A pillow called Smiley!

When the I changed the cushion cover for the cushion which I kept in the car, Aiman liked the new cushion cover so much, he wanted to give it a name. He said that the pillow now looks so cute, feels cozy, and he said that the appliqué of Sun Bonnet Sue smiles at him, so, he named the pillow SMILEY.

He would hug the pillow each morning as I drive him to school, and on most mornings, he would fall asleep hugging Smiley. He does look so cozy and cute! *wink*

A few days after naming Smiley the Pillow, Aiman came home and told me that he wanted to name the comforter I made for him too. And he has named it Whiesky. Yup, and that is how he wanted it spelt. Why Whiesky? Nothing to do with Whisky the drink at all, thank God! LOL! It’s named Whiesky because the comforter has lots of cats with whiskers as its motifs. LOL!

I find it amusing that my son has named his cushion and comforter, and so told my hubby about it, expecting my hubby to be equally amused, but……guess what? I ended up being even more amused when my hubby told me that he too had a name for his pillows and bolsters when he was about Aiman’s age! LOL!

He named his two pillows Sam and Hardy, reason being, one was soft, and the other one was hard. No prize for guessing which is which. *wink* He named his bolster Schroeder. Schroeder? Actually he wanted to name the bolster Shrimpy because it was long like a shrimp, but he said it sounded too sissy! LOL!

Did I name any of my pillows when I was growing up, Ma?

I affectionately called or referred to our old Proton Wira as Bee, not because it looks like a bee *grin*, but because the plate number starts with BEE. We have since sold off the car. I wonder if it is still road worthy today, but my hubby took good care of Bee when she was with us, and I was sad to have to part with her, but, we needed a new car as Bee was already getting old, and she was starting to be expensive to maintain.

Chaos in the city!

What a waste of fuel, not to mention the time too! Urrghhh!

Will Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim please sign my punch card for Monday? *wink*

I punched in at 8.40am Monday morning, when I should be punching in at 8.00am, all because the authorities went into 'panic mode' when it was reported that there will be a rally at the Parliament building on Monday to protest against the price hike in fuel.

I think many wasted a lot of fuel on Monday being caught in the massive jam, not to mention the chaos that was created due to the heavy road blocks everywhere leading to the Parliament building. Just my luck, I have no choice BUT to take Jalan Parlimen to get to work. Even the alternative roads were jammed up. *sigh*

My meeting on Monday was supposed to have started at 9.30am but it only convened at 10.00am because many could not get to the office on time. There were a few also that simply gave up coming altogether to the meeting when they were still caught in the jam getting from their office along Jalan Syed Putra to my office off Jalan Parlimen at 10.00am. What a waste of efficient time.

And all this because why? Because 'someone' reported that there was going to be a rally in town. It was said that it was Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim that said it, though he denied it.

If trully he did say that, that's really powerful. All he said was the word "rally", and the authorities goes into 'panic mode', blocking roads everywhere, causing massive jams and chaos all over the city.

A single man can actually do that? Wow! Mention the word "rally" and everything turns upside down? He even managed to get the US State Department to come to 'his defence' when the sodomy charges were brought against him just two weeks ago. It says a lot about this person, but, is he really such a great man?

The authorities apologised for the massive jams on Monday, but said that it was for the safety of the people, but, really, if Anwar Ibrahim denied it, then who could have spread the word around about there being a rally in the first place? Hmmm........

I arrived in the office on Monday with a splitting headache due to being stuck in the jam for so long. Despite my headache, I managed to chair two meetings back to back, but I went home feeling terribly exhausted and worn out. I went to bed early that Monday night.

What a waste, when I could have done so many things that night, and all because of what a single man said....whoever he may be....

DISCLAIMER: The author of this blog would like to categorically state that whatever comments and opinions posted in the comments section of this entry does not reflect, in any way, her own personal and official opinions and viewpoints.

Getting there........

After spending two solid hours working on the LHN Chocolate Shoppe, while waiting for Aiman to finish class, I am finally seeing some obvious progress on it. I think it is about half done. I can't wait to finish this piece as I am thinking of starting on another piece by LHN or CCN since I bought quite a few of their charts on my trip to Singapore last year.

I am giving myself another 2 more solid stitching to complete this. Hopefully I can get it done before our next Stitching Bee in August.

