tdy's children worship was quite good. the children were quite involved and responsive, doing the actions and all that. and haha, they can sing quite loud. feels like it's been so long since i hear and see them singing loudly, smiling and doing all the actions. haha! the story-telling is also quite interesting. can see that they're having fun!

and, i realised tdy that little kids can get jealous over attention.. dnoe whether to 'laugh' or 'cry'.. feels kind of heartwarming though. ha!

it's already the end of march. and, how would i ever forget, with people reminding me, haha. in approx 2 more wks, i'll be back to sch, beginning the life of a year 3 poly student.(!!) exciting yet apprehensive.. abt what awaits for me. hopefully, yr 3 would be easier to cope with as compared to yr 2.

i remembered telling a few pple how terrible it feels during yr 2. tired, stressed.. the late nights coupled with a few bouts of falling sick in between (and i realised how timely the bouts of sickness are .. usually either when im rushing for deadlines or when it's near exams) and those few times of being alone at home when it's the exams cos my family are usually overseas then. but thank God there are always pple around to encourage me (:

a few memorable moments during the holidays: baking! haha, stayover, having breakfast with friend, prawn fishing and bowling with the children!, worship camp, august rush, going to redhill (the ah gong-s and ah ma-s are all so cute haha) researching.. not exactly memorable. but yeah.

so far, the holidays have been not bad. at first, i thought i would be like really slack or smthg.. but then, ok maybe the first 2 weeks was abit like tht la, as time progress (i wldnt say busy cos it really isn't) my weeks started to be more eventful. haha. cnt believe that it's only 2 more weeks to sch leh. haha. which means.. it's abt 2 more mths to my 1st exam of yr 3. HAHA... :/ crazy.


and carmen. you must be having fun yum cha-ing there. i will try my very best to recognise you when you're back. pls dnt buy too many stuffs till you cant close yr luggage bag. haha! dnt worry la. peili,cheryl and chien yang are going over soon. hopefully, they can recognise you. HAHA. kidding la. tk care ah. be safe hor. dnt go shopping untill you forget to go back to yr grandma's/aunt's/uncle's place hor. haha (:

seems like recently pple are starting to fall sick. must be the crazy weather. one moment hot like anything, and then before you can say "aircon", it's already starting to rain.. like nobody's business. and besides the everchanging weather, add another dosage of busy-ness, no wonder pple are falling sick..

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - He who watches over you will not slumber."
- Psalm121:1-3

hahahaha. i feel like laughing out loud now. just finish the "fastest fingers first game", which is to choose my class for year 3. as i've always said last time, if you're a second slower, ta-dah, your place is gone. you know, im guessing that this "game" is the school's way of revenge. haha. by making the students go crazy for a few moments or so each year.

my gosh. when it was 2.29pm, i can hear my heart beating so fast. no kidding. and i held my breath for like 10 seconds when the clock was 2.30pm. quickly chose the class and submit request. and breathe again. haha. yay. thank God that my friends and i are in the same class this coming sem1 of yr 3 again (:

our group dynamics are quite good. from yr 1 beginning when we have to meet every single time when there's project. to the end of yr 2 when we just split and finish our parts and compile. cos we know what each other are doing. haha. so, this sem, we've chosen Marketing as our specialisation. for next sem, it'll be International Business.

ok. i cnt stop smiling. i dnoe why! must be the tension of choosing classes. haha!

oh wait. i just remembered. there's another round of fastest-fingers-first nxt thurs. that's when i have to choose my IS modules. righttt..... grreeattt...... not again.

prawn fishing and bowling with the choir children on thursday was fun! looking at the children laugh and scream in joy when they catch a prawn or manage to score points during bowling was rly cute and funny. not to mention the aunties who shout and jump in joy, clapping their hands (yes, jump in joy, no kidding) when they see the kids catching prawn after prawn. hahaha!

