Nerdery is expensive

Misstsy FB-posted a link to the Harry Potter Moleskine® collection (meant for P, but I was tagged in the post). I saw it, and I wanted it. P said that she'd seen it at the NBC store over at Bugis, and offered to pick one up for me, with a 10% discount. I decided to go to the store at Jem, as I wanted to see the physical thing first, to see if it really was as pretty as it looked in the picture.

It wasn't.

It was better.

I picked up my 2017 planner from Muji, then went to NBC. No copies there, so I meandered over to Kinokuniya. Went straight over to the Moleskines, saw the one I liked, and stood in front of it, dithering for ages. I mean, HP journal! Expecto Patronum! But but....$41 for a notebook!!!

I finally decided to get it. Picked one up, turned around, and....

Oh. Oh my.

MUCH HARRY POTTER. SO GEEK.

Pure magic.

Cue even more dithering. And then of course, I allowed myself to get tempted by useless little keyrings.

cute, but nah

Of course, I started texting Nekowife and P for help. Partly help in deciding which notebook to get, but mostly it was a cry for help to stop spending monies!

P told me not to waste money. But, as I told her (and later, Nekowife), I'd also planned to get my nails done today. But purdy HP notebooks > purdy nails, and they'll last longer too.

Ended up getting these two beauties.

'Course though, they're going to sit there for absolute ages before I even get around to opening them, let alone writing in them!

And then, of course...as though I hadn't already spent enough on notebooks... I picked up a new MacBook Pro. On which I am now typing.

Harry Potter notebooks? $75.

MacBook Pro? $2000.

Nerd satisfaction? Priceless.

Of course, seeing as how this week, Starbucks is doing a BOGO on their Xmas drinks... I went along to pick up my second toffee nut latte of the year, and got a peppermint mocha frappe for BabyGirl.

I'm broke, but I'm happy. :)

Also, wife wife look! I wrotes something! I have some other stuff that I wanted to blog about, but hey. Might as well keep something for tomorrow, eh?

I haven't blogged in a while. Can you tell that I've been incredibly busy?

So yeah, I've been busy, mostly with work. Like everyone else. The thing is though, with this job, I'm loving it! Manager is pretty terrific, in fact, he's the best boss I've ever had. I really do hope I get to work with/for him on future projects. My colleagues are pretty cool too, and I daresay I've made a few friends. It's weird; I was in my previous company/team for 4 years, and while we got along alright, I never really clicked with any of them, and didn't make any close friends. Here, I've clicked with quite a few people, and there are people I will definitely keep in touch with after this project comes to a close.

The work itself is challenging, without being impossible. I feel validated, and I know I'm doing a good job. Not perfect, still room for improvement, but I daresay I've impressed a few people.
As Doof put it though, these people might just think I'm some kind of fembot!

Went on my first worktrip a couple weeks ago, to Manila. It was my first work trip, and the first event that I was in organising. So far, it's always been someone else in charge, and I provided support. This time, other people were supporting me, and I was in charge. A terrific amount of responsibility, and I could never have done it without such great support from my colleagues!
A bit of a hiccup, what with the typhoon and the floods, which was a huge spanner in the works, but somehow or other, it all worked out great. The wet weather didn't even put a damper on my spirits (hehe, see what I did there?); we were spending every evening drinking at the hotel bar.

Waking up on my birthday in a king-sized bed in a 5-star hotel. It was pretty lovely, I'll tell you that! And Boss and the Lads (greatest boy band ever) gave me a wonderfully memorable birthday, complete with much inebriation!

The really bad thing about it was that a colleague suffered a stroke while he was there, so that was rather worrying. Thankfully, the logistics were sorted out, and he managed to return to Singapore after a week. He's shown incredible progress in the past three weeks...a simple stroke isn't keeping the stubborn bastard down! This colleague is great, and I really miss him and his loud jokes in the office. Hopefully, he'll be able to return to bother us all again soon.

