toothy tricia

Ahh yes.. my teeth and gum condition are improving.. I see my gums less red and sore..i haven’t tried biting into ice cream (usually my teeth hurts).. but I feel it getting stronger! Persist tricia..dental health is important.. just like complexion! Imagine I have nice skin but when I smile, I’m tooth-less.. oh my!!

captured moments

Photoshoot’s done! I found it fun and I’m thankful for everyone there on that day who made it such a blast.

-dearie: you look great.. suave and good looking as ever..muaks! thank you for allowing me have the photoshoot..

- mummy & daddy: thank you both for being there..for the lovely flowers..and my dad as back up photographer..delivering the shots to us on the same day! =)

- weeling: thank you for coming and making so much time to help out at the photoshoot.. hee.. it’s so cute seeing you walk here and there with a flash in your hand..and standing behind the umbrella..=)

- jesslin: thank you for making me look so beautiful.. =) you are indeed my first choice mua.

- siew weng: thank you for accommodating to our silly requests..and going the way out to make this photoshoot possible.

We had some shots from dad which we really liked and we’ll post it on shortly. It was pretty funny when we did the signature jumps.. it was just so us.. dearie looked like he had fallen from the sky.. he’s the angel who fell right into my clutches..muhahaha! and he has such nice natural brown hair..how come mine is so black!?

Tomorrow our company is on half day.. that means I’ll get to leave work at 12noon.. meet mum and go shop for earrings stuff and in town..weee!! Wednesday is hari raya holiday, dearie and I are going to macrit to run. I’m making plans of doing a long run..maybe run to aircon road..back perhaps..if possible..plus a bit more. Hope we can clock 20km.. I’ll bring my foot pod probably to measure the distance. Will cook dumpling dinner on wed as I’ve got wanton skin left from yesterday’s dumpling dinner. this time I’ll remember to incorporate spring onion inside the dumplings upon dearie’s request. =)

I am finding so much fulfillment and joy. I found delight in simply looking at dearie dine into the dumplings and enjoying it. looking at my dad’s excitement with the photos and getting them all developed on the same day made me feel special. Spending time discussing with mum which crystal looks well with what earring was just fun! I don’t have to go far to find happiness because it is just beside me all the time. I just have to take the effort to be close to it and I will find bliss.

Having things fall into place gives such sense of satisfaction. Photoshoot went pretty well with all the planning made. Next is the actual day which I will need a lot of help from my parents in law and christin. I’ve made plan to meet up with her for discussion on Wednesday and we will peruse into the details of things. much of the load has been lessened by my parents in law. Mum has helped us source for most of the things we need for the day..and she is a lady with wide contacts! Even the auntie at the shop which sold us the red wedding essentials said my mum managed to rent the houses at a better price than she did! =)

School is starting this Friday..and I’m looking forward to it.. timing is perfect because I’ll finish exams for this term 1 week before my actual day. Tuition will begin to ease starting October.

Oh yes, after how pretty jesslin made me look on Saturday, I find that I ought to start dolling myself a little more these days. First and foremost I must ensure my complexion stays in good form..that will mean I must eat more fruits.. with that checked, next step is having suitable skin care products. I’ve been using the kanebo whitening cleanser and I simply love it. mummy passed me some sample for its toner and moisturizer.. will try it soon. Thirdly, it’s the cosmetic I want to use. Simple lipstick is essential..and I really love the gold coloured lip stick and pink+gold shimmer gloss jesslin used on my lips. Instead of the usual sausage effect I get from my own futile attempts, the gold made my lips look subdued and it controlled it from grabbing too much attention from the rest of my face. I’ll work on it. minimal make up should make me too wayang..but pleasing and sweet to the eye (I hope!).

shooting crew

It’s going to so hilarious on Saturday. We've got quite a crew here as my parents insist on accompanying us for the photoshoot. Dad is worried that siew weng might not do a good job ( I trust him 110%!) and mum is curious what a photoshoot is like..she only had studio shots during her time.. and dad says she wants to take some photos herself too. =D ok..basically my dad says they want to be the calefare for the day..hahaha.. I didn’t have the heart to shut them out of the shoot..even if I did, I believe they would pretend to be in the area and “bump” into us..hahaha =D

