Some Fun...

You Are 50% Boyish and 50% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them. You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Your Personality Is

Guardian (SJ) You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented. Bottom line, you are good at playing by the rules. You tend to be dominant - and you are a natural leader. You are interested in rules and order. Morals are important to you. A hard worker, you give your all at whatever you do. You're very serious, and people often tell you to lighten up. In love, you tend to take things carefully and slowly. At work, you are suited to almost any career - but you excel in leadership positions. With others, you tend to be polite and formal. As far as looks go, you are traditionally attractive. You take good care of yourself. On weekends, you tend to like to do organized activities. In fact, you often organize them!

The Three Question Personality Test

You Are 28 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

I'm my age! :D

but...

Your Inner Child Is Angry

You're not an angry person. But when you don't get your way, watch out. Like a very manipulative kid, you will get what you want. Even if it takes a little kicking and screaming.

How Is Your Inner Child?

Your Seduction Style: Prized Object

The seduction game you play is tried, true, and still effective: hard to get. You know that the best seducers turn the tables - and get their crush to seduce them. The one running has the power, and you're a challenge that is worth the chase. You are a master of enticing and pulling back. Giving a little and taking some away. You are controlled enough to know rewards come after a long seduction dance. Even though you want to call, email, or say "I love you" first - you don't! You're style is the perfect mix of hot and cold - so much so that you have many suitors. Think Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's ... or any of those creepy guys from the Bachelor. You're skilled at inspiring a chase. The real test is picking the person to slow down for.

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

Your Birthdate: October 27

Your birth on the 27th day of the month (9 energy) adds a tone of selflessness and humanitarianism to your life path. Certainly, you are one who can work very well with people, but at the same time you need a good bit of time to be by yourself to rest and meditate. There is a very humanistic and philanthropic approach in most of things that you do. This birthday helps you be broadminded, tolerant, generous and very cooperative. You are the type of person who uses persuasion rather than force to achieve your ends. You tend to be very sensitive to others' needs and feelings, and you able to give much in the way of friendship without expecting a lot in return.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Flower? Orchid!

Ben brought Abby to the playground today, near my mum's place. There was this odd-looking rocking apparatus there, and Ben asked Abby what it was.

"Bird!" said Abby.

"Clever girl!" replied Ben.

Then they continued playing at the playground. Then Ben asked Abby, "Where's the bird?" (Referring to the bird-looking rocker.)

She pointed and said, "Owl!"

Fwah.

Emerging from the Shadow of Death

This semester's been a strange journey. The most trying day has just passed. I thought by the sixth week of school, I'd get the hang of things and the momentum of school. However, I've been hit left, right, cetner and and as result, missed quite a lot of school. 28th october (after 26 & 27 - ben & my special day) was D-Day. 1 Social Studies Instructional Package due, 1 10-week voice journal due, 1 voice essay due and 1 voice presentation due. Essentially, the bulk of the voice module marks were collected that day. 30% for essay, 30% for weekly journal and 30% for presentation. The SS instructional package was another heavy load. Can't remember how much. 60% I think. But although it's all worth so much, they were all last minute jobs. So was my Critical Reading & Writing Research Paper - another bulky one - due on the same day as the module's in-class graded assignment. I didn't study for it, and by God's grace, it's purely reflective. So just reflect on my essay from a certain perspective and then write. Wrote quite a bit, hopefully it made some sense. :p

The research paper in itself was a challenge also. The tutor made us submit drafts of different sections, but because of my absence (and not being on schedule), I missed out all the editing sessions. Even when the final draft was due, I had to ask for an extension and attend a later class because I had nothing done. But thank God I managed to produce the final piece. After the final draft editing (which in fact was a first draft), I had an overhaul of the entire research paper. The final product looked really different from the first draft.

I think the best was the response I got for my voice presentation. I was very worn out the night before - after my birthday celebration with Eve, Vic & Vincent (thanks guys) and my Abby (together with Tina & Lina of course) - I had to complete the first draft of my voice essay before I could release myself to go for the dinner. Came back home to touch up on my SS instructional package, voice essay and complete writing my voice journal. By the time I got to bed, it was already 3am. And Ben was still working on his projects. He's been really taxed also. I still had a voice presentation in a poor state - I didn't like the mock presentation I did the week before (thank God there was one - otherwise I would have to spend even more time starting from scratch on top of my pressing assignments), so I revamped the whole thing. I knew I was gone to change it, but I only had time to think about it when I was in the shower and just basically moving along. It was during my drive to school in the morning that I came up with the outline of my 5-minute speech. I spoke on Marriage the week before, a topic close to my heart, but I didn't like the way it came out. I was also too attached to my script. I kept reading from it, so I had to do away with it. In other words, not even have one. Coz I know even if I did write one, I would refer to it and beat myself if I didn't adhere to it. Senseless pressure. So as I drove to school, I prayed. I had prepared a poem/prose (actually it's 1 Cor 13:4-13 on Love) to read as part of my 2-3minute reading section. (There are two sections - 5min speech and 3min reading of prose/poetry). Some of my classmates did two different topics for both sections, but I decided to gel them together (my sections, not my classmates) and just make sense of things.

