declaration of dependence

Monday, October 30, 2006

haha so it was pretty fun last night after all! was dreading the prospect of a 3 hour long dinner but got placed with fun people at the dinner last nite so that made all things good! : ) never been close to my cousins coz i rarely see them but last nite was great! oh and we boycotted the yum seng tradition which i'm very proud of : ) haha thot this was a hilarious shot of my cousin, my cousin-in-law and i clowning ard. haha and we're all the same age can u believe it? heh oh and we're very very mixed as well...becks is eurasian, chander is cambodian, and then there's me lah.

then there's the family. :) haven't taken a family photo in a long time. oh and i think one of the funniest quotes of the night came from my aunt when she said to me as my bro and i were walking into the ballroom: "eunice, don't stand so close to kor kor. how's he gonna meet someone here if you guys look like you're a couple??" now i'm responsible for my brother's future? haha oh but what was even funnier was being reminded of what the provision shop lady asked my bro and i awhile back as we went to buy milk on the way home "wah...haven't seen you two for so long. married already ah?" hahahaha heeeelp.

and eunice ends here :

- 6:06 PM

Sunday, October 29, 2006

it's been quite a sunday!

first time i've ever been home at 3pm on a sunday afternoon and had the luxury of taking a 2hr long nap. haha wldn't have been the case if my bro and i weren't forced to go for the family lunch. but it's all good and i'm not complaining. in fact, i'm thinking i really cld enjoy the big change next yr's gonna bring when yth min shifts to sat! : )

alrighty...time to shower, slip into a dress for my cuzzie's wedding dinner, doll up a little and head out with the family. haha was funny how my dad looked at me during lunch today and said "gosh i don't even recognize this daughter of mine anymore! you used to fight to not wear a dress and come up with all sorts of excuses to get out of one!" haha lav, i've been bitten by the dress bug too!

and eunice ends here :

- 6:03 PM

Saturday, October 28, 2006

haha ok so this is somewhat of a continuation from my last post and one of my even earlier ones about counting my blessings : )

it's my favourite time of the afternoon when i'm home with mommy coz she makes coffee and always adds on a tiny snack to go with it. haha i don't quite know how she does it but there's always something slightly different from the day before to accompany the fabulous cup of coffee :) heh guess maybe that's why i always look forward to tea and being home in the afternoons. so in the midst of all the readings sprawled on my table and the laptop which i've spent the entire day staring at...tea break is always welcome! : )

haha oh and then she knows i love having fresh jasmine flowers in my room when i'm home to do work coz it adds this lovely scent to my room. so whenver she goes by the indian provision shop, she'll buy a tiny bag and place it quietly in my room and wait for me to realize when i smell it! : )

so yup....staying home definitely has its perks!
haha especially when it's convenient enough for people to come meet u here. or maybe not. think toille was just being sweet in coming here to meet me for breakfast and to plan bs instead of me traveling to woodlands and it definitely saved me some time! and as usual, i had a great time! couldn't have spent my morning better and more constructively coz investing and spending time with him sure had/has more eternal and kingdom value than writing yet another paper!! heh so maybe, *keeping my fingers crossed* ade may come by later to cut her hair at amy's then meet me so we can spend some time praying : )

for now...it's back to workworkwork.

and eunice ends here :

- 4:03 PM

Friday, October 27, 2006

ok this is kinda random. but it struck me today how glad i am to be living at home instead of moving into hostel which was an idea i had toyed with.

realized that i need my family more than i know it. i defnintely enjoyed the year away from home. but that was coz i had fantastic cluster mates who made all the difference! (and i'm now totally convinced that they were an exceptional bunch coz everyone else in pgp now/still hates it)

there's just something comforting and nice about being at home. there's always coffee brewing when i wake up, there's always breakfast which mommy prepares, there's noise and people ard me (and when i can't have that i shut my door..heh), mom and dad take turns to ask if i want tea when they're making some for themselves, there's always afternoon tea to look forward to with mommy just as i'm getting sick with working on yet another paper, there's always a home-cooked meal, there's always food and fruit at home, there's always the brother to coax into carrying my stuff to church on sunday, there's also the brother who i can talk to whenever i need someone to listen, oh, and very importantly, there's also the brother to borrow cds from (hahaha), there are the ngohs for supper/gym/qt/bfast/evening walks/borrow stuff from/come home with, and i guess there's that perfect mix of love and shower of attention and space at home : )

so i'm glad i'm home : ) oh and it makes coming home to do work on a friday night like this much less depressing when people are in as compared to when i used to have to stay in hostel to work over the weekend when most other people have gone home! heh so i guess i'm more of a homebody than i know it!

heh ohh i'm sorry if this is making u feel homesick dhoby! really isn't my intention!

and eunice ends here :

- 8:55 PM

Thursday, October 26, 2006

i think i form attachments with animals way too quickly and easily.

