july is when i buy nothing new (for myself) \\ last day today!

so, today's the last day of july which means from tomorrow onwards, i can shop again!

even though i had a slip up 2 weeks ago with a $10 purchase from Kmart and i do feel guilty about it. but overall i think i did quite well.

i was going to log onto ASOS to "find" something to buy tomorrow as a reward but that kinda defeat the purpose of my challenge.

this challenge really tested my self-regulation. according to an online character assessment quiz i took at the beginning of the year for a work team offsite, self-regulation is one of my top five attribute.

online shopping or any form of shopping is like an addiction i think. i'm not that much of an addict compared to others but i do feel that it is an addiction i can do without.

my past time used to be online shopping, browsing through internet shopping sites, looking for bargains and buying things i don't really need. buying things just because they are cheap and i also look forward to receiving them when they are delivered. it became a habit for me, a habit i can certainly do without. 

after not doing any internet shopping for the past 31 days, i hope i have gotten rid of this bad habit. like any challenge, the beginning was hard but it got easier as time goes by. by the third week, the urge to do any online shopping is pretty much gone.

i will start shopping again but i will be smarter about it. i will not buy something pointlessly just because they are cheap. i think i might adopt a new approach - buy less, not more. buy quality, not quantity.

in the mean time, i shall continue with my new past time that doesn't cost me anything - blogging!

ps: i wonder how long i'll keep to my new approach?!?

under the weather

i finally gave in and went to the doctor this morning. 

boo was sick last week and my throat has been sore since last week too. 

with work commitments and motherly duties, i can't really afford to be sick so i just pushed on and hope that i'd get better in time. no such luck as i coughed my lungs out last night and wished that i'd gone to the doctor for some antibiotics earlier. 

i was given two days off work but i'll probably take one for now. after dropping boo off to daycare, i got home and made myself breakfast. i looked around the house with boo's toys scattered all over the place and i miss him. i can't remember the last time i was home by myself. it could have been the Friday before i gave birth to boo.

i miss having my own time resting and pottering around as i wish without having to worry about boo. but i also miss having him around. what a drainer. 

Sunday 'jamming'

our homegrown cumquats were sliced and soaked last night so this morning we made jam!

we followed the instructions found on the Internet to the tee. the sliced cumquat were brought to a boil along with the pips tied in some muslin cloth in the soaking liquid and then simmered for an hour until the skin is soft. 

once the skin is soft, the bag of pips are discarded and 250 grams of caster sugar is added to the pot. 

we stirred the mixture to help the sugar dissolve and once it comes back to a boil, we turn down the heat and left the fruit to simmer for half an hour before checking on them again. 

after the first half hour, i was checking the jam every 10 minutes. to check if the jam is done, i place a teaspoon of jam onto a freezing cold plate and placed it in the freezer for one minute. the jam is ready when it 'wrinkles' as you drag your finger through it.  after three tries, the jam finally 'wrinkles'. 

we bottled them into two sterilised jar. i can't believe we managed to make two jars of cumquat jam out of our 'bumper crop' ! we tried it on some toast in the afternoon and it was quite special. it was homemade from our homegrown cumquat. nothing store bought could beat it. 

i think we should probably give the 'forgotten cumquat tree' more care from now on. who knows, we might have another 'bumper crop' next winter and we might get four decent jars of jam! 

setting up a worm farm - part two

so last weekend we bought our two containers and Jim drilled holes at the bottom, the sides and the lid of one of the containers. 

we also found a spot for the worm farm in our backyard where there is no direct sunlight and the containers would be raised from the ground. 

i shredded some newspapers and scattered them at the bottom of the container (the one with holes). then a layer of veggie scraps are scattered over the newspapers. i sprayed the bedding with some water so that the newspaper is moist. the last layer of bedding to prepare before i add the worm would be some dirt but i don't wanna use those from the garden so we set off to bunnings to get me a box of worm and also a bag of compost/potting mix/whatever they recommend. 

we got our box of worms and asked the store's horticulturalist what type of soil/dirt i should get to add to my worm farm. he said i don't need anything. all i need is about 10cm of compost material and a box of worm. he suggested that i accumulate enough veggie scraps/compost material first before buying the worms or they'll just die if I put them in my current worm farm. i was wondering to myself, isn't 10cm of compost/veggie scraps too much food for the worms? 

so off we went, with no worms. 

