Yep, it's the end of the world

The Mayans were close but I'm throwing in the towel now! I am DONE shopping! Sick of it, don't wanna do it anymore and NO ONE and NO budget can make me. My husand is currently calling the equivalent of 911 right now because he knows there is something seriously wrong with me. I DON'T WANT TO SHOP ANYMORE!

I have always loved shopping, ALWAYS. I can remember being elementary age with a dollar burning the hole in my pocket. I'd ride my bike down to the local stationary store, Hallmark I think, where they sold everything back then. Cool pencils and erasers, some of them even smelly, pretty papers, lip gloss, candies, nail polish, regular stickers, puffy stickers and yes, smelly stickers..you name it they had it. It was the best place for a budding shopaholic to spend her money.

I love buying new things. Just the feel of the newness is awesome! It doesn't matter what type of thing it is as long as it's new, I'm in love. I've loved shopping for years. I love knowing what I could buy, what I can buy and what I have to buy. I love finding a good bargain and I love just browsing. I always thought I could do it forever, BUT....

We moved to Singapore and shopping has become my nightmare! There are malls everywhere and they all have a purpose. There is a sports mall, a kid mall, an electronics mall. However, depending on the mall, what it specializes in and where it is located at here on the Island depends on the price and products you can buy there. Sure most of the malls have clothing stores with the same name, but you can't get the same type of clothes at the same price. You might find the same shirt but a different price. So, shopping is a bit trickier.
I really miss my one stop shopping a la Walmart or Target. Just to get some kitchen supplies we had to go to a kitchen mart, which really was awesome but it takes FOREVER to get a to do list to done! Then we had to go somewhere else in order to get a grill for Bob because even though it is kitchen stuff, the grill is not. Go figure.

Not only that but when I want to go out shopping I have to THINK about where I want to go and how much I'm going to buy. We only have one car here so I have been taking Cabs or an MRT because I don't want to wake up early to take Bob to work. So, I can't go carrying around the usual baggage because I walk alot! And even when I do have the car I can't go knocking off 10 or more stores in one day because driving takes time and then searching for a damn parking place takes the rest of my time. I use to be able to do Walmart, Target, Craft store(S), and a few extras while stopping for lunch in one day and some of those days I had my kids. NOT ANYMORE! I miss it.

Did I mention I do alot of walking? Through the malls to the taxi stands or through to the MRT, where I usually stand because there is no room to sit. All this while carrying as few bags as possible, which I still have way too many. I still do this walking with a car too! I just do it through the parking areas. Shopping is dreadful! My feet hurt, my legs hurt, heck even my butt hurts! The first week we were here I twisted a finger and pinched a nerve, over 2 weeks later my finger is finally unnumb! That's alot of bags!!!

Therefore, I am done shopping and am going to start having everything delivered to my house. Except, I can't find alot of shops here that actually let you shop online! They actually want you to go to the store and then some of them will deliver it for you, sometimes.

It's not all bad, just about every single mall has a food court in the basement. That's where I can be found loading up before doing all the shopping.

My sister is a B****

I'm chatting with my sister Krissy on gmail instant message. I'm giving her crap about eating duck and lamb here and she's giving me crap back. We go back and forth about how cute they are and you shouldn't be eating them and how cows are cute too and we shouldn't be eating them. I tell her how delicious my roasted duck with spicy chocolate sauce was and she should make it for her awesome boyfriend instea of mutilating all those cows. All of a sudden she does the unthinkable and brings up my most favorite candy bars the twin bing! Love those things. NOT FAIR. For 2 full days now that is all I think about when I crave chocolate! She is such a B.

