Speak Without Fear

Does the world belong to those with the gift of the gab? Unfortunately I am inclined to think so. The smooth talker gets the girl and the smooth talker moves up the corporate ladder faster than anyone else even if he/she has less knowledge/experience than the quieter one. I've seen it too many times not to be skeptical about it. (So says Ms Sour Grapes. Cos' I'm the quiet one. Always have been. The wallflower type. Very taciturn.) Funny that I should have held a job which required frequent public speaking. Hahaha.

I still remember the butterflies inside my stomach everytime I had to speak. Podium is good becos can hide behind it. Gives a false sense of confidence. But when one has to walk up and down a crowded room...boy oh boy oh boy....is that hard. Makes one feel so naked, so exposed, all jittery, everyone must notice etc etc.

I think I did it well, sometimes..... Sometimes a stanger amongst the audience may come up to me and say "How do you do it? Speak without fear?" but sometimes a well-meaning close colleague may tell me this instead "You sound very nervous just now. Your voice was shaking." So who's telling the truth? The stranger or the friend? Maybe both. Maybe the stranger was just being kind. Maybe the friend was just being honest.

Once I had a chairman of a conference cancel on me at the very last minute and I mean the very last minute. "MG. Something came up. I can't make it. You'll have to chair the conference." That was tough. "Shit! Now how on earth was little ole me going to chair a panel discussion on how to list your company on the stock exchange when the panelists are merchant bankers, corporate lawyers, public relations consultants etc?" Thank goodness I got out of that one unscathed. I begged another speaker to do it of course. Hehehe.

If I had to speak in public again for any event, I probably would be able to do it but not without lots of fear and butterflies. It just doesn't come easy to me. My level of confidence for public speaking on a scale of 1-10 would probably be 3 or 4 ie on the low end. My second sister on the other hand loves to speak in public and does it very well. I'm wondering today: Is public speaking an acquired skill or is someone born with it? Can one do it well only with lots of practise or would someone thats "born with it" do it much more easily? Can I teach my children to speak well without fear or do I have to let them discover for themselves when the grow up? Ah... so many questions... too few answers.

I love my Job!

I love my job because.....

• If I wake up late for work, my boss won't tell me off, they just smile at me
• When I blog, I don't have to constantly look behind my shoulder to see if my boss is looking. The worse case scenario if found out is..... my boss may sit on my lap and help me to type.
• I don't have to spend 2 hours a day commuting to work. Hmmm *calculate calculate* (Given a 20 day workweek a month that would amount to 20 hours a month and 480 hours a year of commuting. Geez! Thats like wasting 20 days of my life stuck in traffic jams, radio channel surfing and trying to read the papers at the same time while being entertained by drivers in the next car shaving, putting on lipstick, putting on a tie, eating, cutting toenails (yes! I've seen) or trimming nose hair (yes! disgusting isn't it?). No way. Nosiree. Commuting not for me! (Pssst.... Shooo.... I'm guilty of putting on lipstick and reading while driving. Don't you just hate me? But what to do? You can't blame a bored gal in a car for trying not to waste time can you?)
• I get to master many skills on the job namely, multi-tasking, time-management, ppl management, communication skills, etc etc. I'm quite good at those now from frequent practise.
• Theres a fully stocked pantry at my office. This means that I can eat whenever I'm hungry. No limited time for coffee breaks and lunchtime.

Now, if you'll excuse me... I'm going to have a coffee break now. Oops! I mean breakfast... before the boss wakes up and duty calls.

P.S. Blogger now allows image hosting so no need to host images/pics remotely. Just click on the picture icon when you're posting and you can upload your pictures. Yipee! Very much easier now.

Jigsaw Puzzle

Second Sister: "Your girl is old enough to play with Jigsaw Puzzles now. Why don't you get her one? It will give her hours of fun."

MG: "Really ah?" (*eyes lights up* - Hours of fun for toddler = hours of free time for MG.)

