The world of JULIANA

In de blink of an eye, a week has passed by. Just last week, I remembered havin’ lazed in bed on a Sunday afternoon enjoying every moment of de carefree w’kend I had.

Here I am, on another Sunday afternoon a week later. Reflecting on events and activities that had taken place over de week always seems like a nice thing to do,considering that a bright new week begins tomorrow.

It was Health Promotion Week for our Staff at work and hence, we had a string of exciting activities last week ranging frm aerobics & fitball session to demonstration on how to use a fire extinguisher by the fire brigade, and a talk on "Stress management at the workplace",etc.

Mid-week, for the very first time, our Choir Group in church went on a li’l tour to a Praise & Worship evening in PJ. Getting everyone together at 7pm on a wet rainy evening, and travelling together in the van whilst chatting away was half the fun of the evening!

Then later in the week, we were off to Batu Pahat for a national church conference held on a yearly basis. For the very first time in my entire life, I was elected as one of the 3 representatives frm my church to join the meeting this year. Rushed to BP frm work on Friday armed with truck loads of enthusiasm and excitement.We arrived at the conference ’bout 1hr prior to the end of the meeting for the day.Sadly, we had missed the first half of the meeting as both Robz and I couldn’t get out of work any earlier than that. It was interesting to see church leaders frm all facets of life getting together, voicing their opinions and views on various burning issues. Felt like a small fry amongst the senior big whales who’d been at this SYNOD gathering for the last 25-30yrs! The highlight of the conference would have to be the voting of the NEW BISHOP for the West M’sian Anglican Diocese! Felt so proud to be one of the ‘voters’ of the new bishop amongst the 150-odd-"delegates".  The results of the vote will only be announced later this year,though. Also discovered that Batu Pahat is indeed a very quiet quaint li’l town.

Thank heavens I live in KL. I realize that whenever I visit other places in M’sia,on the journey back home to KL, I never fail to think to myself, " ahh…thank Goodness I live in KL!".  Perhaps it might be because I’ve adjusted and accommodated myself to the environment of livin’ in KL over the years and the thought of livin’ in any other place apart frm KL almost seems impossible!The journey back to KL frm Batu Pahat seemed a lot shorter than the journey to BP,surprisingly. Dropped in at father-in-law’s place yesterday evening. Was fun to play with my nieces and nephews who were in town for the school holidays.

Oh guess what? All this while, itz been the adults and elderly people that bug me with the question of, "So when are you guys gonna have kids?". Now, I have a whole new ‘group’ of people askin’ me that very same question. A new group in the form of li’l people, whom I never knew would even THINK of such questions. My niece and nephews!!!! *Sigh.

These days, kids are so mature and fast-paced in their thinking. After much exposure to countless tv programmes (especially tamil movies!!), whereby the wife almost ALWAYS gives birth the year she gets married, these innocent li’l kids find it strange that Robz and I still "don’t have kids" ! Hahaha…here’s a sample of a conversation between my adorable nephew who "confronted" me whilst Robz was far,far away:

Nephew     : Aunty Julie, when are you going to give birth to a child?

Me             : Why?? Don’t you have enough siblings to play with now?

Nephew      : B-b-b-but, you and Uncle Robert have been married

                   "A LONG TIME" and you don’t have kids yet?

Honestly, it seems a lot easier to be evasive with adults. With kids, they give you such an innocent look whilst asking the most bizarre of questions that sometimes, being a "fully-grown-adult-who’s capable of thinking and makin’ decisions", one’s almost clueless when it comes to havin’ to answer complicated questions posed by a mere child! *sigh

On a lighter note, as of yesterday, itz been exactly FIVE YEARS since Robz and I got engaged!! Goshhh, I can’t believe five years have flown past! To mark the auspicious day, I had to force Robz to snap some pics and this one’s one of my favourites. Robz insists that this pic is my favourite only bcoz I look good in it whilst he admitted that he’s looked better in other pics!! *laughs

My Granma and Aunts had come over to KL for a short visit frm Ipoh.   evening, we bought some KL-style-ice-kacang and seafood-tomyam for ‘em and took it over to my parents’ place. Had a wonderful time chatting away whilst savouring the delicious cuisine.

