Finding

My last post was all about things I miss about my native country! But it's not all boo hoos and pity pots here. I really do like Singapore, sure some things are different but every time we've moved things are different, even when it was to another state in the UNITED states. It's just the way it goes. I do have to add one more thing I miss....an electronic dishwasher, but right now my dishwasher goes by the name of Natalie, Greyson or Jake.

So, things I have found in Singapore....

I have found sun, sun and more sun! I love the sun. I use to be a sun worshipper. Not so much now, I still love the sun but I use sunblock when out for a long time. I love, love, love the sun and how my skin can almost sizzle with the heat from that big orange fireball in the sky, it just feels good. I'd make a great cat.

I'm also one of the few people I know that likes this heat. Okay, maybe I don't like it but it is a necessary evil as it goes with my sun. I don't mind the heat so much and a good sweat is great for your skin. Seriously, my skin is nice and dewy most of the time. I just need to drink more water to make it look even better. Maybe I just was around snow too much and this heat is a good break. But really it doesn't bother me too much.

That leads me to the next thing I've found which is a pool! IN MY OWN BACKYARD! Not my own private pool, we share with the other home owners here but it's never crowded and we can go for as little or as long as we want without problems. Get hungry, just walk home real quick and grab a snack. NO PROBLEMS!

I have found lots and lots of people! People are in abundance here in Singapore. Population is over 5 million so chances are you will find someone to chill with. I like to people watch and Singapore has a lot of it for me! All these  people have their own little stories and their own little lives. They are all unique and they all live on this great Island.

I have found so many nationalities here. It's amazing really. There are Chinese, Japanese, Malay, Indonesian, Australian, European, Irish, American, Latino, Scottish, Korean and so many more I haven't even MET yet. I love how all these cultures and all these nationalities can blend so well together. How there is respect for all the differences and also a great acceptance of all the differences.

Along with the different nationalities I have found different accents. I can't even pick a favorite. It's not uncommon to hear  5 or more different accents when out and about. Heck, even just a quick lunch with friends can have me hearing at least 3 accents, that doesn't count mine but does count the Texan! Just picking the kids up from school is the same way. It's like an accent store!

I have found that I can relearn so many things. Mostly out of necessity but I CAN DO IT! Singapore has had a lot of things I have to relearn or I'd seriously go crazy. Things I thought I'd never have to learn, like math. I may complain about the metric system and converting pounds to kilos but I learned it! I have also learned bits and pieces of Mandarin Chinese, yes you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

I have found some of THE BEST thunder storms I have ever heard! These thunderstorms can shake your windows AND your marble floors! I love the way the thunder vibrates through the air and the lightning shines so brightly! And sometimes I still jump when the lightning strikes too close.

I have also found that I love traveling, even more than I previously thought. I love how close we are to so many things here in Singapore and I have a list a mile long of all the things I never knew I wanted to see. And now they are becoming a must see!

I have found that my kids adjust better than me but also voice their problems better than me.

I have found that the stress of an international move is hard on a marriage but can also be very, very good for it.

And I have found great friends. Friends that no matter where we end up in this crazy world that I know we will always have the common background of Singapore.

Missing

A few weeks ago a good friend of mine from Utah asked me what I missed and she could send me it as a little treat. I started thinking about all the things I really miss. Most things I have missed I have found a good substitution for so this was a little harder for me than I expected. If she had asked me this same question 4 months ago I would have easily answered it but now, 6 months into our 24 month stint I had to stop and think. That was nice, not having missing things right away but here's what I came up with as to things I miss.....

*I miss that a friends house is a 20 minute cab ride or a meet up at a crowded restaurant. I miss that I can't just "pop on over".
* I miss just driving, no math involved to convert distance of 3 meters or kilometers to the miles I am use to.
* I miss the US metric system. I have had to get use to grams, liters, kilos, pints and  some others I can't remember instead of my usual pounds or quarts. I have to convert many recipes before I begin cooking and my new kitchen scale is VERY handy!
* I miss Fahrenheit. Celsius is weird and always sounds cold.
* I miss the taste of real honest to goodness American fat milk! Without having to pay 5- 10 SGD for a tiny little pint. P.S. Still doesn't taste American.
* I miss big huge aisles where people aren't touching my butt and I don't feel like a bull in a china shop.
* I miss marks on my butter telling me in TABLESPOONS not GRAMS where to cut it, again thank you kitchen scale!
* I miss driving in miles per hour and not kilometers per hour. Although when we are going 100KPH Jake thinks we are speeding, we aren't. Well not too much.
* I miss doing a load of laundry in 1.5 hours per LOAD and not the 4-5 I am currently living with. Getting all my laundry done in one day is a distant memory!
* I miss not having to think about which side of the road I need to be on when I do drive. Turning can be a problem if there is no arrows for me. I really have to stop and think!
* I also miss riding on the right side of the car and not the left side. Someday I WILL walk to the correct door. SOMEDAY!
* I miss texting, I hate saying SMS which is really the same thing but I miss saying "text me" and having others understand me.
* I miss carpet. It was much easier to just vacuum it up and move along. You can see all the dirt on my floor at all times. It's GROSS!
* I miss a swiffer. Too much to mop up here to make it economical but somedays it would be soooooo nice!
* I miss hopping in the car and going. I love the cabs, they are my best friend but when something is forgotten at home it's so much easier to just "swing back home" or get in the car and drop it off at school. It just takes a little more planning for the cabs.
* I miss that I have to think of everything I need. I have had to refigure out the best bread, dish soap, laundry soap, cereals and milk all over again. If there is the option of an American brand it is just way to expensive to buy.
* I miss knowing where to go for items. We have been looking for rubber bands the last few days and they are NO WHERE! Not in office supplies or kitchen supplies or at the bookstore. Or craft items, even the big craft store doesn't always have what I want or need.
* I miss not having to pay an arm and a leg for particular items. Last week mod podge cost me $25 SGD. Wanted it so I got it. NEVER would have happened at "home".
* I miss not having to do time conversions. From Singapore time to Utah time gets tiring somedays. But I just found a cool conversion tool on facebook that may become my new best friend.

