Reflections on 2014!

Lol, I must be getting old and demented: the year before last, I wrote that I distinctly remembered sitting down to write my reflections on 2012 before 2013 arrived, but aiya, now that 2014’s almost over, I must sheepishly confess that I don’t remember setting down to pen (well, type XD) my reflections on 2013! XD

Firstly, I will acknowledge that I’m feeling pretty depressed: see, every year, around 9:30pm, I hike upstairs to my former bedroom with my favourite teddy and have a lie on my upstairs bed to reflect on the year that has almost gone; around 10:45pm, I come back downstairs to write my reflections for that year, then at about 11:50pm, call the parents awake and we all sit on the couch to welcome the new year in together. This year, however, mother begs out of this, complaining of a headache. I suggested to her how about she takes two Panadol and have a lie down; at 11:50pm I’ll call her and see if she’s feeling better. If she is, she can come downstairs and celebrate the New Year in! Alas, mother was feeling particularly self-centered and refused; dad’s already gone upstairs to join mother, meaning it’ll probably just be me welcoming in the New Year with my favourite teddy … I also had one whole hour less to reflect on 2014 coz mother was like, “If you’re not coming downstairs now, you can do it yourself coz I’m going to sleep now.” But hey, I’ll just haveta try my best to keep a good attitude and see in the new year with just my most precious teddy for company, yeah? :o)

Physically-wise: well, obviously, if you met me for the first time, the first thing you’d notice about me is that I’m very disabled. This year, I trialled CIMT, or constraint induced movement therapy, for two weeks. CIMT is when your functional hand gets tied behind your back and your affected hand gets to do everything for the agreed period of time. When my physio first suggested I do it, I said I’d try, but on two conditions: that one, I be allowed to wipe with my functional hand after toilet trips and two, that I be allowed to wash with my functional hand during showers, unless my physio was willing to pay the water bill for me! Luckily, the physio agreed, and I did this frustrating therapy for two weeks; funnily enough, it ended the same night as the FX destress night and I attended it feeling super-relieved that I’d completed two weeks of this stressful therapy! XD

Work wise: For me, this has been another frustrating year. I know I mentioned last year that I’d given up on returning to tertiary studies and was instead focusing on finding a paid job; remember, I’m willing to try my hand at ANYTHING (even wash toilets XD) as long as I can do it sitting down and it gets me paid. Currently, I am registered with a disability employment agency, but seriously, they are USELESS. >< When I return to see them early next year, I will first need to visit centrelink and apply for my THIRD JCA (Job Capacity Assessment) ; that’s how totally incompetent they are! >< I had a little side job doing some editing work for a church brother who technically already has very good English, but because he grew up in Hong Kong before coming over to Australia, there are just minor points I can help him improve with his English grammar. For that, I get a little money and the title ‘editor’! Unfortunately, this year he’s been busy with helping his wife getting settled in Australia and hasn’t written anything at all to help him edit, meaning I don’t think I’ve had any income this year. That’s not good, because I don’t really want to be in the position where I have to ask mother for more cash next year just so I can buy her and dearest dad presents for their next wedding anniversary! ><

Sporting-wise: this was also a sad year for two reasons. Firstly, the mighty Maroons finally went down to the smelly Blues in the Origin. >< Never mind, I will console myself with the fact that (1) we’d won EIGHT CONSECUTIVE YEARS (a record; the last streak lasted only five years) and (2) the last time the smelly Blues won, neither the iphone nor twitter had been invented yet. XD Secondly, the sporting world was rocked by the death of poor Phillip Hughes. I’ve said he was lucky because he wasn’t struck down till he was like twenty-five (the cruel and unfaithful God so wantonly destroyed my life with the disabling brain tumour shortly before I turned twenty) but I’m more lucky than him in that I’m still alive to tell the tale, whereas the poor man is now six feet under … well, to end on a more positive note, Benny’s returning to the Broncos next year; I know both Ms. Wriggle :P and Uncle Colbert reckon he’s too old to make any difference, but hey, I’m hoping he can bring a premiership back to the Broncos!

Spiritually-wise: come Feb. the 3^rd, 2015, it’ll have been eight years since the cruel and unfaithful God so wantonly destroyed my life with the disabling brain tumour, and almost eight years later, I’m still waiting for Him to tell me what it was that I did/didn’t do that was so bloody sinful that He found it just reason to totally destroy my life. God won’t tell me, and my point is, He can’t! I mean, He can and He has, but my point is if He really is the faithful and loving God that He so claims to be in the Bible, he shouldn’t! >< Earlier this year, Pastor Chong asked me had I considered baptism, and that there were other baptism methods other than the full immersion practised at BCAC (like how Reverend Lam just sprinkled some water on Leanne’s grandma’s head instead of having her walk down into the pool and get submerged), but I told him that I wasn’t planning on getting baptised until either (1) God fully healed me, or (2) He let me know exactly what it was that I did/didn’t do that was so sinful, it  made Him totally destroy my life so I could go about rectifying that. *sigh* sometimes I wonder: does God sit up in heaven and gloat to all his worshippers, all his angels that aren’t aware of the depth of his cruelty and unfaithfulness, “You see that female down thee? Her life was good, you know, she was studying hard at uni, she’d just gotten her first paid job and she’d recently achieved her driver’s licence. Then I decided that she pissed Me off, so I completely and totally ruined her life. Now, she has no hope, nor any future. Screw Jeremiah 29:11; that’s a complete lie. Aren’t I powerful? I rule!” Seriously, I sometimes think that’s what He does up in heaven … while all my peers are getting married and having families, I’m just stuck here, disabled, useless and discarded by the cruel and unfaithful God. I mean, I only hate Him because He hated me first; it’s because of His hatred that I am good at hating, that I know how to hate. If you check out this blog, earlier this year I wrote a post titled Apostasy; you may wanna give that a read.

Politically-wise: I’m the first to admit, I don’t follow the politics of Australia; I generally have zero idea whatsoever what’s going on. XD Who’s our prime minister? Tony abbott? And maybe our premier’s Campbell Newman … seriously, I know next to nothing about politics; when it comes time for voting at elections, I vote for the first politician that sends his/her flyer to my letterbox, because I think they show foresight to get ahead early. I know zilch about their policies. XD

Everything-else-wise: Well, firstly, I’m gonna be super-relieved that I haven’t managed to fall flat on my butt this year, not even once! I’ve had three close shaves, and the last danger for me to overcome will be making my way over to the couch by my lonesome just before midnight without falling over, but if I can do that, I can proudly say I honestly made it through the year without even one fall! Now, wouldn’t that be a dream …

Concerning afternoon tea, well, this year mother has gleefully restricted me to half-toasties, on the account that she thinks I’m a fat pig. However, I’m super-happy to note that I managed to get myself one full toastie several times this year! ^^ like I say, the way to my heart is through my stomach; feed me and I will love you forever. XD

There really isn’t much more to reflect about, I don’t think, so I’ll bid a very fond farewell to 2014 and welcome in 2015 with open arms!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

P.S. Next post here … think I wanna write a post about lei, the chinese shifu whom I get a massage from like once a week. It’s funny! XD anyways, until then~

Xmas Greetings 2014

Heylo one and all! Wow, suddenly it’s almost mid-December; gosh, hasn’t this year flown by! How has your year been? Hope you and your family have enjoyed 2014!

My mother has always wanted to visit Tasmania; she’s heard the scenery down there’s absolutely stunning. Me, to be honest, I couldn’t care less. You show me a pretty flower? Sure, it’s beautiful. Next! What, you mean you want to stay here for thirty minutes and take photos of said pretty flower?? Sorry, I guess I have no appreciation for scenery.

We didn’t manage to go down to Tasmania last year because of some severe bushfires plaguing the state, but this year, mother tried again and her wish was granted: we went down to Tasmania for a week! My reason for wanting to go down to Tasmania was quite different to my parents’ reason, however.

See, over my demented left ankle and calf, I wear a funny little yellow boot. Called an AFO for short, it enables me to walk for short distances; without it, I seriously wouldn’t be able to walk. This boot was made for me by a guy who comes from Tasmania, and he told me that all Tasmanians have two heads!

“Sure, where’s your extra head, then?” I challenged him.