i did more research and the current bedding i've prepared seems to be fine but most worm farm experts do recommend that i wait 1-2 weeks once the bedding is ready before introducing the worms to it. 

now, patience is not one of my strongest virtue and i really want to get this worm farm up and running already. yesterday i checked on my worm farm with no worms and found lots of fruit flies. i'm not sure if this is expected? 

what i'm planning to do now is to add another layer of shredded newspaper and another layer of veggie scraps i've accumulated throughout the week. one of the worm farming gurus suggested that i freeze and thaw the veggie scraps before adding them to the worm farm as they would be easier to break down. 

to get my box of worm this time, i'm going to the local nursery instead. now the question is, do i wait another week or shall i go ahead and get them worms this weekend??  surely, worm farming is not rocket science?!? 

the forgotten cumquat tree - harvested

we harvested our cumquat from our forgotten cumquat tree today so that we can make cumquat marmalade tomorrow. most of the recipes I found online suggest that i soak the sliced fruits in water overnight. 

i wasn't sure if we have enough cumquat for our marmalade. i don't need much but 100 grams of cumquat is just not worth my time and effort despite them being organic and pesticide free. 

so after combing through the tree, we got ourselves just under 250 grams of cumquat. merely the bumper crop Jim thought we would get but considering we have never really pay much attention to the plant, it's a good win i have to say. 

the fruits have now been sliced and are soaked in one cup of water waiting to be turned into cumquat marmalade tomorrow. 

Peppa pig!

yes, boo and i are going to watch Peppa pig live at the Sydney Opera house in November. 

pre-sale tickets were released for the first time last Thursday but they were sold out before we managed to log onto the website. we are lucky enough to get our tickets when another lot of tickets were released today. who would have thought tickets would sell out so quickly?!? after all, it's a kids' show, not Lady Gaga!?!

we'll be going with Rosie, Tate, Leah and Lucy. that's why Jim is not coming. it's going to be a fun outing! 

it would be a first for both of us. boo's first live musical theatre show and our first time watching a musical at the Sydney Opera house.  i hope by then boo would be old enough to enjoy and appreciate the show.

the forgotten cumquat tree

after pulling the bins out the front of our house for garbage collection last weekend, Jim came back into the house with a handful of cumquats. he was quite excited about it. he told me he picked them from the cumquat tree at the front of the house which we have somehow forgotten. 

he said there are still loads of half ripen fruit waiting to be picked. the cockatoo mustn't have spotted them or they'd be gone by now. i couldn't believe it. surely i'd be able to see these little gems if there are so many of them!?! 

on our way to check out this forgotten cumquat tree, Jim said to me we should make cumquat jam with the bumper crop we have. 

when we got to the front of the house, i realised why the cockatoos haven't got to the fruits yet. 

turns out, there isn't that many fruits. there are clusters of them dotted here and there but i wouldn't call it 'a bumper crop'. regardless, we put a net over the tree to protect our precious fruits from the cockatoos. 

yes, the plan to make cumquat jam is still on. we might get one jar?!?

on the menu // overnight oats

Rosie introduced me to overnight oats a couple weeks back. i wasn't interested at first because i imagined the texture to be like porridge, gooey. 

i normally have muesli with milk for breakfast. it has dried fruits and nuts. because i never leave my muesli soaking in milk for long, it never goes gooey. 

Rosie successfully converted another colleague last week so i thought i'd give it a try too. 

the recipe is easy. equal parts of oats and milk and you can add whatever fruits and nuts you fancy. you can even add yogurt and honey to it. 

last week i tried making mine with frozen blueberries, honey, yogurt and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds. it was delicious. i put equal parts of milk and oats in a plastic container the night before and added the rest of the 'toppings' in the morning.

today, i had them with strawberries macerated overnight with icing sugar, and yogurt. it was delicious too! it felt like i was having desserts for breakfast but a healthy one. i'm afraid i have to say that i've been converted too. 

on my to-do list (in no particular order)

at the beginning of the month, i started a to-do list for myself. 

three weeks on, here's an updated list

_ tidy shoe cabinet (throw out shoes i no longer wear) 

_ finish reconditioning work on the photo frames picked up from vinnies

_ develop photos to go with those reconditioned frames

_ organise photo folders on the eeepc

_ start working on boo’s first year photobook (photobook voucher purchased!) 

