Okay, maybe not none… I do still know how to get back home from my backyard.

I can read maps. In fact, without maps I would be truly, hopelessly lost. Incidentally, I am a visual learner and therefore can not use a GPS when driving. I cannot concentrate on the road while either looking at the screen or listening to the robotic voice. I therefore rely on the street directory while parked safely on the road shoulder.

Now this post will contain some drawings. I have not drawn for a long long time. I used to draw all the time when I was in high school……then I got all discouraged because I thought, “I’m just mediocre, so why bother?”
There are many blogs nowadays that are filled with awesome drawings  such as Hyperbole and a Half and Crappy Pictures… I thought I might try my hand at some illustrated posts. Not all my posts though because it’s too much work to draw, scan in and colour with photoshop because I am lazy.

So yes, it has been that long since I drew and therefore please bear with my amateur drawings.

*****************************************************************

We live in a suburb about 25 minutes drive away from town and we usually do our groceries in another suburb that is only 8 minutes drive away from home. In order to go home from there, we’d have to drive across a river on a bridge. According to my (accurate) assessment, our bearings are so:

So, to go home, at the end of the bridge, we should turn left to go towards North.

HOWEVER, just to confuse people, the road looks like this:

Just a week ago after doing groceries and travelling home, this incident happened.

We were crossing the bridge when I spotted cars traveling on the road highlighted in pink:

I asked the husband, “If we took that road, where would it take us?”

There was a long pause…. and then he replied, “That’s the road we take to go home. We’ve been taking that road for the past TWO years.”

*Silence*

In my mind, I was working this out (let me rotate the map only because we have now reached the bend and straight ahead is south, not east):

See? How I am making a RIGHT TURN when I wanted to go home? It should have been a LEFT TURN!!! No????? How could both turns right bring you to both North AND South?!?!?!? I don’t get it!!!!!!!!!

At this point, my brain was about to explode and I must have looked like this:

Husband asks with trepidation, “….a..are you okay?….”

And that’s when I…

It’s too hard. I’m not going to fight it anymore.

Husband has to get in the last words though. He said, “I don’t get how you can take string and make it into garments but not get how the road goes under the bridge.”

Are you naturally good at directions? Or are you like me? (I even got accosted once by police because I was hopelessly lost! Something I can boast about!)

I am done with Maths and Biology! Yay! Chemistry (Very Important Subject) is next and then the last paper is Physical Science.

Maths paper A (calculator free) was easy but I almost died on paper B (calculator section). Funny how during O’levels (Year 10), I used to ace the calculator sections (I once got 98% in that section!) and my classmates would do much better in the calculator free sections. (They thought I was weird.)

Well now the opposite is true. :-/

My dear Mum in law is here to help out with the kids as I study. The downside (or is it an upside? haha) is that I am putting on weight! She cooks such delicious meals that I cannot stop eating!!!!!!!

So much for trying to go on a diet.

So for the past few days, she cooked this awesome chicken soup with onions (carrots, potatoes etc) and it tastes SO GOOD I drank a lot of it.

So this morning, thanks to the onions, I had this massive urge to pass gas but I controlled it as I was in the examination room (Biology paper). I think I risked methane poisoning.

So for THREE hours, I held in toxic gas.

When the paper was finally over, as soon as my paper was collected, I dashed out of the room and rushed into the toilet.

Is this too much info? But then it’s the highlight of my day!

I made two of these:

They look like that when both are hung up behind the car seats:

It’s to store the kids’ books, toys, flash cards, umbrellas, hats etc etc.

We already have a mesh pocket at the back of both front seats but it was over flowing and driving me nuts. Besides, we need more ‘slots’ to store those various stuff in!

Here’s a close up:

If you look closely, you can see the tabs I made with velcro sewn on. These are to hold plastic bags of rubbish or to hang my knitting bags on road trips

I also sewed on these purdy labels:

Nad likes the organisers. I guess that hard work didn’t go to waste afterall!

Ever since Chubbs started to sit in his baby chair instead of the infant car seat, I’ve been wanting to make seat belt covers for him.

Sunshine has a pair that someone gave to us when she was born.

So I made these:

to match with the car organisers!

Then I thought that I should make one pair for Sunshine too.

So that she won’t feel left out! (And the backseat would also be more coordinated… hehehe)

How do you find my new car ‘decorations’? I think Chubbs likes it pretty much!

(Notice the car themed fabric? I love the blue!)

So why all this rush and why the sudden urge to sew stuff for the car?

Remember I wrote about The Project not long ago? Because it’s a HUGE Project, it comes in many parts.

