Can't Get Over 17/275

I think exhaustion is totally sinking on me. This evening marked the fifth time we moved and drove to our new place. A small midget could only carry thus much plus two heads doing it all by themselves! I know people who told us they can help but knowing us, we just hate to disturb others on their holidays. Thank God I have a hubby who persevered through it all. I just wish I was more than able to help him lift, move and arrange. Yet I could only do as much and get hell tired as if I have ran a hundred laps! My sister asked me about my birthday gifts for boyfriend aka Hobbit and I simply told her that my gift is still baking in the oven! LOL! Anyway, settling for something less when you have tasted the best is hard but we are doing it for the good of our family. I just can't get over this place (my old place) just yet but with time, I believe I would find many things to be thankful for as we start our lives in our new home.

Teman

While going through my dust covered treasure boxes, I unearthed lots of old pictures and old letters mostly from friends and families. Browsing through some of them, I couldn't believe how many precious friends I have made throughout the past years and with the depression of moving (to a new place), it made me felt so much better! So this song is to all my friends out there!

Greetings from Ropoy

Greetings to all readers of this blog! This is her Hobbit aka Ropoy, your guest blogger for today! This is one of those very rare opportunities where I get the chance to spill out all my nonsense. And yes, before I continue, Babb would like to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a joyful new year 2012! 

All righty, let's put all the silly humors aside and get serious.

Last Monday I had the chance to celebrate my birthday with some of my friends (some of my friends only because most of them are away for the holidays). Well, all I could say about that night is it was awesome! I thank God because I had the chance to dine with these great and beautiful people. Life has been quite good this year. Although I had some bad experiences still, the goodness of it outshines all the gloomy ones! The best gift is yet to come people! I'm pretty sure that next year will be quite challenging because me and my missus will be walking on uncharted grounds (at least for us). Yay! That does sound scary but hey you! Bring it on! Whatever the collision estimation is.....both of us are all geared and set up to go! I guess I have said enough folks, again, God bless you all and have a safe holidays!   

Love on the Guitar

I first learned how to play the guitar when I was in high school because of my desperation to accompany a crush while he sung in church. As time went by, my deep interest in guitar just died off just like my secret love towards the crush! As I entered college, a teacher managed to get me into classical guitar for a while but this too died off just like my relationship with that particular teacher. So when my husband aka. Hobbit was suddenly into Gibson Les Paul, I had to ask whether it was a person or a thing! Apparently it is a branded electric guitar that he wants and with what we make each month, it would take years of earnest savings just to own the one that he has been dreaming of! Anyway, because of Hobbit's interest, my love for strings was suddenly revived all over again. Yes, Gibson Les Paul makes beautiful sound and music. One day if my bank allows, I will get him the one he has been wishing for! :)

Thai Father's Day 2011

It's the King's 84th birthday today. We usually would join the annual Run for The King organized by Standard Charted Bank every year today but this time, we decided to skip and walk with the baby around Suan Luang King's Park. Apart from that, we also decided to visit a new place we just came to know of but forgotten our handheld gps. 

Two days ago, we visited the same park to celebrate Dollie's birthday and to fellowship with friends on a clement Sabbath. That was fun because not only we got to spend time with friends but also enjoy good food! Speaking of food, it's the main highlight for me nowadays. Be it day, noon, night or dawn, I think nothing but of food. It's a wonder how I haven't gain much yet. I'm trying and will keep trying...

 

Back to our walk at the park, Hobbit and I were surprised that the majority of the visitors this morning were foreign Burmese workers. You can immediately identify them by their looks, outfit and the language they spoke. Hoards of them...In fact it was funny how most of the girls came in fancy dresses and high heels (to the park) and the guys came with fake leathery jacket, skinny jeans and overdone hairdo! Not forgetting inches of powder showered on face and body! Not that we were belittling them but they really stood out from the rest! Oh well, I had a good walk, good time and good appetite after that! Too bad we didn't get to see the magnificent fireworks tonight. Hope we don't miss next year! Happy Thai Father's Day to all Ye great DAD! :)

Messed Up Knits

I have started knitting again mainly for one reason. So yesterday I dusted my knitting books, looked through my old projects, studied all the crooks and hooks once again and off to a fresh start. Everything went surprisingly well yesterday but when I picked up where I left on the yarn, I made silly mistakes just because I lack concentration! I guess one reason was the titanium rings. I kept thinking of which one to get that I lost count of the rows and knits I made. The price for all these unnecessary mistakes was to painstakingly waste half an hour just to fix all the bits! How I wish Hobbit can knit so we could take turns on finishing my country blankie...Lets see, give me 2 weeks to complete this! Time is really running...*_*

Ditto

Save electricity, save money!! Got this from a friend in Google+. Gave me a good good laugh!

None of Your Business

This poem is dedicated to those nosy people who always want to know when it is none of their business! Got this from here. Thanks to one of my students who also felt the same way about certain people.

None of Your Business

Created by em2525 on Sunday, December 14, 2008

Why should you know.

This is absolutly none of your business.

So just go.

You won't ever find out about this.

I'm not willing to give you the knowledge.

You want to know so badily.

It has no affect over you.

But it's the one thing that drives me.

If you knew I'd be broken.

Or depressed.

Or just annoyed.

You would not care.

So you better get lost.

Stop being so nosy.

Get out of this part of my life.

It's not somewhere you should get cozy.

