1. I fell at the beginning of December
2. Lao Ma's birthday
3. Visit by Man Ning and her Mum
4. Christmas caroling at Ben and Eunice's house
5. Opening of presents on Christmas Day
6. Sam and Tina's wedding lunch banquet
7. Goodbye 2008
I fell at the beginning of December at the Great World City carpark. I was in a rush, tripped, fell and hit my head against a stair. The swelling started immediately. To cut a long story short, the GP I saw upstairs referred me to A&E. I went straight to the Mt E A&E, got a CT scan head done and saw a neurologist. The scan was clear, meaning that I did not have a blood clot or anything else. Reflecting on this incident a few days later, while waiting at the A&E to get the scan, I was worried and a few what-if's came to my mind. What if the scan showed blood clots, bleeding etc.? I would probably have had to go for brain surgery. I was so unprepared for this. Would I come out of the surgery well again or not? Nicodemus was just born and Nat is still 3, how would Shirley cope? Suddenly, it dawned upon me how my brother-in-law would have felt before being wheeled into the OT. But he was prepared! I wasn't prepared spiritually or mentally. Mr. Gerald Ee's radio interview came to mind. One needs to get everything in order. One never knows if one would wake up the next day. Fortunately, all was clear. But I had to monitor myself for any nausea, vomiting, dizziness etc. The lump on my forehead was large that I looked like the elephant man. After a few days, my eyes became black. Now a small lump reminds me of the close shave I had on 3rd December 2008.
Bruised and battered!!!
It was Lao Ma's actual birthday on 5th December 2008. We thought we should drop by to wish her a Happy Birthday. And she seemed pleased carrying her second great grandson. We had earlier celebrated Lao Ma's birthday at the end of November with a dinner at Raffles Town Club.
Suzanne and Man-Ning decided to pay us a visit on the 21st December 2008. It was good for Nat to have someone to play with. And I think he enjoyed it. It also gave their mothers time to catch up as they do go a long way back.
Handsome Nat with pretty Man Ning.
Nat made a video camera with his lego pieces.
Nat and I made it to the Christmas caroling at Ben and Eunice's house on 23rd December 2008. It was good to experience this and I felt more so for Nat. He has to learn about the Christmas story. And of course we heard Amanda and Hanwei sing as well. They are good!!!
Carollers!!!
It was Christmas Day. We had to restrain Nat a few times from opening his presents which were under our Christmas tree. We told him that he could only open them on Christmas Day itself. And he waited and waited and waited. Finally, we told him he could open them. And he was so happy. It was also Nicodemus's first Christmas and we just had to take a photo together.
Dad and the boys on Christmas Day.
The day finally came for Sam and Tina's wedding reception. The Teohs and Lims were excited about this day as we had something up our sleeves for our "brother and sister." We had for the past few Saturdays, met to discuss what we could do for the couple without them suspecting anything. It was a good thing Sam and Tina asked Amanda and Hanwei to MC for them, so we had them and Sherman help us co-ordinate stuff. We had done a powerpoint presentation with photo input over the years from Eunice and myself. We had wanted to sing a birthday song in Vietnamese for Tina (her actual birthday), but we were foiled by Sam himself!!! Then Eunice and I conducted a general knowledge game for the couple on stage. It was fun for us and we hope for the couple too!!! All the best to Mr. & Mrs. Sam Chua ..... everlasting bliss ...... and kids of course.
The happy couple with their extended family.
Goodbye 2008. We spent a quiet new year's eve at home this year. I guess the inconvenience of bringing Nicodemus out made us decide to stay home. So we just sat in front of the TV and just chilled out!