baking cupcakes at night was fun too! twinkle came along to bake as well. we had a fun time measuring the flour and all that. haha! the cupcakes turned quite good. super chocolatey, but the cookies turned out a little hard. haha. cos we didnt have enough butter. i named the cookies as rock cookies. ha!

friday and tdy was the worship camp. me and zhiyi went for the children worship workship while carmen and the rest went for the youth worship workshop. the children worship workshop was indeed, as ps audrey said, very good. the speaker, Ps David Leong from Scripture Union, is very good. he teaches us how to lead a children worship, to have the heart and passion for God, to be a living sacrifice, how to engage and lead the children to have a relationship with God and many others. and, judging from the laughters that we all had throughout the workshops, im sure many of us enjoyed ourselves too. im glad that i went for the worship camp (:

went to redhill with aunty kin meng tdy to visit the elderlies there. they have a gathering for the elderlies at the void deck every wednesday. the gonggong-s and popo-s are all quite nice. they're gonna get their haircut next wed. and they have to like, take a number.. you know the lucky draw way. ya. so that next week, when they get their haircut, they dnt 'fight' to go first. so cute hor. then got one gonggong, his hair is so so short alr! like army those kind. almost botak. but he also want to pick a number. ha! the gathering there was quite short, ended around 3pm.

decided to make my way to orchard since it doesn't make sense for me to go back home and then come out again. so i sat at breadtalk and read my book while waiting for twinkle and ah ma. feels quite nice to be able to sit down and relax with a good book in hand. haven't done that for a long long time. haha.

so after they came, we had our dinner while xiwen joined us since she was somewhere nearby. shopping can be quite tiring. but i managed to buy what i need. quite an achievement considering the amount of time that i had. cos i dnt usually managed to find a pair of shoes within a day. now, my feet are aching. haha.

tmr's another long day. prawn-fishing and bowling. ha! decided to tag along with the choir people since my sister is going. haha, and my parents too. after that, going to carmen's hse to bake again. this time round, we're gonna bake cupcakes (: zhiyi's going to teach us how to, since she baked before. cnt wait!

happened to be reading the entries in this blog, Girls, God and the Good Life, and came upon this entry..

Saturday, January 05, 2008
When You Can’t do what You Planned

This weekend we are putting away Christmas decorations. It’s hard to believe that the season is over. It was actually a strange one for us because one person or another has been sick since before Thanksgiving. For most of December the sick one was me! Perhaps you have already discovered this from experience—that when Mom is sick many things fall apart. For us it was our typical Christmas routine.

At first I felt too awful to care about what I missed out on. A few times, however, I felt extremely bummed out. I didn’t have energy to bake cookies for friends or write Christmas cards. I had to skip the choir Christmas party and even the Christmas Eve service. After awhile I decided to avoid wallowing in disappointment and consider the things that I got to do instead.

I didn’t bake cookies for all my friends but, on a day when I had the energy, did dip chocolate pretzels for friends who had helped get my son to and from school, took him to a birthday party, and helped my family in other ways.

I had an opportunity to see that friends and family members really do understand when you are too doped up on pain killers and a brain-zapping infection to write cards. I don’t know why I felt to let off the hook. I would completely understand if the situation were reversed. But it served as a nice reminder. And there was an “instead” here too—the few that I did hand out or send were to very special.

True, I missed out on some fun events, but I also did a lot less running around. I was basically forced to have a quiet Christmas. And you know what? It was kind of nice. I read a book, watch a lot of old movies with my family, played games with my 5-year-old, and had time to reflect.

So looking back the change in routine turned into quite a blessing.

I’m sure you know this already but life often throws unwanted twists. Plans suddenly have to change. Things that we were looking forward to must be cancelled, put off, or enjoyed by others without us. How do we handle it? Sure we mope and maybe even cry, which is completely normal, but what about after that? Think of a time when changing plans allowed you to do something that might not have been possible otherwise. The next time that circumstances change your plans or traditions, pay attention to what you get to do instead.

