The Bub in the Belly

The past two weeks were a blur. Richard and I were on leave for a week which coincided nicely with a 3-day visit from the family from Malaysia. Unfortunately, as always seems to happen when we get together, someone fell sick. This time, the victims were Richard and I. We had a horrible flu, which kept our noses leaking and our energy down. Thankfully and amazingly, Ryan escaped unscathed, but it was so very tiring keeping up with a two year old when we didn’t even have the energy to lift a toothbrush.

Ryan was so sweet - he made me a flower arrangement, which lifted my spirits.

Anyway, the worst is over. We had a good time catching up with the family and we're already thinking of our next reunion over Chinese New Year.

It has been raining so much this past week that each day seems to be a repeat of the last. All the days blend into each other until I lose track of what day it is. As I told Richard, the world feels soggy. I’m yearning for the smell of sunshine and Ryan hasn’t been to the playground for ages (although he’s still happy because there are so many puddles for him to stomp in).

On a more cheery note, Christmas is just around the corner! The thought of Christmas helps me to see through and above all this wetness. As miserable as the weather has been, knowing that it's the Christmas season, we are feeling quiet and contented, and unwilling to disturb the peace and tranquillity that we feel. Everytime we hear about the overwhelming crowds in the malls rushing to buy Christmas gifts, we feel less and less desire to be out there pushing and shoving. Everytime we hear about the bleak economic outlook for next year, we want even more to stay inside our little happy cocoon. Everytime it rains, we use it as an excuse to procrastinate and to put off errands.

So it’s definitely going to be a mellow Christmas and New Year for us. We aren’t entertaining at home this year and we’ve not planned anything special. We’ve already distributed most of our gifts and met up with family and some friends - we’re sort of spreading Christmas out this year - it’s a series of quiet and small gatherings instead of big hearty parties.

We’ve put up a few Christmas decorations at home and have been spending the past few days tidying up around the house. We decided we didn't have the space for a tree but what's Christmas without a tree right? So Richard bought these decals, which included two winter-y looking trees and a whole lotta snowflakes.


Definitely put us in the yuletide mood! Hope your Christmas is looking good too!