Did these two last week but didn't get round to posting the back links :p
We're into September 2010! Yay!!!
They say "A happy family is but an earlier heaven". Come have a look around and immerse yourself in our brand of heaven! Join Pamela & Matthew and their three kids Isaac, Asher & Shawna in their adventures duly logged in The Tan Family Chronicles!
Monday, 16 May 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Look like me or not? (Plus backposts!!!)
Isaac's school is asking for pictures of Mummy & child for a lookalike contest. How? This one can? Look alike??? kekeke... I'd let you know if we win, k.Backpost links!
Tan Family Chronicles - Blog2Print!
People always express wonder at how I have the time to keep up with this blog. Well, I always say that I make time to do this, because I think it is important to chronicle the days as they past, for... firstly, the kids grow so quickly! Growing a family is a wonderful journey that may be tough when you're in the midst of it, but eventually, we make it through, and we often look back in wonder of how we did it. I don't want to forget my experiences, especially the good ones! Secondly, if you don't actually take note of what you're doing, a whole year (years!) can fly past and you're left wondering "What did I do this year?". Thirdly - it's just an excuse for me to write, so that my verbal diarrhoea is assuaged to a certain extent. hahahahahhahaa...
But here is the point of this post - I wanted to share with you a service I found which helps me print my blog into books. Seeing the books printed full of content all written by me, and photos of my kids, does play a large part in keeping me motivated in to keep my blog going.
This service is Blog2Print!!!
I was paranoid about losing the contents of my blog should Blogger one day suddenly collapse, or some earthquake causes the internet to go haywire. So I was searching for a service/vendor that can print my blog, without me doing it manually. And finally, last year, I found this fantastic service called Blog2Print - they actually print out a copy of my blog and bind it into a book!
All you have to do is:
1) give them your blog URL,
2) enter the time period you want your blog posts printed,
3) choose a cover, choose a cover photo
and voila! you can print a book out of your blogposts!
It's really easy to use. And they're constantly improving their service by adding features which make your book even more customisable. But it's optional whether you wish to further customise - things like the ability to choose certain posts, or delete comments etc. But the basic functions are very easy to use, and very good already!!! I did not fancy manually printing my blog as it is bound to be a very tedious exercise!
The books are available in softcover, or hardcover, and you can even order a pdf copy of the book which costs US$7.99 the last time I did that. Yes, I actually ordered both the hard cover copy as well as the pdf copy (for back up! :p).
You can see some of the books I ordered in the first pix of this post. That's how they packed the book when they shipped it - they shrink-wrapped each book to a cardboard which was bigger that the book, so that the danger of it getting knocked into is much reduced. So the books got to me in great shape - no dented corners whatsoever! :)
Blog2Print actually prints the blog in chronological order so that the oldest post (in the time period specified that you wish to print) is right on top, so you read the book in chronological order like a normal book... as opposed to blogs which have you reading "backwards" in time since the newest posts are on top.
They also have a content page with page numbers, so that if you wish to look for a particular post, you can look at the content page to help you search for it. Very handy indeed if you have a lot of posts like I do!
The best part about this is, they print out the photos I have on my blog in full colour!!! And the colours turned out very nicely as well - forgive the quality of my pictures here for they're taken with my mobile phone. But trust me, the colours of the pix in the books look great! :) They even have a 'space saving' mode where you can choose to have them layout the print of your posts such that the pictures of the post are printed, then the text (actually, I can't recall before or after). But I didn't choose that, as I intentionally like to space out my pictures and and my words. However, as you can see, even in this mode, they still try to save space (and hence save money!) by printing two pix side by side if there is no text in between. Hence, you may have noticed in my recent posts that I have started to have my text every two pix, instead of between each post. kekeke...
Blog2Print has cover templates for you to choose from. You can then upload photos to be used on the covers - front and back (below). They even have an option for you to insert a dedication page. It's really quite cool :) When I first discovered this service, I printed one book, just to, ya know, try it out. And I really liked it. So when a discount coupon comes along, I printed the rest of my blog! So that first pic up there was when I printed like 4 books at one shot.
Oh they're not 4 copies of 1 book, they're 4 different books. I generally try to squeeze 1 year's worth of blog posts into 1 book, but even then I have so many posts in a year that the book got too thick, so in the end I had to print 2008 and 2009 into 2 books each. Each book had more than a hundred pages each. So together with my 2007 book (only one since the blog was only started in August 2007), The Tan Family Chronicles Series now has 5 volumes!!! kekeke...
I'm looking forward to printing my 2010 posts, once I am done with all my backposting! Oh! Yes, this is also the reason why I am backposting all posts with 2010 pix to December 2010, so that they would appear in the 2010 books that I print with Blog2Print!
