Spymama @ Mamakshop

I have a large collection of audio cds that was collected in the late 80’s and 90’s. During lunch hours, I’d walked to the CD shop to get some nice albums of my favourite artistes for as many as few times a week. That was a weakness I had. I sometimes spend about $50 per visit and in a month I sometimes chaulked up as much as 600- 700 buying CDs. During those times, we used walkman CD players a lot and I’d keep a set of CDs in an album wherever I travel. It is nice to sit on the double decks and listen to my favourite songs on the CD.

Nowadays, many teens and adults do not carry the walkman anymore. They have mp3s or iPods and all that small little gadgets that store musics in small memory cards. How convenient. i’ve not try them and wonder if I should get an iPod too. It so happened that I wanted to check out some audio racks for my DVD players and saw a salesperson demonstrating it’s uses to a lady customer. I stood there listening intently and thought that how convenient it was. But what is going to happen to my CD collection once I get them all in audio file formats? Are they going to die a slow death just like records? I still take my CDs out to listen to.

A few years ago, we received a toolbox from my uncle. Apparently, he had too many tools and gadgets that got his wife nagging that it was really messy in the workroom he used. He has a hobby of taking electronic gadgets out and studies them to see how they work. I remembered how he got into an argument with his wife after he tried to dismantle the old dishwasher when it wouldn’t work. His wife insisted that it could have been salvaged in the hands of a proper technician for that product. And the dishwasher was pretty expensive.

When he did some spring cleaning, he put many things in a spare tool box (he had 5 tool boxes!) and gave it to us as a handy tool box. I remembered going through it and asking what they were. There were nails, screwdrivers, bolts, nuts, plugs and even spring plungers! Some of these things are more familiar with my hubby as he likes to be the handyman in the house. So when something needs to be looked at, without any haste, I could always rely on both of them to pair up and start tinkering with their tools.

Are they really such interesting hobby? I can’t even do well with a map!

When I was young, I always hear of health problems faced by my grandmother and other elderly folks. They talk about rheumatism, arthritis and other joint problems that are mostly age related. My mom herself suffers from rheumatism so she always have been advising me not to bathe late at night or in fact after 7pm.

For many Asians, it is also not advisable to bathe or be exposed to wind and water during the month of confinement. There was also a strict diet to follow and foods that we cannot take. This is detrimental to our health. I did not follow through an entire month of confinement process although she had nagged me many times. It was a year later after that I began to feel the ill-effects. I had backaches and a weaker general well-being.

When I had my second child, I decided to hire a confinement nanny and I followed through the strict regimen of health and other matters during that confinement period. That was the only way of regaining back my health as the Asians believe. After my second child and a strict confinement month, it was unbelievable that the aches that I had felt after my first child were not as apparent. The backaches I suffered were not excruciating and I didn’t feel like needles poking my hips.

The only health problem that I face now are the those in my feet. When I was young, I had been diagnose as having a flat feet. To the older folks it is not a good thing. My doctor explain that this usually leads to a term Plantar Fasciitis, which is pain at our heels. That is so true because now as I am aging, I feel this aches most especially in the morning when I wake up. At home, I cannot walk barefoot and need to put on the house slippers most of the time.

My dear friend told me that perhaps I should consider foot and arch supports to ease the pain in my feet. There are also heel cushions, stretching aids as well. I am considering it seriously. However, if this can really reduce the pain I get in the mornings, it is definitely worth it.

This image is taken from plantar-fasciitis.org

My daughter wants to take up basketball in school as a co-curricular sport and I thought it was a wonderful idea. She is rather short and perhaps this is a good chance for her to practise more ‘jump’ sports and gain height. You never know, she could turn out to be taller than both parents’ and challenge genetic history..

Well, Spypapa was a fan of Michael Jordan once and he talked about this famous basketball star non-stop. I even remember how he would surf the net to find out all he could about Michael Jordon, including finding out where his hometown was. Wilmington - North Carolina, of course. And what better thing he did next, was check out the Wilmington NC real estate listings on the internet. I told him are you sure you want to move in and be Michael’s neighbours? I’m sure with his celebrity status now, he’d be living in a large mansion or villa in Beverly Hills! Of course we are not in Wilmington but still stuck in humid Singapore right now.

I was out for two days at the chalet the last couple of days. I had a great time with the family swimming and stayed soaking in the sun. Luckily there was no rain on the two days we were out. It only rained after we were back home and had been raining non-stop since morning!

