Hey, Outsider.
Yes, you. All of you who have never gone through pregnancy, you're the Outsiders.
Let me try to explain to you what it is I go through each day.
I'm 12 kg heavier than I used to be. And it shows. Looking in the mirror sometimes can get depressing - but I encourage myself that most of this extra weight is useful to my baby (yes, even the weight I carry around my thickened thighs and arms).
But imagine - being 12 kg heavier, with a large portion of the weight carried in front, makes walking difficult. My centre of gravity gets thrown off. I perpetually feel clumsy. I can no longer squeeze myself through small spaces - unfortunately, I tend to forget this.
And, like my mother so enjoys saying, I no longer walk. I waddle.
Bending to pick something up is a tedious affair. Even putting on a pair of pants is now a difficult task to do standing up. Imagine trying to get your legs into the leg holes while standing up, without being able to bend at the waist properly. Yes, why don't you try it?
I sometimes wish I could strap a belly on you. I don't mean any malice, I just want you to be able to understand at least a small portion of what I go through. You see, pregnancy is like nothing you ever imagined. Nothing. No one prepared me for the clumsiness, the sheer effort it takes to carry this weight, the heaviness you live with day in and day out.
I haven't been complaining so far. I've tried to approach this whole pregnancy as a new experience - something to be relished and cherished, even the not-so-nice parts. And I've also tried to continue doing as much as I normally would. A lot of people have been horrified at my level of "activity". I'm not being unsafe, I just don't feel that I should spend all my time resting just because I'm pregnant. Doesn't give me a free pass to laze around all day.
But maybe all that should change right now. You see, it seems you've forgotten that I'm actually pregnant - 35 weeks pregnant. Maybe it's because I've always gamely tried my best to keep up, even when it takes such a physical toll on me.
Here are some reminders for you:
Pregnancy is a dynamic process. It doesn't stay the same from start to finish. Neither do I. Just because I could do something a few weeks earlier doesn't mean i can still do it now.
Just because I'm able to do a particular task doesn't mean that it's easy for me.
But the best reminder that I can give you is this: no more. I mean, no more activity for me. All that I find the least bit tiring to do, I shall not do anymore. Everyone's been expecting me to take things easy from the start, so I'm really going to go all out to pamper myself now. After all, I only have about 4 weeks to go. If I'm not going to relax now, then when?
If I feel tired, I will say so. Loudly.
If it is hard for me to do something, I will impose on you to do it for me.
If I don't feel like doing something, I will say so.
I think it's time I started behaving in a way corresponding to my condition. Heavily pregnant, that is. Then maybe, you, all you Outsiders, would start treating me as if I were. Maybe you'd now remember my condition and start demanding less from me. Maybe you'd now remember my condition and be a bit more patient with me. Maybe you'd now remember my condition and start treating me with care - care in the way you speak to me, gentleness in the way you handle me. Maybe you'd now remember my condition and ask me to walk less, walk slower, carry less. Maybe offer your hand in support. Or pick things up for me. Fetch things for me instead of me fetching them myself.
If I acted like a princess, would you treat me like one?
Here is the link for the items made during the charity crop:
It's quite exciting really, to have something I made go up for auction. Lots of thoughts go through my mind.
Oh no, what if nobody likes my stuff?
You mean they're willing to pay that much?
Man, I can't afford to buy my own work...
Remember - it's all for charity! 100% of proceeds go to CARE Singapore.
Well, no. It's not actually Christmas. It's just the Great Singapore Sale!!!
It's a dream come true! Here's the Canon Selphy photo printer I wanted..
And a gorgeous scrap tote for me to use when I need to lug my supplies to a class or crop.
It's got plenty of pockets to put stuff in:
And a plastic folder to carry 12'' x 12" cardstock and patterned paper:
Look, it's even got my name on it! (Well, my uni friends call me Mimi.) Now, all I need is a crop/class to go to!
But the best thing bought so far during the GSS:
Now, I can snap beautiful photos, print them speedily and scrap in style!
Sigh.. I'm happy.
I felt a bit better today so decided to head down to MWL for the last day of the charity crop - and I'm so glad I went.
We altered clipboards today. It was a productive day for me, I managed to do 4 clipboards! Here are the pics:
I think I much prefer doing clipboards than cards... All in all, a very therapeutic crop session today.