kor wanted crab for dinner so mommy asked my grandma, the master chef, to come cook up a storm...so early in the morning, they went to the market and came home with 3 basket-fulls or baskets-full (?) of crab. got home frm the gym and was gonna shower and i saw them sitting in the corner of the toilet staring at me. and it was way too discomforting and i just cldn't do it. i cldn't shower with 6-8 crabs staring at me lah. it's just too much invasion of my privacy. haha so mom took them out and placed them under the sink. said they had to be kept alive. ok so fine...got bored ard mid-afternoon and went to check on the crabbies and instantly their eyes started darting around and they started squiggling which got me doing the same so i left. (they're really ugly actually!) anyway....not long later...i heard chopping in the kitchen...and i didn't wanna think about it or go check it out coz i knew i wldn't be able to stomach the sight. (esp when ur gonna stomach them soon enough..heh)

then it was dinner time. and 2 huge dishes of piping hot chilli crabs were on the dining table. so i tucked in...but it just felt kinda wrong. tried pushing the thot away but i kept feeling queasy and kinda wrong about it. felt just...weird. haha u know..eating things u had kinda gotten acquainted with? yeah so now i'm full n feel kinda sick (not coz i'm too full...but coz...yah...)

reminds me of lizzy. haha think some of u vaguely remember lizzy right? was a baby lizard that grew to become a full-sized lizard and she co-habitated with me in my pgp room and wld faithfully stay up with me alllll those late nights i spent writing papers. heh fortunately there wasn't a sad, tragic ending to lizzy's life...i just moved out eventually and so we err...parted ways. heh.

i really do feel sick. eek. i don't think i can see something alive one moment and eat it the next.....

and eunice ends here :

- 8:41 PM

gosh there's just SO much to do it's awful. from now till 8th nov, i foresee very little sleep and a whole lotta stress. ism full draft is due on monday (thankfully i got the extension), my group's gotta rush our advanced research interviews and pilot tests and observations like mad next week, write up our paper and prepare for our presentation by 8th nov, which incidentally is when my final ism paper is due, and sequeeze in tuition twice a wk this wk and next coz my tuition kids' O level paper is also on the 8th. haha funny how everything just falls on the 8th. or not so funny actually..

but well...complaining and whining doesn't do much for the soul or the morale or for the people ard me..so instead, i wanna be an instrument of His blessing, encouragement, love, hope, peace and joy to the people ard me who are very much in the same boat as i am. which happens to be a sinking one. haha with waves crashing in on us. but what's important is how Jesus replied to his frantic disciples when they woke Him eh?

so yup...in the face of little sleep and much stress, horrid eyebags and no social life (except the occasional shopping sprees which are unplanned for but which make them all the sweeter), lots to do and little time to finish them, i will call upon my Helper and Shield. : )

and although it's tiring and depressing and bleak just to think what's to come (like how i have to go back to working on my non-existant paper at this point), i'm gonna count my blessings. and i think my largest one by far this wk is how some things have been sorted out/resolved and the good that's come out of it : ) feel loads lighter! (wld be nice if that were literal. haha being the exercise bum i've been...tt obviously ain't the case. bah.)

so ok..when i forget to count my blessings, remind me ok?? (heh then i'll know who my phantom readers are too). and if i'm a grump this wk, poke me. and if i'm whiny....let me whine. haha then point me back to Him : ) thanks!!

and eunice ends here :

- 4:50 PM

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

heh so this definitely made me smile.

lav: hey babe..if i ever get married, will u be my wedding planner?
me: haha sure! why? u found someone over lunch already?? haha
lav: haha i wish! tho in breeding within my family wld suck. haha i am at my fren's wedding planning meeting and i realized i wldn't want anyone else to be in charge besides u. haha : )

sweet. : ) lav, u'll have to be mine too. haha so instead of specializing in taking all the photos, u can make use of ur elephant memory to make sure everything is done and that andrew's in town! hahaha. oh! and i'd want claudia to be my flower girl coz she's so pretty! but i'd have to get married really quick for that to work coz she's already 4 and she's gonna outgrow the best flowergirl years soon. haha how like that?? but nvm lah huh, all in due time...

haha i shall keep this post exclusively happy and not include our rather bleak outlook/prediction of life that followed in the subsequent sms-es. hahaha as long as those swanky dinners come, there'll be hope eh!

and eunice ends here :

- 4:14 PM

heh ok so ems was saying my font size is kinda puny...so i thought i'd post in font size "normal" as it's called to see its effect. which i think is funny in itself...haah thought they usually were in numbers. ok, nvm. anyway, let me know if this is better! haha but u see, there's a reason for posting in "small" - helps me save space. its like writing an essay and scrimping on margins! haha so that it doesn't seem excessively long when in fact it is. heh

anyway, i'm glad that cheryl and ems have returned to the blogging scene! possibly the only two people i know who spend more time mulling over how to express what they wanna say coz they're perfectionists too! : )

on another note, had supper with the boys last nite. was semi-impromptu coz farand n i planned to supper but then he was too tired so were gonna postpone it. but he missed his Creative which i was holding on to. so he met me on the way home from class as i was on the way home from tuition. but while waiting, justin stalker-ishly trailed me to bt batok mrt station and crept up on me. haha which of course i wasn't the least surprised abt coz its a justin thing to do. he got bored waiting for my bro at gombak coz he was late so he took the train up to where i was for the "pleasure of making a 30sec phone call" to see me look around for him as he was lingering somewhere. *rolls eyes* only justin bothers with things like that lah. mui, i tell u, the day u get married right, u will soooo regret all these things, esp. some of the other things u've done to the guys. *snigger*

