*the love and grace of God in my life..*

Saturday, April 29, 2006

stressful and tiring two weeks
finally fell sick enough to take a MC yesterday
of which, i spent 3/4 of the day sleeping.

had a long chat with my reporting officer (RO) on msn just now
used to be a colleague of the same status, whom i always disturbed him for his ultra fussiness over his food
he would eat laksa with no curry leaves, chicken rice with only breast meat and the wings, eats no vegetables or anything in green, eats no fruits either, drinks only coke or sprite if the former runs out, has to have rice in every meal, loves prawns, likes to eat crabs but don't like to dirty his hands, eats no cakes but carrot cakes, loves chicken but not chicken soup or instant noodles, and the list goes on.
in fact, he's well-known for his fussiness
he's also someone whom i had gone on holidays with, alongside with other colleagues
we've been to bangkok and KL together

he's now my RO
nope, im not complaining.
in fact, i'm glad.
he was sharing with me how difficult it is to lead the portfolio, was sharing his frustration of getting backstabbed, was telling me things that he felt wasn't going right in the portfolio
amidst all the sharings, i'm glad that he trusted me.

on the other hand, becos i wasn't feeling that well this week, some of my work was somehow neglected and wasn't up to standard
his email sounded very hostile and i knew he was angry
to and fro, the email went
i made several changes to the documents, up till the point i was so tired of it
here i'm, knowing that he's angry
there he was, wondering if he made me angry by the constant changes

he asked just now, was i angry because he made such a big fuss and resulted in so many changes
i was shocked
i told him, i wasn't at all angry. in fact, i knew he was angry because i did a slipshod work and i apologize
it was a surprise because although he was angry, it wasn't at me, it was at the people who didn't bother to do the final check before submitting to him
he went on to add that he's concerned about my workload because i seemed to be taking quite a lot and i've taken MC twice this month

i'm pleasantly surprised.
how often does your boss care about your feelings at work? or would sit back and wonder whether he made his workers angry because of some reasonable demands he made?
i'm so thankful for him.
i mean, how often do you get a friend who become your boss?
and becos he was once a friend, he knew my character
and now that he's a boss, it definitely help him lots!

thank God for such a bro-in-christ.

//posted by ivy @ 22:16//

Saturday, April 22, 2006

it's been a stressful and tiring week
was taking a break just now and browsing through blogs when i saw the quiz below
i can't believe i did the quiz but nonetheless...

Take the Girlfriend Quiz at www.kidzworld.com!

You're a Dream GF!
You're a definite keeper. You're not needy or clingy and you're almost as much fun to be around as one of the guys! You know exactly how much space your guy needs and how to keep your own groove on while in a relationship.

haha! baby, how true is this? =)

//posted by ivy @ 18:06//

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

time passes horribly fast this week
it's only the end of 3rd day in school; i feel so drained.

the students so far were wonderful, super exceeded what i expected from a new bunch of people doing PBL
a lot of time and effort was spent trying to gel the class during the 1st lesson together so that i'll have a much easier task for the rest of the 15 weeks.

time flies when im in class
time flies when the class ends and i attempt to mark but im simply to exhausted
time flies when im sleeping; my handphone rings to wake me up soon after
time flies; it's good. i'll see my baby sooner
but it's bad, i haven been able to do my grading..

this is a badly written entry..
i'm so, so, so sleepy now.

//posted by ivy @ 23:56//

Sunday, April 16, 2006

right at this moment i'm typing,
my mind is completely astonished by the reading materials for Quiet Time today.

***

celine's sis came for the musical yesterday
i went to talk to her immediately the musical ended, only to be asked by her a question which i was taken aback
why did she pop that question, i asked myself
to that, i said no, i'm not.

spent half the day with huiling, jinhang, celine and janice today
she asked whether i was ready
immediately, i didn't know how to respond because it hit again
why did she pop that question, i asked myself
to that, i said i dunno.

part of the movie was spent thinking about the incidents which have happened lately
especially yesterday and today
being the 'defiant' me, i told Him to reveal it to me, in my QT today
as i clicked and waited for the url to open
the thought came, why can't i act in obedience, in faith?
why do i always want Him to show me so clearly?

the reading for today:
"Who is not inspired by the competitor who makes a comeback after being down and seemingly out of the running! The runner who stumbles while coming off the starting blocks but moves gradually into the lead stirs the imagination of us all. The team that can come from behind in the last moments to win excites us even more than the team that constantly wins by scoring big in the first part of the game.

Jesus made the most amazing comeback the world has ever seen. After being humiliated, insulted, spit upon, whipped, beaten, and nailed to a cross, His executioners claimed victory and declared Him dead. A military guard secured His tomb. How could anyone be more down and out than that?

Yet the struggle was not over; it was only the beginning. Three days later, He rose from the grave and reappeared as the victor over sin, death, and hell—a comeback like no other in all of history.

Are you feeling out of the running today? Have you stumbled badly? Think about Jesus' suffering. Ponder His resurrection. Ask Him to give you the victory. Just imagine what He has to offer you, no matter how far down you are now!"

part of the Bible reference:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

I'm completely speechless!