Blog2Print is a fantastic service. Of course, they have room for improvement. My wishlist would be (1) Option to have bigger pictures printed in the book. (2) Fully customisable covers (3) Ability to choose the fonts used. But so far, they have been great, constantly asking for feedback, and coming up with new features. One of my wishlist items used to be that they have a plain black cover template - and now they do! Yay!!! Makes me wanna print them all out again, this time in black covers! Classic!
Oh! One thing I haven't covered is the cost. Price of the book you create depends on a few factors:
1)Hardcover or softcover?
2) Number of pages
3) Contents in full colour print, or black & white?
Prices start at 20 paged book - Full colour - US$14.95 Softcover / US$24.95 Hardcover
Every additional page costs US$0.35 each.
Black & white book start at US$10.95 each, additional pages (after the first 20) are at 10 cents each only.
Above prices quoted from Blog2Print website as of 1st May 2011.
To know exactly how much you have to pay for your book, you should go create one online, and then take the transaction as far as seeing your total cost (which they add a shipping fee to). This is the only surefire way to know how much your book costs. Just be careful not to confirm the transaction if you are not ready to buy the book yet.
So how much did my books cost? Well, for the lot of 4 books you see pictured above, that I made in July 2010, I paid a total of US$302 - which translates to about S$430, inclusive of international shipping from USA to Singapore. This was after a 15% discount coupon I used as well. (Go sign up at the website, it's free to create an account. Now and then, they will send emailers with discount coupons during certain times of the year. If you're not in a rush to get your book, just wait for a coupon before you print a book. 10% is more common. 15% is a steal! which I why I went ahead to print 4 books at once.)
The 4 books I printed are full colour, hardcovered books, about A4 sized (can't recall A4 or Letter sized). And the page count for my 4 books are 166, 141, 201 and 200. That's a lot of pages! So, in my opinion, S$430 for 4 thick books, including shipping, is very worth it. If I had to spend the time and energy to manually print my blogs and bring them to a bookbinder to bind, I think it will cost me more than S$430. So, really, highly recommended, especially if you have a blog.
They even have a Everything2Print service where you can print... well, everything! You can 'print your word doc, pdf, twitter, facebook... Though I can't imagine how they'd print the facebook, I didn't try. And I'm not a twit (kekeke pun intended!) so I dunno how that's gonna work... but I think it's a cool service to check out too! :)
Oh! before I go, one warning though, their international shipping is SUPERBLY SLOW. Really. Really. SLOW. So, dun be a cheapo like me to choose their cheapest shipping (I regret choosing their cheapest shipping). I think should choose one of their better shipping methods. Then again, maybe I'd just write them some feedback complaining about their shipping.
OH speaking of which... They do NOT accept Singapore registered credit cards. Which is really dumb. So I paid via Paypal, which they accept. No biggie for me coz I have Paypal, but for those of you who don't have Paypal and don't have any credit cards not registered in Singapore, bugger - Blog2Print's loss for not getting your biz coz of this silly policy. Just thought you'd like to know.
Alrighty! So run along now, go check out Blog2Print. The pix in this post aren't the most flattering at the moment. Will take some better pix and update this post with them. Or if and when you come by my place, I could show you the books themselves! The Tan Family Chronicles Series Volumes 1 to 5!!!
But here is the point of this post - I wanted to share with you a service I found which helps me print my blog into books. Seeing the books printed full of content all written by me, and photos of my kids, does play a large part in keeping me motivated in to keep my blog going.
This service is Blog2Print!!!
I was paranoid about losing the contents of my blog should Blogger one day suddenly collapse, or some earthquake causes the internet to go haywire. So I was searching for a service/vendor that can print my blog, without me doing it manually. And finally, last year, I found this fantastic service called Blog2Print - they actually print out a copy of my blog and bind it into a book!All you have to do is:
1) give them your blog URL,
2) enter the time period you want your blog posts printed,
3) choose a cover, choose a cover photo
and voila! you can print a book out of your blogposts!
It's really easy to use. And they're constantly improving their service by adding features which make your book even more customisable. But it's optional whether you wish to further customise - things like the ability to choose certain posts, or delete comments etc. But the basic functions are very easy to use, and very good already!!! I did not fancy manually printing my blog as it is bound to be a very tedious exercise!
The books are available in softcover, or hardcover, and you can even order a pdf copy of the book which costs US$7.99 the last time I did that. Yes, I actually ordered both the hard cover copy as well as the pdf copy (for back up! :p).
You can see some of the books I ordered in the first pix of this post. That's how they packed the book when they shipped it - they shrink-wrapped each book to a cardboard which was bigger that the book, so that the danger of it getting knocked into is much reduced. So the books got to me in great shape - no dented corners whatsoever! :)
Blog2Print actually prints the blog in chronological order so that the oldest post (in the time period specified that you wish to print) is right on top, so you read the book in chronological order like a normal book... as opposed to blogs which have you reading "backwards" in time since the newest posts are on top.They also have a content page with page numbers, so that if you wish to look for a particular post, you can look at the content page to help you search for it. Very handy indeed if you have a lot of posts like I do!
