C'est La Vie

Overdue picture of Chester and the stuff he won at the SKC Dog Show last month. My dog won a dvd player for me (and a whole carton of dog food for himself) and he sure looks pleased in this picture! Who cares if it's not a branded one? This one's real sleek and compact, just what i need in a room that's already overly cluttered! Anyway, i finally got the tv shifted from the blue room to the yellow room and got Dan to set up the dvd player for me on Sunday. Feels good to have a man around to help me do stuff even though i'm perfectly capable of doing them myself!

Anyway, it has been a rollercoaster week. In the midst of preparing for my big day, a dear one passed away. In the midst of our sorrow, i suppose we need to take heart in the fact that she's gone home to the Creator and Home, will never ever a bad place to be.

So yeah, we went for our first gown fitting for the photoshoot in January and it was awesome. It was quite difficult to make a choice because the gowns i tried were all really beautiful (Dan agreed too!). In the end, i picked two bridal gown - one with a long, long train with lacy floral embellishments and another sleek, halter-necked one. Chose two evening gowns too - one purple (Barney-purple!) iridescent low-backed one and a simple, black polyester one (fake leather alert!). We may decide to replace one of these dresses for a traditional kua, so we can muck around and fun! We'll see.

It's good that Dan and I have similar taste and hence face little problems when deciding stuff for the wedding. Even when we were deciding on the song list and dishes for the wedding dinner, it took us barely 10 minutes. Now, i'll just need to finish typing out the wedding mass book and then that'll be crossed out from the to-do-list too. Looks like everything's on target! Time to update our wedding blog too!

Anyhoooo, after telling Dan (and God knows who) umpteenth times never to coil Chester's leash around their hands/fingers lest he bolts off and takes one of your appendages off, it happened to me yesterday! Nope, he didn't take my hand off, but he nearly did. I now have an extremely swollen, sore and bruised ring finger on my right hand. The pain was so excruciating when it happened, i thought i may even have fractured my finger! But i'm glad i didn't and i sure am thankful!

The first thought that came into my head was the fact that i probably cannot type with that finger for at least a week or two. Now, that says alot about my reliance on the computer, doesn't it? This morning, i woke up, feeling the tingly pain in my finger, and it dawned upon me that i wouldn't be able to hold a scalpel blade handle as well - which means i can't teach the lesson i was supposed to teach today! Then in the car, i suddenly realised i also wouldn't be able to play the piano for awhile too!!! I just hope it'll come right soon because i'll need it for the course performance as well as the x'mas carolling session.

Time to stock up on my Ammeltz!

p.s. Psssst...I have a picture of me in a wedding gown! Wanna see?

Surprise!

This is the surprise i got in the morning - a shrivelled-to-the-bone lizard on my desk!!!! If it was alive, i would have dealt it with my most colourful vocab but since it was long gone and very dehydrated, i thought i'd give the dead some respect. But still, it's GROSS. I was majorly majorly MAJORLY grossed out.

YUCKS.

Anyways, i was showering yesterday when i heard Dad and Qiqi singing together. It was really funny - Dad's polished, beautiful voice coupled with Qiqi's raw, out-of-tune voice. It sorta made me think of the times Dad and I shared when i was kid, and that made me emo for awhile. I must admit i was abit of a rebel when i was young(er) but even so, i was always afraid of incurring the wrath of Dad. If you've ever seen him getting mad, you would too! *shudders*

I remember this incident where i got 7 ear piercings at one shot and was sososo afraid that Dad would scream his head off. In the end, the old man actually said "CHEH!" and reckoned it was no crime worth fussing over. When i got older and the family got tighter, i was still scared of him. But it became different - i was scared of hurting my much-loved Daddy more than simply just fearing a high-and-mighty father figure.

Dad has always been my greatest influence and my pillar of support. I think he's one of the coolest Dad around! Dya know he even offered to accompany me (and get himself a scorpion tattoo) when i wanted to get inked? And no, i don't think he was joking! But of course, like any self-respecting daughter, i didn't allow him to do that la!!

