Honeymoon week

Early April was school holiday week and also 'honeymoon week' for me.  The kids and myself have been camping at my parents' house on weekdays since hubby's surgery.  All good, but... no maid services!  

It was nice to be at home where I didn't have to bother about cooking, washing dishes, laundry, cleaning the house etc.  We even had a 'popiah' lunch.  Jane made everything including the popiah skin.

Roll my own

It had been some time since we had gone out, so I took the kids out for Korean food.

Yums

I term this a 'honeymoon' as our maid will be going home for a month.  Timing isn't good with hubby not being independent yet. 

JE's birthday 2025

One tall candle and 5 short ones... JE is 15!  

Happy birthday to me!

She finally got her wish to have her ears pierced.  We went to 1U - a slightly complicated trip with hubby still recovering from surgery.  A wheelchair made it possible.  

Pamm! Done

Lunch was at Haidilao.  JE has a very small list of places she likes - at last count, there are only 3 haha.

Yum yum

She picked her birthday cake from Lavender bakery.  

Make a wish and blow out the candles

Happy birthday to JE!

She had a good day.  Kudos to hubby for making the effort, else we would have stayed home instead.  Happy birthday to our firstborn, always our best wishes for you.  :)

Leg

This girl, must sit in her own way while relaxing.  Lately one or both legs must be extended. I couldn't take a picture as she will quickly move back to a 'normal' position.  Then one day... caught her!

Sitting comfortably

She noticed I was snapping a picture.

Oh what is it?  I'm sitting properly what

Then another day... aha!

*Oblivious

 

Hubby’s progress

Recording hubby's progress since the brain tumour surgery on 1 March.  He was doing great initially.  The staples on the cut were removed on 11 March - 52 staples in all!  The doc said, eh why not going physio??  Which scared us into quickly booking an appointment.  Hubby had actually been thinking there was no need.

So... 18th started physiotherapy sessions.  We signed up for the package of 10 sessions then when the therapist noticed 18th was hubby's birthday, he gave a free session haha.

Ok do 15mins

Hubby had one complaint though.  He was taking 2 types of medication (Keppra and Lacoset) which made him drowsy all the time.  He decided to cut the Keppra starting on 19th.  

Not sure if related to medication but seizures returned:

20 morning 

21 night.  Increased Lacoset dosafe from 4 to 6 a day

27 morning - these were so bad we called an ambulance

27 night

Hubby increased Lacoset from 6 to 8 a day.  The good thing is, seizures seem to be controlled.  The bad, hubby is having headaches, drowsiness and loss of muscle strength.

Things are not that smooth at the moment.  

New routines

For now, our maid Jane is staying with hubby in our house.  I'm with the kids at my parents' house. New routine:

0550:  JE's alarm rings (I was so surprised she could wake up by herself!  Before this I had to wake her up and it usually takes A LOT of calling before she does)

0615:  My alarm

0635:  I wake SE and then go about preparing her breakfast and lunch for school

0700:  JE starts walking to school

0715:  SE's transporter arrives

 

I'm working from home at the moment which makes things easier.  I have time to plan, shop and make SE's lunch.  She hadn't been finishing her food so Jane had been progressively reducing the quantity.  SE said she only had 30mins for lunch in senior school which was not enough time.  Also... she was fed up of the rice+dishes she was getting. Consulted her on what she likes and then tried out new items - chicken-omelette wrap, tuna mayo in pitta bread, chicken pasta salad, soup with rice inside.  So far pretty successful, as in my 'customer' finishes her lunch!

Then on Fridays we go home for dinner since Jane is there to cook.  We try to avoid the fasting month peak traffic.  I would announce a planned departure time, expecting the girls to be ready.  Instead, I'd arrive to see this.... 

ZZzzzzzz

Anyway, luckily my work is rather easy at the moment.  Ommm.

Hubby's Birthday

Another person with a birthday in March... hubby.  It's March for me and hubby, April - JE, May - SE.  His family doesn't bother about birthdays so he's chill about whether there is a celebration or not.  This year, he got Korean food.  The cake was more for our benefit than his.

No need to celebrate also can lah

'

Happy birthday to me!

Check out the HALF head of hair haha.  He was trying hard to maintain normalcy the previous surgery - wearing a cap to cover the head, insisting he was fine when the neighbour saw him struggling to exit the car.  This round, he is much more relaxed.  

