renewed family ties

boy, am i glad it's friday!

this whole week's been a real mad rush. i was on a 2-full day (9am to 5pm) external training course at the civil service college but had to rush back to work on the 2nd day to facilitate the school's workshop from 6-9pm.

then i returned to work on wednesday for my full teaching load plus extra make-up sessions and another round of 3-hour workshop session in the evening.

and unfortunately, my thursday and friday timetables included 9am classes, which meant that my brain had to start cranking up way before my physically fatigued form did.

suffice to say any activity in my brain cells is going the way of the sabre-toothed tiger.

i really need to recharge the batteries this weekend.

nevertheless, it's been a fully enriching week. i managed to squeeze some time out to catch transformers with the hub and xian, visit the ol' right hand's newborn son at the hospital and won a bid for Deluxe Horse and Rider Set Arwen and Asfaloth on www.ebay.co.uk (which will temporarily stay with my trusty lieutenant) at a cost of £14.74.

all right, if you don't already know, i'm still obsessed with my LOTR collection even though toybiz has stopped churning out new figurines since 2005.

but what made my week extra special was that i'm now in touch with my cousins through MULTIPLY, thanks to my aunt who's hooked us up through this channel.

the importance of fostering family ties never occurred to me when i was younger. but now that i'm in my 30s, married with 2 children of my own, i suddenly realise that having a supportive network of loved ones, friends and relatives is crucial especially when one's emotional well-being is concerned.

it's been YEARS since i last kept in contact with xx though i occasionally sms her brother who recently migrated to new zealand with his family. i'm ashamed to admit that i don't really know much about xx. we're almost complete strangers. she's always been a bit shy/quiet and we hardly communicated while growing up. so it's quite heartening to see that she's opened up a little.

i look forward to catching up with her - to me, it's never too late to renew family ties.