= FAVOURITE WORD =
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
[NIV]
New phase. More changes.
What would the future bring?
Friday, April 25, 2008
A Draggy Week
Another week has gone by. However, this week seemed more draggy despite being in school for work for only a day.
First, there was the EBS course at NIE from Monday to Wednesday. Even though we had field trips on Tuesday and Wednesday, this second part of the EBS course wasn't as interesting as the first one, which comprised of lectures and tutorials (that were really more like mini-lectures). I enjoyed the first part of the EBS course so much that I missed being a student. Unfortunately, the second part was a bore. Out of all the activities organised for us, I only remember the first lecture on Monday, when the lecturer had a whale of a time criticising Singaporeans. We, in turn, were practically laughing at every sentence he said. It was such an informative and hilarious session that I came out of the theatre with an aching tummy.
Then, on Wednesday night, after a marking session with Cheryl and Pei Chin, I met with an accident on my way home. Basically, it was a hit-and-run. The cab which hit the rear of my (dad's) car simply drove off. And it was only then I realised I had forgotten to record down the number on the plate. -_- How exceedingly foolish of me. Come to think of it though, I was very shaken when my (dad's) car got hit. It took me a couple of minutes to absorb what had actually taken place.
So I spent my Thursday settling stuffs because of the accident. Initially, I planned to rush through everything and then go to work in the afternoon for the EL Oral Preliminary Examination. However, Yani somehow managed to change the roster in such a way that I didn't have to go back. That gave me more time to breathe and less to worry about. I called the cab companies again to check for good news. Unfortunately, they received no matching reports. Without the number plate of the cab, it was just impossible for them to track down the driver and give me a compensation. This is indeed a very expensive lesson for me. (The damages will cost me more than a month's salary.) =( If I were to ever get into another accident (touch wood), I must regain composure quickly and record the number plate/s of the vehicle/s involved. :\ Sigh.
Naturally, my dad hit the roof. Sometimes, I wonder if he cares for his car more than he cares for me. He never once asked if I was hurt from the accident. -_- I suppose when he heard my voice over the phone, he assumed I was fine. Ironically, my friends were the ones who were more concerned. Some even prayed for me. And I'm most thankful to God for their support.
This was actually my second accident since I passed driving a year and a half ago. A colleague comforted me, saying that's how newly licensed drivers learn to read traffic conditions on the road from all angles.
Well, with more than a month's pay cheque almost gone, I'd better learn my lesson fast.
:\
jOyZ blogged at 9:18 PM
~~~~~~
Monday, April 21, 2008
What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?
I went to do this quiz again. I think my nickname suits me better than my real name! LOL!
What Joyzie Means
|
You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you. You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries. You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice.
You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.
You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.
You are incredibly wise and perceptive. You have a lot of life experience. You are a natural peacemaker, and you are especially good at helping others get along. But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge.
You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.
You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.
|
jOyZ blogged at 8:46 PM
~~~~~~
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Inside the Room of Your Soul
Heh. Here's another one.
What Your Soul Really Looks Like
|
You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget.
You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. Your feet may be on the ground, but your head is in the clouds.
You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you.
Your near future is likely to be filled with great successes and accomplishments. You just need to figure out how to get there.
For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.
|
jOyZ blogged at 11:12 PM
~~~~~~
What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?
Is this true? Hm...
What Joycelyn Means
|
You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you. You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries. You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice.
You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.
You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.
You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.
You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.
You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.
You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.
|
jOyZ blogged at 11:06 PM
~~~~~~
A Terribly Tough Week
It's been a terribly tough week, filled with a roller-coaster ride of extreme emotions - from explosive fury (like never before) to immense joy combined with bursting pride. At this point, I'm just glad that the week is over, regardless of what has been achieved (or not).
I will not blog much about the 'explosive fury'. It happened because I was wrongly accused. I could have been a total scum about the whole matter, but I decided to accept the person's apology - since this person had the courage to apologise. And to be fair, this person's judgement was probably clouded by regular feeding of twisted facts. Due to this incident, I've learnt much from my senior colleagues and boss who gave me very strong support. I'm thankful to God for them. :)
Lessons at school this week were a mix of relaxed fun and pain. I generally had a time of fun with 1D while 4H gave me much of both. With 5A, it was pretty relaxing because I was preparing them for the EL Oral Preliminary Examination (which will be held this coming Thursday) instead of doing writing and comprehension assignments.
