She cheats again

She cheats again while playing 4-in-a-row. This girl can't take defeat or a draw. Everytime she realised she had played wrongly and I was going to win, she took out all the tokens and mess up the game. Then there was a game that started well, we keep encouraging her at every 4-in-a-row that she formed. We soon had a 2-2 draw, but she couldn't take the draw, and again messed up the game. That was the last draw, I got angry and walked off, declaring to my entire family that she CHEATED, and I am not going to play with her again.

She threatens to leave home

It all started with her wanting to eat chocolate and I didn't allowed it for fear of aggravating her cough.

QY (throwing a tantrum): ni bu rang wo chi, wo qu bie de jia, bu yao hui lai le.
You don't allow me to eat, I'll go elsewhere, I won't come home anymore.

ME (questioning): ni yao qu na ni?
Where do you want to go?

QY: wo bu zi dao, zai xin jia po bah.
I don't know, somewhere in Singapore probably

ME (Concerning tone): ni qu xin de jia, bu hao. mei you wo meng zai na ni?
Going to a new home is bad. None of us is going to be there with you.

QY (without much thinking): wo dai ni yi qi qu.
I bring you with me.

To my brave girlfriends

An acquaintance recently passed away. I usually do not like to write about deaths or any unpleasant stuff that bothers me. My delusional self thinks that if I don't write it down, I will soon forget it (which I usually do), and all will be well again. But now I am going to write about both his death and his unpleasant stuff as this is something I must always remember, as much as it bothers me.
He had a family; a wife and 2 children. He also had a mistress. He stayed with his mistress most of the time. His wife who once led a sheltered life as a homemaker, had to venture out now to make her own living. It was hard for her to re-enter the workforce after such a long time. We could all see how she suffered.
Many years later, he came down with cancer. Exhausted his savings and pension on treatment and had to return to his wife. Indifferent and perhaps numbed, she actually took care of him till he breath his last.
I reflected on the depressing outcome of their marriage. Then I looked at some of the husbands and wives I know. Among them, I can name at least 10 men, who have done disappointing stuff to jeopardise their marriages. But I can't think of any women who had done the same.
What is happening to all the XY species around us? I observed the kids in QY's classes, the girls definitely seemed smarter and bright. Among the teenagers I associate with, the girls are always more matured, thoughtful and sensible. So lovable. While the boys are... put simply, testosterone-driven. I haven't got much faith left in men.

A girlfriend was recently asked, if she had known how her marriage is going to bring her heartaches, would she still get married then? She had no answer to the question and was glad about that. To her, it means that she has accepted her lot and she has no regrets. For me, I think I will still go through the marriage too. But I will definitely demand for a bigger bride price as now that I know the kind of gamble I am taking and how big my losses can be, I certainly must secure more collaterals. I must remember to secure more collaterals.

To all my brave girlfriends, who tolerated and forgive all the rubbish from your husband, who had cried in your heart while sleeping next to the man, who waits patiently for that silly mule to throw away his pride and open up to you, who ploughs on and support the family while the husband takes light years to get a job, you are a saint.

2 graduations in a night

QY graduated from Tiny Notes course at Yamaha. 22 lessons with a teacher named Miss Liu. Only when we proceed to the next level with another teacher that we realised how wonderful Miss Liu was. She is so patient, sweet and charming to the kids. QY definitely prefers her to the current teacher. Miss Liu's schedule is full and she can't take any more students. :(
After her graduation performance at Marine Parade, I rushed off to Pasir Ris to attend a second graduation of the night. A special 3Day course on Motivation ends that night and I was invited to attend the closing ceremony cum graduation by some of the participants there. What does their graduation have to do with me?
Well, part of the motivation process is to know who REALLY cares and love oneself. And one will be motivated to do something for that person who really cares so as not to break that person's heart. The facilitator relates a 40mins long sorrowful story of a part of his life when he didn't appreciate someone who cared. Now he regrets it like mad cos the person is dead. Moral of the story: We should all show our appreciate to those who care about us TODAY with a big hug. His story got everyone teary, weeping and thinking about who they had taken for granted. I was invited to this as I am one of those caring people around who are constantly taken for granted. I received more than 40 hugs at the ceremony.
Post-ceremony evaluation: The motivation vibes last for a while and they were to a large extent, motivated for about a week. But beyond that, the magic fizzies off and they are back to their old self.
But the secret is, I have attended this course 3 times before and know this was going to happen. So while they were still under the appreciative spell, I did all my emotional blackmailing and got everything that I asked for. *evil grin*

Cheating in Games

Recently bought a boardgame called Candy Land for the girl. Easy game, meant for kids aged 3 and above. Players take turn to draw a card. Card determines how many steps one can move. Bonus cards to accelerate but sometimes deccelerate too. First one to reach finish line wins.
QY plays it once and quickly learns the ropes. By the 3rd game, she is using all means to win, basically CHEATING. She fought to shuffle the cards, but sneakily put in the bonus cards in the order that she can draw them. She deliberately take more steps to get to the finishing line quicker. She even draw out and hide some of the bonus cards under the pillow near her, then produce the cards along the game to gain advantage.
Ed and I pretended to be angry and refuse to play with her any more. But secretly we were quite glad that she is being street smart, to the extend of cunning. Not some goody-goody girl who will stick to the rules and let everyone else win. At least we can be assured that she can fend for herself and will not easily get bullied.

Bonus Day

I get my performance bonus today. Notice about the bonus and when it will come was emailed to me last week. And since then, I have been looking forward to this day!!
Initially hoped to go shopping with my newfound wealth. Enjoy, pamper myself a bit. But I have so much work to do, and working so late, that I lost all energy to go shopping by the end of the day.
But still MUST spend some money today... Maybe bring QY out for haagen daz ice cream after dinner.

Work

It's going to be a hectic week. It's going to be uphill all the way.

Just got scolded by my gym buddy gf for my poor gym attendance. I seemed to have gradually reduced our usual twice weekly workout to just once a week for the past 2 weeks because of work and stuff. Then this week, it's I-CAN'T-MAKE-IT for all days.

Usual gym days, tues and Fri, taken over by work. Tues to accompany clients to a concert at VCH. Fri will be an overnight round island trip. Then there will be the usual mad rush to complete my work before I go for a break next week.

It's going to be a lonely week too. Ed will be going to China tomorrow for an entire week and V Jun returning to Malaysia for a month. Qy's is going to be at my mom's place. I'll be all alone at home.