Posting results is OUT

I prayed that she could get into the school of her choice. Usually with school selection using the previous year's COPs is like gambling and having risks involved. You wouldn't know if the COP is going to increase or decrease. Moreover with 4 JCs merged, I wasn't sure if the other JCs are going to increase their intake. So we gotta to strategize properly. 

I didn't expect the posting results to be out so soon. I thought results would be sent out at 9am but I got the message at 6+. I couldn't break the news to che-che who is still sound asleep but told hubby about it. 

I am pleased that she got into her first choice. (She was very confident though coz her score is much lower than the previous year's COP.)    

She's happy. However 2 of her friends didn't get their first choice. Sobs! She'll be alone.

Reporting to JC tomorrow. Luckily I had kept one set of uniform for keepsake. I had totally forgotten about her required to wear secondary school uniform for reporting and orientation and had donated back to the school the rests of it. *bleh*  

On This Day - 30th Jan #Reminders from FB#

30th Jan 2011

Exhausted! I'm rotating between 2 girls. Damn! Gotta do work; gotta sit down on piano; gotta take after their shit! And I'm so bloody jealous! My helper gets the rest but I don't!! 

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30th Jan 2013

Am I a bad mummy??

Last year, when we had to make our option for P5, che-che has been telling me she wants to do HMT. Teacher recommended 4S, I put down 4S for her. I have my reasons for not letting her take HMT, I wasn't sure she could cope too. She sulked. I wasn't even supportive and encouraging her.

This year, especially after every Chinese enrichment class, she harps on it and keeps telling me she really wants to try. How? Am I a bad mummy? I'm suppose to encourage her but instead I discouraged her. And she seems to have the drive to want to try.

How? How? How?

Footnote in 2019: Apparently Chinese is one subject she's always struggling in. Scoring a C5 for her O's and she didn't want to re-attempt the second time. I doubt the extra one month of tuition can do anything better for her too if she's not working hard enough.

Did that move in 2013 make her hate Chinese more? 

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30th Jan 2014 

"Mummy, not fair! How come this is the Horse year? I want it to be my Dog year."

It will be your year in 4 years time... (bleh! PSLE year for her then)

@ 10.40am

It's so b#%^*! HOT! Waiting for the girls along MParade Road. Ooh..... I haven't done this kind of fugitive, waiting in the car thing for so long and I don't miss it.

Footnote in 2019 - Yes! That was something that I dreaded but sometimes due to practicality I had to do it. Gone are the days of waiting in the car. However as it is still early, che-che's school is yet to be known so I'm not sure if I need to camp out. Tuitions have put on hold, so things are looking good. Hopefully lil' one don't need any tuition so I don't have to camp in Parkway Parade anymore   

@ 1.33pm

This is going to be a miserable CNY. So what if we have a long weekend? I see the amount of homeworks already pengsang.

Footnote in 2019 - Yup! That was the dreadful PSLE year 

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30th Jan 2015 

@ 3.15pm

At pool - Girl didn't know I was standing there and she was negotiating with the coach on the number of bubbles she had to blow. After some time she realised I was standing there and gave me her sweetest smile.

I pointed her out to coach. Before I could say anything, coach commented "this girl ah.....she can swim." Haha! Picha-lobang (the truth is out)

Footnote in 2019 - If only she can put her brains to better use, like in her studies

@ 4.13pm

Poor girl .... 20mins power nap in between swim and ballet. Wah.... at least she gets a nap. I get none.

* she's snoring, can't bear to wake her up

Footnote in 2019 - Fast forward 4 years later, it's a different ballgame altogether. I don't think she'll have the chance to nap in such a way coz it's either I have to send her home immediately or only have 10mins wait before picking che-che up. 

On this day - 26 Jan 2011 & CNY prep

Then ---> In 2011 : I could find the time to bake. These bottles (plus another half bottle not shown in this picture) took me one full day of work. Working from 9am to 2.30pm. Picked che-che. 2nd shift - from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

Then, I had KZ working for me. If I'm not wrong, I tasked her to help me pick lil' one up from kindy so I didn't have to leave house halfway. I didn't have to cook or do any housework which takes up alot of my time now. 

Che-che used to like this. But she doesn't seem to like it the last 5 years or so. I didn't bake for this year's CNY. My family don't really eat alot of CNY goodies, we often end up discarding them & have rotten oranges (even when we hardly buy a box, we only have like 6-8 oranges for standby at home) after 6-7 days.  

CNY PREPARATION

Anyway, as the year progresses, CNY is more like a day for my girls to do their school/ tuition homeworks. This year feels "lighter" though (last year was hell with both PSLE and O'level kid), one Sec 1 blur sotong still discovering the new subjects while I look from afar, and the highly neglected older kid since I can't do any academic stuffs with her.    

