End of T1 AY2021/22

Salam my lovelies,

We are well into the final 2 weeks of the first term. Bean is settled into Year 4 and Girl is spontaneously comfortable/bonded with her new teachers and classmates in Year 7. Moving to upper primary and secondary were definitely remarkable milestones (and school fees increment!). Parent Teacher Evenings are lined up for the week ahead so wish me luck!

The Christmas charity is up and we have sold 50 Sarawak Penan Bags to raise RM1260 for donation to Rumah Charis. Syukur alhamdulillah. The gift pledge cards are hung on the school Christmas tree and steady stream of presents are expected until 17 December 2021. Considering the economic outlook is not as bright as we have hoped, the generosity of many never fail to impress us. May this charity be long and blessed.

Last Friday, the very first COVID-19 cases was recorded in secondary school. The Senior Leadership Team, teachers, staff, students and parents have mostly remained calm and orderly. As of press time, there have been no new cases, no cluster has been formed and we will continue to trace and test. The year group in question are being self-isolated and lessons will continue online. Grit on! Our first school case since March 2020, what an amazing feat while it lasted.

Girl and Bean were in school for total of 2 days during their turn in rotation. The community we live in recorded 2 cases by the end of their second day at school and we immediately opted for online learning/work from home module with trips out to the grocer only when necessary. This self- imposed/strict discipline/err on side of caution have worked well for us as 3 more local cases were recorded. The Other Half stalks the community e-bulleting like a hawk and we will remain vigilant, inshaAllah. May Allah swt grant us all the strength, stamina, financial resources and protection while we ride out challenges of Omicron, Delta and annoying political situation in Malaysia.  

A little note to celebrate: I got my Pfizer booster dose!

Here is a quick update on my journey of luxury minimalism. Many of you know that I am an investment-conscious, work-from-home mother with no helper and have limited fund for frivolous spending. I used to purchase luxury purses and shoes using my annual bonus and this habit stuck. In 2020, I started curating my items mindfully, adding only a couple of key classic pieces so that I have a good rotation to choose from.

By 2021, my closet declutter items that were identified had been sent to a local reliable consignment company known as Labagatory. They sold some of my items in record fast time - one noir Hermes Bastia coin purse in Epsom leather which is now obsolete with e-wallet being so prevalent, one red Salvatore Ferragamo belt with GHW which I bought for Christmas and CNY "uniform" but never wore, and one pair of black Salvatore Ferragamo Vara jelly that I never quite broke in because leather shoes are so much more comfortable. I also sold a carmine red Salvatore Ferragamo shopping tote and black Anya Hindmarch work tote to another luxury reseller at Bangsar Village.

However, there were also some items from Carolina Herrera the wonderful people at Labagatory assessed and decided not to take on. I guess these will be donated, same as I had done with the bundle of Coach, Oroton, Braun Buffel, Frankitas and several other contemporary branded intems that were quickly snapped up in my neighbourhood preloved group.  

My consignment success also did not extend to a brand new Balenciaga City Classic. Maybe I will ask if I can dye the distressed lambskin from denim to all black so that I can make it work better with my capsule wardrobe closet but I know that denim colour can work just as well with my casual/weekend pieces. I just need to put in some coordinating effort when dressing myself?

I feel so light and free from having a smaller but cohesive wardrobe and those of you on this journey will agree with me that less is more. I do not understand how I ever "lost" my capsule wordrobe as I always had one since small until my early 30s. Boy, am I glad I hit my resume mode?

Pardon my rambling on. I better get back to decluttering. I bet I have a whole lot more items to donate, if I care to properly assess. I am already looking forward to less clutter.

Stay safe, everyone!

End of AY2020/21 and Summer Break 2021

 Salam my lovelies,

Pardon for the long silence as we trudged on the final term of pandemic-online-schooling. Syukur alhamdulillah Girl and Bean both did exceptionally well in their GL Assessments. Girl graduated in our living and dining room. Bean scored an award for Most Improved Student of his class. The Awards Ceremonies were surprisingly interesting! We applied for access to be granted to The Grandparents so they joined us online to watch both ceremonies. Both of the children's homeroom teachers will be returning to England, alas. They will both be sorely missed.

Girl and Bean somewhat enjoyed their online Sports Day as the novelty had worn off. We will suggest that the programme be updated next year as repeating the same routines and challenges from AY2019/20 annually were not exciting nor engaging for the most part. Morion, their sports house, did not win this year but put up a good fight. Sportsmanship can be tough under pandemic-fatigue as we witnessed first hand.

