May-June recap

I am busy uploading my 365 pictures, which made me think of what a wild ride May and June were. So, here is what I did

May: Went to KL, three or four kids parties, traveled to BKK, held multiple high level negotations.

In June, traveled to KL twice, went to Thailand, had company from the US by way of a sister and family, sightseed in Singapore, held multiple meetings and phone calls, attended the last day of school with the kids, saw off multiple friends as they returned to their repective homes for the summer.

July looks to be equally packed with a trip to Brunei and KL planned, and August will see school start, trips to KL and Taipei and multiple little life lessons along the way.

So while I upload the rest of the 365 pictures today, here is one from May and one from our Thailand trip with the family (click on the link to Kathy's facebook pictures)http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/photo.php?pid=573813&id=1234352813&ref=mf

Sundays at the "farm"

Over the last few months a neat little tradition has started here on the "farm" as I now call our Condo Estate. It is either the farm or "club med"... anyway...

Every Sunday, around 9:30 or 10 a bunch of moms and some dads end up down at the pool with our kids. We swim and chit chat, the kids play together and we have coffee and snacks by the pool. It has become a tradition, a ritual and it is wonderful. It is a pleasure to spend our Sundays, relaxing with friends and enjoying the fact that we have a great community.

It is so easy to rush through the weekend stressing about the fact that we have so much to do (case in point I am on a plane on Monday for an emergency meeting) It is so much more important to slow down and recognize that these days are special. The connections we share with our children are what matters and work and the to do lists can wait, once and a while anyway~

What do you do special on weekends? Is it part of your family rituals?

Staying Centered and Recharging

When my life gets crazy, the first thing to go is my creative muse. The thought of writing anything more than what is needed for work is impossible (like on this blog). I get cranky, I get frustrated, I yell at the kids and find that my patience levels are well on the I have no patience at all spectrum. I look at my kids and I realize that they really do a much better job of shutting it off if they need to. Yesterday, Declan came downstairs from a sleep over and said he felt sick. He curled up on the couch and promptly went back to sleep for 2 more hours. He just shut it off, recharged and came back stronger. He woke up, was ready to roll and then at 7:30 pm promptly announced he was tired and he needed to go to bed early. This morning, he woke up right as rain and ready for school. I have always believed that if I listened to my body, to what I need I would be better for it. But, alas I don't always. Either I can't due to scheduling pressures or I just think I can't.

I feel it now, I need a few days off, a break is what I need, some time away and I have not really had much of a chance to do that yet. I have my lovely sister coming in a month and I have so much to do before she comes lists beyond lists. Not in order to prepare for her. She loves me and accepts me as I am, but to be able to enjoy some time with her. Lots to do, much of it needed and much of it is mearly wanted. I don't need to rehang the picture, I don't need to finish my paperless office plan (I want to however keep making progress on that goal.)





But today, I have a plan, a list. I need to be better at staying on task and finishing what I start. Getting things done is always my challenge as I get busy and I find that I push myself to start really good projects at the worst time possible. It is a "I don't want to do X" method of coping I am sure. For me, it works for a while, but it results in a half finished major project and a whole lot of hurried work to finish what I should have been doing in the first place.





So, today I will not be uploading anymore of my 365 pictures (although there are a few up here) and I have been taking pictures regularly. I think today is day 145 and I have only missed 5 days so far. I wil not work on my scanning project, I will not work on my home reorganization projects. I will not spend 5 hours on Tumblr (not that I really do, but you get the point). Today, I will finish a bunch of work projects, I will get the last FFC invoices out and the cards charged and I will do something with Jeff that needs to be done (health insurance sign up for the family).





If all goes well I will post my update tomorrow... Oh and I do have a mini break scheduled for tomorrow when I take a class at Laines'. can't wait!

365-94 Candlelight

365-94 Candlelight
Originally uploaded by Farflungcraft

Just a favorite shot, I am uploading more of the 365 days of pictures onto my flickr. I missed Sunday this week, so I think that makes 106 days of pictures out of 111 possible. Doing pretty good so far I think.

Summer Time Plans

Summer is rapidly approaching and the best news is my sister and her family are coming to visit. While here we plan on doing all of the touristy things Singapore has to offer. We can hit the zoo, the night safari. Maybe the bird park, and of course a trip or two to Sentosa.

We plan on either jumping off the island and going to Malaysia or Thailand for a few days, but otherwise it is a summer stay-cation. Last year we enrolled Declan in Summer School and Kiera was still at the pre-school, but this year we are a bit more cash strapped and plan on doing sort of a summerschool at home. Jeff will be working from home/freelancing so I figured I could work up a bunch of day trips that were fun and educational for the kids. And free or low cost is a key goal.

So, these are the top ideas I have had so far.

1. Singapore Art Museum

2. Asian Civilizations Museum

3. ACM-Peranakan Museum

4. Science/Discovery Center

5. Zoo (with a view towards picking a geographical location) and visiting that section more thoroughly.

6. Forest Adventure Park for some treetop walks

7. Sungei Buloh Nature Park for some nature walks.

8. Changi Village and Palau Ubin for some bike rides/fishing?

9. Toy (MINT) Museum

10. The National Library

11. Ford Factory Museum/Changi Chapel and Museum to learn about the war

12. Bukit Timah Hill

13. Visit Little India

14. Visit China Town

15. Visit the Malay Village at Geylang Serai.

I am sure there are hundreds of more ideas and there will be plenty of pool time, beach time and just ice cream eating summer days, but I want the kids to try to get a bit of local flavor and a few educational opportunities this summer. Let's see how it turns out!