Well, hotter than in Neuchatel anyway.

It wasn’t any better back in Lyon, in case you guys were wondering. In fact, it was hotter there but unlike in Singapore, it’s less humid and well, the nights are much much cooler.

Since arriving on Wednesday, we have done some shopping for Eva – nothing big, just a crib, mattress and bedsheet for her plus a bouncinet (with vibrate mode) to give us some sanity during those tough hours during the day. We also bought a baby carrier (Baby Bjorn Air) that was much more suitable for Nil since the current one was a bit on the small side. Eva seemed to take all of it in stride – she slept while we carried her in the carrier and the crib?

Lets just say that she’s growing up – five hours straight in a new crib at night!!!

Of course not everything was peachy; in fact she had a tough time adjusting to the new place and the heat yesterday but thanks to the heavy downpour today, it was a blast. (And of course, the aircon in our room helped with the night heat!)

I like to think we’re slowly getting things settled…yes, in case you’re wondering, we found a new place just within our budget & needs!!! Praise God too coz the owner/his parents (who are manning the place for him) are super nice and very friendly (the lady even asked if we wanted the baby tub they had used for their son’s wedding). Now the only few things left to settle are the passes – we ought to get them in hand (we have the principal approvals already) before the second week of September, a pead for Eva and gynae for me, and we’re done!

Huzzah!

I’m still alive…

Just busy with the move. We are still not quite there yet – am spending a few days in France at my mother-in-law’s place and taking opportunity of the wireless internet connection to get back in touch with civilisation.

With any luck, the next post would be one made in Singapore.

Bientot.

ps: For those of you who are wondering how the weight loss journey is going, I’m down to three kilos with one objective – to lose belly fat!!! Whoopie!

We just informed the cantonal office of our departure and turned in our permits. (In turn, they will be sending it off to immigration for processing.) And a day after this, it sinks in.

I’ll be leaving this place which I have called home for over a year.

And in that one year, I have blogged about a variety of things from drug rehab centers to Mesothelioma lawyers, opened up an online store, picked up several new hobbies, gotten pregnant (and subsequently given birth to an awfully cute baby girl), dabbled in some new sports, camped under the stars in some countries in Europe and well…I have been busy living a life.

My apartment has gone from empty to warmly furnished with all the comforts of a real home (partly thanks to Nil’s family) to half empty with boxes neatly stacked in the living hall.

The signs are there. We are moving on and hopefully, it’ll be to something bigger, better and “prettier”.

To Fondue-land, the experience has been bitter-sweet. I shall miss the fondue, the lovely views/landscape, the timeliness, and in part, the people…

I won’t say much lest I get scolded for airing dirty laundry and all that. This is the price of having your parents, family and friends read your blog regularly. They tend to know almost everything you decide to put down in words. And my blog had always been more personal rather than professional (or anything else, for that matter).

So for those of you out there reading and about to embark on the crazy journey of coping with equally crazy parents or in-laws, learn from my experience…

Four adults and a newborn in a 60 square meter apartment (and with a major move at the end of it) for close to two months is a recipe for disaster. Especially more so when half of the equation is from the old school, traditional mindset and the other half is, well, contemporary, liberal and the total opposite. The old school believes in “we are your parents, we are your guests so you have to give way 100% of the time” and the modern half believes in “everyone is equal, guests need to be respectful of their hosts and effort must be made by both parties”.

I won’t go into details nor will I say which is right and which is wrong. All I can say is this…

I resent being told what to do, being told how to live my life and most important of all, being made to choose between my own parents and my husband. There have been times where I have been tempted to take out my savings and check into a posh hotel like Westgate just to escape from the craziness of it all.

While I appreciate the concern, the visit all the way from home and such, I really don’t appreciate being treated as if I was six years old without any knowledge of the world, my actions or decisions and such. Yes, people are free to give me advice but there is a fine line between advice and plain old fashioned nagging. Say what you need to say once and be done with it. I am not deaf, I am not a kid anymore and besides, those are my & Nil’s things and I can’t for the love of me understand why I have to answer for my lifestyle and the choices we make as a family and couple.

