So, I leave early morning to catch a flight to AZ. From there we rent a Uhaul to load my sons belongs and move them back here to my house. This is going to be an exhausting weekend! I'm tired already..:( My computer will be moved into the garage, so don't know when I'll be back on as I'm going to have to wait until they have time to set me up in there. I'm going to go through withdrawals, haha.

Sheesh, I've been so busy, I haven't even responded to the comments on my last post. Plus for the past two days I couldn't even access my own blog. Weird, I still haven't figured out why.

I got my goodie bag from Slayerbarbie! When I come back, I'll tell you what was in it. I was so excited when I opened it, and I ate something that was in there within two minutes, lol. Thank you Demetrius! I loved it all!

I will be sending out my gift bags shortly, maybe the end of next week, I'll have to see how busy I am helping them the kids settle in.

See ya when I get back!

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We had a garage sale on Saturday to try and make room for my son and his wife to move back in. He has one more set of clinical boards to take, but that will happen in February. Graduating from the medical school has nothing to do with that. He just can't practice fully as a doctor until he passes those. Since his student loans have already started coming in, they will have to live with us for at least a year.

What an adjustment this is going to be... This house isn't that big for so many people and an extra dog. Yep, they have a dog and that dog doesn't get along with my female dog, so this should be fun.....NOT!

Of course, I am happy to have my son here again, he's been in AZ for almost 10 years now. I'm also sure it will be an adjustment for him, having to live at home again. He's probably dreading it, lol.

So, back to the garage sale....This large family drove up in their huge Dodge van and proceeded to fan out all over the yard. I hate it when they do that, you can't keep an eye on them, which is why they do it, they're not dumb.

I had this large box of different child related items going back to my in-home preschool days and all the little ones in this family were gleefully going through the box. They were so cute, so I told them, take whatever you want out of the box, it's free. Their little eyes lit up and they tore that box apart, lol. They wound up taking almost everything!

The parents didn't buy anything and didn't even tell me thank you for giving the little ones all the free stuff. (most of the items were not cheap!) They all piled into the van but the mother stood outside for a bit, I thought maybe she was going through her purse or something. Meanwhile, I was pretty busy with some other buyers.

About an hour later, my neighbor came up to me and said..."I can't believe some people." I asked her what she meant and she told me to go look down at the end of my driveway. I walked down and laying there, right where the van was and right where the lady was standing. was a dirty diaper.

WTF!!

That's what that lady was doing, changing her babies diaper and freakin throwing it down in MY DRIVEWAY!

The fact that she left a shit*ty diaper in my yard is hard enough to believe, but to do it after I gave her 6 kids all the neat toys and crafts, is so ffing wrong.

Ahhh, I'm still so pissed and also a little sad about that. Sad, because I'm sure there are probably so many people like that woman and I don't understand what makes people do things like that. Or why they think it's acceptable.

Oh well...

I wonder if I can find out where she lives, I just picked up all the dog poop in my yard...

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CONTRIBUTERS to EFX2 on FLICKR:
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Keep saying it enough and some STUPID people might just believe you Ann!

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Sometimes retirement IS the better option John!

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[I][FONT="Century Gothic"]The objective for us today [aug 12] was to use mass transit options to travel and tour our state of Rhode Island and to include, bus, train, and boat. We even managed a trolley as well! A great weather day helped it succeed!! | use your mouse over to control sizes and options.[/FONT][/I]

Remember when I asked y'all to vote for my friend when she nade the Dove commercial (she came in 3rd ... thx!)?

Karen is at it again. Please lend her your support. Go to this link [URL="http://www.skydivergirls.com/"][SIZE="5"]http://www.skydivergirls.com[/SIZE][/URL]/ and/or click on [URL="http://southwest.spigit.com/homepage"][SIZE="5"][B]Vote for me here[/B][/SIZE][/URL] . This will take you to the Southwest Airlines site for voting. Please scroll down and view the entries. Click the UP GREEN ARROW by Karen's entry to vote Yes for Karen.

This is the one that you look for ...

[COLOR="Cyan"] Press Release: New Southwest Airlines Blog-o-spondent!, posted by SkydiverGirl on 08/19/2008 07:01 PM

Vote for me if Bags Fly Free! I promise to keep you informed and entertained Southwest Airlines style and show you how Nuts I can be when I'm passionate about no fees and a positive travel experience. [/COLOR]

Thanks Loads!