So much more has been happening, hanging out with family and friends....Neal turned 6 (SIX! OMG!) last month. Godson is a lovely little cheeky chubbawubbs. And the rest of the kids...oh, they are just perfect.

I've rambled on enough, mostly about work, and right now, I have a cider to finish up. :D

Life is good, man. Life is good.

A whole year without blogging!

Almost a year since I've written in this thing, and what an amazing year it's been!

So much has happened, so much awesome has happened, and I just don't know where to start. But I'll do my best to round up the past year.


Studies
Urgh. I really gotta get moving on those assignments. I didn't even have that old excuse to fall back on...


Work
My last project came to a close at the end of October, and I decided to take a break for a couple months, mostly to relax and enjoy Christmas. Well, two months turned into seven...that's right, folks, seven months without a job. Thankfully, I had enough savings to last, plus enjoy a few perks here and there. And to be fair to myself, I was keeping busy with other things too.

I started at a new position a couple weeks ago, and so far, it's been really good. It's a short-term contract - only about 6 to 9 months, but hey, it gives me time to network and make new contacts, and to find a longer-term contract, should I decide to continue working after this.

I've been tutoring as well, on a semi-voluntary basis. 'O' Level English, which I haven't taught in years! I'd forgotten how much I enjoy teaching at this level.

Another really exciting thing that has come up on the workfront, is that I've jumped into a travel company, and it's growing rapidly, and I get to travel and make new friends, and I've been having a blast with it! Of course, it's a lot of work, but if I put in enough effort now, it will definitely pay off later. Speaking of...


Travel
Went to Taipei to visit Neko last November. Was there from...Thursday to Sunday (no, I can't recall the dates now, haha, but I'm sure I could look them up if I really wanted to), so it was a lovely long weekend. I'd bought this great red trench coat, that I simply loved, so I brought it along with me.
On Thursday, it was far too hot to wear a coat. On Friday, it was far too hot to wear a coat. On Saturday, I thought what the hell, it's like Singapore...far too hot to wear a coat.

It rained Sunday, and I was so happy that I was able to wear my coat. I love it! I might just wear that, my red fedora and my black boots. And black sunglasses. Carmen Sandiego cosplay, hehe.

Also went to Phuket last month with a couple of newfound friends, spent a long weekend there, right before I started at this new job. Was great to get away, if only for a weekend.

Planning to go to Khao Lak at the end of October. Was considering Bali in December with a few others, but  it's also rather close to Christmas, so I might have to KIV that for now.

Looking at Greece and Spain next year, and potentially London again. Depending on where my whims and fancies take me, I might just do Canada/US. Well, energy and time permitting, of course!

Partly because of all the travelling I've done/will be doing, I've improved on that little aspect of my life...


Friends & Relationships
I've made new friends, some closer than others, of course, and strengthened bonds with the old. I don't see my friends as often as I used to, or as often as I'd like, but time spent connecting with them is never ever time wasted. I'm so very blessed to have these friendships in my life. Making the decision to let go of toxic relationships has been one of the best things I've done for myself.

which brings me to the most important thing of all...


Family
Sis!S had her third boy last November. Lovely little boy, such a little angel he is. Unlike the two scamps who preceded him, Cola (no, not his real name) is just such a good baby, and doesn't give his mum any trouble at all.

During my seven-month break, I got to see the three boys at least once a week, and had such fun. Now that I've gone back to work, I miss them dreadfully. It's so lovely to see the three of them interact. Neal is the patient big 'bubba', who really takes care of the younger ones. Cola is the little angel. And Godson is the rascal middle child who walks over his older brother (sometimes literally!) and roughhouses with 'his baby'. Because, you know, at the grand old age of 2 years, he thinks that he himself isn't a baby any more. Godson is talking so much these days, and it's such a joy to listen to him. Both he and Neal are growing smarter and sassier each day, and Cola is babbling a lot. Well, my theory is that he's actually telling us important baby stuff, but none of us can understand him yet. All three of them are such sweethearts.

