Sometimes an Angel, Sometimes a Devil

Last night I saw my 4-year old niece in her ballet costume for the first time. Yes, Booby, the same one who used cry till she vomits - I bet you're laughing out loud right now! She's just started classes and seems to enjoy the dancing and she looks so adorable in her part tutu, part dress outfit.

I asked her to show me what she had learnt in class and her reply was 'You have to come and see'. I got the message, she wasn't going to give me a free show, I would have to turn up at her class and attend her performance. Very professional! :-)

My husband sent me this today:

To those of us who have children in our lives,
whether they are our own,
grandchildren,
nieces,
nephews,
or students...
here is something to make you chuckle.

Whenever your children are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God's omnipotence did not extend to His own children.

After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve.

And the first thing he said was "DON'T!"
"Don't what ?" Adam replied.

"Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said.

"Forbidden fruit? We have forbidden fruit? Hey Eve..we have forbidden fruit!"

"No Way !"

"Yes way !"

"Do NOT eat the fruit!" said God.

"Why?"

"Because I am your Father and I said so!" God replied, wondering why He hadn't stopped creation after making the elephants.

A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and He was ticked!

"Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit?" God asked.

"Uh huh," Adam replied.

"Then why did you?" said the Father.

"I don't know," said Eve.

"She started it!" Adam said.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"DID NOT!"

Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own.

Thus the pattern was set and it has never changed.


BUT THERE IS REASSURANCE IN THE STORY

If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give children wisdom and they haven't taken it,
don't be hard on yourself.

If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you?

On another note I'm thinking of taking this blog private. Please send me your emails, all 5 of you who read this blog :-)

I had a really vivid dream which I remember in detail, and no Booby, it wasn't preceded by blanket fun. I was in a forest and we saw some bad people herd some elephants into a cave and seal off the entrance. I went to get help and soon I was back at the cave with a whole bunch of people. I stood watching with Chris some distance away while they freed the herd and as the rescuers and rescued elephants were walking away, I became aware of a large bull elephant watching from a distance through the forest trees.

Chris and I were right behind the whole group when the bull started charging hard towards us and we ran for our lives before it could give us a thundering kick* till we reached a fast-flowing river, the colour of coffee. There was no way to escape so we jumped in, Chris holding me from behind, and both of 'steering' away from huge tree trunks being swept by the river. Then my dreaming self saw something my dreamt self didn't see. When we started running, it seemed at first that the rest of the group, elephants and all were oblivious. But a little baby elephant actually had also run after us and with it, its mother.

So there we were all in this muddy river, Chris and I, the raging bull, the calf and the cow! Finally we landed on the banks of what seemed like a really muddy field and we ran to hide under the tall blades of grass. But the male elephant seemed to be running right for us and I suddenly realised it could smell us!** We got up and ran back to the riverbank to try and escape again when we see the baby elephant and its momma there. My poor dreamt self felt this was the end! Of course my dreaming self knew better they were there to save us.

The little calf ran past us trumpeting loudly, and the bull stopped in amazement. He half-raised his trunk before the momma elephant stepped behind the calf also trumpeting loudly. And that's when I woke up to the sound of my alarm.

*I learnt the 'thundering kick' phrase from a friend who uses it whenever she's angry. I love it! But I think elephants will more likely trample or gore you to death, rather than kick.
**Elephants have a very keen sense of smell. Something I remember from a NatGeo or Discovery programme.
*** If you do ever get charged at by an elephant, do not run, as they could probably outrun you. Move away slowly or climb a large tree. If you must run, then run faster than someone else in your group. :-)
****Can someone tell me why I dreamt of elephants?!

Its been a rough couple of days at work but throughout I've been day-dreaming about my weekend. I was kidnapped by Ling and Deena on Friday morning for a sinfully relaxing weekend. Sinful only because my colleagues were up to their neck in work and I had abandoned them.

I had guessed our destination (Malacca) even before we left my house but they kept me guessing. When we passed PD then I knew for sure. Stayed at this quaint hotel which we really enjoyed. Rooms were basic but clean but the garden right outside the cafe was really wonderful.

Most of the time we spent looking for the best places for food, exploring antique shops, art galleries and museums which was fun although they got bored after 10 mins and would just wait for me to finish poking around :-) The best moment had to come from Deena who after staring at an abstract painting, asked me loudly, "What is this supposed to be lah?" not realising the artist was standing right behind her!

We had a blast, indulging in all sorts of food and desserts. At night we went by the Geographer which was wonderful. We requested song after song and the one-man band played most of them, regulars even went up to sing. An old uncle sat at the table next to us, but later asked if he could join us as the ladies and one kwailo gentleman in the table next to his overwhelmed him with their public displays of affection.

After talking to us about his children and wife, he remarked, "You girls can drink!" This came from a chinese uncle, a self professed drinker for 40 years, wearing shorts and a shirt, drinking Guiness Stout and smoking Dunhills! For the record, Ling had 3 glasses of wine and Deena and I had only 5 shots of tequila! Yum! Back at the home-front though, I was getting anxious with my wedding invites. They were meant to be delivered last week but kept being delayed. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was right to have been worried. The cards came out all wrong and I really don't need a delay like that when I have less than a month to go. The irony is, the design was ready since forever and still I'm in that mad rush to get the invites out. Are the invites always an issue? Is it some sort of unwritten rule of the universe of weddings? I only ask because even VnV had an initial run of bad luck with her cards, though they turned out beautiful. I don't know if I'm over-reacting (since I only saw the card about 3 hours ago) but the colour is completely off and while I would have tried to live with that alone, even the folds are wrong. Sigh. I'm depressed right now. I even burst into tears when I spoke to Mel - silly, neurotic and I'd like to believe very uncharacteristic of me, but this whole wedding thing is getting a tad overwhelming. Baby, shall we just make a run for it instead?

Update: We've decided to accept the cards, warts and all, but with a discount. I didn't want to waste any more time, money or emotions in reprinting them. And I heard even more horror stories of wedding cards - one friend didn't realise the year on the card was the previous year until after she had mailed out most of her cards. They don't do our idea nor the design justice, but they'll do. As a very pleasant lady wished me recently, I hope I have a great wedding but an even better marriage!