December: Reaching the End of 2020

December is a happy month for me. I celebrate my mom's birthday, National Mother's Day, some of my friends' birthdays, and one of my closest friend's wedding. Also, I have my Christmas holiday! Oh yay, that is the most exciting part!

It's been a while I did not post any documentation here. While we are reaching 2020, I want to close this 2020 with some documentations. On mom's birthday, we did have a simple celebration. Not a fancy cake, just a traditional cake that she loves. We celebrated before dinner and I rushed to continue tutoring again. Haha. Some photos of years ago appeared on my IG archive and my Google Photos. I love to see how mom ages beautifully. She remains beautiful no matter how many kg she lost and gained. I am grateful that she is still healthy until now. I cannot lie that she does face some degeneration issues. However, she manages live actively and still can do what she likes and wants. I am truly grateful for shat. I did request for Chinese characters for her birthday cake, but the bakery was not able to do it. Mom is fond of Chinese characters but English is not that bad too. She can understand some simple phrases. We had a family photo on the dining table. Our dining table is indeed small, but I always love it. All the unnecessary and deep conversation happened there and it will be always a sentimental furniture for me. On the wall, we have my sister's embroidery hoops. She works on them with her own hands. They are beautiful, aren't they? This year, we can't visit restaurants or hang out at public sites. Mom also agreed not to dine-in at any restaurants as we are still facing this pandemic. We had mom's homecook. Nothing is so special but everything is as warm as it is. We are still together, healthy and safe. That's more important than anything

Ah, now I remember why I rarely post any photos here. Since there were so many scams using someone else's pictures, I was quite anxious to post photos here. Even I lock my Instagram to private because there was a time when some accounts with inappropriate contents kept following my account. It was a bit scary for me. I think I will just post some not-so-confidential photos here. I mean, the non-living things. Haha. What a weird me.

Then, on the last working days in 2020, I am grateful that God pointed this environment for me. A warm place like a second home. We did not have potluck like previous year's tradition, but we did have a warm closing. Our superior bought some cakes to cheer with us. My dear colleague, Beau, shared her beautiful hand-drawn bookmark and cookies with us. Maggie, Laoshi and I shared some super delicious food. I was beyond blessed to meet a lot of kind colleagues here. I literally have a pleasant break.

Christmas tree with handmade decorations from students and parents

Handmade cookies and bookmark by Biu Biu

Sweet gesture from our superior

On 21st Dec, we celebrated Winter Solstice. We almost missed it because Mom thought it was on 22nd Dec. A neighbour shared us blue and purple food colouring. Thank you, auntie! The colours were beautiful! We never used blue before. Ah, we did. I think last year we used blue pea, but we only had little blue pea flowers so the colour was not that vibrant. 

The yellow is from Nutri Sari!

Some trial errors for colour mixing

Kyaaa ! I love the vibrant colours!

Mom used to boil Gula Melaka with ginger but this year, we use the white sugar because we want to see the vibrant colours. The taste was not as good as Gula Melaka, but we still love it! I shared some with Laoshi a day before she headed back to her hometown.

Overall, I really enjoy this December despite all the Covid-19 issues. I hope everyone remains safe and healthy while we are moving to 2021. I'm super duper ready for 2021 !!!

Warm and Full

 

Credit to iDibujos on Pinterest.

It was raining heavily outside.
Thunder was heard several times.
The cold wind blew from the windows.
I was preparing for my online tutoring session.

I went to the kitchen to grab some water and passed the bedroom.
The door was open.
I saw my mother and my sister having a nap,
covered by blanket.
I did not have any idea.
Simple view like that could give me much peace.
My heart was immediately full.

The wind did not feel cold anymore but warm.
I am grateful that my family is healthy.
I am grateful that they are here with me.
I am grateful that I still can spend time with them.
These happiness and gratitude are irreplaceable.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Life After Surgery: 4 years post-op

4 years.

