2nd B.I. project in...

Well, at least the difficult parts of the "Book of Joshua" course is OVER. Praise God.

2 sermon plans to be conjured up by this Friday. And then I will shout TGIF.

Something random... Due to my chagrin toward the crazy rate dust gathers on my furniture, my lack of time for regular wiping of the furniture and yet, my extreme aversion toward dust and filthiness, I am seriously considering employing a day-helper to clean my flat once a week or once a fortnight. It shouldn't cost too much, since my house is pretty small - and I do not have much money (and neither do I have many earthly treasures) lying around to be nervous...hehe. Any recommendations, Penang folks?

I need... a helper.

I am just done with lunch and would so dearly love a good cup of coffee now...

Random thought of the day: I wish I had a helper clean up my house for me everyday! :P I would be able to worry less about the hair on the floors, the possibility of mould growing undetected somewhere and of course, focus on my work. And, I'd be able to eat off the floors too. LOL.

Unfortunately, I am one of those people who cannot stand uncleanliness and a disorderly house... in a weird, OCD-ish way. BUT, I cannot always bring myself to clean the house... especially when I am so busy with my assignments. (As you can see, I am not your typical multi-tasker kind of girl.) I get squeamish when I come in contact with dirt and dust. I am also known to procrastinate house-work (I simply prioritize other jobs over house-work) - till I absolutely cannot tahan. Then out of anger (at the kekotoran as well as my tardiness), I will kick myself into action. Namely, spring-cleaning.

Once the momentum sets in... TRUST ME. I tell you the truth - the house will be kick ass spick and span, it will smell as wonderfully sterilized as the hospital (mmm...) - and those taps in my bathroom, they will shine like new! :)

Hehe, is anyone willing to pay me to clean my own house? :P I think I need some incentive. If I had all the time in the world to do housework... I would. But on top of my assignments? Gosh, the thought of even lifting the broom out of the store-room makes me shudder. I hate being interrupted in the midst of brainspiration! :D

Ah, wishful thinking.

These are my thoughts at this very moment - as I sit at my dining table, eat my lunch and ponder on how I am to begin my B.I interpretation project on Joshua 3.

Spring-cleaning day...

Despite our busy schedule on Saturday, I HAD to give my house a good spring-clean (the first one in 2011) - just because I will be going back to school tomorrow...

So, while Ben was at church for a CG leaders' meeting, I was wiping every item in my house. I stumbled across a mouldy congregations (oh gosh, you'll never guess where they set up their base), loads of dust and some rotten uneaten food in the fridge... but loads of other stuff fit to be recycled. Decided that I wouldn't hoard - so I organized the recyclable goodies into bags and ditched the rotting stuff.

Then my dear Ben returned from church... and was assigned to wash my bathroom and mop the floors of my 600 sq.ft apartment...

Tee hee hee...here he was trying to look sad, as if I had forced him to wash the bathroom... Do not let his looks deceive you... he was more willing than he looked. Not to mention - he did a pretty good job too! I definitely have the best landlord ever!!! :DTo quote Ben (to Suan Hui at CG the same night): "Where can you find such good landlords? I was forced to clean the toilet!!!" LOL.

A clean house feels good.

One fond memory...

This picture was taken more than a year ago... when I was busy preparing for my med&surg finals and I had no time to even pack my clothes properly into the wardrobe... Everything was just thrown in higgledy-piggledy without being folded! Wardrobe was in a disastrous mess (it honestly looked like I bombed it - could have buried an animal underneath all)... and when Ben opened it one day when he came to visit me (I can't remember why he had to open it), clothes rained down profusely like sand from a disintegrating sandcastle when someone kicks it! *Gulp*

I, with my wild imagination, was not only ashamed (*sob,sob*) and horrified that he had seen World War I and II in my wardrobe... but also terrified that he would leave me for being such a slob. But thankfully he didn't. The next time he came (oh yeah, he came back!:D), he brought along a portable ironing board (I'm not sure what my housemates thought about that!), sat down without a word in front of my wardrobe (you can see its wooden door in the picture above) on the dusty floor, and proceeded to iron my clothes diligently - while I was studying away. Or more like, tried to study - I was so touched *sobs again* and paiseh -because it was a massive pile of clothes indeed! In fact, he did a much better job ironing that I would have done myself! (If you think I'm a sucker for neatness, I think Ben is 10 times neater than I am.)

In short, I had very nicely pressed clothes to wear to school the many days that followed (felt like they were so bathed in love)... and because I was so ashamed of myself, I made sure I at least folded the clean laundry and packed them neatly into my wardrobe after that...