On the Mandala Garden, I made some small progress, but progress still, none the less. This weekend I did not work on it at all as I am in the mood to scrapbook. That is what I have been doing all weekend, except for the time I took to take Aiman for his classes. Of course I did not forget to prepare the meals and do the normal household stuffs too! LOL! *wink*

I will definitely put up my completed scrapbook pages ones they are all done. Keep a lookout! *wink*
>

Missing mum's cooking.....

My mum was here in Kuala Lumpur about two weeks ago for my youngest brother's university entrance interview. She was here for only two days, so she didn't have time to do any homecook dishes.

I miss my mum's cooking, especially Nasi Kerabu, Nasi Dagang, Nasi Berlauk, Satay, Pulut Kunyit with Chicken Rendang, and many more homecook dishes. My late grandmother was a great cook who could whisk up almost any food that the family desires, so, I guess, naturally, my mum just picked up the talent from her.

When she was here about a month ago, she made Nasi Kerabu which she made at my sister's house, but brought them over to my house for dinner. It was one of the best dinner we had in a very long time, because it was HOMECOOKED, and it was my mum's cooking!

As there were still some leftovers of the sambal tumis and the sambal ikan, I frozed them and later served it for dinner on one of the nights last week. I had to add the ulam-ulam though. Yum! It was like having my mum come over to cook us dinner that night! Yum! Yum! Thanks, Ma!

Tea Coasters and a birthday gift!

I received a lovely 6 piece set of tea coasters from Jess for the Tea Coasters Exchanged, organised by Usha, on Friday. It was made using the Japanese Kaleidoscope folding technique, a technique I have yet to learn.

Jess' work is really neat, and a lot of effort and time must have gone into making them, so, I doubt it if I will be using them to serve tea. *grin*

Along with the tea coasters came a belated birthday gift which were a piece of Flat Fats in Pink, a pinkeep and a roll of ribbons, also in PINK! Really nice! Love the pinkeep, and the flat fats is so sweet!

I definitely will have a use for the pink flat fats and the ribbon. The pinkeep will go onto my shelf of all things cute and pretty!

Thanks, Jess! Thanks for the lovely tea caosters an dteh birthday gifts! LOve them all!

Usha, thanks again, for organising the exchange!

A CUP too expensive

Usually, on Saturdays, after Aiman's classes, we would eat at KOPITIAM. Aiman loves the Kuay Teow Goreng there and the soya bean drink without ice. I like the Cantonese Fried Kuay Teow mixed with Bee Hoon. But, yesterday, my hubby said why don't we try something different once in a while. So, we decided to try out this new restaurant that opened about 2 months ago, located across from Bangsar Village called CHAWAN. It's at the old Devi's Corner.

I ordered the all day dining Pulut Kuning with Chicken Rendang. Not too bad, but the plate was so small, and it kept swinging left and right each time I want to cut up the chicken.

My hubby ordered the Nasi Dagang, which he said was just passable. He had tested better nasi dagang. Of course, my mum's nasi dagang would be the best! *smile*

Aiman order Hainanese Chicken Chop, which was a very big helping, but he did not quite finsih it. He did not like the sauce much, and neither did it look tempting enough for me to want to try it either.

The bill came out to RM53.60. That is quite steep for a place that does not look the least bit exclusive, except for the way the name of the restaurant was spelt - the old fashion way - CHAWAN, instead of CAWAN, meaning CUP. The food wasn't that great. At least, the ones we ordered weren't.

Will we be going there again for lunch? Maybe not...... maybe not so soon.......

A special request

My son has been asking me to make Nasi Lemak for breakfast for quite some time, but I have been so busy, I just couldn’t find the time to prepare the sambal.

My son said that my Nasi Lemak is the best! Pak Chu’s (my hubby’s youngest brother) nasi lemak is the second best, and he has a Nasi Lemak business, selling at one of the stalls in IKANO Power Center.

When my son said that my nasi lemak is the best, how can I refuse making it for breakfast, right? *wink* So, today, that was what we had for breakfast.

It’s been a very long time since I made nasi lemak. In fact, I think, since we stopped having a maid, because it takes a lot of time and preparation to make the sambal, the rice, and the sayur kangkong goreng. My hubby and I do not like nasi lemak much without the sayur kangkong. We simply love veggies!

