Next Month

I'm so looking forward to next month, because I'll be working part-time! Last month I was on MC, yet again, sigh! Upon checking the dates, I realized that during my six months of working in that department, I'd fallen ill four times. Quite a record, I'm sure. Are my colleagues dubbing me "MC Queen" behind my back? Not that I cared, I was genuinely unwell.

Anyway, my dear sweet husband, William, being concerned for my health, told me to switch jobs. I agreed quite readily. If he'd said that three months earlier I would have disputed his suggestion, but even I got sick of getting sick so often. By now, a new work environment sounds very welcoming, although I'm one who usually resist having too much changes around me.

When my Nursing Officer received my resignation letter, she counter-offered me a part-time post instead. Great, that was my intention initially, when I first came for a job interview, I wanted to start as a part-timer. Not knowing that only months later would my wish materialize, wahahaha......!

My son, Joseph is making progress in his speech. He definitely has increased vocabulary and is more responsive in his replies by using less body language like tugging, etc. Praise Jesus, I look forward to hearing full sentences from him. Why I'm so thrilled about working part-time is because I can have more time to prepare teaching materials to help Joseph speak more.

Speaking of "speak", I was surprised by MM Lee's outspoken comments recently published. He said in no uncertain terms that Malaysia is treating non-malays unfairly. He also criticized Myammar's governing system (or non-existent system, I should say) and called those who are in power "stupid". He described General Than Shwe's daughter as "looking like a christmas tree", for adorning herself extravagantly with too much diamonds on her wedding day. A quick check on YouTube revealed that it was quite true, flaunting all those diamonds while their impoverished people struggled to put food on their table could only lead to one thing - protest.

On a more cheerful note, Singapore is bidding to host the Youth Olympics on our sunny island, set in the sea! I hope we get to have that slice of action here, as Youth Olympics is on a small enough scale for our little country to be able to meet the set requirements. All the way, we want win, we want win!

Hello... Blogspot!

Wow, at last I have access to my own blog. Was unable to post anything here the past few months because of new changes within blogspot.com, I've got to sign up a google account before I am given the green light for "landing". Guess I was just plain lazy, putting off trying till now.

Three months into my new permanent job and I'm feeling the drain already. I was ecstatic at the opportunities given initially, I had the chance to attend Infection Control Course, Customer Service Course, ENT Lecture and Allergy Seminar.

I felt breathless at times with my wide job scope, or maybe I just had been working part-time for far too long.

Besides assisting doctors in their consultation rooms and with minor surgical procedures, I have to do Financial Counseling (plus surgery listing) and be the Infection Control Liaison Nurse (ICLN) of my unit. I am also learning under the sub-specialty Allergy Nurse about Inhalant Allergy and Food Allergy because besides carrying out these allergy tests, we have to counsel and advise the patients according to what their tests results show. A few of our doctors are conducting specific research on allergies in Singapore so there is plenty of paper work, documentation, data collection, etc.

National University Hospital is also having Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation next week. These Health Experts from USA will perform a walk-about in our hospital throughout the whole of next week, auditing the various departments and (hopefully) tracing a seamless workflow focusing on patients' care & safety. So you can imagine the frenzy and stress every staff is under, scurrying about making sure all is in perfect order.

Being a fairly new staff, I feel tremendous pressure from my superior. Already the daily work routine is taking up all of my time, to be told to take over the ICLN portfolio with nothing to refer to is somewhat overwhelming. The two previous ICLNs who had resigned left nothing for me, not even a scrap of paper. I had to do up an Infection Control file from scratch. Sorry for my grousing-grumble here, I need an outlet, I do.

Okay, ventilation over. All said and done, I'm grateful to have a secure job. I'll surely breathe better and sound happier at my next blog posting, by then the JCI accreditation would be over and a big load would have dropped off from my shoulders, wahaha!

Why I have time to blog now is because I'm on mc today. Yesterday I felt very ill with giddiness and nausea. Am I pregnant?

The Simple Life?

I am not proud to admit that in the past I did watch a couple of episodes of the above reality show. Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie's weak attempt to tackle "hardship", the whole charade was just to get them TV time and exposure! I think one of the draw of the show was actually the colourful display of obnoxious behaviour from two very rich, very spoilt and very ignorant girls. They don't really know life, simple or otherwise, but at least it gives bored people something to bitch about after watching the show, you know, wahahaha...!

Anyway, for people to truly understand hardship, short of going through it themselves, is to have close contact with the genuinely under-privileged. I guess that puts volunteers way ahead in the league. I have great respect for these volunteers, I do. They go to hospitals or old folks' homes to clean butts of people who aren't even related to them. It takes a big, humongous heart to do volunteer work.

