Maid Issues... Again

One of my dreaded worries finally came true a couple of days ago. My maid told us that she doesn't want to renew her contract to continue working for us when her contract expires in December. She said she wants to start a small business back home. This means that hubby has to spend a few thousand ringgit on the agency fee to hire a new maid. I called up the maid agency yesterday and was told that the total amount for hiring a new maid will be a whopping RM6,200 upfront! Breakdown - agency fee around RM3,500 and 5 months advance salary @ RM450 per month. Wow, that's a lot of money and hubby would have to pay thru his nose like that man. Also, the thought of getting a new maid and training her from scratch makes me shudder and gives me sleepless nights.

I've had pretty bad experiences with my previous 3 maids - the 1st maid poured urine and charm water into my drinking water, which I drank. The 2nd and 3rd maids (I had 2 maids when i was still working) brought their boyfriends back to my house in the wee hours of the morning and stole my sil's and hubby's handphone. My current maid is by far the best. She is very smart, educated and picks things up very fast. When she goes back to Indon, I will have to start all over again to train the new maid by waking up at 5:30am to show her how to do the household chores and teach her the basics of cooking, caring for toddlers, showing her the dos and don't's etc. That's really very time consuming coz for the first few days, I actually have to do the chores myself and cook myself to show her. I don't think I'll even have time to blog then. I'm praying that my upcoming maid will have good attitude and easily trainable, else I'm really going to be really stressed up again.

Home-made Beef Burger

This is what I did with the minced beef that hubby bought from Jusco several days ago. After my huge success with chicken nuggets, I decided to make beef burger and the result was very GOOD! This was also after countless number of failed attempts in making my own beef burger. Each time, they were either too rough or turned out to have lots of veins, thus making it hard for us to chew and swallow.

The type of beef used to make the burger plays an important role too. Hubby had bought good quality Australian beef and the texture of the beef burger this time was very smooth and very tasty. The recipe is exactly the same as the recipe for chicken nuggets.



The darker colour ones are beef burgers and the ones inside are chicken nuggets. Yes, I made a batch of beef burger and another batch of chicken nuggets and everyone loved them, especially Sherilyn, my herbivore. Even my fussy food critic hubby did not complain!

Balloons, Party Whistles and Confetti

I've mentioned before that my hubby will do anything or buy anything that his 2 princesses command for. Several days ago as hubby was about to leave the house for his office in the morning, the gals wanted his attention and started to act up. So daddy promised them that he would buy them balloons (the long ones like sausages as the gals specifically ordered). Later in the evening, I thought the gals would forget about daddy's promise, afterall it was just another empty promise to subdue them but boy was I wrong. The gals kept mentioning about it the whole day. Daddy kept his promise. Not only did he buy sausage-shaped balloons, he also bought a packet of party whistles and a can of party strings/confetti. To me, they are a waste of money but to daddy, it's his way of showing his love to his 2 princesses.



Daddy inflating the balloons with a pump.


Daddy even mastered the skill of shaping and twisting the balloons into animals from the clowns at the hotels that we normally patronize.


The gals happily blowing the party whistles whilst daddy was trying to amuse them with the can of confetti.

I Love The Smell Of Your Arm

Several nights ago, I was reading some flash cards to Alycia. These are alphabet flash cards with pictures on one side and the description of the object with a list of questions and answers on the flip side. When I came to the letter 'N' for nose, I asked Alycia what are some of the smells she likes and as she buried her little nose onto my arm and hugged it at the same time, she said "uummm..... I like the smell of your arm because it smells nice". My heart melted!

Tag : Tagging Threes

Another fun and not too difficult meme for me from this really hip and cool belly-dancing mummy of 2 beautiful kids.

Three things that scare me
1) Cockroaches 2) News of rape, murder, robberies and crimes 3) Getting inside the lift alone - that's becoz I was trapped alone in a lift for 1/2 hr in pitch black darkness 2 years ago at my office building

Three people who make me laugh
1) Alycia 2) Sherilyn 3) My hubby

Three things I love
1) Blogging 2) Shopping 3) Vacations

Three things I hate
1) Cleaning up vomit 2) My daughters falling ill 3) Quarrels or misunderstandings with my loved ones.

Three things I don’t understand
1) Why some people don't want a religion 2) Why some people would back-stab and go all out doing stupid things just to get what they want 3) Why the rich becomes richer and the poor remains poor, most of the time

Three things on my desk
1) Table clock 2) Dictionary 3) Telephone

Three things I am doing right now
1) Doing this tag 2) Talking and smiling to Sherilyn 3) Thinking of getting something to munch on

Three things I want to do before I die
1) Ensure my 2 gals are well taken care of 2) Travel to my favorite countries 3) Eat all the sinful and fattening food that i love but have always restrained myself from eating them like chocolates, nyonya kuih, nasi lemak, coconut candies, etc.

