It was back to work/school as usual after the Christmas weekend and thankfully it was a short week. December is always a busy month for me at work but we were able to go away for a few days last year with the Victors, Whites and Salahudeens to Melaka. But this period, the hubs' work project has started so we can't schedule a time for it. Besides, we are going away with the eldest brother and SIL on the 2nd week of January! Can't wait for our 1st 2018 family trip!

I had to do most, if not all the pick-ups in the week because the hubs has been having late meetings. Good thing I was able to leave work slightly earlier too. 

On Saturday, we made use of the borrowed car and went to Woodlands to stock up our frozen fish supply as well as soups. And in the late afternoon, we drove off to Tampines to pick up a suitcase that Bev has helped us buy from 1 of her trips. Esther joined us, being likely the last time she will spend much time with her cousin before she enters secondary school in the coming year. 

We left shortly after picking up the suitcase and the eldest brother and SIL joined us and we were off to dinner. I had very much wanted to go over to the carnival but it was still raining and it was late after dinner which meant that the crowd would have built up at the carnival grounds. I guess we'll visit again another time.

We ended up at Gardens By The Bay and spent a bit of time there, soaking up the Christmas illumination that would soon be brought down. :( It was crowded as well.

Church service today started much later because they wanted to do a barbecue after the service. Again it was either raining heavily, moderately or drizzling. The rain didn't really stop and I am quite amazed there is no news of flooding at all this year. 

We left the premises about 6ish and proceeded to the youngest BIL's new home. They have returned in the afternoon and our car free day is to start again. Lol. Their place was left as it was the last time the 3 of us were there to pick up the car. No renovation work seemed to have taken place! It's slightly more than a month overdue and it's not exactly in a liveable state. They seemed to always be getting to things like that. Sigh.

I helped the SIL unpack their suitcases, put aside clothes to be sent to the laundromart and some things back into the suitcases because cabinets were not ready yet. The air-con was leaking from their master bedroom. So much more work needs to be done but they do not want to move back to the 2nd BIL's home because well, nothing is more comfortable in your own space.

We went home about 10ish and the girl slept while in the grab car. It has been like this since the start of the Christmas week and I hope she doesn't get too used to this.

I watched the countdown on tv with the hubs lying asleep on the sofa behind me. Yes, that was how I 'entered' the New Year. Happy New Year and may this year continue to bring you good health and happiness!

We don't have any plans today and I was set to get the hubs to wash the 2 neglected toilets. Of course he did it but not without any grumblings. He wanted to do it tomorrow because he took a day off work but I would not hear of it. So while he washed the 2 bathrooms, I put our bedsheet, quilt cover etc to wash. 

When he was done, he was famished and grumbled again because the girl and I were not. We left the house about 3, went for lunch at the nearby coffeeshop and then had no idea where to go. The hubs drove along and asked if we wanted to go to Gardens by the Bay before I recalled that there was a carnival going on at Marina Bay. It is supposed to be the biggest carnival to be held.

There are 2 sites of the carnival. Supposedly 1 was catered for younger children and they were about 5 minutes walking distance to each other. Good planning I thought. At least not everyone is congregated at 1 area and when we went, we had to queue because it wasn't opened yet. When it did, the grounds were spacious and I think the layout was very well thought out. 

Some games were hard to beat but the hubs managed to win 2 prizes for the girl, both from the same stall. And that's because we think the girls tending to it were not very strict. The prizes were fantastic too! Of course the girl was more than happy. We did not get to go to the other site because it started to drizzle just when we were at the entrance. But we will return. We had so much fun. Again, the weather played a very good role in this.

Earlier in the day, I had allowed the girl to open her presents. This time, she received a lot lesser than she did compared to 2 Christmases back. Lol.

Anyhow, we are back to work tomorrow. And yay to another short week but boo to growing a year older.

How has your Christmas celebration been?

On Friday evening, I fetched the girl from school and met the hubs at home because when he called me to say that he didn't have to stay late, I was already in the bus, a few stops away from the girl's school. We went out again after changing at home and headed to the airport because I had wanted to bring the girl see the Sanrio decorations at the airport. We made it just as the drone show started and the girl and I were able to squeeze a spot right in front. We even spent enough at the airport to buy the Little Twin Stars plush toy pair.

