Introducing The Little Dodols!!!

My dearest cat Bebel finally gave birth to her second litter last Thursday. I dub these second ones the Little Dodols due to their dark colourings, a mixture of orange tabby and black. There are 6 of them and just like the little lempers, the little dodols made their entrance early in the morning.

Kakak already had an instict Bebel was going to give birth on Wednesday night. She said that Bebel seems restless and out of sort. We put her in the cage but she miawed loudly to be let out. So I let her out but keep the playroom door closed just in case she really did gave birth.

I didn't witness their birth but when I opened my bedroom door the next morning Bebel was already there greeting as if saying, come come see my kittens! So I followed her and bing hey ho... She proudly showed her very newborn kittens, all clean! I knew she a good mother :D so proud of her. Guess where Bebel decide to have the baby? In a room in kakak's doll house! So clever of her, choosing a cosy spot sheltering her little kittens from all sorts.

Obviously I can't let the kittens stay in the dollhouse. So began the task of moving the little dodols to their prepared cage while counting just how many of them are. In my excitement I calculated 6 plus 1 runt making a total of 7. I think I nearly collapsed. But later on the da reaise there were only 6. Still, that's 50% more than the lempers. But there was a runt tha I wasn't sure will survive. The runt is so much more smaller than the sibs. Kakak and I tried to feed him but well, nature says otherwise. The next day Runty lay lifeless and cold. Off we go for impromptu funeral in the garden.

Now there's only 5 healthy little dodols. I hope they will grow cuddle and strong as I need to find home for them.

Evolution of a name

I witnessed this little lemper's birth. The youngest of 4, we called it Stella.

Stella is the quitest little lemper yet also the most headstrong. When the other 3 siblings often fights for Bebel's teat, Stella would be the one already peched, fixedly sucking on Bebel's milk. No hurricane can tear Stella away from the milk. Little wonder then Stella grow to be the fattest, roundest little lemper.

Then, as Stella gets older, we noticed Stella is actually Stello. No wondeeer.... He's big cuz well, males usually are bigger than the females. Stello loves running around at fast speed and he loves chasing his siblings around the house. Unfortunately he's not as nimble as his sisters. More than once we saw him bumped into the wall, the door, or the sofa cuz he couldn't break or turn in time during high speed sister chase. Silly boy!

Stello's black mark covers both his eyes like a mask. Upon examining this, babeh promptly claims that he looks more like a Zorro than a Stello. Kakak likes this so much she added it to name, thus Zorro Stello.

Now, kakak loves all her cats wholeheartedly and often gives them pet names such as Bebel for Bella. For Zorro? He get Joyyo. Strong little Zorro became this spoiled little Joyyo. Oookkk... However, Ade doesn't think that this is an appropriate pet name. He then adopts the more masculine Jokko! It's a good thing no one in our immediately household is called Joko since that's a pretty common male name for Javanese.

So that's the evolution of one little Lemper's name:
Stella - Stello - Zorro - Joyyo - Jokko

I hope this cat don't grow with split personality ;)

Ailurophilia

@rinurbad: ailurophilia = love of cats *lirik Mbak @agatogata, Mbak @rahmadeeyanti, dan Uda @melviyendra. #cinta

One of my favourite book translator send me the above tweet today. So cool to know that there's a term for kitty lovers. I do think 'ailuro' is a strange word, never heard that before. That just prove that you learn something mew, I mean new everyday. Which reminds me, I must grab that kitty pic from Uda Melvi before it is gone.

Bebel's Friends photos

When the Little Lempers were complete

Turns out adding pages and pics are not as easy as I thought. I added a few of my friends kitty pics which can be seen on Bebel's friend page. Please take a look. After all that copy paste the result are still kinda basic. I hope my friends are not too disappointed. Need to add more photos!

Miss Bebel

I thought it's funny how on our recent weekend break my little son proclaims that he wanted to go home because he miss Bebel. It's funny because usually it is his sister that would whine about missing the cats. It's infectious I see.
Truth be told, I miss Bebel and the Little Lempers too. That little blob of fur who likes to run around the house and the slightly bigger blob of grey fur who likes to sleep in front of the bathroom, my bed, and on the sajadah or praying mat as well.
So last night I hug all our cats and an extra long hug for Bebel. Maybe she miss us to because somehow she managed to sneak in and sleep in our room last night. She woke us up in the middle of the night though, most probably nature calls.
Dear darling Bebel... May you live long, healthy and be with us always. Kiss kiss.