My preparation started since yesterday with the making of the sambal first. I cooked the rice and the rest of the condiments this morning, and my hubby and son totally enjoyed it. It was worth the time and effort put into making the nasi lemak.

Thanks for appreciating my cooking, dear hubby and Aiman!

Beckham, sexy? Hmmm.....

Even if he is the last man on earth, I still wouldn't find him sexy. *grin*

Yeah, Beckham's lastest advert wearing the Emporio Armani underwear got many women excited, so it was reported. I am not, however, one of those women.

I think Beckham is just a lot of hype over nothing, or, as some would put it, "much ado about nothing". I was told that he's not even that good at playing football, but yet many has made him a football legend. I must congratulate his publicist for doing such a great job of making things look great, even when they are not.

Brad Pitt? NOW that is what I call a sexy man! LOL! *wink* Shhhhhh...don't let my hubby hear me say that! LOL! *wink* Brad's cute too! But, err....I don't find Angelina Jolie sexy, though many men will disagree with me. Must be her pouting lips. *grin* Men love those. Maybe I should start pouting my lips too? LOL! *blush*

In Malaysia, I think Ziana Zain is sexy, even when she is fully clothed, but, before my readers get any funny ideas, I don't find Ziana Zain sexy in the way men finds her sexy. *grin* We women appreciates beauty, and find nothing wrong to admit it when we see other beautiful or sexy women, unlike men, who are too macho and egoist to admit that another man is sexy or handsome. *grin*

Some women find Ziana Zain's brother, Anuar Zain, sexy. He is supposedly the guy that every woman in Malaysia wants. Some have labeled him as "Lelaki Idaman Malaya" - the man Malaysia wants!

I think he's cute, and, oh! I love his songs! All of them! Expecially LELAKI INI and KETULUSAN HATI. I can listen to both songs over and over again without ever feeling bored! I wish the radio stations would play more of his other songs too. He's been kind of quiet lately.

Erra Fazira is one women who I think is very beautiful, although her private life hasn't been all that beautiful. I felt sad the day she and Yusry announced that they are finally going their separate ways. They make such a lovely couple. I blogged about it, I think.

I even find her and Hans Isaac to also be a lovely couple, but it was never fated for them to be together. But, I hope that her marriage to Engku Imran will last a lifetime blessed with many children. They make such a beautiful couple.

BTW, I think Hans Isaac is cute too! LOL! *wink*

I think Siti Nurhaliza to be one very lucky women blessed with so many good things - looks, talent and wealth, although I find her marriage to Datuk K a little bit of a disappointment, because it kind of spoilt her squeaky clean image which she so protected, when she married a married man 19 years her senior! Well, OK, so he was already divorced, or, was in the process of going through a divorce when they got married. So what, he was married before, and it does not suit her squeaky clean image that she worked hard to put up all these years.

Shh......although I never told my hubby this, but, I find my hubby adorable and as I picture him in my head, it always puts a smile on my face as I think of him as I go about doing my work! *wink* It makes me just want to come home for a cuddly hug! *wink*blush*

Credits -
Photo of Erra Fazira was taken from Mangga Online
Photos of Ziana Zain and Anuar Zain were taken from Anuar Zain's official Website.
David Beckham's photo was taken from http://www.beckham-magazine.com/

A boring life?

OK, so my mum `complains' that all I write here, well, most of the time, are on my hobbies, my passion for my crafts. Err....can I help it if it is something that I am so passionate about? LOL! *grin*

Well, for one thing, I can't write and won't write much about the politics of the country since I don't want to get myself into trouble for saying the wrong things because I am a servant of the government of the day.

I will, however, post certain opinions on certain 'political issues' if I feel that it really gets to me and I need to get it off my chest. But, for now, I will just let the `current issues' 'plaguing' our country pass.

I do, however, find this article written by Zainul Arifin titled "A Charade that shows up in our political naivety" in the New Straits Times on Wednesday, 2nd July 2008, interesting.

He akins the current issues like being under a circus' big top. Hmmm......

I am not going to go into depth of what he wrote, but I do hope that our politicians would stop bickering with each other and just get on with the job of running the country. It's been more than 100 days since the election, and them being our representatives to voice out our grieviences and look into our needs should do just that - to 'fight' for what is best for us, and not what is best for them.

I quote a paragraph from Ainul's article that said,
"Politicians need to be careful. If they keep this up, they could be found to be irrelevant. People might soon wise up and see that the country is actually being kept together by civil servants".

