Ornaments picked by D&D

Last night the kids picked their ornaments. Duncan had a hard time choosing what he wanted. First he wanted a candy cane ornament, then it was a sand castle, then finally the truck! It is a pretty truck - a bear driving a truck with a Christmas tree in the back.

I had Duncan pose with his ornament. He was good and didn't mind.

This is Denice's ornament. It looks like a church building but it is very pretty. It made her think of a princess's castle. :-)


Denice refused to have her picture taken this morning. She was wearing a pretty green Christmasy dress but she was in no mood to pose for pictures. No! She said. No cajoling would change her mind. So here's Duncan again posing on her behalf.

Doesn't he look cute? Heheh.

Denice better be in a good mood tomorrow because I have to take pictures of them together for our Christmas news letter. It's already two days into December and we haven't started with our newsletter!

Here's an early Christmas greeting to you all! :-)

My Special Ornaments

My Christmas tree is finally decorated. Last night we skipped the usual shopping after dinner and went straight home. I told Doug to take out the boxes of Christmas lights and ornaments and I finally got down to decorating it.

I don't have many fancy ornaments but these are the the few that are special to me.

This is the ornament that Doug got for us on our first Christmas together. I don't know why, somehow I thought it was his mom who gave it to us. Now that I think about it, I remember Doug saying he did try to look for an ornament where the lady had dark hair, but couldn't find any.

In 2002, I was invited to a Christmas party by one of my quilting clients. Except for the lady who invited me, I did not know anyone else at that party. It was an ornament exchange party and I got this one in exchange. That Christmas I was pregnant and I got sick in the evenings, so I didn't stay at that party very long.

My mother-in-law and I bought several ornaments to commemorate Denice's and Duncan's first Christmas. I brought some of them with me to Miri because the babies had their first Christmas in Miri. Duncan was only four months old when we took him to Malaysia to meet Denice for the first time.

This is another one of those Baby's First Christmas ornaments.

An another one of Baby's First Christmas Ornaments. We got two of the same ornaments for each baby.

And another one.

This and the following ornaments are those that I bought at the after Christmas sales! :-) I don't normally want to spend a lot on ornaments but when they are on clearance I cannot resist them! I love this beaded ornament.


I love the glass ornaments but they can be quite expensive. This is one of a set of three that I got at an after Christmas clearance.

I love snowmen ornaments!

And yes, the tree skirt. I also got this at an after Christmas sale! :-)

Denice and Duncan still need to get an ornament each. I mentioned in an earlier post in one of my blogs that I am going to start a Christmas tradition. Starting this year the kids get to buy an ornament each, and hang it on the tree. Can you imagine as the years go by, they'd look at all the ornaments they'd chosen through the years? What a lovely thought! :-)

How's your tree coming along?

CustomPlate: Late Entry

This is a late entry to my custom plate proposals. Ian suggested this and I really, really like it. The number one in the front is a lot more meaningful than if it were located at the back.

1 PUTERI. It does have a nice ring to it! :-) There is only one Puteri in this family right? Haha.

A New Year's Eve Party

Some of you know, because you too have been invited, that U.Lee has invited me to join him and his wife to a New Year's Eve party and cruise on board the Queen Mary 2.

To say that I am excited and looking forward to the party and cruise is an understatement! :-)

Just look at this strapless dress that came with the invitation! A black strapless Calvin Klein designer dress! What woman would not be thrilled to wear this creation?



Hmm? What do you think? You know, I still have about a month to get into greater shape so I will do justice to the dress! Yes, I will have to go on a high fiber diet so that my flabby tummy will not show when I wear that dress. And yes, I will do 500 sit ups a day to tone that tummy!

I will have to do some shopping too. Since the dress did not come with shoes, and handbag, and jewelry to match, I will most definitely need to shop for those items! I love beaded and glittery accessories so I have in mind a black with pink clutch purse to go with the dress.



I think this stunning Gucci purse will go really, really well with that black Clavin Klein dress! Woohoo! Beautiful!

How about shoes? I have trouble wearing high heels because they hurt my feet. Who wants to put up with hurting feet when there's dancing later on?! I am not going to miss a dance with Antonio Banderas! Did you know that I will be sitting at a table with Anotonio Banderas? I hope I won't swoon just at the sight of him!


