Couplehood

Happy Chinese Lunisolar New Year!

Here we are going around the neighbourhood!

Happy Year of the Ox dear readers. Glad to know you're joining us :)

Buying Breakfast for the Family

Part of a man's role in the family would be a hunter-gatherer, so they say.

This morning, I'll be a-huntering for wanton mee and raw fish. Nice.

It's been a week now and with a renewed perspective of life. I sense that a lot of what I've been thinking and researching about is coming through, not only to me, but to those around me.

I'm almost done with breakfast. Tell you more next time.

The Monday Faithful: Being In This Moment.

The Wife's Amazing Transformation
We were on the way out to kai-kai in the city today, but the lady had a hard time choosing clothes. Most of them don't fit anymore, even though she's lost nearly 12 kgs since the boy was born. Her body's changed significantly - it's shapelier - so even though she's shed the weight, she's way more lovely than before. If she reads this, I'm going to get a smack on my head for saying this, but it's true, she looks wonderful.

The Boy's Growing So Fast
And on the flip side to his mother's weight loss, this guy's putting on weight. He's consuming nearly a litre of milk a day, and it's showing on his cheeks. He's starting to make more complicated sounds, and he's learning how - of all things - to pinch. He's already bruised his mum and me. I can't till he gets ticklish.

I'm Here, I Have Arrived
I disappeared for three days - mostly with the wife's support. It's not easy leaving the family, no matter how important the program. She's been amazingly supportive and understanding, especially in this time. She knows how much I needed the time. I don't think I can quite nearly explain what happened over this weekend. I dug in, and I renewed. And, I realise, I am me.

I had no idea how much I had carried on my back all this time - it's not all gone, but it's a start. I'm sure now that my head is quiet - there's a tranquility that I have not had for ages.

Remember to ask me the next time we meet. I'll give you a first chapter, if you have the time.

Monday Faithful: Singing, Sleeplessness, and Ais Krim

 

Crooning
I discovered, after a series of attempts at soothing David the Grouch, that music actually calms him down. It's amazing. "Baa Baa Black Sheep" works like a charm, together with other assorted lullabies that I remembered from my youth. I'm wondering if he's picky about the song. I'll have to try humming the tune to "Superman" next. Just kidding.

Like His Great-Grand-Daddy
I was a little stunned looking at a picture of my grandfather in his youth. David's got some of his features, which is not surprising, but rather interesting. My granddad was a serious man, and rather grumpy (he was more cheerful after a drink or two, but it got better after his conversion). I was wondering, won't it be so strange if David were serious and sober like him? It would be so.... well, strange.

Sleeplessness Caring for the Grouch
The lady and I are slooooooowly taking over from Feng Jie, who's been teaching us how to go about controlling him. I'm very glad that she has the same principles when it comes to child caring. She's a very capable lady who's got tons of experience, something we call can learn from. I promised her that she'll be the first person we call even after our number eleven (the lady is glaring at me now).

Can You Imagine Oreo, Banana and Cinammon? I Can.
Whipped together with cream, eggs and other nice things. Eelin came by today to deliver the best ice cream we've had for a long time. You know, that homemade goodness and all that. Hey Eelin, we're (very) willing test subjects, we'll volunteer anytime to sample ice cream goodness. ANYTIME! Hahahaa. We love ice cream so much.

Beat Down By Belly-Sickness

Originally uploaded by mary hodder

I Think I Ate Something Bad
I've spent a good part of this week in the toilet, and resting on the fleshier side of my forearm. It's the second worst bout I've had with food poisoning. It's not pleasant, I tell you. For the past 4 days, I had trouble stringing intelligible sentences together (I'm better now, danke). Seeing how the last bout changed my eating habits forever - I now eat white porridge with 腐乳 - I'm wondering what's going to happen next. Maybe I'll start to not hate stir-fried bittergourd. Nah.

Out Of The Bedroom, Onto The Couch
Thank God for the wife though, who's taking care of me. I'm trying hard not to spread it to her. Self-imposed exile stinks majorly, but I'll be most relieved if I don't add to the nausea she's been experiencing. Back to healing.

Baby Updates!

Babies All Over The Place
'Tis the season, you know. My sister popped Nicholas out just this Monday past, in a marathon 13-hour labour session. The amazing part was the whole event ending with 3 colossal pushes that squeezed/exploded the nephew into the world of breathable air. He's got the curliest hair - awfully cute - but my sister says it might not last. Lay Hong's still working on Josiah (at the time of writing, her gynae's thinking of going C-section), but Josiah's a little shy. We're praying that it's a smooth delivery!

Our Boy
We bounced high-frequency waves over little David, and we peeked at his features. He tried to shield his face with his femurs and upper arms, but eventually relented to show us the picture you see above. Unless I'm mistaken, the boy's pouting. Hmph!

