Counting Blessings in September

got reminded of the Gratitude blog posts i did back in 2014 and 2015 and decided that i should start a new one this September where the need to spot daily moments of blessings is necessary to keep me sane during this time of much regret & heartache...

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1st September:
blessed to have Yuan accompanied me on the 2.25km x 2 (to & fro) Prunus Trail @ MacRitchie and whom treated me to breakfast @ Yakun...


2nd September:
blessed to catch up with Charlene @ Tsui Wah... marshmallow of the day - videocall with angela


3rd September:
blessed to be pampered with durian delivered all the way from woodlands to home sweet home by Alvin...


4th September:
blessed to have Alfred who shares his netflix account and Alvin who shared his time nua-ing @ home sweet home with me .... thankful for the company, support and family love...


5th September:
blessed to have pups to snuggle with...


6th September:
blessed to find our favourite chocolate, kinder bueno, in stock at value shop...


7th September:
blessed to see you in my dream again... you say you are coming home...

8th September:

blessed to have her by my side... the only kind of till death do us part love comes from pets...


9th September:
blessed to be alive and healthy...


10th September:

blessed to have friends to have dinner with ...


11th September:
blessed to have a one hour teaching only Tuesday timetable to finish up all the cutting, laminating and lesson planning for the P2 PLC on Money ...


12th September:

blessed to come home to a well-stock fridge.... blessed to have hong mama as hong mama...


13th September:

simple joy is receiving ikea catalogue in the mail... =)


14th September:

blessed to have 2 furry bed warmers....


15th September:

blessed to be given a second chance at trying to keep an air-plant alive... ;P


16th September:

blessed to have a mummy who cooks well... the assam fish was da bomb!


17th September:

blessed that this was redeemed with Grab points... totally NOT worth it to pay for it with my cash... =S


18th September:
digital tv set up guy was coming between 3-6pm... 


19th September:

received another $10 mac voucher from HappyDot ... =) 


20th September:
finally cleared both classes of project work after weeks and weeks of hardwork from the kiddos... 


21st September:

Angela flew home today.... happiness.... 

and double happiness was that on this first day when i started going greener with my own take-out bottle to replace all the one-time plastic cups, kopitiam auntie poured in 2 cups worth of teh ice and only charged me the price of one.... 😍

22nd September: 

restarted our weekly hike at Bishan Park with Mabe... 

23rd September:

favourite 奶油太阳饼 from jiufen for breakfast, courtesy of charlene, and instant ramen in satay favour from hong kong for dinner, courtesy of joycelyn... friends that feed me are really a blessing to have... 

24th September:

enjoying mini snowskin durian & truffle mooncake from dominic... 

25th September:

from the effective effort lesson that i conducted this morning for my kiddos, i am reminded to "NOT GIVE UP" when met with challenges... 

then i saw this on our kitchen wall when i got home... it has been a while since i last took note of our home sweet home pledge... 

Quoting from Suits "You are a great man who is currently having a not so great moment"... I hope you will remember the promises we made to each other on 2 Jan 2011 and choose to still keep them... And wishing sincerely that we will forgive each other and ourselves even though i know it's hard... 

26th September:

ran & walk 4.3km despite a less than 3 hour sleep last night ... i thought i didnt need the endorphins to keep me sane anymore... but all it took for me to go back into spiral was to see the present tense in "i hv a gal" ... i cant bring myself to believe that you can be proud of the person that you have become and for the things you have done to all those who love and care for you... 

receiving your concern @ 8.14pm - "Take care of urself.. Slp more b"... just gonna assume the 'b' stands for 'baobei', a word that you dont know how to call out to me anymore... 

27th September:

came back from invigilation to find this little sack of happiness on my table... thanks partner... blessed to have you as my partner this year... 

28th September:

received positive tarot and numerology reading today.... the first of double positives since i signed up months ago.... 

Finally a bold move towards a more holistic child-centered education .... this will not only enhance the Joy of Learning... it will enhance the Joy of Teaching too.... =) 

29th September:

survived 2.5 hours hike this morning... been radiating heat since and am thankful for the marble flooring at home sweet home that i am using as my ice bed to reduce my body temperature... =P 

30th September:

blessed to have neighbour who recognises her to bring her back to home sweet home when she 离家出走....真的是好的不学, 学她老爸...  =S ... 

of love for parents & the Giving Tree

looking at the tears in her eyes, listening to her worries, her struggles, her pain and got reminded of the story of "Giving Tree" 

the boy is like the kid in the family and the Giving Tree, the mum... the mum is always providing and lonely, more so as the boy grew up, while the boy is always taking and being ignorantly selfish and unappreciative... 

to me, LOVE for parents is the willingness to spend time to be with them knowing that my time to be with them is what they really want from me... 

so for all the things you had trouble your parents &/or in-laws with; their time to look after your kid(s), their time to run errands for you, the meals they cook for you, the sundry they buy on your behalf... just be appreciative enough by bringing them out for a chit chat over a meal at least once very month / term... 

if you believe in building relationships with your friends, with your customers, with your colleagues, with your superiors, with your subordinates, you jolly well can afford to date your parents for the 2 - 3 hours per month / term for all the hard love they have been showering you since you were that fertilised egg... 

and you jolly well could do so too if you go for movie, menicure, facial, F1 race, play games, watch netflix, attend friend's birthday party, baby shower etc etc.... stop using the excuse that you are busy, work is hectic... it's really all about priorities.... we should really ask ourselves why is spending time with our parents so low on our priority list that there isn't even plan for it to happen???

this story is one that make me realized how much i had taken my family for granted approx 15 years back ... this story has been my driving force for all the outings and holidays planned with the Chuas ... i do not want to have even a teeny weeny bit of regret of not having spent happy times with any of them even if (touchwood) they are not around anymore tomorrow....