That should make all civil servants proud to be a servant of the government! *wink*

Anyway, back to my `boring life', LOL! *wink* I wish I could blog about my travels, but I don't have time to travel for leisure. Most of my travels are for work. It would be nice if I could travel to interesting places like what my sister-in-law in the United States is currently doing. You can read it at her blog at http://www.photoblog.com/elinordin. Some people are so lucky! *wink*

My work is too hectic with very little time for leisure. Whatever 'leisure' time I have is spent at home doing household chores. When you have to do household chores, that is not considered as leisure time, right? LOL!

I have no maid to help me, though a weekly maid comes in for four hours on Sunday mornings to vacuum, sweep and mop the floor, and clean the bathrooms. If I feel a little bit more relaxed, I would do some crafting to release stress as my job gets more and more stressful.

Saturdays are spent taking my son out to his activity classes, and then, it's family time for the three of us. I enjoy these precious outings, but it's not interesting enough to blog, as all we do is go out to shopping complexes to shop necessities and eat. I am not a 'shop till you drop' kind of person, although I do spend quite a lot on craft stash. LOL! *wink*

Hmmmm.....neither is my life interesting enough *wink* to appear as a compere on CNN like my sister working in Renaissance Kota Bharu is doing. BTW, congrats, sis!

My sister, she's pretty, so I guess she's got the looks to do that kind of job. Me? I am just plain Jane. *grin* I get recognized for the things that I am capable of doing AFTER the job is done well. But, both my sisters, on the other hand, are pretty, who tends to make heads turn when they are around, and gets the job first because of their looks, and then, it's a try-out to see if they can do the job. So, OK, usually they do get the job done well. You see, we siblings are such talented people! *wink*

Am I sulking? LOL! No, not really. Noticed that I am laughing? *grin* I know my capabilities, and I know what I can and cannot do, and to be recognised for a job well done on many occassions that has surprised many, makes me feel good about myself, although I don't let it go to my head. My feet is still firmly on the ground. *smile* Must be my upbringing. My parents has brought us up well. Thanks, Ma!

You know, actually, I do have a lot I want to write about. I have a lot of things I want to say, and it is not just about my crafts. I have a lot of opinion on everyday life. I do want to put them down in words, but, my free time is so limited, and I am usually so stressed out coming back from work, and then there is the dinner to get ready, and my son's school things to look into. By 10.00pm, my eyes are almost closed! LOL!

To write, I need to be in the right frame of mind, or, it must be something that I need to get it off my chest. I used to be able to blog during lunch time in the office, if I am not rushing to go for another meeting in the afternoon, but, of late, I seem to be constantly in a panic mode, because I am now doing project management, and I have to be on top of things all the time.

My reporting must never be in the red that indicates that my project is late. I need to constantly update my report and monitor to ensure that the projects are running smoothly. I find myself breathless at times, when I cannot get the officer in charge to explain to me why the project is late, and my boss is breathing down my neck to get the report out.

Oohh! It's a challenging life, but, heheh..not interesting enough to blog about, or is it? LOL! *wink* Maybe I should blog about it? If I do blog about it, at least I can get it off my chest, right? LOL!

OK, it's late.....I need my `beauty sleep'. LOL! Yeah, right, like as if I will wake up feeling and looking like a Miss World tommorow morning! LOL! *wink* But, one day, I hope that I will wake up, and feel like I am at the top of the world! *wink*

ERA.fm's doing or undoing?

First they split up the much fun KnK pair, then they paired Kieran with AC Mizal and Hani, which I was beginning to enjoy before Hani decided to call it quits.

They went on a `womenhunt' to look for Hani's replacement, which, eventually, they found her in Aimee, but she never replaced Hani in the morning slot, but was hopping from time slot to time slot.

Now they have paired Kieran with Adi and Nana, which, at times, I find boring, especially when Kieran goes on leave, despite all the many prizes they give away each day.

The only reason why I stay on to listen to ERA.fm in the morning now is because of Kieran. He keeps me entertained as I drive through traffic each morning, and keeps me awake as I get sleepy from lack of sleep the night before.

I find Nana without much creativity, and Adi, though I find him cute *wink*, he has failed to get me to interested to listen to him babble each morning. Whenever Kieran goes on leave, I will either switch on to XFresh.fm or Light & Easy at 105.7.