They have prepared all the accessories I need for the photoshoot and actual day.. I’ll be picking them up tonight. We have quite a constraint on transportation as we only have 1 car.. dearie will have to do 2 trips to ferry all of us out of lower pierce..sorry about the trouble dearie =(

The locations we have picked are pretty wulu..but perfectly us.. the running track..and trail (lower pierce not really trail but out of macrit, if we run further down we actually reach lower pierce..we’ve ran there a few times. nice nice. Air con road!).. these are places we enjoy running at.. =)

I’m not really for the conventional places for taking photos..i like something “us” .. I am not that bothered if it’s weird..but it’s just US! I got to know my dearie at a duathlon.. sports and training are integral to us..

Oh yes! This Sunday we are finally back into runfanatics action!! Yippee! 15km run at ecp. though I’ll be like at the back of the pack..coz I haven’t ran more than 8km for almost a month..but I just want to train with the gang! =D

the princess speaketh

I took a small step forward yesterday. the episode with the make up artist allowed me a chance to learn from the mistakes I made.

- never jump into conclusion

- sms and prose are not all the time the best form of communication

- clarify and check

- don’t create a fuss until I have clarified and understand the situation

- family and friends are precious

I’m looking forward to the photo shoot on Saturday because I believe we have the Dream Team! =) seems like dearie isn’t really keen for photo taking.. and I do agree it can get stressful because we worry we may not in our best form for the day..and having it captured means we’ll be reminded of it constantly! Nonetheless I feel it’ll be memorable to capture this point in our lives.. for we only live through this once..and having someone to capture it down for remembrance will be a way to retain the least of the days. For the first time in my life I’m getting to be donned in pretty gowns..dress up like a princess..it’s just every girl’s dream!

I was diagnosed with stage 2 gum problem o_O and I’ve been diligently brushing my teeth after lunch..and also using toothpaste recommended by the dentist. In addition, I’m also gargling with Listerine every morning and flossing at night..despite all that, my gums are still blood red (not coral pink)..and still hurting. =( tricia’s worst nightmare: having my teeth all fall off and becoming bo ge (teeth-less!!) got to be more patient…hope to yield results soon..

I’ve brought some art paper to work and I would be commencing to make thank you cardes in the next 1-2days. These cards are for my friends who will be helping us out for the wedding and photoshoot. I want to handmake the cards and pen words to thank them personally. will look around for small tokens too.. truly want to appreciate them and not take them for granted. =) for our parents.. hopefully we get to go Tokyo for honeymoon next year..and I promise I’ll get them all gifts! =)

christine ohuruogu

i was reading business times and i so love this quote made by Christine Ohuruogu, the 400m gold medallist at the recent Beijing Olympics.

“I might not get the best start or be the fastest but if you want to beat me you have to fight me. I will fight to the line and I do not give up.”

runs in the morning

Being able to execute my morning running plans always leave me feeling accomplished, like today.

I found discipline from the air..hahaha..yesterday I stood in the bakery contemplating if I should buy a whole 4 buns of ham/cheese bread or should I just buy 1. as much as I would like to get all 4; economies of scale of buying 4 is more cost-saving.. I visualized myself gobbling all 4 and feeling guilty about it, I stopped short. Finally, I bought just 1 bun for $1 and quickly walked off, in case I succumbed to my weakness for bread.

That’s my first little victory.. over my gluttony self.

Dearie picked me up after tuition and we headed down to mummy’s place to pick up mooncake she had helped me purchase for my mummy-in-law. It’s one BIG box of temptation..gulps..resist! resist!

After we got home, dearie accompanied me for a 8.5km run.. I could sense he was very tired yet he still went with me. thank you dearie. upon getting home, he got onto doing his project. By the time he stopped for the night, it was already 1am o_O

Having turn in earlier.. I managed to get myself out for a 5km run at 5.11am.. it felt awesome! I ought to do it a lot more often.. =) and the next one on the schedule is tomorrow morning. i really want to run more..so I can enjoy good food without guilt. that was my second victory.

