Of Xmas and presents......

The kids love getting their Christmas presents as much as they love getting their Hari Raya collection and their Chinese New Year hongbao. So every year, they get triple whammies while the adults get broke three times over!

But oklah, broke-ness aside, I think I enjoy all these festivities as much as the kids do (I repeat, brokeness aside!). Because I love, as Hazrin puts it, the fuss.....(Men don't get it! *roll eyes*)

I love looking for new Raya clothes.........I love exchanging Chinese New Year oranges......... I love buying and wrapping Xmas presents............And I love all the family gatherings that come with each festive celebration.

This year, our family gathering was more meaningful cos Aunty Nan decided to come all the way from New Zealand, to join us for Christmas. This, coupled with the addition of 2 new members into the clan......One being Alex - who married Hazrin's lovely cousin, Janine, and one being a month old baby Xander - Erwin and Jaslyn's second hero.

And this year, the mood was definitely much merrier (and noisier) cos everybody was trying to catch up with one another, while the kids were trying to catch one another! Chaotic? No, that's an understatement, heheh. But I'm not complaining. I love it!

The elders had a great time eating, the young adults had a great time sharing experiences, the young parents had a 'great time' fussing over their juniors, and the kids had a great time being kids, especially since their Uncle Ming and Abang Achek were around.

Granted, our family gatherings are getting busier by the year. And if our procreating fervour is anything to go by, we'll need a hall next time we converge for gatherings.

But the highlight of our Xmas gathering was, as always, the 'Santa Clausing' part. Faris, Faiz and Sufi actually counted their presents! Fazli couldn't count, but he knew he had gotten plenty of presents. Every present he unwrapped was punctuated with a YAYE! NI LI MUNYE! YAAAAAYE!!! He simply loves presents! And if THAT is hereditary, he probably got my genes.......





More pics in our photoalbum.....

OUCH my back!!!

I'm not a great fan of injections, so the thought of having needles pricked all over my body didn't go down too well with me. Unfortunately, with the state of my back, which left me motionless for a good 2 hours before I was wheeled into A&E, I had to give accupuncture a go......

So at the clinic, the physician first tried to determine the source of my pain. Then, satisfied that the problem was caused by strained back muscles as well as nerve supression caused by a slightly dislocated spine bone, he started inserting 4 needles onto the top of my hand. It wasn't as painful as anticipated, but I still hate needles..... And to reallign the dislocated bone, he started cracking my back and began sucking the 'bad air' from my battered body. I wasn't too convinced that the back cracking and the air sucking could work (and Sham would definitely freak out if she was there), but it did work! I felt a lot better immediately, and I walked out of the room much straighter and humanlike than when I first walked in.

I went back for another round of acupuncture a few days later cos my back was still sore. This time round, I had about 6 needles down my spine, 1 in my hip and another in my calf. This exuded a nice warm sensation on my back, and it felt really good. The needles were then pulled out, and the physician started 'scraping' the warm spot, turning it all red. The redness apparently, I was told, indicated poor blood circulation. So for that, and for my weak back muscles, I was prescribed some Traditional Chinese medicine.

Fortunate for me, this pharmacist wife of mine has no qualms about me taking safely prescribed TCM, but unfortunately, they tasted as bad as they smell.......
So for now, I'll stick to the needles and suction cups and give the TCM a miss....