Alphabets

Tonto's Mum

Tonto's Mum passed away on Monday. It was a bit of a shock to us all as she seemed well the last time we saw and spoke to her (SFM and I saw her about 4 weeks ago when she gave us a car-full of plants for our little garden). 

Tonto is  devastated but seems to be holding up - efficiently dealing  with all the logistics (she is alone as her siblings are all abroad; they arrived home yesterday) .  SFM and I have been visiting her and trying to help as much as we can without getting in the way.  We are also thankful that D is there with her.

There have been lots of visitors coming to the house, and when we were there last night, we noticed the abundance of flowers with little notes attached. These bouquets were from friends and family around the world. 

She was much loved and will certainly be missed by all.

sorting out dates

Thanks everybody for the wishes. Am very happy to get the messages/texts/email.  Isnt it funny how life takes us around little corners of disappointments and then amazing turns of happiness!

We have settled on the wheres (la malaysie for simple ceremony and vic falls for the par-tay) but not the whens.  There doesnt seem to be a free weekend between all of the avis famile activities: SFman travelling schedule, my HK trips, ma avis's hectic social calendar, big bro al's 20-year school reunion, azuredec's NYC marathon and axle's banditos getting hitched.  who said, planning weddings were easy eh? this is just the dates, we have not even got to colour scheme and outfits. heh.

xxx

last week was a duff week for exercise. we didnt get any squash in due to us both having to work late. the only bit of activity was a walk around kiara hill on sunday afternoon with the avis siblings, partners and koalas. the first 2 koalas certainly enjoyed themselves, running around - releasing their pent up energy, picking up sticks and leaves, talking to the monkeys and whooping around. baby koala couldnt believe how green everything was outside her buggy, irises  so wide that a random passerby couldnt help but remark on how big her doe eyes were.

it was fun and should definitely become a regular event in the avis calendar.

xxx

otherwise, its business as usual. avalanche of papers. never ending deadlines. all urgent. all now.

am really trying to keep stress at bay,  maintain healthy lifestyle - get back into working out (esp now to get into outfits for the wedding (!), eating nutritious food (no more of those monosodium glutamate fuelled hawker nosh), and having enough zeds so that am picture of health: mind, body and soul.

anyone up for a squash game?

oh what a day

we had a cozy gettogether at pups aka al on pre-valentines day.  its been ages since the siblings got together. we stuffed our faces with  delish pasta and salad prepared by nan and laughed about all manner of things.

like the youngest koala's query on where god is. is  god really 'everywhere'? he quizzed his folks.

• is god also in a shoe?
• is he  also in a hamburger?

xxx

this morning, at the crack of dawn,  i received a call from an unrecognised  number. took the call and discovered that azuredec was on the line.   she sounded  disoriented and the background was noisy.

azuredec: rara, i've been in an accident.. with a bus.
rara: (deep breath). are you fine? are you safe? did you break anything?
azuredec: i am fine. but i dont know what to do.
rara: ok, just stay there. am on my way to you now. where are you?
azuradec: outside the car.
rara: no, sweets, whereabouts  are you?
azuredec:  i am outside the car
rara: locationwise?
azuredec:  outside the car
rara: right azuredec. listen. to.me.  focus. what is the name of the road that you are on now.

xxx

we found her. sunflower man and i. pups too whom i had called at that unearthly hour to break the news to.   she was sitting on a stool, on the corner of a junction, dazed and confused. surrounded by shards of glass and remnants of what was once the rear door of a bus.
her car was wrecked, almost totally. windscreen, mudguard, lights, bonnet cover and probably the frame of engine. 

we hugged azures,  emptied her  car, checked that she didnt have any broken bones and took her home.

xxx

azl and nan came soon thereafter. all together we managed to sort things out. the tow truck. the  trip to the doc to ensure azures didnt have any other injury beside the bruises and swollen ankle.  a visit to the police station. the bank for the title deed. the insurance folks. the repairshop.

xxx

it was a lucky escape for azures. had the bus not stopped to let off a passenger 500 metres  prior to the junction,  it would have tored down that street and caused more damage than we bear to imagine.

never mind the almost totalled zippy, i am glad she is safe, in one piece and recovered enough to resume blogging.

now thats one heck of a valentine present.

 

ma avis

dropped by the folks' house after being out for dins with them and azures.  [azures had kindly treated us to some delish nosh - yums!]

older bro, pupster and wifey- the nan bread + koalas were meant to join us but were overcome by jet lag from their recent return from the big apple and DC. they  thus opted for snooze time instead of chowzers.

younger bro, axle rose was out playing tennis completely unaware of dinner plans as everyone had forgot (again!) to book his time. they we were guilty of assuming once more, that since he is the youngest in the familia that he didnt have a "real" life with hours of activities that necessarily involved them us.

xxx

some time chit chatting with ma avis and being excited/excitable - pups had brought some wrapped presents from aunts in DC for the women in the family. they were opened with glee. oooh cute pix frames for the twins, big brown bag to fit kitchen sink and more for ma avis and 3 lipsticks for mum and dots. one each. to choose!

xxx

looking at ma avis and her pleasure  derived from present of above average size bag that will fill with soooooooo many things (just in case) makes me realise that ma avis is a lot like me. or rather i am alot like her.

xxx

apart from the obsession with giant handbags to carry our worldly possessions (and in my case + 2 books to read) -

we're both mad for travelling. me - trailing mountains the other side of the world. she - chasing the mid-night sun north of the globe. like hilary, just because they're there.

we send postcards all asunder. from where we are. to whom we care.

and write letters too. long convoluted ones. less often, short simple ones. 

and we hoard. old letters. faded bills. stacks of receipts. scribbled notes on variable notebooks. to do lists. handy hints. receipes. addresses. poems. numbers. phrases. idioms. pallindromes. anything. everything.

we love being around people. and we care. we feel immensely for others so much so we get taken for a spin by the joy riders of emotions.

we're independent. and invincible.

we're nutty. we love cashews first, pistachios second. maybe brazil third.

we're also stubborn. we like getting our own way.  we're bossy.  we think we know best - even when we dont (that is sometimes, just sometimes). we enjoy selling ideas and feel particularly chuffed when others buy them of us without noticing.

xxx

and  of course theres more. much more of her that i am not. for ma avis is quite a special character. (whistle)

xxx

and some of the characteristics of her i dont have, i see within the adorable azures.  but i wont go into it now, for that merits an entry all on its own.

xxx