“Well, obviously, I had the extra head amputated before I came up to Brisbane to work; how could I work with you staring at my extra head?” was his reply.

This guy’s son corroborates this story with him, but I was determined to visit Tasmania and find out the reason why I didn’t see two heads on all the Tasmanians!

The first woman I asked just laughed and said, “Oh, we all had the extra heads amputated in like 2006/2007, coz it was too annoying having to carry an extra head around everywhere.”

The second person I asked was a Cantonese waiter who was serving my parents and me one night when we were having dinner at a Chinese restaurant; when I asked him why the Tasmanians didn’t have two heads, he only shrugged, laughed and said, “How would I know? I was born in Hong Kong with only one head before coming to Tasmania to work with all the two-headed people!”

Well, fine. So I found one more lady and told her, “Think carefully about your answer, because I will let it be the be all and end all of my research: why don’t I see two heads on all the Tasmanians?” This lady gave me a perfect answer! “Oh, we have the extra head amputated off when they’re still babies,” she explained, “so that way, when they grow up, they won’t haveta remember the pain of the amputation.” So now I know! XD

This year, my birthday fell on a Thursday; actually, the Thursday that coincided with my fortnightly Garden City shopping trip! Nowadays, mother restricts me to only having a very little ice cream on Wednesdays; whenever I have a shopping trip on Thursday, I ask mother if I can please delay my ice cream night for a single cone on Thursday. Really, I just like to try a free flavour before choosing an actual flavour for my ice cream! Mother had kindly said yes, so that Thursday, I’d gone to the shop, tried one flavour then picked another flavour. As the lady was reaching for the ice cream, I asked her, “a big scoop please; it’s my BIRTHDAY today!” She stopped, looked at me and asked, “Really?” when I nodded, she said, “Choose another flavour, then.” Score, my first double scoop ice cream cone ever, only for the prize of a single cone! I immediately had a photo taken of my cone, and several months later, before Garbo underwent extension renovations, this same lady came out to tell me that they’d be closing down. Recognising her, I dug through my mobile, pulled up the photo of my double scoop ice cream and I and showed it to her.

“Oh, I remember you now,” the woman laughed. “You were so happy. XD

Nowadays, my life is consumed by physio. Yes, you may read: I have no life. >< I am constantly terrified that I will fall over and seriously injure myself. Yes, I am aware that the few times I fall over each year, I usually just land on my backside, and you know, fat butt, good cushioning! XD Only I’m also terrified that my next fall might be a really bad one and that I may seriously injure myself. My physio, who knows this, one day decided that for me, the new f-word was ‘fall’. “You’re not allowed to swear in physio, Em,” she commanded me. “I don’t want to hear the word ‘fall’ from your lips ever again.” So I went about working hard during my physio session. When it drew to a close, my physio teacher looks up at me. “What’s the f-word, Em?” she asks me.

“You mean I can swear?”

“Sure, go ahead. I’m giving you permission just this once. What’s the f-word?” Jess replies.

Firstly, I check to see all the other patients have gone. Yes, they have. Next, I check to make sure that mother isn’t back yet. No, she isn’t. All clear, then.

I look up at Jess and grin cheekily. “The f-word is …” I emphasise rather loudly, “F*UCK!”

“Em!” my teacher yelps with shock, before immediately bursting into laughter. I join in, and after we finish laughing our heads off, I reassure her, “Look, I promise I usually try never to swear out aloud, but you gave me direct permission to; I even double checked!” I swear (no pun intended), it was the most fun I’ve ever had using bad language! XD

One more highlight for me this year was attending my high school ten year reunion! It’s hard to believe that one whole DECADE has passed since I graduated from high school; cripes, I’m feeling ancient now! Originally, I’d been terrified that I would’ve forgotten everyone’s names, but to my enormous relief, once I saw a face, the name would immediately come flashing back to me, phew! I even enjoyed a new alcoholic beverage: vodka with orange juice! XD

Anyways, I’d just like to take the time to wish you all the very best in what you’re doing now, be it study/work/family life. May all that you’re working hard on now continue to go well for you, and may whatever you’ve just started bring you every triumph. Personally, I’ve had a very successful year: I haven’t fallen flat on my butt, what with my atrocious walking balance, this year yet! I’ve had three close shaves: first, when I tried to walk down the stairs from our church’s main hall, I fell backwards, but luckily, Kwany caught me; secondly, once when I was walking to the Springwood Fasta Pasta but tripped over my untied shoelaces; luckily, Julz caught me (and you can bet now that every time before I stand up now I check to see both my laces are done up!) and thirdly, one night I somehow tripped forward and smacked onto the tiled floor (got myself an awful bruise on my right knee for that), but I can happily say I haven’t fallen flat on my butt even once this year! Alas, I honestly don’t believe that I’m good enough to get through the entire year without falling flat on my butt at least once, but when that happens, I can at least congratulate myself on the fact that at least I lasted all the way until mid/late December before finding the floor!

Wishing you and your family all the best for 2015~ Personally, I cannot wait until the Despicable Me minion movie arrives sometime around June; I believe everyone who knows me even vaguely knows about the complete obsession I have for those little yellow minions! XD All the best for the year that is to come, and I hope that we will be able to stay in contact!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

XMas Wishlist 2014

It’s been almost one year, Santa, since you last heard from me; I hope you still remember who I am, because I’ve composed a very detailed Christmas wishlist of all the presents I’m hoping you’ll bring me this Christmas! :D

(1)            BOOKS! Yes, despite me being such a pathetically slow reader now (it takes me almost one entire month to read one book, compared to the like twenty-four I’d plough through each month, before my disabling brain injury ><) but I subscribe to several e-newsletters from various book sites; every time they e-mail me a catalogue, my Xmas wishlist grows larger by several books! My favourite genres are fantasy, science fiction and historical fiction, but hey, I’m willing to give anything bar Mills and Boon a crack. If you’re thinking of buying me a book for Christmas but don’t know what I’d like, e-mail me and I’ll send you the whole long list I’ve collected since after my birthday this year! :D

(2)            Pet: okay, ever since poor Silver and Bronze (my two goldfish from Pole’s family birthday back for my twenty-first birthday) passed away around July 2008 sometime, in every birthday and Christmas wishlist after that I have asked for two more goldfish. None have arrived; I understand that’s probably because I mistakenly murdered them by not providing them with enough warmth! So if anyone is willing to buy me two more pet goldfish, please also buy me a heater so I can regulate the water temperature in which they swim with. Barring that, Luke Mac Court, the onus is on you to bring me a pet rock! When you first told me about them, I honestly thought you were trying to pull my leg, but a quick Google search revealed that there are actually entire WEBPAGES devoted to pet rocks! If you somehow do manage to bring me a pet rock for Christmas, please remember that he’ll need a face, like this :o). Remember, the nose is all-important!

(3)            Teddy bear: Yes, an item that appears on every birthday wishlist and every Christmas wishlist I create without fail. Each and every single teddy I have is named, and yes, all are loved. :o)

(4)            Minion-related items: I believe everyone who knows me knows of my total obsession with the Despicable Me minions! Donna Bella Baker, you are exempt from getting me a Christmas present this year because you’ve already offered to take me out to see the minion movie coming out in GOLD CLASS! I’ve never seen anything gold class before and am therefore ridiculously excited; everyone else, I’d love anything minion related!! :D

(5)            Phone sticker: will somebody returning to Hong Kong over the holidays get me this, please? See, I had an awesome blue cover over my phone, to which Joey had brought me back an Amish minion named Tim sticker from overseas for; unfortunately the cover broke and mother dumped it, sticker and all! My poor phone now is not only lacking a cover, but he has no name! >< XD

(6)            Cereal: you know, having Weetbix nearly every morning during spring and summer can get quite boring! Could someone either get me a pack of fun cereal (it’s like eight little single serves of different cereal), or a box of that Milo Duo cereal? Actually, didn’t Nesquik put out a box of cereal too? I’d like to try that, please!

