First of all - I’m glad I’m not a Muslim in Malaysia and after you’ve watched the above ridiculous news - you will know why and understand where I’m coming from. To think that in this age and time - there are women who would believed and follow such a ridiculous order - now that is crazy ! how backwards is that? No marriage can survive a polygamy marriage - like PB said - one woman in the household is already a headache - to have more than 1 woman - that’s just asking for trouble.

But to think that one would enter a marriage to be very, very obedient to their husband/spouse? what? you mean you are a dog? or worst - a slave? we don’t even use the word “obedient” for raising our kids - these days - so why would a marriage have the word “obedient” in it? Shouldn’t a marriage be of a equal partnership? a life together ? what a pity - to be completely obedient was what the bride said in the youtube video.

So what does this complete obedience comprised of? to fulfill his every need and desire - so said the buck -teeth woman - to sexually please him better than a first class prostitute? * raised eyebrows* - so now to be a Muslim wife you have to be better than a first class prostitute? what a way to compare yourself to a prostitute? are you sure you want your husband to treat you like one too? since you behave like one? does it also mean that you can service his friends/business associates in bed too - afterall, you are better than a first class prostitute - and also full obedience needed in this case right? Isn’t that why the Obedient wives club is all about? Afterall, you don’t want your husband to stray out of matrimony - but it’s ok for him to have up to 4 other woman in his life - for wives? holy moly !!! all the fluids passed in between wife one - wife number four during the various days he is served by his wives - mannnn!!! that cannot be too healthy can it?

Now what baffled me most was this highly educated Muslim woman who grew up in Western Australia!!!! now that one really, really stunt me - Mariana was her name - she is young and very pretty too - and to think that she would agree to be the 4th wife? What’s up with that right? holy moly! No disrespect, but I never wanted to marry an Asian - having seen what my mom had to go thru’ and how we were brought up - but of course, not all Asians are this way - but I wasn’t going to test it out. Thank you very much.

P.U. - what does it mean? I’ve never heard of P.U. till chloe started school and each time her school friends or camp friends say that the food she eats is P.U. - she becomes so embarrassed and stopped eating immediately. So each time she comes home with all her lunch intact - I know something is not right. This week - I gave Chloe some rice with chinese mushrooms and whole mushrooms with oyster sauce for her lunch and she brought almost everything back without finishing it. Apparently, one of her classmate - said her food was P.U. meaning “smells rotten”

So what do you do - if you were the mom? we encouraged her to talk to her teacher about it - but she won’t, then what do we do? we write a note to the teacher - hoping she would address it of course - so we’ll wait and see what happens? or do I take the easy way out and not give her food that she likes? I know that Chloe needs to grow some backbones and not be too bothered by what other children say - but she is and no matter what we say - she is just offended. I don’t want to teach my kid to be rude and say P.U. back to her friends - it’s tough being a kid when we were kids - it’s even tougher to see our kids being a kid *sigh*.

Someone very wise told me a month ago - that if I didn’t like something, change it. Life is too short - live life to your fullest - do things you love and don’t waste time over-analyzing and I took his advice. My life is here in Canada - there is no going back and there is no way - I’m going to take care of others before my own family. Once that was settled, I knew exactly what I had to do. And I also learned that everyone have their bragging rights and if you don’t like it - then I can choose not to listen and walk away - the same for those who don’t like to hear me.

Yes! I’m very blessed! I’ve got a good spouse and an awesome and funny daughter, I haven’t “really” worked since I came to Canada and I loved what i do online - and I’ve good advertisers who look out for me and my friends often. My health is getting better everyday and I’m spending time with Chloe and able to do things with her more than I did before. Plus, we have good business acumen and do not have to worry about our daily expenses. What more can I asked for right?

Chloe will be going back into school in a few days - and that means the summer holiday is ending for her soon. Unfortunately, PB hasn’t planned anything at all the entire summer *sigh*. Why am I not surprised? I realised today there are 2 things I cannot depend on during summer - #1 - is for PB to plan for us a holiday or a good time and #2 - my plans for Chloe to bond with her grandparents during the summer - these 2 things never seems to work at all. Am I upset ? A little. Am I disappointed? Very! The cold weather will be setting in really soon - and to go anywhere - would just means you have to keep that sweater on - and sometimes be in the rain. So even if we do go to the city in September or October - I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as during the summer. And again this summer - no Clement’s park or the zoo *sigh*. Oh well! what can I do right? wait till i burst and go crazy I guess. Tis’ my life!