Rowdy Merry Lempers

I've forgotten how rowdy and rambunctious kittens can be. Now that the little lempers legs are strong, nary a moment goes by without seeing them running around the house.

Every morning we're now entertained by the sight of Zorro, Lila and Kopeng chasing each other. Sometimes Bebel joins in, trying to catch one of them and givess them a thorough licking. Othertimes Bebel entertained the little Lemperss by letting them chasing her tail - complete with a bored expression on her face.

One time Zorro was chasing Kopeng around when at the last possible moment Kopeng turned left. Alas, poor Zorro, he couldn't brake and run headlong to the closed door! Bong! Did that deter little Zorro? Did he stop chasing Kopeng? Of course not! He paused, reflecting on his kiss with the door, decided that he's ok and resumed running after Kopeng.

Ah kittens. How wonderful life is with little kitties in our household :)

Scratching Session

I saw Bebel asleep on my bed, I thought, how cute! And I proceed to take a photo of her with my bb. I forgot her sixth sense when it come to camera. She immediately raise her head, with eyes still closed, and nudge my hand. Uh oh, this can only mean one thing: scratch me!

So I scratch her head, then under her chin, behind her left ear, behind her right ear, repeat with the other hand. This whole routine reminds me of my dad. After dinner while we're watching tv he'll often ask me or mom, whoever is closest at the time, to scratch his back. Difference is my dad would say directions saying left, right, up left a bit or further right whereas Bebel would just move her head indicating the areas she wanted to be scratched. Funny how my dad and my cat can be so similar :D

And what does Bebel do after this extra long scratching session that utilise both hands? She streched, clean herself a little bit, looks at me as if saying, good job human. Then promptly jumps down from the bed and walks out the room.

Oh Bebel, you silly grey cat :p

Afternoon Nap

The Little Lempers are usually a rowdy bunch. They run, they jump, they poke and fight each other. If Bebel feels up to it, she'll join in the fun, playing with the kittens swatting her tail as Zorro tries to bit it. All in all they're an entertaining bunch, livening up our mornings and nights. That is until yesterday...

I went home in the afternoon after my book club meeting. The house is empty since the kids were away with their practices. Bebel was fast asleep under the dining table, Zorro and Lila were also on their favourite spot, the computer table, so the house was quiet until I spot a lone kitten in the corner... Yep, Nina is still awake and unsure what to do. Her face was so funny I couldn't help but laugh. She held this sad and forlorn expression, she kept shooting glances at her mom and sibs as if hoping they will be awake. I asked her why isn't she napping? She just gave this look saying, can't you see I'm clearly not tired? She tried to prove it by playing on her own but her efforts were pretty pathetic, not as energetic as usual. I was thoroughly amused. So I said, mommy is gonna change now, you can play in my room if you like. She declined. Well, suit yourself.

I went into my room, get changed, returned some phone calls, take my own sweet time tidying up stuff then I went back out to get a drink. What do I see? It seems Nina has given up all hope of playing on her own and decided to join her sibling on the table trying to get a nap too. My my, they really are like little human children... my silly little Lempers :D

Cat Phobia?

A friend of mine told me that she visited the site but couldn't read through because she's afraid of cats. Oh no? Why? How come? Cats are such cute creatures, how can anyone be scared of them? Of their pictures no less :( I mean I understand if you don't like cats, I used to not like dogs but even during the time I hate them -back when I was small I was minding my own business biking along the neighbourhood when some unruly dogs came out barking and chaing me for a while- I'm not afraid of their pics, just the actual barking four-legged thing.

So sorry to hear that my friend. I guess you just have to wait for my other blog to be set up since I'm dedicating this one to Bebel, the Little Lempers, and their friends.

Bebel at the Vet

The last time Bebel went to the vet was during her pregnancy. I was in denial about something is cooking in her oven so I went just to make sure she's fine. Now, Bebel has been to the vet before and usually she's a trooper. She so calm that her vet, vet Nia, just adores her. However, this time vet Nia was taking care of some dogs so long story short Bebel was quite unhappy and she nearly bit vet Nia's hand!