Some parts have been done now and the next part is actually to move house.

Uh huh. we are moving. Relocating. Woohoo! And not just across the street. Not across a few suburbs either! Not even across the same state! Yep. We are moving INTERSTATE.

We will be taking the road because we want to punish ourselves /are out of our minds/ want to see Australia and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

3 adults (including my dearest sister who so lovingly offered to come along and squeeze in between two babies in the car), 2 babies, 2 dogs and I would imagine, quite a lot of luggage. All in our not-so-big car. Woohoo! Fun times! (Not?)

We plan to take the drive slow. No rush and would probably be on the road for more than a week.

Apparently, if we drove for 24 hours straight a day, we can reach our destination in less than 2 days. Lol!!!!

So therefore, I had to rush through my spinning and sewing projects because we have to pack. My sewing machine has been kept away in her box and my sewing table dismantled. My spinning wheel has to be put aside too.

The side effects of that is that I have severe castonitis. I want to cast on 4 sweaters and like 5 shawls and many other projects now. AND bring them all on the trip with me.

What? You’ll never know what can happen! Our stuff might be delayed for a year and these projects would be the only ones I’ll have for that year! We could be stranded in the desert (although apart from sanity reasons, I don’t see how knitting can help us in the desert) *touch a lot of wood*! We could go through a snowstorm!!! (In summer.) Hey! Anything can happen!

So yeah!

My exams are in 2 to 3 weeks and we are moving right after them. If I had a stress level gauge, it would be hitting the sky by now. I think I’ve been acting rather cuckoo recently due to all these…..factors and probably stepped on Nad’s toes quite a lot. Sigh. I need to take a chill pill.

So would you help me move by going to my store:

And buy some yarn?

Relocation sale, baybee! (We ship worldwide. Just send an enquiry for a quote.)

Then, this Monday in Maths class, the teacher wrote y = x² on the board (we were doing calculus, finding derivatives) and he went around the class asking whats ‘y’ when x is 3 (9), what’s ‘y’ when x is 4, (16)…. and I immediately thought to myself… oh gosh… please don’t ask me!!!!!

ARGH, I was the 8th student and I panicked and replied……………….

……………………….

……………………….

………………………

………………………..

………………………..

56!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*head desk head desk head desk*

I’m no good with 7 and 8 times table. I only memorised up to 6 when I was a kid and got lazy with 7 and 8. 9 can be calculated by using your fingers.

I’ll teach you…

Hold up 10 fingers, palm facing away from you.

With 1 x 9, just put down your left pinky. You have 9 fingers left ‘standing’. So the answer is 9.

With 2 x 9, put down your left ring finger (it will be the only finger that’s down, your pinky will be back up). You will have 1 finger on the left of the ring finger and 8 fingers on the right of it. So the answer is 18.

With 3 x 9, put down your left middle finger and you will have 2 fingers to the left of it and 7 to the right of it. Answer 27.
Carry on in this fashion…. 7 x 9, put down your right pointer, you get 6 to the right of your right pointer and 3 to the left of it… answer 63….

So yes… I don’t know 7 x 7, 7 x 8, 8 x 8 by heart. Ok? Sometimes 7 x 6 is also a problem for me.

Sigh.

I wonder if I can get into med school? My classmates were probably laughing in their hearts then. *Hangs head down in shame*.

Photos were taken with my mobile phone – which explains the graininess and low quality.

Sorry people. I’ve been busy again. It’s so hard to get things done around here with the kids

HOW do people have 10 kids and still stay sane!?!?

On the news side:

Our regular place for grocery shopping, Spud Shed, has been burnt down a few days back. See this link.

Both Nad and I are shocked. We were just there a few days before it was burned down. The staff there have always been very kind to us and they adore the kids. They sometimes give us free veges and their produce have always been fresh, despite their low prices!

They have made living here very affordable for us when we were broke. God really helped us by showing us this little treasure trove.

We feel very very sad for the owner and the employees. And also sad that we would now have to shop in the bigger, more expensive supermarts now.

Nad was just telling me a few days ago, “When you choose the spuds (potatoes), don’t choose the small ones! They are so difficult to peel.”

Well.. now I can’t even choose them! Because Spud Shed has burned down.

Will try to update soon. Am doing a lot of crafty stuff now. Too many at one go, actually. Kinda overwhelmed. Which is not good. Coz they are supposed to make me relax.

What have you been up to?

So I missed 2 lessons of each of the 3 classes because we were away. This is my 2nd week in school and I’m already sitting for tests.

