Thursday 27 November 2008

Mumbai...

Woken up at 2.45am by an sms fm hubby who's in Mumbai.

"6 star Mumbai hotels kanna attacked by terrorists. I am staying far away from the hotels under attack. Not to worry."

Aiyo, how not to worry?? Sms-ed him to return asap. After that, was tossing and turning on the bed till morning.

Watched CCTV4's news with Dad in the morning. The situation in Mumbai is really bad and the hotel that was hit was Taj Mahal, a top class hotel and many business/banking pple stays there. The news reporter interviewed a caucasian who managed to leave the hotel after the attack and found out that the terrorists were targetting US passport holders. And that most held hostage were fm US. sigh...so sad.

Finally heard fm hubby that he's been confirmed on an early flight back. What he told me next sent a chill down my spine. He was at the Taj Mahal Hotel just 24hrs before the attack!! I cant imagine what will it be if the terrorists had attacked a day earlier!? I'm scared....

Anyway, hubby is now on flight back already. Looking forward to fetch him at the airport.

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Choices...

Spent the last few days ploughing through school websites, gathering feedbacks and driving around the vicinity to show him the schools. After some advises from his Vice Principal and Form Teacher, he has decided not to appeal against his results for English and Math as he wanted to earlier. His Form Teacher, Ms Regina Lim, has also given us valuable advises on how to select the schools. Also thankful to hv friends around to share with us their past experiences in the school selection process and what some are doing with their own kids' selection. It's great to have friends who share generously. I'm thankful.

Now that we've made our choices, we're not gonna hub over his result anymore. It is over and we're looking forward to the school he'll be posted to and how he's gonna face his whole new secondary school life.

Friday 21 November 2008

Nic's graduation concert

Went to Nanyang Polytechnic's auditorium to witness Nic's kindergarten graduation and concert. He's performing and has been so excited about his role as a frog! ;0)

It started off with the little graduands donning the graduation robe and the mortar board and heading up stage to receive their certificates and photo taking. I was so excited looking high and low for my little skinny boy, only to find his centre is the last group to come out. This boy was so serious looking and walked with his face straight ahead without even noticing that we're all frantically waving at him! haha... no wonder the teachers always praise him for being serious and obedient in school!

Then came the concert and frankly, with the effects of the medication, I was yawning and coughing half the time. And again, his group was the last to perform. But he really looked so cute! (ya, all mummies find their own kids cute what, cannot meh?) In the green froggy costume, he was like a machine, his hands going up and down, left to right. He really looked froggy with his glasses!! haha...

After the concert, picked their 小姑姑 up fm YCK MRT and we went Melben for dinner. Yucks!! all the dishes were so salty and the soup was not piping hot when served. And for a simple dinner without any seafood for 3 adults and 3 kids, it was totally overpriced at $110+! Never gonna go back there again.

While I was walking thru the carpark with Drew, he told me this. He said, "Mummy, u know, this morning when you lectured me and Matt-Matt, I had a sudden urge of shouting back at you! But then I didn't."!!!!! I was shocked and asked him why? why did he feel that way and what did I say that he got so angry about? He couldn't (or maybe didn't want to?) give me an answer, and just simply said, "nevermind, it's over. I'll never shout at my mummy. I love my mummy!" I think I'll have to watch his emotional growth even more closely. He's beginning to show signs of closing in. How?

sigh...another thing to learn as parent to pre-teen going to teen.

Disappointed? Upset? Shortchanged? Sick...

I'm down with a bad throat and as usual, my voice is affected. Can sense it getting worse by the minutes. The medicine is making me so drowsy and weak.....or is it something else?

Well, we had gotten his result yesterday. His face sank when he saw it. I felt his anguish and frustration. Nevertheless, I hugged him and comforted him that at least he had pulled his Chinese grades up. I went out of the hall while he continued to mingle with his friends. I secretly teared but didn't want him to notice my disappointment. Sms-ed hubby and kids' godpa to inform them. All were shocked to hear of his result. Hubby was upset and didn't understand how it could hv gone wrong.

We went on the day as normal as it is. Received quite a few smses asking about his result. Had a nap after my medication. Then we spent some time opening up and sorting out all the toys, game cards and electronic games that I've brought back fm Beijing. Hubby called him while we were doing that and gave him a harsh lecture. Poor boy went back to his room and cried for some time. My heart cried with him...

I tried not to address the issue, but couldn't hold it in anymore this morning. So had a good lecture for both him and Matt. It is not about my disappointment, but their seriousness in whatever they do. The shock we got fm his result has proven that he had been taking things too lightly. Too nonchalant for too long that he has to finally pay a price for it. I've also been too patient and soft towards them. 慈母多败儿, it's time for me to toughen up and not take it too easy with them anymore. Will have to be strict and stern with them from now on, till they can prove to me that they've become an independent learners. It's gonna be a tough year ahead, with one new in secondary school, one new in primary school and one heading into the ever dreadful preparation towards PSLE. When will boys mature???

