Countdown.. TWO weeks to go..

So here I am, at the halfway checkpoint of my 3 week void. Comparing that to a 10K race (incidentally, I will run one in August :-P), its 5K done, 5 to go... ok lahh. Boleh tahan. The 2nd half is *supposed* to be faster, but it depends on how well you have prepared yourself, both physically and mentally, for the race. I mean trip. I mean both. Hey so they ARE similar :-)

I went to the SS2 market this morning, after sending Charu to school. It felt pleasant and nice to walk along the stalls, as though loneliness was alright... or at least bearable, if spent in an anonymous crowd of morning marketers. Marketing itself turned out to be quite therapeutic. At the vegetable stall - pick up some tomatoes, smell the mint, flick the spinach, throw in some french beans, point at the broccoli... listen to the guy calculate aloud in rapid Cantonese, pay him off and collect large plastic bag of veggie... surreal. At the yau char kway stall - ask for some crullers and tau foo fah, get an extra ham ching peang... sweet. At the fruit stall - buy some red cherries and bananas, get taken for a ride down banana lane; overpriced pisang berangan is so insincere... !

Bookstores are also a great place to while away time. Here are some shots of the last trip to MPH.

Woo hoo going to BOOOKSHOPPYSHOP!!

Unhappy because request to watch car DVD is turned down (One Utama is just 5 minutes awayyy... !)

Unhappiness dissolves into enchantment...

.. and absorption...

... chubby face with MPH as backdrop...

The funniest thing happened there; I had earlier purchased July's Quill magazine where Preeta graces the cover. Charu and Rohan LOVE to look through that one, because Aunty Preeta looks really good, and they love her anyway; what's not to love? She is pleasant, bought them their beloved Wombat book, and its so easy to say her name -- AN-TEE PEE-TA :-) So at the magazine section, Charu spotted the Quill magazine, grabbed it and waved it about yelling, "Heyyy, Aunty Preeta!!" which of course attracted Rohan's attention immediately (the intended outcome) and so begun a chase all over MPH, Rohan crying, "I want Aunty Peeta! I want Aunty PEETA!! I wannnnntttt!!! AUNTEEEEE PEEEETAAAA!!!!!!" Too darn bad I couldn't videotape them bearing up and down the MPH store aisles, Rohan yelling angrily at Charu as she waves the Quill triumphantly and Preeta's face bobs up and down, as if nodding approvingly...

Some of the kids are really out of control; were I MPH management, I'd hire the Pied Piper to lure all the horrible misbehaving kids out to say, Parkson Grand's fine bone china section or the outdoor fish pond. What intense feelings, you perfectionist mommy, you may admonish. Well, at least it moves my a$$ to behave a little more exemplarily than the parents who stare blankly as their kids kick the books around, then walk away from the mess nonchalantly. Do you allow that in your own home too??!? Oh of course you do, I forget that you can always just yell at your maid to pick up after those precious replicas of you. OK enough of nagging I'm really grumpy aren't I; guess I need to find a way to cheer myself up. Okay -- Audrey BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY, find something nice to think about, and say... :-D

Three Week countdown

My three week countdown started last week, 21st July; the day my koboi went off on a three-week working trip/traipse to London, Houston and San Diego. Three weeks of blissful, peaceful days with no bickering, haggling and yelling. No annoying requests, tickling or laughing. No people-watching, sniggering-at-SPGs-with-fake-accents, midnight movies, late-night running in the dark, mosquito-lurking park, Old Town coffee or bumpinthenight-stuff-thatyouneednotknowmoreof... Hm. Doesn't sound good at all. My choice is obvious, I prefer to *have* the whole package; noise, arguments, laughter, annoyances... all of it! But I don't have the luxury of choice these three weeks. O well. SO... in preparation for the gaping chasm that would form in my heart, I lined up some HACKTIVITIES to keep me occupied. Not like I am not already, with full-time work, errands to run, two kids to feed, clothe, raise, make happy and keep healthy, and now my mother here to babysit them (and I her :-P).. but you know, one needs to be busied with things that are more... stress-relieving... goof-offish... So that the Brain Section that controls the Miss-Your-Loved-One-Pricking-Sensation does not get any blood supply to work itself...

SOW!!! Here's my list:

1) Project-Team-Ordered-N-Organized Team building. This kept me away from the office on the first working day, which turned out to be a good thing; The Office is where I get occasional SMS and IM updates, the lack of which would have turned my mood grey by the end of the day. At least finding my way to and from Desa Waterpark used up some energy. As did some good hard laughing, at the expense of team mates...

I have a coconut tree growing out of my head, and Kavitha has a.. a.. more stylish tree growing out of hers...



Cheating?? Who..wha'.. ME? No lahhh where got..??!?!



Two yellow racing worms in the cool blue water (can you see me??)



Upon closer scrutiny, them racing worms are... infested with people! And you can now see me clearly, forming part of the infestation...



This'll be the next Olympic Sport, you mark my words...



This was labeled "Photo Of The Event"; THANKFULLY the yellow ball is **above** my head :-P

2) Runningrunningrunning. Staircase, treadmill, gym, around the house, over n under the kids, allovertheplace. Running. That would rattle my brain enough to stem the bloodflow to aforementioned Brain Section. Now this isn't really a goof-offish activity, but its one of the few routine activities of mine that works well as a Calm Balm. So I will never leave this out.

3) Scraping together photos of cute chubby faces. Here I go:





I wish I could share right here, the smell of light perspiration in their hair. If you could just imagine a whiff of it, your troubles will be so far away... and nevermore will they be here to stay... oh I believe... in yesterday.... oh what th'... ?? Oh sorry. Got into sortofa trance, singing Yesterday. The fragrance of toddler neck nape does that to you, I'm telling you. YES even imagining it gets you high. Intoxicating...

4) I guess BLOGGING counts, that is why I started this blog last week, and only am posting it today.... :-P