Ni Hao Ma -- Jay Chou

墙上静止的钟是为谁 停留
Qiang shang jing zhi de zhong shi wei shui ting liu
是不是和我一样赖着不走
Shi bu shi he wo yi yang lai zhe bu zou
你说故事已经结束 很久
Ni shuo gu shi yi jing jie shu hen jiu
我忘了 向前走
Wo wang le xiang qian zou

我努力假装现在过得 很好
Wo nu li jia zhuang xian zai guo de hen hao
现在的你看来已不需要我
Xian zai de ni kan lai yi bu xu yao wo
也许在不同的时空
Ye xu zai bu tong de shi kong
还牵着 你的手
Hai qian zhe ni de shou

想知道你真的过得好吗
Xiang zhi dao ni zhen de guo de hao ma
没有我也许是种解脱
Mei you wo ye xu shi zhong jie tuo
将思念穿梭在宇宙数千光年
Jiang si nian chuan suo zai yu zhou shu qian guang nian
悄悄到 你身边
Qiao qiao dao ni shen bian

现在我试着习惯一个人过
Xian zai wo shi zhe xi guan yi ge ren guo
也许你已经开始新的 生活
Ye xu ni yi jing kai shi xin de sheng huo
陪着我的叫做寂寞
Pei zhe wo de jiao zuo ji mo
陪你的 是谁呢
Pei ni de shi shui ne

[Chorus]
想知道你真的过得好 吗
Xiang zhi dao ni zhen de guo de hao ma
没有我也许是种解脱
Mei you wo ye xu shi zhong jie tuo
将思念穿梭在宇宙数千光年
Jiang si nian chuan suo zai yu zhou shu qian guang nian
悄悄到 你身边
Qiao qiao dao ni shen bian
现在我试着习惯一个人过
Xian zai wo shi zhe xi guan yi ge ren guo
也许你已经开始新的生活
Ye xu ni yi jing kai shi xin de sheng huo
陪着我的叫做寂寞
Pei zhe wo de jiao zuo ji mo
陪 你的 是谁呢
Pei ni de shi shui ne

Repeat Chorus

也许在不同的时空
Ye xu zai bu tong de shi kong
还牵着 你的手
Hai qian zhe ni de shou

It's Been a Good Week

Back to school after a long flood holiday was actually easier than I thought. One main reason that made it so much easier? Students and teachers are more than ready! Mind you, most of us didn't just have a spree holiday, we actually had to be on the watch of the flood at all times. I still feel for some of my own students who are directly affected. Some of them lost most of their possessions including some precious engraved plaques and some the ground and first floor of their houses. At least ten of my students are still living either with their relatives, rented apartments, and some outside of the country. The flood had subsided in many areas but some areas take longer to recover because they are the main path for the water to pass through before they drain out to sea. On the other hand, we have been having clement weather and it is such a blessing in many ways. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Quick Visit to Ikea

It felt so good to finally be able to drive our car again after a month! FYI, we purposely refused to drive our car around because we didn't want to give up a significant parking space at our building. It sounds silly and not that we cannot have other parking space but we liked that spot for 5 finger reasons. So today we finally made the move to say ahh...Lets just darn drive the car already! It's not weird but funny how 90% of us from this building (my apartment) rather take the taxi than drive our own car during this flood crisis. 

After Xiao Er Restaurant, we took the plunge to drive to the newly launched Ikea. Didn't take us long to drive there, totally opposite from what we thought it would take us. Once we drove into the boundary of Ikea, it gave us the same feeling of visiting a foreign outlet, something like Gloweave factory outlet or Walgreens (by itself) or any huge factory outlet by itself. The parking area was full but still it was easy enough to get a parking space and you can see people walking carrying blue Ikea bags out. Some with huge bags that things almost fall out, some like their bags were empty.

Buy this for 29B and it's guaranteed for life!

My bathroom stool! I love it!!

Someone said he didn't get anything, hey but he got towel rags, hot plate stand, rubber dinner mat, and a set of colorful knives! Ohh, he also got set hot dogs and brought home mashed potato meatballs! See!

So we walked into Ikea, browsed and picked up tiny bits of things (except my bathroom stool, not tiny at all), got an ultimate anniversary gifts for girlfriend and cashed out! I love the shopping concept. Watch the clip or go to their website to know more. Hobbit only took one 'decent' picture of me there! Bleh! We are planning to go again in December to get A, B, C to Z! Come!!

Marry You - Bruno Mars

I keep falling in love with Hobbit every single day!!!

We currently will do silly moves to this song every time we hear it being played...No idea why...

Couch Potato, Anti Flood Depressant

My favorite past time of late is being a couch potato. I can tell you when was my last time spending so much time in front of the telly...The last time was right after my SPM high school exam! The uncertain holiday had really forced me to sit and watch (and not take for granted) the many programs/channels we have on our TV! I could see cellulite bursting here and there, thanks to all the snacking habits that comes with the couch too! See, why I want to work to resume so bad...Back to my current past time, it is not all bad too because I actually get to watch Chinese series, more news and more DIYs such as beauty fix and cooking! One of the Thai channel actually have this make-up show where the girls discussed about beautifying what is already beautiful to me. They suggested using eyelash growth enhancer serum if you want beautiful, longer serum. Wow...I was kinda sold at first but heck! I don't even know how to curl my eye lashes nor do I know how to fix fake eye lashes! Anyway, I really enjoyed all the DIY shows and don't mind sitting and munching if the programs actually are 'educational.'

2011-2012 School Hua Hin Retreat

Towards the end of last month, Hobbit and I drove to Hua Hin for my school's annual retreat at Courtyard by Marriott. To be honest this was our first drive out to Hua Hin even though we had been to this lovely place many times before. We had to rely on the gps handheld garmin to take us there. Thankfully, the journey was a smooth one. Usually we take the van or the bus to Hua Hin and these public transportation take their passengers on a usual route instead of using the motorway. We decided to take the motorway because we would spend less time traveling.

