Family

Dad, Mum, Adrian and Marc went to Universal Studios today and popped by Vivocity for dinner thereafter. Mei didn't join them at USS but met up with them at Vivocity in the evening. Dad called me at 6pm and asked if I was able to join them. I declined and shared with him that I still had some things to do in the office. He said ok and hung up.

I continued typing for a minute or two but my heart started feeling a little heavy. I wondered why I still bothered to continue working while my family was just 2 MRT stops away and about to have dinner. One of the things I told myself since awhile back was that I would try to make time for my family and loved ones. So what was I doing? I was giving work (which wasn't very urgent anyway) higher priority?

Psssshhhhawwww. That did not sound right at all.

And so, in that instant, it felt like as if I had an epiphany. I decided to drop whatever I was doing and join them instead.  Afterall, work can never be "finished". Those tasks on my plate were plenty but none were excruciatingly urgent. They could wait till tomorrow. No one would perish because I put the work off till the next day.

And so I half-walked, half-ran to the train station and managed to reach the restaurant 5 minutes before the first dish was served. (I've always maintained that my timing is impeccable haha.)

Anyway. I am glad I joined them for dinner.

Nothing beats family.

RANT.

If you cannot accept feedback which was nicely said to you. Then jolly well f*ck off. Don't come asserting your authority just because you are 2 grades higher than I am. We all report to the same boss, I don't report to you. REMEMBER THAT.

一大清早就让我的血压增高。 真是的。

勇往直前！

The mind is active. But the body is a little tired and a littl eunder the weather as well. Haha.
It's a case of mind over body again.

p/s: May that sore reddish spot on my nose disappear before a pimple shows up.

Leaving Office

Mapletree Business City at night. Quite nice actually.

View from Office Window

One of the few times I take a breather and stare out of the office window. I should do this more often.

The photo doesn't do the actual scene much justice but the sea is absolutely gorgeous today. A perfect shade of blue-green with many ships dotting the horizon. The way the sunrays fall on the surface of the sea, the way the whiter-than-white clouds float in the sky and the way some gulls and herons fly by from time to time all make me want to fly away to a beach somewhere, kick my shoes off and just bask in the sun. With nary a worry in the world.

Feet

Bunions, callouses, obvious veins and knobbly toes don't make for pretty feet. I am still very grateful to my feet though. For they have carried me long and far for the last 30-odd years. And hopefully for the next 30, 40 or 50-odd years as well. :)

I really don't need this right now

NOTHING is going right in this bloody project. First time in my life I called a tender and it has to screw up so badly. It's not even a $1million tender although it's still a large sum at $800K. I am facing a situation where I might lose my venue for the event next year. I need to answer to my Board. I need to answer to the two overseas organisations involved in the event.

Really. WTF? What the hell is going on?

加油！

进几个星期的情绪处理的不是很好。时好时坏，偶尔又神经兮兮的，偶尔又想哭。有时觉得压力大，有时觉得东西太多了，不知从何开始， 只想靠一边， 什么都不做。

真的是有点累，不过我还是尽量保持笑容！其实这也是多亏K给我的鼓励和支持啦。希望来临的几个星期和几个月会更好！

美金，你要加油哦！*fighting!*


Ps: 短短几句华文字就花了我整20分钟来type！

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Note to Self

1. When applying lotion on your body, make sure everything is fully spread over and absorbed by your skin before leaving the house. Do not leave the house with globs of creamy ivory-colored stuff running down your thighs and calves. It leaves the imagination of others in overdrive.

2. Remember to suck your tummy in when taking photos, especially when you are standing in an oblique angle. There should only be two visible bumps, the boob bump and the bum bump. Nothing else. (unless you are pregnant of course)

3. When having a buffet meal, remember not to gorge yourself till past 9pm. It leaves you bloated and uncomfortable the next day. And, it leaves you with an expanded girth the next day as well.

4. "When in doubt, just buy" Try not to apply this piece of advice too often.

Saturday

Another Saturday of tasks and schedules. Glad that I managed to get some things done today. It always feels good to check off some things on the to-do list. There's still Sunday and Monday to get more things done and to have some me-time and rest-time as well. Been quite awhile since I had some good rest.

Here I am, sitting in K's room. Half-working and half-blogging. Listening to music and sipping a glass of moscato as well. My favourite Brown Brothers - Orange Muscat & Flora flavour. He's surfing the Net.

I like this. Peace and quiet, slow and steady. Just me and him. Each of us doing our own thing but knowing that the other is just inches away. No words spoken. Just a comfortable quiet.

Does busy-ness attract more busy-ness?

Mad day rushing different things here and there. Was in a 3hr discussion as well during which 3 different groups of people were looking for me via text, call and whatsapp.

