Scraps

23 April 2009

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. ~Author Unknown

I blew it. Again.

Just the day before, while kids and I were making our way home after spending hours at McDonalds revising for the examinations, Mervin had exclaimed, “Today is one of my best days!”

I cocked my head and asked, “Why?”

“Because nobody loses his or her temper and everybody is happy!”

My heart warmed. Joy can be so simple. My kids are simply priceless.

Yet, I blew it again.

After so many days of rushing back from half-day work, plowing through the assessment books and coping with chores, my fuse finally blew this evening.

I lost the upbeat energy, lost my patience, lost hope and lost my temper. Everything went wrong. Nothing was accomplished. I plunged into despair.

Just when I was stomping around the house grousing at the mess that came out of nowhere and from everywhere, my handphone beeped.

It was a message:

“Sometimes skies are dark, but sometimes skies are colourful and blue when there is you and I LOVE YOU! Don’t be angry anymore, we love you! By Mervin J be happy!”

My heart melted. I had robbed him of his simple joy and he simply wanted to rub his love off me.

Simple love.



25 April 2009

A man isn't poor if he can still laugh. ~Raymond Hitchcock

On the bus ride to church, Angel couldn’t stop blathering on the upcoming band performance on Labour Day at the Istana.

“I think you have to go there by yourself. Remember not to carry any sharp objects with you. You will be scanned before you can be admitted. So if they find any sharp or dangerous things on you, you cannot enter…”

She was droning on and on and on and I was beginning to drift off when she exclaimed,

“You know, there will be terrorists too!”

My drooping eyelids popped open and I gawked at her.

She appeared stunned, stopped short of her speech, and the both of us froze for almost ten seconds before she blurted,

“I mean tourists!”

We nearly passed out laughing.



26 April 2009

I don't have a problem with caffeine. I have a problem without caffeine! ~Author Unknown

I hate whiners. Thus, I found me hating myself today.

It all began with the constant throb at the back of my head. Like an irritating blinking headlight, the pain was bright and irksome. It was there and could not be shut out. Unless smashed.

As if living with an irritating blinking headlight in my head was not enough, the whimpers escaped my throat with the carbon dioxide leaving my lungs. I heard myself and winced; partly due to the pain and partly annoyance.

I scrambled out of my bed into the living hell – the living room, I mean. Bags were strewn all over the floor; clothes draped over the sofa; paper bags laid everywhere; shoes were kicked around; books scattered over the tables…

The dining room was an equalizer. Dishes stacked up in the sink; food stains smudged the dining table; bitch’s pee and poo missed the spot as usual; and soiled clothes were piling up in the laundry basket.

I tried coming out with a strategy with my malfunctioning head. Perhaps I should clean up room by room. Perhaps I should tackle task by task. Perhaps I should clear as I roam. Perhaps I should just go back to bed.

Anyway, I managed to clear the bitch’s toilet area, vacuum my room and the kitchen and part of the living hell, load the washing machine, wash the dishes, and wipe the dining table.

As I boiled water, I made myself some tea in hope to drown and sizzle out the throbbing headlights. But darn, the headlights were weatherproof.

Resigned, I went on to vacuum the rest of the house, put some of their books back into the shelves, washed the two washrooms, hanged my laundry, and was burnt out.

To my amazement, the grating headache was gone. Was it the tea? Or was it the chores?

It must be the tea.