So I spoke about Marriage. I started with asking the audience to *smile*! :) A technique I learnt from someone in Perth a while ago. I have the tendency to be tense, so that kinda loosened everyone up, including me. But then again, the class was a lil' mad that morning - it was funny! James was just posing for the videocam, back against it and looking at it. Super funny! :) Back to the topic. After that, I asked the audience how many were married - a few raised hands - and how many were contemplating marriage the next 5-10 years. Only 1 enthusiastic answer. Then I shared with the class about a conversation I had with a male friend last semester. He shared that he had to get married to his girlfriend because it was the right thing to do - although he wasn't extremely sure whether that was what he wanted. I highlighted the 'red flags' to the audience - frequent quarrels, marrying to please parents, talking to members of the opposite sex without letting the other party know, controlling the other party NOT to talk to members of the opposite sex. Then I continued by saying that after that conversation, I reflected on what made a marriage work. And I came up with this definition through the acronym - L.O.V.E. (or technically speaking, it should be alphabetism).

L is for 'Looking forward together'. I shared the conversation I had with a 16 yo - about working in partnership to serve others vs just being with that person, but without a purpose - just see each other as frequently as often as they would when serving, and eat, shop, watch movie. After a while, it gets boring. "Sweethearts look into each other's eyes, but lovers look forward together" or something like that. I emphasised on the need for the couple to have a purpose - so that the marriage has a purpose and that the whole family has a common purpose.

O is for 'Overcoming Obstacles together'. The three hotspots for trouble in most marriages - Money, Sex and Children. I stressed that the couple must resolve to overcome whatever obstacles together, especially in these three areas. People think that divorce is the easy way out, but working through things in divorce and after it is often much harder than working things out together as a married couple. Then I gave this demonstration. I held up two sheets of paper - imagine these are two people. They come together in marriage. Supposed to be glued together (I prepared two glued sheets together just prior to getting out of the car for the lesson...:P). But when the couple heads for a divorce, I tore the glued pieces together. Tore real nicely. In fact, it was ripped apart. It delivered the effect i wanted! Thank God! And I ended that demo with - don't forget, there might be children involved. They were just staring hard at the torn sheets.

Then I had about 1 minute left. :P I was running out of time.

V is for being 'Vulnerable' to each other. Let go of the pride; don't compete with each other. Don't be critical of each other either. I mentioned that if your partner was any better, they would have found a better person and not have married you. (From eve's blog). Quite a number nodded sheepishly in agreement. :)

E is for 'Enjoying Each other'. Laugh, have fun, date! Remember why you married each other in the first place.

I rounded up with a summary of L.O.V.E.

When I finished, they were all very excited. Some said that they should have recorded my speech and one even asked for a pencil ("Seriously! I need a pencil! Not joking! Quick, before I forget!") and jotted down the points. I really really really praise God for the whole speech. I was driving to school - lack of sleep and just very worn out, and God provided the materials to share. I had more confidence this week than the last because this time round, I was going to share God's word. I forgot to include the verse - 'For this reason, the man shall leave his mother and father and cleave with his wfe and become one' - prior to the demonstration. It was from my pre-martial counselling class that the example was used. The effect wasn't that great then coz we all had to separate the sheets before the glue dried up. But this time round, it was good. Even I was astounded. Fwah.

Then I read 1 Cor 13. On Love. Kinda in continuation of the speech - illustrating what love really is. Because of the attention they gave to the speech, they listened to the reading - to God's word! :D At first I hesitated, but then I realised that since my tutor has been sharing her taoist/buddhist materials, I felt I could share God's word also. Furthermore, it was pretty much like a melting pot of sorts - different people with different backgrounds coming together to share their beliefs. I'm just so glad God's word was shared.

In fact, while doing my essay, I was reminded of a module I did about 3-4 semesters ago - Use of Spoken English in Teaching. We were given a topic, 5 min to prepare on the spot and then share it with the class. Rather impromptu. But as that was brought back to memory, I gained confidence that God would deliver me through this time sans script. But all in all, I really hope that the talk was meaningful to the audience. If one family could be adverted from disaster because of that sharing, then it has been really worth it. God's word will not return to Him void. :) I just thank my pastors for telling me that I don't have to explicitly shove God's word down throats - as long as it's God's principles, then we're helping to edify others. :) It then sets the platform for sharing God's word.

I'm just grateful that I made new friends this semester - especially Peiyan (from Voice), Patricia (from Social Studies, Intro to Lit and Meanings of English) and Irda. God's giving me new friends, and it's just wonderful that at this age, I still can find nice pals in school. :) Thank you, Lord. :)

I have one assignment left - and that's on poetry. Deadline's on 2nd Nov, and I need to finish it by the 31st so that we can all go swimming on the 1st! :) Then it's exams! :)

Defnition of Long Piak

When Abby responds to "Lang-Ge Ling-De Pauling..." and not "London Bridge is Falling...".

How much is your blog worth?

My blog is worth $5,645.40.
How much is your blog worth?

Today is a productive day

I have finally completed my CEM102 paper. Initially during the early weeks of the semester, I prepared an outline of what I would do. Later I realised I literally hated what I had written (maybe a pregnancy thingey) that I refused to look at it. Utterly uninspired. Only inspired later by the inspiration of the deadline - do or die.