The best part about this is, they print out the photos I have on my blog in full colour!!! And the colours turned out very nicely as well - forgive the quality of my pictures here for they're taken with my mobile phone. But trust me, the colours of the pix in the books look great! :) They even have a 'space saving' mode where you can choose to have them layout the print of your posts such that the pictures of the post are printed, then the text (actually, I can't recall before or after). But I didn't choose that, as I intentionally like to space out my pictures and and my words. However, as you can see, even in this mode, they still try to save space (and hence save money!) by printing two pix side by side if there is no text in between. Hence, you may have noticed in my recent posts that I have started to have my text every two pix, instead of between each post. kekeke...
Blog2Print has cover templates for you to choose from. You can then upload photos to be used on the covers - front and back (below). They even have an option for you to insert a dedication page. It's really quite cool :) When I first discovered this service, I printed one book, just to, ya know, try it out. And I really liked it. So when a discount coupon comes along, I printed the rest of my blog! So that first pic up there was when I printed like 4 books at one shot.Oh they're not 4 copies of 1 book, they're 4 different books. I generally try to squeeze 1 year's worth of blog posts into 1 book, but even then I have so many posts in a year that the book got too thick, so in the end I had to print 2008 and 2009 into 2 books each. Each book had more than a hundred pages each. So together with my 2007 book (only one since the blog was only started in August 2007), The Tan Family Chronicles Series now has 5 volumes!!! kekeke...
I'm looking forward to printing my 2010 posts, once I am done with all my backposting! Oh! Yes, this is also the reason why I am backposting all posts with 2010 pix to December 2010, so that they would appear in the 2010 books that I print with Blog2Print!
Blog2Print is a fantastic service. Of course, they have room for improvement. My wishlist would be (1) Option to have bigger pictures printed in the book. (2) Fully customisable covers (3) Ability to choose the fonts used. But so far, they have been great, constantly asking for feedback, and coming up with new features. One of my wishlist items used to be that they have a plain black cover template - and now they do! Yay!!! Makes me wanna print them all out again, this time in black covers! Classic!Oh! One thing I haven't covered is the cost. Price of the book you create depends on a few factors:
1)Hardcover or softcover?
2) Number of pages
3) Contents in full colour print, or black & white?
Prices start at 20 paged book - Full colour - US$14.95 Softcover / US$24.95 Hardcover
Every additional page costs US$0.35 each.
Black & white book start at US$10.95 each, additional pages (after the first 20) are at 10 cents each only.
Above prices quoted from Blog2Print website as of 1st May 2011.
To know exactly how much you have to pay for your book, you should go create one online, and then take the transaction as far as seeing your total cost (which they add a shipping fee to). This is the only surefire way to know how much your book costs. Just be careful not to confirm the transaction if you are not ready to buy the book yet.
So how much did my books cost? Well, for the lot of 4 books you see pictured above, that I made in July 2010, I paid a total of US$302 - which translates to about S$430, inclusive of international shipping from USA to Singapore. This was after a 15% discount coupon I used as well. (Go sign up at the website, it's free to create an account. Now and then, they will send emailers with discount coupons during certain times of the year. If you're not in a rush to get your book, just wait for a coupon before you print a book. 10% is more common. 15% is a steal! which I why I went ahead to print 4 books at once.)
The 4 books I printed are full colour, hardcovered books, about A4 sized (can't recall A4 or Letter sized). And the page count for my 4 books are 166, 141, 201 and 200. That's a lot of pages! So, in my opinion, S$430 for 4 thick books, including shipping, is very worth it. If I had to spend the time and energy to manually print my blogs and bring them to a bookbinder to bind, I think it will cost me more than S$430. So, really, highly recommended, especially if you have a blog.
They even have a Everything2Print service where you can print... well, everything! You can 'print your word doc, pdf, twitter, facebook... Though I can't imagine how they'd print the facebook, I didn't try. And I'm not a twit (kekeke pun intended!) so I dunno how that's gonna work... but I think it's a cool service to check out too! :)
Oh! before I go, one warning though, their international shipping is SUPERBLY SLOW. Really. Really. SLOW. So, dun be a cheapo like me to choose their cheapest shipping (I regret choosing their cheapest shipping). I think should choose one of their better shipping methods. Then again, maybe I'd just write them some feedback complaining about their shipping.
OH speaking of which... They do NOT accept Singapore registered credit cards. Which is really dumb. So I paid via Paypal, which they accept. No biggie for me coz I have Paypal, but for those of you who don't have Paypal and don't have any credit cards not registered in Singapore, bugger - Blog2Print's loss for not getting your biz coz of this silly policy. Just thought you'd like to know.