On Saturday, the hubs went off in the morning to help the eldest brother clear the church premise and brought back home more than I had requested for! Urgh...my house is in a mess now. And then in the afternoon, it was ballet before we headed to the Victors' for their Christmas dinner. When we were in the car going for ballet, the girl told us that she didn't want to continue the new ballet term. Although I complain about it, I also don't want her to just drop out like that. I don't want her to have such a casual attitude towards anything. Picking up what she likes at her whim and fancy and ditching it without any thought. She needs to learn how to persevere. On the other hand I felt that I should not have given her a choice. Because when I don't, she usually partakes of it without resistance and whenever I ask, she always says no.

And then after ballet, it was off to the Victor's for their Christmas invite with friends. Thankfully we had the car so we do not have to lug a whole bag of presents with us on public commute. While walking away from the car to their block, the bottle of whiskey that the hubs was carrying fell out from it's container! He was carrying it the wrong side up! Hiaz.

After church service on Sunday, there was a sumptuous buffet lunch spread and we hung around for a bit before heading back to the eldest brother's. The rest of the family started streaming in from 5ish and we had a good family time together. We all could stay quite late because we didn't have to work the next day as the actual Christmas Day holiday falls on the Monday instead!

I had pick-up duty again yesterday and although I told the girl just 5 minutes at the playground, she ended up there for a good 1/2 hour. Coupled with the good weather we have been having, it makes me happy too. I really like the new playground.

And at night, I wrapped up all the presents that I had bought here and there because somehow I don't seem to have the luxury of time this year. Perhaps it's been quite busy at work and the hubs' new work project has started.

I'll have to do pick-up duty again today. 

The girl's ballet classes start again tomorrow after a 2 week break. And then we will go over to the Victors' for a Christmas gathering. Thankfully, we have loan of his SIL's car so we do not need to lug all the presents in public transportation. Then on Sunday after church where they will be having a Christmas meal after, we will then head to Jeremy's for our family's Christmas celebration. This year, he has decided to have it at their house so in that sense, no clean-up act for me this year! But honestly, I would not have minded if it is to be held at our home. 

And then on the actual day itself, I hope to have some rest.. So we shall see...Merry Christmas to you and hopefully this year wasn't too bad for you and yours!

With some balance left in my medical allowance, I brought the girl to the dentist yesterday. I've read that once a child starts growing teeth, that should be the start of their first dental visit. But I do not agree unless the child has issues. Wanting to give her a good experience at a clinic which caters to children so that she does not grow up with fear of visiting dentists in future, I searched and found 1 near home.

I left work earlier so that I could fetch her for the 5pm appointment. All in all, she had a good experience. The young dentist even referred to herself as 'jie-jie' and got her to 'play' with some of the equipment as well as allowed her to move her chair up and down. With this, I am pretty confident that I can bring her for dental consultation at a 'normal' dentist next time

Glad to report that her teeth are in good condition.

I had to fetch the girl again today as the hubs had to work late. His work project has started and he has pre-empt me to expect more late hours in the office for him. Which means I will have to pick the girl up more often. Thankfully, M had returned to Jerry's 2 weeks' back. She told the eldest brother that she was bored at my place but she did say before coming over that she will move back once she recovers. So in that sense, I do not feel like I need to rush home to cook dinner or ensure that M has dinner. It was quite a mad rush for me that 1 month M was putting up at our place and from now, we can make impromptu plans. 

So today, after signing off at the girl's school, I allowed her to play at the newly constructed playground in front of the childcare centre. It was closed for several months after they tore the old playground down and in it's place, a very nice one is built. 

The hubs then called at 6pm to say that he can get off work and we ended up going to IMM for dinner and some shopping. What we used to do when we had our car.

We had a final lunch as a church today because we are all joining a new church. Although the church members are all in this together, surely there is a tinge of sadness to what the eldest brother had built up in the 6 years. But we all trust that God will lead us.

After the lunch, the hubs decided that we go back to the eldest brother's place for awhile because the 2nd BIL called him earlier to meet up for dinner. Initial plan was that the girl and I head home while the hubs would go on his own to pick up the youngest SIL's car as their family would be away on a vacation in Europe for 2 weeks. 

