Scrub Scrub Scrub

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I suddenly received news yesterday that I will be getting "new" cupboards today and so, I spent the latter part of yesterday packing up my things to make way for the cupboard.

Today, the donated cupboards came and amazingly, it fitted nicely into my room. I spent almost half of the day scrubbing the cupboard clean. Despite little "chips" here and there, the cupboard was generally in good condition and now I have a lot of filing space... As I scrubbed the cupboard with my colleague, I was thinking: "boy, I love my job". Where else can I get this kind of experience... it is really a humbling experience and it really teaches me to value things... I just gather that this might not have been something I will do if not in social services... chances are that we will just buy new stuff and throw away the old ones. After staying in the social service sectors and coming to this organisation, I have learnt to be careful with every single cent we spent because that would ultimately mean a cent less for the beneficiaries. OK, not to sound noble but then this has become somewhat second nature, maybe some will see as "stingy" :0)

Picture "Clean" by ana_labate

My room really looked like some war-torn zone yesterday and today and so I decided that since my cupboard came, I might as well take the opportunity to clean up the room and do my filing that I have not done for some 10 months now... In the end, I managed to put everything back in its place and also filed a great part of my projects carried out in the last 10 months... And today must be the latest I have stayed in office and in the end, I had a phobia of being locked in so forced myself to leave at about 11.30pm even though I was not finished. But it felt wonderful and it was a great achievement that my office is in order again.

War-torn office

These few days, another gifting seems to be surfacing. Despite being a very shy person, I seem to be able to build rapport with people easily over the phone. There had been 2 occasions this week in which people, total strangers, opened up to me over the phone and told me things which, in their own words, they have not even told their "loved ones". I am not sure if God is preparing my skills for the next calling. However, it is true enough that not only do people warm up to me easily over the phone but also me to them... somehow, I am less uptight over the phone...

Slowing Down, Rounding Off

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Yeah, on leave tomorrow! Have applied for leave to accompany my dad for his medical follow-up tomorrow. Going to take the rest of the evening easy...

Care for Cuppa Tea?
As I was packing up for the day, received a sms from my ex JC classmate who stayed nearby. She asked if I would be free to meet her up so she can pass something back to me. We met and decided to go for a drink to catch up with one another. Since she was making her way to the park nearby for a evening walk, she suggested going to one of the cafes in the park for a drink. We eventually ended up in this lovely spa cafe in the middle of the park and it was a nice and quiet place with sooooooothing music. We both had tea, talked a bit and reminisced old times. Her boyfriend came to join us later but not sure if I was being too sensitive but I just wasn't sure how he felt about me meeting up with his girlfriend... (Picture "Brew" by matchstick)

The Gift of Friendship
Anyway, to be frank, I am really glad to had been able to catch up with this friend as I had previously misunderstood her. No, no, there wasn't any conflict but just that I got to know that she recently chose not to share in my birthday gift. I guess, there was a bit if disappointment in me and I was thinking that maybe she didn't like me as a friend, that's why she didn't want to share the cost of my birthday gift. Anyway, through my observation, it turned out that it was not because of that that she chose not to share the cost of my birthday gift. Gift or no gift, it didn't matter; what mattered most was that I still had this friend.

A tree in the middle of the spa cafe

Letting Go of Bitterness
Just as I made my way home from the park, I received a most unexpected sms from a person I would least expect to message me. It was from the friend "who was beginning to hate me". Been some time since we last communicated with each other. Anyway, he asked if I was keen to come out together. Since, I was on leave tomorrow, I agreed to go along. I didn't know what gave me to the courage to say "yes" but I eventually thought that it has been almost a year since our conflict now and it may seem time to have a proper conclusion to it. Anyway, I had on several occasions before this decided to put down my emotional baggage and forgive but now have to really commit to it and put it into action. (Picture "Blue Balloon" by winjohn)

Although there was awkward silence throughout the evening but there were also lighter moments when we laughed and talked. I am happy to hear that he is in a job he really loves now (though he do not seem to be coping) but most importantly, am glad that I have decided to let go. Hurt or no hurt, things happened and it is almost a year now. I had been living in bitterness and just do not want to go on like that. It was a simple night out but it was a wonderful conclusion to the conflict.