Today is the first day of the end of year school break and it has been one heck of a tiring day indeed! A normal day for me is one that is spent with my laptop doing my favorite activity - blogging and reading, of course. With the school break, it means I am lonely no more.
The day started with a session with Hobart to help him with his personal statement essay for his application to Berkeley and another ivy league university followed by an Evil Knievel stunt as I drove at breakneck speed to drop my boy at his last BM tuition class for the year. FYI, I am quite a race-car driver - when I drive, my passengers close their eyes, pray and step on their 'brakes':-).
10.15 a.m. I rushed home for my last class with two siblings - told you that I am retiring.
11.20a.m. Next was a repeat stunt of a speedy drive to the BM tutor's home and lunch at Bali-Bali in Sungei Dua where I enjoyed a tim-sum lunch with my boy.
12.40p.m. Interestingly, I was driving at quite a record-breaking speed along Jalan Glugor, enjoying the straight road when I suddenly realized that the traffic light had turned red and many cars were stationary. At the speed of lightning, I stepped on the brakes and prayed so hard, confessing every single unconfessed sin in me for I seriously thought that I would meet my Maker soon.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeech! The car came to a halt in the nick of time and Nick my boy said quite calmly, "Mom, that was a close shave!"
12.30pm My second post for the day was posted as pre-scheduled.
12.40p.m. We reached home and Nick went to practise his piano after clearing his books. In almost two hours, he would be sitting for his Yamaha Grade 6 keyboard exam. That would be his fourth and final music exam for the year (the others being his ABRSM Grade 7 for piano and violin, ABRSM Grade 6 piano theory).
While he was running his fingers on the piano keyboard, I was running mine over my laptop keyboard, publishing and responding to comments.
1.45p.m. I locked up and proceeded to drive my older son's car and then remembered that there was no petrol. Picking up my own car key, I locked up again and forgetfully went into my son's car and proceeded to start the engine with my own car key. After struggling a few times, I finally realized what an idiot I was and this time went off in the correct car and made our way to Yamaha.
2.00 p.m. We reached the music school and Nick, my 11 year old son registered for the exam. Thank goodness Yamaha has wi-fi and I could still surf the net on my pda while waiting for him and listening to other parents exchanging notes about their children's tutors.
2.15 p.m. Nick went upstairs for his exam scheduled at 2.30p.m.
2.50p.m. He came down feeling very elated and we went to buy cheese tartlets and egg tarts to celebrate. After that, we walked to the car park. I stood there looking for my car. Darn!!! I did not park it there but had parked it opposite a row of shop houses. Another disgraceful episode of forgetfulness in front of my boy. I smiled at him and reminded him that I am growing older :-). Soon after, I drove to my aunt's house and had tea there. She is back from US for a few weeks and will be returning to San Francisco soon.
3.45p.m. We drove to The Sire restaurant as I wanted to show my aunt the place but it was closed so we drove to Island Hospital where we waited for her turn to see the physician for the results of the medical examination that she had taken this morning. When I asked for some paper, the doctor looked at me with a shocked expression. What in the world is this mad woman doing?
Anyway, I explained that I had to take notes for my cousins who live abroad. Following that, we had to settle the bill and schedule for more tests the next day.
5.15p.m. We reached her home, exchanged fond farewells and then I drove home as quickly as I could.
Weaving my way in and out of the traffic which was moving at a crawl, I took 30 minutes to reach home, feeling cheated and frustrated because I had foolishly thought that I could reach home in 15 minutes.
5.45 p.m We finally reached home. I scurried around the house at top-speed to do the chores and with much haste, settled in front of my beloved laptop to publish and to respond to comments.
7.30 p.m. The whole family went out for dinner and only returned at 8.45 p.m.
Everyone went about doing their own thing quietly and it was blogging time for me again. By then, I basked in the aura of my son :-) whom I love to bits. He bombarded me with tons of questions and it was most challenging to answer them. Ironically, when I stumbled, he said,"Mom - just google it!"
In between, I also cleaned my beloved laptop and vacuumed the keyboard and cleaned every single black key most lovingly indeed.
9p.m. Reading time. I usually set a reading list for him. As he had just finished reading his entire collection of Townsend's Adrian Mole series, he 'requested' me to read Townsend's "Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction" while he read his fourth book in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. Golly! I was in for a surprise. My boy officially launched his Q & A session on Adrian Mole and I was expected to answer all questions correctly. Truth is, I failed miserably as I had been laughing too much at Townsend's humor to pay careful attention to details! Mega embarrassment, compliments of Sue Townsend and my son.
10. 30pm Bedtime for my boy and finally - peaceful blogging time for me :-).
I survived Day 1 of the school holidays and am very tired indeed with all the rushing here and there like a mad hatter.
But you know what? I would not trade this for anything in the world. The time spent with my boy is the most beautiful moment to me cos he will grow up too quickly and soon will tell me that I have to ask for permission to kiss him!!
So here's wishing all parents and children a wonderful time during this holiday season. Don't forget to spread a little love and kindness around, especially with the Christmas season round the corner.
Take care and have a good day!
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Rationale for this post:
Many readers and friends actually ask me how I find the time to blog and to carry on with my daily activities. Hopefully, this will answer your questions. It is 11.30p.m. now and truly, day is done but I will be up again in the middle of the night to write cos that is when I write best! Take care, dear reader.
I will resume blogging on socio-political posts tomorrow.
