Happy Chinese New Year!

I'm still in the education industry. Just wondering what and where all of you are pursuing aspects of life at this stage. Hope all are keeping well and happy! Can't believe it, but it's going to be another new Lunar New Year. We're all getting older, but not necessary more jaded, I hope! :)

To another year of well-lived life! Cheers!

Nightingales

My mother was hospitalised again recently, and my encounters with nurses, doctors and health caregivers once again affirmed my view that these individuals really make or break patients' road to recovery. If I had not taken the road to teaching, I think that I might have pursued nursing. The vocation might involve lots of ubpleasant physical tasks, . . . but think of all the opportunities you have to bring comfort, ease anxieties and uplift spirits.

School's out

Ten weeks of the school term went by relatively okay. Students are getting more trying and hyper, I reckon, thanks to the new-age instant info-overload and weird food they are ingesting these days. SIGH! This dinosaur here is feeling kind of tired more easily. Yes, tired BUT not out yet!! Thank God for the one-week break! And I guess, if you look at things from a positive perspective, meeting challenges constructively does keep one on-the-toes and renewed. Hmm . . . however when things get a trifling frustrating, I do wonder if indeed the world were to end in 2010, what would all our rat-race and frenetic chasing of largely material pursuits amount to. . . Japan's big earthquake and tsunami did make me wonder if I am ready to 'go' without any regrets when my time comes. What about you?

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy New Year everyone! May you have a super-fabulicious year ahead at your poly, uni, the army or whatever! Economy's looking up, so go work on your quality of life, relationships, leisure, now that settling problems with the basics of living is out of the way. Haha! Pardon my being hyper. The full workload of a new academic year is thankfully right now kicking in at a still tolerable pace.

I read the good news about the Singapore employment scene this year: jobs chasing after people, especially in the service sector! Good for us job-seekers, but I guess bad news for the tow-kays out there! Pray for a win-win situation for all, and that the economic melt-down that we all went throught just a while ago will not be repeated any time ever.

So, Dong Xi FaCai, all! May you be happy, healthy and hearty in the Year of the Rabbit!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Here's wishing you all a most joyous time of the year with loved ones, partaking in worthwhile pursuits together that will add to quality in your lives! I just received my best present this season -- a clean bill of health from my doctor after a most depressing phase. This calls for much thanksgiving and rejoicing!

And you think you want to act

Whew! Two whole days of takes under the hot sun at a playground and then in an apartment. And at least one more day of shooting to make up for lost sunshine hours and rainy weather --- all towards a mere 5-minute film showing! Now, I'm going to look at movies - good, mediocre and bad - with a different eye! No joke. Acting, directing, cinematography, scripting and all are tough work!! But being involved in the daughter's coursework was fun, and I get to interact with young minds. Having the sons and other daughter as fellow actors/actresses/calafares made for unusual but good bonding time.

Mum's day out

Brought my mother out to get her hair cut and permed today. One of those mother-daughter moment that I enjoy very much. At my age, she still treats me like her precious kid daughter. And I do so appreciate her!

December's here again. That time of the year with plenty of festivities in the air. School's out and exams over. WOOT! Go have some wicked family time, people!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Mummy

Happiness is having your mum pamper you when you need to burn the midnight oil for exams and projects. Lucky are those who have mums reminding them to wake up in time to take exams that they have prepared forever for! Well today, one unlucky or sotong one forgot to rise in time for his Maths 'O'level Paper 2!

Change your hair colour!

If you think that I was cruel to you turning up at your Prom as a butterfly, you would slap your head a zillion times if you had seen what I was during this year's Teacher's Day dinner at my current school ---- I was Katty Perry!! Yes, complete with pink hair, cute hair band, candy necklace, pouff candy-inpired print outfit, leggings, California Girl colourful nails and giant lollipop! It was the Hungry Ghost month and I had to drive through Geylang Road to the dinner venue. Wuahahaaaa! You should have seen the turned heads and quizzical looks! I looked like an down-the-hill getai wannabe and Geylang Lorong "merchandise"! My kids did not mince their words: they thought that I looked more like the "substitutes" at Desker Road! As for me, I had loads of fun. It was MY day after all!!

7th Month

7th Month. Gets me thinking what my late Dad would have thought of the way his children and loved ones have turned out all these years while he was gone. You know, when I was a young, I used to wonder how I would have use for all the love that my dad showered me. Later on in life and even now, I fully appreciate the mileage that tender loving care and unconditional love give. It forms a very secure and huge reserve that I draw on for all the pit stops I need make along life's way.

Boeing, boeing . . .

Watched the local play, "Boeing, Boeing" directed by our very own Glen Goei, with my very nice sisters just a few evenings ago. Hilarious script and just-nice story line to lighten up an evening after work. I was tickled by the portrayal of Singapore Girls as sharp-tongued, practical and non-too-demure females, contrasted sharply with the Japanese specimens. Then there was the animated Hong Kong female variety. Haha... you all should catch it someday when it is staged again!

Ms Q

Hahahaaaa! "Taxi drivers say that if they see Ms Q flagging for a cab, they are not going to stop." Scary, siaz . . .

Happy Mother's Day!

Not that any of you are mothers yet. But Happy Mother's Day to all your mothers and I wish you a nice respite from your work and studies so that you could have a nice meal or time with your families this week!

Wow, my last post was like eons ago. Too caught up with life elswhere from HIHS. But no, you are not out of mind! Sometimes when I teach my lot at my current school, I do share with my students about you all --- that there are nice students out there who make it a point to have a life out of school and have hearts for beyond rat-race goals. In other words, I miss you all every now and then! Haha!