 

Oh #2

Referring to when JE got her first period... SE has started hers as well.  She is 12 and three quarters, which is exactly 2 years later compared to JE.  I'm very thankful (in fact had been praying for the delay!) for these extra 2 years - sorely needed to make up for the growth lost during her eating disorder days.  While her doctor said the onset of menstruation has no impact on height, I'm still convinced it does and googling also says girls only grow 1-2 inches after that.

Luckily SE had a height spurt once her weight stabilised.  At least she isn't a shorty-pants.

Hmm ok not bad

Incidentally JE did grow a few cm and is now slightly taller than me.  She was gloating about that, not knowing that that actually makes me very happy hahaha.

JE's Tooth

As JE's front permanent tooth grew in around Primary 1, a brown patch appeared along with it.  I well remember watching the patch appearing together with the tooth.  Nobody paid much heed to it.  Then during her last two dental checkups, the two different dentists mentioned the patch, called a lesion, can be covered up if desired.  Which sparked her wanting to get it 'fixed'.

The patch, before

The treatment was called ICON, which basically involved using acid to remove the coloured portion layer by layer.  The dentist warned there will be a slight depression on the tooth after the treatment as JE's lesion was considered a deep one.  After almost 2 hours, it was done.  

I didn't like the result... the depression was so deep that the dentine was visible and overall the tooth looked abnormal.  JE said it was ok.

After.  Not sure if better or worse!

The next appointment was in a week.  Dentist said a filling could be done on the tooth if we wanted.  JE was not to take coloured foods - coffee, tea, curries, even soy sauce.   We went back a week later and requested a filling.  It was done quickly, and voila, nice!

Yess!

ICON RM500 and filling RM100 (dentist said discounted from RM160).  Money well spent. :)

My Birthday 2025

Hubby was still in the hospital on my birthday this year.  There had been a chance of being discharged, but the doctor decided to keep him longer.  Oh well.  I decided to get myself a nice breakfast - nasi lemak and good coffee. But by the time I was 'released' (from doing things for hubby) for dinner, all there was left at the shop downstairs was cold rice, leftover-looking veg and ONE piece of chicken.  Pretty depressing.  Messaged JE that I was feeing cranky after that dinner and she replied "weekend eat big dinner, nyamnyam" - lifted my mood!

SE messaged she had a present waiting for me at home.  After hubby was settled and basic things done, I headed eagerly to her crotchet box as directed.  Aww a chicken that I'd wanted and didn't see her making.  Plus the tomato I HAD seen her making which I was now allowed to take haha.

Meet Henny and Tomato

Feeding Henny a nut

Well that weekend, I'd initially planned to go out with the girls for a good meal but hubby obviously expected food to be bought back.  Told myself at least he wanted to celebrate with me!  I thought and thought.... no point buying back nice food from a nice place.  I didn't feel like having fast food.  Hawker food would be too simple.  In the end I picked simple stir-fried noodles (added on pork ribs to make the meal more worthy of a celebration).  What's important was that hubby had a better surgery outcome than expected.  I can have something nice once he got better.  

Out

As it turned out, my previous blog posts came in very useful as a reference for what happened and when.  Otherwise we would have no clear recollection.  I shall do the same this time and pray it would never be needed.

Day 1

0830 Hubby was taken for the surgery at 9am which was expected to take 2 hours.  

1300 Wheeled to the the HDU.  

1530 Hubby woke up properly.  And yayy his arm was functioning!  It could be moved and the hand could grip.  A far cry from the previous time when the whole arm was unresponsive.  

1600 Had a series of seizures.  Doc said that was expected and prescribed extra anti-seizure meds.  Hubby slept a lot but was able to have porridge for dinner.  

I went back to my parents' place for the night.

Days 2-3

Physiotherapists came over to the room.  Hmm there were certain limb movements he couldn't do.  Which translated to him not being able to walk properly.   While he could move the arm, coordination was bad.  Which rendered the arm completely unusable.  

Days 4-5

Went for physio at the hospital gym.

Walk, legs, walk

Hubby got disheartened a few times.  But I told him, things are definitely not worse.  Compared to starting at Step1 previously, he is now quite a few steps ahead.  He was able to recover previously and he could do that now too.

Day 5 evening
Discharged.  Other family members happened to be unavailable so it was up to me to get him out.  The  discharge process took a while.  Dinner arrived at 530pm (earlier in the Ramadan month) so we ate it.  Hubby wanted to go to the toilet before leaving - I had a scare when he didn't sit properly on the toilet chair and fell to the floor.  Luckily he seemed fine.  But I was very worried how he would get back home without another incident.