Second Sister bought a puzzle for toddler during her recent 3rd birthday and MG found out that hours of fun for toddler did not translate to hours of free time for MG. (Aiyah! Parents where got free time one!) Anyway this is what happened:

Toddler: *throw throw throw* jigsaw pieces
Baby: *bite bite bite* jigsaw pieces
MG: *pick pick pick* jigsaw pieces

Recently, Mr MG noticed that toddler has been piecing the parcels together correctly.

Mr MG: "Wah, our daughter so clever already. Can do the puzzle by herself. Maybe we buy her a new set and throw this one away as this one has missing pieces."

MG: "Don't you dare throw this one away."

Mr MG: "Why not?"

MG: "Because its her "money" and the only way she will eat her porridge gladly." (Toddler is a very picky eater and MG has deviced a new technique to get her to eat up. We put all her jigsaw pieces into a small handbag, just like Mummy's and pretend its her money. Then we play "Buy" during mealtimes.)

Mr MG: "You mean you pay her to eat?"

MG: "Eh! Of course not lah. Thats bribery! She pays me for the porridge." (If she pays 10 dollars to me than she gets 10 mouthfuls of porridge and the food gets eaten in no time at all. Not sure how long this new novelty will last before it wears off though.)

Hmm.... anyone got any other ideas how to get a picky eater to eat up, especially one that refuses to try any new foods? (*scratch head*) Baby is the total opposite of toddler though. He will eat anything. If you eat something in front of him without offering it to him..... boy oh boy oh boy.... that would make him so unhappy! So MG often has to hide somewhere in the house to curi-curi eat if its something that cannot be offered to him. Hehe.

PS. Parents. Hear ye. Hear ye. Theres another new father on the blog. Shall we all go over to his blog to say hello and welcome Orion to the world of blogging? Happy Blogging to you!

How A Bloggers Meet differs from any other event

Here's how I think a Bloggers Meet differs from any other event:

• the attendees cannot decide between staying on to enjoy the party or going home early to be the first to blog about it and ping PPS
• there is more cameras in the room than at any other event. You can almost get blinded by the camera flashes as every blogger wants to take photos with every other blogger they know to post on their blogs
• by the time the news about the event comes out in the papers... its very, very, very stale, old, yesterdays news
• there is a moment of silence as the food is served as bloggers must first take photos of the food before eating for posting on their blogs
• at other events, ppl exchange name cards, bloggers exchange urls

Thats just my 2 cents to err... join in the fun at PPS. Reading about it and viewing all the pics from the various pings makes one feel like one attended. Congratulations to all the winners and congrats again to Aiz for the 2 year old PPS baby.

Get It Right The First Time...Every Time.

Getting baby to sleep is a very intricate, delicate task. The precision, timing and conditions must be just right. Baby must be tired enough but not overly tired. The room must be cool, dark and quiet. When all of these conditions are met, a short bedtime feed of 10-15 minutes is all it takes to send baby off to dreamland, happy and contented. Otherwise, instead of a happy sleepy baby after a feed, what I get is ......

A happy excited, rested and fully charged baby crawling all over the bed. Baby would climb over mummy to get to his sister, than off he goes again, crawl, crawl, crawl to the edge of the bed to have a look, then crawl, crawl, crawl to the other side of the bed to have a look, than crawl, crawl, crawl to the wall, pulls himself up to standing position and try to do a spiderman crawl. Cannot scale the wall? Nevermind, crawl, crawl, crawl to the bedhead and pulls himself to standing position and try to swing mummy and daddy's wedding photo to and fro.

Then its time to practise his situps and standups. Baby would sit himself up, throw his head back on the pillow and laugh and repeat. Then he would stand up try to balance himself and laugh and repeat. After about an hour of this act, baby is tired now and a little overworked. A feed won't do the trick by now as he will bite instead. So its a walk up and down the room to calm him down.

