Week of March 26 - April 1

Was sick on Monday, the whole family had been taking turns falling sick since late March.

Nothing much happened this week.

Week of March 19 - 25

Jasper have got lots of violin make up lessons and extra lessons as his violin exam is round the corner.

Amy left for Jakarta on the 24th, we send her off early in the morning and Jasper was able to wake up when I woke him but not Cheryl. She is growling like a bear when I tried to wake her up... so she stayed home instead.

Went to Suntec for shopping on the 25th. Bought the DVD "Curse of the Golden Flower". Watched it after dinner.

Fell down this evening

Fell this evening when I was walking back from the carpark to the flat... Didn't know what had caused me to fall , could be that I had missed the curb when I turned to look out for traffic or something....

Things passed in a blur since Chinese New Year

Shortly after Valentine's day dinner with the gals, came Chinese New Year.

Was off on the 16th but busy at home doing stuff like packing and dusting and getting things ready for CNY.

Reunion dinner on the 17th, everyone is at home for it and Uncle came over with Amy for dinner. They stay on for mahjong till late.

18th..... CHINESE NEW YEAR.....

Woke up not too early, got ready and waited for the kids to be back to go for lunch at Regent Hotel. Finished lunch by about 3pm and went for visiting in a rush as Cheryl and Jasper needs to be back with their dad by about 5pm. Rushing here, rushing there, was tired by the time we send the kids back to their dad.

Went home to rest before dinner, had dinner and played mahjong again. Won a little on both days so it is not too bad....

Went for more visiting on the 19th, came back later afternoon. Sleep and rest till dinner again.

Went over to Anne's place for lunch on one of the days... can't remember which day already but it seems like on the 20th. Steamboat lunch as usual. Must tell Anne to change to something else next year.

On leave from 21st to 23rd... just stay at home and watch TV, do some reading and more sleeping..... Hahaha.....

Actually we went to Ikea to get bookshelves on the 23rd. After which James went off to work after sending me home.

Can't really recall what we did over the weekend but was still on leave on the 26th.

Back to work on the 27th, short work week, only 4 days. But it is end of the month and as usual it is time to close our books at work.

Had a hectic week from the 5th to the 13th, close systems, prepare reports, submit reports, answer queries, do more reports, tidy up reports for distribution, do up job documentations, do reconciliations, meetings.....

But things will be slowing down within these few days as we have passed mid month again.

Went to the maid agency to bring the new maid home so that Amy can let her know where all the things are kept but there is that niggly feeling that she may not know how to cook. Can you imagine an ex-Singapore maid working for a Chinese family for 3 years but all she cook for her ex-employer is Rendang beef or Rendang mutton?? Won't the family get sick of eating Rendang after 1 week?? Let along 3 years??? I will be puking my gut out by the end of 2 weeks of Rendang.

Told Amy not to do anymore cooking but let Kasini, the new maid, be in charge of cooking as we need to assess if she can really cook or not.

Called the maid agency to let them have my feedback on the new maid and my agent told me that most probably the new maid is relying a lot on the present maid now and have no chance to "perform". Ask me to give her sometime and a clear set of instructions and a timetable.

But in my opinion, if she is ex-S'pore, then I won't have to guide her like a fresh maid anymore. She should know when to start to prepare lunch and dinner without anyone telling her because the kids will be home from school and will need lunch and we will be back from work and will need dinner.

You won't need to tell her when to keep the clothes, especially when they are already dry.

Sigh.... need to spend time to observe new maid to see if she is independent and have to make a decision in a few weeks time if she is not. SIGH.