List of dos and don'ts

I have summarised for easy access the major issues from which emanate beaucoup de nos disputes.

1. stinginess : mine in particular, I have to stop thinking petit...this one is difficult but I can take re-assurance in one thing since I am une radine I fit into Swiss society like a bee in a hive because generosity is not the Swiss' forte.

2. Bouts de ficelles : see 1. (this is a recurrent theme)

3. Timeliness : Shrek is very strict when it comes to being on time, it is a principle he has ingrained within. I agree with him when it comes to work and professional obligations but as for personal RDVs etc... I beg to differ : there needs to be some flexibility. I attempt to be on time for cours, école etc but personal RDV between friends and family gatherings are not as inflexible.

4. Hoarding : mine again and Shrek's desire to throw out unneccesary stuff. Enough said, I am a hoarder and Shrek is not, he is the quintessential minimalist here and he would like order, cleanliness and an unencumbered apartment. Unfortunately I cannot and will not be able to meet/attain his high standard. We obviously will have tiffs* over this issue.

5. Preparing for the worst : Shrek's tendency to overthinking and readiness to tackle the worst case scenario usually blows up and he takes all things out of proportion because he gets lost in the anticipation before the actual realisation of an event. Take for instance the most recent example : I had an appointment at the hairdresser's for an eyelash extension at 12h30 on December 10th. Shrek being prévoyant had dreamed up the scenario that involved panic because there were manifestations expected for Escalade thereby freezing the public transport system resulting in heavy delays and ruining our day. There would be la foule partout...bref Armageddeon was nigh. He was stressed because we had been invited to un petit goûter de Noël the same day at 15h and he was mightily and highly worried that we would be stuck in a delibitating public transport system rendering us late for the meeting time fixé à 15h (see point 3. re lateness and Shrek's abhorance). We made it to the RDV chez coiffure sans problèmes or delays. There was no such pandemonium and the eyelash extension was done in record time so we made it back in plenty of time. We were even early so we had to hang out for half an hour or else we risk arriving too early for the afternoon tea which would be unbecoming because being on time involves being neither too early or too late, but on time : harder than it sounds. Shrek's eager anticipation and preparation or readiness for the worst case scenario is sometime uncalled for. He tends to lecture me re : why I had to make an appointment on a weekend in December, the busiest part of the year etc etc .... why I failed to see such apparent declic and so on and so forth. I am not very prévoyant and tend to be spontaneous : un vilain défaut but if I plan my life to the minutiae where is the joy in that ? Life can give us bad and good surprises, it can exceed our expectations or leave us dissappointed and desasperated but life most of all should not be une fleuve de predictability.

Anyway I have a lot to learn and with the years of experience adding up should be able to evite and avoid incensing** Shrek.

* tiff

   [tif] Show IPA

noun

1.

a slight or petty quarrel.

2.

a slight fit of annoyance, bad mood, or the like.

** in·cense

²    [in-sens] Show IPA

verb (used with object), -censed, -cens·ing.

to inflame with wrath; make angry; enrage.

Madame Champione du collection des coupons

I am the proud owner of the title of champion collectioner of coupons : any and all kinds.

I would like to think of these coupons as money-savers but sometime they can be counter-productive and cost me more money in the end because in trying to validate the coupon by spending the requisite minimum amount I buy junk and inutile, futile and useless crap. I do avoid that but sometime I cannot help but succumb mainly because I cannot resist the novelty or cutesy factor or purely decorative objects or because of 'what if' and 'in case'.

I do draw the line though as I tend to buy things that only a cheapskate and stingy radine like me would acquire meaning everything I buy : items of clothing, accessories, shoes, household products and alimentation etc... are all under twenty and mostly in the tens. Shrek on the other hand is a big spender but he does mostly spend to buy me gifts and to that end/effect I am mostly content.

My fashion editor

Get your own Mini Editor from Polyvore

Girl's night out

Tonight marked the first ever girl's night out for me on Swiss territory. I simply had sushis at a sushi train but it was an hour I savoured because I ate without any interruptions or demands from kids which sometime take away from enjoyment of the moment. It was also a momentous milestone as Shrek was left in charge of babysitting duties. It went well and wondrously so that I think I am going to continue this tradition and proclaim a monthly outing for me. Heaven knows I deserve it so that I can come back to a lifetime of servitude and pandering to others needs above my own.

I love Shrek !