Not saying, not commenting, not criticizing doesn’t mean that you are not concerned. It doesn’t mean that you don’t care. It doesn’t mean anything. It just means that you’re respectful of the fact that we are adults, just as how we are respectful enough not to comment or criticize on YOUR lifestyle, YOUR habits and YOUR choices.

Y’know, I thought that being an adult would give me the privilege of living my life the way I choose to live it and not as per anyone else’s take.

I’ll say this outloud – I’m tired of being in between a rock and a hard place. I have my husband in one hand and my parents in the other. As the days pass, I am beginning to see and ultimately, understand why my brother and sis-in-law are the way they are. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t still be married. By clashing so often, people leave me no choice but to pick sides and this affects my relationship with Nil – something I don’t take too kindly. There is a time and place for everything and when children become adults, it is time to let them go to live their own lives.

Please – I’m begging you – let us live our own lives, respect our choices & decisions and do not impose your opinions on us.

You’ve had your turn at experiencing life. Now lets us have ours.

…and Dad is multitasking while burping a baby on his shoulder.

…Eva is dozing off after a feed instead of burping.

…Mum is slowly but surely losing weight without the aid of drugs like atro phex. YAYAYA! But I do wonder if it had anything to do with yesterday’s stomach upset.

…the packing is 90% done with just the loose items left, some kitchen utensils, baby stuff and all. Can you believe that we have finished a 64-diaper pack and am a good halfway through the next pack?

…and my blog posts are getting short. Time is a luxury these days…with feeds, power naps and etc. Perhaps things will get better when Eva is slightly older. In the meantime, do forgive the short entries!

After what seemed like ages, I finally got my hands on some prized Wollmeise yarns!!!

Yes, I broke my yarn diet by cheating – somewhat like getting fat burners to help you lose weight instead of sticking to a healthy diet and good exercise regime. And yes, with the packing and all…but really, I just couldn’t resist!

I’ll be frank – it wasn’t easy trying to get her yarns. Updates are weekly and I always miss them. It took me about a couple of weeks of stalking the Wollmeise online store (thanks to Lois and her constant reminders) before I finally got the colours that I simply adored. I missed a few along the way (Zenzi is hot on my wanted list), no thanks to Nil – he forgot to wake me up and all.

But hey, I’m a happy trooper with these four colours. *squishness*

I have one week left till we leave Switzerland for good. Aiii…moving halfway across the world again!

There is the packing – I’m not supposed to do a lot so by ‘a lot’, it means packing my stuff and Eva’s (excluding the diapering things which we’ll need right up till we leave). Nil has to pack away his stuff – desktops, his clothes, and the loose items lying around the house.

Then there are the administrative details like handling our paperwork and so forth. Of course, Nil needs to contact his stepsis regarding the gerbils since we found someone who is willing to adopt them so hopefully she can hang on to them for a while until they collect them from her.

I’ll be away from the Netsphere…again, so chances are the next time you see me online, it’ll be either at my mother-in-law’s place (just to say hi) OR in sunny, humid and hot Singapore!

Ahhh, poor Nil came down with a case of bad stomach and a low-grade fever which meant that yours truly ended up on the night diaper and feed duty solo. He tells me that I’m lucky that he isn’t working otherwise I’d be going at it solo all the time but hey, that’s not going to fly with me.

Not such a bad thing, I tell myself. After all, I did go at it solo for four nights at the hospital.

A few hours later – in the morning, that is – and as I’m struggling with a barrage of after-effects from a solo night diaper & feed duty (sore eyes, back and all that) (Tennessee injury lawyers would come so in handy right now – I can always blame it on my hubby for not being able to help!), I realised that my little Eva isn’t exactly like how she was 13 days ago at the hospital. Back then, I didn’t have to change her diaper after every feed. She was certainly lighter (being heavier now isn’t necessarily a bad thing) so carrying her was easy work. And well, breastfeeding with milk in is certainly very different from breastfeeding with colostrum.

I sometimes wonder how single mothers cope with all this.