Cost to Operate Appliances

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to operate the appliances in your home? I recently beat myself up because I found out that I have been SLAVING all these years washing dirty dishes, pots and pans due to my ignorance. I was under the misconception that the dishwasher uses a lot of energy to operate, not to mention water. And guess how much it costs? A MERE 19 cents per load!!!!!!! So everytime I think about washing Cael's baby bottles, breastpump accessories, day and night for the past 8.5months, not to mention 6 years worth of washing dishes in good old USA, I start beating myself up again!!! This WONDERFUL enlightenment only came to me RECENTLY when my landlord decided to get a new dishwasher for the condo we live in. I am not one for reading manuals and I guess I should say fortunately I read the manual and that is how I found out how much it costs to operate the dang thing! And since I don't have to pay for water it makes the deal even sweeter, so these days I run the dishwasher like its going out of style!
Well, like the Good Book says, (although I don't think Jesus meant it to apply to dishwashers but the concept is nonetheless true) "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you FREE!
Anyways, I have attached a link so you can have an idea how much it costs to operate your appliance.
http://accuspec.biz/Appliance%20Operation%20Costs.htm

Visit with Uncle George

Cael is over his stranger anxiety stage as can be seen by the picture of him and his Uncle George. When he was younger, he would start crying if anyone besides his mama and dada tries to pick him up. He cries even when someone else gets near and makes eye contact, especially strangers with blond hair. I guess he is partial to black! hair I mean. Well, I for one am glad because it will mean that his parents might go out on a date and leave him with a babysitter soon. We'll have to see....

Drama and a Mini Haircut

The boy and I had a little drama outside SuperWalmart today. The day started out foggy so the mother turned on the headlights in the car. In anticipation of the excitement of shopping, someone forgot to turn the lights off. After spending a whole hour deciding if we are going to have lasagna this week and getting the necessary ingredients, amongst other things of course, we came back to a car that wouldnt start. So... after a little panicking (just the mother as the boy was having a time of his life roaming around in the car), a friend's father who lives across the street came to the rescue. And right now, the car is waiting outside Walmart to be jumpstarted. Isn't it a great time just when my brother is visiting from Malaysia today?
Oh, the boy had a mini haircut yesterday. Can you tell the difference?

What thoughts?

Yeah, I know it's supposed to be daily thoughts but I guess I have brains the size of peas. Some days I really have no thoughts... well, that is not quite true. I have thoughts I don't think are wise for public consumption. Nothing nasty...just thoughts that I have of other people and their life stories that I don't think they would want published and read about. For eg.... just kidding.
Having to edit my thoughts are not fun. I wish I could type what I think but then I will have no more friends. So wouldn't you say the mind is an evil thing that needs to be constantly filtered? As a Christian, it is a good thing that I have the ability to ask Christ to renew and refresh my mind everyday otherwise I can just imagine all the filth that is in there.

Feeding Time

Feeding Cael is quite a challenge at times. He does not enjoy being fed. He likes to feed himself, although more often than not, he ends up feeding the highchair instead. So what's a mom to do to ensure the child gets proper nutrition?

Smiling for the Camera

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Cael recently started smiling whenever I aimed the camera at him. Not something I taught him so I wonder where he learned that.

Old Wives' Tales

Growing up, there were many tales told to me by my elders that of course I now know are just that, tales. ...Although I must say I believed them with all my heart when I was but a child knee high. I will give you a few examples.
I was told never to swallow any seeds, be it from oranges, watermelon or other seedy fruits. Why? Because if I did, I can expect the seed to germinate and grow out of my head. Pretty dumb to believe huh? Another one is to make sure I finished every morsel on my plate, otherwise I will grow up and marry a person with lots of pimples on his face.
I realize that these tales are meant to teach us something. So now, with a child of my own, I wonder what I can come up with to teach him stuff. Should I tell him not to suck on his daddy's hairy legs unless he wants hair to sprout out of his tongue?
What about you, what did your parents tell you that you now know is just a fable?

Free as the Wind

Gerald should be getting his motorbike license anyday now. He has a temporary permit right now and can ride anywhere except the freeways. So he has been a good errand boy (hehe!) because he looks for any excuse to ride his bike. Not that he needs one. He will pretty much go anywhere to buy some small stuff, anything that he can fit inside his motorbike jacket. Which works out well for me as I always have stuff I need to get from the store.
It gives me great joy to see my husband so happy with his new toy. He came home from his ride yesterday with a great big smile on his face and says he can't wait until he can start riding to work. We live about 30 miles east of LA and his work is downtown. So you can imagine he has quite a bit of a commute. Well, with the bike, hopefully he won't get stuck in the infamous LA traffic quite as much as before. Which means that both of us can sleep in a little longer than before. At least one can wish eh?

