homefront update

On Alexander ...
he's doing OK now. still having that awful cold but he's just fine. he got worried and scared when he woke up and had difficulty with talking - he lost his voice! he's got runny nose and letting out odd sounds when he speaks ... must be real scary for one who's used to using the capacity of his voice to the max. for the last 3 days, he was unusually quiet . now that was a first!

On Janne ...
he's been very busy himself. work is keeping him occupied and there's, of course, house maintenance he'd add in his list of priorities this season. our chimney was damaged due to the new house built in our neighbourhood this summer (they did minor explosion and excavations and are liable by law to fix the damage caused to all houses within the 300m perimeter of their property). weather's changed and it's getting colder and colder - we want our cozy corner by the fireplace fixed!

On yours truly ...
i've been busy, busy, busy! need i really say more?

again, swenglish, anyone?

i always have a good laugh everytime i hear swedes mix their english with a dash of swedish. today, we treated alexander to a trip to Burger King for lunch - having been indoors due to fever and cold, we thought it would cheer him up one bit.

while father and son took their seats in the already crowded burger joint, i queued like everyone else. i have observed a mix of both local and tourist folk around me. while waiting for my turn, a scottish guy was being served at the next counter. i noticed that he was sort of flirting with this beautiful swedish girl behind the counter as he ordered his meal. the swedish girl was very accommodating and spoke to him in english very confidently and punched his orders as she exchanged banter with the guy - and then came the blunder as the guy was to pay with his credit card to which the over confident girl asked: "can i see your leg, please?" - i almost break into a guffaw ... the line in itself is a classic on its own! a very common mistake swedes commit when asking an english speaking person to show their identification card. you see, in sweden, in order to show proof of your identity, you are expected to show your "legitimation" - that folks meant your identification card in form of a passport, European ID, driver's license or bank ID. the swedish word "legitimation", which i believe is latin from the beginning, is oftentimes abbreviated or shortened by swedes - they say "leg" instead. you can just imagine the confused expression on the face of the scottish guy ... not really understanding what the girl meant, i can't help but butt in - i told him that he was being asked to show an identification card. boy, how he laughed! he said he was very willing to show the girl at the counter his legs! and swedes around the counter, being the swedes that they were, just smiled - and the poor girl on the other side of the counter went all red on her face.

balancing our lunch tray with nuggets, burger and chicken crisps, i weaved my way through the crowd to my hungry boys sitting patiently in a corner table. my husband asked what was the commotion at the counter was all about. so i asked him: "can you show me your leg?"

i guess you know the rest ... swedes, i love 'em!

pancakes, anyone?

what's with a pancake and a maple syrup? is it a religion to have them paired all the time? a pancake meal is not a pancake meal without the maple syrup. well, that's according to my 6-year old ... he refused to have pancakes without the maple syrup. and he's very keen on having mommy's american pancakes.

i get to make pancakes whenever my son gets this craving for one. he triggers this whole charade of making sure every ingredient is in place - flour, eggs, milk, vanilla sugar, margarine, vegetable oil and maple syrup. he always help out in the process and it, of course, would take much more time - but hey, it's fun having him in the kitchen blabbering.

american pancake is different from that of the swedish pancakes. swedes prepare and eat pancakes in a different and very nordic manner. swedish pancakes are thin - almost like french crepes and served half-folded on your plate. it is topped with whipped cream and lingonberry jam - always! it's a staple dish one can whip up anytime of the day - for breakfast, lunch or dinner. to have it as a complete meal, you can serve it together with ham and bacon as a side dish and, believe it or not, that's all you need to feel stuffed afterwards.

pancakes, anyone?

smoke got in my eyes ... literally!

you read right! last night, our smoke alarms went off - and i plead guilty to that one. i burned my toasts! silly, huh? such a simple task to complete and i blew it! you'll know why as you continue reading this piece ... and a lot more to go along with "smoke" in my eyes.

you see, alexander ran a high fever yesterday which prompted me to stay at home with him ... he specifically asked mommy to stay and give him some TLC (tender loving care) to get better. and with that, my mommy instinct went on high gear - give the best care ever to my son ... in short, pamper him! and mind you, pamper him, i did! i was at the beck of his call whenever he needs any small assistance - supply of milk, water, juice, hot choco, extra warm covers, read a book with him, watched videos with him, sang silly songs with him and shared big hugs even (he loves hugs) - pretty much all there is to it with TLC.

also, i noticed that after breakfast yesterday, he was a bit "clingy" that he'd hang around me all the time - whether in the kitchen or in the laundry room as i'd sort out our laundry ... he was always on the lookout as to my whereabouts. he made me promise not to leave him behind ... not to go anywhere else but be close by or sit by his bed even when he's sleeping ... he wants me close by ... all the time! so, i promised him that i will be right home where he wants me to be. to that he said, "good ... don't ever leave me again". his remark was sort of a surprise -then it struck me - i had been away whole week of last week on a business trip and our only communication was short phone calls in the morning before he went to school and in the evening to say our goodnights before going to bed. i suddenly felt very guilty. without much elaboration, i somehow understood how he must have missed me while i was away - physically, mentally and socially. that was my first "smoke" yesterday - i got teary eyed as i watched him rest and slept realising how he must have felt during my absence. i'm sure having his dad is pretty cool, too (i knew of their "secret" activities when i am not around), but it's a different thing when mommy's present in the house.