Teehee, I know I said I had a very long and detailed wishlist for you to fill, Santa, but that whole long list that I had written was actually just all the books I encountered during my reading all those e-newsletters from random bookstores! XD In that case, Santa, I’ll keep this Christmas short and sweet, but I’m reserving the right to extend it should any other interesting items present themselves over December before Christmas arrives! Now please send forth all your Christmas elves (i.e. my Facebook friends XD) and go and secure me Christmas presents!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

P.S. I’ve changed my mind: Donna, will you please get me a Christmas present too? The minion movie doesn’t come out until like June 2015, so I’ll exempt you from having to buy me a birthday present! ;)

P.P.S. next post here … prolly my Xmas Greetings to everyone, due out on the 11^th. Until then~

Apostasy

Apostasy. It’s a new word I discovered recently, which means to ditch one’s religion.

Alas that Christianity’s the only way to heaven and eternal life. Alas that you have to accept Jesus Christ as your lord and personal saviour before you’re saved and will get life after death.

Because if there was any other way for me to enter heaven after I died, if there was any other way for me to be reunited with my most beloved maternal grandmother after life on this Earth here, believe me, I would take it. Immediately. Bye Jesus, you haven’t looked after me well and I’m gonna follow and worship some other god that actually will provide me with a hope and a future, which is exactly what You’ve so cruelly denied me.

Unfortunately, life’s not that simple. I can’t very well go convert to Buddhism/any other religion and still expect to enter heaven after my mortal life here on this earth has finished.

Which has me banging (figuratively, not literally XD) my otherwise empty skull against the wall with agitation.

Look at society these days. We’re taught that if we don’t like the situation we’re currently in, get out, go, find a better one! Don’t like your uni degree? Switch, find something better that better suits your aspirations for the future! Don’t like your job? Find a better career!

Alas, life doesn’t work like that. Only how I wish it did! From the Bible, Jeremiah 29:29 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “Plans to give you a hope and a future.” Only after the cruel and unfaithful God so wantonly destroyed my life with the disabling brain tumour, it’s been hard for me to understand this passage. I mean, I have no hope now, because God’s so cruelly destroyed my future. As hard as I try to be as independent as possible, the fact remains that I need some help with even the most basic of tasks, like showering. Now, my future looks bleak and bleaker as my parents get older. I’m their only child, meaning it’ll be my responsibility to look after them once they get to old to do so themselves. Only how the blazes can I look after them, when I can’t even look after myself?? Hence my railing at the cruel and unfaithful God for being the only way to eternal life, why I hate the fact that there’s no other way to get to heaven except through him. Coz speaking frankly, after my parents get too old to look after themselves properly, the best I can do will be to find them a nursing home and pray they won’t get mistreated. Then I may as well find one for myself too, considering I can’t even look after myself properly … *sigh*

Back when I was first released from the insane asylum (more commonly known to everyone else as the Brain Injuries Rehab Ward of the Princess Alexandra hospital to everyone else XD), near the end of May, 2008, it was hard to adjust to life back at home and mother would frequently rail at me how she’d abandon me to some nursing home, because she simply couldn’t cope with looking after me. Personally, I wondered how she could do that; I mean, would she just discard me like some piece of rubbish and then meet other aunties from our church and proudly tell them, “Hey, I’ve just abandoned my daughter; let’s go for a drink together to celebrate!”?? For that reason, I developed a little mantra that I’d repeat to myself once every night, detailing the lengths to which I’d go to stay with my parents. However, at the end of the year, mother had a change of heart and PROMISED we’d NEVER be apart.

Fast forward six years, and mother’s once more reverted to her threat of abandoning me, which has made me revisit the vow I’d made to myself back in 2008. For the time being, however, I’m only repeating this creed to myself once every Sunday, but I thought it’d be prudent of me to note my vow once down here, just in case:

If I am separated from my parents, I will do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING I need to get back to them.

1.         If I can walk back to them, fantastic. I promise to return to them as fast as I can manage, regardless of cuts, scrapes, insect bites, sunburn, whatever. If I can’t walk back, well, guess I’ll just haveta crawl. That’s okay. It’ll just take longer.

2.         If I can do everything legally to return to them, that’d obviously be for the best, but if I must resort to committing illegal acts to get me back to them, fine.

3.         If I have to sell my body in order to get back to my parents, who cares, it’s just your body, but even if I haveta sell my SOUL for that to happen, I will!

4.         If it takes a day, awesome. If it takes a week before I’m back with my parents, cool. If it takes a month, no big deal. If it takes a year, well, I’ll work hard. But even if it takes TEN YEARS, I’ll not stop until I’m back with them!!! Every single day, I’ll tell myself that I MUST get back to them, that I WILL get back to them.

But perhaps that’s just me being overly dramatic, coz dad reckons if I were to be institutionalised, I’d have a great time! “You can eat however much you want, and have like ten sugars with your tea!”  Hopefully, my situation will never have to reach a point that dire!

In conclusion, relax, I’m not looking to change religions or anything; I’m fully aware that Christianity’s the only way to heaven and eternal life. I’m just letting off some steam with a verbal rant about the unfairness of it all … don’t mind me.

Next post here … back at the beginning of this month, Leanne took me to see the Lion King musical; it was the bestest thing ever, and I’ve definitely gotta write a detailed post on that, so until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Walk The Wall 2014

Has everyone heard of an organisation called ICC before? ICC stands for International China Concern and it’s an organisation that rescues abandoned and disabled children in China and looks after them. See, what with China being a relatively poor country, many families have disabled children they can’t afford to look after so abandon them. ICC finds these children and look after them.

Every year, they hold a fundraising event called Walk the Wall that raises money to support these abandoned and disabled kids. Basically, you find sponsors then walk a 10km stretch of the Great Wall to fundraise.

Obviously, Brisbane doesn’t have a Great Wall of China, so someone just maps out a 10km route in the city somewhere and all participants go hike that.

When Julz first approached me about participating in this fundraising event, I was like, “Sure, but can I wheel the wall, coz I honestly don’t think I’m capable of walking 10km.” She said that was fine, so I began looking for sponsors.

Only thing was, the first three people who agreed to sponsor me said they’d only sponsor me actually for the time I physically WALKED the wall!

Well, fair enough. Like I told Julz, since it’s for the abandoned and disabled kids of China, I plan to walk as far as I’m physically capable, then keel over with exhaustion and perish. Julz was very supportive, saying, “That’s fine. After you walk until you keel over with exhaustion and perish, I’ll pick you up, put you back into your wheelchair and push you the rest of the way.” Sounded like a plan to me! XD

Alas, not quite. Enter mother, the party-pooper. “No way,” she snapped. “That’s a stupid plan.”

“Aww mum, no it’s not! It’s very dramatic; you know, I walk and walk and walk, as far as I’m physically able until I collapse and die from exhaustion. But not to worry, because Julz has promised me that once I’ve perished, she’ll pick me up, put me back in my wheelchair and push me the rest of the way till the end! So I’m all set, see?”

No, alas, she didn’t see. “I said, that’s a stupid plan,” she repeated. “You walk some, you wheel some, repeat. Got it?”

*sigh* What did I say about party poopers? But I’m an obedient child, so I agreed to walking some and wheeling some. XD

Christy jie had Whatsapped me earlier, saying that she and Aunty Alice would come pick me up that Saturday morning at 7:15am. Cripes, that’s earlier than I’ve had to get up all year!

The good thing about having to wake earlier than usual was that I got to watch channel Seven’s Sunrise for once! I’d watched it nearly every morning with dearest dad before he drove me off to high school, and I’d also watched it every morning back when I was still imprisoned in the insane asylum (more commonly known to everyone else as the Brain Injuries Rehab Unit of the Princess Alexandra Hospital XD) back for most of 2007 and nearly half of 2008, but nowadays, with dearest dad having already gone to work and mother upstairs preparing herself for the day ahead I usually enjoy breakfast with just me, myself and I. XD

After munching down a very little ham and eggs on toast, I visited the bathroom once and waited until Christy jie and Aunty Alice arrived to pick me up. Sparkless 2 (my manual wheelchair’s name XD) was transferred into their car boot, I plopped in, and we were off!

Surprisingly, we made good time into the city; I’m presuming that was because it was a weekend (Saturday) and most people didn’t feel the need to get up nice and early to travel into the city for work.

When we arrived, Liam was already there! Hugs all around~

Dunno why I couldn’t sit down in Sparkless2 and sign in, but hey. After I’d given my name and taken a 600mL bottle of water, I finally got to plant my bum into Sparkless2 and greet everyone else I knew as they arrived.