Kieran's contract ends in October, so I read somewhere, and he has yet to indicate if he wants to remain at ERA.fm. If he leaves ERA.fm, then ERA.fm will lose one listener in me in the morning.

Just as I enjoy my drive to work each morning listening to KnK then, and now Kieran alone, I also enjoy my drive home in the evening as I listen to Linda Onn. I especially like the 6.00pm slot, as that is the time when I would most probbaly be driving home, as callers call in to tell what they like or do not like to hear in "Kuasa Dua - Apa yang sedap dan tak sedap di dengar". But, as of last week, ERA.fm has switched Linda Onn's 4.00pm to 8.00pm time slots with Reza and Aimee's 1.00pm to 4.00pm time slot.

As much as I like Reza, I prefer that he stays in his original time slot. I prefer to listen to Linda Onn's "Itu Ini" on my journey home, rather than Reza and Aimee's story telling time. I find it boring.

Though no offence to Aimee, but I have yet to get used to her, and her taking over Linda Onn's time slot is not making me start to like her at all, though I know that it is not her decision, but the management's decision.

What exactly is ERA.fm trying to do? Swing Linda Onn's listeners to 1.00pm? I don't listen to the radio when I am at work, so definitely I won't be swinging over to listen the radio at 1.00pm just because I enjoy listening to Linda Onn.

As of end of last week, when I finally realised that Reza and Aimee is here to stay at the 4.00pm to 8.00pm time slot, I have started listening to Light & Easy already on my drive home, and so, ERA.fm has lost another listener in me in the 4.00pm time slot. Maybe they don't care since it's only me, and I am only one person, but, what if there are many more like me who is just not in favour of listening to Reza and Aimee during their drive home?

I think ERA.fm, in their efforts to remain number ONE, has made many changes to keep the listeners entertained, but, by making too many changes, they have upset some of us, loyal listeners, who prefer things just the way they were.

They might have gained some new listeners with their new format, but, they might just also be losing many more listeners who have stuck with them all this while.

In my opinion, breaking up KnK was their greatest undoing, and now, shifting Linda Onn's slot might just be their second greatest undoing. Didn't the survey say that their number of listeners have dropped from 6.7 million to 4.5 million recently, despite still being NUMBER ONE?

A very slow progress

I can't seem to move fast enough with this Mandala Garden piece I am currently doing. It's a big piece, and even though I have put in a lot of stitches, I can't see much progress on the piece.

There are also many nights lately that I do not pick up the piece to work on it at all. I have been coming home terribly exhausted lately, mentally and physically. As much as I try to keep my eyes open, I find myself dozing off in front of the TV on many nights.

There are some nights when my hubby is out at the gym, I will try to stay up so that I can put in just a few stitches, just to make some tiny progress, but, I end up staring at the wall in front of me. It's just one of those times when things are simply hectic at work.

I look forward to the weekends when I can relax a bit, and catch up on some household chores, and spend more quality time with my hubby and son, going out just the three of us. I treasure these times, because they are becoming more and more precious as hubby and I get more and more busy with our careers.

Another piece I am working on is the LHN Chocolate Shoppe, which is my take-along project as it travels with me whenever I have to go outstation. However, I didn't progress much on this piece either as the lighting in some hotels rooms are simply not condusive for stitching. But, I bring my stitching along anyway, just in case.

The photo does not do justice to the piece. The fabric, overdyed opalescent in a mocha kind of colour, is really nice, but, for some reason, I can't seem to take a good photo of the piece despite using my new LUMIX camera. Maybe I am not taking the photo correctly, but, I am using the auto shot, so it should turn out right. *sigh* Must get to know my camera better.

On another craft note, here is the progress on my niece's purple bag which I must complete it by her birthday in August. Oopps! That's another month or so!

I didn't think it is going to take me a long time to work on this piece, as it took me only two days to make the pouch for her mum, but, this bag is definitely much bigger, so, it does take longer. Plus, I have not worked on this piece either for some time, except for yesterday when I brought it along with me as I waited for my son to finish his animation class.

Looks like it's going to be a slow progress on all my pieces! *sigh* I need a break from work! *grin*

It's finally handed over!