What the heck! These Jimmy Choo shoes are too beautiful! I'll wear them and pay the price. I'll just have to go for a massage after the party! :-)

Ok, jewelry next! Since I design and make jewelry myself, I will wear ear rings, a necklace and a bracelet that I design myself. I will use lots of glittering crystals in my design. I'll be sure to use black, pink, and gold crystals as well as gold findings to match the purse.

How about perfume? Since I will be sitting next to Antonio Banderas I'll have to be sure my perfume will be subtle yet alluring. I will make him forget who Melanie Griffith is! How about Estee Lauder's Pleasures Exotic? Yes, one of my favorite scents!



Ah yes, the handsome and delectable Antonio! I can see myself doing the Paso Doble with him! Doug who?

Can you imagine how alluring and ravishing I will look in that black dress, shoes and accessories! Aiyo, U.Lee will be suitably impressed! Save a dance for me, U.Lee after that dance with Ruby! What? I've got to wait till you're done dancing with Pi Bani? And J.T. and Jamy? Aiyo, good thing Antonio Banderas will be there!

Zawi and Akmal, you two guys better not run away from me when you see me coming! I want at least one dance from both of you!

Ahh, don't be deceived! Underneath all that feminine appearance this mama will be packing heat! Yes, I found the thigh holster! Ooops, since I will be carrying a concealed weapon, I think I should stay away from dances that will require any high kicks. No point carrying a concealed weapon when all and sundry can see it! It might even spook some who have hoplophobia!

Oh yes, one other possible problem about being on a ship. Seasickness. According to U.Lee the Queen Mary 2 is so huge that you can forget you are in a ship. That sounds assuring. I like his suggestion better though. To get my mind off seasickness, I should try some target shooting on deck with Antonio Banderas! Sounds good to me! Well, U.Lee better speak to the Captain first and get his permission! We don't want to freak out the other passengers on the ship!

Oh yes, I am indeed looking forward to the New Year's Eve Party. Oh, gotta go now, need to fix an appointment with a spa and my hairdresser!

Custom Plate

It seems that I can't get the custom plate I want. PUTERI is already taken. PUTERi ♥ is also taken. ♥ PUTERI is also taken. I AM disappointed! :-(

Too bad, I really like the look of the above plate! Somebody beat me to it!

How about this one? It is another way of saying Puteri's.

Since I can't put a heart in the front or the back, Doug suggested I put the number 1. What do you think?

I replaced the letter "I" with the number "1". Looks close to the real thing. I quite like it.

How about this one? Put the number 3 instead of the letter E. What do you think?

I can't think of any better combination. Since I can't get what I want the next best thing is when someone looks at the alternative plate, somebody automatically sees PUTERI. Does any of the above do that?

Puteri on Google Search

Some of you know how upset I was over the loss of PageRank of this blog. Today was the first time I googled the name Puteri since I switched to a custom domain name for this blog.

I was pleasantly surprised! My name Puteri came up second, third, fourth and fifth after the TV drama of the same name in the Google Search. Not bad at all and three of my blogs appeared in the top searches. One other blog appeared on the second page.



One post I did yesterday and one post I did today appeared on the top search. That is good news indeed because that means I did something right with my webmaster's tools! :-) I am glad that even with the new URL Puteri's Musings still appeared at the top of all my blogs on the search engine.

I have to remind Doug again about getting that custom plate for me! The application can be done online, and he keeps forgetting to do it!

Here's Zainal Abidin singing Puteri. Not about me, of course! Heheh, I wished!

Christmas Mood

So how do you like my new Christmas logo? :-) It could still see some changes. I still haven't decided if I want to stick with it. For now it'll stay.

I am really in the Christmas mood now. Some of my neighbors already have their Christmas lights up, and also I love watching those huge blow up Christmas stuff, like the Christmas Santa, Christmas Globe, the Grinch etc.

I have been playing Christmas songs since before Thanksgiving. I even borrowed two Christmas CDs from the library. One is by Clay Aiken, not a bad Christmas album actually, and one is by Mitch Miller and The Gang - Christmas Sing-Along with Mitch. Mitch Miller's album is an album of Christmas songs sung by a choir, and it reminds me a lot of when I sang at my church choir back in Miri. Clay Aiken did a good job singing, Mary, did you know?