Thank God for the pleasant weather. We managed to stop at several stoplets and drive thru. One spanking nice and clean stop was right after several kilometers of the Rama II bridge. I love the restrooms there and the McD drive thru as well. I should have taken a decent picture of that place. Yet all I took was a picture of my orders and some silly pictures of me standing next to a sitting McD figurine and a standing one. :) In short, lots of restroom stop overs before we got to the hotel. We reached at about 10ish in the morning. The Social Committee were already there working hard ensuring our smooth stay. It didn't take us long before we were taken to our breathtaking sea view room. I will try and blog about the room and the stay after this post. Stay tuned if not. :)

Need Grading Day Back

I am exhausted and wish to take off for a while. Grading incoming notebooks, incoming worksheets, incoming test papers while having a mountful of essays has really taken a toll on me! For 2 consecutive days I have been getting up at 5 every morning and going to bed at 1 in the morning. Such is life! Tomorrow, I am going back to my old schedule...Lights off at 9 sharp.

Sometimes I wonder how those in nursing uniforms survive? Or those party goers? Stock market people? Ahh well, one of my students was right in some ways...I don't get paid more even if I stayed in school the whole day. Yet, I just can't help catching up with work because hey, I do love what I am currently doing and to see myself reaching my daily goals is just...pheeeww! :)

*Nevermind, I'll look forward for next week's upcoming hols then..

Dig My Status Today

People...In the days of the flood!

Less but Real

Flood Encounters

"...the worst in decades..." uttered the current PM, Yingluck Shinawatra.

Flood is one of the worst natural disasters that submerges land. Those who have never encountered with flood before can never grasp the idea of how severe it can be. My first encounter with big flood was when I was 5 years old and our house back then was just next to a small stream.

As far as I can recall, rain didn't stop that day and my parents were at work. The ones who were left at home at that time were my Nini (grandmother), my brother and I. Of course our house was elevated several feet to the tiny Kionsom stream but as I said, the rain didn't stop that day and what I didn't know to be flash flood at that time suddenly gushed out from way up stream.

That moment, Nini must have noticed the current was strong enough to wash all the small trees that grew along the river bank, she ran passed the kitchen to the semi-detached bathroom to look at the metal fences that surrounded our house and was suppose to defend our bathroom from being touch by the river water. The rain was loud and I could see my 3 year old brother was already in his boots, holding a stick, enjoying the rain and chasing after my Nini, who at that time panicked since the flood water was rising. To mitigate her worries, she tried catching our floating tampui (baby potties) and used it to drain away water that began to cross over the fence. I was silently praying that mom and dad would come home fast but not until later got to know that they were stuck on their way home because of a big tree that fell and was blocking the road home. Perhaps, to think over it now, it was impossible for them to cross the two one way bridges that led home anyway because of the flood!

While trying to get rid of the excess water, I caught glimpses of Nini chanting her prayers and kept doing the tanda salib (the sign of the cross) in hope that the rain would stop and flood won't enter our house. When she saw brother and I happily playing sword fights with our sticks, she grabbed us, put us on comfy clothes and ran to our closest neighbor who lived 150meters from the river. There, Nini found comfort and was relieved by having several adults to empathized with her fears. This familiarity just showed me now, how much she worried and sacrificed for us.

I guess if I couldn't recall any other flood experiences other than the above, this expected Thailand mega flood will be the next one. Many nearby provinces such as Ayutthaya, Nakhon Sawan and Nonthaburi have been or still on the verge of evacuating residents to safer grounds. Bangkok residents have also received warnings to stay alert of unusual incoming flood water for the next few days. So far, many automobile galleries have moved their cars elsewhere, banks have stacked piles of sandbags and schools have prepared themselves just in case they will open as temporary shelters. Most of the supermarkets I visited yesterday were out of rice, vegetables, water and instant noodles! Hobbit and I were glad to be able to shop earlier.

In school, nescient of their actions and thoughts, most of my students are praying that flood will take over our school for the next few days. Little did they know that flood ain't just flood, calamity and adversity come with it too! One main reason for what they are wishing for is that this week is our final week for the quarter. Therefore, they are anticipating tests from most of their subjects. Yet some of them who have families lost their homes, Black diamond earrings and other possessions were able to identify with the nation's major stress.

I hope nothing turns bad despite of some superstitious belief that this year is a punishment year for Thailand because of all the delinquent sins. I totally choose to debunk the thought because I still believe that God's forgiveness prevails to those who love Him.

The Retired Husband Joke

I had a good laugh when I read this from a friend's blog. You know how some husbands are, they get bored easily waiting for us wives to finish our shopping and strolling. So just before the adult diaper is needed, we could mitigate 'bored' symptoms earlier by leaving them in the car or at home. :)

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target.

:Dear Mrs. Harris, Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras:


1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.


2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.


3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.


4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance,causing management to lose time and costing the company money.


5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.


6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.


7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets fromthe bedding department to which twenty children obliged.


8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.


9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.


10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.


11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.


12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.


13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'


14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'


And last, but not least:


15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of the clerks passed out.

The I Talk At School

I was shushing a student in our week of prayer chapel today because she not only started a bunch of students talking but she was fiddling with her blackberry phone before that. Shushing didn't work, I walked to her seat and asked her to move to the 'special' seat at the far end of the hall. She quickly grabbed my hand and with a daunted expression, she said to me "Steve Jobs died already!" I couldn't hear a thing while she repeated "Steve Jobs...The MAC!" Ahh, got it. So I told her, "it's no wonder dear, he was sick...so sit and listen!" Still, the news spread like fire...