Deep down i just know, I'd never, ever, ever have gotten so far in life if it weren't for him.

This rainy weather. So apt for feeling emo.

Random Snippets

The flowers i got last week. I love! :)

Another week gone by. We managed to catch the Motorshow 2006 and got to see some very snazzy-looking cars. Dan's ultimate choice is the Lamborghini but i didn't see the reason for fancying them. Too boxey and too angular-looking. I think the Maserati is so much more sexier! Anyway, the highlight of the show was none other than the stunt show. If we had more money on us, we would have bidded for the passenger seat beside Russ Swift while he was doing the stunts!

Youtube's a bit cranky recently, but i'll try and get the stunt vids uploaded as soon as i can.

The gown fitting is just a week away! The prospects of donning a wedding gown for the first time in my life is really exciting! Pissingly exciting! We're starting to do up the church booklet as well - choosing reading and choosing songs. Seems like there's a hell lot of things to do, yet at the same time it feels like we've settled most stuff already. Hmmmm.....what else? Prompt me!

Job-wise, i've recently got a very, very tempting proposal to work in Vietnam as an expatriate. The thought of me being an expat drawing a salary in US Dollars (Oh hello Bush!) is unthinkable and somewhat hilarious. Anyway, we'll see....no harm exploring but i doubt i'll take it up even if the offer was confirmed. My first thought was of course my folks and Daniel (and err our housing loan!) then i thought about Chester. Just out of curiosity (and some stupidity, undeniably), i searched youtube for "vietnam dog agility" and was disappointed that there was none! Like duh, of course don't have la!

Then i went on to search for "vietnam dog" and was not surprised to see a few vids of very fresh-looking dog(meat). Ewwwww. I can't imagine anyone making Chester their dinner. Gross.

It's My Life

It's been awhile, i know!

I've been bogged down by dog-training, classes, work and entertaining a few irritating people. Now and then, i suppose we meet one or two of these people who need to step all over someone else to feed their delusions of grandeur. I find that really annoying and totally uncecessary. I think age plays a part in making a person more confident and self-assured - less envious of what others have and more aware of the blessings they should count. I know for sure i don't need to stoop that low to feel good - sure signs that i'm aging. Hahah!

Mad rush last week because of the group performance but i think the group nailed it, considering the fact that our vocal range is so so so diverse and we aren't exactly the best singers in class. The girls came over to my place for practice and one of them absolutely adores Chester while the other was petrified! G, the doggy-loving one spent most of her time playing with the dog and the boy was just elated to have a new person who was patient enough to play fetch with him and throw the ball 1001001 times. In his excitement, he pounced on her and gave her face a few good licks and ended up taking off some of her very pretty makeup. I later also found some glittery stuff (suspected to be G's eyeshadow) on his nose and tongue!

Work's been busy, busy, busy. Interviewing potential candidates to join my team is kinda interesting because i never thought i'd have the power to decide who joins and who doesn't. As big boss always says, "Power corrupts, but power sure rocks!" I can't agree more. I think i'm gonna stay put in this job for awhile.

Over dinner that day, i was just musing with Dan about setting up my own online store but i suppose that won't materialise till awhile later. Still, it's important to set goals and remind yourself to work towards it. Well 2 years ago, my new year resolution was to get Chester started with Agility and trial him just for the fun of it! Now, it's all starting to fall in place (it took a job change!) and if he's good enough next year, he'll be in the ring competing with other dogs. Nevermind even if he doesn't make the cut, the bond we forged and the fun he had during the entire process is enough to make me smile. It just amazes me, how much a dog can learn, if and only if you're willing to put in the time and effort.

On a love-dovey note, it's our 8.5 year anniversary today!!! Dan very readily said an emphatic "happy anniversary" last night at 11pm in case i was already asleep at midnight! Soon enough, it'll be our 9th and then the big day!! To-do list is still quite lengthy though but nevermind that. I'm looking forward to dinner at Don tonight and then my extended break. No work tomorrow! No work on Monday! Sweeet.