Nix is taking her 'O' Levels this year, and she's been studying so very hard for it.
She and Shay are really close, and again, so very heartwarming. Haven't seen very much of both of them, partly because they live all the way at the other end of the country, and they've all been busy with school/work. It's always good to see them though.

Bro is doing well at his job too; he seems to enjoy it and is good at it. He's been given more responsibility, and the couple times I met his colleagues/superiors, they are full of praise for him. We don't spend very much time with each other, but whatever time we do have as a family is very much treasured. Quality over quantity!

An Aunt (who is actually an old family friend and my mum's good friend, but is so grandmotherly to all of us) got a bout of bad news earlier this year. Doctor reports that she has the big C, and she doesn't have very long left. Bless her, she's taking it a day at a time, and each day is a blessing. She's such a wonderful person, and it sucks more than I could possibly express. Nothing I can do at this juncture, except to pray. And speaking of prayer and...


Spiritual and Personal Growth
I like to think I've gotten stronger in my spirituality. I have a deeper relationship with God, and I've started going to Novena. I'm a lot more comfortable attending Novena than I am regular Mass, so I'm just going to stick with that for now.

I wanted to go for Journey in September (I think it's September), but decided not to, as it'd be an entire week out of my schedule, and I decided to just go for Journey next year. Besides, this year's Journey is in Phuket, so I might as well wait for next year's; hopefully it'll be somewhere different!

Have signed up for the Landmark Forum this October, and I'm really looking forward to it. I reconnected with PH because of that, and I'd forgotten how easy it is to talk to him. I'm looking forward to catching up with him again soon.


And for any of my readers who felt that this entire post is just

TL;DR

My life is awesome. Enough said. XD

Faith in Humanity: Restored

I just read this article, and it really touched me. What a lovely, warm, fuzzy feeling to go to bed with.


Bikers Against Child Abuse make abuse victims feel safe

Great Start to the Week

It wasn't the best start to the week. I went to bed kinda late last night (surprise surprise) and woke up late this morning (hey surprise again) and had to cab it to work (big surprise) and got to the office a few minutes late (bigger surprise).

And now the word 'surprise' has lost all meaning.

But the day picked up pretty well after that. I knew that I'd have a lot of work waiting for me. It's usually busy on Monday mornings, especially if I didn't work on the previous Saturday. Today was no different... busy busy busy! It was the good kind of busy though, where I just had a constant flow of work to do, and there was nothing super urgent to take care of. Unlike some other times, where I'm so harried and everyone needs something done five minutes ago and there's barely enough time to breathe let alone have a coffee and the phone is ringing non-stop and I'm running around like a headless chicken.

Uh, so yeah. Today was the good kind of busy.

Then mid-morning, I heard Coworker!S on the phone, giving directions to someone who was clearly coming to the office to visit. Shortly after she hung up, she went down to the lobby to greet said visitor. I thought nothing of it, until she walked back to the office with visitor, and then said to me, "Look who's here!"

I looked up, and there was one of our former team members, here on a brief stopover visit. Now there was a real surprise, and a lovely one at that! Didn't really get to talk much, as he was here to see Boss, then they and Lead guys went on the rig for most of the afternoon.

After work, I went over to Shoes' place for my usual revision session with the kids. That too went rather well. They were all rather tired, but they did sit down to do their work without complaint. And J was extremely proud of himself for getting full marks for his spelling. And I'm proud of him too. I see such potential in all three of them, and I really hope I can help them fulfill their potential.

On that note, I'm going to watch a couple episodes of my latest addiction (is anyone surprised that I'm hooked on yet another tv show?), then go to bed.

For some strange reason, I now have a craving for a chocolate egg containing a small toy.

I like rainbows, but I'd prefer the toy.

Death by Cake

Went over to the Ks place for dinner yesterday. SisS's in-laws were in town, and they're flying off tonight, so they wanted to celebrate BIL-S's birthday. BIL-S turned 30 just two days before me, so they wanted to celebrate that. Also, Neal turns 4 next Saturday, and SisS's in-laws wanted to have a little celebration since they'll miss his birthday.

Dinner was...amazing.

Well, there were the "appetisers". They were actually meant for teatime, but we only got there past 7pm. Blueberry muffins, and chocolate cupcakes with Thomas the Tank characters on them. Of course, Neal can name all the characters!

Then...dinner. Wow.

From Mum's kitchen, we had Chicken Curry (with chillies from Mum's garden!), and Tongue Smore (how Eurasian!), and Aunty R cooked up Birthday Noodles (for longevity!), Pineapple Pickle (mmm, spicy!), and of course, which Eurasian get-together would be complete without Shepherd's Pie?

Om nom nommity nom! Of course, I had a bit of everything, and boy was I stuffed after that!

Of course...not too stuffed for cake. And it's a good thing I saved room for cake...there were, not one, not two, but THREE cakes! Yessirree, they got me a cake too!

Mine, BIL's, Neal's

Birthday present from the Ks is a classic. I burst out laughing the second I saw it.

How well they know me!

Why yes, yes I do think I can spell. Yes, I'm incurably competitive and overly confident. But no, not even I can spell all the words in this book! It's brilliant, and I have so much geek love for my sis and BIL!

Then going home, BIL-S gave me a giant bar of Toblerone. At least, he said it's for me. Turns out he told Mum, Babygirl and Bro the same thing. So 4 of us had to share. Which is just as well, really. I still have LOADS of chocolates from London!

Sunday is rest day. Gotta recover from all the food and alcohol I've consumed over the past couple days!

Quiet Celebration

This time last year, I thought that I'd want to do something big for my 30th. A huge party perhaps, or a day out; something wild, something crazy.

This year, by the time my birthday rolled round, I'd completely changed my mind. After all, I'd already done the trip to London for my birthday treat! And I still have Jaffa cakes and rolos and Galaxy bars to feast on...among other goodies.

Decided on going to Overeasy for dinner with Bar Boozer. I made it just in time for happy hour, wahey! Was rather disappointed though, that rum wasn't included in the happy hour drinks. Nor was Red Bull, so I couldn't have my usual Rum&Coke, nor my substitute poison, Vodka RBs. My other choices? Gin or bourbon. Seeing as how gin is even grosser than bourbon, I settled for a bourbon whiskey. Had two of those, afterwhich I switched up to rum. Best Roman Coke ever!

Was a decent dinner, they do good burgers. But the service wasn't exactly the best! Since it was rather noisy, we decided to stroll across the bridge to the Esplanade, where we hung out at Harry's.
Decided to move on to SoCo 7-Ups, which I hadn't had in ages! Harry's was rather understaffed that day, but I'll give them this: they mix brilliant drinks! JUST the right ratios.

Shoes arrived not long after, and Tink joined us when she was done with work. And then....shots all round! Tequila...it makes me happy! Plus, Patrón tequila is good stuff!

So...alcohol consumption was...let's see if I remember this.

2 x bourbon whiskey
2 x rum & coke
3 (4?) x SoCo 7-Up
4 x tequila
1/2 x Guinness
Few sips of some very good single malt.

A decent amount for a 30 year old, especially one who was on the tail end of jetlag, hadn't been sleeping well, and had been in the office since 7.30am. Not too bad at all!

I was PLENTY buzzed, I can tell you that! Of course, after having the requisite prata and teh tarik supper, I was sobered up, but feeling oh-so-happy after spending a wonderful evening with 3 of my best mates.

And then I come home, and I see this waiting for me:

Thank you, Doof!

Flowers also make me happy. (Mum told me they'd arrived just after I left for dinner!)


Another thing that makes me happy? Starting the alcohol headache before I sleep, which means minimal hangover! Plus, as a wise old woman of 30, I now know enough to stick to either dark or light alcohol, drink lots of water, and to keep a bottle of water next to me. Woke up feeling tired, but no headache!


And then dinner today at Sis2's place. Weekend of friends and family. As close to perfection as it gets.