I am always this melancholic when it is 24^th August. It is like my second birthday when I was given another chance to live, another chance to cherish. How are you doing, Darla? A lot of things happened in 4 years. I always update my life annually for many post-op situation. Can you imagine if one day when I am old, I will read the compilation of my pre & post-op stories. It will be amazing to look back at the journey.

My physical condition is so far so good, like how I described it in my 3 years post-op entry. I still do my back exercise regularly. One thing I currently can’t do is only swimming, due to the Covid-19……….. *crying inside* I miss swimming so muchh…. Talking about Covid-19, I had WFH (Working From Home) for several months. During the first three months of WFH, it was challenging because I sat in front of the laptop for more than 17 hours. I experienced shoulder pain several times because of passivity. It was hard to set boundaries for the working hours during WFH. Now that I’m working from office, everything is normal. My working hours and workload are normal again and I have no physical issue. Ah ya, for long sitting hours at home, I always have a waist support at my chair. I have had it since I had the surgery. It is useful to support my waist and back so that I rarely have lower back pain if I have to sit for long. Either you have back issue or not, I’m pretty sure it is useful for anyone who sits most of the day. It is easily purchased from the e-commerce or any houseware store.

Recently, I have email correspondence with a scoliosis patient’s parent. I’m always glad if my blog can be fruitful to anyone who is looking for information about scoliosis. Thanks to the internet, information is now more accessible. Before I had my surgery, I gained a lot of information from the other patients’ blogs and correspondence. I join several scoliosis community on social media. One of the most active community is Indonesia Scoliosis Community. The members are not only patients but also the parents. They actively share information about scoliosis, the treatment or any doctor recommendation. I am forever grateful to those who helped me during my hard times. Having adequate information helps patients and guardians a lot in preparing their mental before the surgery. The storm in the mind can’t be avoided. Our mind goes wild when the word “surgery” comes. Social support really matters. I feel so honoured when I have a chance to be part of a patient’s social support.

Next year is supposed to be my another follow up appointment with Prof. Kwan but I think it will be postponed due to the Covid-19. It does not really matter since it is not an urgent appointment and I am still doing well. In every follow up, I will have an X-Ray and Prof. Kwan will examine my back. I did well on my last follow up and Prof. Kwan gave me a statement letter of which sections of my spine can receive anesthesia if I give birth. Prof. Kwan said, “Just in case, in the next three years, you might have come with your baby, I provide this letter.” I could not stop laughing. Here I come, still keeping the statement letter well. Lol.

Well, those paragraphs sum up my mind for this 4 years post-op celebration. Happy anniversary, my dear titaniums! I’m glad that you exist and help me to stop my curve from progressing. I’m glad that God let me met Prof. Kwan and his team four years ago. I’m grateful to meet a lot of kind people in my life. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

That Click!

Life never fails to surprise me.

I am very awkward when it comes to making new friends. Suprisingly, there are some people I can get along with in just a few times meeting, or even the first meeting. It feels like we have ever been friends since long time ago. We have that click. I believe in this click.

However, I also meet some people that I find it hard to get along with them no matter how hard I have tried or how many years we have known each other. Sometimes I wonder, too. Why I can't get along with them. Thank to my ignorant trait, it has never been a big deal for me because I easily forget my problem. Hahaha. 

I am grateful for those two types of people. The people who give me that 'click' feeling has taught me that I still can make new friends despite how awkward I am. I am very grateful to be able to meet a lot of good people in my life. For those people I hardly get along with, it does not mean that they are bad. Some of them are even actually very kind being. They teach me patience and universal love. We might not be people who share our life experience but I can learn to be kind to them. Maybe it is not that I can't get along with them, it just takes longer.

Everyone can be our teacher and everyone has a lesson to share with us. I am truly grateful that God keeps adding beautiful souls in my circle. Hopefully, I can learn to grow a beautiful soul inside me, too. Have a nice day, everyone! 🌻

What Has Covid-19 Taught You?