Here is what her vid looks like ...

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I saw Demetrius do this, aka slayerbarbie, and I thought, how cool! With all the crap that's happened in the past two days, I need to bring some fun and happiness into my life. This will do it. It's a gift meme.

If you want to get a little bag of goodies from me, leave me a PM with your address. It might take awhile, because I will be searching for just the right little trinkets that remind me of you. I'm so excited, this will be fun!

And no, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS IN RETURN!! This is just something I want to do, giving makes me happy...:)

Now for the crap...

Two days ago, after my trip, I got in my little Saturn to run up to the store. As I get around the corner of house I hear this huge bang! I freaked and drove back to my house hearing an awful noise under the car. Turns out my muffler in dragging on the street. Sheesh.. I call my husband and he tells me he'll have to come home and tie it up and take it to a muffler shop. In the meantime, take the van to the store.

I drive to the store down the street, get my groceries, and start to drive back. All of a sudden, the van stops, right in the middle of the street. I coast over to the side of the road and wait. WTH is going on? I know there's gas in the car. I wait, start the car again and drive. I go a few feet and the van stops again. I coast over to the side of the street again! This goes on for a bit as the car keeps starting each time and I want to get as close to home as possible because of the food I bought.

Finally, I get around the corner from my house and the van quits for good. It wouldn't even start again. I make several trips back and forth between the van and my home carrying the groceries. Call a tow truck and have it taken to a service repair shop. This sucks. What are the odds, both cars breaking down the same day?

Good news is that fixing the muffler only cost me $45.00! That service guy worked on it for two hours and that's all he charged, is that awesome or what?

Bad news is that they don't know what's wrong with the van. I think it has something to do with the fuel pump, maybe it's clogged or something, but they keep coming up with all this other stuff that it could be. I think they're going to try and rip me off. Well, they don't know me, HA! Let them try, LOL.

The trip went great. It was really nice to see my husband hanging with cousins and Aunts and Uncles he hadn't seen in years. He was so relaxed and happy!

The mother-in-law drove me crazy of course, that was to be expected, LOL. We actually got into it once. My father-in-law has Alzheimer's and she got frustrated with him to the point that she would yell at him. I finally told her to knock it off, it wasn't his fault that he couldn't remember the things she was asking him and she needed to quit testing him, it only got him frustrated and sad. We went a whole day without speaking, but she finally
broke down and we had a long talk about her situation.

On the way to Cloudcroft New Mexico, my mother-in-law wanted to take a shortcut through Las Cruces. Right away I thought of our fellow blogger, Cam. But, I thought, what are the odds of actually going down the street that his store is on? Well, that's exactly what we did and we went right by it, Coyote Traders. I mentioned that I knew someone from my blog that works there and that's all I said. Now you have to understand that I'm really shy, and there was no way that I was going to stop!

Well, we continued down the street for about a mile and stopped at the McDonald's for a bathroom break. While there, I was struggling with the fact that I didn't ask anyone if we could stop so I could say hi. I was quite angry with myself for being such a wimp! I mean what are the odds that I would go through another state, right on the same street with a blogger I've been speaking to for almost 4 years? Would it ever happen again?

My husband could see I was struggling with it and finally said, "Why don't we go back down the street and you can run in the store and say hi."

Ok, lets do it. Grow up Laurie, what would be the worst thing that could happen? Would he run in horror? Would he be pissed because you stopped by unannounced? No he would never do those things, I knew that much about him, LOL.

We drove back and I saw him leaving the store to walk to his truck. I'd seen enough pics of him to pick him out, haha.

My husband raced to the next stop light and we did a u-turn. He was still in his truck parked in the lot.

My mother-in-law screams out the window, "You can't leave yet, there's someone who wants to meet you!"

Ok, let me die of embarrassment right now...

I walk up to his truck, I could tell from the look on his face he thought I was another customer wanting him to open the store back up. LOL.

I told him who I was and it was pretty easy from there....:)

He is even cuter in person, looks wise and personality wise. I felt comfortable right away and that doesn't come easy for me! Thanks Cam for making it easy for me, I'm so glad I met you!