Before the walk started, I asked Julz to please come with me once to the loo. There weren’t any disabled toilets, but I managed alright in the normal ones, moving around slowly and safely.

I’d already told Julz that I’d try to walk as much as possible, but asked her please just to keep an eye on me, tell me when I started looking rather too haggard, and I’d sit and wheel for awhile, until she deemed I was well rested enough to start walking again. My only request was please to let me finish walking; like, I didn’t want to cross the finish line sitting in my wheelchair.

I honestly can’t remember whether I started the event walking or wheeling, but at some point, I got up and started plodding, with Julz guarding my back and someone like Peter Pie pushing Sparkless2 for me. He was funny, randomly taking some short video of me plodding away, to which I joked, “What, are you gonna send that into Funniest Home Videos so that everyone can have a good laugh at me?” XD

At some point, I sat down, and Julz pushed Sparkless2 away at a jog, saying we’d go ahead first so that when I started walking again, other people wouldn’t take as long to catch up. Peter Pie also had a turn pushing Sparkless2 for me, and Jacinta walked behind me for awhile.

And so I plodded, sat some, and plodded some more. I’d plodded to the entrance of some bridge and just sat down into Sparkless2 for a much-needed breather, when some volunteer lady walked over to where Julz and I were. “You’ve done very well to reach the halfway point,” she congratulated me (obviously, she’d seen me walking/hobbling/limping/staggering/you choose a verb :P to the bridge and knew I was obviously disabled), “how about you turn back and return to the starting and finish line? I hear there’s an awesome BBQ for you guys being prepared by some people.”

I was confused. “But isn’t this a 10km walk? You just said I’ve reached halfway; doesn’t that mean I’ve still got 5kms left to walk?”

“Oh, no!” the woman laughed. “This is a 10km event, yes, but there’s also a kids friendly option, which is only 5km. The 2.5km mark’s here; you can just turn around and walk back to the starting line; there’s some people returning back across the bridge now. Like I’ve said, there’s a great BBQ being prepared for all you guys!”

I look at Julz and ask her opinion. “What do you think? Should I turn back and just finish the 5km, or should I keep going and try my best to finish the 10km?”

Julz considers briefly, and then replies, “I think you should probably turn back. You look pretty tired already, and if you don’t want to miss out on the sausage sizzle, you should settle for the 5km.”

Well, fair enough. I was pretty tired, and what’s more, my idiot left foot was already wailing that she hurted. :o( (yes, incorrect grammar intentional. XD) See, I wear a yellow boot over my left foot and leg that enables me to walk short distances. For some reason, after my brain injury, my demented left ankle inverts (rolls out) every time she weight bears, meaning I seriously can’t walk if I’m not wearing the AFO (ankle foot orthosis). Actually, my idiot foot still rolls out even when I’m wearing the AFO, but she inverts into the boot, which then prevents her from rolling all the way out, hence why I can walk short distances.

So we turn around and start the 2.5km back. Same as with coming here, I wheel some, and then I walk some. Thanks to Julz who remembered that I wanted to finish on walking; when we neared the BBQs, people and everything else associated with this event, I got back up and walked (well, probably more limped by this point; my idiot ankle was seriously wailing that she really hurted (again, incorrect grammar intentional XD), but it wasn’t like I’d suddenly dissolve into a sobbing puddle of tears once I reached the finish line! XD)

Anyways, after I’d finished, I joined the line for the sausage sizzle, and when I reached the front, I told the serving lady, “Lots, please; I’m really hungry!” she laughed and stuck another sausage into the slice of bread for me! XD Alas, while nowadays my demented left hand is more or less useless, my right hand has lost much of her dexterity, meaning that while I was munching my sausage on bread, one sausage fell out and hit the ground! >< Julz came over and gave it an instant burial, kicking some dirt over it, so that I could no longer see it. XD

We posed for several photos; Julz also came over to say that I’d walked for one hour and thirty-five minutes. That was both good and bad; good that I’d managed to walk for so long, but seriously retarded to think that I’d only managed to walk like 1.3 km of a 5km walk and that still took ninety-five minutes! Sheesh. ><

Christy jie and Aunty Alice tootled me home; leaving the television volume on full blast before they left so that anyone approaching our house would think that it was occupied.  

And that was Walk the Wall 2014! By the next morning, my demented left ankle had developed a blister where she inverts and slams into the AO, which made walking rather painful instead of just merely difficult for several days, but it healed up within several days.

Hopefully, I’ve managed to raise several hundred dollars for International China Concern! Peter Pie was awesome; he actually put together a few short clips and several photos of me and others doing Walk the Wall this year, made a little movie and uploaded it onto Facebook, so now I feel like a movie star! XD

Next post here … well, I’ve been seriously neglecting a movie review I intended to put up months back; maybe I’ll finally get that up! Anyways, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Birthday Celebrations 2014

Cripes, today I’m turning 27.5 years old, but I still haven’t blogged about how I spent my  birthday this year yet!I’m nearing 27.5 years old but still haven’t blogged about my birthday this year! There is a simple reason: see, dad randomly decided I wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate my birthday this year with a meal out. I’m not sure why; I mean, sure, maybe he chooses to celebrate his own birthday with a meal at home, and maybe poor mother doesn’t get a choice every year as to where she’d like to celebrate her own birthday coz she celebrates it on Boxing Day and everything’s either closed or coming with a 25% surcharge, but surely, with me being the birthday girl on an otherwise uneventful day, surely I’d be allowed to choose where I’d like to have my birthday dinner?

Apparently not. So a birthday dinner at home for me it was to be, then.

Mother had let me invite Aunty A and Dr. Dr. Tai along; the other person who also appeared was Donna Bella Baker, mother’s workmate from when they studied childcare together. Actually, her name’s just Donna Baker; dunno why I added the ‘Bella’ for her middle name, but she doesn’t mind, so hey. XD

Donna somehow heard about my Despicable Me minion obsession; she arrived bearing a home-made Despicable Me minion cake (believe me, when I first saw it, I just wanted to plant my face into him right away! XD), four/five mini Despicable Me badges (to which she kindly pinned them all to the jumper I was wearing) and a talking plastic toy minion called Dave (whom my dearest dad uses nearly every morning to wake me up before kissing me goodbye and leaving for work)!

Dr. Dr. Tai arrived next, bearing a great big shiny yellow happy birthday balloon for me! She explained she got it from the Prince Charles hospital gift shop, where she works. (I mean, she works as a doctor at the Prince Charles hospital, not as some sales assistant at the gift shop XD). I wonder, do all hospitals come equipped with a gift shop? I remember the P.A. hospital gift shop was just inside the entrance …

Aunty A, of course, arrived fashionably late. Or, as she explains it in Canto, “punctually be a little late.” XD

For my birthday, my dearest dad had actually gone to the Calamvale BBQ and Chinese restaurant and bought a BBQ duck! Poor mother doesn’t like duck; indeed, the only time she enjoyed duck was when she was pregnant with me! We think I was enjoying the duck on behalf of her; once I was outta her tummy and she tried eating duck again, mother was like, “Eww.” XD

I particularly enjoyed my birthday this year, because it fell on a Thursday, and Thursday is the ONLY weekday where I DON’T haveta do any physio! Even better, it coincided with my fortnightly Garbo shopping trip!

Nowadays, mother gleefully restricts me to only enjoy ice cream once a week, on Wednesday, for the fear that I’d become a fat obese pig. XD On Wednesday night, I’d asked her please could I postpone my ice cream to a single cone from Wendy’s on Thursday with the carer; honestly, I love having ice cream from there only because you can try a flavour for free! XD Usually, I try one flavour, and then pick another for my ice cream cone. That day, I asked for a cookies and cream scoop; as the serving lady reached in for the ice cream, I added, “A big scoop please; it’s my birthday today!” she stopped and asked me, “Really?” and when I nodded, said, “Choose another flavour, then.” Extra scoop, free of charge; this lady was the best! About three months later, when I’d managed to beg mother to lemme postpone my ice cream to a single cone at Wendy’s again, I had this same lady serve me. It obviously wasn’t a busy day for her, because while my carer/life coach/support worker/whatever they’re called now :P were munching on our cones, she wandered out for a chat with us. I showed her the photo of the double cone I’d gotten Annette to take a photo for me of,  and when I showed her, she laughed, saying, “Oh, I remember you. You were so happy.” XD

But I digress, back to my birthday dinner!