anyway, it was a strange supper session as justin and my bro spoke hush-hushly to each other and farand n i had our own conversation on the other side of the table. haha but eventually we moved on to the latest ministry decisions and movements...and well...i guess though i see the need to move to sats and am excited to embark on this new adventure, i also see the very real struggles some of the leaders will face. realized that juggling work/army AND studying AND cg AND family AND other accompanying ministry commitments is really something. and as we talked about some other seemingly unsolveable issues in the ministry, how hard these changes are gonna be, how we're growing beyond what we can cope with, how we're back to being short of leaders, how we're all massively stretched....i realized that we need to be praying like never before. there obviously are no easy solutions (except my good news baptist suggestion..heh) but we're all in the business of God's work. and just like how He's paved the way (heh no pun intended for the Pathmakers) every single time, i'm confident that He's in control this time too.

so let's be praying, kairos! this ministry is His alone and everything we need He knows and will provide. but have we been asking? have we been unified in prayer? God's been exceedingly good in so many of our cgs, but i believe He wants to do so much more! Kingdom mentality as P.J. put it... : ) let's ask God for that so that we can begin seeing things from His perspective! am reminded once again of how we used to huddle in my bro's room to pray for God's direction of the ministry some 3-4 years ago...maybe it's time to do that once again....of course time doesn't permit...and i inwardly groan at the prospect of more time being asked for again...haha but God sees these struggles and i know He'll help us overcome them once we choose to come to Him in obedience and earnest desire to see His kingdom purposes accomplished in and thru our ministry and ourselves...i am struggling with writing this coz i sense it's gonna definitely be asking for even more of me/us than we feel able and willing to even give now and with the upcoming changes. but i'm gonna start praying. join me! :)

(pressing the "publish post" button has never seemed harder. haha guess coz it's spelling a new commitment for me too which i didn't anticipate coming my way...guess tt's one possible downside of having thots consolidated only when i write/talk them out. eeks. ok so here goes.....)

and eunice ends here :

- 11:01 AM

Monday, October 23, 2006

oh...and so for all the gushing i've done the last few days about corduroy & finch at 6th ave, here's a picture to sum it up : ) the desserts are deeeelightful! haha and the presentation's real pretty too eh? so go on down if u feel like ur in need of a treat : ) desserts aren't too pricey tho the food is. but it's yummy so i think it's worth it : ) a little warning tho, you'd need to make a reservation if you're going at nite coz the place is packed.

and eunice ends here :

- 12:57 AM

heh ok...so here are some wayyy overdue pics but just had to put them up coz lav just sent them over and boy do they bring back wonderful memories. : ) haha seems so long ago...yet it really wasn't. heh just 2 months actually! and already a ton has changed, but it's all been good. like lav said...we have no idea what more is in store for chindia...we've moved from biomolecular classmates to friends to good friends to travel buddies and confidantes and closest of friends and other things : ) anyway, so here's us capturing some of our last few chindia moments before dhoby and andrew flew off.

well andrew whipped up an amazing meal that night...like seriously. a full 3-4 course meal. all by himself. haha see, that's why he's officially marry-able. pity we din get pics of that but it was a fantabulous meal : ) so dhoby, u know what you're working towards yah! haha so after we were all satisfied and full, we began clowning around as we always do. and here are but a few of the better pictures to prove it! i think we look so contented. esp with the boys being all red in their faces :) haha so here are some of our family-looking portraits. haha can u tell who took the pics? haha takes some skill to decipher coz both are actually well taken! haha unlike some of the previous andrew vs. lav comparisons from our BUTs collection of photos. heh

haha then after all of that food andrew cooked, we headed to my place for durian coz dhoby wanted some before he flew off. so we sat at this open space near my place and had durian and had some good ol' bangla/india time. heh i'm glad we pulled this uncle along even tho he was all sinus-y. just wouldn't have been the same without him. : )

oh and we had edmund with us by this time so we decided to experiment with more exciting ways to capture all of us. hahaha but we all kinda look like deer stunned by headlights..

heh so anyway, i miss you guys heaps. glad andrew's coming home soon and i'm glad i had a good time catching up with dhoby : )

yup, then about a month later, lav takes me out for my birthday and we go to the V Tea Room at the esplanade and it's a looovely place : ) gushed about it already but here are the pictures to speak for themselves.

oh and so this was possibly one of the best desserts i've had in awhile. (though i'd say the dessert at curduroy and finch is comparable!) the service at both places is great and so is the ambience tho very different. anyway, the V Tea Room is the only liquer teacake boutique in the world! so we had this divine creation of cuppacino, cream, bailey's, mint leaves, and nuts. haha it was soooo good. and of course with a lovely choices of tea : )

but of course, the company was by far the best part of the evening : ) thanks lav, for always making time especially : ) means a whole lot. heh times like this, we marvel at how shoes brought us together eh? and we even have the same pair now, to think of it! haha just in different colours. haha

and eunice ends here :

