Ho-Hum NYE

This has been a very, very, VERY tiring New Year's Eve.

My poor baby is down with high fever... AGAIN. But this time, it is coupled with slight vomiting AND a bad throat inflammation. He woke up crying every hour last night as he could not breathe properly/was feeling hot due to the fever/overall feeling plain irritable/was sleepy but yet didn't have a good sleep. When I tried to put a wet towel over his forehead, hoping to relieve his pain, he screamed and cried all the more.

Like I said... tiring tiring tiring.

Oh, and the most exciting part. The doctor said the fever should break in a few days' time. Wow. A. Few. Days'. Time. I am counting down! Haha!

Pardon the grumbling. I love the baby. I do. It really does pain me to see him lose his voice and not sleep well. And I don't always grumble. I just need, like... three consecutive hours of sleep. Okay okay... I will also make do with two! Haha!

So God, please hear my prayer... Please give your beloved (he's mine too!) good, good rest today. Amen.

Oh, and it is Nic's birthday this Saturday. I have not even thought of where to go with him. Nor gotten him his present.

Zone Thanksgiving 2008

 

On Sunday night, we had a BLAST @ our annual zone event - and the theme? MTV Asia Awards! As you can see, we "glam-ed" up to the max. Each of the cell leaders were took on a larger-than-life MTV "persona."

Who was I *ahem* supposed to be?
Hold your sniggers... Kylie Minogue! LOL!

And this was the pic I was meant to mimic.

I have tried my best. I have no regrets.

Hahaha!

Anyhow, the female leaders were pretty tame. Compared to these three great men.

#1: Johnson Hay as ELVIS PRESLEY

#2: Barry Leonardi as Michael Jackson

#3: Melvin Toh as RICKY MARTIN

All in all, it was a fun night!
If you were there, we hoped you had as much fun in the audience as we had putting it all together! ;)

Why I Heart Blogging

I was just thinking last night... Why I enjoy blogging so.

It is not because I am "too free" (Hey! I'm a working mom, you know?)

Nor is it because I have such great insights on things
(*coughcough-idontthinkso-cough!*)

In the course of my work, I already write a LOT. But the bulk of my work has got to do with "proper" English. As it is when it comes to minutes, official (or should it be officious? Hmmm...) emails, policies et al.

I have mastered the art of using words such as:

Deliberated... Reviewed... Discussed... Highlighted... Indicated... Expressed... (and other synonyms to basically mean the matter was talked about!)

All of which are hardly words that I will use in "normal" every day life.

So blogging serves as code-switching to me. While I make ample use of my proper, grammatically correct English and extensively profound vocabulary in the workplace, blogging helps me to just write for the sake of it. Blogging allows me to put in many full stops (........) which is a punctation mark I strangely adore! It allows me to type without really having to think too much about the tenses or grammar (though for my dear readers' sakes, I do try to not make too many errors! Haha!) While I try to keep myself concise in business writing, blogging allows me to r-a-m-b-l-e... which I do. A bit. Okay. Maybe a teensy bit more than a bit. Alright, you got me. I ramble. A lot.

Hahaha! My point exactly.

2008 Milestones

JANUARY
Our Prince was born! Our lives are never the same again!

Soon after discharging from the hospital, he had a bad bout of jaundice and for the first month, Nic and I were shuttling him to and fro for his regular check-ups! What an emotional rollercoaster ride this month was!

We also employed our very first domestic helper, Lyn.

FEBRUARY
Jayvon's one-month celebration! All the cakes and traditional red eggs! It also officially meant the end of my "confinement" period (err... but those who know me would also know this was just a formality! Hahaha! I totally did not adhere to the "traditional" Chinese-style confinement do's and don'ts. Ssssh....)

MARCH
Still enjoying my maternity leave, and my poor baby had to go for his jabs! So expensive!

Oh, and March 15 marked my DECADE-long attendance in my home church - City Harvest Church!

