Saturday, July 22, 2006

Happy birthday to me...

The candles have gone out once again...all five of them. And over the last couple of years, I've made it a point to keep my birthday memories alive, right here in cyberland. This year is no exception. Let me start off by saying that turning 23 has been painful...

The party pooper
Well, I feel sorry for myself, having to start my birthday memories with this but I can't help it...It really made an impression.

At 23 years and 1 day old, I was plagued with a terribly sore right eye. I'm not kidding. It was bad...I saw 3 different doctors who each prescribed eye drops and ointments and antibiotics like there's no tomorrow. It was so bad that I had to take three days off work. The pain was so excruciating that I was practically living off painkillers. My bedroom floor was littered with tissue paper because I couldn't stop tearing. To make things worse, I couldn't use the computer or watch TV.

In short, my right eye swelled so much that I seriously thought I was going blind. My eyes nearly popped out (literally) when the doc said it'll take 1-2 weeks to recover.

Thankfully, the swell is subsiding, slowly but surely ;)

The presents
Thanks to all who've showered me with gifts. This birthday, the best present I received is love. Yes, I know, it sounds so totally cliche, but I'm still gonna say it anyway.

Whenever I'm sick, I would dread telling my mum about it because she never fails to play doctor and give me a diagnosis of why I've fallen ill. Given the very sore eye that I had, it was impossible to hide it from her. Only this time, her words were like music to my ears. (They say that when one sense fails, the others become more alert). I was so desperately in pain and she provided me the comfort that I needed so badly. No doubt she was nagging about me, using contact lenses and blah blah blah...but she is by far, the only one who truly understood the pain I was in. I could see it in her eyes, and I really appreciate her for it. It's true what they say, that when a child is hurting, her mother feels the pain just as much, if not more. The other thing that fills me with admiration for my mum is the fact that she prays ever so fervently. My mum is a very simple and plain woman, but whenever she prays, she becomes an angel in disguise. And for some very strange reason, I feel so at ease and comforted each time she prays for me...as if her prayers have the ability to reach God faster.

And of course, love comes in the form of Hilary. Hil is someone I can always rely on. In him, I see Christ and His unconditional love. Hil would be the one to accompany me to the doc, sit there with me for hours, trying to help me forget my pain. He would be the one who buys me tou-huay, even though I told him not to, but deep down, I really wanted it and I'm glad he bought it. He would be the one to hold my hand till I fall asleep before quietly going home at 1am in the morning. God, there's so much to love about Hilary and I'm so thankful for him.

The birthday!
Ok, enough of my grunting and whining and endless whimpering. Now for the happy bimbotic stuff. Yipee! In a nutshell, this was how I spent my birthday: Woken up by a birthday song (by Hil), had prata for breakfast, watched Pirate of the Caribbean 2, had lunch at Jack's, went to Wild Wild Wet, picked family up for dinner at Brazillian Steakhouse, went home for the cake. Here are the pictures!

Ebony & Ivory party!
In a random moment of genius (and boredom), Herms and I decided to have a joint birthday celebration. So with the help of Gab, we put together a colour-themed party called Ebony & Ivory! (for rather obvious reasons...) Anyway, there's a colour code: My friends in white, Herms' friends in black and 'shared' friends in grey.