First week down, how many more to go? Hopefully the rest of the year will fly by just like this first week. It’s nice to be busy but not crazy hectic, it’s fun to be challenged and stimulated and to try to find solutions to problems. It’s fun to be learning new things and broadening my horizon. So overall it was a great first week at work! Of course I am looking forward to the day when I’m no longer ‘learning’ and can become the teacher , feels like that might be quite some time away sigh.
But it’s a good team, lovely team members, and I’m also grateful to have great leaders and mentors.
School holidays are almost over! I think the girls had an eventful one with the highlight being our Singapore trip and their Malaysian one. It also feels really long ago now, not sure when we will can go for another holiday again 😭
Baby Theo is coming tomorrow!! I hope he loves us, I know we already love him.
My big girls who already help with housework and spring cleaning. It’s nice that we get to spend Chinese new year together as a family.
Covid for the family to end what was a pretty disastrous 2023. Ah pa and R are still showing Covid symptoms which isn’t good, luckily Ah pa seems to be on the mend, I’m always so worried about his health, both physical and mental.
They love going to Dome’s for brunch and lunch and every meal I think haha. I like indulging them as well, we are eating out a bit more often lately, well why not I ask myself. What’s the point of earning money if not to spend money?
My love for kimbap in unwaning. I could eat this everyday I think, hmm just looking at this picture reminds me that I should make more.
I love this picture by Saitaoha. I think she is so good at drawing, probably bias but isn’t this picture too cute for words haha.
A work trip to Port Hedland. It’s so weird to think the last time I visited was under such different context and circumstances. I can’t deny I’m nervous that I will struggle in such an unknown territory, but I’m also excited to learn more. I told my boss today ‘ I think 2024 is the year I will find out whether I sink or swim’. She looked at me earnestly and said ‘you will swim!!! Trust me!’ And just like that, I believed her. I am a first follower to the tilt, if my leader thinks I can swim, I will swim.
This little girl finally pierced her ears because she felt ‘ready for it’.
She usually cries during injections so I was surprised that she didn’t shed a tear! I guess because she was ready for it she had steadied her nerves.
She was mighty pleased with her pierced ears. I am so glad she did it without a fuss and was so brave about it all. Looking forward to earring shopping with my girls in the future!
Ah pa picked me up from the supermarket again, I’m always reminded how lucky I am to have parents that are so supportive and selfless. I always enjoy our little chats in the car, most of the time we always chat about the kids, sometimes Ah pa will impart advice, sometimes I tell him about what’s happening at work.
Today he told me to not worry all the time about them being exhausted from looking after the kids (I know they are). He said that the days go by quickly when they are there and said ‘我陪她们长大，她们陪我老’. Yesterday I was thinking how we are actually living our best days because all three generations are alive and together. I can’t bear the thought of the day when we will be apart 😢 and this sometimes keeps me awake at night.
Finally it’s the last day of work before the Singapore holiday. It is maybe also my last presentation on my specialty topic before I move on to a completely different role in tbt new year. I’m looking forward to moving away from being branded the SME and learning more about different parts of the sector. I’ve disliked being boxed into this corner which has followed me wherever I go and every stage of my career. I think my skill set is adaptable to many subject matters and I crave to learn more and know more. After all that’s why I moved sectors right ?
What I underestimated was the guilt and sadness I would feel breaking news to the team. I feel like I’ve let them down because of my own selfish wants. I hope they look back at our past year and our time together as a stepping stone and a foundation for what I believe for them will be flourishing careers in this sector.
I’ve been thinking of returning to my original sector, because I miss the principles of working for the community. It is what keeps me going day after day, working for a greater cause. But now is not the time and I wonder how long it will take for the sector to be rebuilt. Maybe in a few years. Who knows what I will be doing then.
Fingers crossed that this last day will end smoothly.
School holidays have begun! The girls are having a great time, Saitaoha has been going on play dates, Saitaomei hanging out at the grandparents with her cousin. She also scored a photo with Santa, something she’s been wanting for a long time! To think she’s used to be afraid of Santa and refused to take a photo with him when she was small.