After two months with Lyn, our domestic helper, we decided she really couldn't meet the mark. She was untidy, clumsy and I could not trust her with my prince alone. So, we decided to get another maid, one that we could trust to help with the baby.

APRIL
Back to work (already?!?). Physically, I was back in the office, but mentally and emotionally, it took a while for it all to kick in.

I sent my second maid back too. After a great first three days with us, she started to show her "true colours." She was lazy and emotionally manipulative, and a hypochondriac to boot. Do I sound harsh? Haha... I guess on hindsight, I really did feel for her in the beginning, but as her lies piled up (and her productivity dipped and our morales dipped even further), we realised we had made a big booboo and decided to send her back. What an expensive lesson we had.

The total cost of my first two maids? A sweat-inducing S$2,200 in maid agency fees and insurance, plus another $600 for the maid levy. And for three months of work received, we got back a oh-so-generous refund of S$188. Yes - that maid agency gets a glowing recommendation from me! (Excuse me while I roll my eyes and count to ten...)  didn't really get a chance to really give a blow-by-blow blog entry about these two maids. But it was quite a harrowing experience that for the next two months, Nic and I decided to "stay away" from employing another maid for a while. Sending our maids back, while needful at that time, was hardly a "fun and enjoyable" experience. As difficult it was for our maids, it was emotionally draining for us too.

MAY
Mainly cos of our maid woes, Nic and I decided to stay on permanently (for the next one year, at least) in Marine Parade.

JUNE
Our third domestic helper, Mun, comes into our lives. She is a blessing! She is hardworking, and alert... but most importantly, she loves my baby too!

Things are looking up! Nic bought me a gorgeous Kate Spade diaper bag, the one I've been eyeing for the longest time! Heh!

JULY - AUGUST
With a  good helper in the form of Mun, our lives started improving. I really admire working moms who do not have domestic help. How on earth do they manage? I am so NOT a home-y person, and I struggle with household chores. Even in pre-Jayvon days, I dreaded to do household chores! Haha!

This period is my regular busy time, working on the Festival of Praise. What a great privilege it is to be able to do so! ;)

SEPTEMBER
YK Zone Retreat! Jayvon's very first overseas trip!

Ooh, and not forgetting: The blog entry that started it all. Revelation! Haha!

OCTOBER
 
My life has henceforth changed. My Blackberry Bold has come!!

NOVEMBER
Asia Conference 2008. 'nuff said. 

DECEMBER
Merry, merry Christmas!

2009, here we come! :)

Jay's Presents

Jayv's very first Christmas, and he is one very BLESSED toddler! He received so many presents!

Gosh! He lifts his hands in despair as to which present to rip open next...

But he finally get his act together, rallies his Daddy and Mommy to put their fingers to good use - and the wrappers started flying off to unveil cool toys like these! 

The awesome-est giant Pooh bear came courtesy of me!

Uncle Zhiyong gave Jay an "educational" toy (his own words)...

"Hmmm... Uncle Zhiyong, your toy telephone is defective... There's no Number '0'! How can I dial my Mommy's handphone number this way?"

Well, defective toy phones aside, we surrounded Jay with his newly-gotten toys. And he had a blast looking and touching and pressing those dials! 

Once again, thanks to all who gave presents (to us and to Jay)!!! 

Merry, Merry Christmas!

It's early Christmas morning...

When Jay woke up, I decided to give him a small treat and opened one present (out of his mini-present-mountain under the tree).

Thanks to Nicole, Nathan and Nadine! He loves his Thomas Music TV.

See? He's trying to smile for my blackberry camera! Haha!

What a great way to start off Christmas! ;) Well, we're off for the Christmas Service, and another stellar drama put up by our dramatists. Last night's service was so good - will put up videos and pics soon!

And here's wishing you a Very Merry Christmas! May the light of Christ shine in your homes and lives too! :)
Sent via BlackBerry from SingTel!

