OK, cut the crap (or at least I hope it’s crap and not some prophecy). I can’t help but to think of next year already because the first quarter will be quite a challenge for us and not to mention, the months flying at lightning speed. Soon, we’ll see March and don’t even know what hit us.

We have got lots and i mean LOTS to do next month. We are pacing ourselves but can’t go any slower because time waits for no man (or woman). I have to get the sofa in, walls painted, bathroom done, backyard done, wardrobe done and kitchen done. Can you see that we have our plates full and don’t even talk about ordering the floral arrangement! I simply cannot imagine. CANNOT.

OK, better get cracking if I want to at least fulfill half of that wish-list.

What shall we do?

I had originally planned to buy some Christmas-type videos to watch. One of it which came to mind was Home Alone (to watch with the kids) and Bridget Jones’ Diary. It’s actually the best romantic Christmas movie ever. I was thinking perhaps I could download video from youtube but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any. I don’t want the sequel; I much prefer the original.

I probably need to get it from kickass or something. Youtube is only good for Photoshop tutorials…even then, the quality is dwindling…*sigh*

She has given me one of each. Yep, she wastes no time in making them. COme to think of it, there is no time to waste actually because we only have less than 3 weeks to go before D-day. So, not only will there be tons of things to do, there’ll be plenty of things in the house that needs cleaning up. Again, I am only speaking for myself..again..:-).

It’s no wonder why adults aren’t fans of festivities. No seriously, they appear to be more fun for kids. I know that when I was a kid, I used to love CNY because of the new clothes, ang-pows and whatnots. The glorious cookies and unhealthy carbonated drinks. It’s a good thing too that I don’t have the “large” genes because of the variety that my grandmother prepares. Till today, I am totally amazed by the sheer effort my grandma puts in during CNY. Cooking for us. and the dishes involved. My hubby is one lucky man to have a taste of her cooking since being married to me. No others that were so lucky..heheh . Plus, he should thank his lucky stars that he too has the skinnies and does not need a male fat burner after consuming such foodies.

Now that she’s hung up her apron and handed the baton over to my uncle and aunty, I do miss her cooking. No doubt she’s still the ultimate food critique and mentor to them but…I don’t know – something is still missing.

I had a crazy crazy pre-new year and post new year. And I am totally exhausted even till today. But, slowly getting the hang of things. I hope it’ll ease up soon enough. **fingers crossed**.

So, anyway, back to what happened on Friday. We got the keys from our previous tenant who was moving out that day. When we went in, it was horrendous!! We wondered if people actually lived in conditions such as the one we saw – piles of rubbish everywhere. Typical chinaman mentality – not my place, you clean it up! You know what we should’ve done? Withhold part of their deposit and used it to hire the cleaners. But did we do it? Nah…small town people, it’s difficult to talk any sense into them. Perhaps, this is one area I will need to work on. Besides, we were thankful that the apartment didn’t need any major repair whatsoever. They kept the walls and the tiles pretty much intact. Just that, they were a messy lot — VERY messy!

Then on Saturday which was on new year’s, we had the cleaners to clean up the place. It took us quite a while to do it despite the 5 of us scrubbing and cleaning. We changed the seat covers because it’s already 8 years old so it was about time. Then, after that, one of the cleaners insisted on dismantling and moving the washing machine for us and ended up breaking the water tap. BUMMER!! Nevermind that, because hubby’s a real handyman so after the cleaners left, we went to search for a hardware shop but only to find none were open because it was NEW YEAR’s!! **double arrgghhh**. Nevermind, we hopped into Giant, bought one and went back to the apartment to fix it. WHat we thought was a 5 minute job, the tap broke and the inside joint was also broken as hubby tried to fix the new one in. Geezzz!! Without plumbing tools, he couldn’t do anymore work on it so we headed home because we left the girls with my mom.

