Faith

I fasted yesterday... because I felt so lost and so forlorn... and terribly unhappy.

I wanted to know if I was still being seen.

Just the afternoon I had spoken to his mother. And she wanted to know why. She kept asking if it was this, or that... and just hearing that made my throat constrict. She's one of the quirkiest, nicest woman I know.

So I went to midnight mass trying to put on a brave face, and I stepped into a depression in the ground and twisted my ankle. Again. The left one this time around.

And I sat in church feeling sorry for myself. I still am feeling a little sorry for myself. It's christmas. It's the end of a long difficult year. I should be up in Penang having cake with my brother. Explaining the demise of my relationship with his mother... even though that one's not-so-great, but I guess she wants to know... emotional investments are always hard to deal with...

I came home, curled up in bed and cried. I wanted to know why things like this happen. Tired as I was, I reached for my books. Something. Anything. And the book a friend gave me this christmas fell in my hands... and so I read.

And somehow things became clearer. Let everything go. Place my faith in a higher power. For He sees all things, and knows all things. He knows I'm crying now. He knows how I feel I'm a failure at relationships. He knows how I've abstained from my favourite things because I believe I needed to be purer to hear/ to feel.

Christmas speaks to humanity in a way that we can understand. It speaks of faith in the future. If speaks of hope for us all. It speaks of love, that we are loved and we are loveable. It speaks of what every person needs. Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of this is Love. With this, Christmas offers us strength. To place our faith and hope in His love for us.

Everything is possible in Him. And he would do what is right by me, in His own time. I can plan all I can, but ultimately, He decides whether or not something happens. He has the power over life and death itself. My time is not His time. Just as my love is nothing compared to His. It shall be as He wills it.

So I'm still running the race, and I'm keeping the faith. People say time heals all wounds, but that's not true. The ex, he should know that very well. It's God who heals. God who touches you, and teaches you to forgive, to let go, to feel compassion, to learn from past mistakes, to love again. With His grace, he'd heal my wounds. With His grace, and if you let Him, he'd heal yours, too. Because His strength will be made perfect in our weaknesses.

He has his plans for me. So be it. I am the handmaiden of the Lord.

FALALALALALALALA

Deck the halls with boughs of folly, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Tis the season to be lazy, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Don we now our gay apparel, 

Fa la la, la la la, la la la. 

Troll the ancient bedside warble, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

See the blazing drinks before us, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Strike the pose and join the chorus. 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Follow me in merry measure, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

While I tell of bedside treasure, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Fast away the old year passes, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Sing we joyous, all together, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Heedless of the whips and tether, 

Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

~Deck the Halls: Adult version by nemesisonfire, with input from bbc~

2008

It's been a long, difficult year.

High points. Low points.

I've had to struggle in my career, in my personal life. I've had to shelve a few plans.

2008 has been bittersweet.

Career-wise, it's a cliffhanger. Salary increment plans would be on hold till further notice. So there's that. Nothing I can say about that. I'm just glad I've done what I've aimed to do when I took this job offer: Learn. And that I have. It's better no salary increment than to have a pay-cut and get laid off anyway, which is being done in several companies, given the current economic climate. So I'll dig my heels in and weather the storm as best I can. After all, it wasn't a bad start to my new job. And I'm trying to keep as positive as I can.

Personal life, well I suppose if anyone's been following that's off till further notice too. I'm not sure where that will be going. I suppose for now, I'll be concentrating on me. 'Cos I've let go. There's no more anger, no more frustration, just sadness. Resignation. Forgiveness too, for what had been done. Although I wouldn't let any of that happen to me again. That's just self-preservation. Once bitten, twice shy. But we've both made many mistakes, and forgiveness is important to move forward with living.

It sucks to break up right before the holiday season. Christmas was always the most quietly romantic holiday for me. Time to spend with loved ones. People we cherish most. But in a way I'm glad. And relieved. It would suck even more to be crying and fighting during the holiday season. Mayhap it's better this way.

There's much to be learnt from solitude after all.

Met a friend I knew from a friend, and barely know in person on fb chat. And he tells me: 'cheer up dear... good things always around the corner... though sometimes it can be a long corner... nevertheless .... good things...'

Strangely comforting, coming from a guy who annoys me to bits each time we meet. :P Probably the first time he sounds his age in the few times we meet... and immediately after, he sounds like his usual jackass self again :)

That, though, somehow made me cry again, silly as it is... it's been a really long corner this year, and I've come right to the edge of breaking point so many times. I suppose that's the price to pay for growing up. I do hope he's right... I could do with a nice break, even a small one, just to know the effort's not all been in vain.

So I wanna take a break. From the daily grind for awhile. Just to recharge, rejuvenate. Probably remove myself from people for awhile. Just to rediscover myself.