I picked up a country Christmas Album for $5 at Big Lots last weekend. I love Martina McBride's version of The Christmas Song, and Lonestar's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Lest we forget the Reason for the Season, here's a beautifully done video using clips from The Passion accompanied by a choral version of Mary, did you know.

The secret to a long, happy marriage

An old man was talking to a young friend. He told him he had been married for 66 years.

"That's amazing!" his young friend said. "What's the secret to such a long, happy marriage?"

"Well," the elder man replied, "It's like this. We decided together when we got married: The man makes all the big decisions ... and the woman makes all the little decisions."

"Wow!" the young man responded. "Does that really work?"

"Oh yes," the oldster said proudly. "It's been 66 years and, so far we haven't had one big decision!"

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

This morning I was listening to part of the Dennis Prager show. He wanted his listeners who had immigrated to the US or were children of immigrants to call in to his show. I was tempted to call but I was quite busy and usually people are put on hold for quite a while before they get their turn on the air. Sometimes people are put on hold, and never get to be on the air! :-)

Dennis wanted to know what immigrants were most thankful for about life in America. The first thought that came to my mind was liberty, the liberty to talk about issues that affect our lives, the liberty to criticize our politicians and government without fearing being arrested for doing it. In Malaysia there is no talk show like Dennis', on the radio or TV.

In Malaysia the air waves are mostly controlled by the government. The few that are private have to self censor themselves in order to keep their licenses.

I am thankful to be living in this country, not perfect, but still plenty to be thankful for. I am thankful for my loving family, for the home that we have, for our health that allows us to make a gainful living. I am indeed thankful for all of God's blessings.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

My Thanksgiving turkey. I used Jamie Oliver's recipe.

The grub at the Thanksgiving meal.

The menu: Turkey, roast beef, green beans and asparagus, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots, potato casserole, baked oysters, champagne and pumpkin pie.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! ♥

Season of Giving

Last night my family and I attended a church function. It is an annual function called Season of Giving.

When we arrived at the place where the function was held, I realized that my camera was not in my bag. The camera case was in my bag but not my camera. Urrghh! So because of that, I do not have pictures taken during the evening's event. I forgot to use the camera on my phone.

Each family attending had to bring a main dish and a salad enough to feed eight people. I brought baked chicken, and baby spinach salad.

It was a well attended function and there were lots of food! Very tasty food! So much food that I brought back my bowl of salad. It was one of many bowls of salad that never got served because there was already more than enough.

I think this year the food choices were so much better than in previous years. Some guy even brought his rather large bar-be-cue pit and served tri tip bar-be-cue at the potluck. Yummy!

The real reason for the gathering, besides the fellowship, was for church members to pick a name or two from the Giving Tree. It is actually a Christmas tree with cards with names of needy children in our town. Each child named on the card had a request for what he or she wanted for Christmas.

This is the card I picked. This girl's request for play make-up reminds me of Denice. Denice would love to put play make-up on if I let her!

About the gifts, we are told to keep the limit to between $40 - $60. I am sure some people will want to give more, but it would not be fair to the other kids who will see that some others seem to get better gifts.

We will have to turn in our gifts by December 12, and our church will organize a special party for these kids where they will get to collect their gifts.

I think the Giving Tree is a very good idea, and I have seen in previous years, several other places doing something similar.

P.S. I had baby spinach salad for lunch and a piece of chicken that was a leftover from last night.

Duncan goes target shooting

I've been meaning to upload this video for a while now but had trouble editing it. I finally figured it out and managed to trim the video down to 1 minute and under 100 MB, which is the maximum file size allowed on Google Video for each upload.

When we went target shooting at my in-laws ranch last September, Duncan my 4 year-old son, came with us. He wanted to shoot a gun so much that he cried asking us to let him shoot a gun Finally my husband allowed him to pull the trigger to a rifle and also a handgun. This video is of him and daddy firing a Rossi .22 calibre pump action rifle. Of course Duncan found it thrilling.