So, I miss lots of things. Most of them made my life simpler. Some I thought were necessities but I found myself not needing them as much or learning to live without. It's all in perspective. I have found some very good substitutes and many things that I will miss about Singapore when I leave here. But that is for another post. And to my good friend Amberlie, thank you for even thinking of me. You made my heart happy.

The bus wave

The kids take a bus to school here. We only have one car and since they go to 2 different schools the logistics are a pain to figure out. So, they take a bus. Grey gets to the bus on his own and can get off the bus on his own. With Jake and Natalie I have to take them to the bus and then be there to pick them up. Every morning they make sure that I am going to stay as the bus leaves so they can wave as it goes down the road. EVERY SINGLE MORNING! I haven't missed one yet but I guess there is always a possibility. This is what I see every morning as the bus takes off....

Pictures are courtesy of my friend Malia over at Postcards from Singapore. Thanks Malia!

15 amazing facts about Greyson!

1. He grows a great beard for only being 15.
2. He is super smart.
3. He is too hard on himself when he doesn't get perfect grades.
4. He is very kind.
5. He only likes vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce but not chocolate ice cream.
6. He once tried to be a vegetarian. He'll probably try it again.
7. He has traveled to D.C, Nebraska, Oregon, San Francisco, Singapore, Indonesia and India. And has loved every one of them.
8. He has a wicked sense of humor.
9. He is not afraid to be true to himself no matter what.
10. He has made us all a Dr. Who fan.
11. He is funny when mom and dad are gone and he watches Jake and Nat. (Jake volunteered this one)
12. He has good taste in music and will one day appreicate disco!
13. He is a very easy teenager and we hope to keep it that way.
14. He keeps an open mind on most things. And he has good opinions on other things.
15. He is a great part of this family!

Taurus The Bull

The stars tell me that I am a Bull, a Taurus.

Taurus Traits include the light side:

Patient and reliable
Warmhearted and loving

Persistent and determined

Placid and security loving



Or the dark side:

Jealous and possessive

Resentful and inflexible

Self-indulgent and greedy

Now, I don't believe in a lot of this hooey. I do look at my horoscope from time to time and laugh or think about it. According to this ancient tradition my husband I don't mix AT ALL, he's an Aries which makes us both stubborn. Okay, I also get a little jealous but doesn't everyone and not just us Taurus'?


The only thing I think I have in common with my birth sign is that I am like a bull in a china shop!
I have no grace, no delicacy and I am sooo not agile! NOT one little bit. This has never been more abundantly clear to me than the last few months of living here in Singapore. I have had at least one bruise on each part of my body because I have either ran into something, fallen on something or being whacked by something! I am not making this up! I am unable to walk through a regular grocery store aisle here without hitting at least 2 things! And that is on a good day. I am the person they follow throughout the store yelling "clean up, aisle 3".

That's just the grocery store, never mind going to China town where the aisles are half the size of my hips Then I have to walk sideways and hope that I don't knock over any "ancient" artifacts that have been mass produced. Little India is worse, there are so many people there that I am always on someones toes or worse yet hands! I have backed into so many people that half of little India has touched my bum, most as just an innocent bystander. And one day I scared the poop out of a bird while just tripping along the road! That was a smelly clean up. True story for another post.

I can't even get a pedicure without knocking something over like a lamp or falling over something! Just ask Andrea, don't worry she's use to answering LOTS of questions! She can also vouch for my grocery woes. I haven't spilt their tray of color wheels for the pedicures, YET, but I feel it coming on! I also know that it is only a matter of time before the hot tea they give me will find it's way onto the floor, or worse the pedicurist,  because it's me and that's what I do!

My husband and I don't dance together because it's usually me stepping on his toes and getting knees in uncomfortable places. He still wants to dance with me though, just shows how crazy he is! When I tell my husband I'm going to paint he gets out paint smocks for him and the kids! This happened last Valentines day in the U.S. but you can see why he is afraid! I was just painting!

I really wish I had just one little ounce of grace and agility. It can get very embarrassing at times when things are falling all around you and you have no idea why. Or when you come home with a fresh bruise on your hip and your husband asks "what did you run into today?". It's even worse being surrounded by all these delicate and tiny Chinese women and men while you tower over them and stomp on them or run into them. I'm really not trying to hurt them, I just can't move!

Singapore really makes me feel like a Bull! But I'm learning to live with it. As long as I don't get the other dark side characteristics of a Taurs I will be just FINE.