How to do your hair....Singapore style

So, our first morning here in Singapore I do the usual shower and then proceed to do my hair. However, here in Singapore the only outlets are for shavers. Which DO NOT work with a curling iron or hair dryer no matter what type of converter you have, trust me. I realize that I will need to sit on the floor in front of the full length mirror and do my hair. I get the curling iron out and go to plug it in. I forgot I need a converter which is in the "adjoining" room. I go next door, realize I forgot the key to the luggage lock and go BACK to the other room to get luggage key but had forgot the room key. NO one but Grey is in the room and he has his ipod on so can't hear me ringing the bell. Currently I am locked outside of BOTH hotel rooms without keys to ANYTHING and I haven't even started on my hair. Grey finally answers the door, I get the luggage key, grab a room key and proceed to the other room WITH my curling iron because I really am getting mad right now and don't want my kids to see it. Plug all the converters into the curling iron and then into the wall socket. Sit and wait for a bit for the curling iron to warm up and me to cool down. Go to check my curling iron, should be nice and hot now, IT IS NOT HOT AT ALL! I forgot to turn on the outlet! Really irritated now, turn it all on make sure all things are still plugged in. Sit back down and the doorbell rings, hubby wants to know what is taking so long!!! OH MAN, did he get an earful! Finally get everything heated up and everyone out of the room. Sit on the floor and FINALLY get my hair done! Decide I can't wait to get to our house so I can do my hair like normal. COme to find out homes here are built only with a shaver in the bathroom because it is dangerous to have curling irons and hairdryers in the bathroom because of the water! However, they trust the men with the shavers? Seriously??!!?? UGH!!!!! So, I am currently on the look out for a cute vanity/makeup table/dressing table because I am NOT sitting on the floor for 2 years in order to do my hair. And later that first Saturday I ended up putting my hair up off my neck because it was just too damn hot!

Locals

I drove for the first time today. Sunday mornings are quieter around here and less traffic so Bob and I headed out to test my driving skills. Driving on the left side of the road isn't so hard but it isn't so easy either. It can be very confusing but there are plenty of arrows on the roads to help me figure it all out. So, we turn down a street close to our house and see this waiting for us....

there's a monkey on the right side of the road. Just sitting there. Bob had me stop so we could get a better picture of him. It looks like he's just watching traffic for me.

So we finish my driving lesson and go home to get the kids because they would LOVE this. Come to find out there was a whole family there!

as Grey said, our Utah house had deer and moose for wildlife and our Singapore house has Monkeys. Not quite our backyard but VERY close!

Future posts

Just a few things I want to remember to blog about. Feel free to choose or just deal with what I actually do blog about!
sheets
salamanders and other lizards
shopping
food
aircons
washer and dryer
kids schools
cleaning
maids
Furniture
bargaining
chicken rice
bolsters
parking
MRT
Nets
Banking
TV
slowness
fast paced
service
food courts
aunties
buses
advertising
loan furniture
handhelds
ice cream sandwhiches
sports cars
status
Floss

Okay, there is more that I can't think of unless I'm trying to go to sleep. But this is just the first week! Keep coming back. Things might slow down, and they might not.

I'm also adding
lime juice
chasing salamanders
bob's uturn
laundry room
mopping the floors
prayer rooms
festivals
school schedules
doing my hair
electricity
water heaters

Humpty dumpty Gnome style

So, one of my lovely sisters gave our family the traveling Husker Gnome to take on our adventure for awhile. Then we scrapbook what the Gnome Henry has done with us in Singapore and send the Gnome onto the next family member. It is a great way to keep in touch with other members and a fun way to showcase what we all do. Henry seemed to have an awesome time in DC.

We didn't take Henry with us onto the plane because we were worried about him being hollow and not getting through security. We ended up putting him in a suitcase with 4 ZhuZhu pets and they all rode in the luggage. He really wasn't that happy about it but we didn't get flagged as a terrorist either! Henry was so happy when we got to the Hotel and finally got him out of that suitcase. I guess the ZhuZhu pets get a little too crazy and can't keep quiet! He arrived in one piece and spent the last 2 days gettting over some jet lag and looking out our Hotel window. He seems to really like Singapore and thinks the humidity is just like being home on the cornfields.

This morning he was ready to venture out with us to Grey's new school and we put him into my big purse. Took a cab to the new school and opened up my purse to find that Henry needed urgent care! His legs had broke off! Clean break for the poor guy, and he is now in 2 pieces but we didn't have the needed supplies to fix him up. He continued to travel in my purse until we could get him the urgent care he needed. He is such a trooper and didn't complain ONCE.

Natalie and I took a bathroom trip and as I'm rummaging in this huge purse of mine for some hand sanitizer i come up with only ONE Henry shoe! Remember they were together at first with a nice clean break and now they are seperated. Henry is now in 3 pieces! I had been extra careful with my purse so I'm unsure of how this all happened! Poor guy still is doing a good job even if he is all in pieces!

As soon as we got back to the Hotel we fixed him right up. Nothing a little glue and some hot looking surgeos in shower caps can't handle! He is drying under the "heat" lamp right now and I think Jake slipped him some chocolate. THis time it seems all the kings men COULD put him back together again!