I had missed my last Tuesday's deadline for final draft and went for Friday's class instead. I had NOTHING done on Tuesday. Nor on Wednesday. Only on Thursday did I manage to squeeze some material out, and finished it within the hour before class started on Friday.

After a 'peer' and my tutor edited my research paper, it underwent another overhaul. Spent the whole of the weekend mulling over it, but productivity level was mediocre. Only managed to pump the whole paper out today - productivity level high.

Now I've to study for my test TOMORROW. Oh, and I've got a presentation tomorrow. Just remembered. Hmm. And I've to finish reading Oedipus by tomorrow 2.30pm. How exciting.

Ben's off day today. He's got a ton of work due soon, and another ton of school work due soon too. He's under tremendous pressure.

But the most productive person is... ABBY!

Today, she took a couple of steps! My mil was pretty nonchalant about it though. I mean she was excited and all, but cool. She brought Abby up for a bath, and just popped into the room and told us, "oh, today she took a few steps. About 3-4 steps. She was holding apples in her hand." Must have been so cute! As expected, we missed it (though we were at home!!) Abby did take about 3-4steps when she tried to give Ben a flash card later, but it was too cute. I can't believe my baby's starting to walk! Ok, she's a little late apparently, but still, I dun really care! :D

Brought her to the doc for chix pox vaccination today. She cried. The times I brought her there myself, she didn't cry!! For 3 separate occasions! :) But today, I think there were too many people in the consultation room. Dr, mil, ben, myself and a nurse (who was holding her leg down - that aroused her suspicion). So when the needle went in, she jumped. Mil was carrying her. She must think that i'm a great fibber - saying that abby didn't cry for the past injections? :P I dun care, she didn't! :D hehhe... Mummy's love yeah!

Oh, and during dinner time, Abby and mil entertained us with a new song. Lina taught abby and my mil made it entertaining coz i honestly couldn't understand a word she was singing when she first started. It was in English (I swear) but my MIL's more proficient in other languages. (I bet if I ever sang in Hockchia she'd be rolling in laughter!)

MIL: Lang-ge Ling-de Pauling...
Abby: Daow!
MIL: Pauling...
Abby: Daow!
MIL: Pauling...
Abby: Daow!
MIL: Lang-ge Ling-de Pauling...
Abby: Daow!
MIL: Mai pear...
Abby: Dae-dee!

Guess what nursery rhyme that was?

It was totally hilarious! And too cute! :D

K. Back to studying. :S

What do you want out of life?

A simple, meaningful analogy for reflection....

A group of working adults got together to visit their University lecturer. The lecturer was happy to see them.

Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. The Lecturer just smiled and went to the kitchen to get an assortment of cups - some porcelain, some in plastic, some in glass, some plain looking and some looked rather expensive and exquisite.

The Lecturer offered his former students the cups to get drinks for themselves.

When all the students had a cup in hand with water, the Lecturer spoke: "If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up,leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

What all you wanted was water, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups.

"Just like in life, if Life is Water, then the jobs, money and positioning society are the cups. They are just tools to hold/maintain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change.

"If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy/taste the water in it."

*sheepish*

This is disgusting, but I've just completed designing my questionnaire that was due about 5 weeks ago? :P Now I am frantically printing them, all 30 copies of them, and hoping that I can catch at least 3 people who take Social Studies so that I can get all 30 filled. Ambitious eh? :D Oh. have to be done by today. :P

Schoolwork, Abby & Baby

Can't sleep. Woke up feeling too hungry I felt nauseous. Sick feeling in the stomach. Went to check my mail and realised from the Babycenter pregnancy updates that our lil' one is ordering home delivery to the uterus. Still hungry. Here's when my weight will balloon soon.

Managed to complete my Oral History assignment, and will submit later. Was supposed to submit my research paper final draft later also, but looking at the horrendous state I was in, even Ben agreed that I should ask for an extension. Which I did. And praise the Lord, my tutor agreed! Thankfully, my social studies tutorial has been cancelled on Friday, which leaves me an available slot to atttend my critical reading & writing class. Ben helped me brainstorm and I've got a clearer picture of my direction now. Thank God for him.

A couple more assignments and I'm done for the term - and ready to study for 3 papers. Meanwhile, I still have to clear the rest.

On to lighter stuff.

Yesterday, Abby wanted to poop. (Yup, poop story... but not entirely!) When I wanted to transfer her to the potty, she signaled 'No More'. Still I wanted to try. We had fun on the potty just chatting about everything. Then suddenly, she said, "Dah!" (Silly me was thinking about my MIL's comment about how Abby can say Dah! in Da-pian - Mandarin for poop), and I asked, "da-pian?" She had that, "no mummy, that's not what i'm referring to" look on her face and clarified by signalling 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'! Oh!! 'STAR!' Then she smiled. Then I realised, she wanted me to sing that to her! Then I sang, minus the last syllable, and she didn't fill in the blanks. She's stopped doing so. I've been wondering why - thought she was sick of the game or something. But yesterday, I realised why. Because she wanted to hear the *whole* song! Eureka! So I sang the whole song after I realised what she wanted, and she smiled so broadly. After many times, I tried the fill-in-the-blank game again, and this time she sang! (Usually she'll have a cheeky look on her face and fill the blank with some other word - like 'Ball Ball' or something followed by a smile.) It was fun.

