I A M SICK AGAIN !!!

I am sick again this time ... down with bad throat, cough, running nose, congestion and cold. I didn't go to work yesterday. But, now I am pushing myself to work.... hoping that all these problems will be gone if I could get myself to focus on something more important. I was on the bed to rest, sleep for the whole day. Merely to hope that I can regain my energies to fight again the sickness.

Life is too short... just a couple of days ago one of my ex-colleague informed me that one of our old colleague collapsed during his badminton game and did not have a chance to regain his consciousness. He is gone ......how sad !


So, I must set my time straight from down on... I need to take care for myself; no other people can relieve your suffer or pain when you get sick. If I fell into the state of depression ... who will care for me ???

CHINESE NEW YEAR GIFTS FROM SUO MEIN; OUR VALENTINE'S DAY

Today is the Chinese New Year Feb 14th, 2010 and it's also the Valentine's day. this is the time that I miss my family more than any other days. For the Last Chinese New Year , I was back home in Malaysia to have my good time with my daughters, and all my Gan and Fong's family.

There was lots of foods and joy together.

My niece Suo Mein sent me some Chinese Lanterns and blouses that gave me the smell and feel of the Chines New Year. I am so excited and thankful to receive such precious gift from her. So, I hung up the lanterns together with the old lanterns that she sent me 2 years ago !! They brighten the whole house!

hmmmm.. I think that's the right place to hang the lantern and garland

This is the old lantern that Suo Mein sent to me 2 years ago .(attractive forever!)

It's not a tough job..... I can do it ! Don is busy taking picture of me !

Oh! this is such a pretty and traditional Chinese blouse that Suo Mein sent to me

The blouse is hard to get here and fits me perfectly ... likes tailor made !!!hehehehe!

Then....... a little bit of closer look on the blouse... not my face eh !

This is another "sexy" blouse that I have to think of something to make me look sexy ! ok ???

I think the blouse goes well with this chili red pants !
Oooph.. I forgot to match with my red shoes !! :(:(:(

These are the roses from Ah Don.... again,
look at the flowers and not my matured face , please !!
I was doing Tai Chi with these 2 bundles and Ah Don captured me in video ...
and he released it in youtube !! OMG!! so horrible
I look so funny in motion !!hahahahahahah

Roses....... after my arrangement!!

Don also receive something from me for the Valentine's day

A pair of pants ......

A small leather billfold to keep more $$$$$$$ in Tiger Year

After..... this..... we are going for a good meal to mark these 2 occasions.... Surely no Yee Sang or Lou Sang here...... but will have some Chinese food for sure !!

Buddy and Teddy Playing

Buddy likes to play with his food.  He takes it out of his dish and pushes it to the floor.  Teddy has learned to wait for the food to fall.  Sometimes Buddy is quick and jumps down before Teddy can get the food.

BYL's Valentine's Day Dance With the Roses

BYL shows us how to enjoy the roses before they are placed in a vase. :)

VALENTINE'S ; MOM AND OUR PETS

It's very significant to have the Valentine's day coincides with the Chinese New Year. Hence, this is a day of Double Happiness that one should celebrate joyfully.

We were at Valentine's Ball on 12th evening to celebrate the Valentine's day in advance. I got the following Valentine T shirts simply by walking up the stage shake through the screen !!! Most of the couples were in red costumes so I guess this represents the Heart for the love one.! :):):)

One for me and one for Ah Don

Oh...... Cupid is aiming at me ... but who is he shooting next???

This is the band. Comelion performing for the event

David & Christine - the MC

Oh !! Ah Don was shaking his old bones out !!!

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Now, it's about our pets.....Buddy & Teddy are friendly with each other although sometime either one would be too aggressive. Teddy tends to be rough and Buddy is very defensive. they still need time to learn to like each other and be gentle.

Buddy is curious with all new thing found in the house. He was running and jumping in and out the box till he got tired !

This is the time when they both got exhausted and needed a good rest

Teddy likes to face and post for the camera!

These two are equally crazy and overplaying on the floor !!

Oh Ah Don loves this dog more than anything else !!

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We invited mom to visit us as well as to be away from that freezing cold weather in Indiana. But she only decided to have a short stay of 2 weeks with us here. After this ,she is going to visit Tom ( Don's elder brother) at California. Two years ago when mom was here, she wasn't in good health; she was very week with irregular high blood pressure. She could hardly walk up the stairs. One evening, that was my Chinese New Year Eve, we had to rush her to the Doctor Hospital for emergy check up. It ended that she had to have a pace maker implanted. Since then, she was a different person..... have the energy to do what she likes :):):)

See ! how sweet are they.... Mother & Son

It's me & Mom ...... I hope to have Silver hair like hers sometime!!