Pineapple Tarts!

One of the reasons why I lurve Christmas?

It's one of the two times in a year (the other being Chinese New Year) that my mom will roll up her sleeves to do delicious PINEAPPLE TARTS!

From the pineapple filling to the dough, it is entirely hand-made! Chockful of homemade gooooooooodness!

Gosh... There goes my diet plan! Hahaha!

Nic & San

I went back to my old Multiply account ... and realised I have posted quite a few things there. And when I came across this post, I knew I had to "duplicate" it here. Guess it is a good "introduction" to the beginning of Nic & San. :)

The date of post: August 11, 2007 (Wow! So long ago!)

The venue: My old blog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was very blessed by this week's CG message, especially when it came to the first part - the discipline of affection!

It is really very true - that we choose who or what we place our affection on. And it applies to not just our walk with God but also every other aspect of our lives.

Not sure who said it... but I like the phrase "Choose what you love... and then love what you choose."

I think it seems so easy yet... practically not so easy to apply in our lives. The first part is the easy one, yet maintaining any relationship takes a lot of work, and continually making the choice over and over again.

Coming from a relationship that (before our marriage) lasted 7 long long long l-o-o-o-o-n-n-g years, and spanned two different continents for a good 4 1/2 of those 7 years, I know of many friends and more acquaintances of both mine & Nic's that are quite amazed (stunned... skeptical... lots of adjectives to insert here...) that we are able to maintain a long distance relationship. I even remember a cell group leader commenting (very insensitively, I might add...) that he DOES NOT (and somemore must emphasize those two words!) believe in long distance relationships. Haha!

How did we do it?

Haha... The short answer: God. Longer answer: One day at a time, one month at a time and one year at a time.

I never thought I would be able to make it through. I don't think Nic was very confident either. Step by step, I think God prepared both our hearts for Nic to leave for his studies. Before he first went over, I think for about three weeks before he first went over, I was quite the emotional wreck. Haha... it is funny now, when I think back. But then, whenever we were out together, happily eating or just walking around, I'd suddenly remember, "Man... two weeks more before he leaves for Syd..." and then start tearing immediately. I cried every single day during this period... be it when I was with him or at home alone... whenever the thought came to my mind.

Every time I sent him off at the airport, seeing him go through the gates, would make me cry buckets. The thought of not seeing him for another 6 or 10 months... The thought of him being all alone over in Sydney, working so hard to earn his living expenses & without his family with him... Sigh, it would really make my heart break. But slowly but surely, my very fragile heart learnt to cope! YES - I would still cry buckets each time, but I would learn to recover fast too. Hahaha... We both learnt and grew and experienced so much individually, that whenever we talked on the phone, we will be yakking away at what happened in church/cell group/work/school...

Ah well... there is no perfect relationship. We have had our fair shares of quarrels and tiffs. But looking back, I think we can both thank God for being there for us, and allowing us to pull through that period, so that now, we can appreciate each other even more.

But this message on the discipline of affection really brought about many good (and also sad) memories about our relationship. I know of so many good friends whose relationships have ended or are on the rocks... And I really do feel so, so much for them. To give up on a relationship because of petty differences (or worse... a so-called change of heart...) is so, so sad. Hai...

Of cos, I'm not saying our relationship is a beaming tower of example... But, I guess, it is one where commitment (to God and to each other) played a huge part in keeping our relationship strong and healthy. It is not just about the amount of time you spend with each other, or how often you meet (Nic & I NEVER ONCE used a Web-cam to 'see' each other in all those 4 1/2 years! Hahaha! Laziness... yeap!)... but it is probably in the quality and not quantity of communication & attention.

Though I always joked I had an "ABA" (Active Boyfriend Absent...), yet to his credit, Nic never made me feel like I was all alone! Haha... Despite the 2-hour  time difference & me being a perpetual night-bird, he would stay up till 3am his time to chat with me when I reached home @ 1am! During daylight savings months, the time difference would be 3 hours, and that r-e-a-l-l-y stretched him to the max!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And more than two years later, I am glad to inform that we're still happily married, with our Prince to complete our little family!

