OMG, there's about 8 more days left to 2010. I say this every year but I can't help but want to say it again: How time flies! Looking back, we welcomed 2010 at our previous house with our friend Steven & his family from Singapore. Since then, it has been a busy year for our family. One thing happening after another. An eventful year with many changes and important decisions made.
Here's a recap:
We went back to visit Singapore in January. Upon returning to Melbourne, we decided to switch KK's school. (See story here.) By March, he started at his current school and soon after we moved into another property nearer to the school. Besides having to adjust to a slightly smaller and older house, we had to adjust to a new neighbourhood. Over the year, we familiarised ourselves with the road conditions, found regular places to shop, explored the local libraries and made a few new friends in the vicinity. The boys now have regular swimming lessons 10 mins away and XX was enrolled for kindergarten next year at the community hub nearby. Slowly, we got settled and more comfortable in our new environment.
This year, around June, Hubby started a new job as well. It means a change in the lifestyle we have gotten used to for the past 2 years. For Hubby, he no longer can work from home and has to commute to work, like many locals, every morning. It's win and lose for him. Though he no longer have the flexibility to sleep late or work in his pyjamas, at least now he doesn't have conference calls at 4am in the morning. He's also getting the local experience and network which is good in the long term. But for me, I can no longer count on his help around the house during the day. We rarely have breakfast and lunch together anymore on weekdays and I became the designated chaffauer for the kids, ferrying them to school, swiming lessons and medical/dental appointments. Hubby like to say I've had it good for the last 2 years, so now my holiday is over. Sigh, he's right.
My sister and brother-in-law came over to visit us in July. It was their first time visiting us since we moved to Melbourne. It was also World Cup season then and I had fond memories of watching soccer at 2am in the dark living room, wrapped up in blankets, eating nachos and drinking coke with them.
After my sis' visit, we decided to start house hunting. We'd found a good school for the kids and Hubby has got a stable job to secure finance. The time was right for us to settle down and have a place to call our own. From July till September, we focused our weekends searching the nearby suburbs for a suitable house. I spent a lot of time looking at real estate websites, shortlisting houses to inspect over the weekend.
Late into winter (September), we went on our first skiing holiday. It was not the first time we tried to ski but it was the first time that the whole holiday was dedicated to nothing but skiing. All of us took lessons, got into ski gears and had our first taste of skiing down the slopes of Mount Hotam, except for XX, who is still a bit too young.
Three quarters of the year had passed and I was wondering if I could move into a new house before the end of it. The search had not been successful. I didn't know it can be so difficult finding a house you like. But we were getting closer. By Oct, we were only searching in 2 specific suburbs. Then, a plot of land came to my attention. It was in the right suburb, had the right orientation and the price was alright. We decided on it within 2 days and our fate is set. We will be building our dream home from scratch instead. It will take longer but it's probably better, since we can't seem to find a right one yet.
Due to the changes in routines and focus on finding a house, I find myself having less time and less inspiration to do my patchwork and creative stuff. Though I did manage to make a handbag and some mini pouchettes recently after the land was settled. I haven't been very experimentative in my baking and cooking either, preferring to make simple dishes and use tested recipes.
As the year closes, I find myself looking forward to the next one with excitment. Next year, XX will go to kindergarten for 2 days a week. It's not a big change but I'm eager to see him take that first step into formal schooling. I'll probably get him to take Chinese lessons like KK as well on Saturdays. For KK, I'm looking forward to him having a fresh start with a new class next year. I hope it will be a good year of learning for him. As for Hubby and I, we'll be busy working on our new house. There's gonna be lots of decisions and pain (judging from some of our friends who built their houses as well) working with the builders to get the house up. I only hope there won't be any major delays and hopefully we can shift in by midyear.
So my new year resolution for 2011 is gonna be "manage my time better". Next year, I know I'll be even more busy. Besides the usual chores and routine, I'll have to drop by our new place every other day to check on the building process. If I hope to write more and learn more, maybe something new, I'll definitely need to manage my time better.
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