Vive La Suisse

Bienvenue à une vie paisible parmi les radins...

Je suis devenue Suisse et je me félicite d'avoir rejoindre 'Le pays de Radins'

Oh JOY !!!

Aside from sarcasm I am glad to be part of a nation of fence sitters or peaceful montagnards who mind and go about their business on a daily basis without ever stirring.

I count myself lucky to be amongst the 7.5 million and one inhabitants of this magnifique country.

A room of her own

A room of her own is exactly the kind of inspiration I need.

A room of her own symbolicly means somewhere whether real or imaginary a place that I can be with my thoughts and not just playing 'mum' or wife. I suspect that I do not have the luxury of being with my own thoughts much.

'Happiness is of our own making'

This is much easier said than done but at the end of the day one can choose to be depressed (I am guilty of this most of the time) or one can remind oneself that one is much more fortunate than most and hence count ones blessings.

Life throws many hands at us some unhappy and sad and utterly tragic events but it is the contrast that ultimately plays out and show us that happiness is a state of mind and a transient state that one need to savour in the moment because fleetingly it will pass just like everything else.

I do not aspire for exaltation, greatness or even recognition. Fame and fortune smiles and chances upon some talented and determined souls but it can also be shone upon the most pathetic individuals. To leave an indelible mark upon those who matter to us and to impress upon them and affect/influence them in some way is really how ones legacy will live on. The latter is what I aspire to as it lasts long after I am gone.

My exceptional 31st celebration

I have a great birthday celebration that cannot be rivalled.

On the eve of my 31st anniversary I ate something sticky and nasty as did Petit Suisse which resulted in stomach cramps for me and projectile vomiting for Petit Suisse. Petit Suisse is especially susceptible to food poisoning, stomach bugs and viral infections much like Shrek. If there is even a hint or trace of it Petit Suisse and or Shrek will surely catch it. The worst part is that Petit Suisse can be projectile vomiting for several days and be lessivé by the bug of the worst kind. It is quite spectacular and I dread his episodes of poisoning/stomach bugs.

Needless to say that my 31st birthday was spent quietly cleaning up vomit and taking care of two cases of food poisoning, one more violent than the other. Add to the mix a bored toddler namely Baby Taz with a tendency and penchance for wreaking havoc and chalking up mischief and naughty behaviour. He has successfully drawn on walls, chairs, bedding sheets, blankets, pillows and himself with a texta. He likes to play with his food and refuses to be spoonfed leaving a mess under his high chair. He also managed to spill and pour pepper all over the dinner table and floor.

I do not have much to do except to clean up after messes and Baby Taz is exceptionally good at creating jobs for me. I will never be jobless and I cannot call in sick ever or take a day of leave.

Interesting concept

I doubt I have the patience to upkeep this but I would like to attempt Project 365 which interests me as I have been wanting to keep a photojournal of my daily existence which invariably involves mainly my kids and sometime other hobbies or projects of mine.

I do intend to at least take some photographic souvenirs in order to maintain some shred of a family lineage or journal so that my kids will be able to look back upon their own childhood and hopefully read some insights into their mum as a woman of substance and not just a no-brainer homemaker/housekeeper/maid/babysitter. I long for relevance...

This should be included in my New Year resolutions.

Career prospects

Careers I could possibly envisage are : drumrolls .... professional shopper and budget analyst.

I handle these two with poise, calculated risks and utter expediency and efficiency if I do say so myself.

If I was to be employed as a professional personal shopper I would save my clients truckloads of money on a small or large scale. I do price comparisons to the cent and will earn my worth with bargain hunting, executing catalogue examination/ruminification and exploiting deftly all the loopholes that exist in store or enterprise or organisations policies.

I can also possibly be a 'tutelle' for someone seeing is that I would enforce budgets and carefully co-ordinate all predictions or projections of spending. I can make very little money go and stretch a long long way. I have the know-how and expertise on how to minimise expenditure and maximise purchasing power. All my decision making are all based on careful deliberation and I leave nothing to chance.

I can even take it to the ultimate level of scrooginess but everything has its price and in doing so would end up alienating entourage, friends and foes alike. The trick lies in harmonising and keeping it all balanced and in equilibrium.

As a budget analyst I know exactly what goes into the account/credits and what comes out of it/debits. I have mastered the art of saving by spending less than ones income and it is directly affected by limited expenditure. See above. I can set you free from debts. It is Possible ! For more concrete advice I will only give that away when I am paid.