Some past pictures (what is nostalgia without photos!)...

My gorgeous wedding @ the Roof Garden of CHC.

Audrey, ME & Jun! At the dinner over in JB... (Cos of all our friends that went over to JB for the dinner with us, the dinner was a great success & loads of fun!)

Nic & San & his University Medal (F-i-n-a-l-l-y! Graduation day!)

Christmas Presents!

Before...

 

After...

 

It took me two long hours to get all the presents wrapped. Of course, this is just two-thirds of the presents I need to get, but hey - at least I'm more than half done.

Now, I am feeling tired relieved broke happy I've managed to get through it. Yes, I know you're probably asking - Why is everything wrapped in pink? Have you gone pink-mad? Eww... Pink?!? Did you have a particular Christmas wrapping theme in mind? Shaddap. Well, not really. It was just a very long roll of Watson's-bought pretty wrapper. Most of the presents were pretty small (Good things DO come in small packages, see?) and so I just couldn't finish the roll was too tired to buy new wrappers just decided to wrap up all the presents in this!

I've got some Christmas gifts already too! I've got a earring (thanks Bijia!), a stylo Aldo bracelet & necklace (thanks Wen!) & Lancome mascara & eyeshadow (thanks Evan!). Oh, and the best present (yet)? An iTouch from Nic!!! I am addicted to the games love this slick little baby! And Baby also got more presents than me five fabulous presents (all unwrapped - we'll wait for Christmas for him)

It is SEVEN days to Christmas & counting!!!

And if you are thinking what to get me... Let me help you here!

None of these please...

• Towels (no matter how nice)
• Earrings (errr... received 2, I think that is enough!)
• Clothes (sorry, but I don't trust your taste won't like it prefer my own taste)
• Stuffed toys
• Bag (This bag isn't a year old yet, ya know?)

If you really really REALLY lurve me...

Loewe Maia Bag... (droooooooooooooooooooooooooool...) Anyhow, this bag is ALMOST a year old! :)

Gorgeous LV bag (I love... *heart melting*)

 

Tiffany Sixteen Stone ring (yeah... U really REALLY have to love me!)

Nintendo Wii!

(Oh wait... Melvin's supposed to get this for Jayvon ya? Hahaha! Strike this off then!)

These are good too! ;)

Lancome Miracle (love it!)

Ed Hardy tee!

Heeren vouchers! (Easy ya? Heh heh!)

He's On The Throne!

His Elmo Throne, that is!

Our Christmas CG Bash!

We had our combined CG Christmas Bash yesterday at my place. And it was fun!

First, we decided on having Pot Blessing. That is, each member to bring a little something. What a FEAST that turned out to be!

And this is just on my dining table! We had to bring in another table to keep the rest of the food!

There was fried rice and fried beehoon (courtesy of Mun, my domestic helper - which turned out really delicious!), roasted chicken (in lieu of turkey), potato salad, spaghetti (more carbo... whooppee!), Old Chang Kee fishballs, and even a pretty mango mousse logcake!

We also had a Christmas Dip. Previous year's Christmas gift exchanges always got a little "foul-up" (someone inadvertently forgot to get the present for the person he/she is supposed to buy...), so this year, I had a Brilliant Idea #1. Haha! I decided that we should all just bring a present, without choosing whom we were buying for! And at the chorus of sighs when I announced it, cos the thought of receiving chocolates or photo frames or towels didn't really appeal to them, I had Brilliant Idea #2: we will do the Christmas Dip amongst people of the same gender - hence, girls will buy a present for another gal and guys will buy a present for another guy. That saved me so much trouble! I got a long, funky looking necklace from Diva (yes, thank me, Audrey Xie... Haha!)

