LOVE and COMMITMENT

I was pondering on this when someone asked me - can you love someone without the commitment? I wonder if you can. I think if someone is truly in love, he or she will automatically commit. What does commitment mean? Well it means different things to different people, but basically it means to be there for the person on a regular basis. I think friendships and relationships grow if people set aside a regular time to be together. Like me and Anita, we try to set aside Friday nites. Recently, after my anniversary date with my hubby, I was kinda touched he said ..why don't we have regular saturday dinners together, just two of us? I thought of his statement over and over again and it brought tears to my eyes. Isn't that so sweet? To tell someone that you wanna put aside a certain day of the week regularly for the person. That is what I call commitment. Well there's nothing wrong with making appointments based on impulse or need. It's still far better than making appointments cause you're free! That's really treating the person as a spare tyre! But I think commitment to a day and activity bonds people together. Like buddies who meet up for sports regularly on a certain day of the week. I used to have this kind of arrangement for swimming and I must say I really miss it. It was so nice to look forward to the swimming every Monday. It really beats swimming alone. Now I have this Saturday lunch weekly appointment with an old friend I bumped into last month. Yesterday I broke it and really felt bad about it. I'm definitely making a resolution not to break it unless it is an emergency.

So go think bout the people you really love. Do you have regular fixed days set aside for them? Even if it's just talking on the phone every nite before you go to bed, it really bonds the relationship. I know of this couple who did this before they were married. Every nite they'd call each other to catch up wif the day. That's what every couple should do!

TIME TO RELAX...

Finally school's OUT! Still got meetings till 2nd Dec but at least no marking, no classes and no school kids for a while. Went to the library just now to borrow some books to read and found 5 interesting titles :

1. Hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world by Haruki Murakami

2. A wild sheep chase by Haruki Murakami

3. Life is Elsewhere by Milan Kundera

4. Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

5. After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

Also bought a blouse and a pair of tights from Hypnosis. More comfy than sexy wear. To wear when I'm in the don't-give-a-damn mood. 

Got a whole evening to chill out at home, yippee!! No cooking tonite so I can unwind on my day off from sports. But intend to play some Wii later. Must keep active ...Think i'm putting on some weight round my middle :( 

Smooth glowing skin

Just thought I'd share my recipe for smooth glowing skin. For the last three months, I've been dry-brushing my skin every morning with a cactus-bristle brush from Body Shop. It's supposed to remove dead skin cells, detoxify and even move the lymphatic system along. Best thing is - really feels good to brush the skin, kind of wake me up..

Orchard Central

Just came back from dinner at Orchard Central. Been a long long time since I went out wif hub, just the two of us. Well it's our
22nd wedding anniversary! The food was good. Hub's a MEAT eater so we ordered the dinner set for two - Wagyu Beef, pork leg and pork sirloin at $68. Came with some rice and grilled vegetables. The meat was succulent and tender. Not a lot but just nice for two. After a relaxing chat about cars and rich customers, we went for a walk on the rooftop garden. Great view of the night scene around Orchard! Then we listened to a song performance on the ground level. Hub took these pictures of me :) Notice the henna on my hands? Had those done at Little India on Friday!

Ladies Nite Out

Had a great Friday nite out with my ex-college buddy, Anita. Just think of it - a friendship that lasted 27 years! She was there with me every year of my life, through all my milestones. We are so comfortable with each other like a favourite pair of jeans. We have been catching up alot recently during the weekends, either Fri nites or Saturday nites. Staying near each other is certainly a boon as we can just meet ad hoc for a chat and tea at Dome nearby. It's really nice that we are able to end each other's sentences! We like sharing a cheesecake and camomile tea at Dome, just before bedtime as we catch up with each other about the week, sharing bits and pieces of funny, sad or irritating incidents and so on. It's really really such a good feeling to know you have someone out there who cares about you and enjoy your company just as much, especially after so many years, there's no doubt about it. I recall we hit it off like cookies and milk when we first met in 1981 in Hwa Chong. We were mostly together, even though we were not from the same class. She was from the same sec school as one of my classmates then. Even though we were rather different from each other, yet two things we had in common were : we both loved to eat and we both loved to talk about feelings and life..yeah we are both very philosophical. We hardly talk bout fashion or gossip about other people. I find that talking with Anita is very stimulating cos it's like mind-mapping. From one question or statement, we go deeper or we branch out till it's like a whole web. Like tonite, we had planned to go shopping but in the end we talked and talked at Island Cafe till it was nearly 9 plus! Friendships are really like wine - they get better as they mature! Cheers to that!!

Imagine That..

Caught a movie with my son on Thursday afternoon - "Imagine That" starring Eddie Murphy. Had more or less completed most of my pressing deadlines that had kept me busy during the week so thought why not spend some time wif my darling son? I asked him to choose a movie while I was at a meeting and when I came back to my table at 1.30 pm, he pointed to "Imagine That" on the website http://www.incinemas.com.sg/ and we realised we had only 45 min to catch the movie at 2.20! So we rushed there, bought burgers, hot dogs and drinks as well and sat down next to another 'parent and child' couple! The show was basically about how Eddie Murphy, as a high-flying parent, had no time to spend wif his daughter till he realised that his daughter was communicating with spirits that had valuable insights on his insider trading! So he also entered this fantasy world of princesses, dragons and queens with her, becoming closer to her in the process. Although it was quite cliched, it was enjoyable to see how Eddie Murphy let loose his inhibitions and play with his kid. Makes me reflect on my own parenting role - am I spending enough time with my kids? Hmmm....

Kids are really representations of angels. We adults are so i

mmersed in our rat race that we forget the joys of being with these angel

s. My ex-stu

dent invited me to a birthday party last nite. Even though I was reluctant to go at first as I did not know what time the party starts and how to contact t

his boy, in the end I was convinced by my own conscience. How could I let down a kid on his birthday? How many kids invite their teachers anyway, to their parties, two years in a row too? I should be honoured as I was also invited to his birthday party last year

 held at McDonald's. Last but not least, teachers are supposed to portray values such as integrity and trustworthiness. So I bought a pack of sparklers for the kids to play with. It turned out to be a huge B

BQ party attended by the whole extended family of grandparents, aunties

, uncles, cousins and even neighbours. The boy had invited my son as well, so sweet of him. The adults were so impressed that I remembered the names of the boy's classmates, even after

 one year. I told them that their names are imprinted on my mind because I had to call them constantly during the lesson to behave themselves or hand in work, haha! Anyway it was nice to see how the kids enjoyed themselves and I also chatted his grandmother up. She's one hell of a cook - her beehoon and curry veg were scrumptious!