I was reading some manga when I heard some cat fights going on at the void decks of my estate's blocks.. and it reminded me of sherwin's cats.. He was telling me about his 2 cats, belle and I can't remember the other one's name.. but essentially, he has a feline and a tomcat. I had to laugh when I heard the cats going on at it downstairs, because of how sherwin described his tomcat getting all hyped up to fight with any other cat that tries to threaten his territorial radius or bully the feline that lives with him. Haha... I don't describe it in so much fun as how sherwin did, but it is quite amusing and funny how I imagine his tomcat to be... all hyped up and eager to go out for a fight, winning them and coming home all happy and satisfied, tail fluffed up happily and sticking right up in the air as he sashays home.. and this happy face that he shows when he gets back, "Ha! I did it again! Yes!" hahaha.... can you imagine that? Like a pre-schooler who'd just won his first fight on the playground and feeling all happy about it (without knowing the consequences)....
Sherwin then went on to tell me how when the feline gets into trouble with the other cats, his tomcat would run out to fight and hiss at the other cats and chase them away, and then does the most immature things when they get back, like the two of them when they get back home, they'd slap each other around for a while and then ignore each other and get back to their daily routine of finding their favourite spots to snooze at, or re-assure each other by sniffing at each other's noses and then ignoring each other, going back to their daily routine of snoozing, or... well, I can't seem to recall what else sherwin said, but that's pretty much enough to send me a mental movie about how his cats behave at home. Really hilarious things they do.. haha... in contrast to my cat, she's quite boring. 

Lately though, she's not as attention deficit as I'd thought and known her to be. She actually maintains eye contact with us for about a good minute before letting her sight roam everywhere else except towards the speaker. (pretty much like an ADHD kid, don't you think?) but she does maintain some eye contact nowadays, which makes me wonder if she's beginning to understand us finally? just somewhat? She knows "No, get out of there now.", "Stop that!", "Why~you~~!" (yes, homer simpson style) "Wanna eat? Mum-mum?", "Come here. Follow me. Now.." yeah, her vocabulary is increasing. She DOES know what "Let's have a bathe now, shall we?", and more importantly, "Oh my gawd, your claws. Time to cut!" because she scrambles and tries to find places to hide away whenever we say that. hahaha.... she never does get away with it though, unless I'm too darn lazy to go around catching her. 

But she seems really satisfied after her bathe though... all prim and proper, not wanting to get dirty again.. I guess she's finally getting the hang of being super clean and nice smelling (then again, perhaps it's because i'm more willing to pick her up only when she smells good)...

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In any case, school is getting a little heated up. I need to do alot of reading... and learn about the many many things there are in International Relations. I think I can impress the examiners this time around... lol. It's been a while since I've enjoyed discussions and essay writings like these. 

Speaking about IR, sneha's gone over to US to study a degree on International Relations... I feel just a wee bit envious about that... yes yes... yes I do, sneha...! but I feel so happy for you at the same time, because then I would have someone to talk about it with me on occasion!  *grin*

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My relatives in hongkong are going through abit of a rough patch at the moment... It couldn't be a more untimely bit of bad luck. Aunt's down with breast cancer, and uncle's down with supposedly stage 3 or 4 colon cancer. I feel so sad that this had to happen to them all at one go, but not as upset of the fact that this had to even occur to them at all... but anyway, I can speak of it in such a casual passing manner because I've more or less come to terms with the news... It's about 3 months ago since I've known of it.. 

I hope to visit them soon.. I want to see how my aunt is doing, my poor aunt! ): She must be feeling so lonely and sad. Who will take care of them? Who will give them their medications, who would bring them to the hospital for treatments? Andy can't be found (that boy, I've wondered how much more useless he can become to his parents. after he marries, he moves over to mainland china. God knows if he's still alive or not?!) and eric's moved out to the other flat again.. Apparently, uncle bought him an apartment flat for him and his fiancee to live in when they get married, but eric's already moved in. I only hope he has enough sense to take proper care of his parents in time to come. 

When the time stretches on, how will my aunt and uncle pass their days? will they be alright? They seem so far away from me right now, it sends frightful shivers all over my body. I can't help but worry about them day in, day out. It has been becoming a common place thought in my daily life now. I think about my aunt at least once in 2 or 3 days, I wonder how she gets on, is she eating well? is she feeling happy? is she sleeping well? And my uncle, is he doing just as well? is he in any pain? Questions like these, I'm afraid to ask, would they think me as trying to be sympathetic and taking them as pitiable beings? To want to share concerns with them, would they become defensive towards my worries for them? I hope they won't reject my concerns, I hope they won't lie to me either and insist that they are fine. 

