Unbalanced work life?

It's the school holidays again and this time for 6 weeks. After deducting the 8 days which I need to report for work and the 2 days for staff retreat, I have 20 weekdays to relax. I really wonder how I am going to spend this period??

During the school term, it has been so hectic and stressful, with so much work to do every day, whether in school or at home. Suddenly the major school events which had stressed me up over the past few weeks were over one by one, and I have no work to do until I report for work at the end of the month.

I am beginning to find my work life so unbalanced. During school days I can't even catch my breath and my mind is forever thinking and processsing. During the year end school holidays I am so free that I have no idea what to do! One thing for sure that I will do is to go jogging regularly, to prevent unnecessary weight gain.

Glad that I will be travelling to Beijing soon. At least I won't feel so bored.

休息是为了走更长远的路

最近我感冒了，鼻涕流了好几天，嘴唇裂了，声音变了，开始咳嗽了。

一直有在服药，可是并没有好好休息，要忙工作，赶来赶去的。

昨天终于可以好好在家休息，不想工作，只想让自己快快还起来。^_^

所以我一整天只是吃药，睡觉，吃药，睡觉。即使睡不着，躺着也好。

我还看了两部电影dvd：Da Vinci Code; Helen the Baby Fox.

今早睡醒，感觉自己真的好了很多很多！好开心！:)

又有精力做自己想做的事了！:)

Happy birthday dear!

It's my hubby's birthday today!
Decorated this 4-inch cake at the Icing Room from Breadtalk as a present for him. :)
Didn't use up all the icing and sugared flowers provided as I wanted to keep the decoration pleasant and simple. :)
He was smiling when he saw the cake! :)
My dear, may all your wishes come true! :)

Last day of June

Sometimes I really can't believe how time passes soooo fast. Is it because age is catching up on me? Just one month ago, I was really excited that the school term had come to an end, and I didn't have to rush home everyday to write the children's observations, prepare teaching aids on weekends or do research on internet for teaching ideas. I was in high spirits for the past few weeks, and I smiled a lot when I was away from Singapore on a holiday.

Today is the third day of the new school term. Suddenly lots of issues came up. Such issues mean more work, on top of the usual stuff that I have been doing outside school hours. An active girl scratched herself on her face in class today, and I didn't notice how or when she did it. This added to my stress as this child has really particular parents, nope, it's grandma and mother. They have the past records of seeing the MP to file complaints against the teachers. Well, at least I didn't get a call from her mum or an angry grandma knocking on the door to demand an explanation after her class today. Hopefully I won't hear from them tomorrow.

With additional work to do and more challenges to face, I really hope I won't have to worry about children getting hurt and having parents' complaints. I am a simple person who wants a simple life. I don't pray for promotion or pay raise. Every night I just pray that everything goes smoothly, the children are obedient, nobody gets hurt, no parents complain and I could finish all my work smoothly.

I think my luck has not been too good these days. I must pray at the temple this Saturday....

Hang in there...

Just 4 more work days to go... and it will be the loooooong awaited school holidays! It doesn't matter when I still need to go back to work for 6 days in June, no, should be 6 days plus 1 Meet-the-people session duty at the RC, at least for 4 weeks I do not have to deal with active children or face parents' complaints... What an exhausting school term it has been. A temporary peace of mind at last.

I try not to think of the challenges in the next semester and stress myself up. Enjoy while I can!

Have to work out a plan to spend my holidays constructively soon. Loads of things I have in mind: try out new recipes, finish reading two novels, exercise and lose weight (sign up Amore?), go on a holiday trip, meet up with friends, try out new sewing projetcs, perhaps grow new plants?

If I don't spend my holidays constructively, I bet I will feel soooo grouchy and moody when school reopens!

Just 4 more work days to go! Hang in there!

Meals cooked my way

One good thing about marriage and leaving away from parents is to own my kitchen, a place where I whip up meals according to my cravings and needs. I am able to cook "exotic", "strange", "inappropriate" meals (to my mum or mum-in-law) which I won't be able to, if I were to share the same kitchen with them.

Making pancakes or omelettes for breakfast may seem a hassle to them since they do not have a habit of cooking in the mornings.
Cooking a one-dish meal like green curry, japanese curry, kimchi soup, tom yum soup, western food or pasta is weird to them too, since non of the above is something which they normally cook. Pureed soups may seem strange to them, since they have been cooking clear chinese soups all their lives. Making long sandwiches (like Subway) and lettuce salad for dinner is definitely a no-no for my mum, as it is regarded as "not filling" or "not appropriate" for dinner.

I cooked a "strange" combi of dishes for dinner tonight again :)

Cheesy potato bake

Black pepper chicken chop (small portion)


Instant corn soup with parsley flakes added

But I and my husband enjoyed it! :D

Something funny to share

Last Friday I had a storytelling session with my 3-yr-old students on the book "It's Cloudy Today". There was a picture of dark and grey clouds before a storm in the book and I asked the children, "What do you think will happen if you see dark clouds like these?"

A girl from PRC said, “天会黑。”

So I asked her, “天黑了会怎样？”

Guess what she said? “会出现一个大怪兽！”