RIP dear Girl-Girl

Names

I made a digital scrapbook album for a good friend for her birthday and wrote her name and the origin of her name on it. Shortly after, she IM me:


CW: hey
CW: what does light/moon mean?
CW: on the cover of the photo album?
GY: that's the meaning of Cindy
GY: greek origin
GY: means light or moon
CW: oh yeah kah
CW: didnt know that
GY: :-)
GY: so suitable hor
GY: you're the light to those in darkness
CW: yup
CW: :-)
CW: what does your name mean in greek?
GY: Queen :-D
GY: latin origin
CW: LOL
CW: your name is very very apt
GY: see - english name Queen
GY: chinese name KENG - King
CW: LOL
CW: habis la
CW: pau ka liau
CW: all you sapu
GY: i pau-ka-liau
GY: ;-)

Anyway - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CW!!

Jo - a Nurse?

I'm out of inspiration what to blog on. My life is currently 'boring'.

So I dug my brains/memories for some little 'stories' to share. This happened about 2 years ago when Jo was 7 years old.

We were at Children's Service in Church one Sunday, and the reading of the day was :

Matthew 4:18-20 (New International Version)
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

The teacher explained what the passage meant, and then in her cheery voice asked "So, who wants to be fishermen for Jesus?"

All the kids in the room put up their hands except Jo. I gave her a nudge. She shook her head and gave me a worried look. Then in a loud whisper she said "But Mommy, I want to be a Nurse!"

7 is such a blissful age........ :-D

Picnic @ Tiny Tapir

I joined a Picnic @ the Bungalow yesterday which was hosted by Tiny Tapir Eco Shop.

There were tables promoting stuffs ranging from baby clothings to eco friendly, home made sanitary napkins to hand-made costume jewelries.

I love visiting the bungalow. I give breastfeeding and nutrition talks there every 2 months or so. And everytime I visit, I ended up buying stuffs. This time, I bought:

If you do not know what it is - it's cloth sanitary napkins!! It comes in various sizes and thickness for different flows and days. I've started using cloth sanitary napkins since 6 months ago, and I really like it!! For one thing - there isn't the horrible stink that usually accompanies those commercial disposable pads. I mean - the menstrual blood actually don't smell when I use cloth napkins. Secondly, I feel better not contributing to the amount of garbage in the landfills! I am doing my part Saving the World!! Yay!

I was also very intrigued by Christene's Bento making demo. She seems to magically turn simple, ordinary, boring food into works of art! Watching her, I really admire her dedication to ensure that her family gets her best! I know bento-ing won't be my kind of thing - but it's really awesome watching someone else do it - and with such ease and flourish!

To see more of Christene's creation, click here. Yum!!

Kids are .....hmmmm....

So, Jeremy is banned - from watching TV for 1 whole week!!! I told him that if he cheats when I'm not around, then it's an additional week! How did he take it? Well, he howled, initially, then it was quiet .......

(hmmm, maybe 'No TV' is not really a punishment. He's enjoying himself with his many sets of Lego - the newest set from Aunty SY)

We were discussing bad habits. The following is the general consensus:


Damian - Digging his nose!!! (Eeewwww...)

Stephanie - Talking too much, too fast.

Josephine - also Gigging her nose (double Eeewwww...)

Jeremy - crying and blaming other people

Daddy - not listening

Mommy? Oh, Mommy has no bad habits. Mommy is perfect

"But nobody's perfect" said Jeremy.

"But your Mommy's perfect!" I insisted

"I know what Mommy's bad habit is." declared Jo. "Mommy's bad habit is not admitting that she has bad habits!"

Life is back to normal

Yes... indeed life is back to 'normal'. Why I say that? *Sigh* Another incident happened today at school......

Yes, it's Jeremy again. It's "Hari Suntikan' (some immunization jabs - I've lost track).

Well anyway, the kids were not warned. The nurses just turned up at school and almost all the Year 1 and Year 6 kids have to line-up for their turn to get a needle stuck into their arms! Some kids got 2 needles, and it seems there was this Year 6 kid who was given 4 jabs!!!! And so the news travelled about how that kid nearly 'died' - it was so painful. *eyes rolling*

Ok .... so it's Jeremy's turn. And he had no idea what was happening. In his own tearful words.....

"I was just lining up and suddenly the nurse grab me and put a needle into my right arm! Pain ma! So I kick her lor! Then 2 other nurses came and grab me and that first nurse put another needle ino my left arm. I kicked all of them."

He created such a havoc that his kor-kor Damian came running. Jeremy held onto kor-kor and wouldn't let go. He refused to go back to his class and followed Damian to his class instead. So what do you expect a 12 year old to do? Damian's teachers told him that he should have just left Jeremy to cry. That Damian is not helping his little brother by manja-ing (moddle-coddling) him.

Damian felt real bad. He's afraid that he might had just played a part in Jeremy turning out to be a monster. Are the teachers right? What do you think?

Moving On

It's been almost a week since Pa left us.

On one hand, I know that it's a good thing. That he no longer suffers. That his illness was short. That we were able to take care of him in during the 3 weeks he was sick. That his kids manage to pay filial piety before he dies. That we were able to be by his side at the time he breathed his last.

Some people commented that the fact he died before breakfast (at 6.32am) shows what a considerate person he was. That he left all good things (and all his meals) to his kids. He was also considerate in the sense that he died on a Monday, thus allowing us to observe all the 7th-day observations (on 7 consecutive sundays). We kids do not need to take leave from work.

One thing I'm truly thankful for is my 2nd Brother-in-Law who took it upon himself to settle all of Pa's medical bills. He certainly did not need to do so, and I'm grateful for his generosity.

I'm also grateful that somehow with all our differences, we 5 sisters and 1 brother remain united. (We hear stories about so and so who has a fall out with a sibling etc etc or so and so no longer on talking terms with a family member etc etc.)

So many things to be thankful for. So many blessings.... yet when I go to sleep at night, all the emotions come crowding in, and I start to weep. My eldest boy told me this morning that he don't know why, but when he closes his eyes at night - he wants to cry. I hug him and told him "It's ok to cry. In fact it's good to cry. We must spend some time mourning. Then we move on...."

I also pray that my mom will also mourn.... and then move on. She's been living with him for more than 45 years... now single again. I imagine it's not going to be easy for her.