The Reluctant Blogger

Just been a bit busy lately. And tired. So haven't really sat down to blog. Will be back soon.

Today's makan

LT is getting married tomorrow and the old gang from uni's bible study has re-convened. NC and TBL came in from Singapore with one of their kids each.  So we got together over lunch today at Maranello's.  It is SO good to catch up with the girls and one guy. Hehehe!  Some things just never change; like NC being late again.

Then we had to rush off to Ikea to deal with the sink drama.  I had meatballs again but B tried the lamb shank.  He wasn't too impressed.

 

Kitchen progress & first-world problems #3

Dramas...  

The kitchen has been delivered minus a door and another one chipped.  The kitchen installer ignored the plumber's instructions and so the plumber is pissed that he has to redo the water piping.  

The sink I bought was way too big for the cabinet and I had to rush to buy another one before the CaesarStone guy comes to measure up. 

Again, these stress me but they are first-world problems.  In other news, the kitchen isn't as small as I thought it would be.  I had expected it to only fit one person at a time but as you can see, it is quite sizeable.

The nephew picked up wash-board abs while holidaying in Hawaii.

Slight problem

I have a slight problem at work - I get on a bit too well with my colleagues.  It's now distracting us from our work because we just enjoy each other's company a tad too much.

I think it's because I'm a girl's girl.  Not to be confused with being a girly girl.

Having said that, there are worse problems one can have at work! 

A day for minor car accidents

We had to drive out of 2NDS WORLD to the Bunnings just facing it on the same street because parking was limited to like six spaces at 2NDS.  Otherwise we would have just hopped across.  But relocate we did and almost got run over by some older woman driver reversing out of her parking space who had a cigarette in one hand and eyes fixed forward. I don't know if she was just careless or if I read her expression right.  Her look kinda said she thought that she was entitled.  Anyway, that was a close one.

As we were leaving Bunnings, I turned to put my seatbelt on and saw that they was a commotion behind us.  Some black BMW versus a silver Toyota.  The older lady driver of the Beemer was loudly protesting, "I didn't see you!"  To which the driver of the other car exclaimed, "How could you not see us?"  It was another reverse-without-looking incident. But this time, it resulted in metal against metal contact.

We had to return to our local Bunnings because we couldn't find what we wanted before. When we returned to the car, a usually-expressionless B expressed disgust and a bit of... anger?  What was going on?  My husband was displaying some sort of emotion?  It turns out that some parking arsehole had done a dent-and-run on B's car.

As cheesed off as I was, I had to put things in perspective - It wasn't a real accident and nobody got hurt.  But I did have un-Christ-like thoughts wishing that karma bite the dent-and-runner in the behind. 

Plan B v.2

I was meant to get an induction cooktop from Bing Lee and then realised I could get a better one from Ikea for less.  Alas, I have been waiting for the delivery of the cooktop to Ikea for too long with no end in sight and my new kitchen will be in by Friday.  That means that the Caesarstone will need to be cut to fit my sink and the cooktop.

With no cooktop, they can only go by my measurements to get a cut-out.  If I stuff up, there goes $1,400.00 worth of kitchen benchtop.  So it was time for an alternative.

Thank God, thank God, thank God for Google.  Because I found that 2NDS WORLD had two induction cooktops for a similar price (due to carton damage).  I told B about it and we dashed off to Caringbah yesterday and settled on the Samsung.  It was discounted from $1,499.00 to $675.00 and had four boosted rings (c.f Ikea's two boosted rings).

Again, I have to thank God for looking out for my wallet.  The delay in Ikea's shipment was a blessing in disguise. 

A courageous person

'I won't see my daughter grow up' says terminally ill mother Sue Prakash

• Sue Prakash, as told to Charlotte Ward 
• The Sunday Telegraph 
• May 13, 2012

Though Sue Prakash's time is limited, she has no regrets in becoming a mother. Photography: Adrian Cook Source: National Features

TERMINALLY ill Sue Prakash, 38, had child despite knowing every treasured moment with her little girl could be her last.

I was 23 when my life changed inexplicably. Out of the blue, I suffered a severe seizure that left my life hanging in the balance. Doctors discovered that a tangled mass of arteries and veins, known as an arteriovenous malformation or AVM, was curling around my spinal cord. It was touch and go as to whether I'd make it.

I lived through that night and was prescribed drugs to manage the pain and to keep my neck spasms to a minimum. But the news wasn't good; the AVM was inoperable and would continue to grow until it eventually killed me - most likely within the next 10 years. I'd be in constant pain, and having children was out of the question.

I went home to my devastated partner, Nalin, and tried to get on with life. But I was numb, unable to believe this death sentence.

In 1999, Nalin proposed and we married 12 months later. It was bittersweet; I was 26 and marrying the love of my life, but behind our joy was an underlying sadness that ''til death us do part' might soon be inevitable.

I'd accepted I'd never have a child, but in my early 30s, something changed. I'd already exceeded my doctor's expectations by living for a decade - now I wanted to defy him. My yearning for a baby was all-encompassing; every time I saw pregnant women or mothers with babies, it hurt. I cried myself to sleep and questioned my purpose in life. So I made the decision to have a baby, despite the risks. It was worth gambling 10 years of regret on the chance of fleeting moments of joy as a mother.

