Category: The Other Half

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Look Who Went Shopping ?

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My g/fs from home are very much into Hermes anything.  Usually, they shop together and order all their hermes goodies when one decided to go to Paris or London.  So the one who is going on a trip brings all these goodies back for everyone.

A handbag alone cost close to $25K , enough money to pay for a new car here but my g/fs from home, they buy a few every year.  Envious ?  don’t be !  I never was, because I’ve been there and done that, now I just loved more simple things.  And even with cheaper bags from Roots, I haven’t even open up mine from Christmas.  Yes, I’m  such a lousy user, I buy stuff and store them away , sometimes as long as a year before opening them up again or looking at it again.  No wonder the brat said I need a bigger house.  hahah!

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Playmat

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Bought this a few weeks ago, for little Liam because we didn’t get to buy it for chloe when she was a baby.  They didn’t have this I think when chloe was a baby, so what do we do?  we spoil someone else’s baby of course !  heheh!!  yes, that’s how we roll , we loved buying things for friend’s children and usually, we get stuff for just everyone of the, so that no child will be left alone.

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But this mat from our local small business and they are wonderful, wonderful people.  Loved Sandy’s.

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Mother’s Day 2015

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Mother’s day this year like every other year since my mother-in-law is no longer around, I prefer to celebrate it quietly at home.  I slept in and had a quick breakfast after being woken up by Chloe and wishing me happy mother’s day.  What else do I want besides having an awesome daughter and spouse right?

We didn’t go out to eat but I cooked for myself and I can tell you I enjoyed this plate of noodles more than I would if I had gone out to eat.  Because I loved my own Asian food more than anything else in the world.  Chloe already gave me her handmade Mother’s day present the day before, so that she won’t have to wake me up too early in the morning because she was too excited to wait.  She is such a dear I tell you.  So loving and 90% a very good child and the 10% she can be quite sassy if she wanted to.

I called my father – in – law the next day and apologized for not visiting but he said he didn’t think I would go since I wanted to laze around at home the previous year.  I think even my in-laws understand me too well these days .  But after 15 years of having me as the Jewish chinese daughter -in-law, I guess they better know me well – hahhahaa!

I loved how we celebrate Mother’s day because everyday is Mother’s day for me.  I’m thankful and grateful for our little family.  I cannot ask for more.

PS :  And the spouse bought me my favorite treat from UK – Rowntree gums – 4 of them !  woohoo !

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If I Were A Stay – At – Home Wife

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I salute those who made the decision to give up their jobs and stay home to take care of their kids and family because it isn’t an easy decision and that would entail some financial shift in the family.  For those women out there who’ve done that, you are definitely my heroes.

Many think that being a stay at home wife is easy but I can assure you that it isn’t.  Staying home and being isolated most of the time and not having a lot of adult interaction is not a situation that I want to be in.  When Chloe is sick , I have to stay home with her and I tell you , it wasn’t an easy task for me.

If I were a stay at home wife, I figured, I would be a very lonely one, because I don’t drive and need to wait for the spouse to bring me everywhere.  When I was in Asia , we drive on the right hand side of the road and for many years, I’ve been so used to it, I find it pretty difficult to get adjusted to drive on the left hand side.

Of course , I love my child and want to do stuff with her every minute of the day, but unlike Asia, where transport is so easy and so cheap, I can’t just travel and shop on our own or bring her to Sentosa on my own or Universal studio.  There is no Gymboree here, nor are there public swimming pool or indoor gym for kids to be and a cafe inside the gym for parents to interact with each other.

So for those stay at home wives in this town , I really salute them because I really couldn’t do it, not because I don’t love my child and home but because it would drive me nuts, not to have any intelligent conversation or stimulation for the mind.

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Thankful

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It’s hard to find good help as we found out after 16 years in business , the good ones leave for a better paying job and the not so good ones leaves just because or for various reasons.  But we do try our utmost best to treat our employees with the best intentions but I guess we are just not good enough employers.

So when a friend/customer came to help us since last year summer, we are anything but grateful.  After having lived in this small town for such a long time, we really don’t ask for a lot from our employees, so we are really not hard to work for.  But of course, some ex-employees will beg to differ , so when you find one that has a good head on the shoulder, you are grateful.

