Her Drama-ness

This is one of my favourite songs at the moment. I also like the remix version that features Timbaland. I would love the piano sheet music for this, it would be so cool!

Posted by Leeny at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

So yesterday, I had Japanese class. I actually enjoyed last night's class the most so far because we were covering time, which I only vaguely remember, so it felt like I was learning something new. Anyway, we have been getting homework sheets for the last two weeks so when the class ended without us getting anything, I just asked if there would be anything for us to do this week. Now, the teacher knows that I've learnt Japanese before so she knows that I can handle the slightly more difficult stuff (which is probably still only kindergarten-level stuff anyway) so she said she can give me some sheets to do, but she would only be giving it to me. And then this guy sitting behind me goes something like this, "Go on, teacher's pet." OMG! Am I back in high school or what?! That was just so juvenile. And this coming from a guy who has got to be at least in his 50s. Yeesh. And here I thought I was doing a language course for adults. ばか。

And my neck is hurting from doing crunches at the gym both on Monday and Tuesday. It's actually sore to touch! At least my stomach hurts too, so I know it wasn't just my neck that was doing all the work.

Okay, ranting is now over.

Posted by Leeny at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

Oops, I left out a couple of things from my previous post. Firstly, when I returned from Singapore, my RR was waiting for me at the office. All three ladies -- Mady, Harmien and Annemarie -- did a spectacular job on my RR, I couldn't have been happier. No pictures yet, because shockingly, my own part on it isn't complete yet! LOL. So yeah, I'll get to it, hopefully soon, and when I'm ready, I will post up some pictures!

But anyway, that's not the main point. When Annemarie mailed my RR home to me, she included the most lovely gift ever. I did send her and the others a note to say that I had received my RR and to thank her for the gift, but I never shared about it on my blog. You may have already seen it on Annemarie's blog, but I think it's still necessary to post it here to express my thanks and to say how much I do love it! An Annemarie floss fob original and I was lucky enough to receive one. So once again, a big thank you to you, Annemarie, so sorry I couldn't give it the reaction it deserved when I first received it!

The other thing that I forgot is that I purchased the most adorable needlework magnets from The Silver Needle! I have been wanting to get more magnets but somehow just never got round to it. Then I saw that The Silver Needle had the cutest magnets and I just had to place an order. Currently, they are just decorating my fridge at the moment, but I am sure I will be putting them to good use soon! Although, I reckon the 'Break in Case of Emergency' one will probably be used for decorative purposes only! Anyway, here's a pic of the ones that I got:


Okie dokes, that's it from me. I'm off to make some pumpkin soup -- I don't want to be boastful, but I love my homemade pumpkin soup and it's the perfect remedy for such a cold Melbourne day!

Posted by Leeny at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wow, didn't realise I was away for a while. I sorta retreated into my shell a little bit. When I got back from Singapore, I didn't want to have lunch with my colleagues, or go to some of my regular social engagements, I just wanted time to myself, my own space, and I didn't want to talk to anyone about what happened so I stayed away. That way, I could minimise the opportunities for people to ask me. I'm doing good now though, I've stopped being anti-social at work, I'm meeting people again and I'm getting stronger, where I don't break down and cry when on the rare occasion, someone asks me about my grandfather.

My family is doing great too. My sister started her new job not too long ago and finds that she can actually have a life outside of work. My dad has been really busy, but I think he's probably enjoying that, if at least just to keep him occupied. He has lots of travelling to do, so I hope he keeps safe throughout them all. My grandma seems to be in excellent spirits. She will have a check-up with the doctor next week to see what her progress is since the chemo and radiotherapy sessions and then they will make the decision about the surgery from there.

There were also a couple of celebrations this month -- it was my dad's birthday on the 5th (but he was in Mexico for work) and it was my grandma's birthday on the 14th. Nothing spectacular, but the family went out for dinner on my grandma's birthday, which is always nice, in my opinion. It's hard being away from my family, but I'm glad all's going well. As to what I've been up to, it's a bit here and there, so here's what I have been doing!

#1: I've taken up Japanese lessons again! The last time I learnt Japanese was back in 1999 and it's something that I always wanted to do again. My friend has had a plan to learn a language this year for a while, so when she mentioned it to me, I figured this could be a good time to do Japanese together. She was keen, so off we went! We started a couple of weeks ago, and so far, she's really enjoying it. It's okay for me, only because we're just still at the basics, which I still remember, but I knew that I wasn't good enough to just jump straight into the next level. That's what I expected, so it's cool, but I hope to learn some new stuff as the course progresses, we still have 6 weeks to go.

