Literally :S

This picture describes my day today..

:) for Australian Day Fireworks and Shawn coming back from singapore in about 1 hour time
:( for my sister going to Melbourne in about 3 and a half hours

utter shock.

I cannot believe this is happening. Well here was the plan... Our whole family (for the first time) will be going back to Indonesia for 2 weeks to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary and my grandma's 92nd birthday. We would go to Bali, Bandung, Jakarta.. It would be the epic family holiday since the Eurotrip 2 years ago!


However, this morning my dad told me that mum got an email saying that Yvonne my sister is accepted in Dentistry in University of Melbourne. What does this mean? Well let me say that my mum have ALWAYS had a dream that Yvonne would be a doctor one day. She would push my sister to do UMAT, GAMSAT, go to Sydney to do Medical Science, etc etc. And even after my sister already finished Med Science, my mum is never backing down on not pushing her daughter to become a doctor. So this offer means A LOT for our family. This is because my mum is pretty much the main decision maker of the family. And she is also known to be the "maker of sudden changes" woman. And so, my sister is going to Melbourne first thing this Monday with my mum because the uni starts already on that day. Crazy? hah... I'm pretty much shocked.. Cos number one, the Indo holiday would not be the whole family, number two, my sister is moving to Melbourne for 4 years starting next week.. :S


What does this mean for the church? Well, my sister is the leader of our Youth Camp this year which will be held in March. We've nearly finished all the preparations of the camp. And all of a sudden, we would need to find a new leader. Secondly, she is a sunday school teacher.. So the Sunday School would lose 1 scarce resource. Number three: I cannot imagine her living apart from her boyfriend for another 4 years after 3 years of separation when she was in Sydney.


So yeah. :S This is shocking. Great cos finally my mum reach her dreams. Sad cos.. well... it's sad for me...... :'( *teary*

Goodbye again to Shaki's Big Momma..

:( :( :(

I wanna be the loving, cheerful grandmother!

There are two types of old people in this world: 

1) The cheerful, beaming, loved-by-everyone old man/old woman

2) The bitter, grumpy, suspicious-of-the-world old man/old woman

A recent news about my grandma in Indo who has dementia made me want to write a blog post about this. And also I've met a lot of senior customers in the pharmacy and other places. Let's start by telling you about some of them..

Type no 1: The Cheerful Senior

There is this old chap who always hums and sings as he comes into the pharmacy. Despite his completely white hair, I can't believe he's 70 with his 19th century styled golf cap. He would greet us the pharmacy assitants: "Hello little ones! How are you today? I'm here to see my old friend (the pharmacist) up there!" Then he will walk up to where the dispensary is and greet any customers on the way. Such a lovely old man isn't he! He would definitely brighten everyone's day just for coming into the pharmacy to get his scripts filled in. There is also this old lady who used to come to Chooks with her husband. She has dementia (she doesn't remember anything), sometimes she even ask her husband "Who are you?". Some old people who have dementia would get scared all the time because they don't know where they are etc etc. But this woman is different, she would come into the store with her husband saying "Oh what a lovely store!! I love the colours here, they're all so bright!". Do you see what I'm getting at? :)

Type no 2: The bitter old "Boggis, Bunce, and Bean"

NB: For those who haven't watch Fantastic Mr Fox would have no idea who Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are. I was referring to scary old men who are not very friendly.

Some old customers that come into the pharmacy doesn't talk much and they always frown when they hand in the script.. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I did/say anything wrong, and sometimes I feel guilty for being too cheerful in case it's annoying to them. Maybe it's because they're in pain or tired I don't know.. But it's the complete opposite of the previous two I mentioned. Some are not completely "Boggis, Bunce, and Bean" but they are suspicious of the people around them, especially those whom they discriminate (e.g. if they see customers of other races, etc). Some fight with their children all the time. Some are afraid of change. All these unhappy characteristics which I'm sure is somehow caused by the things that they encounter in the past (wars, etc) or how other people treat them. 

These people who didn't have a very good past life was very unfortunate. But for the rest of us, so far we haven't been in any war situations, especially my generation. Our countries have been pretty peaceful compared to the wars in the Middle East and African countries. So let us all be grateful for that, and do so by being more cheerful about every single thing. If I get dementia when I grow older, I would want the good memories to be kept and hence become the loving happy grandmother of Type no 1 to my grandkids. So maybe if I start being cheerful about every single thing in my life now, accept everyone no matter who they are, and share compassion, my brain would be accustomed to being like that till the end of my life :) What about you?

