My Pal.
Me and my partner in crime in NIE.
The countdown to the end has begun. Let’s give it our bestest ever shot, this last lap. 
Picture Perfect
One of my favourite pictures of her. Love the carefree and happy look on her cute face.
My Last Year as a Twenty-somethinger
It’s been oh so long since I wrote my last entry. I’ve been meaning to write once in a while, but other things get me down. Sleep, for one. Never fails to get me. This semester my timetable is a bit UGLY, so no more 4-day week for me. And that is ALWAYS a bad thing.
Old Long Since
I have mixed feelings about the new year.
For a start, I actually went out on New Year’s eve wearing my blouse inside-out.
Yes, you heard me right. The wrong side out. Right side in. (My zipper on the back gave it away.)
In the evening, my family asked if we wanted to go out and possibly celebrate the turn of 2008 together. Somehow I decided not to, and I couldn’t explain why I had this reluctance to celebrate 2008. I just wanted to stay home, not willing to witness maddening crowds (I certainly do not wish to curse and swear as the clock struck 12).
Instead, I decided to do this.
I whisked my mixer for the last time in 2007. A batch of brownies, ordered by an expectant mother who has a craving for it. I don’t know her personally, but I decided to throw in extra choc and chopped almond topping for her anyway. (Takpelah, rezeki anak dia!)
Amazingly, it tasted better than normal. Extra extra tasty. (Rezeki anak, betol tak?)
But after packing it up, we were left with no more than a few broken/unevenly cut pieces, and loads of crumbs. 
(No worries honey; I’ll bake another batch this weekend!)
I was feeling under the weather on the eve; I must’ve caught the bug from Ooyah (tiny baby but powerful bugs she has!) and was feeling woozy and feverish while doing the baking. I went to bed after cleaning up, and watched portions of the countdown show. But 10 minutes to 12, I couldn’t bear the thought of watching the countdown, I simply do not know why. No, I do not have to go to school on Wednesday, either to teach or to study (I know a lot of teachers and students feel rotten on New Year). I crept out of bed, went out of the room and into the kitchen. I decided to have supper. Or what would be my last meal for 2007.
I thought the minutes and seconds would slip pass me, and the transition from 2007 to 2008 would be an unnoticeable one. It’s just another day. It’s just like any other day, when the clock strikes twelve, I told myself.
But actually, it’s the point in time, where planet Earth (supposedly) makes one full orbit around the Sun.
So what, I say.
But I was not spared a seamless transition into 2008. As I was scooping the rice with my fingers, I heard voices in the neighbourhood screaming “THREE! TWO! ONE!!!! Then there were all sorts of sounds: shrill whistling, pops (poppers and champagnes?), horns, thunderous booming in the sky (must be the fireworks at Vivo) and I just felt this sinking feeling. What the hell am I doing ALONE in the dining room eating RICE at freaking 12am in the morning? On New Year’s day? My husband is in the room watching tv, and my baby is asleep.
What a way to usher in the New Year, I thought. So much for it being just another day in a calendar.
Without realizing it, I shed a tear, regretting not being in the company of my family, or at least watching the countdown show with husband. Why do I feel so rotten all of a sudden? And what is the BIG DEAL ANYWAY with New Year?
(See what I mean when I say I’ve got mixed feelings???)
It could be that 2007 went by way too fast. On top of that, I don’t remember that many significant things happening this year, unlike 2006 when I just had Ooyah and embarked on studies again, or 2005, when I got married. Years before 2005 I would have been with my family, usually watching the countdown on tv.
I guess it’s the realization that many tasks/hopes have been left unaccomplished, which ALL of us have I’m sure, but being with some form of company would have masked that sinking feeling someway or another. I should have gone out with my family, or at least, I should have stayed in my room and watched the STINKING countdown show, at least in the arms of husband accompanied by the blocked-nose sound of Ooyah snoring in the background. Now that’s why people organize MASSIVE countdown parties, I say. The bigger the party, the less rotten you feel about. It’s denial at a global level, I tell ya!
When I look back at the resolutions I made for 2007, I must say I did accomplish at least half of the 16 things I wanted to do (I did mostly the not-so-good ones, can you guess which ones?)
I shall not make any resolutions for 2008; I shall just strive to accomplish the ones I made in 2007 first. I do have aspirations, though, where achievement is mostly determined by Fate. (See how I conveniently shirk off any liability in this whole thing?)
In May 2008, I will (God-willing) graduate from uni, hopefully with a good Honours degree. I do hope to be posted to a school that I will love to slog my ass for (one that HONOURS the pledge that is taken EVERY DARN DAY, i.e gives due recognition for your efforts, “regardless of race, language and religion”), I secretly do hope to try for another baby after Ooyah turns 2, so that she will have an adik by the time she’s three, but this aspiration may change depending on how things at work turn out (sad but true).
Oh, maybe I’ll make one resolution? To sing Auld Lang Syne (literally translated as “Old Long Since”, whatever that means) in its original Scots lyrics AND pronunciation at the end of 2008. I shall sing this loud and clear, SMUGLY and sneering at everyone else who do not know the actual lyrics . This darn song gets me tearing every time, so I hope to be beaming from ear to ear instead of CRYING after singing it, proud of myself that I (would have) memorized all of it (one hour before 2009 starts).
ALL TOGETHER NOW!
Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
an nivir brocht ti mynd?
Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
an ald lang syn?
- CHORUS:
- Fir ald lang syn, ma deer,
- fir ald lang syn,
- Wil tak a cup o kyndnes yet,
- fir ald lang syn.
An sheerly yil bee yur pynt-staup!
an sheerly al bee myn!
An will tak a cup o kyndnes yet,
fir ald lang syn.
- CHORUS
We twa hay rin aboot the braes,
an pood the gowans fyn;
Bit weev wandert monae a weery fet,
sin ald lang syn.
- CHORUS
We twa hay pedilt in the burn,
fray mornin sun til dyn;
But seas between us bred hay roard
sin ald lang syn.
- CHORUS
An thers a han, my trustee feer!
an gees a han o thyn!
An wil tak a recht guid-wullae-wocht,
fir ald lang syn.
- CHORUS
Happy New Year everyone. Hope you welcomed it better than me. 
