Grandpa has left....

A month ago, I was suppose to blog on grandpa's health condition. He was not so well when we brought him to stay with us early this year. Some said when a person grows older, his life cycle will go back to being a child. I couldn't agree more. He would forget that he has eaten, thus asking for food every half hour. Sometimes, he even told us he hasn't eat any rice for 3 days. Gosh! If outsiders were to hear that, what would they think? His DIL (Mum) is torturing him? He would sometimes pee or poo in his pants, a few times a day. There were times where he ran out of pants. They were not drying fast enough for him to change. Another thing is his biological clock changed. His day will turn into sleeping time, and when nights come, he was like an owl. It won't be a big problem has he not tried to walk around and fell; or kept banging on the bedpost and left everyone with panda eyes. Grandpa also has bad habits that will make one feel so disgust just by seeing him. I hate to say this but his behavior makes the house kiosk!

His health deteriorated a month ago. I received a call from Mum after my facial session saying that Grandpa was having breathing difficulties and was admitted to ICU. That really gave me a shock. Although all this while I tried to get away from all the screaming and his disgusting acts, but the thought of him suffering makes my heart ache. Report came out to show that his right lungs has collapsed and the left one is not strong enough. He can only be on liquidize food, not thru his mouth but by inserting tubes thru his nose. When I visited him after he was transferred to normal ward. Only then I noticed how much he aged compare to last year. He's left with skin covering his bones. And tubes all over his bodies which makes him uncomfortable. The doctor has no choice but to tied up his hands when he tried to pull those tubes out.

After a week in hospital, Grandpa's children ( Dad and other siblings) decided to put him in the care center back in his hometown. They couldn't take care of him anymore as he required feeding thru tubes. If there's a slight mistake when feeding, the liquid might get into his lungs and prevent him from breathing. They made it a point to visit him whenver they were free. I too have a chance to visit him twice, on weekends. But that was it.

Barely after a month from his admission into ICU, he finally left peacefully on 19th August. We rushed back hometown when we received the call. As soon as we entered his house, he was lying there, in the middle of living room, naked with only a red cloth covering his private part. His body frame was like those malnutrition people in Somalia. I really cried my heart out. Before this we were prepared for this, I thought I was strong enough already. But the sight and thought that he will not get up again just got my tears to roll non stop. During the few days stayed in that house, I didn't cry anymore. I thought, "That's it. I has learned to accept it." But I failed again on the last day. When the people from funeral services started to pour in, my tears welled up again. The moment the casket's car come in, I was crying like mad. I went in to take a last look and cried for so long for the first time since Grandma passed away 2 years ago. I could only remember crying and crying and more crying......

Now into the second week already. This coming Saturday, we need to go back to celebrate Grandpa birthday for the first time. I will be strong...........

TOP 11 Reasons Not a Good Idea to put the Groom in charge of the wedding

I stumble upon this TOP 11 Reasons Not a good idea to put the Groom in charge of the wedding written by Kelley Lynn in on of the bride's website. This is so COOL! If there were such groom, I don't know how the bride will react. What will you do if you are in that shoe?

"Ah, wedding planning. Isn't it the greatest joy? (insert sarcastic tone here) Brides-to-be: have you had those days where you just want to pull your hair out, or preferably someone else's hair; out of pure frustration? Are you stressed beyond your wildest imagination; knee-deep in DJ contracts, color schemes, and bridesmaids dresses; only to look over and see your dear fiance heavily engrossed in a game of "Grand Theft Auto" on his Playstation? And in this frustrated, stressed-out level of persona, have you gone so far as to gently ask your beloved fiance for some HELP? Oh dear.

I remember one such day during my own wedding planning. I was annoyed, overwhelmed, and trying to book all the vendors on a time line, along with working a full-time job of course. We didn't have the budget for a wedding planner, and mom and dad live out of state, so I was pretty much on my own as far as the small (subtext GIGANTIC) details of planning. However, I had given my fiance one job to take care of. ONE JOB. Since our potential DJ was a good friend and ex-employee of my fiance's buddy, I thought it best that he call his friend to get the contact info for the DJ. So, days go by. Then weeks. I ask sweetly if he called his friend yet and got the DJ information. "Yeah I called and left a message, he hasn't called me back yet." This went on for weeks. The friend never got back to him. Finally, knowing that we were on a time line and needed to book this guy NOW or never, I told my fiance to please give me his friend's phone number and that I would call him. His response was, "Well okay, but what's the point? If he hasn't called me back, he isn't going to call you back either." Wrong. I called the number, left a polite but semi-urgent sounding message to get me this information, and guess what? He called me back immediately, the same day. We booked the DJ and all was well.

