Another Quickie

Been behind in my blogging so here's another round of shorties:

SCHOOL'S OUT
Since it's gonna be a long break, we decided to take some time off for a quick vacation. Nothing fancy - just a 3D/2N at Malacca by the beach. The boy's been re-enacting our last holiday by the beach, so we thought we'd cut him a break and actually bring him back to the surf and sand. Poor kid's been going around with his spade and bucket pretending to bury himself in the sand.

INDY'S BACK
Mae and I snuck out to see this last Friday. It's cool seeing Indy back in action. I came out entertained, but not sure if I liked it very much or just a little. Sean Connery should have come back. *sigh*

MOVING HOUSE
It had to happen some day and from the looks of things, probably in August or September. The place is much bigger, though still very much a condo. Renovation and furnishing will sap away all our savings. But a little change is good. We are preparing to transition Jesse into his own room. So far, he seems enthused by the idea.

XM IN THE SHOP
My beloved old junk, Citroen XM is in the shop again. Sent it in early in the year to do some wiring, despite it not really needing any repairs. Busy (and overly laid-back) mechanic took some three months to sort out the wiring and when I got it back, something didn't work quite right and now it's back in the shop. Been a month now. *sigh* I deserve this. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I don't know why I do these things to piss myself off.

ULTRAMAN
Jesse's into Ultraman these days. He wants an Ultraman suit but the don't sell them anywhere. Thank God for small miracles. So far he's got Ultraman figurines. In various sizes. He's got the DVDs. He's got the pyjamas. Books. Stickers. He's even got an Ultraman watch. And that thing that let's him turn into Ultraman. (Back in my day, we called it the Beta Capsule).

NETTED A GNAT
I've been selected to participate in a product trial. Today, someone's coming to install a GNAT set-top box in my home. It's supposed to work like the Astro Max, but I hear its way cooler. To be honest, I'm not really sure what it does. Somebody asked me if I wanted one. "Is it free?" "Yup!" "Okay, I'll take two!" Nah. I'm getting only one. But hey...

OK, that's it. Thank you for reading another episode of Loopy Meals.

Testing

mugging for the exam

This week was Jesse's last week of school for the term. It was also the week of his first school exam. He's only just four, but already in his second year at school and now taking his first exam ever.

"I'm not gonna make him study," Mae announces all week before the big day, "He's only four lah". But like any self-respecting soccer mom, she makes a last-minute, about-turn, the night prior to D-day. Thankfully, Jesse enjoys his school work, so he happily (even though the photo looks otherwise) agreed to Mommy's suggestion for a quick revision.

Despite telling myself that this was just a small little Kindie test, by the following morning, I was worried sick about my boy. I wasn't so concerned about his results as I was about how he'd deal with not knowing answers, if that should ever happen. How would he feel about it? What would he do? Would he get creative and start copying his friends' work? Would I be upset that he cheated? Or would I be proud that he dealt with it? Heh.

I would have thought all my exam-related anxieties left me when I left school. But it seems they have returned to haunt me. I loathe exams with a vengeance. I remember for months after my STPM exam, I woke up in the middle of the night screaming. But that is a story for another day.

Wisdom Teeth

Last week, Mae and I visited a dental and maxillofacial specialist. You see, my poor wife's lower wisdom teeth never quite came out. Instead of growing upwards like all clever teeth should, these guys decided to grow sideways into the rest of the others. As you can imagine, this causes some discomfort and at times, immense pain.

Unfortunately for Mae, her teeth are resting on her nerves, making their removal quite a complicated procedure. In fact, most dentists she saw had recommended Dr. Ling as the man for the job. We were worried. What if a slip of the hand severs the nerve and Mae ends up with a paralysed jaw? What if a wrong move gave my poor wife a crooked face?

"The worse case scenario," according to Dr Ling, "is that you will have a numb sensation on your lips all your life." According to the good doctor, the risks are not terribly high, only 5-10%. And the chances of healing from such an event is 98%.

"Then she won't feel anything when you kiss her," said my colleague Rat, later that day.

"Is that all you women think about?" I said. Mae had said the exact same thing when we left the clinic, and I had told her as I told Rat, that there were more important things than kissing.

"What else is there?" Rat enquired.

I just gave her a shit-eating grin that spoke volumes. Heh. Despite my best efforts to prove otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to concede that, like all men, I was just another bastard. :)

Jesse & The Chocolate Factory

"Daddy," my boy asked of me last week, "do you want to go to the chocolate factory?"

