And The Buck Stops Here

Actually, I would love to pepper and punctuate this blog entry with copious amounts of the f-word (to be used as verb, noun, adjective, whatever). However, due to delicate ears (and the prospect of a severe ear bashing from the Parents) I will tone down this entry (no matter how steamed up I am inside).

From this day onwards (and since most of the Bosses have already found out anyway), I will make it be known that this Madame has decided to take a career progression leap and has tendered her resignation from the Company (and the Parent Group of Companies) with effect from 6 November 2009.

No more pussyfooting around the bush - I am glad to say that I will be going up the corporate ladder doing things that I am unable to do so presently. It will be a good boost to my morale and personal well-being (take that you vindictive, petty idiot who (remainder of the sentence shall be left unspoken for the time being)!). My lovely directors who are wishing me well are wishing me off with many a good advice in my stead - I have a lot to learn from those I love.

I don't expect a company farewell - too many issues at stake. It is sufficiant that my lovely colleagues are planning weekly farewell makan sessions for my remaining 2 1/2 months with the Company - hahaha, I mega love you gals. I hope to exit quietly and gracefully (if possible).

Whatever it is, I know I will enjoy forging new ties with the NewCo full steam ahead (pun intended). Management being upset or otherwise, I don't really give two hoots (or a rats ass about it) - all I know I am going off to have fun.

So take that and sit (your puny, considerably thick skinned hiney) on it.
Sekian.

Petty Is Is As Petty Does

If the plan is trying to make me the black sheep for the next few weeks, it ain't working.
If the plan is payback time in answer to that letter, it ain't working.
If the plan is trying to ignore me for the net few weeks, it aint't working.

Cheh, it's looking more and more petty by the hour. The horizon looks more and more greener (or bluer, depending on which angle you see it).

Sorry, but I don't kowtow to such attempts.
You have me until you get sick of me.
Sekian.

Project Home - DIY Phase

So, we finally got our balcony in our master bedroom all bricked up and ready to be turned into a small study cum reading nook for ourselves. However, the budget has ran and Madame here has turned to the trusty world wide web to get some DIY ideas so as to save some dough (well, lets put it this way, The ElVaVee Fund has now turned into a HomeDeco Fund, so contributions are still much welcome folks!).

The KgAmpang home seems to have quite a bit of hidden treasures within, so am hoping I can gather enough stuff to furnish the reading nook as well as a bedroom that would eventually be turned into Inky and Impy's playroom.

Oh, I also have an airwell which is looking pretty redundant. Am loath to brick that one up as I will lose out on natural lighting in the living room. So I am in search of ideas on how to create a fuss free , low cost, care free indoor garden / hangout area. Maybe I should take a leaf out of my neighbour's book who settled the problem by purchasing a freaking huge fake potted palm (or was it a banana tree) and stuck it in a pot which was placed smack bang right in the middle of the airwell.

Now that this Madame has no more qualms in leaving her work desk bang on time at the end of the day (hahaha, like who cares anyway?), she will pay visits to local DIY centres and that BigBlue&Yellow building for good bargains in getting the Home all spruced out and dandy.
Yes, at the expense of my pockets.

I Heard It Through The Grapevine

For a division, the Company (and its subsidiaries) is pretty humonguous. So, one would expect that a mere individual such as yours truly is just a small fish in a huge ocean. Am just a kucirat earning her keep, yadda yadda and all that jazz.

However, for the past 2 days, this Madame has found out that this Division has got one damn bloody efficient grapevine - too over efficient, if you ask me. The news has even gotten past the Malaysian borders to reach all the way to the Netherlands.

Sigh.
Can I please remain incognito and crawl into the nearest worm hole to escape it all?

*am wondering sapa lah mulut tempayan Company ni*

Roller Coaster - Day 4

Overnight, my roller coaster of a week continued its downward plunge.

OtherHalf's granddad passed on peacefully after almost 2 weeks post op. The tough ol' man who I highly respect has gone to meet the Almighty and also his dear departed wife.
Towards noon, felt my head banging to the beat of some invisible jungle drums.
After a nap, checked my office mail to find out some dodo head went and sent a vital document of mine all the way to HongKong - idiot fish.

Right. Tommorrow will be another dramatic day I believe.
Wish me luck.
Ciao.

Roller Coaster

Oh my freaking God. What a roller coaster of a weekend - and it's only Wednesday. Dramatic is an understatement. Where do I begin?

Met up with MarinadelRay on Friday night - had a quick teh tarik session to boost our spirits in anticipation of the weekend. Got my chenta hati arm candy as well - thank you Mumsie! Love you very very much.

Lazed around the whole Saturday morning before dragging my hiney off to one of the VP's for R&D Deepavali do with my Legal sidekick, MummySiKenit(s). Turned out brilliant. Met such lovely people, social butterflied with Company people, then sasshayed off to KayElSeeSee where we had a mini AmazingRaceALike, before chilling on some nice, comfy sofa chairs sipping icy cool drinks.

Sunday was spent packing up some personal belongings in office as we were about to move office space. Since no more could be done in the office - the new premise wasn't even fully painted yet! - I managed to get some me time by being pummelled (and thank God, not stomped on) by a chunky masseuse (who unfortunately was not blond and handsome and did not go by the name of Sven - darn it).

