mission completion!

i am finally done with marking the test papers! all 117 scipts.

YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

now i can have a little bit of my life back.

thank you, my little red pen. you've worked really hard and truly deserve a good rest.

till the next semester...

my iris surprise

this afternoon i received an sms from my colleague moo while in the middle of class. i didn't have any new material to teach as the students were having trial oral presentations, so i took a glance at my phone.

the message read: "hehe. directed flower delivery guy to your room! wah! from the hub? wait, did he make you angry?"

for a moment i was taken aback - it's not the hub's practice to send me flowers to the office because he hardly ever buys them. in fact, he'd recently presented me with a bouquet of roses for my birthday, so the quota for 5 years has already been fulfilled.

anyway, i couldn't think of anyone else who'd spring a surprise on me like that so i figured it was definitely him.

after i ended my lesson and reached my cubicle, i found my make-shift curtain (inherited from my previous boss) drawn. i don't do that unless i'm rushing for time and need to carry out my "mumsy's express milk service" in the privacy and comfort of my work station instead of using the meeting room.

i cautiously pulled back the cloth and saw this:

a lovely bouquet of irises and chocolates from chocolat factory! (my new roomie pat had signed for the flowers and chocolates on my behalf. but the delivery man wasn't convinced that i would safely receive the goods so she'd drew the curtains across my cubicle and that appeased him.)

instantly, i knew it was from the hub even before i read the card.

8 august 1996 was the "official" date of our engagement. we'd bought matching rings and engraved the date on the rings which we wore till our official wedding in 1999. but we'd stopped celebrating the day after we got married, so i wasn't expecting anything from the hub. i was very overwhelmed and my heart skipped a beat as i felt a lump of emotion stuck in my throat.

it really was a wonderful, sweet moment to savour. and it was great to feel appreciated.

however, it WAS a huge bouquet and taking the public transport with the flowers, chocolates and my bulky milk-storage coleman wasn't exactly a very convenient option. i called the hub to thank him for the lovely gifts and asked if he could swing by the office to pick me up. being the practical man that he is, the hub agreed but mentioned that he'd leave his office later when the traffic's less heavy.

i didn't mind staying back to finish up some of my marking and proceeded to wield my red pen furiously, attacking the scripts with ticks and crosses.

when the hub finally arrived, i was treated to another surprise: he'd bought me 15 pieces of salmon belly sashimi to celebrate the 12 years we'd pledged ourselves to each other. (12 supposedly for me and 3 for himself!)

12 years ago, i would never have expected all this from a geeky guy who didn't own a romantic bone in his body. in the earlier years, i was the one planning most of the surprises. but i'll readily admit defeat now because he's outdone me in this aspect.

the hub's now afraid that he's raised the bar too high: each surprise becomes a tougher act to follow.

not that he's got anything to worry about since i'm not the demanding sort and am easily contented. chocolates always work! besides, it's the thought that counts.

and i do realise i'm extremely fortunate to have a husband who appreciates and loves me, and treasures our marriage. ultimately, i think that's what most women want.

do you dig digby?

it's the marking session.

*GROAN*

for two consecutive nights, i stayed back in office till about 8pm to mark the test papers. so far, i'm only 2/5 done, with 3 more classes to go.

but i'm now taking a break from grading the scripts for a while...

and now on to some rambling bits.

i've been listening to marié digby, the singer-songwriter who cleverly harnessed the popularity of youtube to catapult herself to fame by doing cover versions of popular songs and uploading them.

she was in singapore in april on a promotional tour and i saw her interview on channel newsasia's prime time morning show. (that was during my maternity leave when i had the luxury of watching many tv programmes.)

i bought her debut album Unfold and i must say it's pretty darn good in a folksy, easy-listening way. here's the 1st single Say It Again off her album Unfold.



ok, commercial break's over.

and now back to my regular marking schedule...

*GROAN*

Pink'd!

it's the 8th month of 2008.

since 8 is an auspicious number for the chinese, it's no wonder that the Beijing Olympic Games official opening ceremony is on 08-08-2008.

what else can i look forward to this month?

well, my second leonglet wen will be celebrating her 3rd birthday on 18-08-2008. and she's already requested for a pink strawberry cake. not that she's a great fan of strawberries. wen's just crazy about the colour pink, so everything she owns has got to be pink - any shade of it.

xian went through that "all-pink" girly stage too. but now that she's older, she isn't so fascinated by the super sugary sweet colour though she doesn't detest it. just outgrown it.

pink's recognised as the universal, stereotyped feminine hue. walk into any store for kids and it's obvious which is the girls' section. 60% of children clothes for girls are in shades and combinations of pink/red/peach/white.

admittedly, little girls do look pretty in pink. i should know, since i've got 3 daughters and they've got tonnes of pink outfits - mostly presents from relatives/friends since i try to balance out their wardrobe with other colours.

and i know of grown women who go weak in the knees with anything pink. :)

but pink's not my thing.

as far as i can remember, i NEVER liked pink. in fact, i really hated it when i was younger, possibly because i was a tomboy and refused to be associated with anything remotely feminine. it's just NOT me. (but now that i'm older, i do own a few pieces of pink clothing.)

blue, on the other hand, is my all-time favourite colour. when my folks renovated my bathroom years back, mum chose blue tiles for the wall and flooring. even the curtains and window blinds in my old room were blue too.

anyway, i've got about 2 weeks to scout for a pink birthday cake for wen. and while at it, i should buy some pink-based wrapping paper as well. for her, it's gotta be pink or nothing.