We are family !

Mom is now back to Indiana. She sais she has a good time with us here. We are thankful for her visit ; after she left we found that she left some thing secretly for us ..... $$$$ ???? or what ?????We hope she will come visit us again and again.

TEDDY & BUDDY

Teddy and Buddy are playing and chasing after few days together. When Teddy is aggressive he likes to bark at Buddy. Buddy does not like it then they will attack each other. At first we were worried if these 2 animals could get along in the house. Thank god, so far they are doing fine . I believe they will soon be able to eat and sleep together peacefully.

Teddy is very alert of the surrounding; sometime he is just nosy ! Whenever the birds flipped their wings he would wake up from his nap to go to the cage to see what happened to them. Teddy thought he has the responsibility to take care of the house. He acts like a Watch Dog !!

Teddy is an intelligent puppy. He is able to read our expression. When I woke up this morning, I didn't see Buddy so I asked Teddy , "Where is Buddy? " He understood what I asked, looked at me for once and won't dare to look at me again, walked away from me like a guilty child with his head down. When I asked him again and louder, he went hiding at a corner and cuddled like begging for pardon!. He knew he has been naughty chasing away Buddy.; and he could not find when the Buddy being hiding!! hmmmmm ..... these 2 little creatures really give us lots of fun.

Teddy Can't catch Buddy !

This is sharing time - they both like yogurt

Teddy does not like this dog who came over from across the street to our yard.

Teddy was trying to smell the other dog

Teddy is taking a shower just now

He is such a good boy who likes to be clean !

ONE MORE NEW PET

This is the new member to our home......

It's "Teddy". Teddy is a schnoodle. We adopted him this afternoon.

He is super active & cute puppy. He has little training from the previous owner so we need to spend more time to work on this.

Our Cat Buddy is not happy to see him around. So we have to separate and rotate them in and out the family room and the lanai.

Hope they will get along soon.

Teddy is a bit skinny right now.

He is looking at Buddy in the family room through the glass door

He's already a "buddy" to Ah Don

He knows he is in Camera

WE ARE IN ORLANDO AGAIN!

We left from home to Orlando on Thursday evening. In the car, we have Mom who is visiting us from Indiana and our Buddy! ! Why Buddy ??? hmmmm because he has been acting very aggressive and liked to climb on top of the cage to distrub the birds. If we left him unattended, it is unfair to our birds.

This was the first time that Buddy travel with us. He was good on 2 hours journey; though he made some noise in the cage ; it wasn't a nuisance.

Soon after we reached the Vocation House in Kissimmee, that has 4 bedrooms, Jason, Marc, Brooke and Roberta also arrived from New Jersey by flight..... so this is like a small reunion for us.

Buddy took sometime to browse and smell every inche of the house; he even went upstairs to see what are there ! After feeling safe and comfortable with this new place, he started to play with Marc & Brooke.

Grandpa Ah Don bought 4 days tickets to Disney World for Marc and Brooke. This is one of the X'mas Gifts to them.

We did not see Marc & Brooke for only 7 months since last Family Reunion in 4th July 2009. They are so tall now !!!!! Brooke has her front teeth !!! And she is wearing the sneakers of my Size !!! So now you know what I meant !!!

They went to Magic Kingdom yesterday. Mom and me stayed at home. Since I am still in recovering stage and still having some chest congestion and dizziness in the morning, I might have to take extra precaution to excerpt my body and rest more. Certainly, I missed and enjoyed those rides but not this time.

This morning , they left for Epcot. It's good to visit Disney during this period as the parks are less crowded and the lines to each ride and game are shorted. waiting on a long line has been a pain during summer time under the hot sun. The weather during this time is most ideal for visiting Disney World. There might be some good offer too.

Oh .... Buddy is such a good company here....... Soon, we are planing to adopt a Schnoodle. I hope the lady I dealt with would keep her dog "Teddy" for our adoption . If the adoption go through, we will have Buddy and Teddy ...... their names seem to get along fine !!

Think about my disappointment for being rejected to keep pet in our last place in Village Walk on my 62 Birthday, I am really thrilled to be able to see our pets running or flying in our home.

I AM SICK TODAY !!!

Yes!! I am sick and resting at home today.

I was not feeling comfortable for last few days. This is the first time that I have to take a sick leave to stay at home. I tell myself , this is the time that I should forget about the work and let my body have its time to do some internal adjustment or balnacing work to my body; I know, I have been defeated by virus or any other abnormal factors.

There are few reasons that my body shows sign for a good rest !

>I have been too stressful over a last couple of weeks. Have bad habit and persistantly overworked my matured bodyin the past. I have turned to a night bird which is definately is bad for my body.