Work’s Christmas party was also a hit. I’m so relieved I recovered from Covid in time to go for the party, I had already missed out on their school Christmas concert. Covid the second time around was awful too, I’m just glad there was a full recovery and now I feel fit as a fiddle. I’m just worried my parents or kids will catch it during our holiday.
I really doubt work will host such a family friendly Christmas event again. It didn’t go down well with the single and ready to mingle folk. So I’m glad while I’m still in the company we managed to have a wonderful time one Christmas 🤶. I know it will be a treasured memory for us.
It’s a pity we won’t be around for T’s birthday, we had a mini birthday celebration for him, I hope he likes his bday present. The girls will miss him this holiday.
I’m just counting down the days to our holiday now. It will be a short one, but I’m hoping what we lack in time we make up with lots of energy and fun.
It feels like it’s signalling the end of my first role in this sector for me. Next year there will be a completely new challenge work wise. I’m both excited and a bit nervous, I’m also worried for the team members that I left behind, I feel like I’ve left them in the lurch. I know they will do well regardless, but this was a very individual and selfish decision that I made for myself.
Ah well I’m sure 2024 will be a much better year than 2023. It has to be. I will look forward to it with positive thoughts and a bright outlook.
The start of the July school holidays! Except I didn’t take any time off 😓 because I actually don’t have much leave since I only started the new job less than a year ago. Gone are the days of ample leave which I couldn’t take because work was so busy.
The girls have already had a good start with princess activity at the shopping mall over the weekend and the first day of fun galore with their doting yee yee and Tristan.
Frustratingly, we are still not over our lingering bugs and R has now caught the bug. He was the last man standing in the family but succumbed to this horrendous never ending bug. Sigh when will we ever fully recover ?!
I had my year end performance review , my first in maybe a decade ? I was chuffed to receive excellent feedback on my performance, my boss obviously put a lot of thought into it and was very kind and generous with her evaluation. She had obviously put a lot of thought into it and into my future career development. It’s been a while since I’ve had a boss that cares about my career development and is keen to support and my journey. I feel really blessed and lucky 🍀!
In 2018 I returned to work from maternity leave and had to restart my career all over again. But 2018 was also the year where I really struggled health wise with a fractured toe, torn ligament and prolapsed disc. It didn’t help that Saitaomei was only one year old.
2019, I emerged from the dark days of bad health and started on a new project which would then consume my life for the next 4 years. There was no work life balance. I hardly saw the kids. I worked really long hours and for three years took not a single day of annual leave. It was an exhilarating, draining and traumatic four years of tremendous highs and lows.
This project was completely successfully. It was a once in a lifetime project everyone said. Monumental reform. I remember a higher up saying to us ‘we will be on the right side of history’. I think he is right but time will tell.
Leading the successful delivery of this project allowed me to carve a name for myself, I was suddenly the ‘leading subject matter expert’ in the State, it allowed me to rebuild my career and I became sought after. I was offered a job at a much higher pay, I took it and I left my sector, my dream job for this new career.
I’m settling well into my new role. I think I may do well in this new industry. But at what expense ?
My four years of toil and endless work, meant that I neglected my family, my children. I never gave them the time and the education they needed to reach their full potential, I didn’t give them the support they needed for these important foundational years.
Is it too late I wonder ? Is it too late for me to repent for my years of neglect ? Did I make the wrong choice ? Is it true that women really can’t have it all? We can’t build a successful career and have a happy healthy family at the same time?
I don’t know whether the sacrifice was worth it. But I know I never want to make the same sacrifice and mistakes again.
I’m beginning to get a glimpse of how tough it must be for performers like singers and actors to ensure that their throats and voices are at optimum level every single day. I’ve done more public speaking in the past month than I have in the past three years, or possibly even the past decade of my career.
I’ve been fighting the germs from the kids and worrying about developing my usual huge hacking coughs that never go away. I’m not quite at that stage yet but it’s still scary because I have quite a few more presentations to go!
I am not a fan of public speaking at all, I used to hate it and it was one of my ultimate fears. I just hated being in the limelight and having everyone look at me. I still don’t enjoy it but I no longer fear it or think I’m very bad at public speaking. I guess I have to thank Toastmasters for that boost in confidence. I want to get a lot better and know that there is definitely lots of room for improvement. It would be nice to become a natural public speaker, it’s my goal to get there someday.