So while we were at the brother's, I picked up the bag Bev had helped me buy when she was in Milan. She bought for me the cross body while the rest are hers. The hubs has said that he will get this for me as a gift! Yay!

And then we took a grab to the youngest SIL's new home, which incidentally, they slept over just last night! They have been staying at the 2nd BIL's for about a month after handing over the keys of their previous home. The new place is still WIP so it was just 1 night for them before they fly off to join the youngest BIL who went earlier to Germany for work. While the 3 of us were there, I helped her with some packing and the girl went to the NIL's room to play some board game. And then we went to meet the other family for dinner. 

We left about 8:30pm while the 2nd BIL and his family were still there. The hubs took over the driving from the youngest SIL and the MIL joined us so that we could send her back as well. And so, we have the car for the next 2 weeks!

There is no ballet class today and since we have been busy in the past few months shuttling between abacus in the morning and ballet in the afternoon, the break today and last Saturday was much needed. And since we will hardly have anymore Saturdays free, I suggested going to JB and the eldest brother was my most keen supporter. Lol.

Although we planned to meet at the bus-stop opposite our place at 8am, the train they were in stopped at Outram and was pulled out for maintenance (!) and the next train was at 8:02am thus they took the shuttle service instead and we ended up meeting at about 9am. It took us almost 3 hours to clear customs in JB and that we actually alighted the bus way before the Singapore immigration because traffic wasn't moving! We saw later it was because a trailer was filtering and caused a whole line of jam. Thankfully we made the walk with many other passengers from other buses as well.

As usual, we enjoyed ourselves but had to be mindful with what we buy because we are now travelling via public transportation. The eldest brother and SIL brought along a cabin trolley bag too for their shopping. 

We ended up reaching home at 11pm because it took awhile to search for a grab driver at the mall and then at the Singapore check-point, the buses took forever, almost an hour, to come. Some people even left the queue to walk to Woodlands central area. The brother and SIL reached home at almost midnight.

The hubs has sworn off going to JB over the school holiday period. :(

The girl's centre was closed on Monday and because Tim wanted to bring her out, I asked the eldest SIL if the girl could stay over at their place on Sunday and then Tim can bring her out the next day and send her home. Thankfully, the eldest SIL was ever accomodating.

So on Sunday, the hubs and I parted ways with the eldest brother, SIL and the girl at the train station, especially since the west train line was closed for the day and there was the circle line there that could bring us nearer home. Although we still had to change to a 1/2 hour bus ride.

The hubs and I took a glorious nap and for the longest time, I did not have to be concerned about dinner. After putting on some weight and have to clear so many clothes that I can no longer fit in, I was contented with just a pear, an apple and 2 cubes of brownies that Lynn had baked. I did not even bother about the hubs' request to make him something to eat. What?? Have I not served them enough every other day? Sunday evening was truly a time for me to relax and that's not to say I did not do anything at all. I still mopped the house, brought down the laundry and folded them.

Tim brought the girl to the Science Centre yesterday and he brought her for a movie too. Both, firsts for the girl. And then we met for dinner at the mall. 

My 'break' has ended. The girl has been frustrating me a lot lately and I am feeling like the worst mum ever. I have been raising my voice at her, and if that is not enough, I shout. I speak sarcastically to her at times that when I reflect, fear that she will grow up being a mean and sarcastic person. She hardly listens to instructions and doesn't even answer us on so many occasions. Although we never went through the 'terrible 2' stage with her, I do not know what it is now. It is like she is at her worst stage right now. I think I know why I do not have another child. God probably knows my limited capabilities and patience. HE has shown much Grace and Favour even providing me with 1.

Surely I am still in need of his Grace to guide me through this. That the girl will grow up to be a fine lovely lady.

Finally caught up with Lynn Chan ever since she came by to my place during CNY early this year. We used to be closed when we worked at the airport together and even after but we are not so close as we used to be. Of course leading different lives altogether has a great impact on how we view things. She is still that single, career driven lady while I am still the laid back person that I was.

