getting to know you

A recent conversation with hubby dearest brought to mind an old song – a classic favourite from my childhood days…back when musicals were aplenty, fairly educational and dare I say, filled with innocence and simplicity. Unlike the highly commercialised High School Musical's of nowadays. But that in itself is another topic altogether!

Back to the above mentioned conversation. Apparently, it took three entries before Zain decided to check out my blog and his comment took me by surprise:

“I read your blog. It was good – surprisingly. In fact, it was intelligent and funny. Surprisingly…”

Gee, thanks honey! More than 2 years of marriage and it takes a blog for my hubby to realise he’s married to an intelligent person with a good sense of humour :p

Slightly offended, it nevertheless made me smile as compliments don’t come easy from my jack of all trades (and master of quite a bit too!). And to be fair, there are a lot things I’m still learning about him myself!

This just goes to show that you never really truly know someone; that relationships are really one big learning curve, minute by minute, day by day. If only it was as simple as looking in the mirror; where what you see is what you get. Tough luck. Reflections are all there are…nothing more, nothing less.

Knowing this, one may choose two differing paths. On one hand is the slightly harsh, pessimistic and a little too realistic point of view, which is to hold oneself back and trust no one – they may just pull a "now you see me, now you don’t" act (now chipsmore comes to mind!). On the other hand, there’s the optimistic point of view, which is to wake up each morning and look forward to what else there is to learn, to embrace (and eventually love or reluctantly put up with) both the good and the bad and to choose every minute to love the person you’re with. Call me Pollyanna but I’d like to think that if this path had a soundtrack, it'd be this:

Getting to know you,
Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you,
Getting to hope you like me.

Getting to know you,
Putting it my way,
But nicely,
You are precisely,
My cup of tea.

Getting to know you,
Getting to feel free and easy
When I am with you,
Getting to know what to say

Haven't you noticed
Suddenly I'm bright and breezy?
Because of all the beautiful and new
Things I'm learning about you
Day by day…

ta ta 2006

This pic was taken a few minutes into 2006. After several rounds of drinks and mega-competitive win-lose-or-draw, we wished goodbye to 2005 and welcomed 2006.

Little did we know of what was in store for us, as we ushered the new year in. Among them were (in no particular order and reference): the start of a sitcom, drama & series, a renewed hosting career, the winning of accomplished awards, mothers falling ill, a new and unexpected relationship, the promise of a baby, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of participating in a reality show, anxiety attacks and breakdowns, taitaidom and many, many more.

It’s been almost a year since and it’s that time of the year again. How time flies…

This is also the time of year when people reflect on the good and bad of the previous year and make vows, also known as the “R” word – RESOLUTIONS!

I personally have never been one to make new year resolutions. To be honest, I do start off with good intentions. The usual suspects would come up but I always had a reason to cross it off my list…guilty as charged!

* Quit smoking – Whatever for! I enjoy it too much…
* Get organised – Nah, are you kidding me? What you see is an organised mess…I know exactly where everything is.
* Shop less – Shopping is not a bad thing – repeat over again and again. Besides, retail therapy is good for the mind and soul!
* Lose weight – I’m not that fat…just voluptuous! Hahahaha!
* And the list goes on…as do the denial statements! You get the picture…

Now, for the reality check:

> Smoking – I finally ended this ten-year relationship – more cos of guilt than of my own will. Irregardless, I do deserve a pat on the back. Lots of pats! It’s been slightly over 6 clean months now and I’d be lying if I said I don’t miss it. Sadly enough, I still feel the void it’s left behind. So pathetic, some might say! A part of me is soooo looking forward to after I pop to have my next ciggie. Another part of me is telling me that I’ve been such a good girl and I’ve come thus far, it’d be such a waste to start again. Oh well, only time will tell…
> Get organised – Does getting a maid count? She's really really good...
> Shopping – I shopped lots :) this year; I’ve had good reasons to – bigger clothes (for this ever expanding tummy), pregnancy stuff (health food, extra pillows, lotions and creams, natural products) etc. It’s amazing how many things there are available out there and supposedly necessary for pregnant mums. Can’t use this, can’t do that, blah, blah, blah. I wonder how the previous generation got by. According to mum, back then, they never had any of these concerns and look at how we turned out. She does have a point! Still, just to be safe, it’s been all natural products for me and baby! And lately, my shopping has diversified to baby stuff. I know now why a cousin of mine once told me that ever since she had kids, she’s spent less on herself. Firstly, baby stuff ain’t cheap! Secondly, there are so many things to buy – all of which are soooo cute! Yes, I reiterate – retail therapy IS good.
> Lose weight – Hahahaha!!! I have put on 6kg. I mean, the baby has put on 6kg – she is very bulat :p

Seeing as how unexpected the above turned out, I think I might have to give this whole resolutions thing a bit more thought. More on this in blogs to come (yes, I'm getting the hang of blogging!!).

So as the year comes to an end, I find myself neither ecstatically happy nor extremely sad; I thank god for the blessings he has graciously granted and humbly surrender to the challenges he has presented. And with that, I look forward to the promise of a new year.

Ta ta 2006…

breezing thru the first trimester

I used to occasionally wonder if conceiving would be easy or if I’d face problems. Not that I was asking for it…but I hear tales and it just made me ponder over the possibility. After all, one can never be too sure. And to be fair, we did put it off for two years. What I definitely did not bank on was getting preggers as soon as we thought of trying!

It was a sweet surprise but one that hit me quite hard. There I was – suddenly overwhelmed and faced with the dilemma of making major lifestyle changes, some immediately and some more in the not too near future. One thing that was for certain was that life as I knew it would never quite be the same again. And suddenly, I doubted if I was really ready…

First on the list were the fags and the booze. The latter was easy. Despite being teased as an “alcho” by some, there were no second thoughts over this vice. The former took a bit more courage but my guilt got the better of me and within a day, I ended that ten-year bittersweet relationship. sigh...two thumbs up for me :p

The next thing on my list was to brace myself for all those scary stories of first trimester pregnancy blues – where some are bed ridden for three months straight and others practically move into the toilet!

I must be “one of the chosen ones” though. Ok – maybe not the most appropriate choice of words. You see, apparently only a small percentage of women are lucky enough to not have morning sickness. And surprisingly, I was one of them. Mum didn’t experience it either, so it could be genetic. But still, you can never be too sure so I waited…

and I waited…

and I waited…

and it never came!

The only symptoms I experienced were fatigue (which was a great excuse to sleep!), a bionic sense of smell (I swear I could smell Zain’s sports deodorant miles away – through walls and doors!) and a great big appetite (although I suspect this was more of my sweet tooth using the pregnancy as an excuse to binge…oink oink!).

Of course, being the constant worry wart that I am, I just had to check with trusty mr googles – and lo and behold, I found something to worry about: apparently, women who suffer less morning sickness or none at all, are three times more likely to miscarry than those who did!! Oh great…I don’t know why I find things to worry about. And so, worry I did for those first few months.

And before I knew it, my little blob turned into a slightly more distinguishable blob with a head and a body!

This is the little angel at just over 11 weeks (and 3 kgs on! oink oink again!). Only then did it really hit me that I was pregnant and my angel was here to stay.

And that’s how I breezed thru the first trimester...