"Money doesn't buy happiness"

Oh that cliché! Haven't we all heard of it? A lot of people somewhat disagree, but I couldn't agree more :)

People would then add statements like "Money doesn't buy happiness, but it buys THINGS to MAKE you happy" or "Whoever said money doesn't make you happy, obviously doesn't know where to shop" xD

Well truth is, those are all somewhat true. And money really is important in our lives. But even if you had an unlimited amount of money, can you really be truly happy?

Okay, imagine this scenario. You just got your week's pay yesterday, you were so happy that you can finally buy that dress you've always wanted! But then, now that you've bought that dress.. Are you truly satisfied and happy? I don't think so, I'm sure you would think of thousands of other things you wish you could buy, and would soon start saving up from your work money to buy other stuff after you get bored of that dress! So the statement above to me sounds more like: "Money doesn't buy you happiness, but it buys THINGS to MAKE you happy TEMPORARILY"

I believe that true happiness comes from being content and grateful. When you start to be thankful of your life, you'll be happy because you feel blessed with all these things that you already have. I know this because I grew up in Indonesia with my maids and babysitters. They were not that well off, and they had so much less money than my family, but then they were not like SAD. They were just content, thankful that they have a job, thankful that they can earn money for their families back home, thankful that they have a house to live in, thankful that they're not out there in the streets as beggars! They always seem so happy and me and my sister love to play with their kids and just chilling out at the back with our maids..

In contrast, in a general view, there are a lot of celebrities who are just filthy rich, but they end up in jails, getting drunk, got involved with drugs, in and out of rehabs, and numerous love scandals. Celebrity splits are not rare and those who remain married are so rare these days. Would that be called a happy life? Are they any happier than me, you, my maids back in indo, or those hobos on the streets?

I'll leave you to decide :)

 

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumblebee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." - Ashley Smith

 "Let us acknowledge all good, all delight that the world holds, and be content." - George MacDonald

"To have everything is happiness. All the things I already have is everything to me. Therefore, I have everything already." - Forgot where I heard it from :)

Skin Care for Eczema

I feel like doing something different so thought about doing a skin care routine! :D These products have been helping me to control my eczema and so far it's been pretty good. The last time I use my prescription Cortisone creams would probably middle of last year. From then on till now, I've only been using these products and some others but I've put here my favourite. For those with problem, sensitive, and dry skin, I really recommend these. For those with acne, I recommend the Tea Tree Oil too! :)

face

loving: Olay Moisturising Lotion, Tea Tree Oil, Bio Oil
wanting to try: Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturiser

body

loving Dermaveen Lotion and Curash Anti-Rash Powder

wanting to try Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturising Cream with Cooling Menthol

face wash

loving Dermeze Soap Free Wash, St Ives Apricot Scrub

The Blind Side

I just watched this movie called The Blind Side. Ended up crying in the middle of the movie and tears run down like a river towards the end! Lols.


Here is the synapsis of the movie from Rotten Tomatoes:

"Synopsis: The Blind Side depicts the remarkable true story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a... The Blind Side depicts the remarkable true story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher's presence in the Touhys' lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. As a football player and student, Oher works hard and, with the help of his coaches and adopted family, becomes an All-American offensive left tackle. Based on the book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis"

But the amazing thing about this movie is, you really realise how random acts of kindness not only can give a person a blessing for that one time, but it can also change his/her whole future into a better one. I realised this towards the end, when the mother of the family read a newspaper article about this African-American boy from a broken home, the same as Michael Oher (her son), who died in gang shooting or something like that. And that's when she realised that that boy could have been anyone, he could have been Michael. But their act of kindness had changed Michael's future, so that he didn't become like that.


And that's why I was so inspired, and let us all do the same. Do random acts of kindness. We never know how that may change that persons life! :)


We should also pray for those who are in the Queensland floods. Especially families who had lost their loved ones in the disaster. And may we all be more thankful that we are all still alive today and safe from natural disasters.

Really?

Someone told me I look like her:



Is it true? What do you think??
Comment
or vote the :) box if you think yes
or the :( box if you think no
haha..