It's been about 5 months since we moved and 3 months since I 'disappeared'. Gosh! Has it been so long already? Don't even get me started on how the year is coming to an end. But really! Where did it all go? There's still a month to go before we step into 2010 but allow me to reminisce and reflect a little about this year.
Homefront
We moved to a nicer home (way nicer compared to the old uni owned house) in another county and enjoyed an improved quality of life. A blessing in disguise, I always say, we started looking for a place of our own when our landlord wanted to sell the house. This took up a huge chunk of the year. We thought we'd never find a house we both like (I had prefered another house on the same street than the one we bought but that's another story) and can afford. By a stroke of luck, we discovered a rather new development sitting between the town we were living in and the next town. DIYers we are not. We prefer new houses with all the modern fittings. Not Victorian nor Edwardian? Not a bit of character in sight? We're not at all bothered. By God's grace, we now own a house which is bigger and better than what we thought we could afford. I really enjoy pottering about at home and spend quite a bit of my time in the kitchen which doubles up as a diner. Even though I had said we're not DIYers, I managed some easy bits like painting and hanging up things such as blinds, curtain rails and picture frames. The hardest was hanging the wallpaper in the bedrooms. But it was a very fulfilling task. I'm actually contemplating doing it again in the dining room.
Summer holiday
This past summer, we had a lovely holiday in Singapore and attended my sis-in-law's wedding. Hers was a love marathon and I'm so pleased for them that they finally tied the knot. The couple is now happily enjoying an extended honeymoon (a year!) in Switzerland as her hubby has been posted there for work. Good for us too as I hope we can visit them sometime next year. Even though we stayed for about a month, it was still a whirlwind affair - trying to cramp as many activities and meetups with family and friends. I'm glad my group of poly friends always make time to meet everytime I go back even though they're very busy being in the media industry. Also caught up with 2 mummies from a volunteer hotline I used to be with. It's amazing how we can just 'click' even after a long absence. That's what I call friends. It was also our first time catching up with S and her family whom we first met in UK but have since returned to Singapore. It was she who recommended me to her stylist and I went from long to short. Very pleased with the haircut and I'm actually dying to have one done now.
Health
I hurt my back earlier this year and it was quite bad. It's so true that once the back is hurt, it will never be the same again and in fact, very vulnerable to aches and pains thereafter. Then I fell ill 2 weeks before our big move. I had never felt so sick before. A friend had said before, us mums always carry on with our chores even though we're poorly. But for that episode, my temperature always stayed very high and my body was drained of energy and I just wanted to be in bed all day. That was such a stressful time. On the fourth day of fever, I started developing a stiff neck. Obviously I couldn't drive and so the girls couldn't go to school. A had gone to stay with a friend the previous day to prepare for his viva. I went to see a GP who told me I had to be seen at a hospital. I tried to call a few friends to ask them to look after the girls but they were not reachable. Home phones, mobiles. No one picked up my call. Of all times. Luckily my neighbour was home that day and the girls stayed with her. I went to the hospital in a taxi and checked myself in. They did all the routines - temp and blood pressure. The scariest part was when they told me I had to undergo a lumbar puncture and CT scan. I didn't mind the latter but certainly not the former. In the end, the Dr said the scan wasn't necessary and she would go ahead with the lumbar puncture. Every patients there had someone with them. I was the only one without a companion. Honestly, I had been fine with it until the time for the procedure came. To say I was nervous is an understatement. Even though I had epidural before, it was VERY VERY painful to the point where I teared. I have very high pain threshold but I was holding so tightly to the bed rail. You can imagine how bad it was. It was nothing like epidural, trust me. To make the matter worse, the junior dr who was being guided by a more senior dr couldn't draw any fluid out and I could hear their conversation 'Anything?', 'No', 'Try again', 'Still nothing?' , 'No, you want me to pull it out and shift the position?', 'Yes go ahead'. That was totally unpleasant. Good news was the result for meningitis came back negative. Bad news was I had to stay in the hospital for at least 3 nights for the blood culture result to come back. I was sent to a ward where the average age of the patients must be around 75. One lady kept talking to herself and I couldn't sleep at night. The lady next to me was breathing very loudly and was in pain and groaning constantly. Yet another lady opposite me gave me a fright the first night when I opened my eyes and saw her standing in front of my bed, looking straight at me. I asked her if she needed help and she said she needed the toilet so I called out for the nurse to come. The following night, she kept walking in and out of the room then stopped in the middle, dropped her nappy, did her business (by this time I had already called out for the nurse) and then came and sat on my bed!!! The smell was bad and she was taken away and my sheets were changed. Hospital is not exactly a place to rest or recuperate. Every so often I'd be woken up for temperature and blood pressure measure, be given tablets and I was given more than 10 bags of anti-viral plus antibiotics drip during the whole duration of my stay. Not only was I bored, the hospital food was really bad (not that I was expecting gourmet food but they were not quite palatable) and I was worried about our impending projects and move. Thankfully, all went well.
