Spring Cleaning

May 17 (Day 15, cycle 2)

How time flies.....it is already middle of May and we are almost half-way into 2007! And in 6 days time, I am due for my 3rd chemo, which will mean I will be at the 50% completion stage of my chemothrapy treatment, yahoo...!Now that I am back to feeling normal, I am ready to do it again. If anyone were to ask me on my 8th or 9th day if I was looking forward to the next chemo cycle, my answer would probably be very different.




Putri says: "Mama Mi.....are you going to skip Emend the next time and go for the same anti-nausea medication for your first cycle....what was it....Arcoxia? That made you go wek-wek but you were tired only for 3/4 days. Emend worked to stop you from going wek-wek but you got constipated and became a real nuisance updating your friends on your daily bowel movements. And boy, weren't you tired....zapped....flat....like that stuffed toy that you use to support your neck..... Maybe you ask the good doctor if there is another anti-nausea that is better than Emend and Arcoxia? Ask lah.....don't be shy...."





I am beginning to miss my babies very much. When my brother Ijan came, he showed me some videos of Troy, Ashley and Putri that he captured on his mobile. Waaail.....they sound like they are right there in front of me, golek-golek and miaowing so seductively. I would go back to Melaka with my friend RJ had it not been for the fact that I am now committed to hold the Garage Sale on Saturday, something that I need to do to clear some pre-loved but no longer relevant stuff. It seems 2 houses on my street are participating, and a few others on the other streets.

During my morning walk to get the papers, I did a recce and saw that the Estate Agent had posted banners on a couple of the houses, and she told me that someone will be coming to post a banner on my gate so the neighbourhood will know where to go. I was the last entrant. I felt that it was divine intervention that I came to know about the event. I would usually only read mail (including junkmail) if they come in envelopes, rarely loose flyers which will go straight into the thrashbin, unless they are absolutely eye-catching. But that day, I had actually gone through every individual piece of flyer, card, and junkmail, and came across the invitation to participate in the Garage Sale. It is an opportunity for me to unload and unclutter, and I really should make the most of it.

It must be a time for spring cleaning. The DBKL in collaboration with the Sri Hartamas Resident's Association has also initiated some activities to spruce up the neighbourhood and make it safer. For a few days now, we have trailers and cranes lopping of branches from the Raintrees lining the road bordering Damansara Heights on the other side. All the trees now look like multi-pronged catapults, bare and half their original heights. We have lost some leafy green shades under which our visitors could park their cars, but we now have added assurance that no cars will be flattened should a strong tropical rainstorm uproot any of the tall trees or should a huge branch be struck by lightning and alight on a waiting car below.

I hope I will be able to sort through what I needed to go through prior to the Garage sale and that I will not exhaust myself too much in the process. 2 of my young nephews have volunteered to help so if they don't change their minds, I will have 2 energetic assistants. The thought of clearing and creating space in the house is very exciting though. At least now, I should be able to prepare a decent room downstairs for the soon-to-arrive-but-God-knows-when fulltime maid. At this time, the room is full of stuff that are not required in the other rooms as well as boxloads of memories.

The boxloads of memories are the hardest to part with, inconsequential though they may seem to others, I have held on to them for the longest time....old school magazines, old photographs, postcards from travels ( that I sent to myself in KL), brochures, tickets, cards and postcards from friends, travel journals, itineraries, gifts, and yes.....(blush).....old cards and letters in the days of Mr Postman, bring me a letter. Some at least 30 years old. I know I still have a letter from my Mum written to me when I was a student in the UK, which contained a recipe for rendang. A treasure if there is one. And plenty of Hallmark cards for various occasions from various friends and acquaintances-birthdays, festivities, Valentines, Thank-Yous, Sorry and much more. Just as I can't explain why I have kept them all these years, I find it hard to explain why it will be difficult for me to let them go now.

Well whatever. My target is to clear the room downstairs so that the wardrobe in there would be empty and not contain kitchen and baking paraphenalia that I hardly ever use, and to create enough space on the floor to install a single bed or a day bed. If I can do that, it will be a major achievement as it is something I have intended to do for a long time but did not know where to begin. Until now.