Chloe came home sick from summer camp - she said she was feeling cold the entire day - I was surprised that the camp councilors didn’t call to inform us - nor told us about it when we had called to check on her in the afternoon. Poor kid! Maybe, we shouldn’t have let Chloe go to camp everyday - but spread it out instead to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. But I guess we just thought that she might enjoy being with other kids more - but I guess this is the price we have to pay - that she might catch something from another kid who is sick in camp. *sigh*. This is just the beginning of a long week for us - for when the kid is sick - she usually takes a week before she is alright.

Sometimes I wonder why do I even try? the harder I try - the harder the smack seems to be. Seriously, I should just give up on some people and stop trying to do the right thing. So from now on - I’m just gonna take good care of myself and my own - as for the rest - the hell with it!

Chloe’s new cap from Etsy got stolen in school - and no she didn’t lose it - she left it near her book bag where they are supposed to be - and when she got out from class for break time they were gone. Shitty! this is a one in a kind cap - handmade and pretty expensive - and it sure broke my little girl’s heart. She loved the hat so much - she was really upset about it and couldn’t eat nor play the entire day. I hope the person who stole the hat gets lice all year round and rashes on the hand all year round too. We believed it is not a child that did it - more like someone who came to the school for the Grade Primary orientation that day - for Chloe had the cap for almost 3 weeks now - and nothing happened - and as soon as new people were in the school - the very first day - her cap was stolen - shitty is not even the word to describe how i feel about the person who stole Chloe’s cap. So from now on - I told Chloe - she can’t bring anything expensive to school no more - else she would end up getting them stolen - and that’s not good.

So we just got back from our mini - vacation to the city - and boy! was it a worrisome vacation. Our friend said I’m a worrywart but how can I not be - when the car was having trouble and our safety was in question. I was so looking forward to this mini-vacation because it had been 6 months since I had gone up to the city to savor my Japanese food and dim sum. And even though I did get to eat one meal sit down dinner at a Japanese restaurant and some dim sum - I know that PB wasn’t really enjoying it - nor was Chloe - because all the time during our mini-vacation - she said she wanted fish and chips *slap forehead*. We also lost some shopping time because we were out searching for a garage to look at our car - and our hotel room wasn’t the best at first but the hotel staff were excellent and tried their best to make our stay a great one. I had wanted to stay for another day - to get the car looked at first and also to get some more shopping done - but in the end - PB decided to come back on the schedule date *sigh*. So I rushed to get a few things done and get as much chinese food as I can get and then came back. All the way - praying for journey mercy from God. What a vacation!

Sometimes I don’t know what these kids are thinking. For years now - I’ve seen teenagers having babies as young as 14 yrs old. What in the hell are they thinking? Plus they people they are having these babies with are just another kid!!!! This town has the highest teenager pregnancy and everyone is taking all these way too lightly. There should be a law against teenage pregnancy!

I just found out that our 19 yrs old customer got his 15 yrs old girlfriend pregnant! holy moly!! i don’t think he has a job - I don’t think she is in school anymore - I don’t really know what they have for a future. What are they thinking? Mannn!! i seriously hope we could teach Chloe better - I certainly don’t hope this for any family - it’s has gotta be the hardest blow for any family.

I really have no problems with teenagers or adults swinging on swings - swings that doesn’t say - please do not swing if you are heavier than - so many pounds. I was at the park with Chloe for 2 hours - not only did i see teenagers swinging on baby swings - I also see a parent go on those rocking hippo with their babies. Really?? are they not aware that they can break the hippo and thus other kids - cannot play with them anymore? I have also seen adults going on the swings meant for kids *slap forehead* - really!!! it is after all a public park - so shouldn’t these adults have more brains? If they break them - their kids won’t be able to swing or play on them - not only other people’s kids. Of course, I didn’t say anything - but really???

I’ve never had a cold this long - this darn cold just don’t want to go away ! I’ve used so much Puffs tissue - I think they need to give me a discount for buying them now. I don’t exactly feel crappy now - but I’m still leaking and blowing my nose non-stop. My voice is back - but I still sound weird - a little and this morning - i ate the last of the Contac C ! darn cold! when will it go away! I think this year - we have to go for our flu shots - just to be safe. What do you think? we’ve never had a flu shot before - so we are kinda undecided.

I often complained that PB don’t see enough of the positive side of Chloe - instead - he likes to growl at her. I know he doesn’t do it intentionally but that’s the way he is. To me - he sees the bratty side of Chloe - the side where she wants to get into his way all the time and seeking for attention all the time. To me - he sees a child who has no manners and interrupts us whenever we have to talk to a customer. I can fully understand PB’s frustration sometimes - I’m no saint either and of course - we want to teach Chloe the right ways too - but she is but a child - and sometimes I find that PB forgets that. I too, forget that sometimes - and have to constantly remind myself.

