New Shoes

Not for me, but for Walter

We brought Walter out to get him shoes today...Z Coil shoes, that is..

they're "orthopaedic" shoes to provide greater shock reduction and better pressure distribution to help with his knees and back pain..and it comes with a 25 year guarantee plus after sales service....

Here is how it works:

• Four times more cushioning than any regular shoe.
• Over 1 inch of heel cushioning (26 mm).
• The steel coil is extremely "active" and counteracts all ground forces at lightning speed.
• Over ¾ inch of forefoot cushioning (20 mm).
• Neoprene based rubber is incredibly soft and stays resilient over time

I guess he'll have a "spring" to each step from now on...and hopefully a better back and less painful knees...

Walter's Birthday

As promised...

Here's my hat and boots :)

Happy Birthday Walter..and many more good years ahead..

Why is it..

That no matter how busy I am,

there is still always time for..

24 and The Amazing Race....

Puppy Update

Has it really been 4 days...

since I last blogged? Man, this is serious...*smiles*

The puppies had to go for a vet's appointment for their shots at 9 weeks...

Little Ears (left ) and Big Ears ( right )....
they're getting pretty.

Better Homes and Gardens ( Part II )

I will have Popeye arms before this is over...

Did I mention that we have 5 ACRES of virgin land?!?!?
Plus, the photo was taken in February before the grass went absolutely crazy.....

*face full of dust and smudged with earth*

Better Homes and Gardens

We're busy with Curb Appeal

You know, planting flowers, weeding, mowing, tilling and putting on lawn grass..

and David has bought fruit trees, rose bushes etc. to plant and so between household chores, the animals and gardening, I've lagged with blogging..again. But there's just something very Zen about gardening and seeing things grow that it's more a pleasure than a chore.

We've also had several people come out to the house to talk about building a porch and deck..Oooo..it's too exciting!

All Westerned Out

YEEEE HAAAAWWWW

Today we bought my first ever Cowboy Hat



and I inherited RED Cowgirl Boots that had belonged to David's mom, which fit just right.



I'll be wearing both for Walter ( David's dad ) 's Birthday Party next week...

Happiness is..

When someone invites you over...

for some authentic home made chinese food ...

Whole Tilapia, Glutinous Mushroom Rice and Bamboo Chicken

THANK YOU EUNICE!!

Invasion of....

The Comforter Snatcher!!

I woke up several nights ago and found that I couldn't move my feet. They just seemed too heavy!

The culprit?

Tabby has claimed our bed as his own, the sloth.

My Biological Alarm Clock

This was in the Newspaper today

It's called "clocky" and for those who love to press the "snooze" button, well, the clock has wheels and rolls away to a different spot each time, so you HAVE to get up.

If you snooze, you lose your hiding clock

By Michael Kunzelman / Associated Press
April 12, 2005

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Before you hit the snooze button a second time on this alarm clock, you'll have to hunt it down.

The shag carpet-covered robotic alarm clock on wheels, called Clocky, rolls away and hides.

The clock is the invention of Gauri Nanda, a graduate student - and occasional oversleeper - who works in the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

''I've been known to hit the snooze bar for a couple hours, wake up two hours later and be completely shocked,'' said Nanda, 25.

She made a prototype for Clocky from foam, a pair of wheels and a circuit board connected to small motors.

''It is programmed to tell the motors to move randomly, to generate random speeds and directions so that the clock ends up in a new place every day,'' she said.

Clocky gained attention after it was noticed by bloggers. Nanda's adviser, V. Michael Bove, Jr., said hundreds of people interested in buying or selling the clocks have called and e-mailed.

MIT owns the intellectual property rights to Clocky and other student inventions, but Bove said Nanda would receive a ''significant share'' of any revenue generated by its sale.

And before you think "oh wow, letti's extravagant!", well, I DON'T have one of those. What I have instead, is THIS waking me up with mega whimpering every morning.

Well, he's the right colour and he's furry too.

I was a Soccer Aunt for a day.

Malaysia is soccer crazy...

However, I've never been a fan of the game. ( aka "football" in Malaysia ). BUT, my junior bridesmaid, Holly ( picture on the left ) plays soccer and yesterday, after some shopping with the "girls", all of us went to give her some moral support at a match. It was quite fun to watch the little kiddies in their bright uniforms giving their all...

It was at an immense complex offering 11 soccer fields:

• seven regulation fields,
• one international field, and
• three youth fields.

The complex also includes a retail soccer shop, full-service concession stand, team dressing rooms and parking for 600 vehicles. (!!!)

