In my son’s K-4 class they are going to read “Where the wild things are” by Maurice Sendak and act out the wild rumpus for the ‘W’ week.

Being not familiar with American children books growing up I have no clue what it is… they gave us a paper plate stuck on a popsicle stick and holes cut out for eyes to make a mask. To use for the wild rumpus. (still no clue …)

I should have just talked to the teacher and ask to read the book but being a resourceful me…. hahaha! well I was very resourceful on the ‘internet’ … there is a movie made too in 2009 . We did watch it but its scared the heck out of my 5 year old… and I got confused. Its not something this mommy from Malaysia can relate to but it was fun to discover things about it and Maurice Sendak who passed away very recently, while I was researching for the book.

Being very illustrating-ly challenged (I can’t DRAW anything)… I needed reference to help my son make the mask. I found this interesting book in the library:

The Muppets Make Puppets by Cheryl Henson and the Muppet Workshop

The author grew up around the muppets being a Henson herself and she uses regular household items to make the puppets, explained the different types of puppets and a step by step guide on how to put on a puppet show.

Definitely gave me some ideas and since i had to make a mask and not a puppet, I needed to improvise.

After a few days tinkering… a visit to a notion store and VOILA!

HAhaha! what you think? Its an over-kill for a 5 year old’s project. He had fun though. Waiting for the glue to dry was the biggest challenge.

One last check his eyes can see through… PHEW! done.

Off to school for the Wild Rumpus!

Nobody Does it Better: Why French Home Cooking is Still The Best In The World by Trish Deseine.

I know that french cooking is still one of the best in the world, I tried to delve into it after watching Julie & Julia, I kinda got excited and got that book “Mastering French Cooking”.

After reading it… I got cross eyed! I don’t understand most of what she is describing. Very old school language and layout.

Trish Deseine is from Ireland, I don’t know much about her except that she has a few french cooking shows on BBC Lifestyle. I like her style in the program and found this book at a bargain bookshop. I have this nagging instinct about books and that day it was nagging me to grab it.

After a few months laying about I finally got to read it and woah…. I can’t put it down. Page by page you feel like you are walking with her in the street picking out food for dinner.

I love the book not just for the recipes but for the intricacy of her words describing how a french would be cooking their food. How one would flirt with the grocers to get the best produce, how to one would stop by everyday to pick out whats looking good at the nearby shops, how a french woman would know her classics and how one would always be so passionate about food that its always a topic endlessly discussed and argued about.

Suddenly I found myself dreaming for france… 

I think I may not be able to recreate most of the recipes but I will take the essence of her words that is to try to dive into the local culture and tradition by trying out the local food, local ingredients, shop where the local shop and there you can find yourself embracing the country you live in even if you are not from there. Ditch the big hypermarket and go into the dusty alley (oh I’m in the desert now, dust is everywhere… hehe…) and start interacting with the locals. It is just so rewarding to get to know people from the food they make. 

In Saudi however I am limited to just hearing from my husband’s encounter, most transactions are by men here. I do sometimes get lucky and local ladies will come talk to me and somehow like ducks and chickens talk to each other, learn a thing or two. My husband is very good at interacting with strangers and I think my son may inherit that charm. He tends to get many free stuff from the grocers here! Sometimes a bag of pears or a plate of baklava! :P 

You’d be surprise that sometimes even as a local you may not know ‘where and what locals do’. I have the same enthusiasm when traveling in my own country. 

Guess who is lurking in the Library? hehe.. its ME!

One of the best ever things about living in this camp is that the library is less than five minutes drive away, no jams, no parking hassle, only just the joy of going through the rows of books.

So to start of my new found joy is this book:

You and Your Only Child: The Joys, Myths, and Challenges of Raising an Only Child

by Patricia Nachman with Andrea Thompson (Amazon Link)

What?? Hahaha!

Yes I only have one son and my mom is nagging endlessly (even today on Facetime!). Thought it would be appropriate to read.

You know how people with ‘the best intentions’ are?… “Your son will be loney. He need siblings for friends. He will grow up spoilt. He will grow up wierd.”

