DR YEE DENTAL SURGERY

The guilt started seeping in the minute I entered the clinic door. Nevertheless, I brave myself to face the harping! Afterall it has been over a year since I last saw her. The routine check up should be at least every 6 months for one who has a molar that is waiting to crack. But I am no different from any other "Jo"anne. Nobody is diligent enough to go for a routine check up when everything is fine. Yours truly is no exception.

While I was in the dentist chair, with my mouth wide open but not being able to respond to Dr. Yee's comment, she said something which really explained the way I am feeling right now at this stage of my life.

"When you hit 40, you are so confident of yourself because of the years that you have experienced and you really know what you want in your life and you just focus on those things!" It took a second to hit me and it took a few more seconds for her to respond to my request to stop cleaning my teeth and let me talk!

And talk I did - I am exactly at that phase of my life that I pretty much know what I want and how to get it. No more difficult decisions to make - do we live in a house or a condo, which condo to buy, how many kids should we have, which school should we send the kids to, which job do I take, will I like the job and the list of worries continued.

I love the age that I am now but I am also looking forward to the years ahead and see what would be in stall for me in the next 10, 20, 30 years or more. As my dentist puts it, you are probably going to be needing your teeth for the next 45 years, so, let's make sure I see you a bit more often than once a year!

ROLEX WATCH

One of the things on MY WISH LIST. In fact just yesterday, I sent Franco the specification for the watch I am looking for. It was supposed to be a subtle hint for him to start scoping for the watch and have an idea of the "damage". It has been two days and still no news....I bet you, he is avoiding KLCC lunch so that he doesn't have to face the hefty price tag!

On the same topic, I had an interesting conversation with Hugo last Saturday as he thought I was trying to be posh by buying a Rolex watch, until he heard what I had to say.

I really only have one watch all my life. It was an Ebel and it was a gift from my grandfather for my SPM result. Yep...that was over 20 years ago. It was the only watch I knew and felt comfortable with and I never had to remove it for anything. It just became an extension of my wrist. The watch was so durable that I never had a scratch on it or even when I had one, a good nice servicing at Watches of Switzerland will remove all blemishes. The watch was timeless and it looked perfect most of the time. It died on me 2 years ago and after that I have been struggling with finding a watch that would fit me.

Two years later

Imagine my joy and happiness when I found one that would fit me nicely. The challenge now is to get Franco to sign on the dotted line....

AEROBIC VERSUS ANAEROBIC

We so often hear people going to the gym to do aerobic exercise but unless you have reached certain level of fitness, anaerobic exercise is probably never heard of.

The term "anaerobic" means "without air" or "without oxygen."

Anaerobic exercise uses muscles at high intensity and a high rate of work for a short period of time. Anaerobic exercise helps us increase our muscle strength and stay ready for quick bursts of speed. Think of short and fast when you think of anaerobic exercise. Examples of anaerobic exercise include heavy weight lifting, sprinting, or any rapid burst of hard exercise. These anaerobic exercises cannot last long because oxygen is not used for energy and a by-product, called lactic acid, is produced.

Lactic Acid contributes to muscle fatigue and must be burned up by the body during a recovery period before another anaerobic bout of exercise can be attempted. The recovery period also allows the muscles to use oxygen to replenish the energy used during the high intensity exercise.

Aerobic exercise, on the other hand, includes lower intensity activities performed for longer periods of time. Activities like walking, jogging, swimming, and cycling require a great deal of oxygen to break down glucose to make the energy needed for prolonged exercise.

Anaerobic exercise is not nearly as effective for directly burning fat as aerobic exercise is. However, anaerobic exercise helps burn fat indirectly by increasing the metabolic rate after the exercise session. Because anaerobic exercise builds muscle and muscle requires energy in the form of calories, more calories are being burned even when the body is at rest.

The efficiency of anaerobic exercise in burning fat compared to aerobic exercise is therefore 5 to 1 and sometimes go up to 7 to 1.

A BITCH IN THE HOUSE

5.30 a.m. and I was wide awake. It is a Sunday and it is supposed to be a sleep in day. But thanks (or no thanks to my insomnia) I have not slept in for the last 20 years...or maybe more.

Saturday 4th April, just yesterday was my 11th wedding anniversary and it was also the day I spent the wee morning cleaning the house, arranging towels and place mats, doing laundry and cooking anniversary dinner for 7.

The logical thing this morning following a hard day's at home on my anniversary day would be to spend the quiet quality time to myself - doing things I enjoy without making too much noise in the process. So, I grabbed the book Sylvia lent me which consisted of 26 short essays. By the time the rest of the occupants of C301 woke up, I finished reading 4 and pretty much had a good idea where the book was heading.

The book got me thinking, especially a day after celebrating 11th year together with Franco what is it that made a marriage last? Especially nowadays when according to Hugo, my buddy who thrives on statistics, 75% of marriages is doomed for failure.

Our marriage is not made in heaven but we are happy together. Not claiming to be an expert, I came up with a couple of theories as to what probably makes our marriage works:

a) Never try to change the spouse - accept him or her as he or she is

(Except when he is self destructing by gorging on kilos of pastas on a daily basis!)

b) Make a list of who does what

(This seems to be the point of contention through out the book! I have no problem in this regard and looking at my list, even you would pick out right away that it was not prepared by my spouse!)

c) Appreciate every little thing one does

(I get way too many kisses I find! So, perhaps, try not to over appreciate!)

d) Laugh at each other's blunder

(We do this a lot! Life is too short to take everything too seriously)

e) Have rules

(We have rules down to who watches TV at what time and for how long)

f) Set financial goals and work towards the same goal

(This is where our mismatch seems to be, but the key is always to make sure your spouse is inching towards yours!)

g) Find out what you are made of, don't ever lose yourself or your identity

(Don't let the surrounding or the people define you! Define yourself)

h) Share everything THAT MATTERS

(Just days ago, Franco sent me text message to share with me the colour of his poo! - that's why the key text is capitalised)

i) Don't ever cheat on each other

(Even before we got married, I have already warned Franco that I would cut his balls if I find that he ever cheats on me - and I think after being together 11 years, I will not hesitate to execute my "light hearted" warning!)

So, do you need A BITCH IN THE HOUSE to make a marriage work? Absolutely.....