Child Minder Alert

When it comes to child safety, there are so many issues to consider. There's abduction, online safety, pool safety, safety in snow and ice, safety in the car, escalator safety, playground safety, fire safety, toy safety, forgetfulness of busy parents and so much more.

The most incredible inventions of 2007 are the Child Minder System and it's one of the top 15 revolutionary inventions and a new technology that can save lives. It's most suitable for busy parents or when the family is a large one and the parents simply overlooked one of their children. There are so many instances nowadays whereby parents forgot their children in the back of their hot steamy car or unintentionally left their kid overnight in the cold. Other scenarios are, parents accidentally left the back door open and a child is found dead in their backyard pool. This is a global issues and a global awareness for us parents with young children, and there is no safe amount of time to leave a child be it in your own house or in a car. Here's a video I found on abcnews channel on child safety which I think is what every parents should watch.



http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3434971



The reason why I had child minder alert issue posted on my blog today is while I was watching our local tv station yesterday, they had a short news on child safety products which I thought is just excellent for our busy parents or child care provider and also a reminder to myself to be up-to-date with the latest products which could help me care for my child efficiently and safely.



Here is what the child minder system is all about, which can be viewed here at their website https://www.babyalert.info/products.php Another link on pool monitor from this website.
http://www.aquawatch.co.za/

Disturbing graffiti in our neighborhood

It was about 4.50 pm and the right time for me to prepare dinner for us. I had the TV tuned on to channel 4 which is 14wfie, The Tri-State News and Weather Leader. I was watching the last bit of Oprah show on 'The Choking Game', about this family whose son died because of playing this game and also shows some kids probably around 10 or 15 who had played such game.

At 5.00 pm came Anne Komis and David James on the local headline news. What caught my attention was when Anne Komis blurt out, 'local find disturbing graffiti...', I quickly divert my attention directly to the TV on top of our fridge and saw a house which looks really familiar. I quickly went to the computer room to tell my husband about it, and in that process I had another TV turned on there. We waited for a bit for the whole story to come on. The reason why the house was familiar was because my son and I, we would usually take a walk in the early evening and we would pass by that house.

Right after dinner that same evening, my husband told me we should take a walk just to see if that's really the house. What we saw was the after-math of what had happened, because they had the graffiti's blocked off and their garage door was up, so we could not see much. While walking around the block we saw a stop sign painted with graffiti and when we came around by Southport Dr., we saw a police car parked by the roadside, and he was talking to one of the neighbors and while walking further down, a man walked out of his front door and came straight towards us to tell us that his back fence had been vandalised too, said they sprayed 'F**k you' on his back fence! While walking back to our street, we became observant and noticed that the first house on our street was also painted with a 'KKK' sign in red! In that particular house lives a friendly ex-cop and I usually talk to his wife when we are upfront doing our gardening. Not sure if they are aware of what is happening in our neighborhood. What is happening to the world? America is for love and a dream come true for some, not hatred! If those who doesn't know what 'KKK' stands for, it's Ku Klux Klan. On wikipedia, Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the name of several past and present secret organizations in the United States generally in the southern states, that are best known for advocating white supremacy and acting as vigilantes while hidden behind conic masks and white robes. The first KKK arose in the turmoil after the Civil War. It utilized terrorism, violence, and lynching to intimidate and oppress African Americans, Jews, Roman Catholics, and other racial and religious minorities. It amazes me so much that it is happening now, when America is known as the superpower of the world meaning the country is so so advance compared to the rest of the world!!

Check this video on youtube.

http://www.14wfie.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=2745544&at1=News&h1=Racial

Mixed Marriages and My Family

Mixed marriages came way long before my time and it's nothing new on my mother's side of the family. Especially in Malaysia, where I came from, it is without a doubt, eurasians form part of the Malaysian society whether they are a result of mixed marriages or traditionally inherited the breed of interracial marriage. Since it is a common phenomenon, probably it would be best if we were to have a more open recognition of the diversity of Malaysians' origins. For example in West Malaysia, there are a majority of the Malaysian Portuguese, who are considered eurasians because of their past historical influence and mixed marriages. They have been given an identity by the locals as 'serani' or 'nasrani' in malay. In Sarawak, intermarriages between Sarawak's 25 ethnic groups has been common, but until recently most of the mixed marriages have been between indigenous groups with similar backgrounds. Now, though, mixed marriages have expanded to encompass unions with Chinese, Malays, and even Europeans and Americans.

A couple of great examples are my two older brothers. The eldest is married to a Kayan, one of the 25 ethnic group found in Baram. Like the dayak, they are known for being warriors, and have extensive tattoos and stretched earlobes amongst male and female. Here is an example of how an elderly kayan will look like.