What I have been up to

I'm pooped

Henry the neurotic puppy is waking me up earlier and earlier and earlier. And so in between doing daily housework, trying to take care of animals and David, sending wedding invitations, putting together wedding programs etc, I have lagged at blogging.

Today I got up at 5:45 a.m. and could not go back to sleep after being so agitated at having had to wake up that early to bring him out for his "bodily functions".

So what did I do? Turn on the TV of course. Only to see THIS

I don't especially like Camilla, but I think she looked the best that she ever had. I guess weddings and getting married to the one you love can do wonders.

I feel like Dorothy in a Whirlwind

We're having a "wind advisory" right now.

The wind howled and blew yesterday and all night...and we're expecting MORE today.

Several times while bringing Henry out, I had to cling on to the door knob or risk being jerked off my feet and off the "porch", falling and breaking my neck!

I had to spend part of the day cleaning up the yard because of all the bits of litter that were blown in from goodness knows where, and the poor plants that David had recently planted are now traumatised...not to mention all the dust in the air! Even Henry would quickly pee and drag me back into the house.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
308 AM CDT WED APR 6 2005

...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM CDT THIS
EVENING...

SUSTAINED WINDS IN EXCESS OF 30 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE BIGCOUNTRY WITH GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 45 MPH.

A WIND ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS ARE FORECAST TO BE 31
TO 39 MPH OR GUSTS WILL RANGE BETWEEN 46 AND 57 MPH. WINDS OF THESE
MAGNITUDES MAY CAUSE MINOR PROPERTY DAMAGE WITHOUT EXTRA PRECAUTIONS. MOTORISTS IN HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES SHOULD USE CAUTION UNTIL THE WINDS SUBSIDE.

Needless to say, I'm going to have to start picking up scraps of litter all over our 5 acres again today.
Well, I should be Thankful it wasn't any worse or that we didn't have a DUST STORM!

My Dog has adjusted to DST

Daylight Saving Time is messing with me..

In Malaysia, because day and night hours are nearly the same length all year round,there is no need to adjust clocks. The only time I remember the adjusting of clocks was when East Malaysia and West Malaysia synchronized their clocks and that was only 1 or half hour difference ( I forget now), all the way back in 1982.

Some other places on Earth, however, have more daylight in the Summer than in Winter.

Last Sunday, we had to "spring forward" on hour for the spring/summer time and it seems like Henry adapted from Day One. I didn't reset the clocks before we went to bed and so when Henry started making "I need to go out" noises on Monday morning, I got out of bed and looked at the clock - it said 6:45 a.m.

Now, Henry is a creature of habit and schedules and usually starts getting some "urges" at about 7:45 or 8:00 a.m. so i was kind of irritated that he had woken me up an hour earlier.

Little did i know he was just more efficient at Daylight Saving Time than I was, and with DST, it already WAS 7:45a.m.

* Daylight Saving Time saves energy. Based on consumption figures for 1974 and 1975, The Department of Transportation says observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day -- a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years. California Energy Commission studies confirm a saving of about one percent per day.

* Daylight Saving Time saves lives and prevents traffic injuries. The earlier Daylight Saving Time allowed more people to travel home from work and school in daylight, which is much safer than darkness. And except for the months of November through February, Daylight Saving Time does not increase the morning hazard for those going to school and work.

* Daylight Saving Time prevents crime. Because people get home from work and school and complete more errands and chores in daylight, Daylight Saving Time also seems to reduce people's exposure to various crimes, which are more common in darkness than in light.

I'm going to have to readjust to sunset at 9.00pm again soon.

This is what I did today

Thanks to Mandarin Design

I'm a "visual" person and so, with some help from Mandarin Design, I did a link to everyone using bits from their blogs ( I hope you guys didn't mind - if you do, please let me know and I will change the picture ), which you can see on the right sidebar.

There are still some that I haven't put up, but my eyes were beginning to swim, so no worries, your blogs will be up there soon :)

Ngakaari, if you're out there, do let me know what/where your new blog is!

Happy Blogging Everyone
But if it's a bummer of an idea and starts to slow down downloading, i might scrap it altogether

Drive Thru Pharmacy

Another difference between Malaysia and the US

In the States, a doctor writes you a prescription and you take it to your pharmacist at a different location to get the drugs...or via a Drive Thru Pharmacy..24 hr ones, even.

In Malaysia, doctors supply the medication right at their clinics...or if you're at a hospital, you get it from the hospital pharmacy that's right on the premises. Less hassle, methinks.

We had to go get some kitty medicine at Walgreens, and I just HAD to take pictures of the drive thru window & chute