Today, as usual, spent the first half of the day in church. Being the choir-leader of the church, I now have a new headache….errr….i mean, responsibility. There’s a inter-church choir singing-competition comin’ up in November and I need to train approximately 10 kids between the ages of 10-15yrs to sing and compete in this competition! Considering that our church is going to be hosting the event, the elders-council in our church feels that it would be a reasonable idea to send in at least one entry for the competition! Ahhh. . . now , I need to come up with 3 songs for these kids and think of some creative outfits/costumes! How exciting….

Robz and I did some window shopping at our local mall. There’s so much fun in lookin’ around without actually buying anything. Lunch was fun as I haven’t been to Devi’s Corner to eat in almost 1/2 a year. The waiters know my Mom pretty well as she often buys take-away food frm ‘em.As usual, as I walked in, they encountered ’bout my Mom and asked how come it had been such a long time since Robz & I last went there. As I scooped some rice out frm the container to fill my plate, an elderly waiter who looked rather impatient cynically commented, "Why would you even BOTHER eating rice in the first place if you’re going to put such li’l rice on ur plate?". Arggggghhhh….why won’t people let others eat what they want in the quantities they like? Grrr . . .

Next week’s our 2nd year wedding anniversary and we’re givin’ lunch in church as it’s also in conjunction with the Thanksgiving/Harvest festival in church. Oh dear, that reminds me, I need to go pick a saree to wear and get it ironed. Then again, there’s still a whole week before next Sunday. I’m sure I’ll find some time somewhere in the week before next Sunday approaches.  *Giggles

Stories are so much easier to tell in categories. Hence, this time, I’ve come up with a slightly different way of blogging compared to my previous entries. I realize that itz been more than a month since I last blogged! Hence, it’s only fair that I continue frm where I left off last! Thankfully, I’ve recovered well frm the ankle fracture. Greattttt to be back at work and to be able to drive drive drive without havin’ to be fully dependent on loved ones! Hehe…

*takes a deeeeeeeeeep breath

Babies

Over the last 3wks, I’ve had two baby-related stories to blog ’bout! The first involves a colleague of mine, who had severe abdominal cramps at our workplace. She looked as pale as a ghost and I knew somethin’ was wrong. We rushed her to the nearest hospital. Upon several clinical examinations and investigations, we discovered that my colleague was . . . PREGNANT !! She was thrilled as they’ve been trying for a second child for awhile and this was certainly the world’s best news for her! I,too, felt so pleased and honoured to be the very first person to find out ’bout it! Even husband found out ’bout it after I did! Hahaha….

The second baby-related story’s to do with a lovely friend of mine who’s going to be delivering her very first baby in a fortnight’s time! We, her close friends, organized a li’l baby-shower for her! She looked gloriously radiant that evening, and I just can’t wait to see her and li’l bundle of joy in weeks’ to come frm now! It was so cosy to sit together and chit-chat over dinner. All of ‘em brought their cameras except Robz and me! *sigh. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I need to go chase the others who had snapped pics as I still haven’t obtained any pics frm that dinner! That kinda wraps up the ‘baby topic’ bit of my blog.

Church

Ahh . . . as church’s such a huge huge huge part of my life, the latest update would be the revamp of our Choir Robe design. Once the design has been ‘unveiled’ to the congregations during the 1st week of September, I’ll definitely post a pic of it in my blog! We’re also organizing a FAMILY CAMP ,which has had several hiccups. Hoping that it’ll materialize by the end of this year.

Movies

We watched a line-up of movies on DVDs , thanks to my wonderful husband who’s almost obsessed with catching up with the latest movies even before they’re released in theatre! For the records, CLICK was certainly an entertaining movie whilst Lady In The Water was a sheer disappointment! I fell asleep halfway thru’ the movie. ‘American Pie 4′ was hilarious frm the beginning right till the end of the movie! Definitely worth watching it.