My of my oh my. Getting baby to sleep, like I said requires perfect timing. Must Get It Right the First Time every time or else.......!

By the way, has anyone noticed that children don't close their eyes when they want to go to bed? They would try to keep their eyes open for as long as they can until they can't stand it anymore and then you see the eyelids slowly drooping as they drift off to sleep. Its lovely to watch. I guess it must be because to them there is so much to see and learn they just refuse to sleep until they are very tired.

Little Messenger

Scene: Mr MG in the study room, MG in the kitchen, baby somewhere around the house, toddler running around the house.

Mr MG to toddler: "Do you know what is your mummy doing? Can you go and see what mummy and baby is doing then come back and tell daddy?"

Toddler (runs happily to the kitchen): "Mummy, do you know what you're doing?"

MG: "Hahaha. Yes, I know what I'm doing. I'm cutting fruits."

Toddler (runs happily to the study room): "Daddy, mummy is cutting fruits!"

At this age, toddler is very, very eager to help mummy and daddy around the house. "Can I help you daddy?" "Can I help you mummy?" can be constantly heard around the house all day. So usually we give her simple tasks which makes her very delighted. How to turn down these cute little offers to help even though usually it means the task will take twice as long and theres more destruction then help. Anyway, its a great way to teach but first must teach ourselves some patience to deal with the extra slow activity and more mess. Soon, she will grow up and refuse to help even when asked so better enjoy it now! Hehehe.

Scene: Everyone in the car while driving to the mall.

Toddler: "Mummy! Look at the sky, the sun so bright bright. The sky so colourful, so nice like rainbow like that."

MG: "Yes, sweetie. Thats the sunset. Isn't it pretty?"

Toddler: "Yes mummy. Look at the clouds. So white white. Got rainbow. Its going to rain!"

MG: "Hahaha. The rainbow comes after the rain and white clouds means its not going to rain, ok?"

Toddlers..... don't you just love them and their view of the world?

My dad is my ......

Happy Fathers Day to my dad, baby and toddler's dad and all the dads out here on blogosphere.

Copyright Camilla Eriksson, MillanNet

I came across this rather cute cartoon which I'd like to share. I especially like the last picture "my dad is my shelter". It reminds me of how I like to watch baby and toddler in their dad's arms.

As we grow older than baby and toddlerhood, my dad becomes .... my financier, my chauffeur, my disciplinarian, my teacher, my provider, my advisor and many more things. Dads, just like moms, play a very important though slightly different role in our upbringing. Cheers to all the dads out there. Happy Father's Day Dads!

My New Toy

I've got a new toy. Woohoo! Its a juicer. In our quest to improve our health we've decided to drink more homemade juices. I've been having lots of fun with it. So far, I've tried mixing, apples, pears and oranges. The results? Yummy! Grapes and pears? Another yummy! Carrot and Celery is not bad too. We drink our juice straight, with lots of fruits, very little water added and no sugar or salt of course. Very healthy. I peel the skin of the fruits away to remove any pestides residue and core the fruits to make sure they are clean. Lots of work but its worthwhile. I also wash my juicer immediately after use each time. After this, I won't be drinking any more fruit juices outside anymore as it is expensive and probably not half as clean.

We bought out juicer about a month ago, during the Mother's Day promotions although we've been browsing around and thought about buying one some time before that. Before that we thought of just using the blender as we've read that its just as good. Well, I found out for myself that its not. A blender is a blender and a juicer a juicer. The results or yield is very different. So far so good. We've upped our intake of fruits and vegetables though I haven't been that adventurous with juicing vegetables yet.

After buying the juicer.....

Mr MG: Thats your Mother's Day present dear. (looking a bit sheepish becos women aren't supposed to like household appliances as gifts mah)

MG: Wow! Thanks.