I told my colleague the other day that my new motto is to work hard and play hard. I will give it my all at work but I will never take my family life for granted and will also play hard, make memories with the kids and be as present as possible for them. I’m not going to skint on life comforts or holidays, I’m determined to play hard during my time off and make the most of it ! There’s no point in working hard if you don’t reap the rewards of your work right ?
Who knew I would go to Rottnest island not for a family holiday but for a work trip! It was a little bit chaotic at the start (2 out of 6 didn’t make the ferry !) but it all turned out well in the end.
For some reason there were a lot more quokkas around this time, they were everywhere and I almost fell off my bicycle a few times trying to avoid them.
It was surreal cycling along this beautiful island, the weather was phenomenal, sunny and breezy. I was terrible at cycling but I enjoyed it so much! I would love to buy an electric bike and cycle to work everyday to get some daily exercise, but I am also afraid because I am not great with travelling on the road or cycling. Maybe it’s time to challenge myself ?
It was a good team building event and I really felt like I got to know the team a lot better. The yummy food and cocktail helped too, but for some reason even though it was just an overnight trip, I missed my girls. They didn’t miss me at all though haha, they had a fabulous staycation at Gung Gung mah Mah’s, these kids are so lucky to have a second home that they love so much.
Making memories! I’ve always wanted the girls to experience buying icecream from the icecream van that plays Greensleeves to let everyone know it’s here.
Look at these happy faces 😻 I was happy too because I got to have my fav soft serve too. I always think of Ah pa when I have soft serve ice creams because he was always my partner in crime in having an icecream.
Everywhere in the shops there are signs that Christmas is very near! I enjoy Christmas because it’s a nice festive season and I like spending time with the family.
Kids bugged Gung Gung to put up the tree so of course the doting Gung Gung did, they had fun decorating the tree.
Hi cutie. She’s getting very cheeky nowadays, she has been eagerly counting down the days to her birthday. I don’t know what she’ll do when it’s over, I guess she can start counting down to Christmas and then the holidays.
Showing me her drawing, they love drawing and colouring a lot, and I find their drawings very cute haha.
Spent the night prepping lunch bentos for the week, this is an all vegetarian bibimbap. I wish I had a nicer kitchen, I love cooking and it would be so nice if I had more space to prep and prepare! Sigh maybe soon …
Who could predict I would one day own steel capped work boots ? One month in, I wonder how long I will last in this sector ? Will it chew me up and spit me out? Or will I grow to embrace and love this sector, as much as I did my previous sector ?
I can’t pretend that I don’t miss my old sector and what it stands for. Some people just think of their job as work, something that they go through 9-5 and clock off at the end of the day. I realise now that I was lucky in that I did love my sector and was proud to be there.
The new role, team and sector is fascinating. I don’t love it but I’m intrigued and I really do love learning something new. I didn’t even know I had that side to me. This need to not be bored and to be constantly challenged. I thought I wanted a mundane 9-5 job, maybe not haha. But I’ve realised that if I find myself losing myself and my family to work like I did in the past, I will probably start looking for another job.
I love being able to be with her during the weekends, just solely being with her, work phone left at home. I love being able to chat with Ah ma, cook with her, no worries about work or thinking about how to solve the next crisis.
They’ve lucky children because Gung gung’s garden is their magical playground. Today they planted flowers and strawberry plants in their new garden box, let’s see whether they bear fruit.
Grateful for our club, being able to widen our social circle and get to know new people and make friends, not through the internet, but actually in person, at our age.
Happy that there’s still Sunday with the family and my darling girls. The one thing that beats Saturday nights are Friday nights !
My bus rides to and fro work are usually a time of reflection, I have many memories of wiping away tears on the bus during the very stressful work period, it wasn’t the stress as much as the feelings of despair and helplessness.
Days of working till late hours and waiting at the bus stop in the darkness. I hope I never go back to those days again, even though it’s busy in my new job, I am making a conscious effort to switch off after work and not checking my phone or switching on the laptop.
The commute to work is shorter because of the closer proximity of the new workplace. So I don’t have much time to reflect or mull about the day ahead. The moment I step out of the bus I want to quickly get in the office and start work straight away. That’s a good sign right ?
daitaoha 