weekend's here!

I've had a pretty interesting week - on Monday I had the chance to watch up-close a partial nail avulsion procedure and a total toenail removal procedure. Truth be told, I was abit apprehensive at first; I thought I might pass out, seeing as it almost happened the last time I saw a wart removal. But thank God! I survived with 0% churning stomach and clammy feeling and pale sweat, despite the goriness of it all. :)

Tuesday saw me and Gabby at a vascular clinic with Dr. Paul Norman. It was the first time I came into contact with high-risk foot patients. People of sorts came in, ranging from young mothers to senior citizens, healthy adults with normal feet to diabetics with 4 toes on a foot, ulcer patients and skin disease patients. I learnt heaps that day - normal academic and educational stuff, and just a little bit more about life and the world out there.

Seeing those patients made me feel thankful for a couple of things:

1. Vision - A patient was going blind because the artery to her eye was blocked following a minor stroke. She wakes up every morning and everything on one side of her eye is blur. She was frustrated, worried, anxious, everything negative you can think of - heck, I'd be too, if I had to fall asleep every night, knowing that there's a possibility of waking up the next morning and every morning after that to blackness. Imagine that.

2. The ability to walk without feeling pain - Another patient had this problem called 'intermittent claudication', meaning there is blockage to one of the main leg vessels, resulting in reduced blood flow further down. As a consequence, there is pain upon walking a certain distance. The furthest she could walk was across the road, and I could tell it was really breaking her heart because she loved walking. Imagine not being able to walk for normal periods of time. :(

On more than two occasions patients came in with their spouses. They were both old, they were both hobbling along, but they were both holding hands and watching each other's steps. I found that really sweet. Mental note to self: Yes, I will take care of my hypothetical husband even when we're both old and wrinkly, and even when I'm sick, because he will deserve that much. In health or in sickness, for better or for worse, right? :)

The rest of the week pretty much sailed by, I am proud to say I stayed awake for the whole day on Friday - that's the longest day of the week. Tute, then 2 lectures, and another 2 lectures. It's stupid how everyone else is like TGIF TGIF! and we're all like ughhhhhhhhhhhh fridayyyyyy.

ah well. such is life. gotta run now, work time :)

Back to uni.

woohoo, i'm pooped. just finished 2 Pharmacology lectures - what a pain! i'm glad i've got this grey Monday arvo to catch up tho. the last 3 hours have been good for my conscience, seeing as Easter and study break zipped by in a flash.

Speaking of which, I had a pretty awesome Easter! Long story short, here's how I spent my Easter weekend: Maundy Thursday service, Youth Leaders Meeting on Good Friday, One Tree Hill, D&Ms, steamboat dinner at Tim's, Kim's birthday cake, all-day work on Saturday(boohoo), Alice in Wonderland, choir on Easter Sunday, cupcakes and hot tea, heart-to-heart conversations and finally, family bbq with the new set.

Thinking of Easter weekend still makes me smile. :) :)

As for the rest of the study break, once more, long story short: Titans on Tuesday, fell sick, sleepover on Wed night, IKEA $1.95 breakfast(Y) on Thurs morning, work, fringe-cut and shopping on Friday, watched 'End of the Spear' Friday night, worked more on Saturday, had IKEA meatballs in cream sauce for dinner on Sat night, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, and did up Bible Study Material and Summary too.

Evidently, no time for study. and yes, IKEA meatballs for dinner, very worth mentioning.

Thank God for no mid-sems or assignments this time round! And thank God too, for hearing my prayers and answering some of them. :)

Rightio, it's time for exercise!

Grilled Sausages & Stuffed Bell Peppers

I had a really good time at the Ellington Jazz Club today.

Except for the occasional oohs and the aahs, and "When did he change drumsticks?", and "Which guy do you think looks the best?" and "Yum, these tapas are awesome!" ..it felt good to just sit, watch and not talk.

Jazz music is actually very happy music. Watching Metros Big Band play today has made me happier than I've been all week.

I have also just read threads of emails initiated by Ivan Low, and Jono's reply has made me go all warm and fuzzy inside.

Love exists, albeit in many different forms, and sometimes it hurts quite bad - but at the end of the day, love still wins.