- 12:09 AM

Sunday, October 22, 2006

woah ok...so it's been a really long time since i last posted. probably the longest break i've taken i think. heh guess we all need time outs now and then. don't worry...wasn't like a mid-blog crisis or anything. just got wayyyy too caught up with the week.

it probably was one of my toughest as well. was drained physically, mentally, and emotionally from it all. besides the paper, the interview, tuition, the very very last minute thesis proposal presentation preparation, and barely enough sleep to get me by, i found myself dealing with other stuff too that i hadn't anticipated but well...i guess there's never a good time for some things, but i couldn't have asked for a better time either.

i rarely get stopped in my tracks by things and feel derailed...but i did early this week. and i spent the rest of it trying to get back on the fast lane of life coz sometimes deadlines and responsibilities and expectations don't wait for you to do them only when u feel up to it. so you bite the bullet and get on with what's required of u. and no, it wasn't meant to serve as a defense mechanism or a means of coping. i wish i could have had time to deal...but i didn't. and when i did...i couldn't seem to access some of the things i wanted to deal with. odd ain't it? or maybe i was wrong to assume that i could deal with things when i could afford the time and space to. maybe these things don't work at my availability. i really don't know.

but what i do know is that i've decided to stop doubting that perhaps i could actually be ok with things. why do i doubt the fact that God truly can be my peace and shelter and refuge in times of need? I've never felt and known You to be closer than this. neither have i felt more like the psalmists who'd come before God broken and poured out, only to leave His presence rejoicing and assured and affirmed of who my God is. so i rejoice. and i delight in You. i come into Your presence knowing that more than ever, i need You to sustain me. and You do :) You provide me with the power to do Your will in and through my life as You reveal it to me. and i may not understand everything, but i'll remain surrendered. :)

ok so besides all that that's been going thru my mind most of this week, i'm thankful for how He's really seen me thru. perhaps with all that going on, the week kinda whizzed by w/o me being too conscious about it. u know...just do one thing to another. haha but the week definitely had some highlights :) got a reallllly pretty birthday gift from amu on thursday, had the most fantastic lunch treat from mich at curduroy and finch on friday, and a bday dinner treat from kel on friday nite too :) haha talk about being pampered eh? so i took the weekend off...met jo to shop on sat...didn't expect to (seriously...) buy anything specific. but i got my black heels for my cuzzie's wedding finally...and new perfect fitting jeans at GAP! woot! haha and had a good session with my girlies after tt. thanks for being so sweet vera n jo.

haha ok and final highlight. had a picnic with my cg today! besides the humidity and mozzies, i had a great time! thanks nat for the brownie cupcakes, tammy for the cookies, cindy for the bee hoon, shunz for the attempt to make sandwiches (haha), and of course, toille who made eclairs. haha i had fun! love random events like that :) thanks shunz for planning it! haha oh and thanks ian, job, tai tai and shunz for chipping in to buy the other stuff as well. haha it'll be back to our house next week. heh but not for much longer..for soon we shall be shifting! haha will update u lot on sun :)

haha ah yes. and how could i forget? today, i have the great honor of adding two boys onto the officially marry-able list. it's extremely exclusive. ok i think therefore i can only admit one. haha toille, ur eclairs today put u in a class of your own. i truly am impressed. haha andrew took first spot awhile back and he's hard to beat i must say. but toille's young and got a bright future ahead i declare. hahaha. and my bro made tiramisu which was surprisingly good. but of course, thanks largely to joel and ming hui lah. heh so yah, he doesn't make the cut. just toille this time :) haha

and eunice ends here :

- 8:16 PM

Sunday, October 15, 2006

alright it's not my intention to mundanely list all that's happened today so i won't. but i will talk abt the many things that have happened today which have made me glad :) which would then pretty much be a run down of the day's events. haha hope it won't be mundane tho. but no matter anyhow, just need to count my blessings out loud coz i can't keep it in! ok so here goes..maybe u'll identify with a thing or two and give thanks with me! :)

i had a beautiful time worshipping my Lord today. and i hear some of u did too :)
i thank God for the sermon P.J. preached which i prayed would speek straight into the hearts of some of my cg members which they later shared that it did indeed :)
i had a great time with my cg over lunch just talking abt random things and watching nat laugh..and laugh...and laugh somemore.
i had an even greater time hearing my cg share about their own encounters with God this week, how and what they struggle with, and how they desire to meet with Him in the week to come (this definitely was the highlight of my day!)
i was reminded again of how God, You are so so real. and i see that most clearly when You work in the lives of each and every one of my cg members. :) it truly makes my heart sing!
i thank God for how my cg's beginning to bond and share openly and be real. my coals are turning white!!!! keep burning u guys!
i had a good time talking to amanda as well :)
i enjoyed the impromptu shopping date with limmy! haha discovered tt besides having our height and surnames in common, we've got a whole lot of other interesting things in common too! was definitely refreshing to spend time with someone outside my cg and my usual sphere :) oh and i thoroughly enjoyed grocery shopping!!! haha it was so so fun shopping with someone who likes the same kinda stuff i do..haha
i trained home with caleb leng today which was a first! got to hear abt what's going on in his cg and shared abt what's going on in mine and i believe we both left the short but divinely appointed conversation encouraged, refreshed, and affirmed serving in our cgs :) it's great hearing how God's working even in the youngest of our youth ministry!
and kor came home for dinner instead of going for soccer so it was nice to have our usual family dinner sharing abt all tt's been going on with each of us, sharing random anecdotes from our week, laughing at each other, enjoying mom's peprika (sp?) chicken, and connecting with one another basically. (psst...and i hear tt the youth team beat the adults for the first time in a long long time at today's match...heh maybe coz my bro din play! ahahahaha)