Let me deviate from "simple" and "hardship" to "inconvenience". I have often heard people grouse about driving from Point A to Point B. Too far, so inconvenient, they exclaimed!

Inconvenient? They are already so fortunate to even have a car to drive around. Inconvenience is when on rainy mornings (and travelling by bus), I have to bring Joseph to school carrying him, his school bag, my own bag, an umbrella in hand, at the same time trying to keep everyone and everything as dry as possible, and not arriving late for work besides. I have many other inconvenient situations but I deign to mention them all lest I should sound bitter about life, which I am not. Just wonder why people who drives can complain about their lot, are they just too comfy? Is that why road rage happens, some of them feel "inconvenienced" by other road users?

Oh, caught in constant traffic jams? You poor dears, having to put up with traffic jams in the comfort of your air-conditioned personal space of your own car, having choices of radio stations to tune in to, or play that cool jazz cd, or chat to your companion in the car, or listen to pastor's sermon, or pray in the spirit (with no furtive looks from strangers).

You poor drivers in your car, while we daily get to squeeze with other bodies in the peak hour bus rides, or watch in silent horror at old men who leave their nose pickings on MRT doors.

Speaking of nose picking, I recently sat beside a harmless-looking young chap on the MRT. He was neatly dressed in an orange short-sleeved shirt, and seemed civil enough. Imagine my shock when he started nose digging, no joke, I mean it, he wasn't merely picking nose, he was digging it for all it was worth. Thankfully my station came next and I escaped into the vast, free, and hopefully, clean space of the MRT plarform.

Ha ha, this is just part of my normal life, with tiny hardships and simple conveniences.

A Date

Yesterday I had a date with my husband, William. We were both not working so we decided to head for the recently opened shopping mall, Vivo City.

Ever since Joseph entered our lives, we have not had the chance to go out just by ourselves. Do not be mistaken, we feel blessed to have an adorable son in our midst, except that at times we just wish to be our own individual selves again, and not just being parents all the time.

So after two and a half years, the opportunity presented itself. Joseph as usual had been sent to his full day childcare centre. After finishing some house chores, we promptly prepared ourselves for the outing. William, being the guy, was ready before I am. So I told him to leave the house first and wait for me at the bus stop. "Why? Whatever for?" he quipped. "Well, if we are going on a date, you can pretend that you are waiting for me downstairs, anyway the guy always waits for the gal, go... go... go..." William still looked perplexed as I hurried him out the front door.

Minutes later, while I was getting into the lift, William's call came through, "Where are you?" Wahaha...! The first discrepancy after getting married, you hear the question "where are you" instead of "take your time... and mine too".

Though in the beginning it did feel quite odd not having Joseph with us (since I was so used to fussing over him and attending to all his needs), I enjoyed having the time out with William alone. We spent the day leisurely, and had lunch together in the food court (we always had to take turns eating when we have Joseph with us). We walked through most of the shops, and even watched Happy Feet in the cinema. I can't remember when was the last time I stepped into a movie theatre and I savoured every moment then, relishing even the trailers of movies soon to be shown.

I did miss Joseph, just a little wee bit. Once a mother, always a mother, I guess...

Prattle

We were planning to attend the 11.30am church service but Joseph dozed off on the couch as we prepared to depart. So who is the real boss in the house, and who has the final say? We may have planned to leave the house earlier but Joseph's falling asleep dictates otherwise.

Yes, several times had similar incidences occurred, our activities or planned moves seemed hampered by this small hurdle of a child, but we don't really mind. There was a time when I did what I like, went where I wish, at just anytime I wanted. I don't anymore, and I see that I won't be doing that anytime too soon either. A couple of years more, then we'll regain something of our former freedom and flexibility, yee-hah...!!

My recent five-day job assignment left me quite exhausted, and I began to understand the nation's dependance on foreign domestic help. Having to wake extra early to prepare son and self, dropping him off at the childcare centre before rushing off to work, picking him up in the evening, making sure he's fed, bathe, spoken to, played with, given medicine, and finally sent to bed with a bottle of milk at 9pm. While Joseph snoozed contentedly, my second job starts, that is, tackling the house chores, till late at night. Wahaha... it's as though I'm holding down two jobs instead of one! No wonder almost every household in Singapore has a maid, or help from parents-in-law, especially if both spouses work full-time.

Now, I have decided to pray and believe the Lord for half-week or half-day assignments next, so that I won't be running on adrenaline half the time. Some of my friends are tickled pink when I go delirious (from lack of sleep); well, I'm glad they are entertained, really; but on some days I'd sure like to have a good sound sleep and recharge myself proper.

