Tag Archives: Writing

A Milestone Anniversary

18 Jun

Last Saturday marks the 8th Anniversary of my blog! Wow. I am amazed that I have persevered for so long to keep this going. But all this achievement is unattainable if it wasn’t for the support of all my readers.

The blog has certainly evolved from a journal to share the antics of my girls and my travels. Along the way, I picked up new hobbies, the girls grew up and went off to college, and the travel escapades were lesser.

The travel non-escapades were more evident in the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken over the world and disrupted many things taken for granted.

Well, I certainly won’t take the things I do for granted and am thankful to every one of my readers as you follow me on my whimsical endeavors and daily musings. Happy Anniversary and happy writing to me!

Goodbye 2018

31 Dec

What a year it has been! At the beginning 2018, never did it cross my mind that I would be facing many ups and downs, making it a truly eventful year. Top on the up trend has been my musings and followers, and my carvings for Gigglesville and Gnomie-wood. The cumulative number of 273 pieces carved consists of Citizens, Big Citizens, Monuments, Whales, Ocean friends, Apeach, Dinky the dinosaur, Gnomes and their homes. But there were no increase in the Superheroes count.

And worthy to mention also is my chase on Candy Crush Soda to reach 1000 Days on my iPad. To me, the daily launch just to get the Daily Bonus is an up trend to achieve that number. I just hope the device don’t die on me as I inch closer to my target.

On the home front, my two girls are all grown up with M1 in her Senior year at University and M2 ready for the next exciting chapter in her life, college-bound having completed high school. Time goes by so fast. Too fast I feel sometimes.

On the down trend, there were notable events too that could almost rival the good ones. These are mostly health-related issues and I must say are pretty life changing.

I was diagnosed with Infectious Colitis in February after a Colonoscopy and Endometriosis in April after a Laparoscopic surgery. Not good so I had to change my diet and lifestyle to deal with these issues. I gave up coffee, eggs, cheese and avoid certain food groups but alcohol and chocolate are still hard to resist. I lost weight as a result from this change which was good until recently, I added some back. Oh well…

However my physical problems didn’t end there…

My sports injury exacerbated and the diagnosis turned out to be a Wrist Tendonitis problem due to my constant carving besides golf. When you think about it, subjecting the wrist to the constant swinging of the clubs and hitting the ball is actually too much to bear upon impact with a weakened wrist. And golf is a non-stop 4.5 hours or thereabouts, thus aggravating the problem acutely. Whereas for carving, the time spent on it can be controlled. I can carve for less than an hour or sometimes three to six hours at a pace without pain that can aggravate the wrist.

So I stopped playing golf for ten weeks to rest the wrist, and did treatment and therapy which helped. Carving continued though but only as and when I have time.

An even bigger down trend is my iPhone5S. It is dying. I thought it would at least last until my birthday next year but the situation does not look good at all. The battery drain issue is just so bad, I find myself using the phone lesser and lesser. One charge can only last a quarter of a day if I even use it a little bit. Perhaps in retrospect, this is a good thing to be less device-dependent? Then again, I suspect this less device-dependency will change once I get a new phone. We shall see.

But I should not focus on the down trends to say life was not good in 2018. There were many up trends as well which I should be thankful for. And I have my friends to make me laugh and be happy, my carving to keep me occupied and contented, and my health is actually much better after those two main episodes.

So as I bid 2018 goodbye, I brace myself for 2019 to be an even more exciting year as there will be major changes, positive ones to look forward to. Thank you 2018, another year to remember by and to 2019, I welcome you with open arms.

The Fifth Anniversary

12 Jun

Five years ago on this day, I started this blog of mine and five years has gone by and it is still going strong. What a milestone. Every day except Wednesday and weekends there’d be an entry, and more often if I travel. I have been very disciplined about it.

Life is simply amazing to give me so much to write about. While mostly it’s happy and memorable experiences worthy to share, there were sad and painful moments too, even fear at some point. Such is life.

Humbly, I’d like to say “Thank you” to all my readers out there and “Happy 5th Anniversary” to me and my blog. It means a lot to me that people, friends and strangers from all over the world, have an interest in what I have to say about my children, my travels and my life.

What a Year 2017 Has Been

29 Dec

2017 is coming to an end with two days left to go. This is my last entry for the year and my, my, what a year it has been for me!

