transposable element

i thought that having fishies as pets was the simplest, but well, it turns out that maintaining an aquarium isn’t that simple after all. barely a week after we’ve installed the tank and all paraphernalia, the water already turned a bit murky and obviously had to be changed. fortunately, we just have a small tank and we didn’t need water softeners, so replacing water (we just replaced half of it) wasn’t too much of an effort. we had to use chemical dechlorinators, though.

we need to empty the entire tank, though, clean it, and put entirely fresh water. how often this exercise needs to be done, am not too sure. oh well, not my problem. hehe.

when we first moved into our current flat, i loved the shine of the newly polished marble flooring. see, we had large ceramic tiles in the common areas of our previous flat, and while it was really low-maintenance, it kinda gives you the feeling you’re lounging and watching tv in your bathroom. so the marble floors (and parquet in the bedrooms) came as a pleasant change.

until i realized how difficult it was to maintain that polished shine. it was too late when i learned that spills and splatters from fruit juices and anything remotely acidic can easily leave etch marks on marble that apparently can only be removed by professional grinding and polishing. just two months after we moved in and our living areas are a nice mottled, speckled marble. ack!

any ideas for quick (and cheap) fixes?

christmas may have been over, but the little ones in our household just got new presents last weekend. jan got a small aquarium tank and 7 little fishies. he (and his father) has been bugging me for a hamster and i conceded on the pet issue by compromising on an animal that is least likely to be in the way. i already declared that i am not lifting a finger on the upkeep of said fishies. my official reason is that i am not condoning the domestication of animals for one’s entertainment and caprice. the truth is, i just couldn’t be bothered, hehe.

mia, on the other hand, got an ikea miniature kitchen and some wooden play-food, which turned out to be nice gifts for her… and her 7-yr old brother as well!

it was hubby’s birthday, and it was the kids who got special treats.

i met a friend who has been away for four weeks and she one of the first things she asked was, “have you lost weight?”

huh? is it possible to lose weight without lifting a finger to exercise afterall? even when i consume chocolates by the bars? and chewy cookies, cinnamon rolls and raisin loaves?

the best fat burner?

flu.

for the entire family.

i’m starting to get the hang of facebook and i have to admit, i’m even starting to like it. i like the chat-like quality to it, being privy to your friends activities, photos, and to a certain extent, thoughts, on real time. and i can see why a lot have left blogging (or never really blogged) and turned to fb instead. you get to publish your thoughts without having to think about stuff like tags, pingbacks, blog/web directories, seo strategies, etc.

but me? i think i will remain a blogger. i can easily go without fb, but i like the sense of territory in blogging. my blog, my domain, my space.

this came out of my oven yesterday:

it’s not really as gooey and soft as i wanted, but for a first try, i have to say it was darn good!

(those aren’t glass tiles; they are crystallized sugar as this came straight from the fridge. should have warmed them up before taking a shot, haha!)

we’ve been married for nine years.
working together, building a family together, working towards goals together.

it’s already been nine years? sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday.
it’s only been nine years? sometimes it feels like it’s been forever.

the may madness has spilled into june. my younger brother has stayed on to see if there are possibilities for him here in singapore, and my mother in law arrived and is in town til the end of the week. we’re not exactly always on the go (my brother wanders on his own most of the time and my mother in law doesn’t stay with us), but of course, there’s more happening with us these days. jan is also on semestral break, so yes, even though the tv stands been receiving more attention than usual, it’s been a tiring start into june, trying to come up with ideas that will peel him off his electronic babysitters (tv, leapster, and psp c/o my brother). ironically, it seems that at the end of each day, he’s still ready for action and it’s me whose energy levels are dipping low. haaay…

hassan and peter have 18 marbles altogether.
hassan has 7 marbles.
how many more marbles has peter than hassan?

that was one of the three questions that jan wasn’t able to solve properly in his math exam, 5 months into first grade. his final answer was correct (4), but his equation was wrong (7-11=4). the other two were simple mistakes that were most likely out of carelessness and eagerness to finish, rather than non-comprehension.

his english exam also turned out very well. there were errors, but nothing to lose sleep about. considering that around this time last year he couldn’t even read, i am amazed at his progress, at his score (79/85), and at the proof that he is really absorbing the lessons in class.

the chinese language exam… um, does it count? hehe.. he royally flunked it, but hey, at least he didn’t get the big fat zero i was secretly anticipating. oh well, next term, he will be participating in a conversational chinese course along with all the international students in his school. hopefully that will help improve his chinese proficiency. if it really doesn’t work out or if we see that it’s stressing him out, we still have the option of applying for an exemption from taking chinese, which may likely be granted since his mother tongue is german, one of the few other foreign languages that are accepted as alternatives in secondary school level. but, we’ll keep that ace high up our sleeves for the meantime. he’s just started out, and who knows, maybe he’s just having a bit of a lag period.

overall, not bad, not bad at all. especially considering that we didn’t overly review for the exams at home.

well done, jan.

(can you read my pride between the lines?)

i can hardly believe it’s been a year. i haven’t even written her birth story; i wonder if i still can. the scenes from that day when mia was born are all hazy now. and though i have pictures and videos on digital file to tell the story of the year that was, i have the feeling everything happened in a blitz.

now she’s walking, talking… and twirling.

on the morning of her birthday, we celebrated as is the norm for our family: a birthday cake, ribbons, balloons, and gifts of all shapes and sizes greeted the mia on the table as she woke up (ok, we woke her up as jan had to leave for school). she was fascinated, confused, and well, sleepy, but that didn’t keep her from enjoying her first car, the bobby car. she may never have stepped foot on germ’s land yet, but ain’t no reason why she shouldn’t enjoy something all kiddie germs do. i would have preferred to get the princess model, but unfortunately, only the classic and the benz were available here.

from jan, mia got a bead necklace, a labour of love the young man created the weekend before, while everyone else were taking an afternoon nap. sweet, eh?

last friday, i prepared a simple lunch for the rest of the clan and saturday was mia’s party with friends. her party, her friends. we hosted a gymboree party for the six other babies of mia’s age who we regularly meet with for playdates. an hour of baby gym followed by snacks and, of course, yet another birthday cake made for a tired but happy little princess. i was surprised that she held through it all affably, grinning and playful the whole time, but i think by keeping it short and simple, and with people mia already knew, she really had a great time!

needless to say, the past week has been quite hectic than usual, but quite a lot of fun!

mia, now you’re one, that adventure has just begun!