Today I don't feel like doing anything....

Was out til 2ish last night. A record for me this year.
Dad was still up and made my blood freeze for a few minutes but until this afternoon he hasn't mentioned a word.
Like I said to Slavedriver, "He's getting used to it".  *grins*

I slept in til nearly noon.
Have a tad bit of sand in my room from the previous night.
Been lazing since then.

Am just glad that towards year end there's public holiday every month.
It really works people into the holiday mood.

~
It amazes me that I'm still here, and we are coming to the 9th month of the year.
Which means it's been 8 months since Big Bro left.
And I'm amazed at how I've coped, adapted and maybe even conform to where I'm at.
Having the same cycle I'm going through now with someone off for studies, I'd make it through...
Because I can see how in some months time I'll be stronger about her too. There's hope.

Every time I remind myself not to get obsessive about things like say a ball bounced into someone else's court, the ball somehow bounces back into my court.
And I'm left deciding if I should risk bouncing it away again.
But then again, what's the fun of not playing when you have a ball in your hand?

With time, all things will become clear. Finding their own spaces, like I will.

(#200) There's nothing like discovering you are really on a journey through life,

and God's behind the steering wheel.

Always.

Contented

Weeee!!!!

MAGGI GORENG JUST LIKE IN KL!!!
Goreng that's not fried.

With that perfect yolk runny but whites cooked egg on the sides.
Awesome~!!!!

After all these years of not seeing the likes of it here, I was starting to lose hope.
And then I just mentioned it in passing to Slave driver just the other night,
and he was saying he knows just the one place.
And there we all were tonight! Ahh, the joy of eating a long-craved for food!

Between today and yesterday's dinner, I'm feeling so delighted that I've satisfied my cravings one after the other. Like, what are the odds of having that in a row!
(#197) So so blessed with fulfilled cravings.

(#198) MD's teachings have been reaffirming the tapestry of love I'm woven in. 2 nights down, 1 more to go!

(#199) Late dinner with benana and the rest.
It was just good to see them even with no instruments around.
Been missing the confident rhythm and proper dynamics of the drums.

Satiated

Yes!!

Had another craving today.

I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

UB's awesome~!!!!

So is my delivery service.

Although the timing of everything could have been better,

but the point is I get my craving fulfilled, right? 

Now if only it is just my imagination that Slave driver is mad at me in my pursuit of food vs. behaving myself.

I swear I'll behave tomorrow night!

Post fun update.

Every blessings You pour out I'll turn back to praise.
And when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...

These words would never be the same again.
Not after seeing some classic disco pointing up and down moves involved in it.
*burst into uncontrollable laughter*

~
Holidays have been fun, fun, fun.

I got browned and had 2 teething marks on my right hand, yet I'm still in love with PanPan.
Wonder when I'll see it again.

The troubled waters I got myself into on Sunday night, is all under the bridge now.
My aunts and dad did a final cross examination and comparison of timeline after dinner tonight.
The defense counsel was definitely losing in a 1 vs 4 setting.
She's super relieved she isn't grounded or some corporal punishment was sentenced.

Thankfuls;
#194 I was not alone. Not as long as I chose the right battles to fight for.

#195 It's always a blessing to have Jen as my partner in crime for unmentionable things. Lol.
Monday night was totally totally awesome!!!!! Let's do it again in a couple of months time. =)

#196 Showers. Of rain, laughter and joy.

A 5 minutes note.

I just organized a family dinner at 6pm. Feeling so proud of Jing Jing. Hahahaha.

AM OBSESSED WITH THIS!

Which brought me to the below video.
This guy is awesome!!!!

#193 God made all my plans possible.

*Warning! Long post ahead*

Definitely deserving a #192 on my list....

Thursday night was such a blessing to catch up with Vi.

I had SK with her. Hahaha!
The mini Mars bars were like icing on the cake.
I was just telling my dad last week that I no longer get chocolates from Singapore in defiant to him complaining to my aunt that I have a big chocolate stash. Which I don't, not really.
The look on his face was really something when I showed him the Mars bars. Lol.

~
Had my day off on Friday.

Made a surprise magic act of appearing where the security bar should have blocked me off.
There was people doing maintenance on the security bar hence the ability to drive straight through. Hee!
It was like, the first thing I was thankful about and just felt that things were going to go well from there onward.

Even with a detour to Crystal Point in the morning, back to back movies at 1st Ave was still possible.
Three Stooges was pure slapstick comedy and made me laugh til my voice was hoarse.
It would be the one show I'd watch again.
It was so funny I'm thankful there was only like 4 of us in the whole cinema, so it wasn't so embarrassing that I was laughing away like I own the place.
Yeah, with no control volume button. Just imagine.
I was still having giggle spasms even after I've gotten out of the cinema area. It was that enjoyable.