7 Months. 7 Months!?!?!
We're nearly ready to go. This weekend, we pack the bags. After we visit the nephew, that is.

A Time to Mourn

End Of His Days
My grandpa passed away last week. It was a peaceful passing, though he did have some discomfort toward the end, he was hardly in much distress. A rare blessing, especially in the days we live in.

The Missus Is Doing Good; Practices Merlion Impressions
The Missus has had to juggle school and her newly-acquired duties as granddaughter-in-law over the past few days. She's been rather tired lately, and has had to endure cycles of hunger, bloaty-ness, nausea and throwing up every meal time. All that, and still maintain a cheery disposition. A rare blessing, especially in the days we live in.

Social Glue Ingredients: Sadness, Tragedy, Misery, And A Dash Of Vinegar
In my relatively short time alive, I've lost an uncomfortably high number of my loved ones and friends. Through it all, I think gained some insight on the human condition through these sad events. It's a little tough to say, but I'll just be bold and say it (tell me if I'm on to something): Tragedy brings human beings closer, more so than times of happiness, or any other time for that matter.

I think that's because sadness and misery are the only things all human beings truly have in common. 

Happy Lunisolar New Year Everyone!

Rats. Or Mice, If You're Squeamish.

The First Year For Ang Pow-Giving
We gave out red packets for the first time this year, which was fun. We made sure to be themed-out with rats/mice on the design, no less. The Missus and I saw the opportunity for blessing some folks and made sure we blessed them right and proper.

The Lunar New Year Is Not Necessarily Chinese New Year; Vice Versa
Interesting fact, is it not? The Chinese (and a few other sino-spheric cultures) actually celebrate the somewhat misnamed lunar new year based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar (which states the moon phase alongside the solar year). So, to be astronomically correct, it's a "Happy Lunisolar New Year" to you all (another interesting fact: only Islamic cultures truly follow a purely lunar calendar). I can't make sense of it all, but if that's your bag, then go check it out here, baby.

Fun and Grief
While we mainly had a good time eating and catching up over the New Lunisolar Year (okay, I'll stop that), the year opened with a load of sad tidings. For one, the Missus was down with a bug that kept her at home for the most part. Sadder still were the news of close friends' parents contracting illnesses and passings. I'll be keeping you and yours in prayer, everyday.

Baby Boom Boom Boom
On the bright side though, my sister and brother-in-law are expecting a healthy baby boy. If all works out well, then we'll have three rats in the family (including my baby cousin). Two of them are boys so far.

Secretly, I'm thinking it'll be a girl for us.

I'm In A Mixed Mood
Coming out of the spate of happy and sad news, I can't help but feel all mixed up inside. I'm not one for omens, but I can't seem to shake off the feeling that this is going to be challenging year - and it's not going to be just because of our new addition. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, we'll be needing it.

It's a Little Hard to Blog Now

As you may imagine, I'm getting less time to blog as often - and trust me, it'll get less in a few more months - but still, I'm going to see if I can post on a weekly basis.

The wife and I are going to get pretty busy as school reopens, and with more things coming up round the corner (one MAJOR thing really) 2008 is going to be a really busy year for us. We're really happy, but rather anxious at the same time.

Those of you who know, you may carry on laughing.

 

The Wedding Site Recce And Other Things

Our Pretty Flower Girls

Getting Stuff Done
I'm very thankful to all the brothers and sisters in Church who've been truly helpful. We spent a nice afternoon fellowshipping and touring the site for the wedding, as most haven't had a chance to see the place yet. Seriously, I wonder where we would be right now if not for their help. Thanks especially to Pastor Mak, Ziyang, the Chans, the Ongs, the Ongs, the Sngs, and the Sngs. Many more go unmentioned (with apologies)  for their wonderful help. Which only makes me hope that a lifetime will be long enough to return the favors.

Still Rather Weak
I'm still recovering, and it's been 3 weeks. It's interesting how a virus that I've already defeated can come back again to beat me up silly. While I'm well on the road to recovery, it's still someways from 100%. Note to uninitiated: shingles/chicken pox in your adulthood is going to be one of the worst non-terminal diseases you're going to get.


31 Days, And November's 2 Days Away
We're counting down, and with a handy widget from Yahoo, it's ever before us, reminding us that we really don't have many days left. Over the next few weeks, we've probably only got one weekend to relax and catch our breath.

I'm Going to Try to Blog More Regularly; I Miss It Heaps
I do, and I think it's a great time to keep track of the progress and reflect on the way here. Just a list of stuff that's coming up:

1. Last Week's Marriage counseling
2. Book Review on "His Needs, Her Needs" - But I'm holding this off until after the wedding. Special reasons, see.
3. Finding Things to Do When You're Down With the Shingles (A two line post)
   

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