They have settled in Sarawak on the middle Baram river, the Bintulu river and along the Rajang river. As what I can recall, my sister in-law came to the city to look for a job and that is where she met my eldest brother. They now have 3 children and the children are able to speak in both their parents ethnic language, which helps bridge the communication gap between both sides, because my sister in-law's parents doesn't speak our language. Next is my second brother who marries an iban girl from Bintulu. Wikipedia define iban as a branch of the dayak people of Borneo. They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks. Ibans were renowned for practising headhunting, but the days of headhunting and piracy are long gone. Here's a picture of a long house in Tatau, Bintulu where her family resides.

The long house is called rumah panjai , and are equipped with modern facilities. My second brother have 3 children and are very fluent in their mother's tongue. Here is a link showing the traditional longhouse and their traditional dance too. http://www.tmd3.com/Southeast_Asia/Malaysia/Longhouse_Trip_Web/index.htm

This is where I came into the picture. Although after convincing myself for years and years that I would be a full time career person, with a group of steady girlfriends to hang out, a steady job and a pretty house that I pay with my own sweat from the handsome pay that I earn each month. Over the years, I have never thought of marriage, I was happy with my life. Out of the blue and never in my wildest dream that I thought I would eventually get married, but here I am, I thought cupid's arrow would miss it's target, I was wrong, and I was caught. The ideal of this marriage is having a mixed marriage kid and probably female ideal of domestic bliss? Well, I am well into my 9 years of marriage, and we have a handsome little rascal, who drives me up the wall every day and I am eager for him to be in Kindergarten soon, which will be in a couple of weeks.Pheww! Although we only have 1 child, being currently a stay-at-home mom I feel like I am up there fighting the California wildfire trying to control the mess in the house. When I am putitng down rules for him, I am being called a 'meanie' and so forth, and when he is hurt, he wants to cuddle with this 'meanie'! Here's a picture of our son.

For some interracial marriage, some would have to endure conflict with extended family members, and family alienation is one of many hurdles interracial couples may have to jump into. Societal discrimination, cultural differences, although for me, we have no language barriers. Despite the inherent difficulties of mixing two cultures into one romantic union, some mixed-race couples actually have stronger relationships as a result of the unique experiences they endure. Like any marriages, we have our ups and downs, otherwise it will not be called a marriage wtihout those excitement!

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My creations - Necklace for casual and party goers

Here are something that I have created recently. A few of them I have worn to meet some friends over the weekends, and they just drool over it!!

Inspiration - Randy Pausch

I first heard about Randy Pausch, an inspiring professor at Carnegie Mellon University on Oprah probably a couple of months ago. He was a guest on Oprah Show and he suffers from pancreatic cancer and having only months to live. He was on the show with Dr. Mehmet Oz. Sadly, he died today! His inspirational 'last lecture' can be viewed at youtube below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Vacation - City of Destin

Destin, Florida is known as the 'World's Luckiest Fishing Village' and just the next town across the bridge from Fort Walton. We went there a couple of times for sightseeing and here are some of the pictures that I took. For more info. on Destin please click here. http://www.cityofdestin.com/

Vacation - Old Bay Steamer Seafood Restaurant

Before leaving for Fort Walton beach, we have been browsing the internet on the best place to eat and one of them was the Old Bay Steamer restaurant. Fortunately, the OBS restaurant is just at the entrance of Santa Rosa Blvd where the El Matador condo is located and it's just probably about 2 miles drive from the condo where we stayed. It's probably one of the best seafood place that I've ever been to. It reminded me of home in Malaysia because the shrimps and scallops tasted really juicy and sweet, the reason being it's been caught fresh, not like in the midwest where seafood are all frozen and tasteless! My husband called Old Bay Steamer restaurant before we left the condo, and they do not accept reservations, so we told them we would be there in 20 minutes. Ours was a party of three, so we waited probaby about 5 minutes for them to sit us. The choice is extensive and caters to most diets and degree of hunger. We sat in a booth with a window sitting view, and immediately we got a young waiter with blond hair who took our order with extreme efficiency. We ordered drinks, and right after he came back to get our main order. I was extremely satisfied because the portion of the food is extremely large while my son was able to order his kid meal of macaroni and cheese with grapes. My husband enjoys his plate of king crab legs, shrimp, with baked potatoes while I had grilled barbecued juicy shrimps with scallops, mushrooms and green pepper with sweet sauce served with pilaf rice. Our meal starts off with a salad which was served in a large bowl. My husband commented that the king crab legs he ate is the best he have ever tasted and he enjoys something new there because he was given a scissor like tool to cut or cracked the shell off the sometimes leathery crab shells. At the end of the sumptuous dinner, we were given a fingerbowl (to clean your fingers from all that messy eating). We didn't have room left for dessert, and when it was time to pay, I was surprise at the bill and for those who are thinking of going there, the Old Bay Steamer is pretty reasonable for the amount and quality of food that you get. We will definitely be back again, that's for sure!

