YAY!!!

I passed!!! :)

This post deserves a jumping shot!

Lessons from blow-drying

The art of blowing drying a child's hair has become a common sight in Carehut. After the children's lunch and shower, a teacher stations him/herself by the wall socket equipped with 2 hair dryers and 4 chairs.

Young or older, long hair to really short hair, the children wait their turn to have their hair blown dry. I never really saw blowing drying a child's hair as something special or something important in a child's development. Not till the past few days.

Yes, I've been blow-drying the children's hair. Running my fingers through the girls' long locks. Ruffling the boys' short spikes. Research actually supports the fact that a loving, nurturing touch is necessary for the proper physical and psychological development of children and funny thing was I realized this importance of a loving, nurturing touch from blow drying all the boys' hair.

No matter how short - short crops to crew cuts & spikes - after their shower, they never fail to wait their turn. There's my P1 boy who has the Michael Scofield hairstyle going on and keeps waiting in line for his turn. By the time I start on him, his hair is practically dry. It was puzzling the first couple of times when I turned him away saying he didn't need it and he would walk away looking so disappointed.

Then he learned that if he showered fast enough, he could either be the first in the line or one of the first few and with a little wetness on his head, would still be able to get his hair blown dry by the teachers.

Note to self - Even the naughtiest or shyest of children, desire and need a
LOVING, NURTURING TOUCH.

¹³People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
- Mark 10:13-15

Live Love Life

I had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner with my coursemate who takes up traveling photography and usually prints out his photos as a hobby. He says in relation to his social work salary, it's REALLY expensive haha! Anyways, looking at his prints was amazing. Really the equivalent to National Geographic photos!

For the few minutes soaking in each photo, I imagined standing there, taking in the views in person. It reminded me of why I love life - having the opportunity to live & stand in awe of God's master piece on earth. Every mountain, sky, sunrise, sunset, flower, tree, stream, animal, city, person...

I miss traveling.

⁷ "But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸ or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.

⁹ Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind."

Job 12: 7-10

All's well!

Yays! My mum's discharged (Praise God!) The doc was saying she should quickly go home because it's not too good to stay in hospital during these H1N1 times. Think the best part of her being discharged is that she seems happier. She's more mobile now but still requires a wheelchair but we're looking forward to seeing pain-less results! :)

" but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. "
- Isaiah 40:31

Knee Updates

My mum just had her knee replacement operation on Wednesday for her right knee.

Knee replacement, or Knee Arthroplasty, is surgery for people with severe knee damage. Doctors may recommend it if you have knee pain and medicine and other treatments are not helping you anymore.

When you have a total knee replacement, the surgeon removes damaged cartilage and bone from the surface of your knee joint and replaces them with a man-made surface of metal and plastic. In a partial knee replacement, the surgeon only replaces one part of your knee joint. The surgery can cause scarring, blood clots and, rarely, infections. After a knee replacement, you will no longer be able to do certain activities, such as jogging and high-impact sports.

Tomorrow she'll try walking. Pray that she'll be able to do so without complications. If she's able to walk, she'll be discharged earlier!

What are we gonna do about it?

I chanced upon this video while reading an article online. It paralleled a case I'm currently handling with one of my students. In brief, my P1 student's parents are miles high in past debts and struggling to make ends meet. Everyday, is a matter of 'Do I have just enough to send my son to school & go to work?' 'Do I have just enough to feed my son dinner?' 'Will I have a place to stay for more than a week this month?'.

Just SGD$3 is all the mother needs to send her son & herself to school/work each day. Another SGD$3 can buy her son the dinner he needs to sustain his growing years.

Quoting the mother,

"As long as my son gets to go to school, is healthy, is safe and has proper meals, I'm happy. It doesn't matter if me or my husband don't get to eat. More important is having money for my son."

She cried through the session, while I held back my tears.

The video is a snippet from the documentary - Darwin's Nightmare. It's about street children in Tanzania living in poverty. Thank God, Singaporeans do not have to face such dire situations but think about it. Can you imagine yourself, one day, fighting over a fistful of rice?

What are we doing for the people in need?

" They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them."
- Isaiah 49: 10

It's all about the C.

It's 10 days since my exams ended and I'm just lovin' it! Although... I think I'm packing in too many late nights still which seems to be taking its toll on my health... again.

Where's my Redoxon C...

Think.

Free.dom
noun
the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint

When I think freedom, Aretha sings.

" Oh freedom (freedom), freedom (freedom), freedom, yeah freedom
Freedom (freedom), freedom (freedom), freedom, ooh freedom "

For those unfamiliar, it's from her hit song - Think. Go have a listen. It'll soon be your earworm at every 'freedom' juncture in your life.