yup...should stop at 10 coz it's a nice perfect number..haha oh but just 2 more! i love being in contact reguarly with my "long-lost" cuzzie :) ur like the little sister i never had and its lovely having u in church dearie! i thank God for you coz ur real special :) and the 5th season of the apprentice starts tonite! woot! haha looking forward to that :)

ok so i truly am blessed. and i need to consciously count them! and remind myself to give thanks! coz i tend to slump into the pits when i'm terribly bogged down by work. with a 40% paper due on tues which i'm struggling with (isn't as easy to write as i thought...knew it'd come to this..haha), a summary i need to prepare for wed's research class, and thesis proposal presentation this thurs....i'm gonna need to keep counting my blessings and focus on the good things He has done! haha and here's a portion of a song tt lifted my spirit today and i wanna keep singing thru the week! Exceeding joy!

My soul magnifies the Lord,

my heart joys in God my Saviour,

for He lifts the lowly,

He's done great things for me.

I will sing, praising evermore,

He is mighty and Holy is His Name.

I will lift my head up high,

praising Jesus through each trial.

Though I have not seen Him,

I love Him completely.

and eunice ends here :

- 9:15 PM

Saturday, October 14, 2006

oh boo. sometimes i just don't get myself! i was so productive all morning...well at least i was thinking real hard trying to conceptualize the ton of stuff i need to compact into my paper. then decided to take a real quick break...and when i came back, pooof! i lost my momentum. just like tt!

on another random note, maybe i'm pining coz i just had pine nuts. haha seriously! i can't explain the sudden bout of pining-ness. it just hit me...then it occured to be tt i had just grabbed a tiny palmful of pine nuts from the kitchen during my break. maybe...just maybe tt's how pine nuts got their name! oooh awfulllll. haha ok now tt i've found a "reason" of sorts, i'm less pine-y and hopefully i can get back into minuchin and family therapy.

and eunice ends here :

- 12:58 PM

Friday, October 13, 2006

heh ok...i'm really suppose to be working on my paper..but man it's friday nite! everyone deserves a break now and then rite? heh. anyway, i'm mildly amused by how pple in my honors class take off every now and then to just get away from it all, to retreat, to take a break, to take a time out now and then when they need to. haha pple always say social workers burn out really easily if they don't take care of themselves. but obviously my class seems to be taking very proactive steps to make sure tt doesn't happen before we even enter the field. heh and i think it's neat.

i like the concept of self-care and the room that our lecturers allow us to do so with no questions asked. they don't take attendance coz they obviously think we're old enough to make our decisions and when they do ask who's not ard, it's always to make sure we keep notes for them. guess they all know tt we're pretty much drowning under the mad amount of work so they close two eyes when we aren't there. or when we're there but not there. haha like how most of us usually are just totally out of it during dr ngiam's 4-7pm class on fridays. heh take today for example...after the break, we passed round stickers which got everyone oooh-ing and aaah-ing for some strange reason..haha they were pretty tho i must say...had our little conversations going all ard class...had a ton of food passing round and round as usual with the usual few pple eating dinner at the back...haha so yah...i like going for class. its comforting to know tt everyone struggles with u, tt no one has started writing our paper tt's due on tues, tt most of us haven't watched movies in a long time, tt most of us aren't ready for our thesis presentations, and yah..haha tt we're pretty much all in the same boat or struggling to stay afloat.

oh! and we kicked off angel&mortal today. haha i think it'll be hilarious. i think kenny and gerard really do a fantastic job pulling the class together :) they even got us sept and oct babies a huge cake last fri. haha. so i think for the first time in uni, i actually enjoy and look forward to school. i think tt school isn't school until ur in a class. heh. i do wonder tho if a chindia equivalent will emerge from this class. that would be nice :)

heh oh and i thot i shd add an impt disclaimer at this pt, that i'm not advocating tt u guys who're in sec sch/jc to skip class or do stuff tt's mentioned above coz u probably will get into trouble. haha

and eunice ends here :

- 9:28 PM

Thursday, October 12, 2006

ooooh i'm massively distracted. got bored reading abt minuchin and visited ade's blog and started going thru her suggested reads and maaaan this girl's got the absolute list of foodie blogs. haha they're sooo amazing! they almost inspire me to get cooking in the kitchen! haha so well of course tt's not gonna happen, i aspire to be able to whip up cool stuff from recipies at some point of my life!

or i cld just marry someone who'll cook! haha i always say that. but the no of boys out there who can cook out there are so few and far between. toille, ur just too young. haha.

there's just something so lovely and enticing about the colours and how the bits of food are so prettily displayed that just makes me smile.

i think this is my favourite site: http://www.domesticgoddess.ca/
heh i shd really attempt stuff from there some time.