*sigh* 

ah, at least I got that out of my system... but it still haunts me. I should send an email to my aunt in any case. I will send one later in the afternoon.

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I will be meeting tri for lunch on friday! (: Yay! It's been over 2 months since I last met her, and Oh! I do miss her so so much! I haven't met YT in 3 months, I miss her even more so!!!! It's a huge pity I don't have any classes with YT, but we can lunch and then go home together on wednesdays, I feel a little happier on that thought! Island Creamery, await our arrival!!! (: I will bring YT and Tri there one day... because YT says it's really nice to eat there... so we shall go there and have our much awaited icecream! 

And there's still tennis with shung, tj, ivy and joey... and yvonne and chinboon and damien and ryan... and stella... omg, so many of us. lol! 

I miss yvonne and ivy!! and joey! and stella!!! (no, I don't really miss the guys much. they're online all the time anyway, so I end up chatting with shung and tj almost on a daily basis...) gaaaah....

and we talk nothing but their projects, tennis, manga, and games. haha.. and exercise! I must look for more mundane things to talk about. yes, then our chats will be much more stupid and ridiculous, which makes things a little more light-hearted and funny. haha! (:

I'm tired. I have a bruise on my butt thanks to my blind eyes and a moving bus (i injured my butt because I missed the seat and it hit the seat edge (which is so freaking hard, what's it underneath? Steel?!)... so a bruise it is.. *sob* well, at least I didn't break my butt, so that's fine with me. lol. but it does hurt alot. like pulling your hamstring. >_< We'll see how it is, if it hurts too much later in the morning, I'll have to give the park a miss.. sigh! It'll be darn embarrassing having to tell others how I got my ass injured. damn. of all things, my ass. T_T *sobs*

well, good night for now!

PS: SooLean, how's notre dame? I hope you're feeling quite happy there!! Of course, the blues of having to move away is terribly upsetting, but you'll make tonnes of new friends and a new life awaits! love you!

Robert's Small Toes, August 16, 2008, 9:21 p.m.

From Brian: Sometimes, when I'm holding him distant from me or I see him when his mommy holds him, I notice again how small he is! He's so cute!

This is my week y'all. This week I have to cram in: a meeting with the friend who is going to tutor the middle boy next year, a trip to the school uniform store, haircuts for the whole caboodle, a visit to the shoe store, the book store, and more. The house is gasping for a good clean, my carpets upstairs are begging for a vacuum. I need to get my classroom(s) organised for the school year. The grocery store beckons, I need to get school supplies and non-perishables.

I did run to the store to get drinking water this evening. When hurricane madness hit Florida in 2004 there were times when water flew off the shelves at an alarming rate. Since we consume plenty of water here anyway (hurricanes or no) I didn't want to be left high and (literally) dry :-) .

Have you ever tasted Florida tap water?  It is enough to put you off drinking water for life! I marvelled at the sweet taste of the tap water in South Africa. I had forgotten how good it tasted, until this last trip in February.   

Anyway, off to the store I went for some store bought, decent tasting water, with two very eager and hopeful boys in tow. Ever since my mom gave them each a $20 bill, they have been champing at the bit to go shopping! They have asked me daily when we would be able to go, and those bills have been wearing a hole in the boys' pockets. 

I didn't want to take them, y'all. The middle boy is Mr. Decisive. He fears that he will miss out on something good if he settles on something else. A simple trip to the jiffy store for a candy bar is an exercise in patience for me, as he flip flops from one decision to another, and back again.

We went into the crowded store, and made a bee-line for the water (I'd love to tell you that there were fist fights over the water in the store but it wasn't quite that bad) before visiting the toy aisle. The boy looked around a bit until he realised that his money had been left in the pocket of the jeans that he had been wearing before we left the house.

Poor kid. It was at this point that the hubby called me to tell me that an unexpected expense would be going off our account tonight and I had better wait to do the rest of my shopping tomorrow. I had to promise the disappointed boy that we would be back, pay for my precious cargo of water, and leave. Out of curiosity, I checked out the camping aisle before leaving. There were no flashlights left.

I suppose people remember those power outtages in 2004 vividly. I do. I remember the stickiness of my floors most of all. It wasn't dirt-stickiness, it was the humidity that seemed to seep up from the floor and cling to your feet. The humidity clung to everything, and made the paper timeline in my homeschool classroom curl up. The heat and the inability to do normal, taken-for-granted things made tempers fray. 

