2016 Week 19 Update

My first unemployed week! This was interesting week, in which, though I didn’t do anything in my ‘To-Do’ list, I lived the tai-tai life! For those not from this part of the world, a ‘Tai Tai’ is a married woman who lives the life of luxury and is mainly stay at home wife and mum. She is probably a socialite. Probably an English equivalent would be a lady who lunches!

With R at home, there was no real need to do housework and the kids were busy with school and exams. I will (and really need to) start on my To-Do list from today and hope to have made a substantial dent to it by the end of the week.

I also realised that, while I like staying at home, if this goes on for a while, I will soon start going out of my mind! I hope and really pray that I get a decent job atleast within the next four to six weeks and by July, I am working and contributing to the family income. I realise it is also not fair to put the whole onus of providing for the family on S when I am able and willing….Hopefully something comes up soon!

Have a great week folks!

2016 Sec 1 Week 18 Update

Exams started for both the children and they’ve been busy with that.

GG has been nominated by her form teacher to apply to be a school counselor and she’s happy at this chance. They need to fill up a form with examples of how they exemplify the values the school holds close to heart and get endorsements from 4 teachers! The teachers then debate among themselves to decide the counselors. But I am happy that she is even trying for the position and her teachers nominated her. 

Other than that, nothing much happend this week with the children. More probably next week onwards as we start our home adventures! Happy weekend everyone

2016 Week 17 Update

I want to put this down, so I don’t forget. The past few weeks I’ve been processing what is happening around me and sometime this week, I realised something. There is something not quite right between Big B and his boss. I have a feeling Big B will not last long in his role here. Big B is an expat and he has been deputed to Singapore from his home country and company for a certain number of years. From what I’m seeing and understanding, I feel Big B will not last his tour here, he may ask his home company to recall him back sooner than later. And I’ve realised that I’ve become the unfortunate victim in this skirmish! For some reason since Big B’s boss is not happy with him, he did not want to regularise my employment and eliminated my position so Big B is inconvenienced. I did obliquely mention it to Big B this week while we went through whom to pass on the different aspects of my job and his comments about his boss were not too complimentary!  Well, that’s life I guess!

I mentioned about a drinking session they had this week. I didn’t go as I had decided. The next day, Big B spoke to me about the session this week and asked me to come. Then he said the words I wanted someone to acknowledge – he said it’s for you and since you don’t drink, we’ll go for dinner. So I have said yes and it’s tomorrow! After that a couple of others  also came up to me asking me to come and I said yes….

The week actually went quite fast for me, I was busy clearing up my desk and doing my handovers. This week will therefore be quite boring I guess, I really don’t have much to do…Next week onwards, it time to start looking for new jobs and take the time to do all the things I had planned to do in the house and with BB & GG.

Have an awesome week folks, the last for April…

2016 Sec 1 Week 17 Update

A very ho-hum week as far as school was concerned. The children are busy preparing for their first semester exams which starts from next week,

I am very happy with GG, she has become very mature in the last few months, the failure she had in her PSLE exams was the spur she needed. BB on the other hand, is still as playful as ever! Sigh!!

BB had an e-learning day in school this week and e-learning here was very different from what they had in primary school. Then, they were given everything prior to the e-learnng day and had a few hours to complete all subjects. Usually it won’t take more than an hour, and they have the rest of the day to themselves. Here, on the other hand, BB had definite slots throughout the school day for each of the subject and the curriculum of the e-learning was also not shared in advance. If they missed the slot, they missed the e-learning, which would be graded in the end.

I also, on a whim, googled the best schools in the world for the subjects BB & GG are interested and shared with them. I am using that as their incentive to study, will know in a while if this was successful. It’s also surprising in a good way that Singapore universities figure in the top 10 in both lists…

On to week 18 now, which is the start of exams. Exams also are differently done in secondary school, in bits and pieces over a two week period!

2016 Week 16 Update

There’s an elephant in the room in my office and nobody wants to acknowledge it! I mean my leaving. All this week my co-workers, including Big B are ignoring the fact that I will be leaving at the end of the month. I don’t think my co-workers don’t know, there are too many things that I was involved with that I am no longer doing, which should have been their biggest clue. But everyone is pretending that things are normal. On Friday, one of my co-workers, ironically, the newest, actually came up to me when there was no one around and asked the question that others, who’ve been here longer, should have asked.

There’s a team drinking activity that’s was supposed to happen in February, but which kept being postponed for some reason or the other and is now scheduled for my last week here. I wasn’t very keen for a myriad of reasons, the main being the fact that I don’t drink much and prefer not to drink with colleagues and so I was not planning to go. Earlier in the week, one of my co-workers alluded to it and said I should try to make it. I am not sure, why out of the blue she suggested this. If this is going to be my ‘going away’ do, then I wish they come out and say. In that case, yes, I’d love to go, otherwise, I am still so very ambivalent!

The week was bittersweet as I did the last batch of something I really look forward to doing each quarter. I’ve not mentioned to anyone in that job I am leaving, so it felt bad to tell them I will speak to them again. Anyways!!!

I am going to spend the next two weeks clearing my desk and sorting stuff. I also want to make drafts of my farewell notes to people. But I don’t think all this will take up so much of time, need to find things to do this week.

I wrote about GG’s performance yesterday and we really had a good time there. Though it ended quite late, it was fun!

Onward to a new week, need to keep smiling so my last impression is a good one! Happy week folks…