Here's a couple of pics of that crazy guy in his store!
[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/lauriesasylum/DSC01868.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/lauriesasylum/DSC01869.jpg[/IMG]

[FONT="Century Gothic"][SIZE="3"]Our volunteers take turns each summer by attending a National Night Out.
Speaking to families, children, and others about safety around railroads.[/SIZE][/FONT]

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[I]Photos by JPM © 2008[/I]

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Keeping a watch on the truth vs the mudslinging attach ads! factcheck.org
Keep informed as we approach the election of our new commander in chief.[/CENTER][/COLOR][/FONT]

http://www.sustainablelivingroadshow.org/
http://www.sustainablelivingroadshow.org/media_video.php
http://www.sustainablelivingroadshow.org/tour.php
http://www.sustainablelivingroadshow.org/media_video.php?vid=13 <2008>

Taking Action, a whole new generation of enlightenment!

I found this on one of my My Space bulletins From Truth's Noir Depths ... who got it from Graywolf ... Please understand why I ask ... when will MAN learn ... as our population grows ... we encroach onto the natural home of our Creator's creatures ... think about it ... A Mother protecting her young ... wouldn't you?

[B]WELL, BELOW YOU WILL READ ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW MAN DOES NOT LEARN FROM HIS MISTAKES! WE MOVE INTO WILDERNESS AREAS TO BE CLOSE TO NATURE AND WHEN NATURE STRIKES OUT AT THE INTRUSION, IT IS NATURE THAT SUFFERS! WE CAN ONLY PUSH OUR WILDLIFE, WHAT IS LEFT, SO FAR AND THEN THESE THINGS WILL EVENTUALLY OCCUR---SO NOW WE HAVE THIS GUY, TRYING TO PET A MOUNTAIN LION CUB, AND HE GETS SCRATCHED! WELL HE IS LUCKY TO BE ALIVE, IF THE MOUNTAIN LION WHICH WAS ONLY PROTECTING HER CUB WANTED TO, SHE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM! PEOPLE, WAKE UP, WE HAVE DONE ENOUGH HARM TO OUR FOUR LEGGED AND WINGED BROTHERS AND SISTERS---DO WE NOW KILL AN INNOCENT CREATURE FOR DEFENDING IT'S CUBS? iIF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAVE THESE ANIMALS THEN TAKE THE TIME TO VOICE YOUR OPINION DIRECTLY--- MAKE YOUR CALL TO (916) 653-5040 AND TELL THEM TO SPARE THE LIVES OF THIS INNOCENT CREATURES![/B]

Mountain lion attacks Orange County hiker
The big cat lunged at and scratched the Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park hiker after he tried to pet one of her cubs, officials said. The park has been closed while the search for the cougars continues.


By Mike Anton, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:40 AM PDT, August 6, 2008
A mountain lion attacked a hiker in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park early today after he went to pet one of the cougar's three cubs, Orange County authorities said.

The Foothills Ranch area man, whose identity was not immediately available, was taken to a hospital and treated for scratches on his arm, said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

Victim in O.C. cougar attack refuses... Out of the mouth of a lion"What he did is not an advisable thing to do," Amormino said. "He can consider himself an extremely lucky man.

"

Signs throughout the park warn that mountain lions live in the foothill wilderness. In 2004, a mountain biker was killed and another severely injured by a cougar in Whiting Ranch. The death of Mark Reynolds, 35, of Foothill Ranch, was the first in Orange County history and the only one statewide since 1994.

Today's attack happened about 8:30 a.m. a mile up the Borrego Trail. The hiker told authorities he came across a female lion and three cubs that he estimated were about 8 weeks old.


"He said they seemed so cute and cuddly and passive," Amormino said.

When he went to pet one of the cubs, the mother lunged at him -- and then ran off.

Sheriff's deputies, park rangers, and state Fish and Game officials are searching for the cougars on foot and by air. The park has been closed for the search.

While mountain lions that have contact with humans "are generally put down," Amormino said he has contacted a San Diego wildlife sanctuary that has agreed to take the lion and her cubs if they can be tranquilized and caught.

mike.anton@latimes.com

I'll be heading out early tomorrow, or I should say this morning to New Mexico. My husbands side of the family is having a family reunion. This is going to be a fast trip! Tomorrow we will stop in AZ to see my son and spend the night and in the morning continue on to Cloudcroft New Mexico. Or maybe it's in Las Cruces, I'm not sure! The reunion is Saturday and Sunday and we leave on Monday to come back home. It's not exactly my idea of a vacation, but oh well, you do what you have to do, LOL.

