Congratulations DSAI

May you be the best Prime Minister Malaysia will ever have. May you also remember that the Chinese, Malays and the Indians voted for you. Can we now hope that you will stop race based politics and you will be the PM for all races?

With Anwar’s election win, there is still hope for Malaysia. So I decided to end my protest of Nation in Distress by flying the flag upside down. .

Specular reflection

More help needed.( I think I should actually start another QA blog!)

Took kids out for an evening walk yesterday. The half moon was still very bright and Toothless noticed the reflection of trees in the creek near home. I explained all about reflection and told him what he sees in the water is an example of specular reflection.. He was pleased with the explanation. ( and boy was I pleased!)
Then he wanted to know
“But mama, the water in the creek is moving and the reflection is constant, unlike we saw the reflection of the mountain in the still lake when we went camping. How does that work”
Half knowledge is never good. ( and I tried to google all the physics site the whole day before posting this query. Now I am full confused. Did we see the shadow or reflection yesterday? I just can’t find the answer)

To my son

I remember the first time I took you for ice skating. You were so eager and couldn’t wait to go on to the ice.
You fell down even before you reached the ice. You fell down 21 times in 30 minutes.
By the time the lesson was over, your jeans was soaking wet and you looked so disappointed. I was ready to give you the usual lecture about ‘not giving up’, because I knew you were going to tell me that ice skating isn’t your cup of tea. I waited for you to say, you want to quit while I untied your skates, during the drive back home, even when I tucked you to bed. You just told me your knees are aching and your butt is frozen!

By the third lesson most of the kids in your group was already skating and you were still crawling and trying to stand on your skates. I noticed how your friends were laughing each time you fell down and I expected you to come and tell me that you were going to quit. I had the lecture all planned in my head about not giving up.

By the end of the year, your sister who started the lesson along with you was already in level 4 and you were still in level 1. I was sure you would be begging me to take you off skating.

I remember the devastation on your face when Yaya passed level 6 and got the trophy and certificate. I remember how happy I was for Yaya and how I wanted to own a magic wand that would let me make my son a good skater. I tried to tell you that you will be a good skater one day and you shook your head angrily and muttered “yeah right”
That night when I went to bed, I wondered if I was doing the right thing? Am I pushing my kids too much? I thought perhaps you were not a good skater and I should understand that. In the morning I was going to ask you if you wanted to quit, but then I heard you asking your sister how to do two point turn and she volunteered to help you and you were all smiles.

Today was the last lesson of this season and from your last report I knew you had to complete three more steps to finish level 6. Something I was sure couldn’t be done in 2 weeks. So you can imagine my shock when I saw you walking out of the ice holding your trophy and the certificate. You did it my precious son. I am so proud of you. Thank you for not giving up and for showing me that you don’t have to quit because everyone else is better than you..

Can’t believe summer holidays are almost over..

It has been a remarkable two months.
These are the things I have done.

Made most of the pickles and fruit preserves that we would be consuming the next 6 months. It feels good to see all the bottles filled and sealed.

I found that the thrift shop near home sells Harlequin novels.. 5 for a dollar! and they take it back after I read it..Super deal, there is no other words to describe it.
I read 38 Harlequin novels and still counting..

Read Michael Yamashita’s Marco Polo photographer’s journey. Envied him and I wish I could do the same trip. Somehow of all the things that I didn’t know, I must add that I didn’t know Marco Polo had visited Kerala.

Tried to read ithihyamala again..the language is too difficult for me to comprehend( and I passed SSLC Malayalam!)

Re read Little women again!

knitted a poncho for yaya.

As for the kids

Yaya passed level 8 swimming.
Toothless passed level 5 swimming. (It took him one year to pass level 5).
Baby is still in level 3.

All of them got the medals for completing the summer reading club.

Since they agreed to a summer without cartoons and didn’t watch TV since the last day of school, I will be taking them to the Fair at PNE this week.They look forward to going for all the rides( and I don’t look forward to an empty wallet! Besides I am also afraid of heights)

How was all of your holidays?

Easter calculation

i know Easter is on the first sunday after the fullmoon that occurs after spring equinox.
What I don’t know is why is it on that day? What was the reason to calculate the Easter to coincide with fullmoon and spring?
Does anyone know?

Oh please

There are certain moments in life I wish I had actually listened to the teachers at class instead of dreaming about the knight in shiny armour.
The knight never came ( must be stuck in a traffic jam??)and I am in the process of becoming an idiot, at least in front of my children.

All I was trying to do was to explain why the birds sitting on a transmission line don’t get zapped.
Technically it is simple, there is no circuit unless the poor bird touched the earth wire.
I explained the way current moves from high to low and the fact that both feet of the bird touches the wire makes it possible for the current to bypass the bird’s body!

But then my child wants to know why there is no electricity going through the bird, since its body is a conduit for electricity.( otherwise it won’t get zapped!)
I know it has something to do with the birds body being at the same voltage as the wire..What I don’t know is, why it is so..and before I get fried, help me.

3 days

3 days of 3 km walking, 3 days of stomach crunches and other fat reducing + muscle building activities, trust me, I am beginning to lose it.

No no no.. not the fat.. the motivation!

I want to shout and say “Hey, I am a 37 yrs old mother of three kids. 57 kg is the ideal weight for my height ( at least that is what the medical books say)” !

I keep asking myself “Why am I torturing myself like this?” Especially when 3/4 of the Malayalee women between 35 to45 in Kerala are obese.

I am not obese anyway.

And I really love cinnamon bun with cream cheese topping.

Right now I am angry with the person who invented Cinnamon bun. Because of him or her I still have to get up at 7 in the morning and walk three km( tomorrow it is supposed to rain) and come back and eat a warm cinnamon bun and drink a cup of tea with three sugar.

Life is not fair.( Shhh Don’t tell Yaya that I said that)

Obsessions!

I want to deny it.. but I am obsessed with a lot of things.
I always get up from my right side,
always press the accelerator before changing the gear,
the towels should be hung with the edges straight,
clothes hung in the closet according to colour,
all the spice bottles must have the label facing front.
I hate to be late.. etc etc.

Then there is an obsession with body weight.
Nah, I am not anorexic!
I don’t diet either.
I was 52 kg 15 years ago and after each pregnancy I got back in to my original 52 kg.
But the last year I gained 5 kilos!( and I swim 20 laps twice a week!)
That means (a bit of) belly fat and (a bit of) side tires!
I know I sound so vain, but I hate to be fat.
I have so many vices( read cinnamon bun, french fries, kettle cooked chips) that is the cause of the weight gain, apart from the fact that I am growing old!
I can’t imagine a life without cinnamon bun, in other words that means I am not ever going on a diet.
The problem is to lose a Kg of fat I need to burn 7700 calories. To lose 5 kg… gosh I don’t even want to know!
So here is my plan.
1.Brisk walk 3 km every morning.
2.Half crunch 30 times
3.lying leg raise 30 times
4.eat cinnamon bun every day.

Hopefully I can lose the 5 kg in the next 6 to 9 months.

Growing Pains!

Arggggggh!
The owner/writer of Hang loose wants her blog to be a reflection of her life. She doesn’t want to be in her mama’s shadow.
Apparently it is her blog and it is ‘not about me’.
She doesn’t want to be compared to her mama. She wants friends, but not because they are mama’s friends..but because they like her writings.
Growing pains!