Alrighty! So run along now, go check out Blog2Print. The pix in this post aren't the most flattering at the moment. Will take some better pix and update this post with them. Or if and when you come by my place, I could show you the books themselves! The Tan Family Chronicles Series Volumes 1 to 5!!!
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Shawna goes shopping (plus backposts)
Again, pardon the picture quality - these are pix from my phone, taken a week ago, last Friday 22nd April 2011.
We were in a shopping centre which had some kiddy rides like the one above. Hubbs was carrying Asher, and was talking to a friend he had bumped into. I was talking to Isaac, Natalie and Becca, trying to teach them how to steer the ride, as well as stop the machine, to prevent any collisions.
Suddenly, my helper walked past me, and said "Did you see Shawna?!". Immediately, I started scanning the surroundings, coz clearly, Shawna had disappeared. My sister overheard, and started searching as well.
We were in an open area that led off to quite a number of shops. Thankfully it wasn't very crowded, and I could see quite clearly into all the shops and I didn't see Shawna in them. However, there was that Cold Storage which went quite deep in... somehow, I just thought I should search inside...
And true enough, there she was. At least 10 metres deep into the store, Shawna was walking around the fresh produce section. And she was, just... strolling. She wasn't even crying nor looking for any of us!
SIGHZ! It was quite a scare! - "Shawna!!! Don't go off shopping on your own okay?!?! Must bring Mummy along!!!" :p
Backpost links
We were in a shopping centre which had some kiddy rides like the one above. Hubbs was carrying Asher, and was talking to a friend he had bumped into. I was talking to Isaac, Natalie and Becca, trying to teach them how to steer the ride, as well as stop the machine, to prevent any collisions.Suddenly, my helper walked past me, and said "Did you see Shawna?!". Immediately, I started scanning the surroundings, coz clearly, Shawna had disappeared. My sister overheard, and started searching as well.
We were in an open area that led off to quite a number of shops. Thankfully it wasn't very crowded, and I could see quite clearly into all the shops and I didn't see Shawna in them. However, there was that Cold Storage which went quite deep in... somehow, I just thought I should search inside...
And true enough, there she was. At least 10 metres deep into the store, Shawna was walking around the fresh produce section. And she was, just... strolling. She wasn't even crying nor looking for any of us!
SIGHZ! It was quite a scare! - "Shawna!!! Don't go off shopping on your own okay?!?! Must bring Mummy along!!!" :p
Backpost links
Friday, 22 April 2011
Random (plus backpost)
Hahaha I'd always wanted to do that - name a blogpost "Random". Why? That's coz I would have never thought of doing it. But like last year, there was a time, when I discovered some young people (defined as young working adults younger than me - sob sob, once upon a time, I was these people, but now I'm no longer one of the youngest in the workplace! sob sob). I digress. Anyway, one time (a few times), I was reading some young people's blog, and these people (so not just one blog, but many blogs) titled a lot of their blog posts "Random". And it's not just one person (blog) but many people do that! In the end, I noticed that the common denominator, was that these people are all younger than me. Sob. Generation gap. Must be! What other explanation can there be!?!? :p
Oh! I was inspired to name this post "Random" coz the 3 mobile phone pix (uploaded to facebook)below have no connection (sorta). So... very... RANDOM... lor!!! HAHAHHAHA :p kekeke...
8th April 2011. Asher, Isaac and Shawna in the car - in their child seats. I wanted to take this picture, to chronicle the days that we have to have 3 child seats in the car. With 3 child seats, our 8-seater Honda Freed is reduced to being a 6 seater car. Which is just right for us - hubbs and I, the kidzes, and our helper. If we need to ferry someone, out goes one or more child seats. Same, if we need boot space. It's a hassle, yes, but I wanna train the kidzes to sit in their car child seat. They're really much easier to handle when they're all seated. Asher & Shawna, have (thankfully) taken to the child seat much better than Isaac did at that age.
March 2011. Macy & Isaac's puppets that they did in school (childcare). I love taking pix of his art and craft etc :) (Much easier to keep than the actual stuff themselves!) Cute puppets!!!
13th April 2011 Isaac was very sick this week, fever and cough etc. Didn't go to school the whole week. And I was in between jobs, so I got to be home with him a bit. We spent quite a lot of time playing games that week. (And playing his choo choo train - his Thomas and Friends train tracks - but that's another picture, and another story...) So, this picture above, is of us playing Ninja Versus Ninja. It's one of his favourites at the moment. He won this game that we played too! (I was close behind, ok. Just 1 point behind!!!) I like this game too. But actually, I think it is not so suited for Isaac's age, as it is cheemer (tougher) than it looks. I think he will enjoy it more when he is older. But then, he enjoys it now already, so *shrug* better still!!! :) Read more about the game here http://www.myfirstgames.sg/ninja-versus-ninja.html
BACKPOST LINK - Friday nights fun! :)
Oh! I was inspired to name this post "Random" coz the 3 mobile phone pix (uploaded to facebook)below have no connection (sorta). So... very... RANDOM... lor!!! HAHAHHAHA :p kekeke...