Tonight after tuition I’ll finish up all the housework..prepare dinner and hopefully still have time to go for a short 5km run before dearie comes back. =) I’m feeling my tummy flatter already…must keep the momentum going as the photoshoot is next Saturday..i must look at my best.. and pretty =D

and yes..i do need to hit more mileage for scsm.. i'm falling a little short of mileage these days.. back to runfanatics training and mr training soon.. =)

"making" more time

I pondered how I can “make” more time. yes, literally “make” more time.

Having completed my first term in school, i took stock of how I have managed my time and if I’ve been effective. Moving forward, “making” more time is what I’ll strive to do.

How to make more time?

- prioritizing

- cutting down on unproductive activities

- resting and waking up early

Some things I feel I haven’t done well in the last term.

1. I left revision of qm till pretty last minute. Although I did read up the text consistently, I found that I didn’t understand well what I was reading until I worked through the questions. By the time I did work through the questions, I was 3 weeks away from exam. That wasn’t too good a strategy. For the new term, I must ensure that I am working through the questions regularly so that I can clear any doubts early and not leave it till last minute.

2. making notes. I need to make notes as I read, it’s very useful in open book exams.

3. tuition assignments. I was too fast to decide to take up the p4 assignment and now I cannot just dump it off. I should have been more focused on tutoring poa. I was anxious to take up a 2^nd assignment after zx and I didn’t consider how it would affect my own activities. Good thing zx will be taking her n levels soon and that means tuition will halt after which.. so that frees up one day in the week. Anna will have her o levels at end of oct..so after that, another free day too. I wonder if hs’ dad would want to drop my tuition classes. After all, it seems like hs is still not picking up on her Chinese and English. =( on the positive note, if he calls for a stop on tuition, I can reshuffle my tuition come next year. Will be wiser in planning for tuition next year, meantime, I’ll just hold on to the 3 students I have now. hope they can do well..and that’ll be a great track record for my tuition career. =)

Moving forward, in relation to tuition, I am planning to just tutor 2 days in a week. I will only take poa assignments as poa is my pet subject after all. If hs and zx stay on with me, I will just keep to just them. At least I still can attend runfanatics wed training =)

fridays when I’m not in class, it’ll be used for gym sessions! =) Sundays with no class will be dedicated to biking or mr running. Saturdays will be for runfanatics training..argh..i miss training with the group so much!!

other than these activities with priority standing, the rest of the days, I still want to tutor to earn extra income. Dearie’s working very hard and I am going to travel alongside with him.

something I’ve been hoping to execute but I lack the determination and discipline to do so – running in the morning. it’s something challenging for me. and it’s not just about waking up early, sleeping early is also required. Not sure how I can work about this..=(

oh yes, I forgot to comment about my exams.. accounting was pretty alright. I could do the paper..and I hope I can get more than a credit for it. qm was tough..but do-able. After redoing my assignment 2 yesterday, I discovered I have done the same regression question in the exam wrongly. =X but i think I should be able to pass.. I hope to get a credit for it..hope!..i can only hope! (grading: high distinction, distinction, credit, pass, conceded pass, fail..in that order)

hard to lose..weight

I’ve completed all my assignments for the term. Yay! Now it’s down to the compilation of qm assignment and send out before next Monday..and we’re done! I can go for my holiday with this load off my back.

The fc hounded me this morning for her credit limit stuff which I am still not absolutely sure what she wants.. but at least I’ve completed her budget templates and jun conso.. now she wants july and aug before end of the month.. good thing I’ve got more things to do..but I need to fully grasp what she wants first..

There’ll be quite a few holidays coming up..firstly hari raya, followed by deepavali. Not sure if dearie and I can take a break as it’s very close to o levels and we have to be around to coach our students.

