My Happiness Project

Having been inspired by the book I'm reading online, "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Craft Rubin, I am now preparing a list of things that I would like to do once I move into my new house. Moving into a new house closer to my daughter's school is in itself the first part of my own happiness project. Being closer to her school will eliminate two traffic jams, one in the morning (from my current house to her school), and one in the evening (from her school back to the house). Cutting that traffic time from my daily schedule will give me more time to spend with my daughter in the morning and in the evening! I'll even get to eat breakfast with her, which we only get to do on the weekends, and since I'll arrive home an hour earlier, we can go for a walk together! Then I'll be able to get my daily dose of exercise that I so direly need. Yay! :)

Also, I plan to eat more vegetables at home. So hopefully, after my daily walk (or for starters just 3 times a week), I plan to always make time to steam or blanch fresh vegetables for dinner. And then cook whatever else to go with rice. Fish preferably. We eat too much chicken I think. And chicken is notorious for having all those chemicals injected into them. Once in awhile, meat or lamb. This is just a plan, but I hope I'll be able to pull it off. The vegetables at least, with rice and eggs.

Salma will get her jalan-jalan time with me when we go for our walks, so that should keep her happy. And then after a nice hot shower, and after dinner, we will get ready for bed. Early. I think sleeping early does wonders for your health. Sleeping early will let your body get its 6-8 hours of sleep. If I wake up early, say at 5 am (which I sometimes do), then I can spend that time reading in bed or preparing breakfast or ironing clothes.

We'll start off with this, and then I'll add other plans to my happiness project!

Infant & child CPR

I've just completed a Basic First Aid & CPR Training last week conducted by the Malaysian Red Crescent Society. And I am so glad I attended, because now I know how to perform infant & child CPR, as well as treatment for choking, both for adults and children! I wasn't part of the original participant list, so I was so glad that they decided to include me in!

The procedure for treating infant choking has changed in the last few years, so I'm glad I learned the new safe way to treat choking. Salma has choked once, but my husband was able to dislodge the piece of plastic that she swallowed. And thank god for that. I felt so helpless at the time, because she really did turn blue. But now I know I will be able to handle that situation if it arises again (but hopefully it won't).

Conducting CPR on a dummy wasn't easy, I must say. We were all surprised at how lifelike the dummy was. I hope I will never be in a position where I have to administer CPR, but at least I know how to know. And the dummy had a name some more… which was funny. The chest would rise and fall with each breath you administered during CPR. And that's how it should be in real life. Had that weird feeling when I saw it happen.

New Working Environment

I am now working for a non-profit organization, and it's really refreshing to work with an organization that really understands my needs to provide for my child's needs. I mean, I've worked with family-friendly organizations before, but never have they been this friendly! The HR manager is a real HR manager, who understands a mother's need to attend to pressing matters regarding my child, so that it doesn't disrupt my work. All the other HR managers I've had before were just shite. (Almost all of them… though not all).

For awhile now, I've been distracted by the fact that we just could not find a suitable school or daycare center that is located between my home and my new work place. As a result, I have had to drive an extra 10km each day to send my baby girl to her playschool before making the long drive to my new office. After viewing numerous schools/nurseries, all of them were found wanting. None of them could match up to the standard set by her current school. So as a result, we've decided to move closer to her school instead. Even though the rent is slightly higher, I'm hoping the savings from the reduced toll & petrol will make up for it.

I am looking forward to finally living somewhere that is more convenient for my child. I'm putting her priorities first. I think it's better that she stays happy in her current school than to move her out into some place depressing. I hope she appreciates this sacrifice we're making for her!