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinary

E is even more than anyone that you adore

-L-O-V-E, Nat King Cole-

Outside RPH

Today I visited a Catholic cathedral for the first time.

The moment I stepped foot into the building, a great feeling of peace enveloped me. It was a totally different feeling compared to stepping into IMC. Granted, we are a Methodist church, which means less of the traditional, more of the contemporary. Random people sat scattered in the pews, each lost in their own thoughts. The ceilings went up real high, and beautiful stained-glass windows surrounded the church.

I saw the confession boxes, statues of Christ and Mother Mary (and another woman). I marvelled at the intricate beauty and art of the paintings and mosaic tiled walls. I was captivated by the somewhat eerie yet comforting music coming from the pipe organ located upstairs. I loved the traditional architecture of it all. I had so many questions, most of which Gabby patiently answered.

Don't get me wrong, I love IMC to bits, but this was a really good experience. I'm actually considering spending some of my free time here on Wednesdays in between lectures. :)

I'm only sorry this was the one day I didn't have my camera with me. :(

Bad Day

Thursday, 4th March 2010. One week after I turned 21.

I was driving along Leach Hwy, on my way to BBT. Somehow had my phone in one hand, steering wheel in another, when all of a sudden the sound of blaring horns made me look into my rearview window, and I saw this massive hulk of a truck coming (quite fast) towards me from behind.

In the split second that my brain took to process what was happening I looked up, and saw that the lights were green and that the cars in front of me had already gone forward. A split second later, all instincts were yelling at me to STEP ON THE GAS, which I did, and so managed to escape the calamity that would've most likely followed.

I couldn't stop shaking for a while after that. and all I could do was thank God the truck didn't hit me, and thank God I was still alive.

Later that night, my bag got stolen by dodgy people around the church neighbourhood, because I'd forgotten to bring it in from outside amidst the frenzy of trying to open the church doors and really needing to go to the toilet. In Sta's words, "It's okay, it's an ugly bag." true, that. but my purse was stolen too. It had eeevverything in there, ID, bank cards, loyalty cards, Donor card, and this really ossum picture of me and my siblings that I love. I was more upset over losing that picture than anything else and thinking about it just made want to cry. I still feel sad now, but I'm over it. I guess photos can always be re-taken. And I did receive 2 new purses for my birthday too. :P

So, 2 things I learnt:

- never touch the phone while driving

- always make sure I bring my bag with me, even to the toilet

And 2 things I realized:

- my time on Earth isn't up yet, which probably means God isn't finished with me.

- it is true when they say pictures hold more than a thousand words.

the joys of becoming an adult. :)

The Big 21

i have just had one of the BEST weekends of my life.

Saturday night saw us (Me, Dad, Family, IMCers, Pods, Khang+Dex) celebrating my 21st and Dad's 55th at our place. It has been a while since I've held one of these parties, and I'm really glad I did!! :)

We spent the entire day doing preps, cleaning both interior and exterior compounds, decorating the house, sweeping, wiping, moping, washing..you name it, we've done it!! but everyone came over, everyone had fun, everyone liked the place, so it was well worth it.

This is actually a REALLY wordy post, but I don't have pictures yet. Will post some up in due time. :) You've been warned!

Highlights of the night :

• We ran out of time..by the time my 1st guest arrived, I'd only JUST finished showering and putting on my dress, so I had no choice but to greet Hannah at the door with soaking wet hair. ngh..not a good look. :P

• Sta and I tried curling one side of my hair (in between greeting guests and putting make-up on) which ended up quite horrendously :O so I tried to blow it straight again. Surprise surprise, my hair refused to uncurl itself, and I was 2 seconds away from freaking out, but i had an epiphany (AHA! what if i wet my hair and blow it dry again?) so I didn't end up looking toooooo bad. :P

• I wore my expensive purple dress, which fished me a few compliments :) but I also realize it exposed my very unevenly tanned back. :(

• Greg sang me the acoustic version of 'Replay'.

"..I'm in the kitchen cooking things she likes....Someday I wanna make her my wife.."