Really…??? I am full with confidence that he will grow up fine with or without siblings but yeah if I can find out real facts about raising the only child would be better to fend off annoying comments about just having one child.

The book is pretty comprehensive with many cases of children that are raised as the only child. There are families that chooses to have only one child and others had circumstances that lead to only one child. Some are because of divorces and they discussed about when the child has step-siblings or half-siblings when the parents re-marry.

I like that the author discuss every possible scenario with actual parents and children views. Some are grown up children so that assured me how one would turn out. Both in ideal cases or not so ideal cases. I really do appreciate the depth of the issues brought up in the book. Especially in some cases where a child is actually getting ahead, have more benefits and advantages by being the only child.

From this book I’ve formulated:

My son will grown up just like a normal child with or without siblings. Done! 

Just a little back information, my injury was kinda caused by me having a little accident with my son but its debatable with the doctor. He thinks it could be by something else because of the extent of the injury. Maybe its both the fact that it was torn when my son landed too hard on my arm and I came in late to get it properly diagnosed so it has severely worsen when I came to see him.

The sad part for me is after the surgery we kinda didn’t have anyone to help us with my son so when my husband went back to work I am the only one taking care of him. Poor little baby (okay toddler since he is two), I was just on the couch sitting next to him while he waddles about and the only eating milk and biscuits since I can’t cook yet. He had to also wait for daddy to come back to help change is diapers if he did a number two. (we were lucky he kinda did it only in the evenings..)

It lasted a few months and its just so heart breaking to see my son treated like that. My mom was already nagging about having the next one since he is already three… hmm has anybody noticed?? I can’t use my arm?? HELLooooo??

“OH.. you don’t need your arm to get pregnant.”

Oh thank you for the anatomy lesson dear… hahaha! Oh I give up! Just nod and move on.

Don’t be surprise when you are sick and injured some people just don’t understand or ignore you completely. Worse my parents got angry at me for being sick and not taking care of myself. I have a few friends who boldly concluded that I hurt my arm because I was too fat. huh?? You’d think they will be more emphatic right… hmmm I’ve had my share of hurtful comments including why I should quickly have another child.

So what to do in situations like this? Sigh… just have to ignore it. If you can’t take the comments.. Ignore and avoid the person if possible. You are already dealing with your pain and rehabilitation you don’t need people like these.

One day, when I am well, less days with pain and down time, when I’m strong enough I will think about having another child, if ever that time will come.

I want to raise every child the best that I can but now I can’t even take care of the one I have properly, so I will dedicate what I have for him and for my husband. So Mama! hehehe I have facts now your grandson will not turn wierd and lonely… just stop bugging me.. ( I don’t think that will work.. hahaha!)

:P … I don’t know if there is a latest edition but this my copy long before I even had a baby.

I was introduced to weight lifting by my personal trainer when I joined the gym. Then for some odd reason I was hooked on to weight lifting..

Learning about weight lifting.. the safe way of course.. helped me have a real active pregnancy. Hardly any back pain.. only ankle sores at the last trimester which is common to water retention during that period.

During my pregnancy I traveled a lot.. during the 2nd trimester I was on a 20 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Houston, Texas… and back. I was touring and walking around… not too bad.

This book.. was my substitute for when my personal trainer was not around.. As you can see its bent and creased all over because I was lugging in around in the gym.

This book is fantastic because it has a very simple introduction to why its important to learn about and do strength training. Kathy showed how you can do it at home and how the same thing is done in the gym with the machines. There is also a plan of how to target which muscle zone during the week.

Slowly from beginners to slightly more.. what is muscle burn and when to quit..

Apart from weight lifting there are many more ways of strength training and my other favorite is doing Pilates.

If you do have a chance to workout at the gym try working with a personal trainer for a session or two so that he can show you how to safely use the gym machines. Then if you like it you can try getting a book just like this and try it slowly at your own pace.

Why i prefer the gym because its all there.. the free weights.. the machines and the benches… at home I prefer doing Pilates but I do have the weights. I also use the elastic bands like the Theraband brand.. that can do the job too.. you just need to learn how.

Normally we are so focused on how weight lifting can shape your body, sculpt your muscles here and there but I found out that the true benefit is more towards the body functions.

