the 3 amigos

it's been ages since i last met up with my chums M&M - mish and mae - and i was honoured that they'd decided to drop by to visit me at home since i couldn't go out.

coincidentally, they've both just left their respective gruelling jobs and so have a little bit of free time on their hands. mae's starting on her new ad agency account-serving position in 2 weeks. mish is going to take a break to prepare for her baby son's arrival in late july/august and will rejoin the workforce once he's older.

we met while studying for our OCU masters in mass communications in 1997. somehow, among the class of 14, the 3 of us just clicked and continued to stay in touch after completing the course.

anyway, yesterday was M&M's first visit to my haven @ arif. mae bought pressies for the kids: 2 pretty debbi notebooks (1 each for the 2 older girls) and a Playskool Busy Basics: Step Start Walk 'n' Ride for the baby.

wen was home during their visit and she "helped" to open the present for wei and eventually "helped" to play with it on wei's behalf and even "warmed the seat" of the toy mobile. i've stashed away the walk 'n' ride toy up in the attic. if i didn't do that, the toy will probably be broken by the time wei's old enough to play with it!

a VERY pregnant mish gave me a really nice gift from the body shop which included the much-needed Body Focus Cellulite Serum and Body Focus Cellulite Massager.

i haven't glanced at the mirror recently (haven't got the guts) but i'm sadly aware that my soon-to-be-34-year-old-body's bore the brunt of 3 births and nature's gravitational pull.

so yeah, mish's gifts will come in pretty handy. will try them out later tonight. after i've packed the kids off to bed and hopefully when i've got a few spare minutes.

it really was a wonderful chit-chat session and we should do this more often. oh, but a reality check reminded me that once my maternity leave is over, i'll be rushing to-and-fro work to mind the kids. that effectively cancels out any physical social-networking activities i intend to engage in.

furthermore, mish is due to deliver in late july/august and i'm certain the 1st time mum will have her hands full with the new boy in her life. and mae's ad agency life isn't going to be smooth sailing either. so it's tough to arrange for another get-together within the next few months. maybe even years!

*sigh*

our lives definitely change after having children.

for better or worse.