Nicely settled

In the blink of an eye, the year is almost over. We've been living on our own for almost 5 months and things have fallen into place somehow. I wonder why I felt so harrassed and overwhelmed with chores when we first moved in.

Now that Rusty is living with us, life feels more complete. We still feel sorry for Cookie who's left behind but we really can't cope with another dog in our small apartment.

Do I miss life at the farm? Well, not really. I see my parents at least twice a week, sometimes more if I have to bring mum to the doctor. I do miss having nicely pressed clothes. I miss the fridge that's always bursting with cherries, plums, persimmons, grapes, kiwi fruits and apples! My dad takes such great care of the family, it's almost like a grocery store in their home.

Walking Rusty is the only form of exercise I get these days. We walk round the estate in the morning and at night for about 20 minutes each time. It must be quite amusing to see me trample across the grassy patch behind our development with him everyday. It can get swampy on rainy days but he loves that area because of the two black cats hiding in the bushes. Rusty gets his adrenalin rush everytime he comes face to face with them. They growl and snarl at each other until I pull Rusty away.

Now that I don't run, I don't wake up with sore knees and feet anymore. I've also turned a shade lighter and my freckles are not glaring as before. My legs aren't so toned anymore but that goes without saying. I don't want to eliminate running out of my routine actually, I'll have to look into that when the new year begins.

Life has settled into a nice routine. In fact, I've never felt so balanced since we moved in. With a pet in the house, I have come to accept that it is impossible to keep the house spotless, so I don't obsess over housework anymore. I cook and do laundry everyday and clean up the house whenever I have time. The kids clean up after themselves. SK bathes Rusty and YK takes care of his aquarium.

I'm excited to start growing vegetables in my garden. The seeds are waiting to be potted. The compost bin is set up but I keep forgetting to throw kitchen scraps like fruit and vegetable peels into it. Looks like I need to set up a small bin by the kitchen sink too. I'm trying to be as green as I possibly can. I even plan to use paper pots to grow vegetable seedlings but they're not readily available in Singapore. So I am going to experiment using eco-friendly paper (egg) trays. For the sake of my experiment, I went to the supermarket and bought a tray of eggs. 30 eggs will last us for weeks!

With so many eggs and a carton of milk in the fridge, I can make more muffins now.