8th April 2011. Asher, Isaac and Shawna in the car - in their child seats. I wanted to take this picture, to chronicle the days that we have to have 3 child seats in the car. With 3 child seats, our 8-seater Honda Freed is reduced to being a 6 seater car. Which is just right for us - hubbs and I, the kidzes, and our helper. If we need to ferry someone, out goes one or more child seats. Same, if we need boot space. It's a hassle, yes, but I wanna train the kidzes to sit in their car child seat. They're really much easier to handle when they're all seated. Asher & Shawna, have (thankfully) taken to the child seat much better than Isaac did at that age.
March 2011. Macy & Isaac's puppets that they did in school (childcare). I love taking pix of his art and craft etc :) (Much easier to keep than the actual stuff themselves!) Cute puppets!!!
13th April 2011 Isaac was very sick this week, fever and cough etc. Didn't go to school the whole week. And I was in between jobs, so I got to be home with him a bit. We spent quite a lot of time playing games that week. (And playing his choo choo train - his Thomas and Friends train tracks - but that's another picture, and another story...) So, this picture above, is of us playing Ninja Versus Ninja. It's one of his favourites at the moment. He won this game that we played too! (I was close behind, ok. Just 1 point behind!!!) I like this game too. But actually, I think it is not so suited for Isaac's age, as it is cheemer (tougher) than it looks. I think he will enjoy it more when he is older. But then, he enjoys it now already, so *shrug* better still!!! :) Read more about the game here http://www.myfirstgames.sg/ninja-versus-ninja.htmlBACKPOST LINK - Friday nights fun! :)
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Trying very hard! (plus backpost)
Yes, me, I'm trying very hard to catch up with my backposting - which till now, is still in August 2010! But I've managed to keep this blog up for 3 years plus (since Isaac was born) and I shall continue to persevere!!!
I'm also thinking if I should concurrently update the new pictures while doing my backposts... still considering, coz the chronologicalness ingrained in me is protesting... But, I don't like to have wordy posts without pix, so here! I have got the pix below off hubbs' facebook - these are pix which he has taken with his phone and had them uploaded on his fb. So, forgive the blurriness eh, but in the meanwhile, they'd do - so that my blog post is not pictureless!!!
Also this is an attempt to capture the pictures that we have taken from our phones. The pictures from the phones are usually a bit blurry, and quality wise - not very good. However, they really capture the spirit of the moment, sometimes. And often, they wind up being our handphone wallpaper etc for a period of time. Something to look back on as well. So, the Tan Family Chronicler (that's me) will want this chronicled as well. Enjoy!
pix taken circa April 2011
Asher & Shawna @ 15 months
Isaac @ 3 years 8 months
I'm also thinking if I should concurrently update the new pictures while doing my backposts... still considering, coz the chronologicalness ingrained in me is protesting... But, I don't like to have wordy posts without pix, so here! I have got the pix below off hubbs' facebook - these are pix which he has taken with his phone and had them uploaded on his fb. So, forgive the blurriness eh, but in the meanwhile, they'd do - so that my blog post is not pictureless!!!
Also this is an attempt to capture the pictures that we have taken from our phones. The pictures from the phones are usually a bit blurry, and quality wise - not very good. However, they really capture the spirit of the moment, sometimes. And often, they wind up being our handphone wallpaper etc for a period of time. Something to look back on as well. So, the Tan Family Chronicler (that's me) will want this chronicled as well. Enjoy!
pix taken circa April 2011Asher & Shawna @ 15 months
Isaac @ 3 years 8 months
The two pix above, was hubbs brave brave attempt at bringing the 3 kids to Jurong Point, all by himself! I was away that morning - was Qing Ming, went with my parents and the Lee Family relatives to sweep tomb... Brave hubbs! :)
Oh!!! Almost forgot my backpost link - Beautiful kids, they are! Good post with lotsa beautiful pix!!! :) Enjoy!!!
Oh!!! Almost forgot my backpost link - Beautiful kids, they are! Good post with lotsa beautiful pix!!! :) Enjoy!!!
Monday, 18 April 2011
Sick, again?!?! (plus backposts)
We're all sick! Again!!! Yes, we were, last week was quite bad, like the entire week, we were all sick. But we're better now...
It first started with Isaac last Saturday night 9th April 2011 - he had fever. Started Saturday night, through Sunday. Monday we brought him to see the pd. Coughing very badly. Fever. Sick through Tuesday, and Wednesday...
