Blowing "trouble bubbles" away

After my post on disappointment yesterday, I received a few concerned email messages from friends asking me how I am and if I needed a listening ear. A very good friend of mine who is on her way overseas to start a new life, sent me an email at 12 midnight, during her transit at one of the airports, just to encourage me. I am so touched!

I also received a long distance phone call from an old friend whom I've not heard in a while and a card from another friend, with a very encouraging note, arrived in the post today.

I believe this is God's way of telling me that I'm not alone and that there are so many good people out there who genuinely care for me.

Friends, you know who you are...thank you. I am truly blessed! :)

Today's post is about bubbles! I took Osh Osh to the small neighbourhood park to blow some bubbles this evening. He's been asking for it earlier today. He can blow bubbles very well by himself but he likes it when I blow the bubbles too. This is because I can blow more bubbles than he does. He will chase after these bubbles just to grab them with both hands and run back to me saying proudly, "I catch the bubbles...so many bubbles!"

As I watch him run happily after these bubbles, I have mixed feelings. I am happy that he is so happy and so innocent and pure in so many ways. At the same time, as much as I want these moments to fill my heart with joy in its entirety, I still feel saddened by my own personal problems.

Then a thought came to me. If only my problems were like these bubbles! They will burst when I grab them just like what Osh Osh does. Either that or I can let these trouble bubbles float away higher and higher until they burst by themselves or they vanish into oblivion. Sigh, if only life was this simple.

The reality is, as you and I both know, is that life is never this simple. I managed to speak to DH earlier today just as he was getting ready to leave his accommodation to head to the course centre. He said just leave my problems aside for now and we'll talk more when he is back.

There is no point in me going round and round in circles in my own thoughts trying to think myself out of this when I can't, at least not at this moment.

So for now, I'm letting my trouble bubbles float away...

Goodbye...

Today's the last day of work for a colleague of mine. She joined the company about a year after me. We got along well with each other almost from the word go.

She's leaving for a better job elsewhere. As I'm not in the office today, we said our goodbyes yesterday. I said I'll miss her and she said we'll meet up one of these weekends as we live relatively close to each other (about 1/2 hour's drive by car).

I know we both mean it when we say we'll try to keep in touch. However, I am consciously telling myself not to set my hopes up too high. Somehow, from my personal experiences, the friendships I form at work do not seem to last when either one of us has left the company. I suppose it's because the common bond we have is our work issues and our coffee break chats at the pantry.

When we move on to a new workplace, we lose that common bond. She will have new colleagues and face new challenges.

I'm not writing her off completely. There may be a chance that this friendship might withstand the change. I've made some good friends at work whom I am still in touch with now although we've each gone our separate ways. We definitely do not see each other as often as when we were working together and some of them have even moved away.

However, thank God for the power of the internet. Without it, I wouldn't be able to keep in touch with them, view their family photos and videos and sometimes, even chat with them online!

It's definitely not the same as being in the same office together but it just means that our friendships have adapted to the change and developed a new way to sustain themselves.

I'm dedicating this post to her. May she find personal and professional fulfilment in her new workplace. Oh, the reason why I have roses in this post is because she loves roses and has several outfits with roses on them. :)