Clean As U Go..

Since we r now officially maidless... i decided we really need to use the Clean As U Go concept... this way... things wont pile up... which will make me nagging less... =)

1. Keep sink dishes-free
- wash dishes as soon as it landed in the sink...

2. Keep kitchen oil-free
- wipe or mop kitchen once use...

3. Keep house clean before going out
- put toys in the toys basket...
- definitely a good feeling coming home to a clear clean house...


More articles at:
~ zenhabits.net - keeping-stress-free-clean-house
~ serenejourney.com - 7-tips-for-cleaning-your-kitchen-as-you-go

DS at Nursery : Day 2

Hari ni DS sangat aktif... pening kepala Mummy... nasib la ada banyak lorry...

He have this thing with lorries... i have no idea why... n along the one hour journey... there's a lot of them... "loli ampah"... "loli esyar"... "loli ayar"... "loli car"... "tekto"... "ken".... this is all DS version of saying lori sampah, lori besar, tayar lori, lori bawa car, traktor, kren... =)

as we reached at the nursery... he said... "anak anak".. which means tak nak... ku tunjuk dia his friends... baru la nak turun kereta... time tu pulak hujan... haila... lagi la susah... Teacher amik je dia.. dia meraung punya la kuat...

Sampai je office... called taska.. dia dah okay.. sucking his thumb, baring with the napkin...

Petang tu amik dia... he was playing kat playground with his friends... gelak2 nampak kami... lega hati...

Hari ni DS dah mula ok skit... kadang2 nangis... tp dah mula join aktiviti.. n main with friends... cume dia nak makan... 3 suap je.. maybe sbb lauk ikan masak kicap? 1st day tu, dia makan banyak... lauk sup ayam...

hai la anak ku...

DS at Nursery : Day 1

We leave the house at 6.30am... i packed him biscuits & koko krunch... as it was a looong journey... it took us quite a challenge to kept him occupied... arrived at the nursery around 8am...

Handed him to one of the Teacher... mula2 tu dia okay... coz i think dia ingat we will be staying with him... when he saw us leaving, he started to cry...

sedih ku lihat DS begitu... huhu... i dare not turn back coz i know i wont have the heart to leave him... Mummy terpaksa sayang...

Called the nursery after 30mins... DS has stopped crying...

Picked him up at 6pm... dari jauh ku lihat dia sedang pegang napkin dia, sambil didukung oleh Teacher... haih... kesian la anak Mummy ni...

according to the teacher, once in a while, kalau dia teringat... dia akan nangis panggil "Mummy"..

suara pun dah serak2 skit... haih la sayang... harap2 ok ye esok...

Nak Maid ke Tak Nak Maid?

Sometimes i'll say... "its great that i have one"... sometimes... "why on earth do i have one"... it can be helpful sometimes... but it can also be handful at times...

I started to get a maid last 2 years when my 1st son was born.. at that time, i have no other options, since we both are working quite far... our day started at 6.30am, n we will reach home at 8pm the earliest...

We tried to look for nurseries near home... but having to send him at 6.30am is not possible.. most of the nursery starts around 7am and ends at 6.30pm.. there will be an additional charges of around rm5 per hour if we exceed the time.. that will be approx rm200 extra per month.. plus monthly fees of rm250... total rm450 per month..

Next option will be getting a maid.. We paid rm4k++ to the agent at Indonesia... all the errands in Malaysia are done by ourself... its tideous n looongg... no wonder some agent charged up to rm8k!

At that time, the salary was rm450... i heard the salary now are almost rm600 per month, plus a compulsory leave of 1 day per week..

Having a maid definitely will help on the house chores... the cleaning... washing... ironing... laundry.. its all done...

but somehow.. sometimes... in order to get it perfect.. we r obligated to say yes in everything that the maid demands... we r afraid if we dont give it to them, they will do something to ur kids when we r not around... here comes the emotional stress...

my maid for instance.. she claimed she have a big industrial company back home.. n came here to pay out her debts due to being fraud by some vendor...

The 1st month she arrived, she wants to buy a handphone.. when i say no.. she make this sad face... n showed no mood to work.. out of obligation, i bought her a simple phone... the next month she said, she wants to send mms... we make a deal, i'll buy her a phone with GPRS, but she have to keep it in the house.. the 1st time we bought her a phone, it became a conflict with the neighbour's maid, since she was not given the same privilege.. True enough, bought the phone in the morning, n there she was in the noon bragging her new phone to the neighbour's maid...

There's so many demands that i should not have followed, but i was again obligated to give.. sometimes i overheard her talked about what happen in the house to my in laws, to my neighbours... things that may look small.. but can be big at times..

n now.. Price are getting higher to get maids.. just like fuels!... after a long talk with dear OH.. we decided to send the lil guy to nursery near our workplace, once our maid finished her contract...

It will take a bit of work now... since we r stil staying in our old house.. which is an hour journey from workplace.. so.. poor lil fellow got to wake up early everyday..

we r hoping to move to a nearer home prior Raya... this may help the commuting part...

As far as i know... without a maid, there'll be some savings like groceries.. and here comes the HOUSE CHORES!