But I am able to constantly see the positive side of Chloe - like today - I brought her to the park and she wanted to pick chestnuts with another kid - and she was quite a distance from me - but I need not shout for her to come back - she motioned to me that she was going further but when she saw that i shook my head - saying no - she told the other kid - that she wasn’t allowed to go further. Now that i call positively amazing ! to me - I think she was really sensible.

This evening - after supper I wasn’t feeling good - and told chloe i was gonna lie down for a bit. Sure she came in several times and insisted that I have some light on - in the bedroom even though my door was open. But that’s only because she is a kid and she needed some sort of assurance. She came in several more times and woke me up each time - but I see the positive side in her - she still let me lie down for a bit. Are you seeing the positive side in your kid? I’m trying to make PB see those positive side in Chloe and not growl at her so much - just because she is being a kid. What about you?

I told PB - I don’t want a perfect life - I want an almost perfect life only! hahhaha!! yes - it’s me going on again. After all, no one has a perfect life right? but one can always wished for an almost perfect right with Mr Almost Perfect. So what am I trying to say here? Many people write and asked me about migrating to Canada - and they asked me - but it’s better than in Malaysia or Singapore right? No corruption and not so much stress from the over-achieving standards required by the Singaporeans?

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side - I watched a video this morning made by John Chow about his dotcom lifestyle and I also read Karen Cheng’s blog this afternoon - they all looked so perfect - and at the back of my mind - I wanna be in California - by the water - and like Karen Cheng in Australia/Sydney but I’m not - I’m in Canada - where it’s starting to get cold already and fall haven’t even began.

My toasted bread as you can see is not always perfectly toasted each morning - either. PB doesn’t smile always either - neither is he always romantic. Chloe is not always a good kid - she can be a brat at times. I don’t get enough rest neither do I get enough help with Chloe like I would if I was back home with family and friends. Nor do I get the food I wanna eat so much. Almost perfect life - I’m far from it - but things could have been worst right? a lot worst! so no - I’m not gonna dwell on the negative - and migrating may seems a perfect solution for a lot of people - but it’s not perfect - no where is. So I hope this answer some of your questions?

Every year we are hit by some kind of hurricane - and for the last few days - warnings had been going on non-stop warning on the radio. So everyone here is speculating if it will hit us. At the morning’s forecast from the Canadian Hurricane Center - it is said to be Cat 3 for Hurricane Earl and likely to affect Atlantic Canada this weekend and we are in Atlantic Canada - for those who do not know by now.

Am I worried? Nahhh!!! we are at the lower part of Atlantic Canada and even if we do get hit - the impact will probably be very little. We will lose the power and some trees will fall down and some rain will come - but I cannot foresee us being hit big time. We survived all sorts of weather here for the last 10 yrs - i think I will survive this one. But if you don’t see me online this weekend - you will know why eh.

Poor Chloe had been plague by hives again - but not the serious type - every other day we will see one or two bumps coming up - she would scratch it like mad and after we give her some Claritin - it would stopped. But a few days later - we would see a few more bumps. The camp-coordinators had been really good - and keeping an eye on Chloe for us - so we are happy that she is in camp and not exactly loving it but she still would go. Only a few more weeks and she is going back to school. Summer is going by far too fast - the weather is already turning cold here. I’ve also stopped putting on an undershirt on chloe since summer begun. So have i changed or have chloe changed..??

Tis’ very sad to see restaurants/bistros/movie places - closing its door one at a time during the last few months - i wonder what is next for this town. 6.5 yrs ago - when i was pregnant with Chloe - i could eat nothing but quiche from this bistro - just a few doors away from our store. This Bistro kept me and Chloe alive for at least 6 months - i just couldn’t stomach anything. There are so many good people like the owner of this bistro trying very hard to make a living - but end up losing so much - just for trying. Owner of this place is very talented - i’ve eaten there many time during my 11 yrs in this town - so it came as a shock to us that they just up and left with no notice whatsoever.

There is currently a new MP - elected - a very young one - promising from what i see - so i’m hoping that with this new MP - we will see some small changes. Lately, the town councils have been more and more disappointing - i just read in the local papers - how they are $100K unprepared - so they claimed a mis-interpretation! WOW!! already there had been a lot of mis-interpretation in this town for the last few years - plus i can’t see how the town is not aware of what is going on with SWDAS - all these years - when they are even involved in the tri-county school thing. I am deeply troubled by what a lot of folks of this town suspect - but time will tell eh - time will tell. I’m just glad that our business haven’t been affected *touch wood* and thank God ! we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed.

We all believed in teaching our kids good value in life and reading is one of them. Chloe is no different from any kids and although we buy lots and lots of books for her - we still go to the library - to borrow some - so that she knows that reading is good. A few months ago, during the March break - I had brought Chloe to the library to color and read - she loves coloring and when she saw that there were coloring print outs for her to color - she wanted to go to the library more.