For those who wish to indulge in great seafood, Old Bay Steamer is famous for their seafood steamers. Steamers include Lobster, King and Snow Crab, Clams, Mussels, Oysters, Blue Crab, marinated Blue Crab Claws and jumbo Shrimp. Steamers-for-two features Maine Lobster, King Crab, Snow Crab, and Shrimp.

Vacation - Sightseeing- Airforce armament museum

After a few days of 'roasting' under the hot sun, we decide to do some sightseeing around the area. We got this free guide to the emerald coast booklet and thought a visit to the airforce museum sounds cool! The Air Force Armament Museum is located near Eglin Air Force Base's main gate and is the only facility in the U.S. dedicated to the display of Air Force armament. Visitors can view a variety of historical Air Force planes, from a B-17 World War II bomber to an F-4 Phantom II jet. They have exhibited Aircraft from world war II, exhibited armament showing a wide variety of bombs, missles, and rockets and also the newest air to air missle, the AMRAAM, and the GBU-28 bunker buster developed for use during the Desert Storm. Other missles are the Paveway series, Falcons, the Tomahawk, Mace, Hound-dog, radar controlled, laser controlled and several guided by a TV camera in the nose.In the Gun Vault, Weapons range from a simple 1903 Springfield rifle to the GAU-8, which is capable of shooting 6,000 rounds per minute. Featured is the Sikes antique pistol collection with over 180 pistols, including flintlock, dueling pistols, western six-shooters, Civil War pistols, and a wide variety of early military weapon. My son enjoys this visit so much that he must have his pictures taken in one of the cockpit, and he talks about wanting to be a pilot now when he grows up!

Vacation - Discovering the emerald coast

The biggest and most obvious attractions are the Gulf of Mexico, Choctawhatchee Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway. Along with those attractions comes sailing, boating, fishing, snorkeling, diving, riding jet skies, surfing, kite-surfing etc. After checking the room and amenities in our condo, our next step was of course the white sandy beaches that can be seen from our balcony. Although it was raining half hour ago, my son was eager to be out there. The water was not as clean as we thought at first glance because it had been storming the whole morning. We talked to a few people at the beach and the reason why there are seaweeds is because of the recent hurricane bertha which had been recently downgraded to a tropical storm. When we got back to the room, we tuned onto the weather channel and it shows that it's going to be stormy with scattered showers and thunderstorm the whole week!! What a bummer!! The next day we got up early and went to the beach again. This time, the weather was perfect until after 12 pm before the sky starts to get cloudy again. Here are some of the few shots that we took. Enjoy! Watch next, where we visited the airforce base museum. Note. I got this map, below from the web, and the star below does not reflect where we stayed. We are where the island strip is, Santa Rosa Island or Okaloosa Island.

Vacation - Emerald Coast - Fort Walton Beach - Arrival

We left Evansville at 2 am and arrived at Fort Walton Beach around 1 pm. The drive was long and albeit making a few stops we managed to be at the registration counter long before our check-in time. The weather was extremely beautiful when we left Evansville to cross into Nashville and Alabama, but the minute we cross into Florida border it was raining cats and dogs with lightnings and strong thunderstorms. We made a decision to stop because the heavy rain and lightning made it difficult for us to drive on. As soon as the rain slowed down we left and continue our journey to Santa Rosa Blvd., where the El Matador Condos are located. Upon arrival at the assigned condo, we were surprisingly shocked and in awe at how beautifully kept the place is. It's just so exquisite and the smooth countertop in the kitchen blends well with the granite surrounding in the kitchen. The living room is beautifully decorated with wall paintings and decorative dry plants and flowers makes the interior surrounding relaxing. Both the living room and the master bedroom have access to the balcony which faces the Gulf of Mexico. I can imagine waking up every morning on the Gulf of Mexico with exquisite jade waters and quartz white sand in my backyard!! It's just so heavenly! Here are some pictures which I took of the interior and the view from the balcony. Wait for my next topic on how beautiful this part of the world is!

Health - Mammograms

This is a very serious message -- but a little humor always helps!!!
Thought this may be helpful for your upcoming mammos... and a reminder to get them, because our worst ENEMY is BREAST CANCER!!

Please scroll down... to train for a mammogram...

I had my physical today and....JUST HATE GETTING OLDER!

Ok, now you've had your laugh, GO GET YOUR MAMMIES GRAMMIED!

Nobody needs to know... It will be your secret!