Prioritise!

YK wanted to come home by 8.30pm so that he can switch off his aquarium lights to mark 'earth hour'. We drove into our estate at 8.35pm to see the block fully lighted up. "Woah, nobody here cares about the Earth?" he exclaimed.

I think we're still at the infancy stage when it comes to awareness about climate change. I must admit that I'm guilty of using too much water in the garden today. After a morning of gardening, I gave the patio a good wash and treated the plants to a watery bath after suffering from days of scorching heat. Perhaps I should find ways to collect rain water for my garden. Of course, I mustn't make it into a breeding ground for mosquities.

My father is such a good gardener. He only began growing vegetables recently but is already enjoying the fruits of his labour. During dinner, we ate sambal sweet potato leaves, stir fried spinach and chye sim. The vegetables were so tender and delicious even though they were simply fried with garlic. The papaya from his backyard was sweet and succulent, this is organic food at its best.

Somehow I managed to have a fulfilling day without feeling any stress. Besides gardening, I went for a hair cut, did the laundry, brought YK to the fish farm, napped and went back to my parent's house for dinner. Not forgetting I walked Rusty twice today. I even had time to wash my car which is something I don't do often. Too bad YK was starting to develop an allergy from the dusty interior, so I did a quick wash before dinner.

Back home, I had just finished sewing SK's pants and walked into his room to find it in total darkness. Instinctively I reached for the switch but he said, "Don't! It's earth hour!" I walked back into my brightly lit room, feeling slightly ashamed. But how am I supposed to mend his pants in the dark?

SK wanted his new pants shortened at the tailor but I have been procrastinating for days. Then it occured to me that I could do it myself. I'm not good at sewing but I managed to hem it up nicely. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

I think the trouble with me is I'm a Miss want-to-do-everything. I want to grow vegetables (cos I like gardening), make my own dinner (cos I like cooking), do my own housework (it's not that difficult afterall), walk the dog (so I get some exercise too) and so forth.

When the kids were younger, I even tried coaching them myself (I thought I could be a good teacher) until I started becoming less popular with them. Anyway, the tuition teachers did a better job and my relationship with the kids improved again.

Now, what can Miss want-to-do-everything do to make her life less stressful? "Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise!" like what some of my readers say. Yah, I'm learning.