Living the good life!

Things are going great. Not because any significant thing has changed in our lives, but simply the way that I look at them has changed. I have always considered myself a person filled with joie de vivre, but I had a few years where I saw the negative side of things. I saw what I wanted my life to be, but not what it is. My life is here and now, perfect in its imperfection. I feel more in tune with what it is that I want and what I need. I feel connected to the kids, and Jeff without trying to put false expectations or unrealistic goals about the way we should do some thing.

So, today I celebrate today.

A few things that are making me happy today



These little soap things that I made for the kitchen and kids bathroom. Nothing like 2 dollar bottles and some old rub-ons from my scrapbook stash.












This book, just purchased on a whim, but that I have been eyeing for a long time.





These Websites:

Artsy Mama - Beauty on the web!
Posy Gets Cosy- Reminders of home back in Oregon
Zen Habits- Simple Living at its best.
The Pioneer Woman-Her Black Heels to Tractor Wheels love story is worth the price of admission!


And this family...




Off to a new dinner spot which we hope holds promise for plenty of Friday night pizza nights to come- Picotin, owned by the former owner of our favorite pizza joint on Greenwood, along with the addition of Jacky, our favorite bar tender as a joint owner~ Updates to come.

dreams of the rural life

First, let me say, I love our apartment. We have the best that Singapore has to offer, short of living in a 10,000 square foot black and white home with a huge yard, 6 staff members and our own cobra and python patrol... Dairy Farm estate, and where our house is, is amazing. We have a huge field that we can walk straight out onto. The kids can play soccer, throw balls, ride bikes all right outside our door. We have a swimming pool, that we use, and a gym-that I should use. The gubment is building a gateway into the Bukit Timah Nature park right across the road....but I still dream of a bucolic life... a smallholding if you will. A place with sheep, goats, horses and maybe a steer. I do put my foot down at pigs, but reluctantly may accept a chicken or two....

Living on a farm, even a small one, is not simplier. It means no vacations unless you find someone to care for the place. It means getting up early and feeding. It means midnight lambing checks. It means a commute into the day job. But, the lifestyle is something I miss. I want my children to be able to appreciate where food comes from. I want my children to get dirty and learn lessons of life and death in a gentle way. I want my kids to have the life that I had, a good a balanced life, not one of over commercialization and the need to put shopping down as a hobby.

Will it happen? Not in Singapore. Does that mean we are coming home soon? Probably not, but someday....

Empty house, a free day, and the tax man

First, a note about Skin Cancer. My son's kindy teacher will be missing the rest of the school year as she will be packing up her family and moving to Minnesota for a short time while her husband undergoes surgery and chemo to fight melanoma. I wish them the best of luck and have them in my thoughts and prayers. I urge everyone to remember to slap on the sunscreen...

Second, my mom left today at 3am. It was great to have her here. The kids really enjoyed playing with Grandma and hanging out with her. Mom looks great after her gastric bypass surgery and I hope she continues to lose the weight and exercise!

So, a free day, well not really but a day to catch up on work, finalize the Far Flung Craft taxes and get an ad off into the June/July issue of Sommerset Memories. I hit the road again on Wednesday for a quick overnight trip to Taipei. I hit the ground at 6pm and have meetings with my boss, have meetings all day Thursday and Thursday night and leave on the 4pm flight on Friday. I hope to try to get back to Taipei early June for FFC and do some printing... and visit with some of my friends! The rest of the month looks like I am home until the 28th and then 2 weeks of travel.

So, tonight around 5pm this is where you will find me. On my planter's chair, drinking a glass of white wine (I know it should be a G&T, but humor me!) with sunscreen.

So, tonight around 5pm this is where you will find me. On my planter's chair, drinking a glass of white wine (I know it should be a G&T, but humor me!) with sunscreen.

Declan's impresssion of Kuching

just kidding.












This was one of his favorite sites



And one of mine

Horrible Horrible Blogger

I so want to blog more often, to write down notes from my day. To tell people what it is like to live this crazy life of mine and how much I feel blessed to be doing exactly what I am doing every day... but then, I don't. I putz around reading other visual journals of peoples lives and mine just doesn't seem quite so exciting after all. Or perhaps it is the fact that I spend so much time wanting to post, that the actual words don't get drafted.

Ah well, perhaps a bit of an experiment, a post a week? Lets see...

So, here are a few images from my recent trip to Kuching Malaysia for your viewing pleasure.


Grandma Jean, Kiera and Jeff at the holiday inn damai beach.








Declan, Jeff and Kiera, Chillin at the pool