He didn’t take up my offer to forget my birthday this year and to be banished to the sofa for a week.  And so, like previous years, he secretly bought my favourite black forest cake and then tried to surprise me with it. The only difference is that this one is from Emicakes rather than Angie Choice which we usually order from.

Anyway it’s good that birthday celebrations are always kept simple and at home. It’s really hard to predict how a 43-year-old will behave when you can’t quite tell if she’s feeling crappy due to PMS or because she’s being menopausal.   Either way, it doesn’t quite make a difference because the best recourse is to keep a distance; safe enough not to be chewed up but close enough if she suddenly feels needy and weepy at the same time.

No wonder they say it’s no fun to celebrate birthdays as you get older.  And it’s even worst when you suddenly realise that eating too much of your own birthday cake can give you more pimples.  Yes, pimples do not discriminate age.  Although in my case,  I really wish they would.

While reading GOOP recently, I came across a very meaningful comment by Michael Berg, co-director of the Kabbalah Centre to Gwyneth Paltrow’s entry on Evil Tongue.

Most of us don’t give much thought to the things we say. We assume that once we’ve said something, it’s over and done with. Spiritually, this is not true. Words are energy and they live on. The comments flowing out of our mouths do not simply disappear into thin air. They remain with us at all times, hindering or helping our spiritual growth.

How true!

Words haunt us and in certain cases, till infinity. I usually don’t give a shit about what others outside my circle say because they’re not important to me. But the words that hurt me most are those that come from the family and in most situations, these words linger on no matter how much I detest them.  

I guess I’m very much like my mom in this case. She can hold on to some words forever too.   And over the weekend we had a conversation about this and her advice to me was to exercise tolerance and refrain from rebutting; something I admit I don’t excel in at all.  I’m typically quick to react with anger and in most situations, causing more damage.

Well, good thing that it’s not too late to exercise some self-control starting from now. Yes, it’s not possible to undo some of the damages done but at the least, I can commit to not doing more! So going forward, I’m going to pay more attention to what goes out of my mouth. And of course, I’m also paying attention to what goes into my mouth at the same time. Just that before I do, let me finish this big sugar bun from BreadTalk first!

About a week ago, a colleague approached a few of us in the common room and invited us to her place over the weekend. Two of our colleagues are having some medical challenges and she wanted to host a prayer session for them. We were taken aback by her unexpected gesture and all of us said no to the sudden invitation.

I was actually quite appalled by her presumptions. What made her think that I’m of the same religion? Even if I were, what made her think that I’m comfortable in joining her religious gathering? And then later on, I found out that she told someone that we all didn’t want to pray for our colleagues. Perhaps I should have opened my mouth to say something then. But why in the world do I have to defend myself in this regards?

I wish people can be more sensitive when it comes to religion. It is personal. So for God’s sake, just keep it at that. I don’t tell you about Karma so please don’t preach to me about Salvation either.

My husband has taken an interest to educate the boy about his gender but he has a funny way of addressing the issue. Take his attempt to educate the little one about his willy for example.

Dad: “Your Su Su (willy) belongs to me!”
Boy: “Huh?”
Dad” “Daddy gave you your Su Su!”
Boy: “How can it be?”
Dad: “You’re a boy because of daddy! Ask mommy if you don’t believe.”

The boy came running to me asking, “Mommy, daddy says my Su Su is his! DID HE BUY MY SU SU?”

We love Monopoly but this is even better! The Monopoly Deal Card Game. Unlike the former which is dependent on your luck, Monopoly Deal requires more strategy. Plus it is fast and fun to play with the different action cards like Forced Deal, Sly Deal, Deal Breaker, Double The Rent and Just Say No.

The game takes some getting used to as it’s quite different from the usual Monopoly board game. In fact, when I received the set for a review, I had problems figuring it out initially although it was more because I was lazy to read through the rules. Good thing the husband figured it all out and guided me along!

The game is quite addictive and we’ve played it a couple of times since the weekend. Too bad though the level of the game is way above the boy even though he was really keen to partake. But at the least, he got to use the shuffle shaker, which is really useful for our other card games as well!

Well, if you like the original Monopoly board game, I’ll say you’ll love this!