8pm++ Made it home and to his bed. Quite a few things more to do, and tired out, but yay for us!

Surgery again

First a chronicle of the surgery drama:

Jan 4:  Original date of surgery

Jan 5:  Date doc requested hubby to present himself for appointment.  Turned out he had somehow forgotten that Jan 4 was hubby's surgery date, and wondered why his calendar was free that day!  But he said it was just as well as he wouldn't be available after that anyway.  New date Feb 10, after CNY.

Feb 4: Hospital called, surgery had to be postponed due to a malfunctioning machine.  New date Feb 15 

Feb 9:  Hubby develops a bad cough.  Kept visiting GPs and pharmacies to get meds 

Feb 12:  Cleared to proceed for surgery.  Hubby starts taking the pre-surgery medication 

Feb 13:  Doc called, surgery had to be postponed due to malfunctioning machine (we will never know if it's the same one!)  New date Mar 1.

Pretty fed-up by then heh.  Roller-coaster emotions must have been awful for hubby.  Each time I also had to reset the preparations for the kids to stay at my parents' place.

Feb 28: Finally, went to the hospital as scheduled.  Getting a room took ages.  We were planted in the admissions area from 930am to 6pm  - tests proceeded as usual for hubby.  Someone would come to take him for a test then bring him back to admissions.  Repeat for the rest of the tests. The blood test was at the Patients Lounge on 9/F Menara Timur - which was a blessing as hubby then knew where to find food and snacks!  The chairs were way more comfortable too.  

Wait wait wait

Mar 1: Hubby was taken to the operating theatre in next morning.  At 330pm upon waking up, unlike the previous time, hubby was able to move his right arm (as well as leg).  So relieved!  

Warning that the next picture is not for the faint-hearted... long cut to remove the tumours.  The faint perpendicular (much shorter) scar is from the previous surgery.

Long cut

Story to be continued.

Dark cloud

We ended 2024 on a high note. But there is actually a dark cloud hanging over us.  This concerns hubby's health.  He had an operation for a brain tumour 3 years ago where he walked into the hospital like a normal person and struggled to walk out, with a non-functioning right arm.  Today, he has regained movement although he says it's as though there are weights strapped to that arm.  He walks, although the legs get tired more quickly.  He has various pains and aches which weren't previously there.  Where he was frequently out of the house going to work, to the gym, to drinking sessions with friends... now he is mostly home watching TV.  Still, he has adapted and seems as fine as the situation permits.

The cloud came last October. During a routine MRI brain scan, the doctor found out new tumours had grown.  There were in fact 2 near the site of the old tumour and one starting at the site itself.  We were shocked - assumed/hoped it would be years before we would need to worry again.  And now there were multiple tumours which were already quite large.

The plan is to have surgery again to remove the tumours. Then have frequent MRI scans to check for new tumours. If any are detected, use radiotherapy to shrink them.

Oh the anxiety, the whys and what-ifs.  Still, we must face this.  One step at a time.  

Photobooks

Around every year end, I would get busy on a photobook.  This would contain our photos throughout that year.  I start from pictures which made it into this blog since they would be the ones I liked best.  I arrange them into the book pages in general chronological sequence and add/subtract photos to fit.  The cover must be a photo of ALL of us.  This makes me consciously ensure we take such photos else the bulk of photos would contain 1,2 or 3 of us.  Arranging the book takes me ages.  Definitely a labour of love!

One book a year

I fished out all the photobooks recently.  Timing-wise, I'd started the first book with photos from my time working in the UK (hubby came over twice to visit and travel), our honeymoon East Europe trip and later holiday trips nearer home.  JE appeared towards the end of that book, and SE on the very last page.  

Content with kids start here

The first two books were big and expensive.  Later on I noticed offers given on certain book types - some years the small type was FOC, only had to pay for postage - and took advantage of those.  That's why the books aren't the same size nor shape heh.

Two giant books

My editing skills improved with time.  There were some errors in the initial books.  The first book was missing some 'where' and 'when' of the photos.  I started putting the year on the cover only after the 5th book.

The latest book just arrived.  Photos are much sharper, attesting to technology improvements (we upgraded to iPhone 14/15 recently).  Made use of technology to remove 'extra' people in some photos too.

