February at hand

Thanks to Val's recommendation, I got some more tuition assignments today!

Really thank God for opening doors.

And it's great that all my tuition assignments are within 20-30 mins strolling distance. :)

So I get a bit of exercise while saving on transport. Haha. 

Attended Cherrie's wedding dinner at Chijmes tonight.

The place was really lovely, and so was her grand entrance led by a violinist playing Canon in D!

Lurf that piece.

I just hope the poor gal doesn't wake up with a headache after her wine sabo etc.

The place wasn't too acoustically-friendly and I think it must be pricey, but the food and service were much better than I expected.

Overall, niiiice. :)

The past few days have been receiving lots from Dr. Bernard's Corporate Leadership Seminar, as well as over the weekend services.

I'll attempt to type out all the notes, and when I'm done, those who would like a set, feel free to ask from me.

But try and get the CD cos it's really a whole bunch of stuff that will take you to another level.

Gosh, it's already the end of January 2008. 

Next Monday is Benji's 1st berfdae. (Which means he turns 7 yah?) 

:)

Ben-let ... Pig-ji

OMG.

My 2 tuition kids are as different as Benji and ... Piglet?

Okei, that is the weirdest analogy ever, but whatever.

J is restless and has the shortest attention span ever.

He keeps trying to get me to leave early so he can get back on the computer or go and sleep.

I gave him 45 mins to work on a comprehension passage and after 15 mins of laboriously reading through it, and another 15 mins of squirming through this-and-that, he finally settled down to gimme the semblance of some work in the last 15 mins.

C is the guai-est girl ever. 

She listens so quietly to everything I say during the whole 2 hours, and she picks it all up rather quickly.

I almost donno how to teach her. 

(sidetrack: she has the sweetest smile and the loveliest eyelashes though, I think the boys are gonna line up for her real soon! Haha.)

I haven't been teaching for a while, but it's still cool to be with youth.

And I wanna see them improve in their English by leaps and bounds! :)

always a bridesmaid, NOT YET a bride

Ooh ... I lurf chick flicks that restore ppl's faith in weddings and stuff and makes you walk out feeling happy!!

In lead roles are Katherine Heigl (from Grey's Anatomy) and James Marden (Cyclops from X-Men).

And screenplay writer Aline Brosh McKenna also did "The Devil Wears Prada" -- Aiyoh, already her reputation precedes the movie. In my head at least. Haha. 

Awfully likeable.

And it was a good crowd too. :)

the end of the rope is not yet

I read a piece of news today on CNN, about the estimated 750 hostages held by Colombian rebels in remote jungle hideaways.
The report said that two women were recently freed to carry out a satchel of letters written by eight hostages to their family members.

It was sad enough to read about the suffering that the hostages are put through ... chained to each other at the neck ... one surviving 2 bouts of malaria ... one stricken by constant headaches because of a parasite that has infected his brain.

But then I came to these two lines:

"She said she's managed her police officer husband's nine-year absence with help of psychotherapy and anti-anxiety medication."

and

"In a December 21 letter, his first communication to his family in five years..."

Oh my gosh.
They've been held captive for 9 years.
And their family only heard from them after five years.

The human being is an unbelievably strong creation.
Just when we think we are at the end of our rope, we realize that God has wired us to go further.
But it starts in our mind.

you can cartwheel there if you'd like...

No one can't understand what grace truly is, until we realise how imperfect we are.
It's realizing that, whether you deserve it or not, you're still standing here.

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
~Hebrews 10:23~

hold fast = embrace firmly; attached to.
confession = statement of doctrine
without wavering = not be undecided between two opinions or courses of actions.
faithful = loyal, constant, steadfast / true to the facts or the original.

"Let us embrace firmly or be attached to the statement of our hope and not be undecided between two opinions or courses of actions, because He who promised is loyal, constant, steadfast and true to His original plan."
~Hebrews 10:23~

There is only ONE way.
Many kinds of travel styles, but only one way.

You can only embrace grace or grope at despair; not both.
You can only head for prosperity or languish in poverty; not both.
You can only be a happy victor or a miserable victim; not both.
You can only open your arms in generosity or fold them in selfishness; not both.
You can only choose forgiveness or bitterness; never both.

