A Homemaker’s Diary

I’ve been playing Cityville on Facebook for a while now. I’ve never thought I would be a diligent game player, not when I have a household to run and a toddler to chase after. But somehow I managed to play Cityville almost everyday.

There are many things I’ve learned from playing Cityville.

One, you have to prioritize based on the limited sources you have – cash, coins and most importantly energy. You can’t do everything at one time. You have to choose your goal.

Two, you need to ask for help if you want to achieve something bigger and make it work faster towards your goal. And if you want others to help, you must be willing to help others as well.

There are times that you have to be patient and wait for the greater things to come. Sometimes you have to wait for days and even weeks for the goal to be achieved. You must not give up easily. Even while waiting, you must not sit futile, plant crop, harvest them, deliver goods, visit friends. My point is do something worthwhile with your resources.

You must make sure that you do something to completion. You cannot just build a community building (i.e build a hospital) and not make effort to get all the necessary items (gold plating, marble etc) to make it a complete work. If you find the effort to get all the materials as tiresome (you need to ask your friends, or give them one, you’ll get one in return), then you can’t achieve the ultimate goals of having bigger population in your city. Conclusion, the minor things and the small details are needed to attain greater level in life.

I guess it could be applied in life as well.

Certain days you will wonder whether what you have done is enough or you could stretch yourself thin to achieve more. There are certain days that make you feel like you accomplish nothing special, just running a mundane daily routine. Even if it doesn’t get to your goal any closer, you will still earn something (like getting XP which will bring your city to next level).

Same goes with daily life, the routine might be boring but it will still give you something – a way to get things done more effectively (in my case, how to cook while holding a crying son, or how to take a shower in 5 minutes while brushing your teeth, shampoo your hair, scrub your face and body), which in the long run could make you wiser and somehow if you choose to, could let you see life in a totally different perspective.

This was taken a few months ago, I think. I finally edited it a few days ago to be a part of my parenthood entry.

Early this year, Anmum sent us some finger paints with sponges and roller..(I snap the picture but couldn’t find it now) Plus in this house, our son always have access to painting materials. His obsession currently is to pour most of the paint into the palette and then after a few dab here and there, he will go to the bathroom and wash the paints for ages..huhu!

The poster colors were bought at Art Friends together with a few bottles of Folk Art acrylic paint..(the price is about the same) But if you ask me, the poster color is easier to clean up, but the color is not as bright and vibrant as the acrylic paint. I bought acrylic paint because I use the paint as well for my craft work.

Oh, if the acrylic paint get smudged on your toddler’s clothing, wash the stain right away. Otherwise once it dries, it will get stuck there forever. Many of my son’s daily wear has been ruined that way..but who cares..haha..I am raising a Picasso..heh! *Not advisable for mums who are neat freak.

I almost forgot about this modelling clay I promised Ida of Applecrux to show on this blog.

We bought them at Art Friend the Gardens for RM6.90. It comes in 10 colors, never dries out and soft enough to be manipulated by small fingers. Of course in my home those clays ended up being stomped and squashed on the floor..huhu!

This is different than polymer clay like Sculpey or Fimo that artist usually use to do art.

Oh, talking about Sculpey, I visited their website and found this useful tutorial on how to make the farm characters like cow, pig, sheep etc. Check out Friendly Farm Characters.

If you are using polymer clay, once you have designed the clay the way that you like, you can bake them in normal oven and it will harden. You can then paint the baked materials with acrylic paint.

During dinner time I told Hubby about something I read in National Geographic recently.

It’s about birds particularly the species of dark-mantled Sooty Albatross.

During breeding season, these birds build their nests on nearly inaccessible ledges in some of the most rugged and least visited islands of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Because of their choice of secluded life, not much has been known about the life of the albatross.

It is known however that the female lays but a single egg, which both parents take turns incubating.

If a couple successfully raises a chick one year, they seldom breed again the following year.

I think both of us are like this dark-mantled sooty albatross.

After some calculative thought, I decided to buy this UDDEN console as the kitchen island for now.

Well, I don’t really need an island in order to cook daily dishes to feed the family, but having some special space to cut and put ingredients are definitely a good way to save some stress running around in the kitchen.

The console is stainless steel so the cleaning up is really a breeze. Plus it is quite high, thus I don’t have to worry so much about leaving the knife on the chopping board while I go to the fridge to get some more cooking materials.

I also bought the wire shelf so that I can put all the pots that I use on daily basis. I am the type of person who forget about tools and things that I have in my possession if I can’t see them in front of my eyes..heh! Well, some would say it’s a sore to their eyes to see things not hidden in kitchen cabinet, but I rather be a practical person than someone who values appearance more than its real value.

Oh, the best part is I managed to have this sideboard with minimal cost…thanks to handy manny Hubby. After browsing IKEA hackers website, I told Hubby about my plan to make my own sideboard, so that I can put more kitchen equipments (that are rarely being used but will be fully utilised if put outside) like food processor and mixer while using the power point at that side of the wall.

Hopefully Hubby will have some free time soon to write about his hacking experience. The sideboard project is not fully completed yet as we plan to find MDF or plaster board and make panels for both sides and back of the sideboard. Maybe we will put wallpaper on the handmade panels later.

This hacker sideboard is also great to be made into a counter bar as it is high enough for a toddler to climb onto..(you wish!!)