Three things I can do
1) Type real fast 2) Cook a real good meal if I put my heart into it 3) Take Shorthand real fast

Three things I can’t do
1) Play chess (and would really love to learn it one day) 2) Gamble 3) Smoke or drink

Three things I think you should listen to
1) Parents' advice 2) Your guts feelings / intuition 3) Your children talking to you all the time (hard sometimes but important)

Three things you should never listen to
1) People bragging about how much and what they have, which reflects what you don't have 2) Gossips 3) Hatred words / condemnation from someone on someone else

Three shows I watched as a kid
1) Incredible Hulk 2) America's Greatest Hero 3) MacGuyver

Three people I am tagging :
1) Shern's Mom
2) Lovely Mummy
3) Mummy to Chumsy

Big Mess Caused By Miss Itchy Fingers

Just a moment ago, I left Alycia to decorate the balloons that daddy inflated and shaped them into animals for Alycia and Sherilyn yesterday. I gave her a magic color pencil and taught her to do some drawings on the balloon. As expected, she also decorated all her fingers with the magic color. Whilst I was busy wiping off the stains from her fingers with some wet tissues, Miss Itchy Fingers Sherilyn opened the drawer which I had forgotten to lock when I took out the wet tissue (I keep wet tissues, baby powder and baby lotion in this drawer). She then fished out the bottle of baby powder which she had set her eyes on it for a long long time and itching to play with it each time I opened the drawer.... twisted the cap and began pouring out the powder everywhere.

When I went inside the dining area from the kitchen, I saw the floor, drawer and Sherilyn's arms and clothes covered with baby powder.... Miss Itchy Fingers had poured out almost half the bottle of baby powder and messed up the dining area. Great, it's always like this..... whenever i'm busy with Alycia, Miss Itchy Fingers will surely be up to mischief and give me big surprises. I of course was very mad with Sherilyn but at the same time couldn't help laughing to myself as she looked so comical covered with white powder all over. I should have taken a pic of her powder-covered hands. My lil' brat never fails to amuse me with her antics. Life for me is certainly never a dull moment with my 2 gals.

You're A Crazy Woman and A Fatty Bom Bom

Yesterday was a Friday and being a pasar malam day at our housing estate, hubby bought me my favorite fruit, durian again. Oh how I love durian. I can eat them for a few days straight without getting sick of them, apart from getting a buldge in my tummy. So when he brought home the durians in the evening, I quickly opened the styrofoam lunch boxes and gobbled down a few seeds of durian. When Alycia saw me eating...

Alycia : Mummy, why are you eating durian? It's dinner time already.

I just gave Alycia a smile and continued guzzling my durians.

Alycia : Mummy, it's dinner time already, why are you eating so much durian.......hey, you are a crazy woman, really crazy and a fatty bom bom too.

I was shocked to hear Alycia say that to me. She must have picked this up from me when I said those words in the past.

Moral of the story is watch your words when your kids are around you. They are absorbing everything they hear like a dry thick sponge and will spill out those words at a time when you least expect them to.

Sherilyn's Feeding Problem

I wish I knew what's wrong with Sherilyn. She used to love milk and can down a bottle of 7oz milk in a matter of minutes but for the past few days, she would spend close to an hour to gulp it down. She's not teething or anything coz when i asked her if her teeth or gums hurt, she said no. She would spend around 15 mins just to drink half the amount of milk from the bottle and then spends the next half hour biting the teat or shaking the bottle, messing up herself and the place. Each time, I end up pouring out the milk in a cup for her to drink. I thought she wants to wean herself off the bottle but no, she still insists she wants to drink from the bottle.

Apart from this milk problem, Sherilyn still spits her meat and food during mealtimes. I have to resort to putting the cane on the dining table to threaten her to stop spitting and sadly, it works. Her plate and bib are almost clean at the end of each meal now, thanks to the cane. This fussy pot is driving me bonkers!

Minced Beef

A few days ago, I asked hubby to get me a packet of Jusco selection premium beef burger when he went to Jaya Jusco to shop for his catering stuff. This beef burger produced by Jusco is MSG and preservative free and costs around RM2 per piece. However, hubby didn't want me or the gals to be eating processed meat, so he bought a pack of premium Australian minced beef. Want to know what I did with the minced beef? Wait for the pix ok? Coming soon......

Home-made Chicken Nuggets

After more than 5 failed attempts, I finally succeeded in making my own chicken nuggets. And they taste really good, as good as the ones from MacD or KFC, minus all the food additives and recycled oil.

Here's the recipe that I've created (makes about 20 pieces) :

Chicken breast, blended
1 tbs wholemeal flour
1 tbs corn flour
2 eggs
Dash of pepper and salt

Mixed everything well in a big bowl, scoop out and fry them in a non-stick pan, spoon by spoon.





Even Miss Spity Spat Sherilyn ate the chicken nuggets.

Faster Than CNN

Grabbing paid posts is not easy as most bloggers would somehow know whenever the advertisers release them at different hours of the day. I've sort of made a 'pact' with 2 mommies where we alert each other through SMS whenver we see offers released by any advertisers. Today, I managed to grab one offer, thanks to this mummy who sent me an SMS. She is always so quick to see offers coming and also quick in notifying me like CNN.