Mummie

Whenever I look at and talk to Irene, I am reminded that motherhood is a full-time calling.

Or rather, GOOD motherhood is a 24hr calling.

It's easy to be a mediocre mother.

Just like everything else in life, mediocrity is easy.

It's not like a 9-5 job (okei, now it's mostly 9-6 plus alternate Saturdays or whatever).

You can't switch off the moment you leave the office.

Your heart is tied to your kids all the time.

You are constantly thinking up new ways to reach them at their level.

You wake up earlier than them, sleep later than them, and in between, catch up on your backlog while they take their afternoon naps. 

You can't take off on your own for a movie anytime you want.

You have to plan your days like mad, teach your kids well and in the midst of it, balance it off with spontaneous fun.

However did my mum do that, and work full-time at the same time?

It's amazing.

*cheers* *yawns*

IT'S DONE!!

Yay. 

God's miracle in the house. 

Brain reached saturation liao.

Now hoping for good results!

Okei, gotta get ready to give tuition liao. :)

shacheers

Positively thinking, I'm training up my stamina.

Didn't realise one day at the flea market would exhaust us all out! Haha.

Even my usual perk-me-up, a bottle of Coke, failed to work this time. 

Then again, it's been late nights after late nights.

Thank God office is closed till next Tues! 

I'm off to Jelaine's wedding dinner then back to continue on the miracle.

Only 2,000 more words to go ... Then I'll make sure it all looks good and then ... I'm giving myself a pat on the back! :)

Words for today, thanks to Ps. Tan's sermon:

- Forgiveness is always my initiative.

- Daily personal renewal is vital and necessary!

- Life is 10% what happened, and 90% how I react to it.

- If I don't see from God's perspective, I will end up being distracted and tempted by what is momentary.

- Learn to develop boundaries. It's like building walls with gates to allow the good things in, and so I can throw out the dung that is a normal daily occurrence.

- Better than forgiving and forgetting is forgiving and remembering how God can turn it around for my good. 

miracle in the making

Thanks to Wan Ee's recommendation, I'm working on a freelance miracle now.

5000 words to be written in 3.5 days!

And editing the whole 9000 words!! 

Shar, you can do it.

It's getting there. :)

p.s. It's also making me crave my comfort foods of the instant noodles and Popeyes chicken. :P

p.p.s. I've got another flea market thing tomorrow from 9am-7pm which effectively cuts down the 3.5 days to 2.5 days!! Pop by if you can, btw. Blk 44, Marine Crescent.

I'm off to look for food. 

mai dong xi chi dong xi

I am back in the Garden City!

It was a rather unusual trip.

Caro and me made up the swinging singles.

Stephen and pregnant Rebek, Kai Kong and pregnant Yah Lan, and Yah Lan's parents made up the married couples.

Round that up with little princess Annya and you have quite a bunch. :)

I daresay Annya will find it hard to forget any of us now.

And even at her age, she's already attracting admiring strangers. 

My family was right--You can't expect to survive with $400 for a week in HK.

Thank God for ang baos from Mum and Ah Ee.

I went berserk cos the shopping in HK is sooooooo good.

I should save up and go there to stock up in future! 

Hee hee. 

Maybe I should invent a foldable version of those airport trolleys for travellers.

I always end up working my muscles to the fullest lugging bags home from trips.

And Dad is such a good gauge of prices.

He nailed almost every one of my purchases.

Except for my new Pedder Red boots, which he estimated at SGD$300 cos they are good leather but I got them at more than half the price cos they were on SALE! :)

I've got my new year clothes too ... am so glad cos it's so hard to find clothes to buy in Singapore! 

It's great to be back though.

You know how when you're in a place like HK or Indo, there's kind of a pressure to eat even if you're not hungry, simply cos you don't wanna miss out on all the yummy foods? :P

I had my fill of ...

1. yummmmmmmy Japanese food (really, really good) 

2. zha leung (dough fritters wrapped in rice sheets topped with hoisin sauce) 

3. wantan noodles 

4. instant noodles HK style, with diced pork or luncheon meat and egg! Hahaha.

Yes, and the Xu Liu Shan desserts and other cha chan tengs offerings too.

Back to life, back to reality!