She's a real sweetie. Every night although we know everyone needs to sleep, Ben & I can't help but wait for her to wake up. (And now I realise why she's waking up. She rotates in her sleep, and jams at ninety degrees. That's when she yelps. We need a bigger bed. She's outgrowing her crib.) Even in the morning, she'll wake up, get all snuggly (her choice of who to snuggle with), gives kisses and just have fun in bed. Then one of us will get up to ask Lina to help her get ready for breakfast. Just now, she was quite excited climbing around in bed, so I asked her nicely to stay put and wait for mummy. And she did! She just sat there all the way till I came back... *heart melt*

Oh, some new words (At 14months 2 wks):
- "Go-go!" To go somewhere.
- "Walk-walk!" To walk (usually to get away from being carried or off the bed.)
- "Gou-Gou" (very similar to 'Go-go') referring to dog (Mandarin)
- "Ta!" for truck
- Starting to string words together - go go walk walk. Daddy mamam. Mama mamam. Mamam Neng neng. (I know some people strongly advise against using baby words, but it's just vocabulary - also, not easy to convert the whole family to speaking properly to her. Harmony above child's vocab. We'll deal with the vocab later.)

New actions:
- Can point to pictures of key, flower, shoes, telephone, apple, ball, in her "First Steps Series - Words" picture book. Can pick out lion, bird, bear from her Ikea finger puppets and name them.
- Is standing independently for a longer time now.
- Initiates flying kisses when we say goodbye - Absolute heart melter!
- Walking much more, sometimes will allow us to hold only one hand.

As for our lil' one inside me (now 18wks), I'm feeling more movements (since 16 wks). I'm almost halfway there! Actually I gave birth to Abby at 37wks, so it's possibly the halfway mark! I understand that subsequent births are earlier and faster. Feel hungrier, and ran out of stretchmark cream - not a good combination coz this is the time I'm starting to balloon. Hip is feeling much better (yeah!) and energy seems to be returning. Can't fall asleep (fast enough) at night though. Mind keeps churning. My detailed scan is scheduled on the 31st October with Dr Ann Tan. Have to keep praying though... :) God is good! :)

Oooh...

It is finished. My Oral History Assignment.1800+abit words. Praise the Lord. I thought I would need an extension. Now I need to keep my eyes open to produce my final draft of my research paper. The first draft is not even out yet. Woohoo. Long nite tonight. Long drive tomorrow. How lah?

Slow Sunday

Working on my history assignment right now. I'm possibly at the zeroth word (if there's such a word) and working slowly to my 1,500th word. Help. Then I have to work on my research paper. Also at zeroth word. All due on tuesday - well the final draft of the latter is due. Still, it's due for peer editing. Not good. Help.

Kissed

A big thank you to all who sent their regards. For the rest who had an uneventful Thursday, lucky you!

Woke up on Thursday morning reluctant to go to school (because I slept late the night before and didn't have enough sleep). Yet I had to go coz I've been missing classes due to the bleeding episode. So I jokingly asked Ben if I could take MC for today and sleep in (silly talk in the morning lah...) - preferably free also. :P Guess what? I got what I wanted. But I wouldn't wish for anything like that ever. It's too high a price to pay.

Slept in for another ten minutes and changed up to leave house. I prepared myself for the long drive ahead - coffee (which worked well) and food plus worship. So as I drove, I worshiped and prayed - even asked for journey mercy because I knew the state I was in, quite risky to drive. Even told Ben jokingly earlier that I would sleep in class to make up for lost sleep so that I could survive the day, complete my research in the library and make it home safely. I had the whole day planned out.

So as I drove along the PIE towards Tuas, I made sure I kept a safe distance, maintain the speed limit and watch out for impatient vehicles swerving around. So far so good. Even as it started to drizzle. Then as I was about to exit PIE at the NTU/NIE exit, I slowed down and joined the long queue - I don't usually cut people to get ahead. The car came to a halt as I waited. I noted the car in front of me quite a while back - "Woo... nice car, brand new, white! Nice! But better don't keep so close to it."

So as the cars waited a couple of seconds in the queue, I heard a screech and a loud bang behind me. Before I could even complete wondering what it was, I was thrown forward and collided into the NICE! NEW! WHITE! car in front of me! Gosh. I kept a good distance away, yet I still hit it! Guess how far I was thrown. Sigh. Everything flew all over the place and was in a complete disarray - even I, momentarily.

When I got out of the car, the drivers in front of me and behind me also got out and assessed the damaged. We were in the extreme left lane and I walked to the shoulder lane (where I thought I'd be safe) by moving between my car and the car in front of me. On hindsight, they were TWO BAD MOVES. First, if another bozo were to hit the crash from behind, I'd lose BOTH my legs because the walking allowance between the two cars was minimal. Second, the shoulder lane is possibly as safe as standing on any one of the busy lanes on the road. To avoid the crash, people were driving/riding in the shoulder lane! Fools!

So a huge Isuzu white monster hit us from behind. The car behind me, a blue Toyota Vios, was badly damaged. The driver was mainly the one who got the monster's details who very quickly got away from the scene of the crime. "Okay lor, my truck cannot brake in time. Too slippery. Vehicle too heavy. Bill me lor." Then he drove away with a slight dent in the front bumper. We were then left to pick up the pieces on our own. Well, not really.

