Weekend Postcards

Friday Evening : "We're lost, man!"
Sungai Wang with ASSilem while she whined constantly about two things. The amount of ah-lians there and how Soul Plane sucked. Okay, its Sungai Wang. Duh. (Sorry, Ange). And she complained about Soul Plane as many times as there are DVD shops in Sungai Wang. It was half-amusing seeing how she'd walk into a new area of the complex, look around bewilderedly by twisting her entire body (much like how a puppy would chase its tail) and exclaim "We're so lost, man." Heh. Dude, I grew up in the Golden Triangle. We'd never get lost even if we tried.
We went back to my place at 9:20 p.m. on Friday night and saw that my mom wasn't even home yet. Prime of our lives on a weekend night and we were home even before my mother. Such losers, we are.

Saturday : The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful.
It was a nice day. Properly warm and breezy without overheating. A quiet, sleepy day good for reading Mark Twain in a park and listening to Jamie Cullum. But I wouldn't know about all that- I was in church.
It was such a packed and hectic day. Had so many things to do all at once. Attend the skit practice, music practice, make sure they don't kill the new song, teach Kingdom Grace, talk to newcomers, talk to Uncle Pat, discuss CHAMPS stuff with three different people... eurgh!
I just shut down and decided to spend the time I didn't have laughing at/with Lyd, Daniel and Ken Han. I truly have no sense of time or priorities.
Passed the day in such a dizzy blur. But it was over at long last and I came back to an empty house (Mom in Penang, Taiko in Mont Kiara), the house phone was broken so no one could even check up on me. I was home alone, watching Firefly episodes and busy putting off CHAMPS preparation. IMed with Mel, Lyd, Lois, Deids, Andy, Krys, Geri, Maddog til 5 in the morning.
Went home at 9:00 p.m. on a Saturday night and my mother was living it up in a 5-star hotel by the beach. Prime of my life on a weekend night, with no one checking up on me and I was home. Such a loser, I am.

Sunday Morning : Shiny Dinosaur Stickers To You
Sara is so cute. Joey is adorable. Samuel is endearingly super blur. But to have them all coloring at the same table at the same time is just overwhelmingly delightful. I couldn't resist temptation and snuck upstairs to visit the Mini-CHAMPS (as I term the three-to-sixes). Rachel is such a big girl now, she didn't need anyone holding her hand anymore. I sat with the tiny babies and proclaimed each piece "SO nice!" because of a particular color or technique they used (Sara uses lots of pink and Joey scrawled on her paper with a blunt pencil). After patting Ally on the head and telling her how impressed I was that she could write her own name and complimented her Shiny Dinosaur Sticker, I did the Shiny Sticker thing with her. You take the sticker and move it about so the light reflects off it, making it twinkle. The third time I did the "Ooh, shiny/twinkle" thing, I stopped halfway because I realised Lyd was doing it with me, our hands freezing in the 'twinkle' pose as we eye each other bemusedly. Its a dumb thing to do, really- cause they're not really paying attention to you at all. I asked Sara if I could leave and kissed her goodbye when I got her nod of approval. Made suitably impressed sounds about her paper flower as I left, "VERY nice. Its red color like your shirt." and complimented a group of dismissing kids on their Shiny Animal Stickers.
As I make my way downstairs, my mental gears shift drastically and painfully as I yell at a bunch of 11-year old hooligans for running down the stairs. "Walk fast. Don't run!" and "Aren't you s'posed to be in class?"
First time on the job as main teacher for th' 7-10 kids. Oh, the pressure. Because I'd been busy the past few weeks, I hadn't managed to sit and observe other classes to get a feel of it. So I strode into pre-service Prayer Time with faux confidence, flashing my charming grin and ruffling hair as I pass an astounding turnout of kids. Almost 20 of them in a class where they'd voluntarily worship, pray and share testimonies. I'd never have had done anything of that sort when I was their age. Heck, I still wouldn't do anything of that sort now.
Two eager, chubby little Indian boys were fussing over the microphone in the front, explaining to me how the wires were tangled up and there wasn't any sound coming out from the speakers. I indulge them a little while by leaving the 'technical problem' in their 'capable hands' while I got to know the rest of the class.
"So, what happens now?" I ask them. "What do you usually do now?"
They all explain the worship-prayer-testimony thing. I was impressed, and told them as much. My Youth cell-group doesn't even do that.
"Teacher! I can lead worship! I always lead worship." The 10-year old little Indian boy exclaims in a loud voice, picking up the songbook and dragging his chair to the front of the room already. We sing 5 songs, all once each. I think its adorable how he peeks up at me toward the end of each song to see if he can get away with one more.
Teacher Carol comes up to me after the last song and tells me that the main service has started and that we usually release them 5 minutes before. Oops. I have no sense of time whatsoever. I'm really still in the FST zone (First-Service Time). Shift lag (like jet lag, 'cept without th' plane).
Okay, so I wrap up quickly, telling 'em that we were outta time and I dismissed them with a quick prayer. As I was doing this a really skinny boy started collected the songbooks and stacked them nicely, returning it to- well, whereever it came from.
It was so surreal, this dedication and devotion. 'This class'll be a piece of cake' I thought.
So, when they all crowded around me as I tried herding them next door for class I smiled kindly and took a minute we didn't have to listen to 'em.
"Teacher, where's my coupon?"
"Teacher, I get three coupons because I worship lead just now!"
"I pack the songbooks- I'm supposed to get two coupons."
"Teacher, can I have my coupon now, my mother is going home already."
Little mercenaries.

P.S.- 'Coordinator' is a fancy name for 'person-who-packs-up-everything-after-everyone-goes-home'.

Sunday Evening : Mocha Glaze, Banana Choc and Raspberry Doughnuts.
Eating three Dunkin' Donuts when you haven't had anything else all day is a really bad idea.
Mom is still living it up in Penang. No word yet from her. Maybe she found some dashing tourist and they're partying. Maybe she's stuck in her hotel room watching nature documentaries on Channel 4. She's still living it up more than I am.
Taiko and girlfriend has taken over the living room and blasting some TVB show about concubines and 'palace intrigue'. 30 CDs- 30 episodes each 40 minutes long.
Prime of my life on a Sunday evening and I'm home with a sugar high and little else. *sigh* That's me.