William and I watched this foodie progrmme on CNA in the morning and it proclaimed that the world's biggest ice cream devourer is New Zealand, followed closely by USA and Canada. But what if they measured the total litres of ice cream consumed and divide that amount against the population of each country, would the result still be the same? Wouldn't smaller countries like Singapore and Taiwan chalk up big numbers as well?

Just a prattle, Napoleon Bonaparte was said to have died by poisoning, as traces of arsenic was found in his hair, but no murderer had been arrested. Meanwhile, a certain group of people firmly held the belief that he had cancer, precipitated by a chronic stomach ulcer condition. Other theories suggests that his doctors killed him, through over-zealous use of vomit-inducing medicine and enemas, leading to potassium deficit, which in turn caused abnormally rapid heartbeats. Today, modern science suggests that he could have been killed in his own living room by..... the wallpaper!

During Napoleon's time, a green motif wallpaper, which was all the rage, had copper arsenide added to the material. In its own form, copper arsenide is harmless, but if moistened (e.g. by the presence of mould) could produce a colourless vapour, arsenic in gaseous form. Researchers found that Napoleon had indeed used the same green wallpaper, which had moulded during the wet season, thus the new theory of the cause of his death; that he died after inhaling arsenic, in his own living room.

Ooh... Joseph has just awoken from his nap! Alright, it's time to prepare to leave for church service, again. Let's go, William!

A Weekend Away... Fri 20 - Mon 23 Oct 2006

Joseph had a bout of viral gastroenteritis, or viral GE, that resulted in a short hospital stay. The persistent watery stools caused his little buttocks to turn red first, then tiny blisters appeared, breaking into minute ulcers soon after. That's when we packed Joseph's FBO (full battle order) and promptly rode a cab to National University Hospital (NUH). I knew the doctor would suggest hospitalisation so I had my overnight things along too.

Thankfully by then his high fever and vomiting had ceased, also his URTI (upper respiratory tract infection) made only a brief appearance, thus we dealt mainly with his stool and buttocks problem. Joseph had an IV (intavenous) line inserted so that we could stop oral feeding to rest his digestive tract. His blood, urine and stool tests gave a picture of viral infection. Meanwhile, two different types of cream had been prescribed for his bottom to soothe the soreness and pain.

Praise the Lord, Joseph's stool frequency dropped significantly once the IV drip commenced, and his buttocks skin healed rather quickly so that we don't hear him scream in pain whenever he passes urine or stools. We were glad to be out of hospital on Monday, especially me, as I had not been able to sleep or rest very well in the noisy ward environment.

Home is indeed the best place to be. Thank You Jesus, for blessing us with a wonderful home, we love our little abode, every space, every corner. Of course above all, we love having You, Lord! Thank You for being our faithful God, hallelujah!

At Home

Last night I was supposed to go to Mary Tan's vocal lesson. Joseph was coming up with a healing for diarrhoea and William was plagued with high fever and a terrible headache. So I had to be home to care for them both. Though bitterly disappointed at having missed a productive session with this unassuming teacher, I knew my priority lies with the two closest persons in my life.

I had not reported for work since Monday. Good or bad, well, I think I choose to look on the bright side of things. I had my much needed break while staying home for Joseph. Joseph initially had fever and vomiting, but they're both gone. I'm trusting the full manifestation of healing for his diarrhoea, praise the Lord!

I'm grateful that Joseph is still active and alert, unlike Sunday where he was drowsy then. But his buttocks have reddened and it pains my heart to hear him cry whenever a fresh BO was done. Therefore I decided to start him on soya bean formula today. A quick check on the internet confirms that NTUC supermarket do carry three brands of the special formula. I picked Brand "I" (which was optimistically presumed to be the least stinky one) and duly sms-ed William to get it on his way home. Praise the Lord, Joseph did not reject the soya milk formula. Praise the Lord!

While William and I was eating dinner earlier on, Joseph climbed onto my chair and indicated that he wants rice too. He must be famished, as he had been fed diluted milk feeds throughout the day due to his watery stools. Usually we had to coax him to eat rice, now he's literally begging for it! Anyhow I could only offer him a few grains of plain rice since his digestive system is currently "under repair". Fortunately, he did not fuss when his short supply of food ran out. On second try, he still did not reject the new milk formula, wahaha...!

Jesus, our Healer! Thank You for the Holy Communion, thank You for a finished work, we are the healed of our Lord Jesus, amen! Hallelujah!