Staying awake when it's rainy

It's really hard to stay awake when it's rainy, especially now that I'm in the 3rd trimester. I am now staring out my office window, when I should be writing a paper for my boss. The rain is so heavy i can hardly see the block opposite me. Most of my colleagues are on leave, my bosses are attending a meeting outside of the officer and I am here wondering what i'm doing in the office! I wish to go back and sleep and also spend some time with Sara.

With the baby arriving soon, I wonder how much time I can really spend with Sara. I also have gotten the contact of a friend's cousin on how to ensure baby and rabbit get along. I thought we would restrict Sara to the kitchen but I really think it's going to be impossible, after she has enjoyed the freedom of roaming the house for the past 2 years. It's also not fair to her. Looks like we'll have to keep the house as fur free as possible, especially baby's room. V and I were talking the other day and wondered if we need to get the baby fence, not to shut out baby, but Sara! Ha ha ha.

Anyway, there are alot of adjustments to make when baby comes. We've only just cleared out one cupboard so that we can store her things, and we still need to move some furniture around because we didn't actually plan to have a baby so soon. Hence our study will now be converted into a baby room and V will have to be 'evicted' to the living room. I think he will like it there because he will be able to watch TV and surf the net all in one place. :)

Many of my colleagues have been sharing baby stories with me and I've also been reading alot of books and info on the net. Of course, there is still some apprehension that i'll be able to get the hang of breastfeeding and more importantly, ensuring that I don't spoil the child too much. Some of my friends take the soft approach with the child, because they don't want to scold or beat the child. I'm sure no parent wants to do that, but my experience with Primary school children is that it may not work well and some things, especially when it comes to building a values foundation, have to be enforced the hard way. I guess i'll have to learn as I go along, how to strike a balance.

Feeling a little better after typing out this post, but it's only 4pm! How am I going to survive till 6pm? Actually, it's not that I have no work to do, but I just feel like sleeping and have totally no inspiration to write this paper. I still have tomorrow to work on in it.. perhaps that's why I am procrastinating.

Baby!

Here's a 3d photo of my baby's face! She's got my hubby's nose and looks like she might have big eyes. I'm hoping for that! :P

my birthday

I recently turned 27 (almost 2 weeks ago) and had such a wonderful weekend! I had dinner with my folks on the 27th (sat) and we had such a good meal at home. We had a bbq, using one of those instant bbq sets from NTUC and lots of seafood!! We had cod, crab soup, wagyu beef, prawns and scallops! Could you believe that a slab of wagyu beef bought from the deli only costs $39 and it fed 6 of us? If you had eaten it at a restaurant, you'd be pretty broke by now!!

The other dinner i had was of course with lao gong. Though we didn't go out to eat, we had a yummy dinner at home, which he cooked. He has been cooking more recently, because of my growing bump and the fact that i can't stand in one spot for too long (or stand too long, for that matter)... Most recently, he cooked pork soup with ginseng and red dates! It was yummy and nutritious.

On the 3rd Oct, my gal pals from Guidance Branch celebrated my bday with me. Out of the 6 of us, 4 have already left the branch. We don't know how we came to be such good friends, only after being colleagues for a year.. some only a few months, but we can really talk and bond over dinner and drinks. I think it's the time we spent talking during lunches and during off peak season (dec holidays) and sharing of rather intimate things, that brought us together. They treated me to dinner at a ramen place in Robertson Quay, dessert at Canele's and also gave me a wonderful card and lots of Marks and Sparks biscuits! Knowing that i'm perpetually hungry these days, the biscuits were the perfect pressie. I really look forward to our monthly meetings.

I have yet to celebrate with XR and Mag, but it will come soon. I met them recently too and they were so excited about my bump! XR even wanted to be godma. Baby is certainly blessed cos he/she is going to have lots of godmas!! Oh yes, I went to the gynae on wed but baby was crouching.. didn't want to show! I guess we will be in suspense for a while...

Some pics of sara... i forgot to turn on the red eye correction, so she looks a bit scary. But i assure you, she's so lovable, meek and mild!!

sniffles

Am down with the flu and a cough. Not sure where I caught it from, but it's not very pleasant because it disrupts my sleep at night and I have to stick a piece of tissue paper up my nose. The good thing, however, is that i get to rest at home and not check emails/write papers in the office. Thinking back to school days, it is a relief to be able to take MC and not feel bad. I used to feel guilty when i was sick, especially near to exam time, because the kids would come to school and have no teacher! I am glad those days are gone, really.

I'm not sure why I've been falling sick so often, despite the abundance of sleep I get. Could be the drop in immunity levels? I don't know, but it makes me feel weak... I guess it's natures way of telling me to rest.

V's out tonight, and I took a long afternoon nap earlier, so i'm up writing. The other day I told him that despite him being on night duty the past 2 weeks (tonight's the last nite!), I'm so thankful that i'm in Singapore. I remember the times in London, when I was staying in John Dodgson in my 3rd year, i would be awoken at 2am because some people downstairs are smashing bottles or fighting. I didn't even dare open my curtains to look in case they saw me and wanted to come after me. Yes, living in a foreign country makes you extra alert. Did you know that London has made me the light sleeper I am today? I used to sleep like a log but now, when V comes into the room, I know. Maybe it's preparing me for motherhood.

So yes, I am so glad to be here in safe Singapore. Of course, it has its share of murders and yes, Mas Selamat escaped (btw, it irks me to think of Min of HA giving ppl annoying answers in Parliament when asked how he escaped; but that story for another day)... but ultimately, I can still come home late at night and feel safe. I can stay alone at home at night with my windows open and not fear that something might happen. That said, i'm on the 13th floor, so i don't think any burglar or person in the right mind would want to risk a fall from that height. High rise flats are natural deterrents for such business.

It has been incredibly warm the past two days. If you ask me, i think it will rain tonight. Which means good sleep-in tomorrow, especially since i'm on MC. I am looking forward to waking up past 730 and awaiting V's return. I really don't know what I'd do without him!

11pm. I think i might go watch some TV and drink my nightly cup of milk. Pat Sara a bit and then go back to bed. I want to post up a very cute picture of her lying on my ikea rug but am a bit lazy to upload the photos, so i'll save it for another day. She is realllllly adorable and i will miss her when she's gone.

A year on..

Wow! I didn't realise that i had not written for more than a year until i revisited my old blog (livejournal one) and clicked on the link to this blog...

It's nostalgic to read your old blogs, which detail the various experiences you once lived through and at the time seemed so real. Now, however, they seem like distant memories which you either refuse to recall or wonder if disbelief how you survived it all. And the present strikes you because it's so vastly different from those times.

I am still very happily married and will soon welcome an addition to the family! Baby (not sure boy or girl) is already a blessing in many ways. He/she has earned me 4 months maternity and as he/she is due in Mar 09, will help me serve out the remaining 3 months of my bond at home, blissfully away from the duties of civil servanthood, fully in mummy mode. Having a living thing with a heartbeat in you is a magical experience and I am loving every minute of it! Baby has been good and i've had little or no signs of morning sickness and don't punish V by driving out at 3 am to buy the Newton Char kway teow or Bak Kut Teh from Balestier....

Oh yes, V has lovingly bought a new pair of crocs (go take a look!) for me, which I can wear to work, and it is in a lovely shade of cotton candy. Thanks darling!

I hope that updating doesn't become a yearly affair because I really do miss writing. And it warms my heart that i don't write because I'm sad anymore... I write because I want to chronicle my life and the moments that make it mine. Looking at your baby via ultrasound has to count as one of the top moments for 2008. :)