Scattered brain

It's friday, forgive me if my brain is a little scattered. This year, SK's school has made some changes to the timetable. They start school at 8.15am on Wednesdays and Fridays which gives me a little more time to get myself organised in the morning.

Since school started, I find that I can accomplish more in the morning. Besides making breakfast for SK and Rusty, I can even do the laundry and manage a quick stroll with Rusty. Last year, I was scrambling all over the place to get everyone ready. I guess it's more managable this time because YK hasn't started school yet. I can't imagine what it will be like when he returns to school next month. A lot depends on where he'll be studying actually. We'll see when his GCE O level results are out next Monday.

For now, I should just enjoy it. Rusty loves the morning routine. He hops out of (my) bed and waits for his breakfast and morning walk. I spend so much time with Rusty I wonder if I am beginning to smell like him. You know how you would detect a strong dog scent the moment you walk into a dog owner's house? Everyone but the owner can smell it. I hope it is not the case with me since Rusty is a small dog.

We drove out a little later than usual this morning. I didn't realise the ERP (electronic road pricing) is already in operation at Eunos from 7am. I was charged $1.50 when I went under the gantry. I think it is a ridiculously high amount for a suburban area.

"I can buy lunch with $1.50 you know!" I grumbled.

SK looked at me and asked, "Really meh? For a bowl of noodles in my school maybe."

"Well, not a decent lunch but you can at least get a bottle of Coke!"

In my quest to watch my spending, these little extra expenses really grate on my nerves. When I was chatting with my customer yesterday, he was complaining about how tough it is to collect debts these days. Yet, regardless of whether we are able to collect payment or not, we still have to pay the government 7% GST dutifully every quarter. We are not even making any profit on sales in this difficult climate, yet we have to cough out money to pay GST before receiving payment from customers.

Since I have more time on my hands now, I'm all geared up to start baking cookies for Chinese New Year. I've got flour, butter, sugar and cookie cutters but the pineapple tart recipe calls for 1/4 cup milk powder. I'm stuck. We don't use milk powder at home. After scouring the supermarket shelves, I can only find them in big tins. What am I going to do with the rest? The best thing to do is to get some from mum's kitchen tomorrow.

I've also started running in the evenings. I have a light (and early) dinner with the kids. I think it is important to sit down and have dinner with them everyday, I would never do away with that. I treat my after dinner walk with Rusty as a warm up before my run. After I bring him home, I head out again for a run around the estate.

I feel good after that and sleep better at night. But still I can't get rid of my dreams. The other night I dreamt of hiking through a forest in Italy and came across a tiny village inhabited by little men (like the Oompa Loompas). That village was famous for grilled meat, so these men dressed in colourful shirts were out in the streets setting up BBQ pits in fanciful shapes and colours (some shaped like leaf, bathtub and boat). The atmosphere was carnival like.

CH says that signals my need for a vacation. I think so too. While looking for vacation spots, I found a website (http://www.hotelscombined.com/) that has great hotel deals. Happy weekend to everyone!