I think this photo sums up how I feel on most days (in a good way). In fact, I’m beginning to feel that the word “busy” is way overused and I’ll need to find some other way to describe the state of my day-to-day activities.
(In case you’re curious, here are some words you can use instead of “busy”.)
Reuben’s a bit under the weather, soldiering rather cheerfully through a cold. He still can settle himself to sleep without much help from me, just a piece of cloth with a dash of eucalyptus essential oil placed by his pillow to help clear up his nasal passages enough to let him breathe a little easier. Poor darling. I’m managing the brood on my own this weekend as my hubby is away in Langkawi for his company’s annual retreat. They’re living it up at the Andaman (but I hear that they haven’t kept the place as well as they should have for a 5-star establishment).
As for myself, I’ve been working in as much soaping time as I can while all three children are fast asleep, and have finally replenished all my soap varieties (phew!). They’re now curing. This coming week, Tangy Lavender and Summer Fizz will be ready to ship—and while they look a tad different from the current product photos, they still have the same lovely scents that you have come to know and enjoy. I’ll be working on new photographs soon and will put them up as quick as I can.
This photo of my curing rack was taken just last week. Today there is another rack identical to this (they’re both from IKEA, RM69 each) next to it (we removed the towel rail you see to the left of this rack), and they’re both chock full of soap! Haven’t had time to photograph the new setup, but what’s even more amazing is the whole cocktail of scents floating about in my office these days.
Alas, it will take more than heavenly or invigorating scents to keep me going at all that needs to be done. There’s just no substitute for an uninterrupted night’s sleep.
Phwoar. I’ve enjoyed every moment of each day for the past few weeks, but oh my, the amount of things I end up cramming into my 24 hours is approaching near ridiculous. Even finding time to reply e-mails has proven to be tricky! Thank you for your patience—you guys know who you are.
Anyway, just to let you know that I’ve finally managed to squeeze in some soaping sessions to put these on the curing rack:
Tangy Lavender (ready by 23rd July 2010)
DreamTime (ready by 27 July 2010)
Summer Fizz (ready by 30 July 2010)
I’ve also had to stock up on my essential oils to cater to some wholesale orders and enquiries I’ve received. As a bootstrapping operation it hurts when you know that you could have gotten a much better deal if you bought supplies in bulk… but at the end of the day, managing cashflow is all important to a small business’s survival. There’s no doubt that the old adage of ‘cash is king’ rings true!
Apart from that, we’re enjoying moments like these:
From left to right: my dad, Brandon, my brother, his wife, and Andrea. That was taken after a home-cooked bak kut teh dinner at our place, the first meal I cooked for my dad and brother since I got out of confinement. The kids adore their uncle and aunt, and vice versa. Grandpa is always tickled pink by the things that Brandon and Andrea say.
It’s all good, but I can’t help but think that my mom’s missing from the photograph. I do miss her so.
Say hello to Reuben, our newest little love bucket. He’s grown so much in just one month!
Starting Thursday, June 24th, my confinement period is officially over and I will be moving back to our home. It’s been a blissful time of having peace and quiet for the better part of the days, taking my time to get to know Reuben, and catching up on rest.
Initially, a few days after my delivery I was psyched up to jump straight back into the soap business. Now I know better! So I do hope that you’ll bear with me as the family adjusts to our new routine, and I figure out how to manage my time between the household and Kinder Soaps.
To all who have placed orders with me during this past month, thank you so much for your patience and kind words. I’ll get in touch with you as soon as I can about your soap, but please forgive me for any delays that may crop up.
Our baby boy made his way into the big, wide world at 6am, Thursday May 27th, weighing in at 3.15kg. We’re both very well, and my hubby is doing a fantastic job taking care of Brandon and Andrea while I spend my confinement month at my in-laws’.
So Kinder Soaps will be ‘closing shop’ until June 25th—I won’t be able to ship out any orders since I’m away from my work area (and I’m meant to be resting up anyway). But you can still browse the shop, place your orders in advance or get hold of me via e-mail, which I will respond to as quickly as I possibly can.