After four years of being involved in this project from conception of idea to designing of the building to construction, and going up and down to Kuala Terengganu every two weeks on Sundays for the past 18 months, we finally handed over the building to the client department on Thursday, 26th June 2008. It was a very simple handing over ceremony, and, though I am glad that the building is finally completed, I feel sad, as this project has been a part of my everyday life for the past four years.

I have learnt a lot from this project. This project has made me wiser and more matured in my thinking and problem solving. This project has many times challenged my management capabilities to the limits, and though there were many times that I felt frustrated with the way things are going in the process of solving technical problems to ensure that the project gets built the way it was designed to be, it's been a very good learning experience which I hope will come in handy as I move forward in my career.

I came back from Kuala Terengganu with a bruised thigh and knee and a cut. While doing my inspection rounds the night before the handing over, I slipped and almsot fell into the monsoon drain which was about 6 feet deep, but managed to grabbed the grass next to the drain to break my fall, before my friend caught on to me.

I had one leg up at the opening of the drain and one leg dangling in the drain. Can you imagine the sight? It was funny when I think about it later, but it wasn't funny when I was trying hard not to fall 6 feet down, hanging on tightly to the short bit of grass.

I think had the grass not been there (it was just recently planted), I would have had nothing to hang on to to break my fall.

I have been making my rounds at this project site for the last 1 1/2 years, and I am glad that I had never had any accidents while doing my work. I have climbed up to the peak of the roof, and I have gone down to the basement of the building when it was filled up with steel and conrete, but yet, just as we were about to hand over the project to the client department the next day, I just had to fall into the completed drain the night before! LOL!

I will still be making trips to Kuala Terengganu, though not as often, as there is still the defects period, to ensure that everything architecturally that still has to be done, are done correctly, right up until the end of the defects liability period.

So, if anyone of you goes to Kuala Terengganu, do take time to look around at this building. Approach the building at night from the front, because that is when the building looks its best. *smile*

Tea for six!

We had a Tea Coaster Exchange at NNC recently, organised by Usha, and I am to send to Anna, while Jess is to send to me.

I took the opportunity to personally hand over the tea coasters to Anna when I met her at the Stitching Bee recently. It saves me the worry and anxiety of waiting for the tea coasters to arrive safely to her, if I were to send my mail. It also saves me postal stamps too! *wink*

The tea coasters are to be made up in your partner's favourite colour, but you may make the tea coasters any way you like it, be it cross stitch, crochet, quilted, or otherwise, as long as they are handmade.

I decided to sew Anna the coasters as I think crocheting them will take me ages! LOL! I am glad that Anna likes blue, pink, peach and purple. It makes choosing the fabrics easy, and the fact that she likes pink too makes it even easier, since my favourite colour is also PINK!

So, here is my humble tea coaster in PINK! I hope Anna likes them, though I could not beat the lovely beaded crocheted tea coasters she made for Janet. My coasters to her are a little bit amaturish, but I had fun doing them up.

Thanks, Usha, for organising this exchange!

More presents and gifts!

On Saturday, 21st June, I received more birthday presents, when we met up for our second Stitching Bee for this year at Bangsar Village II.

Tini gave me a lovely fat quarter of butterfly cottons, an iron-on beading motif, and a PINK ball of yarns she bought during her recent trip to Jakarta. I can already see the cottons being made into a bag!

Usha gave me a lovely set of 6-piece coasters in PINK! I think it was a thank you gift for participating in the tea coaster exchange. Thank you so much, Usha, for the lovely coasters!

June gave me a piece of pastel green evenweave, and I think I might want to look for something similar to what Margaret is doing for her biscornu which she brought for the Stitching Bee. I think it's by Barbara Ana Designs.

I also bought some cottons from Tini, and I love how these cottons will look once they are made into a bag. Now all I need is to find the time to make them! That has always been something that plays hide and seek with me - the time to do all the crafts that I want to do. LOL!

Thank you, Janet, for the freezer paper. Thank you, June, Usha and Tini for the gifts.

BTW, below are the fat quarter packs I bought at SAKURA, and handmade birthday cards I made for June and Janet, whose birthday falls on 11th and 22nd June respectively. Happy birthday, gals!

Works in progress

Aahh! It's been a long time since I updated progress on my cross stitching. I have been so into crocheting that my cross stitching have somewhat taken a back seat. That is sad, since cross stitching is actually my very first love since my cradle days. But, you tend to get influenced by friends who are very creative, and while that is not actually a bad thing, it does distract you from what you have actually set yourself up to do! LOL!