Tsk tsk... Some tardy members, doing some last-minute gift-wrapping!

And at the same time, our dear Yang Zheng was pretty busy himself! Check out these shots...

All I asked him was, "Yang, can we have a CG photo on Sunday?"

And that is why I love this guy! He has such great pride and commitment and a spirit of excellence! To take a CG photo, he brought along his "full gear" to get that one good shot!

He was my wedding dinner photographer - and he did an excellent job!

*Advertorial coming up* ... so if you are in need of a good photographer, find him!!! Hahaha!

Confessions of a Closet Online Shopper

It all started so innocently yesterday afternoon.

I wanted to go get some Christmas presents and so popped by Aldo Accessories to pick out some. After much deliberation and getting two presents from there (Oooooo... How efficient am I... not!), I strolled over to Aldo Shoes (conveniently located just next door!)

That was Fatal Mistake #1.

Fatal Mistake #2? Trying on some shoes!

And I loved this cute and chic dual-toned pair. I could picture walking down 0rchard Road in these! Haha...

Damage? S$135. A non-sale item.

Before I could make any impulse buy there and then, my credit limit was saved-by a phone call! So I decided to go off, and think before making that buy.

And I thought that was the end of that.

I even came home, met some of the zone leaders to talk about our upcoming 28 December Thanksgiving meeting (Heads up: it's going to be sooooooo fun! Cos I'm in the organizing committee! Haha!) ... Tucked Jay in... Had a conference call with JD and the 2 Audreys... I even blogged!

When all was done, I took the laptop to the room, planning to play online Scrabble (that's how when you are husband-less... sob!) And with Jayvon sleeping beside me on the bed, I took the comp, and before getting to the Scrabble website... I made Fatal Mistake #3: I keyed in www.aldoshoes.com.

And lo and behold!!! The very pair of shoes I tried on that afternoon!!! On SALE!!! At US$45! Aaaahhh! And free shipping with purchases above US$50 too!

Gosh... Well, the rest was a blur.

In the end... I bought the shoes and 2 accessories (might as well get the free shipping, I reckon!)... Racking up US$55 which comes up to S$85. Of course this excludes shipping charges from US to SG, which should cost another $20-30, but with the original shoe costing S$135, I figured it is still quite a bargain!

What fun, online shopping!

I've always enjoyed shopping for Jay's clothes from Gap or Old Navy online. I just looked through my photo archives-here're some of the recent buys I have made. One-piece rompers, jackets (many many of these!), polo tees, jeans, tees... I've even bought baby SOCKS from Old Navy once!

Aah... That Christmas-sy Feeling!

Welcome to my home... With our brand new Christmas tree, courtesy of Attributes!

I almost managed to work in a spot of Christmas shopping today, getting another two presents... bringing my total Christmas presents bought to a grand total of FOUR. Out of 20-over.

Sigh, I need time to shop!

Daddy Goes On Mission Trip!

Early this morning (at 530am in fact!), Nic made his way to Lavendar MRT... The meeting point for the mission trip to get onto the coach - to Skudai Malaysia!

So for the next 3 nights, the task of making Jayvon sleep falls squarely on MY shoulders once again! Since Jayvon turned 8 months, we have managed to cajole him to sleep on the bed. As opposed to cradling my 10kg wonder to sleep on our arms. For a good 30 minutes to an hour! So you can imagine the great relief (to our aching arms and strained backs - mine in particular as Jay didn't take to Daddy's cradling) when our little boy "grew up".

And what a relief it came to me! As Jay absolutely adored bedtime with Daddy! I basked in my hour of alone-time... surfing the net, blogging, watching hongkong dramas on cable...

Well... We'll both be eagerly awaiting Daddy's return! Have a fun trip!
Sent via BlackBerry from SingTel!

Is it December already?!

December.

December.

December.

I have to get this through my brain. I was keying in a date this afternoon, and I put 0711 (i.e. 7 Nov!) and it took me a good 5 mins to realise my mistake.

