Thursday, December 27, 2012

Thanks for 2012

Look at how happy I looked at the final rehearsal.
Months of preparation for that 3 minutes to tell our customers we appreciate their business. I was feeling "This is it", you know, the moment has arrived for "show time". Don't we all work on something and hope to deliver it well. Somewhere three quarter of the way (during preparation), we should be able to gauge how we would fare. And that is the time you either buck up or just maintain your form if you think it's good enough, or in some instances when you really are hopeless at it, quit. Oops, am I not supposed to say that? I normally quit something after two attempts or give it a rest. 


 2012, how has it been for you?

I have been humbled. I have always been self-reflective and make corrections to my shortcomings and at the same time, hope that I have brought some comfort, warmth and inspiration to this world just by being me. Each day, I thank and trust the Universe for keeping my children safe. I thank and trust the Universe for all the challenges I've had because I will always grow from them.

(I don't own the photo above. it was circulate in FB)
This mother and her boys have such sense of humour. Time passes whether you know it or not and you can't will it. Recently, I read a quote that says (to the effect) that one wastes more time if one is unaware of wasting time and carries on wasting it. while one wastes no time if one is aware of one's wastage and stops doing it. My friend PW had to arrange for an emergency operation; she had to take care of getting her will done, her estate done, her power of attorney done and she told me thank goodness she had health insurance. She will take about 6 to 12 months to recover and she's heading back to do ballroom dancing which brought her much joy. So, get insured and go live your life.

 In our ever-progressing, ever status-conscious and materialistic society, the widening gap between the haves and haves-nots will bite us hard. I hope we can do something about it. I read about the NYPD cop who bought a homeless, bare footed man a pair of boots with his own money when he saw that the beggar had no shoes and it was freezing at 3 degrees on the streets. The cop had two pairs of socks on and he was freezing, so he couldn't imagine how cold it must have been for the homeless guy. the store clerk used his staff privilege and gave the cop a discount when he learned that it was for the homeless man sitting outside his store. So anyway, this act of kindness went viral and "the whole world" was abuzz and everyone felt "there's hope". Fast forward a few days onward, the media hounded the homeless man, who had since become barefooted again because in the hostile living condition that he was in, he was afraid to be robbed (of his new shoes), plus, "who would give money to a beggar with new shoes"- he thought out loud. Another few days on, when the media hounded him again, he then wants money. He asked; with all this action, where is his piece of the pie? Ouch. It bites. So ladies and gentlemen, we have issues that are deep. Between a new pair of shoes and helping the homeless get on his feet, there's a huge gap to be filled.



Okay, this is my arm in case you're wondering which body part it is. 

There are occasions when I get so hurt that I want to tattoo an X on my arm to remind me not to trust anyone. an X = do not trust, do not let your guard down, there-is-no-real-good-people-in-this-world kind of thoughts. 

But I let my emotions cool. So I mark an X with a pen and by the time my disappointment subside, the ink on my arm would have faded. So ya, this is my way of dealing with disappointment. I am pretty sure this  works better than the real thing! haha.


And lastly, I wanna also tell you that there will always be a way out. 
I play this block puzzle all the time. I go on and on and on and there is no puzzle I couldn't solve. 
I enjoy this game because I know that there will not be a set that has no solution to it. It would be a felony if ever there was. So I go on and on and on and on knowing that all puzzles can be solved. 
You know what? I think life is also like this. If you come across a tough nut puzzle, take a break and leave it for another day. Try again. There is always a way out. or it would be felony. 

 
Hello, two thousand & thirteen.

When I had my two thousand & one diary, I liked it that my diary spelled "Two Thousand and One" on the cover. I thought, cool idea, no one spells Nineteen hundred and ninety-nine back then.
So when I received this new diary from Steph, it reminded me that 12 years had gone by since the millennium.

There is no new year resolutions for me to make because whatever standard ones like heading to the gym, etc., I don't do it, never get round to doing it and so I shall not fool myself into saying I will do it. Although I do have goals I wanna achieve, there's really no big deal about them. Let me surprise you!

So this year, I mean year 2013, Colin will go to school! Awww...... my baby is going to school. Haha. Most probably in August / September. And Kiki hasn't learnt to read and write! Gosh, do I need to start drilling? And that's about all. Hope my sis gets married soon!

Let there be light, let there be joy in your hearts.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

 Our annual party at Grandpa's place.




For the first time in my life, I was actually not annoyed by the incredible din everyone was contributing. Everyone (mostly children) was talking at the top of their voice to the extent of shouting, but it was such a nice feeling, the warmth of family, have i ever felt this?!? As usual, HJ was trying to boss the other kids around but this time, she has a guest who is a boy of the same age who won't listen to her and then you have Kiki trying to build some structure while HJ suggested making guns, while i said "no guns!", at the same time you have Didi self-absorbed and you have the lovebirds camwhoring, it was noise, noise and more noise but it was happy.


HBD, Maricar.



