Mothering Corner

Hubby and I are busy with the condo these few weeks. As much as we have booked most of our furniture and stuffs, but most of them are out of stock and will only be delivered after Christmas. That’s the aftermath of the worst flood in 50 years, millions of people are shopping for their homes!

If I’m still staying in my post flooded house, I won’t be buying expensive cedar furniture or do any built-in. Who knows if it will be flooded again?

Last night, hubby and I went to check out the condo for the first time, since the renovation started a week ago. And oh boy, judging from the mess and debris, it’s more complicated that we thought! We definitely can’t move in by early October, so we will have to delay for another month.

That gives me some time for packing, but we are yet to get an extension from the landlord. Fingers crossed that the house won’t be sold and transferred so fast!

On the other hand, we should be glad that it’s a condo, so renovation won’t be affected much by the rainy season. It’s raining a lot lately, and some parts of northern Thailand have flooded.

My kids are packing jackets to school too, just in case they need it on chilly days. My boy’s jackets are pretty small now so it’s time to shop for children’s clothing again. Only for my boy but not for my gal. Her wardrobe is bursting and she will only get new clothes after we move.

Hopefully, the renovation will be completed without much hiccups.

Otherwise, we are going to have to start looking for some hotel coupons.

Some mothers who saw me for the first time think that I’m one of those lucky ones who lost all post baby weight right after birth. Or some might thought that I had gone through some weight loss program and asked if I could recommend the weight control products that work.

Oh no people! I’m not that lucky! I was never the super slim type either, if you know me since high school, you would agree that I had always looked plump.

But I managed to slim down slowly by exclusive breastfeeding and taking care of my babies all by myself especially at night. I only got to sleep less than 5 hours a night, with lots of interrupted sleep! Both babies liked to suckle to sleep, and I was too lazy to try other methods and just let them be. I know, it’s bad!!!

Now that both my kids are growing up and I’m in my mid 30s soon, I can’t just eat as much as I want without controlling my diet. I might just get fatter and fatter as I age. So, I try to replace lunch with protein shakes if I’m too busy to eat out at lunch hour. It’s too early to say that the product works for me, but it works for some of my friends who are taking it too.

Hopefully, it works for me.

My landlord stays in Japan, and she’s married to a Japanese. Last week, some of her family members dropped by my house and asked if we were interested to buy the house. Actually, foreigners can’t own landed property in Thailand, but there are some means of doing so, which I won’t list them out. If we are Thais, I might consider buying the house since the neighbors are nice, the kids have friends in the neighborhood and it’s not far from both school and my work place.

But then again, we can’t possibly own it under our names. So, we would have to let it go. If she manages to sell it off, we are given 3 months to move out. So, our casual house hunting has become an urgency now! LOL!

So, FIL found us a 3-bedrooms condo last Sunday, and we went to check it out. It needs a lot of renovations, oh mind!!! Since it’s very small, I might need a lot of self storage units, and built in closet to maximize storage space. The master bedroom bothers me a lot because I can’t figure out how to fit in a big closet, and I can totally forget about getting a walk in wardrobe. Maybe I should start checking out storage unit sizes and see which are the ones that can fit out stuffs and stack up in the small little storage room of the condo.

It’s too early to say that we are buying the unit. We haven’t approach any bank. Unless someone is willing to pay it in cash!

I used to be very vain. I couldn’t live without my monthly spa, full body scrub, treatment facial, hand and food spa, and hair treatments. I had always fix my appointments for everything ahead and I had never missed any, except during my confinements.

But the only thing I didn’t venture into was makeup. I don’t have the skill to put on a proper makeup, even if I had a few makeup sets mostly by Estee Lauder, Shiseido, Christian Dior, and etc. I loved buying them but hardly had the chance to use any. However, I had never failed to use all those skincare products which I bought!

But things changed since I’ve moved here. I don’t have much time to pamper myself anymore, so my last spa was like….a year ago??? Gosh…LOL!

As much as I would like to go for facial, it’s not as frequent as it was anymore. That’s why I started using BB cream or foundation daily, so that I won’t look too awful. LOL! Maybe I will try to get some cheap mineral makeup, if I come across some. Some branded cosmetics can be quite expensive, but some times, you might find some good products with affordable prices if you are willing to try!

One of the things I learned after staying in Bangkok for 2 years is, most Thai women are very good at taking care of themselves. They would go for monthly skin laser, sign up spa packages, and dress very well when they are going out.

So, I better join in the flock. LOL!

I’m not sure what my kids will turn out to be when they have grown up, but I do hope that they will pursue something which they are really interested in, and is able to make a decent living. Both of them are not born with silver spoon, so they should have to be working hard like the parents, if they would want to have a better lifestyle.

Of course, their father might want them to pursue in business, since most of his family members are businessmen. It won’t be easy at first, if you are starting on your own, just like us. Right now, I can’t even tell if we will be making a huge profit many years down the road, but there is always some progress if we are willing to try and work for it.

That’s why hubby has always wanted the kids to study business. Judging from the cost of sending our kids to international colleges in Thailand, we might be able to save up more if we send them to business school in California or Australia. Private schools, especially international schools, are very expensive here. All of us expats who have to fork out our kids’ education fees, start from kindergarten up to high school, will definitely agree on this!

That’s why we have to start working on their education fund now, and cut down on unnecessary expenses. As much as I would love to shop and travel more, I must sacrifice these for my kids.

I don’t need sleeping pills at all because I will be totally exhausted by the end of the day. It seems like 24 hours is ever enough but God is fair, everyone has only 24 hours a day to complete whatever we are doing, so I can’t complain much. All I need to more advance planning and be more efficient!

Nonetheless, it would be nice to have a care free day. I shall try to get some rest after coming back from Sg.

My chi mui asked if hubby gave me any surprise on my birthday, and the answer is NO. He wanted to give me a spa treat, but I was not in the mood last weekend. I hate to go for spa in a rush, that’s why. Then he thought of paying for a facial session with IPL for me at the mall, including buying himself the acne medicine at the skin clinic but I didn’t have the time for a long facial session last Sunday.

Seriously, most of these intensive facial takes about 3 hours the least, so I don’t have much time for it!

So, I haven’t got my birthday pressie. Maybe I should just buy something for myself and charge to his bill. Is it just me or am I getting older? I don’t feel much different not getting a gift on my birthday! I must be weird.

I have heard a lot of weight loss stories in my life, but most will only work if you have the determination and strong will. I’ve seen some friends who lost a lot of weight and being able to maintain their shapes over time. Not to mention, they can say no to their favorite food, even if they used to love it a lot.

Now, that’s something I can’t really do. I am a food lover!

My working pants feel loose on me today. Did I lose some weight? Maybe I did. If you are wondering how to get rid of belly fat fast, try taking care of a sick kid and not getting enough rest!

Some I know myself very well, I will gain back the weight in a couple of days or week. My weight is pretty stagnant over the years, except the times when I was pregnant.