Monday, December 21, 2009

In the past week... I,

... had some daddy-daughter time. Which is rare. But nice and necessary.

... almost got into a road accident. (this one was frekkin' traumatising. i went home and cried and actually crawled into bed to sleep with my mom. not kidding. i felt traumatized, fearful and lousy.)

... rediscovered grace, kindness, and once again felt the old NTU cell spirit when my friends stood by me after the near collision. They assessed the situation and gave objective advice for the future, assured me that i was a safe driver, felt the unhappiness with me about the behaviour of the road bully, made sure that i was ok enough to drive back home on my own. Somehow, they just said all the right things, in the best way. I could not have asked for better passengers, who despite having had gone through the same scary experience, still had the grace, gentleness and mercy to tend to my needs.

... knew that God's protection was upon us through the way things unfolded and how i managed to handle the extremely scary and new situation. Maybe i'll write about what happened in a later post.

... promise i will be a better defensive driver and expect the unexpected.

... was blessed immensely by people around me on my birthday and beyond the day itself.

... learn that butter noodles made by N is BE.AWESOME.
(garlic, onions, mushrooms and salted butter. With linguine. That's ALL. Goodness.)

... met my future cell leader and admitted that i am his phantom cell member. heehee.

... went for my previous cell leader's wedding. It was simple, intimate, beautiful. None of the extra stuff like gate crashing, no table to table photo taking. It was just all about the couple, but without sacrificing on giving the guests the best as far as possible. And i got to sit opposite one of Singapore's retired army Generals! And he's really nice with no airs about him at all.

... have been blessed by my folks.

... sat in for the first time to listen to what my folks' insurance agent was talking about.

... cleaned the car briefly for the first time on my own and found it very therapeutic. Getting the bird poo off, cleaning nooks and crannies, turnin' up the volume of the CD player (WOW Hymns by contemporary artists) while doing so. Yes, it was therapeutic. No one to hurry me or tell me what to do. Just the hot sun on a sunday afternoon, music, and getting some cleanin' done.

... drove to Seng Kang and Bedok with very good and skilled instruction givers at midnight, which was something i otherwise wouldn't have done, especially since i almost could have gotten my friends and myself killed or hospitalized just the night before. Gosh. Being a beginner driver is frightful. As frightful as being a beginning counsellor. All involving the care of lives.

... have more or less decided to graduate later. I will take 6 more months to complete my program because i cannot handle practicum, a module and thesis all at the same time.

6 comments:

wileen said...

u got to meet ur future cell leader? we're in the same cell rite?

i'm a phantom cell member as well. haha. n i've not even met the leader.

zzen said...

i see u decided to graduate 6 mths later. well graduating later is better than overly stressed....take care!

joline said...

wileen:

yeah, we're in the same cell! :) but i am wondering if that's the place i wanna be. ah, just thinking out loud.

zzen:

yup. i finally made the decision. emailed lecturer, registered for my two modules only and confirmed it with my dad. i realized i cannot carry on bulldozing through. one needs to know when enough is enough.

Love Jam said...

health is our no.1 priority. =) glad that u made a wise choice...

Love Jam said...

ooh...anywayr.do invite me to ur grad ceremony next year =)

Joline said...

sensei lucille:

i will only have my graduation ceremony in August 2011! HAha... Because i will finish all the academic stuff only in december 2010.

yup, decided that i needed to slow down. :) makes me breathe a sigh of relief thinking about the slower pace i will be having. i will graduate later than the other full time masters students but that means i will be graduating hopefully with a classmate whom i'm chummy with! Yay!