Multi-tasking

My many newly acquired talents include holding a babe in one arm, pushing a stroller in the other until both infant and toddler are sound asleep. The pinnacle of my achievements involve cooking in complete darkness (because any hint of light will impede Baby Taz from sleeping) and pushing a stroller with my leg.

I have as a result of motherhood acquired many talents and marvelous multi-tasking. I can probably manage lots of feats unknown to me before but now comes as second nature. I can certainly whip up a mean meal in the dark. I wonder if my prospective employers will find any use for my plethora/arsenal of personal skills.


I can at the very least 'subscribe' to websites such as 'Confessions of motherhood' or 'My life is average' with my everyday lifestories. Ordinary daily routine can be celebrated !!!

After all 98% of the population lead average lifestyles bordering on boring and some of those 98% are struggling to survive ...and only 2% (figures completely guestimates) who own the majority of the world's wealth can afford to live the jetset lifestyle which mind you will get boring too after a certain time. The novelty of anything is what keeps us interested. Hence the jetsetters should swap places with poverty stricken folks every now and then so they can sample life on the other side... It will teach them a thing or two about the values they seem to have discarded.

Clowning around

One of the reasons I prefer my current abode compared to my old one is that the current one is about a 7 minute walk to the nearest shopping centre, library and theatre, community hall. The shopping centre has attractions and animations/spectacles all year round for kids. This was one such occasion.

I also love the rather reasonable and affordable prices of my local Coop supermarket.
Maybe I can start a 'radins club of M'. On second thoughts I would rather just keep my money saving schemes to myself. Long live the discounts and discounters. muchas amoras (this is probably incorrect but one gets my drift).

Fly on the wall

Call me obsessive compulsive but I cannot stand sharing my turf with flies. I do not mind if I am in the great outdoors and can generally put up with them save the obligatory swats...and curses under my breath but I will not and I repeat will not under any circumstances let them co-exist with me inside my territory i.e. appartment or room. Report me to PETA or whomever but I will remain adamant about my OCB re flies.

My Mother's day gift

Last year I received the following poem from Petit Suisse

Si j'etais jardinier
Je ferais pousser
Une fleur
En forme de cœur.
Elle serait pour Maman
Qui la garderait longtemps
Car Maman saurait que la fleur
C'est tout l'Amour de mon cœur.

Mirrored this year about a mother's love

Supposons que ma main
soit une fleur,
Voyons un peu si
maman m'aime...
Elle m'aime !
Un peu !
Beaucoup !
Passionément !
Pas du tout !
Pas du tout ?
Méchante fleur, tu mens !
Je suis sûr que maman m'aime
De tout son cœur.

I really enjoy both and find them adorable but I do prefer the 'gardener' poem slightly.




Each Mothers day reminds me of my mum. All the sacrifices that she made for me during my childhood and even as I entered adulthood and left the nest to fly into the unknown that is Geneva. She was not always an easy going mum, lots of heartache, deceit took its toll and she was surely more than frustrated at what life had thrown at her. She did discipline like most Asian mums would with corporal punishment but as with most if not all Asian grown adults reflecting back on their childhood we all reconciled with the need for some form of discipline. The Westerner does not understand this yet I think some parents do much more damage with psychological abuse and the consequences are irreversible. I do not condone outright beating for the heck of it but if a kid needs to be kept in line then disciplining them will not result in scars of the psychological kind. Europeans place too much importance on treating children as responsible adults. They are not !!! They need time to mature before they reach maturity one must guide them and rein them in sometime.

She woke up at ungodly hours like 3 or 4 in the morning to go to work when we first arrived in Sydney. She singlehandedly without any help raised 2 kids, saving all her money trying her best to secure a Catholic school education which cost her more than she could afford and left her with little attributed to other recreational activities or expenses. She did not get any assistance from my dad whatsoever if anything he burdened her even more. When I was readying myself for departure from Sydney she reassured me that whatever makes me happy is enough for her. All she wanted was the belief that I was going to be happy embarking in my new life abroad away from family, friends and all that I held sacred. It was a culture shock living in Geneva and still is. Shrek did not help me integrate and I felt extremely vexed, isolated and lonely save for the very few friends I managed to make. Anyway the situation now has improved...and I do not have to conceal my unhappiness from my mum for fear she will in turn be even sadder.


