Christmas updates
Blessed Christmas, everyone! It's not too late if you really subscribe to the "twelve days of Christmas" thingy. *grin* Hope yours was great!
My drive home went without incident (thanks to all those who prayed for me!), except that I missed one turn-off. Dad says the best way to get lost in Malaysia is to follow the road signs, and he was right! I wasn't sure if I was on the right road, there were no signs to indicate where I was headed so I was looking out for the milestones, which kept on saying, "Parit". I don't even know what or where 'Parit' is! On and on I went... "Don't worry, you can always turn back if you discover you're on the wrong track," I assured myself. The problem was the discovering part!
Finally one of the milestones read, "Parit 30km; Bota 2km". Bota I'd heard of, but wasn't too sure where it was either. According to map Dad had drawn for me, I wasn't supposed to be anywhere near Bota. So I U-turned. Dad whooped when I told him that. "You could have gone from Bota to the next town, and our town is right after that!" Well, how was I supposed to know?! LOL He teased Mom, saying that she couldn't sleep for three nights before I came back. Mom's a real worrier. She worries about everything!
She also baked my favourite chocolate cake for me, and for the first time ever, made chocolate icing to go on top of it. This was on the day I arrived. She spent the next four days taking potshots at me for putting on weight. I mean, like, EXCUSE ME, aren't you giving out mixed signals here? She kept on telling me not to eat so much cake "Aren't you afraid of getting fat?" and telling me I should exercise, and I shouldn't wear baby-T's coz all my bulges-in-the-wrong-places would show and it'd be really ugly, and I must wear clothes that camouflage my (admittedly getting bigger) tummy, and so on so forth. Grrr.
I've put on at least 5kg (11lb) this year and I'm not too pleased about it. All my clothes are getting tight and, well, it just makes me unhappy with myself. But Mom's chief concern seemed to be the way I look, and at 57kg (125.4lbs) the last time I weighed it was a few months ago, hopefully I haven't put on any more since then I'm neither fat nor obese. Plus, what's with all this emphasis on what people will think?! *rolls eyes*
And yes, I'm trying to get fit again remember my swimming schedule? I was supposed to swim three times a week with Janelle. What with one thing and another, we haven't been too regular... *sigh*
The run-up to Christmas was busy. Mom invited the carollers over this year, and had her ladies' Bible study group come as well. Blink (not his real name, hahaa) my bro didn't come home for Christmas, so I helped Mom out, getting the food ready and stuff. She planned to have a round of carol-singing after the carollers had left, and roped me in to play the piano for her.
Dad disappeared before the carollers arrived, saying he didn't want to be caught with a group of ladies! He went fishing instead. The carollers came, sang, and then shook hands with all of us... as many of them are church members' children, you could hear the ladies say, "You are Mr So-and-so's son, aren't you? This is Mr Ding's son... And this is Dr Ho's grandson!" I found that really amusing, for some reason. I can't even recognise most of the youngsters, they're so many years my junior. Blink, having just left home earlier in the year, still goes back for Youth Fellowship meetings when he's around. I never do. They make me feel old!! LOL
I sent my car to the family mechanic for regular servicing and happened to mention that it makes the most creaky sound when I turn corners. "Is that normal?" I asked. (I'm just as prone to asking stupid questions as the average joe on the street! But I did think that perhaps it was just the ordinary rattles that come with a six-year-old car...)
Of course, the mechanic didn't think it was normal, and after he'd driven my car around the block, I was told the drive shaft would need replacing. "It's very expensive, though; it will cost you $400," he said. My heart stopped. Act cool now, no big deal, remember you are a working girl and you KNEW car maintenance was going to be expensive anyway... you just didn't anticipate it happening this fast! flew through my mind, as well as, Thank God my bonus means I have the means to pay for this! Whew! Mustering all my aplomb, I asked... "What does a drive shaft do?" ROFL
The mechanic was succinct. "If you don't have it replaced, it will fall off one day and your wheels will go flying." Well, if you put it THAT way... :D
Later he told me, "You were very lucky! We only needed to change the left side. The right side is still OK." The bill came to $250 instead of the expected $400. Whew.
Then I decided to see the dentist, too. I hate seeing the dentist, even though he's a family friend, but I haven't been for ages and ages and I thought I might have a cavity somewhere. No toothache, but I felt some sensitivity in my left jaw when chewing food.
So there I was in the dentist's chair, holding this tube in my mouth to suck out my saliva so that I won't choke, with the genial dentist poking about in my wide-open mouth. I think I've figured out why most people don't like visiting the dentist's. It's coz we feel helpless in the dentist's chair we have to give up control, and we don't know what on earth he's doing with all his gadgets. It doesn't help that those gadgets look vaguely like instruments of torture! We're entirely at his mercy, and we don't like it; especially because we fear he's going to inflict pain. There, that's my little psycho-analysis for the day. *grin*
Turned out I had two cavities on the same tooth. He worked on it and I flinched. "Does it hurt?" he asked. I decided to be macho: "It's a bit sensitive." He offered to inject an anaesthetic if I couldn't stand the pain. "I have to reach right in, to do a good job," he said. I opted for the jab. About five seconds later, I had had more time to think about needles (*shudder*) and piped up nervously, "On second thoughts..." But he'd decided it would be better for me to have the injection, and so he administered it, then filled my cavity. I didn't feel a thing, but that doesn't mean I was comfortable!
For the rest of the afternoon, I walked around feeling like the lower left side of my face was too big for my skin. Why does numbness do that to us?
Christmas, as I've said, tends to be a low-key affair for my family. No gifts, no putting up decorations, no turkey; nothing special, really. I missed church on Christmas morning because a cough had disrupted my sleep the night before, and Dad said it was important for me to get a good rest before driving back. Later in the afternoon, I made the journey back; I had to work today (Boxing Day), you see.
When I arrived in the city, I called Janelle and was invited over to her place for Christmas dinner. I walked into her house and was disconcerted when her mom immediately enfolded me in a hug. My family isn't a "huggy" family, we almost never hug each other, let alone "outside people"! Sometimes I really ache for someone to hug me... but let's not go into that. :) Later, I not only received a present from Janelle, her mom and sis gave me gifts too! Wow. Her mom gave me a cup-and-saucer set for my "new" house. Cool stuff!
And that was how my Christmas and my trip home went.