So what was the lesson in that little story? The lesson is this: If you think you want your fiance's "help" with planning your wedding, think again. His idea of help may actually cause you more stress and more work in the long run. Men, for whatever reason, don't seem to comprehend that weddings take time to plan, and that you have to start early. And that's not all - they don't understand about weddings. So in the end, do we really want our fiance's in charge of the important things regarding our wedding? Probably not. And If I haven't yet convinced you, here are the..."

Top 11 Reasons Its NOT a Good Idea to Put The Groom In Charge of the Wedding ...


11. Instead of tuxedos, camoflauge pants for the Ushers and tye-dye shirts for the Groomsmen.

10. Wedding Vows would include words like "Yeah," "Ditto," "Whatever dude" and "Cool."

9. Instead of flower bouquets, Bride would carry bag of chips for Groom to snack on during ceremony.

8. Bridesmaids would wear a selection of skimpy string- bikinis with stiletto heels.

7. All Sunday weddings would be banned during Football Season.

6. Wedding Cake would be of the Hostess or Little Debbie Snack Cake variety.

5. Classy Mozart ceremony music replaced by all "Ozzy" (or rocker of your choice.)

4. During ceremony, Bride would be forced to participate in emotional "giving of the Remote Control" custom

3. Why spent thousands of dollars on a stuffy, elegant reception site when we can just have wings at Hooters?

2. Dancing is out. Giant TV screen featuring "Guitar Hero" and "Splinter Cell" is in.

1. Signature cocktail ... Beer.

Feel free to add to the list. What's yours?

Flickr Monkey

Oh...Here's another puppets that might interest you. Well, it did for me. He comes in different colors and he has friends too. Check out flickr bird and dog.


All this can be found at Flickr Monkey.

Finger Puppets

Cute lil finger puppets for play. They can be downloaded for FREE at TerraCotta and they are easy to make. Have fun trying them out.

Good bye, Rina

Today we are bidding goodbye to our indo maid, Rina who has been with us for a short 6 months. The purpose of having her with in our house in the first place was because Grandpa is senile and seriously in need of someone to take care of him, erm......more to taking care of his 'output'. My parents decided to take care of him when they moved back to penang early this year. Previously, Grandpa has been staying with the youngest aunt in KL for a year or so. They are seldom at home, which I don't know why since they are not working anymore. So Grandpa was left in Rina's hand in the double-storey house everyday. They will not care whether he eat, or sleep or is healthy or not. I believe they think they shelter they gave was more than enough. Since then, Grandpa has been shrinking till you can see only the skin is covering the bone. He has refused to eat, and was always lying on the sofa whole day long. Sometimes, he couldn't even control his pee and poo. Rina told us, aunt's husband (I called him Uncle) once brought Grandpa to walk in a nearby park and Grandpa just poo there and then. Uncle was so embarrassed that he just told Rina to clean up and he himself ran away.

Mum, the filial daughter in law, took over the duty and so Grandpa and Rina were brought back to our tiny apartment. A 700sqft with 6 occupants. Since the arrival of Grandpa and Rina, the house was in havoc till last week. Almost everyday something will break or gone missing. I found our rhino with a broken leg but still standing as if nothing has happen. The table mat flew off the window. The laughing Buddha statue my sis bought from S'pore was turned into so many pieces, I wouldn't recognise it had I not been told. The fridge magnet was separated from the magnet itself. The newly bought dining table and chairs have scratches you'll think it was bought a few years back. Oh....there are so many more I couldn't possibly list them all. Everything that happened, she never failed to give excuses. The limp rhino could only happen if she throw it back to the floor when she was sweeping. But she didn't say a thing till I saw it one morning. She could almost swear she kept the table mat already and it's just misplace. My mum was furious that Rina didn't want to admit her mistake, instead is full of excuses. So Mum let her find high and low for the not-in-the-house-anymore-mat. After searching for nearly an hour, then only she told Mum a big maybe the mat flew of the window. To that, she received a BIG scolding and lecture from Mum. The fridge magnet, she said it just fell down by itself but Mum suspected it fell when Rina open the fridge to take a peep, which she was not suppose to do so. Every other things that were broken, she has put the blame on my poor senile Grandpa.

