Alcoholic Me

I love the soups and tonics that come with confinement. Auntie brews a fresh, large portion of 药材汤 for lunch and dinner everyday. For supper, I get another bowl of tonics, varying between duzhong for strengthening the back, black chicken with cordyceps and tonic XO.

I probably consumed two bottles of XO after giving birth to Gabe but this round, the portion was doubled. Auntie would double boil about a cup (normal drinking mug) of the liquor with meat/ bones for two to three hours, during which she would refrain from entering the kitchen due to its strong aroma. She said that since I am "a good drinker", it would be good to take the XO more frequently for it can strengthen my body. I think I averaged a bowl every two or three nights.

Me and my trophies - four bottles of XO in one month.

The Avent milk bottle looks pretty tiny next to the big brothers.

I Thank God for You

I was clearing up our cluttered study room and found a couple of handwritten notes to Derod. They are obviously rather dated, since no one really writes very much anymore.

This one from alwayseeking had so much humor in the thanksgiving.
"Thank you for your heart of joy to serve that makes my service so delightful. Thank you for your kindness and willingness to patiently help with my queries. Thank you for your arms so strong to help carry and move the instruments. Thank you for your mega-watt smile that makes the world so much sweeter. You are such a blessing!"

We were supposed to write a note of appreciation to each other as husband and wife and I found my note to derod.
"You are special because:
You have amazing discipline to do what you have to do/ think is important.
You have that unique heehee laughter.
Nobody loves me like you do.
You make friends so easily and bless them because you are you.
You have crazy ideas you never carry out, like keep long hair and cook fried rice.
You are a walking movie dictionary.
You are quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
You love your job and are great at what you do.
For these reasons and more, I appreciate you."

Derod has been nothing but supportive all these years, especially after the kids came along. Honestly, I wouldn't know what I'd be like without him. Yeah, and that includes irritatingly funny, nonsensical part of him too. Yes, you are such a blessing and for these reasons and more, I appreciate you.

Be Thankful For That Which You Have Been Given

It's so easy to forget that one of the greatest blessings is to be bestowed a healthy baby.

While channel surfing one day, I caught the trailer for Channel 5's programme, Lifeline. It documents stories of some patients at our local government hospital and this particular episode focused on an infant who was not born in the pink of health.

I did not catch the actual episode; I don't think I'd be able to sit through it. This fragile newborn had all sorts of tubes and lines poked into its little body. The mere sight of this tore my heart apart. I was jolted into reminder, not to take God's graciousness and blessings for granted. Perhaps this scene affected me much more because of where I am at present: a mother of a young infant. But it is important, nevertheless, to be reminded of how much we have been given, and how often we overlook the smallest but most important of things, and take for granted each painless breath we take and the ease with which we carry out our daily tasks. May we never need to experience the loss of such privileges in order to be appreciative of them.