Anyway, back to some progress report on the pieces that I am currently doing, here is the LHN piece which is only about a third done. I have not been working on it at all for the past 3 weeks, except for about 20 minutes last Saturday. I miss working on it, but I have promised my two nieces to make each of them something for ther birthdays, which coincidently are both in August. Oh my!

I promised something in PINK for Kuyana, and something in PURPLE for Kuyasmin. They both like the pouch I made for their mum, and would like me to make them something similar too in their favourite colour.

So, here is the purple (it looks kind of blue in the photo. Must get my camera checked) yarns for Kuyasmin's pouch. I will be using a combination of MINLON (offwhite) yarns and WINA ( dark and light purple) yarns.

I have not gotten the things for Kuyana's present yet. I want to give it more thought first before I start on it as Kuyana is going to be 15 years old this August. I want to try to make something that she can really make use of for a long time to come. That is, if I have lots of time to make it. If not, it's going to be another pouch like her mum's, but in PINK! *wink*

Here is a sneak peak of a work in progress of something I am making for someone who I am not telling yet who it is. Will keep you all posted once this is completed, mailed out and received.

Again I am using a combination of MINLON yarns and WINA yarns. The variegated one is MINLON, and though I expected it to fluff up a lot, I was able to work with it without having to pull my hair out too much! LOL! The grey one is WINA, while the pink one is also a MINLON, the same colour taht I am using to make my amigurumi cat.

On my Mandala Gardens, I have only worked on it a little bit more since the last WIP report, although I have reached the bottom part of the piece already. I only stitch on this at night after dinner is done, but I can't work on it for long as I am having problems with my multifocal lenses, despite changing the lenses for the second time. It's a slow progress, but complete it, I must!

BTW, here is the progress on the amigurumi cat I started some weeks back, but got sidetracked by the baby booties for Fatin. As you can see, there aren't much progress, although I did complete the body part, but I stopped when I was having problems doing the ears. I just could not get it right. I am not giving up on it totally, though, but just putting it aside while I work on the presents for my nieces.

It's my birthday!

Oh dear! It's that day of the year again that I get a year older! *grin* Yup, I turned..hmmmm......eerr..40 something *grin* on Sunday, June 8.

My birthday celebration started out early this year with the arrival of an early birthday present from my mystery birthday exchange partner, Janet, for the Birthday Exchange organised by BJ at NNC.

It arrived on Thursday, 5th June, but I was on medical leave that day due to a flu. When I got into the office my Friday morning, my assistant put a box on my table, and, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the parcel was for. I was wondering if I had ordered something online, but forgotten about it (can you imagine me forgetting something I ordered online? LOL! *wink*) but, when I saw Janet's name on the box, I wondered why she had sent me a parcel. Only when I opened the box to see a red box tied with red ribbons did it finally dawn on me that Janet was my mystery birthday exchange partner! LOL!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Janet!

Eat your heart out, people, as these are what I got from Janet *grin* -

1. A handmade birthday card
2. A crocheted cupcake pincushion
3. An embroidered purse mirror
4. A ball of PINK Nona brand yarn
5. A length of ribbons in 3 colours
6. A perfumed candle in PINK!
7. Four sachets of Twining Tea
7. A green variegated DMC floss, and best of all,
8 A very lovely reversible tea cosy

Thank you so much, Janet, for everything and making it a good start to my day that day, after spending the day before that down with the flu!

I had another surprise on Saturday when my sister, Lin, had a surprise birthday party for me! *blush*

I had dropped by her house to see my mum, who was in town, and also to visit my nieces and nephews who are here for the school holidays. Little did I expect a birthday party, even when my brother arrived with his family, as I just thought that since our mum is around, it's a good time for a family gathering! LOL! Duh *grin*

Well, I suppose, my not knowing and suspecting anything made it an even sweeter surprise birthday party! Thanks, Lin, for organising everything. It was fun, and thank you so much for the lovely, and very expensive birthday present! My sister gave me a BRAUN BUFFEL photo frame!

My mum gave me a lovely birthday card with a very lovely poem written by Donna Fargo. I initially thought that my mum had written the poem as the font used to print the poem was almost similar to my mum's lovely handwriting, and I know that my mum can also write nice poems, and is good with her words.