CNY plants

I didn't bother to buy any new plants since I kill them faster than them sprouting new babies.

CNY spring-cleaning

As with previous years, I don't specifically spring-clean my house just for CNY coz I clean my house all the time. However, this is like the only time hubby would help to bring down the heavy curtains to be cleaned. 

CNY goodies

Just buy! There's no need to save $$ on fried crab sticks this year. I told her I wasn't going to waste my time doing this. The girls dropped by Kim Choo on their own, she bought 2 big bottles of keropok which she finished even before lil' doggie wriggles its way out for Miss Piggy, filial her bought 1 bottle of chiku and 虾米 fried mini springroll for me. I've always liked Julie's chocolate rolls, still thinking if I should get a small tin for myself.   

Mini makeover

Che-che asked for a new colour for her room. And the smartest thing this lazy mother did was to taichi the job back to her. We went Ikea on a school day and she chose her new study table, chair and side table from Ikea. Went back home, she fixed everything herself. Not bad for a 16 yr-old
Painting : Even though I claimed that I wasn't going to help her with anything, I ended up helping her paint the corners, all she needed to do was to roll the paint over the walls. Sounds easy right? But I must admit it's no easy task. Painting nails and brushing eggwash on pineapple tarts are so much easier. The end result is a room half-heartedly painted BUT she likes it this way, says it creates some artistic look. I was further reassured what she meant by artistic when I realized we have missed out painting one whitened wall.  Haha! This is my girl. My 16 yr-old girl. Honestly, I think she did a good job coz other kids at this time would choose not to laze around, she chose to do a mini-makeover to her room. 
Mom did ask me why the rush to paint the room. That's because we needed to drill 2 sticks onto the wall to hold the racks and I told her we need to paint the walls first before it's up not after. 
This new room will be ready for her new milestone - her tertiary education life.         

又有钱拿了

Edusave Awards Ceremony at our function room. This time they have refreshments for the recipients and their family. Mom and dad came for their free meal. Haha! It was unintentional. I didn't want them to know..but it's planned this way I guess. I had asked for dad to come over to fix stuffs in the morning, and last minute he told me he would come in the evening.

Che-che was sulking coz' she didn't want to go for the ceremony BUT she wanted the money. #moneyfacegirl#

And she was like "No way I'm going to sit in the front few rows." So we sat right at the back out of spotlight.

Sigh...... what's with the mispronunciation? Is 'Athena' that hard to pronounce?

我正在祈祷小妞不要在李先生的面前拉着长脸似乎我们欠她。这次她带着灿烂的笑容 - 可能看在钱的份上吧！

幸好这次她不是第一获得者， 我们还有时间筹备相机

恭喜你了， 小妞。 希望您在初级学院再接再厉， 突出好成绩来！

Just let me daydream

Would love to travel to unknown places - small little towns - that are not indicated in guidebooks. Probably take a train and then alight somewhere and then start discovering places on my own. 
Off the beaten tracks but that would mean I need loads of money to travel. I can stinge on food - sure. I always love to snack on the go when I travel. I can sleep in a decent place, I don't need 5* hotels. That said perhaps I should try and stay in a hostel with che-che (she looks like the more adventurous kind)

I've said this upteen times. So when am I really travelling on my own? Easier said than done I guess. 

考试快快完 - drafted on 1st Oct 18 #lateposting#

I had been clearing her stuffs from the bookshelf subjects by subjects. And her boxes are emptied. Yay! One more paper tomorrow and ...... yippee! 

 http://athenamummy.blogspot.com/2014/10/cleaning-up.html

There are so many things I would want to pick up where I had left off. 

1) Reading : as much as I love to read (think che-che got this from me), the only thing I've been reading is their primary text and stuffs. I've bookmarked a few books that I'd love to read ranging from the Holocaust to Roald Dahl. Haha! You didn't read wrongly. I really meant the kids' RDahl books coz I've never read more than half of the books that was passed down from che-che to lil' one. Che-che has bought some interesting books the past 2-3 years, to make it more worth the money spent (tho' she does re-read her books over and over again) perhaps I shall pick up some books from her. 

2) Baking / Jelly : The domestic goddess side of me had turned into an evil academia witch for the past years. It's time that I can pick up my baking and whatever nots coz' I don't have to sit next to lil' one from next year onwards. She's on her own!

3) Cooking : Not that I'm so into cooking but I guess I have more time to do healthier cooking? Like maybe make my own luncheon meat, ramen, ice-cream, bread. I miss the smell of freshly baked bread. 

