O.o

I just worked out that by February next year I will be aunt to fourteen nephews and nieces.

At the moment the oldest is about twelve and the youngest is two days old.

*heartmelt*

She doesn't know it yet but that soft spot I have for her grows every time she gives me that smile. She turns one next week. :) So fast. In March she was still such a tiny thing.

Archeology

I am a hoarder. My defence is that it runs in the family. :) I hoard everything from bank statements to bills, to grocery lists and takeaway menus. Sifting through the clutter is absolute archeology.

I just found my little black and white polka dot umbrella buried under some recipe clippings.

It is probably about time to start throwing things out and start filing properly. My any-available-surface filing system horrifies my very organised dad.


Update:

Its been a productive day. :) Bought the groceries, returned a library book, did the laundry, froze an ice cream tub of mangoes, fixed the doorbell, conducted a pre-emptive strike on the ants, tossed out some junk and did a year and a half's worth of filing.

Maybe I'll buy myself a Grill'd burger for dinner as a treat. :)

Happy

I've been feeling happier of late. I think it comes from the joy of being able to surprise the people that I love and care about with something nice.. like a tiramisu cake or mangoes. :) It feels like I am doing something right.. that I have been blessed and that it is only right to pass it on.

I also met an old friend for dinner tonight. We haven't met in almost a year so it was great to catch up. He is the only person I know whose enthusiasm for atoms and quarks is truly contagious. :) When he explains the science of it, he breathes life into the topic and makes it interesting even for someone like me who isn't into nitty gritty details.

We went to kay poh the Australian Geographic shop. It has the coolest stuff ever! There are ant houses, constellation globes that project onto walls, telescopes that are programmed to point toward planets and stars you want to see, metal detectors, plasma lightning balls and dinosaur skeleton excavation sets. The dinosaur skeleton sets are very cool. You chip away at red dirt plaster to reveal the bones. You can then assemble your very own dinosaur skeleton! Ooh! And I bought a friend's birthday present there. Since he does not read my blog, I can tell you that I got him a Galileo thermometer. It is incredibly cool. :)



As the perfect end to my evening, I saw a shooting star while walking home. The bright orange streak lasted for about a second but it still fills me with wonder when I think of it. I've seen shooting stars before but this was the biggest, brightest one I've seen yet.

We live in an amazing world.

Sugar

Last week I came across an absolutely fascinating book entitled Sweet Poison by David Gillespie. It made such an impression on me that I am curtailing my sugar intake indefinitely, which says a lot as I have been known to eat ice cream for breakfast and copious amounts of chocolate.

What struck me most was the fact that high blood-glucose levels have been positively linked to cancer growth.

Both sides of my family have a history of cancer and diabetes. I always believed that we had bad genes but reading this book made me think that perhaps bad genes may not necessarily be the issue. Perhaps over-consumption of sugar could be to blame.

I know that it sounds crazy to be giving up sugar but somehow it seems to be the logical thing to do.

Hm. I don't think I will be able to stay away from sugar when I go back to KL though. I am still looking forward to trying out that cendol place John used to go to when he was in high school.

On a completely unrelated topic, last night when I was walking through Chinatown I saw the funniest thing. There was a busker playing Theresa Teng's Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin on his keyboard and there were two young guys in business suits spontaneously dancing the waltz. They were definitely passersby as they still had their satchels slung across their shoulders.

:) I love Melbourne. The most random things happen here.