My eyesight is deteriorating at a dismaying speed. Objects look more fuzzy these days and I’ve been rubbing my eyes more than I should. I do need to get new lenses done.. because it’s disturbing me.=(

Photoshoot is a stone away and I haven’t lost a single kg. I should be..i ought to..but I am not doing so. I stepped on the scale and tipped at 46.3kg. have been hoping to lose abit more but glutton as I am..i am finding it hard to lose the weight. Ought to be training more after exams but tuition is still an excuse I dish out sometimes. Tonight I’ll run after tuition. And now that I have completed my assignment, I can sleep early and wake up early to run in the morning and then come back to cook packed lunch.

i think I’ll look less ba-zhangish if I can shed another 2-3kgs. Ahhhh..i just want to look good in the photos.. why is it so difficult? =( really want to get back to runfanatics training soon… or just go for long mr runs.. will have to work it into my schedule =)

relief!

Relief relief relief! Joy of joys! I finally completed all my accounting assignments. I’ve emailed out my myob assignment to ms harris..and I’ve completed balanced the last of the manual assignment. I couldn’t have done it without the help of marilyn, my classmate. She has been such a wonderful friend as we discussed and went through the assignments.

I spent half the day in school with her to go through the 2 assignments and then she gave me a short tutorial on qm. I’m so thankful for friends like her who come along to give me a hand. =) thank you marilyn.

After which, I went shopping with mum. as I didn’t have budget for much, I only bought the lingerie I needed for the wedding. My mum bought new clothes and shoes.. and she bought me a new dress and top too. I could see so much joy on her face. On our way walking home, she told me she really enjoyed the time shopping as she had been wanting to do so for a long while.. =) I really do want to keep her company more often with her.. and I will set aside time to do so despite school and tuition. Oh yes, have I told you how good my mum looks in dresses? She’s gorgeous! I can’t pull off dresses like she does..

There was one dress I fancied..but I didn’t buy it as I didn’t want to spend the $50 on it.. mum said it looked kinda plain..but I just like it..very tricia style. Very country..very cute. =P

It’s Friday. Tomorrow’s the qm paper. I’m not feeling confident but I’ll try my best nonetheless. I just hope to earn a credit for the module.

Another hour before knock off.. today has been pretty productive.. finished the budget templates..closed the accounts for the rpr.. and did up the accruals for nsses. I’m leaving the rest of the tasks till next week. on top of work, I wrapped up my 2 accounting assignments.. prepared lesson with Annabelle later.. I’m left with qm to revise.. okok..ending off here. Utilise my last hour at work to study! =D

floaty

I feel a little floaty today. Could it be the nslo I just had in the morning? I read a short story printed off the net for my student and I found myself walk into the world of the author. Maybe it’s the caffeine.

Reading, comparable to running, can be a form of escape from realism at times. haven’t been reading as much as I used to, and gone are the days when I would scour the bookshops just to lay my hands on books highly raved about. These days my plate is full of textbooks and notes.. i do need a dose of fiction badly.

I’ve got a whole lot of gunk up in my mind.. trying to think about the report fc wants.. tuition later..tuition tomorrow..tuition the day after tomorrow..assignments… revision.. a whole big big big lot of stuff spiraling up there.

I noted a few things down..jotted the time and dates into my palm.. I listed my tasks for today..i ticked off 2 since the last 1 hr 15mins..

2^nd day into cooking healthy lunch..i’ve enjoyed the first day of it so far..it kept me satiated till the evening..and the roughage from the brown rice has helped the clearance of bowels pretty much. not sure if dearie is attuned to my kind of weird cooking.. and would it drive him crazy..he’s been a economy rice person for many years… such switch might be nerve wrecking.

Leave has been approved. It’ll be a good break for me. away from the insanity here.

rewarded

It’s Monday once again.. the blu-est day of the week.. haha.. as I retrospected on the weekend that has just passed.. I take pride in it.. because in all simple things, we took joy in doing.. and time was made fruitful because of that.

