on hugs and kisses

it was my dad's birthday yesterday. I sent him a text and a facebook message. This morning when I awoke, i received a text back from him

"Thanks :-) my dear Chewy"

It's feels a little strange to hear him call me Chewy (when i think for the longest time in my life he was using Chuiying) and doubly strange to hear him say "my dear".

My family is pretty traditional when it comes to showing or displaying our affection for each other. The only times I give my parents kisses are hugs are on special occasions like birthdays, Mother's and Father's day, airport send-offs and so on. In the recent years, however, my parents have become more used to the hugging and kissing. It was never a thing with the family so each time such behaviour is displayed, it feels nice but also strange in a way. I would love to do it more because I feel I don't show it often enough. And with J's family, I think I'll have to get used to it even more because they're all about that! J is always telling me I will be completely overwhelmed when we finally meet everyone on his end. I am still preparing myself mentally to meet his extended family.

in other news, it is also priscilla's birthday tomorrow. We went for a nice Sunday brunch followed by a girly mani-pedi session. Check out the yummy colours!




wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

thursday night in

i realised it's so hard to keep a blog daily when i started work again. i come home every day from work feeling so tired i just want to veg out on the couch. it was nice last night though, i invited my friend to my place just to chill after work. we've both had a long day, and all we want is dinner and a good movie on TV.

we ended up watching District 9, a movie about an alien colony living with humans in Johannesburg. Living separately, though, in an area called District 9. it probably parallels a lot of current events like BSG does, but I was too tired to think about it in depth.
however, what i meant to say is i really enjoyed the night and i should do it more often. have friends over. i'm usually contented and want to spend my evenings with just my boy.

in other news, football season has started with the Steelers playing the Titans. I got roped into playing Fantasy Football with my husband and his friends I don't know why. But following it will be tough. But I will try to follow the Bears this season because they sound pretty good with Jay Cutler on their team and his performance in pre-season.

Omg. I sound totally un-me.

soup for the soul

i made soup the other night.

i was craving my mom's soup and decided to FINALLY try it myself. It turned out to be really easy! i bought some pork ribs, carrots, potatoes and onions, threw them into a pot of water and let it boil for hours and then when dinner time came, i cooked some rice and poured the soup over it.



Here are the ingredients.

Never had making dinner been SO easy!



I think I'm going to make corn soup next.

Cheryl's Pot Luck

today's spontaneity of the day:

Chilli con Queso Dip (above, next to the carrots)
http://southernfood.about.com/od/cheesedips/r/bl30320h.htm




Bacon and Swiss Cheese Dip (above, 2nd pot from top)
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recipetemplate.php?scale=2+&mid=36325

instead of making something i've already tried and tested, i decided to look for new recipes to try out. Even though they're not to difficult, i feel kind of elated with the outcome, especially when they both got positive reviews! Wheeeee!

day 2

so i woke up extremely early today and decided to go for a walk in the park. i rode my bike, got myself a pancake for breakfast and headed for the park near the school, so I could go to work in an hour's time. when i got there, i realised i couldn't bring my bike inside the park and instead, had to park outside. not trusting my bike alone in any one public place for any amount of time, i decided to cycle around the neighbourhood.

the french concession is really a beautiful place, and in certain areas, it is so quiet and peaceful. i rode on this street where high-ranking officials and really important people lived. you could tell because every other house had high fenced-up walls, security cameras and a guard or two standing at attention on the outside. i think i actually smelt sandalwood in the breeze while riding past! i've always wondered how these places look on the inside.

arriving at school 2 hours before class, i ended up chatting with the cleaning ayi. she has lived in shanghai all of her 56 years and has seen great changes in this area. our school stands on what used to be farming grounds. across the road where the hotel stands, there once was a sports arena. she and her friends used to watch athletes train through the fences. now the area is perpetuated by sky high buildings and plagued by constant construction, especially with Expo 2010 looming ahead. the older buildings that are being conserved house row after row of bars. even in the short 3 years i've been here i've seen shops and restaurants come and go, buildings torn down and re-built in an instant...


i think i'm beginning to like this spontaneity exercise...

this little exercise is not working out terribly well!

!!!!

i got so caught up with work and meetings today that i completely forgot to do something spontaneous!

then again...I might need to define spontaneity a little, to sort out for myself what exactly counts as an act of spontaneity. does stopping to give a child in school a hug or giving time to chat with a parent count as a spontaneous act? (it might seem little to some but interacting with adults can be terribly arduous for me, because i think i am absolutely boring to talk to. which is also why my job as a teacher is perfect because children are less judging and more embracing.) i am completely comfortable with the children until i have to speak with their parents.

back to definitions. does it have to be something out of the blue and really special, or can it be something ordinary, just not something you would normally do?

dictionary.com defines spontaneities as
1. spontaneous impulses, behaviour, movements or actions
2. spontaneous activities

and defines spontaneous as
1. coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency; without effort or premeditation; natural and unconstrained;


in which case have i not only failed to be "spontaneous" but have also suppressed myself when i hesitated to say good morning to the person next to me in the elevator this morning. The words were actually on the tip of my tongue until i decided to swallow them and thought myself a wee bit silly to be "overly friendly".

on a brighter note, now that i am a little more self-aware, i will keep trying.


and i am positive i can only change for the better!

i think i'm going to try this:

one spontaneity a day, one craft a week.

this week, my craft will be to shorten my too-long purple skirt (in time for purple week in school next week)

let's see how long this will last

positivity!

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and so the spontaneity of the day...

i left a love note for J in the mail. I hope he finds it soon!

*Remind yourself to love the ones around you every single moment*