>There has been a big change of weather from super hot to super cold; and there is high tendency that I could have had a chill and unnoticed!

>I have the new glasses that may cause some impact or effect on my headache.

>My daughter sent me a Garuda Dzi bracelet which is showing signs of my future sickness. My body is aching since I put it on ! Dzi is telling me that I should look after my health more seriously by now! Dzi has been known for its power to tell the wearer of what future sickness.

>Lastly...... it might be a mild warning that medical attention is needed. Since living here for close to 5 years ( by coming May) I have not seen any physicians for treatment except for a body check-up early last year.

I am definitely a tough person who likes to fight against sickness with natural healing process and home remedies.

I feel very much different to be at home on working day! I can't make myself rest completely; that's why I am sitting right in front of my pc........But I like to have this extra hours to play with my birds and cat. They are my good company.

"Forever" likes to kiss me.. she thinks I have something in my mouth to share. oh! and that naughty "Buddy" have been jumping up and down the bed this morning wanting to wake me up !!!!.

♠♠♠ WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR PLANTS?????

This is the first time that I experienced cold weather in Florida. Over the last two weeks the weather was so cold that it dropped to 30 F. It was mainly due to the cold front that push its way from the Arctic. When I asked Ah Don how could it be so cold this year? He told me it was cold too last year; but I was lucky to be back in Malaysia for the Chinese New year during this period!!!!

It's not difficult to deal with cold weather here as I had gone through below freezing point while living in New Jersey for over 2 years. I have plenty of jackets and thick sweaters that I can wear to keep warm. ( since moving to this new place, they have been packed and stored; I thought they are no longer required!)

While we can keep ourselves warm, we were not aware that we have to cover our plants to prevent them from the frost that could freeze them. As reported, local farmers have bad hit of losses due to such cold weather!

This morning when we have a little big of warm sunshine we could walk out to the yard. We were sad to see that most of our plants have been damaged. I don't know how long it take to see their new leaves again ? They are the fruits of our hard labor; At one point we were so happy to see them growing successfully after being transferred from their respective pots to the yard.... now they look bad !

My Pencil Cactus turning pink

This plant were struggling hard with the new place but now......

No longer our green green grass of home !

Look like they have been cooked in bundle !!

When would I see the Green leaves agin ?

Poor Aloe !!!

All needles are dropping off !

Yeah! It's colorful, but I love them green !!!!

We were happy to see the bright color but the have faded !!!!

All leaves fall-off overnight !

It's sad to see our plants in this condition. I pray and believe they will be fully green in spring.

House Warming & BYL Birthday

I'm not going to write as much as BYL.  I think my fingers would fall off. Ha Ha Ha

Below is a little video I put together on the day of the house warming and BD party.  Just gives you a different view of the house.  Obviously we like and enjoy our home.

DO I HAVE QUESTIONS IN MY LIFE ????

Officially, I turned 64 today!

When I was a little girl, living in a small town, I liked to be around my mother listening to her conversation with visiting lady friends. More often I heard them saying, " Aiyo ! we can not already lah ! It's too old to wear this and that after 40!" So in my little mind , I learned that "Women over 40 plus is TOO OLD for anything !" "Young ladies over 20 remained single are overage and hard to find a guy to marry". Then I thought I might have to look for a boy friend before I finished High School. But, that never happened to me ! I wasn't interested in any boys in our class at all !! During my teen, I was hoping to be able to live in a bigger town.


When I reached 40, it was wonderful that I did not feel that I was old!! Then I thought I might experience that Old feeling in another 10 years. When I turned 50, I did not feel that I was old either. In fact, I remarried at senior age of 59 ( Now, people are talking about retirement age at 55 !!!) So, there is only one reason for me not to feel old .......because I DO NOT AND DON'T WANT TO FEEL OLD IN MYSELF... " When you feel old, you are old!" That's it!! Okay !

Then a year after this , I reached this significant NUMBER 60, another round figure in my life! This time around, I did have some strange feeling then made me admit that age is catching up on ME !!! .... Since then, I hated to use or hear the word "OLD" to describe ME! I prefer to use and hear the word "MATURED" instead. In common sense, "Old" means outdated, useless, ineffective, nonproductive or even a burden to younger generation if you are disable whereby " matured" is just like fine wine .... the oldest is the best and right time for appreciation !!!

When I cut my birthday cake 2 days ago, I told our guests that I only have 3 more years to cut the cake ! They asked " What do you mean?" Well, this was a prediction from one Psyche who told me I would live up 67 years old; if I could skip this , I would live up to 87 . If I were to follow Chinese way of calculation ..... I really do not have much time to enjoy my life !!!! How sad !

