Busy...

Dearest (especially Burt and baby) people...

I have been busy lately.

1. I have a cousin's wedding to attend, hence, i drive up and down KB just to be there.
2. December is generally a busy month at the clinic... and so... been occupied with work.
3. Moving house is not that easy... i have many boxes to unpack during the weekends.
4. I have friends to visit and see...
5. My house is at the ulu, and so, i take every opportunity in "TOWN" when i am there.
6. Another cousin is getting married in February, and i am getting ready for that.
7. I have patient's new schedule to prepare for next year!
8. I am tired.....
9. I have nothing to write, though i have been tagged to write about 'my first love' and 'music'.

And so... i hope every stays calm... I shall blog soon... and i hope very soon...

Shall i blog about music? my first love? or just a meaningless forwarded email?? or a questionnaire?

locked in the toilet

I told my patients that i would not be taking any leave end of this year... hence, attendance to the clinic has been super good! I am always full.... justt enough to clear my table before the next patient walks in... sometimes.... i dont even have time for that.... the patients are already knockinng on the door.... but.. it has been good.

This afternoon, i had an autistic patient comin to the clinic. We were going to work on language, particularly counting and more vocabulary in sentences. He wasn't in a good mood for the past couple of weeks, and had to do therapy outside therapy room. He hides behind mummy's back just to avoid me.

I was clever today.... Since KB had much changed... i brouht him for a walk around the hospital.. counting.. holding hands... and looking around... we still achieve my goals, but executed differently. I somehow managed to get him into my therapy room and started to do work.

Then,... "I need to go toilet" he said... and so we ran to the public toilet. I supervised from outside... giving verbal instructions. "Sit on the toilet", "Are you done?" "Flush the toilet" then comes.. "Open the door"... and.... pull.... pulll.... pull.... and then... scream.... the door wouldn't budge...

"SHHHHHH. Calm down. Listen. Sit and wait" (he is not ood at waiting... post 5 seconds, he is up again!) he locked the door from inside and didn't know how to unlock it.

i had to quickly run to the next bunch of men... and asked them to help me open the door from inside. The boy... was already screaming. making him understand help is on the way is not easy. I have to keep my voice up just so he can hear me above his screams... then.. "Shhhhh. I'm coming. Lets count. 1 2 3..."

Needless to say, the door opened... and he rushed out. I was gonna hug him because he ot me worried... but he had not washed his hands... so that was first. "wash your hands" and "say thank you" then we walked off.

I finally gave him the hug in the clinic... and we talked a bit about how he felt. I had plenty of words...

I told the mum what happened... Mummy smiled. She said... He's locked h imself iin the car once. But he was able to follow instructions as the windows was clear. Mum understood that he is unable to follow instructions! Thank god!!

Anyways... Next time any of my kids wants to go to the toilet, we run like the wind... but doors are AJAR!!!

its easier to diss other people's flaws than to think and reflect about yourself... Plus, i find it a good sport! :P I am not particularly mean, but... truthfully... its a sport everyone enjoys... the tongue lashing :) My specialty is often 'sindiran'. (the mind does not think too well at the moment as i can't think of the equivalent English word!!!)

I see no harm in giving honest opinions especially when asked for it. I usually do not save or reserved the option of going safe, slow or even 'nice'. In my experience, when you express empathy and/or sympathy,... people often feel they are understood and do not take the high road to 'reinvent' them selves or make a wrong, right...

Opinions are exactly that... opinions... however, facts of life, and rules that need to be obeyed are something else... Example, when i say to a patient that he/she should seek counselling or even report to the police of abuse happening at home to him/her and his/her children... I expect it to be followed. However, when it is not, I can't help feel disapointed. I won't mask the feeling of disapointment to spare the other person's feeling as I, feel it is wrong to subject yourself to such a torment, what more innocent children!!!

I especially hate hiprocacy... that just makes my blood boil. You say something to one person but as soon as you turn you back, you say and act something else... I do not tolerate it... But somehow, that is going beyond the scope of this entry.... back to it...

