Musings....

What a sad day for the nation.... and for the First family. Our first lady lost her battle with cancer. Just goes to show how fragile and precious life is. The weather has just been as reflective of the sombre mood that the whole nation has been since early this morning when the news broke.
As we were catching glimpses of the whole funeral telecast, someone posted this questions - "Do u think that our PM was prepared for this?"... I remember answering a question along those lines a few weeks ago.... This is what I think... No one can ever be prepared no matter how prepared they think they are for the passing of a loved one. I don't think that it's possible.... Although you would have seen it coming, yet the myriad of emotions that you feel at the passing of a loved one will just envelope you when the time comes. At least that is what I think....

It's been a really tough year for the world... look at the myriad of natural catastrophes that have taken place, the many lives lost... even amongst some of the people that I know, it has been a rather tough year. Let's pray that God will grant us the strength and sustain us for the rest of the year and the years to come....

Celebration of Life

I went for a wake on Tuesday and it got me thinking..... The wake was for Jeremy, my sister's boyfriend, Jon's brother. You can read all about it here http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=hweeyen. It was a beautiful service although me and my mom missed the eulogy bit as we got a bit lost in USJ. I heard that the eulogy was most moving ... coupled with a song written just specially for the occassion. Anyways, you can read all about it at the link above.

Anyway, the wake got me thinking as a line that the Pastor said during her sermon stuck me " WHere are you in this race?". That went straight to my heart and I broke down.... it was already a bad day for me to begin with... but that's another story all together. So just where am I in this race of life? What legacy do I want to leave behind when I go and meet my maker?

When I went for Jeremy's wake - I also wondered how would my wake be? As I was making my way to the wake, I already knew somehow that there would be many people at this special boy's wake. God's presence was really there and I felt Him after a very long time. It felt great and the floodgates of tears just broke open.

Weddings are a celebration of a union of two people becoming one in front of God. Funerals are a celebration of a person's life - the legacy he or she has left behind as he/she goes to meet the Maker. Makes sense?

I'm still thinking and wondering where am I in this race? I want to pace myself to run a marathon and not a 100-meter dash. I want to leave a legacy behind that I can be proud of, that would bring a smile to His face when I go and see him.

So where are you in your race? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

Have a think about it.......

A day older...a day wiser?

I'll be turning 29 tomorrow... yup... I'll be a whole year older.. and no this is not a ploy to get more birthday wishes and presents..though the latter seems like a good idea... hah.. but for me at this point in my life.. it gives me the opportunity to reflect back on the past year and to imagine the year ahead.

At this juncture in my life, I'm very grateful that I've been blessed with a wonderful husband, absolutely cute daughter, great and supportive parents, a fantastic sister and not forgetting my wonderful in-laws..which include my 2 sisters-in-law. I must admit that at times I do act as if I don't treasure all these blessings but I really do! It's been an eventful year... one full of roller coaster rides... filled with laughter, joy, tears and a whole host of emotions. I think that I've also grown... though at times I seem to regress...but I'm slowly settling into being a mom, wife, daughter, friend and colleague. It's no easy task juggling all those roles..and it has made me appreciate my own mom even more!

So what is my resolution for this year before I hit the big 30? well, I want to be a more patient person, a person with a bigger heart and I want to be able to do more.. in terms of reaching out to people. For a start, I'm trying to be a more constant friend with my good friends.. and family too... also might include into that list..a try to be a mom again? that is with God's blessings..

Let's fill up the list as the year goes on.

But for now, I just really want to shout out to my friends..a BIG thanks for being great friends.. and to my family BIG hugs and kisses for being such a great support network.

Love you all!

My two favourite people

Just wanted to share a photo of my two favourite people with you guys. Of course it's my hubby Elvin and my favourite little princess, Olivia aka baby grubs... why grubs you might ask? that's because she used to be a tad grumpy when she was younger and her Ee-ee (who is my younger sister, Hwee Yen) together with my mom gave her that nickname. It's stuck eversince as nicknames do.