From memory (which is probably incorrect; alas, the cruel and unfaithful God has left me with such appalling memory post brain-injury ><) we had garlic bread for entrée, before dearest dad served everyone two yummy Peking duck wraps. Personally, I prefer mine without the leeks; just the duck, the wrap and the hoisin sauce are enough for me!

There are Cantonese who require rice for breakfast, lunch AND dinner, but I’m not that Asian; I just require it for dinner! Meaning after my Peking duck wrap, I tucked into some rice. XD

Dinner over, ‘twas soon time for cake! Donna had made me this most amazing minion birthday cake; you can believe me that when I saw him, I just wanted to plant my face into him! XD Luckily I didn’t though; before sticking candles onto the cake, Donna explained, “He started melting before I arrived, so I had to use some toothpicks to give him a facelift.” XD

Everyone probably knows that I’m the hip hip girl of BCAC (after the birthday song gets sung, I always yell the hip hips XD), but since it was my birthday, was I supposed to call my own hip hips? Nope, mother kindly did the job for me. XD

And that was basically the night, after we’d all tucked into the cake!

Everyone all left at once, so of course I walked them all out and thanked them most sincerely for spending my birthday with me!

Epilogue: remember how dad for some reason forbade me from having a meal out to celebrate my birthday this year? Instead, he said that we’d (him, mother and I) would go to Hog’s Breath Café at like Carindale to celebrate my birthday with the meal out I’d been hoping for. So come the Thursday one week after my birthday, I try politely asking my dad can we please go to the Carindale Hog’s Breath Café to celebrate my belated birthday. For some reason, instead of saying yes, dad chucks a complete cow at me, saying if I dared to ask him again, he’d make sure I’d NEVER get to go there! Meaning I haven’t dreamt about asking him; indeed, I’m guessing that he’s already forgot. Or that if he hasn’t, he’ll wait until my birthday next March before taking me there, saying it’s a combined celebration, like, one meal out for the two events. Huh. ><

Next post here … maybe a movie review; see, I recently went and saw guardians of the lost galaxy! Righteo, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Reunion

Cripes, I’m feeling ancient now; back at the end of March I went and attended my high school TEN YEAR reunion!

When CAPS (Canterbury Association of Past Students) first set up the reunion dates on its Facebook page, I told mother, “Ooh, I wanna go!” only she was like, “Well, I’m not taking you.” Huh, dunno what was with her, but so I just decided, “That’s fine; I’ll just ask on Facebook and see if anyone can take me there and back.”

Only her next ultimatum was, “I’m not letting anyone take you unless I know them or it’s a teacher.”

Cripes, that was a bit more disturbing; what was even more startling was that it appeared nobody would be going! I tried asking Jess Rankin (nee Schoemaker) and she was like, “Try asking Mrs. Perkins or Mr. Hall.”

Well, Perky (dunno how she got that nickname, but it stuck, okay? And I’m very careful never to call her that in front of others! XD) has Facebook (Mr. Hall refuses to get it, saying it’s not for people of his generation :P) so I tried asking her first, and bless her soul, she said she could take me there and back! Problem solved, then~

On that night, the parents dropped me off at Perky’s house; Bill was there too! I gave him a big hug~ Dunno why I expected he’d come along also, but obviously he didn’t coz he’s not a teacher! Although from memory he did help around a bit with the school grounds and such.

So Perky tootled us off to whatever hotel in/near Woollongabba (sp? I can never remember how many pairs of double letters that word has XD) our reunion would be held at, stopping once to ask some random for directions. But we got there okay! Turns out Perky had more trouble opening Sparkless 2 (my manual wheelchair) for me. XD

Entering the Chalk Hotel (ha, I suddenly remembered the name!) we bumped into some of my classmates who were also entering; to my immense relief, I remembered their names! (Originally, I had feared I’d not recognise anyone XD) Entering further into the hotel, we were met with very loud music and more of my classmates; amazingly, I still remembered everyone’s name! I got out my camera out and started taking photos with my classmates; I realised flash wasn’t on, but thought, “Oh well, I hope it won’t be too dark to see everyone later.” Personally, I’d thought ‘twas already rather clever of me that I’d found out how to reverse the camera lens so I could take selfies with my former classmates. XD

Jordan Foote (our school vice-captain), drinking a beer, came and asked would I like a drink. I replied, “Yes, but I don’t drink fizzy drinks, so no beers for me, thanks.  Could you please get me an orange juice?” Jordan got me one, and then we just chatted. He’s become a pilot with QANTAS link! He said that he only flies domestic right now, which led me to joke and ask him, “How come you didn’t fly me down to Tasmania this year? I went down there at the end of January/early February!” Jordy laughed, and replied, “Sorry, I’m only flying Queensland right now. Go to Cairns or Townsville for your next holiday, and I’ll fly you there!” XD

For some reason, I had expected we’d be having a meal; dad had already stressed several times that I was only to order an entrée. “Great,” I had grumbled at him, “so after I eat my entrée, guess I’ll just haveta sit there and sip water while everyone eats their mains!” only coz our reunion was at some bar and not a restaurant, we were only served platters of finger food! I gobbled down some oily deep fried stuff, presuming I’d be covered with pimples the next morning. XD There was also some sushi; I munched down several slices of that also.

Many other classmates wandered over for a chat, like Tessa Lao (nee Imelfort, who teaches violin @ the Con, I think) and Ty Riley (our school captain, who’s become a graphics designer!) Everyone I chatted with was very diplomatic; after I’d enquired as to how they’d spent their past decade, they’d look at Sparkless2 and ask meaningfully, “And how about you? What have you been doing for the last ten years?” To everyone, I gave more or less the same answer, “Alas, nothing much, really. After graduating Canterbury, I did my first two years of an arts/law degree at the University of Queensland, but at the beginning of 2007 collapsed suddenly one day, was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a brain tumour. Operations, complications and more operations followed; basically the surgeons told my parents I’d never walk again and to send me to some nursing home, lemme rot and die. (Well, the hospital didn’t say the ‘rot and die’ part, but I’m sure you get my point, yeah? :P) Luckily, being an only child, my parents didn’t wanna abandon me; they took me home instead. I’ve been back home just over six years now, and contrary to what the doctors say, I can walk/stagger/hobble/limp/you choose a verb :P short distances, with very close supervision. So don’t mind me if I don’t get up and walk around like everyone else.”

Jordan had been drinking a beer, and after I’d told him what had befallen me, he was like, “Hey, can I get you a drink or anything?” I was like, “Um, how about an orange juice? Coz I don’t drink soft drinks, sorry.” Jordy had returned with an icy cold one for me, which I’d happily slurped down. Only then, it all went straight to my bladder and nature started calling like crazy! Nothing for it then to wheel myself over to where Perky was chatting with somebody and ask her please to help me once to the loo. So Perky and I went wheeling out of the area where everyone had congregated and asked a waiter/bartender/someone where the disabled toilets were. We found one okay, but then, where was the light switch? I used Tim (my mobile; Joey gave me this awesome Despicable Me minion sticker of some minion wearing Amish (is that pronounced ‘ay-mish’ or ‘arm-ish’, does anyone know?) with the name Tim printed along the top XD) torchlight to flash around the walls of the locked bathroom, but goodness gracious; we couldn’t see any light switch! “Oh, don’t worry,” said Perky. “Just leave the light open and go; I’ll turn away.” After I’d done my business, Perky went too, while I went to wash and dry my right hand.

