Christmas and post-Christmas

I have been on leave since Christmas and it has been nice not really doing anything. I spent one morning creating a to-do list but nothing on that list has been crossed off :) I then debated whether I should make a 'Resolutions' list or a 'Goals' list. The jury is still out on that one. Suggestions are welcome :)

I thought I would spend time with Rubhi but she has gone off to church camp and will be back only on Sunday so I still have time to myself over the next 2 days to do something about my to-do list.

This was a strange Christmas for me because it was the first one when Jennani was not home for Christmas. After coming for my 50th birthday she felt it was too expensive to come again so soon so she has been staying with friends. Maya cooked us a really nice family dinner on Christmas eve and that really felt Christmas-sy as she had the table all prettily laid out with Christmas crackers too. Then of course there was wine. My family's wine intake has increased by 200% since the arrival of my niece :) We went to church for Christmas service at 10pm and it finished at around midnight, after which we went back to Maya's to open presents and drink more wine.

Christmas day started off all in a frenzy as my 2 sisters-in-law had come to spend Christmas Eve at our place and one of them offered to make the lasagna for dinner that night. I had planned to do some last minute shopping after church but had to go to get the ingredients she needed before church so that she could cook and that kind of made me late for church so I felt quite frazzled when I got to church. But the carols soon calmed me down and Joshua's sermon was superb. Durai's family came over for Christmas dinner and it was a record number this year as there were 30 people there. As usual I made too much food (I have a perennial fear that I would run out of food and year after year I end up with huge amounts of leftovers). I made Maya nd family come over the next day to eat the leftovers and there is still stuff in the fridge now!!! Sigh...

Well, that's Christmas over and New Year 3 days away. I have decided that this year I will go to the Covenant Service before making my way to my brother-in-law's place for the annual eve of New Year dinner. The service is at 8 instead of 10.30pm as it usually is, so I can make it to the dinner by 10.30pm methinks.

So my friends, what are your hopes for 2008? Leave me a note if you have any prayer requests and I promise to remember you in my prayers :)

Getting Ready for New Experiences

A lot has been happening with me and I guess that's why I haven't been updating as often as I used to.

After coming back from UK I felt I really had been travelling too much and hadn't spent much time with my family. So we went for 3 days to KL, checked into Eastin Hotel and did nothing but chill and just hang around. It was terribly anti-social of me but I didn't even pop by to my sister's much as I just wanted to take things easy, not do anything at all. And I am glad I did because I felt really more relaxed and refreshed after that short trip.

It was during this trip too that a momentous decision was made in the family, and that was to send Rubhi to Melbourne to do Foundation Studies rather than carry on with her 'A' levels. I am glad we had the chance to talk about this and I am glad she is gungho enough to try an alternative route. So since we got back I have been talking to a lot of people - people who have sent their children there, people in professional circles who hire workers, office colleagues, young people who have been there and back - and I haven't heard a single dissenting voice. I think the only dissenting voice has been from Rubhi's cell friends! In fact the only worry people have expressed is that Rubhi would be homesick and that I would miss her. The first thing Jen asked was "Is she ready to go? And are you ready for her to go?" :)

Am I ready for her to go? 2 weeks ago I would have said yes. Since receiving the acceptance letter, I am not so sure :) I suppose a lot of it is psychological. I was ready that she would go in 2009. In fact I told her a few months ago that I would want to send her to an overseas university after her 'A' levels however well she does. It is my personal opinion that our schools teach too much. We set such high expecatations in terms of content knowledge right from primary school and then we up the stakes in secondary school and pre-univeristy that by the time they go to university there is little choice but to teach at an ever higher level. The result of this is young people who spend a lot of time studying and accummulating content knowledge but with little time to develop life skills that they really need. Sad. So, I may not be ready as a mother but I am ready as an educator.

As a mother? Yes, I am anxious. I know there will be homesickness. I know I will miss her like I miss Jennani. But I also know that she will make friends and that she will learn new things and have new experiences that will shape and mould her. I worry that she will be lonely or that she will be sick. But I also know that I have good friends and relatives in Melbourne whom I can count on. So it is matter of telling my heart to believe what my mind knows :)

It looks like 2008 is going to be a year of new experiences for me. It will be a year when both my children will not be at home for the first time. I have a new boss at work. Maya and Rohan would have gone back. Suddenly the year seems to stretch ahead of me.