International Week came and went without much pomp and gala as the overall spirit was dampened by high daily new cases and long-drawn lockdown. Girl's class was assigned Thailand, and Bean's year group was again assigned China (same as when they were in Year 1). Girl's Thai costume arrived after International Week Dress Up Day, and Bean donned his Lunar New Year red costume. There was not much decoration of study space, except reusing all our Lunar New Year deco items for Bean's China-theme. I must remind myself to order Bean's new costumes as he is outgrowing them soon.

We cooked some masa harina pancakes (the recipe is a keeper) and ordered Thai food during International Week. Bean missed his xiao long bao and la mien so much he kept reminiscing his meal at Din Tai Fung KLCC when we could last venture out.

Summer break is finally here and we are spending every single day indoors, same as most Klang Valley dwellers. Our 9.2 acre park is still shut but we enjoy the greeneries and fresh air. This is our first holiday-less indoor long break. We ordered a whole series of The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer and a few more titles for Girl, including a new release from David Edward Williams (David Walliams). Bean is working on his Horrible Histories series, still. His stamina for reading is nowhere near that of Girl's, not that I am comparing.

Personally, I am working on re-motivating myself. I have a lot to be grateful for and reaffirm myself of this fact daily. Although The Other Half and I have been fully-vaccinated, we are not taking our chances and are very aware of the fact that both children have yet to reach their respective vaccination threshold age. We are certainly taking all precautions and coping the best we can with what we have.

On the fluffier side of life, our balcony plants are thriving and they bring much joy. Both children are painting, colouring, crafting and playing online games. They usually transition into movement breaks without cue. Dances and balloon-volley indoors are so fun with them! We must include more of our stationary bike and rower considering we have been eating well could use some extra exercise.

We hope to spend the rest of this summer break in good health and happiness. All school fees have been paid and their books for Y7 and Y4 are arriving from the warehouse. Hopefully, Girl's new secondary uniform will be available as soon as the bookstore is allowed to open (on-site at School and it is not currently permitted under Phase 1). I am still in awe she is going to Y7 and knowing me, I may get all emotional come September.

Ending this post with much love and peace to everyone. Stay safe and healthy. May happiness and joy come your way daily. 

The 7th Anniversary

We did nothing to celebrate the 7th wedding anniversary recently. 

One card from The Other Half stating how sorry he is for all the pain and suffering he has put me and the kids through, backed up by his reasons why he way he is.

I booked his appointment for him to see a marriage counsellor and a mental health professional; a very special gift from my broken heart because I want him to be happy and functioning again. 

We will work this out. InshaAllah.

Getting To Know Myself

Salam my lovelies,

In order to cope with my recent low period, I tried recalling all the best moments from my past. Akin to Timeline Therapy, yes.

This process really did lift me up, one memory at a time. It is like rediscovering who I was, with objective of understanding myself again.

No wonder History is an important subject. Lessons, lessons, lessons.

Through understanding my past, I am able to move forward, lighter and happier.

I have since:

1. Purchased my favourite Mont Blanc green ink refill. I used to mark my drafts with green ink and my former Boss would automatically recognise my mark. His was violet so when he returned my draft covered in violet I can gauge if it was going to be a late night at work or a bye bye at 5.30 pm. Those were the days before I abused Word with "Track Changes".

2. Reconnected with my former hairstylist from is back from Paddington, New South Wales after 3 years abroad. He gave me my former best hairstyle, and we chat about suburbs in NSW like old chums. Oh dear, we are old chums!

3. Daily messages with my BFF. We are so blessed to have one another despite the distance. It just makes everything we are facing more bearable. On top of that, I have a few of my close girl friends and fellow mums to keep their eyes on me. Thank you, my lovelies. 

4. Carve out a few minutes daily just for myself. Sanity break! I usually choose to spring clean, reorganise sections of my closet, shop online, try out new scent at the perfume section, pray or whatever makes me fulfilled. Once, I took my time applying my skin moisturiser and I felt good all day long! Work of any kind is strictly excluded and so far, work has not suffered. Phew!

If you feel this is my mid-life crisis, bear with me. I don't know where this will take me but I know it will be better than where I was. 

Have you revamped/rediscovered yourself lately with Timeline Therapy? Try it, and please do share your experience!