And when you find out that they are having a baby, what do you do?  go find them a present that is useful to them and the baby.  And one thing I regret not getting for chloe is a baby swing , to swing her to sleep.  The one that we had borrowed from a friend, needed cranking with hands and didn’t have a reclining position.  So poor chloe although went to sleep finally, didn’t have any neck support.  Therefore, we got one of those for our friend who is having a baby.

And a thank you note was given to us this morning, so sweeeeetttt!!  see these are the people you wanna do things for and is happy about doing it.  I’m so gonna love this baby.

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Making The Best Of SnowDays

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There has been a lot of snow day of late because we had been getting some whip lash from Mr Winter.  I guess, we are getting all the snow that we didn’t get for the last few years, so it’s payback time for us while Toronto seems to have gotten better weather than us.

So what do one do when you have a snow day?  of course, go out and play with the snow with the kid.  Chloe loves going out in the cold and snowy weather and PB would go out with her like a good daddy when no one is out there with her.  And when the neighbors come out and play, he would leave them alone.

Kids loved having their parents play with them.  Chloe especially loved PB to go out and play with her  because he is the more active parent between the both of us.  When she is at her Grampie’s , her grampie , PB and her aunt helena would go out sledding with her, she looked forward to sledding everytime we get some snow.  This years, she had been out sledding a few times already, so she is one happy kid.  But she doesn’t like too many snow days, because she wants to go back to school.

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$60K in RRSP

RRSP season is here again, what is RRSP ?  it’s the Registered REtirement Savings Plan in Canada and this year, if we don’t wanna pay our taxes, we have to put in $60K in our RRSP.  Yup! you heard me right, crazy right?  But if you look at it from a different angle, it’s savings for you and yours for old age.  But what if you don’t lived that long, I hear myself asking this?  I think if I am not wrong, a portion of it goes back to your spouse until he dies.  So it depends on how you look at it and for us, we think it is worth it – to save up for retirement.  There goes my $60K.

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Growing & Staying On Top

It had been a busy month for us both at the store front and also for my vlogging  business.  The store is growing and we know that we are going to have to buy a bigger place really soon.  So we’ve been on the hunt for the longest time and may finally settle on a place this year if the price is right.

As for the vlogging business, it has been going great, I cannot ask for a better advertising co-ordinator who does all the flying arrangement and meeting of clients for me.  All I have to do is show up and look pretty.  On the home front, it has been awesome too, we’ve hired a part time helper to help around the house, cleaning and re-arranging things and cooking for us as we’ve been so busy of late and I’ve been traveling so much more now.

Chloe is doing well in school , although I want her to do better, so a tutor may be in order soon.  As for her piano , she is doing awesome, and I cannot ask for more.   Health front, PB , Chloe and I are planning to join a local gym to exercise 3 times a week, I suggested yoga classes and we are currently looking into it.  I also took an x-ray for my legs and awaiting to hear back from my doctor.

 It had been a really busy January for us and even though we had many storm days, we were still on top of our sales as compared to last year.  So we are totally blessed.  And those who’ve time to sell me, please let me know.

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Busiest Year

This has by far been the busiest year we’ve had in the last 15 yrs in business.  And with my new vlogging venture with an American advertising company, I have very little time for anything else.  But all is good and I ain’t complaining , after all, that means we can do more of what we want in the future and retire earlier.

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Simple

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Our theme this year for the holiday season is simple.  Yes, I told everyone from home not to send anything to chloe for both her birthday as well as Christmas.  And if they are planning to give Chloe something, to please use the money for her pressies and give it to a charitable organization.  If they feel inclined , they can donate using Chloe’s name.

Why? because we are teaching Chloe that it’s good to give others and not just do things for herself as she is the only child, we want to make sure that she learns to care for others as well.  This year because of how busy PB and I are due to my new assignments on vlogging and meeting up with new advertisers, I cannot do as much for others as I hope to either.

So to keep our sanity and to focus on the most important things in our lives, we’ve decided that this year, we are going to take time for ourselves first. This year, we want to look at the bigger picture and give to a worthy cause around the world.  So Chloe’s birthday was celebrated last week at Grampie’s with only immediate family and fund raiser at her school was done by her alone as well as picking up her teacher’s presents and wrapping them all up on her own.  I’m very happy that we are doing this because it is very less stressful for me and we are really happy giving to help an organization to safe other people.