Last week I saw John Mellencamp in concert, he was awesome! Then on Friday I saw the Doobie Brothers. They sound exactly the way they did years ago, fantastic concert! Then on Monday, my husband calls me right as I got home from work. "be ready to go in 10 minutes, I want to go see the Beach Boys." So, back to the fair we went and they didn't disappoint, that's for sure!
Sorry Lisa, it was spur of the moment kind of thing. You never would have gotten here in time.

So, the couple I take care of have been stressing out all week about me going away this weekend. They have a replacement, but they are not happy with that at all. They both actually had tears in their eyes when I left. Talk about feeling guilty! Dang!

Pray for me, for the next two days I have to sit with my mother-in-law in the back seat of their car. GAAAAA!

I bought a Mega Lotto ticket on Friday. I ran up to the deli like I always do the next day after the drawings. I put my ticket in the machine and waited. I'm use to seeing the message, "sorry, not a winner at this time" and waited for it.

But, much to my surprise, for the first time in about 4 years, I saw "congratulations, you are a winner!" At least that's what I think it said, I was so excited I only remember congratulations!

All these thoughts quickly ran through my mind.....Pay off debts, Pay off my sons medical school loans, Get a new car...

Woohoo!!!!!!! I was so dang excited, my heart was beating super fast, my face heated up, I'm sure it was beat red, and I almost started hyperventilating, lol.

Ok, Laurie, look down and see just how much you won.....

Are you ready! Are you excited for me? Maybe I can help out some in need, I'd love to do that...

^
^
^
^
^
^
^
I WON ........[size=7]$3.00[/size]

WTH??

This is the Mega! The big lotto! My chances of getting anything are almost 0. And what do I win? A lousy $3.00. And you just know that took away my chances of winning anything bigger forever..

Mann, the guy who runs the place, even gave me this "I'm so sorry" look.

That's ok Mann, your percentage of that will be about, oh maybe 1 cent?

LOL

Oh well, my fame was fleeting and lasted a total of 3 seconds. Then reality kicked in..........Again.....

This is very odd and it's driving me crazy.........My nose is peeling. It started 4 days ago. I wear sunscreen, and I haven't gotten a sunburn. I haven't changed lotions, soaps, or anything else for that matter.

I can sit here and literally peel skin off my nose. I appear to be shedding, LOL.

This isn't right.. Maybe I'm having some kind of food allergy. ~sigh~ There goes 50 bucks to go to my dermatologist. He'll probably tell me to relax, it will go away. Whatever it is...

I got sent to a new Lady today. Just filling in for her other caregiver. Her house is amazing!! It's up in the hills, an older house with tons of character.

It had four bedrooms, two baths, a huge kitchen, large breakfast nook, large dining room and large living room. Sound good?

Well, you open this door off the kitchen and you go up a flight of stairs into a huge sun room. It was amazing! Bright, cheery, a great room to use for a game room and party room! Still sound good?

You go down a flight of stairs off of that room and downstairs are two more large rooms with a sliding door to the patio and backyard. You go back up the stairs, through the sun room, down the stairs and back through the kitchen. Still sounding good?

From there are a flight of stairs going down again. (I swear, I got lost and almost panicked) At the bottom is a suite of rooms, rather like a small apartment. A bedroom, shower, a sitting room with fireplace, and another room you could use for an office or 2nd bedroom. Another sliding door to the backyard. Think I'm done?

In the backyard, were about 15 fruit trees. Oranges, lemons, apples, avocados, tangerines, plums, grapefruit, grapes, tomatoes, and blackberries. The view overlooked the entire city (small city, lol).

I know I'm going to dream about this house tonight. With my son and his wife moving home after medical school, and my other son still at home, this house would have been perfect. I could have set both boys up in the downstairs, and Paul. and I could have the top. Woohoo!

Oh well, it is fun to think about "what if". The reality though, is that we are going to be packed like sardines in our house, LOL.

I'm not a pink kind of person! I must get rid of this design.

My eyes are burning...

[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a210/JRuff/Other%20Images/TandP%20Screengrabs/Animated%20gifs/tmn-shocked.gif[/IMG]

I want to acknowledge all the community leaders for all their hard work in trying to get this place to come back up. You guys are the ones that have saved this place time and time again. Your dedication is much appreciated!! Granted this may be a short fix, but it was enough to put the smiles back on all our faces, if only for a short time.

