Couplehood

Our Little Hero Brushes His Own Teeth

He's just learned how to brush his teeth (all two of them). He grabs the brush excitely and goes at it with passion.

Makes us proud, he does. :)

Here It Is :)

That be the box. Thanks to Andy my bradder for his personal review! :) And yes, this post was written entirely on the iPhone.

Alright. Back to work.

The Monday Faithful: Okay. I've Changed My Mind. iPhone it is.

I'm Embarrassed.

I've Finally Given Up Resisting
And now, I number myself as one of the teeming millions of iPhone users. My previous phone was unusable (I mean, 7 hours of battery life is just ridiculous). Seeing how I've blasted the device at every conversation I've had (and overheard) about it, I feel rather silly now that I'm discovering how nifty it really is. 12 hours after being iPhone-d, I must say that I am quite impressed. What would probably impress most is that I paid just $148 for it. Seriously, it was the cheapest smart phone I could find. Cheap rocks, man.

We're All Down With Something, and It's The Boy's Fault
He caught something from someone – and we've stopped trying to figure out who – and he's been a vector for disease ever since. The wife has been busy day and night chasing the bug down with meds. She's entirely zonked out. For me, I was panting trying to help her clean and drug the boy up over the weekend (I'm part of the diversion effort; you should see me dance), so I'm glad that we've at least broken the fever. Now it's just the cough, sneezing and diarrhea to deal with.

We've Made Some Headway
I promised to give you some idea on how we're doing on the financial front, and after a couple of months of struggle, I'm glad to say that we're making some progress on it. I'm still resolute on making a single income work out for my family, because it is worth striving for. More updates when I can make them.

A Personal Legend
I've been mulling over this one for a week, after someone threw this (and a bunch of other questions) at me to think about. What kind of life am I committed to living? What mark will I leave once I've done what I've sought out to do? Why should I live at any levels less than gloriously? Yeah, I know what you think. But don't tell me it's fluff, until you're able to answer those with the truth.

And, after all, there's no point living if you're not living true to your truest self.

(p.s. More pictures of the family once I'm done toying with apps on my iPhone.)

Monday Faithful: Wow, Where Did All The Time Go

That's them at Thomson Medical. If not for this trip, we'd never have known about the bug.

The Lady and Little Boy Are Sick
I've been spared from the latest bug, which looks to be rather nasty. There's the sore throat, cough, phlegm and fever (among the other yucky things) which has been going around quite a bit. Some of the kids are church picked it up too, but right now it's hard to point out the source. To think we thought that the fever was part of the teething process! I'll just focus on getting them back up to health. Gah. Many things to do.

The Great Part About Writing
Is that I love it so much. I don't know if I'm supposed to love writing as much as I do being rather dyslexic, but I don't care much for brain malfunctions. I'm too happy living a dream, really. Let's see where it takes me.

Updates On Busyness
I've put aside the LP journey for the moment, a decision that I really didn't want to make. But with the current situation at home, I know where my commitment needs to be. I just wish there was a way to make it all work and succeed, but I know where I need to be right now. I'll need to speak with a number of people who I care about very much, to bring the matter to a close.

This Is The View From Marina Barrage
Excuse my poor camera and lousy photo taking skills. I had a picnic event at the Marina Barrage on Sunday. I had been there the previous week, and I must say it's one of the most beautiful sights in Singapore (it ranks a third, actually, first being the view from the Westin, the second being a secret point at Kallang park). It's lovely. Make a trip there on your next outing, and bring kites.

I'm Looking for a Book Called Back of The Napkin
It's sold out in Singapore, apparently. I'm going to hunt it down. I've even got coupons ready. It's awesome. Check it out.

The Road Not Taken

[This is a poem from Robert Frost. It was published in 1916, in an answer to fellow poet English poet Edward Thomas who often wondered what would happen if they took different paths. I love this so much. Mostly because I empathize with Mr. Thomas.]

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

David Hangs Out With Guimei and Gary

Check it out; David hanging out with his buddies, Gary and Guimei (since their official title is "jie jie" and "kor kor") on a sleepy afternoon last week. Apparently, he's chilling out to a news channel while Gary pats him to sleep and the two ladies bake cakes.

Wonderful afternoon for the lady. I'm glad she gets to go out and about sometimes, instead of being cooped up at home.

(I was going to mention the cakes, but the wife threatens to fracture my skull with it if I do.)