When I had barely gotten out of the car, a silver Mazda drove to the front of the collision and parked at the shoulder. The man (A) approached us and said that he's in this business, if we want, all three of us send our vehicles to his workshop and all claim against the monster. He got his elder brother (F) to take down the car license plates and contact details especially of the monster. The owner of the (not) NICE (anymore)! NEW! WHITE! car decided to delay sending the car in while the blue Toyota Vios (also NEW! car) decided to go ahead with their services. I had to get an ok from Ben but was slightly delayed because he was slightly held up at work. Finally he called me and spoke to A. We decided to go ahead.

A and F were very nice. REALLY nice. They are like Ah-Beng Towkays, very nice Ah-Beng Towkays. I'm not saying Ah-Beng Towkays are not nice, but they were REALLY nice. Like F - he found out I was a teacher in training, and tried to make me laugh by saying he'll be my student and a really notti one, so I can punish/hit him but he won't complain or sue me. Meant as a joke to lighten the atmosphere. I was fine. Until slightly later when I realised that my left leg was hurt - groin area. Also, the seat belt pulled against my belly as I was thrown forward. Thankfully(or not), the air-bag wasn't activated.

Anyway, A suggested that F drive my car coz if the car leaks and overheats, the insurance won't cover and that'll be additional repair costs. So if it actually overheats, he'll drive to one side and get a tow truck. So A drove the blue toyota vios guy and I to his workshop @ Thomson area. Did up the paperwork (it was real smooth and professional) and by the time we finished, about 10am, there were two rental cars waiting for us downstairs. I got a green Mazda 323 while the blue vios guy got a nissan sunny. Free rental - charged to the white monster. Check out the diagram A drew of the accident (for the insurance report).



Blue vios & i literally just sat there while A took care of everything. They even offered us drinks, and when the fridge didn't have any, F ran out to buy us drinks! We just had to sign stuff and produce papers for the insurance claim. The workshop guys also helped me to move ALL my barang from my mazda to the rented car. Fwah. Very pampered! A gave me the contact for their affiliated doctor and told me if I needed to call, I'd need to give A a call to let him know and his brother will meet me there.

So after the hoohah, I drove home and took a rest. Gave Dr Yap's clinic a call and they asked me to pop by before 12.30. Ben managed to leave the office by then and drove me there. The clinic staff were all quite worried for me - said that this pregnancy very eventful - and didn't charge me for this consultation! Managed to take a peep at our lil' one... will confirm gender at the detailed scan in nov. :) Our sweetheart is alright, happily sleeping and sucking thumb while we tried probing. :D Instructed to rest - given 2 days' mc.

After that, Ben drove us back to the mechanic's to give them the car papers and ended up happily chatting. Found out ALL the four guys (Ben included) lived at the same place. So they reminisced about the past, catching spider, etc and even found out 3 out of 4 of them were from the same primary school! One guy was even Ben's classmate, but they still can't recognise each other. They only know they've got the same Primary Four form teacher, and that's the only teacher they remember. Wah. Oh, they even wrote the report FOR me, and read it out to me to verify the details. Everything sui sui!!

Somehow, instead of going back to the office, Ben ended up taking me to their GP. A and F reached there earlier although we left earlier and F even waited for us at the lift landing to tried to look out for us. When we reached the clinic, A had alredy registered for me! Because the doctor wasn't in yet, we had a bit of time to grab lunch, which was at level 4, just outside the clinic. How convenient everything was!

After lunch, we saw the doctor. Ben felt that the doctor asked more about the car than my condition. Did a thorough physical checkup and found a possible neck injury and adductor muscle pull - left groin. Have to go back on Saturday for review. Given two days' mc and instructed to rest. *If* my neck doesn't get better, I'll have to do an x-ray... which I'm seriously reluctant to do so because it may affect our lil' one.

After collecting my medication, A and F actually shook hands with us before we left! So nice! Yet so strange... Ben said he's never met mechanics so nice before. Oh. As we were waiting for the doctor, A actually showed us photocopies of 2 cheques as medical compensation as a result of car injury - $2k and $4k respectively. Anyway, just to qualify, their company also takes care of accident claims as part of their business portfolio, as well as a lot of other car-related services.

Everything seems too smooth to be real. Either they were really God's angels sent to take care of us, or could it be an orchestrated event? Any comments? (I've heard rumours of mechanics in Malaysia who 'plant' debris on roads, then when an accident happens, they appear almost immediately then get business. It's only hearsay, no evidence at all. It could be false.) We also noted that the men kept saying that business is competitive, very hard, and one of them also aired his opinion regarding insurance.

I just hope they are really God's angels, and not a conspiracy. It's just too evil if the latter were true. Anyway, I was really pampered after the accident, perhaps because they saw pregnant woman, so they're really nice lor.

Check out the babe in control! :D

A: I know we can start this thing... what should we do? Oh. Let's look for the keyhole. I've seen my dad do it!
C (unsure): Erhm... okie. You try. I'll hang on to the groceries.


C: Hey look here! What about this? If we press this, will the car start?
A: Wait. Let me take a look.(Checks) Nah. It doesn't work.