#2: If you're a book lover like me, then I have a GREAT website for you to visit! This UK online store is called The Book Depository and it's fabulous! Their retail prices can sometimes be a whole $10 or more less than what I can get in bookstores here or even from local online places. The even more fantastic thing about it, shipping is absolutely FREE! All the way from the UK! While this free shipping offer doesn't apply to every country, they still cover many places. Great huh? How the heck they do it, I don't know, but to be honest, I don't really care! All I know is I'm getting an incredible deal. These brand new books are delivered directly to me at work and arrive in pristine condition. I purchased the Japanese texts for me and my friend, which we could buy here from between $38-45, depending where we get them from, but it only cost us $27 each from The Book Depository. I've since made more purchases from them, and I'm sure there will be more. I could not be more thrilled to find this website!

#3: Terrence and I haven't made any wedding plans at all, partly because of what had happened, but I think also because we're trying to avoid it. Don't get me wrong, we both are ready for marriage, but it's the wedding that's going to be an absolute pain in the bum! We haven't even figured out which country to hold the wedding in! It's probably going to be a toss-up between Singapore and Melbourne, and there are pros and cons for both places. I've taken a first step and asked my sister for her guest list, so at least I can see how many people there could potentially be from my side of my family so I have a better idea of what numbers we're dealing with. That may help us to decide the location. I'm sure we will get there eventually, but we both agree, it's going to be a big headache! LOL.

#4: Well, even though no wedding plans have been made, there is ONE thing that I am very sure of: I do not want to be a fat bride! *grin* So yep, that's a plan that has been implemented already! We cancelled our gym membership at the old place and signed up at another gym, which is about 5 minutes' away from where we live. I have also signed up for a personal trainer, because I have no willpower whatsoever and I need someone to help me get through the session. I started this thing at the gym this week that will go for 12 weeks, it's called 'Weekend Warriors'. There are two one-on-one personal training sessions each week, as well as two group PT sessions, 45 minutes long each time. Then every Saturday, there is some sort of activity, like rock-climbing, mountain biking etc.

It's only the first week and this thing is already KILLING me! I had to miss Monday's personal PT session because we were donating blood that evening, but I rocked up for the group session the next morning at 6am, which is ridiculously early IMO, but I didn't have a choice as Japanese lessons are on Tuesday evenings so I wouldn't be able to make it for the evening session at the gym. But anyways, back to the group PT session, the trainer started us on a cardio session and it was soooooo hard! I'm super unfit and I think I was still a bit weak from the blood donation the night before, and he had set the treadmill at like the highest incline possible and a running speed at about 9km/h. Maybe that's slow, but to me, that was bloody fast and my heart felt like it was going to explode and I was feeling faint and seeing stars. We were swapping machines during the cardio session, but after the 3rd machine, I couldn't take it, I had to go to the bathroom and puke (pardon the gross details). I had nothing in me but water, but even that I couldn't keep down. I came back out after a while and went back to the group fitness thing doing some step-up step-down thingy and my legs were screwed. Thursday evening I had my personal PT session, did leg weights, more cardio, and my legs were EVEN more screwed. Had another group session yesterday evening and of course, just more tired again, but at least I didn't puke that time! Though I did have sneezing fits.

However, nothing beats today's activity, which started at 7.30 am. It's something called '1000 steps' and if you want more information about it, here's a website that you can visit. At first I thought it was just running up and down normal office building steps, but after asking a couple of people, I found out what it really was. I thought of chickening out but after speaking to a colleague yesterday, she said it "wasn't that bad" so I believed her and went along (and dragged Terrence with me) for the activity this morning. Well, those people lied because it was a killer! There's this trail leading to the steps, and I was already puffing and panting before I reached the steps! The incline was killing my legs and they were already feeling so weak after all the gym work; it was really really tough. It also didn't help that I didn't have anything to eat anything in the morning as I didn't want to puke! The group just got further and further away, and soon enough, I was on my own. I was really tempted a few times to just give up and turn back around, but somehow, I managed to hang on in there. I came in dead last, which was really embarrassing, but at least I finished it and Terrence was really sweet and said that he thought it was really good I completed the walk, as he found it pretty tough as well. It's still kinda demoralising though, coming in last -- a couple of kids and a granny beat me! -- but I guess I'm quite pleased that I did manage to finish the thing, even though my fitness level is so crap. I have to thank one of the trainers; I don't know what his name is, but on the home stretch, I saw some of the group coming back down and when he saw me, he stayed with me and helped me get up to the top and then went down with me as well and kept encouraging me. I will have to thank him properly the next time I see him at the gym! I don't know if I'm going to survive 12 weeks, I just hope I can!

#5: I've been keeping up with my reading but I haven't touched any stitching at all in a long time. I did place an order at Down Sunshine Lane though, so I'm looking forward to that arriving! I also locked in a stitchy/catch-up date with a couple of friends whom I stitched with the last time, so that's gonna be good. I will be going over to their place this time, and I think an activity where I can be sitting on a couch is fantastic! If nothing crops up, this will be going ahead on June 2, just in a couple of weeks' time, it's going to be a lot of fun!

Okay, I think I've rambled on long enough! I guess I've more than made up for my period of silence, hee hee. Sorry if I bored ya, and thanks for visiting! じゃ、まったね (Ja, matta ne)！

Posted by Leeny at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments