it's often said that a very close couple tends to follow one another in passing from this world to the next

and indeed, it's happened for our most senior hammies

the man has followed, peacefully curled up underneath his wheel

again, the hammie at my place is blissfully unaware that he's now officially an orphan

all i can do is to give him as good a life as shu has given to her eldest ones =)

hmmm chances are pretty low, but we'll still give it a good go!



wish us luck! =p

I think it's becoming a habit for me to count my blessings yearly after birthday season =p

A simple feeling of thankfulness for the people who've thought about me. Instead of putting it in chronological order, let's start with the ones which really mean the most to me...

And of course, we start with Shufeng. Thanks darling, for being there, for spending 72 hours and more entirely with me, and being such a wonderful girl all this while. I can't thank you enough =)

Then there's family -- Much thanks to Dad and Mum for booking the dinner at Shangri-La. Expensive, but the experience was good. Thanks to Aunt too, though her well-meant Haagen-Daaz ice cream cake got melted before we could bring it home. And to Laura too for her cute pair of phone chains... And of course Shu for being her usual reassuring self =)

Then the band gang for turning up at my place on National Day, and making it for the birthday cake thing -- Yihua, Jiamin, Zhiwei, Kris, Shiyun + Bf, Jingyi, Shuwen, Kelvin, Huijun, Emmeline for turning up, and Jianwei and Shiqi for really wanting to come along though it was really late already. And of course Shu for being her usual reassuring self =p

And a recent addition to my burgeoning social circle -- Colleagues at school, who surprised me with a well-acted out staff lounge cake thing. Senior Teacher Clarence came to me in a serious tone and said he needed to speak to me about NE stuff, and we proceeded to the lounge, where the dept broke into song. Totally taken in, hook, line and sinker. Talk about teachers being drama heh. Felt really touched and warmed by the quick acceptance I've been lucky to receive in the past year.

Then the more social gang at work -- Sophia, Shihua, Alvin, Sam, Jasmine, Ravin, Brett, Sarina. Got a nice treat at Changi T2 Swensen's. Great to have been readily accepted into this gang of fun irreverent people at work =)

And of course, with technology booming, and the rise of social networking sites, first there's sms, and then facebook. Let's list down some names so I don't forget (or I try not to forget) to thank these people and wish them happy birthday in return too! =D

via phone calls: Zonghe + Peixin (we're still waiting!), Shu's Mummy!

via SMS: Zhiwei, Shiqi, Daddy, Jianwei, Shawn, Jolie, Laura, Jiamin, Mummy, Xuanxuan, Yaoliang, Chris, Jianye, Mr Lee, Sathya, Shuwen, MAJ Lai, Shufeng (hehe), Gladys, Khairul, Fahmy, Yean Hwee, Jerrybuddy, Shiyun, Zhangjun, Huijun, Yijun, Yubing, Yihua, Junye, Xiuling, Cousin Zhen, Yana, Mark, Vivian, Eric, Yidali.

via Facebook: Cynthia, Amin, Eunice, Yihui, Shoo Mei, Eerong, William, Alvin, Jasmine, Leonard, Desmond, Syai, Kiang, Laxe, Marc, Jasmine, Cheung Kit, Vanessa, Mark, Audrina, Nat, Xin-wei, Alfiza, Winston, Qian Ping, Don, MAJ Simon, Oliver, Sharmaine, Genevieve, LTC Kevin, Tiffany, Karen, Benedict, Dawn, Edward, Tiffany, Zhifong, Elizabeth, Hui'En, Lewis, Gigi, Danny, Yubing, Jiin Joo, Aloysius, Jennifer.

Type finish liao, I think I'm insane. I could've marked a couple of essays in the meantime =p That said, still, I feel really loved at the end of this, and I think I'm really fortunate. Thanks all!

-warm and fluffy mood-