This is just showing Olivia's fashionable side. Her paternal grandad bought her that pair of glasses which has since succumb to losing one of its legs...no thanks to Olivia's gentleness. :)

You can see from the photo, how matching is their attire.. that's because daddy picked out the outfit for her! Anyway, I love both of them heaps... and they really can brighten my day.... just like sunshine!

Back after a long hiatus.....

This blog is back in business.... and as you can see, we took about a year off... yup..right after Olivia was born..and now she's what?? exactly 14 months old today!!!.. She has definitely brought lots of joy, laughter, entertainment and lack of sleep (which only applies to the me, her mummy!) to everyone in the immediate Yong and Chew clan...

Anyway, this is just a short posting...to revive this blog site... I guess I will be taking over from my dear husband...who started this blog..or maybe we will be sharing this blog to express our thoughts.....

I'll be back..with more stories on Olivia... and hopefully some photos too....

The Final Frontier

The last 2 days we have been in and out of the hospital. The false alarm yesterday was in fact beneficial; there is now a real sence of urgency and Mei no longer procrastinated about packing her bags. When the next round of contractions comes along, I am sure this time we would have the necessary gear to rock and roll.

In the morning as I was about to leave for office, Mei said she was bleeding but strangely, again there was no contractions nor any sign of water gushing out of her. From what we learned from antenatal, any sign of bleeding is critical enough to have it checked so off we went to the hospital. The nurse who attended to us was nice enough to let us jump queue despite the busy morning.

Doctor Siti said that mild bleeding is normal especially with the opening of the cervix as a result of the contractions, so mother is fine. To be sure baby is fine too; Mei was put on a CTG scan where Olivia’s heart beat and movements are monitored for 1 hour. The results were normal.

Regarding when we expect to return, Dr. Siti’s response was “Either tonight or tomorrow or even in our scheduled appointment next week”. Even with her vast years of experience, she wasn’t able to tell us for sure when we are going to be parents. I guess it is all in God's timing.

Mei’s colleagues fearing the worst...what comes to mind are Gloves, Hot Water, Scalpel etc - basically scaring the bejeepers out of them...well not wanting to take the risk, Mei was advised to stay home. With 3 days MC and 1 day replacement leave to cover her till the end of the week what better opportunity than to catch up on my entire DVD collection. And if all goes well, we should be seeing Olivia hopefully before the end of the week. If not, you would be stuck with reading more of my nonsence on this site.

Drama Queen

Did I mention that my wife was a drama queen. I probably did but I have to agree that it is better to be safe that to be sorry, especially for both mother and child’s safety.

Returning from lunch, as I sat down at my desk to read the 37th week update from babycenter.com, the phone rang. Mei’s words were “I am experiencing some pain and I am leaving office now, will you meet me at home?” She was generally calm but the quivering in her voice tells me that she was anxious.

I probe further asking her to describe the pain to me and when I was convinced that she was capable of driving home on her own, I said a short prayer over the phone and told her that I will be at home to take her to the hospital.

As I was packing up, deep down inside I kind of hoped that Mei would have said “Hey, my water bag has broke” for I know that it is a sure sign that baby was on her way to the launch pad. As the signs were unclear I more or less knew that I shouldn’t expect too much out of the situation. As the pains were not regular and far in between, we learned from our antenatal classes that time was on your side. At home, I had time to take a shower while Mei packed her bags.

Sure enough when we got to the hospital, as expected even the nurses was indifferent and we had to wait in line just like every other normal check up. Mei was a little furious cause although the contractions were very mild and irregular in between, she was sure that she should at least receive more attention than the other pregnant mothers.

Being first timers, it is always an anxious experience – not knowing what to expect, besides, it doesn’t help with the added dramas from sitcoms such as ER and Chicago Hope – all the commotion and fuss over extreme delivery cases. In reality of course especially for your first child, the labour process could stretch anything between 2 – 18 hours with an average of 8 hours for most first timers.

Anyway, after an hour Mei saw the doctor and the results did show that Mei had mild contractions, nevertheless it was too irregular to be concerned with. There was also no reason to rush things so we were sent home to let nature take its place.

I think Mei was more disappointed rather than relieved as she was set on seeing Olivia that night itself besides her husband never fails to remind her in situations like this that she is such a “Drama Queen”.