I was fascinated. Partly because Jesse was adept at articulating himself; but mostly because we were going to a chocolate factory. Then, my mind swirled in a vortex of endless free-flowing, creamy chocolate syrup as I drifted into caramel-flavoured, candy-coated, sugar encrusted fantasy factory, whereupon a tall flamboyant gentleman (who looked suspiciously like Johnny Depp) in a purple suit and top hat greeted me.

"They're just going to the Beryl factory," Mae said very matter-of-factly. "It's that local chocolate brand," she added. Mae has this unique gift of making the most enchanting journey sound mundane. You'd think she was force-fed chocolates as a kid. Heh.

"Do parents get to go?" I enquired. It was, after all, a field trip organised by Jesse's kindergarten, but I remained hopeful.

"Yes," the wife replied, "but do you really think we should?" Despite the fact that she too was considering it, Mae reasoned that Jesse would stick to us if we did indeed go. That would deprive our clingy little boy the experience of enjoying the trip with his little friends. *sigh* Besides, most of the other parents weren't going.

And so, tomorrow, Jesse goes to a chocolate factory. Meanwhile Daddy will stay at work wondering what it would be like to visit a chocolate factory.

Kids today have all the luck. When I was a kid, my teacher took us on a field trip to a shitty little farm where we saw cows and stepped in their shit. OMG, I think I hate my childhood. :P

Sold on Stem Cells

A couple of weeks back, I got a call from Sharon Low, the founder of StemLife. When she introduced herself, the first thought on my mind was, "Oh shit!"

"The first thing I want to say," she started, "is that everything is ok and the stem cells are fine."

Heh! Mae and I had stored Jesse's cord blood with StemLife when he was born. And if anything were to happen to our deposit, I would be devastated. The woman read me like a book. She was also spot on that I might want to attend a lecture on stem cell research entitled, "Applications of Stem Cells in Malaysia - Are We Ready?" What can I say, I'm a science geek, info-junkie and all-round nerd. It's either that, or her casual mention of "free dinner". :)

So yeah. Mae and I will attend this event tonight and by tomorrow, hopefully I'll be something of an expert in stem cell research. And perhaps you have a review here. Remember you heard it here at Loopymeals.

ADDED: 14 Apri 2008, 7:51am

On Friday I had a meeting scheduled at 3:00pm. I figured I would have plenty of time to get thru the meeting, go home and get spiffed up and still make it to Renaissance at 6:30pm for cocktails. Jesse was already safe at my Mother-In-Law's. It was all quite perfect.

Except, I only managed to get off work at 7:00pm. When I got home at 8:00pm, Mae was all dressed up, all made up and quite fed up. *sigh* Work is killing me. And in more ways than one.

Unremembered

carbon copy?

I've been away from home too long.

There was the whole crazy couple of months of nights in the office. There was the company trip to Bali. And even when I touched down at KLIA on Monday at 6:30am, I came right back to work shortly after. And I have been at work since.

Last night was an all-nighter. And right about 6am this morning, I started to lose my mind a little, so I took a stroll around the office building. As I did, I thought about my little family. There was Mae, the wife. Long hair. Lovely complexion (most times). Strong nose. Nice eyes. Tall, almost my height. Slender. And sexy, as long as she doesn't wear those purportedly comfortable but definitely hideous checquered shorts she likes to wear at home.

Then I thought about Jesse. And suddenly, my mind just drew a blank. The wheel was stuck and the hamster inside was probably dead. I thumped the side of my head to reboot. I tried Alt-Ctrl-Del but nothing worked. Try as I might, I couldn't remember what my poor little boy looked like. Not at all. I got the name right, but the face just wasn't registering.

I panicked.

Thankfully I always kept a couple of his passport photos in my wallet. I flipped the billfold and there he was, just like I (can't) remember him. And then I quickly went back to my computer to look at our shots together.

*sigh* I don't think I can make up. Not ever. Looks like I'm gonna be wrapped around his little finger for eternity.

I gotta get my ass home.

Bali Mali

I'm going to Bali. It's a company trip, so Mae and Jesse won't be coming along.

I hate the thought of leaving them behind, while I frolic in the sun and surf, and the guilt of that will probably make me miserable throughout the 4 days and 3 nights. Because it's a company trip, we've been working our asses off the last couple of weeks, so needless to say, I've been at the office a lot. Which left me little time to adequately prep the boy, so I'm not really sure how he's gonna take it.

I never thought I'd say it, but I kinda don't feel like going.