There has been many significant changes to our lives in 2017, the biggest one being the relocation of our design studio. We moved closer to home and it’s a mere 5km away only. What a difference for us especially when it comes to time management and traffic jam-free driving which is really nice.

It may be smaller in size but it’s a lot more cosy and I certainly feel happier. Work-wise we have been fortunate to be kept busy. Let’s hope this momentum carries onward to the new year.

On the personal side, I have been plagued with injuries causing me to lose interest in playing golf. While it’s unfortunate I lost my passion for the game I enjoy, it spawned a new passion, carving. Gigglesville was born with a whole new township of owl Citizens and Superheroes. They have been lovingly hand-crafted with each day of me staying home to recover from the tennis elbow.

Hubby also picked up a new interest in air plants. The house is now full of these everywhere and it’s nice to look at them. M1 had a good year at university, and did her second internship which we feel the experience was invaluable. She has matured so much. M2 turned Sweet 16 and doing well in school too.

We had several crayfishes that lasted and didn’t. These creatures are not easy to care for! Some fishes died too due to old age. Senior citizen of the house, Rooney, also official pet number one, turned ten and for the first time showed signs of his seniority. And demanding more attention than ever.

The list can go on for what happened throughout the year! As I reflect back, there’s more good and memorable ones than anything else and I carry these in my heart forever. With 2017 almost done––sometimes too fast with the days going by, sometimes super slow––I look forward to the new year and eagerly await what lies ahead with a positive outlook.

I want to thank all my readers, people from all over the world, friends and family who have followed me to read my stories and thoughts. It’s a nice feeling and I hope you’d continue to read and enjoy the musings.

A toast to 2017, thank you for memories and another toast to 2018, let it be an exciting year with lots to write, grouse and muse about!

Dang! She’s Good, Part 2

18 Sep

I don’t recall English classes during the dinosaur years in high school was fun although I remember the teacher back then was nice and I liked her. Homework assignments were dull and boring. Ho hum.

English classes during college was certainly more fun and entertaining. But as far as I can remember, it was all about writing, creative writing and more writing.

Unlike M2’s recent English class assignment. It certainly was very different and a lot more fun because the class had to cook. English class, cooking? Go figure!

The teacher grouped the students and each group had to choose a country to research on culture, economy and food. How this related to the language was probably the written and oral, and definitely perked up the class to stay interested.

The students then had weekly show and tell sessions and the ultimate presentation was the food; each group had to cook something during class at the Home Science workshop to showcase the country’s food.

M2’s group chose Thailand. It was all very interesting (they made Pad Thai, Banana pancake and Thai Iced Tea) but what impressed me more was the cooking menu that M2 drew.

Such meticulous details and skill! Even I can’t draw like that I must admit. I think the girl has potential to pursue art, specifically illustration.

Four Years Ago

12 Jun

It was on this date four years ago that I started this blog and have been going on strong until now. I seem to have a lot to write and share.

But I must say a big “Thank you!” to all my readers out there and “Happy Anniversary” to me and my blog! Keep it up.

A Thousand Stories

14 Feb

I did not realize yesterday I hit another milestone with my 1000th posting on WordPress! The app alerted me on this achievement. Wow… I sure have a lot of stories to tell. Well, with a colorful and interesting life, there are definitely lots to share, be happy, positive and even proud of it.

Here’s to a thousand more stories and thank you for all your support, reading and liking my posts.

Third Anniversary 

10 Jun

Come Sunday, 12th June, it marks yet another milestone as I reach three years of writing and keeping my blog going. Wow. Three years. Amazing. Never knew I had so much to write and share…

I can’t put into words what this means. All I can say is thank you and keep on reading as I will keep on writing! 

Happy anniversary my blog.

Happy Anniversary 

12 Jun

I find it amazing that today marks the second anniversary of my blog. Two years! Wow… Two years of daily musings (except for Wednesdays) and constant blogs when I travel. I never knew I had so much to talk about.

What started out as simply my wanting to share about my children’s antics has evolved somewhat to what it is now. I would to thank my followers and readers for keeping up with me to reach this milestone.

Looking forward to many more!

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A milestone!…

1 Aug

A milestone!

Two thousand views so far! Thank you… thank you… keep on viewing.