My mum also gave me a tea set for two in, what else, but my favourite colour, PINK! Thanks, Ma! Hugs!

Looks like I am having tea just with my mum, or just my hubby, since there are only two cups! *wink* You think I should get 4 more pieecs each of the cups and saucers?

I had another surprise when my brother handed me a lovely birthday card, specially handmade by him! I did not even know that this brother my mine is actually very creative! LOL! Must be in the blood! Well, don't blame me, dear brother, because you have never actually shown the creative side of yourself, in hardcopy, that is. I know that you are very creative and talented when it comes to designing webpages! That, I salute you!

Thank you, Ayis, for the time taken to design the card! Thank you to Sufia too!

The next day, on the actual date of my birthday, as we were having breakfast, my brother called me to wish me HAPPY BIRTHDAY all the way from the United States! I couldn't believe it! Thank you, Nik Ai!

As we had trouble hearing each other, we decided to go online and chat. We spent, I think, close to 30 minutes chatting online, with my son, most of the time, showing off his bionicles to his cousins through the webcam.

It was lovely hearing my brother, my SIL's and my niece's and nephew's voices again, after so long. My niece and nephew now speaks english with an american slang. I remember the time when I came home after spending two years in the States when my dad was doing is Masters, also with the same slang, not knowing how to speak a single malay word, even though I could still understood the language. There we were, my grandma talking to me in kelantanese malay, and me, responding in american english, and my grandma knows not a single english word at all! LOL!

My sister from Kota Bahru also called to wish me HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My son made me a birthday card using microsoft word, and he also gave me a cute store bought bithday card. My hubby gave me a very sweet and lovely birthday card. Thank you 'Dia' and Aiman!

My hubby also took me out for a late tea cum early dinner at the Dome before he was to fly off to Japan for work.

I ordered my favourite Chicken and Mushroom Pastry Soup, though I think the pastry have gotten thinner, but the soup was still thick and yummy. My hubby ordered Lot Burger, though he initially wanted the Beef Pastry Soup, but they were out of it. My son, as usual, ordered the Fish and Chips.

Thank you, everyone, for all the birthday wishes, lovely cards and presents! Love you all!

A birthday tote bag for BJ

I completed this bag for BJ for her birthday more than two months ago, but when it came to the actual day to mail it out for it to arrive on time for her birthday, I suddenly find myself too busy to sit down and make a birthday card to go with it.

As I do crafting only on weekends, each weekend prior to May 7 (BJ's birthday), I would plan to sit down and make a card, but weekends passed one after another, without any opportunity for me to take some time to really sit down and get creative. Things unexpectedly just simply seem to crop up at every weekend, until June came.

Oh! Oh! I am going to be ONE MONTH LATE on this one! *grin*

But, finally an opportunity came last Monday, 2nd June, when I had to take emergency leave as my hubby had a bad case of diarrhoea. I needed to stay home to make sure that his diarrhoea was not getting any more serious, and also to prepare lunch for my son and hubby, who was too weak to take care of himself, what more our son.

With my hubby settled in after a visit to the clinic, and my son happily playing games on his computer, I decided to take the opportunity to make the much elusive birthday card. LOL! I suddenly felt creative! *grin*

The birthady present finally made it's way on Tuesday by registered mail. I meant for it to be a surprise for BJ, but, since I wasn't sure if the address of BJ is still valid, I had to call her to confirm it, as I did not want to disturb Margaret, our address keeper, as she is busy with her mum who is sick, and her brother who is back from London. *grin*

So, BJ was kinda expecting the package, though she did not know what was coming her way. So, there was still some element of surprise for her. I doubt it that she was expecting me to send her a tote bag, or did she? *wink*

Anyway, it arrived safely to BJ on Thursday, and here it is.

Both sides of the bag is different. The bag, as those who have received bags from me will know, are reversible, though I forgot to take photos of the inside of the bag. Maybe BJ can help me take photos of it later when her PC is up and running again. She told me that her PC got struck by lightning during one of the thunderstorms last week.

Here is the ever 'elusive' card that got postphoned over several weekends to be done! LOL! I tried to match the colours to the bag as close as I can, just to make the card look more significant. Did BJ notice that? *wink*

Anyway, HAPPY VERY VERY BELATED BIRTHDAY, BJ!