding,

All the blessings,

that surrounds me

What a feeling ... woooouuuuu, nice!!!

As I type, I am smiling now

Time heals all wounds

only scars remain

scars that remind me ....

of how blessed I am

to have a supportive family

to have true friends

who listens, no judgement passed

Thank you, thank you ^_^

Saying "Thank You"

2010-06-19T17:24:00.004+08:00

Saturday, 18th June, 2010

These days, with our very tight schedules, there is just simply no time to cook. So, every night I would bring the kids out for dinner (or rather supper!) after their tuition class ends at 8:30p.m. That brought us to many stalls/restaurants which we would otherwise not go. Hence, this also brought out the curiosity in me in search of new places to eat! Good for the soul sometimes, becoming more adventurous when it comes to food :-)

Anyway, these eat-outs have also burned quite a big hole in my pockets, sometimes I wonder if I should just put in the extra effort to cook instead of taking in the MSGs! Poofffff! How la? By the time we got home, the kids would be too tired for food. In fact, many a night the boys just kinda doze off in their school uniforms!! Poor kids, I pray that our maid will be here soon lorrr....

I am not sure who started this, I think it's our Teochew culture, but before every meal, the kids would shout out something that goes like this : "Mommy eat, Zhen Ni jeh jeh eat, Zhong Hao ko ko eat" to those elder than himself/herself.

Added to this dining culture, now the kids would also shout out : "Thank you, Mommy" or "Thank you, Ku Ku" for buying them the meals .... nice leh ^_^

Without A Maid

2010-06-13T20:41:00.004+08:00

Sunday, 13th June, 2010

It has been more than 8 months without a maid. Inconvenience, yes, a hopeless situation, definitely not. Now, the kids are able to sweep, mop, wash dishes, operate the washing machine, line and iron the clothes, make their own bed, tidy their own rooms, on top of cooking rice, make their own hot drinks, toast their own bread, cut fruits, all of which they took for granted all these years.

The absence of a maid also brought out the creativity in us. The guest room is now turned into a laundry room with clothes being hanged according to the kids' own open wardrobe.

Best of all, we are able to schedule our time-table into very productive activities. All of us leave the house early in the morning and gets back home after supper. During the day, I am able to spend more time at work, while the kids get to go for extra tuition classes where their homework is being monitored by the tutors hence while they get proper guidance, I do not have to scream my head off trying to figure out the many Chinese characters and the kids, well, they seem to enjoy themselves at the tuition centre rather than having a frustrated me!!! Apparently, their results have also improved significantly ... phew! It warms my heart when I see their beaming faces smiling and sharing their day when I pick them up, all eager to tell me their stories.

Of course, there are times when they would all be too tired and would just doze off to sleep while on the way home. Poor things, it's tough to be living with me in such conditions but then again, I think they would all fare well in the future, being independent, responsible adults later in life and knows the value of hardwork ^_^

Fun Fair

2010-06-13T20:19:00.003+08:00

Sunday, 13th June, 2010

Today's fun fair at the kdis' school brought back memories of yester years. It used to be lots of fun. I could still remember the best game was to hit a spot hard enough to bring down whoever is the person sitting on a plank splashing into the pool of water!!!! Haven't seen this kind of game since ages ago. Ahaks! As though I have been living during dinosaur years oh.... lol!!!!

This morning's fun fair was more fun for the kids I guess. They were more interested in the games than the food, we must have spent quite a bit, what with all the 5 kids going round the stalls and spend all they want, including a go at the haunted house .... well, that was a real long queue :-) Oh well, after all, it's for a good cause .... in aid of the flood victims in China.

Got back home during lunch time, went straight to bed for a nap ... ahhhh ... so nice, haven't been taking naps for a long long time now. Woke up, had a cup of milo with biscuits for afternoon tea and after that, did some gardening or rather weeding. It rained slightly and thus a cool way of squatting and cutting the grass. Joey was quick enough to take the umbrella and gave me shelter while I cut away although I was actually quite happy to be patted by the rain. Getting caught in the rain used to be one of my favourite thing, really ^_^

All in all, a great Sunday!!!!

These Flowers Are For You

2010-06-11T20:41:00.004+08:00

11th June, 2010

Today, I received a beautiful piece of e-mail.
Love it :

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.'

When God takes something from your grasp,

He's not punishing you,

but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

Who matters,

Who never did,

Who won't anymore...

And who always will.

So, don't worry about people from your past,

there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

Give these flowers to everyone you don't want to lose

So, my friends, these flowers are for you :-)

Christmas Birthday!!!1

2010-02-21T01:24:00.008+08:00

25th December, 2009

It's Kenny's, Jenny's and Jasmine's

20th, 13th and 11th Birthday celebration ....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KENNY, JENNY, JASMINE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO..... YOU!!!

Special cupcakes as birthday cakes??

Nice, huh?

Nice for a change lor :-)

Of course it's also Christmas!

Gifts exchange by way of lucky draw

Some got fooled, some got lucky

Most of all, all got presents

At the end of the day ....

Every(30+)body HAPPY!!!