Please, everyone go over to the Community Resource page, ( click up at the upper right hand side of your control page), and give everyone the praise they deserve. If not for them, you wouldn't be able to read this post right now.

http://elisataufik.blogspot.com

A few weeks ago I told myself I would try to take at least one photo a day to sharpen my picture-taking skills.
So far I've only managed to take one picture a week, more like it.

Anyways, here's my kitchen window, from the outside and inside.





Those flowers are fake,
but their color provide enough cheer for me while I'm cutting up chicken or draining pasta or washing the dishes.
Worth the 9 times SR6 (SR54) that I paid for, and I don't even have to stress or worry about them dying on me when I go on my vacation (or forget to water). The only care they need is a little rinsing now and again to wash off the sand/dust, especially after a sandstorm.
It also makes my kitchen window unique when you look for it from the street :)

[CENTER][B][I][FONT="Arial Black"][SIZE="4"]I DO! I DO!
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Click it to learn what Jewel started, and you can help... it's easy!

I have gone from Child Care to Adult Care. They are both extremely rewarding and I'm enjoying my new job a lot. It was really hard to go back to work after almost 4 years, but now that I'm back, it's working out really well.

At the moment, I have two clients I'm taking care of. The first is a couple, the man is 96 and the woman is 94. I fix them dinner and take them for a walk around their neighborhood, shop for them and take them to their doctor appointments. I have never seen anything like this couple. It is almost unbelievable. Before either of them does anything, they consult the other and ask that their significant other go first. With everything! They call each other Honey and sweetie. They, each of them, want the other to have the best piece of cake, the first drink of water, etc. The woman, as tiny and frail as she is, insist that she be the one to help him out of the chair. She does this by bracing herself and pulling until he stands up. Each time he stands up, he gives her a kiss and says.."Thank you love of my life." She says.."Yes darling, always."

Gaaaa! They have brought me to tears several times..

On Tuesdays, I take care of a man in his late 80"s. I water his orchard and wash his clothes. He won't let me do anything else. He mostly wants companionship. He will have me sit for almost the entire time I'm there sometimes, to listen to his stories. He is very intelligent and is a Scientist who invented several inventions. He's not making this up, I've seen the proof. He is a Millionaire and lives by the country club in my town.

He is also somewhat of a Mafia Guy. He grew up in New York, hung out with several sorts and went to all the clubs like the Copacabana. He hung out with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He cusses like crazy and he is really a character.

This was our conversation today, and I'm not sugar coating it, LOL.



[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---Dear, what are you doing?

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---I'm cleaning up a little in your kitchen John.

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---Well stop and get your ass in here!

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---I'm almost done, do you need something?

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---Yeah, I need you to get your ass in here.

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---Ok, here I am, what do you need?

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---Nothing, sit down, I want to tell you a story.

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]--Ok, go ahead. (hoping he doesn't quiz me like he did after the last story)

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---I was married to the most wonderful woman, did I tell you she was a fashion Model with the top Modeling agency in New York?

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---You sure did..

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---Well, after receiving money from my inventions, we moved out here and started our family. With our first child, I bought her a Mink coat. With the second child, a set of Waterford crystal. With the third child, this house, the Country Club and her Cadillac. Nothing and I mean nothing was too good for her. I would have bought her the Moon if I could.

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---That's really nice John, she was a very beautiful woman. (She was gorgeous!)

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---You better believe it. Has your husband bought you any Waterford?

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]--No, not yet.

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---You tell him I'm gonna kick his ass if I ever come across him.

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---Ah, it's ok John, that type of stuff really isn't important to me.

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---God Dam*#it, it doesn't matter, that jackass should still shower you with gifts like that, God Dam*#it!

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---Do you need a drink of water John?

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---Has he ever given you a mink coat?

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---(err, almost afraid to tell him no, a hit man might show up at my front door) No John, but I never wanted one.

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---Well, isn't that a bunch of Fu*#ing crap! What the hell kind of asshole is your husband? Go in my wifes closet and pick yourself out a Mink.

[COLOR="Black"]Me[/COLOR]---No, that needs to go to your kids!

[COLOR="Black"]John[/COLOR]---They've already come in here and done their picking, I'll do whatever the hell I want to with the rest, now get your ass in there and pick one out.