HOLIDAY!

All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go....but first I have to work for 3 and a half hours!
Then it's home for shower, grab my bags, and off to the airport I go!

Woohoo!!!

London's Calling!

Flights are booked!

Look out London, Ki's a-comin' to town!

We're all going on a summer holiday
No more working for a week or two!

What a Wonderful Monday!

Monday started off rather drearily, as always. Did NOT want to get out of bed! Finally dragged myself to the office, and it was all uphill from there! Just had a general good day at work, and then went to tutor Kay and LG after that. Had such fun with the kids as always, all four of them! And then went out for a couple beers after with Shoes. Well, I say 'couple'. It was only a pint and a half of the black stuff. Would have had more if it hadn't already gone midnight! Isn't it great to be mates with your students' mum? Better yet, drinking kaki!

Got home about...12ish? Chatted with Mum for ages. I always love our late night chats, where we talk about serious stuff, and throw in completely inane things as well. Back in the day, when a teacher in school (I can't remember which one, but I remember what was said!) told us that our parents are our best friends, I didn't believe her. But my Mum is by far one of the best friends a girl can have.

Anyway, it's 2.30 in the a.m. now, it's just started pouring; thunder, lightning, the whole shebang. Perfect sleeping weather! So off to sleep I go, with just under four hours before the alarm goes off.

And tomorrow! Afternoon will be spent with Mum, Sister V, Mike D, their kids and Baby Girl. (I get to work in the morning first, though!)

What a fantastic start to a week that is just filling up with loveliness! Thank you, Universe. I am so very blessed. ♥



PS: Doof, know how I said I'll email ya? Well...not going to, now that I've blogged. :p

Kismet, I tell ya.

Went out today after work, to meet up with a bloke I recently got to know. Met up with him for coffee, which is really just leaving an escape route, no? If we don't like each other's company, hey, it was just for coffee, and we can cut and run. If we enjoy each other's company, we can extend the evening.

Which is what we did. Ended up going over to his place, where he cooked dinner and we just hung out for hours. Had such a lovely evening, really!

Left his place about half eleven, even though I was really tempted to stay a bit longer (and I knew I was welcome to!), and was thinking that I'd just had two wonderful evenings in a row. I was going to grab a cab from where I was, but I decided to swing by 7-11 first. So I walked the other way towards 7-11, and I actually walked the longer way by mistake. Clearly, the mistake was meant to be made, for that's when I ran into none other than my favourite older male first cousin. (The fact that he's my only older male first cousin is completely irrelevant, of course.) I didn't literally run into him, but I would have, had I not looked up from my phone!

It was a total "coincidence" that we saw each other; he had picked that exact moment to walk out of the building, and I was walking past at the very same time! I don't believe in coincidences though...the Universe totally wanted me to meet him! I hadn't seen him since Christmas, and we haven't had a proper conversation in bloody years! So we decided to hang out for a bit, and we spent a lovely couple hours catching up and just having a laugh.

And I had not one, but two pints of Guinness. Doof had better be proud of me for that one.
I'm so very glad we got the chance to sit down, just the two of us. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed him until today. We used to be really close, and in fact, he was at one time my best friend, the big brother I never had, until life got in the way and pulled us apart. I'm hoping...nay, I'm planning to keep in touch with him more often. I'd really, really missed him!

Oh, what a wonderful weekend I'm having. And it's not even over!
In the past two days, I've met someone new, and reconnected with two old and so very dear friends. Tomorrow, I meet up with another old friend and her friends, therefore more new connections for me to make! We're going to Fort Canning Park to see my favourite Shakespeare play of all time! Yep, that Scottish one, whose name we will not mention, for it's bad luck to utter its name.

My life is filled with blessings, and it just keeps getting better.

I am so happy right now, I can't stop smiling!

But I'm also really knackered, and if I'm to wake up early enough to bake brownies for picnic, I'd better get to sleep right now.

Thank you, Universe. I'm having such a beautiful time!

