Thanksgiving
I meant to blog about 2007 and move on into 2008 at least 2 weeks back, but I was so busy with work and birthday/Christmas parties that I simply couldn’t find the time. Add on to all my busier-than-usual activities our office’s recent move to a new location, and it has been utter chaos.
Since my office is quite paper-heavy with loads of invoices, case files, and God only knows what other printouts – lots of which were meant to be archived – you can imagine our horror when the bosses triumphantly piled about 30 boxes filled to the brim with paper in front of us and ordered us to begin shredding them.
And since our office doesn’t have a shredding machine, we staff were turned into automatons, spending the better part of last week tearing papers up – some of which dated from freaking 1994.
Last Friday, which was the last day in our old office, was the one and only day we could spend just sitting around and talking cock because our server went down at 10 am – meaning that no work could be done but for shredding. So the under-25ers and I formed our own little circle and spent the day tearing up paper while chit-chatting to our hearts’ content without caring about work, or the bosses. We tore papers till all of us developed an ailment or another – cramped thumbs, swollen biceps, paper cuts, blistered fingers. Seriously, that was how much paper we had to shred.
The happiest person of all had to be our cleaner auntie, who has probably made a fortune by now selling off all our shredded paper.
Now, rewind back to 2007.
How do I feel about that year? Lots of mixed feelings, that’s for certain. But I can’t say definitely that “2007 was a bad year” or “2007 was a good year” because lots of things happened, some good, some bad.
In early 2007 I started school again for the first time after almost 2 years. The feeling of walking into campus with a bag slung over my shoulders, looking for all the world like just another tertiary student on her way to class, was so gratifying, especially since I’d gone through hell and high water to get readmitted.
And because I had discussed plans with my then-boyfriend and we had both agreed that I would not be working but instead would concentrate full-time on my studies, I was relying heavily on him financially. Not to mention emotionally as well, since my mother remarried and moved to the States with her American husband, leaving the house to me, and the ex promptly moved in and we began a proper couple life living in the same house and looking after each other’s needs – or so we thought.
Not working paid off in one small way when I got my results back in mid-2007 and scored an A and 2 B-pluses. However, it wasn’t long before I found myself flat on my face and without a cent to my name because my fiancé of 7 years decided to leave me for a married mother of two he’d known for a week.
Yup, apparently she was “the one”, notwithstanding the fact that she was sleeping with 3 other men, was still married, and had 2 kids, the oldest being only 4 years old.
In England, they have a slang word for women like that. It’s “slapper”. It conjures up a vivid, graphic, but very apt image of labia lips so loose they are slapping together.
Well, forgive me for the vivid imagery, but come on! You’ve got to hand it to the Brits and their stiff upper lips for coming up with a word that sounds quite proper but is actually seething with vulgarity.
Anyway, long story short, I forgave him, being the rather dumb, naïve, and needy person I was, only to fall flat on my face again 2 months later when he left me for – wait for this – a single mother of one.
I believe he has a fetish for ready-made families.
Anyway, after that, I tossed him out of my life like the pile of garbage he is without a second glance, got myself a good job, and with much help from my friends who stood firm with me as my Rocks of Gibraltar, I ended off 2007 on a good and high note.
I started this job in early September 2007, just after I had broken up with the ex, and I do think I wouldn’t have gotten back on track so quickly if not for the job. It filled up my time, I had Jess with me, I made new friends and we rapidly began going out together for outings, cookouts, and clubbing sessions, I caught up with many other friends, old and new, quit smoking, signed up for Pilates sessions at my workplace gym, and started swimming and jogging.
Somehow, I managed to make it to the end of 2007 without killing myself or killing the ex, though I have to admit my pals and my renewed dependence on Prozac played their part in helping.
It was during the last trimester of 2007 that I realized fully how dependent I had been on the ex, and how I should never let myself fall into such a trap again. I discovered the satisfaction of earning and spending my own money. I saw clearly, for the first time in 7 years, how I had been lowering myself for the ex and how, if we had gotten married like we’d planned, he would either have walked out on me and our kids anyway eventually, given his character, or we’d be living in poverty thanks to his habit of running up 5-figure debts on football betting. I saw how he would not have made a good or responsible husband and father, how he was too self-centred for his own good, how he had never appreciated me until after he’d lost me, and how he had never been a good person to begin with.
So why was I with him for so long, despite his horrible character? I have only 3 answers to that.
Firstly, at a period of time when I was very low and really needed someone, he stuck with me through it all.
Secondly, he did take care of me when I needed him to, I give him that much.
And thirdly, I loved him very much. And I’m the sort of person that idealises and “perfectionalises” someone I love, so much so that I overlook their flaws. The old adage “love is blind” was created specially for people like me.