With the hubs meeting his pre-U mates yesterday, I made use of the day to meet up with Lynn, who has finally left her job which was really giving her stress. Although I told her that unfortunately I cannot stay for long because I am bringing the girl along, we still parted ways about 9ish.

I had wanted to stick to an earlier timing but how to, when one hasn't spoken to a friend for so long?

Anyway, I had to because the girl really needed the early sleep, which was not to be, because this year she is participating in her school's graduation concert for the K2s. We were instructed to give them breakfast at home and be at the centre at 7.50am. All K had when she woke up was her milk and cod liver oil, which filled her up. I was worried that she'll get hungry but the teachers told the children no eating after applying lipstick..(!!!) 

The costume was strange and the make-up was horrible. The hubs commented that they should have parent volunteers to apply the make-up. The teachers told me they were afraid that different make-up shades are used but I would think it could be better managed if they simply inform the colours to be used.

I teared when the K2 'graduates' marched through the aisle to go on stage and sang their graduating song. Next year, the tears will be full blast, I reckon. Heck, I teared when I attended Josh's K2 graduating concert and when I picked him up in his early days in Primary 1. But I'm sure he is not even aware of it. 

Anyhow, K enjoyed herself, having a few main lines in her centre's play. After the concert, we had lunch with the parents of 3 of her classmates and after lunch, we brought them all up to the roof top play area. 

We had to cut short the fun because we had to buy a gift for Gaye's mum who is celebrating her 90th birthday in the evening. We had no idea what to buy and ended up with a festive hamper of biscuits, chocolates and treats. I had tasked the girl to make her a card as well.

Thankfully, the girl as well as the hubs had their afternoon nap while I put her laundry to wash and washed the balcony after that.

Yay to December. Not because I am looking forward to it, in fact I do not anymore. Because for the simple fact that it means we are so near the New Year and it means a year older in physical age. Yes, I am fearful already....aging.

Yay because there is no abacus class for the whole of this month! We can't have lessons on the 2nd Saturday of this month because the girl is participating in her school's graduation concert for the K2s. And the teacher wasn't able to make it for 2 other Saturdays. So, it calls for a break this month and it's amazing how relax I feel already.

Since we started the morning slow after I went for my annual dental check, we decided to bring the girl for a ride through Orchard to see the lights. As the eldest SIL spent the night at our place yesterday, the girl woke up early as usual, so fearful that her favourite aunt went home and could take a nap after lunch. We returned home after ballet as it was still early and left the house at about 6ish.

We alighted at Tanglin Mall to catch the 'snow' but we missed the timing and thus went for dinner at the food court. We managed to catch the 2nd 'snowfall' which isn't like how it used to be. Now the foam just putters out of the foam machine, located on the floor. But K said she had fun though. After that, we took a walk and then decided to take a bus ride. The lights on the lamp-posts are still a disappointment in the evening and there wasn't much light-up after Tanglin Mall to Forum. 

But who was to know! The road was closed to traffic and the bus diverted out of Orchard and then back to near Somerset. So we missed the entire shopping stretch where the lights were best. Further disappointment! And the girl has such a bad attitude these days, I want to slap her. She has been really testing my limits these days, talking back and simply being rude with her responses.

Anyhow, we took the loop service and by the time we were back on the train home, it was past 10 and the girl slept while we were in the train. So thankful a young chap offered his seat to me because we normally do not get offered.

On another note, the Christmas tree decoration for this year has been left to the girl because I have no time to do so. And she has fun putting it up.

A vendor, which happens to be the main sponsor for the local theater scene gifted me and a colleague with a pair of tickets each to watch a play. Thankfully, the eldest SIL was kind enough to come by to pick up the girl from school and then stay over. 

The hubs and I enjoyed the play thoroughly. Especially it being a local production, it had a lot of local puns that were very relevant. 1 of the lead actor also happened to be the son of the hubs' ex-boss. It was good to see that the theater was quite full. 

While we were at it, I suggested that we catch a movie too. It's been a long while since we went to the movies and so we took the train back and caught a movie at the mall near home. We watched the 1150pm movie and when it ended, stingy me suggested we walk back home. It really isn't that far, a train stop away. 

So the hubs and I finally had a date. :)