Happy New Year,
Jeanette

nice entry (: some afterthoughts..

i've learnt that sometimes, when things doesn't go the way we want it to be, it doesn't mean that we're losing something or giving up something, it just means that God has something better for us, one that maybe we aren't able to see and understand it now. and, we just have to wait patiently to learn and see and have faith. Also, for everything that happens not the way you want it to be, it's ok to be upset for awhile and all that, but after being upset, there are 2 ways to see it. positively or negatively. it's just a matter of choice.

i choose to believe and trust that God has His reasons for everything that happens. and through the years of growing up, i've learnt to have faith. bcos time and again, God always shows me that He has a reason for everything that happens, that though He works in ways that are a mystery to me, it's always in my best interest (:

disappointed..

but maybe, God wants me to learn another lesson of patience and faith..

baking was fun tdy! and the cookies turned out to be nice (: oh, the chocolate mousse was good too, sinful delights. haha. oh, and i realised that i have cookie cutters in my hse, after so long! haha.

reached carmen's hse around 5+pm and then, it was time to bake! i was kinda afraid that the cookie might turn out bad. but, it turned out to be rlly nice. and it's easy to make too! so after making the dough, we placed it in the refrigerator and started making the chocolate mousse.

at first, i think we read the instructions wrongly or smthg. or maybe we added a little too much egg? haha. the mousse looked a little too watery. then, we realised it's bcos the chocolate bits has yet to melt la. think we spent quite some time on the mousse. but it turned out well. super chocolatey. after eating the mousse, it feels like chocolate was running in my blood hahaha.

ok. so we then proceed to make the cookies. it smelt sooo nice. the almond-y smell. had fun cutting the cookie into shapes. and my "partner-in-crime", carmen, she actually managed to make a story/picture out of the cookies. ha!

here's some pics:


all in all, we bake abt 5 batches of cookies, approx. 12 cookies each time. so i guess we baked around 60 pieces? yup. peili came over after that for dinner. we baked her "special order" - a big piece of cookie. we 3 chatted for a while, talking abt their anxiety of getting results and other stuffs.

carmen, yuexing and cheeping! don't worry ok! whatever that lies ahead of you, remember, God is there for you and with you, and of cos, im here too! have faith k! (:

cnt wait for tmr! haha. baking time at carmen's hse. after talking abt it for a few weeks, finally we're baking (: hopefully, her kitchen doesn't turn into a war zone. and hopefully, i won't have any scalded fingers like i had the last time round i baked, which was... last year. haha. hope the cookies and mousse turns out well (:

excited! :D

looking at the photo on my table, suddenly, i miss the time we spent tgther in hk. haha!

our first trip overseas tgther. the crazy time that we had, the countless photos that we took, walking around in heels for a day which resulted in us having aching feets, taking over 100 of photos at disneyland with all the lamp posts. haha! trying to understand cantonese, not forgetting the crazy shopping, which you all had a hard time trying to close your luggage bags! haha! we had so much fun yeah.

let's all go out on a date tgther sometime soon ok?

finally, i can go to grace home this june for xue er's wedding already. finally, i can see the kids. finally. after so many misses, i can go this time round. thank you, God. the timing is soooo just nice. my last day of exam is on the 6th june (supposedly is 6th la, unless my last ppr is earlier than that, if not 6th is the lastest date lor). and i'll fly on the night of 6th june. super rush. for the flight and everything. but, it's worth it.

lots of things to plan now though. accomodation and stuffs. but it'll be alright. im just really really happy. very happy ((:

well, june seems a little far away and im afraid that smthg might crop up and then i cnt go. but then, i guess, nth will happen. cos, exams are over. and it's not going to clash with anything right. yeah. haha. i think im being a little paranoid here. carmen says i am. haha. but anyway, bottomline is. i am very happy (: hahaha. finally!! :D