Arts & craft: The journey of the pink raindrops

I thought it would be good to dedicate one day to arts and craft, just like what I did last week! Otherwise I will be all over the place with my long to-do list.

I sort of made this while waiting to fetch Jo from the airport the other day. So today, I went ahead with the photo session. It was surprisingly difficult, unlike the previous time. First, I had to dig through my limited pile of clothes to get the 'look' I wanted - I wasn't sure if I was going in the right direction. Then, it was a question of capturing that shade of pink.

Natural light + neon colours = not ideal!

 

 

Panda was trying to clear his work before the trip, so I didn't want to take up too much of his time. He thought the photos looked OK, but somehow I wasn't as confident. I thought it's a little poseur-ish and it looked weird when I cropped off the face. 

 

And I was rushing to fetch the Leows from the airport. So I changed back to the grey sweater I was wearing this morning and took a few more shots of myself before running off.

 

In the end, after consulting the girls (I needed female opinion), I changed the photo on Etsy to the one I took in my grey sweater. While Panda thought the stripes background was distracting and preferred the balcony photos, the girls thought the second colour combination was better. And I concurred!

 



Phew. Taking and choosing photos takes longer than the actual product creation, sometimes. When a listing goes up, you don't see all the work behind-the-scenes!

Great food + company = a blessed day!

We enjoyed ourselves so much last week that we decided to do another worship session today. Yiru, who's taking a break from work, also joined us in crooning some songs. It's so awesome to have a group that worships the Lord together!

We also popped by Safeway in the morning to get some sandwich rolls for brunch. The deli roll (all rolled up tray) was absolutely delicious, especially after we heated it up in the oven. 

Bb O also joined us at the brunch table, listening in to our conversations and grinning every now and then. She's so adorable that I couldn't help but take many, many photos of her. 



Met Panda for lunch because he said we should spend more time together before he heads back home to extend his visa. I heart the Earl Grey Milk Tea at Ocha Tea Café so we went back to try their small selection of food. We shared the Crispy Chicken Rice (ard $5.95) and Minced Pork Rice (ard $3.95). It's sooooo yummy!

Invited Jo to come over and have dinner with us because Vic is away on a short business trip. I only cooked three dishes - 风味可乐鸡腿、油菜 and 煎鱼. We ended the meal with coffee, ice-cream, and loads of chit-chatting.

Today is all about simple food and warm company. And it totally made my day!

The little ones



Today at Sunday School, we did a 'Remember and Celebrate' session to test the kids' memory on what they've learnt for the past 5 weeks. We played ZONK with questions relating to Adam and Even, Noah's Ark, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Esau. It's a fabulous way of summarising the lessons!

 

And the challenges were most interesting. Panda, who was waiting outside, said he could totally hear us screaming and getting all high in the room. I marvelled at the kids' enthusiasm. We had so much fun!

 



Stack them up! Make a sturdy tower out of 3 water dispenser bottles.

 

Use your breathe to keep the feathers up in the air for 60s!

Within 1 min, take all the tissue out from the box with one hand.



Put pencils at the back of your hand, let them slide off and then catch them mid-air!



Flick as many cards as you can into the open watermelon.

Put petroleum jelly on your nose and transfer cotton balls from one plate to another!

 

Faye, my ex colleague, often reminds me not to get too caught up in service such that I forgot to maintain my own faith in God. She's worried that I will get into a "performance trap".

 

Actually I think my faith in God and my understanding of Him is strengthened because of my involvement in the children ministry. As I prepare for the small group lessons, when I interact with children and answer their questions about God, when I come home after Sunday School, I just want to worship God.

 

I'm closer to Him because I always learn something new. I might have heard the stories a thousand times before, but there's always something awesome to learn.

 

I'm just really glad to be part of His ministry. :)

 

(And I'm learning so much about American games like ZONK and Hot Potato!)

Farewell... for now

Boohohoho! Today we bid farewell to Yvonne and family who are heading back home after their study stint. We seldom drive down to Monterey where they stayed, but when we do, we always try to meet up for brunch or a walk along the beautiful Monterey Bay.

I still remember how they took pity on us when we first arrived. It was winter, the day was short, and we were a little worried about driving two hours back to FC after dinner at Monterey. So Yvonne and family kindly offered to let us stay with them so that we could make the trip back in the morning.

The breakfast with old town coffee and homemade bread next day was so good that Panda kept asking me: "When can we go back to Yvonne's place to have the bread again??"

Well I'm really glad that we managed to have a proper dinner together before they go (The Boiling Crab, again! But it's really, really good.) Even happier to have a dim sum brunch together and to join them for their last shopping trip at Livermore (Shopaholics united)! I was quite entertained by the kiddos' commentaries about their Disneyland rides. They'd ask: "Did you ride (name of ride)?" and if you say yes, their eyes would brighten up. Hahahaha.

Well, farewell for now my friend! We will miss having you guys on the same side of the globe! No more brunches for me when Panda's not around... sob sob sob. See you back home!!

We were the last table to leave! Hahaha! Good things take time to enjoy!
 



Partners in crime at Kate Spade, Livermore

 

P/S: Was educated today on the Premium Outlets VIP Shopping Club. You sign up for free online, then get a voucher to exchange for a coupon book that gets you additional discounts (on top of other discounts). Woah!

