Tuesday, March 31, 2009

off the plateau



A friend's dad has stage 4 cancer. He had been having urinary problems for quite a while. He had been operated on a few times. This time the bleeding in his urine did not stop. They did a CT scan and found that the cancer had spread all over. This is not an easy time for her. I remember when my dad was ill. U can feel that u r about to lose someone close and that feeling is the worst one to have.





Work was terrible yesterday. The committe I head to investigate a staff member still needs time to complete our job properly. It isnt easy. Lousy task, lousy response, lousy perceptions. Lousy.



So my plateau (see last posting) has taken a turn downwards, huh?
Its ok. When things go down they then go up (hopeful!!!)
The good thing is when u are NOT on a plateau, its easier to blog!

Monday, March 30, 2009

on a plateau

Life has ups and downs.
Sometimes, however, u find urself on a plateau.
Not on a high nor down in the dumps.
Thats where I have been since the weekend.

Things went well. I went on a day trip with my mom and sis to visit my nephew at his new boarding school.
Nephew looks like he has settled in quite well.
I could see that his family is important to him.
He has his family photo on his desk in the class.
He also has words of wisdom to accompany his person targets and vision.
He will do just fine. He is a good boy.

I did take my two nieces out shopping on Friday.
Got each of them a jacket to wear on their holiday trip this weekend.

I've invited mom to stay over next weekend at my condo.
That will be fun.
Brother's maid will come along as brother and family will be on vacation.
Ah....an opportunity to get my condo extra cleaned! hehehe

JAR will be going away next weekend for work.
His newly ordered kitchen cabinets have arrived but they need to be fixed in.
He has had the electricians over.
He is doing ok but he has many news of accidents, robbery, etc happening all around him.
I tell him to be careful and to take care.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

family updates

Its been a terribly busy time.
I am enjoying myself tremendously too.
I like working hard as well as playing hard.
Not that I have had much playing time lately.
Maybe this weekend Mom and I will go with second sis to visit her son at boarding school.
Its been a while since mom travelled.

Second sis's kids are settling in their new lives and routines.
Everybody is facing a new challenge in their lives.

I have been so busy that I have cut down the time I get to spend with my nieces.
I must make that up somehow.
They'll be going to an Island resort vacation trip next week.
Hope I can take them out for a little shopping before that.

Eldest sis's kids are busy with their university studies and exams.
I even had to miss my niece's birthday cos I was working over the weekend.
Bad Bad.

I am looking forwards to my vacation trip in May.
However, the flight is now rather early in the morning.
I need to work out a way to get safely to the airport before the sun rise.
Mmmmm. Maybe I should just spend the night at the airport hotel?
Is that wise? Is that too expensive?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Biggest Loser

Feel like I am not getting enough rest.
This weekend I have to work too.
O My!

I am actually having fun at work and at home so actually I am not complaining.
I just need a bit more of sleep.
Maybe get an hour long massage for my back.
Ah! Dreams!

I am enjoying the reality show about Fat People Becoming Thin on TV
'The Biggest Loser"
Of course the shows screen happenings of 1 week to 10 days in an hour show.
We get to see only the end results at the weigh in.
I bet those guys and gals really half died during their exercises.
The first season I loved the guy Gary who was the oldest guy on the show.
He actually finished second over all. His physical changes were amazing and I am sure his wife is enjoying the pleasure of his losing 70(?) pounds or so.
Now the second season has begun.
I am no fattie but some parts of the month I get a little bloated tummy from water retention.
Thas when I feel fat. My jeans gets a bit tight. And I worry that I might not regain my normal self.
But that comes with the PMS phases every month.
Basically I can fit into most clothes bought over a decade ago.
But if I got fat, would I be able to work out like those biggest losers on TV?
I pray so!

Monday, March 16, 2009

updates from weekend

Amongst what irritates me is getting phonecalls from friends from a past era.
They dont bother to keep in touch, then suddenly out of the blues will hound u with repeated calls. They do not respect that I dont answer calls when in meetings. They call again and again. Then when I can finally return their call, they tell me to call again. Yukes. I wont. Sorry. Too bad.