She was happily singing along when suddenly, she realised that we were all singing for her. Stunned and short for words, she hid her face with her palms and choked back her tears. Perhaps the attention was a little too much for her to handle but I'm sure she'll remember this birthday for a long time to come.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Random

 spruced up my nails during lunch. saved myself 45$ going to the parlour.
i used to be able to paint the American flag on my nails but now they have stickers to do the job.
 we resisted letting her take this ride because it cost 4$.  i mean, there's nothing really fun about this isn't it? but tears rolled aplenty and we relented. well, Uncle Ringo needs to make some money too i guess.

one random quote-of-the-day

Some final pix



 the committee

 at the final rehearsal

first day at the booth

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Regular

when Kiki was a toddler, she had broken one of my spectacles. Now Colin broke two pairs!
although the drawer was accessible to Colin, the specs were kept in a case but he managed to open the case. i want to get angry but managed a grin instead. and there goes some money to the optician.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Goodie Bags

 Kiki's school is having a Christmas party this Friday and I thought it would be nice to let her classmates have something to bring home. The goodie bag includes:- Fruit scented colour markers, animal shaped wooden brooch and one Roche chocolate.




I saw this one and only digital watch at Daiso and grabbed it. This will be for Kiki, among her gifts.
This year, I shopped very little..... I don't know why I have not felt the festive mood. Hope this Saturday's party will kick the mood in. I do look forward to my family's Christmas party and this year is the 25th year we are having it and I've been to all 25 of them! Gosh, can you beat that?!


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Alex's Wedding - 15-12-2012

 After Alex became a Christian, he is known as John, or sometimes John Alex.
Of course in my mind, he's still Alex.
When I carried him when he was a baby, I was already in secondary two. So you can imagine I am so old that I feel that all these cousins who are flying off their nests are so young. When I was his age at 25, I was getting drunk. Hell, I still have no directions in my life now except to work and be as good a mother I can be.




Alex and his church friends




 (this was a polaroid photo and it isn't very clear but I really dig it because for the first time Kiki displayed her affection for Didi, held his hands for a pose. although she blinked and didn't get a good shot, I would love to keep a mental note that the love for her brother is coming through. plus, she insisted on keeping the photo because it's "mine and Didi's photo" she said.)


 Yiyi



She was goofing on the settee when I took these pictures. Not that she was posing for the shot. She is still not very natural with the camera, really.

Monday, December 17, 2012

The Knot on 12,12,12

 Le le is a cousin I haven't gotten to know. Because we only met once in a year and that was if we happened to visit my grandfather at the same time during CNY. However, I do know his mom; my aunt Dorothy and of course she was very happy we all turned up at the dinner. I guess moral support like these do play a part especially for my aunt who married her husband with a son from his first marriage, so being a head nurse at the hospital, plus playing the roles of a wife, a mom, and a step mom, might have its trying moments.
So you can imagine her pride and joy that night. (oh well, she even headed for the gym for months to trim her figure and she does look good.)


Regular Days

 She was excited over getting her first music instrument and is looking forward to the classes next year. I, too, look forward to grease my brain and learn something new. In fact, this will be my first ever proper music lesson and I hope I can manage the violin, and it's time to keep my fingernails short after Christmas. Teacher told me to "bear with her lessons" as we are gonna learn just one tune the whole year- twinkle, twinkle, little star. She said that that is the foundation piece and we will learn all sorts of variations.

 Colin's kok-tao. (fresh from the showers)

 My friend Miki went Japan last summer. Isn't this beautiful?

 There was a Disney fair at Parkway.




Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Regular stuff

 Since she's having the year-end break from Chinese enrichment, we took the chance to go to the beach on Sunday morning. she is okay with the skate scooter, can't go really fast but it's fine.

 Just got up from his morning nap..... wondering where he was.
Colin has a "kok tao"; round, protruding forehead, which runs in my family.
Oh yes, he's beginning to walk on his own at 15 months. Yeah!
This little boy is quite "manja", my sis said "yang orh" (in Teochew); which means pampered.
He wants to be carried whenever we come home. It's like a treat for him, honestly, we are more than happy to do that cos' we hardly have time and cuddling him makes us all happy.

 Christmas decorations are more elaborate at our estate, thanks to the Faith Community Baptist Church. They even had our former prime minister- Mr. Goh Chok Tong; grace the light-up ceremony last Friday.
Kiki met her old gym friend - Ada, just outside the church. Ada's granny dotes on Kiki.
Ada was on the waitlist to enrol into NAFA Kindergarten and is finally going to that school next January.

 Brendan bought me a huge ring for our tenth wedding anniversary (next June). He said that is six months of savings on top of all other home expenses he's footing, and he hope I would know how much he loves me.

 (sorry this pic can't be rotated)
our six-year-old lap top is knocking out, hence we've bought a new one to use.
it is rather heavy and huge for a lappy but well, we're using it at home and also, it has the numeric pad at the side just like a regular keyboard. that's a plus.

 www.littlesun.com

These wearable torch lights are solar powered.
I hope we'll have more low cost appliances and gadgets that are solar powered. 
I am happy to receive them from Yuyu as they don't ship to this part of the world (yet) and Yuyu got it for me before she came home from UK.