Many people fear guns especially guns around children. Doug and I want to take the mystery out of guns and have started doing so with Duncan so that he doesn't have to sneak behind our backs to satisfy his curiosity. We allow him to touch guns, tell him what guns can do, and most of all teach him about gun safety.

I have written a post called The Equalizer on my blog Puteri's Musings 3. That was a follow up to the comments I left on Jamy's blog post called Guns and Liberty. Please check out my blog entry and leave your comments.


Related Articles

The Equalizer
Target Shooting
Gone Shooting
Doug and Friends Go Target Shooting

The Equalizer

An armed society is a polite society - Robert A. Heinlein

Do you know what Hoplophobia is? It is defined as "fear of firearms." Colonel Jeff Cooper who claims to have coined the word stated that "the most common manifestation of hoplophobia is the idea that instruments possess a will of their own, apart from that of their user."

There are many people, educated Malaysians included, who fear guns. Guns are weapons that can cause death by people who want to cause death, and therefore should be rightly feared. But people should not fear guns in the hands of law abiding citizens.

My father owns a shotgun that he uses for hunting and he has owned it for as long as I can remember. He put it in the closet and at no time at all when we were younger were we tempted to handle it. We had a healthy respect for that shotgun.


My son is 4 years-old and we are teaching him to respect guns, that guns are not toys, and that guns can hurt people if mishandled. We are trying to demystify guns so that as he grows older he will not try to handle guns behind our backs simply out of curiosity. Demystifying guns to young children, in a household that has guns, is the first step to preventing accidents. We are teaching him about gun safety so that he knows that with ownership comes responsibility.

My husband grew up around guns and he fired his first gun at age 6. He and his father are lifetime members of the National Rifles Association. My husband has quite a collection of pistols and rifles, and I now own a handgun too.

Before I came to America, I too had the impression that America had too many guns and that too many people died needlessly because of those guns. That was when I was still ignorant about the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment states that "A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

This is a right that should be protected and not given away lightly. A government that has an armed citizenry will think twice about becoming a tyrant. Someone commented in a friend's blog that since America is not living under a tyranny, why should people continue to have guns? Duh!? Once the guns are taken away, how are you going to stop the government from becoming one?

Me, firing a Rossi .22 rimfire pump action rifle

There are many laws regulating gun use in America. Contrary to popular beliefs, especially with those living outside America, gun related deaths are not out of control in this country. Accidental gun deaths is not the number one killer of children under 14 in this country. Mass shootings like those you hear in the news recently are not as common as are made out to be.

It is a fallacy to claim that less guns mean less crime. Switzerland is a country that best illustrates this fallacy. In Switzerland National Service is compulsory and the men keep those guns including assault rifles that they use in their national service training in their homes. You don't hear much news of gun crimes in Switzerland.

In countries where guns have been taken away from the citizens, like the UK and Australia, crimes are not down, and neither are homicides. Criminals will always get their guns, legal or not. The only people left defenseless are the ordinary citizens.

Consider the following situations.

Police said that two men forced their way into a home on the 1900 block of Sachtjen Street on Madison's north side, near the Dane County Regional Airport, just before 3 a.m.

A couple was home in bed at the time and a woman was pistol-whipped by one of the assailants, who fled without taking anything. The woman is being treated for injuries.

Full story here.

If you're faced with intruders in your house, in which situation would you rather find yourself?

Bleeding and weakened from the bullet wound in her chest, Susan Gonzalez aimed her husband's .22-caliber pistol, the one she hated, and emptied it into one of the robbers who had burst through the front door of her rural Jacksonville home.

Those shots ended the life of one robber, led to a life prison term for another and became an epiphany for Gonzalez, a 41-year-old mother of five who runs a photography studio.

Full story here.

My home is still my castle, and if a person enters my home intending to cause me harm, he'd better be prepared to meet his Maker.

Be not afraid of any man
No matter what his size
If ever in fear, just call on me
And I will equalize

Engraved on the cylinder of a old West "Peacemaker" Colt .45 revolver.

Yes, a firearm is a great equalizer.