Wednesday night, I lost my voice. Think I caught the bug from Isaac and it caused my voice box to bugger up - rendered me voiceless. Through Thursday, Friday and Saturday, you hardly heard anything from me. Sunday was just slightly better. Hubbs was enjoying the silence tremendously.
By Sunday, Isaac was much better, and so was I. Think this was largely coz on Thursday, we went to see my uncle who is a GP, and we were both put on antibiotics. However, by Friday, Asher came down with fever, and Shawna on Sunday... SIGH...
Anywayz, as of today - Monday 18th April 2011 - Isaac is better and went to school today (after skipping a whole week last week), I am better and went to work today (1st day at work!!!), and the twins are better now. Hope we're all on our way to complete recovery! :)
Here are two backposts for you! Pix from 6th August 2010.
It first started with Isaac last Saturday night 9th April 2011 - he had fever. Started Saturday night, through Sunday. Monday we brought him to see the pd. Coughing very badly. Fever. Sick through Tuesday, and Wednesday...
Wednesday night, I lost my voice. Think I caught the bug from Isaac and it caused my voice box to bugger up - rendered me voiceless. Through Thursday, Friday and Saturday, you hardly heard anything from me. Sunday was just slightly better. Hubbs was enjoying the silence tremendously.
By Sunday, Isaac was much better, and so was I. Think this was largely coz on Thursday, we went to see my uncle who is a GP, and we were both put on antibiotics. However, by Friday, Asher came down with fever, and Shawna on Sunday... SIGH...
Anywayz, as of today - Monday 18th April 2011 - Isaac is better and went to school today (after skipping a whole week last week), I am better and went to work today (1st day at work!!!), and the twins are better now. Hope we're all on our way to complete recovery! :)
Here are two backposts for you! Pix from 6th August 2010.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Catching up!
yes, trying trying! Trying to catch up on my blog. Just uploaded like more than 50 pix into draft posts for this blog... took a lot of pictures last August coz it was Isaac's birthday month, you see.
As you know, I am now in between jobs. Starting work on 18th April, and people ask me what do I do with all my time now, before I start work. Other than my blog, believe or not, I am still catching up on my farewell lunches! hahaha...
Also, I started arranging gatherings with friends... And need to pop by to see friends who have delivered their babies but I haven't had the time to go visit (Weiping, Cecilia, Weiling... congrats guys!!!) Busy with My First Games, making supply orders, collecting supplies, making deliveries, updating the website with new games...
Oh and having fun! hehehe... hubbs took leave today to spend some time with me! We went ktv - KBox lunch special, and then went swimming after that. Then I went to get my wisdom teeth extracted - minor surgery, now I am 2 teeth less, and have a swollen cheek. Hahahahaha...
hubbs tortured me by buying durian... sob sob... I couldn't eat, in my condition. I guess I could, if I really wanted to. But, nah... I'd be on liquids for the rest of today, thank you very much...
And now have been at the computer for awhile now, catching up on my blogging... new post here! Miss the kidzes? enjoy the pix!
As you know, I am now in between jobs. Starting work on 18th April, and people ask me what do I do with all my time now, before I start work. Other than my blog, believe or not, I am still catching up on my farewell lunches! hahaha...
Also, I started arranging gatherings with friends... And need to pop by to see friends who have delivered their babies but I haven't had the time to go visit (Weiping, Cecilia, Weiling... congrats guys!!!) Busy with My First Games, making supply orders, collecting supplies, making deliveries, updating the website with new games...
Oh and having fun! hehehe... hubbs took leave today to spend some time with me! We went ktv - KBox lunch special, and then went swimming after that. Then I went to get my wisdom teeth extracted - minor surgery, now I am 2 teeth less, and have a swollen cheek. Hahahahaha...
hubbs tortured me by buying durian... sob sob... I couldn't eat, in my condition. I guess I could, if I really wanted to. But, nah... I'd be on liquids for the rest of today, thank you very much...
And now have been at the computer for awhile now, catching up on my blogging... new post here! Miss the kidzes? enjoy the pix!
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
My Ascendas Farewell Email
Hey hey hey!!!
Firstly, just wanted to point out that I did a backpost - Isaac in School - pix from August 2010, I just wrote it but posted it to 18 Dec 2010 9.23am. So you can scroll down to see it, or click on that link above.
Secondly... remember I told you I had tendered from my job? My last day was 31 March 2010. And below is my farewell email to all my colleagues! :) I had kinda written it in a rush, so it is not as good as I'd have liked it to be, but unfortunately, it'd have had to do coz I was running out of time to write it. Still am pretty proud of it though. Go read! :)
p.s. I tried my best to keep it short and sweet already!!! No verbal diarrhoea-ing!!!
