Catch my drift?

Just a quick post to thank God and your prayers said for my ear to get better faster. The pain's negligible now, and since yesterday I can hear my own voice in the blocked ear -- an indication, according to the wise husband, that my Eustachian tube's opened and I'm on my way to total recovery! Yay!

I also listened to Vern when he said for me to stop using the ear drops for ear wax, so the inner wall could get a better chance to heal than if it were damp all the time. Not that I could, on my own, without his help, be able to get the ear drops into my ear. But I'd like to go along with his logic, that ear wax might not be the problem here.

This past 1.5 weeks since my ear infection, amidst my constantly asking people to repeat themselves and if they could speak louder, there was one particular train of thought I couldn't quite follow though. A stranger at the supermarket had asked me, "Didn't you used to be called Tsing?" He was standing less than a metre away, but I still went, "Huh? Sorry, could you say that again, please?".

Then he let on that I reminded him of his friend's late wife. And my hairstyle, especially, was what he attributed the "uncanny" resemblance to. "She was from mainland China. You are, too?" he asked, and sounded to me, more like he presumed.

I didn't mean to be rude, but many times, in my short or long hair, even after I've mentioned Singapore, I still get that quizzical look from those who do not know that ours is an island in Southeast Asia. And this was one of those times when I had probably just mumbled a "Happy shopping", before I pushed my cart elsewhere.

I've been trying not to let my bad ear and bad haircut get to me. For my hair, it's really not so bad after our at-home repair job. I took my elder sis' advice nonetheless: Just put on a pair of sunglasses, and you're good to go!



So that was me in my $6 Target shades, that I've been driving around in for sometime now, because the sun (I finally have to admit) does get in my eyes. Now, I didn't used to wear sunglasses very much, and don't really like taking pictures in them because you can't see who's the 'real' face wearing them! But hey, what do you know? My sis is quite right -- they do a pretty good job of taking the attention away from a bad haircut... haha!

So perhaps sisters do know best! I'm wearing a new top from my sis. I don't know what's the reason why she didn't keep it for herself. Maybe because she thought it'd fit me better? I hope she'll also like what we've picked out for her, and likewise my younger sis and stepmom, when they see what my father will be taking back to them.

Partly because there was only so much that Vern could fit into his luggage when he made the trip back to Singapore, and partly because my father was coming here with him, stuff to take home to my side was kept till now. There's not much, and the space in my Pa's luggage is prime real estate, too, and so, again, only so much can go in. But my folks will understand, yes?

Catch you in a little bit, with more pictures besides these ones, all taken at one of those family-friendly attractions we've heard other parents talk about, but we only just got round to taking our boys and Gong Gong! There is quite a lot to see when we don't put shopping first.

Meanwhile, you have a good week ahead!

Water Works!

Summer means it can get unbearably hot, though (thankfully) not quite as humid as those of you back home have it.

It's all about fun in the sun, and nothing like H2O and lots of it, to beat the heat!

No, this isn't some water-themed park. But our neighbour's kid, Brianne's birthday bash! How cool!



It was doubly nice too, that Ben got to go, because usually parties aren't extended to younger siblings, since the big kids will just want to play with friends their own age.



So then, not just Jon, but Ben got to soak up the fun, and everyone big and little, all had a splashing good time!

What you see isn't always what you get

Usually I'm not half the hypochondriac my husband used to be. But I really could taste the ear drops when he helped me drip them into my ear canal. And that suggested that my ear drum might be perforated. And that meant I should stop using the ear drops, according to the instruction leaflet that came with them.

So two days later, yesterday now, I went back to the doctor. He couldn't see all that clearly if the ear drum was really punctured. But now he's changed the course of my treatment, and I have a different kind of ear drops to determine if ear wax could be the culprit here.

Oh please, let it be, because my blocked ear and only having one good ear to hear with, is getting to me!

The heat also got to me, when temperatures went up to 96 deg F! We were running late going to the clinic, and coming back for me to cook dinner, because of all the roadworks going on here and there, and just about everywhere we drove.

Jon was at home with Gong Gong, and Ben with Vern and me. And so, while Vern and Ben went and got some Chinese take-out, and my new ear drops, I decided quite the spur of the moment, to go cut my hair at the one and only Asian hairdresser's we knew wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

We would be done at about the same time, so why not? I mean, I have been talking about cutting my hair for quite some time now, since winter. Just never got round to coordinating with Vern when he could stay home to be with the boys.

So finally, I did! But to cut a long story short, my hair was not "WYSIWYG". I asked for a bob with wispy ends, and even found a picture of it in the book the hairdresser had shown me. But his idea of that was simply slicing a blade through my whole hair, to give it a blunt look. He didn't use the scissors, not once.

The two sides, I realised after we got home, were not even. One's longer and heavier. But I do know that a bob is one of the hardest styles to cut, but mine is anything but the spiffy I'd hoped for. Hmm... should I try and thin down the lopsided side by myself? I've been happily doing that to the sides of my long hair, before this, the way I cut my own fringe month after month, too. But long hair hides mistakes better, and fringes grow out pretty fast.

Partly because of the trouble of leaving the boys with Vern, and partly because I don't quite know the hairdresser's style nor does he mine, cutting hair, after coming here, has become a once-a-year affair, like a rite of passage. But hair is hair. It'll grow. So other than that I am now sporting my primary schooldays' hairstyle (no kidding!), I'm happy with how light my head feels! Hopefully, my blocked ear will follow suit!