Back outside, I continued mingling with former classmates and teachers alike. One teacher I bumped into was Mrs. Ten Bohmer (formerly Miss Reid), who confessed that before coming she’d found an old year book and reminded herself of all our names. I asked, “Tell me the truth: did you remember me, or did you have to find my name in the yearbook?” She shot back immediately, “Oh, I remember you! You were the one who was always bringing me covers from Mr. Hall!” Which begs the question: would you rather be totally forgotten, or hatefully remembered? XD I also reminded her how she’d been my graphics teacher for six months in grade eight, and only got a D+, with a comment in my report card that read something along the lines of like, “Emily tries very hard, but has absolutely no talent whatsoever in the subject of graphics.” XD I only chatted briefly with Ms. Gyte, my grade nine English teacher, but to be honest, I really missed not seeing Mrs. Mac, my year twelve English teacher! I’d really hoped that she would attend and I could ask her had she grown out of her infatuation with Mr. Darcy yet! XD See, at the beginning of that term when we were studying Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice, she’d announced that she loved Mr. Darcy and was determined that by the end of the term we’d all love him too. So come exam time, I’d written an absolutely SCATHING essay on her beloved, totally trashing him for being an upright, arrogant bastard! (okay, in my defence, I’m sure I used more diplomatically correct words. XD) Mrs. Mac graded me with an A-, saying, “If only you’d been a bit nicer to poor Mr. Darcy, I’d have given you an A!” Afterwards, though, she told me that I’d honestly deserved an A-; it wasn’t that I really deserved an A but she’d spitefully marked me down because I’d been so mean to her favourite character. XD

There was a bar at one end of the room where there were bar facilities; after seeing many students chug down beers I decided I wanted something alcoholic too! Jordan had asked me earlier could he get me a drink; I’d already sculled an orange juice. This time I asked him, “Do you know if they have any vodka chocolate mudslides (chocolate milk with vodka) or vodka pineapples (pineapple juice with vodka)? Jordy went to ask for me, and came back with the reply, “Sorry, they have neither, but they do have vodka orange; would you like me to get you one to try?” I sure would! When he returned with my drink, I took it with thanks, then joked, “I’m already in a wheelchair, even if I get drunk and fall unconscious I should be fine.” Only afterwards, did I realise that wasn’t entirely true, because didn’t mother say that back when I was first admitted to the insane asylum (my pet nickname for the Brain Injuries Rehab Ward of the Princess Alexandra hospital, on account that I was imprisoned there for so long XD), I needed to be tied to my manual wheelchair lest I slip from it entirely? O_o Well, let’s just say I enjoyed the drink very much! Whatsapping Julz the day after, I noted that the vodka pineapple seemed slightly stronger, to which julz replied somewhere along the lines that vodka pineapple contains some kinda enzyme that digests and dissolves your intestines while you’re drinking! O_o Well, not to that extent, but that ‘twas a good reminder to be careful with how much you drank. XD

I’m trying to remember which other teachers attended our reunion … Ms. Gyte was there, as was Mr. Hall, whom Perky actually got to gimme a lift home!

We left fairly early (but not the earliest; Daniel Cocker had brought his fiancée along! She’s a lovely Asian lady, Vietnamese, maybe? The pair left first) When we were wheeling out, I called goodbye, good night and “cya all at our next reunion!” to everyone, then Perky and I wheeled me out. We stopped a short way outside the building. “Greg’s just gone to get his car.” Said Perky. While we waited for him, we just chatted about which students and teachers we’d bumped into. Only Mr. Hall took forever to come back … when Perky left to look for him, I fished out Tim and tried ringing his mobile, only to get redirected to his voicemall box. “Hey Mr. Hall, it’s Em here,” I spoke the recorded message. “Where have you gone? Perky’s gone looking for you!” Only just then, she returned, exclaiming, “I found him!” so after I’d gotten into his car, they’d put Sparkless2 into Mr. Hall’s boot and I’d said good night and thanks to Perky for taking me, I told Mr. Hall, “Oh, if you check your mobile voicemail box anytime soon, you’ll find a message from me. Just delete it, Perky and I were just looking for you.” XD

Mr. Hall tootled me home, unloaded Sparkless2 back into our garage and I let myself be immediately be booted off to bed. The next day, mother browsed through the photos I’d taken at the reunion, and growled at me, “You forgot to turn flash on; all the photos are too dark.” Umm, oops! XD

Anyways, I just wanted to say I had a great time catching up with everyone! Again, a bazillion thanks to Perky for taking me; I had the most awesome time seeing all my old schoolmates! :D

Next post here … umm, probably a movie review, coz the last movie I  saw was  the new X-Men movie!

Anyways, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Last Will and Testament

Suddenly, I get the urge to type out my last will and testament; it may have something to do with the fact that I’m gonna attend our church’s English ministry camp tonight, and the church theme will be the Hunger Games. See, if camp resembles anything like the real Hunger Games, I should be dead within, say, three seconds flat. XD So here’s who I’m bequeathing everything I have to:

• Dad gets all my teddies (actually, wait: mother gets Gund the singing pig XD)
• Leanne gets all my novels
• You can burn all my textbooks. XD
• I was gonna give little Mickey my piano, but mother told me today that you can’t ship a piano overseas without breaking it, so some little kid from church can have it.

Mother has said that she definitely won’t miss me if I die, but I think my dad might just miss me a little, me being a daddy’s girl and all, so please just be nice to my dad, okay? :o)

·       I really don’t own much, lol … anything you can think of that you want, just ask my parents for. XD

·       So there you have it. Do I need to appoint someone to execute my will? Anyways, next post here … I’ve finished my post on our ten year high school reunion; it’s coming, I promise! XD

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Birthday Reflections 2014

Woah, look at the date! Suddenly, it’s the eve before my next birthday and here I am again, writing down my reflections for another year that’s just flown by! Well, it’s only the early afternoon right now, so technically, it’s not eve. XD

This year around, I’m hoping for third time lucky, and I will be able to secure a steady, paid part-time job for myself. The first disability employment service (DES) I was with was absolutely useless, the second one I was with let me go without finding me a job because of some kinda government funding cut and now I’m onto my third disability employment service group! My first disability employment service advisor left abruptly without finding me a paid job, my second one seems more interested in waffling on about her infant son and I just met my third one yesterday, so hopefully she will find me something! Remember, I’m willing to do ANYTHING as long as (1) I can do it sitting down and (2) it gets me paid. Even washing toilets. XD

Sadly, I’m still always stressed, always freaked out that I haveta walk and that I’ll fall over and seriously injure myself . >< I try telling myself, look, the few times you’ve fallen over, you’ve only sat down, and come on, fat butt equals good cushioning, right? XD

Like I mentioned in my reflections for 2013 (the last post for December), everyday as I endure physio and get along with my daily life, I can’t help but think about what could have been if mother had actually taken me to that healing service and if I’d actually been restored to my former capable self, like, would I have resumed my life as a useful member of society? Guess I’ll never know now, *sigh* …

I’d better take a few lines here to reassure mother (well, she claims to be the only one to read my blog, you know? Kindly drop me a line and lemme know if you spare a few minutes to read what I’m babbling on about XD) that yes, I have honestly stopped at the number twenty-five when it comes to washing me and brushing teeth. Like, I’ve been twenty-six for three hundred and sixty-four days now, and I’ve remembered to only wash each body part and brush each side of mouth/teeth twenty-five times. XD Oh, and another thing! Currently, I endure physio four times every week for my mother: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Guess what? My birthday falls on a Thursday this week: NO PHYSIO!! XD

Hmm … have I covered everything yet? Well, sometimes I see all my peers dating, getting married and having kids; I get kinda jealous, you know, I’d like to find that Mr. Right and settle down myself too, you know? Only mother has jeered at me often enough that nobody’s gonna want someone as disabled as I am, and I understand that. So, I’m looking forward to being Aunty A to the next generation of little kiddies! XD

Reading back over my birthday reflections last year, the same has happened again this year: yes, dad has demanded that I spend my birthday dinner at home. I’m not too grumpy, though, because I think he said we could go out to the Hog’s Breath Café in Carindale later, so I’m cool. Also, recalling how grumpy I was that I couldn’t celebrate with a meal out at Sizzlers last year, that problem was solved by Leanne and Peggy, who took me out to the Hyperdome Sizzlers for belated birthday celebrations! Meaning my food goal made in 2011 was finally met in 2013~

That should be everything for the year leading up to my next birthday … so, next post here: either how I’ve celebrated my birthday this year with family and friends, or my movie reviews of ronin 47! Anyways, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Birthday Wishlist 2014

Farewell, Summer and heylo, Autumn! You’re my favourite season not only because the days won’t be as stinking hot like they have been for the past three months, but because my BIRTHDAY’s in Autumn, and I’ve scrounged around and compiled a fairly extensive wishlist of everything I’d like for my birthday!XD

(1)            A Tale For the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki: okay, I’ve got lotsa books featured in my birthday wishlist; all are novels I found from the Goodreads e-newsletter, and while I may not exactly remember what the book was about, it must’ve been interesting for me to kick start my birthday wishlist with this novel, so somebody get me this please! XD

(2)            These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner : stars usually signify science fiction novels, and since everyone should know what a huge sci fi buff I am, someone get me this book, please!

