gumbokins

there is a pushcart at raffles city basement, near the escalators that sells clocks with printed bg, like florals etc. i thot they looked quite nice..also quite cheap, 30$ish?

eh, the paper wont go soggy with the paint ah? and do you tape them in place while stencilling?

that's so awesome i love bamboo too~ thanks for the idea!!

i believe there can be subtle differences in shades b/w cans. that's why technically speaking, if u are using more than one can of the same colour of paint, that you should mix the different cans together to get a uniform shade. and paint, even the 'odourless' types will smell. give it a day or two to air out.

no, of course my parents were not shoving the money down my throat BUT the way they saw it, the house was a necessity and the renovations were basic. ideally, yes, i would hv loved to pay for the house myself, but let's be realistic. newly married, 2 yrs into a govt job and a baby. help was extended for me, and i am forever greatful for it. i won't knock them up for unnecc. purchases like holidays or upgrade TV etc, that would be unreasonable.

well, my parents expected and insisted that we borrow money from them, coz they felt paying bank interest is ridiculous. so yes, i am thankful that my dad was so miserly with us growing up but for the record we also have a repayment plan hor..my dad gave us his invoice even. as for my bro, well, not married, live at home good what. free everything. again, my parents are like "not married, what to do?" but we all contribute to household expenditures and when we were younger, we worked for extra pocket money during school breaks lah. when i was in NZ, many of my uni classmates were already out on their own. over there, it was quite normal for them to be independent of their parents the moment they reached uni, usually at 17-18 years old. but that's because the govt gave them student allowance FOC and student loans to pay for their fees. imagine, most of them got about NZ$250 allowance per week to pay for living expenses. where got so good here? just like how i wouldnt abandon my parents completely, just because they are financially stable, i do hope that my children will still be around to take care of me, even if not financially, because it's about family values and respect for elders.

i think if it's within their means, then sure, why not! as long as i don't hv to keep supporting them, can liaoz! but looking at my parents, my 30 yr old bro, still staying at home. my dad loaned me the $ for the house COV and reno, my sis still in uni. Parents 55+ liao, still supporting, how and when to retire?

i dont think it makes much sense to be walking and carrying your shoes into the house?

it's a safe....so i'm sure it will be safe even if you put it out in the open lol. that's the purpose, innit?

can you do something with the light? reposition it, so no shadow?

yeh well. eventually u'll just get used to it and ignore the things that go bump.

you know what? we get that 'marble' sound a lot too, at my parents' place. and i often wondered, kaoz, why are they always dropping marbles?? when i mentioned it to friends, they also say 'YAH! my house also..." then my religious teacher told me, that this 'marble' sound is actually made by the Jinn, or supernatural beings created by fire, according to Islam. my colleague also told me of how their downstairs neighbour at their old apartment was always coming upstairs to complain about them dragging furniture across the house, at odd hours of the day and loud chopping noises. even called the police. but they have no kids at home, and were not doing any moving of anything. they even invited their neighbour to sit at their house and observe them. nothing was going on, her brother was sleeping, she was doing some marking and her mum was just an ordinary housewife. spooky. but apparently the neighbour still comes up to complain to her tenants. *cue X-files theme*

yah, urm, no. she will not be confined. she wants to play in the dirty mats, fine, but mummy is tired of having to bend over and put the mats back each and every time. lol!

you know the type of mats you normally put just outside the toilets etc..currently i'm just using the towel type but my baby keeps getting into them and it's so frustuating and troublesome to hv to keep repositioning them :S any suggestions on where i can get mats that are not so flimsy yet absorbent and comfy at the same time?

well usually those stores that sell curtains etc (plenty along geylang bazaar) will sell the belts, usually with tassels etc but i think ive also seen the clip types? but aso can DIY, here's a link with some cool ideas: http://www.ehow.com/how_12021_tie-back-curtains.html

w-e-l-l an activity corner would be nice BUT you need someone to manage it.. cnot just leave the kids to do themselves rite? or just let them run around lah..u can get them involved with bubbles and petals and such

all hail mist, queen of DIY!!!! twins?? DIY?? .....what did your mum feed you when you were growing up?? lol.. impressive, most impressive!

just before u hang up the curtains! lol

Just got my baby belling countertop oven..is it ok for me to place it straight onto my kitchen worktop surface or should i get another board at the bottom?

well they probably don't hv to pay any bills..and can well afford to blow their salary on extravagant items. some kids work just so they can have the good things in life.. but i really do think there shouldn't be any talking in massage places...

there was this big one at Suntec..Ken-Air? it went bust too.. and i believe there have been many complains about big agencies in the papers too.. at least if u DIY urself, if stuff goes wrong you can only blame yourself haha

nah, **** happens with the big agencies too. best is DIY..

my neighbour did one as a partition b/w the living room and main door for privacy. even put in a little fish tank..

if everything hand over, signed etc, not likely you can get the prev owner to rectify coz considered it's a done deal. maybe out of goodwill, but the prev owner is not obligated to fix it because it's regarded that you have inspected the flat and accepted it as it is. i should know. just moved in and already hv to pay for two toilet ceiling leaks. all because during the inspection nobody looked UP.

because having the gene, doesn't mean you will 100% get it. but it varies from cancer to cancer. take breast cancer for instance. having the BRCA1 mutation means you're just more likely (b/w 3-7x more) to get breast cancer, but it doesn't mean you will. most breast cancers are sporadic, with no family history. intelligence and complexion may, to a certain extent be influenced by genes but if you give a child a good education and learning skills and get them to have a healthy diet and lots of sleep, surely you can get a clever kid with a nice complexion?