In the meantime, I may be blogging occasionally from my personal website, and you can read about Reuben’s arrival here.
We’ve had a great weekend with the family, and carving out some time to have conversations that don’t revolve around family with my hubby is always something really precious—especially since we have 2 toddlers who require so much personal attention.
Listening to this takes me back to the months leading up to our wedding, where hubby and I were painstakingly putting together our photo montage to be presented at the wedding dinner. It evokes so many emotions—of hope, freedom, promise, elation. It was a blissful period. We chose this as the backing track for the video.
Well, it looks like baby #3 is all set to join us at any time. Although his expected due date is on June 13th, the contractions I’ve been experiencing (even with the prescribed medication) have been intensifying gradually. Last night found me rolling all over my side of the bed, unable to sleep for the slight discomfort.
If you’d like to have more regular updates from me, you can follow my Tweets, or visit my personal blog:
I miss making soap. Unfortunately when I feel like a whale trying to walk on land it’s not the most practical of endeavours for the time being, so I’ll be hanging around on the Web most days. Feel free to drop me an e-mail or a message on Twitter. I’ll be around.
Phew, last night my gynae finally gave me the go-ahead to be discharged from the hospital, and I’m now home with my family! Baby and I are doing well. I’m very grateful for the whole experience—I got some much-needed rest, and I’m also even more thankful for my hubby and children (though I can’t say I’ll miss hospital food).
Apart from medication, the doctor sent me home with advice to put my feet up more often and not to do anything too strenuous. I’ll have to adjust to being even less active than I was last week, which feels very strange! But still, business will go on as usual here, though not quite as speedily as I would like.
Thank you for all your good wishes and prayers—they helped in some way or other, I’m sure! Have yourselves a great weekend.
Gone are the days of me cringing at the thought of my mom yelling at me to do things (or Not to, more often!) — because I’m the one now sounding like a broken record when I’m with my two darlings!
My favourite line: “And if all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?”
Happy Mother’s Day to all you mommies out there. And while I’m at it, why not treat your mom (or yourself) to some skin-loving goodness by getting her a bar or two of my soap? Go on, have a nose around the shop.
Here’s the gist of it: Brandon’s got hand, foot and mouth disease, and Andrea’s now warded at a local hospital after running a temperature and suddenly getting febrile convulsions shortly after. All in the same day.
Hubby and I will be running around doing what’s necessary for the kids and ourselves, and all soap-related things will be taking a backseat until the dust settles. The kids are actually both quite alright. Brandon will take about 5 days to a week to recover completely, and Andrea seems to be sporting a simple sore throat, which the doctor says is the reason for her fever in the first place. Administering antibiotics intravenously and keeping her overnight at the hospital seems a bit over the top to me, but I suppose it’s better for her to be there in case she does have another seizure.
In the meantime, I hope you’re all keeping well and healthy. Take care now.
After a 3-hour wait at the gynae yesterday (yes, that is the average waiting time with my doctor), we know we have a baby who’s growing at a normal rate, and is in good health. At 28.5 weeks, he’s estimated to weigh in at about 1.4kg and is a very active little bundle indeed.
On the downside, the additional weight I’m bearing overall seems to be putting even more pressure on the sciatic nerve running down my right pelvis. It means that everytime I start moving after remaining stationery, whether standing, sitting or lying down, there’s a chance my right leg might just give way from under me with no warning whatsoever. I used to be able to catch myself just in time to prevent an outright fall, but these few days I have actually just crumpled into a heap on the floor or crashed into doorframes. The pain in my hip itself is fleeting, thank goodness, but the falls it can cause is much more of a concern.
So I’m really glad that I could push out those last few batches of soap when I did. My body’s telling me it needs a break from all the standing around, hovering over the soap pot and bending over molds and cutting soap up. :”> In the meantime I shall still be busy handling customer orders, formulating new soap recipes, reading and researching, and getting my accounting books in order.
And reserving whatever physical strength I have to hug, kiss, cuddle and carry my two darlings.
He’s grown so much in just one month!
The pain in my hip itself is fleeting, thank goodness, but the falls it can cause is much more of a concern.
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