I had a pretty good weekend.
I enjoy spending time with my Mom. She is well on her way to recovering from Bell's Palsy.
She smiles better now too.
She cancelled her physio sessions because of her cough so instead we both went shopping.

One more nephew is about into university education.
Spent Sunday night out shopping (yet again!). This time with my sister and two of her sons. I also gave them a dinner treat. One as a belated birthday treat and the other for passing his major exam and driving test. Another reason is ....see below

Earlier on Sunday, drove from my mom's to my condo. The driving felt funny and I discovered that I had a flat tyre. This is the second flat tyre I have had since mid December last year. I made an SOS call to my sister who lives two roads down. She came with her two eldest boys (the youngest one was at camp). My two strong handsome nephews managed to change the tyre in minutes. Then with my sister in tow we tried to replace the blown out tyre. That took some searching on a Sunday afternoon. The one opened shop had no brand new tyres for a car (apparently it is specially made for my car so none of the others could fit it.) He did however had a second hand one for sale.....beggars cant be choosers so I bought that instead)

Brother and family have booked themselves for a weekend getaway early next month.
My own vacation will be end of May to June. I can hardly wait for that.
I have quite a bit of stuff put away for the trip. My bedroom is now split to the 'normal' side and the 'trip' side and the latter part is growing by the day!
I have to bring clothes for both cold and warm weather. I will be moving from LA to Canada and thats plenty different temperatures for the middle of the year. My bag might not fit all the stuff that I put aside up to now.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

past week

Bad cough!

My throat and chest hurts.

Its difficult to concentrate on work.

But I try.



On the bright side, I am on a high financially.

I got a refund from a source that I least expected to get.

All because I had the guts to write an email of complaint.

I also got a cheque courtesy of my late dad fairly including all his kids as beneficeries of his house.

So I had a fruitful week.



My mom's condition is improving tremendously this past week.

The right side of her facial muscles are starting to work again

All the stimulation given during physiotherapy is bearing fruit.

I am happy for her.



Mom and I spent two full days together.

We went shopping and visiting my sisters.

I got a new glass covered pot for my sister's birthday and then decided that I wanted a smaller one for myself. So I got me a new cooking pot which was on sale and a set of glasses.



I have started to put aside stuff for my vacation which is actually too many weeks away.
thats quite normal for me.
I put aside the stuff that I think will be going with me on the trip.
Then I remove some of the stuff that later becomes too heavy or not as necessary to bring.
I love this process!

Monday, March 02, 2009

Be happy, right now!






I have a new rule.




I will be happy as of RIGHT NOW!




I wont wait until the vacation time, till the project is completed, till He calls, till the big cheque is cleared, till anything at all!








I think thats the smartest new rule I have made for myself in a long time.




When I say I am happy, I feel a sense of warmth flow right thru me.






Actually there are so many reasons for me to be worried and stressed.






Someone in the family needed me to help her finances this month.



I shall not worry about her paying me back; I shall not be stressed when I see her spending what was MY money on expensive stuff for herself (the cheek of some people!)



I shall focus on the fact that I was able to help. And in doing so, managed to help so many of my loved ones.


Money is not meant to only be figures that u watch grow.

Its a means for something good!



My mom's condition sees further improvement this week. Thank God.

I took her for physiotheraphy on Saturday.

There is more movement on the right side of her face.

The physiotherapist says that if she goes early for physio and carries on regularly, we should see improvement by the seventh session. Please, God!


This weekend however saw new problems.

Mom had diahorrea and was vomiting on Friday. She was better on Saturday and thus had her physio appoinment done.

Sunday she vomitted yet again.

Thus she is not yet well.


We also had a siblings meeting and lunch on Sunday.

Second sis was away so her family was the only one missing.

They went to visit her son who had just entered boarding school.


Spoke to JAR this morning.

He is doing great. He had just ordered his new kitchen cabinets.

He's trying to complete that job before my next trip.

I am looking forwards to seeing the new kitchen.


Now another week has begun.

I am happy as of right now!

I shall look at all my blessings anytime my unhappy hormon threatens to surface.