Note: Ok I hope Ben does not read this post... and see the pictures... because he is going to be very traumatized... but I really love what he did... and I did feel very loved indeed!:)

Having said all that, I am really not that untidy! :D Haha. It was just the med&surg finals. I love cleaning. I assure you, my house is tidy now (except for my study desk - I am never good at keeping my work-station neat.. I love to throw books and papers around, and I hate putting away my stationeries when I am still not finished with them - In that case, I am kinda never finished with them!:D). Sure, it gets a bit dusty at times, when I am rushing assignments... but I make sure I clean it properly after that because I'm allergic to dust (-mites) - they give me rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, eczema and asthma... and I hate seeing hair on the floors of my house! Eeeeeks.

Nevertheless, I was very surprised and glad that during our MPC class a few months back, when we were supposed to discuss who does what when we are married (eg. deal with the cars, housework, cooking, planning for hols, grocery-shopping, admin, etc), and we came to the part of "Who will do the housework", I put down my answer as "Me"- but Ben put down his answer as "Both of us"! *phew*

Thursday

It's been one tiring day. But I was happy.

Finished cleaning my entire apartment after a long day at work (been doing a bit of studying too), washing all the clothes, tidying up my drawers (oh, they were in a shameful mess), ironing (this was when I wished that I had a robot programmed to iron my clothes), packing for WTR tomorrow, talking to Ben on the phone, talking to Pig on Gtalk... etcetera.

Treated myself to roti canai at the mamak stall downstairs after I finished cleaning up the house...and a facial mask after I finished packing:P - Positive reinforcement for good behavior I suppose, these rewards...

Love it when my apartment's spick and span like this. I can probably eat off the floor, mind you!

Now... I've got this problem though. There's a lizard hiding somewhere in my wardrobe, and I daren't open up that section now - just in case, it decides to jump out - which is ridiculous anyway, because if I keep it closed, how will he get out? (Probably starve his guts out while he searches for an escape route of some sort.) However, I'm weighing in the odds that he might bring in more of his friends...to live with him.

It's the suitcase section btw. Thankfully, he's not hanging out with my knickers!

*Shudder*

Please, Mr. Lizard - don't decide to make your home in my suitcase.

Yours sincerely,
One whose hairs stand on end at the thought of you gallivanting about in my wardrobe...

Choir practice

Changed my pillowcases, bedsheets, duvet cover, etc... and now, I'm sitting down with a running nose (I cannot tolerate dust!), sipping a cup of hot tea.

Had choir practice tonight... Which cheered me up loads. There's something about being there on Wednesday nights.

First of all, I love choir ministry because it's something totally different from CMC. And I don't have to do anything but read music scores and sing.

Secondly, the people are cute.

The uncles in the back row (who are the basses) make the most noise. They love poking fun at anything or anyone that catches their fancy. They groan and moan whenever Angeline, our choir director, makes us repeat our parts over and over again.

The aunties in front (the sopranoes) are quite obedient people. They present the main melody and message of each song. I don't remember if they've ever complained - perhaps they have but they seldom do. They love their pre- and post-choir chit-chats. I'm grateful that they do include me in their chit-chats whenever I look interested. They are quite a caring lot, I must say. And of course, the uncles sometimes do get their share of fun poking fun at the aunties.

The tenors and altoes consist of a younger generation of people.

Tenors, the men who sing a higher range of notes than the basses are always looking out for one another on their team - quite a united bunch. They are always happy and thankful whenever more of their members turn up for practices, and go, "There! Here comes our reinforcement!"

Last but not least, we have the altoes, who sit in between the bass uncles and tenors at the back row(s) and the soprano aunties. Pig and I belong to this group. It has been really fun!

Can't believe it - but I've been on the choir for a year already! How time flies!

My first church presentation with the choir last year was during Easter. I was the pianist then. Somehow, the songs still move me as much as they did last year. Whenever I hear them, I feel a deep sense of nolstalgia - because of the memories they stir up:) - My med and surg rotation. My close friends, Esther and Lucas (classmates and churchmates - Luk was in the choir too); we've parted ways after graduation. The dilemma with housemanship. The 'Sengoi Incident' (too personal to share). Last but not least - Ben... and his canggih black-rimmed glasses. (Don't tell him I wrote this - but I do think he looks so much better with his current pair).

Sigh. It's been a year. Can you imagine? One whole year.

A year ago...