//posted by ivy @ 22:06//

Saturday, April 15, 2006

sat is ending
sun is coming
mon is the day after tomorrow
the day students are streaming in
the day i have my first class
the day my problem review is due
but...
i'm not prepared for my first class
i haven't done my problem worksheet
oppsie...
i'm so, so dead
and...
i'm going JB tmr!

lastly,
i miss my baby! sobz.

//posted by ivy @ 23:18//

Friday, April 14, 2006

this entire week is packed, packed, packed.

mon.
i spent the morning trying to make sure my buddy who is a newbie accustomed to our style of working, brought her around so that she wouldn't be lost, informed her of all the necessary things so that she can survive. that only makes me realise how old i'm here oredi.
afternoon was filled with meetings, meetings, meetings.
night-time was probably the only time i enjoyed myself. my ex-manager who is now assistant director treated us to crab feast for his promotion and despite my sore throat, i went ahead, promising myself that i wouldn't eat too much, but the temptation was too much to resist.

how can i ever resist such tasty yummy crabs right in front of me right? and he ordered 4 huge ones! yummy!

tues.
woke up feeling a little sick on tues morning, my throat hurts more. went to the doc, took MC but still headed down to office for a meeting in the afternoon. after the meeting, proceeded to aloha changi for my IG chalet. the seniors came down and we had a good time playing all sorts of card games till 3am before i went to sleep and that's becos i've a meeting at 9am the following day. now i know why i never get well.

wed.
my students woke me up, thinking that i might oversleep and after washing up and changing, they also made breakfast for us before we went off for our meeting at NLB. a tiring morning, came back chalet in the afternoon and spent the next 3 hrs talking to my co-advisor about situations at work. basically, it's time to put my knowledge of change management into use for the next half a year.
dinner was prepared by the year 1s, after which we chatted and watched tv.

thurs.
again, my students banged my door so that i wouldn't oversleep. breakfast was also ready by the time i washed up. checkout then i gave them a lift to woodlands.
back to school for meetings and more meetings.
went to my pod to unpack my stuff to prepare for the new semester in a few days' time.

fri.
the whole of today will be spent on problem crafting - the thing i detest most.
i don't particularly hate it, but i guess i really feel inadequate doing it and i don't like the process of bouncing it off so many parties, being asked to change umpteen times and end up being a totally different problem as before. it gets worse when it passes through one party, then the next level fails it.
yucks!

school is starting, and i'm kinda afraid of my time management
i'm one of the minority of the full-timers taking 3 classes this time round, reason being that i believe in focusing more on my academic work
other than that, i know i can't play a co-advisor role in my IG anymore, probably a lead advisor now becos my co-advisor took on another heavier role in the dept
being involved in the NLB project is going to take up a lot of time too.
other that these 3, i probably wouldn't take up any more things.

a change of reporting officer again
the news came out of the blue, but im glad to know who is the person taking over
at least, the power didn't fall into the hand of another person, whom i know is very hungry for power

//posted by ivy @ 12:34//

Sunday, April 09, 2006

my baby called
a mere 2 minutes of conversation
teary ivy

i miss him!

//posted by ivy @ 21:42//

enjoyed the short 3 days at Hong Kong with my colleague
it really feels so good to be away and yet, not talking about work at all
will update more tmr; some of the photos are with her as well.

on the other hand, my baby left for taiwan on fri afternoon and will only be back 2 weeks later
coincidentally, vivienne's hubby is at taiwan too, as an army regular for an exercise
and we were wondering whether both of the guys are having the same exercise.

one more week before school commences
packed week ahead, which might not be a bad thing
probably it helps to keep my mind busy and not think of my baby too much
he hasn't call me yet, only left me a sms yday evening

time to finish up unpacking and get to rest
still having a mild sore throat

//posted by ivy @ 20:53//

Saturday, April 01, 2006

recalling the times when huiling used to meet some of us in the past and shared with us several issues/lessons about leadership,
i can't deny that i have forgotten most of them but something that has always stayed with me is the following two points:

i'm good at fellowship and being a listening ear to others
i'm a person of influence

as much as i may have tried to verbally deny the above simply becos i was afraid of responsibilities to a certain extent, i soon came to realise that she is right.
it is slowly becoming more obvious to me in my workplace in my capacity as a facilitator to my students, an advisor to my IG ex-co, a member in the special project team and a friend to my colleagues.
i'm thankful that i can say i've not betrayed and backstabbed any of my colleagues, have managed to establish a certain level of rapport with both my students and IG ex-co, as well as being a real friend and working partner to the relevant colleagues whom i've been working closely with.
it's not easy, really.
in a place where i have been backstabbed, arrowed unreasonably, broke down in tears... it's been a constant struggle to be Christ-like

because of that, i pray that i'll be able to shine in the department and in my areas of work
3 months have passed and the new academic year awaits its commencement
in the next 9 months at work, i pray that i'll be:
- responsible and trustworthy in any role that i play in the dept
- sensitive and responsive to the needs of people around me
- someone who makes a difference in the lives of people around me

//posted by ivy @ 00:00//