Dearie bought me an expensive mechanical pencil from popular on Saturday. I’ve been coveting for that nice pointed pencil for quite a while..with my shakula (shakalu, shakila..blah) getting all dirty, its eraser top depleted and the plastic cover broken.. ok..it wasn’t a need..but more like a want. Dearie paid $4.10 for the pencil. a pilot h-325 in transparent colour. Dearie asked me to remember him whenever I used this pencil.

In truth, he is a part of my life and I needn’t things to remind him how integral he is to me. =)

We had dinner at mum’s and dearie was (again) the last man surviving on the dining table; all of us took our leave after taking in our fill. He cleared up the chilli fish head till it was left in bare bones..and he even gobbled down all the sweet potatoes, brinjal..the calefare on the dish..hahha..

Dearie spent almost the entire day at tuition, 3 back to back sessions, from 10am till 4.30pm. it was really crazy and I do hope he doesn’t do it for long term. It’s detrimental to health! I’m already tired after 1 session, imagine 3?!??

i popped by mum’s to go through my accounting assignment, which till date, is unable to balance. Noon time I slacked around, cleaned the house a little and then studied more for QM exam.

i cooked chicken mushroom mee pok for our dinner that night..and oh yes!..before that we did another 8.5km run. Dearie did a total of 17km for the day (8.5km in the morning, 8.5km at evening..while I did 12.5km (4km in the morning, 8.5km in the evening).

Training and eating are like hubby and wifey. We should train hard..then enjoy a nice meal! This is the way to go if you don’t want to get fat..hehahehae

i have submitted leave for this Thursday. Need to meet up with marilyn to go through the accounting assignment. We both agreed it’s quite a waste of time and getting it to balance is as hard as climbing mount kk. Hahaha.. and there is also QM assignment to go through too.

After my final exam on sat, just got to toil another few more days to finish up QM assignment and I’m going off for a break to segamat with dearie. really looking forward to it.. =) these are the rewards for working hard..yay!

note: i stole the photo of pilot pencils from the net..from someone's blog. i don't have all 3 of them! but i am a proud owner of the one circled now..the transparent pilot pencil.

working, hard.

we've been working to our max since the start of the month. dearie and i have took up various tuition assignments.. the main bulk of the burden is on dearie, tutoring for 5 out of 7 days a week.

it's 10.30am now, saturday morning. i've revising for my qm exams next sat, and at 1pm, i'll be going out for tuition..good thing we'll be hitting town for a breather after which.. so that's a nice break.

i missed runfanatic training.. i overslept..and laze really held me back to stay home.. which i felt was a wise choice because i got to do interval training with dearie at the stadium..we had peanut butter waffle after which ..and i can settle down before 10am to start revision. if i've gone to training, i will be spending more than 2hours commuting..and that time is somewhat lost.

i'm still trying to make sense with qm by going through the questions..one by one. i must get a good grasp of it.

i've been reflecting on how i am spending my time now, as compared to the past. somehow, priorities have shifted..and i feel i don't have that much a luxury to just sit back, be merry and do whatever pleases me most. because i now have responsibilities i must shoulder..i have dreams to pursue in my career.. and i yearn to better equip myself for the challenges ahead. it can be quite a struggle sometimes, without the luxury of cash reserves..but working hard for it makes me treasure it more. like dearie casually mentioned this morning while we were bitting into our peanut butter waffles, "young people who strike riches in their early 20s may not know how to treasure it..but if one earns his 1st million at 40 through hard work, the guy will really treasure it." he spoke of it in relation to usain bolt, the world fastest man at present, who was commented by many as arrogant.

these days as i surf through blogs..look at display nicks of younger friends..i find so much of myself in them.. at early 20s, all i wanted to do was ironman. my biggest dream was to cross that finishing line after 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run. that was the ultimate dream i pursue everyday. i trained and trained..spent many hours in the pool, on the roads, in the track.. i woke up wee hours at 4am and biked out..some days i even took leave, just to do 4-6hours bike rides when preparing for it. unfortunately (or fortunately), despite having registered for 3 ironmans, i never gone to one, i never did one nor did i finish one.