Anyway, he’s out of my life, I’ve moved on, I think he has too, and what matters now to me is that I’m really happy and I recognize how much better off I am without him.
And then something happened in October that put many, many smiles on my face throughout the final trimester of 2007 – I got to know someone.
All right fine, it started out as a rebound crush. And it was very much lust-based because this guy is like damn yandao (in my opinion at least).
Until he decided to start being nice and sweet to me – extra nice, and extra sweet, while bo-hiu-ing other girls including Jess, I might add – and I realized that hey, this chap isn’t all that bad.
Right now our status is kind of moving forward one step, slipping backwards two, but it doesn’t really matter anyway because I’m slowly training myself to curb my impatience and go with the flow.
And last but not least, I would never have been able to get through 2007 – much less get through it happy – without the help of my many wonderful friends. And so, in the style of Pumpkin Flower, let me run through the listing of those people who I love and who love me in return.
To Pumpkin Flower (Jess):
Thank you for being there for me during the worst period. Thank you for shaking me up and getting me back to my feet with all the tough love. Thank you for listening to me bitch about D. But besides the crappy parts, I thank you most of all for sharing my joys (like Sockie, clubbing and, ahem, D), sharing my fun (our cookout and combined birthday parties), the beautiful presents, teaching me how to strut in 3-inch heels, and the nonstop outpouring of love. Cheers to a whole lifetime of “marriage”.
Berry Souffle (Wanz):
Thank you for all the saikang you did for me regarding the ex, like the chasing him for money. Thank you for being with me all the time practically 24/7. Thank you for the cookout sessions and the loans (haha). Thank you for the KTV outings and the (very small) shoulder to cry on. Thank you for sharing in my long-awaited iPod Nano.
Kevin:
Thank you for all the free meals, the free computer upgrades, and the iPod Nano. Thank you for the (very big) shoulder to cry on. Thank you for all the comfort you gave and all the times you were readily available. I know you said you were more concerned with the tears you gave me than the smiles, but think about it, the tears only happened that one time and they came for a good reason – because I knew I’d miss you, not for a bad reason like you beating the shit out of me or something like that.
Lemon Muffin (Yinghui):
Thank you for being my constant MSN buddy. Thank you for all the times you listened to me bitch about the ex and now D. Thank you for the loans. Thank you for the iPod Nano cover (aha! You almost blew it for the rest of the Piglets!) which is so perfect for my iPod and fits my devilish personality so perfectly. Thank you for being just about the best and most selfless listener possible.
Nethia:
Woman, I would have cut my wrists to ribbons if not for you. Thank you for looking after me and out for me. Thank you for putting yourself through the mind-numbing torture of having to talk to the ex for like 2 hours straight because of me, and even needing to control your impulse to strangle him and cut off his balls. Thank you for turning up alone for my birthday party at Butter Factory. You’re a biatch but God, do I love you.
Rest of Pig Clan:
Thank you for all the wonderful birthday and Christmas presents. Thank you for all the solidarity and support you showed me when the ex walked out. Thank you for cheering me up in your own little ways (especially Durian Cake/Sky and his spastic random dances). Thank you for coming to those parties Jess and I organized because it would not have been the same without you. Thank you all for being just simply the bestest friends I could ever have been blessed with.
TPP (Jaywalk):
I know you don't want me to call you TPP anymore, but let me do it for one last time ok? Thank you for giving me the opportunity to study. Thank you for all the presents, the free booze, the free meals. Thank you for the fun and laughter you bring to me everytime you're in the country. Thank you for being there whenever I need a rational, adult, cool, calm listening ear. Thank you for introducing me to other great people like Mee Pok, who obviously has helped me immensely as well and also deserves a big thank you hug from me. Thank you for always being thoughtful and caring and concerned.
D:
Yeah, I know it’s weird that I’m giving thanks to D, because he and I aren’t an item (yet), but hell, this guy has done an immense amount for me. He helped me get over the ex. He encouraged me to pick up jogging. He made me quit smoking (yes, he has that power). He made me forget my troubles whenever I was troubled by making me laugh. I especially liked it when he called the ex “a psycho retard” and expressed wonderment at his stupidity. So, thanks go to him for the laughter he brought into my life.
God:
You are DA MAN. And I’m leaving it at that because frankly, I don’t know what to say to express my gratitude at all I’ve been blessed with. But yeah, He will understand.
On to 2008!
Considering that 2008 is only about 1.5 weeks old, nothing much has happened, but what I can do is look forward.
First thing I need to do is lose weight. LOTS of it, in fact.
Second thing is to continue to get good grades. I got an A-plus, a B, and a B-minus for Sem 2, which isn’t too shabby, but there’s still room for improvement of course!
Third thing is to work my arse off and negotiate for a pay rise as soon as I can! I need that disposable income!