That's not all. It's hard to bring Grandpa to everywhere my parents go. So together with Rina, they will have the whole house to themselves till anyone of us is back, except our bedroom which we keep our personal things. My parents come back time was quite consistent. So Rina will know when to prepare herself to be goodie good girl. There was a few times when Mum came back unexpectedly and caught her running to bathroom to hide ( we couldn't figure out why) or was struggling to swallow with her mouth full of I-don't-know-what. Sometimes she was even caught playing the piano or lying on the sofa. Mum found that some of her food is missing sometimes. With all these, Mum will sometimes quiet as a mouse, slip into the house without her noticing it. Once Mum saw her with a broom in one hand and another with the TV remote control. Obviously, Mum, the good hearted lady couldn't just scold her. So she walk out again and purposely open the grill loudly. In a spilt second, the TV is off and there she was, sweeping like a VERY GOOD maid. Sigh....my mum is so kind to just keep an eye close for most of the mistakes Rina made. She always said she don't want a maid cause she couldn't command others to do things. But that didn't happen to us. We'll get nag nag nag till the chores are done, perfectly.

Leaving Grandpa in Rina's hand does cause anxiety in every member of the house, including both my married sisters who are leaving else where. This was because Grandpa has fell a few times but he couldn't remember the incident for long. Sometimes when my parents came home to find Grandpa quiet and act differently, they'll know that something happen AGAIN. Either he fell down and knock his head or there are bruises on his hands and legs. No, Rina will not report anything also till she's forced. Sometimes I pitied her for the sleepless night Grandpa gave her but other times, I just felt like slapping her face. You'll know something is wrong when she mumbles to your questions. The most unforgivable thing she did was she slapped both Grandpa's cheeks. Luckily, my parents came back within Grandpa's memory time frame so he can still relate the incident. This made Dad and Mum so furious, Rina received a good scolding till she don't dare to make a noise and was sad the whole day.

If she is the kind that is hardworking and obedient, we will definitely appreciate her and treat her better. if not for her to take care of the poo and pee, she'll be dispensed so long ago. She's been in Malaysia for 3 years and been to 3 houses. The first employee reported Rina stole $$ from them. So they sent her back to the agent. The second employee, which was my aunt, caught a man in their home upon coming home early one Sunday morning after Sunday class. We decided to change her before this but due to the long processing period and extra charges to get new one, we have to stick to her till today.

Grandpa was ill and warded to Hospital last week. Now he's bedridden and on only liquidize food thru tube, Dad and his other siblings feel that the special care center will be a better place compare to taking turn feeding him. A wrong move will cause life....no jokes. Arrangement was made and Grandpa is in the new home since yesterday. Leaving Rina alone in the house will not be a wise choice. Furthermore, we can take care of our laundry and the house ourselves. With this in mind, she'll be put on bus back to KL today. So does not know it before hand, for fear she'll make plot to keep the stolen things on her body. Dad will take her down for lunch and Mum will join them later after she pack Rina's bag. Hopefully, she'll be able to go back to her hometown with her hard earned money thru all this year.

GOODBYE, RINA!

Wedding Photographer

I'm currently so busy with my work but I know I have to get this on the blog before I totally forget AGAIN...