She taught me the ability to laugh at myself and to have a sense of humour which can help one in times of despair. She also taught me lots of people skills and networking know-how as well as the proper and correct way to treat people. She told me that forgiveness and peace with oneself can set one free although I must admit I struggle with this concept/principle and cannot forgive those who have wronged me so easily. She also takes comfort in her prayers which is her way of coming to terms with the hardships she face. She has incredible courage and constantly tackles obstacles with optimism.
Filial duty and piety is not something easily comprehended. Asians get this much more...
Before veering off too much I just want to add that I do not resent my mum for the disciplinary actions she took. She did have my best interests at heart and at times perhaps expressed it based on her inclinasions and leanings but I am most thankful for having been blessed with such an extraordinary woman as a mum. I do hope that I can set an example for my own children and they will be as proud of me as I am of my mum. I do not need a special day in the year to celebrate the love I have for my mum but I will take the opportunity to give her my heartfelt thanks and gratitude and to offer her the best tribute I can. She is a believer that all things are possible.
She taught me many more lessons all of which I hold close to my heart. I do not follow all her advice because as I carve out a path for myself and discover my place in the world equipped with wisdom and experience passed onto me by my mum I will form my own opinions, conjectures and theories .

Here is to you mum for your unconditional love (although you do have expectations and hopes for me that I did not fulfil), your undeniable and continual sacrifices, your maniacal reminders riddled with superstition but well intentioned.
I love you and hope that my children will be as affected by me as I am by you.

His and Hers

I have my shortcomings and so does Shrek. At the moment my biggest problem seems to be prioritising. I cannot get my priorities straight, although this is in correlation to minor things...or major depending on whose point of view you take. Granted that I do misplace what needs doing most at critical times...which invariably involves Shrek all the time, funny that. Anyway to cut to the chase I have to have food on the table waiting for Shrek's arrival one Sunday night a month at 11.30pm or thereabouts so that he can simply down and swallow in lightning fast pace and then go straight to bed without any time wasted.

Shrek on the other hand has a major problem with anger management and needs to keep his temper in check and save me some major lecturing and nagging.

I will attempt to change my ways but I do not think that my 'provocation' grants Shrek to shoot his mouth off or 'engueuler'. It is his form that beseech eschewal.

I do hope that similar regretable events will not take place in the future. I will contribute and try to make sure that I do my part to prevent such an occurence from happening.

We do not see eye to eye on many issues and that is just one of the many instances.

Resume

02.04.03 marked the birth of Petit Suisse and yesterday 02.04.09 was his 6th birthday.

In the six years I have lived in Geneva I have amounted to a resume that consists of but not limited to child bearing, child rearing, housekeeping, nappies changing (I must be in the thousands and counting), breast feeding, reasoning with toddlers and mangling of my mindset at times thanks to Shrek. I steadfastly believe that Shrek took four tries before he even made a slight inroad into a behaviour that was acceptable and harmonious with a hormonally raging mum to be.

Glorious isn't it? Ultra glamorous too given that I ballooned and looked like a bag lady towards the end of my four pregnancies. The fourth and last birth still leaves me with a less than desired flabby figure and a curved round belly which I need to lose. It is going to be a bit of a struggle especially since I do have a weakness for snacking and a sweet tooth prone to indulging... sweets and snacks are my vices...

I know that many women nowadays struggle with infertility and would more than anything in the world wish for the presence of a child but I have the opposite problem: rampant fertility (and I must add Shrek's lack of responsible contraception) interferes with the rest of my projects. I seriously will have a nervous breakdown if I was to find out that I have to deal with more childbirth. Suffice to say I am more than up to my neck in it. I look forward to doing other things and having some breathing space and being more than mum and wife even if I do not have an illustrious career to speak of I can still pursue other interests and read more intelligible literature and intellectual material which I seem to have abandoned since the inception and conception of a series of babies. I feel like a serial mum who has been bogged down by intellectual exhaustion more than anything else.

I do sound like a sour grape and I do not want to complain but in the past I have withheld information and kept up a brave face and then lived to regret that as it meant that I suffered mentally and silently in vain and had no support and could not vent my frustration or anger. It was very unhealthy and I decided once and for all to use my blog as a form of therapy. At least I hope that by doing so I will be the better for my kids and Shrek and my other loved ones. I think in the beginning when Shrek was an insensitive and uncaring (unintentionally perhaps) jerk, I especially did not want my mum to know the real state of affairs.It is a shame my mum lives far away and she feels rather helpless when it comes to me. Being so far away means that I hide my sorrows and she cannot decipher or witness my sadness and desperation. She is worried bout how I get on and I want to reassure her that I am OK.