How do you stop fans from talking and grieve about their idol? You can't. So I let all of my classes talk about it for 3 minutes before we started our dictation test today. One of the classes started talking about careers and how they want to be in Data Mining Specialist Jobs because they were inspired by Jobs' Stanford speech. I thought it was inspiring. Halfway through our dictation test, I asked how the word "attribute" can be used in a sentence. The moment I mentioned about all the "i" gadgets and how they attributed to Steve Jobs, they were actually enlighten by the new formula: iPhone 4 Steve.

Anyway, I first blogged about Steve Jobs here. RIP to the "Hungry & Foolish" man.

iPhone 4s

Bleh! I typed a bunch of words in here and the internet went kapooooffff in school that it left me with the video!

Anyway, some of my students stayed up late last night to especially witness the launched of the new generation of iPhone on the net. So my first question this morning was, "So how did you like the new iPhone 4s?" Their answers??

"Looks like a lame iPhone 4 a**..."
"The updated features aren't bad after all.."
"I'm still waiting for iPhone 5!"
"Who cares..."

What do you think of the 'newborn baby'? :)

Perfect Peace

~ Taste and see that the Lord is good ~

Making Work Portable with Schoology

Samples of my honor students' assignments this quarter so far...

Thank goodness for Schoology. It makes work portable. Just done checking all of my students journals and assignments. One of the many features I love about Schoology is that I could read, give feedback and put a grade immediately. It is also convenient for my students to check their scores immediately. Some of them subscribe feeds through their Iphones and BB. They also told me that they could journal from almost anywhere with Schoology. That spoke for me too! I could read their assignments while Hobbit drives me to different eateries during the weekend! :)

So teachers out there, give Schoology a try. I am sure you will be thrilled unless you don't like to take work all over the place. Well, not that I like to do so but I have no choice! Oh, one of the cool thing is, you could just accumulate your grades there until the end of the quarter and either export or print all the grades out so you could have a hard copy of all your online work. Then all you have to do is enter them into your school's official grade book. "Easy peasy" says my 1st graders! Oh wait, any way to hook up my laptop to an lcd tvs samsung? :)

I See The Light

Here's Arden Cho & Gerald Ko's version of I See The Light from the Disney movie Tangled.

Toreh Getah Lah!

This week, mom asked me about a piece of land that was given to me from my kins this year. She asked me about my future plans for that particular land. I simply told her to leave it empty for now for I have no plans nor have I thought about what to do with it. She laughed. She said young people usually don't see the importance or the need for a land right now but wait until you are desperate looking for one for whatever reason, then you'll know. Well, that I sort of understand. So I jokingly said to Hobbit at dinner today, lets become a rubber tapper which surprisingly he agreed to. Hmm...Maybe my dream for a table rock lake homes would soon come true, ey??


- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

Sabbath Gift

He is like a loving father tending to our every wounds.

I came home with a heavy heart this evening. I whined to Hobbit all the way home. At the back of my mind I was thinking, why am I like this? This is not me! Yet realising didn't change the fact that I was feeling down and low in spirit. My last blow was, couldn't there be any easier way than this??

As soon as I reached home, dumped everything, curled in bed...For once I felt like crying myself to sleep but all of a sudden it's as though I heard a voice (my own silent voice but surely not of me), the voice of God whispered, If God Is For Us, Who Can Go Against Us?

Immediately I knew that satan has implanted those negative feelings in me to make me feel worst whenever fear sets in. I thought this couldn't be happening, especially at times like these. I needed to be strong, I needed more faith to trust Him that no matter what, He will look after me and my family. If He is with us, who can say or do anything to destroy what He has instored for us?

After uttering that verse again and again...I finally felt my whole burden and sorrows and fear being lifted up and totally gone! I conveyed what just happened to Hobbit, my loving husband, and we both rejoiced in tears. God is just so amazing. My lack of faith has always made Him too small against all my problems. Yet I am thankful that when I call, He answers. He's never too busy nor too far away. With that said, have a Happy Sabbath folks!

Here's my favorite Sabbath prayer for today...

Dear God: It’s such an awesome feeling to come up to the Sabbath and simply, stop. After working my tail off all week long, I almost don’t know how to quit achieving, but you’ve told me I must. What a beautiful discipline that is.

Thank you, Father, for the loving strength in your command. Like a wise coach who says to his swimming protégé, “Out of the pool, son. Right now.” On my own, I’m prideful enough and ambitious enough and insecure enough that without you giving me a divine order, I’d keep right on blindly rat-racing right through every weekend.

It’s wonderful how your day of rest simply comes to me in the form of a gentle sunset. I don’t have to travel anywhere to find it, or qualify to experience it. If I’m here at home in my own backyard, or touring the farthest corner of Asia, the Sabbath just twinkles its starry way toward where I am waiting. I wish the entire planet was watching for it – and maybe someday it will be that way in your eternal kingdom.