Alas, it was short lived - not the going to the library part but the print outs - after our first trip to the library - the subsequent ones were greeted with no new print-outs because the clerk there said that - that was all they have. She suggested that i bring my own coloring books the next time. You and I know that kids love the novelty of “new” stuff - they don’t want to bring their own coloring books. But that was alright - i didn’t say much.

But one afternoon, a friend came by with her kids and said “meet us at the library!” and since it was a saturday not really much to do in this small town - we said ok. I packed my laptop and got PB to send us to the library. The friend had 2 kids and they had gone to ask for some paper from the clerk - she gave them 3 pieces. When the kids were done that paper - Chloe being Chloe wanted more paper - so i went instead to ask - for some reason/s the kids didn’t wanna go. So this time the clerk told me matter of factly that the paper were for printing - and not for giving out to the kids - again she suggested that i bring my own the next time.

I was kinda taken aback by the lack of tactfulness - we are dealing with kids here - kids that the library had encouraged to come to the library - because reading is fun. But nope they won’t give us a few pieces of paper. So i guess - our donation to the library 2 months ago - thru’ “Adopt - a -book” for the library - didn’t mean a thing? What is a few pieces of paper right? 3 kids - 3 pieces of paper and they refused to print anything out for the kids to color ? We haven’t gone back to the library since - because of that incident - we are also re-thinking if we should encouraged our family and friends to “Adopt - A - Book” - afterall, donating more than $120 for those books didn’t mean nothing to them *shrug* - so we might as well be nonchalant and not do anything. Again, I am writing this after a month - not because I’m being petty - but moreso - I feel for my kid - who was quite hurt that the clerk won’t give her some paper to draw. And I feel bad for the many kids who will be going to the library and to be told off - to bring their own paper - if they wanted to draw. I’ve witness an incident whereby a foreign student had asked if he could borrow the phone to make a phone call only to be told to bring a quarter with him the next time *slap forehead* - i had actually wanted to come forward and give the kid the quarter - I can feel for the kid - and I know that if it was my Chloe - she would wished the floor would open up and swallow her. Tactfulness is important when dealing with the public - especially where kids are involved - for now - my kid (Chloe) doesn’t wanna go to the library - why? she said the clerk was a “meanie”. A lasting impression the library has on her for now - i can only hope that she will forget with time - but so far - i’m not getting any luck.

PS: i have no problems bringing my own paper but at times - when a parent forgets - i feel that the clerk should have been a lot more understanding and a lot more flexible. A little bit of kindness goes a long, long way.

And here we go again … ! *sigh* .. same old .. same old .. with chloe’s new but old school. I think i really have to buy them some good scales to help them weigh the more important things that they need to concentrate on. I know where they are coming from - and I know Chloe does have an odd way of holding her pencil - but why stress the kid out when she had already informed them that she was comfortable with the way she was writing. Encouragement is the key to good teaching not? But the school haven’t approached us personally - it was just Chloe coming home all stressed up during the weekend about how one of her teachers wanted her to hold the pencil the way they want and she didn’t get to write nicely. She was pretty upset about it because this kid of mine - aims for perfection. And yes, we are aware of it - it’s painful to look at the way she holds her pencil - we are not slacker parents - we just want her to learn at her own pace.

My girlfriend from Hong Kong who is planning a trip to visit me this summer for supplements - asked me about how the “ang mohs” treats me here in Canada - if there was racism in Canada. I had replied that - there is no more than any other places and that the people are generally ok - and treated me with respect - I think more so because we own our own business and they sorta see me as a respectable figure - albeit the fact that I’m still the Crazy Chinese Woman in Canada - HAHA!

But I’ve spoken too soon - when I was reminded of the hate crime - so widely publicized recently about a Nova Scotia woman who awoke to the sight of a burning cross on her lawn and then her car was torched. And then last nite a customer of the store was told off on Facebook to “F” off and “F” back to China by someone who apparently lived in our midst - in our community. I do not know this person but I’m truly shocked to see such behavior and the fact that no one stood up and speak up for this customer. Everyone thinks it was a joke !!! I’m indeed shocked - and here i sit thinking - Chloe looks very Asian - what happens if this happen in school when she grows up or when she is out at the mall? Hate crimes and racism shouldn’t be taken lightly - i spoke to PB about it - and of course - he wasn’t too concerned because it was an isolated case - but i’m thinking ahead and trying to be pro-active and prevent what will happen in the future. What would you do in my shoe? would you be like the rest of the 7000+ members on FB and ignore it because it wasn’t you it was directed to? or would you speak up?