A: I should have thought twice before taking a guy's advice. What do you think?
C (to himself): Hmmm... that didn't work. Failed to impressed her. How?


C (to himself): Think I better let her do it. She looks like she knows what she's doing.
A: Men. It's better to do things on our own. I'm sure I can get this done. I know I can.


A: Hmm... I think I've got it...

Uh oh...

I received this in my email the other day. I simply read the headline and tried to observe the picture to see if I could tell what exactly was 'wrong' with the picture (like doing a puzzle). THEN, I read the answer.

:(

I thought I couldn't carry Abby for the time being because of what happened, but to last till March without carrying her? That poor girl always wants mummy to carry her (only for a hug and then she'll go elsewhere) but if mummy can't, it'll be so sad! I try to cheat, like sit down when I carry her, but if the hols are coming up, how to take her out kai-kai and NOT carry her?

Also, she's quite a good weight and growing, and if I don't continually carry her, I'll have no strength by the time No.2 is born!

Hmm...

Anyway, I spoke to my tutor today - she shared with me her both her birthing experience. She's got 2 daughters, eldest is already 21yo. But she was confined to SEVEN months bedrest right up to labour, and her first labour took only ONE hour! For the second daughter, it was a heartbreaking life-and-death situation. She had rather severe jaundice right about when No.2 was due, and a low-lying placenta. It's really by the grace of God that the second one was born. The night before the birth, the dr told my tutor that he wouldn't be able to operate on her because of her high jaundice level, something to do with a lack of Vit K which is required for blood clotting. Operation minus blood clotting equals really bad news. And he also told her that if any situation arose, they'll have to let the baby go to save her life because she's got a No. 1 to take care of. And for placenta previa (low-lying placenta), chances are, an operation is necessary because the placenta is obstructing the baby from coming out - if the placenta does come out first (if i'm not wrong), there may be severe bleeding.

And guess what?

Barely next day, she had her baby!! Dr said it's definitely NOT textbook labour because there weren't even labour pains! No contractions nothing, baby just came out! Kinda just slipped out! The doc almost didn't manage to get to the ward on time, and there was no time to transfer her to the labour ward. (She was hospitalised for her jaundice prior to the birth.) God is so good! Praise the Lord! Nothing of what the doc said came true because there was divine intervention! My tutor knew there was Someone Up There looking after her! :) Praise God!

One down... 400 more to go...

My English test is FINALLY over. It's a three-parter, and I didn't attend the lecture for the last part. So brave, study on my own then sit for test. I think it should be fine... :P Now for the rest of the impending *DEAD*lines... :S Really quite behind time for ALL my projects, but what's new? I've just realised I've spent close to 2 decades studying. That's quite a long time. And I'm quite tired of all these studying and deadlines. I wonder if I'll last so long in ONE job. Hmm.

My (realistic) review of current modules I'm taking:
CEM102 (Critical Reading & Writing) - Reader Response Journals have had quite a good response from the tutor; no grade given though. Might average a B. For my research paper, I HAVEN'T STARTED YET. Due in two weeks' time. It's a major research paper. The tutor has been scaffolding us, yet I can't keep up with the drafts. :P Die... Have to catch up. Once I submit this, I'm done with this module. No exams. (THANK GOD.)

CAE102 (Intro to Lit) - Submitted one paper, tutor will return to us tomorrow. I hope I can get a decent grade for this. There's supposed to be a second assignment that's due next Tuseday, but it's still not out yet. The first one was late, so that naturally affected the second assignment. BTW, it's gonna be on poetry. Exam 60% - Do or Die.

CAE202 (Semantics/Pragmatics) - Got an A for my Semantics assignment - Praise the Lord! (Half the cohort got A lah... so thank God He put me in that half). Had one whole section which went off the point coz I misread the instruction, but still got A, so the tutor really quite generous. She's the English Head - so if she wanna give half the cohort A, no one really can stop her... the last time she actually gave 70% A... so she thinks she's cut down already. (It's a longstanding controversy between grade assessment and cohort assessment...) Exam 60% - Another Do or Die.

CAE342 (Drama) - Argh! Why did I get myself into this mess? I should have stuck with English Language. If I ever get an overall B at least, it's purely by the grace of God. I just submitted one essay on Kuo Pao Kun's Eunuch Admiral, and I hope the tutor is able to grasp what I'm trying to say. :S Assignment is finally over - and for a split second, I thought the most difficult part of this semester was over... till I saw the rest of the hills ahead... argh... keep walking... or trudging, rather. Exam 60% - Do or Die.

CCL301 (Social Studies) - Hiaks. Hiatus also. Jialat. First article review won't be returned to us... hmm... I'm not sure if she did... :P can't remember. Anyway, Instructional package worth a hefty lot due on 28 Oct - super challenging day - and it's the day of Ben & my birthday fest... hmm... die die must finish before then so can enjoy! Our special days only come once a year!
For the IP, it's pair work and thankfully, my partner and I have a rather good working relationship. We'll just have to brainstorm some more and even prepare our resources for presentation by THIS FRIDAY.