But for this current life marked by urgent fatigue, thank you, Lord, for Sabbath rest.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

--David B. Smith--


- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

Welcome Baby Aaron

Image was stolen from one of my cousin's fb! :)

Through my Ordinateurs de bureau, I received a very good news from my family! The family members celebrated the arrival of baby Aaron this morning. Baby Aaron looked exactly like my cousin A but also a shadow resemblance of his mom, E. E and I were classmates in form 4 and 5 and she used to call me Mamie because of the sound of the last syllable on my name. My friends and I called her Ina, innocent and sweet. When my cousin and Ina got engaged, I was taken by surprise knowing that my former classmate is with my cousin and that she would be my cousin in law in no time. I was overjoyed!
Well, without babbling more, I just want to congratulate both new parents for their little bundle of joy! I will see you when you're a little 'grown-up' baby Aaron! :)

Sorry & Deductions

Awwww...I am inspired by this project. Such a moving one and doable at the same time. I think I know just a project for my students to earn back what they have lost in all the classroom deduction. As of now, they are beguiling me into doing stuff to earn back their points like you know...I keep a record of my minuses such as socks not covering ankle, deduct (they said it is much comfy to wear it halfway only..gggrrr!)...ROTC incomplete uniform, deduct...wrong shoes, deduct...speak Thai, deduct...bringing audiometer/gadgets to class, deduct...Oh dear! I am getting so good at deducting! I am still debating whether I should give grace points towards the end of every quarter just so that they could redeem a small portion of their grades back. Ahh! Community service always comes handy eh??

Friday 2

I thought this is a beautiful prayer to share:

A Teacher's Prayer

O Lord, Grant me your strength,

so I will have courage in every situation.

Grant me your love,

so I will never give up on anybody.

Grant me your wisdom,

so I will show others the path to success.

Grant me your mercy,

so I will forgive those who have hurt me.

Grant me your peace,

so I will find the best in everybody.

Grant me your hope,

so I will never give up.

Grant me your joy,

so I will be thankful for all my blessings.

And grant me your grace,

so you will always be at my side.

Amen.

-- David Bennett

Such a beautiful one isn't? I think I need a Ray Ban Aviator...My eyes hurts in the evenings which is weird. It has been like this since school started. I wonder if my aircond in class would be the main cause? Or could it be my foundation that causes the irritation? But I don't use foundation most of the time now. Make-up seems to appeal lesser to me nowadays because of the weather and my current state of being. Anyway, I hope this eye problem will go away soon before it takes the better of me.

It's Friday Friday Friday...

Just read about estate planning. Lots of hassle if you go by it alone but if you seek help, it will be much more easier and you can get things work out fast as well.

It's finally Friday once again. For some weird reason, I thought Wednesday and Thursday this week felt like a Friday! Must be my countdown fever, affecting all my running nerves just because I am being impatient. I have tried to plan work in advance but sometimes planning has its drawbacks too! I tend to overlook several things that needed to be attended right there and then. I'm not the all-knowing, which I always wish for (if I was to ask for a super power, that is). Yet it's Friday! Who cares about next week. I think I can get half of those days covered this Sunday...Right now, I am imagining smelling the fish that Hobbit and I will attend to this evening. My appetite really can't wait!

Organizing Chores

Sometimes I feel like organizing my priorities according to Maxine's priorities above. It's so much easier! Don't you think so?

2nd Week of School

Second week of school. I am glad that my students are still keeping their fangs and horns down but as I get to know them, they aren't as bad as what I had prepared for based on what I was told. My 4th period has started to act up a bit but that's it. They just couldn't keep their mouth sealed. Even so, I can count how many would really wrack up if they really want to as we go by...I am just so glad that they aren't giving me a hard time especially when it comes to the 'managing' part. They manage themselves.
We reviewed the parts of speech today and most of them are active in earning their daily participation points even though I still spot one or two who are pretending to be 'earning' when they were really just yearning for the time to end soon. I hope things only gets better and I trust that things will get much better once we 'get to know' each other very well. Otherwise they are always welcome to build outdoor fireplaces to seek refuge for not being interested!

My Little Dream Cabin

I have always wanted a cute cabin built at my dad's river cottage. Up till now, I still can't quite decide what I want inside my cabin and how the surroundings will look like. Since I am actively playing Smurf village, I thought of those cute mushroom houses and the cute little benches...By the way, I browsed through mountain living furniture and found some furniture I liked. Yet, what I didn't know is that you have to also choose the types of wood you want to use for your furniture. I liked pine and cedar furniture but dislike aspen. Hm...Doesn't quite give that nonchalant look I guess. So here are some furniture that I would go for...

Jadestone Delta 3 Light Pinebranch

Wooden Planter Boxes

Cedar Porch Swing

Yeah...I have lots of time to dream on...^_^

4Him - It is Well With My Soul

This was one of our favorite song during college years. Hobbit and I happened to revisit religious contemporary classics this week and most brought back good memories. :)

Birthday Invitation

I just received birthday party invitations from two of my cousins inviting me to a combined birthday party for my niece and nephew. A hand made birthday cards! Something I love to receive...:)

Sorry Samantha and Abram...Hot Aunty would really like to come but has to work! Boo...The theme for their party totally will separate the house into a gender divided party. One side will be a Ben 10 theme and the other side will be Dora theme! Can't wait to see their cakes! By the way, both of them were born almost the same date..Just two days apart! How cool was that? Anyway, Hot Aunty hope you guys don't run over your pretty cakes because one of you did that last year! :) By the way, I went to invitationbox.com birthday party invitations to look at some cool invites. :)

Happy Birthday to my two huggelicious Sam & Abram!!! We love ya!

Signatures to Work

I just got off from putting initials and signatures on a 50+ pages of a bank document! Honestly, why do we need to do all those? Can't I just put a signature at the end of it, a proof that I have read and understood everything on it? I don't know about the 5th wheel insurance, but spare us our signatures!!

Anyway, I am going to sew my bulletin board's boarder for the first time. Main reason is, I don't have enough of those paper ones. Haiyah, time is catching up on me and I have hundred of things running in my head, thinking of which to start first. Thank goodness my teaching stuff are ready. It's just my classroom...If only I could have octopus hands, I would gladly assign each to a corner. Can't wait to get my energy back. I need to be active and move faster like I always do. Just wait...And Lord, grant me lots of patients...