Of course, the highlight of the week was the school's Speech-And-Prize-Giving Day and Aesthetics Night at Singapore Polytechnic's Convention Centre yesterday. Much of my anxiety and frustration came from preparing Choir for this big day. We'd begun our practices and rehearsals several weeks ago, and on the night itself I was so worried that they'd jabber and yak all their energy away, tiring themselves even before they go on stage, that I was shushing them more than half the time while we were all in the holding area!
They had a tough song to perform - The Prayer. The other 2 songs were generally easier and they sounded fantastic on stage last night, especially when they sang Like An Eagle. I actually had goosebumps hearing them sing, so much so that I wished I were enjoying their singing off-stage. Haha!
On the other hand, it was a different experience altogether helping out on stage. Halfway through the song The Prayer, the digital piano suddenly went dead. My heart nearly skipped a beat. Beside me, I heard Jun Ting mutter something about the power plug. I turned my head to look and saw a technician squatting near the power socket area, fiddling with the plugs. My heart sank. It was the third time in 2 weeks (second time on the same day) that our new digital piano was being unplugged like that. Strange that it was the first thought that hit me instead of the performance!
I watched Ai Ming signal Choir to stop singing. Thankfully, they ended appropriately at the first section of the song - just before the chorus. She was very professional about the whole thing; she turned to the audience, smiled and apologised that we had to do the song all over again. The audience clapped in support and waited until everything was back in order. And then Choir was singing again, albeit a little shaky. But they recovered quickly and was soon singing with focus.
It was a good experience for everyone, I felt. A timely reminder that in spite of all the preparation, anything can happen on stage when we least expect it. Isn't it so in life? What matters is we know how to pick ourselves up - either to start all over or pick up from where we left off.
Hopefully, we will get to watch the entire concert on video soon and learn from our mistakes.
The concert also marked the final time the graduating seniors in Choir performed in front of the school. I am going to miss this batch of graduating seniors because they have done so much for Choir. I hope their passion in choral singing will continue after they've stepped down and even after they've left secondary school.
At the same time, I am really heartened to hear some graduated seniors asking their peers if they are interested to start an alumni for Quest Choir. I do hope it'll materialise very soon. :)
jOyZ blogged at 7:57 PM
~~~~~~
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Month Of Madness
It gets really hectic in April every year. But this year, it's a lot more than just hectic. It's utter madness. x|
This week was so bad that I didn't even bother switching on my laptop to work the minute I got home for a couple of nights. I was too exhausted - so much so that I simply concussed right after dinner.
That said, it doesn't mean I have rested sleep. I've gotten so used to having only 5-6 hours of sleep that I sometimes wake up only to realise it's a couple of hours before 6 am. Most of the time, I fall back onto my pillows - unless I feel that I can no longer ignore the work that is bugging me at the back of my mind.
Despite the stress, I can feel my complexion clearing up. I have no idea why. I haven't been particularly consistent in my facial care. It's just the use of facial cleanser every night, and - if I can remember - pimple cream or acne treatment gel and eye serum. That probably happens like twice a week - hardly regular enough to reap the results I had hoped to see when I was a lot more religious a few months back.
Apparently, my body system is going haywire in the midst of all this madness.
It's going to be worse this coming week. I cannot imagine. x|
jOyZ blogged at 10:28 PM
~~~~~~
Sunday, April 06, 2008
I Miss Being A Student
I was away from work for four days last week. ;O
The first day was Tuesday when I went on medical leave. I was already feeling quite ill the day before, during the Aesthetics Night rehearsal at Singapore Polytechnic. In fact, I lost my voice by Tuesday.
Thankfully, I was on a 3-day course at NIE for the rest of the week; I didn't have to use my voice much since I didn't have to teach. Most of the time, I was listening intently (well, minus some moments when I actually dozed off during the sessions right after lunch) and absorbing what the lecturers were teaching us.
I miss being a student. Being one for 3 days has rekindled my interest to study again. I'd actually brought along a couple of stacks of my students' work to mark in case the lecturers were boring. Eventually, I marked NONE. The lecturers were so engaging that I had to listen. I didn't even visit the loo during the lectures because I didn't want to miss a single thing - except for once or twice when I couldn't hold my bladder any longer.
I was in awe of the lecturers' in-depth knowledge in their respective areas of expertise, their wealth of experiences which were spunned into several personal anecdotes and, most of all, their passion in what they do. I felt that I could just sit there forever and listen to all their stories. They were really entertaining, enlightening and inspiring.
I miss being a student.
So, I'm going to do something about it.
=)
jOyZ blogged at 11:50 PM
~~~~~~