Generally, my plan for 2008 is to work hard, study hard, and play hard. That sounds like a pretty complete plan to me.
Since my office is quite paper-heavy with loads of invoices, case files, and God only knows what other printouts – lots of which were meant to be archived – you can imagine our horror when the bosses triumphantly piled about 30 boxes filled to the brim with paper in front of us and ordered us to begin shredding them.
And since our office doesn’t have a shredding machine, we staff were turned into automatons, spending the better part of last week tearing papers up – some of which dated from freaking 1994.
Last Friday, which was the last day in our old office, was the one and only day we could spend just sitting around and talking cock because our server went down at 10 am – meaning that no work could be done but for shredding. So the under-25ers and I formed our own little circle and spent the day tearing up paper while chit-chatting to our hearts’ content without caring about work, or the bosses. We tore papers till all of us developed an ailment or another – cramped thumbs, swollen biceps, paper cuts, blistered fingers. Seriously, that was how much paper we had to shred.
The happiest person of all had to be our cleaner auntie, who has probably made a fortune by now selling off all our shredded paper.
Now, rewind back to 2007.
How do I feel about that year? Lots of mixed feelings, that’s for certain. But I can’t say definitely that “2007 was a bad year” or “2007 was a good year” because lots of things happened, some good, some bad.
In early 2007 I started school again for the first time after almost 2 years. The feeling of walking into campus with a bag slung over my shoulders, looking for all the world like just another tertiary student on her way to class, was so gratifying, especially since I’d gone through hell and high water to get readmitted.
And because I had discussed plans with my then-boyfriend and we had both agreed that I would not be working but instead would concentrate full-time on my studies, I was relying heavily on him financially. Not to mention emotionally as well, since my mother remarried and moved to the States with her American husband, leaving the house to me, and the ex promptly moved in and we began a proper couple life living in the same house and looking after each other’s needs – or so we thought.
Not working paid off in one small way when I got my results back in mid-2007 and scored an A and 2 B-pluses. However, it wasn’t long before I found myself flat on my face and without a cent to my name because my fiancé of 7 years decided to leave me for a married mother of two he’d known for a week.
Yup, apparently she was “the one”, notwithstanding the fact that she was sleeping with 3 other men, was still married, and had 2 kids, the oldest being only 4 years old.
In England, they have a slang word for women like that. It’s “slapper”. It conjures up a vivid, graphic, but very apt image of labia lips so loose they are slapping together.
Well, forgive me for the vivid imagery, but come on! You’ve got to hand it to the Brits and their stiff upper lips for coming up with a word that sounds quite proper but is actually seething with vulgarity.
Anyway, long story short, I forgave him, being the rather dumb, naïve, and needy person I was, only to fall flat on my face again 2 months later when he left me for – wait for this – a single mother of one.
I believe he has a fetish for ready-made families.
Anyway, after that, I tossed him out of my life like the pile of garbage he is without a second glance, got myself a good job, and with much help from my friends who stood firm with me as my Rocks of Gibraltar, I ended off 2007 on a good and high note.
I started this job in early September 2007, just after I had broken up with the ex, and I do think I wouldn’t have gotten back on track so quickly if not for the job. It filled up my time, I had Jess with me, I made new friends and we rapidly began going out together for outings, cookouts, and clubbing sessions, I caught up with many other friends, old and new, quit smoking, signed up for Pilates sessions at my workplace gym, and started swimming and jogging.
Somehow, I managed to make it to the end of 2007 without killing myself or killing the ex, though I have to admit my pals and my renewed dependence on Prozac played their part in helping.
It was during the last trimester of 2007 that I realized fully how dependent I had been on the ex, and how I should never let myself fall into such a trap again. I discovered the satisfaction of earning and spending my own money. I saw clearly, for the first time in 7 years, how I had been lowering myself for the ex and how, if we had gotten married like we’d planned, he would either have walked out on me and our kids anyway eventually, given his character, or we’d be living in poverty thanks to his habit of running up 5-figure debts on football betting. I saw how he would not have made a good or responsible husband and father, how he was too self-centred for his own good, how he had never appreciated me until after he’d lost me, and how he had never been a good person to begin with.
So why was I with him for so long, despite his horrible character? I have only 3 answers to that.
Firstly, at a period of time when I was very low and really needed someone, he stuck with me through it all.
Secondly, he did take care of me when I needed him to, I give him that much.
And thirdly, I loved him very much. And I’m the sort of person that idealises and “perfectionalises” someone I love, so much so that I overlook their flaws. The old adage “love is blind” was created specially for people like me.
Anyway, he’s out of my life, I’ve moved on, I think he has too, and what matters now to me is that I’m really happy and I recognize how much better off I am without him.
