Why Blog?

I have just read a really interesting post by Michelle Clement on her blog Scissor Quirk announcing her decision to end sponsorship on her blog and go back to the basics with her blog. Blogging when she wants about things that excite her rather than blogging because she has to.

Hubby and I were talking about this very thing this morning. How commercial so many blogs have become. I like a good prize as much as the next person but I also like to see people's real lives and real projects. I do not need a link to the shoes and cute skirt your daughter has on or a post sponsored by a multinational. 

I blog because I like to write. I feel a need to express some of the things that are going on our lives and I hope (if I ever get the time to craft again) to share some of the crafty projects I complete. If you are reading this you have probably stumbled upon this as I have no regular readers and that is okay. It gives me the chance to express myself without censorship and without feeling the need to pander to an audience.
I will blog if I have something to share. If not I do not blog. I just was not feeling it yesterday and so I did not post. Today reading Michelle's blog made me abandon the reader on my Ipad and hop straight on here to share. Before breakfast!

We have a busy Saturday planned. Scarlett has her weekly gym class this morning and then after her nap we will have our compulsory sushi lunch (it just does not feel like the weekend without sushi lunch on Saturday). I need to pick up tickets to see Kevin Spacey in Richard the third which I am super excited about. We might even get over to Novena and visit one of our favourite stores, The Little Wardrobe, and get Scarlett a couple of new dresses for the holiday season. I really will need a holiday after all that.

I hope everyone in Singapore enjoys the long weekend and a big Selemat Hari Raya to those celebrating on Monday.

Playdate Thursdays

My very excited wee girl is napping in preparation for our weekly playdate. We used to be a group of four mothers and five children around Scarlett's age but being an expat community, one family has moved back to Canada and another back to Australia. The diehards remain and Scarlett loves spending time with Xander and Joshua. They are always so excited to see each other... it makes me happy watching them together.

In other news we are off for an impromptu break away this long weekend. Believe it or not it is just to activate Tet's new visa for Indonesia as his trip there for work later in the month comes outside the period when the visa must be activated. I am not one to look a holiday gift horse in the mouth!

Here is a quick peek at the kind of destination we will have to endure. Happy Thursday! 

Blog my heart

The wonderful Stephanie Howell has put out the challenge to once a month blog in a really authentic way about how we feel. It is easy to leave out the hard parts of our lives and focus on the things we want to be or think people should see. Here I go...

• I have found being a mother while living away from friends and family a truly lonely time. I still struggle with often going for five days or more without speaking to anyone apart from Scarlett or shop staff. I thought being a mother would be an instant opening into social activities but sadly I have found many of them very cliquey and they make me more unhappy than spending time with Scarlett alone
• I am so grateful to be able to be a SAHM but I live for the day that Scarlett starts some pre school so I get a little bit of scheduled time to myself. Fingers crossed she will start three mornings a week next February
• I am disappointed in my inability to get any real exercise done and that I continue to go for the quick junk rather than the healthier option
• I wish I was a better mother to Scarlett. She deserves the best but, more than I like to admit, I am often grumpy Mummy
• I am so excited for my friend who has returned to the workforce this past week but am sad to see our weekly play dates end. The playdates will continue but her helpers will be there with her boys which is good for them and Scarlett but takes away my weekly adult contact time
• I am getting very excited about going back to NZ for Christmas but I am terrified about the ten hour flight back with Scarlett on my own. She has become increasingly likely to react to any limits with tantrums which is not a good look at 38000 feet on a night flight
• I wish I had the solace of faith. Neither my husband nor I have any religious belief and I think it must be wonderful to have that belief to aid you through the tough times. We have got through some very tough times without it though, so I guess we are more resiliant than I ever thought possible

• I would love to go back to work but I am scared I would not be able to do a good job anymore

That is pretty much what I am thinking about at the moment. It all seems so negative and I am generally pretty happy with the way our lives are at the moment but it feels so good to be honest about where things are at for me right now.

A little about us

I have just realised that I have not really done a very good job of introducing us.