and eunice ends here :

- 11:25 PM

few things piss me off bad. and even fewer things keep me pissed for more than a bit. which is good :)

anyway, so here's what happened that got me real peeved. one of my tuition girls called to cancel tuition on me 20 mins before we were suppose to meet and i was really mad coz i was already 3/4ers of the way there (and it was not the first time this has happened). and i was pissed coz i had prioritized them over going for my the first half of the honours thesis presentations in school. knew my body would only hold up for one coz i was still feverish and groggy and all and i thought tt with their Os being so near, i shdn't cancel on them. so i was mighty mad when she called to say she had to finish her art work. (which by the way, is also not the first time this has happened). so after i'd gotten off the train at redhill to head home, i crafted a looong sms telling them off and why i was peeved. said tt over and above wasting my time, i was appalled that i seem to take their exams more seriously than both of them do combined.

anyway, by the time i'd gotten home, i wasn't pissed anymore coz i don't stay pissed for long and things blow over pretty quick with me once i've gotten it out of my system. so i headed to the ramadan pasar malam to buy roti jala coz i knew that wld definitely cheer me up. but all the stalls had sold out their roti jala! boo. so thot i'd settle with an egyptian chicken sandwich thing. but just as it was finally my turn to place my order, they said they were out of chicken! ack. so i grunted. haha literally. not within earshot of the lady lah...just to myself as i was walking off. heh felt like one of those days where whatever cld go wrong just would. haha but then as i was leaving, i found one tiny stall with 2 packets of roti jala left! haha which made all things well again :)

anyway, so came home and complained to my parents over dinner abt my tuition kids. then i heard my phone a-ringing in my room so i rushed to pick it up. and it was the other girl's father calling to apologize and i was pretty surprised. said his daughter had a terrible bout of diahorrea and i began feeling kinda bad...so i spoke to her and asked her if she got my sms and she said no...then i went to my hp inbox, and realized tt the looong and rather scathing sms didn't get sent after all! haha which i was glad for at the end of the day i guess. heh so even if i fail to be slow to speak and quick to listen, God steps in to intervene eh? so i concede that He knows best. in fact, i might just meet my target of finishing all my structured family therapy readings tonite so i can start writing my paper tmr. :)

and eunice ends here :

- 8:13 PM

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

it's got me!

got bitten by the flu bug quite unexpectedly. started feeling flu-y 2 nights ago but i thot it'd blow away with the haze but it didn't..heh got worse yday as the sniffles started so i determined tt i'd sleep early. so sleep early i did and i even overslept today! but nope..sleep didn't do the trick. neither did vit c. haha so was forced to come home after class to sleep off the heavy-headedness which made me feel like a walking bu(4) dao(3) wong(1). haha anyway, after my long afternon nap, i'm feeling slightly better. :) hope the sniffles and fever and all stay away! heh nonetheless, am thankful for the period of forced rest. know i wldn't have gotten it otherwise. so yup..just praying it doesn't drag out coz my 40% paper is due in less than a week and as always, there are a ton of things to do in btw now and then...but, i know He's got it under control so i don't have to sweat the small stuff :) gotta keep reminding myself of that otherwise i'd stress myself to bits which wldn't do me the least good.

anyway, was challenged by a verse i read today tt reminded me tt choosing to live by an absolute standard isn't meant to be imposing and overbearing. rather, it's an easy choice to make when put in proper perspective. i'm a fighter and i'm not easily convinced or swayed and i'm stubborn and i almost always have a way to reason and bargain with God or my conscience when i wanna go on doing what i do; but at the end of the day, i'm silenced and convicted by Jesus' one-liner, "I always do those things that are pleasing to Him." so tt leaves no more room to entertain things that crowd out what truly matters, no more time to waste with things that have no eternal value, no point pursuing things that won't declare His glory and Lordship in my life, no value in seeking after things that don't draw me close to Him, and no way i can go on living by a substandard.

so i wanna live by His standards, by His truth, by His benchmark, and by His absolutes. but realized too that in order to not be a pharisee, living by His absolutes needs to be accompanied by His standards of love, compassion, patience, and gentleness. not an easy balance to straddle but i'm learning. it's easy to do neither since it's so hard to be passionate for Him w/o being a prick or holy moly, or to be full of love and all patient w/o being taken for granted, but in Him it is possible!

i'm glad that God speaks and convicts when we make room and time for Him to. takes discipline to safeguard tt time and especially so to make up for it when it accidentally gets trumped (like when i overslept this morning!), but it's definitely worth it. :) the refining and rebuking process is definitely more pleasant and less painful than the process of disciplining and chastening.

and eunice ends here :

- 5:40 PM

Monday, October 09, 2006

oooh boy do i wish i were there for that one! i think ichiban sushi can officially be our chi hangout from now on tho. think we went there almost every single time. haha and sheena and lish, i looved the picture u guys put up of the other halves! thot it was hilarious! haha

and this one too...haha u girls are glowing! glad ur all nicely settled in london. heh miss u all heaps! maz! hurry on home!

and eunice ends here :