And then something happened in October that put many, many smiles on my face throughout the final trimester of 2007 – I got to know someone.
All right fine, it started out as a rebound crush. And it was very much lust-based because this guy is like damn yandao (in my opinion at least).
Until he decided to start being nice and sweet to me – extra nice, and extra sweet, while bo-hiu-ing other girls including Jess, I might add – and I realized that hey, this chap isn’t all that bad.
Right now our status is kind of moving forward one step, slipping backwards two, but it doesn’t really matter anyway because I’m slowly training myself to curb my impatience and go with the flow.
And last but not least, I would never have been able to get through 2007 – much less get through it happy – without the help of my many wonderful friends. And so, in the style of Pumpkin Flower, let me run through the listing of those people who I love and who love me in return.
To Pumpkin Flower (Jess):
Thank you for being there for me during the worst period. Thank you for shaking me up and getting me back to my feet with all the tough love. Thank you for listening to me bitch about D. But besides the crappy parts, I thank you most of all for sharing my joys (like Sockie, clubbing and, ahem, D), sharing my fun (our cookout and combined birthday parties), the beautiful presents, teaching me how to strut in 3-inch heels, and the nonstop outpouring of love. Cheers to a whole lifetime of “marriage”.
Berry Souffle (Wanz):
Thank you for all the saikang you did for me regarding the ex, like the chasing him for money. Thank you for being with me all the time practically 24/7. Thank you for the cookout sessions and the loans (haha). Thank you for the KTV outings and the (very small) shoulder to cry on. Thank you for sharing in my long-awaited iPod Nano.
Kevin:
Thank you for all the free meals, the free computer upgrades, and the iPod Nano. Thank you for the (very big) shoulder to cry on. Thank you for all the comfort you gave and all the times you were readily available. I know you said you were more concerned with the tears you gave me than the smiles, but think about it, the tears only happened that one time and they came for a good reason – because I knew I’d miss you, not for a bad reason like you beating the shit out of me or something like that.
Lemon Muffin (Yinghui):
Thank you for being my constant MSN buddy. Thank you for all the times you listened to me bitch about the ex and now D. Thank you for the loans. Thank you for the iPod Nano cover (aha! You almost blew it for the rest of the Piglets!) which is so perfect for my iPod and fits my devilish personality so perfectly. Thank you for being just about the best and most selfless listener possible.
Nethia:
Woman, I would have cut my wrists to ribbons if not for you. Thank you for looking after me and out for me. Thank you for putting yourself through the mind-numbing torture of having to talk to the ex for like 2 hours straight because of me, and even needing to control your impulse to strangle him and cut off his balls. Thank you for turning up alone for my birthday party at Butter Factory. You’re a biatch but God, do I love you.
Rest of Pig Clan:
Thank you for all the wonderful birthday and Christmas presents. Thank you for all the solidarity and support you showed me when the ex walked out. Thank you for cheering me up in your own little ways (especially Durian Cake/Sky and his spastic random dances). Thank you for coming to those parties Jess and I organized because it would not have been the same without you. Thank you all for being just simply the bestest friends I could ever have been blessed with.
TPP (Jaywalk):
I know you don't want me to call you TPP anymore, but let me do it for one last time ok? Thank you for giving me the opportunity to study. Thank you for all the presents, the free booze, the free meals. Thank you for the fun and laughter you bring to me everytime you're in the country. Thank you for being there whenever I need a rational, adult, cool, calm listening ear. Thank you for introducing me to other great people like Mee Pok, who obviously has helped me immensely as well and also deserves a big thank you hug from me. Thank you for always being thoughtful and caring and concerned.
D:
Yeah, I know it’s weird that I’m giving thanks to D, because he and I aren’t an item (yet), but hell, this guy has done an immense amount for me. He helped me get over the ex. He encouraged me to pick up jogging. He made me quit smoking (yes, he has that power). He made me forget my troubles whenever I was troubled by making me laugh. I especially liked it when he called the ex “a psycho retard” and expressed wonderment at his stupidity. So, thanks go to him for the laughter he brought into my life.
God:
You are DA MAN. And I’m leaving it at that because frankly, I don’t know what to say to express my gratitude at all I’ve been blessed with. But yeah, He will understand.
On to 2008!
Considering that 2008 is only about 1.5 weeks old, nothing much has happened, but what I can do is look forward.
First thing I need to do is lose weight. LOTS of it, in fact.
Second thing is to continue to get good grades. I got an A-plus, a B, and a B-minus for Sem 2, which isn’t too shabby, but there’s still room for improvement of course!
Third thing is to work my arse off and negotiate for a pay rise as soon as I can! I need that disposable income!
Generally, my plan for 2008 is to work hard, study hard, and play hard. That sounds like a pretty complete plan to me.
posted by Sheena @ 4:42 PM
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