Monday onwards just went downhill-ish. The whole Monday was spent cleaning up the new office space and organising stuff around. Work done was almost zilch. The end of the day just got worse as this Madame agak ter-sentap with some crude, insensitive remark made by a colleague. Instincts almost made me unleash my kekadang-takde-insurance-nyawa tongue, but sanity took hold of me at the last few seconds as this was someone who I had to work real close with in order to get my way. Unfortunately, the crap mood encroached onto the correspondence I made with over the emails - they had to suffer with a rather sharp tongue transcribed into my emails (I even had a meek reply from HongKong acknowledging it, oh dear!).

Tuesday began calm-ish, but my calm-ish mood was provoked by a certain individual - name and identity withheld for now. Come just before noon, OtherHalf rang me up, calmly informing me that a small fire broke out in the kitchen. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Rush home after lunch to find out that, alhamdulillah, it was a small fire and the only casualties were a table fan, an extension plug and my kitchen curtains. Thank goodness the workers attending to my master bedroom renovation noticed the fire and managed to contain it. Thank goodness OtherHalf was at home. Worked from home, then went for a little breather at the BigBlue&YellowStore before getting another phone call from OtherHalf enquiring why on earth our eldest was not home from playschool. Picked her up en route Home to find out that the Principal and teacher-cum-childminder went MIA and the other childminder had no idea how to contact me. Sigh... Mood was not lightened up when even close to dinnertime, the master bedroom was still covered in thick, heavy dust.

Today, mood has not lightened up. Was put on a guilt trip by a Chairman's secretary who insists that all board members attend a board meeting which was nigh impossible to get a date for. Spent the whole morning wrangling a tentative date by calling god knows how many parties concerned and placating said Chairman's secretary, who almost had a fit trying to get a slot. In between arranging said Meeting, the newbie CluelessChick jangled on my already fit to burst, fragile nerves by constantly harrassing Ursula to check on this, check on that, get this, get that (this, by the way, has been going on for the past 2 weeks - I have been tolerating it so far as it has meant that Ursula has managed to get more work done in the last 2 weeks than for the last 3 months!). However, enough is enough. Today, she got my sharp tongue unleashed by her constant Where, Where, Where? and not using the God given senses to actually get off her (skinny, yet almost miraculously, heavy weighted) bum and search for the said items. By all accounts, I have been a nice enough boss and given her leeway and grace period for the past 4 weeks, but it's time she learnt how to look for things properly with her eyes and brain, absorbed my work methodology and not leave my files cluttered around when she has finished looking for things (only I am allowed to clutter my own workspace, spank you very much). Oh, and learn how to take the fast spaced instructions emanating from me on an ad hoc basis.

Oh, what a long half week it has been so far. Let's see where the roller coaster ride shall take me, aight? At this juncture, I bid you all adieu and bon nuit! Let's hope tomorrow will be a lighter, calmer day.

ps - CluelessChick should really go by the nomer CikPuanB*n**tB*r*t, but really, even I won't be so Evil Queen to refer to her as THAT name here. Woops.
pps - apologies all around, I still am in my Evil Queen mode, which looks like staying hard and fast for the remainder of the week. Sekian.

I Miss Being A Real Corporate Tai Tai

How time flies..

Can you believe it? It’s been almost a year since I’ve returned to the Motherland after spending almost a year in the Land of RobinHood&HisMerryMen. It’s been almost a year since I’ve been back in the folds of the Company. It’s been a great year, but lately I’ve been doing some thinking.

Sure, it’s great to be back as a full time career woman with a maid to assist me in the house cleaning and looking after the kiddies whilst I am at work. However, I can’t help missing the days when I was back in the UK where yours truly was truly a Corporate Tai Tai. Those days, it was nice to work at full speed for half a day, take the afternoon for some Me time with a spot of lunch and shopping, then spending the rest of the afternoon bonding with Inky.

These days, I have to admit I am pathetically trying to be the perfect Corporate Tai Tai, trying to juggle a rather demanding career and relatively heavy secretarial portfolios and just trying to be there my two children. It wasn't too bad when I had Inky alone - I felt like a Superwoman then, being able to do almost everything and anything. Now that Impy has come along, it really is a struggle to pay equal attention to both of them, whilst running the household. Whilst I used to be an early bird at the office, I now can count my lucky stars if I can arrive punctually through the front door at 8.30 am. By the time I leave the office, wade through the traffic and reach the Home gates, it would be Maghrib-time and there would be that very short stretch of time during which we could all have dinner together and horse around together. At the moment, I am surviving on precious little sleep as Impy is a rather light sleeper whilst Inky would hog the whole of the bed. The weekends will be spent juggling between paying attention to both parental units, the hubby, the children and running the household. And in between, I do have certain social obligations to fulfill to keep up with the world (no offence, but I'd rather not have my life revolve solely around the kids).

I do try my best though. I make sure Inky and Impy are well gomol-ed (in between my Cafe World addiction). I make sure that the Family gets a cooked meal from me during the weekends. But darn, it's hard.

Oh well. This might sound like a whiny post to you but heck, I'm getting pretty strained out. Wish the government would take a look at the possibility of introducing part time or flexi working hours to cater for working mommies in this country. So, the pay might not be as rewarding as working full time, but heck, at this point of time, I feel that missing out on bonding with the children is a huge opportunity cost to working full time round the clock. Nevertheless, having the maid is still a need for this Madame has she is not domentically inclined in the cleaning department (especially with a Home this spacious).

Well, here's wishing that things might turn out for the better in the near future. In the meantime, I think I need to plan for a well deserved break and put in some bonding time with my hubby and girly gals - sans li'il kiddies running amok around you.