I AM FREE!!!!

Top 5 things I'm totally done with:
1) Assignments
2) Readings
3) Exams
4) Heading to class 2 nights a week
5) Getting less than 4 hours sleep

Top 5 things I'll miss about Sem 2:
1) Avocado Mondays
2) Dinners with Coursemates
3) Jokes & laughter in class
4) Highlighting (words)
5) Actually learning something

Holidays here I come!

This feeling...

See that hammock? Imagine lying there. No datelines, no exams, just this. Your fingers run through the cool aquamarine water. You feel the light ocean breeze, hear the rustling leaves & soothing waves, radiate under the warmth of the sun in the beautiful clear blue sky... Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Can you taste it?

Freedom is beckoning.

Countdown to 8 May, 4:30pm.

I want to go on a Road Trip!!

You Take the Road Less Traveled

You see companionship and loyalty as what's most important in life. You live a life of leisure. You take your time in every aspect of life and enjoy it to the fullest. You're willing to take a few risks in life. You may not take the road no one travels, but you're happy to take the road less traveled. You tend to be a workaholic. You overwork yourself without ever realizing it and sometimes suffer the consequences later. In another life, you could have been a great artist. You trust your creative instincts enough to let them lead you.

Encounters

with Trees.

Finished my first paper today. Don't really want to talk about it but I'm quite certain I should be able to pass. :) What I do want to comment on was our exam venue.

MPSH2-B (Multi-purpose Sport Hall 2, Sports Complex)

It was great! Especially sitting beside the window, facing the view of trees. Whenever I didn't know what to write, I'd turn sideways and gaze out at the sky & trees. It's like instant inspiration! Haha! Think I really do have a thing with green stuff.

I'm still waiting for my avocados to ripen!!!!

Can't wait for Fri!

At the dawn of desperation

to be motivated to study, I've resorted to listening to 13 tracks of 'Getting Smart With Mozart'. Thanks Readers' Digest.

Let's see if this works.

And the phone went... Greeen greeen!!

Chanced on Rong's blog post recently about The Dewey Colour System and decided to try it out.
It came back with...

You're an Intellectual

Your objective point of view helps people to understand what they need to have a more balanced life. Your straightforward, unbiased comments make it easy for others to hear you. They understand that you're genuinely motivated to make their lives better.

Never knew Green was an intellectual colour.
If only their free profile shared more detail about other aspects...

Clockwatching

" Let’s keep talking anything to stop clock watching
Lately we’re running out of time.
aren’t we crazy for running all the time? M-M-M-M-Maybe
Let’s forget we’re running out of time. " - Jason Mraz

Count down to exams begin!

The thought of managing my money just crossed my mind. Was listening to Ms Lim talk abt it on the ride to her home. Interesting how one of my possible essay questions is about 'The Human & Social Development theories of Poverty".

Asset poverty: If you do not have sufficient net worth to sustain yourself above poverty level for 3 months, you're considered Asset Poor. Caner & Wolff (2004) highlighted that asset poverty was greatest during young adulthood (18 - 35 years old) but decreases as individuals reach 40s, 50s & 60s.

Name: Sarah Jane Tan
Age: 23
Working period: 1 year 11 months 3 days
Able to sustain self for 3 months: By God's grace, Yes. By world standards, No.
Asset Assessment: 65% Asset poor, 35% concerned about being asset poor. HA.

Random thoughts.

Keep walking.

No, this is nothing like a Johnny Walker ad.

Went to Hort Park for a 10km walk with cellies & a whole gin gang of YA Trinitarians. I must admit I wasn't too keen on signing up for this 'Escape to the Ridge' event mainly because,

1) It's on a public holiday = opportunity to sleep in = rest
2) Alarm needs to be set to 6am to reach Hort Park at 830am = unearthly hour

Ok getting up was a hassle. I figured the night before that I'm just gonna snooze till I'm late so decided to change into what I'll wear there. (YES, I shower before bed and NO, I still stay clean in the morning) Apparently, Mel & YQ were appalled but ANYWAY!

I began to enjoy the walk as time approached 11am. Thank God for great weather! Hot, sunny & humid but at least it didn't rain. The views were great along with the sea breeze that blew in!

Well done to the committee who planned the whole event! *Pat yourselves on the back*

Walking around Vivo was an eye-opener. For one, one would have thought Vivo would be super packed on a public holiday but it was pretty alright. Two, it's been a long time since I've felt the feeling of liberation from the urge to shop - mainly because I was literally cash- & card- less after lunch. I should stop bringing money out every now and then.

Anyways, back to the books!