Friday - afternoon

A typical Friday afternoon -- Its 3pm and everyone has had lunch. Actually today's not such a typical day since Charu is on school break; I don't have to go downstairs to the lobby at 12pm to wait for the bus to deliver her home from kindy. If I did, then the routine would include waiting for Saravanan the ching-chai bus driver to screech his little yellow van-bus up to the apartment entrance, six out of ten times failing to pull his handbrake as he leaps out and flaps his selipar-Jepun-clad feet around to open the door of the bus and carry out my precious child. And sometimes Ibrahim the 5-year-old boy from the 5th floor.

Oh well, today's atypical *also* because I made sin-namon buns... and why the name like that? Cos they're covered in sinful, milky, buttery icing glaze :-) Rohan loved them, but Charu was gooed out; she's not the greedy type. Tony's in Jakarta else I'd flick his Blackberry and snap some photos. Really need to get a digital camera lah. Or maybe one of those new camera-phones, but IF I do, it must have a pedometer, or play music, or monitor my pulse-rate on a long run... you know, some other useful functions bundled in. Else no point owning a fancypancy gadget that does just two things: take photos and let bugsome people reach me. Like that I'm-not-a-telemarketer telemarketer from Waltonsumthinginstitutey with the fake Western accent. Hey, if you are a stranger calling my PHONE, and trying to take my MONEY, you are a telemarketer, okay. I couldn't tell if she was trying to be British or American... veryvery distracting and confusing. I thought her name was Bernie till I asked her to spell it out: P-U-R-N-I. Ayyy... apalucakapaaaa???

Anyway I digress from the main topic here -- Friday afternoon!!! Charu just dropped off to sleep, and I am multi-tasking between my software project plan, resource management and blogging (the last one just to keep my brain busy, else it keeps reminding me about those sinful buns in the oven.. haiya see it did it again... reminded me...tsktsktskk..!).

Tony will be back from Jakarta tonight. Can't wait!! I can take charge of everything cos Efficient is my middle name (ya all this time you thought it was Roslyn), but whenever the Head of the Home isn't home, its always rather quiet and dull. The kids don't have their Kneebutton-controlled Robot-monster, and I don't have anyone's back to scratch. Of course, I could do Rohan and Charu they love it, but I'm done in 30 seconds! And when I ask for a reciprocal scratch, I get four EAGER chubbedee hands digging into my back and poking my backbone asking "Mummy, what's this BONE ah?? Like the one Pluto stole from the lion??"

Looks like I failed to stick to the topic of Friday afternoon here...

Friday - late morning

A typical Friday morning -- Its 10.32am and I'm in the kids' room with Charu, quarantined from Rohan who's in the living room, being drowsied with his mid-morning milk in prep for nap-time. In about half an hour (hopefully my conference call will end by then.. yes am blogging while project action items toss back n forth between US and Malaysia, via the speakerphone) I must start lunch.

Lunch; probably chicken soup for the kids (thawed the bony chicken bits already), and fried rice for me and the maid. Quick and uncomplicated.

NEXT UP -- a typical Friday afternoon.

Have a Bla-aa-ack Berry Beret.. !

The bad parody of that effervescent Prince song came to mind cos Tony's new company has provided him with a BlackBerry. Not the fruit but the device that makes you accessible 24/7 by boss, henchmen, mother-in-law, mistress, debtors and all and sundry... o wait the device that holds that honour is actually the mobile phone, isn't it. But no, this one is a mini-hand-held *computer*, endowing owners with additional crouching backbone, hidden fingers for typing email responses on an arthritis-inducing keyboard, sortof slowly moulding you into a replica of the bell-toller at Notre Dame... ok, okayyy I don't mean to diss the lovely device, here have a drool at the liquid silver pockewonder and you'll realize that my disdain is just jealousy in disguise :-D http://www.blackberry.com/ap/products/handhelds/blackberry8300/blackberry8300.shtml#

And digital-camera-deprived us of course must test its most important feature - the 2 megapixel camera. The obvious choice for subjects are of course our Two Mega Pixies, they very gleefully posed free of charge... here's the montage, we went crazy with the shutterbugging.. !!

Charu, pretty fairy girl


Gime gime GIME AIWAN GEEEMEE...


Charu attempting angrybangry face... and failing as miserably as a pretty fairy can


...aiyah... aiyah... gime...GIMMEE...


Charu cheeky mischievous pretty fairy goblin girl


Iff ai tekk the glass an bonk papa's hed he might GIME de ting...


Charu fading-into-background pretty dimpled fairy girl


... ai so cute you better GEEEEMEEEE....