I would like to educate my children but at the moment it is a highly sporadic effort as Baby Taz and Benben are too small for me to be able to teach. The other problem lies in the fact Baby Taz has a tendency to interfere and to vie for attention (rather understandably so) when I attempt to edify Petit Suisse or Lil Miss N which renders my lessons impossible because noone can concentrate with a screaming baby. When they are all school age I will revel in teaching and enlightening them.

Affliction of being the first-born

Petit Suisse has been cursed with the affliction of being the first-born. Both Shrek and I can sympathise fully as I am a first-born from my first-born parents and so is Shrek. What this affliction dictates is that in Vietnamese tradition or more generally in all of society the eldest is supposed to lead by example and is burdened with the weight of grandiose expectations and responsibilities.

Shrek rejects this practice because he knows full well how he suffered as a result of this malediction: being looked up to and having to set an example for his younger siblings because if he failed then they would follow his bad example and collectively blunder and come asunder. But nevertheless Petit Suisse still has to carry a heavy load as he whether non-intentional or not gets yelled at the most and at times blamed for collective wrong-doings that are not entirely his fault. He is chided and disciplined when he disobeys because he whether we want to admit or not is still the beacon of example at the moment. He sets a precedence and in common law precedence is what dictates judgments of cases.

I do feel horrible when I lose my temper, yell or raise my voice with all my children. I am deeply sorry that I feel sometime I unfairly raise my voice and lose my patience more regularly with Petit Suisse. I have to remind myself that he is still only a tender age of 6. I would like to improve in this aspect. I want them and especially Petit Suisse to know that I do not have false and unrealistic or grandiose expectations lined up for him just because he is the oldest. I do not want favouritism to play a role. I would like to be as fair and just as possible with all four and want them to feel loved and supported always. I do want what is best for them and that is something that is unknown to me at this stage. I do not want to impose my will but simply want them to be guided and educated and taken care of to the best of my ability and capacity. I do want them to have fulfilled and meaningful lives and do what they love (although one has to be realistic about material gains and not be too fazed by drab reality)...

In short I do want to better myself and want my children to know that as flawed and imperfect as I am, my will is to give them my all and to communicate openly, honestly and share my wisdom, experiences and most of all I want to instill a sense of humour and optimism/hopefulness. I think humour and laughter can heal and ease the pain of most of life's harsh realities.

To be able to Laugh at yourself is an ability that does not come naturally or is not inherent in us. It comes with practice as Shrek will readily admit. Shrek has come leaps and bounds in this aspect as I will attest to a Shrek the Grinch when I first began living with him to a more personable and humane/humorous Shrek of present.

Sew, a needle pullin thread !

Shrek is a consumate garment adjuster when called for. He shortens hems, expands and fixes chemist labcoat's flaps, make button holes and most of all use a sewing machine etc... He is a rare pearl indeed because in this day and age one will be hard pressed to find a person let alone a macho man (with a feminine eye for detail) willing and able to adjust and tailor garments/clothing to meet his needs.

I cannot begin to say how totally clueless I am when it comes to sewing.
One cannot seek for perfection. Perfection does not exist and so I am not an all-rounder who can hem.

I do have lots of graces and strong points in other areas to make up for my shortcoming. I am a consumate lover.

You get what you despise most!!!

Radin.ch is a web site that Shrek thinks is the perfect embodiment for me. I'd tend to agree... after all being frugal is a virtue these days especially after the worldwide financial crisis which swept the world and taught us all that bankers and traders should be the next têtes de turc. They really deserve the title with merit as greed and the insatiable desire to attain higher returns ended in catastrophic havoc.

One has to be careful with how one spends money nowadays as it has been a growing trend of late to buy smartly and get more for your money's worth as exhibited by the low-cost end of the spectrum encompassing airplane tickets: easyjet,jetstar..etc, cars-Dacia Logan and all No-frills consumables- Homebrand,M-Budget,Prix-Garantie...etc...etc

The gamut of spending dictates that one must not spend more than one earns if one is to stay afloat and debt-free.

For someone who is revolted by radins (stingy folks) Shrek's entourage (family, friends and acquaintances) seems ironically overflowing and burgeoning with radins galore. Such is life's luck hey Shrek? There is a Vietnamese saying which roughly translates to 'You always get what you detest' or 'You will be blessed with your anathema'.

