Surprise me?

You know, all these years I've quipped that derod is not one who can execute surprises, if and when he gets down to attempting at one. Yesterday we celebrated our anniversary, the one when we got attached. And last week, I was casually asking him when his term break for his NTU studies would be. He said he didnt know. So when bro-in-law lent us the car for Monday and Tuesday, I was still going on about how convenient it would be for him to drive home after school, and he can get home earlier, it'll be so much better, yadah yadah. So our friend agreed to everything I said.

It wasnt till the horrendous jam we got into yesterday morning along the expressway that I discovered this was the week of his term break! His palm was beeping non-stop, reminding him of a class he's already late for. So he took it out and asked me to clear the reminder. The page automatically reverted to his calendar for the day after I did so, and i saw "NTU term break" on the top! So confused! When I asked him, he said, "sigh... want to surprise you also cannot."

So I was stuck in between being elated (cos he wanted to take me out to celebrate the anniversary) and duhified (to think I've been going on and on and he's just playing along). But it still doesnt change the fact he failed at another attempt to surprise hehehheehe

Chocolate and Me

It's been days since I've had a hearty meal, all because of the nausea. So, the ability to finish a large packet of rice (Malay stall auntie was too generous, even when I requested for less rice) and having it sit well inside me, is really a miracle. I was fine until chocolate samples in various forms were passed around my office. We were supposed to try whether they were nice and if so, they will be bought for visitors who come by. Now I'm feeling a bit sick... looks like I'm not a chocolate person, not when I'm pregnant. Either that, or my baby doesnt like it haha

The LIST

Is it a boy? Is it a girl? I've no idea... yet. Many are more curious than the parents-to-be themselves. What name are you going to give to your kid? The Autumn Man has told us to draw up a list, not of the potential names we could christen him/ her, but those you should steer clear of.

Now, we all have had our fair share of stories of killer names. I don't think we want to destroy our kid's life, so well, here goes the gathering of the LIST (boys' names only):

- Michael
- Reuben
- Ben
- Boonson (my very own creation, which derod decided his very own self is at stake)
- Fred
- Daniel
- Eli (not that i want my kid to be called Eli...)

Oh, did I mention? I'm married to Mr. Tan.

It's scientific

According to http://www.pregnancy-guide.org/pregnancy.php,

Increased sensitivity to odor
It's not uncommon if you're newly pregnant to feel repulsed by the smell of a bologna sandwich or cup of coffee and for certain aromas to trigger your gag reflex. Though no one knows for sure, this may be a side effect of rapidly increasing amounts of estrogen in your system.

I still wanna complain that all the exhaust from vehicles come offending me everyday!!!

My Expert Nose

My nose has been especially sensitive of late. In the past, it's simple to tell what soup cora jie made with just a whiff of my nose once I stepped through the door. But the sensitivity I'm referring to here is not as simple as that. Here're some incidents that happened:

I concluded the first day of the lunar seventh month was upon us while being shut in my house for one entire day. The windows in the house were all facing the road (with no burning barrels in sight whatsoever) and the winds were strong this season, but I still felt the air was terribly wrong, polluted. And any funny smells from the printer, vehicles, etc, will just be so strong it's hardly bearable. The weird thing is: no one around seems to share my complaints.

The latest incident, which just happened la, got me in my office seat sniffing the air. I was telling my colleague I smelt you tiao. She nicely said that my nose a bit the *ahem* sensitive. And that smell got me craving, and wondering whether any you tiao is sold in the 500 li radius. Anyway, after some time, I decided to get a drink, only to find a small gathering of people outside nibbling on otah and guess what?! There was a small plate of you tiao sitting there, and nobody was interested. Muahahahahahahaah!

In Loving Memory of Rocky

I'm a day late in posting this.

Rocky's gone for three years now. I still remember that derod promised to get a tux for him to wear at our wedding if he managed to survive till then. But alas, Rocky deteriorated so much we had to let him go.

Every now and then, I still tell derod that I miss him. It's funny that so much emotions can come out of and from Rocky's death. You know that the one you love will not return and that deepens the pain inside.

Piggy did a list of things we'd always remember him for. The list has some adding-on to do but it's enough to bring back those vivid scenes.

Rocky's 3rd year death anniversary

22 August 1987 -- 13 July 2003

Piggy's a Full Dog, Again

Piggy turns 24 today. Two full cycles of dogginess. Wont be meeting with the family for dinner cos gotta stay late at work, so we're gonna make it up this weekend.

Speaking of which, I havent seen Piggy since I came back from Maldives.

Anyway, happy birthday Piggy! Enjoy your 24th year. It'll whizz by so fast, you'll wonder where it went. God bless.