(3)  Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela: actually, I didn’t get this book from the Goodreads e-newsletter but rather from news.com.au; see, that day, I was at the Greenslopes private hospital for some minor eye surgery, and sitting in the waiting room early that morning, the news of Mandela’s passing was the only item being featured on the television screen. I’d really like to learn more about his life; I wonder how much time he wasted being trapped like I am now in my disabled body?? ><

(3)            The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Goodreads): I will honestly confess: while I have heard of this author before, I’ve never tried reading any of her works, but hey, if I’ve added this book to my wishlist, it must be worth reading; somebody please get it for me! XD

(4)            I’ve just noticed I’ve just two/three/even more items numbered (3) ,,, well, maths has never been my forte! XD Red Rising by Pierce Brown: I’ve noted down that this one’s a science fiction novel, and although I’ve never heard of this author before, the book certainly sounds interesting!

(5)            Taboo: Kwany, so far you appear to be the gamemaster: you’ve gotten me Pictionary and Scattergories, how about you and Mel Mel get me Taboo for my birthday this year? I particularly love the red squeaky toy that comes with the game for use when any forbidden words are slipped in! XD

(6)            Grain Brain by David Puttimeter: Can’t quite remember where this one came from … might be the book somebody wrote about cutting grains from one’s diet? But it sounds interesting…

(7)            The Martian by Andy Weir (Goodreads): With a title like this, it’s gotta be a sci fi novel! I’m always on the lookout for new science fiction novels! XD

Archtype - by M.D. Waters : I really can’t remember what this book’s about … besides, ‘archtype’ isn’t even a recognised word in the Microsoft word databank, but hey, if I’ve put it down, it must be worth reading; somebody get me that please! XD

 (8)Terms and Conditions by Rglancy Robert: sounds interesting … terms and conditions always apply to everything, so while I can’t remember what this book’s about, it must be worth reading; someone get me this, please!

(9) Battle Scars by Stuart O'Grady: sounds violent but interesting and worth a read, thanks in advance, someone! XD

(10) Bolster: I think that’s what they’re called; in canto we call them ‘larm jum’, you know, a long cylindrical pillow you wrap your legs around and sleep with? I used to have one, but mother tossed it out when it got old, and I want a new one, please! Apparently, you can find them at kmart? Just a plain cylindrical one will do; for the time being, mother’s lent me her triangular one, and sometimes, my dumb left leg’s too stupid to know where it should wrap around the thing! XD

(11) Two new goldfish: Poor Silver and Bronze passed away during the Winter of 2008 and I know this time around: if anyone gets me two new goldfish, will you please also buy me a heater for the tank so the temperature of the water can be regulated so the silly things won’t perish from the cold during the winter months??

(12) Catching Fire DVD: yes, thought I’d bring my birthday wishlist up to a dozen even items; Meow Meow XD and Kwany, you guys got me the first movie for Christmas last year; how about you get me the second for my birthday? XD

birthday party wise … Karen, didn’t you say you’d organise one for me this year?? XD I’d like to have a small party @ the Calamvale and Chinese BBQ Restaurant (‘Sun Lok Yuen’ in Cantonese), otherwise someone introduced me to this DUMPLING restaurant called something like ‘Harajuku Dumplings’ in the city, and what with dumplings being my FAVOURITE food (boiled, fried or steamed), I wouldn’t mind a birthday party there, either! :D

But of course, everyone should know about my obsession for the Despicable Me minions, so anything minion-related wise, I want! :D

go forth, everyone, and secure me Christmas presents! XD

Next post here … if I’m organised, it should be that movie review I watched with Fiona so of Ronin 47; if I’m not, you won’t hear from me again until march the 19^th, when I write out my birthday reflections for 2014! XD Righteo, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

Family Holiday 3013

My dearest dad works as a courier for uncle David’s packaging company, Shanrex. The period leading up to Christmas is the busiest time of the year for the company, where my poor dad often doesn’t get home from work till like 8pm, but conversely January’s the quiet time for them and often, dad will take a week off work to take mother and I for a short holiday somewhere, usually up to the Sunshine Coast or down to the Gold Coast.

Last year, however, dad took mother and I all the way down to Sydney and back!

We’d made the long trip once before – two DECADES ago! Yup, I was only a little five year old brat, and dad had fun reminding me, “Em, that morning, you were so small and sleepy, did you remember, I CARRIED you to the car!”

Twenty years later, I think I’m way too fat for dearest dad to carry me to the car, so I said to him laughingly, “How about we just hold hands and walk to the car together?”

So that’s how things roll. Dad and I walk to the car, and after mother demands dad pray for us before we begin the trip, we’re off! It being so early, I just return to sleep, zzz…

Suddenly, something wet wakes me. Huh, how come the top of my pants are wet? Oh, dad has strung a rope through the top of the 4WD and through the window, and since it’s been raining, the wet has been dripping through my pants! Dad pulls over, mother slips a tissue into my pants to soak up the wet and the drive continues. I nod off again … my Bear Bear is the perfect sleeping companion! ^^

Later, when I wake again, I sleepily ask mother, “What’s the time?” she glances at the clock then replies, “Just after midday.” Ooh, midday! “Are we there yet?” I immediately whine, laughing. “Are We There Yet?? ARE WE THERE YET???” Mother roars back, “SHUT UP! Yes, we’re almost there.” XD

And soon enough, dad pulls up alongside some motel, where we’ll be spending the first night.

Hmm … look, because the trip was almost one year ago, not to mention that the cruel and unfaithful god has left me with such appalling memory that I can scarcely remember what I had for dinner the night before, let alone something almost one year back, let me just note down special highlights of this trip:

-Every time, before we left that motel that we were staying in, I would comb through our living space one more time to see if there was anything free we could take home that mother glanced over. She forgot heaps! I took with us shower caps, instant coffee packets, sugar packets, etc. Dunno why mother refused to take the equal packets, but hey, no biggie.

-One morning, we ate a buffet breakfast! Alas, though, with mother around, ‘buffet breakfast’ doesn’t mean ‘all you can eat’, rather, just ‘one plateful and no more’. *sigh* That’s alright, she’s like that. I’m used to living with all the restrictions that she so gleefully imposes on me…

-We caught up with Letty! Think she was working at Tamworth Hospital; we picked her up, then had yummy dinner at like some sport’s bar. Afterwards, she invited us back to her place, and while dearest dad dozed on the sofa, us ladies chatted, and from memory (probably incorrect, but hey XD) letty fed me a chocolate Paddlepop! Gosh, I seriously haven’t had one since primary school, like, 1999!!

-my definite highlight of this trip: I RODE A CAMEL!!!! :D See, one afternoon, after enjoying lunch by the beach, mother and I are walking back to the 4WD after a loo trip when I notice some tents pitched on the sand below us. “I wonder what they are for?” I ask mother, pointing, who replies, “Well, there are some benches nearby; you sit and I’ll take a look for you.”When she returns, mother tells me, “They’re offering camel rides.” Obviously, I’m immediately hooked, and squeal (ok, so I don’t squeal, more like, say excitedly XD), “Ooh! I wanna ride a camel! Please please please can I try??”