It is December. That time of the year where the Orchard Road lights twinkle away, and Christmas trees are a-wash with colour and light, and the shops are all putting up the "Christmas SALE!!!" signs trying to lure that last penny you have...

I love Christmas. Ever since I was a kid, it was always a time of much planning and strategizing (how to get the most bang out of my buck! Having to buy a truckload of presents for a whole lot of people!), as well as basking in the enjoyment of nice and thoughtful presents received.

But 2008 has zoomed by soooooooooo fast!

I was just telling JerB just last week... "Hey, we got to send out that email to the various HODs!" in regards to staffing matters for 2009. And I continued, "Wasn't it just yesterday that I helped you send out that SAME email? Last December? For 2008?!?" Poor Jerb was bogged down with all the documents required by our auditors then (as she is now too)...

I am glad to report my Christmas present shopping has begun. With my presents for my nephew & niece, Samuel and Petrina... At the ball is going to start rolling! But the present list seems to g-r-o-w every day. I got to buy presents for my parents, my sisters, my parents-in-law, my sis-in law, my aunts, cousins... Then there is also my darling Jayvon, his friends... Oh, and then there is the cellgroup gift exchange and our department gift exchange! I really need to carve out one day to SHOP! Quick, SMS me your present preference! Hahaha!

 

Anyhow, here is a video for your viewing pleasure - Nuttin But Stringz, my favourite performers from America's Got Talent! Fantastic!

New Blog Look

If you happened to come by my blog the last three days, you'd have noticed some major changes.

I was a bit irritated at the "look" of my blog, and so decided to make some changes.

Unfortunately, I did it kinda "piece-meal", which meant if you were unfortunate enough to pop by over the last few days, you'd have seen my blog template change a couple of times, as I tried to get things in order.

Being the techno-idiot that I am, it took me a while.

A good three days.

And help from these quarters: The Blog Doctor & Random Bytes.

And ta-da! I've got a three-column blog template and finally managed to get my boy's pic up at the header. There are still changes I'd like to make, but I am happy with the "clean", minimalist look... for now!

To Jayvon, From Daddy & Mommy!

Nic & I were shopping a few days back, when we came across the cutest things!

And I could not resist... I know I shouldn't splurge...

But here are Jayvon's four new friends!

Meet Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore & Tigger!

As you can see, he didn't take too well to his new friends at first...

And with all "strange" new things, it took a little getting used to...

But we're glad to report their new friendship has since taken off! The four stuffed friends are Jay's latest bed-mates! 

The 10 Property Laws Of Toddlers

Teresa forwarded this email to me late last night. (Hmmm... Were you trying to tell me something?) Nonetheless it brought a smile to my face, and I'm sure it will to you too!
The 10 Property Laws of Toddlers

Law #1: If I like it, it's mine.

Law #2:If it's in my hand, it's mine.

Law #3: If I can take it from you, it's mine.

Law #4: If I had it a little while ago, it's still mine.

Law #5: If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.

Law #6: If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

Law #7: If it looks just like mine, it's mine.

Law #8: If I saw it first, it's mine.

Law #9: If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.

Law #10: If it's broken, it's yours.

Byebye cbox...

Well, if you've been a regular reader of my blog...

Wave a farewell to where my chatbox USED to be!

Decided to try something fresh and new and unclutter as much as possible! :)

What A Great Report!

I just saw this article from The Christian Post, featuring our recently concluded Asia Conference.

An excerpt says:

"A well-known pastor has called the leader of a local mega-church a driving force for the transition of the Asian Church from a traditional model to a contemporary one.

Rev Dr Kong Hee, Honourary Senior Pastor of City Harvest Church, was lauded by Rev Dr Phil Pringle of Christian City Church, an Australia-based church network, during an on-stage interview for being a key figure behind the contemporary Asian Church movement."

Read the full article here!