Red Bull Week; Day 2

Managed to make it to class on time, and felt knackered all day. Had a good time in class though, and it was lovely catching up with SheelyD and Sham and Koko. I think I might actually enjoy this module! It's a pretty interesting topic, and one that's quite relevant indeed to my interests. There's a lot of class prep involved with this module, which is always useful, of course. And our lecturer is really cool too; had some interesting discussions in class. He's so knowledgeable about this topic and I'm looking forward to more dialogues with him.

After class, I made my way to the National Library, where I started on my presentation for tomorrow. Well, technically, today now. Didn't spend as much time as I'd expected, because Bar Boozer's arrival time was a whole hour earlier than expected! Which just meant I got to see him a whole hour earlier than I'd expected!

Oh, it was simply lovely hanging out with Bar Boozer for the first time in five years! One would think that'd it be a bit awkward, what with not having seen each other for so long, and having the barest of communications in the meantime. After all, we just kept up with each other's lives mostly through Facebook statuses. But no, it was just so easy and comfortable and fun from the get go!

I find it rather amusing that we ended up getting tapas for dinner, seeing as how the first time I had tapas was with him, and when we met at Clarke Quay the last time, we also had tapas. What is that, our signature cuisine?

Really looking forward to hanging out with him again in July, when I get to crash at his place over my summer hols.

Decent tapas, good drinks, great conversation and chilling out with an old mate.  Now that's a perfect way to end an awesome weekend!

Oh, and where did the Red Bull come in? Right after lunch, of course! It's almost 2am now, and after only about 5 hours of sleep this whole weekend, I'm more than ready to crash. Say g'night, Ki. G'night!

Timbre Rock & Roots

Day 2

Oh my goodness. Yesterday's performances were, in a word, AWESOME.

I got there just before Imogen Heap was up, and boy oh boy, am I ever glad I was there before she started! From the minute she stepped on stage, I was smitten. I loved her music ever since I first discovered it a couple years ago. She's gorgeous, she's funny and quirky and rather eccentric, she's full of fun and her voice...omg, her voice. I've developed such a crush!

Trombone Shorty was up next. I'd never heard of him or his music, and I was wowed! I'll tell you, it brought back a few memories. Being a former band geek who once dated another band geek (who played trombone!), I've always loved the sounds of the trombone. I've never quite heard it being played like this, and omgomgomg, he held a single, pure note for more than two minutes. I've known of circular breathing for years, but I'd never actually seen anyone do it, and I. Was. Wowed. So in awe!

John Legend closed up the night. That man has a lovely, lovely voice, but I daresay his performance could have been a little better. The man comes on stage, starts singing....and not a sound came out! The mic wasn't on! And he was singing one of Adele's as well. What a shame! The whatchamacallit, sound mixing? left quite a bit to be desired. The music was so loud that his voice was drowned out. Finally, when it was just the piano and his voice, did I truly appreciate how lovely his voice really is.

It was a fantastic weekend of music, and I enjoyed myself tremendously.

Met MyEvilTwin and her friends, and we went up to Ku De Ta. The view of my city from up there was breathtaking. The almost-full moon, the lights of the city below...I rediscovered a new love for this wonderful city I call home.

Danny Tenaglia was spinning at Zouk for their 20th anniversary as well, and I would have loved to go. I love me some Tenaglia, I love zouk, and quite a few of the old crew were there! And actually, I very nearly did go, especially since MyEvilTwin was there and I love clubbing with her. But sense kicked in, and I decided to head home for a couple hours sleep before class today. Shame about missing Tenaglia, but that's what comes with being a semi-responsible pseudo-adult!

I barely slept all weekend, my feet are swollen and hurting, my legs and back are aching and I'm feeling oh so knackered.

All signs of an awesome weekend. And it's not even over yet.

Making Lemonade

Left the office at 4.30, to catch the bus. I must have gotten on the wrong bus, or I'd slept past me stop; I fell asleep, and woke up just before West Mall.