Good Night's Sleep

I had a real good night's sleep last night. I hit the sack at 11ish pm, slept through the night and woke up at 6am feeling so fresh and without the 'floating feeling'. This morning, I wasted some time fixing a rejected post by this Tiga P coz they said tag cannot be used as filler post wor, what rubbish and excuse, really double standard. I'm going out to jog now and when I return, I have to start work on my 7 outstanding assignments.

Mom to Chumsy, SR replied my ticket. They said ppl from some countries are unable to gain access to the 2 websites. So i guess i hv to work on whatever info i have and do some google search on this product to complete the review.

Tiga P

Tiga P ini sangat teruk dan 'l c l y'. Entah kenapa mereka practise double and triple standard. Pagi ni, mereka tendang satu post I, kata tak ada non-paid filler post di tengah. Tak tau apa karut mereka ni kerana filler post yang I guna ialah satu post on 'Tag'. Alamak, guna post on 'tag' pun tak boleh. Kawan saya guna gambar scrap pun kena tendang. I nampak ramai blogger pun tak guna non-paid filler post tapi pun tak ada problem. Really buang masa nak fix post I dan resubmit, as if I tak ada kerja. I rasa nak boycott Tiga P ni.

A Fruitful Day

Despite the hiccup in submitting my post to the advertiser, I must say today has been a fruitful day as I'd received 4 offers from this advertiser. I have another 7 outstanding reviews to complete but I've had enough of typing today. Must spend some time with Alycia and Sherilyn and also spend some devotion time to Him above. Tonight, I'm not going to wake up at crazy hours to check offers. I'm going to bed early and wake up early to start another crazy day completing my assignments. If I've not visited your blog yet, wait ar, I'll come soon.

Almost gone crazy!

Today, I'd received a few offers from my favourite advertiser. When I'd completed the last post and tried submitting it, I kept receiving a message stating that the hyperlink is not in my post. I spent more than an hour checking and checking my post over and over again till I went berserk and almost crazy. I then called Mommy To Chumsy to ask her for advice as she had faced a similar problem a few days ago but that did not manage to solve my problem. I then sent an email to the advertiser and within an hour, this person by the name of Gail managed to solve my problem. The hyperlink provided by the advertiser had an extra slash (/), thus my problem in submitting the post. I must thank Gail for her prompt reply to my email and for her efficiency. That's why I like this advertiser so much. They are prompt in their reply to my emails and prompt in payment too. Best of all, today this advertiser approved all my pending posts, almost 20 of them. Woohoo... this means I will receive payment soon!!

Daddy's Back!

Each night when the gals hear daddy's car engine running outside and the sound of the gate being opened when daddy is back, the gals will get very excited. They will then push their Lego box to the window and both of them will scramble to climb on it to take a peek outside as they shout "daddy's back, daddy's back!" Daddy will then quickly come upstairs quietly and surprise them with a peekaboo and then play or read to them.

Transfer Blog To Own Domain

For weeks, I've been thinking of transferring my blog to my own domain. If I have my own domain, for one, the website is mine and does not belong to anyone else so, I have no worries that my blog will be deleted or get blocked by my current host, Blogger. Two, I can receive more offers as some advertisers only accept bloggers hosting their own domain.

My problem is I don't know which host to choose, local or US and I just don't have the time to do the migration work myself. As it is now, I am already working on all cylinders and at full steam, lacking sleep and everything. So if I were to try doing the migration thing myself, I think I won't even have time to eat and sleep and have a life. Maybe it's a very easy task but I am totally not techno savant.

If only I can pay someone to do everything for me from A through Z. Yep, this is an offer to you guys out there. Anyone wants to take up my offer to help me transfer to my own domain? But don't ask for too much lar, I'm only a SAHM mah.

Offers Again

My favorite advertiser is slowly releasing offers again. They have not been releasing any offers for a week already due to some changes they are making in their organization. They have started releasing offers again in small spurts for the last few days. Though some are repeats but at least, something is better than none. I miss writing for this advertiser and they are by far the best advertiser I've worked for. I hope to get more offers from them. Mom to Chumsy and Chin Nee.... let's get started again :D

Power Nap

Lately, I've not been getting sufficient shut-eye. I'd wake up at ungodly hours in the morning to check for offers and still wake up by 6am to complete my assignments and then to work out. It's quite impossible for me to do my assignments during the day with my 2 gals constantly whining and buzzing in my ears, seeking my attention. Normally by 11am, I'd get really sleepy and lethargic. So now, when my gals nap in the afternoon, I'll try to get a quick forty winks too, just 15 minutes would do wonders and I feel so recharged and energized after the power nap. My mood is also instantly lifted up after the power nap and I get to accomplish more.

Sherilyn's Blue-black Cheek

That was how Sherilyn's cheek looked last night, 1 week after she knocked her cheek against a wall when she was jumping on the couch at home. The blue-black mark has faded a tad bit and it's now greenish-greyish in colour. That cheeky monkey is still undeterred by the incident and is still climbing and jumping up and down everywhere.