After all these months of planning, considering, managing and frustrating over everything related to our new house and the move, it's finally coming to a point where the real thing is happening. And it's in less than 24 hours' time...and I don't feel ready.
This is mainly because I look around and I still see this computer desk laden with stuff, wardrobes still with clothes hanging inside, kitchen cabinets still packed with dry groceries, cupboards still filled with pots and pans, Caitlin's desk still cluttered with her stationery, toys, junk, book shelves still with books inside....
Come 9.00 am tomorrow, the movers will invade our home with their boxes and wrapping materials. Being professionals, they will surely be able to sort out the mess and pack them up nicely for us. I am however nervous that I won't be able to find the stuff that I need to use on a daily and immediate basis once those boxes arrive at the new house....
We had moved many boxes of stuff on our own earlier but they contain mostly stuff that we've kept in storage for years, stuff that we think we need but have hardly used, stuff that serve no immediate, daily need.
Being a control freak, trusting stuff that are considered somewhat important in strangers' hands is something new to me. The many, many times that I've moved homes, rooms, dorms, apartments, I've always done it myself - sorted, packed, dismantled stuff on my own and only getting transporters to load them onto their lorry/truck and unload them at the destination.
Tomorrow, these people are not just transporters. They are movers. They pack, dismantle and move your stuff. My experience with movers prior to this was only in my working life when my company hired movers to help us move office. Even then, I was given the boxes and packed all my own stuff in my cubicle and department.
This morning, the cleaners I got spent 4.5 hours cleaning the new house. It is still not entirely spotless but at least cleaner with less dust and debris. Like all new houses, it'll have to go through several rounds of thorough cleaning before it gets to a lived-in level of cleanliness.
There's still lots to do at the new house besides unpacking. There are curtains to put up (luckily the curtain maker is doing that tomorrow evening), blinds, water filter, autogate, a few more light fixtures, one sink and minor items like mirrors, towel rods, hooks, laundry rack to install, some DIY wardrobes to build and some touch-up painting to do....
So getting the house ready to move in was one milestone. After tomorrow, there's another one to conquer - settling in.
Caitlin was excited when we told her she'll be sleeping in the new house tomorrow night onwards. However, she also voiced sadness that we're leaving this current place. She said she'll miss it. I don't doubt her. She's lived here since the day she was born. And when we told her we'd be renting out this place, she said she doesn't want other people living in it. Eugene explained to her that all our belongings will no longer be here when other people move in. She felt better then so I guess she was more concerned about her things.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Pain can mask depression, say experts
Read this in the news today:
Medical experts believe that one reason why most cases of depression are untreated is because the illness may be masked as pain in the body.
Malaysian Psychiatric Association president Dr Yen Teck Hoe said many patients and medical practitioners fail to recognise physical pain as a common symptom of depression.
“Doctors often dispense painkillers to relieve the pain as it is presumed that the root of the problem is from the area that hurts.
“However, people forget that it is the brain and mind which controls the body,” he said at the first Malaysian Pain and Depression Day Media Workshop at the PJ Hilton here yesterday.
Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) psychological medicine department senior lecturer Dr Jesjeet Singh Gill said depression may be manifested as pain because the illness would disrupt serotonin activity in the body. Serotonin is the bodily chemical which regulates pain.
“When this happens, depressed people are unable to control the painful sensation compared to someone who is not depressed,” he said.
The department’s consultant psychiatrist Prof Dr Nor Zuraida Zainal said depression also weakens the body’s immunity and increases a person’s chances of getting an infection.
She revealed that 59% of lower back pain patients were diagnosed with depression while previous case studies showed that pain also occurred in other areas such as the chest and jaw.
Asean Federation for Psychiatry and Mental Health president Prof Dr Mohamad Hussain Habil said the current economic crisis, including risk of unemployment were factors leading to depression today.
“It is projected that depression will be the second most disabling disease by 2020,” he said.
Another department senior lecturer Dr Ting Joe Hang said doctors should interact more with their patients to pick up hints on depression during diagnosis.
“Depressed patients should not stop medication prematurely because there is a 60% to 70% chance of a relapse,” he added.