Hi everyone,
Today is my last day in Ascendas. All 4 years and 9 months of my tenure here. And what a ride it has been! :)
You may have heard of the saying that people are in your life for a reason, a season or for lifetime. I truly believe in that. I am grateful to have got to know each of you sometime in this past 4 years and 9 months.
I have learnt a lot from all of you. Be it finance basics, or property management issues, or legal clauses and concepts, all the way to tips on how to deal with morning sickness, kids throwing tantrums, enrichment classes or baking cakes and cookies and fengshui theories and many many more. You have enriched my life and made me what I am today. My arsenal of lease and asset management skills have been built up here thanks to all the guidance and learning I have gleaned from all of you. I can firmly proclaim that I am a better person today, than when I joined 4 years and 9 months ago, because of you, all of you. And for that, I sincerely thank you.
People ask me if I am sad, or happy to be leaving. I must confess that I look forward to moving on, and pray that my choice of pasture, is greener than the one here. But I am also sad, for Ascendas has come to be a home to me. The people here are beyond nice, and the many friends that I have made here are friends that I wish to keep for a lifetime. Many lifetimes! J
I also thank those of you who have bought me farewell lunches and farewell gifts. I very much appreciate the food and the gifts, but more importantly, I value the time and the company you have given me. I hope this is only a farewell for me in Ascendas, but not that of our friendship. I look forward to keeping in touch with you in the many years to come.
Think of me often. Laugh when you do so. Talk about me, go ahead, gossip, and keep your eye on my facebook page and read my blog often. Bug me to meet up for lunch. I welcome it. Ask me for info or advice – I’d definitely try my best to help you. If I run for election, vote for me :p One last thing I would ask of you, would be, to remember the best of me. Forgive my transgressions and remember me well. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Someone asked me “How do the people who leave decide who to get their farewell email?” This friend then proceeded to tell me to please include her as a recipient in my farewell email. I am flattered that she has asked this. So, please let it be known, that it is my intention to include everyone I know in Ascendas, to be a recipient of this email. If I had accidentally left out anyone, please feel free to forward it to them.
4 years and 9 months is not a super long time to be in a company. Nor is it a very short time to be in a company. But 4 years and 9 months is definitely too short a time, to get to know a person well. Many of you know that I am in Lease & Asset Management, and that I have 3 kids (my boy Isaac, and a pair of dragon-phoenix twins Asher & Shawna). Many of you even know about my passion in boardgames.
But did you know that I used to collect dead mosquitoes and lizard skeletons? Or that I have an interest in a form of theatre called Playback Theatre and have once performed in The Esplanade? Or that my childhood ambition was to become a policewoman, then a writer, and subsequently an architect? :) In short, stay in touch, I have enough skeletons to spill for a lifetime!!! :p
Thanks to technology, please find below a plethora of ways to keep in contact…
My email address: emailpamela(a)yahoo.com
My mobile number: xxxxxxxx
My msn messenger: emailpamela(a)hotmail.com
My facebook account: emailpamela(a)yahoo.com
My blog: www.tanfamilychronicles.
My dream: www.myfirstgames.sg
All Ascendians, past and present, will always have a special place in my heart :)
Love, hugs and flying kisses (with saliva spraying all over you)!!!
;)pamela
REASON, SEASON, OR LIFETIME FRIENDS?
People always come into your life for a reason,
a season, or a lifetime.
When you figure out which it is,
you know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need
you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty,
or to provide you with guidance and support...
to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part
or at an inconvenient time,
This person will say or do something
to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met,
our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON,
it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They may bring you an experience of peace
or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it!
It is real!
But, only for a SEASON.
And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall,
the season eventually ends.
LIFETIME relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons;
Those things you must build upon
in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson,
love the person/people anyway,
and put what you have learned
to use in all other relationships
and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind,
but friendship is clairvoyant.
Thank you for being a part of my life...
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Guess what?! I'm rambling!!! I mean, I'm quitting!!!
SIGH. I feel so sorry for my blog. It must be feeling so neglected ;p Work's been crazy. And what with us trying to start My First Games, and keep it going, and with my 3 lovely kiddos... People tell me they're amazed that I have a blog. Well, I am determined to keep it going!!!
SO! I have decided to quit my job and update my blog on a full time basis!
NOT! hahahahhahahaa.... though... seriously, do you enjoy my writing? Would you pay good money to read something written by me? Perhaps you could start by simply dropping me fan mail... or add comments to the page... (can you hear the desperation?!)
Actually, I decided to quit my job to do My First Games full time..... NOT! *sob*sob* I wish!!! Sigh, I really wish. But then, I am not getting a lot of business, and the margins are not fantastic, so... I'm afraid I can't do it full time yet...
