Heartstriings’s Weblog

When I was told I was nominated to attend a leadership programme in US, I just couldn’t believe it.  Talk about the law of attraction.  A few weeks ago i watched a documentary on how Empire State building was built, and the fly boys who would push into place the metal straps, and before I knew it, I was walking by Empire State building last night….wow!  Was at Times Square….NY is so so vibrant.

The journey from Spore to NY was business class SQ – all the 18 hours, so worth it…had a good rest.  The whole plane was a 100-seater business class!  Checking into Plaza hotel, we couldn’t wait to see the town, or at least paint it red!

It was around 15 degrees or lower in NY. Today, we left for warmer Naples Florida…much like Brunei.  Travelled economy and it was so so squashed, no complaints, just happy to be in US…after my last visit in 1998 to San Antonio, Texas (and they say Texas is not even US!).  We landed around 3pm, and checked in Ritz Carlton, a lovely hotel by the beach facing the Gulf of Mexico (http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Naples/Default.htm).  Went downtown to walk along the shops, mostly closed, as it was Sunday.  Had seafood for dinner…fettucini with salmon.  Nevertheless, taken by the beauty of Naples, low buildings and so superbly designed and clean.

This Raya was spent with my two kids abroad – one in Perth, another in KL.  However we had a wonderful time visiting friends and family.  Our open house was fun…very very packed…My parents in law came at 4pm, saw the number of cars, and went off visiting, to return at 6pm only to find more cars…they just went in eventually.  Our home was featured in anakbrunei.org – we are so honoured – our home is a simple one, made meaningful by the friends and family who came to visit.  At the end, three little kiddies shoes were left behind….awww…. I had them aligned so I could go past them each day (until they were claimed by their parents)…and go awwwwww – yes, I’m brooding.

My youngest child, aged 12, asked me a few weeks ago to have another baby…must be baby boy she says…I gave an alternative – go play with your little nieces and nephews..!

We had a little potluck at my sister’s place last night, 30 May 2008, with friends, sharing good food, jokes and stories, with kids running around the place. The jokes were well presented and very funny. I invited a couple whom I have never met in person before, but we have spoken over the phone several times about AnimalShelter (the wife is a cofounder) – I have a lot of respect for people who loves and helps animals.

There’s S*** and hubby too – very wise and well-travelled.  My hubby and I can sit for hours just listening to their stories.

St**** was there and her latest blog entry was about what her friends meant to her (see my link to ‘twinkle’). I feel the same with friends, and sometimes we are even closer to our friends than our siblings. I suppose it’s because we see some of our close friends more often than we do our siblings, and, many a time, my siblings get updates of me from my friends (which is not necessary a bad thing)….which brings me to the question, “Is blood really thicker than water?”

Once a Brazilian friend told me that one would hear of ex-husband/wife, but never ex-brother/sister/mother/father. He’s right…but why then are some of us closer to friends than family? I suppose, with family, it’s all the baggage that one carries..all the bad habits, idiosyncracies, embarassing moments are known to family, waiting to be told, waiting to be exposed…heh2…while with friends, they come into your lives when you are older, more ‘composed’, more in control of what you would want your friend to know.

As for me, I can’t say I am close to family but I would be there at the speed of lightning when help is needed. I can say I have close friends, but I am no good with long distance friendships. I know I am better on a one-to-one interaction than group interaction, and I enjoy long philosophical conversations, topics that make one think and ponder for a while, topics that can have more than one way of looking at…that I enjoy, and yes, most times I get that from friends, not family. But one thing I know for sure – in order to feel complete and live life fully, I need both – friends and family.

In comforting someone, we have used phrases like “Every cloud has a silver lining” and “There’s light at the end of the tunnel”.  But try using the phrase, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day….”…yes, true, but imagine using this to comfort someone, wait a couple of seconds for the friend to assimilate that in his/her mind, before he/she responds with,”What….you calling me a broken clock?!!!”…boo hoo….and mate, you’ll be  in for a long long evening trying to comfort your friend – best to stick to “Every cloud has…..”

Today is the 14th birthday of my third child.  We celebrated at my sister’s house to coincide with her daughter’s 7th birthday on 11th May 2008.  My sister’s best friend, St*****, brought a friend called S****.  My name starts with S too, and it was a fun conversation as we shared anecdotes and some life lessons.  I always enjoy these types of conversations and we would like to meet again next week before S**** goes back to Malaysia.

We have encouraged her to open a blog as a collection of all her funny stories – boy, she has loads!  I would like to write some here but I think I’ll give her the honour to do that on her own blog, and I can then link to it.

Hello,

It’s rather ironic but I have come to believe that “the less we want, the richer our lives become…”.  Don’t get me wrong, I used to be a fullscale hoarder…and it’s now a conscious decision that I have to make to shed off what I don’t need…extra bags, shoes…(and extra fat…yes, that’s one form of hoarding).   I have a long way to go still – the decluttering takes place not just with physical stuff but mentally as well.  I notice I don’t hang on to stuff much anymore, that I don’t hold grudge till it stifles me.  What is amazing is that when someone upsets me, I would let myself have a moment to be upset and then I pray for the person for all good things – I find prayers to be a very powerful tool – very soon, I find that the angry feeling goes away, and I can then GET ON with whatever I am doing….WHY didn’t someone teach me that before….after all these years….!

Some useful sites to save and go green:

http://www.naturalstrategies.com.au/

http://www.simplesavings.com.au/

Hello,  yeah right…getting organised, she says….her last post was Jan 1…so much for getting organised!  Ha…thought i would share this with you…check out ‘The Container Store’ at http://www.containerstore.com…so fun at the way things are organised.