I think I did very well in the Maths test. But that is hardly surprising as I’ve always loved Maths. It’s one thing that will never let you down. If your answer is correct, it’s correct! It’s not arbitrary. It’s not whimsical. It just is. Maths is the best subject in the whole wide world.

We didn’t have a Physics test although I thought we did…..

Today was Chemistry test and I almost wanted to laugh hysterically at the paper. Because . it . was . all . Greek . to . me. In fact, I may have done better in a Greek test than this Chemistry test!

SIGH!!!

And out of the 3 subjects, Chemistry is the most important one for entry into MBBs!

I was sorely tempted to write stupid answers in those that I didn’t know. For eg, when asked what “CH₃COOH” was, I wanted to write “The Chernobyl Disaster?” (The correct answer, however, is ‘Acetate’) For those of you curious to know what I did write in the end… was “Carbon……”. Uh huh.. I actually wrote the dots. “Carbon……….” Yep.

There is just too much to memorise! Sulfite, sulfide, oxide, dioxide, the elements the ions the isotopes…… I just want to run from the room, screaming my head off. I can’t balance an equation for the life of me!

I think brain surgery might be easier than all these mumbo. Any neurosurgeons reading my blog can clarify this? Hmm?

So anyway….. ever since coming home from the “Holiday”, I’ve been busy with school and, get this, HOMEWORK. I haven’t had HOMEWORK for years. I can’t believe how many years have passed since I last did HOMEWORK. I’m really getting on with age!

Battling with 2 screaming kids, housework, online store and we’ve also taken on a Project. That’s right. With a capital ‘P’. Because it’s a huge Project. We can’t say more, though. It’s kept top secret and only a small handful of people know about it.

I can, however, tell you that it is not:

a) Another baby (you must be out of your mind to think that we are trying for #3 right now)

b) Creating anti-matter by hurling particles down the LHC.

This Project, has been sucking all my time these past few weeks. We run around like headless chickens and we neglect the kids household chores because of this Project. (Uh, mum? Would you like to come and do some laundry for us? The pile of clean clothes sitting on the spare bed waiting for folding/hanging is currently taller than I am now…)

All I can say is, I hope Project is done soon and I can finally do some knitting or sewing.

Oh wait. I can’t do that yet. I still have MY TAXES to do! URGH!

SOooooOo.. anyway, Project might take up to a year to complete. Or it may dissolve into nothingness in just a month or so’s time. So that’s at least a month to a whole year of my time and energy. On top of school. On top of 2 kids. On top of the housework. On top of the online business. On top of my hobbies which I have been neglecting.

I sat in class today and wished and wished and wished that I were 16 again. Where all I have to do is study and do well for my tests/exams. And I think of how lucky Lulu is to be able to study without the distraction of… uh… say… a crying kid. Or a crying kid. Or maybe a crying kid.

So yes. My life has been pretty crazy to say the least. I don’t know when it will resemble sanity. But I have an inkling that it may only just be 21 years from now. Maybe I can get a discount… Maybe only 20 years.

Without God, though, I would have given up everything. But because of Him and Him alone, I am able to say that I (in no specific order) love school (yes, even when I don’t understand Chemistry), I love my kids, I love my husband, I love my parents and sister, I love my friends, I love my church, I love my yarn and fabric stash (lol), I love doing The Project even it’s caused a little anguish and anxiety but we gleaned and learned A LOT from it, I love my crazy life and most of all, I love God. HE is the most wonderful thing that happened to me and if I were to compile all the miracles He’s done for us, I can write a thick book.

Oh yeah~~~ If you’d like to send some yarn or chocolate or cards or letters or something to cheer me on, you are more than welcome to.

I accept cash too. Thankyouverymuch~

Lol.. just kidding.

The truth is, no holiday is really a holiday when you have kids in tow. WHAT were we thinking?? 2 kids under 2?!?!? On holidays?!?!?

3 years (I think) ago, I went to Melbourne to visit Nad who was then my boyfriend. I didn’t like Melbourne.

3 years (or so) later, I STILL HATE MELBOURNE.

The traffic, the crowds, the ARGHHHH!

We didn’t take pictures in Melbourne. I don’t want to talk about it. Except that I got to meet Debra and Alison and Tara and many other people who came up to me to say hi (I’m easily identifiable because I’m asian and have 2 kids in tow… ). I would have enjoyed Bendi better without the kids. Had to stop to change diapers and feed and etc etc etc. Sunshine was VERY tired and cranky as we didn’t have a stroller so she couldn’t sleep while I shopped.

