Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

My beautiful girls 🥰. It was a very busy Friday for us starting with Saitaoha getting a merit award. She is gradually getting more confident in her work, I hope this continues as I just want her to be confident and happy about herself.

And then it was dash off to work for another important event which thankfully went by quite quickly. I’m glad that R doesn’t work on Fridays because those are the days we try to squeeze in family commitments and medical appointments etc.

I was exhausted by the time the evening rolled around but it wasn’t ending yet. Off we went the whole family to Ah pa and my Australian swearing in ceremony!

Haha Ah pa is a full fledged Aussie now! So glad that we could do this together. I was also really pleased how well organised and lovely the event was, it made becoming Aussie together with Ah pa all the more meaningful. And it was great that most of the family were there. It means a lot to me that Ah pa’s home is with us where we can take care of him.

It was an eventful day, I was so so tired by the end of it I took a couple of painkillers and went to sleep straight away. At night I dreamt of my mah mah, she hardly comes into my dreams, maybe she was happy about Ah pa becoming an Australian too?

Please let the rainbows shine again.

Movie night with my sister’s family, Little Mermaid was nice and very nostalgic to watch. I’m glad R joined us because Disney wasn’t part of his childhood so he didn’t enjoy Disneyland as much when we visited years ago. I think he will like it much more when we go next time because he will have watched most Disney cartoons with the kids by then !

Sunday aftenoon corporate box seats at Netball wa with R. I wasn’t that keen to be go because Sunday is usually family day and also my bosses would all be there meaning networking which I’m terrible at. But I couldn’t say no to such a nice gesture and I’m glad we went because it was a really fun and nice experience.

Nice food and free flow drinks 🍹 but I mostly liked watching the game from the court side. It was a great game and West Coast Fever were very good, I would love to bring the girls one day.

I think the girls would have liked the porky balloon. A fun weekend, one where I finally felt I was on the road to recovery, let’s hope that’s the end of winter bugs for me but i know that’s wishful thinking since winter has only just begun 😬.

R’s birthday Mandurah long weekend

R’s birthday conveniently falls within the WA Day long weekend so there’s always extra time to have a special celebration. This year I booked us a family staycation in Mandurah. The weather was terrible during the long weekend, but thankfully it didn’t hit until our last night there.

Making memories with my little girls who are not so little anymore. I wonder whether they will look back at our little trips and staycations around Perth with fondness when they grow up. My parents brought my siblings and I around the world when we were kids, and I think we are all the better for having travelled the world at a young age and understanding there is a world outside of Kuching. These little trips for us are not far away, not even a plane trip away and mostly a short car ride away, but there are golden memories for me, time to get away from technology, work and the hum drum of everyday life. I really needed this trip to be a kind mum to my kids again, because I’ve been sick, I’ve been so cranky, grumpy and impatient with them. My poor suffering children.

Amazingly they are very forgiving and love me regardless. How I wonder? Will they stay this pure and sweet forever?

The pool is always a highlight during our staycations, this one was heated but not hot enough for the cold weather that struck this weekend. I think they still had fun regardless but I was glad to get out 🙂

A memorable dinner at the Italian next door, the food was delicious, the service even better. The girls ate really well and finished all their dinner and dessert. I was glad that the restaurant was noisy enough to mask any coughing fits. It’s a slow road to recovery.

Waking up the birthday papa with their cards and cuddles. Surely that’s the best way to wake up on your birthday? Happy birthday R. My mum had cooked him the traditional birthday meal of long life noodles and chicken soup the day before, I’m grateful for my mother who continues the birthday tradition and generously extends it to her son-in-laws.

The sun was out but so was the chilly wind. Playground time by the foreshore.

They were delighted to be reunited with their cousin and also happy to be indulging in marshmallow monsters.

A day of shopping later, we braved the rain for R’s birthday dinner. The steak was stupendous and so was the wine and sides. I think R enjoyed his birthday dinner, the kids and I sure did! The heavy rain added adventure to the dinner.

Always some kind of noodles for this girl who is a noodle monster.

I knew she would miss rice after a few days and I was right. But Saitaoha’s favourite food is pizza, maybe she was an Italian in her past life?

Wonder what was his birthday wish?

The best way to spend a birthday with your children in your arms. I hope he felt loved and celebrated.

It’s been hard to get out of this downward spiral. I think we are generally a family of worrywarts and we have lots of anxiety. I was worried about not being able to be in the office, when I was in the office, I was worried about coughing at work. I was worried about juggling work and family commitments, not being there for my father when he goes for his medical procedures and appointments. I was worried about my father being worried about coughing during his procedure, then was worried that he would be disappointed when his procedure got cancelled. I am anxious that it is taking me so long to recover, concerned about my overall health and long term health condition.

It just feels like ‘adulting’ is just filled with anxiety all the time and because I’m caught up in fearing for the worst, I can’t move a step forward and I’m just anxious and grumpy and guilty all the time. Why is being an adult so difficult sometimes?

Hopefully this bout of illness is over soon and this wave of stormy weather passes over soon.

Up and down

I thought I was getting better and then it all went downhill! During the weekend I felt my cough coming back and was thinking ‘surely not ?!’

Went into work on Monday with much trepidation, alas, it was exactly as I expected, I had a coughing fit every few minutes and was drinking so much water I had to go to the loo every half an hour. After a ‘tears run down your face’ coughing fit in the stairwell, a colleague looked at me and told me I don’t look well and should go home.

And so suddenly I was home bound for the rest of the week. I don’t mind working from home but I felt so guilty and bad because I have been so absent for the whole month from illness. I fell into this lethargic slump and was unproductive and useless all week. I was filled with self loathing.

I was pleasantly surprised however to receive great feedback from my bosses, even invited to our corporate box as a reward, which I had to sadly reject because it clashed with our staycation. In highsight I’m glad I didn’t accept, imagine coughing away in a corporate box with my boss and his wife 😓. I’ve gotten so much more recognition and best of all, feedback on my performance in the past six months over the last 4 years in my previous role. I guess that’s why a change was sorely needed.

Praying that I get well before the long weekend, I’m sooo fedup with my lousy immune system and my general health, and I know I have no one to blame by myself. Sigh I hope June is a better month please 🙏🏻