as expected, i got my period because i was too lazy! well, to keep count, it's three months now since we began trying (although technically it's only two because again, i was too lazy last month!).
anyway, remember the organic soyplus that i'm on now? well, i have to say it really did help (although not in the way it's supposed to). i did NOT cramp at all, which was fantastic! it definitely did not help with the pms-ing; ie the mood swings, though. well, at least one symptom down huh?
well then, it's time to get back on the horse again. yee-hah!

i have stumbled upon THE pregnancy book must have! it's called "the complete organic pregnancy; what you need to know - from the nail polish you wear to the bed you sleep in to the water you drink" by deirdre dolan & alexandra zissu.
i know it's a mouthful but the things i've learnt from this book is indispensable. i would actually recommend this book not only to women who are pregnant but to ALL women. it's so informative and at the same time so scary. it basically tells you what chemicals are in AND around everyday items you use and they give you alternatives. it tells you what to look out for, the big no-nos.
the authors are journalists themselves so this book has been thoroughly researched. the two must read books while trying to conceive or while pregnant (in my books at least):

• the complete organic pregnancy (which talks about the environment you're in and how to have the safest AND healthiest pregnancy possible by minimizing your exposure to the toxins around us)
• what to expect when you're expecting (which talks about how your body changes and how the baby is growing and when to worry and when not to, eg bleeding and spotting)

these two books are my fortress of knowledge on pregnancy. i even highlighted notes on the pages! (if only i studied this hard back when i was in school............................)

as a continuation from yesterday: i do the major household chores on saturdays as i do not cook dinners on the weekends. i would change the bedsheets (i do NOT make the bed at all as i think it's a complete waste of time), do laundry & ironing, wiping & dusting (this is a MAJOR pain), wash the bathrooms, clean out the fridge and do the floors (vacuuming & mopping).
so you see? i'm not a tai-tai. i'm more like a housewife who actually does the household chores to keep our home clean!

for those who are curious about what i do with my days (& i know there are some of you out there!):
i wake up at about 7:30 everyday (including weekends). then clean up, make our gross green drinks, clean the kitchen (more like putting away the dishes which have dried from the night before), do laundry (whenever i get a full load), have breakfast then i just chill either by watching tv or reading or scrap booking or cross-stitching!
then when it's noon, i start preparing for dinner (eg chopping, cutting, slicing, etc). i would not like to have to prepare & then cook immediately. i like everything prepared before i cook so that i can just throw the ingredients into the pan & just cook. then wash up & have lunch.
in the afternoons, i catch up on e-mails & bills, blogging, surfing the net, etc. then i actually do work for b. well, currently i have gone back to work to help out once a week. so i bring stuff home & catch up on work. i'll work through until it's time to cook, which is usually about 6ish, 7. i would also fold laundry in between if i did a round of washing in the morning.
then b comes home, we have dinner, watch tv then i do all the washing up. so you see? i prepare, cook AND wash up! well, b does help out as well, he cleans the hob & hood & the countertops for me.
then the cycle starts again the next day!

One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.

For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:

one belongingto him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,

he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life

there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened

at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you,

you'd walk with me all the way.

But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,

there is only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you.

During your times of trial and suffering,

when you see only one set of footprints,

it was then that I carried you."

-mary stevenson-

i have a confession to make: i am getting lazy to try. we really have not been trying at all this month & it's all due to me! it's not like the first two months when i was always ready to try. i can not believe that i'm lazy to do it! ah well..........i'll get back on the horse again after this.................

my completely "un-ah-lian" bestie from uk (the previous picture did not do her justice)

p/s: i just realised that i do not have any nice pictures of us together!

with all the price increases AND after our hk trip, i have gone on a "save money" project. when i used to do grocery shopping, i would just grab whatever i felt like trying, usually the imported stuff, hence it would be more expensive, & put it into the cart. b would also go crazy in the junk food aisle.
NOT anymore. i carefully go through everything that's in our cart. we do not buy anything that is NOT a necessity anymore. i used to spend about RM200 on an average per week, & now it's down to RM80 per week (this is still a bit high but this includes our organic juices). & you know what? we're doing fine. we didn't need those junk to begin with. to help me out, i carry around a mini calculator in my bag so that i can work out which brand gives us the most bang for our buck (i am completely useless at mental arithmetic). and i have to say, i'm not shy in whipping out my calculator in front of others and doing sums.
on the home front, i have halved the amount of food i cook. i cook just enough for one meal now. i used to follow recipes to the dot. but since i've been cooking for some time now, i have gotten the hang of it, and so i am better able to judge the amount of food we need. i eat leftovers for lunch or whatever's at home. nothing goes to waste anymore (i used to buy snacks on a whim & i never ended up eating them so i would give them away to the cleaners in my condo).
also, since electricity tariffs are up, i have been using the tips that i've read:

• turning off switches at the main plug when not in use (i used to just turn off the switches at the gadget but leave the main plug on for "convenience" aka lazy to bend down or stretch to turn the main switch on!)
• charging my mobile during the day so that i can immediately unplug it when the charge is complete
• turning off the damn idiot box whenever my usual programs are not running. i only let it run wild whenever b is back because it's his form of unwinding for the day (this is also not done in the extreme)
• turning off the kitchen light whenever the kitchen's not in use (we used to leave the kitchen light on throughout the night until i realise that the light only lights up the kitchen area & it does not help in any other areas! eg when we're watching tv in the living area, the kitchen light is completely useless!)
• i open the windows now to cool down the home as opposed to turning on the air-conditioning. actually i try my best NOT to turn the air-cond on during the day except for when it is extremely hot. even then i only let it run for a maximum of 2 hours and when the whole home is completely cooled, i turn it off. that would last to the evening & by then the air outside would have cooled as well.

but things are not all bad. we still have guilty pleasures. eg, we have the air-cond turned on throughout the night when we're in bed (i have kept the fan off now. we used to turn on both the fan AND the air-cond. it would cool the room faster & then we just never bothered to turn it off when we fell asleep). we upgraded & only go to movies in gsc premier (this is also only for movies that we think is worth the money to watch in the cinema like movies with special effects. a definite no-no is romantic comedies - that we have the wonderful world of dvds). another guilty pleasure would be our once a month facial. so you see? we try to even things out.

i have finally started on my scrapbook from our whirlwind trip to us & uk (ONE whole year late!). well, i guess better late than never. i have come to the conclusion that i am not a very artistic person nor am i a scrapbooky person. i am so anal that i want everything to be stuck straight. nothing out of place & no messiness at all! sigh......i have to learn to let things flow.............hopefully by the time b & i have a baby, i would have improved by loads because i want to have a scrapbook for our baby to chart everything (hope i'll do it regularly though & not like when our kid's like 12 then only i get round to it!)

ever since i have decided to give up alcohol, i have put b & i on a detox program to clean up our "insides". it basically involves drinking a mixture of organic instant soyplus+wheatgrass+barley grass. the final product is a gross green. but surprisingly it does not taste bad. in fact it tastes like non-flavoured milk. we have one cup of it in the morning daily before breakfast. well, i'm obviously doing this to ensure that b & i give our baby the best start possible!

besides the soyplus is supposed to help women with pms (again for those in the know, you know how i am when i'm pre-mestrual!)

i have finally decided to give up my last vice: alcohol. i have been thinking that since b & i are trying, i should give up alcohol completely (not even a sip!) to boost up our chances & to give our baby the best start possible. i have decided that i do not want to go through the OMG situation whereby i worry if my last drinking session harmed our baby (if i discovered i was pregnant).
so, to ensure that i stick to this, i have enrolled p as my buddy/sponsor. i'll call her whenever i feel like drinking & she'll talk me out of it. she makes a better buddy because b would not be firm enough to tell me no.
so, to all who read my blog, STOP me from drinking if the situation should arise!

b & i celebrated our anniversary on sunday (NOT wedding anniversary, but anniversary for when we started going out). well, it's been eight years now. thinking back on how we got started, it's amazing that we're still together AND married!
b & i have passed that stage whereby you're still buying gifts for each other & going out for romantic dinners. i know it may sound sad to some people but we realise we don't need that kind of thing anymore. we are happy just spending the whole day together enjoying each other's company.
we just slept in, cooked together (a sunday fry-up - yum, yum), watched dvds & just lazed. then we went jalan-jalan, window shopping, had dinner out & finished the day with a movie. we just took our time, no rushing & no errands. oh, we romped in bed too ; ) (this time it was for fun not for trying!)
aaaaahhhhh...................it was a wonderful day.


g: you still amaze me with your "talents" with regards to songs & movies. you're like a walking dictionary on both! happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy....... ; )

this is going to make me sound like an ah sum but i don't care: i'm super excited about justlife! they definitely have more variety in terms of fresh produce AND other organic items, including skincare! i finally checked out their stores yesterday & i'm STILL happy, happy, joy, joy now................ : ) the stores are neater & their items are better placed compared to country farm. to top it off, their staff gives excellent customer service! only downside to justlife is unfortunately their staff ALL speak mandarin - i don't. lucky for me, b does, so he's my translator!
happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy.....................

anyone remembers the "happy happy joy joy" song? i can't seem to remember which cartoon it's from. but i DO know that it was featured in the "saturday morning cartoons soundtrack" back when i was in high school!

b & i had an all-out scream at each other fest 3 days ago. it was over a minor issue which of course blew out of proportion. well, i guess it was long overdue. ever since i've been at home, it has been just been fantastic between us - no arguments whatsoever, not even teeny weeny ones.
our scream fest came to an end an hour after it started. it was so different from our previous fights. back in those days, our arguments would sometimes last a day or two (because of me. i would refuse to talk about it or let it go). well, things are definitely different now. we made up immediately & talked about the issue, with no screaming involved. it's so much better this way, which is not to say that i'm hoping for another session anytime soon!