My boss told me that we have to make hay while the sun shines. Make Hay.. Make Hay he says. Usually he doesn't come up with such phrases. He's usually a yes.. no.. k... go ahead kinda guy. So i ask for some hay. That made him laugh but he did send me some hay.
Summer holidays are almost over but we didn't seem to have our lull period this year. We had Myanmar... and we have a lot of things to do with Myanmar.
With the extra hay, i sent my dad and nephew off to Krabi for a short holiday. A 20 and a 70+ year old man. What could possibly go wrong in Krabi? Its just a collection of islands. For starters.. they almost missed their flight as the checking in queue became too long when they spent too much time having lunch at McDs.. *LOL* But it went smoothly after that. They even got to go to Nosey Parker for elephant rides thru the jungle. My dad have never sat on an elephant before so he had a good time i think.
I had a great time when i was in Krabi with my
lover urmm friend. We went on motorcycle rides without helmets and went everywhere without a care in the world. It was a very happy time and we almost missed our flight out too. We were staying 2 islands away from the airport and the ferry wait was horrendous. But Ko Lanta was beautiful. It was memorable to just be... there.
We (my siblings and i) sometimes become overly protective of my dad. I do not allow my dad to drive at night as his eyesight is not too great on one eye. I drive him to church on Saturdays. But other than that, i don't really do everything for him. Sometimes he just gets lazy and be with his ipad for many hours a day and keeps sighing and sighing.. he's bored.. hahahhahaha. When my mom was around, these two siamese twins will go everywhere together. If you see one, you'll see the other.
When we go on holidays, we would prefer that people do not call us. I didn't call them at all. If they are in trouble, they will call me. I am sometimes overly confident that they will be okay. On the other hand, my eldest sister insist on calling all the time. She even called me from Hong Kong Disneyland to complain about dad. *LOL* I told her to put down the
damn phone and go enjoy Disney. Crazy.. yes.. i have quite a circus in the family.
I stay with my dad with Dommy and some strange cats at the porch. Boy comes back during his semester breaks. Its a strange arrangement but i seem to be the most convenient one to take care of my old man. Dad doesn't really need taking care of. He's usually up and about by 6.30am and off to meet his friends at the park. As long as he is happy (and just a tad bored), i guess we'll just keep on staying here till we find new adventures.
My mom passed away 5 years ago. I spent the first 3 years grieving and just blanked out. Each day i had to deal with a very angry dad who compares my cooking with mom's. He pushes so much that sometimes i just cry and cry at night. Most of the time i was just crying because i missed my mom. After 3 years i discovered the tv again. It became a place to just numb the weariness of the day away.
This year, i realised that i was watching too much tv and just not doing anything productive with myself. I do know how to do a lot of things but i don't do it because i am lazy. After one of those days when too much cat watching got me into trouble again with dad, i went to seek shelter.
I've always have a very close unit of friends and colleagues. I missed them
all the time as they are in another town and state. My colleagues were
like my sisters. The longest hours of my life used to be when i am in
the office. We laughed and joked and did all the stupid things. We bitched too but when one is in trouble, we always get together to help out. When mom passed away, the whole group of them came all the way in a taxi to just see my mom and me. They being here with me touched me deeply.
I found my shelter in the arms of some furries. While i am not doing that much to help them, they have in turn helped me a lot by making me smile more and be happy. I made quite a lot of new friends too. Some old, some young and quite a funny mixture of people. I am practically the kid in the group.
On Sunday mornings, i sneak off to the shelter and help them take photographs of the shelter cats to post them on facebook. I've always loved how
HeARTs Speak helps the shelters by using photos and art to effect social change. I am not as good as the photographers in HeARTs Speak but practise makes perfect. I'll get there some day.
A picture can speak a thousand words. A good picture of my furry friends can up their chances of getting adopted. Taking pictures of cats is quite easy as some of them loved to pose and they don't really move much. You just got to sit with them for a few hours.. play with them.. connect and you become part of them. Usually i shoot blind as i want to connect by looking at them... they look back and i get a good head shot. I've never really seen so many different types of cats in one place. They are so beautiful and each have their own special traits.
Usually i'll take a few hundred pictures on a Sunday and post their pictures on the days that follow till i get to Sunday again. They i go seek my shelter again. Sometimes its about me needing them more than they needed me. They helped me find my balance... somehow.
Some of the furries have become my friends and most of them will just wait their turn to jump on my lap. Its heartwarming and fulfilling. Some of them have been in the shelter for a long time. Our shelter in Ipoh is a no-kill shelter. That also means that we have to go the extra mile to get some adopted so that there will never be overcrowding.
I do not know if you'll be able to view this short movie above (which is a mighty big file). They are of some of my friends at the shelter.
On another note, i went to see my friend last weekend in Kuala Lumpur. She still have not decided to go for the mastectomy yet. She'll probably live longer than me perhaps or go out with a bang. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. But its her life and if she chooses to go this way, we as friends will support her and try to be happy when we are with her. I would have liked to just club her and dragged her off to the hospital to get the tumour out but the laws do not allow me to do such foolish things. A person still has the right to choose how he/she wants to live.
We had a good weekend just laughing about stupid things. We talked about crap and crapping. Laughed about dumbness and how dumbness do not solve problems but it was a good weekend. Here's my friend again. Her hair has grown. Her short crop is quite nice. The other girl is my good buddy too. Can you see me... ? I'm the one in the middle with the camera *LOL*
My poor Dommy has been so patient with me and with my unfaithfulness. When i come back from the shelter, he's usually so happy he'll do leaps on his thin legs. Why we should always adopt and give a chance to older dogs/cats to have a forever home. Rescued dogs and cats will come with a history but most of them are grateful. They are grateful for a warm meal, a warm bed and someone to love.
When i was growing up with asthma, i was not allowed to touch or go near animals with furs. My dad still am afraid of me spending most of my time with Dom. Dom is furry.. hehehehehe He'll probably have a fit if he knows i am at the shelter with so many cats. Sometimes we are too afraid to die we forget to live.
Whatever we do, i guess the most important thing is making the moment count. Just be with the people and furries that makes you happy. Everyday is a bonus.
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