Parenthood is a tough journey that has no end. Everyday I'm learning something new and every corner turns up with new surprises. Will I hv the energy to sustain? sigh...

Thursday 20 November 2008

Today's d day....

I just came back this morning after a 6hr flight. didn't manage to sleep well on flight. Had this woman sitting behind me (she wasn't even supposed to be sitting there!!) kept kicking my seat and when I just fell asleep, she woke me up saying she needs to go loo!!?? Come on la, she so big size that she cant slip herself out of her seat meh? it's an aisle seat leh!? and my seat wasn't even totally reclined. Cant stand such inconsiderate pple.

Will be going to school with Drew around 1130am for his PSLE result. Am keeping my fingers crossed and getting so excited! Really hope he'd done well and can go to a school of his choice.

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Quick update..

I'm on my trip now, so 4th sis went with Dad for his doctor's appt. She updated that his blood tests results turn up very well. Doctor advised that he shall go ahead to finish off his 2nd cycle of this chemo treatment. And if the CT scan after this cycle turns out well, he can stop chemo therapy for the time being, and continue with monthly follow-up and review. So happy to hear this good news! Am sure Dad is feeling ecstatic!! >)

Saturday 15 November 2008

Yippee!!

Finally I'm heading off for my long-awaited break. Without the kids of course! otherwise it won't be called a break ok?

Gonna be on a midnight flight. Hopefully there wont be too much noisy tourists or cranky babies onboard. Also my throat seems a little ticklish. Pray that I've not gotten the cold bugs fm the kids, or it's gonna ruin my trip again like last year!! Wish me luck!


Saturday 8 November 2008

What a week!

It was such a hectic week!! Besides Monday, I was practically in and out of hospitals/clinics all the other weekdays!

Tuesday - Went NCC for Dad's usualy chemo session. But his platelets were low and he had to skip that session. And that was in the morning around 9+. Then we went over to Singhealth Polyclinic across fm NCC. Dad has his regular hypertension and diabetes checkup. He went for his glucose blood test, while I queued for his registration. That alone used up 30-40mins. Then comes the dragging part, waiting for his turn outside the doc's room. For heaven's sake, why can't polyclinic doctors/nurses/staff be better in terms of time management??? We spent a total of more than 4hrs queueing to see the doctor and then the nurse counsellor!! Ridiculous isn't it? By the time we went home, it was already 4+ in the afternoon. That's the end of my day...

Wednesday - Nic has his follow-up check-up at the KKH. Not sure if we were lucky or was it bcos it's still a school day. We managed to see the doc in less than 20mins and everything was over in under 1hr, including collection of medication. Impressive!! See the extreme difference between the 2 clinics?? Time for Singhealth polyclinic to learn from KKH.

Thursday - Matt's off from school for the day. So I decided to bring him to the PR polyclinic for a referral to KKH for a medical issue. It's a Thursday, which usually will not be extremely crowded for polyclinics. But still, registration alone was 25mins' wait, then waiting to see the doctor was another 1.5-2hrs. Even waiting for them to fix the appt with KKH took us another 25mins. I managed to finish 1/4 of my book while going thru all these waiting and waiting! Singhealth, please take note and look into yr clinics' efficiency. sigh...

Friday - Mum had her follow-up appt at CGH. The nurses at the registration counter is very 'cute'. They'll tell you upfront, "be prepared to wait for an hour"!? I looked around the waiting area, there wasn't many patients, so why need 1 hr? Anyway, we waited lor, what else to do? Then we met this 'young' doctor, who's probably around early or mid 30s. He was not good in Hokkien, so spoke briefly with Mum. Then he turned to me and switched to English to explain what they had done for her previously. I was quite annoyed with him bcos he kept using the word 'cancer' in the process of explaining that they did some biopsy on the cells retrieved fm Mum's stomach previously, and found no abnormal cells. Ya, I understand he had to reassure us that she does not hv cancer. But did he had to repeat it so many times?? He probably used the word like 6-7 times! I glanced at Mum and could see that she's beginning to show confusion on her face! When he ended, I told him, my Mum is a very negative person, could you please tell her in Mandarin that she does not hv cancer? His use of that word is kinda freaking her out!! So in the end, we spent about 3hrs there as well.

So that was how my week went. It's really tiring going around all these 'waiting game'! I wonder when my body will give way under these stresses. I WANT MY LIFE!!!