CTL202 (History) - Oops. Oral history assignment due next week - not started. Did a presentation worth 30% on the first week of school - I think I was given a giveaway topic so there were tons to present. It was quite scary because there were very little instructions given. Thanks to my forefathers who adamantly stuck with the family that is so close to the start of the alphabet - :S that's why I had to present first. Anyway, it's over and done with. For the OH assignment, I'll be interviewing my senior pastor's wife regarding some specific incident in the past. Now have to draft out the questions, confirm interview, interview her, transcribe the interview, analyse the interview against facts, type it and then submit it. BY NEXT TUESDAY.

CAV280 (Voice) - Argh. This. Supposed to do weekly journal entry. And I haven't been able to record much. Every week's very much the same (after a while). One presentation coming up. One vocal warm up exercise regime coming up. Our seminar postponed till eternity because of my bedrest. Well we're presenting this week. AND ONE ESSAY. ALL DUE ON THE 28 OCT. MERCY!

I don't see much sleep ahead. Goodbye Sudoku.

K. Back to work.

Caught in the act of Procrastination

I just couldn't help it...

Women over 50

Anyway I just found out today's deadline IS DUE TOMORROW!! HALLELUJAH!

At Dr Yap's yesterday...

Baby was asleep during the review yesterday. Super adorable, was sucking the thumb as we tried to ka-jiao him/her. :) Kinda dissed us off abit, tossed to another side and continued sleeping. :)

I can't for the life of me figure out the direction of the scan. From a camera's perspective, you'd think whatever image you are looking at is captured by the scanner. Yet with the intelligence of the ultrasound scanning equipment, the scanner is on top of of the image that we look at (the curve on top is the scanner). So it's really weird trying to figure it out, especially when u see the side view of the baby and the doctor goes, "Oh look, the baby is facing my scanner!"

I think this dumbing down is a result of too much tv. :P

Finally!

Somehow we've never been able to get a nice photo of Abby... she's really moving too quickly + I'm not a keen photographer... :P I think most of the pictures are overexposed because of the harsh flash (in dim room lighting which naturally doesn't help) so this is a rare one for the album! :)

Baby2!

I felt the first kicks! :) Woohoo! :D

Some people have no sympathy...

I had to send out an email with mc attached to all my tutors, and most of them offered replies of sympathy. One mentioned she had complications with her pregnancy while the rest (including the English HEAD) mainly asked me to rest well and not be too bothered about school work. But I just don't really understand this one.

1. What does the 'event' really refer to? Pregnancy? Well - "after the event" - I would have been done with his module. Does this tutor really think the whole child-bearing process takes about a week to get over?
2. So could "event" be my unfortunate bleeding episode? Then why "congrats"?

Well, the following is the tutor's reply to my mc-email.

Dear Audrey:

Well, congrats on the forthcoming event - it sounds great. But I hope that - after the event - that you will also be able to catch up w what u will have missed; yes, I know quite a drag after the near-momentous event that's arriving! But my duty to say this, nevertheless.

I hope that it will be a marvelous event for your family and you.

Best wishes,
X-X Xxx

My mass produced letter (with customised addressing, nevertheless):

Dear Dr Xxx,

I am unable to attend school from 30 September 2005 to 6 October 2005 as I encountered some complications with the pregnancy on Friday morning 30 September and have been put on complete bedrest for a week.

I will be back in school from the 7th onwards provided I get clearance from my obstetrician.

Attached is my medical certificate for your documentation.

Thanks & regards,
Chua A. (Mdm)

Abby's Development

I've been wanting to do this for quite some time... reason? I can't remember when Abby started speaking, and I'm not one of those who'll keep track of ALL the special dates (well, I do for some... and scare Ben occasionally with phantom 'Love, do you know what date it is today?'
"Err..." *panic*
"Well, today is Tuesday!"

Well, so much fun in marriage.

Anyway, Abby's development. (I must do this more regularly...)
Verbal (At 14months)
People:
1. Dad-dah, DAH-dee, Deh-deh (for Daddy) (Her first word I think!)
2. AH-MAH! (For her paternal granny who counted the number of times her sweetheart called her - SEVENTY TIMES!! In just ONE day!) (We borrow her famous 'AH-MAH!' to score points with her maternal great-grandmother also... :P)
3. Mah-maH (light 2nd syllable) (for mummy - it's a record if she hits seven times...)
4. Mah-mah! (stressed 2nd syllable) for maternal granny - strange she can differentiate the various mahmahs...)
5. Kor-kor (Big brother)
6. Che-che (Big sister)
7. Gong-gong (How she does this is a miracle... basically she just manipulates her soft palate with her tongue without even opening her mouth. It's cute to watch her when she wants to yell for her granddad but hardly anything comes out... just a very stressed frog with a closed mouth! It doesn't help that her granddad can't really hear sometimes...)
8. Ye-yeh (Now they are trying to get her to call her paternal granddad Ye-ye instead. Louder than the muted gong-gong.)
9. Nana (for our helper Lina. Sometimes she calls Che-che)

Objects:
1. Ball
2. Bore-bore (for bear bear that sounds like ball)
3. Bowl (all very similar sounding)
4. (S)tar (Recently she learnt how to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! Kinda fill in the blanks - so we go, "Twinkle, twinkle, little?" "TarH!" Cute until can die...)
5. Flower (Wow-wer - for flowers AND plants also)
6. Apple (somehow it deteriorated to Perh! She used to YELL in the supermarket whenever she saw the rack of apples! Kinda like an 'Apple' ambulance - red and loud wherever she goes...)
7. Nana (Banana)
8. Booh (Book. Seldom says it though)
9. Tah! (Truck - whenever it appears on Bumblebee).