Doctors told me being pregnant could kill me, but one showed compassion. He told me I could come off my medication for six months; if I wasn't pregnant by then, I'd have to give up the idea.

I fell pregnant straightaway. But after a month, I had a miscarriage. I was devastated. But a month later, I was pregnant again. I was immediately put back on my meds and I prayed my baby would be OK.

At 20 weeks, I had a small bleed. My baby survived but I was admitted to hospital. Finally, at 35 weeks, I had a caesarean.

Suddenly my little girl, Aaliya, was here - tiny and perfect. It was the happiest moment of my life. The second best was seeing Nalin smiling ecstatically and crying tears of joy.

It was three weeks before we could take her home. First she had to be weaned off my painkillers, much to my distress, but doctors reassured me she suffered no adverse affects.

Aaliya certainly seemed contented. The first time she smiled at me, my heart soared. I knew I'd done the right thing. Since then, I haven't taken any moment for granted.

There's no denying the pregnancy caused irreparable damage. The AVM has continued to grow and twist under the surface; the pain is constant; I have no strength in my left side and my legs are giving out. But every time I look at Aaliya, or hear her laugh, it's all worth it.

She turned three in March and I threw her a lavish party. It was all very OTT, but I don't know how many birthdays I have left with her, so I tend to overcompensate.

At any point, I could end up quadriplegic, or haemorrhage and die. I'm like a time bomb.

At the start of this year, I asked my doctor if I'd live to see Aaliya's wedding one day. He told me no - that I have maybe 10 years left. As tears rolled down my cheeks, a little hand reached over. "Don't cry, Mummy," Aaliya said. "It will be all right." Although she's too young to fully understand, she knows I'm sick.

I've taught her how to dial 000, and each night, I kiss her goodnight, savouring the moment in case I don't make it to morning. I've made her memory books explaining my life and how much I love her.

People have said I'm selfish, but I feel I'm entitled to this short period of happiness. I've raised Aaliya to be positive and happy. She has a wonderful father who will look after her when I'm gone.

Having my daughter was a struggle, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. You never know - I may make it to her wedding after all.
________________

I know Sue from church.  But I only found out about her story last year.  And when she told me, I was shocked.  Looking at her, you wouldn't know death was hanging over her like that.  But now that I do know, it explains why she has such a love for life.

We were sitting in creche together last week and we got chatting.  And I told her that just because she has a "thing" that will kill her, doesn't mean that she will pass before us. Because birth, life and death...  These are God's to command.  We have no say in it; despite our protestations.  The truth is, we are here for a finite time before we either head to heaven or to hell.  The difference between Sue and me is that she is conscious of this every single day and every single moment.

May God keep us...  In God's hands, may we remain. 

The bathroom transformed

TL has finished basically what he needs to do for our bathroom.  The only things outstanding are the sliding window to be installed and a mirror/shaving cabinet above the vanity (which we have to decide on).

So the bathroom that we have ended up with is not the bathroom that I had originally wanted.  But while this entire exercise has been in exercise in vanity & indulgence,  I am a realist with a tight-fist.

As a reminder, this was the bathroom that we were left with.

Original idea: Remove shower, re-surface the bathtub and tiles, change the toilet bowl and move the vanity to where the shower was.  This was poo-poo'ed by the professionals as they suggested that it was better to remove the tub.

Idea #2:  Remove the tub, replace it with a walk-in shower with frameless shower screens, re-tile the entire bathroom, replace the toilet and move vanity to where the shower was.   This failed as the tub was built in an era when people hadn't yet met a super-sized burger.  There was only room for a toddler's walk-in shower.

Idea #3:  Re-tile the entire bathroom, replace the shower screens with frameless ones, replace the toilet bowl and shift the vanity to where the tub was.  Sigh...  Who knew that toilet plumbing had come so far and trying to buy a nice bowl for the existing plumbing would be such a challenge?  And the sexy frameless shower screens?  Well, that was a no-no as the ones I would have paid for were a cheaper inferior product from a certain Asian country.  To get quality screens and hinges that don't warp or loosen, I'd have to pay four times more.

Now to the tiles...  Mr I-Have-No-Decor-Opinions turned out to have quite a bit of opinions. So the tiles that we ended up with were not the tiles I thought we'd get.  But I agreed to get them because they weren't that bad at all.  I think the cream coloured tiles will hide some of the soap scum built-up :o)

And this is the bathroom that I hadn't planned to get but am really happy with.

So, if you all know me, then you'd know I'm all about costs.

• Vanity x 1500mm - $850.00
• Tapware, shower head, towel rails & toilet paper holder - $262.00
• Tiles - $647.00
• Toilet bowl - $280.00
• Shower screen - $370.00

That totals $2,409.00.  Now TL would normally charge $6k for the labour in the bathroom including materials.  But he has given us a significant mates' rates' discount. He has asked me not to disclose it so I won't.  

TL is good.  But he won't want to touch another property with a strata scheme - Too many rules and restrictions.  Add to that that our building was built in 1969 and you'd have structural design issues to work around.  I think he's done great and I really appreciate his efforts and his discount.

I miss going for bible study! I need spiritual nourishment!!!