151201, 0855hr, illinois time.

yes. the ordeal is finally over. muahahahahahahaha... the communications exam wasn't difficult at all, though 5 minutes before the end, i found this humongous careless mistake that's probably going to cost me 5 points or something. oh well. what the heck. though i presume the rest of the class must have found this an easy paper too, i probably still have a good chance for at least a B. yeah baby! muahahahaha...

despite the temptation to stay in bed this morning, [did i mention how cosy my room is in winter? yum.] i woke up early to call home. see, i'm 14 hours before singapore time, which makes it really hard for me to call home around 9-10pm singapore time. yawn. it's too early to be awake. sheesh. but i'm really glad i called, because it turns out my relatives were at my place, celebrating the eve of hari raya. hah. yeah right. i'm guessing it's just one of the usual gambling get-togethers. haha...but anyhow, my place was just bustling with life. mom passed the phone around to all my relatives, so i got to talk to my cousins and aunts too. the most hilarious is my grandma. the minute she picked up the phone, she exclaimed in teochew, "ah-girl ah! ah-mah is very happy you got boyfriend. very happy ah! next time come back must bring back and let ah-mah see! no no, must bring back and let ah-mah see!" and my response, in order, blush --- "no lah, paiseh lah." --- "paiseh lah." --- blush some more. bleah.

i also found out from my mom that one of my cousins is getting married. i'm not close to her anymore, but i used to be, because whenever my mom brought to her place, she would take care of me, play with me, get sweets, ice-cream and all sorts of good stuff for me. i have such fond memories of times with her, i still remember her in her secondary school uniform. and gosh, she's getting married? thunder and lightning, i guess i'm not young anymore myself. heh. but i'm really happy for her, she's a really sweet and kind girl.

i didn't manage to say much to my parents though, just about enough to let them know i finished my exams, and am leaving for florida on monday. mom was shocked that we were driving there, i had to gently remind her that she told me herself not to fly anyway, in the aftermath of the terrorist hijacks.

in all, it was a good phone call. after the phone got passed around, and back into my mom's hands, i couldn't stop laughing and my mom exclaimed, "things are exciting here, yeah?" yes, of course, it was fun talking to my cousins who have not seen me for at least a year, my grandma who's glad i finally found someone, my 1st aunt who's jealous because her son doesn't have a girlfriend yet, and my 2nd aunt who's jealous because i get to travel around. most wonderful i got a share of their hari-raya-eve celebrations. *wink*