_ start working on boo's quilt

i finally managed to organise boo's wardrobe today. it only took less than half an hour and i wish i'd done it sooner. i don't know why it didn't occur to me to put away his shorts and short sleeves tshirts sooner given we're in the middle of winter. life would have been so much easier. 

quiet weekend

we didn't do much this weekend because boo is not well. 

he caught conjunctivitis from daycare last week. so this weekend we didn't get up to much except for taking it easy and letting him rest as much as possible. 

instead of going to the park to spread the love (his lurgy), we hung out in our backyard blowing bubbles. this boo couldn't stop saying bubbles for the rest of yesterday afternoon.

setting up a worm farm - part one

i've heard great things about a worm farm and setting one up at home has been on my mind for awhile. 

generally, avid gardeners/home veggie growers set up worm farm in their garden to help produce fertiliser/feeds for their garden. while i'm not an avid gardener nor do i have a veggie patch, i do like the idea of a worm farm. it feels like if i have a worm farm, i'm reducing my carbon footprint and my chilli plants, lemon tree and herbs can really do with some fertiliser. 

another reason why i finally decided to look into worm farming is our compost bin is broken and i think the rodents have been helping themselves to my veggie scraps. the last thing i want is a rodent plague in my house! in fact, our compost bin has not been working properly for some time despite my best effort to do my bit for the environment by composting everything i can. so i decided it was time to set up a worm farm.

a ready made worm farm would set me back $85 and this does not include live compost worms. then i looked into diy worm farm and after three youtube videos, i think i managed to grasp the concept of a worm farm and i think i should be able to build one (with Jim's help) from scratch without a ready made kit. 

we found two 54 litres containers from Kmart today, one with lid and one without, $19 for both. now the next thing is for Jim to drill some holes on one of the containers, to find a spot in the garden for the worm farm, a box of live worms and some veggie scraps! 

mummy do

boo is at such a cute stage at the moment. he's cheeky, he's getting more independent and oh so talkative. 

he's getting so good with his speech and his vocabulary is growing by the day. the educators at daycare highlighted to me that his speech is developing quite well.

few weeks ago, he repeated after Jim and said 'blue ball' as he brought a blue ball from his Thomas the tank engine ball pit. the other day on our way home from daycare, i asked him if he'd played in the sand pit, he repeated after me saying 'sand pit' as he nodded his little head. 

today, he decided to say things like roro car (pororo's car), mama choos (grandma's shoes), mummy do, daddy do and the funniest of all, NICE CHOO, when i put a pair of new shoes on him. Jim and i were drowning in cuteness overload. before we know it, this boy is going to be speaking in full sentences. 

july is when i buy nothing new (for myself) \\ week three fail

yes, i bought something today....

it's nothing expensive (it's only a top for $10 from Kmart) but i still feel guilty. Jim didn't say anything when he saw me make the purchase. 

sigh...so much for keeping to my words and it's getting so close to the end of the month too. well, at least I stuck to it for 20 days, right?!? 

july is when i buy nothing new (for myself) \\ week three

it's been 18 days since i bought something new for myself. 

it hasn't been easy. especially the first week. straight after i made my pledge, i received an email from ASOS telling me there is a further 10% off already reduced items, my work colleague tells me about the online sale Wittner is offering - two pairs of leather boots for $200!!! various internet sites are offering free shipping with no minimum spend on the last day of the month. 

arghh...why did i make this pledge to myself? most importantly, why did i tell Jim about it and publish it on the blog?!? 

a part of me tells me i'm not far from the finishing line and i should keep to my pledge but a part of me is telling me to just give up. what difference does it make if i stick to my pledge and go crazy and buy like there is no tomorrow on the first day of August?!? 

i said to Jim last night i've bookmarked two items from this site offering free shipping and i'll put through the order on the last day of the month before the promotion finishes...he thought it was such a silly idea and told me to just put the order through already!

in case you are wondering, no, i haven't logged onto ASOS. 

these two

Joby is our 13 year old Bichon Frise. he was Jim's 21st birthday present from his parents. 

before we had boo, Joby was pretty much the centre of our attention. we would take him out for walks on the weekend, we had more time to play with him and groom him. 

i remember when we were expecting boo, some of the books talked about the things you need to do to get your pet ready before you bring the new baby home. we were not worried at all because Joby is the most good natured dog. you can do anything to him and he would not get mad at you. 