Total Recall made me cringed and squealed quite a bit with the fast-paced action scenes.
And because I had such an empty cinema for Three Stooges, I kinda forgot about the other audiences when I first sat down for this second movie.
Had to remind myself a couple of times to keep the reaction to the screen down.
The gravity changing scenes was quite a mind-boggle to me.
Something to do with passing the core of the earth, or near the core of the earth.
The synthetic police reminded me of the white baddies in Star Wars which made them not so scary after that.

Killed an hour or so by trampling over to Komtar and crossed like the craziest intersection ever....with me squealing away because no cars was stopping to let us walk across.
And all that just so to check out a music shop opposite Gama.
Then was back and over to Prangin to check out if there was any new skeleton anklets which I'm crazy about right now.

Then it was FINALLY time for Nana's musical!!!
Bought her an emo bar. Lol.
The musical was awesome!!!
Or maybe I'm biased because I've never been to a local one.
(And everything Nana does is awesome anyway after she created Max....Lol)
Thankful of the early passes so I can choose where I wanna sit.
My spot was just right because I could watch the musical, the band and the choir on the other end without twisting my neck much. And if I turned all the way behind, I see Nana's serious face on as a bonus!
I got all teary when the mum grieves over the lost son. It was THAT moving.
And the band was *swoon* worthy!
Are they that cute all the time? When can I audition for the music team, Nana? Lol.

Since the musical ended around 10ish, we could make our way up to Rasa Sayang to watch Sound of Lights play.
An out of the blue spur of the moment drive based only because its been weeks since we last saw them.
Unfortunately, they had ended the session earlier for that particular night although their time slot was suppose to be until 11.15pm every night.
Was kinda disappointed having driven all the way up there to come back down again.
And without dinner at that point. My tummy was more or less influencing my mood by then.

So instead we had take-out food (ending the reign of Glass meals) and ate at the promenade.
Had my sundae ice cream in the car, and was in a better mood by the time we got there.
It never fails to amaze me when another of God's creation would let me spoon feed them.

Lost track of time eating, watching the gentle ripples of waves, having random conversation topics and just being intoxicatedly calm in the peace between fireworks, dog barking from a boat at sea and other noises.
After a long day that I went through so many different emotions, it was just right to end my day there.
I wouldn't have mind just dying on the spot there.
Got home way way late and was super glad to find my dad asleep.

I can't even begin to list down all the thankfuls about Friday because there was just sooo many details to be thankful about. So there's my title as a roundup to that.

I am amazed that You love me

God's been so loud lately.

Though the sorrows may last for the night,

the joy comes in the morning

#188 An old hymn.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

1. O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

2. O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

3. O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

4. O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

#189 An excerpt from fastpray.wordpress.com that resonated so deeply within me.

Caleb reminds me to steward well the season of delay, meeting God’s provision with thanksgiving instead of complaining, believing in God’s goodness instead of doubting it. Caleb fought for his inheritance all those years by living in faith, marrying, having children—rejoicing fully in what God had for him at that time, yet never losing sight that greater things were coming.

#190 Vi's coming back!

#191 Silencert took a day off.


I'm overwhelmed.
A 1000 things started out as a 'Can I really find or dig out a 1000 things to be thankful about?'.
The number was like a goal.
Yet somehow in this season, its no longer a goal.
But a list that's in some ways are milestones of His promises, His love, His kindness...
The shift in perspective to being thankful is such a balm to my spirit.
Reminding me constantly to see the bigger picture that He's painting over my life right now.



*title of post from a song in Israel Houghton's Decade album.

This isn't a sting from death...

Or maybe I'm just holding back the tears because I refuse to admit it stings.

What flashes through my head these last 4 days is that first encounter some twenty years ago.

Waking up early after the first night, I found this tall man burning 'hell money' for my mum.
The light from the flames made his face aglow.
Having apparently done that the whole night long, I was fascinated with what he was doing.
Whoever he was at that point didn't really register until later years.

And somewhere in that period of days, he carried me up to look inside the coffin.
He was way taller than anyone else who had carried me during that time.
So the lift up in his arms was particularly high.
It was an awkward moment considering I was then old enough not to be carried,
just unfortunately still too short to look inside on my own.
And I've only been lifted up by my father or Ko at that point.

R.I.P. 2ku.

~
It was a dilemma to follow the rituals with a heavy heart, standing firm on not bowing or involving in the joss stick burning sessions. And sticking up like a sore thumb for being anti-white.
Yet wanting to pay respect in the midst of all that.

~
#186 I'm thankful that I somehow did not roster myself for this weekend as we weren't expecting death to be near.
#187 The weather was fine at all the night sessions and this morning.

Words to believe in...

Fight to stay amazed.

Fight to dwell in His presence.

Fight to keep your heart alive to His breathtaking beauty.

And fighting is not an easy task.

Now, what?

Some days fall into the 'Now, what?' times and waiting require resilience;

I do not have on my own.

Thankful #185;
My last on-call of the year is now over.
Had great US colleagues who handled quite a few things for me.
Managing to be in church at the same time as critical alerts were pouring in was totally Him in control.

Quote of the day;

There is much in the world to make us afraid

There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid.