as the wind blows
Argh, my previous post on the weekend got deleted accidentally. Of course it had to happen the one time I did not type a draft beforehand so all is lost. I'm not going to rewrite everything, so too bad.
Random thoughts tumbling inside my head:
1. Today strong cold winds have been howling through the city. We can hear it blowing through the front door, and it sneaks beneath the wooden joints and rattles some of the windows. I had a hard time opening the car door against the wind, it was that strong. At one point I decided to brave the wind to run to the supermarket with Bao. I wrapped her up as best I can and tucked a fleece blanket around her legs and under her. On our way back the blanket nearly blew off. I guess that's a sign to start using the footmuff.
2. J will be traveling to Asia for work in December and will be stopping over in Singapore for one day. I contemplated taking the kids and tagging along but the travel cost and the pain of wrangling both kids on the flights (well, mostly wrangling Bao, who cannot sit still) were a big deterrent. Although it will also be painful managing the household on my own with the two of them, I think it is probably the easier option. No point flying back for just a week after all, when I could return in the summer for much longer. I just hope that the weather will be kind, but just in case, I'm going to stock up on dried and frozen food in case I can't run to the supermarket with the children.
3. I went to another coffee morning with some of the other mothers from school today. We met at a spanking new cafe near school, and as I sat down with a hot chocolate I realised how much I have missed relaxing in nice cafes like these. There aren't that many indie cafes here in the city which have a personality and a charm of their own. The various coffee and tea bars tend to be functional, slightly clinical places and don't appeal to me at all. In Singapore we often complain that there is 'nothing to do' or that cafes and restaurants are all copycatting other places in Australia or America, but frankly, I think the F&B scene there is a lot more vibrant and interesting than Geneva. Singaporeans sometimes don't know how lucky they really are, but maybe one needs to spend time on the other side of the fence to compare how green the grass is.
4. Yesterday I wrote that Bao has been walking more steadily than she was two weeks ago. Today, she's picked up speed! Her strides have lengthened and she's much more confident. While waiting for The Bun at school pick-up she even attempted to kick a ball lying around the playground. It's really very funny to watch her toddling around because she is so short and stout and her waddle just emphasises her size. I love this stage in babies, but it passes too quickly.
5. I've been thinking about leaving LJ and moving on to another site; Wordpress, probably. I guess it's sentimentality that has me stuck here. I've been writing on LJ since 2001 and it has seen me through a broken leg, a wedding, two jobs, a postgraduate degree, a stint in NYC, many travels, two children, and more. A lot of the friends I made here have either faded away, no longer write, or have moved on to Facebook and Twitter. I don't blame them, really. Some days I feel like packing it in, but then I think about all the memories and thoughts that I have recorded here and well - those are the rare tugs of sentimentality I feel. I've already created a Wordpress skeleton but I haven't begun writing there yet. I don't quite know where to start. It's a bit like falling asleep with a stranger in your bed.
Random thoughts tumbling inside my head:
1. Today strong cold winds have been howling through the city. We can hear it blowing through the front door, and it sneaks beneath the wooden joints and rattles some of the windows. I had a hard time opening the car door against the wind, it was that strong. At one point I decided to brave the wind to run to the supermarket with Bao. I wrapped her up as best I can and tucked a fleece blanket around her legs and under her. On our way back the blanket nearly blew off. I guess that's a sign to start using the footmuff.
2. J will be traveling to Asia for work in December and will be stopping over in Singapore for one day. I contemplated taking the kids and tagging along but the travel cost and the pain of wrangling both kids on the flights (well, mostly wrangling Bao, who cannot sit still) were a big deterrent. Although it will also be painful managing the household on my own with the two of them, I think it is probably the easier option. No point flying back for just a week after all, when I could return in the summer for much longer. I just hope that the weather will be kind, but just in case, I'm going to stock up on dried and frozen food in case I can't run to the supermarket with the children.
3. I went to another coffee morning with some of the other mothers from school today. We met at a spanking new cafe near school, and as I sat down with a hot chocolate I realised how much I have missed relaxing in nice cafes like these. There aren't that many indie cafes here in the city which have a personality and a charm of their own. The various coffee and tea bars tend to be functional, slightly clinical places and don't appeal to me at all. In Singapore we often complain that there is 'nothing to do' or that cafes and restaurants are all copycatting other places in Australia or America, but frankly, I think the F&B scene there is a lot more vibrant and interesting than Geneva. Singaporeans sometimes don't know how lucky they really are, but maybe one needs to spend time on the other side of the fence to compare how green the grass is.
4. Yesterday I wrote that Bao has been walking more steadily than she was two weeks ago. Today, she's picked up speed! Her strides have lengthened and she's much more confident. While waiting for The Bun at school pick-up she even attempted to kick a ball lying around the playground. It's really very funny to watch her toddling around because she is so short and stout and her waddle just emphasises her size. I love this stage in babies, but it passes too quickly.
5. I've been thinking about leaving LJ and moving on to another site; Wordpress, probably. I guess it's sentimentality that has me stuck here. I've been writing on LJ since 2001 and it has seen me through a broken leg, a wedding, two jobs, a postgraduate degree, a stint in NYC, many travels, two children, and more. A lot of the friends I made here have either faded away, no longer write, or have moved on to Facebook and Twitter. I don't blame them, really. Some days I feel like packing it in, but then I think about all the memories and thoughts that I have recorded here and well - those are the rare tugs of sentimentality I feel. I've already created a Wordpress skeleton but I haven't begun writing there yet. I don't quite know where to start. It's a bit like falling asleep with a stranger in your bed.