The next day, hubby went in early and finished up the job. Finally, we were able to handover the keys to the agent and collect the deposits. Otherwise, we would’ve breached the agreement with the new tenant. And…I don’t really want that.

So ,now everything’s settled despite the little hiccup. Luckily I have a handyman hubby. Though he’s not qualified to perform all that he’s done but I can tell you that anyone can do it. Unlike accounting finance jobs, where you definitely need prior training and some relevant education, but not in this field – any Tom, Dick and Harry can do it just as well, if not better.

I really would love to watch The Tourist. I am eagerly waiting for it actually. If we do get to watch the movie (dear God, please grant us that wish!), it will be the first time, in a very very long time, hubby and I set foot inside a cinema…together…as a dating couple. So, that, in itself, will be an interesting experience.

That said, I have a feeling hubby might want to watch Tron instead. Seeing as how we only have one pass each and how this may possibly become a heated dispute, I should start thinking of a solution to this before hubby does…hehehe. I might just say that we’ll resolve this by using the stone-paper-scissors-method – what do you think? Childish I know…but…who can blame me? I am constantly surrounded by children younger than 5 years old and I have lost touch with how or what adults do to resolve disputes.

If left to the hubby, he’ll suggest getting a samsung projector instead. Now, I won’t have any problem with that except that we do not have clean white walls to project any imagery onto. FUrthermore, we do not have a room big enough or large enough length wise to properly place the projector. Lets also not forget that we do not have the sound system for such cinematic gadgets.

So, you see, wouldn’t stone-paper-scissors be a much better idea for our kid of problem? You tell me…

Signs of the elections coming?

Time to cash out methinks. We’ve been toying with the idea of selling our place for so long and we’re just waiting for the opportune moment. Will that moment ever cross our path?

We have never made ourselves to believe this is our place. For some reason, we’ve managed to feel detached from this house we’ve been calling ‘home’ for the past 6 years. At least, it (detachment) for me because when we bought it, we bought it purely for investment purposes…nothing more.

As the years went by — the trees grew, so did our fondness for our home and our community. It’s simply the best where we are concerned. We live amongst the friendliest and most considerate people we know. We chip in, we help each other out and more importantly, our focus remain in sync at all times and that is to ensure a safe and harmonious living condition within our community. Our security guards, their efficiencies and dedication allows us to sleep in peace every night. I haven’t lived in many places for me to make a fair comparison, but I can safely say this is definitely “as-good-as-it-gets”.

This explains the quandary that we’re in right now. We know that, apart from the pricing, we’ll never be able to get it back if we let it go. Unlike cold and lonely steel buildings, we are surrounded by warmth and lots of love. Tough conditions to beat, won’t you agree? We’ve going back and forth…back and forth..and we’re still here. Perhaps we’ll just leave it for now and re-visit the plan later. Who knows? Sometimes, you’ll find the answer in the least expected places…

I did say there were things you can do right? Well, yes, there are. You can go to the beach for one. Lovely sun all week, cool breeze, everything that makes going to the beach worth going. I can tell you’re probably drooling right now. Imagine a day out on those white sandy beach, lying on a mat with a martini in one hand and a good book in the other. You can lie there and read all day without being interrupted. Bliss.

Or, you could do some fun activities at home. You could re-vamp your closet, you could re-arrange the furnitures. Donate the old ones and get new ones. Get some fresh paintings for your living-room; they always seem to brighten up the day. While you’re contemplate doing that, you may want to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. You know, just so that the walls go with the painting.

You can also do something for the outsides of your house. Get new patio furnitures to fill your front yard so you and your family can have your meals outside whilst enjoying the fresh air. At the same time, you may want to improvise and have log furnitures instead. That would be awesome and neat.

Whatever you decide to do, just make sure it’s all in the name of good family fun. Or simply just for good fun; no stress, no tense moment. Simply let your hair down and relax for the weekend. Life is just too short; we have to learn to let go and enjoy life while we still can.

On that note, have a great weekend!