One more thing, I've got a surprise up my sleeve... not telling you just yet!
As much as I like to be busy, my body feels otherwise.
Sick today. Again. *coughcoughsniffle*
I think perhaps I've been working too hard and sleeping too little over the past few days.
So I'm resting at home today. A hard decision to make - the charity crop's still going on, and today, we're supposed to be decorating photo frames. But it's time for me to take a rest. Lie in bed. Play with baby. Fall asleep to daytime TV. Eat well for dinner and have ice cream for dessert.
Yup, I think it's time for a breather.
I'm a happy girl. My days are full of activity - activity that I like. I've got so many projects lined up for me, I feel so busy! But it's a good kind of busy-ness. Happy busy-ness.
I count myself blessed that I have the opportunity to fill my days with things I like to do.
Here's something I made from the little Love, Elsie Make N Take kits they were giving out at the store. It's a fridge magnet. Quite small and cute actually. 
I would have posted this up last night if not for the fact that I saw a huge moth in the kitchen. The moth was really huge. Larger than my palm! And since the fridge magnet was on the fridge in the kitchen, I couldn't go in and get a proper photo.
Anyway, I've got one more Make N Take kit. Will probably make another fridge magnet with this one. In the meantime, I'm busy working on cards for the charity crop going on over these 3 days. Busy busy! Making cards is tough. I worked for 6 hours today at the scrap lab and only produced 3 cards!! So I brought some paper home to make more cards. Here's what I accomplished earlier today:
I'm quite happy with my first attempt at card-making. In fact, I think all of us at the crop today did really well. Do support us and our work by bidding on ebay for the cards when they go up for auction! It's for a good cause! I'll post the link as soon as it goes up.
Ad and I visited the MWL store yesterday. I wanted to pick up some self-inking stamps, but when I got there, I found that they hadn't been launched yet. So, for the first time, I visited the store and came out with nothing!
Well, maybe not nothing. Somehow, Ad got really inspired while at the store. In the middle of our tea there (yes, we shared a terribly sinful cupcake), all of a sudden he turned to me and said he wanted to go home and scrap! I thought, "Okaaaaay," a bit skeptical that he would actually get down to business. You see, I've observed, on many occasions, that Ad gets really motivated to scrap at the store. Maybe it's all the paper and tools you get to see at the store. So, most times he buys a lot of paper, but the sheets just stay in my paper tray and never get used.
Until yesterday. This is the result of hours of hunny's hard work, and I must say, I'm really very impressed.
Ad's got a natural sense of colour. He instinctively knows which colours look good together - and he's got this uncanny knack for picking out great patterned paper. The funny thing about him is that his sense of colour coordination doesn't quite extend to his clothing. Haha.
Anyway, in case you think I was slacking while Ad was toiling away, here's what I made:
It's a box made of chipboard. Maya Road makes these fabulous projects kits that you can buy and do whatever you want with them. I covered this box with paper and added some ribbon and plasticky, semi-translucent flowers. I like the flowers. They can spin around like little windmills.
Inside the box are cards (originally just pieces of cardboard) strung together on a ball chain - so the box actually is a mini-album of sorts. 
Check out the "pages"... yes, sister dear, this project is for you!
I covered the cards on both sides to maximise the number of photos this little album could hold.
For this project, I used mainly papers and stickers from Love, Elsie. These are so, so gorgeous - I'm so tempted to make an online order for the entire collection. I think they are my favourite at the moment (previously was Scenic Route papers - also very quaint and quirky). Another product which I experimented with in this project was Ranger's Sepia Accents - a 3-dimensional adhesive with a sepia colouring. Very cool. I love this product.
I'll be uploading more detailed shots of the pages into my Flickr scrap album, but not just yet. I'm still a bit tired from all that effort last night, so I just need to sleep sleep sleep today.
It took hours, but I really enjoyed making this mini-album. I think my scrapping supplies have hit "critical mass" - meaning that I now have enough supplies at home to have a certain measure of creative freedom. Sometimes, it's hard to scrap when you just don't have enough stuff - you get limited by what you have. What contributed most, however, to the "success" of this project (and I don't just mean the product, I mean the journey), is the fact that I was scrapping for someone I love. Like I told Ad, if you don't like the subject, your scrapwork just isn't going to be nice.
So, little sister, I love you.