A trip to the doctor's

Finally, finally went for my medical appointment today. I had it scheduled two months ago but it's been postponed a number of times for one reason or another - the unexpected early arrival of (ahem!) the monthly visitor, the doctor's father falling sick...

I'm actually quite glad the check-up is finally completed!

And Panda said it's a good use of my health insurance since I did a PAP smear, had a flu jab, and then a tetanus and whooping cough vaccine too (my arm is still sore from it). I'm thinking it'll cost around $200 back home but here, it's all covered under "health maintenance", as the clinic lady said.

When I first arrived in US, the health care system totally puzzled me. Like, what do you mean I have to pre-register at a particular clinic to see a particular doctor? I can't do walk-ins? What, oh medicine is not dispense here? I have to select a pharmacy then make a trip down to get medicine? (What if I faint along the way?)

I used to take health care for granted because it's so accessible and affordable back home. Unlike here, there wasn't a need to get health insurance and I could go to any doctor without the fear of being turned away.

I'm only realising now how blessed one is to be able to afford a doctor. We are on budget living here and our medical insurance can go up to a few hundred per month. I shudder to think of the low-income households (those I've met at Samaritan House) - how to afford insurance and take care of daily meals/needs at the same time?

The current debate over health care has led to the shutting down of the US government. Can the officials act like adults and find a resolution soon? It's really ironic because furloughed workers = no income = less money to afford necessities like medical care.

* Found this ObamaCare Facts online.

Another arts & craft day!

I have been spending too much time with babies and kids! I was just telling Wendy and Winifred that I can't be around kids for too long because I tend to get really hyperactive when I'm with them and I'll cause them to get overly excited too and so at the end of the day we will all be deflated.

 

But I love being around with kids (that is, if their parents don't mind)! Their positive energy rubs off you and they are a source of inspiration!

 

Well today is my arts & craft day. I have started to doodle throughout the week so that I'd remember some of the ideas I have. It's amazing how the final product always turns out completely different at the end of it. I had intended to twist a wire cube pendant, but after playing around with the wire I realised I could actually make a swing!

 

And then the big blue bead in the middle is the adult that refuses to grow up - could that be me (?)

 

 

I made two of these, but decided to only put one up at SGUS for sale because I really like it. Panda helped me to take some photos at the balcony. It's fun to get the hubs involved in silly girly business.

 

 

 

 

I was lamenting to Panda this afternoon that I still haven't made any stranger sale yet! But he just simply asked: "Are you enjoying it?" 

 

Yes, I said.

 

And to him that's all that matters.

 

I think he'd only mind if I start adorning him with all my unwanted creations come Christmas time.

Brunch at Winifred's

I haven't played the ukulele for anyone for a long time. I missed the care group back in Singapore where we will croon a few worship songs before bible studies. So I was totally excited to bring my ukulele to play for bb O - it's her first praise and worship gathering!

We brought leftover pork ribs from last week's BBQ (how thrifty we are!) and had a hearty brunch before sitting down in the living room a la picnic style. Sang a number of fast songs cos Wendy said don't bore her with the sloooooow ones. So we did Mary's Little Boy Child too - it's never too early for Christmas! 

But bb O was more interested in my song book than the singing. And she sort of pooped in the middle of it. Maybe she found the aunties' singing too 'stimulating'. ^ ^



We paused to fetch Z from school and came back to have dessert - lovely fresh cream puffs made by Winifred. She shared that she simply bought puff pastry from Safeway and used this recipe, but we were impressed nonetheless! They tasted as awesome as they looked. 

Btw, I love this photo of me and bb O. I was trying to make her laugh so I placed my camera in front of her and said "heh heh heh heh heh!!!!". She immediately broke into giggles. She is so precious!

All in a week's plan

Before I came to US, I envisaged myself to be a real couch potato, watching TV or cuddling up with a good book. Panda knew better, that I'm someone who likes to find things to do and keep busy.

Here's what this week's schedule looks like:

Mon
- Housework: vacuum, change bed sheets, make "pizzas" (folding clothes)
- Meet ups with San Mateo French Club. C'est a bon moyen d'ameliorer mon francais!

Tue
- We are gonna sing for Olivia at Wini's place! I'm gonna bring my ukulele and we will do some worship songs together. And then we will eat the leftover pork ribs from BBQ.
- Gym time!

Wed
- Arts & Craft. For Etsy and myself! I made a new scarf last Saturday and quite like the effect. Instead of an old unwanted top which I'd never wear again, I have a new scarf and a new top. Panda's super amused with me.

Thu
- Send the Leow family to airport? They are heading to Copenhagan for holidays. Nice!
- Gym time!

Fri
- Medical appointment.
- Meeting Yvonne and her family in US for the last time. Sobs. They are going back to Singapore this Sunday and we are going to The Boiling Crab before they fly off.

I've been receiving quite a few requests from the online part-time job but time zone is really a problem. Sometimes I'm already asleep when the request comes in. Oops! I do hope the assignments will keep coming so that I have some work to do. I actually miss working.

Another challenge that I've given myself is one French essay a week! I've asked Panda to give me a topic for research. The first topic? Discuss how companies could take advantage of iPhone5S' new thumbprint technology.

Woo-hoo!