4) Tidying her bookshelf : I've been clearing her stuffs from the bookshelf progressively. After the  exams, I can really dispose the items here and in the bomb shelter. Did I mention that it's really a good feeling when I'm decluttering the house? 

5) Floral Arrangement : Perhaps shall pick up a course in floral arrangement so that I can improve on the horrendous job I've done so far.  

6) Exercise : I will have more time and energy for exercise. Now I spend alot of late night consolidating stuffs for her (tho' I stopped like 2 mths back) into 2am. I get really tired the next day after preparing their breakfast that I plonked back to bed. I guess without the clearing and doing whatever housekeeping at home, I have more time for exercise. I really need to slim down. Put on too much weight over the years and I get too stressed up to get my hormones balanced. Some logical stuffs I'm talking about for those wanting to slim down, you need to have balanced hormones; be stress-free; have early nights. It's proven by me. Once upon a time, I tried some strict dieting I managed to lose the pounds and looked good but over the years I've neglected myself and though I don't have humangeous appetite I just can't explain why I put on weight. I noticed the date though! That year che-che was already in P4 to 5 when the stress level was high. 
7) Blogging : I'm so late in my updates. Too many drafts but no time to re-look into them. I might as well delete them.
8) Clearing : Time to clear stuffs in the house. As I was tidying the kitchen cabinets, I noticed there was some Sanrio cups we got from 85C Cafe in Shanghai and some tikam cups we got in Singapore, bento stuffs (I think lil' one won't be caught dead having a cute bento for recess in secondary school right?) and whatever nots I can put up for cheap sale in Carousell. Sometimes I think to myself that all these inconveniences could have been avoided if I also hadn't like cute stuffs. My target is to declutter until I'm superbly happy. Maybe I should declutter my kids, they're the troublemakers *wink*  

Looking forward to a new me! Re-discover myself! Perhaps a holiday on my own which I truly deserve. Get the hell out of my life exams!            

Leadership roles

Lil' one told me she was "tikam tikam-ed" to be a Chinese Representative for her class. Then she was arrowed to be a Music Representative. The funniest thing she was arrowed to be an Environmental Representative as well. What the heck is that? I asked her if she was the "rubbish girl?"   

I was surprised that she could have so many roles because as far as possible, the teacher would give every student a chance for some leadership roles. She spoke to the teachers about it and I was surprised that they didn't mind her taking up the duties. 

Oh well! Hope she can be a student councillor though. 

Would she be like one of those "I never expected them to shine in secondary school coz in primary school they weren't so outstanding" kids I know from che-che's batch? 

Results Day

The next chapter of che-che's education route depended on her results. I didn't feel nervous or queasy at all. Being in the school hall for the 3rd time, I've learnt that I should lower my expectation. By doing so, I wouldn't get too disappointed when her / their results are not up to satisfaction. By lowering my expectation, I would be surprised if her / their results are good.

I went to school without my nerves bundled up. Well, I did ask her if she wanted me to be in the school and she left it to me. Initially I wanted to wait for her outside while settling lunch with lil' one near school but in the end thought she might want me there and I might miss any mammarazzi moments of her in the hall for the last time as a student. Not that I was expecting her to be one of those students standing up for recognition. 

I had expected her to grab her results and go. She isn't that same small size girl where I can quickly push her out. She's taller and bigger than me, I might be the one falling in the process. She stayed on in the hall talking to her good friends, there I met one of her friend's mom for the first time even though our girls have been in the same class since P3 or P5.

I never liked to ask others how their daughters did, of course I did have some people coming over to ask me how che-che did. 

I was pleased with her results (though I feel if she has put in more time and effort in her studies she would have done better), she has some well-deserved distinctions.

One of her friend was in a state of anxiousness, she was afraid to leave the school. She didn't do that bad, it's just that she probably expected better (??). Che-che patted her on the back, I was not really listening to the conversation so initially thought she was so happy with her results. Her expression was very Hyde and Jekyll, her "cry" wasn't that kind of long sobbing cry. By the time I realised that she was anxious, I thought to myself "it's no wonder how some kids who can't seem to think, have a clear state of mind decide to do something silly". Naturally I was worried and offered to walk her out of the school with her to her mom who's waiting for her outside. But in the end, a teacher accompanied her out.        

The whole Results Day thingy for the bunch of 16 and 17 year-olds is very different as compared to when we have the hall filled with 11+ and 12 year-olds. 

So, it's more or less confirmed where she wanted to go next. We talked about it before, she seems to know where she wants to go next coz' she still can't figure out what she wants to study. The next 2 years will help her think through her career choice.

The girls will go for Open Houses tomorrow. Hopefully they'll make a choice which they won't regret after that.   