It's been a long corner of a year. But I've had no regrets.

I ended the year:

1. On a cliffhanger due to the global economic downturn.

2. Newly single again, though with many new friends.

3. Learning how to clean the radiator gasket for a car... that's another completely different blog altogether. Stay tuned.

4. Back to my November 2007 waistline... Yes, I can fit in old jeans again. That's how much I lost weight due to the events of the past 2-3 months.

5. Having a new appreciation for my family and friends, well-meaning that they are... though not necessarily always helpful :P but still... well-meaning....

I wish to have a clean, fresh start to 2009, with renewed hope for the future, whatever it is it has in store for me.

Life goes on, after all. And I hope my friend is right. Good things always around the corner.

Let's drink to the past, toast to the future, and cheer the present.

My Christmas Wish List...

A week to Christmas.... so here's my wishlist...

The hard ones....

1. Passing my exams

2. Doing my Master's/ further studies

3. A promotion and increment in 6 months

4. Moving abroad permanently

5. The way we were

6. Someone who openly allows me to cherish him, and openly cherishes me very much in return.

7. My own little side business :P

8. A nice nest egg of a retirement plan

9. Lecturing

10. Being able to have and afford a baby (and someone to progenitate with :( )

Now the easy ones...

1. A getaway... need one really badly

2. A new phone... camera phone, preferably...

3. A replacement laptop :( mine got stolen... cisss.....

4. A spa... or a bubblebath... :(

5. A massage.... :( cos my back hurts again...

6. Sighs.... the SaSi... or the Jollie... or the Curve.... :P go google it....

7. A nice dinner... somewhere... anywhere... even if it's homecooked... but ahhh.... that ship has sailed, i guess.... still... this is a wishlist, no?

8. Dimsum....

9. My salted ikan terubuk curry.... :( but that ship has sailed too...

10. The money to go home... and see grandma... or to France, to be a bridesmaid....

Well... it's a wishlist... whoever wants to cook for me, my email is at the corner :P

Just be single... :D I have no intention of getting tangled in a long-term three-way complicated can't-see-the-end-of-this-tunnel relationship. 

Cramps my style :)

On another note... I should perk myself up for Christmas... *kicks self*

Grown Up Christmas List

Blogs coming up, but just to feature this lovely song first sung by Natalie Cole, popularised by Amy Grant, and recently by Michael Buble. Music composed by David Foster and lyrics by Linda Thompson-Jenner. I think! :D

Here it is. The original. Beautiful :)



This version has some wrong notes, I think, but it's nice piano playing :D I MISS PIANO!



Amy Grant's



And the lyrics:

Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasy

Well, I'm all grown up now
Can you still help somehow
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts

Every man would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end

This is my grown-up
Christmas list

What is this illusion called
The innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief
Will we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart
And wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts

Every man would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end

This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my only lifelong wish

This is my grown-up Christmas list

'nuff said.

Insomnia

movement... in the depths of my subconscious.

movement... the clock ticks. it slows down for no man or woman.

movement... restlessness. sleeplessness.

movement... and yet unseen. i feel it in the tingle on my skin. in the things i see between sleep and wakefulness. that no man's land. subtle... but it's there.

and last night for some reason, i couldn't sleep. something's afoot, and i know it. 0100 hours. 0300 hours. 0500 hours. 0700 hours. finally. o sleep, tis a gentle thing, beloved from pole to pole. to mary queen, the praise be giv'n, she sent the gentle sleep from heav'n, that slid into my soul. 0800 hours. and i'm awake.

the answer's on the calendar.

dammit. gotta put old demons to rest. watch em shrivel like an overturned snail covered in salt. it has to be SO over. i ain't hittin' 27 with a deadweight of shit on my shoulders.

so i dug into the demon-infested recesses of my memories, and revisited old wounds today. i don't know why i do this, sometimes. but i feel that i must do certain things only when i'm ready, and as a test to ascertain that i truly am ready to lay all ghosts to RIP.

the carousel... has stopped spinning. i've gotten off, finally. i walk away, but as i do, i look behind one last time. it had been quite a ride. there is a lot of sadness, and some nostalgia, a little bit of fondness. but i know full well the ride is over. and this would be one ride i would really rather not get on again.

i guess this explains it best:

No matter what you say about love
I keep coming back for more
Keep my hand in the fire
Sooner or later I get what I’m asking for

No matter what you say about life
I learn every time I bleed
The truth is a stranger
Soul is in danger I gotta let my spirit be free
To admit that I’m wrong and then change my mind
Sorry but I have to move on and leave you behind

I can’t waste time so give it a moment
I realize nothing's broken
No need to worry about everything I’ve done
Live every second like it was my last one
Don’t look back got a new direction
I loved you once, needed protection
You’re still a part of everything I do
You’re on my heart just like a tattoo
Just like a tattoo
I’ll always have you (I'll always have you)