But seriously seriously (I should inprove my vocabulary).... I am quitting my current job! ;p changing jobs. Yes, yes, I found a job before I quit (is there such a word as "quited" as in past tense of "quit"?). Would still be in real estate (no, not agent)...
So anywayz, I have 2 weeks break coming up soon. And I plan to catch up on my blog then. Wish me luck! And stay tuned!!! :)
oh and as you can see, the above rambling is the result of not updating my blog for a long time. Cold turkey!!! blleeaauughhhh!!!
SO! I have decided to quit my job and update my blog on a full time basis!
NOT! hahahahhahahaa.... though... seriously, do you enjoy my writing? Would you pay good money to read something written by me? Perhaps you could start by simply dropping me fan mail... or add comments to the page... (can you hear the desperation?!)
Actually, I decided to quit my job to do My First Games full time..... NOT! *sob*sob* I wish!!! Sigh, I really wish. But then, I am not getting a lot of business, and the margins are not fantastic, so... I'm afraid I can't do it full time yet...
But seriously seriously (I should inprove my vocabulary).... I am quitting my current job! ;p changing jobs. Yes, yes, I found a job before I quit (is there such a word as "quited" as in past tense of "quit"?). Would still be in real estate (no, not agent)...
So anywayz, I have 2 weeks break coming up soon. And I plan to catch up on my blog then. Wish me luck! And stay tuned!!! :)
oh and as you can see, the above rambling is the result of not updating my blog for a long time. Cold turkey!!! blleeaauughhhh!!!
Thursday, 3 February 2011
New stuff for the New Year!
3rd February 2011 - the first day of Chinese New Year! Look who's first up? Shawna! She's playing with the thermometer, trying to take her own temperature. Her brothers are still fast asleep. They look very much alike when they're asleep, yes?
I love shopping for these new pjs. I enjoyed it so much, that, a few years ago, I started to buy new pjs for my nieces too. Each of the kids have their own preference or current favourite colour etc - which makes my task a little challenging sometimes, but hey, I love the challenge! They'd usually wear anything I buy, but it's all the more satisfying when I buy them something they like.
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| If you think the twins look huge compared to Isaac, that's coz they're seated more forward in the picture :) |
At this time in 2011, Asher and Shawna have yet to have any preference for colours, so I tend to get them the usual pink for Shawna and blue for Asher. Usually they'd have a matching pair of pjs too - 2011 had them in a matching "I love Mum" and "I love Dad" pjs. Isaac loves red, and dinosaurs and Thomas. So this year, he has a red pair (the one in the pics), a set with dinosaurs, and a set of Thomas the Engine pjs.
Rebecca likes blue, and Hello Kitty. She is fine with wearing long sleeve shirt and pyjama pants. She's also rather tall, so I make sure to get stuff which she wouldn't outgrow before the end of the year. Isabelle also likes Hello Kitty. She likes pink, and she doesn't like to wear pyjama pants. She likes the dress/nightie sort of pyjamas, so I have to find those for her. The initial years I had trouble looking for those, but now I know where to get them from. Natalie loves the colour yellow. Anything that's yellow, she loves it. Luckily she is alright with wearing pants too, coz it's tough enough finding yellow pyjamas, but if she wanted yellow dress/nighty - now that'd be super tough!
Lately, I'd also taken to buying new underwear for them all. hehehe... it's fun!!! Usually get them a whole set of underwear in a cartoon character.
His tradition though, was to write a nice blessing on the back of the red packet for the kids, and tuck it into them at night when they sleep, so that they wake up to finding the angpow in the morning. Look at Shawna examining her ang pow. Blessings written in Chinese, no less.
In the many years to come, when the kidzes are all grown up with their own spouse and children, I hope they keep up this tradition of getting new pyjamas, blessings written on the angpow, and come visit hubbs and I for our big family picture - and hubbs and I can get our picture with all my grandkids too! :)
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Reunion Dinner 2011 at home
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| Asher & Shawna @ four days to 13 months; Isaac @ four days to 3 years 6 months | Picture taken on 2nd February 2011, eve of Chinese New Year 2011 | This post was written in March 2012. |
My parents-in-law moved in with us when the twins were born. Before, when it was just Isaac, I used to send Isaac to my in-laws' place before going to work. But when we knew we were having twins, we knew it would be impossible for me to ferry all three kids to my in-laws' place before going to work, even if I did have a helper helping out. It was simply too disruptive and too much of a hassle. As a result, my in-laws came to stay with us instead.
So this reunion dinner was a milestone of sorts. It was a dinner of thanksgiving, that we had three lovely kids, and a very supporting family behind us, and that we, as a family, have survived and came through well - the first 12 months of the twins lives. Many people have said that I'm a wonder mummy. I say I couldn't have done it without the excellent help and support from my husband and our families :)
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