Medical experts believe that one reason why most cases of depression are untreated is because the illness may be masked as pain in the body.
Malaysian Psychiatric Association president Dr Yen Teck Hoe said many patients and medical practitioners fail to recognise physical pain as a common symptom of depression.
“Doctors often dispense painkillers to relieve the pain as it is presumed that the root of the problem is from the area that hurts.
“However, people forget that it is the brain and mind which controls the body,” he said at the first Malaysian Pain and Depression Day Media Workshop at the PJ Hilton here yesterday.
Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) psychological medicine department senior lecturer Dr Jesjeet Singh Gill said depression may be manifested as pain because the illness would disrupt serotonin activity in the body. Serotonin is the bodily chemical which regulates pain.
“When this happens, depressed people are unable to control the painful sensation compared to someone who is not depressed,” he said.
The department’s consultant psychiatrist Prof Dr Nor Zuraida Zainal said depression also weakens the body’s immunity and increases a person’s chances of getting an infection.
She revealed that 59% of lower back pain patients were diagnosed with depression while previous case studies showed that pain also occurred in other areas such as the chest and jaw.
Asean Federation for Psychiatry and Mental Health president Prof Dr Mohamad Hussain Habil said the current economic crisis, including risk of unemployment were factors leading to depression today.
“It is projected that depression will be the second most disabling disease by 2020,” he said.
Another department senior lecturer Dr Ting Joe Hang said doctors should interact more with their patients to pick up hints on depression during diagnosis.
“Depressed patients should not stop medication prematurely because there is a 60% to 70% chance of a relapse,” he added.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Grooming Rusty
We bought an electric rechargeable fur/hair trimmer to groom Rusty over the weekend. Yesterday, Eugene started the job but I ended up taking over and finishing up. If you think cutting a kid's hair is hard, try a hyperactive four-month-old puppy. He was wriggly and couldn't stay put. Fur was all over the place. Our attempt to lay the floor beneath him with newspaper to collect the cut fur was futile.
Next was giving him a bath, blowing him dry with the hairdryer and trimming his nails. Lots of struggle with Rusty who enjoyed the attention but couldn't keep still and enjoyed wrestling with our tools and hands using his mouth and teeth.
It was literally a back breaking afternoon grooming Rusty unlike what you see here in this video. Nevertheless, I still gave him a treat after that.
Next was giving him a bath, blowing him dry with the hairdryer and trimming his nails. Lots of struggle with Rusty who enjoyed the attention but couldn't keep still and enjoyed wrestling with our tools and hands using his mouth and teeth.
It was literally a back breaking afternoon grooming Rusty unlike what you see here in this video. Nevertheless, I still gave him a treat after that.
Moving
We're moving to our new place this Saturday. Packing-wise, we still have lots of odds and ends to put into boxes. Some are stuff we are still using on a daily basis, others are stuff we've simply chucked at 'hidden' corners over the years because we either don't know where to put them or because we thought we'd have use for them someday or because they have some perceived sentimental value. Eugene has lots of those in the last category.
Moving house is a good way to give away old but usable stuff -- clothes, old furniture, bags, etc -- to those who need them more. It's a good way to declutter and simplify -- do we really need those shoes which we once thought looked cool but wore only once? It's an opportunity to remember and reminisce -- get a laugh looking at old nerdy pics, read old letters (I still have those written to me when I was a teenager)and autographs.
This brings to mind scenes of police detectives in TV shows sifting through victims' or suspects' garbage cans. You can tell a lot about a person and his daily life by looking at what is thrown out!
Moving house is a good way to give away old but usable stuff -- clothes, old furniture, bags, etc -- to those who need them more. It's a good way to declutter and simplify -- do we really need those shoes which we once thought looked cool but wore only once? It's an opportunity to remember and reminisce -- get a laugh looking at old nerdy pics, read old letters (I still have those written to me when I was a teenager)and autographs.
This brings to mind scenes of police detectives in TV shows sifting through victims' or suspects' garbage cans. You can tell a lot about a person and his daily life by looking at what is thrown out!
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