when we brought boo home, Joby was not sure about this little person. he wasn't really interested in boo, except for checking on him when he cries. 

as boo got bigger and learnt to crawl, he started to interact with Joby more. at first Joby was scared of him because he doesn't know how to pat Joby gently. Joby always tries to stay away. partly because he's not a big fan of boo as boo stole his attention. 

nowadays, Joby tries his best to stay out of boo's way. mainly because boo doesn't know how to play with him. boo is not very good with sharing his toys with Joby. he often goes 'no no no' to Joby as Joby gets close to his toys. or sometimes when he wants to play Joby, he would ride on him which Joby hates. 

going out for walks is one of Joby's favourite activities but poor thing can't really enjoy his walks nowadays because boo likes to hold onto the lead and Joby can't walk at the pace he likes. 

     

i wonder when these two would be friends. maybe when boo learns to be gentler to Joby and stop riding him like a horse?



Sunday afternoon at the park

boo and i used to go to the park at least three times a week when i was still on maternity leave. we would walk to the park and spend an hour there. boo enjoyed sitting in the pram watching the world goes by and i got to do some exercise too. sometimes we would meet up with our friends from mothers group.

ever since i went back to work full time, the weekend is the only time we could go to the park.

the weather was beautiful last Sunday so off we went to the park after lunch. 

boo had so much fun going down the slippery dip. he went down the slide the normal way a couple of times and then he decided to try something new by sliding down on his tummy. he also enjoyed chasing daddy and being chased by daddy. 

the park was filled with his laughter. there is no better sound in the world. 

Sunday baking

i'm not a fan of pre mixed cake mix. i prefer to bake my cake from scratch because i find most of the pre mixed cake mix has an artificial taste to them which i don't like. 

i first tasted these at work when a male colleague brought them into work to share. i didn't believe him when he told me he'd made it. i was even more surprised when he told me he used Donna Hay's pre mixed cake mix because they tasted pretty damn good. 

i made some for afternoon tea today. i don't think i'll ever make brownies from scratch again...perhaps maybe the healthier version with beetroot. 

they are a bit on the sweet side but oh so moorish and chocolatey. they take no time to make and the only additional ingredients you need is 2 eggs and 150grams of melted butter. 

 

uh oh!

that's what boo normally says when he falls over. 

he's quite the typical boy. he's tough and quite durable. 

he rarely cries when he falls over and he seems to 'know' what to do to brace the fall so that he doesn't get hurt. 

but today, he was too eager to get off the stroller to get into the car that he face planted on the floor, concrete floor. i was transferring the groceries into the car, the next thing I heard was a loud thud. poor thing broke into tears straightaway. i picked him up and i think he may have cried for one minute max. i was so proud of him. 

to cheer him up, we went back into the shopping centre so that he could play at the play area. he's such a little trooper, the accident didn't bother him at all. i didn't notice the graze on his nose and the top of his mouth until we got home. oops!

kinder gym

boo attended his first kinder gym session at our local YMCA this morning. 

we have never taken boo to any group classes like swimming or gymbaroo so this is our first. boo does something similar at daycare called kindie active once a week and the educators at daycare always tell me how much fun boo has during the class.

i found out about this kinder gym session through one of my mothers group friend so I thought we'd give it a try. the first class is free as it is only a trial and then we can decide whether we would like to continue. 

the class runs for an hour and it is catered for 18 months to 3 years of age. Saturday morning is when we normally do our weekly groceries shopping so only one of us can attend with boo. i decided to let Jim take boo while I do our weekly shops by myself. 

i managed to finish my shopping early so i joined them for the last 20 minutes of the session. as soon as i got there, i could tell that boo is not ready for this class. unlike the others kids, boo can't follow instructions and to him, the gymnastic room is like a big play room. he is interested to explore the place more than anything. i observed the instructor and the other kids and i could tell that boo is still too young to do most of the activities such as jumping on the trampoline, star jumps, forward rolling on the incline plane even with an adult's assistance. Jim and i are both puzzled because this class is meant to cater for 18 months and above but i just can't imagine how any 18 months old can enjoy this class. 

we've decided we won't be signing up for this upcoming term. maybe when boo is a little bit older, we will reconsider it. for now, the weekly kindie active class at daycare will have to do. 

ps: there is no photos for this post because we were not allowed to take any pictures in the gym. 