Sick of playing all of these games
It’s not about taking sides
When I looked in the mirror didn’t deliver
It hurt enough to think that I could stop
Admit that I’m wrong and then change my mind
Sorry but I’ve gotta be strong and leave you behind

If I live every moment
Won’t change any moment
There's still a part of me in you
I will never regret you
Still the memory of you
Marks everything I do, oh

~Jordin Sparks, Tattoo~

the precipice... i realise now was a path i had to travel. a situation i had to experience to gain better insight into my own psyche. to better understand my motivations. the fall was painful and deeply depressing. but with it was a lesson so priceless, it was worth it all. to know who your true friends are, to realise why you make the mistakes that you do, is an epiphany that i would never give up now that i have the knowledge. self-knowledge is more potent than any other, perhaps because it is like taking one more step closer to God. He did, after all, make us in His likeness.

i have no regrets. the precipice happened for a reason, and even if the other party learnt nothing from it, i have done my part, and i have done my best.

this i walk away from without looking back at all. no nostalgia, no fondness, just self-awareness.

Memories are just where you laid them
Dragging the waters til the depths give up their dead
What did you expect to find?
Was it something you left behind?
Don't you remember anything I said when I said,

Don't fall away and leave me to myself
Don't fall away and leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again
And leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands
Love lies bleeding
Oh hold me now I feel contagious
Am I the only place that you've left to go?
She cries her life is like
Some movie in black and white
Dead actors faking lines, over and over and over again she cries

And I watched as you turned away
You don't remember, but I do
You never even tried
Don't fall away and leave me to myself
Don't fall away and leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again
Leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again
Leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again, oh

~Fuel, Hemmorhage~

This scar is a fleck on my porcelain skin
Tried to reach deep but you couldn't get in
Now you're outside me
You see all the beauty
Repent all your sin

It's nothing but time and a face that you lose
I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose
I'll write you a postcard
I'll send you the news
From a house down the road from real love...

There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave
You were what I wanted
I gave what I gave
I'm not sorry I met you
I'm not sorry it's over
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save

I'M NOT SORRY THERE'S NOTHING TO SAVE...

~Stars, Your Ex-Lover Is Dead~

***
and as i toss and turn in my sad excuse for a bed last night, i wonder what the future has in store for me. so the demons are banished. what next?

this year has been difficult. yes i'm wiser now, i hope.

but all these just serves to tell me one thing. i know nothing. i can make no promises. all i have is me. and who i am now.

all of these just serves to remind me: i am of this earth. my life is not my own.

there is a greater power at work here. all i can do is plan. but whether or not my plans come to pass is not of my jurisdiction.

and i miss you. terribly.

have i ever told anyone: i find christmas a more subtly romantic event than valentine's? christmas is for family, and good friends, and cosy dinners. it's about passion and firelights. something of a reality rather than the candlelights of which dreams are spun.

and i miss you. terribly.

for one with such perpetual verbosity as i, the silence i find myself in now is plain insufferable.

and this christmas, words fail me.

so i suppose i'd just borrow janis gott's:

I know Santa is a friend of mine and he's always been good to me
Always treats me right every Christmas night puts things beneath my tree.
But the one thing I want him to bring has never been on his sleigh
It's always on my mind, a gift I'm hoping to find when I open my eyes on Christmas day

I want you to wrap your love around me like a big red Christmas bow
I want to feel your love surround me everywhere I go
And when the holidays are over no more tinsel, no more snow
Your love will still be wrapped around me like a big red Christmas bow

Take the stockings from the fireplace but leave the angel on the tree
To watch, protect and to direct your love straight down to me
Now close your eyes, here's my surprise, feel my heart if you need a clue.
It is yours alone for you to keep and to own in return I ask one thing of you.

I want you to wrap your love around me like a big red Christmas bow
I want to feel your love surround me everywhere I go
And when the holidays are over not a trace of mistletoe
Your love will still be wrapped around me like a big red Christmas bow
Your love will still be wrapped around me like a big red Christmas bow

~Janis Gott, Big Red Christmas Bow~

and again... i miss you. terribly.