NAMES ONE CAN'T FORGET

Today is the day I wish to think about myself... Seek both in my heart n soul, for the names of those, whose names are written in my book of life...

The names of those I have now lost touch with n the names of those who are close to me every time I need them... I want to go through each page of my book n remember the names that were important in my childhood, my young years n Now... Those I no longer meet often n those I meet every time the sun rises... The names of those I will always carry in my mind... Those who stood by me in hard times n those with whom I share a smile... The names of those I have hurt n those who brought a tear to my eyes... Those from whom I have learnt lessons n perhaps have learnt something from me...

Those names are now part of my human existence... Those that are no longer here, are with me in every prayer n the names of those that came into my life for a season n then carried on their own journey are etched in my heart...

I am thankful to those that at one time or other have been with me in times of sadness n lonelinesss... Those who have always encouraged me n lent me an ear when i had lost my way...

True friendship is like the marriage of souls, sharing good times and bad times... Friendship is feeling what the other feels... It has no time, age, colour or sex... It has no boundaries... It is magnanimous with the faults n enhances the the virtues of others...

As I go through the pages of my book I would like every thorn to change into a bed of roses... Change tears into smiles n hugs, n change the darkest night into a stary one... Change each aching minute into a feeling of total happiness n relief...

I am thankful u have let me be a part of ur life story n wish I have been or I am part of urs...

I am thankful for each of those names that have left a mark in my heart...

Making friends is a blessing... Having a friend is a gift, being or having been ur friend is an honour...

Worth Sharing

A kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates.

So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week.

Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags. After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended.

The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?" The children let out their frustration s and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go. Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game.

The teacher said: "This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just 1 week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime?"


Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry sins for a lifetime and to the end of 'sansara'. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take! Love others even if you don't like them........ and if you want to see a better world.

The biggest failure is fail to try..

A story that inspires me... it may look nothing to some people... but for me.. it means a lot...

I met this person more than 7 years ago.. at that time.. he is just a plain malay guy... with long straight hair n a few parut here n there... a typical mat rempit.. huhu... We both studied engineering... n like other studs.. we took the excitement of student life too seriously... n as u wud probably expected... we both flunked at some of the assignments n tests...

i started with loan, n was offered biasiswa on my second semester... n when the results keluar for the 3rd n 4th semester, i was degraded back to loan.. lucky for me.. i stil manage to get hold of the financer...

Him.. i m not so sure as for wut really happened... we did not talk about it that much.. n we r not that close to share with it either.. but apa yg i know.. he took a part time job.. started low.. clean the courts.. jaga kaunter air... at least thats wut i saw him do la.. n from wut i heard... thats how he paid his tuition... interesting...

He work his way up... full time studying.. n part time working... for years.. i seldom meet him.. its either i m caught up with piles of assignments or he's busy with his work n books..

Finally... i graduated after 4 1/2 years of studying... n yes.. i extended 1 semester... due to that 1 particular semester which i partied too much... upsets the whole 4 yrs graduating plan..

Anyway... met him.. n he said.. he hav a few semesters to go.. n masa tu... from only a 'rubbish picker', dia dah jadi supervisor at that place.. n he stil manages his time to balance his work n study...

Me.. i began searching for the right job... after a few hard interviews.. i end up to be a service engineer with an infrared distributor... a nice place.. nice boss.. a good starting point.. did not stayed long.. help my uncle with his oil & gas company... n roughly 5 months after that.. received a call from an aviation company, asking to come for an interview...

I remembered i called him then.. we updated each other's side.. n he said, dia dah graduated... n the interesting part was... when he mentioned.. that he is now a manager... i cudnt believe it.. how can i.. we both flunked.. he took a part time 'rubbish picker' job... n now he's a manager? cummon...

it does not ends there... a few months later... we met again... he gave me his card... n it read... "franchise manager".. neva once i thought he cud became the person he is..

i saw him that i neva saw before.. a well groom person, though there is stil the mat rempit style there.. but no harm.. he talks well.. he talks about politics, market shares, religion.. he hav his life plans out.. he knows exactly wut he wants.. basically.. he is not the plain typical malay guy that i once knew..


My point is... its not the end of ur life if u fail something.. its u whom can work ur life up.. its u whom plan n strive on wut u want in ur life.. the biggest failure is fail to try...

n from this friend i learned... its not wise to judge a person just by their look... judge them by their brain... by their words... by their experience.. n by their achievements.. for thats wut separate one from another...

to this person.. i wanna say... thank u.. for effortlessly helps me in life.. showing me that nothing is impossible if u have the heart.. proving to me that success come to those who keen..


now.. for the person i once called mat rempit... he currently owns one of the most successful franchise business in malaysia... how about that?

THE SEED - Very good story

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together.

"It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.

He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful--in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back.

"My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO.

"Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front.

Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed.

Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Here is your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed.

I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.

"When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"


MORAL OF THE STORY:

If u plant honesty, u will reap trust.
If u plant goodness, u will reap friends.
If u plant humility, u will reap greatness.
If u plant perseverance, u will reap contentment.
If u plant consideration, u will reap perspective.
If u plant hard work, u will reap success.
If u plant forgiveness, u will reap reconciliation.


So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later...