The Bub in the Belly

It is our tradition to go back home for New Year's Day, not so much to start the new year but rather to close the old year. This year, we watched the fireworks from Margaret's place in KL as the clock struck 12 and we said goodbye to 2009.

Being away from Singapore at this time feels like taking a break from our obligations, our work, our daily toil. In Singapore, we are bound by routine, of laundry and dishes, milk and diapers, expenses and savings, going to and coming home from work. It's a not a rigid timetable, it's just a routine, but it is nevertheless a reminder that we are not (yet) master of our own futures, that we are still not done with the Big Plan, that we are racing for time - to save enough, to achieve enough, to do enough.

Being home at this time feels like a respite from the daily struggle, a reward for a year's worth of fighting the good fight. The days are lazy, carefree, we simply unburden ourselves and think of nothing in particular.

Last New Year's eve was slightly different however. My pregnancy was quite advanced and we decided not to go back to KL as we did not want to be far away from our gynae at that time. Put another way, we could not yet take our holiday as we still had 'unfinished business' - to give birth!

That evening, Richard and I drove out for dinner nearby. We left the gate open. Unnoticed by us, one of the doors in our house was also open and our dog, Max, managed to get out and ran all the way out, past all the houses and the condominiums, to the main road. When we came home and found Max missing, I was completely distraught. I was crying and sobbing (no doubt those preggie hormones contributed to my inconsolable state). Richard quickly made posters (we lost our cat once and Richard's posters got her back to us, but that's another story) and we put the posters up around the street. A security guard at one of the neighbouring condominiums saw us going around and recognised us. He told us that someone had picked Max up and left his mobile number with the security guard. To cut a long story short, we got Max back a few hours later.

The funny part about the story is that, as the clock struck 12 and the New Year came in, we were running up and down our street distressed and upset while our dog was at a countdown party with his new friend!

Thankfully, this time round, we have both our dog and our son with us. No countdown party but we did have an advance mini birthday celebration for Ryan - Margaret ordered a lovely cake and we blew out the candle on a great first year.