Getting Rest

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Yeah! I am officially on leave now and it feels so so different being able to rest... I feel so refreshed.

Yesterday was a good day. Firstly, I was able to sleep in and wake up at 11am... wow, it felt so good to be able to sleep to my fill. Then, it was also the day we got our pay and our bonuses and so was happy happy Then, I called my NS unit and was told that I am not needed to go for ICT next Jan since I have not received any SAF100.

Wait, wait, wait, speaking of this, let me sidetrack a bit. I must really gripe about how rude the person on the other line was... first, she made me wait so long on the line (apparently trying to check if I am needed to come back for ICT), only to come back to ask me for my name, NRIC and phone number and tell me that they will check and call me back. I am quite appalled that there is no system in place to check if someone is indeed being called up for ICT. Then when she knew I was just an "other rank", not an officer, her tone changed. And to top it all, with her "can't be bothered" attitude, she actually corrected me when her pronunciation is horrible, can't even pronounce her "S" and "F" properly... so infuriating!

OK, back to my happy day. Then, for the first time in many years, I took out my scissors, glue, compasses, ruler, pencil, paper and markers and started on a small handicraft project to make my christmas party hat for the today's Christmas party in office. Considering that I have not done art for don't know how many donkey years, I am quite satisfied with my "masterpiece" :) Here you will see my stitch wearing my santa hat


Here's my santa hat, up close and personal. Ho Ho Ho:


Then, in the evening, I went on a shopping spree. I would never have pictured myself zipping from shop to shop buying stuff and carrying a whole lot of shopping bags. But today, I did just that and boy did it feel good going around shopping and looking out for suitable gifts for colleagues and friends. I know I have been specifically told not to get any gifts by my department colleagues but then I really appreciate them and a few other colleagues so much that I just wanted to get them something to show my appreciation. I ran from shop to shop to look for gifts and must have spent close to $200 in less than 4 hours... this got to be the first time I am spending so much but it really felt good getting gifts for people who mean a lot to me. Here's my loot :)

Today, I came back to office and played the role of Santa Claus at the Christmas party... This is the first time I am playing Santa Claus and it was really fun. I borrowed my friends' army boots, brought my specs along, donned the Santa outfit, stuff in a cushion to complete the jolly look and went about with a hohoho... many of my colleagues didn't know it was me under the guise because I looked so different, spoke in this deep old voice and walked slowly with a little hunch :) Think I got to much into the role.

Later in the afternoon, a few of us gathered together in a fellow colleague's cubicle for some impromptu caroling. We sang Christmas carols to the tune of the guitar played by one of the officers... it was such great fun!

Then at night, I met my cell group friends to do some shopping for the outreach event tomorrow. We are going to bless some homeless and so we went shopping in Tekka Mall for some items to be placed in the care packs to be given to them. After that, we went on a recce trip and visited a few old estates to see if there are any homeless sleeping around. However, we were not able to find many on the streets. Maybe we are too early... There seems to be quite a number of homeless in Singapore, though they are most often hurled off the streets by the beggar squad from MCYS.

These two days are real fulfilling days for me. For years now, I haven't been really enjoying my Christmas but this year, it is just so fun.