Wrap, wrap, wrap

The past few days at home were spent with paper, scissors, coloured markers, colour pencils, crayons, and sticky tape. We made our own Christmas gift wrappers again this year for all the presents we bought for our family members.

Eugene, Caitlin and I (mainly I) drew Christmas motifs and patterns on white paper and wrapped all the various shapes and sizes of gifts. I completed the wrapping yesterday. Left them on a heap on the floor in the dining room and today, I managed to pack them into three large bags, ready to be brought to the Ong family home in Klang tomorrow evening to be put under the tree before they get distributed after midnight mass and Christmas supper.

I then moved from paper to clear plastic wrappers to wrap Caitlin's school text and work books. Still have half of the entire stack to finish as I got tired after about six books yesterday.... I got Caitlin to write her name on the books herself.

We're 12 days away from the first day of primary school for Caitlin on 5 January. I worry about how we're going to get up really early in the morning to get to school on time the first one or two weeks. School is a reasonable distance away and we're not familiar with how traffic will be at that hour. I'm a worrier. Caitlin's always been a late sleeper and difficult riser, and slow to get moving. That's very much from the X chromosome contributed by Eugene! Of course, the other X from me carries some troublesome traits too I must admit.

The next few days will be busy ones, juggling Christmas obligations and trying to tie up loose ends for our new home. We are however still quite far from being able to move in.... Turning a completely new and bare house into something livable for a FAMILY takes a lot of planning and persevering as we are discovering.

We've also discovered that all building and renovation contractors, whether known to us or recommended by others, are one and the same! This is said with much annoyance. I've yet to come across one who is not unscrupulous, conscientious and totally commited to work and service quality. And their use of unskilled foreign labour totally irks me!

Outings with Caitlin

A picture to remember every special outing with Caitlin before she grows any faster and I lose track. Hope I've not left out any. The photos are in chronological order starting from Caitlin at 18 months till Caitlin at 6+ currently.

Fraser's Hill, 1 May 2004

Malacca Zoo, 4 July 2004

Butterfly Park, Kuala Lumpur, 22 Jan 2005

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, 24 July 2005

Penang Mutiara Beach Resort, 21 Oct 2005

Penang Butterfly Farm, 16 Jan 2006

Singapore, 1 Sept 2007

The Eye on Malaysia, Titiwangsa Lake Kuala Lumpur, 1 Jan 2008

Taman Tasik Perdana Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur, 17 Feb 2008

Genting Highlands Theme Park, 27 Apr 2008

Damai Puri Resort, Rainforest World Music Festival, Santubong near Kuching, Sarawak,16 July 2008

Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Pahang, 22 Aug 2008

Mutiara Burau Bay Resort, Langkawi, 11 Dec 2008

The times

It is easy to hide, avoid, procrastinate, give excuses when you are online. You just select to be invisible or block selected people from viewing you. You can choose not to reply, or to reply with words that are vague for instance. You can say you missed the email or did not receive it at all if confronted. Maybe it went into your spam box, which you don't check, by mistake. You can avoid issues and confrontations simply by keeping quiet and ignoring.

You can also use pseudonyms for email addresses or fake identities in chatboxes or social networking sites. You can change your identity, and become someone else without anyone knowing. Seems like anyone can do anything these days online. People can hack, steal others' identities, blackmail, cheat, spam, learn how to make a bomb, spread viruses etc

We are living in dangerous times...

I think I've been watching too much Criminal Minds and marveling at Penelope Garcia's tech abilities!

Shakespeare, Henry V

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother...."

Crush

Everytime Caitlin visits the Giant hypermart nearby, she'll ask to buy Pokemon figurines from a stall selling knick-knacks to add on to her collection. After seeing how many (countless!) a son of our friend's has, she has been even more eager to boost her collection. The boy's name is Michael Jr. and he is a bespectacled 10-year-old kid.

Today, Caitlin added another six Pokemons to her collection and in the process asked me why Michael Jr has stopped collecting. I told her that he's now probably more interested in other things. End of conversation. A few hours later upon reaching home, another conversation took place.

Caitlin: Can I be Michael Jr's girlfriend?

Me (suspecting that it's because of his interest in Pokemon): Why?

Caitlin: I have a crush in him.

Me (surprised that my six-year-old knows how to use the word 'crush'): I have a crush ON him. Why do you have a crush on him?

Caitlin: Because I like boys with glasses!

Me: ???!!!