You cannot really target which part to burn fat or shape.. that will come naturally from the combination of your lifestyle. Strength training can improve your muscle and that will help and protect you from injuries when you do your daily routines. Have it done properly of course.

Again.. I cannot stress the HAVING DONE PROPERLY enough. You can get injured if you push yourself too much or not understanding the techniques.

This book has the dos and don’t s but I think the best introduction is by a real certified personal trainer.. better yet a personal trainer with a physiotherapy background..

Phew! its been a while since i posted anything real worth tuning in… :P

Whatever heck I was preaching on the blog was tested when my mom got really ill during Ramadhan.. we celebrated Raya at the hospital and when she was discharged my sister and I was looking after her… So in short it has been a roller coaster these past 2 months and I’m happy to report she is doing well and ready to go home to her own house.

Back to me…. YIKES!!! the 2 months not focusing on my own move to Saudi has created a frantic monster not knowing where to start… but then i remembered to breathe…. breathe… did some heart opening yoga.. finding that calm center… HAHAHA!

I have 2 more weeks to go before the movers get here.

Today I’m going to share a good space saving tip instead of my usual entries..

I love my food magazines! LOVE LOVE LOVE them… I cannot part with it.. its not so much the recipes but the photos, the ideas and the surprise of what I can learn in each issue.

Before it was only food but I’ve moved on to a lot more and even Yoga and Running.

Reality is.. magazines are full of advertisements. More that not 50-60% of it is advertisements. American ones places them even in between articles. That also is why magazines are cheaper to buy … in America.. not in Malaysia.. an Oprah magazine can cost up to RM 33 but we do buy them anyways because it is just fun to read.

So imagine this… if i took all of my collection to Saudi Arabia.. aren’t I shipping mostly advertisements??

Look at all my collection… tracing back to 2001! 10 years I’ve kept them, nice and pristine..

I have learned so much… introduced to different ideas and different cultures. From local and imported publications.

How can I leave behind?

I kept it upstairs and when we (my friend Arif and I) want to start another cooking project I’d run up and down looking for.. hmm where did i see that recipe.. how did they do it last time?

Look at that enticing Strawberry Pavlova… It was way back when pavlova wasn’t a trend here…

Dinner party Trends…

HEHEHE… Jamie olive so young!! this article is about him starting the Fifteen project… now we see how that turned out.. from a small humble idea of helping kids make better for themselves.

Nigella Lawson’s 1st TV series… She gave domestic culinary endavours a certain mystique and air.. made it cool..

A good compromise is to just take the article along! Leave the advertisements behind. I am sad about leaving the covers but i guess its kind of ridiculous for me to keep.

Even better if I just kept exactly what mattered and snipped it nicely like in a scrap book but again I DON’T HAVE TIME!!! I planned a month of leisurely time to cup snip and arrange by sections, indexed and coordinated is reduced to ONE DAY! so take out the pen knife and score away!

In fact my so called ONE day turned in to THREE.. there was so much and i was cooing and sighinng… awwww… should i have this? should I cut this? OH so i had this all along… slowed me down.. hahaha

My sister offered to help but she can’t really know which one I would keep and toss out… so I’m left to my own misery.. (okay it isn’t bad.. it was fun skimming through…)

So I just swept throught whatever heck i find remotely interesting and if didn’t it stays.. jammed in the protective sheets. When this arrives with the rest of the stuff shipped I will do the organizing later..

I can find traces of my cooking endeavours on the pages… like spilled liquid, floury finger prints… so ideally.. I place them in protective sheets like this… Ideally of course.. *wink*

And bind it all..

This is a good idea of course not just for moving but a good way to keep the home clutter …. well not as far as free but less cluttered… keeping what you like and then recycle the rest.

The fun bit I must say its like a time capsule, when you look back.. yikes what contraption is that?? oh yeah I had that in the 80s .. hehehe..

It can be for anything…. if you dare.. even books.. I am not that brave so my entire collection of cooking books we are hauling.. and books are mighty heavy!! maybe even my treadmill isn’t that back breaking to carry. So u see… something had to give.. so it was magazines this time. :)