My year 2008

The year 2008 has been eventful for me. We started with the news that we will be moving to UK during the year. Majority of the year went in the transitioning and that has somewhat come in way of maintaining one on one email contact with many friends.

We have had series of "Goodbye" session as well as "Get to Know You" sessions and it is all about relationships. So this is a mail to all friends old & new, to share my year with you and look forward to staying connected in 2009.

We traveled to India to visit family in early February (since after that there was no opportunity for us to travel as a family for a long time). Subsequently we had some lovely "Goodbye get together". We did our "Look See" trip in 1st week May. The school decision was made based on the criteria of the only international school close to where we were likely to live & the fact that it provided bus service. Yes , for those of you who may not know school busing is not the norm here. We decided on the house and hubby joined his new duties on May 6th & flew to France

Once back in Singapore we were to be there till the end of school year in end June. My little girl was a bit sad that Papa was not there for her 4th Birthday! A visit from Chacha (papa's brother) made a weekend very exciting. Sorting the house and managing kids without father and my work kept me busy. Stopped working in early June and then the packers arrived. Kids were amused to see the house boxed up. Then we did a trip to the Zoo & Night Safari as that what kids wanted to do before we went away. After spending a few days at our good friend home in Singapore we finally bid goodbye to Singapore.

We arrived on July 7th and stayed in Oxford for 2 weeks before moving to our new home on July 24th. We live in a village called Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire and is about 25miles North West of London. Hubby's office is 40 miles away & the kids school is about 8 miles away. The closest shopping mall is 6 miles away. The village & its high street is much like what Enid Blyton books used to describe - one each of :newspaper shop, post office, barber, bakery, coffee shops, pub , restaurant, dry cleaner , flower shop, book shop, hardware store, gift shop, library, train station, chemist, charity shop, movie theatre, a bus stop, a play ground, a community centre and a few churches ! All in less than 1/2 mile!!!

Then started the unpacking & settling process. A school picnic before school opened was instrumental in getting to know people and making new friends. School had its orientation on 20th August & started on Aug 21st. A big new change for little one as she was starting in big school for full day! Thankfully kids settled fairly well after a few initial hiccups.

Made some lovely new friends mostly thru school and then thru the first set of friends. We still miss all our friends in Singapore and India and look forward to some of them visiting us in 2009.

We did a little bit exploring around and guess will do most of the visiting & exploring UK next summer. But the kids loved the experience of plucking Strawberries and Raspberries & visiting a small old Apple farm. We also went to a Model Village - a miniature village that was wonderful and a Farm Park where the kids could play with Rabbits ; feed Chickens and see cow milking!!! Have lots more to do and look forward to next summer.

My planned sabbatical was extended due to the global economic situation. So with time on hand actively increased my network at LinkedIn at got a bit more active with Facebook. Watched movies, attended & hosted many coffee mornings and lunches and dinners. Have had the chance to be an active volunteer at school - I even went on a field trip with son's class, and did a lotto session in my kid's class as well as do a Diwali session in both classes. Then I did a session about India as well. This has been an experience of a different kind.

Hubby traveled frequently between May and November to continental Europe and was not home for Diwali. So we had a very unusual Diwali. We woke up to see 2 inches frost/ice outside, windy that Diya's would not stay lit & damp; rain that we had to do our sparkles in the tiny porch!

Christmas was a lot of fun as this is the first time that y little one wss excited about Santa giving her a present and that she can spell SANTA!!! . We watched Santa Claus 3 , went to London to see the lighting at Oxford & Regent Streets and went for Christmas dinner at friends who had a tree. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the decorations and the exchange of gifts this season.

The year is drawing to a close and when I reflect on it feel accomplished about the work I did in the first half of the year. Also the entire transition which has so many variables & impacts especially getting the kids to feel settled and coping with being home alone. More so coping with the weather and the very short days & scarce sunshine. It is all about being adaptive & resilient and pray that God grants us all the ability for same.

Media & the economic Crisis

We all know times are not good, but the media is just making it worse I feel.
Any news channel you put they seem to depress you.

The saying "Every dark cloud has a silver lining" , wonder why no one is trying to look for that.

The only people i know having lots of work to do are the credit rating & risk guys. They sure must be working more than ever.

We need some optimism & fresh air , and I guess we all can contribute to that....if we decide to.

Daffodils

I had never seen Daffodils like this before. They are everywhere ...on the streets, in the woods, on the sidewalks, at the supermarket . And they are beautiful. Am now planning to plant some more for next spring , so that we will have more in our garden.