Today is a sad day for our family as we bid adieu to my uncle Jerry, mum's younger brother, after a 6 month battle with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.
He passed away in the wee hours on Sunday morning with his wife, children and grandchildren keeping vigil at his bedside.
Hello friends! Just wanted to share a family layout on a recent outing with the folks and nephew #1 to celebrate my birthday. And give you a little life update.
Nephew #1 has been serving his National Service (mandatory for all Singaporean males) since January so my parenting duties have been limited to weekends when he gets to come home.
Just when I've gotten into a comfortable home routine of feeding/caring for my family and getting my own work done, life threw a curveball.
Dad had a heart attack on March 2 and had 2 stents and a balloon to clear the blockage in one artery. His angiogram also showed a blockage in another artery and he's scheduled for another stenting procedure on 31 March.
Mum is so stressed out that she lost a ton of weight and can't sleep at night. Meanwhile, stubborn dad still wants to eat unhealthy food despite his near-death experience...and has to be reminded everyday to take his medication.
For the last year or so, Wednesday afternoons have been reserved for running any errands out the house that are not within walking radius from my home. It's "Eat your own lunch Wednesday" for the rest of the Yams because it's also my rest day from home cooking. :)
Today I headed to town with my bestie for brunch (last day of free parking!)...of course, my cuisine of choice would be Japanese. :) (yes, this is week 2 of being able to dine out again! Yay!)
Hello friends! Just got myself a pair of Nike Air Max today. LOVE how bright and loud the colours are! If you must know, I work out at home. So these fancy shoes are for my visual pleasure. *LOL*
Anyway, how are you doing in your neck of the woods?
Dad is fully vaccinated while mum has had her first dose. Mum was due to have her second dose last week but she had a bit of a health scare and was hospitalised for a night with an inflammation in her gut. She's on a strong course of antibiotics and resting at home. I've been cooking with a wide variety of veggies and herbs to rebuild her microbiome and get her gut healthy again.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to make an appointment to get vaccinated even though I've already registered my interest. I think we definitely have a supply issue here. You would think that it would be easy to vaccinate a population of 5.5 million quickly but not if global supplies are low.
Tell me what's happening in your life. :)
At first, I was annoyed that there were so many restrictions on what can/cannot be done. And the media wasn't helping with spates of bad news from all over the world. If there was a light at the end of the tunnel, it was so dim that I wasn't even catching a glimmer of anything.
But the moment I realized that I couldn't change what was happening in the world, I decided to focus on changing my attitude and making the best of the situation.
If I was going to cook meals for my family, I will learn new dishes and challenge myself creatively. With the change in perspective, even the weekly grocery run became a tad more interesting as I combined my love of bargain shopping with the need to feed my family nutritious food.
To cut down on buying processed food, I made lots of food from scratch. From chicken broth to pasta sauce to homemade noodles to bread and other pastries. With no daily need to commute or travel, all the time I used to spend waiting at the airport for flights and luggage could be devoted to the mastery of cooking.
Every day I look forward to the protein that my mum has taken out from the freezer for the day's meals and my mind starts to think of creative ways to make a nutritious and delicious meal. I'm not going to lie and say that it was a breeze. Because it wasn't. It would take me a long time to cut the garlic, onions and veggies.And I was spending most of my free time watching YouTube videos on how to cook certain dishes. Or there would be some home repairs to tend to and I had to learn how to use tools.
Something had to give though...I wasn't spending as much time on my scrapbooking and drawing because I was really exhausted at the end of the day. Most nights I was in bed by 9pm. Sometimes 8.45pm. Yep, even my folks can make it to 10pm. *LOL*
2020 was the first year in all my years of blogging that I had NOTHING pre-scheduled to post. Every blog post was done on the day itself. When I made a quick card for the blog post, it was probably done the hour before. Sometimes I might do 3 or 4 projects on the weekend and have something to post but the actual blog post was written on the post date.
But I picked up so many skills and learned how strong I could be - in mind and in spirit. And for that, I am grateful for 2020.
In 2021, I want to advance further in my self-growth. I started a journal on January 1st. Some people have separate journals for bullet journaling, gratitude journaling, brain-dumping and affirmations. Mine is a single journal where I can do everything in it. *winks*
In January I did daily journaling but it was such a chore that in February I decided to journal every few days instead. And I enjoy the process so much more. Of course, I have to challenge myself when it comes to journaling too. My affirmations are written with my left hand (I am right-handed) just to force my brain to focus because I have to write a lot slower.
I also started a 5 minute meditation in the mornings when I'm still in bed. Meditation is hard and right now, I just focus on my breathing for a start. Since I am an early riser, I've started to use my early mornings to do my art stuff like scrapbooking and drawing. Which is working out much better because my night time ritual is a lot more relaxing and I am sleeping.a lot better. :)
What about you? How has 2021 been for you? Are you on track with your goals?
It's been a while since my last update on life in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Prime Minister just announced several days ago that we will be going into Phase 3 of re-opening on December 28. We have been in Phase 2 since June.
With Phase 3, local attractions can accommodate visitors at 65% capacity up from a previous 50%. Social gatherings can be in a group of 8 people, up from 5 previously. There would be a pilot scheme of some nightspots re-opening in January 2021. These have been closed since March 2020. Mask-wearing remains mandatory in all public places.
And of course, by end December, Singapore will have its first batch of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines in the country. While priority will be given to essential and front-line workers and the more vulnerable citizens, the plan is to vaccinate all citizens and long-term residents above the age of 16 by third quarter of 2021.
While vaccination is free, it is voluntary. Our senior ministers will be first in line to get vaccinated to allay public fears and attest to the safety of the vaccine. My folks are adamant about NOT taking the vaccine because of the fears of the long-term side effects which are unknown at this point in time. My sister and I are on the same page - we will get vaccinated if it means that we get to travel again. However, we'll probably be low in the priority queue based on risk factor.
What about you? Will you be taking the vaccine once it becomes available to you?
Moving on to some happy things...check out the happy mail from my Aussie pal Lizzy. Of course, it arrived the day after I informed her that her X'mas package will be late (because in a time of pandemic, parcels have to be sent out mid-November to have any hope of reaching the recipient before Christmas)...*LOL*
And yesterday, I went to Spotlight (Aussie-owned craft and interior superstore) to pick up a 1M open star tip and some sprinkles...and came home with these! My excuse is that there were on 30 -40% off and I get an additional $40 off $100 purchase. So, you are looking at S$61.80 worth of cake-decorating supplies! Guess, cake-decorating is going to be my new hobby for 2021.
Tell me, how are things going in your neck of the woods?