Writing A Book?

Is blogging the same as writing a book? Will the thoughts start flowing as soon as the pen hits the paper? Or in this case, the fingers hit the keyboard? I found out that in America, everyone knows how to type PROPERLY as in they take lessons in typing, which is very dissimilar with the folks back in Malaysia. We type with 2 fingers, tap tapping away and eventually graduate to maybe 4 fingers. Mind you, we type as fast as anyone else.
By now, you probably wonder why I keep referring to Malaysia. Well that's because I was born and bred in Malaysia, only came to live in the US of A at the ripe age of 26 when I married my husband, Gerald. I have always dreamed of living here, and one day my wish DID come true. Except that I found out that America is not Hollywood. Haha. But I love this country, do not get me wrong. I love that I can pay all my bills on the internet. I love that I never have to stand in line anywhere, well, except at the INS, DMV and Costco. I love that I can return stuff with no qualms, and I SO DO NOT abuse this right. I have even returned a watermelon to the grocery store before, isn't that cool? I love that the season changes so I can look forward to summer. In Malaysia, it is always summer so you can understand if we never want to step out into the hot sun or go to the beach. Yeah I am not a beach person. I am more a mountain and lakes kinda gal. And I do not like to get tanned, no matter what Hollywood says is the in thing.
Well well well, what do we know... thoughts do flow as I type. Maybe I will write a book.

Embracing Quietness

Ah! The peace that comes after the baby has gone to bed. Not that I do not enjoy my little Cael, but he is a very active little boy especially right before he goes to bed. So this hour of the evening is a time I get to just sit, relax and be with myself and my thoughts. I do feel a little guilty for leaving my husband by himself but I really need this time to be ALONE. A cup of coffee would be soooooo good but unfortunately, age has caught up and I do not want to spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in bed.
My husband, Gerald is his name, recently bought a bike and I mean a motorcycle (none of that scooter bikes they ride in Malaysia). I mean a REAL bike... I also don't mean a bicycle (Ray, if you ever read this, this comment is meant for you!) So he has been taking some lessons and will soon have his license. He has only been waiting for this day since I knew him. Maybe longer...So that is a dream realized. Now, I have to find something to dream about so that it has a chance to come true. :)

Daily Routine

My daily routine involves getting up at 5.30am (just because my internal alarm clock is warped!). I will go on the internet to check my emails, read the news, check the weather and etc.. Then a little voice upstairs will announce that he is up for the day. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I will also get a bottle of formula ready. And there he is, standing in his crib waiting to be picked up, sometimes quite vocally too.
The pic here shows him without his clothes as we were still in HOT Texas then...but he is now quite nicely bundled in his fleece jammies. :)
He is a little cutie most of the time. The other times, his voice is as loud as his mama's! Oh, he just woke up and is talking to himself so I best get his porridge (Malaysians will know what this is) ready........until next time......

Intro

Good day. Today is my first time blogging and my brains are scrambling around trying to find something interesting to share to nobody. As usual, I wait until everyone else is already on and am the last one to hop onto the blog train.
Something about me. I do not like melted butter on my toast. I always let my toast cool completely before spreading the butter. And secretly I am hoping I am unique in this so that I am someone un-mediocre but there are probably tons out there who do the same. Hah! But do they also like to spread their peanut butter on hot toast so it melts and become runny and gooey? I think not! (sure.)
Okay... A little bit about moi. I am a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM). My baby boy Cael was born 8 months ago. My days are spent cleaning poopy diapers and wondering what to feed my baby food jar challenged little boy. Talking about poopy diapers, my husband says that I have an endless fascination about them. He says he is tired of me asking him to describe Cael's poop to me when he changes the little boy. But you must hear my story before you judge me.
When he was a little bitty baby, his poop started having blood in them. When I took him to his pediatric, the quack doctor told me to send him to do a Meckel Scan at the hospital... This procedure is invasive..they inject some dye onto him and then do an x-ray to see where he is bleeding internally. Naturally, as a MOTHER, I do not want to put my child through that...so I requested a second opinion..and all it turned out to be was that my son has some anal fissures which bleed everytime he passes stool because his stools were kinda explosive and very watery..so we changed his diet to include some solids and voila! anal fissures are gone, said bloody stools are gone too. So that is why I have a fascination with my son's stools. I am learning to relax though..It is a process.
So what do you think? Cold toasts and bloody stools make for good first impression?