SANTA BABYYYYY....

now i'm still at work, been real busy, hence the lack of posts... but i'm feeling chrismassy. so i went hunting for christmas songs..

been keeping myself sane by dancing at work after everyone's left :P

i've got several really nice fave christmas songs, but here's one of my faves... (not approved by the GIRM (for those non-Catholics: ?guidelines something something *yawn yawn* Roman Missal) for church masses, of course :P)

this is sung by the pooooddy cat dolls... PCD... oh hello hellooooo..... and snoop dogg's (snoopy baby.. LOL!) in it. :P yeah i dance to this at work since i'm in the holiday mood already (minus the holidays, fuck it!)

now the only thing missing is the itty bitty santarina outfit ;) who's gonna get me that one? i got me fmbs this year, since i been a reeaaaalllll good girl :P so just the outfit would do :P



and here's the original Eartha Kitt... i couldn't find an older version of the song which she did solo, so i guess this would do. but OMG... she's SOOOO OLD... what, almost 90? but she still has legs like that :P there's hope for us yet. LOL.



oh and here's one with big tittied cartoon characters ;P oh yeah, someone likened me to betty boop, but i like her, so who cares :D



LOL... and THIS is by a drag queen: gloria von rottenhole (? ROFLMAO. cue Grey's Anatomy's SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY!!) man, is s/he a DIVA....



Kylie's live on Leno. HELLOOOOO MAMA ;) this woman proves hot things come in lil packages. honestly, though, she shoulda done without the lousy dancers. classier that way.



sing along with me now:

Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree,
For me.
been an awful good girl,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa baby, a 54 convertible too,
Light blue.
I'll wait up for you dear,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Think of all the fun I've missed,
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed,
Next year I could be just as good,
If you'll check off my Christmas list,

Santa baby, I wanna yacht,
And really that's not a lot,
Been an angel all year,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa honey, there's one thing I really do need,
The deed
To a platinum mine,
Santa honey, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with a duplex,
And checks.
Sign your 'X' on the line,
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight.

Come and trim my Christmas tree,
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's,
I really do believe in you,
Let's see if you believe in me,

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing,
A ring.
I don't mean on the phone,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight,
Hurry down the chimney tonight,
Hurry, tonight.

oh, btw, before i sign off today, I LUUUURRRRVVVEEEE JOEYSIA!! ;)

christmas around the corner!

i've been so darn busy at work, i almost forgot christmas is less than a month away until going on joey's multiply reminded me...

so i tuned in to christmas radio.. and i started dancing to Jingle Bell Rock :P

christmas had always been a favourite season.. all that altruistic love and happy jolly feeling. easter is a time for somber spiritual development, christmas... christmas is a time for the young and young at heart to be all lovey-dovey :P a time for giving and good will all around.

and the parties!! year-end parties are the best!

i miss christmas at home. in a place that's majority christian, with the hugest catholic cathedral in the nation, u can feel the excitement strumming through the air by late october. that buzz... the preparation for christmas choir and christmas carolling...christmas deco everywhere... christmas songs blasting everywhere, every shopping area would be playing christmas jingles.

dammit... i miss christmas at home. i had planned to go back this year, but my parents would be around instead. which is great, i miss them, but there's nothing like going back to the cathedral where you spent every sunday as a girl staring at the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows casting shadows of a myriad colours over the pews. and you're wondering how they got the glass such a brilliant blue, or red, or green. and you're thinking... it's so pretty. and when you're bored, you run outside to climb the walls of the church with the other children. while your parents prayed inside, you played outside :P but always, you go back inside to look for mommy.

then as you grew older, you became an out-standing catholic... cos the cathedral was too darn hot for you at times... but the bigger reason was that it was so much fun half-listening to the sermons while staring at fashion parade outside... the peacocks were so pretty, dressed in the latest converse bags and shoes. the bold and the beautiful were always outside at sunset mass, whether or not they were catholics :)

then you left school, and every time you could go home and go to church was precious, so this time you sat inside, and prayed like your parents did, and you'd meet friends outside after mass. guess you grew up, somewhat.

all those years, church on sundays, first friday masses in school, school feastday masses, days of obligation, and you fidgeted at the thought of staying the entire duration of the mass in church, especially 2 to 2 1/2 hour long high masses. yet now you would rather spend easter triduum and christmas season at home. odd how things turn out.

who wants to watch christmassy movies with me?

I’ll be home for Christmas,
You can count on me,
Please have snow, and mistletoe,
And presents ‘neath the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me,
Where the lovelight gleams,
I’ll be home for Christmas,
If only in my dreams…
Christmas Eve will find me,
Where the lovelight gleams,
I’ll be home, I’ll be home,
If only in my dreams…

and my customary Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Christmas future is far away,
Christmas past is past,
Christmas presents are here to stay,
Bringing joy that may last
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light,
In a year, our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yuletide gay,
In a year, our troubles will be miles away
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore,
Precious friends who are dear to us,
Gather near to us once more
In a year, we all will be together,
If our fates allow,
Until then, we’ll just have to muddle through somehow,
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Christmas hugs and kisses all around! :P

oh wait... that's in 3 weeks time :)

listening to: Jim Brickman's Greensleeves on Merry Christmas Radio