OMG......

The phone rings and he forgets what he asked, haha, I mean ordered me to do. Thank God.

He then proceeds to instruct me on how to can plums. He sat there and showed me step by step. I canned almost 6 freakin jars.

He also mentioned I must drive my asshole husband crazy because I had to keep asking questions. He wanted to know what my level of education was, hahahaha.

I just love this man, LOL

[B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="7"][CENTER]SURF'S UP DUDE!!![/CENTER][/SIZE][/FONT][/B]

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About a year ago when Ilham and Ihsan became old enough to do chores, I decided to put up a Star Chart as a reward (thus motivation) system to encourage them to complete their chores. Each chore that is completed well (keyword: 'well') will be rewarded with a star, that could be converted into money that could be spent on anything they want, be it books, toys, trinkets on our travels and what not.
For disobedience (i.e. not listening to me, disrespecting, hitting), I used the naughty-spot/time-out method.

As three of them got older, I think they have outgrown the naughty-spot method, so to keep their behaviour in check especially during the school holidays when tension runs high and opportunities for conflict is aplenty, I have decided to introduce the Good Behaviour Chart.


left: Star Chart, right: Behaviour Chart (click for a bigger image)

Each of them gets an initial 10 points on their chart (Because I believe that they are essentially good). For each bad behaviour (Starting a fight, hitting, not listening/ignoring instructions, screaming, etc), one point will be crossed out. The person(s) with the most good behaviour points at the end of the week will get a reward: They get to choose where we eat during the weekend.
We have only been using it for a week plus, and last week Ihsan chose to eat Roti Telur at Madina Restaurant. This week so far, nobody has gotten their points crossed out yet, but it's only Sunday so we'll see.
I think so far so good. My kids have started to think twice before they do anything, and it only takes a "Do you want a point off?" from me to keep them in check.

Oh man.. now that I've written that all down, I think I sound like some military matron...
*hangs head in shame*

[FONT="Century Gothic"][SIZE="3"] Jeff Beck with one of the best female bassists around!!


Jeff is playing one of my favorites of his called "Cause We Ended As Lovers"
...and he plays as good now as he did in the 70's![/SIZE][/FONT]

Here we go again, another trip back home!
Here's my tentative plan.


Click for a larger image
Aside from the arrival and departure dates, the makan2 at Sabrina's on July 20th, the KLCC trip on July 21st, the kenduri (wedding reception) on July 26th, the trip to Besut-Perhentian-Merang-Kemaman-Kuantan from August 3rd to 10th, everything else is not really set in stone.
So if you want me to pencil you in, tell me.
We're planning a trip to Kuala Gandah to look at elephants on Sunday August 17th. You're welcomed to come with us if you want.

---

LET'S HAVE A BLOGGERS GATHERING!
Tentative date?: Saturday, August 16th (First day of school holiday), but am open for other suggestions. Please check my calendar for availability.
Suggest a place! Previous gatherings were held at Putrajaya Taman Wetlands (2005), FRIM (2006) and my house (2007).
Suggest menu! Previous gatherings were always potluck, but no harm in changing it up a bit.

Looking forward to hearing from you :)

[FONT="Century Gothic"]See if you can guess which pups belong to which Mac users?
Extra credit if you can guess which country and if you add background story!
Prize.... an iTunes CD selection mailed to your home!

[IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/j/jeeps/2328.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/j/jeeps/2329.jpg[/IMG]

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My mom-in-law has this phrase "Banyak akai", which is actually "banyak akal", which literally means "too many ideas". It is often referred to a child who can't seem to sit still, which is exactly what Izani has become.

I am sure Ilham, Ihsan and Anis were as crafty as him, but perhaps I was not as aware of it because I didnt spend the whole day with them. Therefore, I was also spared the frustration of having to clean-up after them and closely monitor them to make sure they don't get into another mischief.
I can't leave Izani alone for even 5 minutes. I went to the toilet this morning and came out to discover he had ripped off the box cover of a borrowed CD. While I was downstairs cooking and his older siblings were engrossed in Hanna Montana, he had thrown all his hot wheels (and something else, we dont know what) into the toilet bowl and flushed it. Because the toilet got clogged, Taufik decided to throw away all of my kids' small toys (poor kids!). I give him a bowl of cereal to eat in front of the TV because he wanted to watch teletubbies and I go make my bed and the next thing I know, the whole living room is covered in cereal. The other day I had to use a tweezer to take a spring out of his nose!

Now Izani's current obsession is taking off his clothes and diapers.
HORROR you know !!!
It started with just him learning to take off his clothes. He'd be running around with only his diapers on and I'd be chasing him yelling "shame shame boy! shame shame boy!". It turned into a game. Then he started pulling the diapers down a bit so that his dickie would stick out. It was funny at first. But then he learnt how to rip open the tabs. He'd be sitting quietly and the next thing I know he'd be nekkid!
He'd still be watching TV, or doing whatever, but he'd be nekkid. The other day I had to wash the sofa coz he had an 'accident'. I will not go into details for fear no one would want to come to my house or invite me over.
This morning.
This morning was the last straw.
He had actually ripped open the seams for the diapers (don't ask me how! Coz the seams are like sewn or something! It boggles me!) and the gel stuff came spilling out.
Eyyyyew okayyyy?????
And do you know how difficult it is to clean up those gels thingies?? I cant wash it out, coz they absorb water. It's like filled with pee and yellow and all so I can't possibly touch it. It's like, really tiny and gets into carpet piles and sofa crevices.
*shudders and screams in disgust*
By hook or by crook, I had to clean them up. I used the small broom thingy and also a vacuum cleaner then sprayed disinfectant all over the place.

While I'm typing this up, I've gotten up and checked on him for, like, 10 times. Last I checked, he was fiddling with the red, white and yellow audio/video connectors on the TV. When he saw me coming, he dropped what he was doing and ran to the sofa and buried his face in the cushions.

Other mommies are making their house safe for their kid. I have to start thinking about keeping my house safe from my kid.

Pening bonda...


cheeky little devil!

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Happy Birthday to my sister, Lisalisabobisa!
It sucks that you have to work today and tonight, but we'll all celebrate on another day...:) Oh yeah, I got you a cute present, you'll love it...:)


Well, we got done with the one bathroom. A few days ago, we started on the other bathroom. We took a couple of tiles off to see what if any damage there was and what a surprise! We wound up ripping off all the tiles to find it was all wet, down to the wood. Grrr, the builder of these homes is a jerk. All they had behind there was a cheap, thin piece of green board.

So, today was putting new insulation in there, black tarp, and concrete board. We only did one wall and have to have a plummer come out tomorrow to change out the pipes, before we can continue.
We can't afford to pay someone to redo the shower, so we are doing it ourselves. (Except for the plummer, thank goodness for credit cards) My husband has been practicing on a fake wall in the garage, putting up tiles. So far so good.

I swear, owning a house, nope I think it's the other way around, the house owns you, LOL. Soon as you fix one thing, something else needs to be fixed. It's a constant battle. We should just sell and rent an apartment. No, on second thought, out here the rent for an apartment is almost as much as the mortgage on our house! Might as well pay this sucker off in 11 years.:rolleyes:

The weather here has been awful! It's been so hot and humid, it sucks all the energy out of you. I wish we had air conditioning...:( Oh well, tomorrow is suppose to be a little cooler, yay!

On a sad note, George Carlin died. It's a sad day, I just loved him...

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If you're wondering why I've been so quiet these past few days, it's because I've been a little bit busy.

No,
not with playing sudoku or trying to beat CK's pathwords score or playing scrabble with my siblings (and sibling in law *wink*).
Come to think of it, "The Book of Face" as someone on manon's blog calls it, has been taking over my life a bit, and if i could remember who invited me to it, I would probably curse him or her. But actually it's kinda fun coz as i said, how else could I play scrabble with my family? I would invite my dad in too, but a parent's curse are potent, so I don't think I want to take that risk.

urm..
where was I?

oh yeah.

I have been busy transferring my old posts from efx2blogs to blogspot.

okay whine*slash*explanation coming up.

I dunno.
I love the people in efx2, but you know things are getting a bit weird in efx2 with keith being so quiet and spambots filling up my comment alerts and some of my favourite people moving away and stuff.
So yeah, I'm thinking of moving.
and I figured, even if I decide not to move, I'd have a backup and wont lose all my posts like i did when modblog went down *shudders*. All those memories.. down the drain *wipes a tear*.

So anyways.
That's what I've been doing.