of joys today

Today has been a good day. Several ups that made me feel like I must have gone up several notches closer to heaven:

1) (this is not exactly a pc of exhilarating news, more of a "relief" actually)
- a continuation to the "tough day @ work - fri, 15 sept" - the mediation at tutor, SH, HOD level all hit blank wall. am glad in a way to hand it over to VP.. he too, got pushed near the brink of frustration by these kiddos & their mixed-up values. it's like trying to tame some foreign raging bull. the parent rang me up 1.5hr ago.. thank buddha i can be v firm and eloquent when i need to. no pushover but no arrogant tyrant either. i listened and reiterated the rightful, official stance. what's important is i know my conscience is clear and i can still sleep at night. looks like we've got quite a big battle looming ahead. i really am just looking for a win-win.

2) (this is THE gift of the day)
- boss gave a very public, big dose of endorsement during meeting today. and he was actually conveying a msg from the higher-ups at hq. this was the clearest & biggest pat on head as yet, and i'm not ashamed to admit that i'd probably replay the words one more time in my head b4 i hit the sack tonite. it's feedback abt my 'performance' during the recent aussie study trip (gosh, i didn't even think officers were being assessed for the trip's objectives were to establish links and review systems & processes, not people). If there was a cloud in that room then, i'd have been bouncing on it. silly me think i may just do a quick jot of those musical words of praise somewhere - the joy at having been acknowledged and appreciated is pure.. =) thank you, all of you who've put in a good word. many thanks. *hee*

3) (this is definitey also a good gift)
- went marking with twin & hl at new cathay' starbucks. initially it was just a spontanous decision btw twin & myself in early morning, then hl asked too, so all went together. frankly, i miss twin. all these while that we 'spent apart', yeah.. there's a little of an invisible wall, but ultimately, there's still an underlying sense of warmth & ease, one that connects two. and i'd really hope that whatever mysteriously happened 2 yrs+ ago that dampened it will magically appear this time to reverse & solidify it. another small step forward - bonding thru red pen wielding.

Thank u (from up above) for the joys bestowed upon me today. I'm ur humble servant.