Others
Since September, Lavigne started full-time school at Louisa's school and I have more me-time. She's really enjoying school and has become more independent and confident. We're really pleased with her progress. Louisa's now in junior school and is quite busy with violin, recorder, swimming and Kumon classes. She's also started on her Holy Communion class and will be receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion next May. My girls are growing up so quickly.
My sister, Joanne, who had wanted to visit us during X'mas but then couldn't and then could again, made me very, very happy. The girls had been disappointed that their Tinyi would not be coming and we're keeping them in the dark in order to give them a big surprise early xmas eve morning. We had such a blast last year but unfortunately, A was having his first big exams and he couldn't join in the fun. This year will be so different. First x'mas in our own house and I can do whatever I want to decorate it - baubles, tinsels and everything glittery! We'll also be having a party (haven't planned the menu yet and I'm not good with western dishes).
On the whole, I think it's been quite a good year apart from the health department. I'm looking forward to a good end to the year and hopefully, 2010 will be an even better one. I can finally announce my baby sister will be getting married next summer (oh our little sister will be a wife soon! Wasn't she just toilet trained and out of the sarong?) so we can look forward to another great holiday.
I had said I won't be gone for long this time, didn't I? Hope to load some photos the next time. There's so many I don't even know where to start.
Homefront
We moved to a nicer home (way nicer compared to the old uni owned house) in another county and enjoyed an improved quality of life. A blessing in disguise, I always say, we started looking for a place of our own when our landlord wanted to sell the house. This took up a huge chunk of the year. We thought we'd never find a house we both like (I had prefered another house on the same street than the one we bought but that's another story) and can afford. By a stroke of luck, we discovered a rather new development sitting between the town we were living in and the next town. DIYers we are not. We prefer new houses with all the modern fittings. Not Victorian nor Edwardian? Not a bit of character in sight? We're not at all bothered. By God's grace, we now own a house which is bigger and better than what we thought we could afford. I really enjoy pottering about at home and spend quite a bit of my time in the kitchen which doubles up as a diner. Even though I had said we're not DIYers, I managed some easy bits like painting and hanging up things such as blinds, curtain rails and picture frames. The hardest was hanging the wallpaper in the bedrooms. But it was a very fulfilling task. I'm actually contemplating doing it again in the dining room.
Summer holiday
This past summer, we had a lovely holiday in Singapore and attended my sis-in-law's wedding. Hers was a love marathon and I'm so pleased for them that they finally tied the knot. The couple is now happily enjoying an extended honeymoon (a year!) in Switzerland as her hubby has been posted there for work. Good for us too as I hope we can visit them sometime next year. Even though we stayed for about a month, it was still a whirlwind affair - trying to cramp as many activities and meetups with family and friends. I'm glad my group of poly friends always make time to meet everytime I go back even though they're very busy being in the media industry. Also caught up with 2 mummies from a volunteer hotline I used to be with. It's amazing how we can just 'click' even after a long absence. That's what I call friends. It was also our first time catching up with S and her family whom we first met in UK but have since returned to Singapore. It was she who recommended me to her stylist and I went from long to short. Very pleased with the haircut and I'm actually dying to have one done now.