Sigh. I am not ready for the world to stand still, languishing in sticky humidity while the clock keeps marching on to Monday, THE-day, the first-day-of-school day. I've got to have my power this week. Power to clean, power to use my computer so I can prepare my last few worksheets and do my last bit of research.

Faye, Faye, go away...(don't) come again another day...Faye, Faye, go away, little Sumi (literally ;-) ) wants to play...

From Brian: Jeanie visited yesterday on her way home from Sonoma. Yay! Here are a couple of photos that she took!

Also, Midwife Debra visited today and weighed Robert. He weighs 7 pounds, 4 ounces. That's 2 ounces more than Thursday. YAY!!!

[caption id="attachment_314" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Robert in His Seat, August 16, 2008, 5:02 p.m."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_315" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Robert Sleeps on Daddy While Mommy Gets Another Hour of Sleep, August 15, 2008, 9:18 a.m."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_316" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Close-Up of Robert Sleeping, August 15, 2008, 9:23 a.m."][/caption]

Sometimes Robert Cries to Be Held, August 16, 2008, 9:27 a.m.

Robert can already lift his legs from a lying position! August 15, 2008, 9:47 a.m.

From Brian: Every other night since the middle of last week, Robert has waken twice in the middle of the night/early hours of the morning and it's been difficult to get him back to sleep. It's been difficult for his mommy and daddy.

Usually in the morning, however, I am able to bring his out to the living room to rest or sleep for an hour or so while his mommy get a morning nap. Right now, he's been a little sleeping angel for most of an hour! What a sweet little boy. I'm so happy that he's my son.

Other things in life come easy and goes easy too... Friends, material goods, superficiality, the fakeness of this world makes everything seem much more convincingly fleeting. No wonder they say above all things, health and life is most important, as is family and love. These would be the 'things' that are to stay in one's life, and of course, if not grasped hold of tightly enough and maintained well, it becomes a fleeting emotion, a fleeting moment, a fleeting reprise of relaxation.

----

Anyway, yesterday was kinda long but it was kind of fun? 
Half my mind was wondering if sherbie was doing okay or not... some family matters cropped up and she's been bogged down with them. I'm guessing she's strong and old enough to understand and handle the situation in whatever ways she can.. so, I didn't exactly worry too much. But still, I was kind of worried.

 I met up with sherwin a little before 2pm to watch '12 lotus'.. it's a getai (lit. music stage in chinese) movie, really sad stuff.. about the tragic life of one female singer who has to deal with her abusive father, saving a little boy who got abandoned by his abusive mother, a con-man for a husband (who later on lets his friends rape her). She loses her mind and gets stuck at home for 20 years, unwilling to step out of her comfort zone that is her home which her father left for her when he died. The little boy grew up and constantly takes care of her, but got chased away when he found himself a girlfriend.. This tragic female lead then meets a young man, who looks exactly like the con-man of a husband, and is like the con man himself, because he tries to steal her money away. In the end, she re-visits her younger self, watching the little girl sitting by the side of the backstage, looking through the kaleidoscope; probably regretting desperately deep in her heart at making impulsive wishes to sing the 'Pitiful Lotus' song back then. If she'd not decided to become a singer, would her life had been better? I suppose that was what went through her mind when she thought back of her life..

So, then... after the movie, we did several things (paying bills, checking out some books, etc) in town before getting a quick bite and then heading over to the Esplanade for Europa huang's concert. Honestly, I knew only about less than half the songs he was singing, and they were all english songs, but I have to say only one thing: He needs to improve on his pronounciation. Like, seriously, I don't know what he was singing about because all the words were all jumbled up together. 

We ended up having some chocolatey stuff at Max Brenner's chocolate bar. (: 
Suckao, suckao, mm-mm yummy suckao! (: Essentially, hot chocolate.

And then, I missed the last train home... so ended up having my dad to come pick us up from town.. heh..

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Today would be the easy resting day.... and it's been every bit easy and relaxing today...
Slowly cleaning up my room, mom giving me a facial ('Eeeek!!! THAT FACE!! C'mere, you..!' ok, i exaggerate.), and doing admin stuff to my lecture notes. (nicely punched out and reinforced holes.. yes)

And so, now I have to do some reading that was given to me on wednesday... >_<

ah, well.

But..! How have all of you been? I hope your weekend is going on well and relaxing too!

From Mommy and Dad: We love you, Robert!

From Brian: Robert's life has been difficult lately. He's had more trouble sleeping at night and he's been fussy off and on. Last night he woke twice and stayed awake for quite some time. Poor kid! Here's a photo of a recent victory against sleep.