- 9:29 PM

feeling pretty optimistic about this paper i've just started working on. it's my advanced family therapy paper and it's worth a whopping 40% of my grade! kinda ironic how it seems much more managable than my last paper tho it's double the weightage. heh but then again...i shdn't speak too soon for i may end up massively struggling when i actualy start writing my paper. reading and researching is always a far far cry from the real work of it all. but at least i've got gerard and kenny for company coz i just found out they're writing on solution focused family therapy too so it won't be tt lonely a journey i hope! :) anyway, i'm excited coz this paper has real relevance and application to ministry so i feel like even if i have to put in a million years of work into it, it's worth it! coz it won't be just another paper. :) justin, i'm gonna give u a copy of my paper when i'm done. hopefully it'll make up for me running away from you all of yday coz i refused to be "updated" by you yday. hahaha

anyway, i'm thankful for a number of things that transpired over the weekend :)

glad for the way the mentoring session went with my girls on sat. wasn't quite sure how it'd go coz the questions din seem tt discussion-provoking but i thank God for how He really spoke deeply to all 3 of us and how sharing was really heart-felt and honest. i'm excited for what more He's gonna do as we work thru the rest of the book together, holding each other accountable to the very things we're challenged about.

thankful too for a new cg member! haha another ac ib/gepper to add to my collection of sheep. haha which officially tilts the balance in my cg but i think it's all good. was joking with my cg tt our goal wld be to grow till we can no longer go up to lek suan's house in one lift to which tai cheekily said tt cld be arranged if we all ate a lil more at 834 which i obviously didn't mean. but well..with exams over or ending for most, we hit an all time high of 10 pple for cg yday. haha was telling nat how it's nice tt we're elbow-to-elbow at the coffeeshop table again. :) i'm thankful for how God works new and wonderful things in cg each and every week we meet :) hey guys, if u think back to a month ago, we've effectively doubled in regular attendance! Yay! God does answer prayer :) haha oh and shunz, if ur reading this, rem the notebooks pls! haha and i was joking abt getting pink ones since we have double the no of guys...but of course if u don't mind...i won't object! grin.

i'm thankful too for how God's spoken very pointedly this weekend. it's amazing how relentless He is with pointing out what He wants us to get :) let's see now...during mentoring, through shern's sermon and the response after, through one of the analogies used at egm yday (yeah! can u beat that?! hahaha well at least it was one of the most exciting egms i've ever, and probably will ever attend. heh), through qt, through aunty maureen's feature on the bulletin, through my conversation with aggie...haha God u amaze me. thank you for gently, persistantly, and lovingly showing me and assuring me again tt ur ways are higher than mine. so it's back once again, yes again, to learning to trust with aLL my heart and lean not on my own understanding. and yes, to wait for God.

heh ok so this has been one long post. guess tt happens when u have nothing in particular in mind to post abt..alrightydokes. back to reading abt minuchin's strutural family therapy. heh

and eunice ends here :

- 8:10 PM

Saturday, October 07, 2006

heh thought this was hilarious and worthy of a post:

~in the context of a looong drawn project meeting...

Cheryl: eunice! talk slower! anyway, can u say what you just said again pls?
me: huh? but i forgot what i just said already...i can only say stuff once
Cheryl: huh? but i can only type it out after hearing it twice..

heh heh. but well...at least we both watch gilmore! more important similarities than differences i say. oh..haha and dear, thanks for sharing what u shared last nite too. sorry for putting u thru the agony of saying it twice. i really din hear it the first time round. oh and i'm beginning to enjoy the haze less now. haha think i've had too much. not so christmas-y anymore. hahaha

haha ok back to reading about measurement tools and strategies. *groan*

and eunice ends here :

- 2:01 PM

Thursday, October 05, 2006

heh woke up this morning and decided i was bitten by the bugis bug. had this nagging feeling that wouldn't go away that i just had to go shop. ok i know some of u reading this might be laughing ur socks off coz i always shop or seem to shop rite? but it's not true! haha really. like when i'm rushing a paper, i don't go out at all. and bazaars have been less of an attraction somehow. they've gotten somewhat boring. heh so i really don't shop as much as it may seem. haha so anyway, decided i wanted to go shop today coz i've been so horribly couped up! so i did. and man it was great. heh and amazingly, lav was done with her crazy wk too so got her to go down with me at the spur of the moment. and of course she agreed coz heh who can resist a few hours of impromptu shopping after a mad week rite? heh

so bought myself a pretty top and a dress...and one more's on hold which i may or may not get. haha they were all really cheap! heh rationalizing all the guilt away coz i'm using bday ang pow money. heh shopping really is therapeutic lah i say. lalala.

oh and been reading Mimosa by Amy Carmichael and well..the first few chapters have seemed really disjointed but as i read on, i marvel at this woman's faith. "it is well, O Lord, whatever you do. It is well" :) oh to learn to say that in any and every situation, in the face of discrimination and death and hardship and rejection and fear and loneliness.

and eunice ends here :

- 11:45 PM

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

flat out. kaput. somewhat woozy and "huh-ish". dazed.

yah tt kinda sums out what i feel now. submitted my paper abt 15mins late and i'm praying so so hard she doesn't deduct marks coz of tt which she very well might coz she's so darn principled. haha oh well.