Mother’s doubtful that I can manage a camel or not (me being the useless, disabled young woman that the cruel and unfaithful God has abandoned me as ><) but goes down to ask the lady in charge, explaining to her that I want to ride a camel but am physically disabled. She asks would it be alright if she sat behind me on the camel and held me tight, to help me feel safe? She’d pay for two people, of course. The woman says sure, go ahead, and mother brings me down to the beach, where I’m already fair bursting with excitement! The man’s partner wanders over, sees me, and decides, “Oh, she’ll be alright on her own camel; I’ll just put her on one of the smaller ones.” Oh cripes, poor mother was stuck! Having already offered to pay for two people, she couldn’t jolly well back out now! XD As for me, I really couldn’t care less that I’d be riding a smaller camel, just that I was gonna ride one!! :D

Camels are actually lying down, their legs folded, when you mount them! Then they stand, and from memory (prolly incorrect, but allow me to be cheeky XD) mother SHRIEKED when her camel arose! My came’s name was Pally, while mother’s camel was called Sydney, which led my dad to cheekily ask Emily (yes, the woman guide had my name!), ‘How come Emily’s camel isn’t called Brisbane?” XD We learnt some interesting things when the camels were ambling along the beach, such as that camels could actually drink salt water and that Pally, the handsome beast carrying me, was actually a RACING camel! I was obviously very grateful that Pally kept only a slow, plodding amble while I was astride him. XD Actually, one really scary thing happened while we were having our camel adventure, and that was I began sliding off pally! O_O “Emily, help!” I squeak (okay, so I don’t squeak, I probably talked with my usual tone XD) “I feel like I’m sliding off Pally!” Emily jumps off her camel (didn’t catch it’s name, sorry), walks over to me and says, “You are a little bit skew whiff, aren’t you? Here.” And she pushes me back fully upright in the middle, before teaching me to squeeze in with both my calves to remain centered. Afterwards, I had no problems. We even went for a short walk into the shallows of the water. Me having no left side side-vision anymore (just another thing that the cruel and unfaithful God has taken away from me ><) didn’t think about this until we were just about out of the water, before suddenly realising, “Dad! Your shoes! They must be drenched walking through the water!” Dad just laughs, brandishing his shoes triumphantly. “See? I’m smart. Took ‘em off before we went into the water.” XD

After Emily had supervised me dismounting from Pally, I walked to the front of Pally and gave him a big kiss on his forehead, thanking him for being such a good camel for me. Only afterwards, when mother laughed at me, saying, “Thank goodness your camel didn’t spit at you!” did I remember that oh yes, camels were good at SPITTING! XD

Dad had taken a short clip of the camel ride from his mobile, and that night, using the wi-fi from our motel room, I proudly put the video up onto Facebook. One of my UQ physios, Jess, left me the comment, “I’m glad SOMETHING finally got you to squeeze in your left calf!” to which I cheekily replied, “Jess, you bring in a nice, tame RIDEABLE camel into the NAB clinic, and I will show you how well my wonky left calf can do!” XD

-One day, we were at the town centre/tourist information place. While dad asked someone for maps and instructions on how to get to a certain touristy place, mother and I browsed the souvenir shop. I saw the most adorable little blue octopus covered with rainbow coloured swirls, and even better, he was only like $8.95! Mother kindly bought him for me, and I called him Swirly (yes, not a very creative name, but hey, I’ve improved over the years; my favourite teddy was just called Bear Bear. XD) Swirly seemed rather nervous; every morning when I woke up, he would demand that I count his legs for him, just to check that he still had all eight. One morning, I was still groggy from sleep, and counted only seven. Poor Swirly wailed, “What?! No, I’m supposed to eight, quick, count them for me again!!’ I obediently counted again, and yes, my apologies, Swirly; you’ve got eight legs, not seven. XD

The next night, after enjoying a delicious dinner somewhere, back in the car, feeling full and pleasantly sleepy (in canto, say ‘farn hei gong sum’), I counted Swirly’s legs for him, and somehow, he’d managed to end up with NINE legs. Poor Swirly panicked again; had he somehow grown an extra tentacle while I’d been out having dinner?? I counted his legs again, more carefully this time, and reported back to Swirly that yes, like all octopuses, he had eight legs. XD

Hmm … from memory, I think that’s all the highlights of our family holiday from last year. I’ll try to manage another post after we come back from our next family holiday, otherwise apart from that my next post should be a movie review! Yup, Fi So Bao and I went and watched Ronin 47 together recently, and I’m looking forward to telling everyone about this movie! Righteo, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

New Year's Day 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everybody! Hope 2014 will be a safe and prosperous year for you, your friends and your family. ^^

Me, I had a super-awesome January the 1^st.

Firstly, I was up, teeth brushed and eating breakfast by 11:45am. When 2012 became 2013, I remember I didn’t get out for brunch until after midday; I remember asking mother, “Does that mean I’ll be plagued with bad luck for the whole year?” XD

Breakfast was nothing special; just the usual two Weetbix with the thinnest and shortest streak of honey ever. I also drank one full mug of water and took all my usual drugs (by ‘drugs’, I mean just the usual health supplements, you know, your fish oil tablets, bilberry tablet, etc. sheesh, do I look like some kinda hardcore drug addict to you? :P).

Then, after one more loo trip, dearest dad tootled mother and I off down to somewhere like the Tweed Heads!

Our first stop was Ian Dipple lagoon, which is still in Queensland, because nature was calling. XD After that matter had been tended to, ‘twas already lunchtime!

Lunch was a simple affair: Subway and Maccas. XD dad explained to me that places like Maccas and Subway didn’t charge the usual 25% public holiday surcharge because they technically weren’t ‘restaurants’. That just reminds me of how IKEA calls itself a ‘restaurant’ when I maintain that it’s really only a tuckshop! XD

After lunch, we wandered harbour town. Alas, the parents wouldn’t lemme use Sparkless2 (my manual wheelchair), but I still managed to pick up two pairs of really ugly sneakers! XD

Visiting the loo once before we left, our next stop was the southbank markets. Again, I wasn’t allowed to use sparkless 2, but because mother said she’d buy me something from the markets because I’d walked more than usual today, I decided that I wanted to buy those really cute owl wheat bag/toy I’d seen last time I was at the markets, namely the time I bought that really cool black tee that flashed colours whenever it registered sound!

So we walked and walked and walked. Hmm, no owls in sight. “what if that vendor’s left?” I fretted to mother, who replied, “he won’t have. Here, you sit down with dad on this bench here, and I’ll take a quick walk a bit further along to see if I can find the owl guy.

Sitting down on the park bench together, dad and I watch some guy selling greek sweets. For some reason, he claps his hands and calls out every now and again? Dunno, my guess is that he’s just trying to attract more customers.

Suddenly, dad spots the next vendor, who’s drawing cartoon portraits. “hey, you should get one of those done!” dad suggests, to which I reply, “no thanks, I had one done back in 2004. you can go get your picture drawn if that’s what floats your boat.” Only dad persists, “no, you can get one drawn of you waving the peace sign, like how you always pose for photos!”

So I obediently walk across to where the guy’s sitting and waiting for his next customer. Dad speaks to the guy, who nods, and dad comes back and walks behind me over to where the guy’s directing me to sit, over some park bench.

He starts sketching, and I hold up the peace sign, thinking, gosh, my arm might fall off if the guy draws slowly! Thankfully, it’s not long until the guy (who’s not Australian; he looked kinda middle eastern?) says “you can put your hand down now, I’ve got it.” After that, I grin everytime the guy looks up at me, before relaxing whenever he continues to sketch.

Mother returns from her owl hunt just when the guy finishes sketching. He asks her, “black and white or colour?” to which she replies, “black and white.” Lol, did mother have foresight of this happening today? Was that why she had me kitted in a black tee shirt that day? XD

The cartoon sketch’s nice, but of course I grumble that the guy dotted a really huge mole near my cheek! XD

Once we’ve got the picture, mother leads the way back to the owls, where I pick out this really cute light blue and black one. The parents choose one/two more, and when dad’s paying, he randomly asks the guy, “hey, we’re buying several, are you gonna gimme a discount?” the guy chuckles sure, and throws one little owl that we’d chosen in for free!

The sun was starting to set by the time we left, and I was starting to wonder where dad would take us for dinner. His decision? Back to ian dipple lagoon and charis seafoods for a fish and chips dinner. Dad even got me one delicious scallop! The parents drank coke, while I went ahead and got drunk. XD Well, obviously, I didn’t, but I did drink alcohol! See, knowing my refual for soft drinks, julz had first introduced me to vodka chocolate mudslides and for Christmas last year, she had appeared bearing a bottle of vodka pineapple! So that I drank happily, immediately turning bright red afterwards. XD

And that was new year’s day, 2014! Dad tootled us home, mother gave me a super-quick shower and then I hit the sack, having thoroughly enjoyed my first day of 2014!

Next post here … Australia day? Not sure, it’s only the beginning of the month; something noteworthy might arise before that. Anyways, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^