Books

Currently reading a novel my friend lent me. I was supposed to have finished reading this book during my fracture-recovery period. Itz entitled ‘Madras on Rainy Days’ by Samina Ali and revolves around the life of an Indian-Muslim woman who has an arranged marriage only to later discover that her ‘husband’ ’s gay! Poor gal’s all devastated and the story got very depressing frm then on,which perhaps explains why I’ve had no motivation to flick thru’ the pages till the end of the novel!

Flowers

I have a dream. A hobby I’d like to turn into a reality at some point over the next couple of months.  I’ve always liked orchids. My fascination with orchids perhaps began when I was in my teens, learning how to paint orchids using oil pastels. Then, it evolved into arranging fresh orchids on the dining table. Recently, I’ve developed a passion for gardening. In theory, I’d love to START gardening. However, upon thinking of the commitment and dedication involved in gardening (Watering the plants often, ensuring they have enough but not too much sunlight, ensuring that the flowers have manneure,etc), I have yet to begin this hobby. My interest for growing orchids at home certainly escalated after a visit to an ‘orchids-farm’ in Batu Arang. Frm then on, I’ve even designated certain areas in my verandah for my ‘imaginary orchids’ plants. Once I successfully grow my FIRST orchid plant in my home, will certainly post a pic of it on my blog!

Piano

My piano class,which I conduct on Saturday evenings in church , has become more interesting as I now have 2 new students! One’s my 10-year old niece whilst another’s our church Priests’s 17 year old son. They’re both quick learners and teaching ‘em how to play various songs is simply amazing.

Weddings

Just over de w’kend, I attended a wedding,followed by a lunch-reception. I still can’t believe that the entire lunch reception was so gradual that it lasted over a period of four hours! At that point, I had to politely excuse myself as I was runnin’ late for piano class. It was a mixed-marriage (Chinese+Indian) and I was one of the few over-decorated Indian girl with gold jewellery and heavy-pattu-saree. *Sigh. Most folks turned up in modern gowns,etc. Oh, also, we had completely forgotten to purchase a gift right until the 11th hr. Then, I proceed to the entrance-counter at the reception to place my gift. I did wonder why the string of ladies gave me a strange look. I ignored the look and went ahead and left my prettily wrapped gift, along with 2 other gifts. A thought did cross my mind as to why there were so few presents from the entire ballroom of guests in the hotel. Anyway, we walked into the ballroom and sat comfortably at our seats. Fortunately, one of the guests had the wedding card with her. Upon carefully reading the card, there it was , in bold print, " preferred gift : CASH". Arrggghhhh. . . that explained why those women gave me a strange look! I reminded myself that even wedding cards these days need careful attention as one can always miss out a li’l detail and end up makin’ a mistake like I did!

My 2nd wedding story involves a closely related relative of mine who’s gettin’ married later this year! Am pleased to say that I have been ‘appointed’ as their wedding organist! Ahh . . .it always gives me a special joy when I play for weddings of relatives.

Anniversary

Unbelievably, as of September, it would’ve been TWO years since Robz and I got married! Gosh…time flies!!! Living in the wonderfully highly cultured Asian society that we live in, there isn’t a week that goes past without the eternally-nerve-wrecking question of, " So . . when are we ever gonna see Junior Robz and Junior Julie runnin’ around de hse?". Sadly, people don’t understand that when we DO HAVE A PIECE OF GOOD NEWSto share, we’d happily announce it to the entire world, and perhaps even to folks in other planets in the entire galaxy out there! Till then, all we can hope is that people would learn NOT to ask such questions and wait for us to announce it when the time’s right! Havin’ said that, am definitely livin’ every moment of life to the fullest without gory thoughts of havin’ to change nappies and have sleepless nights of caring for a newborn!

That probably sums up the latest happenings in my life in a li’l nutshell over the last 6-7weeks. Since I couldn’t sleep, I forced myself to update my blog since I haven’t updated it in ages. Considering that slumberland has just extended an invitation to me, I shall happily accept de invitation and march into dreamland. Till I see you folks next, have a pleasant week and God Bless!