Right now, I am going to enjoy what are there to enjoy. I am happy to be able to celebrate my 64th Birthday with Ah Don and friends. I am thankful to be able to wake up every morning to see this world, to walk around and run about freely. I can eat as much as I like to. I am both mentally and physically fit to work. May be my memory may fail me sometime but that's not a big deal. I have to use different way to register the memory !! I believe, I am doing good and fine!

Yeah, I can squad up and down without leaning for support. I can lift my leg high up ...... I can hear, I can see, I can jump, I can sing etc, ...... Do I have white hair ? Sure, I do! There are some patches by the side of my forehead. They are like permanent highlight . So what ? I am proud to have these patches.... because there are signs of "Wisdom". Some wise ladies quoted this before and I simply agree with them now that I have them on my head !

Looking back, I have been through various phases and aspects of my life.

When I was little...... I was really little in size and age in my class. I was the youngest and the shortest in the class from my primary years to High School. I had no chance to be appointed as class monitor throughout my whole schooling years... So far, this is my only regret for being too young and too small in the class. This image took away my hidden quality of leadership. ( This is my excuse of failure to be one) . I called myself a "Late Comer" because I was able to explore the quality of leadership at late 50 after I joined and involved in various political and non-political association and movements !! Certainly, I took the greatest pride in my life to see my little daughter being selected to be the class monitor on her first day to school. She was so capable to make her classmates in order while teacher were not around. She fulfilled what I had lost during those schooling years!!

When I was in the college in Singapore, I became the oldest student in the class. I was 24 when the rest of students were in there 17 to 18. WHY ???? Because there was a lapse of more than 6 years before I could walk into the college to continue my education. I am always grateful to my deceased mother and eldest brother who supported me financially and allowed me to accomplish my dream for better education. It was through this education, I was able to set my career path in commercial world. They transformed me to a better person who gradually accumulate confidence and ambition to do great.

I first married at the age of 30.... In 70's this was considered "Late Marriage for ladies"; However, none of our neighbors made any bad comment to my mother of such Overage Marriage merely because I was a career lady ! Haahahaha.....it was so interesting!! They could not believe that my Ex-husband is 7 years younger than me too!! !! Looking back, I was really blessed with a most wonderful and supportive mother in my life. She is my forever mentor and mental supporter. When I faced the fate of divorce, (again, this was predicted by same Psyche ) she gave me adequate encouragement and loving care. I could share with her my joy and sadness. On the other hand, I am also blessed with having one and only daughter Su-Yee who is so special in my life too. I am grateful that she accompanied me and made my life meaningful from 30 plus onwards. She sent me a loving gift and called me in the early morning to wish me "Happy Birthday!" Thank you "Bei" !

During my time as a single parent, I learn to be very independent and strong. That was the period for me to polish my life. I have to give this credit to my ex-husband for giving me the opportunity to grow stronger and be a sole responsible Mom. I worked hard to build my career; I gained the confidence and trust from my boss. I worked 25 year with the company till the company was sold. I quit my position as Assistant General Manger when I could not stand to be treated like "junk" in the eyes of those new management. Regardless of this, there are people in this new management that I like to express my thankfulness to them ! Why again ? Because without their " bad treatment and double standard altitude", I would not have made up my mind to quit and marry with Ah Don. All I know, they helped me to make the right decision in my late 50!!!

Hahahaaha... some people would want to know how and where did I meet this Matsalleh ?

Well, we get to know each other through Internet. When my daughter Su-yee has her circle of friends and seldom be around with me like before, so, I spent some of the time on Internet when I was not involved with any other activities. This is how I got to know Ah Don in 2002.

Do I have to question why I have been treated like this in my life ? No, not really, I am happy with what I had gone through before. The past strengthens my mind set towards my future. And I am happy with what I have now....... I have indeed been treated very fairly and blessed with all good thing in most of life. I have my family members who love and support me all the time especially my youngest brother Alan who cares and close to me. We have similarities in many ways. He is the youngest son and I am the youngest daughter; we both like to see that all our Gan family members are happy together. He has visited me twice since I came to US in 2005.

Below are what I my Birthday Gifts from Ah Don beside a warm kiss this morning!!

My New Glasses ( Price ? hmmm = to my few days pay loh )

The Hard Floor Cleaner for our Home

(I believe he will use this to keep our house clean ......

The supply of tool should come with labor, hahhahaha)

Lastly, a Diamond Pendant & Card

Thank You Ah Don for making my life complete! Thanks to Su-Yee for coming to my life!
I also received a nice Birthday card from Mom-in-law with $10.00 note !!! How sweet & nice of her. She remember all of our big days !!!