I am presently enjoying a heavenly long weekend before the onslaught of the mid-year exam markings. I find that age is catching up with me, and it takes so much less to tire me out these days.But I have been a good girl (as usual!!) --- not letting age be an excuse not to give the things I undertake my utmost best effort! Erhem . . .! I must mention that I even manage to squeeze in some exercise time to destress. Quite proud of myself. I have the old folks at the gym that I am working out at to thank: how they manage to pound away at the treadmills, lift weights and persevere at no-joke workouts just put me in perpective or on my want-to-give-up days, shame me into putting on my exercise shoes! Nothing like good role models!

Then this Mother's Day, I had a wonderful makan cooked up by a wonderful man for all the mothers in the family. Times like these remind me that life is good.

An inconvenient certainty

How do you deal with someone who knows that he is inflicted with some irreversible medical condition and soon will be losing the use of one of his senses? As if it is not enough, things are also messy on the financial and relationship fronts. SIGH! And some of us are still griping about piling homework and backdated mobile phone models!

Faithful Friends

Today, the kids and I partied with old friends who go back 13 years when the little ones danced ballet together as 4 year-olds. Although we meet like only a couple of times a year, we have faithfully kept in touch over happy and sad occasions and remembered one another during important events. One family among us in particular has diligently initiated gatherings of sorts to encourage the much appreciated fellowhip over the years. The rest of us made time to meet no matter how busy we are. When you have friends like these, you feel so blessed. The children and adults see how frendship can withstand the test of time and I think that this kind of affirmation anchors one so much in our largely very volatile life.

I had a very Merry Christmas today. Hope that you all had a good time today too. Best wishes for the New Year!

MERRY XMAS GUYS.
AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
-view

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas one and all! Here's wishing you a wonderful holiday season what with Christmas, New Year's Day and Chinese New Year (and Valentine's Day on the same day!) all so close to one another. I also wish you all a meaningful time of being together with loved ones to reflect on life on the year that will soon past and the year that looms ahead. Read in the papers about the Christmas wish that was reportedly made by a less privileged member of our community? All this homemaker wants is a saucepan so that she might cook with it!! So what kind of people are we to look upon with disdain simple presents given to us and haggling for expensive ones?

Do think about the more important things in life and let's prioritise our goals sensibly.

Smitten

Tell you a funny thing: one of my growing up male offspring said that two pretty Korean girls waved to him not once, but twice at their international school when he was there for a basketball match. What do you make of it? I was cruel, I said that they probably had the sun in their eyes and waved to him against their better judgements. Or maybe they were just elated to meet another one of their single-eyelid kind. Hahaaaaa! The things teenagers get so easily smitten with . . .

The Human Factor

My Mum's hospitalised again. So counting the almost back-to-back 2 other medical episodes in the family, I've been spending most of the past 3 weeks in 3 different hospitals in Singapore. As usual, I continue to be amazed by the behaviour of people at hospitals. This time, I observed that some people are just cut out to be doctors and others nurses, physiotherapists etc. They just have that sunshine personality and patience that lift the spirits of even the most pessimistic and difficult of patients. There are of course the glum doctors who are real turn-offs. Bad hair-days only, I hope! My top praises are saved for the nurses, who God bless them, ever so cheerfully fetch and empty bed-pans, change dirty adult diapers, tend to very sick patients and yet find it within them to wear smiles on their faces. So listen up, you nurses of Integrity 2008: your noble vocation is hereby acknowledged and given credit for!! Then I also noticed the dynamics of kith and kin in action at hospital bedsides. You have no idea how touching it is to see 50 to 60 year-old children tending to their sick parents ---- feeding them, massaging them, caressing and hugging them even when their loved ones are clearly in semi-comatose, heavily sedated or very advanced in their ailments. Some children were clearly not on speaking terms with one another, but thankfully these few days, the ones I saw in Mum's wards are still very loving to their sick parents. Finally, of course I have to mention the good-looking medical personnel who feature in my hospital episodes. Today, a hunkidory of a very young and handsome physiotherapist tended to Mum, explaining to her all the light exercises that she ought to embark on upon discharge from the hospital. SIGHHHHH . . . . so many handsome young men. . . . so little of the youth left in me!!!!

Touch wood. Looking forward to Mum's speedy recovery! Will see to the young one's textbooks next week and then it's Merry Christmas! The 2 holiday-working ones have been chosen to foot a buffet treat for all in the family! I am looking forward to pay-back time. Hahahaaaaaaa!

Skin

No, no, not anything related to Roald Dahl's "Skin". Haha! Finally got round to getting our IntegrityUnited blog a new skin! Why the pier? Well . . . firstly, the pic's nice and secondly, the life buoys kinda symbolise what I want each and everyone of you to be --- life-savers in your own special ways! Neat huh?

Now, how about some updates, everyone?

I'll start. Academic year 2009 has been a whole new learning experience for me. Tiring but kept me on my toes mentally (digits and brains?! Get it??) And I've decided to renew my contract for another year at the same school. At the family front, changes are unfolding at rapid pace. I guess I should be thankful that generally life has been relatively kind to me. There was one prom night that had to be seen to on a grand scale, and then a couple of my 6 took vacation jobs this hols while one did well enough to pay her way through school for 2010. There were 2 who had hospital (again!) experiences within 3 weeks of each other. In between all the medical emergencies, chauffering and waiting up past 2 a.m for the part-time holiday workers, and minding the remaining wild and restless younger ones, I managed to catch up on watching movies and reading books. Most amazing of all, I found time to re-visit the gym. I have lost 900 grammes so far. I know, pathetic amount, but hey it's a start!! The old foggies there are still plodding conscientiously at their routines and of course everyone remembers me as the delinquent and absent one! I also found time to take the 6 to the beach to fly kites, jog, work our cameras, and just have fun. School books and academic work can wait!

What about you all? Blog!

Ms Q