Regret

I sorely regret having gotten married too young and letting somebody else dictate the making of the decision to having kid after kid after kid after kid soon after.

I believe that frank and honest communication is important in all relationships be it in marriage or de facto partnership or parent-child type relations. I will not hesitate to say that a lot of children born are a result of an accident and/or lack of contraception thus unplanned pregnancies.

Perhaps I will ultimately serve as a reminder or example/role model of what not to follow for my own kids. I will say that I did not plan on having four kids before I turned thirty. Kids need to feel wanted and loved but not lied to about how they were conceived.

I have witnessed many big families: safe to say that three or more children nowadays qualifies as large families displaying more discord than harmony. There is no reason why a closely-knit family of two children will have less joy than that of a family with four bickering kids on semi-to no-speaking terms or displaying alarmingly and unbecomingly incompatible and irreconcileable differences. I have seen some strong bonds between two siblings and lots of discord and dispute between siblings from a larger family. Although subconsciously I think people do try to replicate their own family from childhood memories which are often seen through rose coloured glasses and not a real reflection of the reality now. The model they have seen sets a precedence and they will attempt to reproduce this chemin just like Shrek has done. I could care less and frankly it would have sufficed for me to have two children:well raised and taken care of than to have a small army of kids who have to have attention divided etc. Granted children from big families learn some important lessons in life like the need to share and the older children will in time be asked to help out with household chores and other tasks because their mother is just overworked: thus life and basic survival skills. This does not necessarily as I have seen translate to the last child because sometime the smallest becomes a self-centric and egoistic spoiled brat- funnily enough is usually the case of a unique child syndrome. In short it is somewhat dependent on how the children are raised and their character and not being given preference/favouritism because they are the smallest or mummy/daddy's favourite.


Quite often I feel like the thankless tasks that I fulfill everyday are just taken for granted. I realise that my children are too young to understand whatever feeling I emote let alone comprehend how to alleviate my anxiety or pain. I do feel however often misunderstood. I try to commiserate with the workload and stress that a working person (namely the father in this household) feels and that lack of sleep etc... leads to less than agreeable manners. I myself have my no less stressful and frustrating days at home. I do feel however that by being plunged unwillingly into an unplanned and much too soon pregnancy that I was in no way ready for somebody forgot that it wrought much apprehensiveness,anguish and tenseness into our already troubled communication.

I will opt for the solution perhaps the less communication there is the calmer the ménage. Maybe if we do not come to an agreeable and open sort of connection or exchange then it is better to converse less lest there be more tranquility in the house.

There is some angst-ridden fury all the more enraged by a hormonally charged pregnant woman up in arms about how unfair it is.

I do try my best to be understanding and sometime maybe even most of the time fail but whenever the screaming match begins and the row/quarrel intensifies with livid exchanges I realise that nothing has changed and that I have a case of hopelessly misplaced confidence in someone I thought was my partner.

Drawing me to a conclusion that I should distance myself and measure my words and actions much more carefully before it is too late.

Reflections of a 30 year old

I wanted to document by way of my blog some of my feelings on turning 30.

Frankly I do not feel like it makes any difference whatsoever now that I have turned 30.
Age is but a number and all that makes a difference is how we feel. Although physically age does have a connection with our biological clocks (especially for women). I do not have any problems though as I have more than done my fair share of reproductive duty and populating/propagating Shrek and my genes for at least another generation.

Physically I do not resemble my age. I still look relatively fresh and wrinkle free. I am by today's standard an extremely young mum who can still turn heads and stand out in a crowd. Shrek (humour me )

I do struggle with the whole paradox that demands women to be super working mums juggling a professional career with that of home duties and children rearing. I have four children to keep me on my feet and occupied.
I do not feel particularly wiser than I did at my 21st birthday which supposedly marked my entry into adulthood. I just know that I am armed with life's experiences and am more likely to make more informed decisions than before.


I hope to overcome the complexes that come with age: i.e. getting wrinkles and sagging and ailing health and little nicks and crooks.

I want to age gracefully and with the least pain. Hope keeps you alive as Shrek so often repeated.

I will continue hoping and doing everything I can in my power to try and slow the aging process.

30 is supposedly the golden age for women or so I have been told. Here is to me and my teetering adventures as a 30 year old!!! Oy Oy Oy