Thank God for Debra… well, her hotel room….. Sunshine and Chubbs got to rest up there and Nad slept in the car for awhile (because our chatting kept him up). We had dinner and then we drove back down to Melbourne.

I also visited Alison in her home up in the hills. Scary drive! I don’t think I’m suited for living in the hills. Alison taught me how to Navajo ply (spinning). Will have to try it soon otherwise she would nag at me! LOL.

As for Tassy.. we loved the place. Scenery was pleasing to the eye. Was a little chilly though. Strong winds at night, howling and Nad couldn’t sleep for the fear of our little cabin being blown away and we’d find ourselves blown to Kansas.

We stayed in a self-contained cabin/ container in a caravan park. It was the most we could afford.

It had a rustic look to it… most pictures taken in the cabin had a sepia tone, especially when the light streamed through the window.

I achieved this soft look not because of my excellent photography skills (although I DO have excellent photography skills, *ahem*) but because I left the camera in the glove compartment in the car overnight and the lens fogged up!!!!!!!! It took so long to defog. That’s how cold it was.

Isn’t she sweet?

Saying her grace.

Nad tried to tempt Chubbs with some bread. -___-”

This is Chubbs with Sunshine’s favouritest toy. She calls him ‘Mossy’ (because he looks like a mosquito) but I want to find out what his real name is. Typing ‘muppet with blue long nose that looks like a mosquito’ in Google might not yield any results. Can someone let me know who this character is from The Muppets? Please?

By the way, our little boy is now 7kg. He’s 3.5months and is already 7kg. Sunshine is almost 2 years old and only weighs about 11kg. Sigh. He’s gonna grow bigger and bigger and he would soon be bigger than her!

They look alike, don’t they?

Random scenery for you.

This is the bridge in the town we stayed in (Richmond). It was built in the 1800s…. I think. And has a few potholes so every time we drove on it we had to be very very careful.

Rumours were that Richmond is haunted (so says the reception lady at the caravan park)…. But we weren’t afraid at all. Richmond is a very nice, old town.

One day we drove around Richmond and Nad parked the car on the grass on a slope. WE GOT STUCK!!!!!!!!!

It had rained the whole night before and beneath the grass was MUD!!!!!!!!

We were hopelessly stuck and wished that we had rented a 4WD instead. -___-

Nad borrowed the Yellow Pages from a resident nearby and called the tow truck.

Err.. we had $100 less to spend on our trip.

It was funny though, thinking back. I thanked my lucky stars that I brought my knitting along. I sat in the car to knit while waiting to be towed out. Lol.

We also went to church while we were there and made fast friends with a family. They invited us to their home and we got to meet their VERY VERY VERY cute cow, Jenny.

She came RUNNING towards us like a puppy when they called her name!!!! SO CUTE!!!!!!!! Sorry about the picture.. it was sundown by the time we reached their house.

They also had chooks and 2 goats. One of the goats, Bubbles, was pregnant with at least 2 kids! How exciting!

We were really blessed to have met and gained the friendship of this family as they have been checking on us everyday we were there, making sure we were safe and well. Thank God for placing these friends in our lives.

That’s all I have to say. I have a long list of THINGS TO DO in front of me and I’d better do it fast while the kids are asleep.

I’ve also started night classes in preparation to gaining entry into Uni so I am without the kids Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

Last night was Maths class and I think I can ace this class easily. I’ve done these in Secondary school and just need to refresh my memory. Tonight and tomorrow night would be Chemistry and Physics and I think I might have problems with these. I was only good in Maths (and Geography) when I was in school.

I missed little Chubbs very very badly when I was in class. 3.5 hrs without him! (And then I came home and decided that it was great without him for awhile. LOL!)

Okay, my house is in a mess and I’m just rattling on to myself and no one is reading this anymore. Catch ya later!

Chubbs went for his first immunisation on Monday and developed a fever. I stayed up that night making sure he didn’t overheat.

He’s fine now and sleeping soundly in his rocker at my feet.

I don’t know why but I don’t seem to be in high spirits these few days. Have not been knitting or spinning much. Worrying and thinking about various things in my life.

I did receive a lovely package from Lois early this week, which I must blog about later (and try to locate the stuff she sent for the kids around the house) and that cheered me up some.

Last night Chubbs didn’t settle well and was crying non stop at 5am. He was hungry but did the ‘latch on, pull off, latch on, pull off’ thing that he does when something’s bothering him.

Nad woke up and told me to go back to bed. He changed Chubbie’s diapers, re-swaddled him and, get this – lay him to sleep on his chest. All these even though he had to go to work in an hour’s time!

I felt so blessed and loved.