My recent post on "Heads and Shoulders Above Us All" received lots of feedback from readers, including Singaporeans and I have made some new friends, one of whom is Mr. P who has given me permission to post his email to me as a blog post because his is a story worth telling.
So here is a letter from Singapore from Mr. P...God bless you Mr. P and dear readers. If you wish to contribute your thoughts/writings, please leave them in the comment box including your email and I will get back to you. Thanks and have a nice day.
Here's Mr. P's very simple but beautiful and inspiring story....
_____________________________________________________________________________
I was in the midst of all those turmoil when LKY with the English educated fighting the left wing politicians including this elderly,fragile looking gentleman Dr. Lim. He together with his comrades were than not very gentile but fiery and totally committed towards their cause.
I learn at a time when struggling to hold on to a job that pays only $120 per month is real and not the promises of fair wages or strike.The left wing had their agendas and were whipping up the majority Chinese educated population to achieve their goals with violence if necessary.
I saw and lived through all these including the horrifying race riots of 1964 very well aware the 1969 Malaysian race riots was worse.
Today's generation which includes my children had never had it so good.I still live in my 3 room HDB govt. subsidised flat I bought in 1967 for $7,000 which took me almost 15 years to call it my own.
My children with their Uni degrees are faring better and chasing the 5cs but all these came about because of the vision and tenacity of LKY.
Yes, today things are different we have new expats from all over coming in and why not?.My family came in hoping for a better life found it and work hard for it.The same applies to the new migrants, the only difference is that the world has change even China where Dr. Lim and his comrades turn to for inspiration has changed.
They no longer wear grey and shout slogans with little redbooks,but embrace capitalism.
In conclusion,my family came from a fishing village and found peace and contentment in a city not a State where my relatives from Malaysia still jokingly says that the KL international airport with its landmass is bigger than Singapore.
Here we are equal in every sense of the word so long as you work hard for what you deserve and not hope to be given a free ride or lunch.Should you fail which human seldom admits in whatever you endeavor blame not others but yourself and least of all a govt.which gives you ample opportunity based on your merit and capabilities. Though Singaporean today and proud to be one, I still yearn for a re-merger and occasionally comment in Malaysian Insider. After all we were once Malaysians.
Sir/madam, I wish you well and as a Christian/Catholic we are allowed to practice our religion in peace, in order not to be drawn into the Marxist plot Jesus' words "Render to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God's" should suffice on where I stand.
Good day!
It is almost 2a.m. and insomnia has reared its ugly head again. It's kind of funny how one's bio-rhythms can be so out of synch when one grows older. The past one year has been a life-changing one for me because of so many things that happened in that time frame.
To better understand my past and how it has shaped my present that will affect my future, I went through my old emails and journal quite thoroughly, at times breaking down in tears even though I tried so hard to resist and to be strong. And as I type this with tears in my eyes, I remember how a year ago, I let little things get to me. I allowed small simple events to ruin my day and a large part of my life when I could not understand why people did not seem to understand me, in the process hurting people I loved and those who loved me. The problem was not with them but with me because at that point in time, I didn't really appreciate life or bothered to understand events and circumstances so I failed to overcome real obstacles to embrace everything that life has to offer.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, a Swiss-born psychiatrist who wrote "On death and Dying" said this in her book:
“You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose.”
How true. In the past year, I learnt that every experience is a gift and I have learnt to take whatever I can from everyday, that my life can be enriched with every experience.
“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
In my writing classes, I make some students describe in prose how sunlight can shine through to the other side through the branches of a tree. You see, the more I think of it, the more I realize that when in full foliage, light cannot get through. However, in winter with the barren leaves and branches, the sun comes shining through easily. And that is so true where suffering is concerned because it can teach us profound lessons and allow us to be more sensitive and to add more value to the world.
Ultimately, I have learnt that each of us is solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime. Sometimes, somehow, somewhere - this can be so painful indeed.
My reflections for the events in the past year have made me realize that I cannot allow other people or circumstances to affect my life or psyche. Real living is when we make a choice to be in control of our own lives - then only can we be productive.
“There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.”
I am sure that each of us is on a private search for meaning and purpose in our lives that we have to find for ourselves. I learnt not to worry about the terrible things that could happen to me or to the world and to learn from my experiences. Along the way, I realized that I had to put the pieces of the puzzle together to construct a meaningful and fulfilled life. To worry or to fret would mean that I was robbing myself of who I am destined to be or to do.
I guess wherever we are, whatever we face, whoever we meet, the most important thing is for us to come to terms with the silence in our hearts and to accept that there is a purpose for everything that happens in life. I realize that whatever I need is not something to be acquired but to be realized in the silence of our hearts when we still our hearts in solitude and come to terms with the fact that many answers lie in the center of our hearts, if only we would choose to hear them.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with com passions, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
Yes, I have come a long way in the last twelve months. The pain has passed but the tears are still there lurking at the corner of my eyes. Yet, through it all, I know that life is for living, a celebration of experiences and there is still so much for me to do, to learn, to see, to experience and to understand and nothing is going to stop me from taking the best out of life!
So sometimes, somehow, somewhere, in the wee hours of a Monday morning when insomnia sets in, I realize that I have a very serious task to perform here on earth. It is not to do with the acquisition of property, money or worldly success. That purpose is discovered only through suffering and pain of some kind. In the words of Nietzsche, ‘Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich starker,’ That which does not kill me, makes me stronger. And yes, I am stronger now...