Good thing is that it's not too far from my place; only about a 25 minute bus ride. Decided to go to Watsons to pick up saline, which I've meant to do for ages but kept forgetting.

Even better than running errands is picking up treats for the folks (and myself!). Over at West Mall, there's an Udders outlet. I now have 3 pints of noms. And picked up a mocha ice blend for my babygirl as well. I will prolly sneak a sip or five later.

Got to the bus stop just as my bus was pulling up, and now I'm just a few stops from home.

Definitely worth the little boo boo I made!

- Posted from KiP

Time is flying!

It's been almost a month since I posted, of which Shoes reminded me a couple days ago. I've just been incredibly busy; I'd start typing out a post, and then get distracted.

I'll update more at a late date, but suffice it to day, today's affirmation is so spot on.

Life is bringing me everything I need and more.

Oh, and Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! (Because those posts are still sitting in drafts...)

Walking on Sunshine

Sunday's and yesterday's affirmations are so very true for me.


I am dancing with joy. My life is so good.


I experience inner serenity and joy ever day.


Here, have a happy song.

Forever Young

When I was a kid, birthdays were fun days to get presents, eat cake and get up to hijinks. Now that I'm a pseudo adult, birthdays are...no big deal, really. Today, however, marks the start of my last year of my roaring twenties, and I'm in a rather reflective mood because of that.

So very much has happened in the last year.

Exactly one year ago, my sis was in the ICU ward, and I thought I was going to lose her. I spent my 28th birthday in the hospital, anxious and sober and grim. Today, she's healthy and happy and she's my star. My day starts with me making sure she's tucked in bed and giving her a kiss. My day ends the same way.

I've grown so much closer to my family. No matter how knackered I am when I get home, I try to spend some time chatting with Mum. I really enjoy her company, and I have so much fun with her. I get along so much better with Dad too; I might always be his little girl, but he treats me like an adult now. About time too!

I've made new friends, reconnected with some old ones, and I've walked away from toxic influences and people who were hurting me.

I started, and and almost finished with my Advanced Diploma in TESOL course. I've made the decision to pursue a Masters in Education.


Most importantly...I've learnt to forgive myself and love myself. And that has made so much difference.

I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I'm excited, and there's this undercurrent of energy that's just amazing.


This is the last year of my twenties. I'm going to OWN it.

Ask, and thou shalt receive

Ever notice how things just fall into place, all the pieces just fit perfectly, and all you have to do is to ask for it?

I was worried about money after settling my loans and bills, and there are two weeks before payday. I asked for a way to manage my funds until then.
Yesterday, I received a cheque, that just about covers what I need.

I came back to work today after taking yesterday off, and was met with an astounding amount of work. I knew that I wouldn't be able to finish it all today, and couldn't stay late as I had class. All I wanted was a couple of extra hours to clear my workload, and still have time to prepare for class.
I received a call informing me that class has been cancelled for tonight, leaving my evening free so I can put in a few hours overtime. Plus, I have time for some revision before class next week.


Thank you, Universe. It's very much appreciated.

Second half!

How time flies! We've entered the second half of 2010, and it feels like there's so much going on around me and yet...everything's wonderfully calm.

So much has been happening, with family and work and class...oh, and for the past month or so, I've been following this little football tournament. Apparently it's a big deal, only once every four years, held in South Africa this year, whole lot of buzz about it...

Life is so fulfilling and exciting!

I'll make time to pen my thoughts. But first...I'm off to enjoy life. :)

Great Expectations

Went out with the family yesterday for Fathers' Day. Had a blast, as always.

My niece and nephews are all such wonderful children. Intelligent, lively, cheeky and beautiful. Why yes, I'm completely smitten and they all have me wrapped around their fingers.

But that's not the point of this post...Yesterday, I heard a bit of good news yesterday. I'm thrilled about it, but I'd rather not say anything just yet, for fear of jinxing it. Yes, I'm a superstitious fool, and I doubt that's changing any time soon.

All I can say is that I'm happy and excited and really looking forward to it. SO EXCITING!!!