• 
  

• Inappropriate lyrics much? LOL. now I can't listen to that song without thinking of Greg, and I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. =/

Cheng Loon sang 'Collide', what can I say? He's got the voice, he's got the skillz, it was geng :)

Nonetheless, bigBIG thank you to both dudes :) it was ossum, I loved it!

• The theme "All Things Bright and/or Beautiful" kinda failed, I think only the girls got the idea. All the ladies looked absolutely lovely! KUDOS to the dudes who turned up in nice, proper collared shirts. Well done! :D The rest who didn't - nevermind, I forgive you. ;) LOL.
  
  
• Received a whooole bunch of presents, the most ossum being a SCRAPBOOK made by my family, it was perfect!! :) Next ossum, got a drum pad and a pair of drumsticks from Gabs, Dev and Al to practice strokes on, that was brilliant!! :D Hmm, looking at the clutter in my room, I've actually received things in pairs:-
  
  - 2 beanbags which have all been filled and I can hear them calling out to my bum!
  - 2 lovely photoframes which will be filled with ossum pictures when i get them
  - 2 bags - 1 girly one from Dotti, 1 cool Krumpler, both awesome :D
  - 2 purses - 1 black Guess, 1 white Gyanimaru.
  - 2 perfumes - Gucci Envy Me and a Body Shop Moroccan Rose
  - 2 books - To Save A Life & Jane Eyre
  - 2 pieces of clothing - a nice top that i don't know how to describe, and a colourful skirt
  - 2 keychains - Kimmidoll (it's Kim with Sam's eyes! :P) and one with the letter M
  - others include : Yoshi, (the SuperMario Dinosaur), a toiletry bag, Lush shower and bath items, Salt & Pepper crockery, 'Couples Retreat' DVD (LOL!!), a photoalbum, gift cards (Koorong, Myer, Hoyts), chocolates, jewellery (a pair of Swarovski earrings, a 21st birthday key necklace, a shiny silver necklace and more accessories), a watch, angpows, a Parker pen, Blue Brothers Moscato, Yellow Jewel, (Evans & Tate?) wine and this really awesome selfmade chipmunk birthday card by Albert!
  
  *whew* opening them actually got abit tiring towards the end =/ but I do love every single one of them, and all them cards with well wishes just completes the picture. :D

• I opened Dme's gift, and held it up to my chest...until Gabby looked at me with a serious/shocked/omg face and said, "Mel...that's a SKIRT!" OMG embarassedface much LOLOLOLOL. *blush* THAT was probably IT. the megablooper, highest highlight of the night.
  
  
• Jason baked me a lemon (not so much coconut) cake! It was a bit too sweet (there were crunchy sugar granules in it! :O), but it was very good. Apparently he almost burnt the house down in the making. AND! he was the ONLY ONE who came in a suit, because his dear little sister told him "Everyone else is hiring tuxedos and everything!" :D :D
  
  
• It took 3 people to divide leftover cake into containers, twas pretty hilarious. I think we concluded engineers ie Esther had the best estimation skills. No offense Francis and Sta. :P

• When everyone else had left, Esther, Sta and I sat outside enjoying the night breeze and champagne. Bring on the girl talks and D & Ms and what-nots! :)

All in all, I'd say it was a success, definitely VERY memorable, and I love everyone for making it all happen. :) so if I haven't already said it, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I had a wonderful time, and I now have many happy memories, all made in a night, that would make me smile on crummy days.

So happy, that thinking of the $180 I spent on my dress doesn't even hurt anymore. :)

What do you do

when you have to get into work an hour early to start the day

when you get angry with the new girl at work

when you get even angrier with yourself because you were determined to keep your cool at work with the new girl

when the skies are grey and gloomy

when you burn dinner

when there are a million things piled up (and still going) on your To-Do-List

when you're waiting on a sign from up above (and still waiting)

when people don't realize the importance of rsvps

when people muddle times and things up

when the internet stuffs up on you

when you just cannot be bothered to think about anything anymore

>=/

you suck it in, and you go for a run. then you sleep.

and hopefully, we all wake up to a bright sunny happy day in the morning.

i don't remember being this irritated in a reeeeally long time. whew. okay, rant over. :)