Paragliding to Lizards

While browsing my blog feed, I stumbled upon the above picture from this blogger. I believe it was captured in Phuket. Someday, after a busy working day, I would like to just jump into a gliding suit and para-glide across the horizon! For sure if not terrified, it will give a lot of satisfaction.

Moving on to what is current, our school just had its new students orientation program today and one of the highlight was a video presentation. If I were a parent, I would definitely be sold to EIS. Kudos to those who worked on it. Aside from the presentation in the auditorium, our high school section had a nice mini tour throughout the subjects and classes that the students would anticipate in a week time.

After school orientation, Hobbit and I visited HCTCH. The smell of Chinese herbs made me sick that I wanted to just run off. Yet, the opportunity to learn about those herbs were worth the stay. I just hated the wait and the smell. Not to mention how a patient argued about his social security disability in public. One word, check ahead of time.

On our way home, we stopped at Baan Daeng (Red House) for lunch. I wanted the restroom badly but upon entering, there was a big lizard starring at me as I was about to close the restroom door. I frantically ran outside and didn't get to go. We quickly ordered, ate and left! Aarggh, someone need to tame me with those cold blooded creature!

Definitely In A Yellow Submarine

Of late, I am very attracted to the color yellow. I don't know what happened to the previous attraction pink but yellow is my current like! Above are my combination of a day wear to school. Pairing off the yellow dress with a dark blue cardigan and my type of platform shoes would make me a sunbeam! Oh dear!!!

Not So Hip Hop

One of my students asked me for suggestions on what to wear for her hip hop dance competition. She has several ideas in mind of her own hip hop clothing, but needed some accessories to match with. She mentioned specifically that her shoe has to draw attention since all her moves will be focused a lot more if her shoe is significant enough. I being a very 90s hip hop 'hoodlum' decided to share my one cent on what I would wear if I were to be in her shoes! Long story short, she of course detested on the mini skirt but went ahead and got one of those shoe above and red in color. I wish I could share you her final picture but I would get a thousand scolding if I do that. Anyway, her competition is next month and I wish her all the best, as all teachers would do. ^_^

Back to the Classics

Believe it or not, I'm back into reading classics like Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, etc. It's a good thing to have an ipad because I get thousands of classics from some book apps but also a curse when it makes you sleep at 4-ish in the morning!

Anyway, I'm here to share you a quote I love from watching a classic-turned-BBC series Jane Eyre. The classic act of love made me want to kiss someone's feet! I'm hoping to start Wuthering Heights sometime soon. Can someone hire me to just read??

"It is a crime against God to deny yourself love; It should be the eleventh commandment!"
- Jane Eyre

Smurf Smurf Smurf

When I was a kid, I remember mom and dad bought me smurf comic books and coloring books. One thing I enjoyed doing was to trace the smurfs out on a blank paper and made my own clouds of conversation as if I was writing my own comic book.

During the summer, I was too bored after work and decided to download the smurf game on my ipad. Since then I got addicted. Moving on to level 24 now, Hobbit told me that a smurf movie will be out sometime soon. I am excited. Meanwhile, here is the trailer to 'smurf' you into watching it once it's out! :)

Knit & Purl Again

Dad captured this with his HTC android =)

Guess what I did today? I re-kindled my forgotten knitting. I admit it was a bit of a pain to re-learn how to cast on and do the knit stitch but thank God I picked up the rhythm in no time. I had a lot of yarns sitting in my shelf unused plus I needed something to distract me from reading (my eyes started seeing doubles after several days of Elizabeth Gilberts!). Before bedtime, I managed to knit up a black scarf while watching funny pranks on Youtube. When the fingers get used to repetition, they don't need the eyes...

Looking forward to some warm clothings. I can't believe holiday is going to end soon but ironic as it may sound, I miss teaching.

It's Almost August

It's almost August!! School is starting soon and I haven't gone anywhere with my projects!

I was so happy Hobbit took me to a sewing shop today. I can't contain myself seeing the different length of zippers, sizes of buttons, designs of laces and the variety of fabrics while being in the shop.

I came home anticipating me in front of the sewing machine multitasking (as always), yet nothing close happened. I ended up reading my news feeds!

Tomorrow, I'm gonna be productive with my fabrics and zippers! Do look forward to new items coming up soon! :)


- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

Ultimate Photographer

They say "life is fragile" and I have been observing how true it is when three helicopters crashed in close proximity in the span of 9 days while trying to rescue each other, the horrendous Oslo shooting that alarmed the world, the Thai street sweeper hit dead by a wreckless student driver on the phone while diligently working and of late a singer who shares the same name with the surname of Winehouse reported dead for unexplainable cause. Reading news feeds has never been a prayless duty nor a seize of 'OMG' to say the least.





As I started my day today, I went into a little meditation which I rarely do for the sake of 'early to rise' and did a little unrolling of the past, present and future films that depicts on mostly uncertainties and over exposed rolls. I asked for extra blessings and a sturdy hands of the Photographer to lead and guide. Am gonna take care of the custom challenge coins!

Hope is never dim with His awesome flashlight of assurance.


- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

Chatuchak Market

I don't remember not liking this place before. The time when Chatuchak was particularly in my heart was the time Dee and I got busy shopping for my wedding. Chatuchak was my sole hope for all the trinkets and cards and what not. Today, as I walked through each of the tiny sois, I just don't find anything that could attract me other than the excitement on all the current visitors that very much reminded me of my own feelings on this place many years ago. Today, I couldn't care much about creative vases, furniture or clothes. I just want to be here, take my parents shopping and get done with it. Guess coming to Chatuchak without any purpose could be very boring...But hey, if you have air-conditioner and a 5.1 home theatre system, I bet everything would be fine. Not walking on potholes and hot weather, thank you!!


- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

Countless Visit to Siam Niramit

My visit to Siam Niramit is a countless times. Hobbit and I had been planning to go there on our own someday but who knows the someday would be today! After checking out beautiful diamond engagement rings to suggest to a family member, I freshen up and headed out with parents and Hobbit. When I reached Siam Niramit, I noticed that nothing has changed ever since the first time I visited. The 'beautiful' framed-money-making pictures which cost dad's 200B is still luring tourists and non tourists, at different spots. I love the buffet though. I know some of the food are hard to digest but we got what we paid for. Parents of course enjoyed the traditional houses since they reminded them of their growing up era. Nothing new in the stage show unless you missed out on details.

Mom Dad In Da House

My parents are in da house!! Dad looks like he needs some diet pill that works fast! He gained some weight from all that eating or could it be from all that sitting, loitering while Fbeing?? Whatever it is, I'm so glad my mom and dad are around. They make the house so much ali ve with jokes and laughter! Oh, not forgetting all the advice popping out once in a while too! Errr, I don't quite like it but hey, they don't come around so often in your adult life do they? Well, to start off their short vacation here, we went for a Thai massage yesterday. As much as I thought mom would be screaming from pain, she didn't but I did. She kept whispering (as she was lying next to me) "eh, how can you tahan oh??" and I couldn't answer because my masseur pressed hard on me! Ya, you think I keep quite means I can tahan ah? Heh! Then on our way home she said "I thought you bones broke into pieces because mine almost did!" Oh moooooooooommy! Obviously I was the tinniest in the massage room and dad put it as "she disappeared inside the blanket.." Ahhh!

I spent my time educating them on their sophisticated gadgets this morning. They have them but don't really know how to use aside from fbeing, calling and messaging. So I introduced dad to twitter! I super love twitter.

So till then. Will blog about their little adventure around Bangkok again when I get the chance to. Shopping time!!!

Online University

Recently, two of my friends from high school decided on an online university as a way to pursue their Masters studies. One is a mother of two and another, a full time homemaker. At their mention of an online degree, I questioned them of guessed what? Not so much on the credibility and stuff but on the fees! Yes, I always heard people complaining about how costly it is to study online.Yet for these two friends, I shouldn't even ask because I clearly know they could afford. Speaking of a tycoon husband and a marine captain! :) then next came my questions about the courses, duration and correspondence. Apparently they were given a choice. They have to join a course forum online and would submit their work every third week of the month and it is up to their speed to finish up the courses as long as they don't exceed the given timeline which is 2 years. Not bad huh? Here is an online university you could browse through if you are interested to take courses online. I know I won't get back to studying very soon. :)

- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

Blue Polka Dress

If you are in my FB contact list, you would know that Hobbit and I attended a dear friend's birthday getaway.It was a fun-filled weekend. Here is feather flags.





The day before Pattaya's trip, I was informed that blue would be the theme for the birthday dinner night. Not that it is a must but I personally would like to honor the birthday girl with her favorite color since I have a big piece of blue polkies sitting on my sewing desk unused. So I came home early from work, had lunch and started my 3 hours long project. I had to time myself because I was tired for some reason and I hate missing out on Sabbath evenings.





In a nick of time, three hours gone and I have a dress. I have to say that this second attempt on a simple dress was faster and less hassle compared to my first which I blogged about here. The only major problem this time along was the sleeves. You could see traces of my frustrations stitched together on both sleeves! Yet, no one would notice if I don't raise my armpits right? Heh!! The zipper was still a pain but I managed. Not forgetting how my absent-mindedness led me to attached a short bag zipper on the dress and only noticed after I tried to unsuccessfully get into the dress!! I managed to take it off and attached the long zipper on with the help of Hobbit.

Exactly as how I imagined the dress to look on me! *satisfaction*

Happy 4th of July to those who are celebrating!!


- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

那不是我！

我正在想我得罪了这一个人哪一方面，害到这家伙神神秘秘的在我后面做出对不起我和我朋友的事？我真的想这家伙已经改邪归正，的确只不过是改头换面罢了！当前我们攻其不备的时候，这捆蛋就乘机会把我们一个一个骚乱啦。真是太恶声恶气！




我绝对没有你可恶。我头头想报复，但何必浪费时间和能量呢？我打算不论如何，我应该要模仿耶稣。耶稣怎样对待罪人呢？他不断地爱不释手即使整个世界都针对他。我只不过也是个罪人，希望我能够原谅这家伙。喔，另外别忘了，我也需要时间啊！

我相信你们会把我所写的翻译出来对不对？ :)

- Posted from HobbWife's iPad -

For Good

Hobbit and I have a collection of Sam Tsui in our playlist but Nick Pitera? It was our first in the following song and we were glad Nick and Sam collaborated in doing the cover "For Good" together. Nick's voice range is just spelled Ahhhhhwwwwweeeeesome!

Like it?? (:

And hey, that Nick guy sounded like cikgu panjang rambut kat skolah...Muka pun hampir sama...kan?? :)

Not Giving In

I could hardly recall when was my last time having a really bad day but one just took place last Thursday and Friday. The upsetting accusation just crushed my good zumba spirit and literally build anger which I would never have for that person if it wasn't for what was said. Through it all, I managed to stay calm and had a long discussion with Hobbit about what should be done in respond to the situation. When being accused for something that you are totally innocent of, what would you say? Where do you start? What would you do?