A few weeks ago, one of my online buddy had her wedding in Bankers Club and she hired a very professional photographer (PG) to capture her memories. Mind you, this is not the normal freelancer who takes up photography as passion and turn it into money making business. This particular PG has secured his name with WPJA (Wedding PhotoJournalism Association) which is suppose to be a big WOHOO!! The $$ she paid was way more than my whole package with Bridal Shop, my shoes, my Actual Day services (PG, VideoGrapher) and probably a lil more to have my invitation printed. A whopping RM7k. I actually thought with this amount of $$, her pictures will turn out to be wedding of the year. Her made-to-measure (MTM) wedding gowns, shoes, hand bouquet, hand made favors, ballroom decoration, invitation cards and other tiny detail were so unique and lovely and ......(fill in all the nice words) and this will absolutely definitely not miss out the eye of PG. The deco itself brings up to a few $Ks. Oopps, I actually left out this....she had 3 PGs for her wedding (they come in a package).

Sadly, the eager waiting Mrs. faced with a hugantic disappointment when he gave her full set of the picture online for proofing. First of all, 3 PGs just had a total of less than 500 pictures captured. Secondly, the pictures that matters to her most were not capture; i.e. the WHOLE wedding gown, the FRONT of her shoes, bouquet toss, bridesmaids pictures and many more personal shoots. She was furious and sad when she found out all those. No doubt the fine art (selected photos with touched up) he upload in his blog were amazing and jaw dropping. I was a bit (OK, a lot) envious when I saw her fine are in the blog. I wish mine will be at least 50% as nice as hers (although I'm paying only 20% of her price). Hey, who would not want that right? Anyway, it turn out that only a handful of pictures will be the fine arts pictures. Other than that, they are pretty basic.

I had the privilege to peep into her proofing pictures and BOY! I was in for a shock. The pictures indeed are so normal it looks more like what my PG is offering. I was so thankful I didn't pay so much to get the basic pictures. Hey, that's not the end of story.....at least not yet. It seems that the fine arts will not be returned to customer. If they wish to have them, they can purchase the file separately. Then what is the use of touching up but the customer have to pay for them??? And do you know when she confronted her on the missing pictures that were suppose to be captured in any wedding, then only this pro PG manage to find 150 pictures somewhere in his database. After much ranting and lectures to the PG, he will compensate with an extra storybook album. HELLO!! What if the customer didn't make any noise and kept all the frustrated feeling to themselves? Then they are the one who lose out a lot of thing.

Excerpt from my favorite wedding website.

"Anyone who’s been to a wedding knows there’s nothing simple about the pictures. A wedding photojournalist, whose goal is not to just photograph the bride, the groom, and the family and friends present, but to capture the energy and the variety of emotion that surround the event and the important details for the couple thru the wedding prep for the wedding AD itself.
Deep photos, like any good wedding cake, are made up of multiple layers of people, objects and emotions that make for compelling photographs and, for those involved, memories that will last. A photograph with depth is complex--it shows and it tells the story. And as with many great images, it takes a little bit of luck and a lot of skill.

here r some points in getting ready session:

1. Wedding gown, Bouquet, Jewerly, Wedding shoes,veil are very important components for bride. (every gal has her own dream of the white dress, white shoes on her important day)--this can tell CL's prep story for keep in her memory forever when she see these in the future or showing her grandchildren.

2. Another thing miss out is CL's make up artist and bridesmaids assist with the final touches on her hair and makeup, mom checking how her pretty daughter look like(first time the parents see the bride in the wedding dress & that has the potential of being a real moment )and the bride steps into her wedding gown with chimuis helping and shoes wearing..(i think he can do something more on this scene).

3. On the parents putting veil on bride...i think can do some more memorable potrait there. and how chi muis react at the time when looking the brides with parents. (he can aware of all the elements in a scene and working the angles to present the most complete story with 2 assistants)

Some importance for getting ready session:
Getting ready can be a monumental task for the bride and her entourage, and an event in itself. It’s a time not only during which the women share their excitement and happiness, but also one in which they can smooth out any bumps in the road that may arise, from mending an ill-fitting wedding gown to soothing an overwhelmed bride. The application of cosmetic agents, hair, skin, nail, and other treatments, final tuning of clothing and accessories; this seemingly endless array of beauty products and treatments makes for a very hectic and intense prep session."

Although with a compensation, I still sincerely feel bad for her. With this guide, I'm so sure my photo will turn out nice. "Hey Universal, I'll have nice wedding photos during my wedding,ok? " this is how The Secret (I had blogged about this post) taught me.