The Monday Faithful: The Days of Solving Problems

Well, yeah. Haha.

Getting Used To The New Job
After a week of being a writer full-time, I must admit that it's growing on me. I had a slightly bumpy second week, but it's nothing to be upset about (at least personally). While I'm getting used to the pace of work here, the jobs that are being thrown at me at being thrown at a manageable rate. This means room for me to learn, which I hope I'm doign fast enough. Apart from that, the work on the side's getting encouraging. It's not racing, but I'm going to get busy putting some of the things I'm learning from the books I'm reading to good use. I *so* want to make this work.

The Almost 7-Month Old
David's a little ways away from being a full fledged 7 month-er. He's taking slow to solids, preferring the watery feeds to the more pasty things we're feeding him. It's not easy getting him used to the sludge that we're feeding him, but he's the sort who will take a while before taking to something. In between that, there's a whole load of kicking, crying, screaming – and now –  projectile pastes. He recently sprouted tooth no. 2, which we suspect gave him a fever last night. it burned to a high of 37.9 degrees this morning, and we're more than a little worried. The lady's keeping an eye on him while he frets today. I'm just a phone call away.

The Little Lady And Me, Long Talks
We've been having long chat sessions on where we'll be taking the family. Sometimes painful, sometimes confronting, and often with a sense of laugh-out-loud disbelief, especially when we're looking at how far we've come since 1 December 2007. We set everything on the table and had a long hard look at what we won't compromise and what has to go. It's an exercise of pruning while clarifying what makes sense. We often fall asleep long before we resolve anything. But we're getting there.

But We Know What's Real
So here's what's real: this family, our loved ones (because you guys are more than just friends), our belief that God loves us, and that someday we're going to have to answer if we've lived a life worth living. A life of meaning. And making it together. I keep telling her that, often right before sleep takes her eyes. The lady smiles and nods, and I know that she agrees with me.

I think that's what really matters.

The Unlimited Freelancer: A Peek

I've been meaning to check this book out, but I've been holding back because most of the reviews have been positive (that's how I check books out at Amazon – go straight to the 1 star reviews). Not only that, most of the reviewers seemed to be affiliate marketers, which means vested interest. That's like reading a movie review for the Transformers and discovering that the reviewer's last name is Spielberg. Well, you get the idea.

So, I got it anyway. I'll check it out and tell you what I think.

The Monday Faithful: Fun Days and Scary Days

Fun Days: SG Over At Our Place
We had SG over at our place, a nice time – if not a little bit rowdy. I'm glad to have them over though, it's been such a long time that the Kohs have had a chance to have them over when all of us were there. There's a picture I was going to use, but there's something wrong with the uploading. Later then. [Okay, here it is now]

Scary Days: So I Woke Up, And Found David On The Floor
Apparently the wife put him beside me, telling me to look after him, but he promptly rolled off the bed plunging half-a-metre onto the floor. Right now, I'm wondering how he pushed aside one pillow, one bolster and a blanket to find the floor. We ran to pick him up, with my mum shouting all over the place, checking to see if he was okay. Apart from a red spot at the back of the head, he looked perfectly fine. Not even a bruise or anything.

I Can't Figure It Out
Like many things, I'm finding my poor brain unable to wrap itself around how it happened. He could have fallen with the bolster under him. The wife, the mum and I are all still a little shocked. Whatever the case, I'm relieved to know that he's okay. After panicking and feeling utterly wretched with myself for the whole of the weekend, I've decided that we're going to clasp him in some iron restraints on his four limbs. Just kidding. We'll just chain his legs.

The Writing Thing
So I've done what I've set out to do. I've sent the book off, I've started a writing career, and freelance jobs are on the way in. There are some re-arrangements for some of the gigs I have (i.e. less money) which is a concern. This might need a new strategy, and a new direction. We'll see how it goes.

Putting Together Pieces Of Eight
I've got a long way to get when it comes to writing. I'm just realising that as I'm starting, and how far behind I am. That's my story really, playing catch up and learning as fast as I can. I hope it will all work.

Okay. I'm Off.
I'll slip in a picture here later. I've got two actually. One of the little boy sitting my lap while the Missus took a shot of us. It's my new favorite picture.

The Friday Inspirational: Keep On Reaching

by IlonQua

Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your
hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose
them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.

- Carl Schurz

I was strangely inspired by this little thing Carl Schurz said. A man who lived his ideals to the very end – and as remembered by them.

Good way to be remembered, methinks.