Health
I hurt my back earlier this year and it was quite bad. It's so true that once the back is hurt, it will never be the same again and in fact, very vulnerable to aches and pains thereafter. Then I fell ill 2 weeks before our big move. I had never felt so sick before. A friend had said before, us mums always carry on with our chores even though we're poorly. But for that episode, my temperature always stayed very high and my body was drained of energy and I just wanted to be in bed all day. That was such a stressful time. On the fourth day of fever, I started developing a stiff neck. Obviously I couldn't drive and so the girls couldn't go to school. A had gone to stay with a friend the previous day to prepare for his viva. I went to see a GP who told me I had to be seen at a hospital. I tried to call a few friends to ask them to look after the girls but they were not reachable. Home phones, mobiles. No one picked up my call. Of all times. Luckily my neighbour was home that day and the girls stayed with her. I went to the hospital in a taxi and checked myself in. They did all the routines - temp and blood pressure. The scariest part was when they told me I had to undergo a lumbar puncture and CT scan. I didn't mind the latter but certainly not the former. In the end, the Dr said the scan wasn't necessary and she would go ahead with the lumbar puncture. Every patients there had someone with them. I was the only one without a companion. Honestly, I had been fine with it until the time for the procedure came. To say I was nervous is an understatement. Even though I had epidural before, it was VERY VERY painful to the point where I teared. I have very high pain threshold but I was holding so tightly to the bed rail. You can imagine how bad it was. It was nothing like epidural, trust me. To make the matter worse, the junior dr who was being guided by a more senior dr couldn't draw any fluid out and I could hear their conversation 'Anything?', 'No', 'Try again', 'Still nothing?' , 'No, you want me to pull it out and shift the position?', 'Yes go ahead'. That was totally unpleasant. Good news was the result for meningitis came back negative. Bad news was I had to stay in the hospital for at least 3 nights for the blood culture result to come back. I was sent to a ward where the average age of the patients must be around 75. One lady kept talking to herself and I couldn't sleep at night. The lady next to me was breathing very loudly and was in pain and groaning constantly. Yet another lady opposite me gave me a fright the first night when I opened my eyes and saw her standing in front of my bed, looking straight at me. I asked her if she needed help and she said she needed the toilet so I called out for the nurse to come. The following night, she kept walking in and out of the room then stopped in the middle, dropped her nappy, did her business (by this time I had already called out for the nurse) and then came and sat on my bed!!! The smell was bad and she was taken away and my sheets were changed. Hospital is not exactly a place to rest or recuperate. Every so often I'd be woken up for temperature and blood pressure measure, be given tablets and I was given more than 10 bags of anti-viral plus antibiotics drip during the whole duration of my stay. Not only was I bored, the hospital food was really bad (not that I was expecting gourmet food but they were not quite palatable) and I was worried about our impending projects and move. Thankfully, all went well.
Others
Since September, Lavigne started full-time school at Louisa's school and I have more me-time. She's really enjoying school and has become more independent and confident. We're really pleased with her progress. Louisa's now in junior school and is quite busy with violin, recorder, swimming and Kumon classes. She's also started on her Holy Communion class and will be receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion next May. My girls are growing up so quickly.
My sister, Joanne, who had wanted to visit us during X'mas but then couldn't and then could again, made me very, very happy. The girls had been disappointed that their Tinyi would not be coming and we're keeping them in the dark in order to give them a big surprise early xmas eve morning. We had such a blast last year but unfortunately, A was having his first big exams and he couldn't join in the fun. This year will be so different. First x'mas in our own house and I can do whatever I want to decorate it - baubles, tinsels and everything glittery! We'll also be having a party (haven't planned the menu yet and I'm not good with western dishes).
On the whole, I think it's been quite a good year apart from the health department. I'm looking forward to a good end to the year and hopefully, 2010 will be an even better one. I can finally announce my baby sister will be getting married next summer (oh our little sister will be a wife soon! Wasn't she just toilet trained and out of the sarong?) so we can look forward to another great holiday.
I had said I won't be gone for long this time, didn't I? Hope to load some photos the next time. There's so many I don't even know where to start.
5 comments:
Its nice to see you back on cyberspace.....was always clicking on ur link via my blog...but it was still the same posting...thanks God all is well for everyone at home...looking forward to ur photos. The girls must hve looked much different now...keep in touch!
Thanks, Sharon! I think they still like the same except that I cut Lavigne's hair short after coming back from Singapore.
Reading your "health" story gave me a shudder! Thank God you made it - I couldn't imagine you doing all this by yourself and thankfully you have a good neighbour who helped you care for the 2 girls too.
Welcome back again and pleassseeee... photos of the decorated house, please.
Tsu Lin,
Er, house not really decorated yet. Still work in progress. I just painted the lounge 2 weeks ago.
hi ros, good 2 read a summarised update fr u. reading abt ur hospital stay freaked me out. I love 2 visit ur new home, after reading how pleased u r wif it. I still planning tat london trip. Will keep u n val informed.
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