~ Daddy's New Adventure ~

It has been a while since I last blogged. As much as I would like to blame work and my boyfriend for the pause, it was actually my own fault for not blogging. Why start blogging again? It's because of my daddy.

For every child from a somewhat functional family, a fatherly love is pretty much something that you think you always have... but not every child knows how much he/she means to his/her father. At least, that was what happened to me. Earlier in January or February, I opened my personal inbox and browsed through it. What I found was my dad's short email from October 2009. It goes something like this...

"Hi sweetie,

Why you never answer my calls? I just wanted to ask you if you would be able to drive home through the big rain in Bangkok today. Drive home safely. I miss you.

Love,

Dad"

After reading it, I cried for hours. I decided that no matter what I would not take my daddy (and mummy, too, of course). Still... I did. Work got in the way. Many times that I never made it to dinner with my parents because I tried to finish what I couldn't finish during the normal working hours. I kept thinking "this time would be my last time."... but it never was.

Then it came the day that I thought I had lost my dad. Last Saturday, my dad suffered from a stroke which left part of his brain damaged. Such damage did not make my daddy paralysed. Instead, he kind of loses his ability to communicate with us linguistically and occasionally forgets things and people. The cause was from his heart and his blood thickness. Normally, if a patient that suffers from this kind stroke is taken to hospital within the first three hours, the medication would work better. However, because my daddy works outside Bangkok and in Pattaya, he lives alone during weekdays and certain weekends. This particular Saturday, my daddy (from what he later tried to tell my mum) said he felt sick and could not feel his right leg... as if he had "lost it". By the time daddy was taken to hospital, it was more than 12 hours... I was told around noon on Sunday. It was late... but not too late. Thank god.

The first day is referred to as the "stinky ICU Day". This is because my dad refused to take off the clothes he came to hospital in. Another thing he refused to give up is his glasses. Dad tried so hard to tell every person he saw he was okay and he wanted to just go home. Apparently, dad was far from the "okay" he told everyone. He failed to talk to people. He could not remember his name or who he was. He only remembered me. Yes, that's right. Me... his only daughter. Mum said that even on the phone, he thought everyone he talked to was me. Even after feeling exhausted from the MRI and all the procedures, he asked me if I was hungry and where I would eat. That was when I realised that I don't care anymore what happened to me. I just need to be with daddy right now. I have to.

The second day (Monday)... daddy was moved to the normal ward on the 7th floor. His room is basically a seaview room with an enormous bathroom, a great little pantry, a two-sided closet and a free wifi. I had to go home to sort out things in Bangkok and dropped off the dirty clothes and get clean ones... and also to see my boyfriend who had been very supportive off to Phuket. It was the first time I was alone. I really felt so alone and so lost. The thought of not having the same dad that I had just really makes me feel like I am losing him.

Today is the third day of my daddy's new adventure to recovery. Dad made a fine progress. He said he should exercise and now want to run. It took my mum, nurses, doctors and myself to try to tell him that he should get well first. What a stubborn guy... kinda reminds me of myself... lol. He can remember things and people more. Still cannot remember his pin for the ATM... but it's ok. This takes time. He referred to apples as bananas, to my uncle as my mum, to pillows and blankets as something completely new to me, to crackers as sweets, etc. I'm beginning to think it is great to realize that words are really just words because when you actually try to understand someone, it doesn't matter that much. I still love you, daddy. I know you get me. :) Anyway, I have to go put him to sleep. He still wanna watch telly as he wanna know what goes on with Red Shirt and the government. Whatever... he needs to rest. I'll come back to rant more on this later.

If you have read this far, thank you. I appreciate you reading another bump in my life. :) I wish you will not take the time you have with your parents and loved ones for granted. Actually do everything you can not to waste your precious time with them. Once it's all behind you, you will not regret it. Trust me. I know. :)

~ Beautifully Imperfect ~

It's been a long time since I last blogged, hasn't it? At first, I was going to blog about stuff that happened so far in my life, but when a dear friend of mine, Klao, asked me to watch something, I changed my mind. This video below reminds me of my own maternal grandparents... and how much they love each other.


video uploaded by DC5RKatey and is a ThinkFamily ad.

Beautifully imperfect is such a beautiful way to say about someone. Just the words... it shows how much you love that person. It's down to the little silly things that person does, and you still love every bit of it. Something that annoys you badly, but make you love and remember that person well. This video captures the meaning of it all. I wish one day someone would find me beautifully imperfect to him.

PS. Please congratulate me on being such a spoiled potato who called in sick and stayed home for one day! :P Mr. M, if you happen to come across this blog, I am really sick and down with flu. :)

~ New Position ~

Although you might not see me with a huge beaming smile on my face, I am looking totally like a idiot grining all day long. Why? Because I just got a new position as a Sales & Marketing Analyst!!!! Yes!!! The decision to take the offer was pretty quick for my standard, but yeah... it's a great opportunity to expand. I'll still be looking after the accounting and finance side, too. Darn... let's keep fingers crossed that I will have time for my GMAT preparation. Righty... time for me to hop to the next meeting. Leaving you with my current fav... Dolce Vita! :)

~ Daiso & Flower Garland ~

Daiso (in Thailand) is a franchise store that sells everything at 60 Bahts. From what I read on wikipedia, it has 2500 stores in Japan and another 450 overseas. Impressive huh? Anyway, I'm such a big Daiso fan. Believe it or not, if you choose the stuff you buy wisely, you actually get good stuff at only 60 Bahts. Daiso has become one of my usual supplies for gardening equipments and tools. I'll post the pictures of the plastic flower pots that I bought from Daiso a while ago up later.