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Unusual gift ideas

When my son, Duncan, was about one and a half years old, he burnt his forehead on the hot glass door of our gas fireplace. He had tried to take a closer look at the flames and his forehead touched the glass door. Since that incident we have never turned on the gas fireplace when the children are around.


With the Vat 19 Ambient Fire Video Fireplace DVD we can now enjoy looking at a video of a fireplace on our TV screen without having to worry about the children getting hurt. I think this is a great video especially when we are entertaining during the holiday season and with the Christmas music playing softly in the background.

My daughter loves the Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencil made of recycled newspaper from Vat 19. It reminded her of her favorite bubblegum.

I know what I can do with the Insta Snow Fake Snow Powder from Vat 19. I am going to put a live potted pine tree near the front door and decorate it with lights and some fake snow. We don't get snow in this part of California, and my children will certainly love the look of fake snow on the tree!

There are other great gifts from Vat 19 and one of them is a Talking Photo Album. You can record a 10 second message on each page of the album. What a great idea to have your favorite pictures accompanied by personal messages describing each picture!

Do check out Vat19.c0m for more great and unusual gift ideas!

Licking a toad to get high?

Inhaling gas from fecal matter to get high was gross enough but how about licking a toad? Yes, a toad!

The toad in question is a Colorado River toad (see left pic). The toad is dangerous to young children or animals who ingest them because it is poisonous. It appears that the venom from the toad acts like a hallucinogenic drug.

This is how enature.com describes toads in general.

Toads have enlarged glands (called the paratoid glands) on the side of the neck, one behind each eye. These glands secrete a viscous white poison that gets smeared in the mouth of any would-be predator, inflaming the mouth and throat and causing nausea, irregular heart beat, and, in extreme cases, death. Toads pose a danger to pets, which may pounce on and bite them. Humans should take care to wash their hands after handling a toad, and to avoid touching the mouth or eyes until having done so.

So the venom that is naturally smeared on the toad's body is licked by the people who wanted to get high. What a way to get your high! And a dangerous one at that!

Video: How not to flip over a car

Every now and then Doug would send me a video link. Sometimes I check it out, sometimes I don't. This morning he sent me a link with a note that says, "You'll enjoy this!"

With that kind of note accompanying the link, of course I had to check it out. :-) I invite you to check out the video too, and tell me what you think of it!

How not to flip over a car.

Make sure you don't have any liquids in your mouth while watching it!

God Answers Prayer

Tues., Nov. 13, 2007

ATLANTA - Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue stepped up to a podium outside the state Capitol on Tuesday and led a solemn crowd of several hundred people in a prayer for rain on his drought-stricken state.

“We’ve come together here simply for one reason and one reason only: To very reverently and respectfully pray up a storm,” Perdue said after a choir provided a hymn.

Georgia and its neighboring states are caught in an epic drought that threatens public water supplies. Perdue has ordered water restrictions, launched a legal battle against the release of water from federal reservoirs and appealed to President Bush.

Full story here.

The above news was on Tuesday. And the following news was two days later. Co-incidence?

Of course not! God does honor prayers of the faithful. The governor and the people of Georgia believed only a higher power, God Almighty Himself, can change the weather patterns.

Was there even a hint of rain forecasted before the governor led the prayers? Only a slight possibility of rain said meteorologists.

Praise God, the God of the Universe! He can make a slight possibility into a storm, resulting in an inch of rain!

When his hour-long prayer vigil for rain ended with the sun shining through Tuesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue made a bold proclamation.

"God can make it rain tomorrow," he said.

Just like Perdue — and the National Weather Service — said, it was a rainy night in Georgia on Wednesday.

The rain was triggered by a cold front coming through, and it was expected to last until the early hours of Thursday morning.

"It will tease us a little bit," said Lans Rothfusz, meteorologist in charge at the Weather Service, "but it will come nowhere close to breaking the drought. The ground is so dry, it will absorb everything that falls on it."

More than 250 faithful Georgians joined Perdue outside the Capitol to ask for divine intervention to end the historic drought.

Full story here.

Cameron's out

LOS ANGELES - All those red-eye flights finally ground soap opera star Cameron Mathison down. After working to become the consensus most-improved celebrity on "Dancing with the Stars," Mathison, who spent the season shuttling between Los Angeles and New York (where "All My Children" is filmed), was eliminated Tuesday night.

