Lovey dovey

I’ve been married for all of five years so I don’t consider myself much of an expert. Practical person that I am, I’ve never bought into the romance song-and-dance much anyway. I would, in all honesty, be ecstatic if my husband bought me a vacuum cleaner for Christmas instead of diamond earrings! Really!

The greatest love stories for me are those that survive the mundane and dull, the rigours of day-to-day living, the gradual softening of the middle and slackening of everything else. And when life is done with them, they still say it’s been the best ride.

We would be so lucky if my husband and I could have a story like Danny and Annie’s. Standby the tissues before you click here to watch it (http://vimeo.com/12562270).

Fashion victim

The other day I was caught in traffic behind a woman on a motorbike flashing her b**t crack. And since I was driving, I had no choice but to keep my eyes on the road – and the unintentional flasher. It was a long, long drive.

I’m sure she had woken up that morning, pulled on her jeans, looked herself in the mirror and thought she looked pretty darn good. I’m sure she didn’t realise that her bits and bobs were a mere half inch away from being a public figure. And I’m sure those jeans (a low slung hipster, if I’m not mistaken) were either a size too small or just not the right fit for someone with her...a-hem...assets.

See, but she’s not alone in playing fashion victim is she? Come on, admit it! At some point you’ve been guilty of unwitting indecent exposure like VPL (visible panty line), peeping underwear, too-tight, too-sheer, too-whatever clothes, etc.

Now, I’m no shoe girl. I could get by with five pairs, I think. But I stubbornly wobble around in wedges even though I’ve to carry my 12kg son simply because my calves look fat in flats and sandals. I can’t even begin to tell you the strain this puts on my back but I have refused to give in to the voice of reason.

So really, the best of us fall prey to fashion’s whims and fancies. While I pray b**t crack girl burns those jeans, I shouldn’t be too judgemental – less I trip over my wedges.

Much ado about lists

I love lists. Well, more accurately, I love ticking things off lists when I’ve done them. Packing lists, to-do lists, shopping lists, things-to-do-before-I-die lists...Scratching something off makes me feel in control, competent, serene. It borders on exhilaration!

It’s sad, I know, that I get my kicks from something so mundane. But with so much to do and each day ending with more things being piled onto my to-do list, completing even the smallest task puts some power back in my hands. For that spilt moment, the overwhelming demands of life seem manageable.

Plus lists make life organised. If you can list it, you can do/fix it. Doesn’t that just ring with hope? Give it a shot. I might have a list addict out of you yet.

Tick Tock

Is it just me or is there too little hours in a day? I live in a perpetual state of conflict because of the lack of time.

When I’m at the office, I’m missing my son back home. When I’m with him, my mind keeps wandering to mental checklists. At nights I lay awake thinking about things still outstanding on my to-do list. In the morning, I dream of sweet sleep.

I wish I had more time for long, meaningful conversations with my husband, take Mom out for lunch, gossip with my BFF and finally get started on that first season of Glee.

I look at other composed Moms with two in tow and not a hair out of place and can’t help but wonder enviously, how does she do it?

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Just say thanks

Have you noticed that Asians, and particularly women, are hopelessly incapable of accepting compliments graciously?

“You look great in that dress!”
“This old thing? No lah. I think it my arms look fat.”

“That was a good report.”
“No lah. It could have been better.”

“Your son is so cute!”
“No lah, he’s very naughty one.” (What has being cute got to do with being well-behaved?!)

When my cousin scored a whooping 9 out of 10As in her SPM, I said to my grades-obsessed aunt, “You must be so proud of her. 10As! So smart!” She replied, “No lah, she was just lucky.”

It’s silly, isn’t it? But it is so strongly ingrained in our culture and being that at the first chance of a compliment, we snap into self-deprecating mode. My resolve is to smile or say ‘Thank you’ the next time someone tells me I’ve lost weight (but really I haven’t) or have done a good job (although I know there’s a better story in me).

Don’t break up with your moisturisers yet

About a month ago, I decided to call things off with my trusty skincare brand of the last five years. Like a relationship that has gone sour, I woke up one morning and found my skin dry and taut. Hoping to literally save my face, I tried a repair serum from the same brand. My skin retaliated by turning hyper sensitive.

In a panicked state, I cleared the bathroom shelves and rushed out to get a new range of products. And when that didn’t work either, I got another brand and for good measure, oral skincare. A few hundred ringgit and about five moisturising essence later, my temperamental dermis finally settled down to its usual self.

Retrospectively, I realise I had committed carnal beauty sins. Like expecting a product to work in three days or produce miracle results immediately. The fact is there are lots of great products but no miracle workers, as Dr. Schultz puts it so succinctly and clearly in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ4rduiq-7I). Take a listen before you break up with your moisturiser or date a new one.