But, that was then, and this is now, over 2 months has passed and naturally I was hoping Bebel would be ok in the vet this time. Boy was I wrong!!! Bebel was as stressed as ever! She didn't want to come out of her basket, her body stiffened, she growls and hiss whenever we tried to comfort her and at one point her hair actually stand on her back. Uh oh, not good. So not good sign.

Vet Nia finally gives up after several unsuccessful attempt to hold Bebel. We scheduled for a home visit instead. Vet Nia thinks Bebel would be calmer in her own home and less likely to be hostile. So we'll just have to wait for that. I hope this approach would work because Bebel really need to see the vet few more time in her lifetime. She needs to be sterilised and get vaccinated so she'll be a happy, healthy cat.

However, the visit to the Vet this afternoon wasn't a complete failure. The Little Lempers responded well to vet Nia and her assistant. They let them take their temperature and being checked. All the sexes are now confirmed, no need to change name anymore. Unless Kakak gets bored and decided another round of name change is needed.

I'm very proud of the Little Lempers. Bebel? well... it saddens me because I really like the vet. She's my cousin and she truly loves cat so I know she'll do what's best for the cats. Hopefully Bebel will come around and be calm to the vet like when she 's a kitten. In the mean time, I'm holding my breath until vet Nia comes. Please please let Bebel be just fat instead of cooking another batch in the oven.

PS: if you live around South Jakarta and is in need of a vet for your pet please check-out vet Nia. She's really cool and honest. I love her and not just because she's family but because she truly passionate about her job. Go, you'll love her I'm sure :)

Test

Test mail... Does it works???

New Year New Direction ;)

At the risk of sounding like a gleek, I decided to switch the direction of this blog. Before I was focusing on weight loss but that soon get boring hence the very long blog archive list. So now, why not write about something that really interest me? Someone once said if you do something with love it won't feel like work. Thus, this will be about things I love and passionate about. I think the new title and blurb explains it all :)

Sales!

Ok, what has sales got to do with losing weight? Well, in this case it has plenty connection :D

So, I've been thinking about getting a new pair of sport shoes for some time. Nothing wrong with my Reebok WlkrRner just want to switch shoes every now and then. But the shoes I want are either out of my price range or sold out in my size. Just my luck eh?

I also quite like gadgets, always have been. Yes, I am a bit geeky that way. I've already got a blackberry, a secondary phone that can access the internet, and this year I finally got a netbook -red hp, 10' screen, very cool- installed wifi and wayhey... I'm in gadget heaven. But my inner geek says I'm missing another essential gadget for daily living. The thing is, I have this obsession for having red gadgets and this particulare gadget do come in red but only available only and rather pricey. Again, not urgent so wait for sales.

Now, the star of sales must have aligned yesterday for both of the were on sale at the same time! Oh my oh my. Can you imagine? Delirious would be apt ;)

The shoes ended up 60% off. Still slightly pricey but much better than paying 100%. My other gadget wasn't discounted quite as much but enough to make me break out from my red habit and get it. Hehe. You see, this particular gadget is rarely on sale and even if it does, I'm still a bit wary about getting goods via mail. Not the purchasing bit, but the worry whether my purchase would make it safely to my house.

Thus today I proudly wear my new shoes to the gym. Hopefully this will inspire me to go more often :)

Love,
Sas

The First 3 Months

No, I am not pregnant. I did not say trimester, I say 3 months.

So, i've been falling off the exercise/workout wagon so many times I've lost count. But, I finally realise that unless you really want it then it will not happen. You just have to want to make that change. So what if you fell? What's important is that you go back up and start again! We're not perfect, we're bound to have off days but as long as you don't let the off days linger and get right back then you should be just fine. I think it was reading Bob Greene's article that liberates me. Instead of berating myself, just think, ok maybe I miss/skip/didn't feel like going to the gym today but tomorrow I just have to clear an hour in my day to go there.

and that is exactly what I did.

I just keep coming back to the gym. Some days I forced myself to go. It paid off. Now my body ask for a workout if I've missed it. I can feel my body is aching to go back to get some cardio and a bit of weight thrown in. I can feel myself getting stronger and I like it. I've lost a bit of weight on the upper part of my body, I've actually gone down a size but alas the lower part is still refusing to budge. The lower part is in between sizes. the current one is getting loose but the one under is still a bit tight.