"In five seasons, no one has traveled as much, or has had as much on their plate, as you have," host Tom Bergeron told Mathison moments after the elimination was announced.

Full story here.

I'm a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars, and I think this is my first entry on this blog about the show! :-)

The results of this season have been full of surprises. The most consistent dancer, Sabrina Bryan, was booted out in the sixth week, and tonight, it was Cameron Mathison's turn. I was so sure that this week it was going to be Marie Osmond who would be voted out. I was wrong.

I am sorry to see Cameron leave. I enjoyed watching him dance with his chest revealed every week! Heheh.

I think this season, it is the lady's turn to win the competition. The men had won all the previous seasons' competition except for the very first one. But then again, Helio Castroneves, Indy Car Racing champion, has shown tremendous improvement.

Looking forward to the last few weeks left of the show.

Sarawak Laksa

Last week I made Sarawak laksa and as always it is a hit with Doug. Of all the Malaysian dishes that he has tasted, he thinks Sarawak laksa will do well in San Luis Obispo, which is a university town in the central coast of California. I don't know why he would think that, but I guess it is a simple meal, and rich in flavor. The kind of flavor that you can grow to love.



The soup base for Sarawak laksa is made from a paste which consists of spices and shrimp paste. I find this particular laksa paste (pic above) the easiest to use. You only need some chicken stock and coconut milk to complete your soup. Salt has already been included in the paste.

I still have about three cups of the paste left, and pretty soon, we'll have to wait for our next trip to Sarawak to get more! :-) Unless some friend from Sarawak decides to come and pay us a visit and of course we'll make sure they bring some laksa paste for us! :-)

If you've never tried Sarawak laksa before, make sure you give it a try the next time you visit the state.

Here's wikipedia's definition of Sarawak Laksa -

Sarawak laksa (Malay: Laksa Sarawak) comes from the town of Kuching in the Malaysian state Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. It is actually very different from the curry laksa as the soup contains no curry in its ingredient at all. It has a base of Sambal belacan (shrimp paste), sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander and optionally lime. Ingredients such as bean sprouts, (sliced) fried tofu or other seafood are not traditional but is sometimes added.

Custom Domain Name

PuterisMusings.blogspot.com is now PuterisMusings.net. :-)

I had wanted to get a custom domain for this blog for a while now but I was afraid of losing my Google PageRank. You do lose your PageRank with a change in the URL.

But since this blog got spanked twice in two weeks by Google, and its PageRank dropped to 1, I thought this is as good a time as any to switch to a custom domain. I have one other blog which has a PR2, and is approved by PayPerPost which I can still use for the opportunities that require some PageRank.

If you are doing paid posts, a blog with its own domain name gets a lot more respect! Meaning, there are advertisers who only want bloggers with their own domain to write their paid posts for them.

The change to a custom domain name is a win-win situation for me. The domain name is paid for (under $10 a year), and the hosting is still free. :-) This blog is still hosted by Blogger.

I would encourage those of you who do paid posts and your blogs are hosted by Blogger, to spend $10 or less on your own custom domain. You don't have to pay for web hosting. A real win-win situation. The only drawback is you will lose your PageRank. But if your PageRank is still 0 or 1, you might as well do it. Your PageRank will go back up when Google goes around doing the PR think again in 3-4 months time.

If you have linked to my blog, you can change the link URL, or you can just leave it as it is. That old URL still works. Blogger does all the re-directing. Great, isn't it?

A pony for Christmas

We were at Walmart last night and this is what we saw.

A pony that can "chew" on a carrot. It can also move its head, swish its tail and neighs and snorts when patted! It thrilled Duncan so much that he wanted me to buy it for him!


Haha, it costs a couple of hundred dollars, and of course I will never spend that kind of money on a toy pony! So I told him, "Ask you Nana. Maybe she'll buy you one." Haha.

Actually he saw a Ford truck for kids that was for sale as we entered Walmart. I had to quickly walk past the truck otherwise I would have to hear him repeat himself over and over again, "Buy me that, Mommy". He said it once or twice, and I said,"Ask your Nana to get it for you." :-)