Feeling a little zapped. Now rushing to see Granny before heading home. It'll be a late dinner for me again today. Hope I maintain my weight!!

------------------
Update 8:30pm

Not that good a day.
Rushed to see granny and was caught in 2 separate jams. By the time I got to CGH, she was already dozing off. Spoke to her for a mere 3-4 sentences and she's now sound asleep. I can only pat her now and watch her fall into a deeper sleep.

Good morning!

Cheery happy colors greet me every weekday morning as I wait for my private bus to come pick me up for work.

Sleepy Shell

Cab rides, an unwell tummy, late dinners and late nights seem to be the norm these days. Coupled with visits to CGH to see Granny, tasks to accomplish and chores to do.

Which reminds me. There's still a pile of 3-4 accumulated pieces of clothing which need to be handwashed! Eeeek!

Le Weekend

It was a busy and tiring one, but quite fulfilling because we managed to get a lot of things done.

Visited Granny. Spent the entire Sunday afternoon buying furniture. Met with videographer. Collected the cards. Bought our bedspread.

The coming weekend will be another busy one...as is the work week ahead. Jiayou to K and self!

Lots of Granny posts these days. She's getting alot of airtime!

Went to see her again last night and was very happy to see that she was in good spirits, in spite of the physical ailments plaguing her.

She was sitting up and was considerably less "stoned" compared to Tuesday and Wednesday. She was smiling and laughing and chuckling at her own jokes. She was talking loudly and disturbing everyone in the room lol. She initiated conversations and was talkative, although all she did was to repeat the same few sentences tens of times. "Have you eaten?" "Why haven't you eaten?" "You came straight from work?" "Are you cold?" "Is that why you are wearing a jacket?" You want to drink water?"

I took it as a good sign. At least her mind is doing good.

On the physical aspects, aside from the cuts and bruise from the fall, the doctors ran more tests and scans and Xrays and now the list seems to be getting longer?

• Slight hairline fracture in the right hip. Leaving it alone for now since she is not complaining of any pain. She already has an existing metal plate in her left hip in a surgery done a few years back.
• Intestines and kidneys are weak.
• Cyst detected near one of her ovaries. Further scans may be needed. This is suspected to have been giving her some pain and discomfort. BUT, an invasive surgery at her age is not possible and highly not recommended. To be monitored and further assessed by the doctors.
• Bad cough originating deep in her chest. Phlegm building up quite quickly. Docs administered liquid medication through a drip for her. Hopefully it helps to clear the cough and phlegm up quickly.
• Itchy dry skin. With patches of flaky skin here and there.
• Some sores on her bum due to her scratching and also due to insufficient blood circulation maybe.

I hope she gets well soon and gets discharged soon......

........

Quite amazing. How some people can solicit information from you beneath your own nose and at the same time deftly withhold their information from you.

Some new age skill?

More on English

A senior manager from another department just corrected my English. She changed my "iterate" to "reiterate".

Sigh.

For the record, to "iterate" means to do or say something again. To "reiterate" means to re-repeat something. It is sufficient to use the word "iterate" to convey the idea of repetition.

*stressed*

Never in my life have I been so nervous and fidgety about sending out an email.
Not until this morning. Not until 5minutes ago.

It was a long one-page email sent to rebutt and refute some strongly worded emails sent to us by overseas people on a joint event we are working on. It was an email sent to defend and justify our position and decisions made. I hope this doesn't cause things to boil even more and bubble over! As it is, there are too many cooks stirring the pot already...

Ti Gong Boh Pi. I really hope that things will simmer down after this email. If not...sigh....there'll be more stress and pimples for me.

*clasps hands together to pray*
*fingers crossed*

Granny

Went to visit her earlier on. She could recognise me when I asked her who I was. :)

She's supposed to go for a CT scan. They need to inject her with contrast and there's a certain amount of risk here. Her kidneys are weak and if her body can't expel the contrast fluids out on its own after the procedure, she may get renal failure.

And then she's having a bad cough. With heavy phlegm developing.

And then her itchy hands went to pull out the stitches which were holding her wound closed. Seriously don't understand how she did it. Wouldn't it have been extremely painful?? They replaced the stitches with tape and gauze instead.

And then she went to peel away one edge of the gauze. She was duly scolded by my dad and hopefully now understands that she shouldn't be doing it.

And then she's got a big reddish bruise next to and around her left eye.

And then her intestines are weak too.

And then...

And then..

Sigh.

Blew her a flying kiss when I left her bedside. She didn't return it today. She shooed my dad and I away instead.

At times like this, I'm glad I always have a rosary in my bag. It's comforting.