However, when I came back this morning, I couldn’t connect to the internet at all. I checked all the power points and found that everything was connected but why was my Linksys router off. It was so frustrating until I found out the power extension that supplied power to my router was faulty. I hurried and changed it and found it working fine. Phew!! That was a close call otherwise I’d have to spend some money for repairs or trouble shooting or a new router! Thank Goodness! And I don’t think I can do without the internet connection at all!

Spypapa and I went to the mall after dinner yesterday. At the atrium, there was a roadshow selling fitness equipment. For the longest time, we talked about having our own in the room but those were just talks. We had been window shopping to decide which of the best equipment to buy. Years back, we had a power rider that became a white elephant. We bought it from the TV commercials that came with a number. Then, we bought the chair that could gallop. And it is now another white elephant in the corner. We did ride on it for a while but never got past the second month.

I prefer to use the one at the gym because the environment is somehow better. Home is just too cosy. But lately I’ve been too lazy to drop by the gym so I am now thinking about getting one of those stationery bike. Or the threadmill. Cannot decide. The thing is. Will my house become a zoo for white elephants. Perhaps I should get one of those lazy chairs that could massage away my aching back…

I took a look at the mirror closely. There was a hair not in place. One that stood up prominently and Ooh that was my grey hair! Gosh! In this year alone, I noticed grey hairs so I am fretting. I don’t have a habit of having my hair coloured because my hair has very fine texture and tends to drop easily. So colours are out. Why do grey hair always springs out from our head of hair? Sigh… Then I started to scrutinize my face. Pigmentation.. gosh, how I wish I can find a good cream for that. I think mine are beginning to look like age spots.. Am I getting paranoid? No, I’m being truthful. Then looking at the corner of my eyes… Wrinkles! or are they Laugh Lines? Ohhhh now I am going to get hysterical! Yikes Yikes! Should I start a dose of Lipovox now? Botox are scary and I hate needles.

Let me grow old, but gracefully. Did these all appear in one year alone? What’s your wish for 2009? It’s only weeks away.

I am in love with Libraries. Sorry if it sounds boring to you.. hehehe But in a library, with all its quietness and peace, I am very relaxed. Seeing books lining up shelves are my greatest joy. I’d walk and browze at the cookery, crafts, design and all that aesthetics. I love the art section. It gives me lots of inspirations to do things. When I am feeling down, a visit to the library does perk me up. Lately when I visit the library, I was shocked to find so many empty spaces in the shelves. Why are there so many missing books? I asked the friendly lady at the counter, She was a little old lady who had been there for years, sporting eyeglasses and a little bun, perfect fit for a Librarian… LOL! She told me it is the school holidays and everyone gets to borrow TWICE the number of books (normal number is 8 books) and many are taking this time to borrow them. Wow! That is just great. As much as I like to borrow them back, I also like to read them at the library’s comfy sofa and enjoy the cool airconditioned place.

Let me tell you a weird habit of mine. When I am in the library, I have this tendency to go visit the toilet! hahahah! Libraries relaxes me and I can purge happy. Then I won’t feel constipated! So each time when I feel as if I haven’t gone for days, I’ll make a visit to the library!

What is your secret habit? Please share!

You’ve got to admit. Not everyone can afford a nice holiday travelling the world. It is certainly not a great idea to rely on your other half for expenses as you know that every thing you buy or spend will be accounted for. With your own money, even if you have wasted it on a nice looking bag that breaks in a week because you stuff too many things in it, no one is going to tell you off that it is a waste of money. You have no one to answer to because you made a mistake buying something you don’t need. That is why, I really need to find ways to make a little pocket money. In my mind, all that accumulation could lead to that longed for Vegas vacations. Well, just hopefully I can multiple some money or make the vacation all expensed paid for by a lucky star.

I sweep the house every morning with a broom. I wished I had a vacuum cleaner that is light and portable. I have two, a rechargeable one that I use for vacuuming the car, and another one that is very big and bulky. It is such a chore using this that I only take it out once every week to vacuum the beds and sofa.

Now that Christmas is coming, there is nothing but to wish for one of those Sebo vacuum cleaners from Santa. I read that it is very effective for those with allergy problem, which will be good. My family has a history of sinus and we all wake up with all that horrible sniffing and achoo-ing. And whenever I clean the house, I wear my Hello Kitty mask (don’t laugh) so that the dust do not tickle and trigger off another attack of wheezing. So, All I Want For Christmas… “hellooo Santa, you heard me, don’t you?”