Animals:
1. Bird (sometimes goes 'irb' consonant placing a bit of a mixup, but so cute...)
2. Lion (Rai-uhn)
3. Woh-woh (for dog - teaching her 'How much is that doggie in the window? Heh.)
4. Meow (Cat)
5. Owl
6. Turtle

Other words:
1. Nai-nai (for nice nice)
2. Uh-oh! (for dropped objects)
3. Mum-mum (for all types of food & drink - even food she's NEVER seen before. Like my chocolates. "Mum mum. Nai nai." *grin*)
4. Neng-neng (for milk. Yesterday morning, she woke up and we were hoping she could extend a while longer. But she started going, "Mam mah! Mum-mum neng neng!" I knew I had to get up when she started stringing her vocabulary in a desperate attempt to get us moving...)
5. Lao-Bird (Called Ben that when she woke up at night as he was coming upstairs. Prior to that, she cheekily addressed him as 'Ah-Mah!' when he returned home. Cheeky smile followed by Ah-Mah! exclamation.)
6. Bao!-Bao (for carry. Stresses first syllable like native chinese.)
7. Up! (For going upstairs)

Verbal-related actions/Reference:
1. Holds up phone to ear and goes Hah-ow? after pressing the buttons. Once she went, "Hah-ow? Ah-mah!"
2. Nah! When giving someone an object and releases.
3. Can understand Hock Chia and point to ear, hair, eyes, nose, leg and clothes - even under her bib. She'll lift up the bib and point to her clothes. All along I thought she was referring to her waist... Her Hockchia vocabulary is better than mine, definitely.
4. Pats herself when we ask questions with reference to her.
5. Knows how to point to others when we refer to others.
6. Turns away and goes 'Uh!' (Holds head in the 'Away' position) to refuse an offer
7. Plays peekaboo indonesian style - Tilts head, appears and exclaims 'Bah!' instead of Peekaboo!
8. Accepts offer to watch 'Bumblebee' (her favourite) and will ask for the TV remote to switch it off when she's bored/done with it.
9. Gives flying kisses willingly when requested; gives real kisses once per person per day. It's the person's lucky day when she gives more than once...
10. Pouts intentionally when scolded. (Very difficult to put on a stern face when she does that... :P)
11. Will ask for her Power Puff water bottle, drink from it, then turn the cover to retract the straw. After that, she'll put away the bottle.
12. Screams when strangers carry her. Self-defense mechanism highly operative. Tears stop when in safe ground.
13. Understands what the adults are saying about her and mimics whatever actions we were referring to
14. Seems to understand different languages spoken at home - English, Mandarin, Hockchia and I think even Bahasa Indonesia, but I think they hardly speak to her in that language.
15. Knows how to put toys and books away when asked to "shou1"
16. Imitates sound effects on tv, like the apples disappearing on her Bumblebee - the exact no. of times it occurs.

Others
1. Knows the boundaries of the bed. Trying to learn how to get down feet first - but bed is very high.
2. Knows the correct direction of the mechanics of a book... Left to right, front to back.
3. Will wake up at midnight to go to sleep with us IF she does not see Ben & I spend time together with each other AND with her. Otherwise, she'll sleep through the night without any fuss. Helps us to sleep early though. Otherwise we'll usually turn in around one plus.
4. Knows NOT to bite when I put my finger in her mouth - like crocodile stunt show... :) So now when i brush her teeth, she doesn't bite the toothbrush! Heh.
5. Can do strange things repeatedly with my Nokia 6230 - she's already bored with it.
6. Thinks she knows how to take photos with my 6230. She'll look at the camera lens, smile then flip the phone over to look at the photo. The thing is, she dussen know how to press the 'Capture' button yet... hmm... perhaps she should learn then I dun have to take photos... ((I dun really fancy taking photos... heh. Lazy lah.)
7. Feeds others food - usually on own initiative
8. Pats Ben whenever he hugs/holds her. Very adult-like.
9. Can switch on the aircon - knows which button on which remote. Scary thing is - she'll switch it on when she's warm then put the remote control away. She's growing up real fast.
10. Knows how to manipulate the alarm clock and turn the dial. Must keep clock away. :P
11. Raises hands in church during worship. Amazing.
12. Cruising, standing unsupported (getting longer - and she's doing it by herself and cheering herself for it!)
13. Assisted walking. LIkes to push her toy stroller around and patting and kissing the bear in it on her own accord. Very motherly.
14. Likes going up the stairs- walking and crawling. Learning to crawl backside first downwards... one step only!

Can't think of anything else. I wonder when I'll remember to record her growth... :)

Double Whammy

Sigh. Abby is down with flu. Runny nose started on Thursday. Was put on flu medication since and started sneezing like mad on Friday. Developed a fever - JUST. Mucus looks like there's inflammation. Going to burn more holes in pocket with doctor's visit.

All this from sleeping in aircon room? Yeah, right.

*fume*

God, please help me control myself.

P.S. Sick kids are not funny. Especially at nights.