Mr MG: Its a good gift what. See? See! It says Mother's Day promotion. (still looking sheepish and pointing to the signboard)

MG: Did I say its not a nice gift? Its great! Better than last year. Last year I got 3 rotiboy.

Mr MG: You did?

MG: Yup. You came home with 3 roti boy and said Happy Mother's Day. This one is from me, one is from toddler and one from baby. Forgot already ah?

Mr MG: Hehehe.

MG: Hehehe. Now I know what to get you for Father's Day. I'll make you some homemade fruit juice. Hehehe.

Mr MG: *---------*

Tip: Secret Ingredient in a fruit juice = apple/pears to sweaten things up a bit. Secret Ingredient in a Marriage = laughter to spice things up a bit.

The Best of Me

Once Mr MG asked me: "How come you speak nicely to a stranger and put on your best behavior to a neighbour/acquaintance but when it comes to your own husband, the person you profess to love, you shout and act so ugly?"

Oops! Thats so true isn't it? Often its the persons closest to us, those who matter the most, who receive the worse part of us coz' we're too tired/stressed/familiar/too at ease with the person to be bothered. We often put on our best front for people we hardly know but when it comes to those who are close to us, the persons who matter the most, we let loose and show them our ugly side giving Familiarity breeds contempt its true meaning.

Another example is how people often dress up to the nines to go out with friends (especially friends whom one has not met up with for a while) but when going out with their own spouse , they are often sloppy and couldn't care less about their own appearance. Why such double standards? Why treat other people nicer than your own spouse?

I'm guilty of this silly behaviour. Yes I am. Ever since he asked me this question several years ago, I'm still guilty of this strange behaviour. Hmm... must strive harder to give him and those whom I love the best of me not the worse side.

On another note, the plumber who came to fix my plumbing was a very grumpy and irritable man. He spoke as if he was about to have a fight with the person he's speaking to and was very negative. Eg: "No lah! No one fixes the plumbing in this manner *grumble grumble grumble* etc.

When I commented to Mr MG about how grumpy the plumber was, his response was "I'm surprised you said that because thats the way you behave most of the time." (said teasingly with a smile of course or else MG sudah merajuk and this blog post will sound very different, haha). "OMG, really ah." I said but of course I realise that its quite true. Sometimes when the kids give me too much stress, I tend to grumble a lot, my face blacker than black and I get easily irritated by the slightest thing. Thats another example of how my family is the on the receiving end of the worse part of me.

So, MG's mantra for today is "Remember to give the best of me..... remember to give the best of me..... repeat....."

One of those days....

On one of those days......

• your aircond breaks down and leaks
• your tap leaks and you can't find the spare parts
• you have a painful ear infection and you can't even eat properly from the pain and the doctor says he doesn't have the eardrop he wants to prescribe so you have to go see him another day
• your nose is all clogged up and painful (thats a perpetual problem but on one of those days.... it actually feels worse than usual)
• you have a fungal infection on your fingers that won't go away
• ppl around you are being annoying
• you annoy ppl around you

There. I feel better now...... I think.

Hmm.... Book Tag.... What next?

Mama22beas tagged me. So here's my say (I'm lazy today. So my answers are short and sweet lah)

1) Total number of books I've owned: Kenot remember. Too many. We love to read. We've got a good collection of books on our book shelves. Mr MG's section is Finance, Investing, Health and Comic Books, mine mostly cookbooks, self-help books, health books, PC reference books (which we kongsi) and magazines and toddler and baby has their own shelf too. We devour books all the time and hope to pass that love on to the kids.

2) The last book I bought: "You are what you eat" by Dr Gillian McKeith. I told ya I love to eat!