Hi Darla~

8^th June 2020.

Our Mother Earth has not recovered from this Covid-19, a virus that has taught us a lot of life lessons. We used to take everything for granted. We did not realize that everything in our lives has been a great gift since the beginning. It takes this pandemic to teach us.

This Covid-19 also brings the best yet the worst of us. This is not an easy situation. Everyone is facing their harsh reality. I am not here to judge yet we can use every chance to reflect. Is this situation trying to bring out the best part of me or I might turn out to miss my humanity?

Since beginning of April, I have been working from home. I am a truly home person. It is totally okay for me not to go to the shopping centers or hanging out with my friends. I enjoy my working in pyjamas and hair bun. Of course I do miss a lot of things. I used to talk to my students during weekdays and if we had holiday, the longest to separate with them was only 2-3 weeks. I used to be occupied by them. I used to scold them (😅), talk random things, from Boba to their games, spend my break time and lunch time with them, etc. Now it has been more than 2 months. I still meet them on the online class but the time is shorter and my interaction with them is very limited. We did not have enough time to chit chat. You know, being an educator is not only about what’s on the books. There is a lot of things we can share with them and they also have a lot of things to teach us. This interaction, I miss it, a lot. Not to mention they are going to the next level, I might no longer meet them. It is so heartbreaking that we cannot have proper farewell and I cannot give them big hugs (and my melancholic speech).

The other thing I miss is spending time with my workmates. My workmates have been amazing. I missed the times I had to go around and ask them what we would order for lunch. I missed the sharing time after teaching hours. When someone cooked or bought snack, we would share. When someone wanted to order stuffs from e-commerce, everyone might join you. We could argue, too. Arguing for unnecessary stuffs and we would laugh together again tomorrow. We still keep in touch and support each other during this online learning period. Things have not been easy. Teaching online is surely challenging and I spent like 3 times extra effort to prepare the materials and other tasks. It was extremely exhausted at the first month. Once I had my breakfast, I sat in front of the laptop until midnight. I only left the chair for toilet and food. Not to mention if we had deadlines, I might pull some nights. After a while, I managed to put things together and get my life back. I could not count how many times I inhale deeply to put myself together in some hard situations. I was like, “Okay, Fera. You are not alone. Things will get better soon.” Some tears had to flow to relieve myself. Sometimes, it’s okay not to be okay. I broke down and got up again. Standing tall and strong to continue this challenge. Thank God that I have my family as my core support, my workmates who are always willing to listen to my sharing, and my friends who still check on me at times.

Now, we are more aware when it comes to health. I easily get flu since I was little. I have a very sensitive nose, so I get running nose often. During this Covid-19, if I go out with my running nose, people might be scared to death, watching me sneezing here and there. I tried to take more supplements and enhance my natural healthy lifestyle. It is not as bad as how it is used to be. I decide to stay at home when I am not feeling well. I rarely go out anyway, during this Covid. I only go out for groceries shopping with my mother like once a week. My mother can’t stand me being OCD. We always shop at traditional market. We manage to always wear mask, keep physical distancing and use hand sanitizer. The problem of traditional market is just the payment. They only receive cash and we cannot avoid holding cash. Yeah, so here I am. OCD starts to develop. 😅

Ah, what I am very grateful is I still have chance to have my warm lunch and dinner together with my family. Usually, I was too mobile, going here and there and sometimes miss the meal with my family. You know, it feels like a sudden stop and you have more time to look around you. I can see what I have been missing and try to put things to its place.

We are half way to go to end this 2020. Things will be better if we keep trying. Let’s survive, Darla~ We have to stay safe and sane! One day, when you flashback to this Covid-19 period, you will be amazed, "Oh, wow! We went through that?!?" Let's treasure this moment.

How about you, what has Covid-19 taught you?



-Fera-