Anyway, the thing is that, for the past few months, I had been saying, "As soon as my pay cheque comes out, I'll be at Daiso shopping!"... it never happened. Then something strange happened this morning while I was getting my morning chocolate shake. Daiso is there in the exhibition area in front of Starbucks at Ploenchit Center! My god! I was so excited I almost fainted. I ended up with four kitchen utencils. Lol! Seriously, I think all my pay cheques are being used in silly ways.

I don't know if you guys are required to have certain hours of training in a year or not, but I need twenty five hours as a requirement for the annual bonus. Each month, HR will come up with a list of classes for associates to pick and choose. I picked Flower Garland Workshop and Sandwich Creation Workshop... just for fun. Imagine me making flower garlands... speechless. :P Right I'm off to the workshop. I'll post some pics up later. :)

Update (9.55 pm): Here are some pics from the Flower Garland Workshop. Notice my beautiful(ish) garland? Pretty huh!?

~ Monday Goodbye ~

My boss is back in the office after spending a few weeks away in Khao Lak and Gold Coast. Though he wasn't around, I never felt like he was actually away. Every morning I would get lots and lots of emails on various things that he would like me to complete. My boss is taking on more projects. This means more work for me. Instead of complaining like usual, I feel blessed to be given more projects and tasks to handle. My boss still needs me!

Though the lay off news is not a surprise to a lot of people, I still find it hard to cope with when people you have worked with for quite sometimes are suddenly gone. Two of the expat members are being terminated. I just found out today, but their last day was last Friday. One of them came to say goodbye today before he flies back to the US. The feeling is the mixture of relief and sadness. Relief... it wasn't me. Sadness... they're gone. Just two weeks ago, William, another coworker, left for a better position in Guam. From our recent conversation, he seems happy enough. Many consider tranferring to other companies and resigning. Emails being sent to everyone from the top management explaining how hard it was for them to let them go. Beautiful stuff, but it just can't hide the horrible decision behind it. It's such a bad start for Monday. ... come to think about it, maybe it is a good time for me to move on to. *sigh*


By the way, have u seen my office look? :P Here it is.

Here is another me...

Introducing Nettie (my colleague)...

Update (5.23 PM): This morning when I asked my boss if he saw any ghost while in Khao Lak, he said, "Sure! There were just two rooms occupied! I'm promoting you to go to Khao Lak to take care of the business." (Yeah, boss. Very funny. HA HA HA) Anyway, he just checked my work and told me that I do not need to go to Khao Lak yet! Lol! I'm glad there was no mistake on the reconciliations. :P Blah.

~ Green Me ~

Been wondering where I was for the past four months? Nowhere. :) Not to worry I'm still alive and well. There is no good reason for my absence. No bumps or bruises are worth ranting about. "The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things". Things like cooking for my loved ones or tending my little green garden outside my bedroom windows which somehow comsumes more than 15% of my time in life. This brings me to my topic for the day... Plants. The happiness I get from watching them grow and bloom is so simple, yet it sticks with me for a long long time. I can't put my feelings into words, but you should try keeping a plant or two... then you'll know what I mean. :) (You can go green to help the earth... by just starting with little plants.)
Recently, I was given African Violet leaves for propagation. I put them in my glass and now I can see the roots shooting from the base of each leaf. I have to keep them in front of my computer sceen in the office during the weekday and by the big window along the corridor during the weekend. I think I'll get yellowish white flowers. I just can't wait to plot them in pots.

Credit: http://community.livejournal.com/africanviolets/14164.html#cutid1

Since I will be keeping pretty pretty African Violets, I started doing some research online and came across this amazing site <Siam Violet>. The site is, of course, in Thai. I find it filled with little tips and beautiful pics of African Violets. :) Browsing through each post in the webboard section, this post just amazed me. It shows these pictures (so the credit of these pics goes to Khun Tooh, the one who posts these pics).





Beautiful isn't it? They are called "Ranunculus". What makes the plants even more intriguing is the sweet tale behind the name.

In fairy tales frogs are apt to change into princes and it was an Asian prince in just such a story who gave his name to this flower, which grows naturally in swampy ground. The prince was so good-looking that he was loved by everyone. He also had a beautiful voice but this was his undoing. He loved the open country and sang delightful songs in the presence of nymphs. He did not have the courage to declare his love to them and this haunted him so much that he died. After his death he was changed into the flower with delicate tissuey petals which bears his name. ~ Flowers & Plants

How can I not blog about this lovely story behind the name? After reading and looking at these gorgeous flowers, how can I not fall in love with them?

PS. I'll post pics of my plants up as soon as dad decides to return my cam. :)

~ On Something Silly ~

Ok... I can say that I am officially broke. I shouldn't have gone shopping today. I mean I spent over 2,500 baht in just a few hours. I was on this shopping therapy (that's what Kitz used to always say). The 2,500 baht shopping and around a 1,000 baht on meals at Central World today really ruin my spending plan. Not that I don't have anymore cash, but I had this perfect spending plan for this month. However, today alone just blew that plan right out the window. Lol! Although the shopping therapy does help and although I'm not regretting anything I bought and spent on, I have to still fasten my belt a little so I could make it to the end of the month safely. *sigh* Daddy please do not scold me on this... I mean I know it's stupid but hey it helps me get the stress out and I did get to exercise after walking miles after miles. See! That's the upside of wasting your money on something like this shopping therapy. :)








Anyway, I'm loving my new pair of shoes.... they're just sooo sooo sooo cute! :P They go well with my little fluffy beige skirt. The scarf will be used a lot because the colour is just right for most of my stuff. I also got adorable two suede bags... one navy blue and one purple. I luv the flowery dress. It should go well with belts I have. :) I'm wearing them after the mourning period next week. :) Next month I'm going back for more dresses, but have to set a reasonable budget for this shopping spree... otherwise I'll be begging my poor parents for money. Lol!