3) The last book I read = the last book I bought.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me
a) The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman - Excellent Relationship book tho found in the Christian Books Section its a good read for all. Very simple concept but very true.

b) Don't sweat the small stuff by Richard & Kris Carlson - Hmm another self help book. Help!

c) My Merck Manual as well as The Medical Advisor - The Complete Guide to Alternative & Conventional Treatments. Hey! Thats two. I know how to count but since they're both medical might as well put them together :P

d) The Best of Chinese Cooking by Betty Yew. I told you I love to eat!

e) What to Expect Series by Eisenberg, Murkoff & Hathaway. I've got them all from What to Expect When You're Expecting to What to Expect the First Year and What to Expect the Toddler Years. Kiasu parent here need to refer to books every now and then.

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their blogs.

i) Bkworm - cos its obvious she's a bookworm
ii) Shopping Mum - wanna know what books she shops for
iii) Cherry - just curious
iv) msau - just curious
v) MrsT - just curious

P.S. To the 5 ppl I tagged. Don't worry if you're too lazy to pass the baton. These tags and memes can get rather tiresome sometimes after a while don't you think?

The Food of Love

No. I'm not talking about chocolates.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I think that has some truth and the way to little children's hearts is through their little tummies as well but, not my man. He is one of those who eats to live whereas I live to eat. I love food. I think its my dad's fault.

You see, when I was young, after my mum passed away, dad was the closest to me because the others were a little more grown up and I was still young enough to dote on. His job as a detective meant that he often worked late. And me, being the night person that I am, often waited up for him. He would come home with little tidbits (supper actually) for me which I loved. Sometimes he would bring home some special sandwiches or steamed chicken drumsticks or noodles and we would enjoy them together.

Dad knew that I loved prawn fritters (still do) and he would take me to various places to try them out. At last we found one restaurant which served heavenly fritters and we would often go there to eat. I guess thats how dad showed his love to me.... through food. So its dad's fault that I love food so much.

I see the same thing happening with Mr MG and toddler now. Mr MG often buys toddler her favourite little cakes and doughnuts which she loves just to see her little face light up in delight. I think we all celebrate love through food. Fathers buy food for little ones, mums labour over their food of love and many love relationships begin over dinner.

Ahh...food. Don't underestimate its significance/power. I remember being angry with Mr MG once when we were dating because I was feeling sick and felt very much like being pampered, was hoping that he would come over to see me and buy some cooling porridge for me but for some reason he didn't and I didn't feel loved cos I didn't have my food!

One guess what I'll be having for lunch today? (No prizes for winners). Why, prawn fritters of course!

If I had just 5 years left to live.....

I read somewhere in some Stress Management book that suggested that one should periodically ask oneself this question "If I had just 5 years left to live, what would I change/do differently?"

Okie.......lets see....hmmm.... (*taps fingers*)..... Do I wish that I could travel the world, have more money, a bigger house, trade back my housecoat for my make-up, perfume, high heels and power suits? Nyah! I don't think so. I wouldn't change a thing but I think I would do all that I'm doing now with less complaints. I would....

• enjoy my children more instead of grumbling about how clingy they are (shout at them less and cuddle them more)
• jump out of bed to greet the day instead of turning over (yet again) for another snooze (haha. say only....)
• slow down to enjoy nature....the sun on my skin, the gentle breeze, the fresh sprinkle of drizzling rain, the beautiful and vivid colours that surrounds us everyday (stop to smell the roses so to speak but that term is so cliche and overused). As it is, I have a nice view from my balcony but I think I hardly notice it anymore although I was so impressed the first few times I saw it (abuden my view is being spoilt to make way for new development but we're not going to be negative today so shhhh enuf MG.)
• keep in touch with my family (my dad and siblings) more frequently
• listen better and give my husband and children my full attention or the best of me instead of the worse of me (sometimes when my children or spouse speaks to me, my mind is elsewhere thinking about the things I have to do etc etc. This is especially true with toddler and her endless questions.)
• take better care of myself. (How can I give my best to others if I don't take good care of me first?)

I received this quote as part of an email and I thought its nice so I'm sharing it here.

"The happiest of people do not have the best of everything but they make the best of everything they have." - Author unknown