I need to work on my food now. I need to change my eating habit. It is still a bit bad. Need to reduce this and add more of that. Ok, so that's what's been happening. Let's see the progress I make from here on...

Eek! It's 2010

Yikes! When I forgot I really do forgot. No kidding it's the end of March and I just realised I haven't written in here for ages. Probably that's why I haven't lost any weight at all eh ;)

Hehe.. Well, let restart again and hopes I will drop a size or two by the end of this year :D

Love,
Me

Still Raining...

Oke, done with gym for the day. Feel much better. Emerging out into the rain. Yep, still raining.

Today I'm fasting so no hard cardio but still doing circuit with less weight and less repetition in some exercise, from 20 to 15 say. The bulk of it is still the same; steps, lunges, abs, arms, etc but speed walking replaced running and more abs instead of skipping.

It's actually not that bad exercising while fasting, since you don't sweat a lot when lifting weights. Sure I get thirsty but nothing more than usual. I mean, when you fast at some point you will get thirsty so no biggie.

Now, off to pick my kiddies from kindy!

Rain!

Today's plan was to take the kids to school then hit the gym for a 9am exercise. Which is something I've done before. But, it's raining today! Traffic jam! Didn't get to the kids's school on time and it looks like I'm going to be late too.

Hopefully, it won't be that bad and I'll still able to have majority of gym time.

Cross fingers ;)

Return to the Saddle

After more than a week off the gym due to my son's measles and finishing up project at work, I finally step my foot back at the gym. About time too!

I once read on O that it took certain amount of days to change a habit. Basically, if you stuck at it, keep making yourself go to the gym/ writing/ painting/ whatever, at some point your body stops rejecting and starts craving it. I never really put this theory into practice until now.

Probably bored by my whining, my husband sign us up at our local gym and book a set of session with a personal trainer. So, with the pt constantly texting, calling, cajoling me to the gym I started going 3-4 times a week. Plus there's the thought that we already fork over a sizeable sum to the gym so might as well use it. Thus the gym became our new 'church'.

I used to have to drag myself there until I finally see that well, it actually make a difference. Maybe not so much in looks since I haven't lost that much but I definitely feel much better. Like a cliche, I used to feel sluggish and after the gym I feel bright and energized. I may not be healthy but I feel healthier.

So, after about 3 months of this, when I had a week off I find that I'm craving for the gym. My body needs it.

Thus today I return to the saddle. Being somewhat a hectic day, I didn't get to do as much as I would like but its good. I did circuit training; steps, lunges, sit-up, leg-up, some abs and arm work, sprinting, repeat all that, except changet the run into more sit-ups and jump rope.

I'm whacked but happy :) here's to many more happy days at the gym!

Rain

I intend to do morning walk but I either don't wake up early enough or its raining cuz it's rainy season now.

Hmm... Must make better use of that gym. Rain or shine I can always do my exercise there. No excuses!

Yikes! December is nearly here!

Oh my oh my... December is nearly here and I wrote jack shit this whole year! Aaargh!!!

I just watched Julie&Julia, the movie about a blogger who decided to spend a year cooking through Julia Child's cookbook. That kinda reminds me of all the blogs - well, just 2 really - that I have and that I rarely keep it up. Oy vey! If I did I may just well have a book and a movie deal by now ;)

So ok. I barely lost any weight. Just the odd kilos here and there. I think if I keep this more religiously I may be more inspired to lose the weight. Seems to work for some people. Maybe it'll work for me too.

Following the gospel of Nike, the sports shoes rather than the deity, Just Do It!

Updates, I did lost some fat from the accupressure thing. Then I went on holiday to KL and haven't been back since. I think I really should since I can feel my clothes are getting slightly fit again whereas it kinda loose before.

On the other hand, I also joined a gym, courtesy of my darling husband, since July and have been kinda religiously going there. I lost some weight, then it was Lebaran time and I sorta gain it all back (it's an eating holiday kinda like Thanksgiving). So now I have to work extra hard to lose it all again.

So yes, the Quest to Get Rid of Excess Fat is Back On Sister!!!