We are a family of three plus one very tolerant cat. My husband, Tet, was born in Japan but was raised in NZ from the age of 9 so he is a little bit Japanese but mainly Kiwi. Funnily enough he has lived in NZ longer than me as I grew up spent much of my childhood in  Singapore.

Tet and I have been married for nearly seven years (wow that sounds like a really long time) and together for nearly nine.

I feel so lucky to have found such a wonderful partner in life. He is just amazing.

We took four years to conceive our daughter and were about to start some serious intervention when we discovered we were pregnant. We really enjoyed the pregnancy and post pregnancy period - the birth not so much!

Scarlett is the focus of our lives now. She is bright and bubbly and has a pretty big vocab for a pretty small girl (20 months). She certainly has turned our lives upside down and apart from the lack of sleep we would not change much.

We are really enjoying living in Singapore. It is a second home for me and Tet has a job that he enjoys.

We all enjoy travelling so we get away from Singapore regularly through the year. Our aim is to visit NZ and Japan once each year and have a few other short trips as well. It is such a great spot to live with so many wonderful countries just a couple of hours flight away.

 Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.

Let's get serious!

I had such good intentions restarting this blog but today is a new start once more.

I have been plugging away with my Shimelle's Learn Something Everyday album. It covers the month of September and I have really enjoyed the process even if it has taken me an extra month.

I signed up for Shimelle's pretty paper party too but made a promise to myself that I could not start until my previous project was finished. I also bought Elle's studio Gratitude printers tray. I am making it up for my Dad for Christmas with pictures of his stay with us including lots of picture of Scarlett and Grandad.

I have three months of Studio Calico kits practically untouched so I am planning to make November the month of the scrap fest! Fortunately Tet has had all his travel plans for work disrupted by the flooding in Thailand. A little selfish of me and I really feel for the flood victims but I love having Tet home! I should get some decent spare time in the evenings.

Scarlett continues to grow and change and is definitely not a baby any more. She has recently developed some food allergies so we are I now in the process of having her tested. She has started to react to peanut which is a big worry. We hope it is something she will grow out of especially the peanut as that pretty much stops us from eating out as practically everything is cooked in peanut oil here.

I am off to work out how to add some photos and will come back and add a photo post later today.

A month of ills and bills

After starting with a hiss and a roar the blog has been sadly neglected. I do have some good excuses though. No really.

My Dad arrived from NZ so we have been doing lots of catching up. I have really enjoyed seeing him and Scarlett build a really close bond. The downside of this is that Dad brought a really nasty ( read lasts for ten plus days) cold with him. He came down with it the daycafter he arrived, then Scarlett caught it and then me. I am still sick which has really just been a jolly nuisance.

We had a great weekend away in Indonesia last weekend and I will post all about that with some photos. That is certainly the first of the bills. The second came when I broke my tooth.

I went to the dentist last night and am halfway through having a crown placed on the tooth. It was a relatively painless process apart from in the picket, $ 1800 plus! Ouch when we have just had two holidays in short succession. No shopping for me for a little while.

Another day of solo parenting

We knew that when Tet took the job in Singapore that it would involve a certain amount of travel. They swore up and down that Tet would be away no more than one week a month. As they say on the Tui billboards-yeah right!

Some months he is away for a couple of trips but increasingly he is away three or more times a month. It makes for some pretty tough times for Scarlett and me. There are heaps of pluses to us living up here but the total lack of family support can be really trying.

We had a pretty cruisy day today though. Helped in no small part by the fact that monkey slept through the night in her own bed for the second night in a row. I woke really early though as I am totally not used to sleeping through the night! It was useful though as the itti bitti limited edition nappies went on sale at 530 our time. If I had waited till a decent hour I would have missedout on the nappies I liked. I will have to post some pictures of them on Scarlett when they arrive.

We pottered around home this morning and monkey had a good. Nap till lunch. After lunch we hit the supermarket and stocked up on Scarlett's favourite snack edamame. The rest of the day was spent at home with lots of stories and playing games.

Grandad arrives from NZ tomorrow so that will be fun. Scarlett is quite excited.