It is also nice to have the option of expressing one's self... say towards a group of friends. I feel that if you can't express your truest opinions and thoughts to the people you love or trust... what is the use of having them? be alone. be a hermit.

Plus, when people are in the heat of expressing their opinions, people are often thoughtless (of which i am) and... what ever was said should be taken with a pinch of salt... However, the validity of such opinions remains logical, credible and resonable. minus the heat!!!

Anyways, no one should force their opinions on others, regardless it being THE BEST opinion and SHOULD be followed. However, the person giving the opinion reserves the choice to be disappointed with the stupid person who asked for it but did not follow it in the first place. My opinion that is :P hahahahahaha...

Translation

A lot of people think translation work is easy if you are fluent in the languages you are translating! WRONG!!! Its a lot harder and complex than just translating.... especially when you are translating into a more formal language than the normal 'slang' we use everyday.

I find using proper Bahasa Melayu everyday a challenge. What more using Bahasa Brunei. and when i have to write reports in Bahasa Melayu, i cringe and always ask if we get the alternative of writting it in English instead.... Its not that i am not fluent in Bahasa Melayu.. i think my skills are acceptable, and my standard malay is pretty impressive... however, using Bahasa Melayu in a formal, business setting is different from speaking it.

Often, words you rarely use when you speak are needed when you write to express yourself eloquently and politely. Often, my boss would say... "Your Bahasa Melayu is horrible" or just laugh it off and asks me to re-write it again.... She often would also give guidelines... and words she thinks is important to be used. Yesterday, we had our routine monthly staff meeting. I handed her a letter i wrote in Bahasa Melayu and she said my usage had improved. I smiled. It was a lot of effort :P

I just finished translating and reading through passages that needed to be done for a book i am collaborating in. It felt like my head had split into millions of pieces... i can't feel my head... everywhere i press.. i feel pain... i don't even know if the sentences made sense or not!!! But i hope it does, because i can't do it any more... I had been doing this since early this week... and its a torment... i cannot live with a pounding head! simply cannot.... its not negotiable!!!

With that done, i have several other pieces of work that needed me using Bahasa Melayu... Thank god i had sense to purchase DWIBAHASA kamus early on in my professional life!!! But today, tonight... I'll stop here and take a break... start again on Tuesday!

What does love mean?

This was forwarded to me by a friend.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:


"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8


"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4


"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5


"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6


"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4


"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make ! sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7


"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8


"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)


"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)


"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7


"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6


"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8


"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6


"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5


"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7


"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4


"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4



"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7


"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6


"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8


And the final one --

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just s at there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"


When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.

God bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you. Amen.

Seven deadly sins

I read Burt's blog and he had this... and i decided to take it... hehehehe... the results don't lie :P I am memang pemalas :P My family can vouch for this,... though i can be hard working when i want to... take the quiz and see for yourself, what you are...

Greed:	Very Low
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	Low

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Growing old...

My parents wanted me to accompany them to "beraya" to their friend's house which is about 20 mins away at 90 km/hr. This was their high school friend and her name is Dk Damit, though she is more popularly known as Dk Small. I like the popular version better. and she lives up to her name.

My parents promised to met up another friend 'Amin" at the petrol station at Lumapas. However, this friend, not knowing where lumapas was, he stayed at the Limau Manis's petrol station... We waited and waited... only to find out her was still there... needless to say, we were going up and down the roads for a hour. We were late by 1.5 hours!!! (I had a headache!!!)

I was eating away and te parents and their friends were chatting and discussing and remenicing old times... things they did.. fun they had... they alsoo exchanged words and news such as whom is where... how everyone's health is... and whom had died, why and where...

It came to the soberring topic of aging. The lady (Dk Small).. she was saying that in her area, there are not a lot of the old people now. Most of them have died... and that leaves her and her siblings to be the "elders" in their village.

She also said that she had never imagined or visualised herself to be in such a position. Time flies too fast for her to realise it, then... it just happened.

It was as if, she changed from a youth having fun, to an aging old-ER woman instantly!

It didn't stop me thinking.... One day... I will be growing old... and would be one of the elders... what then???