GETTING TO KNOW MY HUSBAND

Every alternate Wednesday night, my husband and I have a date night, where we abandon our kids at home with their grandparents, and take in dinner or perhaps a movie or just hang out at a local mall.

You know, do all the couple things we used to do before we got married.

This date night 'regulation' came after almost three years, two kids and one very big argument. We discovered that no matter how much we loved each other, it was important to reconnect. Because people DO change, and getting to know your partner was an ongoing process. That I did not know all there was to know about this man I'd known for eight years and loved for five.

For example, the fact that he took his job pretty darn seriously, and not because he was the chief breadwinner in the family, but because he wanted people to take him seriously. Not that they don't already, but it mattered to him that at 35, he was not content to stay where he was. That it mattered that he continued to learn as well as an individual and not just take home a salary at the end of the day.

It was enlightening and unnerving at the same time, to realise that my husband had shed the carefree persona he had when we dated and could very well get a stroke if he was not careful, at the rate he was going.

Last night, we had a nice, romantic dinner at Opus Bistro in Bangsar. We talked and laughed and made a pact to lose weight, where he promptly told me that I was eating more than him (I'm breastfeeding!).

Now Lokes NEVER ever 'complained' about my appearance. And he did not view this as a complaint, just one friend telling another that I'd better watch it.

Again, the feeling was ambivalent. As a woman (and a wife!), do I want to hear that my husband may find me unattractive? But that was not it at all. He said it with such concern, it was as though I was an alcoholic. And it was right after we decided to shed some pounds (make that kilos).

Nevertheless, he was honest, and I appreciated that. He was concerned about HIS own weight as well, not being able to find clothes already at his current state.

And so, we reconnected. We found out how each other truly felt about our health, and came away a little reassured, a little insecure and as we walked back to our car, he pulled me to him and gave me a tight hug.

How we must have looked, two rolly-pollies, hugging outside a chic restaurant where beautiful people ate.

If only they knew.

MICASA PICASA

Ever wanted to sort out your gajillions of digital images but don't know how to use Photoshop or any of those new fangled thingamajigs?

Check out Google's FOC (and really spyware-free, ads-free, kinda free) picture management software called PICASA 2 which is only about 3MB in size to download.

It's pretty full featured for a free app, and more importantly, FUN, to use.

When installed, it will first ask if you want it to scan your computer for all types of images and movie files you have (in case you, like me, are not too organised and have your pics stored in all sorts of files). It then organises them for you CHRONOLOGICALLY, which is REALLY cool since I've always grieved about finding time to sort my pics out in a timeline.

Whaddya know, Picasa also has a pretty neat TIMELINE feature that lets you view your pics according to when you took them, in a slideshow format.

And then there are basic things (in basic English) you can do to your pics like crop, straighten, eliminate redeye, the cheeky "I'm feeling lucky" 'feature'. Also present are the special "wedding picture" effects which are so popular, like "soft focus", sepia and so on.

And after you're done, you can print, email, create collages, upload to Blogger (via Hello, also Google's, which you have to download as well - 1.46MB) or even burn them into a CD (provided you have the necessary hardware, of course).

All in a neat, tasteful little package of only 3MB. Amazing.

ps. Hello is pretty neat as well. It's a picture sharing app which goes a little something like ICQ but MUCH smaller.

Mucho impressivo!

Raeven having an ice cream treat after Kidsports last weekend.

This was uploaded using Hello and was sorted using Picasa!/>Posted by Hello