Things like these keep me going. Although I really think I need a break from the kids for a bit. Just for a day would be good. Might be wishful thinking though.

I can’t wait to start school in August. That few hours a day away from them would do more good and put things into perspective for me.

It’s not that I don’t love them – I do, with all my heart. But when you are with them 24 freaking 7, it’s a whole different story!

Hope to blog more soon. Will try knitting/spinning to relax.

Once I pry the needles out of Sunshine’s hands. Grrrr.

- I want time to knit

- I want time to sew

- I want time to play my computer games

- I want to lose the flabs on my body but I can’t go to a gym or swimming pool because no one is able to take care of the kids.

- I spend a lot of time thinking about when they can feed themselves/ shit in the toilet and flush it down themselves/ help with housework/ shower on their own/ bring the dogs for walks/ work part time to pay for their college fees/ getajobmoveoutgetmarriedandleavemealonetoknit.

- I gave Sunshine oranges to play with while I shat. Yep. Real oranges. She even came into the bathroom, handed one orange to me and said, “Try?”…….No, Sunshine, one doesn’t try eating oranges while shitting. But thanks.

- Nad had to fix the computer today before he went to work so he didn’t cook dinner. He asked me to cook stew and I said okay. Just dump the chicken, carrots, potatoes and garlic into a pot and boil. Simple, right? Well, it became soup instead.

I spent the next half an hour trying to evaporate the extra water………

Yeah. I think I should be banned from the kitchen forever. Who in the world screws up an idiot proof stew??

I’m so going back to school.

The hubby’s sweater is also almost completed! Woot Woot!!!!!!

The kids have been driving me a little nuts lately… sometimes I feel like bursting from the front door, screaming my head off and then hide under a bush, cowered and sobbing like a little child….

Yeah. It makes me want to rip my uterus out and have no more kids forever.

We are apparently raising Chubbs to be a sumo wrestler. Judging by the 500g he puts on every week. He’s almost 6kg now and he’s only 8 weeks old. -__- Still cries a lot. But he settles better at night now, waking only once or twice for feeds. He smiles back at me when I talk to him so those (rare) moments sort of erases the frustrations for a while. That is, until he starts screaming again. That’s when I want to rip out my hair.

Sunshine’s vocab has increased too. She can speak in simple short sentences now and can read many words. I got a shock, actually. Was in the car one day and wrote on her magnet writer. Surprised that she recognises words like ‘Truck’, ‘Pig’, ‘ Yellow’ etc…. She can read so well!

When Nad comes home from work, she goes up to him and greets him and asks him, “How was work?”

Other sentences she says are, “Say Grace?” (before a meal), “Off/On the lights.”, “Close/Open the door”, “Chubbie don’t cry…”, “Keep your toys!”, “Watch videos?”, “I want lunch”, “I want milk”, “Where’s Mummy/Daddy?”, “Pen and paper”.. etc. Her famous sentence is, “Wanna play?” Lol.. She sounds very cute when she asks that!

She can also read the titles of her favourite books.

She can count to 20 now (but has some trouble from 15 to 18… ). She’s learning to write some of the letters like ‘A’ and ‘W’. She just absorbs like a sponge now!

The only problem with her is that she is as graceful as an elephant walking backwards on two legs. Perhaps the elephant is more graceful than her. She can fall from just STANDING up. Sigh.

Nad has been resting at home these few days as he wasn’t feeling well and the doctor gave him medical leave from work. We’ve been renting and watching tons of movies! Just like the old times. Pre-children times…

We’ve watched Alien (1 to 4) and I fell in love with Sigourney Weaver. We also watched Alien Vs Predator and those weren’t as nice. AVP2 was better than the first one though. I hate it when people like the lead actress acts like she knows everything. I wanted her to die in the show. No chance. Pfftt.

We also watched shows like:

- Without a paddle (funny!)

- Man in the Iron Mask (don’t waste your time)

- Slumdog Millionaire (touching!)

- Yes Man! (time waster)

- The Ex (time waster)

- Cloverfield (the only one we gave up watching barely few minutes into the show….)

- Cave of the Yellow Dog (very simple, documentary like depicting the [very dirty] living of the Mongolian nomads… I mean, the kids play with cow dung…..and then put their hands into their mouth….)

- Phantom of the Opera (still watching this)
Well, that’s all I can remember. I’m sure we watched more but I can’t recall now. I think the movie marathons will stop after Phantom of the Opera because I’m too tired! I won’t mind watching Alien again though.

That’s all I have to say. I wonder if anyone reads all the literary diarrhoea I’ve committed even.

Off to finish that shawl!