towards the afternoon, i baked bread and small pastries. my husband arrived from work just in time as they were done for teatime. after tea, my boys were both tired that i sent them off for a nap - i thought i'd have enough time to prepare some light dinner before eight. so, i busied myself in the kitchen and started preparing some light dinner - chicken fajitas stuffed in pita bread! this dish is particularly easy ... sauteed chicken in veggies and chili sauce plus other spices, and i only need to have the pita bread warmed up - either in the oven or the bread toaster. yup, as you have guessed, i chose the toaster - fast and easy, or so i thought! before i knew it, the simplest of procedure went haywire - my toast was burning! even as i've pulled off the plug, the bread still continued to toast and burn sending thick white smoke all over the kitchen and in the process sent off our smoke warning system. this was followed by a lot of swearing and cussing. and this was my second "smoke" for the day - choking, annoying and irritating!

this of course was followed by a lot of drama, drama, drama.

anyway, in the end, my husband simply tossed the bread toaster, with the burnt black bread, down the garbage bin - we just couldn't release the bread from the toaster ... it was stucked! well, we ate our chicken fajitas sans the bread ...

fastforward: the last "smoke" in my eyes yesterday was when i was about to tuck my son in for the night after reading him a story. he whispered in my ear: "i love you mommy. thank you for taking care of me today. i forgive you for burning the bread". i let out a laugh and was again teary eyed ... i can't believe hearing this from my 6-year old child! i gave him the warmest and tightest big hug i could muster ... very close to crying - gee, messy mousey me!

lunchbreak!

yup, it's a lull in between breaks and as i sip my cup of tea looking out of my office window, i realised that autumn has truly arrived - what with all the signs of rain and sunshine at the same time matched with the gushing winds under the grey, grey skies .... there's no denying the fact that autumn is making its presence known. the grass may be still be green but the leaves of the trees around us has changed its colours to red, purple and brown before it finally rest onto the ground leaving its trees bare and spooky ... ahhh, such wonderful magic of mother nature! soon enough the temperatures will fall to its freezing degrees faster than the blink of your eyes. until then, i'd enjoy the rest of the remaining warm weather - under the combination of rain and sunshine.

that, my friend, is but a little thought on my head during today's lunchbreak .... you can just imagine the other thoughts i have beyond that .... *wink*

tuesday's child ...

that alone is just isn't me .... there is always something sorrowful about us as individuals in spite of the wonderful graces that come our way. nobody's perfect ... we've heard that far too many times. but one has to remember that we live our daily lives according to the choices that we make. the great intervention from "above" presents us with opportunities where we are given the choice to choose and make decisions all our own to live by.

i have lived my life knowing there is a helping hand that guides me in choosing the right decision. i may have chosen the wrong path or made the wrong decision at one time or another, but i did not fret nor regret ever falling into that pit - it's a learning process, at least that's how i'd think of it to be. it can only go two ways: never to commit the same mistake again or fall into its trap over and over again. it simply is a choice one has to make.

i always try to remind myself that we, as an individual, are born different from the other. the nursery rhyme below is one of my favourites.

Week of Birthdays
(Monday's Child)

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child that's born on the Sabbath day,
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

try to look at it this way:
we are born to our parents ... we are who we are, not only by our choosing but what we want ourselves to be.

have a fun day today .... i know i will regardless of the new challenges that awaits me. ciao!

monday again!

did you miss me? i sure hope so! i did miss writing my blogs. the problem is that everytime i get myself started, i get distracted and log out without finishing what i have started - bummer!

it's amazing how there could be a lot of things that needed to be done but left with very little time to do them all. accomplishing things certainly is on top of our priorities - getting it all done is just another thing. as i've said, i maintain quite a long list, none of them were close to being started, much less finished.

today is another monday .... and as this week progress, there will be new things to add on to my list ... and maybe yours, too. on my lazy days, i tend to do just that - get lazy, what else! i simply put aside my list and forget all about it altogether. i know in some way, somehow, that list will end up staring at my face again. hmmm .... oh well, there will be more mondays to think about it, right?

ho-hum ... gotta hit bed now. i'm just rambling away my thoughts - i guess i'm just dazed ... i'll continue my rambling thoughts in my sleep --- goodnight!

a breadth of fresh air ...

at least that is how i would describe the last two days. yup, with the Amsterdam conference over and done with, i feel quite rested during this weekend - all the work efforts and preparations we've put in have paid off. everyone's pleased, i am pleased and i have to move on to yet another challenging projects waiting up for me. rest was what i did for most of the time during this weekend ... i needed it badly - it's vital to recharge my energies, you know. after my week-long stay in Amsterdam, it's indeed a good feeling to be back home with my husband and son again ... home sweet home!

with a heavy heart ...