family photos

back in September last year, i contacted Trish from Tealily Photography to arrange a  family photo session as part of celebrating boo turning one. also, I wanted to have some nice photos of the three of us. we have plenty of decent photos of boo alone, or boo with mummy but there is hardly any ones of boo with daddy or one with us three. boo is growing up so fast and I really want to have some nice family photos.

the session was originally booked for late January but it was postponed twice because of the rain. we eventually got it done in April and the weather could not have been more perfect. Jim brought his camera along and managed to capture these beauties…

 

                            

because Trish shot in film we didn’t get to see the photos till June. they were well worth the wait though. some of my favourites…

 

 

Trish also did a blog post about it on her blog.

i like the documentary feel of these pictures and I’m glad I got them done. perhaps we should make this an annual affair?!? 

on my to-do list (in no particular order)

_ tidy shoe cabinet

_ do an inventory on the pantry and throw out past expiry date products

_ tidy boo’s wardrobe and put away all the clothes he can’t wear anymore

_ finish reconditioning work on the photo frames picked up from vinnies

_ develop photos to go with those reconditioned frames

_ organise photo folders on the eeepc

_ start working on boo’s first year photobook

don't know when i'll get to them but having a list should keep me on track...i hope!?!

mummy and boo on the plane

mum turned 60 this june. at the beginning of the year, we asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate this milestone birthday. ever since moving to Sydney in 2002, i have not celebrated mum's birthday with her. therefore, before she gave us an answer, i already made up my mind that i need to make a trip back to Malaysia.

she's a big fan of Korean drama so it was no surprise to us when she told us she wants to visit South Korea. after some discussion around dates, plane tickets were booked and i started to worried because Jim is not coming along which means, it will be boo and mummy from Sydney to KL and back. the journey takes eight hours. when i told my friends about it, they all thought i'd lost my mind.

it's not that boo had a bad track record on the plane. he did quite well when we went back to Malaysia in october last year but he was not walking at the time and Jim was there with me to share the load.

fast forward three months later, the big eight hours flight is here. i packed lots of toys, snacks and we even bought an iPad just for this trip!

here's how we went... 

= saying goodbye to daddy =

= are you coming on the plane with mummy boo? =

= a quick selfie because boo had his own seat! = 

= in fact, he had two seats. while he napped, i enjoyed my lunch and watched a movie =

 

we were quite lucky to have a good team of cabin crew for our flight. the chief air stewart kept coming over to check on us, to play with boo and he also brought additional food and snacks for boo. 

= snacking on a muffin from business class =

all in all, boo did quite well for our flight from Sydney to KL. i was so proud of him. there were other toddlers and babies on the plane but i think boo was the most well behaved. most importantly, he did not cry or whinge for the entire flight. not once!

the trip from KL to Seoul and Seoul to KL were much easier because we have mum, my two sisters and my three year old niece with us.

= the flight from KL to Seoul was an overnight flight for 6 hours and this is the only photo i have of boo. he fell asleep on our way to the airport and slept all the way to Seoul. i couldn't believe my luck because he had his own seat and he woke up just as we landed. =

= another selfie of boo and mummy because boo had his own seat again!=


= day flight from Seoul to KL. thank goodness we had Jessie Yi Yi and Jinn to help keep boo occupied. here's boo falling asleep as we landed in KL =

the flight home from KL to Sydney is also an overnight flight so i was hoping boo would sleep all the way too. on the day of the flight, i made sure i "tired" him out as much as i can. i let him run around the airport playing with Jinn right up to the time when we were ready to check in. 

= we were waiting to board and this boy was still bouncing around. i was starting to worried if he'll be overtired by the time we get on the plane =

= a last selfie before we take off. yes, i was exhausted  =

our luck finally ran out for our flight back to Sydney. it was a full flight so boo didn't get his own seat. i tried to ask for a free upgrade to business class but business class is full too. good thing boo was very tired and it is his bed time so he slept on my lap, partially upright in my arms for the entire flight. i was hoping he would stay asleep for the entire eight hours but he got up an hour before we landed. it was all good. he didn't cry or whinge during this flight too and i think the passengers around us were quite impressed with him too. 

i can't believe the trip i dreaded for three months actually turned out one million tmes better than expected. i felt like such a supermum when we arrived home. if i can handle my seventeen months toddler on two long haul flights by myself, i can take on anything. 

this entry only covered our flight. in case you're wondering, a post for the actual holiday will follow shortly.