Happy 5th Birthday Kiddo!

A rare moment of her looking rather serious and pensive .. but after I took the photo, she quickly ran off giggling and asking me to catch her...

My favourite little person turned 5 years old this year. She's taller, much cuter and has a happy, cheeky and adorable personality.

She still loves to see me "remove" my thumb ( I wonder how much longer before she figures out my trick) and I'm always very happy to see her. She likes me to swing her around like a monkey and I'm quickly finding her very heavy to swing around. She loves an ice cream treat and I love seeing her grin when I give her a one.

Here's a picture of her as a little toddler. heehee...

Can't remember exactly how old she was when this was taken but I'm sure her Mom knows.

I remember that as a toddler, she already had such a friendly disposition that she was always smiling, even at strangers. She rarely made a big fuss about anything (hmm, ok, perhaps her parents might disagree here) and she was always very quick to see food on the table and to want some too.

Anyway, Happy Birthday again kid. Happy growing up!

Wearing Green ok, I'll be off huffing & puffing for 2 weeks, so I don't think I'll be online much.

Scribbled by Hobbes at

Cool Photos & the lingering thought of leaving

Sometimes when I come across such wonderfully inspirational photos on the web, a part of me just feels like quitting my job and just going out there to just take pictures.

See here for the Kodachrome Slideshow
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How wonderful it would be to be able to travel and experience all the places and people that I can only read about. Like the Antarctica, China, the Silk Route, Alaska, Africa, Himalayas...heck, I'll even settle for Vietnam or Cambodia now.

It's not that I don't enjoy my work any more - I still do, even though it is a struggle to deal with situations/problems that I don't have direct input/'control over - almost like fighting with one hand tied behind. Sometimes it drives me crazy to know that certain situations/problems could have been very simply avoided had there been better input/thought in the decision process.

Perhaps it's because I've been somewhat in the same job for so long now that the amount of satisfaction I gain is becoming smaller. Think Diminishing Rate of Returns. Either that or I'm getting way too cynical for my own good.

Anyway, it's always easier said than done. How could I just leave? What about my responsibilities and obligations? What about my studies? How am I going to support myself? Will this support the life/family I want later?

So here I am again, back at square one.