Hey, it wasn’t deliberate, ok. I was recalled for “National Service” 2 weeks ago.

My younger niece, Laura, was suspected to have a mild case of chicken pox. Because there was a new-born baby at home, Laura had to be quarantined with me at my home. After Laura went back to her parents, her elder sister Hannah came over to stay.

I love my nieces. They are a joy to have around. Each of them shows me how beautiful she is when she speaks, plays and looks at me. Somehow or other, children just bring out the best in us.

The 2 weeks were incredible as Laura had fevers that went up to 4oC. Man, it was traumatic and tiring – checking her fever constantly, struggling with her when she did not want her medicine and so on. She wanted to be carried all the time. Poor kid. It ended up with me picking up the bug and am now coughing like a cat with a fur-ball stuck in her throat.

It is good to be back. Oh, so good. There is only so much Barney at the Zoo one can take.

I had applied for an online course with ACRL and it started just as I started my NS. Man, switching from Barney in the day to writing out a teaching portfolio in the night was surreal to say the least. With strains of Baby Bop singing “Elephant, elephant…” still running through my head, I had to interpret my teaching perspectives and how these related to the teaching metaphor that I had constructed earlier. Oh yah, I felt like Dali’s melting clock all right.

Anyway, as I lift up my spoonful of Robitussin, here is to glorious work and no more purple dinosaurs! Cheers!