i can't begin explaining how tough this last assignment was. didn't think it'd be half as hard as it turned out to be...not sure if i've felt as defeated as i did writing this paper as i have while writing other papers. it really was agonizing to say the least. haha realized tt i know close to zilch abt research technicalities (now i can't spell..tt looks wrongly spelt but i'm too lazy to find out now how it shd be spelt..haha) and what makes a lousy evaluation study reliable/valid/generalizable....haha man it's been a torture. so i submited my paper, not quite knowning what i was writing towards the end. guess it was comforting to know tt everyone else felt the same tho. heh strange how collective panic reduces one's panic? haha and realizing that man this is assignment two of infinity for this sem *pulls hair out*

i think i've been fighting against myself a lot lately. like when i get stuck and really frustrated with everything, i feel like i just need to whine about it a whole lot, get it out of my system, and move on. but then i stop myself or restrain myself coz i don't like girls who whine. so it's a big fat pride issue. haha sq says i'm masochistic. i actually think i might have to agree with that. but it's kinda more than that. i mean i know in my head that God's there, that i need to depend on Him, trust Him, keep my eyes on HIm, enjoy the process and all of that...but u know when ur in the thick of things...those become soooo hard to do. and yes i try. and so i feel like i shdn't be whining coz yah...i shd just look to Him and call out for help from up above. like i shd be trusting and depending on HIm more to see me thru and all..coz i know He will, as He always has, seen me thru. so i feel conflicted. ok i think also coz i tend to look after my kids and feel like i need to have it together so i can look out for them, be there for them, pray for them etc. heh gee tt sounds an awful lot of what a strategic family therapist would label as a symptom of a problem rite? haha ok i think only cheryl might get tt...

haha maybe God just made girls whiney so they wouldn't over think things and go on and on about trying to figure out stuff tt doesn't need to be figured out? haha ok now i think i'm really not making sense. oh well.

and eunice ends here :

- 5:28 PM

Monday, October 02, 2006

heh ok so here are a few random things that have been coming to mind as i struggle as i always do when i have to start writing a paper...so here's a sampling (heh how apt considering my paper's on analyzing research studies done including the samples chosen...ok whatever)

i've decided that conceptualizing what to write in a paper to make it concise and tight is by far the hardest thing to do. or maybe it's a close second to actually starting to write a paper.

i also think that dark chocolate is most divine. can't stand white chocolate and inceasingly, milk chocolate anymore.

and i've always known this, but my perfectionism kills me sometimes. but i don't know how to rid myself of it. haha or rather i'm unwilling to even if i'm dreading the state in leaves me in? argh.

and i feel like i'm in need of a good coffee. haha though it's not the time of day yet.

haha ok, essentially, i just hate writing papers. haha actually i don't. i like the challenge. i like the tangible results. i like being pushed. i just don't like the slow, painful process? haha or rather, i hate getting stuck? then again....it's part of the package lah. ok back to mulling i shall go. boo.

trust me. i am trying to enjoy the process. haha was reminded in QT to, was reminded by Mi Li to...ok enjoytheprocessenjoytheprocessenjoytheprocess....

and eunice ends here :

- 2:39 PM

Sunday, October 01, 2006

heh thank you guys for making my birthday special! really. it's been one sweet weekend - exactly the way i like to spend my birthdays: simple, fuss-free, and with people who are important to me :)

family dinner was gooood. heh we've established a routine of sorts: we go Indian for my birthday, jap for mommy's, steak/western for kor's, and erm...boring old chinese for dad. heh

meeting up with lav was fantabulous as well - the V Tea room was absolutely lovely and as always, the time spent was great. haha i know i've said this before and i say if often, but this f/ship means tons to me babe. glad we hit it off eventually in class way back then..tho not the coolest way but hey! at least it was over shoes! haha and u guys win hands down for getting me the weirdest present ever. heh but yes, now i'll think of you guys when i go to bed everynight. haha

and my cg actually succeeded in springing a surprise on me. haha thank u guys. it really meant a lot to me :) i should have guessed something was up when you guys had decided where u wanted to go for lunch in the short time i was away in the washroom coz it was a definite first since u guys are always so indecisive and always say "don't know?" when i ask where we should go. haha anyway, thanks a million. celebrating my birthday at 834 was a definite first too and haha was good fun lah..esp u know..getting the knife from the zhi ca uncle...haha

oh and tai...what/who are u looking at?? haha i'd know who if it was shunz but with u......i'm not so sure *rofl*

ok and i just had to put this photo in coz its hilarious. here's my psychotic-looking shot. heh thanks to toille i think who went to borrow the vegetable knife coz it was the only thing that would make it thru the ice-cream cake. heh oh and nat, thanks for bringing island creamery to me when i cldn't make it to go!!!! looooved the gummies on the cake. oh and this pic was taken to show off the pretty cake! haha u guys are the best lah..i'll remember this in a long time to come..esp the weeeird freaked-out look the guy at the sink at the washing area gave me when he saw me with a huge knife. hahaha

so thank you all for making this weekend so special. thank you for the cards, the gifts, the hugs, the sms-es, the late night calls, the cake, the surprise, the time, and the call from downunder too! haha

and eunice ends here :

- 11:17 PM