... not mine but that of the swedish sports fans, the swedish team failed miserably in the recent athletic competitions in Japan - and with them, the sport enthusiasts cursed and sighed with a heavy heart. oh well, they will not fret that long - there will always be a new sport to get themselves engaged intensively right after one finishes ... and the football season coming along is just one of them.

... however, apologies are in order for being inactive in writing anything on my blog. my usual excuse still stands - I'VE BEEN BUSY! you see, for most people in Europe and all businesses around, autumn is the busiest time of the year ... and i am not an exception to that. almost every week, a big convention is held in every major European country attended by people from all over the world. just for week 38 alone, the same week we are to hold our own European product launch in Amsterdam, a diabetes convention will also take place in Amsterdam - making it impossible to make any hotel booking within Amsterdam Centraal since its organisers and participating countries has blocked most of the hotels for their respective delegations. in Copenhagen, an international design convention will also hold their design showcase that same week, whilst in Paris, another big convention is also on board - and the same problem there! on the homefront, autumn is also the time of year you prepare your grounds for the coming wintertime - meaning lots of mowing in the garden, clean-up of the windows from the outside, "dusting" and check-up of the chimney (you don't want it to fail during winter, right?), and of course, the need to sort things that need storing for winter or if you are to leave some things to endure wintertime. hey, those are only the things you have to do outdoors - need i elaborate on the things i need to sort out indoors? phew! just the thought of it makes me shiver! HELP!

... i need to really make some priorities, but as you know very well, it is not at all easy. sometimes you'd feel like you've made a good one and then later you'd realise how wrong you've been - that is one awful feeling. but then again, being a positive thinker that i am (at most times i know that i am), i always try to look at things on a brighter light and consider them nothing but small "slips" that had happened - and i would like to emphasize on the word "nothing" since great or small slips has to be treated as "nothing" and not make a big deal out of it. in this manner you will be able to fix the problem and easily manage to make things right. so, why did i ever brought this up? i think you know why? if not, i'll tell you more - later, that is.

i have too many things i've listed in my priority list .... and i've done none of them so far. but slowly, i'd get that list empty - it simply has to be done!

all by my lonesome

yup ... at least for now. my insomnia is at it again and sleep is somewhere out there ... it just missed my doorstep - and here i am ... waiting. it's way past midnight and i'm undoubtedly perky and very much awake ... but thanks to cyberworld that never sleeps, i have some company!

i know i haven't written much the last couple of weeks - i've been busy, you know - VERY, VERY BUSY. both work and the homefront's been eating up most of my precious time. i can't even find a suitable date to pamper myself with my girl friends for a spa weekend! **sigh** things had been crazy lately - not that it's any of a surprise ... autumn and spring are normally the busiest time of the year for me. the school term has just started and my son's new schedule in both school and extra curricular activities are on the roll and mind you, working our schedule around his activities is one of our key tasks at every single school term. sometimes, it's not at all that easy - especially when i am travelling and being away for a straight week! thank goodness for my hubby who's been very supportive and understanding. the combination of being a wife, a mother and maintaining a career is truly one balancing act - you'd go down the drain if you miss your step along the way. workwise, i feel like drowning with the mountain of work i have to do, but soneone's got to do it - and that would be moi!

i'm in the middle of the preparatory works for our planned product launch in europe. being in charge of the smallest of details concerning the conference workshop, you can just imagine the amount of work, and stress, i have to deal with. the weird thing about me is that, i work even better under pressure - i am more focused and have this attention to details. but, however organised i had been during summer preparing the work briefs and script for this activity, it came as no surprise to me that my initial work had to go through major revisions to adapt them to some new ideas my colleagues had thought of during the holidays - typical eh? but revised the plan, i did. already the first week i had returned from my 10-days-summer-holiday, i was sent to do a "site inspection" to the location of our conference - in Amsterdam! i thought right there and then: "here we go!" - the mad chase for a perfect product launch has begun!

to go on a "site inspection" is like having been sent to a battlefield - at such, i was armed with Amsterdam's street maps, the hotel's meeting room layouts as well as its room accommodations, restaurant and conference specifications and a long list of "requests" for the event planner to cover into its smallest detail. the visit to the hotel was a challenge in itself ... there are a lot of things to do there as it needs a lot of "facelift" in terms of lighting. you see, as most hotels in Europe are old buildings, there's very little room for renovations and refurbishments since these buildings are treasured landmarks and are restricted for major changes on its exterior and interior structure. it's always been a challenge for me to make sure that all our specifications be met - it's vital to the success of each conference. in our field in the world of marketing, we think big ... we think outside of the box ... we maximise the use available to our freedom box - ughh! forgive my marketing speech as i tend to get too fired up. anyway, i made mental note of how things should look like, made a list and started making plans on what to do next. i was exhausted when i came home from my day visit from Amsterdam.

tomorrow's another day ... do catch up with me.