3 Layer Star Book

I found this website from Papermusings website. It has a whole lot of DIY craft (which I LOVE so much!!!). Look, I found this step-by-step on how to make a 3 Layer Sta Book absolutely amazing. I didn't realise a simple book as this will turn out so nice and unique. This will make a perfect birthday or anniversary or any occasion gift to your love ones. If time permits, hubs will have the privilege to receive my first hand made Star Book as his birthday gift...which is NEXT MONTH!! OMG!! Will I be able to make it?

Anyway, here' something Natalie (the web owner) has done....Below it, the step to step was copied entirely (without any change of letter or word) from this website.

Three-Layer Star Book Crafters Coast to Coast : Episode HCC2C-136

Project by Deb Dormody of Pawtucket, R.I.

Deb took a bookbinding class and ended up taking apart all her books at home to figure out how they were assembled. In this segment, Deb makes a three-layer star-shaped book.

Materials:

inside page papers (card stock):
back layer: 51-1/2" x 6"
middle layer: 42-1/2" x 6"
front layer: 38-1/2" x 6"
bone folder
ruler
pencil
paint and brushes
hobby knife
scissors
needle
waxed linen thread
two 25" pieces of ribbon
PVA glue
hake brush
two pieces of book board or chipboard at least 1/8" thick
about 4-1/2" x 6-1/2"
6" x 8" lokta paper for covers

Steps:

1. Cut your three panels to size and fold them accordion style. Each panel is graduated so that the back layer is biggest with a large deep fold, the central layer is slightly smaller, and then the front layer is smallest with shallow folds. For this project, I used the following measurements: back layer 51-1/2" x 6", middle layer 42-1/2" x 6", front layer 38-1/2" x 6".

2. For both the back and central layers, first measure out and mark off 1 inch on both ends, which will attach to the cover boards. For the front layer, measure out extra width to also serve as your endpapers; in this case, 2-3/4 inches on both ends.

3. Fold these first flaps in towards the center. Then with faint pencil marks and a ruler, mark off each page size for the remaining length of each layer. As this is a six-sided star, I've made the following page sizes for this project: back 4-1/8 inches, middle 3-3/8 inches, front 2-3/4 inches.

4. Fold the accordion pleats along your demarcations.

5. Design and create your panels cutting out areas on the valleys of the folds so that you can see through each layer. Paint, collage, print or draw your wonderful imagery.

6. Nest all three layers so that you can sew them together. Using a needle and thread, sew on the

7. For edge at each mountain fold. Pierce three holes at about 1 inch from the top and bottom and then in the center. It's useful to make a paper template to pierce each set of holes.

8. Starting at the center, place your needle through the back or inside of the book and in towards the front. Bring the thread up to the top or head hole, going from front to back. Bring your needle all the way down to the bottom or tail hole and go through back to front. Pierce back into the center hole from front to back and tie off in a knot. Repeat for the remaining five mountain folds.

9. Cut two boards slightly larger than the dimensions of the pages when they are all folded up closed. In this exampled, there was a faux embossed cover where was adhered another slimmer piece of chipboard that had images carved out to the front cover board. Glue two pieces of cover paper (which measure 1-1/2 inch larger than the cover boards), centering the boards on each piece. Trim the flap corners and glue the flaps down, first the head and tail and then the two sides. Let dry under a heavy press for about 45 minutes.

10. Cut two pieces of ribbon to about triple or quadruple the width of your book covers (better to overestimate in this case). Position your book covers perfectly parallel to each other, leaving a space in between them equal to the thickness of your folded up layers. Glue the two threads horizontally across the two covers with the center of the ribbons positioned at the space in the center between the two boards. Glue one about 1 inch or so from the top and the other at the same distance from the bottom.

11. On your layered pages, glue the remaining flaps to each other and then to your cover boards over the ribbons. Press out any air bubbles and wipe away any excess glue. Insert two blotters or lining papers between the covers and pages and press under light weight for 10 minutes.

12. Remove blotters and tie the ribbons to each other, bringing the covers 360 degrees backwards to each other. When closed you can also tie your covers together to keep it safe.

Website: www.ifnbooks.com