i find no shame..though i do not bask in any glory for completing one. because somehow, i've passed that phase of my life to pursue such conquests.

i found no glory in it because so what even if i've done numerous ironmans but do not have money in my pocket? so what even if i achieve a good vo2max or stamina ability yet improverish in my relationships with the people around me?

today i am pursuing my post graduate studies because knowledge is power. i am working very hard, because money is also power. i work 5 days a week and tutor 4 days a week. i spend quality time with my dearie.. we spend time resting at home on weekends and cook our own meals on sunday.. i call my mum during weekdays and have dinner with her on saturdays. this is also time well spent, in pursue of other things in life..which to me for now, overcast ironman dreams.

nonetheless, i must admit, a part which i am still working hard to balance is time for training. i am now forgoing training on wed because of tuition. when the o levels are over, i will reschedule wed rf training back..as tuition will be back to 3 days a week, instead of 4. in addition, because of exams every 2-4 months, i am also missing saturday trainings too. it's a lousy feeling to be out of the runfanatics action..but i understand i can't have the best of everything.

we gain some, we lose some. meantime, whatever pockets of time i can find, i will be out training. and most of the time, weekdays are the hardest because tuition finishes late into the night. however, dearie and i always make up on weekends..we'll go for our mr runs..on rainy days we'll hit the gym..and like this morning, we did interval runs.. running helps me find strength and rejuvenates me all the time. i did 6x800m sets and pushing through the 800m was such a pain but the after effect was accomplishing. no fantastic timing to boast about but i'm glad 5 out of 6 timings are within my expectation of sub 4:15. i managed a 3:59 set by keeping pace with an indian uncle.. i have conjured plans for further 800m training for next week, and also a mr run on sunday if the weather holds fine.

oh yes, and another new thing dearie and i are embarking on..healthy meals.. i've stocked up our fridge with fresh food..chicken, veg and pork..we just need to go get our brown rice and some other stuff from mum...and from next week onwards..we'll be cooking lunches at home and packing them to work. why are we doing that? because:

1. it's healthier. i agree with dearie that food outside are..erm..oily, salty and full of msg. i'm sick of eating bread for lunch and dinner. all the food will be steamed, boil or stir fried in olive oil. sweet!

2. it's more economical. it's good thing dearie's isn't a picky eater like me.. we just need some veg, meat and brown rice everyday.

i really hope this holds through..and since dearie and i are in this together..we can try to keep to it as much as possible... i do need to shed some kgs before the photoshoot and our wedding in nov. gulps! hahahaha .. it's different having someone who is going through it together..just like we're both working hard, together. we train together (at different speeds though)..and we stay healthy together. we're part of each other's life..and that's all that matters =)

uh-oh..better hit back to my books..got to finish a few more topics before i get to relax later. will be back!

over and above

it really means alot having friends to go through tough times with..sometimes it's time like these that binds the hearts of like minded together stronger ..

i processed and thought through the situation after the discussion and sharing. i asked myself what can be done? what should i be doing? if i can't change, then what else should i be doing?

i remember this little excerpt from a poem i thought my children during a character camp once..

" i will bear the things i cannot change, and change the things i can"

somehow after talking it through with dearie, i came to terms that tpl is something i cannot change..and although i cannot do much, i prepare myself mentally for anything she comes up with. from learning her different "patterns" that my friends have encountered, somehow it preps me that if she show her pattern again, i am not caught off guard and i needn't get affected by it. it's like getting vaccination! =) staying level headed and calm is important to stay afloat.

can you remember the last time you swam in a pool or sea? in the sea, the more we struggle, the faster we sink..the only way to keep ourselves afloat is to stay calm and relaxed. our bodies are made to float in water..and we can be over and above the situation.

i remembered a pastor shared once, "difficult people in our lives are Grace Developers".. indeed..we learn that in the toughest times we learn to develop grace =)

i do find ranting and sharing really therepeutic..because i know i am not alone.. life still must go on..and to come to terms and decide what we must do about the situation .. i believe for us, we can choose to be over and above the situation. =)