Celebration is (almost) over...

So the water dragon is officially marching into the year. Had a fantastic week for my chinese new year break. Went hometown for a few days and had rounds and rounds of Texas Poker, Black Jack and In-Between with brothers and parents. I think in the end, I made some money, very little though :). Kids had a great time playing fireworks and messing around at home with the cousins (all boys!). My sister did not go back this year, so there was only one girl, my 4 year old, there. She was always getting bullied because she was the only girl, she was crying and complaining every other hour. Poor thing, hopefully next time my nieces will come along so the girls can have a gang of their own.

I also had the chance to meet up some long lost classmates from secondary and primary school, thanks to Facebook. We had 2 tea/coffee sessions. Most of them are in S'pore, KL or still in BP. Glad to hear most of them are doing mighty fine. Hope to see you girls again, maybe next CNY?

Delicious Soup. As usual, forgot to take pix, this one from link.

We ate at home most of the time. My kids and us are very big fans of soups and so for one dinner, I cooked fish maw/bladder, mushrooms and scallops (ingredients were from a gift pack from brother to mum) soup, slow-cooked with pork ribs (recipe here). It was delicious, even the kids loved it, surprisingly (because I thought the taste would be a bit strong for them). I never knew how to cook fish maw and only got acquainted with it through my MIL in recent years. I will be trying that again soon, when I get to buy some fish maw and scallops. But, actually, the things we snacked on most during the week were bak kua and 100 plus. Not too healthy...

Yee Sang in Fortuna Palace, Prima Kajang

We came back on 4th day of CNY and proceeded straight to dinner with hubby's family. 2 tables at Fortuna Palace with my in-laws and sister-in-laws and their families. My eldest sister-in-law's hubby's treat! I heard it was RM1200 for both table! Pretty hefty but maybe because it was CNY period lor.

It was a great week spent with family and friends for me.

I have started work since Monday. So back to the usual routine. But CNY goes on for a few more days and ends on Chap Goh Mei. Next Monday and Tuesday are public holidays and that coincides with Chap Goh Mei, so it would be more celebrations with family. A small fortune was spent on angows for the nieces and nephews and a larger fortune for my parents and in-laws. But what the heck, it's once a year only. Anyways, my bank account is a bit deflated and to make matter worse, all the children fees, i.e. kindy & piano, have been increased! Plus there are assessments and taxes to be paid for the properties every beginning of the year. Sigh, more money going out... sian ah...

Part of the relatives, my kids are in the pix too. Me? I am taking the pix.

Since we are back to reality, we have been thinking of how to make arrangements to take care of the additional bundle of joy which is coming in 2 months plus time. My hubby is really reluctant to get live-in help, which I kind of agree. We will leave this as the last resort only. My hubby tried to ask for aunties living nearby but so far no avail. We asked one of our church lady and she seems willing but she has not given us an answer yet. We still have a few more months before we really need the extra help at home to assist my MIL. And yesterday, we heard some good news that my workplace is setting up a nursery/kindy. Construction is currently underway and I hope it will be ready in a few more months so that can be one option for us. It's within the campus compound and it will be easy for me to check on the baby (or even my 4 year old daughter if I send both of them there). So I really hope the centre will be operational soon enough. This is a really positive step that the company is doing as staff benefits. I just hope it will be affordable or subsidised!

Lastly, my daughter's 4th Birthday is in a few weeks. Too tired to do anything big (sorry girlie girl), so most probably just cake and pizzas with family and in-laws. And I will bring her out to pick up a big present on the day!