transposable element

last week, during jan’s school holidays, we’ve started our annual easter-related activities. we’ve started painting easter eggs, and realized how most of the stores here in singapore now sell brown-shelled eggs. it was surprisingly difficult to get white-shelled ones! for the next batch, easter egg painting, i think i’d like to try marbling, rubber band designs, sponge painting, or even making a collage on the eggs! let’s see if we will have time for all these in the next few days.

jan also painted cardboard eggs.it was a pain to cut out egg shapes from thick cardboard without abox cutter, but he’s made half a dozen or so which now hang on a makeshift mobile in the living room.

next project: easter egg baskets. i’ve found some pretty simple templates on the web, but i need to make a trip to a craft store first for some of the materials. ugh, but when?

so the inevitable happened. since mia and i share spaces closely (and closed spaces), it was no surprise that the bug was able to jump prey and mia fell sick, too, two days after i did. luckily, her episode seemed to have been a milder version and she didn’t look like she was overly bothered.

not so lucky was the third victim, jan. i suspect he got it from mia, as i was already much better by this time, but he displayed the full version that i had. vomiting, lethargy, fever and no appetite (yeah, we don’t need no weight loss programs). so after a single day back in school, he’s now back to being quarantined at home, lest he spread the virus to the entire school.

will hubby be the last man standing? remains to be seen, haha!

after months of unusually hot and dry weather (nov-jan is usually the wet season here), we are now being drenched with rain for the last couple of weeks. it now rains almost everyday. initially it was a welcome reprieve from the drought, but lately, it’s becoming as much of a nuisance as the burning weather we previously had.

“if only it wouldn’t be so hot…” is now replaced by “drats, it’s raining again!” but either way, it limits the kind of activities you could do outdoors. true, we have perpetually warm weather all year round. but it’s not like the kind of summers we enjoyed in germsland– picnics, ice cream, walks in the fields, breakfasts in the garden, bring-the-outdoor furniture-out type of weather.

hay. sala sa init, sala sa lamig.

i had it all sorted out. i’d visit the gym once a week and go for fast walks at least thrice a week. not too much, not too ambitious, but just enough to get me started. and just as i thought i was on my way to shedding excess weight, i had stomach flu.

ugh. i’ve been feeling wretched for 5 days in a row now. the first 3 days, i had no appetite. when the appetite came back, i’d feel bloated and dizzy every time i’d try to eat. ugh

at this rate? i’d never need phentermine diet pills!

jan is on a week’s schoolbreak. but as this is singapore, of course he has with homework to do for the 5 days he is off from school. and though it appears like it, am not sure if the school’s intention is really to keep the children working during the holidays. i am starting to suspect that the school feels they are doing the parents a favor by giving homework to keep the kids occupied and productive, instead of simply bunking in front of their home entertainment centers for lack of something more productive to do. after all, children nowadays are so used to receiving instructions to stave off boredom, rather than coming up with ideas on how to keep themselves busy. during the term, they are kept busy after school hours by countless extra-curricular activities and programs, if not tv. so when school breaks come, parents are also at a loss on how to keep their kids busy.

and that includes me. last year, we’ve gone on overseas trips for each of jan’s school holidays. this time, i was close to booking another trip, but eventually decided to ditch the idea. surely we can manage to stay put for a week? after all, jan has friends in the neighborhood he plays with everyday, and when he’s not out, i manage to find simple activities he, mia, and i can do together. and for those times i run out of ideas, or the weather isn’t cooperating, surely, it’s ok to be “bored” every now and then?

i see crow’s feet starting to form. age spots here and there. a white hair every now and then. but if there’s something that undeniably tells me that i’m getting old, it’s the various diseases and ailments friends my age are starting to complain about. perhaps i’m one of the fortunate few whose organs are so far asymptomatic of disease, but lately, i’ve had a few friends going under medical procedures for varied reasons. gall bladder removal, kidney radiation, chemo treatment for cancer, surgery for abdominal hernia, diabetes, thyroid problems, hypertension. it sounds as if life is starting to take its toll on our bodies. sometimes, it scares me when i realize that these are people in my age group, living a lifestyle approximately similar to mine. when will it be my turn? and it scares me even more that apart from a private health insurance from a german provider, i have no health savings account to speak of. ouch.

name that song! hehe…

mia got this t-shirt from a friend who just got back from paris and it does look chic, but paired with a baseball cap worn backwards (mia’s preference) and a crummy look? mia looks like a gangsta in the making! or a trailer park girl? let it be a modern motorhome at least, haha!

it’s already march and i still haven’t put up the blog for my project 52. giving up is getting very very attractive. and very very possible. the only eason why i’m not throwing in the towel is that i see it as an opportunity to start a new blog. an honest-to-goodness personal blog. no ads. no sponsors. no seo optimization software. it’ll probably have no visitors, too, haha!

it’s been almost two years since mia was born and yet i haven’t lost my jelly belly. oh, i’ve lost weight, even without any of those diets for quick weight loss. all i need was portion control. i’m not sure, but i think i’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but sadly, i can’t say that i’m back in shape.

my jelly belly, which has never been firm anyways, now needs a lot of work. i’ve been procrastinating for so long, but i really need to do something about it now. although i was off to a good start with the power yoga classes i took last year, the venue was just too far from my place and the commute was getting onerous. if i’m to stick to a fitness regimen, it has to be convenient. otherwise, i’ll just come up with all sorts of excuses, haha!