 

Tried, tested, approved and highly recommended Kiehl's masks

I'm a lazy person. I never seem to use my facial products that often. The only time I was a little hardworking with my "face" was during SQ days. Hey! I need a presentable face to face the passengers right? I have no reason to have a pwetty face as I feel an ugly face might just scare my kids or any kids who try to irritate me.  

After clipping my wings,  I would only use mask when I'm holidaying - winter countries mainly to replenish the moisture that's being sucked up in the bloody cold. Many ions years ago, my beautician introduced Dr Grandel Moisture Mask to me.

I liked this cos' all I needed to do was to leave it on for 3 mins. I can leave it on while I'm still in the shower. Come out of the shower and I'm done, not sure what I did with the extra minutes after that but it wasn't to relax. I think I spent my time packing up the bags again or scrubbing undergarments and socks. *grouch* 

Then it didn't work when I was in Shanghai, my skin was really bad. It's a good thing to be next to Isetan and a whole shopping stretch 南京西路. I popped by Sephora one day and desperate as I was heeded SA's recommendation without checking ahead. Well then it seems to have worked out until the next time I was in Japan. Hada Labo seemed really  convincing with their "lock up an ocean of refreshing moisture" tagline. Okay, so I think I'm a sucker for all these pack of lies. In 2017 when we headed for US, my skin was really horrible. Skin was dry to the extent that I was slapping my face coz' I couldn't scratch them, I was a like a walking "SNAKE". I looked old and doubly ugly with flaky face. I felt like I was a mummy as my face felt really tight and awful. Horrible feeling and wanted to scream "just kill me and let me die". A companion passed me some of her coconut oil and it helped me a little. A search online later showed that coconut oil, jojoba oil, argan and olive oil works wonders on sensitive skin. Honestly, I'm not sure why over the years my skin get so sensitive to cold? Is age a factor? Or hormonal changes?

So in 2018, I thought to myself if I should bring coconut oil (which will hardened up in cold climate) over but the smell put me off. I threw out all the previous hydrating shits out of my travel toiletry bag and the cabinet. Did a shopping trip once without the girls in PP(actually.... come to think of it...Where were the girls? It was the school hols then. *scratch head in puzzlement*), made it so much easier without distraction. I dropped by Kiehl's. Didn't expect to get something from there but there it was something looking at me 

 "This exceptional facial cream is inspired by the adventure-testing heritage of Kiehl’s, from the first ascent of Greenland’s peaks and the scaling of Mount Everest to the individual adventures of our customers around the world."

I wasn't going to scale the mountains but if it worked for higher attitudes, it should work for my europe trip right? See! I told you I'm a sucker for everything I read. The words were so convincing, the price made it more convincing at a tag of $52 it should work. If it's $5.20 I will put it back on the shelves and walk away. 

I'd definitely need a mask as well. The Ultra Facial Overnight Hydrating Masque screamed at me to try.   

I was desperate to get a hydrating mask to help me tide over the 2 wks + of winter climate. This looked interesting with two of the ingredients - fountain plant and glacial proteins, it sounded like my skin will be filled up/hydrated like a river. Most importantly, it's overnight mask so I will have a nightful of replenishing my dried up desert skin. All I needed to do was to make sure I don't lie on my sides to sleep just in case I rubbed it off on the pillows. $55 well spent. I was to stop there but thought of what happened the year before, I didn't want to risk having a free botox aka scaling treatment again. Products with calendula caught my eyes. I recalled calendula was what I was looking for months back when I read that it can heal skin, working just as well as aloe vera. Looked through the whole range of calendula products and decided to get the masque  

Well, I thought maybe I should put this dual healing plants masque first to soothe my "exposed the whole day  in the cold" face followed by the overnight hydrating mask. $69 for this nice smelling masque is worth it, though I must admit initially it was quite 'burning' as I slapped on my face. It got better as the days went by. 

Really happy with the products I bought this time as my face felt just the same. 没问题！ I will never leave home without these products again. 

On This Day - 5th Jan #Reminders from FB#

5th Jan 2013 @ 9.47am. 

School Week 0 report :

Lil' one did exceptionally well in school. She looked forward to school, only blur didn't know where to go once reached school on 2nd and 3rd day. The PVs and Prefects were there to help. (In this school, parents were only allowed to stay for half hour on 1st day. Couldn't wander to class, absolutely no way to see them. And came to pick up in canteen end of day. 2nd and 3rd day, PVs tell parents to "leave in our hands".

New parents were great. No ugly fight between PVs and parents at all. Pick up at respective gates end of day.)

She finally go to know the name of 'the girl with a Minnie Mouse pencil case'. 

Buddy system starts next week. Good luck to her buddy!! Eat slow; talk too much.