I have had a crazy, hectic, exhausting week. Monday heralded the first day of Teacher's Training Week in preparation for the school year. I had trouble shutting my brain down to sleep the night before and haven't had time to catch up on the lost sleep, so I have been keeping Folgers (for my South African friends, Folgers = cheap stuff coffee) in business this week.

I was stupid enough to have some gourmet coffee (NOT Folgers) last night, whilst visiting a friend (she seemed dubious and didn't have any herself) and it kept me wide awake in the wee hours of this morning. Then, I crashed this evening without intending to (I was just supposed to lie down for a little while - you know?) and when I woke up I didn't know if it was still evening or if it was the next morning already. :-)

My mom's visit is drawing to an end, tomorrow is her last full day with us. It feels like we didn't do nearly enough things together. We never made it to the beach side park that she loves so much, and we only went to see Jenna's grave very briefly on her birthday. I hope we will be able to go there tomorrow.

I DID manage to take my mom to see a favorite clothing store. My shopping days at Anthropologie are over for now since I have maxed out the gift card I received there last Christmas. A friend and I went on a shopping spree just before my visit to South Africa, in January. Jenna didn't go shopping with us, but still those clothes are like relics of the carefree days before my life changed irrevocably. I had loved then, having a girly day with my friend, being pampered by the sales ladies, and having my own changing room with my name on it.

I have bagged up the one sweater I bought that day. I wore it on those cool evenings on the farm and in the African bush, with Jenna on my hip. I imagine it still smells like her.

My mom and I also visited the giant JoAnn's store nearby where we got lost drooling over all the gorgeous fabrics and ribbons and laces and yarn. I saw the most beautiful fabric for wedding gowns at JoAnn's and it hit me: I will never see Jenna in a wedding dress here on earth. As I walked through the fabric aisles, every bit of pink fleece and sheer organza brought with it a pang. How Jenna would have loved to bury her face in the soft velours and satins. How I would have loved to make her a fleece blanket, or a quilt, or a princess outfit, or accessories for her room with all those yards of gorgeous fabrics.

Anyway:

To update you all on my life, I am getting ready to teach Middle school History, Bible, and Journalism this year. I am excited but also aware that it is going to take a lot out of me. The school I will be teaching at has wonderful, very hands-on parents who have high expectations. That is a good thing but it can surely add pressure too. :-) 

The journalism course is one in which I will be breaking new ground, both for me and for the school. I am a huge perfectionist when it comes to developing a study unit from scratch. I LOVE doing it, but I tend to search compulsively until I find exactly the right approach or activity for each concept that I want to teach. It can be very time consuming, and managing my time so that I can be adequately prepared for teaching and still be able to attend bible school is going to be a big challenge for me.

I have missed checking up on all my bloggery friends (that Google reader counter is way up again) and blabbing my thoughts out over here.

I wonder where my blogging will be once school starts. I might find myself bloggin' only once in a great while, or this might become a place to regularly pour out all my random thoughts as I embrace all the changes facing me! Whoa, God wasn't joking when he told me that he was 'doing a new thing' in my life!

I am both excited and a bit apprehensive about what this year holds. There will be many adjustments for our whole family. I am going to be busy. I am going to need to be organised (a challenge for me). The boys will have to take on more responsibilities around the house.

I know this though: God has ordered my steps until now and he has already gone before me to prepare my path.  I feel a bit like Moses, who said to God that if God didn't go with him and the Israelites, then he wasn't going to go. There's no way I am going to be able to do this on my own. I just don't have the goods, folks. I can only tackle the challenges before me if God is right there alongside me. I do sense that he is though, so I can take a deep breath and enter this new phase of my life with confidence, taking it one step at a time.

From Brian: Robert is such an easy-going kid! He allowed me to work on my class and to meet with a client today. Here is a photo of him in his bouncey chair.

Anyway, I was actually good today. We went and walked on the Greenbelt in Kingsport. It is a walkway that runs through Kingsport. That was our first time to go there and it was fun. The squirrels are really accustomed to people being there. At one point Tim was standing about a foot from one and it just looked at him. Then we got back and took the dogs for a long walk. I jogged with Kansas for a little while. My legs are not liking me too much now, and will probably hate me tomorrow, but I was proud. Then we came back and I cooked salmon.

Today was a good day.

From Brian: What a great kid we have! He's been calm for the past couple of days: Eating, sleeping, need diaper changes, and crying/screaming relatively little!