Latest book

Job done, and done well.   Happy!  :)

Muzium Negara visit

For my recent assignment, the route back from the client office took me past the national museum.  Each time, I'd plan to take the girls there since they had never been and they might learn something.  Finally went there this school holidays.  Entrance was only RM2 for adults (parking however cost us RM11).

 

Told JE to make the visit worth the ticket price heh.  There was a special snake display in conjuction with the snake year which I steered clear of.  There were 4 sections in the museum - early history (of humankind - interesting enough), Malay kingdoms (Parameswara and so on - hope the girls remembered something that would help them for their Sejarah/history lessons), colonial era (occupation by the Portugese, Dutch and so on - ditto for the girls) and Malaysia today (political and least interesting section for me).

I was walking around with SE so got more pictures of her compared to of JE.

Are these real? How did they get here from sunken ships?

Asked her to pose with this historic 'meeting' and got this...

Oi why got Caveman era person here??

I can also proclaim 'Merdeka!'

 

Overall I thought it was average:  Most of the exhibits were clearly replicas.  There was room for more exhibits, more details.  After all, this is our 'national' museum.  Erm it was rather warm as well when we visited.

What I liked it:  Exhibits had both Malay and English write-ups with decent language standards.  At least people can learn language if not history heh.  

For lunch I saw a good selection of dishes for 'nasi campur'/mixed rice.  But the others were more interested in the cafe so we had coffee, pies and cake instead.  Hmmff think the 'nasi campur' would have tasted better.  

Then we messed around with the stilts provided in the open area.

Whoa this is hard

Let me try!

I totally forgot about the impressive murals at the front.  Just took this last picture before leaving.

Yep we were here

Then we drove to the nearby National monument.

And now this, folks, is our Tugu Negara

 Not bad for a 'patriotic' day eh?  

Rest of CNY

What else did we do for CNY... there was a potluck at my parents' place as usual.

Let's eat

Close-up of the food... dishes were all home-cooked (none by me personally heh.  The ones I brought were cooked by my helper)

Finally a lunch at Hee Lai Ton restaurant with hubby's side...

Huat ah!

I count 5 'lou sang' sessions for myself this year, not bad.  :)

Day1 CNY

As usual, we dress up and take pictures.  This year we all somehow had blue outfits.

Happy CNY from us

JE:  Always gets a new CNY outfit as she would have outgrown the one for the previous year.  This year, she selected a red cheongsam.  It arrived and fitted fine.  But there was something about the sleeves and material which she didn't like.  Good thing Shopee allowed returns!  Her second selection was a blue cheongsam.

SE:  Was supposed to wear JE's red CNY outfit from 2 years ago, but she forgot to bring it home.  Luckily JE's blue cheongsam from 1 year ago fit her fine. 

Hubby:  Happened to have a blue shirt bought from China or something.

Me: Decided to wear my blue-green outfit from last year.  After all, what are the odds haha.  CNY outfits would be red, oh, 90% of the time?

Blue for the sky!

And ocean!

Hehe that was fun.  Next year I suppose we revert to red.

CNY eve

This year we made our usual peanut cookies and seaweed crackers.  We had a good stock of bought goodies but I thought that we should make SOMETHING for CNY.

Cookies in the making

For the first time ever, half the cookies got burnt and the rest didn't taste good.  JE said there wasn't enough peanut taste, I tasted too much baking soda.  Oh well at least all the problems were with ONE thing.  The seaweed crackers were perfectly fine.

We had two CNY eve get-togethers, lunch with hubby's side...

Kong hei fatt choy!

And dinner with mine. :)  Unlike last year, we had enough time to prepare.  Steamboat tasted good!  Next year we should reduce the fishballs and add on meat items though.

Kiong hee huat chye!

The kiddos have been using this small table for years.  

Kid's table

After dinner they started the gambling session and didn't want to go back home haha.

Don't call the police ok?

We remembered to take a group photo...

Happy new year!

SE's Graduation from Primary

SE has finished Primary school. :)  As usual, for me that evoked memories of when she was just a tiny baby.  How she has grown, sniff.  The move from a Chinese-medium school to this mostly-English medium private school, was definitely a good one.  She went from not being able to follow lessons to actually acing some of her subjects.

The graduation event was not quite as grand as her graduation from kindy.  Which was fine with us lah. 

With the Papa

With the Mummy

Lining up to get scroll

Getting my scroll and awards

All done!

She received additional awards for being second in class, as well as in Moral and Mandarin.  Well done my little one!