I pen down what I had to say and let go. I truly believe that prayers would automatically fix what needed to. Hobbit was nice to treat me to a nice meal and a good mini shopping spree. Yet just after I thought it was over, Friday came another heart-wrenching news and I have to say, I salute Hobbit for putting a lot of trust and faith in me. I only wish others could do the same towards their spouses, especially when something is vague and you ain't have a clue...The more trust and communication is needed instead of taking all the shortcuts you can take and act towards it.

So I was shaken but I am not going to give in! ^_^

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
Psalm 34:15-16

My Discotheque Dress

Waddayathink??

Wonder where I got the materials to make cawats from my last post? Yeah, you got it. I had to sacrifice a Cinderella ball dress for six pieces of coverings! Wait, you didn't get it. Of course not.

What was I thinking?? I'm not a seamstress and definitely have no si fu to teach me how to handle a piece of cloth, a pair of scissors and needles in the first place but I do know one thing best, I have big g*ts! Thus the attempt to make my own mini dress!

This is the 'lazy' method

tracing the other side of the dress

One side of the dress

One humdrum Saturday night, I took all my leftovers out and decided on a fabric to use. Guess what? The discotheque bulb patterns had to be the heart winner. I laid them flat on the floor, took one of my old mini dress to trace (very pro kan??), snipped the snip and there I went a pattern! Well, at least a crooked, clown dress won't look too bad in black. Suddenly the room's energy halted for the longest time and I heard...

See, I cincai-ly cut the neckline. Front lower, back higher

Hobbit: " Sayang, you've been sitting there for ages, when are you going to start??"
Sayang: "Soon..." and continued my longest stare...

I kept telling myself that it was a wrong move, I could still back off and snip those patterns into a mini pouch or anything handy. Yet another part of me itched stubbornly to move on. Okay, so the stubborn voice won and led me to endless measure! grrr! *pun intended*

Made some mistakes and Hobbit helped to slowly pull it apart slowly

This was the middle back side of the dress I had to trim open for the zipper

So I was halfway done except for the neckline and sleeves. Both front and back were sewn together. Yet the biggest problem with this was I couldn't get into the dress! Didn't matter whether I slip from up nor down. So I figured, if only I could attach a zipper would I be able to disco in that dress. I needed another snip in the middle backside of the dress.

The not quite finished dress. Wish I have a serger...

Believe me, I went blank many a times not knowing what to do next. On top of that, I didn't really know how to maneuver with all the gadgets I had to switch on my machine to make a dress! Boy was the zipper a pain. First, I had to figure how to get the zipper foot work, second, I had to think and imagine how to attached the zippers to the dress from insideout considering the appearance and all and last, to actually sew on zippers. Oh, did you know how hard it is to sew a semi curved shaped neckline? It's freaking hard (for a first timer of course). Too many first time experiences that was why they pretty much thrust me to finish the dress!

Waiting for a black zipper

This was my first time using this zipper foot

Bleh, the adjustment took time

The last labor job was to sew the right-hand-side zipper. When I was finally done, guess what I did?? I took the dress, folded it and laid it on the table shelf then bid it "until next time!"

***

Weee! I got to try the dress on today! It wasn't Forever 21 nor Zara labelled, but I was very pleased with all the noticeable imperfections on the dress. I made it knowing so well that I wasn't a crackerjack. I didn't make it for Brooklyn Medical Malpractice Attorney...Yet don't mind if I do. :)

Meantime, lets disco!!! You can ring my beeeeeellllllll.....ring my bell.....you can ring my beeeelllllll...ring my bell! ^_^

Simple Sarawakian Cawat

John with his pocketed cawat

For a headstart, cawat is an Indonesian word, meaning breechcloth, gee string or loincloth. In Sarawak, I have no idea how but I know one of their traditional costume includes a gee string-like cloth called cawat.

Took this from a website. A simple one indeed.

I had volunteered for an assignment for the Bkk-M'sian annual Gawai/Kaamatan celebration. The initial plan in mind was to make a funny doeramon/hello kitty-printed cawat but my shopping spree told me that could only happen if I'm willing to cut out bedsheets and pillow cases! So I went with a disco light theme.

This picture is from here. The costume.

Sarawak is very close to where I come from but still, I haven't set my feet on its soil yet. So to imagine how a cawat would look like is not quite easy. What I did and I believe everyone would do was to look up on google image. After clicking through several pictures, I kinda have an idea of how and what my version of cawat should look like. I would make it simple, easy to wear around the waist and not consume a lot of materials. The men who would wear them will not be in full costume anyway. Perhaps mine would be a casual cawat, if that term is allowed. :)


First, I asked the guys for their waistline measurements, then went ahead and cut and piece together according to their sizes and left some space for knot tying. Next, I cut 8" by 4.5" of doubled-cloth, cut curved edges and sew them up. I left a 1.5" at the top part of the cawat's covering for the string to run through. By the way, Hobbit helped with all the foldings and ran the strings into the coverings of the cawats. It took us 2 hours to finish 6 of them all. My simple cawats came out fine, not perfect but wearable.

I was hoping they discard their shorts while wearing their cawats..lol

By the time the men got their cawats, they 'sempat' wore it in style before our Gawai performance. Some wore it as a bib on their neck, some just tied a bow while flinging the coverings to the back of their neck, some even wore them as fancy neckties. Clever cheap lipofuze!! With all those fashion shows, I was inspired to make something else from what I see!

See what I mean?? :)

I just love it when my right brain ticks!!!